Students that are new to the Manna U community are entering a community that is centered around leadership development. With that said, there are several ways that Manna U staff and faculty try to implement opportunities for Manna U students to apply classroom principles into the real world. One of these opportunities are found within the Leadership in Action (LIA) assignments that are required of each student every semester.
In order to introduce students to LIA who may be unsure of what it is, here’s an excerpt from the student handbook that breaks down the details:
“Engaging in the actual practice of ministry responsibilities enables the student to relate classroom work (theory and concept) to everyday encounters of the Christian Professional involved in ministries (teaching, preaching, counseling, etc.). Through the Christian Service Program, we enrich the student’s educational experience, as well as serve the church community. Every undergraduate student must fill out the Leadership in Action (LIA) form every semester enrolled and every undergraduate degree seeking student must complete the minimum number LIA projects for his/her degree program as a requirement for graduation. Each semester, it will be the responsibility of the student to fill out an LIA form. Bachelor degree students are required to complete at most eight LIA projects, and all Associate degree students must complete at most four LIA projects. The student will not be required to complete more LIA projects than semesters enrolled. For a project to be accepted it must be either an outreach to the community, a leadership position, or a consistent position of service (a minimum of a three month commitment to that position). The LIA Google Form is sent out to students via email every semester.”
Once your LIA form is completed and approved, it gets reflected with the rest of your grades at the end of the semester. It as simple as that! We always encourage students to start thinking ahead about what they want their projects to be, but often times if a student is heavily involved in serving in their church and communities, most students are able to complete this assignment with ease.
We asked some our own students about what ministries they got involved in to complete their LIA, and they came up with some pretty creative and impactful projects.
Our very own Andre Spell, who has been student since 2014 organized his own outreach, and since that time has been fulfilling duties as an elder and executive Pastor in his home church.
His very first outreach back in 2014, consisted of developing bags full of treats and different necessities to pass out to the community, to serve as opportunity to connect and pray for people. Andre admits to learning a lot about coordinating volunteers throughout that project, and how to as a leader motivate people to get on board with outreach. Since then Andre has been fulfilling his requirements by serving as executive pastor at Breath of God Church in Fayetteville, NC.
Another one of Manna U’s own who we asked to share their experience was the one and only Adam Yow.
Adam was enrolled in theExperience College Internship back in 2015-2016 and submitted his intern responsibilities as part of his LIA project. Adam was the leader of the RUSH club at FCS during his time as an intern, and Pioneered the first RUSH club in a private school. The biggest leadership he learned while fulfilling his role as RUSH leader was the importance of asking more seasoned leaders for guidance on how to accomplish the mission of what he was doing.
Stories like Adam’s and Andre’s exemplify the heart behind LIA. At Manna U we want to provide any opportunity we can, to equip our students to apply principles they learn from us, into everyday leadership opportunities. We want to encourage both our new and returning students go all in this semester for their Leadership in Action projects, and never grow weary in doing good!
