WHERE ARE THEY NOW

 

 

 Cindy Schaeffner Rice

What school did you graduate from? Berkshire Christian College
What year did you complete your studies? I didn’t graduate. I changed my major 2 times and had one year left, but married and left BCC in 1981.

 

  Where are you now? I married my college sweetheart the week after he graduated in 1981. We now have 3 sons, Joshua, Andrew and Matthew who are all in ministry. We are so blessed!! We currently have 10 grandchildren. Since leaving BCC we have lived and pastored in Meredith, NH (9 yrs 9 mos), Bangor, ME (5 yrs) and currently Oxford, MA (26+ yrs). In the churches we have served I have worked in music ministry, as a Sunday school teacher and in WHFMS. I have worked outside the home in banking (12+ yrs), as a church secretary and currently as a managerial secretary at Clark University in Worcester, MA (23+ yrs). Life has been rich and full, serving the Lord along side my best friend, my husband, Glenn.

 

 What are your favorite memories from school?  There are so many memories from school! Being a small school you knew everyone. You may not have been best friends with people, but now it’s such a joy and priviledge to see those that you went to school with – a common bond. My favorite thing would be chorale. The fun we had traveling and singing. Of course, meeting my husband should be at the top of the list!

How has the lord used your training? That’s a tough one to answer because I didn’t graduate and use my elementary
education experience in a school. I have used that training in teaching Sunday school. I’ve used the music experience as I have participated and led in music and worship at the various churches.

When I went to Berkshire I had decided I was only going to stay one year (my mother’s requirement!) then I was going home to attend community college to be a medical secretary. What did I know at 18?? I knew I wasn’t going to Berkshire to find a husband and definitely not marry a minister! God has quite the sense of humor! I met someone that I immediately fell in love with, someone with a good heart who loved the Lord, and he decided to enter the ministry! At that point God had softened my heart to follow Him wherever He has led – His plans, not mine. I’m so grateful for my time at Berkshire. I wish now I had studied more in my Bible classes. Working at a secular university now I understand much better the sacrifices that all who worked at BCC gave for the students and for the Lord. I appreciate them all deeply.

What have you been doing since Graduation? For the last 23 years I have been a secretary in the economics department at Clark University in Worcester, MA. We have a grad program and have students from all over the world. I’ve been referred to as the ‘department mom’ by these students who are thousands of miles from home. I comfort those who are sad, homesick, going through tough times. I love them with the love of Jesus. I will often tell them I’m praying for them. I try to be a light in a very dark world. I don’t know what people do without the Lord! My goal is to know Him more each day and to serve Him unswervingly.