For Rachel Forgie, Faith Baptist Bible College first became familiar long before she ever became a student. Growing up in a large family, Rachel had spent years traveling to Florida to bring her older siblings to college, but her own high school experiences began introducing her to Faith. She participated in Faith’s sports tournaments and fine arts competitions, and she also had opportunities to stay in the dorms and interact with Faith students.
Those visits made an impression.
“I just really enjoyed my experiences there as a high schooler,” Rachel said. “I really liked my interactions with all the college students and the people that took us on tours.”
She specifically remembers being welcomed by Faith staff and students, including those who showed her around campus. The smaller campus and closer proximity to her family in Kansas were also appealing. By the time she was ready for college, Faith had become a place that felt familiar.
Even so, Rachel wasn’t entirely sure about going. “I was very hesitant and just wasn’t ready for it,” she admitted. She didn’t even finish packing until the night before she left.
But God knew exactly where she needed to be.
Discovering How God Had Gifted Her
Rachel attended Faith from 2019–2024, earning a degree in elementary education. During those five years, God worked in her life spiritually while also helping her discover gifts she hadn’t fully recognized in herself.
Thinking back to those early days on campus, Rachel realized that she wasn’t fully committed to following Christ and making Him the priority in her life. But as she began to develop relationships with other students, she recognized that some things needed to change in her life.
“It was just so different than what I had been in,” she recalled. “I was just amazed by all these other people that really cared about God and about the Bible and they wanted to live this way.”
Through opportunities to serve as a resident assistant and lead as a team captain, Rachel began to recognize that leadership was something God had equipped her to do. “I realized I had a desire for leadership,” she said. “I just realized, ‘Oh, you know, this is something I feel like God has gifted me with.’”
Her education and student-teaching experiences added another dimension. Rachel had the opportunity to organize a supply drive to help a nearby town that suffered tornado damage in a storm. She discovered that she not only enjoyed teaching children but also had a growing heart for serving people and getting involved in the community.
Those experiences eventually shaped the direction of her career.
Leading a School
Today, Rachel serves as the director of Joshua Christian Academy West in Des Moines, Iowa. Her role allows her to combine her education background with the leadership abilities God began developing during her time at Faith.
As a school director, Rachel works with teachers, students, families, and other administrators while helping oversee the day-to-day needs of the school. The position brings plenty of challenges, but Rachel has learned that effective leadership isn’t ultimately about what she can accomplish on her own.
“God is good, and it’s not really about me or what I bring to a team, to a school, to anybody,” she said. “But it’s how God can use me.”
That perspective has become especially important as she works with families and students from a variety of backgrounds. Rachel sees her role not simply as managing a school but as an opportunity to serve people and point them toward Christ.
Looking back, she can see how God used each step of her journey—from those early visits to Faith, to the relationships and leadership opportunities she experienced as a student, to her education and student-teaching experiences—to prepare her for where she is today.
What began with a high school student simply feeling welcomed on a college campus eventually became something much bigger. God used Faith to help Rachel discover how He had gifted her and to prepare her to use those gifts to lead and serve the next generation.
Do you know someone interested in becoming a teacher? Send them the following links to learn more about the education programs at Faith Baptist Bible College:
