A $2,500 scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year, awarded to an outstanding high school senior or college student enrolled in an Assemblies of God College or University who is a permanent resident of Arkansas with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Finding My Foundation in ChristMy whole life I have been a “Christian”. I grew up going to church as a child with my younger brother. In 2011, my parents got divorced. Shortly after the divorce, my mother met my stepfather. My ex-stepfather was mentally abusive while his son assaulted me during that time. My mother and stepfather got divorced 4 years later. Meanwhile, my father met my stepmother who was very harsh on me mentally like my ex-stepfather had been but in a passive aggressive manner. Middle school through high school I dealt with a lot of self-hate and viewing myself image negatively as a whole. As a result of all the buildup throughout the years and other things in between, I reached an all-time low during my senior year of high school. During my senior year of high school, I met my mentor who was my art teacher at the time, his name is Shane Beyer. On January 8th, 2021, I opened to Mr. Beyer about all the weight I had been trying to carry on my shoulders. After going back and forth, Mr. Beyer prayed of my salvation in his classroom, and I immediately felt the joy of the Lord. This was the first time in a while that I had felt joy, that I felt loved and the first time I experienced true joy. While being a new creation, I struggled on and off with my identity in Christ for the first 9 months of being saved. Living with my father and stepmother, I still fought against depression while trying to follow and trust Christ. On Sunday September 5th, 2021, I fell into a pit of darkness and self-doubt again. I was on the edge of taking my life.  I then recognized that it was not “my life” to take. I fell on my knees crying to the Lord and begged for Him to release that thought from ever entering my mind again and show me how to move forward with His plans. Wednesday September 8th, 2021, I attended a service at Northwest Church called “Revival”. We had a guest speaker who preached on how God was the God of the impossible and we need to ask him to do the impossible, not just the possible. That night they did an alter call and I felt an urge to go to the alter and beg for the impossible. I stepped out and asked that the Lord move mountains in my life. I asked that He place me in a better position to fulfill His plans and purposes while breaking free from the depression completely. The next morning, I was removed from living with father and stepmother and moved into my grandma’s house. Immediately, I knew that that was Him moving the mountains in my life. In that instance I finally felt a peace that can only come from Jesus. Ever since, I have been on fire for the Lord, and I can confidently say that my relationship with Him is the best it has ever been. I have an overwhelming desire to know Him more and pursue what He has for me. My calling is to be a high school art teacher, there is no other career for me. High schoolers are the most vital age group to work in because the students are trying to find who they are, they are reaching the end of their brain development and most people who follow Christ make the decision during the transition of being a child to becoming an adult. I will be an art teacher because I have always had a desire to be one, but it was confirmed after my art teacher prayed over my salvation in the public-school classroom at Bentonville West High School.

Please direct your Senior Pastor, Youth Pastor, and a school teacher/coach to the reference form on our website next to this application or forward this link: https://form.jotform.com/201464758154155

Kaelyn Woosley