Chicago Native Finds Biblical Community at NGU
Posted on: September 9, 2024
Tigerville, SC—For as long as she can remember, Chicago native Logan Pinalto has been searching for biblical community.
“Growing up in the city,” she said. “I was exposed to many different worldviews, and most often they were worldviews that were very opposed to mine.”
In high school, Pinalto used social media to connect with other teens who shared her passion for spreading the gospel. These online friendships opened doors for her to travel across the country, including to Greenville, SC in 2022. Now, two years later, Pinalto is a new student at North Greenville University (NGU).
She thinks of that trip to Greenville as a “God wink” moment.
“I imagine God winking at me, knowing all along this is where He would lead me,” she said.
Pinalto’s path may never have led her back to Greenville if it was not for her time as a Fellow at Impact 360 Institute in Pine Mountain, GA.
Founded in 2006 by John and Trudy White, the Fellows program is a Christian gap year experience designed to prepare the next generation of Christian leaders for lives of Spirit-empowered influence.
Through classroom lectures and discussions, service opportunities, leadership development, evangelism training, and an international immersion trip, Pinalto learned how to cultivate the biblical community she had been craving all her life.
“I learned that biblical community must be sought intentionally and with initiative… it doesn’t just happen automatically,” she said.
At Impact 360, Pinalto also received support in discerning her next steps.
“As I entered my year at Impact 360, I prayed that the Lord would reveal the plans He had for me,” she said.
That’s when she heard about Impact 360’s partnership with North Greenville University. Dr. Gene Fant, President of NGU, is a member of Impact 360’s Board of Education. Each year, several Fellows choose to continue their education at NGU.
Pinalto recalled how much she liked the city of Greenville, but as she learned more about NGU, she was “wooed by the Christ-filled community and professors, selection of majors, mountainous scenery, and nearness to Impact 360 Institute.”
Pinalto believes her Fellows gap year has uniquely prepared her for success as a new college student and growing leader.
“I plan on implementing the things I learned at Impact 360 into my college experience,” she said.
At NGU, she is looking forward to “engaging in spiritual conversations with classmates, initiating Bible studies, welcoming questions and exploring them with academic integrity, putting together worship nights, serving classmates and staff members in little and big ways, praying for those who hurt, rejoicing with all, and being plugged into a church.”
NGU currently enrolls 14 Impact Fellows, with six students joining this year. Impact Fellows attending NGU in the fall of 2025 will be eligible for a tuition discount, totaling $8,000 per year for residential students and $6,000 for commuters.
North Greenville University is the academic partner for Impact 360 Institute’s Residency program, a two-year graduate level experience. Residents earn a Master of Arts in Leadership from NGU while working on the staff team at Impact 360. The program equips young professionals to be culture-shaping, Christ-centered servant leaders wherever the Lord calls them.
“With nearly one thousand alumni around the world, we are humbled and honored to watch how the Lord continues to work in the lives of these young leaders,” said Sam McManus, Impact Fellows Stewardship Coordinator. “Our alumni eagerly seek to make a difference in their local community through their local church and it is so encouraging to see how God is magnified and honored through the work of these disciples.
