WAU Students Show Service in Action

Jenny Matias and Cindy Ascencio attend Washington Adventist University

Jenny Matias and Cindy Ascencio, senior social work majors at WAU, got unique opportunities to intern at Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Md. They share how spiritual lessons from campus activities helped them better serve others:

Matias, a member of Allegheny East Conference’s Georgetown Spanish Company in Georgetown, Del., says WAU’s focus on ministry, action and “helping people around us,” ingrained in her a desire to help others. She recalls one client who confessed he considered calling the center to request a visitor during his two-month hospitalization. “It made me realize that there are people out here that don’t have any support system,” she says. She enjoyed getting to pray for him.

Ascencio, who attends a new, local Hispanic Adventist group, says WAU’s emphasis on treating all people with kindness helped her set a goal to be a ray of sunshine to each patron. She recounts meeting a client going through a contentious divorce.

She was able to pray with and tell her “that even though sometimes people think God is not there, God is always there and He’s always listening,” she says.