Alumni Testimony: Chase Kersey

"and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ" - Philemon 1:6 ESV

My name is Chase Kersey. I am a 26 year old father, husband, son and Christian. My path into a faithful life was not a straight one. I took many pit stops and detours along the way, often consuming large portions of my time and efforts. Early in my life I was a very fortunate kid, but like many people had no understanding of my situation. I had loving parents, and two wonderful older sisters. We had a nice house and could afford to live a pretty comfortable lifestyle. My mother and my father raised me as a Christian but essentially only in title. We rarely ever attended church or read from the Bible. We didn't have any friends that we addressed our Christian walk with. We did at least pray over meals together, but even that slowly ended as I got a bit older and into my teen years. Towards the end of my time in high school, my family crumbled, and with it the little bridge by which I claimed my Christianity. Infidelity, animosity, resentment, and depression ravaged through my family, infecting each of us in waves. 

The fracturing of my family played an enormous part in my years of wandering aimlessly. Even still, God worked around me, laying out a path. Aimless as it seemed, this path was taking me where I needed to go, despite my resistance from time to time. It wasn't until I began to meet the right people that the wilderness I saw around me began to make sense.  With the assistance of these folks, my path was slowly revealed to me once more. This was made possible by them accepting my shortcomings and then revealing truths I had made myself blind to. I had been at war with myself for such a long time, destroying myself from within. Self-hatred and insecurity. Fear of letting people ever hurt me again. These inner conflicts were invisible to me, but brought me closer and closer to catastrophe. Without even the smallest intervention of sincere and honest people, that self reflection wouldn't have been possible until far too late. But just being around those kinds of people every so often and seeing them live their lives quietly healed me enough to seek assistance. With their help I was able to mend the internal damage and could now share the burden and the gift of being a beacon of light for others drifting about and searching, just as they helped light my way. 

These precious people who reached out and showed me the love of Christ were my girlfriend and now wife, Khalilah, my best friend Jonathan, and the incredible community of the Wesley foundation. Specifically the staff of interns at the Wesley Foundation, who made it a visible goal to pursue me with real and true friendship. These godly people, with a combined potency, brought me back to God and have done the work to help keep me here. It took all their efforts and my acceptance of them to realize just how crucial it is having a genuine community of people around you speaking life into you. This phenomenon has vastly increased my ability to see the positives in my life and dwell amongst good thoughts even during times of difficulty. Just as the highlighted scripture says, this shared faith and the continual sharing of faith has brought a clearer view of God's presence throughout my life and the many blessings and gifts he has endowed upon me, as well as the purpose those blessings can serve for the people around me. With my vision restored and this clarity of my gifts and purposes, my abilities as a father have been elevated. My compassion toward strangers has blossomed. My honesty with friends has returned, and my love for my wife has been made whole. All of this came through the good of Christ and the works of his people. Thank you to all those stubborn people. Thank you for valuing my salvation enough to pursue me with sincerity. Thank you for investing in my daughter and helping her live her first year with overwhelming love. How blessed are we to have found ourselves in this community, for God dwells among us. Amen.

Chase Kersey (pictured here with daughter Ayaila) is a treasured blessing to our Wesley community. Wise, earnest, and faithful, he has been an important truth-teller to multiple people in our ministry, and always from a place of genuine kindness. Husband and father to Khalilah and Ayaila (AKA Yaya) Kersey respectively, he and his family embody the pure and wonderful beauty of living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Chase enjoys playing video games, writing, and going for strolls in the park with Khalilah and Yaya.