WJI Blog 2022, May 23 AM - Sanctification and Journalism

Seeing Mr. Pulliam’s face appear on the Zoom call was a welcome grace for my Monday morning. After reading Mr. Pulliam’s gracious comments on my articles time and time again, it was encouraging to finally put a face to the feedback.

But as he began to talk, I was struck by how generally useful his advice was - to keep a journal, read classic Christian biographies and find individuals who did heroic things to learn about. He really emphasized the importance of knowing the Bible well in order to be a good journalist, telling us that, “Great research is rooted in good Bible reading.”

I think that’s something I’m realizing more and more about this program - our instructors aren’t just good journalists, they are people serious about their faith, and that’s not by coincidence.

The day before, we watched Spotlight, and afterward I was talking to my boyfriend and I told him that the movie kind of scared me - to do journalism well is hard and important work. His advice was that I should, “be more afraid of God if you shrink back from declaring what is true and exposing what is dark.”

So as Mr. Pulliam spoke, the truth struck home - I need God’s transforming power to make me a good journalist. It’s not just a matter of discipline or motivation or writing talent. It’s a matter of pursuing truth for God’s sake and pursuing God more and more so that my work reflects Him. I should chase down people who devoted their lives to following Him and learn from them.

That’s why I came here from Canada - to learn how to honour God in my writing. And Mr. Pulliam helped me see a little better how I can do just that.

- Anna Mandin