“Thank you so much for blessing me with the scholarship,” wrote Ezra Kyusang Shim, recipient of this year’s Francis Nelson Scholarship, sponsored by GNJ’s United Women of Faith. He will attend Rutgers University in New Brunswick, where he is already in the university’s Honors program.
Scholarships are awarded to United Methodist undergraduate students. Applicants must have financial need and a goal of pursuing full-time Christian service following graduation.
“I have been attending ever since I was born and was confirmed in the 8th grade,” wrote “Ezzi,” as some call him. He has volunteered in several church and community ministries. He is an active youth member of Wall UMC in Spring Lake, where his mother the Rev. Sunny Shim became the pastor in 2012.
“Whether a fellowship activity, fundraiser, helping out with Saturday breakfasts at nearby churches, or going on a Red Bird mission trip to Kentucky, Ezzi is active and enthusiastically involved,” writes Elwood L. Malick, the church’s Treasurer and Administrative Council Chair. He also runs the church’s worship technology on Sundays.