God Is.

By Kyra Brewster

SEW, or Spiritual Emphasis Week comes once a year and is a time of worship, messages, and prayer. The theme for this year’s services was “God is,” which refers to the many names of God, and the idea that God was before anything. The first two days included a service for ES, MS, and HS in the morning as well as a combined service at night. The last day also had a morning service, but the night service was student-led, and many seniors shared their testimonies. Almost 300 people attended every night service ranging from Elementary to parents. 

With so many people crowded in the Harbor Hall on the last night, many nerves ran through the seniors who were prepared to share. They had all put tons of thought and time into their stories to make them meaningful, impactful, and relatable while highlighting how God has moved through their life. Andy Tan was the first to go and as he started talking, immediately captured the crowd’s attention with his serious and, in some places, heartbreaking story. After sharing the major struggles he experienced as a young teen and the darkness he thought he could never crawl out of, he praised God for the salvation he received and the new man he has become. Andy went on to explain how God saved him and how he used other people to speak truth into his life. 

As Andy said his closing words, the crowd erupted in applause for him as many were deeply impacted by his words. Following him were impressive and meaningful testimonies from Nate Johnson about knowing God, Michael Silverstein about finding identity in God, Sean Lee about relying on God in hard situations, and Josh Conklin about remembering who God says we are. 

When asked how he felt about the testimonies given and which one was his favorite, Stephen Branum said: “I think that the seniors all had good testimonies of all the ways God has worked in their lives, and I would say Andy’s testimony was my favorite because it just showed how much God loves us and is with us through hard times. It really resonated with me because I have been in a similar situation, and it reminded me of the lengths God goes to, to reach us and us just to run to Him in those dark places and times.”