History of Chara

By Shanna Hartman

            My senior year in high school I strongly felt that the Lord wanted me at Texas A&M University. I felt I would grow here both academically and spiritually and hoped that in some small way I would be able to use the gifts He has given me in order to make a difference. When I arrived here, I began praying and seeking activities I should be involved in. The Lord immediately led me to Aggie Sister for Christ and I accredit much of its influence to the foundation of Chara. I also knew I wanted to continue dancing so I joined a dance company here. That first semester I discovered just how much everything we do should be to the glory of the Lord. God created our bodies and has blessed us with tremendous creativity; therefore we should use both of these in order to give God the glory He deserves. During this, the Lord completely confirmed in me the idea of starting a Christian dance company as a student organization. At the beginning of the spring semester, I expressed my idea to a close friend, Kimbra, and we began praying that the Lord would expand my idea and take it the direction He wanted to go. We were also praying for girls who had my same heart and who would be willing and excited to get it started. Our God is so incredibly faithful; and through Kimbra I met both Crystal and Shevawn who also had somewhat of the same idea for a while but were waiting for a specific vision. Together, God gave us the vision and desire to minister to the students of this campus through the art of worship of dance, as well as equip college women for ministry. We held our first auditions September 2002 with twelve awesome girls and today we stand in awe of just how mightily the Lords hand has been on this group! He has prepared everything in advance for us and has carried us even when we had no clue what we were doing or how to do it. Through Chara I have seen our God’s greatness and JOY firsthand and I can not wait to see what all He has in store for the future!