{"id":9021,"date":"2018-02-02T08:19:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T13:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/?p=9021"},"modified":"2018-02-02T08:19:31","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T13:19:31","slug":"faith-calls-jesus-cendejas-to-mside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/archives\/9021","title":{"rendered":"Faith calls Jesus Cendejas to M’Side"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jesus
Jesus Cendajas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Jesseca Ormond–<\/strong>According to Laura Garcia, Jesus Cendejas\u2019 journey in life \u201cis to be spiritual, connected and helpful.\u201d The International Student Association president sees her advisor as \u201cone of the most transparent individuals\u201d that she knows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus Cendejas, originally from California, says it was a step of faith coming to Morningside College. \u201cIn all respects, spiritually and in the entirety of that journey, I trusted that this is where I was being led. I had no family or friends out here, so everything was new and didn\u2019t know what to expect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Before he was the International Student Advisor, Cendejas attained a Religious Studies degree from Morningside College. As a student, Cendejas was a resident assistant (RA), a member of Campus Ministries, and the Student Alumni Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI became very involved from the moment I arrived on campus with many organizations and with people,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cendejas gave up his RA job because he didn\u2019t believe that it allowed him to be involved enough. \u201cI had a friend, who was also my resident, and he suffered from mental health problems. Because of my job at the college I couldn\u2019t be emotionally invested, so I quit,\u201d Cendejas said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cendejas is fascinated by religious studies, social and community involvement. When asked about religion Cedejas said, \u201cIt leads you to understand the world you live in. Part of what I did right after graduation and continue to do today directly and indirectly relates to my major. I served at my church, Calvary Chapel, for a while and soon after became ordained as a staff pastor in April 2014.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At that time Cendejas was offered a job at a local organization called the Mary J. Treglia Community House; he previously volunteered there for his service learning class.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mary J. Treglia Community House focuses on helping the Siouxland immigrant population assimilate into the community, whether it is through English as a second language (ESL) classes, translation and interpreting services, or legal services, among many other things.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis part is how my degree was used indirectly, since we dealt with many different cultures,\u201d Cendejas said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer of 2015, Cendejas joined the staff of Morningside College. He mentors and aids international students throughout their college careers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am a full-time staff pastor at church and part-time advisor at Morningside College,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cendejas believes that the community at Morningside is unforgettable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped shape and mold me into the person I am today,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a good place, it\u2019s been almost six years since I graduated and I\u2019m still here. That has to say a lot of how much I appreciate the college.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cendejas believes that keeping a connection with the college is important because it means helping with the future of the college.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose that cared for you during your college career were made up of not just faculty, but those who chose to stay connected, the alumni,\u201d he said. \u201cThey all invested in you in one way or another and helped shape you into the person you are today. By staying connected, one is given many opportunities to do the same and invest in others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nancy Medel a senior and the vice president of International Student Association describes Cendejas as the kindest person she has ever met and. Medel says that she talks to Cendejas when she gets nervous about graduation. \u201cHe has the gentlest soul\u2026 He always listens and cares. He seems to have his life together and he knows people; so when I want advice about life after graduation I talk to him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jesseca Ormond–According to Laura Garcia, Jesus Cendejas\u2019 journey in life \u201cis to be spiritual, connected and helpful.\u201d The International Student Association president sees her advisor as \u201cone of the most transparent individuals\u201d that she knows. Jesus Cendejas, originally from California, says it was a step of faith coming to Morningside College. \u201cIn all respects,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":9027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4287,56109],"tags":[46814,6119,46807,46732,330],"class_list":["post-9021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-morningside-people","tag-activities","tag-morningside-college","tag-morningside-mustangs","tag-mustangs","tag-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9021"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9075,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021\/revisions\/9075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}