Paige Moore grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, surrounded by God-honoring, faithful women who taught her the importance of prayer and intimacy with God from a young age. She recalls her mom and grandmother praying in the car on the way to school and taking her to church, where she learned about the nature of God as a Father and Savior. During high school, a woman in Paige’s church began meeting with her, teaching her how to study the Bible and to walk faithfully with the Lord. As a result of this intentional time in God’s Word, Paige committed her life to following Christ. “God revealed Himself more and more to be a faithful Father who was interested in me as His child,” Paige shared.
She continued to mature in Christ as she prepared for college. Although she did not want to stay in South Carolina for college, everything fell into place for her to attend Charleston Southern University, where she joined the gospel choir and met Déja Richardson, a Campus Outreach (CO) staff member. They began meeting to study the Bible together and grew in friendship. This was the first time Paige had met someone outside of her home church and family who was intentional about helping her grow in her faith and personal life. Eventually, Déja invited Paige to attend church with her.
On her first visit to ECBC, Paige noticed two differences in this church versus her home church: ECBC was big, and it was full of people who did not look like her. Reflecting on this experience, Paige shared, “The Lord was expanding my mind to understand that church and worship didn’t have to look a certain way. It was beautiful to see the wider body of Christ, and it broke down a lot of barriers and misconceptions in my mind of what church is supposed to look like.”
Paige continued to worship at East Cooper throughout her college years and was actively involved in the college class. Upon graduating, Paige chose to begin raising support to join CO staff. As she moved from college life to more independent young adulthood, she realized that she wanted to commit to serving Christ here at ECBC, as well as to continue sharing the gospel with college students and investing in their lives. She decided to get more involved with the larger body of Christ at East Cooper by joining a community group. At first, she was apprehensive to join one because, in her words, “I didn’t think I had anything in common with anyone here. Everyone is nice and I love being here, but I wasn’t sure.” A woman at ECBC invited her to join a group of women who are all in their thirties and married with kids. Recognizing Paige’s different season of life, the women were intentional in making her feel welcomed and learning about her ministry on the campus. This group has grown from acquaintances to what Paige now calls her “mini-family.”
Paige has been serving with CO for about a year and was excited to bring five girls with her to Alpha Project, a summer discipleship program for CO students, this year. She loves being a part of their lives and being able to pour into them like people poured into her with the gospel of Christ at CSU. Paige recounts, “The gospel is the best message I can give someone.” As she prepares for another year on the campus, please pray for her continued ministry to women at CSU.