Every season carries its own story, and as November settles in, I keep sensing that Thanksgiving has a deeper narrative than the one we grew up rehearsing. The birth of Jesus gives us the Christmas story. His victory over death gives us the Easter story. And tucked in between is the Thanksgiving Story, one that reminds us that gratitude is not a one-way expression we offer upward, but a divine response that moves toward us. Scripture says it plainly: “The Lord your God is in your midst… He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17). This is the part we rarely pause long enough to hear. In a year where Evangel has experienced meaningful spiritual momentum and unmistakable favor, I find myself overwhelmed not by how much we have to celebrate, but by how deeply God is rejoicing over you.
You are part of the reason this campus feels so alive right now. Your prayers have wrapped around students who are finding courage to step into callings they didn’t even know to dream about a year ago. Your encouragement shows up in the hallways in ways you may never see but students feel every day. Your generosity has become the unseen force helping to strengthen this momentum, like an undercurrent that moves a river long before the surface reveals its direction.
As the year turns, many of you have asked where this momentum is heading next. Our All In for the Future focus has become one of the ways people are stepping into the story, not out of obligation but out of alignment with what God is already doing here. There’s no pressure in that invitation. Just an open place at the table, a chance to join the movement that, I believe, God Himself is singing over.
This is the Thanksgiving Story I’m carrying into this season – God rejoicing over His people, delighting in the work He’s doing through them, and calling them to lean in with greater commitment and courage than ever before, because this world needs Spirit-empowered leaders like never before. And when I think of Evangel’s alumni, I see that story written everywhere.
With deep gratitude,
Dr. Mike Rakes
President, Evangel University