A Testimony of God's Movement: Adam Guillory

Hello friends!

Today, I want to talk about my experiences so far this year, and how God has been working through this ministry I work for to bring me closer to Him.

As a short summary of what has happened so far this year, we started the school year doing our standard beginning of the year events. These include a pulled pork cookout, a talent show, and our freshmen ministry, ACFresh. During this time, we’ve gotten to see our student Discipleship Team shine, new freshmen come in (one of whom came to Christ her first week here! Praise God!), and we’ve been able to feed people, both physically and spiritually, at my community group.

Now on to how this has affected me this year. I am getting to see God using people in this ministry to love others, which is transforming them into the Body of Christ. As I try to transfer responsibilities thatI spent years building up into the hands of sophomores and juniors, I’m finding people who are excitedly taking on the mantle of ACF, and I know that the same God that I met here six years ago is still alive and wants people to grow and flourish at the place where I met Him.

For my entire time at college, it felt like our ministry was in a process of rebuilding after the effects of COVID. We didn’t just hit a year or two with a few students- in a real way, our Discipleship Team my sophomore year was the ministry. We struggled as a group and fought and clawed and had to learn to rely on God rather than our own powers and our own fear, because some of us were afraid that when we graduated, there wouldn’t be students to take our place. We struggled with having one intern when we had had eight the year prior. Then we had one intern again, then we didn’t have any interns for a quarter. Finally, last year, we had a group of interns, and to see the work they put in was amazing. Now that I get to step into that role myself, I get to be excited. I know that there are plenty of amazing students who are ready to continue the work I started. To get back to the point, rather than feeling like another year of rebuilding, last year was the first year it felt like we were laying a new foundation, and this year, we’re building a whole new thing.

I don’t know what exactly we’re building right now, but rather than being built out of fear and pride, it is being constructed out of love and faith. We’ve grown to see students who are broken and hurting, and have been able to share the Gospel with them in straightforward and compelling ways.

During my time here, I’ve seen a lot more of the pain of life and observed how I’ve been hurt in the past. I’ve learned to have compassion on myself and grieve the pain God has brought me through while also loving the person right in front of me. In short, God has been at work healing me and transforming me. By God’s grace, I am no longer the same person that originally came to Louisiana Tech, and I am extremely grateful that He has delivered me from who that person was. The person I used to be was angry, desperate for attention, and afraid of letting go of the masks which I had built up around myself that I thought were more interesting than the real person that I was. Now, although I occasionally do slip into those sins, God has made me into someone who can cook and can serve, who can sit in silence, and who doesn’t have to be anyone other than who I am.

God has saved me from obsession, familial suffering, and loneliness. God has shown me that He loves me no matter what I can do or who I can be, and He has taught me that He just wants me to be me as I am, listening to Him and resting at His feet. He has delivered me from fear and has saved me time and time again from my own poor judgment.

In short, in my time at ACF, God has loved me and has met me, and I never want to be apart from Him now that I’ve seen Who He is.

Adam Guillory is an ACF Missionary Intern and LA Tech alum from Rosedale, LA. He graduated from Louisiana Tech with a major in Mechanical Engineering. Adam has blessed our community with his presence and joy since he showed up on our doorstep the fall of his freshman year. His wisdom, excitement, and tenacious desire to serve are priceless gifts to our ministry. Adam is passionate about reading old books, bowling, puns, and his friends. We are excited to see what God will do through and with him this year!