My name is Zac Baker, and I recently graduated as Salutatorian of my high school graduating class. I have been blessed with many opportunities to succeed academically, serve in leadership, and compete in athletics as captain of my golf team. While I am thankful for those accomplishments, they are not what define me. My utmost desire in life is to be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I grew up in church, and got saved in second grade, but my faith became much more personal when I was in sixth grade after my 26 year old brother was tragically killed in a car accident. That was the hardest season of my life. In the midst of my grief, however, I discovered that Jesus was more than who we learned about in church, and prayed to before dinner. Jesus became my source of hope, peace, and strength in this storm. Looking back, I would never choose to relive that experience, but I can honestly say that God used it for the good (Romans 8:28.) It gave me a burden for people who are hurting and a desire to spend my life pointing them toward the same hope I found. That desire has shaped every decision in my life. In school, I served as President of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where I worked to make our meetings more welcoming by introducing worship, strengthening our leadership team, and creating an environment where students felt valued. I also had the privilege of speaking at weekly meetings and Fields of Faith events attended by hundreds of students. This past year, our school experienced another tragedy when a member of our golf team, and a close friend of mine, died by suicide. It deeply affected our entire community. I was honored to speak at his funeral and share the hope of the Gospel during one of the darkest moments many of us had ever experienced. Afterwards, I founded a weekly Bible study for our men's and women's golf teams to give students a place to encourage one another through prayer and Scripture. It also led me to become involved as a pastoral figure with a nonprofit organization (L3R) Founded by Landon’s parents dedicated to suicide awareness and prevention. People often carry burdens we cannot see, and simple acts of encouragement can make an eternal difference. One way I have been investing in my community is through my church The Torch. I have served on two mission trips to Ecuador helping build churches, teach children, and provide for the needy. I also regularly speak in our children's ministry, help lead worship for our student ministry, serve on the media team, and work as a pastoral intern. These opportunities have strengthened the calling I believe God has placed on my life: to become a pastor and help people grow spiritually while walking with them through life's ongoing cycle. I am also an Eagle Scout and was blessed with the opportunity to serve my community through many service projects and an Eagle Project. For this, I built a trailhead sign to raise awareness of a prayer/meditation trail dedicated to my brother on my church’s property. This fall I plan to attend Liberty University to study Pastoral Leadership. My dream is to faithfully shepherd a church, continue growing the ministry I founded called Bible Motivation, and one day, Lord willing, even help establish a Christian college that equips future generations to know Christ and serve others. Whatever specific opportunities God provides, I simply want my life to lead people to the paramount goodness of Jesus. Receiving the Treye Knorr Memorial Scholarship would greatly ease the financial burden of attending a private Christian university. It would allow me to devote more of my time and energy toward preparing for my life’s ministry instead of worrying as much about the evident financial burdens that accompany higher education. I hope to honor the purpose of this scholarship by living a life marked by determination, faithfulness, and meaningful service to others. If I can encourage people, strengthen my community, and point others toward lasting hope, then I will consider my life a success. God bless.

