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Program to Help College-Bound Students: Faith-Based Program 'Impact 360' Offers Classes and Service Projects

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Harry Franklin, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Jun. 19--When John White saw the impact of a two-week summer camp program for girls offered through Berry College's Winshape Program, he realized how critical the transitions are from high school to college and from college to the workplace.

"Many students are not getting the full impact of the college experience," said White, co-founder of the Lifeshape Foundation with his wife, Trudy Cathy White, daughter of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy.

"They are spending years trying to find out who they are. Students are falling out of college, sometimes at a 17 percent rate, and experiencing loss of direction and identity. We asked how can we have impact."

Through their foundation, the Whites have created a new learning experience for young people ages 18-20 that will be based in Pine Mountain.

Facilities purchased

The foundation is buying the Davis Inn and adjacent home of Mildred Davis in Pine Mountain to operate Impact 360, a nine-month residential program with a goal of revolutionizing leaders of the emerging generation to prepare them for the lives White says they were created to live. It is designed for high school graduates who would wait a year to enter college and who may not be sure what they plan to do when they complete college.

"The biggest issue we know of is the number of young people leaving their faith in the first years of college," said White, who served 20 years with the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"We want them to understand a Christian view of who they are and what the world is. Do they know who God is? We want to help them get into a vocational calling. We want to build this around community service, to help them learn servant leadership by helping at Callaway Gardens, in the Pine Mountain community and in Atlanta and Columbus. We hope to help them be mentored by older persons who would walk alongside these students as they decide on a career choice."

Classes taught

The students will spend eight months in Pine Mountain, taking 15 hours of college courses accredited through Union University. Located in Jackson, Tenn., Union's curriculum focuses on a Biblical world view. Some 20-25 students will help inaugurate the program starting Sept. 5, with a goal in subsequent years of having 50 or more students. Students also will spend January on an international mission trip to central Europe. The nine-month program costs $19,500, and scholarships will be awarded based on individual need and ability, said Eric Turner, an associate director of the program.

Lifeshape expects to close on the purchase of the Davis Inn before the end of June. The inn has 23 rooms in three buildings. The Davis house also will be incorporated into the program. One-third of the rooms initially will be used for Impact 360, and the rest will continue to be leased by the inn. Owner Don Taylor has agreed to remain through December as innkeeper, said Turner.

Eventually, Impact 360 could serve up to 150 students annually, but the program would have to expand beyond the Davis Inn campus to accommodate those numbers.

Biblical studies

John Basie, adjunct professor at Union University, will be primary instructor for the program, but he said a number of well-known guest professors and lecturers also will be used, including Norm Geisler, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, N.C., and Professor David Noebel, who runs a summer program for high school students through Summit Ministries.

"In our courses we will have modules," said Basie. "All four of the three-hour courses are considered philosophy and will have a heavy dose of philosophy and also introduction to Biblical studies. They include 'Developing Biblical World View,' 'Defending and Communicating the Biblical World View' and 'The Good, the Right and the True in God's Plan.' We will go over ethical theories and reasoning and look at practical application, taking a look at what it means for Christians to transform culture."

He said classes will typically be three or four days a week. On Friday, students will take trips to various places for service-learning projects, such as to Atlanta to take advantage of cultural venues: operas, museums and other places that expose them to the arts. They also will capitalize on the outdoor facilities available at Callaway Gardens.

Part of their instruction will focus on how faith has a bearing on science and vice versa, said Basie.

"Christians for a long time have been pegged as only creationists who have not taken a look at science," he said. "There are intelligent-design theorists who are not of the William Jennings Bryan ilk. They bring the world of science to bear on the question: Is everything we view around us due to chance?"

Idea of ownership

As late as May, the Whites were still considering leasing facilities for the program.

"We were looking at the Callaway area and working with Callaway Gardens," said White. "Chick-fil-A has a connection with Callaway Gardens. We were there in March for dedication of a chapel and organ. Mildred Davis played the concert. She was going to sell her home. She said it would be nice if it could be used for missionary activities for high school students. She mentioned it to Truett Cathy. We went by and realized the opportunity that was there to do programs and the closeness to Callaway. As we convert over to students, we will begin programs with churches to bring students in the summer for seminars, retreats and training."

White said the house must be rezoned to convert it to a classroom.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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