Luke 8:38-39 says, “The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’ So, the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.”

Over the last two weeks at Chapel, Dr. Joshua Sumpter, Assistant Professor of Biblical and Ministry Studies and University Chaplain has invited Waynesburg University students and employees to share their faith and testimony. The idea came to Sumpter when he started working here and wanted to incorporate the community into Chapel.

“Testimony Tuesday started several years ago. I want to have many voices on campus sharing about their faith in Christ, guest speakers and testimony sharing,”Sumpter wrote in an email interview.

Sumpter advocates for open conversations about how Christ is working through people’s lives.

“I also love the conversation on faith, work and leadership. To have a student and WU employee share about their faith intersects with their major or discipline gives us a bigger picture of the Kingdom of God on campus,” Sumpter wrote.

For the first week of “Testimony Tuesday,” guest speakers were Meg Barry and Sports Information Director & Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communication Andy Stanko.

Barry, a senior sports media major, spoke about her experience. 

“I was a little nervous to go up in front of everybody, simply because of how personal my testimony was, and on top of that,  I talked about my grandfather and my testimony and his birthday was on April 1 when I shared, so it just kind of shows how intentional God is about the places He puts you, where He puts you in and when he puts you,” Barry said.

Throughout her walk with Christ, Barry finds it important to share testimony.

“I think there is a big power in sharing your testimony because you have no idea what other people are going through. And when you share your testimony, you talk about how God worked in your life like that can change somebody else’s life because they could see like,” Barry said. 

Barry spoke about how over the last four years at Waynesburg God has brought her closer to her faith and who has helped Barry on her faith journey. One of the people Barry mentions is her grandfather, and his words of wisdom to live by. 

“My grandfather said I have learned that it doesn’t matter how you practice religion, all that matters is that you have a personal relationship with God,” Barry said. “And then the two things he told me is ‘If your Bible looks pretty, then your life doesn’t’, and “You’re not taking that money to heaven with you.’”

On April 8, Brandon Edmunds and Chris Hardie gave their testimonies at Chapel. 

Freshman Brandon Edmunds talked about his faith and walk with Christ in an interview before Chapel.

“It was very unexpected. I wasn’t expecting him to reach out to a freshman to do this because the person you just spoke last Tuesday was a senior, so it was just cool,” Edmunds said. 

“Sumpter reached out to me and I was like, ‘Hey, we have an opening for testimony on Tuesday, would you want to do it?’  And I thought about it and prayed about it for a little bit, and I’m like, ‘Yes, I’d love to share my testimony.’”

Although being a little nervous about sharing his testimony, this is not the first time Edmunds has been behind the pulpit to speak.

“God put the opportunity in front of me and I said ‘yes.’ I gave a sermon a few weeks ago, and I am planning on giving a sermon on April 27,” Edmunds said. 

Edmunds wants to express to all who attend Chapel about the love of Christ and how saying ‘yes’ can bring you closer to God.

“No matter where they are in life, Jesus will always bring them through a big theme of my testimony is saying yes to God. That’s kind of like the overall overarching theme that I want to have both in my life and that I’m sharing on Tuesday,” Edmunds said.

Following this week, Jason Polgar will be speaking in Chapel about the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“His [Polgar] message will be rooted in scripture and will invite us into a deeper way of knowing Jesus this Easter,” Sumpter said.