The Student Mission story is always unfolding. With every new story of salvation and answered prayer, there is another story of someone committing to pray to see a move of God in the student generation. Some of these stories are hundreds of years old, with people whose names we may not know, making a huge impact on the student mission narrative we are a part of today. To highlight the story you're a part of, we're sharing some stories from years before. Check out this one below.
Born in England in 1703, John Wesley was the son of a Minister and begun his studies at Oxford University in 1720. In 1727, after completing his Master’s degree, he pursued a calling to ministry by serving as a Parish Curate. Upon returning to Oxford, he became the leader of a small dedicated group called “The Holy Club” which was committed to leading a devout Christian life. They prayed every waking hour for several minutes, and met daily for prayer, psalms, question asking and Bible study. These spiritual disciplines and “methods” formed the basis for the Methodist denomination. Wesley was religiously brilliant, but viewed faith through a very pious lens.
Wesley came to the states in 1735 to be a missionary to Native Americans in Georgia; this trip was largely unfruitful and Wesley returned to England discouraged. Upon his return he looked to the Moravians having been impressed by their inner spiritual strength during his voyage to America. He met a Moravian missionary named Peter Boehler whose life and words hugely impacted him. At a Moravian meeting in 1738 at Aldersgate Street, Wesley had a profound encounter with God, journaling: ‘I felt my heart strangely warmed.’ Following this experience, with a new perspective of his faith, Wesley preached God’s grace and salvation by faith. He preached the gospel message everywhere─sometimes ten to thirty thousand people would wait patiently for hours to hear him. He played a pivotal role in the Evangelical Revival: the First Great Awakening.
During his ministry, he travelled 250,000 miles, preached 40,000 sermons, and gave away over 90% of his income. He was a vocal advocate for women preachers and the abolition of the slave trade. This is in addition to forming societies, opening chapels, commissiong preachers, administering aid charities, prescribing for the sick, and superintending schools and orphanages.
