Cedarville Stories

Sheep, Stage Lights, and Scripture Long before Abigail King set foot on the stage at Cedarville University, she was already dreaming of a life that would combine her greatest loves: animals and theatre. Even as a little girl growing up in sunny Florida, she imagined a future where the joy of performance could meet the companionship of creatures great and small. That dream stayed with her, and when...

A Calling Shaped by Providence Shannon Yarosz’s story bears the marks of God’s providence. Often, that providence feels ordinary in the moment and only later reveals how lovingly the story has been arranged. On the Cedarville Stories podcast, Shannon reflected on a journey shaped by science, compassion, and a deep desire to serve others well. That calling began to take shape during her years at Th...

A Steady Rhythm of Hope Dr. Lou Lilite learned hope in the hard soil of Haiti. He grew up in a ministry family surrounded by the daily realities of poverty, where need was easy to see and impossible to ignore. Yet even there, God planted gifts and purpose in his life. Through his parents’ example, Lou learned that faith looks beyond what is missing and trusts God’s provision even before it comes i...

Held by God Through Every Trial Brandon Stover’s story is marked by God’s faithful presence through both unexpected joy and deep hardship. As he prepares to graduate from Cedarville University with a degree in special education, he does so with a heart shaped by struggle, strengthened by grace, and anchored in the steady leadership of the Lord. When Brandon came to Cedarville, he found much more t...

A Song of Worship in the Midst of Motherhood   In the quiet, faithful work of motherhood, Renee (O’Neal) Sallee ’10 has learned a truth strong enough to carry both a family and a song: God is enough. That conviction now rests at the heart of her music, ministry, and home.  A 2010 graduate of Cedarville University with a degree in early childhood education, Renee records music as Renee Leanne, crea...

Behind the Music Behind the scenes at K-LOVE and Air1, ministry feels deeply personal. What listeners hear as a song, a familiar voice, or a timely word starts long before the microphone turns on. It begins with a team that believes what people listen to really matters because what fills the mind often shapes the heart. That belief fuels the work of Cedarville University graduates Jim Houser ’91,...

From Cedarville to K-LOVE Three Cedarville broadcasting alumni now serve in senior leadership at K-LOVE and Air1 Media Networks — and their shared story is as meaningful as it is remarkable. Jim Houser ’91, Chief Radio Officer; Mandy Young ’99, Vice President of Radio; and Steve Shore ’02, Music Platform Program Manager, are each helping lead the largest contemporary Christian music radio network...

Celebrating $205.8 Million and Future Cedarville Sphere The future of Cedarville University seems to rise right out of the waters of Cedar Lake on the latest Cedarville Stories podcast. The conversation opens with the kind of news that gives Cedarville plenty to celebrate. Dr. Will Smallwood, Cedarville’s Vice President for Advancement, reflects on the strong finish of the 1000 Days Transformed Ca...

Helping Foster Teens Find Their Place Fifteen years ago, Eric ’03 and Kara (Howe) ’04 Gilmore began noticing a pattern that would not let them rest. Teenagers in Arkansas entered foster care or aged out with little consistent support. In fact, many reached legal adulthood without housing, reliable work, or someone to call family. Their Cedarville University years had planted a conviction in them t...

Walking With Lyme, Walking With God Sam Sofio carried a simple dream of attending Christian university where faith wasn’t an accessory but the air everyone breathed. He pictured chapel worship and professors who prayed before class. He also sensed a calling to tell stories that point people to God. Then his health took a hard turn, and money worries crept in. He woke up bone-tired no matter how lo...

A Story Bigger Than Football Redemption opens like a familiar football story — with helmets, stadium lights, and the pressure to win — but quickly clarifies its real focus: Jesus changing lives inside The Ohio State Buckeyes’ program. Available through The Wonder Project on Amazon Prime, this docuseries follows an ongoing spiritual revival that can’t be measured on a scoreboard. Behind it are two...

Stocking Classrooms, Building Futures A first-year teacher stands in an empty classroom with a key in her hand and a knot in her stomach. Twenty-six desks. Bare walls. One loud thought: School starts soon, and the room has almost nothing. Dr. Megan Brown, an associate professor of education at Cedarville University, knows that moment well. Coursework can cover research and best practices. Training...

