A year ago Vivian Wells could not have imagined the ways in which God would dramatically redirect her path. She graduated from college with her Bachelors in Marketing and soon after followed God’s call to work on the mission field. During a short break at home she was encouraged to attend a TKU Campus Day, and from there everything changed.
Vivian grew up loving worship, but like most of us, she doubted her gifts and talents and went on to pursue a more “tangible” career choice. It was during those first few college years that God used her friends to encourage her to lead worship in a small group. That’s when Vivian started to realize how strongly God was calling her to worship. The marketing degree was another tool in her toolbelt, but God was awakening a deeper desire.
After graduating from college, Vivian moved to Mexico to work with a ministry organization. Being on the mission field was incredibly stretching in more ways than one, and regardless of only knowing a few guitar chords, she was soon asked to start leading worship. It wasn’t long before Vivian felt ill-equipped for the task before her and she was nearing burn-out. She decided to head home to Texas to visit family for a short period of rest.
While at home, she began praying about God’s next steps for her life and her parents encouraged her to attend a TKU Campus Day. It was while attending Campus Day that Vivian experienced worship in a new and fresh way. She knew “that” was exactly what she wanted her life to be producing – a Holy Spirit-led, God empowered, worship – and she currently wasn’t. It became very clear that God was directing her to move back and enroll in the worship program at TKU.
We asked Vivian what made this degree worth returning to school for and she quickly replied, “All of the hands-on training is incomparable”. Vivian has had the opportunity to shadow the Gateway Church Technical Arts team behind the scene at different ministry events and she also enrolled in a worship lab course where she was able to learn various worship platform positions. From those two experiences alone she has learned that it takes more than just skill to produce excellence, but it takes an entire team working together on and off the platform.
Vivian is involved in multiple on-campus clubs, including the Spanish and soccer clubs, and can usually be found with a guitar strapped over her shoulder or hanging out with friends in the café. Her story is a sweet reminder that the gifts and desires God puts inside of us are often roadmaps to our calling and no matter what route we choose, He is always faithful to use all things together for our good.
“Jumping into the worship program was God’s perfect timing. My previous degree prepared me for the business world, but God directed my every step to pursue worship in this season and since coming to school at the Kings, I’ve realized how much I want to intertwine business and ministry.”