SWAU Week of Prayer Focuses on Philippians

Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) was blessed during its Week of Prayer from Jan 31 - Feb 4, 2022. Six students from the Biblical Preaching Class taught by Professor Buster Swoopes spoke through the week.

The speakers were Christian Chung, senior theology student; Christian Tarbox, junior theology student; Andrew Guerrero, senior English student; Gardy Bontemps, senior theology student; Carlos Arrebato, senior theology student; and Eh Dahlay Way, a junior theology student. Each speaker gave a powerful message and a call to action to SWAU's 2022 theme: Persist. The sermons were focused on the book of Philippians.

Christian Chung started the Week of Prayer with an emotional message about humility. He shared excerpts from his life and talked about Jesus as the ultimate example of selflessness. Christian had lost a close friend to a car accident, and Chung shared the life of humility that his friend has demonstrated to him. Christian reminded listeners that Jesus had humbled himself for the salvation of his people, for which he loved enough to die for their redemption. Chung’s call to action for Southwestern was to look after the needs of others and become more like Jesus.

On Wednesday, Gardy Bontemps gave a powerful message about forgetting the past and moving forward. He reminded listeners that the present and the future are all that matters to Jesus. He reminded his fellow students to persist for the reward that God has planned for us. Later on, in the week during Friday Night Vespers, Eh Dahlay Way moved us with his message on the citizenship of heaven, continuing the verses from Gardy sermon. He reminded Southwestern to persist and await the return of our Savior Jesus return.

Andrew Guerrero also preached an emotional sermon about his life and how Jesus transformed his future. Andrew spoke about the struggles he had dealt with throughout his life and how God uses unpredictable circumstances for his plan. Andrew dealt with suicide, abuse, and depression; he shared this and spoke about how God has used the unexpected to save him. Andrew appealed to his Southwestern family to persist in Christ and not give up no matter the circumstances that may appear.

"This past week was a powerful week even with the ice and snow impacting classes. Student praise teams led our campus in worship of God and students from our Biblical Preaching class opened God’s Word each day with powerful, Holy Spirit filled preaching, shares Russ Laughlin, Vice President for Spiritual Development. "At SWAU, God has blessed our campus with outstanding students willing to praise and worship God and to allow Him to guide their lives. Persisting forward, Southwestern looks forward to seeing how God will continue to impact our campus."

The stories above are highlights from some of the sermons during the Week of Prayer 2022. To watch each powerful message from Week of Prayer 2022, visit www.swau.edu/live.