Keepers of the Flame: Equestrian rider Kendall Burdette
November 28, 2016 | Lynchburg, Va.
In this week's segment of "Keepers of the Flame," Kendall Burdette, a sophomore rider on Liberty University's women's equestrian Hunter Seat team, shares her favorite Bible verse, Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
"God promises to be with us when we go through the rough waters and we go through the really difficult times in our lives," Burdette said. "It just shows that God is always walking with us and He's always right beside us, so that's really comforting."
She believes it is the calling of every Lady Flames student-athlete to testify of God's love and grace wherever they may travel, through not only their performance in the ring but also their kindness toward their fellow competitors.
"Especially as we go to these competitions, they don't always go the way we want and we won't always have the best ride, but we have to remember why we're going to these places and that's because there are people who still don't know Christ," Burdette said. "The most important thing is that we are showing that we're set apart and that we're showing the love of God. We know even if people aren't loving us as much as we're loving on them, it doesn't matter because we're just there to be examples and really show Christ's love at these competitions. It's such a cool opportunity."
Burdette, who has been riding for 12 years, is from Lutherville, Md., a suburb of Baltimore. She is pursuing a degree in social work with a goal of using therapeutic riding to bring hope and recovery to inner-city, underprivileged youth.
