Date: August 8, 2023
Transcript taken from this video:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvrsG9hgPMA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=b3c3dDBvbHRjNmw4
Hi, my name is Ashley. I’ve been in Sunway SOLIDD since 2016, and I became an RUF partner in 2019. I graduated from my Bachelor’s degree in 2020, worked for 2 years, and now I’m back again in Sunway taking a Master’s program, and since then I’ve been serving in Sunway SOLIDD as a student leader.
I would say that RUF helped me to stay Christian on campus.
I grew up in a Christian family, I grew up going to church, but then to me, church used to just be a Sunday thing. So when I first came to uni in 2016, one of the first things I did was to look for a Christian Fellowship because I wanted to be a Christian not just on Sunday but I wanted to be a Christian on weekdays as well, and so I thought joining a CF would help me with that.
I went to Sunway Christian Fellowship at first. It was actually very eye-opening because it was there that I was first exposed to the charismatic side of Christianity.
Yeah, so it was a bit of a culture shock. But over there, I met Ernni and Joo Hui. They were Sunway students back then – that’s how I met them – and now they are RUF partners as well.
So, Ernni and Joo Hui brought me to Sunway SOLIDD. Sunway SOLIDD was even more of an eye-opener because people actually take studying their Bibles very seriously. It was also a culture shock for me. So at Sunway SOLIDD, I got to read the Bible for myself.
I still remember when I first joined, the RUF Staffworker was Adrian Miller. What he said, which I still remember untill now, was that we got to make sure we understand God from His Word – through proper study and application of the Bible. So, that was actually quite different from what I grew up with, which was to know God through my own experience or whatever the church tradition teaches, and do what I felt was right, but it wasn’t based on my understanding of the Bible.
And also I would say, at Sunway SOLIDD, I got what I wished for: which is to be Christian on campus.
Because the RUF Staffworkers don’t just teach us the content – with just bible study every Monday – but the Staffworkers actually train us to do evangelism and discipleship. At Sunway SOLIDD we actually go out on campus to meet new people, get to know them, and to evangelise to them, and also nurture others with God’s Word and care for them. That’s basically to do whatever Jesus commanded all Christians in Matthew 28.
I used to think that studying too much Bible would lead to being puffed up with a lot of head knowledge. But through RUF’s ministry in Sunway SOLIDD, it showed me that faithful study of the Bible is never just about head knowledge, but our understanding of God leads to obedience towards Him. We know from the Word that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, and He has redeemed us through His death and resurrection to no longer live for ourselves – our sinful selves – and now we are redeemed to belong to Him. So now in all our lives, we are to serve him in dutiful delight (SOLIDD’s tagline) in everything we do and also be loyal to Jesus and in His Word wherever we are – whether in uni, or at home, at church, or at work. So that’s why I appreciate RUF because they got me to see that, and that’s why I want to continue supporting the movement by being a partner.