Written By John Freeman Media By John Freeman
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Global Impact week is a yearly event where students who are interested in global ministry are introduced to dozens of opportunities to become active Christians around the world. Along with service events at places around the college like the Simple Room, Eden’s Glory, and the Christian Activities center, a handful of speakers involved in ministry around the world shared their stories to students and offered opportunities to join in mission’s trips. This week’s chapel services introduced three speakers, who shared their testimonies of helping and ministering to victims both around the world and close to home.
Bob Goff, renown lawyer, speaker, and author of the book Love Does, spoke on the first day’s chapel. Bob Goff was involved with dozens of missions into other countries, where he has helped save and restore the lives of hundreds of people. He was called by God once to go to Northern Iraq. During his visit, he Ministered to 70 students, all scared of being attacked by Isis troops. He began to pass out balloons to them. In that first half of his testimony his message was to go follow your ambition,”Go be you” were the three words he had for the group of Greenville students he spoke to; if not for a message for God and his ambition he would have never been there for the frightened students.
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In the next part of his message, he talks about a boy hacked and left for dead by a witchdoctor in Uganda. He saved the boy and helped serve justice on the Witchdoctor who hurt this boy-now nicknamed Charlie. Then, he sent out a message to the witchdoctors of the country that there would now be punishment for anyone who hurt innocent children. Even more amazingly, Bob offered a new life and education for the witchdoctors if they came to him. Hundreds of ex-witchdoctors graduated school that year. The message continued with Bob testifying about how he was able to have the boy’s wounds healed for free by a renowned doctor. Then he goes to say that the Witchdoctor who attacked the boy also came to Christ in the prison he was in. Then he received an email from the White House saying “We would like to see Charlie”. In this other half of his message he talks about how all these amazing things happen when he walks God’s path, “If you have a God you can trust you don’t have to worry about the path your on.” A video of him giving the same testimony he gave to students last Monday can be seen here.
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Wednesday’s chapel was actually about helping victims close to home; Derek, a man involved with stopping trafficking in an area only miles away from Greenville. In his testimony, he started off with a question “Would you fight in World War II” over half of the student body raised their hands. He told them to remember the message and continued his testimony. He began to talk about how human sex trafficking actually exists nearly everywhere in America. Young women everywhere would be exploited by men who would take advantage of them for money. The saddest part of his testimony was when he talked about a man who only took juveniles. He was taken into custody for 70+ years and Derek managed to minister to the girls. In his message he said that those who wish to pursue criminal justice should not be discouraged because “You can make a change, you can make a difference. You are armed with the word of God.” Later, he also said “It’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can hit and keep moving forward.” In a brief talk I managed to have with him, he talked about how he kept the girls encouraged by telling and sharing with them the love of God. At the end of his service he re-approached everyone with the a similar question “Would you fight trafficking?” he told everyone to be honest, they didn’t have to raise their hands. A handful of students raised their hands. He stayed after his service to talk with students who wanted to get involved with criminal justice. I saw him offering one student an opportunity for internship.
Friday’s testimony was the most directly related to Global Impact Week. A dozen students who where on the Nicaragua trip set up by the Students International Program sat at the stage and gave their testimony. A number of them gave their testimony.
The first student, at first didn’t wish to go to Nicaragua, but then she prayed over it. After praying, she felt the presence of God and decided to go. She talked about how blessed she felt going and working with the children.The next student said that it was fun but it was challenging going to Nicaragua as a sophomore. She talked about how she went out and gave free healthcare to people without being payed. That, she said, is an example of how we should follow God; That We should go out of our comfort zone and be defined by the experience. The third student recalled how he and his friends enjoyed playing with young children. He and the children never knew each others language yet they still had fun. At the end of his message he said “God speaks all languages.” The final student went to Nicaragua after she prayed for God to open her heart and tell her what to do. After she went she met with a family who had no portraits of each other. She then spent a day with that family and began to take pictures with them around the street.
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After the Testimonies of these men and women, Doctor Dunkley closed the service with a verse from Romans 15:13 ending this years Global Impact Week with the words, “Thank you Lord for hope for us and for the world, amen.”
