Brianna Wenger

Resource & campus Staff

About Brianna

Hometown: Dublin, OH

School: Graduated from The Ohio State University in May 2022

I grew up in a Christian family where we would go to church every week. I’ve always felt God was real, and that he was there with me and loved me. My mom was the one who first explained the gospel to me. She explained in a specific way that really stood out to me- she said imagine you have white rag, but the rag is super dirty, very filthy. She would go into great detail about how dirty the rag was. She said imagine you had to wash the rag all by yourself so that it would be completely white and clean again. You could scrub and use soap but on your own strength, you could never make the rag be totally clean again. Then she introduced this guy named Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus could take the rag and all He would have to do is touch it, and it would be spotless white like it was made new. This analogy helped me understand that the dirt was sin, and that I was in need of a Savior who could take my dirty rage and make it clean, because I never could on my own. Later on in life, I learned how sin is an archery term for how much an archer missed the bull’s eye. That better helped my understanding. Back to when I was a kid, I was still able to have a good understanding of sin even then. I saw sin in my own life, that I often did what I didn’t want to do. I had selfish, evil inclinations. I always put myself first and could be mean to others. I disobeyed my parents. I saw it in the people around me- kids around me were mean and the world was full of brokenness and evil. It became very clear to me. I wanted to do right but I couldn’t. I saw my need for a Savior. And it was honestly very easy for me to turn to Jesus. I felt like He already was my friend. It made perfect sense to give my life to Him. So one night, when I was four years old, I was praying with my Mom before bed and I “asked Jesus into my heart”. My mom was very surprised and shocked and she called in my Dad who was mowing at the time to come and pray with us which I remember thinking was funny. Looking back, it is crazy to me that God would be so gracious as to extend understanding and faith to me at such a young age. I know many church kids remember saying the prayer when they were young but not actually understanding and coming to faith until later on. But I believe that this was the moment when I did first believe. I obviously did not know everything, and the rest of my life has been a story of building on that faith. I went to a Christian school from elementary to middle school, and having Bible class each day played a big part in my growth and knowledge, and helped me have easy access to reading my Bible frequently. In high school, I made the decision to go to a public school. There I saw Christians who were bold about their faith and had to be, because it was the minority. I made friends with believers and nonbelievers alike. I was even able to share the gospel with a few of them. Those experiences are part of the reason why I love evangelism so much and am interested in ministry. Flash forward to now, God has grown me and taught me so many things over the years. Something I’ve struggled with in college is trials in life/suffering, and understanding why God would allow these things to happen. I’ve had struggles with mental illness and this has caused me at times to question God’s goodness, love, His plan for my life and what my purpose is. But two verses that He’s really used in my life are James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5. They talk about how trials seem bad but can actually produce good things, like steadfastness. God uses them for a purpose, to teach us and grow us and ultimately carry out His mission. I think that my whole life, God’s been teaching me that when I face trials, to count it all joy. And God has shown me so much joy and goodness through His faithfulness throughout my whole life, and through what Jesus did for me on the cross.