The idea of investing in a local church and specifically home missions really caught my attention during that first year as well as my second year of Bible college,” said Bria (Larson) Leseberg, class of 2022. Bria recently graduated from North Dakota State University’s School of Nursing in Bismarck, N.D., where she was heavily involved in her local congregation.
While expressing her gratitude for the education she received at FLBC, she emphasized the value that it has brought to her life now. “Principles of Congregational Life,” an FLBC class taught by Pastor Nathan Olson, deepened her love for the local congregation and church planting.
“I definitely feel like God used my time at FLBC to kind of excite that in me: [to] be really invested in and see the value of the local congregation a lot more than I ever had before,” said Bria, acknowledging that God gave her the desire to pursue a calling that she stepped into with ease. “It’s kind of cool that even church planting and home missions were something he put on my mind while I was [at FLBC], and then I got the chance to do it in real life!”
During her college years, she clearly saw God provide the means for her to continue to serve him in ways that deepened her love for his people. She thoroughly enjoys serving people and helping them in any way that she is able, which is one of the many reasons why she became a nurse. FLBC not only prepared her to serve in her congregation but also in her workplace.
“While at Bible college, I was really interested in and leaned into our classes and the conversations with classmates about how to talk to people about Jesus,” she said, noting that exegetical classes like Romans and Pentateuch helped her gain an understanding of God’s Word. She specifically enjoyed learning what Scripture teaches about “our role as lights to the world and witnessing to our friends.”
The tools and lessons she learned at FLBC motivate the way she thinks about her role in the workplace moving forward.
Understanding God’s Word, she said, “has been helpful in the sense that now I can look for opportunities to love and serve my patients and show them Jesus’ heart” while working in the hospital. “I’ve had several opportunities to present the gospel to my patients or my coworkers while I was in college or at my new job here in Fargo.”
Her heart for others and her desire to grow the kingdom of God have been fostered by the Holy Spirit. At FLBC, she was equipped with the eternal and inerrant Word of God to serve Jesus Christ in his kingdom.
This article is reposted with permission from the Nov 2025 issue of The Lutheran Ambassador Magazine. To read more articles like this or to subscribe, visit https://www.aflc.org/lutheran-ambassador/
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