Jake Burton grew up in Atlanta, Ga., where faith always played an active role in his life. His parents offered him opportunities to be active in their congregation as well as provide him with a Christian education. At the age of 13, he decided to make a formal decision to follow Christ through baptism. He has always been thankful for the solid foundation of faith he has, but knew in recent years that it was only that—a foundation. He needed to grow on his own and mature in his faith. That realization brought many changes in his life.

When he became worried about a career choice, he took a semester off to work on the mission field as he weighed his options. He worked with Youth with a Mission, an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. They operate in 149 countries, serving more than 1,000 locations. Jake traveled to Perth, Australia, and attended three months of training where he learned how to make his faith his own before he shared it with others. He then headed to the mission field in South Africa where God changed his heart. As he worked with schools, orphanages and churches in Durban, South Africa, he realized he wanted to pursue a Bible degree with an emphasis in missions at Lipscomb.

Since returning from South Africa, Jake has been heavily involved with both homeless and college ministries. Over the past year he has worked as an intern for Lipscomb Campus Ministry. This experience has increased his love for shaping and influencing young people, and opened his eyes to the great importance of building relationships.

During spring break of 2009, Jake was part of a mission team in Morant Bay, Jamaica. The team served the Morant Bay Church of Christ as well as a new church plant, the Soho Church of Christ. A week after the trip he was contacted by a local church and was asked to work with the Soho church plant. He spent the 2009 summer helping lead the new church in Jamaica.

Jake does not know where God may lead him in the future, but knows that he is developing his ministry gifts both at Lipscomb and on the numerous mission fields where he serves. This is Jake's second consecutive year receiving the David E. Lavender scholarship.

Click here to see past scholarship recipients.