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2015 Milwaukee Easter Bible Conference

Thank God for sending Jesus to rescue us from our sins and for giving us new life through his resurrection. Thank God for blessing our conference from beginning to end. We prepared for the conference by rewriting our life testimonies, and helping some students prepare as well. We met every evening for two weeks to pray for the work of the Holy Spirit. God heard our prayers! Praise Jesus.

On Friday night we heard a message on 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 by Dr. Sam. He taught us the importance of passing on the gospel to others, especially to our children. His message clearly presented the gospel of Jesus and how to accept it. Then we heard two life testimonies by Alex Cole (UWM junior) and Maria Lee. Alex confessed that he once idolized basketball and people’s approval. He came to Bible study after being invited for a second time by Missionary Joanne, and accepted Jesus during their first Bible study. Praise God. He is now growing in a heart for God and for others’ salvation. He wants to obey God’s direction through Romans 12:2. Maria was once fatalistic and dark. She met Jesus through a summer conference. She shared her struggles as a growing shepherd and a new mother. By God’s grace she is learning to depend on the Holy Spirit. Though the program ended late, many stayed to watch “The Passion of the Christ.” We were reminded of the seriousness of our sins and of the greatness of Jesus’ love.

On Saturday morning we had group Bible study on Romans 6. We divided into 4 groups led by Dr. Charles Baik, Dr. Abraham Lee, Sh. Jeff Cummings and Missionary Abigail Tetzlaff. Then we heard a wonderful message by Shepherd James Tetzlaff. His message gave us practical ways to offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness. After lunch we reflected on the passage and shared in our groups. The rest of the afternoon some people played kickball, and some people relaxed indoors.

On Saturday evening Dr. Vinh gave a message on Romans 12:1-2. He stressed the importance of remembering the mercy and holiness of God. He shared his desire to meditate more on the love of God. He testified how God has been leading him to establish a family with Francesca Park. Then we heard two life testimonies by Deric Shonuga and Sarah Dang. Deric came from a broken family, and indulged in drugs and alcohol to the point where he got in trouble with the law. God showed him mercy and sent a friend from Triton UBF to study the Bible with him. He was connected to Milwaukee UBF and Bible study with Pastor Paul. He accepted Jesus through last year’s conference, and will be baptized Easter Sunday. Sarah Dang was born into a Christian family, but rebelled against God. God showed her mercy through many servants of God and called her to be a campus shepherd. She established a Christ-centered family with John Dang. God blessed their family with a daughter due in May. She is praying to be a godly parent, and continue serving campus ministry. After the program, we divided into our groups where all attendants had an opportunity to share their life testimony.

On the last morning of the conference we studied John 20. The group leaders were Maria Lee, Sarah Dang, Missionary Hannah Baik, and Pastor Paul Dang. Then we gathered to hear the message on John 20 by Dr. John Dang. John shared the power of Jesus’ resurrection to change sinful people into children of God and witnesses of the gospel. JBF prepared a beautiful song entitled, “We believe.” We closed our Sunday service by taking communion. We shared a final meal and finished the conference.

Thank God for raising four speakers: Dr. Sam, Shepherd James, Dr. Vinh and Dr. John. Thank God for raising eight group Bible study leaders.   Thank God for presiders (Jeff, Alex, Sam, Vinh) and prayer servants (Joanne, Ruth, Grace, Hannah, Misuk).  Thank God for all the women who served behind the scenes.

Special thanks to God for sending Erick Lopez and Paulina Lee from Chicago UBF to serve our conference with praise and worship. It helped prepare a good environment for the Holy Spirit to work. Thank God they could serve the JBF students with Bible study.

Special thanks to God for many new people who attended the conference for the first time in full and partially. Full new student attendees: Alex Cole, Brooke, and Fay. Partial Student attendees: Brooke Olson, Isaiah Brown, Beka, Rebekah, James, Izaiah Ramirez, Henry Xie, and Ming Wang. Partial attendance by friends: Kai and Maggie Yang, Ryan and Sarah Gilbert, and Francesca Park. Also thank God for others who attended: Chris Blaske, Rachel He, David Simmons, and Greg Croft.  (by Sarah Dang)