You once gave Ian a summer to remember. Here's his story:

Ian is a Senior at Principia College. He's also President of the Euphrates Institute there, plays on the rugby team, and has been in a number of theater productions. How did he get to where he is today?

Looking at his background you'll find that when his mother was young, her family fled to the U.S. from Egypt to avoid persecution. Years passed, she met Ian's father, and Ian was born. His Mom passed on before he was one, and his Dad when he was just six; so, he went to live with this grandfather and step-grandmother. By middle-school, Ian's grandfather had passed on and Ian found himself living in Florida with just his step-grandmother, now his sole guardian. By the way, he calls her mom. She's the one who shared Christian Science with him; and when she found out about The Campership Fund, she was able to send him to camp.

Ian loved being at camp! He says that camp "taught me leadership, humility, and courage . . . and how to be compassionate to others." When you ask Ian about camp, his face lights up and then he tells you what a difference it's made in his life. "CS camps were places where I really found Christian Science and that has the deepest connection for me. Because of my camp experience I have come to love Christian Science and its active part it plays in my daily life."

Ian's life had been filled with loss and struggles about identity. But Love was there – to guide him along the way and to where he is today.

Ian got to where he is today because he learned that:

“(He is) God’s purpose, His great design. Beautiful, blameless, His child divine.”

-Hymn #565