Zshu Asis ’23 was sitting in her apartment after her Olivet Nazarene University graduation ceremony. All her belongings were packed in boxes, but she didn’t know where she was going. As she looked back on her days as an Olivet student, she knew where she had been. And she was thankful.
Growing up in Kankakee with her brother and their mother, Zshu (pronounced Sue) was nurtured by the pastors and members of First Church of the Nazarene. She was educated at Grace Christian Academy. Her roots were deep in the Lord and in her community. Dr. Leon Blanchette, an Olivet professor, was her children’s pastor. Olivet graduate Daneli (Rabanales) Hentschel was one of her mentors. Although she didn’t realize it, she was part of Olivet before she even enrolled.
When three people who were important to her — two of her pastors and her best friend — passed away while she was still in high school, Zshu was awakened to the importance of the spiritual aspect of her life. “I had so many questions for God,” she says. “I felt so vulnerable. I began taking my faith more seriously and began going on mission trips in 2014. My friends who died had so much faith, and I told God that I wanted a faith just like theirs.”
Time for College
“I’m a first generation Mexican American college student,” Zshu says. “At first, I wanted to go to a school far away. My mom encouraged me to take a campus tour at Olivet. I tried to create excuses not to go, but we finally went. That was the best campus tour I ever had! That day, I realized that Olivet was inviting me to come as I was but promising me that I was going to leave transformed. I felt so welcomed.”
Many of Zshu’s best college memories are from her years of working in Olivet’s Admissions office. “When I gave campus tours, God used my story to help answer questions that prospective students and their parents had,” she says. “I also served as a translator there. I helped communicate to others that Olivet is a place where everyone belongs.”
Zshu began as a social work major but soon realized that wasn’t for her. When she met with Dr. Jay Martinson, then chair of the Communication Department, she discovered that the public relations and strategic communication major was her true calling.
She credits Dr. Beth Patrick-Trippel and Dr. Jeff Williamson, two of her Olivet professors, for helping her find and stay on the right track during her college years. They helped build her self-confidence and communication skills, mentoring her and praying for her at a time when she needed God’s guidance.
“College wasn’t just the middle of my life,” Zshu says. “I knew that was where I was making decisions for the trajectory of the rest of my life.”
Redirection and Recommitment
As the end of her junior year was approaching, Zshu realized that she didn’t have the funds she needed to complete her Olivet degree. She contacted Dr. Woody Webb, then the vice president of student development, and asked for his help. He found a summer job for her on campus in the Residential Life office.
“That summer was a difficult time for me,” Zshu recalls. “I knew I had to choose to take God’s path or the world’s path. Through the team I was working with that summer, God kept me close to Him in a safe environment. I learned a lot more about who God is through them.”
Going into her senior year, Zshu realized that knowing God is a continuous journey. “I thought I knew who I was and who God was when I came to Olivet,” she says. “Now I know that at Olivet, God was molding me into the person he needed me to be.”
What Comes Next
As her college days were coming to a close, Zshu felt uncertain about the future she thought she had been aiming for. “I was going to graduate with all these honors and achievements and a bachelor’s degree,” she says. “But I didn’t have a plan for the future.”
One day, as she made her daily stop at the Starbuck’s in Ludwig Center on campus, Brian the barista was working behind the counter. “Brian knew my order and made my coffee as usual,” she recalls. “On the top of my cup, he wrote: You’re going to be okay. One day at a time. I began crying. That was when I realized the importance of community, having empathy for others and loving others as Jesus loves us.”
Continuing Her Story and God’s Story
So after graduation, Zshu moved her packed boxes to her mother’s house. She hadn’t found a job yet, and she began to question everything in her life.
“That was when I bent my knee to the Lord,” she says. “I realized that God had work to do in my heart before He could work out my life.”
She took that summer after graduation as a spiritual sabbatical so she could get in tune with what God’s plans are for her. She realized that it’s okay to ask God questions and to talk with Him about her faith.
Now, as she walks with God into His plan for her life, Zshu often feels overwhelmed by His grace and His goodness to her. She is currently in a master’s degree program at Arkansas State University, studying global communication, and planning to pursue her Ph.D. also.
“I consider myself a seed sower for the Lord, representing God’s love and mercy,” Zshu says. “Missions creates impact from a micro to macro level. At its core, missions is about the heart: showing others who God is through the way we live. Knowledge alone isn’t enough. You can have all the right answers and still be closed off to God’s Spirit. What matters is letting the Holy Spirit speak through us, letting His love flow out of us through our day-to-day interactions. Now is the time. Time to live out what we believe. Time to proclaim it — not with pride or force, but with love, empathy and truth.”
Zshu is currently working with Elam Ministries, an international mission organization, and the Cistern Ministry in Campache, Mexico. Her ministry to refugees and persecuted Christians has already taken her to the Middle East and throughout Latin America. She is using her communication skills to conduct podcast interviews and do public speaking in Turkey. In addition, she is learning Farsi and Italian, and is serving as a Spanish translator.
Thankful for Olivet
“Olivet gives students guardrails to keep them from falling off God’s path,” Zshu says. “Olivet teaches students how to live as a Christian in all parts of their lives. Community is part of everything that happens at Olivet.”
She adds, “Now, I see Olivet like an airport. There are arrivals of new students and departures of graduates all the time. The students are those in the airport who are preparing for their departing flight to their future and for big life decisions that are coming. I’m thankful for how Olivet prepared me for my journey.”
Learn more about the Public Relations and Strategic Communication major and other majors at Olivet Nazarene University by contacting the Office of Admissions at admissions@olivet.edu or 800-648-1463.