Secret Service and the Zero-Fail Mission The U.S. Secret Service lives by a simple standard: zero fail. Every route, every rooftop, and every split-second decision demands excellence because the mission leaves no room for mistakes. Jeff Rinehart has built his career around that expectation. The 1993 Cedarville University graduate has spent nearly three decades with the Secret Service, rising into...

Big League Hopes Payton Eeles and Tanner Gillis are living their baseball dreams. Both former Yellow Jacket baseball players are moving closer to the major leagues and learning that the climb is rarely clean and never entirely predictable. Baseball is a sport of failure that teaches a person to live between what’s hoped for and what’s in hand. There’s always another series, another chance, and ano...

Dr. Jared Pincin: Fantasy Sports and Real Convictions Some of the most lasting lessons in life don’t come from classrooms or textbooks but from watching the people closest to you do hard things without complaint. For Dr. Jared Pincin, those lessons were learned early by watching his college-educated father take whatever work was necessary to provide for his family, even when that meant working as...

From Czech Courts to a Global Calling Ondrej Plasil grew up in the Czech Republic with a basketball in his hands and a competitive spirit in his heart. The game gave him direction, discipline, and drive. But underneath it all, he was quietly searching for something more. In a country where faith is often absent or minimized, Ondrej didn’t grow up in a strong Christian environment. He knew about Go...

Desert Roots and Gospel Goals Matthew and Daniel Leo grew up in the Middle East, where sunbaked streets doubled as soccer fields and neighbors quickly became family. Their childhood was filled with the rhythms of daily life, including shared meals, local traditions, and long afternoons chasing a ball through the dust. With parents devoted to humanitarian work, the brothers were immersed in a life...

Aiming True, Living Fully Gracen Fletcher grew up under Indiana skies, where the wind danced across hayfields and horses ran free. A farm girl through and through, she learned to saddle up almost as early as she could walk. Her days were filled with muck boots, fiddle strings, and the steady hum of country life. Whether she was training one of her family’s Arabian horses, casting a fishing line at...

Lucy Malmberg: Cradled in a Box, Carried by Faith Lucy Malmberg’s life began in the shadow of World War II. Born in a refugee camp and carried onto a plane bound for America inside a handmade box, she traveled hidden beneath a blanket with nothing but a handwritten birth certificate and her father’s whispered prayer. Her parents had fled the devastation of Ukraine with no home, no country, and lit...

Bill Bolthouse: More Than Vegetables Bill Bolthouse’s story began in the rich black soil of Grant, Michigan, where long rows of onions shaped both his childhood and his character. Working alongside his family on their muck farm, Bill learned early what honest labor demanded — often on his knees, pulling weeds under the summer sun. Each season, his dad entrusted him with three-quarters of an acre t...

From Walks to Wisdom: Hembo’s Journey From Cedarville to ESPN In the world of sports, stats tell stories — and for Paul “Hembo” Hembekides, they’ve written a full chapter of his life. Hembo graduated from Cedarville University in 2012 after four seasons of college baseball, where he started 170 games and set the program’s all-time record with 128 walks. That patience and discipline at the plate hi...

Bench Press and Biblical Truth: The Strength of Dr. Trent Rogers Dr. Trent Rogers doesn’t fit the stereotype of a Bible professor and college dean. Sure, he’s got the credentials — a doctorate in New Testament, years of pastoral experience, and a deep love for Scripture. But he also once bench-pressed 670 pounds, setting a world record. That same drive to be the best shapes everything he does, fro...

A Game Plan for Sports Health Sports have always played an important role in Hayden Lee’s life. Now a Doctor of Pharmacy/MBA student at Cedarville University, Hayden’s journey from high school athlete to aspiring sports pharmacist shows how passion and purpose can collide in powerful ways. Growing up, Hayden was all in — on the field, in the weight room, and in the classroom. His love for biology...

Press Box Perspectives: Jeff Gilbert Sports are Jeff Gilbert’s passion. What started as a hobby of cutting out sports stories from newspapers and magazines and crafting his own narrative for each story has blossomed into a thrilling career as the beat reporter for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and assistant professor of journalism at Cedarville University. In this week’s Cedarville Stories...

Hope in Hard Places: Greg and Erica Smith Erica Smith woke up in a hospital bed, confused and restrained, believing she’d been abandoned and tortured. She had just survived a weeklong medically induced coma caused by a sudden, life-threatening allergic reaction — one that nearly stole her life. At the same time, her mother was dying of cancer. And just a few months earlier, her husband Greg had lo...