Sophomore Matt Niehoff and junior Jason Plummer look up a passage in the Bible in their dorm room. Niehoff, who was converted from Roman Catholi– cism while in high school, considered doing mission work after college. (Photo by Russell Keck) ByJlm'O~ON 84/1 people people -----------------~ For 18 years, sopho;;'ore Matt Niehoff attended a Catholic Church until his friend, sophomore John Wilkins, opened up the Bible and studied God's plan with him. "I didn' t have a relationship with God, but the Bible opened my eyes," Niehoff said . "I realized some things I was doing were wrong and my life wasn't glorifying God . So 1changed a lot of things and switched faiths." A number of factors led to his decision to folJow God's word. First, Niehoff was invited to a vacation Bible school at a local church where he saw people his own age leading the activities. "I was amazed people my own age knew the Bible so well," Neihoff said. "I was always under the impression that was the priest's job." Niehoff also noticed a big difference between the church of Christ and the Catholic Church. "tn the Catholic Church, the Bible and scripture weren' t emphasized, but it was very important to the church of Christ," Niehoff said. For the first time he also started to understand God's word and how it related to his life. "I never knew what was really right and wrong because no one ever showed me in the Bible," Niehoff said. Then he went to Soul Lift, a youth rally in St. Louis, where he rea lly felt the need to change. He alternated between attending Catholic mass and the Fairgrounds Road church of Christ. After an entire year of studying and attending Christian functions, Wilkins baptized Niehoff in the summer of 2002 at Camp Ne-o-tez in Missouri. Although the decision to follow Christ was best, Niehoff knew a Catholic family awaited him at home. " It was difficult for my family to accept the change, but they noticed a lot of good changes in me," Niehoff said. After becoming a Christian, Niehoff made some changes to his life plans as welL He decided to come to Harding because he believed it would be a better place for him spiritually. "It is a lot better here ... for me 'because I am away from a lot of the temptations of a state school," Niehoff said. "I wouldn't have made it at a state schooL" Niehoff, who considered doing mission work after college, said he was another example of how God worked through loving and patient friends. "1 was amazed people my own age knew the Bible so well. I was always under the impressio that was the priest's job." -sophomore Matt Niehoff "I am a great example of how God can changes lives," Niehoff said. "I had a really rough yea r my junior yea r of high school, and now because of God I have made a complete turn– around." Through Niehoff's conversion, he said Christ needed to be shared with the lost. "You might think a person is really lost and has no hope of finding Christ, but nothing is impossible, so never give up hope," Niehoff said.
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