Daniel and Rebecca Sutphin were an unexpected source of one of the most notable philanthropic gifts in Arizona Christian University’s history. They are not alumni of the school or parents of an ACU student. In fact, until three years ago, they had never even heard of the university.
But the Sutphins, in an act that they describe as “answering the call” that the Lord gave them, recently helped establish the first-ever endowed scholarship in Arizona Christian University’s 64-year history. They join a growing contingent of financial supporters from across the country with no previous ties to the school who are drawn to the University’s steadfast commitment to the truth of scripture and standing firm in the face of cultural opposition.
Daniel and Rebecca are a young couple, still in the midst of raising and home-educating their 8 children who range from teenager to toddler. They first met in the dining hall of the small Christian college they both attended in Tennessee.
The Sutphins’ relationship took a winding path as they navigated their college years and Daniel’s first year of medical school after graduation. But their shared reliance on Jesus Christ and a sense of His plan for their lives continued to draw them together, and they ultimately wed early in Daniel’s surgical training while Rebecca was working as a public school elementary teacher.
Their lives have been marked by acts of faithfulness—times when they prayerfully sought the Lord’s leading and walked in obedience–even when they did not fully understand His plan for them at the time.
In fact, without one such instance of Spirit-led obedience, the Sutphins might not have ever met in the first place. “I had my heart set on singing in the choir at the University of Tennessee,” remembers Rebecca. She had no interest in the school where she and Daniel ultimately met, and only went to visit the campus to please her mother and “check the box.”
Rebecca says. “It was a very clear, heart throbbing moment when I heard God really speaking to me and moving me to go there.” And while it was not part of her plan, Rebecca recognized the Lord’s voice and obeyed, charting the course for the rest of her life.
Their time in college gave the Sutphins an understanding of the powerful influence Christian higher education can have on young men and women. And as time passed, they also began to develop a clear understanding of the role teachers play in shaping the next generation.
Rebecca’s time teaching in the public school was eye-opening. She had a God-given aptitude for developing curriculum and investing in her students, but also experienced frustration with the public school’s secular worldview and its requirement that she tailor her instruction to standardized testing requirements rather than the children’s particular needs.
So, she and Daniel prayed about it and felt led to have Rebecca leave the public school system and stay home with their newborn son. As their family grew and their oldest reached kindergarten age, the Sutphins ultimately decided to have Rebecca home-educate their children.
“The ability to calibrate the curriculum in a manner that reflected each child’s strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to focus on what objectively matters, was very appealing to us,” noted Daniel.
Over the last 17 years Rebecca has faithfully and sacrificially used the gift of teaching that the Lord has given her to invest profoundly in the lives of the Sutphins’ eight children.
“Rebecca’s testament has in many ways been lived quietly before the Lord,” reflects Daniel. His desire to honor his wife’s enduring faithfulness and gift for teaching led him to ACU, where he worked with the university to establish the Rebecca Sutphin Excellence in Teaching Endowed Scholarship at Arizona Christian University.
“We prayed for years to find a place where God was at work so we could join Him there,” Daniel stated. “As we came to learn more about the core values and leadership of ACU, we felt called to invest our resources there to help them train up the next generation of faithful Christian educators.”
As a result of the Sutphins’ generous endowment gift, ACU will be able to award a scholarship each year to a female ACU student who, like Rebecca, “demonstrates sincerity of her love for the Lord and a desire to serve Him with gladness in the field of elementary education.”
“Influencing the life of a child, their heart, their mind, encouraging their understanding of the world–whether in the home or outside the home—what else could be more important?” Daniel asks.
“We want other young women who face some of the challenges that Rebecca did, particularly with respect to having the resources to go to college, to find value in their calling to become teachers, and to help those who feel God’s call to the ministry of teaching.”
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