About Me
Hello! My name is Bailey Shoemaker, and I am in my third semester here at Southeastern. Originally from Mississippi, I moved to Raleigh a little over a year ago to attend seminary. Currently, I work as a graphic designer and I am pursuing an MDiv in International Church Planting. Life is crazy and awesome, but I am just taking it one day at a time, loving people and enjoying this season of learning. I am a member of the Summit Church, which is my family, and love seeing what God is doing!
I originally felt led to go Seminary in early college when God began fostering a deep love for the Scriptures in my heart; as I read more, I just needed to understand the context and the history behind the passage. As I continued on in college, I really started to see some type of international missions as a part of my future. God used time that I spent hanging out with a lot of international students and an opportunity to spend several summers overseas to radically change my view of the world and ministry.
To make a long story short, seminary was not what I expected. The material didn’t just affect me academically, but spiritually as well, penetrating deep into my soul, provoking questions that I did not know the answer to. It was quite difficult, but oh so good! God shook me upside down that first year, challenging and refining me as questions emerged about who I was and what I believed. I struggled a lot to figure out why God brought me here, even though I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was supposed to be here. I slowly started to realize that my focus was too limited. I had one idea of what I should do and how I should get there. Throughout the last year, God has broken me and shaped in me new ways, and given me a renewed sense of joy! He has opened my heart to a variety of ministries.
Don’t get me wrong; I still love international missions, but in a beautiful way, God has released my grip on what I think my life should look like, and transformed my perspective into an open-minded one. Oh, it has been a rough year wrestling with who am I and coming back to the amazing truth of my identity anchored in Christ, strengthened now with a better understanding of His gospel and dependency on Him, but I would never trade it for the world!
I am still in the same degree program, but as I tell most people, I am pretty much just winging it! Who knows where God will lead, but I am so privileged to be a part of his perfect plan, and know that whether I end up in a hut in Africa, an ESL center in Chicago, or a coffee shop in Ukraine, He is so good!
Southeastern has been such an amazing source of growth and theological richness. I am so thankful for each of the professors here that have brought a new challenge and perspective of the elements of the gospel. I am so excited to continue to sharpen my understanding of the Scriptures, grow in my knowledge of theology, and ultimately just learn as much as I can during this season. I am so grateful for the opportunity, and we shall see what lies ahead!
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