Opeyemi and Prudil Appreciated Comradery, Mentoring
Two recent Princeton University graduates, a computer science major and an electrical engineering major, are eager and prepared for the integration of faith and vocation.
Moyin Opeyemi ’19 and Bryan Prudil ’19 each credited their participation in a Christian Union Bible course with giving them confidence to be salt and light in the workforce. Opeyemi (computer science) is an associate product manager at Uber in San Francisco, while Prudil (electrical engineering) is a systems engineer at Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona.
At Princeton, the varsity soccer players were part of a Bible course geared toward athletes. Christopher Heslep, who was recently named director of Christian Union’s ministry at Princeton after serving as a ministry fellow, said the two seniors were key members of the course, which was known for being a close-knit brotherhood.
“The young men in this Bible course stayed committed to one another and to making sure that they would encourage and strengthen one another along the way,” Heslep said. “There was honesty in the group, and a desire to see one another be challenged in their faith.”
Opeyemi, a native of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, was one of eight students to win the Spirit of Princeton Award, honoring undergraduates for positive contributions to campus life.
“Our Bible course meant everything to me,” he said. “The bond within it made my journey with Christ in college more fulfilling as I had classmates, friends, and brothers to speak directly into my life and support me along the way.”
“Being an all-athlete group, we all went through similar experiences throughout our four years of college,” said Prudil, who hails from Northville, Michigan. “Having people understand where you are coming from is unbelievably beneficial and something that brought us really close together.”
Opeyemi and Prudil also credited the leadership of Heslep as crucial to their development for the last two years, both in Bible course and during one-on-one mentoring sessions.
“Christopher has a God-given gift for teaching Scripture that drew us to come back every week,” Prudil said. “We all loved him. He really cared about every single person in his many Bible courses.”
Likewise, Heslep is appreciative of the leadership shown by both young men and has high expectations for each.
“Moyin is certainly one of the graduates who will transform the industry around him and will make much of Christ whatever he does in San Francisco and beyond,” Heslep said. “Bryan went from shy and quiet in the Bible course two years ago, to becoming one of the strongest students of the Word by the time he left us.”
In the spring semester, their Vocational Preparation Bible course, a ten-lesson study on “vocation and financial stewardship” developed by the ministry, helped prepare the young men for life after Princeton, they said.
“Christian Union has given me the framework to approach God’s original purpose for work and how to think about using our gifts to further His kingdom,” said Opeyemi.
“The Bible course unit on vocation does not only show how faith and work can coexist, but how faith and work are mutually reinforcing when done in the original manner God intended.”
Prudil also cited Christian Union’s annual Nexus Student Conference as transformational. Nexus features an array of renowned plenary speakers and vocational panels and seminars.
“At Nexus, I was able to hear from very successful Christians how faith is integrated in their work. This has really stuck with me … In our Vocational Prep Bible course, Christopher made clear the importance of finding a church after college and getting involved right away. He showed us ways in which we can be faithful Christians in different working environments … Overall, I feel much more confident than I was a year ago to face life after college as a Christian.
