I really appreciated reading about Rahwa in the Wesleyan Argus (“Yebio ’05 preaches Holy Ghost Fire Movement to Wes students,” by Quinn Hechtkopf, Friday Oct 1) because while I was there you could talk about most spiritual matters except if they related to Jesus.
Still, I wanted to say that Rahwa is not the only one who was touched by the Holy Spirit while at Wesleyan. I also felt his presence in a powerful way. After my junior year I experienced an incredible presence of love after choosing Jesus in Japan, what followed almost immediately after that decision was laughing and jumping and singing on the streets of Japan and then dancing on the Japanese subway. Upon getting back to the US I realized it would not be an easy thing to explain to a Jewish family and an atheist girlfriend that I thought there was a God let alone that Jesus was God. I decided to put it off until I went back to university. My senior year I met a girl, Chaya Braxton ’02, who was a part of a very tight fellowship called the Wesleyan House Church. She invited me to the services, which were composed of about 12 of us, mostly from WesCF (Wesleyan Christian Fellowship). The presence of God was so powerful at our worship that sometimes I found myself beating my chest with joy in my heart (something I had done at synagogue while growing up but never with such passion and never with the sureness that God was real). They were supernatural experiences that assured me that I was following a good God. Meanwhile, my parents had taken it very hard and my atheist girlfriend was on the verge of breaking up with me. Still, I knew that I was not crazy that this was true and real. Eventually, my girlfriend, now wife, felt this love not only for God but a deeper love for me. So, thank you Rahwa for expressing what I and so many others experience daily and please Wesleyan students do not fear having or expressing your relationship with Jesus because his perfect love will drive out fear and it is not to be missed.
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