Kingdom Glimpses - Biola University

Meleca Consultado
Senior Meleca Consultado wasn’t supposed to come to Biola.
Even though she grew up 10 minutes away in Fullerton, Calif.,
Meleca was from birth destined for “greater things.” Born in
the Phillippines, Meleca came to the United States at age 3. In her Catholic
family of 16, Meleca was expected to pursue a career in a financially
lucrative field like medicine.
But in her senior year of high school, Meleca stunned her parents by
making the choice to attend Biola rather than the state school they’d
picked out for her.
“When I told them that I might be going to Biola and studying intercultural
studies, they were like, ‘What’s that? Does that deal with diplomacy?’
The question was what I was going to do after I graduate. And actually,
I don’t know. But I wouldn’t change anything.”
Meleca, who is in her third year as a resident assistant in Hart Hall,
has found in Biola a place where she can understand what it means to be
Christian in an honest, vulnerable community.
“I feel so known here,” she said, “even in my brokenness.”
For Meleca, the appeal of Christianity has always been the idea of
being truly known in a community—where it is OK to ask questions, talk
about uncomfortable things and not feel threatened. Whether she is leading
a campus-wide women’s ministry (“The Beloved”) or walking with the
girls on her floor during both bad times and good, Meleca is passionate
about facilitating communities where people are known, both to themselves
and to each other. She believes that Christianity is the only thing
that offers us a vocabulary to express what we are really feeling, to be
honest about who we really are.
“We’re a superficial Facebook generation, afraid to ask questions or
go deeper,” she said. “We’re a culture of hiding, and Christianity is about
shedding light on the dark areas in our lives.”
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Reaching Out to the World
Neph Trejo
Let’s be honest. Christian colleges don’t have the reputation of being particularly
engaged with the outside world. Rather, we are known for being
sheltered, insular and a little bit detached from reality.
The reality at Biola, though, is that the current batch of students is
remarkably broad-minded and outward-focused.
Community, for them, must necessarily go beyond the sheltered world
of a Christian university or well-to-do suburban congregation.
Talbot student Aaron Mascaro, who works as chaplain for Long Beach
Rescue Mission, hopes to one day plant a church that is focused on leaving
comfort zones to minister across cultural and socio-economic borders.
“Unity, diversity and reconciliation are big issues for the church
today,” he said. “We have to create a church that is more reflective of the
gospel, of God’s kingdom.”
Coupled with this focus on diversity and cross-cultural ministry
is the strikingly global mindset of many Biola students. By the time
they have graduated, many of them will have traveled internationally.
Record numbers of students are participating in study abroad programs,
and many of them express interest in living abroad permanently
after graduation.
This international orientation makes sense in a world that is increasingly
“flat” and globalized, and it’s a trend that goes beyond Biola.
Still, many Biola students are finding that their desire for cross-cultural
experiences fits well with a more robust, kingdom-minded faith.
Senior anthropology major Caitlin Risser speaks for a lot of students when
she says that an openness to study and visit foreign cultures offers us a
chance to “see who God is through all sorts of different lenses.”
Caitlin thinks it is important that we think of the Great Commission in
the context of globalization — accepting new ideas while still holding strong
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