Sabrina Steffans was not surprised when her high school principals informed her near the end of her junior year in May that the design for her upcoming senior parking space—which featured a Bible verse and the words “God is love and He loves you”—was a no-go.
She had seen this kind of thing before.
As a yearly tradition, many rising seniors at Grand Island Senior High School in New York transform sections of the school’s parking lot into a patchwork of vibrant images. With brushes, paints, tapes—and trash bags strewn across the ground—students draw artwork within their paid parking spaces as an outlet for creative expression, after submitting their designs to the school for approval.
Wishing to express her faith in Jesus Christ, Sabrina, 17, took an old piece of copy paper and penciled a cross erected on a mountain, and inside a hand-drawn heart, she wrote, “God is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” with the reference, John 14:6. She submitted the picture to her school for approval after paying her $50 fee.
Just as the school had initially refused her request to revitalize a disbanded Bible club years before, her principals once again endeavored to prevent her from expressing her faith. Deeming it “inappropriate,” her assistant principals informed her that allowing the design would be in the same category as permitting a satanic symbol.
“They said that none of that was allowed,” Sabrina told Decision. “I couldn’t have a cross. I couldn’t have the word God. I couldn’t have any Bible verses or any Bible references. They said I wouldn’t want to see a satanic symbol on a parking spot. They were really trying to deter me.”
Sabrina, who became a Christian in middle school, submitted another design—this time with just a Biblical reference—Jeremiah 29:11, and the words “His will His way my life,” inspired by how God’s hand was continuously guiding her life. The design also included the words “Let your light shine.” Since a cross could only be permitted if it were disguised as the letter “t,” she masked the cross with the “t” in light.
Yet again, Sabrina expected the principals to reject the design. And she was right.
Her final design included no Bible references—only the words “He is King” and “Let your light shine.” The design was accepted.
The rules precluded “offensive language, pictures or symbols,” “negative or rude language” and “‘gang-style’ tagging.” They made no explicit mention of religious speech. Nevertheless, the head principal confirmed to Sabrina that she could only use a design with no Scripture references.
Sabrina’s struggle with the school’s intolerance of anything deemed religious began when she entered Grand Island as a freshman and sensed a call to serve in her school.
“I was at my church, and I felt a calling to do something with school. And when I went to youth group that night, they were talking about how we should spread the Gospel in school.”
That day, youth group leaders approached Sabrina and encouraged her to restart the disbanded Bible club.
Sabrina asked the school if she could restore the club. For about six months, the school ignored her request, pushing it aside and telling her it was not their immediate or main focus and they would get back to her later. After persistently emailing for months, they finally relented—but not without further pushback.
“We had to send so many emails to let us make posters. They’d say, ‘Oh, we don’t have time right now.’”
Sabrina pressed on then, and she pressed on with the parking space issue as well—but this time with legal assistance. With the help of her mother, Sherry, she sought counsel from First Liberty Institute, a religious liberty law firm who sent a demand letter to the school, claiming First Amendment violations for their refusal of her parking lot designs.
On Aug. 20, the school relented, permitting her to paint her original submission.
Sabrina is praying that her story will embolden Christians to remain true to their faith, despite opposition. She has found encouragement through God’s Word, including a pivotal moment when she opened her Bible and found herself in Ecclesiastes.
“In Ecclesiastes, it talks about how everything is meaningless. And at the end of the day, God is all that matters. That was really special to me. It was perfect timing, realizing that there’s going to be hate, there’s going to be spiritual warfare, but it’s not going to matter because at the end of the day, God is all that matters—glorifying His Name.”
As photos of her design circulated on the internet, Sabrina’s testimony of standing firm in her witness for Christ has brought followers of her story to an important truth: Countless Christian youth today, despite the resistance found in schools and hostility in online platforms, are choosing to openly stand for Christ.
“She got a lot of wonderful messages from people saying that seeing faith in the younger generation is really exciting to them,” Sherry told Decision. “They’re seeing that they’re going to make a difference in the world. You hear so many negative things about this age group, but we have a lot of wonderful kids coming up who love the Lord. It’s just huge to me to watch her understand how important it is to stand up, causing others to say, ‘Well, if she stands up, we’ll stand up.’”
“His will. His way. My life”—those six words, inspired by Jeremiah 29:11—have guided Sabrina as she stepped in a path of courage, for in walking in His ways, she knows God leads her and instills His plans for her life.
To Christian students facing pressure to hide their beliefs, Sabrina would tell them to remember the life Jesus walked.
“Trust God and trust His plan for you, because Jesus was perfect, but people still hated Him. And if they hate you, they hated Him first. If they hate you for obeying God, you’re doing something right.”
