When Ally Brudevold arrived at Corban when she was 18 years old, she felt alone in the realm of coming from the background of a broken family.
“I had to choose what to do with myself outside of the divorce papers” Brudevold said.
She felt there weren’t many people she could relate to or understand about how her family background continued to affect her life.
In 2010, her sophomore year, Brudevold discovered a dream that she had to start a weekly Bible study on campus for students who come from divorced families.
“Divorce is more prevalent in the church than in the secular world,” said Brudevold, and that fact alone is what kept her motivated to realize her passion for helping students from broken homes.
The task was far more difficult than she initially thought it would be. There was no curriculum for this kind of study, so Brudevold started from scratch to make her endeavor a reality. She chose Psalm 139 as the core Bible passage to build upon her study, and specifically verse 23, which says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”
In 2011, Brudevold made her passion for this club come true, and it is now a part of CLT at Corban.
“I want to have a supportive group of students to discuss important issues regarding their situation,” Brudevold said as her vision for the program.
Weekly, the group discusses a wide variety of subjects. The group meets every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. in AC 3301. They study the word of God, and discuss things such as relationships and boundaries during their time together.The group meets every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. in AC 3301.
They have guest speakers come occasionally, and have created “a comfortable setting for us that we can all be safe in. We have already created a little family!” Brudevold said.
One weekly attender said, “My entire life I’ve looked at families that are complete and whole, and felt left out of that. In this group, we’ve all gone through the same thing. We can talk about our experiences and share wise words with each other.”
Brudevold said she desires to involve other students in the club as well, but isn’t sure what that will look like. She will continue this club through the end of the 2011-12 school year, and plans to see where God takes it from there.