New Students, Fall 2003

Blinders removed:
Winifred Byrd

Winifred Byrd says the most powerful experience that changed her life and influenced her ministry happened in the early 1990s happened when the Billy Graham Crusade came to Philadelphia. "Although I have traveled a lot and met many Christians, my interactions with believers who are not African American had been limited. I was asked to be the youth leader from my church for the Crusade. It was a very powerful time in the Lord for me, but what affected me the most was when I walked into Veteran’s Stadium and saw it full of people from all backgrounds and races. The Lord revealed to me, ‘This is my kingdom.’ It was as if someone removed blinders from my eyes." The diversity of the kingdom was apparent to her on a different level when she attended Hampton University. "My pastor was African American and most of his presbytery was Caucasian," she recalls. She also taught at a church-founded school with a Caucasian woman who was to become a close friend, "and that friendship helped me see how God could bring racial harmony and healing into the world through the body of Christ. Winifred later became a public school teacher in Philadelphia, but she began to feel she could "not deny anymore the work God was calling me to do. She decided to begin study at LTSP’s Urban Theological Institute after receiving guidance from her pastor at Tenth Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia. "I have a heart for reaching the lost in the inner city," Winifred says. "I think the Master of Divinity Program at LTSP is of the highest quality, and studying at LTSP allows me to continue to serve my congregation and other ministries in the area while I study. I am reminded that the plan I have right now is God’s plan and not mine. There is no need to fear because the Lord is my shepherd and my guide on this journey."