Testimonies at CCU – Faith Koester
Faith Koester, a senior here at CCU, grew up attending church. Throughout life before college, she was taking up every leadership position possible. “In high school, I was living a very confusing life.” She told me. “At night, I was seeking approval from guys and from the world. But when the sun came up, I was the perfect Christian girl.”
Upon arriving at CCU for her freshman year, she found herself struggling and when COVID-19 hit, life got even harder. “My entire schedule was cleared, and I was back in Oklahoma.” During that time, Faith was given an opportunity to go to a discipleship school in Sweet Springs, Missouri and she accepted.
At the discipleship school, she served for a whole two months – most of the time serving on a farm. “There was one day where my leader told me that we were going out to build fences and I was like, ‘you’re kidding’. She then pulls out these plastic rods and string and I was confused, so I asked if that would really keep the cows in. Her response was, ‘Yeah, they obey.’ Those words struck me.” Faith explained, “God shouldn’t have to have a 6-foot fence to keep me in line, it should be a gentle leading and guiding.” From that experience, God showed Faith that obedience was key, and she had been missing it throughout her life.
The first step of obedience was breaking up with her boyfriend. “My spirit needed to end it, but my flesh wanted it.” She shared. “After we broke up, I was going back and forth with sadness and mourning that relationship.” Faith told me that it was hard to say goodbye to the sweet things in relationships like gifts, romantic gestures, and more. “That same night, two girls from my apartment gave me a bouquet of flowers and they had no idea what I was going through. God said, ‘I will be the lover of your soul’.”
That same summer at the farm, out of the blue, the Holy Spirit was telling her she needed to get baptized immediately. Without thinking, she shared with her friends what God was telling her. Together, they drove out to the pasture where Faith got baptized in a cow trough. “From that, I’ve never known such joy. There is not near as much joy in the pictures of me from before my baptism.”
When school started back up again, Faith was on a spiritual high and she quickly learned that as an RA, she wasn’t on guard for the enemy’s attacks. “I didn’t want to be a leader at the end of the first semester. I felt like I had nothing else to pour out.” Faith shared that in that first semester, she had gone out with some friends off campus and got drunk. “I knew something was wrong and that this wasn’t me. After that, the Lord reminded me again about obedience and that I couldn’t keep doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.”
By mid-next semester, the Holy Spirit convicted her, and she felt the need to turn herself in. “I spent that day mourning and reading the lifestyle covenant and I knew I needed to say something, even with the consequences I would likely face.” That night Faith went to the RD and was taken aback by her RD’s response. Rather than being shamed, Faith was treated with grace, love, and respect. “I got to see the Lord’s faithfulness through it all and I even got to see my roommate take over the position and that was so cool.”
Junior year of her first semester, Faith studied abroad in Ecuador. “It was a semester of rest and I was processing what had happened. In Ecuador, I was able to get out of a legalistic mindset” Faith explained that throughout that semester, the Lord was pouring onto her. While in Ecuador, Faith received a text from her RD and was told they had an RA position open up and wanted her to apply. “I prayed about it and the Lord told me to apply. That same week, I applied and then at the end of the week, found out I got the position.” That next semester was one of redemption and seeing God’s goodness through everything.
Now it’s Faith’s senior year and she’s on the discipleship team. “I feel like I actually have a balance of Sabbath and pouring out.”
Thank you for sharing, Faith! You are loved.
