Allison Allen was chasing her dream, but she couldn’t help feeling like a fish out of water. She’d been accepted into the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University to study drama, but she was struggling to feel she belonged.
“Carnegie is fairly competitive to get into, and so you’re thrust into this very cutthroat system. They operated under a cut system. So about half of the class that entered as freshmen would never graduate.”
“As a young freshman, I was cast in this little studio show. And I was totally new. Totally freaked out! I’m the kid from North Carolina, and all these other kids have so much more experience than this six foot tall girl with a bad perm!”
At the same time, Allison explains she’d also wandered a bit from her childhood faith. Into this season, came an invitation she didn’t expect.
“There was a brave acting student named April Greaves. I’ll never forget it. We’re in the makeup room, and she said, ‘Hey, I want to ask you something.’ So we go down the hall, and she says, ‘Listen. Some of us here are Christians, and we get together and we pray before the show.'”
“I mean, you could knocked me over with a feather. Because I thought there was nary a Christian in sight in this competitive theater program. And we go back around the corner and there’s 5 or 6 believers. Pretty radical believers that are also in this conservatory program, and I prayed with them.”
That simple question led Allison down a path that’s brought her to an amazing ministry.
“I am telling you – that one invitation from April – that one step of bravery, changed the trajectory of my life. Because I started hanging out with them, and I went to church with them, and then from there I went on to do some mission work.”
“I love how the Lord will use His people everywhere. That one question really changed everything for me.”
Allison Allen is a talented actress & dramatist – a veteran of Broadway & the Women of Faith conferences – as well as an in demand speaker and author. Her latest book is Thirsty for More: Discovering God’s Unexpected Blessings in a Desert Season.
On the Road with Allison Allen
