Spiritual Mentors that have Changed My Life

Wendy ('04-present)

• First christian to affirm and validate my pain and exclusion and disappointments with the christian bubble my freshmen year. She said it was bold of me to share the way God was healing my heart. AFFIRMATION
• Ventured into starting the first social justice bible study at our campus, enabling me to reconcile some very disparate parts of my life in a Christian setting. The honesty and courage of the group was healing and loving. Supported Darfur activism ideas; She introduced the idea of community-oriented ways of doing things, thinking about things and thus, showed how I needed people and how I was made to be apart of a movement and recieve help and partnership in all I do. INTEGRATION
• Discipled me through a tensious semester of hostility toward American Christianity and my first encounters with the spiritual realm: backpains, dreams, holy spirit and prayer language. She was so open, supportive and paved a way of peace and integration for my spiritual life. Had it been anyone with less of a relationship with the spirit, it would have been hell. HEALING
• She called and stood with me through death, cancers, heart attacks and more. She assured me of God's comforting presence and loving gestures toward everyone. COMFORT
• Befriended me and models. Continued to take risks of Faith. In her places of leadership she leads out of vulnerability- sharing her own insecurities, embarassing stories, and hardships. She renounces self-protection to recieve life. VULNERABILITY

Nestor ('05-present)

• Hospitable and welcoming me into a family of God at Lighthouse Church in Ghana TREATED AS A SISTER IN CHRIST
• Challenged me out of my comfort zone to share "what has God been teaching you?" ENCOURAGED ME IN SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AND SPEAKING OUT
• He would look at me with so much love and say I know you have a song of worship in your heart at all times. I know you love the Lord with all your heart. Though it wasn't all true, he opened me to the possibility of living this way- it was a prophetic declaration CONSTANTLY ENCOURAGING & LEADING ME TO NEXT STEPS OF LOVING GOD
• Took many risks with him- praying late hours outside, singing a song to whole church, verbalizing what lord has been saying to me, praying over his family, recieving teachings. TOOK RISKS OF FAITH UNDER HIS MENTORSHIP
• He spoke truth into my life- I relied too much on emotions for my stability in the Lord; lived with the standard of the word despite the harsh realities of the world TRUTH IN LOVE
• His prayers for me: healed me from malaria, embodied love of Christ when he spent time with me, the sick- fed me, prayed for me, spent time with me; nothing I could do to give back- just recieve- it was a breakthrough for me spiritually UNCONDITIONAL LOVE MODELED LIKE JESUS WITH THE SICK
• Enduring friendship. Always prays for me, Spirit-led in all things, perserving in hope and leaning on God's grace. PRAYER and FRIEND

Books that have changed my life

1. Practicing the Presence of God HOLY SPIRIT

• introduced me to the simplicity of union with Christ, opened my heart to abiding in his spirit, strong constant encounter with God's presence through reading this and practicing. Before this book, the holy spirit came in and out often but now I walk at its lead and live by its constant reality.

2. The Smell of Sin PURITY

• cut through the lies I've believed about sin- the excuses, the justifications and gave me a Godly view of its destruction and the grace and truth that set me free; Before this book, I resisted owning and seeing sin as sin, and was blind to God's lens of sin's pervasiveness.

3. Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian SPIRITUAL WARFARE

• Opened my eyes to the spiritual battle element; gave me specific techniques to stand in God's victory: praise, worship, spirit of truth and the word; it also educated me how evil manifests and gave me peace and understanding about my own encounters with illness, bad dreams, etc. Before this, I denied an active "evil" beyond what I could see and what was in me.

4. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger SOCIAL JUSTICE

• Gave strong biblical background for God's call to live in a way that enables freedom and wholistically healthy lives for all; Convicts of excess, gluttony, etc and motivates real lifestyle changes. Before this, I questioned the bible's engagement with these issues and how Christians respond to systemic issues.

5. Invitation to Silence and Solitude SABBATHS

• Allowed me to be more authentic, vulnerable and blunt with the Lord; being still surfaced things I would try to hide from in myself; gave me freedom in feel and be with the lord more intimately. Before this, I think I could "hide" a lot in bible studies, devotionals, even prayers and avoid acknowledging myself. It wasn't intimacy for I wasn't giving myself or recieving the Lord fully.

6. Bill Johnson's Bethel Sermons FAITH

• Opened the door to my faith, my participation in the kingdom. Did I not know that the temple of the Holy Spirit was in me? Did I not see how my standard was the world/disappoints and not theology? Big Faith Builder, Lots of Truth and Open Doors for Dreaming and Wanting More of God's Ways to Reign in my life.

7. Boundaries LOVING

• Revolutionized my understanding of loving/helping people and how to see my self