By Holly Harnsberger
Greetings from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where I write this blog surrounded by the chaos that comes with living with four of my siblings again. Not quite the same as the quiet corner of my house in Northern Virginia. That’s because, as mentioned in a previous blog, due to COVID-19, the fellows went for Thanksgiving and won’t reunite until after Christmas. Meanwhile, the final three weeks of our very active schedule for this semester moved online. Our seminary classes and Roundtable — the two weekly events where we are all together — are temporarily on Zoom. This is a sad reality and a reflection of the *ahem* stinky times we’re in.
It’s been tough to adjust to the coexistence of our home and fellows worlds, and especially tough to reconcile that our fellows world is entirely virtual. As I’m sure we’ve all come to learn during the year that is 2020, there is simply no substitute for human presence and physical community.
This notion made the switch to virtual all the more difficult, as I think we all began to feel the loss of being away from each other. However, even though the program looks a bit different until January, I’m so thankful for the gift of technology and that we still have opportunities to connect, despite it being through a screen. How beautiful it is to see the ways God is with us, uniting us in Him. Emmanuel.
Here’s an example of what virtual fellows looks like during this season. On Monday’s Roundtable, we carried out a Capital Fellows birthday tradition: giving verbal affirmations to the birthday fellow. Make no mistake, despite it being virtual, this tradition held strong. Each person stood on their chair (yes, even on Zoom) to give their affirmation. Two of our fellows were even in a Panera and were still not exempt from this tradition. And there’s really nothing like everyone singing Happy Birthday on Zoom with their mics on at the same time. Truly priceless. (Sorry to everyone’s ears).
It’s things like this that keep the spirit of the fellows active while we’re apart. We’re seeing the ways the Lord is working in our hearts and lives by rejuvenating our spirits by seeing family, and at the same time, stepping away to log onto Zoom to see our fellows. Even though we are all in our homes scattered across the U.S., we are witness to the ways God is with us. Even on Zoom.
And in January, we will surely leap out of our cars in excitement when we see each other at the retreat.
Emmanuel. God with us.
Pictures from the Week
Virtual Roundtable featuring birthday affirmations for Eric!
Become A Capital Fellow in 2021-22
We are now receiving applications for Season 15 of the Capital Fellows program!
The next program year runs from late August 2021 through mid-May 2022. If you are a college senior or recent college graduate - or know someone that is - we would love to hear from you! The Winter Application Deadline is January 15!
Want to learn more before you apply? Join an upcoming informational webinar. Click here for dates and times.
Pray for the Capital Fellows
Thank you for praying for the Capital Fellows each week!
Let's pray together, for fellows of all ages, that we would find ourselves more in love with Christ this Christmas, more deeply devoted to him and his work, more willing to be living sacrifices that approach life on his terms rather than our own, increasingly transformed by his Word, and more connected to and invested in his Church.
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Benefits of The Fellows Initiative
You probably already know that Capital Fellows is one of 30 fellows programs in The Fellows Initiative network. But, did you know that the sponsors of TFI offer great benefits to Capital Fellows alumni? For example, Reformed Theological Seminary offers a 33% tuition discount for 5 years. You can learn more about TFI's sponsors by clicking here.
If you know of a graduate school, seminary, employer, or other organization that would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact TFI by clicking here. Thanks!
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