…This is Why

D E C E M B E R
2 0 1 3
…This is Why
Dear Ministry Partner,
Why are we reaching the campus for Christ? It is because 2 out of 3 college
students fall away from their Christian faith? Is it because they are the future world
leaders? Or, is it that many Christian revivals have originated on universities and we
are hoping to see our world revived again? Yes, yes, and yes! But, there is more. I
believe we want to give others the same invitation that we have received. We want to
give our friends, neighbors, and family members to opportunity to have their life
intertwined into His Life – so that they could wake up and miraculously be found in the
arms of God- not by anything they have done but by everything that He has done. I
have been looking forward to sharing this with you over the past two
months. Below is Ferys’ account of how she woke up and found herself in the arms of God.
“Back at home (England) I was never fully exposed to any religion growing up. I had attended a girl's club with a
few friends in the evening, which was held at the church, and occasionally went to a Christmas service with my mum. But
that was the extent of my faith. As I grew older however, I drifted further away from God. I didn't particularly like
Christians (or any religious people in general), and I started to socialize (around age 16) with the wrong crowd. I started
drinking and smoking cannabis, and was diagnosed with depression. I began thinking suicidal thoughts and started
skipping class, and didn’t put any effort in to anything. I had to repeat a year of school as I failed my exams, but I
managed to get through those years even though the depression never fully went away.
In college I was excited when I heard about an opportunity to study at ECU. I finally had something to aim for that
I was passionate about. Receiving this opportunity was a dream come true. I arrived in Greenville in August (2013) and
carried on behaving as I usually would - partying. About a month later I heard about a New York City trip for international
students. I didn’t want to go but there were 3 places left on the trip and there were 3 of us…it seemed like we were
supposed to go on this trip. So I hesitantly agreed. This turned out to be the best decision I ever made.
It was here I first met Daniel, as he was organizing the trip. After an early start and plenty of coffee we were on
our way to NYC! We stayed at a lovely couples home, and I remember thinking how kind and gracious they were for
letting us stay in their wonderful home and providing us with food and anything else we needed. I asked Daniel about
this. He explained that it was their love for God and their willingness to do His work that gave them joy to open their door
to international students year after year. This was an entirely new concept for me, as my previous experience of
Christians did not fit the generosity this family showed us.
The remainder of the NYC trip was amazing, everyone got on so well and in the evenings we all talked about that
particular days experience and what our highlights of the day were. This was one of my favorite aspects of the trip, as we
got to hear everyone's experiences and different points of view. It was on one of these sessions that Daniel had Bianca
(an American student) share her story with us. I remember the exact feeling this gave me, I was completely in awe of
what she was saying. She once had the same opinion of God as me. She had struggled to find her true identity, but
God had touched her, and she had turned to face Him, and never looked back. I wanted to experience this, I wanted to
finally find out who God actually is.
[As a side note: ever since infancy I have suffered with motion sickness, especially in cars and buses.] Finally
journeying back to Greenville, I forgot to take my anti-sickness medication an hour before the journey (as recommended),
but took it just as we were ready to depart. But within the first half an hour I started to feel nauseous. I progressively felt
worse and eventually I had to ask Daniel to stop the van. When we started driving again, Bianca chose to sit next to me,
and before long I started to feel ill again, Bianca noticed my distress and asked the question "Do you want me to pray for
you?" I was taken aback and didn’t really know how to respond, so I asked "will that help?" to which she replied " If you
let him, Jesus will heal you. I will just sit here next to you and place my hand on your leg and pray for you" and after
praying she gave me her earphones and put on worship music. Immediately I felt different, I felt like every nerve in my
body heightened and my heart was suddenly incredibly light and felt like it was electric in my chest. Before I knew it I was
crying, and shocked at how my body felt. After this moment I didn’t feel sick for the rest of the 7 hours of the journey. I
knew then that I had to go to church as soon as I possibly could.
That Sunday I went to church and met everyone there, and after the service Bianca took me for lunch and then
bought me a bible. And ever since that day my faith has being constantly growing. Although I am a new Christian, my
love for Jesus is the most powerful and influential thing in my life, which is a testimony to his grace and goodness. I have
no desire to live the lifestyle I lived before that NYC trip and all feelings of depression have gone from my life, the
sadness and loneliness has been replaced with love and joy and a feeling of belonging that I had never experienced
before. I thank all of the people in this ministry for their support but ultimately I thank God for seeking me out and
bringing me to Him, and blessing me with the opportunity to be His daughter. For now I can see that all
things leading up to that trip happened for this very reason.”
Your partnership is changing lives. Thank you for
your faithful giving to see lives like Ferys’ forever changed!
www.globalimpactresources.org
PO Box 3012 Greenville, NC 27836
Checks: GIR (memo: account #103)