Last weekend, I was privileged to be part of the first Todd Starnes Fall Getaway at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, NC. Not only was I able to hear amazing speakers, but I was also treated to some of the finest music I’ve ever heard.
When the Voices of Lee, a contemporary Christian a cappella group from Lee University of Cleveland, TN, blessed us with their perfectly harmonized rendition of “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” I was moved to tears as were many others in the room. The only thing more moving than their song was first soprano Naja Wilson’s testimony.
It seemed only fitting that she sang lead on “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” because God has certainly been faithful to her. Originally from Toronto, Naja is a junior intercultural studies major at Lee, and she is grateful for the opportunity to go to school and follow her dreams.
When Danny Murray, director of Voices of Lee, first met Naja at a church vocalist competition on campus in 2013, she had no way of paying for an education at Lee or anywhere else. She thought she was just there to represent the Eastern Canada Region of the Church of God, but God had so much more planned.
Though she didn’t win the contest, Murray invited her back to tour campus and audition for the Voices of Lee, which she did the following week.
After auditioning for him, Murray asked her: “Do you feel in your heart that this is where God is calling you?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I love this place…I really want to be here.”
But she had no idea how she would be able to come up with enough money to attend that fall. Getting a student visa from Canada required her to have all funds in hand for the first year’s tuition, room and board.
Lee University Vice-President for Enrollment Phil Cook and Murray went to work on Naja’s situation and were able to offer her a half-tuition scholarship for her participation in the Voices of Lee—but that wouldn’t be enough.
Then, Murray remembered a performance they had done for a Canadian Corporation about 12 years before. The owners of the Corma Corporation had enjoyed their music so much that they’d started an endowed scholarship fund—a scholarship that was to benefit a Canadian student in the Voices of Lee. And, since they hadn’t had a Canadian in the group for quite a while, the interest on that fund had grown to a sizable amount.
That money, given to Naja, completed the amount she needed to attend that fall semester 2013, and God continues to supply her needs. Just this past spring, Naja was awarded one of the most prestigious scholarships at Lee University, the Carolyn Payne Scholarship, which includes another sizable tuition grant.
As Naja sang from her heart that night at The Cove, Murray couldn’t help but get choked up, knowing her story. So, at the conclusion of the song, he asked her, in reference to the creation of the endowment, “Naja, how old were you 12 years ago?”
“I was 8,” she answered.
“When you were just 8 years old, God started your college fund. He truly is faithful!”
And what He did for Naja, He will do for you because God is no respecter of persons. He is only a respecter of faith.
I challenge you to meditate on the lyrics of that old hymn today and praise Him for His faithfulness in your life: “All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”
