Delight Ministries at Taylor began as a nudge from the Lord and turned into a Bible study with over 70 women in attendance.
Sophomore Lindy Ruth Rader first heard about Delight Ministries in high school. Since it is an organization that aims to reach out to college girls, Rader could not participate during high school, but she fell in love with it through reading one of their books.
After some time went by and the pandemic hit, Rader came up with the idea of starting a Delight group at Taylor.
She felt the Lord prompting her to do it, especially since there was not really a Bible study like this at Taylor.
“We have a lot of things that are focused in dorms, wings or floors, but we wanted to bridge that gap across campus,” Rader said.
Over time spent talking to God and reaching out to friends to help organize and lead, they contacted Delight headquarters and even connected with groups at other colleges in order to set up a successful semester.
Once the Student Senate was able to help, Delight Ministries was finally able to start for the first time at Taylor.
Every Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m., girls will meet on the first floor of Euler and branch out into small groups.
Since Delight Ministries ended up having such a large turnout, Rader got more leaders to help.
Over the course of this semester, girls at Taylor and other colleges across America are diving into the book of Acts. Each week consists of reading from Acts and filling out a study guide. Then on Wednesday nights they discuss what they have learned from what they read.
There is always something girls learn in the discussion within small groups regardless if someone has read Acts 50 times or one time, the Lord always has a way of revealing Himself.
“We’re just learning about the early church, specifically like Peter and John and their boldness in proclaiming the gospel, and their engaging with the Holy Spirit, and being in communion with him,” said sophomore Sally Boone.
On top of engaging with scripture, the Delight Ministries group at Taylor will also have worship nights, and they are in the process of planning a service project, though nothing is set in stone yet.
Outside of diving deeper into Acts, Delight Ministries gave girls the opportunity to connect with girls that they would not normally connect with. More importantly, girls have been able to draw closer to God.
“I think just learning about other’s walks with the Lord has been an encouragement,” said Boone. “I think we’ve only had, like, a few meetings, like three, I think, but I’ve already learned so much from them about either what we’re talking about, or just like how they’re doing, and their relationship with God.”
Since many girls are often busy in college whether that is with homework or a sport they are committed to, finding the balance to participate in the study might be challenging, but it is certainly doable.
“I would say it’s pretty difficult, balance is hard for me,” said Snyder. “You can make priorities in your life and you make time for things that you deem necessary, and this is something like Bible study and like, reading stuff, and preparing for this is something that I view as a priority.”
Since Delight Ministries started out as an idea, it turned into a way for women to connect and strengthen their faith with one another and ultimately provide a safe and welcoming place every week.
