Vanna In
Fresno, California
Master of Divinity student

Vanna grew up Buddhist. At an early age, he became involved in gangs and gang violence. At the age of 18 he found God in a county jail. During his incarceration he turned to reading and the chaplain would bring books about people who did terrible things and then were saved…people he could relate to. One night while he was reading about Al Capone’s get-away driver, Vanna heard a voice say “Give your life to God". He shut the book and put it away and heard the voice again say, "Give your life to God". When he heard it the second time, he admitted to himself it was God and woke up a buddy and asked him to pray with him. "God is preparing us for things we don’t see, but He sees.”

Vanna says he has no regrets about leaving Buddhism. He has no regrets about following Christ. "I prayed 'God wherever I go from here I want to be used by you’. And now He’s giving me the tools I need to be used by Him". Studying at MB Biblical Seminary is providing Vanna with those tools.

When Vanna was released from the California Youth Authority he began the Hope Now for Youth program. Not long after Vanna completed the program, he was hired by Hope Now as a counselor and preaches for their church, Hope Now Bible Church, as well. His preaching was appreciated and Vanna felt he needed more education to better understand and apply the biblical text. Following graduation from Fresno Pacific University, Vanna was accepted and enrolled at MB Biblical Seminary. Vanna is pursuing his calling to preach and says, “Seminary helps you deal with your specific calling, and also our universal calling as Christians.”

Coming to seminary was a natural step, but that did not make it easy. Classes are demanding both mentally and spiritually. But Vanna says, “The seminary doesn’t break you, it stretches you; and that’s how you grow". Vanna believes that there is no higher calling than to lead others into right relationship with God. "I can come to seminary and tell my story, be who I am. The seminary values dialogue, my story, and how that story fits into the bigger picture.”