Testimonies on Stanford faith

Alum and student create Web site for religious dialogue

“GOD IS GOOD!!! This phrase never gets old.” So begins one of a number of blog posts on the Testimonies at Stanford Web site, designed by Stanford Christians Osagie Igbeare ‘11 and Clare Kasemset ‘09.

Igbeare and Kasemset, both members of the Chi Alpha Christian fellowship at Stanford, launched the Web site in March to provide Stanford students with a faith-based forum for sharing specific experiences of God in their lives.

Igbeare himself grew up in a church, but had always relegated God to services on Sundays. Soon, however, Igbeare’s relationship and perception of God took on a more encompassing nature.

“When I was relatively young, I just saw God in a real way,” Igbeare said. “He helped me out with a problem I was having. Of course, that revelation didn’t make me all of a sudden ‘Mr. Godly,’ but after it I started to study the Bible and learn Scriptures.”

Experiences like Igbeare’s are similar to the testimonies found on the Web site. The changes to his life weren’t excessively drastic, but helped to strengthen his belief in Christianity.

“Essentially I felt that people should be able to see God working in other people’s lives,” he said. “It gives people the opportunity to see God for who He is.”

Igbeare teamed up with Kasemset, a computer science major, to work on the testimonies Web site. They settled on creating a site with a blog-post format where members could share and comment on other members’ experiences.

A compelling facet of the site, beyond posting and perusing testimonies, is that visitors can contact previous contributors to the site to talk and ask questions about their testimonies. All members leave their contact information after posting a testimony on the site to encourage such discussions.

Initially the Web site was only made available to Stanford students, a measure taken to ensure site visitors of the sincerity behind each testimony.

“It’s great to have a site like this, where it’s all Stanford people, because there’s more truth, it’s honest and there’s real conversation,” Kasemset said.

Recently, Igbeare and Kasemset have opened up the Web site to the general public to allow more people to see it. The conversation-orientated approach and validity of the testimonies, however, are still maintained through the contact information that contributors leave on the site.

“I posted the first testimony on the site,” said John Silcox ‘09. “Since then I’ve been able to go back and read the other testimonies, which have been very useful.”

More recently, Igbeare and fellow members from Chi Alpha volunteered for mission work in San Francisco. While providing assistance to disadvantaged residents in tenements, Igbeare was able to inspire them to greater faith.

“We met this one guy there and were able to really encourage him and give feedback,” Igbeare said. “And that’s the heart. He had a relationship with Christ that we were able to encourage.”

The same concept of conversation about the relationship with God in one’s life applies to the Web site, according to Igbeare.

People interested in sharing their experiences with God and hearing others’ testimonies need not stop at the Web site alone, however. Kasemset encourages truly curious people to try participating in small Bible reading and faith discussion groups.

“I was part of a small Bible readings group of five people in my last two quarters at Stanford,” Kasemset said. “Since it was so small and close, we were able to have really profound conversations and ask questions. That’s really one of the most important things a Christian can do.”

In addition, people can search the Internet for answers to their faith questions from many of the insightful contributors to religious Web sites, said Kasemset. And to that end, the Stanford Testimonies Web site recreates the more intimate nature of a small faith discussion group.

“It’s really interesting to see a Web site like this on campus,” Kasemset said. “Stanford is such a secular, skeptical environment. And then you have this Web site that’s the opposite of that; it’s like ‘boom!’ honest faith-based discussion.”

Despite the faith-fueled nature of the site, Igbeare still wants to ensure people don’t get carried away or take back the wrong message.

We don’t want to misrepresent Christ,” Igbeare said. “We just want to show Him for who He actually is and see if people think He’s what Christians claim He is.”

View the Testimonies at Stanford Web site at http://testimonies.stanford.edu.