At a young age, senior Madi Minks remembers growing up with religion and Christian influence all around her.

As a baby, she was introduced to religion by her family and was taken to church frequently.

A decade later, Minks still attends service religiously, going three times a week to three different types of service.

“I go to church three times a week,” Minks said. “Monday, I volunteer at InLife. On Wednesday I stay after school to go to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club meetings and perform on stage at Switch. On Sunday, I attend a service.”

Ironically, Minks didn’t even believe in Jesus until she was seventeen. Minks since then has grown to love life through the message of the gospel. Minks is now an open book about her faith, and has used the passing of her father eight months ago as a way to connect with God in an even more intimate way.

“That was a really big step for me because my Dad passed away eight months ago, and he was an atheist. Not that he did not support it because he obviously brought me to church. So when I am in sorrow or I have pain I am like, ‘I know God is having pain with me, so it is going to be okay.’ My Dad on the other hand was like, ‘suck it up,”  Minks said. 

Eight months later, Minks is singing on the stage of Life.Church, where she’s one of three singers and even performs solo acts while on stage. Her experience and practice through choir at Maize South has given her the confidence and practice she needs to jump on stage and perform Christian music.

“I’ve only done it three times at Switch so far. You don’t really see the people on stage. The first time, I didn’t really get nervous at first, but while rehearsing I would get nervous,” said Minks. “Singing will come naturally because of choir. Performing, I would not get as nervous because I knew what I was singing about and it was not just singing a song.”

Becoming even more connected with the church over the past eight months has given Minks a new perspective on life and the world around her as a whole.

“It has changed perspective for me, I know that a lot of people that aren’t Christians get really wrapped up in Earthly things and things that affect them now. I am so on doing things for Jesus, what would Jesus do, and how would Jesus feel?