Bailey Graddon

Bailey Graddon

UNCW Class of 2020

Majoring in Public Health

Minoring in Nonprofit Leadership

Current Student Leader for

Ratio Christi UNCW Chapter

Current member of Intentional &

Soon to be mentor for the High School Intentional Women's Study

If I could sum up Bailey in just a sentence or two, it would be a strong and driven person with a beautifully balanced gentleness and sincerity that makes her an excellent leader.

Below is a little bit of her story

I was born into a church family, which has positives and negatives. When you grow up in that environment you tend to take a lot of things for granted. I also, unfortunately, grew up in a church that was not very conducive to questions, which can often lead to stalemates in your faith and walk with the Lord.

However, when I was 16 years old, I attended an apologetics camp. It was there that I came face to face with how much I didn't know and I realized if I was going to walk the walk like I had talked the talk for so many years, I needed to find some answers. This led to a lot of learning and studying apologetics and it was this journey that would eventually bring me to a true saving faith.

I began doing Ratio Christi at UNCW the same year. It was a little intimidating being a 16 year old going to a ministry on a college campus. The summer before I was a freshman at UNCW, while attending the summer meetings at the Simpson's home, I really began to feel that I was a part of the growing and developing Ratio community. I loved apologetics and now I was starting to feel at home.

I do Ratio Christi because it is a very different ministry than a lot of the ones on campus. It is much more in depth and educational. However, there is such a community aspect to it which is so important because education without community is not nearly as beneficial. The growth of the chapter and the deepening of relationships I have seen over the past two years has been incredible. I feel loved by everybody there and it makes me excited for the future of the ministry.

One of the things I have learned from Ratio Christi is how to have respectful dialogue with people who have different perspectives while still fighting to seek truth. Especially on college campuses, tolerance has been so distorted and it is incompatible with reality. This ministry is so important, now more than ever, so student can learn how to dig into their beliefs and know how to engage in a culture that believes tolerance is blind acceptance.

I am also a member of Intentional Women's study led by Lexi at her apartment. I found out about it because my cousin and best friend were both going and they really thought I would like it. I went for the first time in the Fall of 2016 and I haven't stopped since.

Intentional, like Ratio, is also different than most women's ministries on campus. It is very open, community centered, scripturally based, and hits hard issues that aren't addressed often for young women in the church. I felt welcomed as soon as I started even though it wasn't the first week and accountability groups had already started. One take away for me this year was the overarching theme of how special women are to God. We are made with a different role than men, but we are made purposefully and with so much potential for the Kingdom of God. What God says about women's roles in scripture is so different than what women are taught in culture. Whether it is in singleness or marriage, women must know they have a purpose and God's plan for them is anything but "less than".

I kept coming back because of the relationships I made. I really loved how everyone would come early and drink tea together beforehand. I have been so encouraged doing life together with the ladies there.

I am also in an accountability group of three people. It was cool to have smaller group because we got really venerable really quickly. I had always had friends in the church, but before accountability groups, I never sat down purposefully to be held accountable each week by other Godly women. Not only do we meet weekly, we can text each other anytime of the day for prayer or to make lunch plans. It is really humbling to be held accountable in your day to day prayer life, reading, and behaviors because you are always growing and will never have a perfect week. This is something everyone at every age should be doing purposefully and intentionally.

Over the past year, I have realized my own heart for women's ministry and my desire to lead small groups. It is Biblically instructed for women to lead and be led by other women so that is what I want to do.

To those who are considering partnership with Grant and Lexi financially and in prayer, I just want to say that Grant and Lexi have made Ratio a completely different entity than it used to be. The community that they've cultivated is a completely different model of this ministry than Ratio was when it began. They have had and fostered so many intentional conversations and this ministry will be a force on campus thanks to Grant and Lexi. Anything that be can be done to help them is a worthwhile investment and absolutely should be done.