Heidi Dyer and Jenna Tunnell are both seniors on the Pepperdine women's indoor volleyball and beach volleyball teams. Dyer and Tunnel have made big waves off the court by starting an on-campus ministry called Jesus Barrels. We talked about how Jesus Barrels was formed, its impact and what their Pepperdine experience has meant to them:
 
Q: What is Jesus Barrels and why did you start it?
 
Heidi: Jesus Barrels is a ministry that we have here on campus. It was birthed out of another ministry that Jenna and I went to called Gospel House that was in Downtown L.A. It was really amazing and we loved the community, but they ended up stopping. We wanted to basically recreate what they did here at Pepperdine. We both just have really big hearts for Pepperdine, and we wanted to make a place where Jesus could move in a unique way.
 
Jenna: We, as athletes, meet with the counseling center before every season starts. They let us in on some statistics that said that 45 percent of the campus has claimed loneliness, anxiety or depression, so we had this feeling that we needed to do something about it. A huge part of Jesus Barrels is the community. We heard a lot of students saying that they wanted to be plugged in but didn't know where to start. Jesus Barrels is an opportunity for them to learn how to do that and be surrounded by others who are trying to do the same. It's so encouraging and uplifting.
 
Heidi: A huge thing for us was creating a place where people could get to know Jesus better because we found that we both struggled with those things freshman year. The only thing that got us out of that was Jesus, having a relationship with Him, and hearing his voice. One of our mottos for Jesus Barrels is "a place where we can hear God's voice in practical and tangible ways." Jesus Barrels is a place where we do that through prophecy. Prophecy is just a fancy word for hearing God's voice for someone else. We created a space where we can practice doing that.
 
Q: Why did you name it Jesus Barrels?
 
Heidi: The name was birthed out of an 8 a.m. class brainstorming session. It's safe to say we were not listening. We were texting in our group chat and we were just putting words together. We ended up getting really close to Jesus Barrels, and then it came to me. I immediately loved it since we're the Pepperdine Waves. A lot of the lingo we use is "getting wrecked in the Spirit" or "getting barreled in the Spirit."
 
Jenna: It was just a fun play on words since we're the Waves. So we came up with Jesus Barrels.
 
Heidi: Not to be confused with wooden barrels.
 
Q: How many people attend, and where do you all gather?
 
Heidi: I'd say there's an average of 20 to 30 people that are among our community. We gather in random places on campus, wherever is available.
 
Jenna: We had an adventure with the location. We started at an alumni's home through the canyon, but it was kind of a trek for everybody. We've kind of been bouncing around and letting the Lord direct where we're going to meet every night. 
 
Q: Are the attendees mostly athletes, non-athletes or both?
 
Heidi: It's mostly non-athletes, which is awesome. We wanted it to be a place where it wasn't all athletes. We never talked about this being for athletes. We just wanted it to be for Pepperdine students, and a way for athletes to mix in and make friends with non-athletes. Having non-athlete friends changed it for me sophomore year. Suddenly people were looking at me as Heidi the person, not just Heidi the volleyball player.
 
Jenna: We just wanted to merge the two. I feel like there's always been this stigma that they have to be so separated. We personally don't feel that way.
 
Q: Has the group helped anyone overcome life's challenges or obstacles?
 
Jenna: We've actually had people come to the Lord for the first time through Jesus Barrels. We had someone come in and we had no idea he was a non-believer. He was just sitting there and observing. We started going into prophecy and hearing from the Lord. He got blasted, to say the least. Heidi was giving him a word that was so relevant to what he was going through. I think the feeling of being known shook him up a little bit and got him to question what was happening. Ever since then he said he can't not believe.
 
Heidi: I've seen a lot of people come to Jesus Barrels in different seasons. They don't need other people necessarily. They need an encounter with the One True God, and they got that when they came to Jesus Barrels. God would meet them in a way, and I saw peoples' weeks completely turn around after that.
 
Q: Do you mind sharing your journey with faith? When did it start and how has it helped you at certain times of your life?
 
Jenna: I grew up in the church, but I honestly didn't understand what a relationship with the Lord looked like until I got to college. It was very one-sided, even in high school. Personally, I came to Pepperdine with an injury and continued to have two surgeries after that. It was a very unique time for me to be able to find my identity and my relationship with the Lord outside of my sport. For me, college has been crucial in learning how to hear His voice and walking in obedience. It was really big for me to start walking in obedience and see the fruit that comes out of that. I'm still learning so much. I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but Jesus Barrels was a really cool place to step out in faith and trust Him to help me lead.
 
Heidi: I also was raised in a Christian home. I think I had my own relationship with God my junior year of high school, but everything changed when I got to college. I wasn't really surrounded by many believers and it got really hard. I started to doubt if God was real. I started to doubt if any of it was true or worth it. I struggled a bit my freshman year, but the summer after freshman year, I went to a ministry night called Gospel House. Someone gave me a word from God that made me realize that God had to be real and that I could feel His love and hear His voice. That summer became a turning point in my faith journey. I spent the next year trying everything in my will power to hear the voice of God. It actually is a lot simpler than I could have imagined, but I had no idea what to look for because no one around me knew what it looked like. God really took me under His wing. It's completely transformed my life.
 
Q: In addition to starting Jesus Barrels, you're both seniors on both the indoor volleyball and beach volleyball teams. As you're coming to the end of your time in college, what has your Pepperdine experience meant to you?
 
Heidi: My life would not be where it is today if I didn't come to Pepperdine. If I had gone to any other school, I would be a completely different person. Pepperdine and the community shaped me in really hard ways at some points, but that's what made me who I am today. I'm so grateful for the experience I got to have here.
 
Jenna: I would second a lot of that. It was never really easy, but it was so worth it. We were poured into in a way that I don't think is available at many schools. I've had so many mentors and professors pour into my life and show me truth. One of our assistant coaches for the indoor team will be at my wedding. He's my friend; he's not just my coach. I think that is a staple at Pepperdine. They're people that want to invest in you as a person, not just as an athlete or student. I think that's been so present in the relationships that I've made here.
 
Q: This year's indoor season was very successful. What was it like reaching the NCAA Tournament?
 
Jenna: It was such a whirlwind. It was the shooting and the evacuation, so we were all scattered all over the place. Our coach gave us the choice of whether we wanted to continue the season. We talked as a team and decided that we should do it for Malibu and for the school. From that point on, it was honestly a blur. It was so tiring, but so fun at the same time. There were so many obstacles, and I was like "Come on, bring it on. What else can you throw at us?" We were just overcoming all of them, and it was awesome. It wasn't something that we needed. I wasn't thinking, "In order to look back and have a good career at Pepperdine, I need to make the NCAA Tournament." It was just like "Here we go!" the whole time.
 
Heidi: It was so fun. It was just the cherry on top. It was so incredible. No one expected us to really do well. No one put pressure on us either. It was just cool because it wasn't like "Yes! We achieved what we were trying to achieve." We went above and beyond anything any of us could have imagined. It was really cool as a senior too.