It is not often that we associate panhandling with prayer.

However, for sophomore Steven Paseshnik, prayer and panhandling are the two main reasons he continues to study at Cornerstone University this semester.

Paseshnik’s story began on Aug. 22 when a phone call left him questioning whether he would attend school this fall. The call, made by CU admissions, informed Paseshnik that he had until Friday, Aug. 29 to pay his final tuition payment for the spring 2008 semester.

The amount needed was $1,665. The punishment for not paying by Aug. 29 was Paseshnik’s removal from the Cornerstone campus.

“I knew that I had to pay the bill, but that call was the first time I knew I had to have it paid by Friday,” Paseshnik said. “I had no idea how to get the money in one week.”

Due to a lack of communication between Paseshnik and his divorced parents, Paseshnik did not realize that the third payment of his tuition bill was his responsibility. Therefore, he did not pay attention to notifications sent by the university concerning the bill.

Once he realized his predicament, Paseshnik said that he turned to God, friends and his church for help.

“I prayed about it and let a lot of people know what was going on,” Paseshnik said. “At my church we have a prayer chain thing online so I wrote what was going on with my tuition on there so that I could get some prayer and support from people.”

Within days, Paseshnik said that he saw his prayers being answered.

“One of my best friends gave me $250,” Paseshnik said. “Then on Monday one of my pastors called and told me that someone donated $1,000. It was crazy.”

With $415 of the debt still needing to be paid, Paseshnik decided to follow in the footsteps of one of his former classmates.

“I remembered last year when my friend Chad Cramblet set up a bake sale to raise money for a trip to Africa,” Paseshnik said. “Chad’s bake sale seemed to do well so I bought some baked goods, had some friends make them and then was like, ‘Well, I can paint so I’ll try selling those too.’”

Paseshnik began selling cinnamon rolls and twists, as well as original paintings done by himself and some of his friends, on a blanket which he placed outside of the Student Corum. It was here that Paseshnik first experienced the compassion of CU students.

“I’d have people come up and give me $3 and I would go, ‘You know, the cookies were only 50 cents’ and they’d just tell me to keep the money. It was crazy,” Paseshnik said.

Although one of his friend’s paintings sold for $50, Paseshnik quickly realized that he would have to go one step further in order to raise the needed money.

That was when Paseshnik turned his focus to panhandling.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Paseshnik said. “Then suddenly it was almost like God told me, ‘You could try panhandling.’”

Donning a cardboard sign bearing the phrase “My tuition bill outweighs my good charm” and carrying plastic Tupperware in hand, Paseshnik sought help from CU students. They saw Paseshnik walking aisles before and after chapel and camping outside of the Corum with his blanket full of baked treats.

The response from the CU community was, as Paseshnik said, “amazing.”

“It didn’t matter if it was a couple cents or like $20 bucks, people were just trying to support me,” Paseshnik said. “I’ve been really blessed.”

According to Christine Mutch, dean of discipleship, CU students reacted positively to Paseshnik due to their shared experiences with tuition and their desire to love as Christ loved.

“If you look at the New Testament, all over the place there’s these ‘one another’ phrases. ‘Love one another,’ ‘encourage one another.’ I think that students really get that,” Mutch said.

“They really get each other. They know what it’s like to be in debt, to need to get those bills paid. To see someone in that situation during the first week of school, students are like, ‘Whoa, we have to help him out.’”

By Aug. 27, only five days after receiving the call from admissions, Paseshnik had raised $1,659. He was able to contribute the final $6.

Paseshnik said the experience showed him how powerful God is.

“I really saw how easy this was for God,” Paseshnik said.

However, Paseshnik said the greatest lesson he learned is that he needs to be more responsible concerning his tuition payments.

 “I’ve learned that I have to be a lot more diligent in communicating with my parents,” Paseshnik said. “I need to be diligent in saving money and looking into scholarships so it doesn’t happen again.”