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Audrey Warfel

warfel_audrey.jpg“My time as part of the CCO ministry was a very clear and defining stepping stone in my life as Christian,” says Audrey Warfel. “I had heard about God and his desire to have a relationship with us, and the need to tell others about the good news, but until college, I had never stood back far enough to see the whole picture. Everything about my life is now colored by the understanding of God that started when I was a college student—the food I choose to eat, how I spend my time and money, the way I hope to answer my son’s questions about life, and the recommendations I make when people seek to use technology for their business.”

Audrey, who majored in engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, first connected to the CCO’s ministry in 1992, when she attended CMU’s Pre-College Program and met her pre-college counselor, Kelly Slease, a student who was involved in the CCO’s ministry through Shadyside Presbyterian Church. “By God’s grace, these supportive relationships with two Christian women made it easy to make it a priority to find a place for fellowship and teaching.”

Audrey hit the ground running, and as a first-year student, she became a leader in CMU’s Habitat for Humanity group. “I was a faithful attendee, but just about the only one. I become convinced that many students on campus—Christian or not—would find this ministry compelling as well. After a few short months, I had an email list of hundreds of students who received announcements about the work trips, and attendance was so good that we had to wait-list volunteers and even ran two vans on some Saturdays. CMU became one of the most faithful and reliable providers of volunteers to Habitat during the next few years.”

Audrey’s commitment to serving her community as a college student laid a foundation for the way she lives her life today. She and her husband, Tom, now live in Vancouver, Washington, with their young son, and Audrey is a homemaker and part-time technology consultant. The Warfels are also active members of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.

“It is important to me to be involved in every community I’m part of. Our church is very active in the neighborhood where it’s located and we try to participate in providing school supplies for children, Christmas presents for families need, and clothing, food and advocacy for the poor in that community. I also volunteer as the webmaster for our neighborhood and participate in our block watch program and security committee.”

“The CCO taught me that the most powerful evangelism is walking side by side with a person and simply letting the light of obedience shine in your life. Being genuine in every relationship, talking about difficult topics with courage and love, and letting my reflection of being made in God’s image project onto every area of my life is the way I share my faith.”

Audrey is grateful for the support she received from the CCO during her college years. “I became increasingly dissatisfied with the culture of life at CMU and I don’t know that I would have stayed all four years had it not been for the CCO’s ministry,” she says. “I can’t imagine that any other place would have enriched my relationship with God so deeply or broadly as the CCO.”