Emily Behny Hochstetler recently finished touring with “Beauty and the Beast.”
Today’s issue of CE News carries a story of the impact of one if it’s ministries — Operation Barnabas (OB). Emily Behny Hochstetler, a native of Silver Lake, Ind., who attended Community Grace Brethren Church in Warsaw, Ind., spent an impactful summer on the Commonwealth team in 2005. A portion of the story appears below. Read the complete story here.
The high school summer ministry of Operation Barnabas seeks to train and equip its team members to learn what it looks like to live “on mission,” wherever the Lord may lead them in their future vocation.
We recently caught up with 2005 Operation Barnabas alum, Emily Behny Hochstetler (pictured as Belle in Beauty and the Beast), who just finished traveling in Disney’s Broadway National Tour as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and seeks to serve God as she lives and works in New York City in the world of theater.
Emily grew up in Silver Lake, Indiana, and recalls from an early age that serving the Lord and being a part of a church were a huge part of her childhood. Emily, along with her parents, Mary and Steve Behny and older sister Elizabeth, were extremely involved with the ministries at Silver Lake Wesleyan Church.
Though Emily first accepted Jesus at 7, it was through Silver Lake’s summer church camp that she solidified her decision to follow Christ at 14. “It was after that summer that I truly began to own my faith and understand that my life must look differently as a result of what Jesus had done. Once in high school, we moved to Community Grace Brethren Church of Warsaw where my faith deepened and I made lasting friendships with other students who sought to love the Lord and love others.”
Community Grace was also where Emily first heard about Operation Barnabas. As a member of the 2005 Commonwealth team, Emily states, “I remember some very specific moments on OB that summer that left me very humbled at the power and love of our God. I learned to be a person of prayer that summer and sought to be in constant communion with God through prayer and meditation on His Word.
