Just About Anything You Can Imagine

Harley juggles many responsibilities in his job. He teaches Bible classes to sophomores and seniors; leads baptismal Bible studies; attends regular administration committee meetings; plans mission trips, weekend programs and activities; and helps supervise them on campus.

In addition to these responsibilities, Harley provides counseling to students. “I’ve had students come to me about suicide, cutting, to talk to me about friends they know are doing drugs or dabbling in the occult. I have students who come to me about parental issues, siblings who are incarcerated, and just general discouragement or depression,” he explains. “Sexual abuse, et cetera, just about anything you can imagine.” Some of Chaplain Harley’s most memorable experiences involve interfaith encounters and student baptisms. “We had a young lady from Korea who had a Buddhist background, and we talked about God and about prayer in Bible class,” he recalls. “And one day, someone had stolen her money that she had in her room for her plane ticket home to South Korea for Christmas, and she came to me and said, ‘Is it true that if you pray, that God can help you with things like that?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And so we prayed, and someone who had taken it felt guilty and returned it. And after that, she was very open, and ... she was baptized before she left here.”