My name is Zac Baker. I was Salutatorian for my class of 459 students. I am an Eagle Scout, and was team captain for my golf team, but my passion can be summed up in three words: sharing the Gospel. I have grown up in church my whole life, and I am very thankful for that. However, my faith became much more personal in sixth grade when my brother passed away in a tragic car accident. That was the hardest thing I had ever experienced, but through it, I found hope and comfort in Jesus. Because I know what it feels like to hurt, I now have a strong desire to help other people who are hurting and point them toward hope. At my high school, I served as President of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Through FCA, I had the opportunity to speak at Fields of Faith events attended by hundreds of students and at weekly huddle meetings. As president, I worked to make FCA more welcoming by helping create a better greeting system, adding worship, and encouraging our leadership team to pursue a spirit of excellence. I did not want FCA to just be another club. I wanted it to be a place where students felt seen, welcomed, and deeply encouraged. This became even more important to me after my school experienced the loss of a member of our men’s golf team to suicide. He was my friend and teammate, and his death greatly affected me. As hard as it was, I was honored to speak at his funeral and share that Jesus is the One we can turn to when life doesn’t make sense. After his passing, I started a Bible study for the school’s golf teams so we could support each other through scripture and prayer. I have also been asked to be a pastoral figure for a nonprofit organization founded by his parents to promote suicide awareness and prevention. This has increased my interest to a great degree for joining the fight against suicide. Additionally I serve in my church, The Torch Worship Center. I speak at Torch Kids worship services, serve on the student ministry leadership team, help with worship, and have gone on two mission trips to Ecuador where we helped build churches, held Bible School, led worship, and shared testimonies. I also serve in our monthly free food giveaway where we provide food for the community. Furthermore, I recently began serving as a pastoral intern, and I enjoy the work so much that it continues to confirm my calling to become a pastor. After college, I plan to make my community and the world a better place by becoming a pastor and continuing to serve people spiritually and emotionally. I want to preach the Gospel, walk with families through difficult seasons, mentor students, and help hurting people find hope. Philanthropy is very important to me as welI, and I hope to lead many different fundraising efforts, both large and small scale in the future. Finally, I hope to plant a church one day. I plan to attend Liberty University and study Pastoral Leadership so I can be better equipped for this calling. Attending a private Christian college out of state is a financial burden, but I believe this education will help prepare me to serve others well. This scholarship would help me immensely to pursue that calling and continue making a difference in my community and beyond.

My name is Zachary Baker. I just graduated on May 22nd from Habersham Central High School as Salutatorian for my class of 459 students. My passion can be summed up in three words… Sharing the Gospel. I have grown up in church all my life, and I’m so thankful for my Christian upbringing. I got saved in second grade at a summer VBS. However, I really began to grow closer to the Lord in 6th grade when my brother passed away in a tragic car accident. Obviously, this was very hard on me… However, through the whole situation, I found hope and comfort in Jesus. Because of the immense strength I drew from the Lord and the Holy Spirit in me during this tragedy, I have an incredibly strong desire to dedicate my life to Him and share Him with others who are hurting. During a church beach retreat in the summer of my Sophomore year, I felt a strong calling from the Lord to go into pastoral ministry. While there are obviously difficulties that come with vocational ministry, as much as I tried, I couldn’t run from the call. I decided that I was going to follow this calling no matter the trials ahead after my Junior year In an effort to spread the gospel in my school, I became very involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I served as President this past year, and have been given the opportunity to speak at two Fields of Faith events attended by hundreds of students and at weekly huddle meetings. In 2024, I was chosen by teachers and coaches as FCA Huddle Leader of the Year and FCA Athlete of the Year in 2025. My school faced a tragedy this past school year when a member of our men’s golf team committed suicide. This greatly affected me, and made my desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ even stronger. As hard as it was, I was honored to speak at my friend's funeral and tell about Jesus being the One we should turn to when life doesn’t make sense. I founded a Bible Study for the golf team after this tragedy. We met on Friday mornings at 7:30 am. It was a source of strength and a way to support each other as we dealt with this tragedy. I have also been asked to serve as a pastoral figure for a non-profit organization founded by his parents to promote suicide awareness. I know this organization will make a huge difference in my community and beyond. I am very involved in my church, The Torch. I’m a pastor for Torch Kids Church, a member of the One Way Student Ministry Team, and a speaker at our free food giveaways. I am also a member of The Torch Ecuador Mission team. In October 2023, I spent fall break in Riobamba, Ecuador helping build a church, holding Bible School, and leading worship services. In October 2025, I spent fall break helping build another church in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon jungle, holding Bible School, and leading worship services where I actually had the opportunity to give my testimony about overcoming grief. I have recently begun an internship at The Torch Worship Center as a pastoral intern. I have enjoyed this internship so much that I actually look forward to going to work, and I believe this confirms my calling to be a pastor one day. I plan to get a degree in Pastoral Leadership at Liberty University to develop my calling of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have recently realized what a financial burden it is to attend a private Christian college that is out of state which led me to finding this Scholarship opportunity. As I sow seeds, I am trusting the Lord to provide a harvest so I can honor Him best with my life. I look forward to being a pastor of a church one day and possibly even planting a new church. My utmost goal though… is to be a Godly husband and father who loves, protects, and provides for his family, setting an example of good moral character and having a servant’s heart. This Scholarship would definitely help relieve the financial burden that comes along with the educational essentials to pursue these goals.