Q&A With Graduates of Prepared

In 2021, the EFCA launched an all-female theological training cohort called Prepared. The vision was to provide an affordable, accessible and systematic program for women in ministry leadership, equipping and preparing them to face their unique challenges in ministry.  

With several of the program's first students having graduated (or soon graduating), we checked in with three of them to see how Prepared has impacted their lives and ministries.   

Kate Senyshyn, Worship Leader and EquipU Director, Fox Valley Church (Dundee, IL) 

Q: Where were you before Prepared? Why did you apply for the program? 

When I applied for Prepared, I was working part-time at Fox Valley Church (EFCA) as a worship leader while going to school full-time to finish my undergraduate degree. I’d started my undergrad journey as an education major, but through a string of events, people and time with the Lord, I felt a strong redirection into ministry. Working in ministry was––and still is––new to me, and I struggled with my role and what God was asking of me. 

I was also wrestling with bigger questions like, “What is a woman’s role in ministry leadership?” and “What did God have in mind with the roles He gave men and women?” I was in a place of curiosity, but it provoked a lot of anxiety and fear. Did I make the right choice? Is this what God was asking of me?  

In the summer, my senior pastor told me about Prepared. I was having so many doubts and concerns, and I felt like the Lord’s perfect timing. I applied days before the application closed and was given one of the final slots.  

Q: What impacted you most during your training?  

I left the first Prepared session with tears in my eyes. To be surrounded by women, young and old, from all ministry areas, all to receive encouragement and training for our work in ministry was so exciting! I was also immediately reassured that I was not alone in my doubts, fears and struggles. While I was not encouraged to continue living into those doubts and fears, I was assured other women had been there, too. They encouraged me to turn to the Lord.  

Prepared gives you deep, Word-rooted teaching on many different topics that are organized to build on one another. It was amazing to dig deeper and deeper as we went through the courses.  

Q: How has Prepared impacted your current life and ministry?  

I will be graduating in May 2025, but I am using the things I’m learning daily in my ministry work. I’m a worship leader and teacher at my church, and I’m building classes around one of the Prepared classes. I am always reminded by analogies and teachings from our introductory courses, and I've shared tips and wisdom from that class with many with whom I work. I have brought in the tactics of the Narrative Overview of the Bible course to share the story of Jesus and better weave it into the fabric of the worship sets on Sunday.   

Emily R., Missionary in Southeast Asia 

Q: Where were you at before Prepared? Why did you decide to join the program?   

Around the time I was considering Prepared, I had been on the field as a missionary in Southeast Asia for six years. My husband and I moved here in 2016 and now have two small kids. I grew up in church––with many wonderful discipleship opportunities, mentors and experiences with missions—but I never had any formal ministry training. When I heard about Prepared, my husband had just started seminary, but I knew that would never be an option for me, considering the expense, workload and length of time.

Around this time, my friend Julie Triplett was finishing up with the Prepared pilot group, and she let me know they started allowing non-EFCA women to join if the classes weren’t full. I jumped at the opportunity! I had seen my best friend go through this course in the throes of a job, small babies and lots of ministry, so I had confidence this was doable in my context. My cohort was the first Friday morning batch, which was the only way it could work for me. God clearly wanted me in this program.  

Q: What impacted you most during your training?  

The Biblical Spiritual Formation classes were the most impactful. My husband and I had just started walking through a difficult situation with a young adult we had known for years. She was unexpectedly pregnant with twins and abandoned by her boyfriend. She was in and out of the emotional rollercoaster of deciding between abortion, adoption and keeping the babies.  

In that season, God graciously introduced me to a deeper level of soul care, which helped carry me through this difficult and emotionally volatile relationship. I was able to care for my soul and stay rooted in the peace of Jesus, while walking in one of the most stormy and unknown situations of my life.   

Q: How has Prepared impacted your current life and ministry? 

Every class project is so intentionally tailored to application that I'm putting each class to use already! I call myself the Prepared cheerleader; I will continue to point people to this course. I know I’ll continue to reference back and implement all the different things I have learned, and I hope to have a small-scale version of these teachings and classes with some local women here in Southeast Asia, who are hungry for more! 

Ashley Haferman, Credentialing and Multiplication Catalyst, EFCA Forest Lakes District 

Q: Where were you before Prepared? Why did you apply for the program? 

I was in a season of deep hurt. I was serving in ministry, but I confessed to my husband that I was done. It was too hard. I wanted to just "live life" without all the hard stuff. When I learned of Prepared, I was working in public education. I really liked my job. It was a perfect blend of serving teachers, students and administrators. But when you sense a call on your life, anything you do outside of that can be fine for a while, but you know you're missing out on God's best. My church graciously offered to sponsor a few of the courses for me. The more I prayed about it, the more excited I became, and I stepped out in obedience. 

Q: What impacted you most during your training?  

God unearthed so much of my story. For the first time, I saw how God could use the ugly and painful parts of my story in the most beautiful of ways to help me grow in His likeness, deepen my intimacy with Him and relate to others in new ways.

In our third course, Biblical Spiritual Formation, we chose one biblical spiritual discipline to practice for the entire course. I thought: Prayer. I need to grow in my prayer life. No, wait. Silence and solitude. What's that with these two monsters (kids) I have running around here all the time? Fasting was at the very bottom of the list. I like food too much, and with my low blood sugar, I wasn’t sure it was possible.  

But the more I prayed, studied and contemplated it, I knew that for six weeks, I would experience God in a whole new way through the discipline of fasting. How God drew me deeper and deeper into that discipline through the duration of our course was life-changing! In my six-week experience, God was like a balm to my soul. He fit the broken pieces of my heart back together. For the first time––maybe ever––I was able to see myself through God’s eyes. 

The relationships that were formed in Prepared surprised me. Some of my best friends on earth are now my Prepared sisters. My journey was their journey, and their journey was mine. The program’s design allows for a tremendous amount of deep, meaningful connection, fruitful conversations, and opportunities for us to minister to one another.   

Q: How has Prepared impacted your current life and ministry? 

After the first few courses, I sensed a call back into full-time ministry. God used Prepared to redeem parts of my story and also further equip me for what was to come. I now serve on staff with the EFCA Forest Lakes District as the credentialing and church multiplication catalyst.  

Prepared deepened my love and appreciation for the EFCA, and I feel incredibly blessed to serve. Furthermore, the practice of hermeneutics and homiletics, coupled with my experience and gifts, has afforded me multiple opportunities to share what God has been teaching me at retreats and conferences within our district. I’m still amazed by God’s grace, His gentle nudge towards Prepared and what He has done in my life during the past two years. If you had told me where I would be today, doing what I’m doing, I wouldn’t have believed you. But God is good and faithful, and with Him, all things are possible. 

Are you interested in developing your gifts as a female leader? Prepared is now accepting applications for the January 2025 cohort. Apply today.