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The memory of lost family members was not far from Colyer's thoughts as the Millersville resident walked down the aisle of Good Shepherd Chapel of Lancaster Bible College on Friday afternoon to receive her master's degree in elementary school counseling.
Colyer's mother, Esther Hoover, and her sister, Mary Hoover, were killed in a car accident on Oregon Pike in August 2007 — a week before Coyler started the graduate program — just a few miles away from the campus.
With support from students and professors and an outpouring of compassion, Colyer said she was able to deal with the grief in those initial days of tragedy and graduate with highest honors.
"It's been a real challenge to continue," Colyer said. "But I know (my mother and sister) would have been really proud of me. God gave me the strength to come through."
More than 150 students were awarded various degrees as Lancaster Bible College finished its celebration of its 75th year of existence with Friday's graduation.
Elizabeth Otto, the class valedictorian from West Burke, Vt., finished with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and a bachelor's degree in professional counseling.
Besides her own counseling degree, Colyer also was awarded the Graduate School Servant Leadership Award for demonstrating "a servant's heart" in her program.
Colyer said she was motivated to pursue higher education because of a love for children and a desire to help them through personal problems.
She served as an intern at Lancaster Christian School, creating the school's first counseling program for elementary-age students.
Colyer conducted individual counseling, classroom work and small-group interaction with students. She created a program called Lunch Bunch in which students were encouraged to make friends with students they did not know at lunch time.
"I just really felt the Lord's call to get back into working with students and felt there was a great need there for elementary school counselors Colyer said.
David Jeremiah, the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, an evangelical megachurch in El Cajon, Calif., a suburb of San Diego, served as the graduation's keynote speaker.
Jeremiah broadcasts a daily radio program through his Turning Point Ministries, which he founded in 1982.
One foot is on the accelerator of world events, Jeremiah said, life speeding up so fast it makes many developments difficult to comprehend. He said he feels the world entering a new age and foresees the return of Jesus in his lifetime.
Jeremiah said that in the midst of chaos the graduating students should seek the perspective of God, setting their minds and hearts on heaven.
"The psychologist tells us we should look within," Jeremiah said. "The opportunists tell us we should look around. The optimist says we should look ahead. The pessimist says we should look out. And God says we should look up."
Lancaster Bible College began in a small building on West Orange Street in 1933 with eight day students and 14 evening students.
Today the campus has grown to 150 acres in Manheim Township, with more than 800 students taking part in 25 undergraduate and 14 graduate programs.
Peter Teague, president of LBC, said the school's theme for the year was God's faithfulness, focusing on rebirth and new beginnings.
"We praise God that his mercies are renewed every morning and on him are founded all the hopes for our future," Teague said. "Great is God's faithfulness."
E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com
