There are many joys to serving in ministry, but one of the greatest joys is seeing God work in the lives of others and seeing spiritual growth taking place in the lives of those around you. It has truly been a blessed semester at the OU Wesley and an absolute joy to watch God's love and grace pervade the lives of our students. I recently finished a sermon series on the Seven Deadly Sins and have been amazed at how the students have responded and how they have engaged in holy conversations with others in a pursuit of a more abundant relationship with Christ. Last week instead of preaching, I had 5 students that shared testimonies of how God has been working in their lives recently and helping them to overcome one or more of the seven deadly sins. It was truly a powerful evening of hearing God at work in the lives of so many young people and then watching their peers respond in such a positive and affirming manner. I hope you will consider taking some time to listen to the most recent podcast and hear how your support of our ministry is truly changing lives. If you are interested you can listen here: http://okwesley.org/ministries/vespers/sermon-podcasts.
I would like to close with one more personal example of how God has and is changing lives at the OU Wesley. The following is a testimony from one of our students, Sam Qiu. I hope you are as blessed by Sam's story as I have been:
I came to America six months ago. Pastor Fuxia Wang, who works at OU Wesley Foundation, went to the OKC airport to pick me up. On the way back to OU (Norman), she introduced me to the Wesley Foundation and invited me to come and join the English tutoring class every Tuesday night. I give thanks to my English tutors Amber McKinney and Tim Graf who voluntarily took the responsibility to help me improve my English. I quickly got used to the life here.
After the (English) class, the Christian students would have worship at 9:00p.m. At that time, I was an atheist and knew nothing about God and his salvation. It was hard to understand Pastor Daniel's preaching because I did not know anything about the Bible, and my English was so poor. However, I was quite interested about God's words, and I felt hungry for them. I never imagined how (the) Wesley Foundation could change me in my spiritual life. I just know that there was a strong power inside my heart that kept pushing me towards God.
As my listening and spoken English gradually improved, I began to understand Pastor Daniel's preaching. I enjoyed it very much because it helped me a lot. I would join the communion service after his sermon and invite Jesus Christ to come into my life. Every Friday night, Pastor Fuxia Wang led a Chinese Fellowship, which also really helped my spirit to grow and strengthened my faith in God. Before I came to the Lord, I was wretched and poor, more importantly, I was dead inside. To me, Wesley foundation is my spiritual hospital. It gave me a three-month surgery on my flesh and mind, planting spiritual seeds within me, looking after them carefully, watching them sprouting until they became strong. When I left the 'hospital,' I was a new born man with eternal life. My deep sins were cleansed, and I know Jesus Christ is my doctor and my savior!
On Feb 27th 2011, the sixth month after I came to America and two days before I had to depart America, I gave my testimony and was baptized before my good friends. Wesley has changed me from the inside out. Although I am not a rich man, I still generously gave my offerings to those people who live in poverty through the Wesley Foundation's weekly offering. I became a guy that is willing to help other people when they need help because I think all those good efforts will not save me, but glorify God's name.
Wesley Foundation is a part of the body of Jesus Christ, where unceasing love is poured out for every person. In my life, I know I belong to God, and I also know that I belong to Wesley Foundation. I am grateful to the Wesley for changing my life, I am going back to China as a new creation in Christ.
