Testimonies are Never Ending

Hello! My name is Cori Sowah. I live in Tulsa, but I grew up in Collinsville, Oklahoma my whole life. I am married to my best friend, Roy, and we started going to First Methodist in 2019 when we woke up one morning and searched “Church near me” and landed here!

Growing up I went to a cowboy church enough to understand who Jesus is, but not consistently enough to understand why we need him. When I was about 15 years old my best friend at the time invited me to go to her Wednesday night church services with her. Her mom would come and pick me up each week, and from there my faith blossomed. I felt as though I had a true understanding of what it felt like to rely on God and seek him in every situation. When I was 16, I then got baptized in a horse trough by my pastor!

It feels as though testimonies are never ending, and each day we are still on our faith journey. Once I was in college and met Roy, who has an in-depth knowledge of the Bible compared to what I know of the Bible, I realized that I am now an adult who doesn’t know the books of the bible or even popular children’s stories of the bible that are shared. Roy and I were watching a TikTok with Bible trivia questions, and I didn’t know any of them. While Roy and I lived in Stillwater, I went to his church and heard the Lord’s prayer for the first time since I was a little girl, so I could not recite it with the rest of the congregation. I also felt extremely lost on what we were doing each time we had communion. I never felt ashamed by any of this, but extremely curious. Thankfully, Roy answered all my random questions to the best of his ability, but I soon realized the state of my faith felt very surface level. I had a relationship with God, but I did not really know God or His word. It was like having a friend you can talk to but not knowing anything about that friend.

In October of last year, I started to get a hunger for reading God’s word and started doing everything in my power to soak up as much information. I signed up for Bible studies, listened to the Bible while walking, reading each day, and being determined to not miss a Sunday service. It truly felt like a renewed strength. Little did I know, God was preparing me to go through one of the most difficult experiences of my life. Just a couple of months later, Roy’s mom unexpectantly passed away. It truly felt as though the world was crumbling below. Being in pain for losing someone you love and watching those that you love be in so much pain is and was a very difficult process. The future seemed so daunting on how to move forward. Four days after my mother-in-law passed, I randomly woke up from a deep sleep at 4:30 in the morning and grabbed my Bible and chose to open it and start reading to calm my anxiety. With tears in my eyes, I randomly chose to read Romans chapter 6 for the first time in my life. Through this, I felt as though I had a true understanding of what it meant to give my life to God. To die for our sins and allow Jesus into your heart. From this, it means that when you give your life to Jesus our hearts are already set in eternity; our bodies are merely temporary vessel to do God’s work. I felt extreme peace and comfort knowing that the best gift my mother-in-law could have ever given to those she loved was to live her life with unwavering faith, so those that are washed in the blood can have the confidence that they too will see her again. I decided I also wanted faith like that. One that doesn’t sway with the wind but stands firm with confidence and understanding of who God is and is yet to come.

The next following day was New Years Eve, Pastor Todd preached about Making a Martyr. He then invited those that felt called to give their life to Jesus to come to the altar, so I walked up to the altar and gave my life to Jesus all over again with the understanding of what it means to die so that I may live through him.