Equipped to Serve. Empowered to Go.

If you notice Peyton McKenzie walking across campus, one thing catches your eye immediately: her backpack, covered in patches that map a life in motion. Bosnia. Victoria Falls. Zambia. Romania. Mexico. Paris. London. A dolphin for family trips to Florida.

Each patch represents a destination. Each destination, a choice — intentional, purposeful, guided by a calling that’s shaping who she is becoming.

A biology student in the honors program, Peyton is charting a path toward a career in prosthetics. Her passion for missions runs just as deep as her love for science. Ask her about any of those patches, and you won’t hear a story about survival. You’ll hear a story about purpose, about a faith that moves her forward.

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of God-given talents,” Peyton said. “There’s a scientific and artistic side to me, and another side that thrives on hands-on creativity and problem-solving. I remember asking God, ‘How are You going to bring all of this together?’”

The answer came during her junior year of high school on a mission trip to New Orleans. One of the chaperones had a prosthetic leg. Early one morning, Peyton’s curiosity got the better of her.

“Your leg’s really cool,” she told him.

He laughed, took it off, and showed her how it worked: the socket, the knee, every intricate detail. Then he invited her to join him for a routine prosthetics appointment in Dallas.

“When I walked into that appointment, everything just clicked,” Peyton said. “It was the perfect mix of working with people and quiet time in the lab. I thought, This is it. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

That clarity of purpose came from a young woman who had learned, earlier than most, that life doesn’t always go as planned. And that when it doesn’t, you have a choice about what comes next.

“When I was 11,” Peyton said, “my dad killed himself. I didn’t know how to deal with all the feelings at the time, so I just shut them off and went about my life.”

Three years later, her mother died unexpectedly.

Peyton remembers standing in the hallway that night, her adrenaline finally starting to fade.

“I was just frozen,” she said. “I knew I needed to talk to my brother, but I didn’t know what to do next. I thought, maybe if I start praying, a firefighter will see me and come pray with me.”

But when she looked around, everyone had disappeared. It was quiet — just her and God.

“In that moment, God said, ‘No, this is just between Me and you,’” she recalled. “He pulled me close, and I prayed for understanding. He helped me accept that she was dying and that I would be okay.”

Peyton (in light purple) performs with TriPhi during SING, an annual Hardin-Simmons University Homecoming tradition featuring student performances and friendly competition.

In the years that followed, Peyton learned to lean on Christ completely. Long before she ever stepped onto the HSU campus, her relationship with Him had become not only her foundation, but also her source of strength, direction, and peace.

Because she had chosen to trust God more than she trusted her own fear. That choice, made in the darkest moment of her childhood, became the foundation for everything else.

“If one person comes to know Christ through my story, it’s all worth it,” she said.

By the time Peyton arrived at Hardin-Simmons University as a Christlieb-sponsored student, she had already been on multiple mission trips.

“When I went to Romania this summer, we worked with children with disabilities, something I’d never done before,” Peyton said. “Afterwards, my team came up to me and said, ‘Peyton, you look like you’ve been doing this your whole life.’ I was shocked. I told them, ‘I was terrified. I had no idea what I was doing.’ And they said, ‘No, you have a natural ability to work with these kids.’”

On campus, Peyton found a community that didn’t ask her to hide her story. Instead, she found people who joined her in the faith journey Christ had already begun — professors, mentors, and friends who encouraged her to keep saying yes to His calling. She chose to share her testimony again and again, and each time, people responded not with pity, but with recognition. With solidarity. With a desire to connect.

“I’ve gotten to share my testimony so many times,” she said. “When I first came to school, I was worried because no one would know I’m an orphan — it would be my choice whether to tell

Peyton shares her testimony during chapel.

them or not. People kept reminding me, ‘You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.’ And they were right. But I knew God had called me to tell my story and to share how good He’s been through it.”

Peyton is a Christlieb student. This program made her attendance at Hardin-Simmons possible: not just tuition but belonging in a community that values her calling and affirms her witness. Christlieb is helping a young woman with multiple gifts and a clear sense of purpose to develop fully.

Now, as Hardin-Simmons launches LiveSent, a new initiative to mobilize students, faculty, and staff to serve locally and globally, embodying the love and message of Jesus Christ, Peyton stands as a living picture of its purpose. Her story is proof that even the hardest parts of our lives don’t disqualify us from serving others. They can equip us to do it more deeply.

“God is good,” Peyton said. “It’s been so fun sharing my story and getting to see how it can impact other people.”

The backpack will keep filling. More patches. More places. More lives changed because one student chose to say yes to her calling, and because someone believed in her enough to make that calling possible.

Peyton’s journey is also a picture of what Christlieb makes possible: a student with a story, a purpose, and a mission, fully supported and fully sent.

Every student who goes on a LiveSent trip will carry forward the message stitched into those patches: Your calling matters. Your gifts matter. Your willingness to serve matters.

And sometimes, a young woman with a backpack — and someone who believed in her — really can change the world.

Christlieb provides tuition assistance to students who are independent and do not have a traditional family structure. LiveSent is a new mission initiative at Hardin-Simmons designed to mobilize students, faculty, and staff to serve both locally and globally. Click here to learn how you can support students like Peyton.