Hosanna Wong (‘11) is an international speaker, 畅销书作家, and spoken word artist helping everyday people know Jesus for real. 她的口语作品广为人知, “我有一个新名字,和散那分享教会, 会议, 监狱, 以及世界各地的其他活动, 跨越不同教派的, 背景, 和文化.

Born and raised in an urban ministry on the streets of San Francisco, Hosanna later packed her life into suitcases and traveled to churches and other ministries throughout the United States to share about Jesus through spoken word poetry. 在没有固定住所的那些年里, she began speaking and creating resources to serve the local and global Church.

目前，她全年都在旅行和演讲, and serves on teaching teams at churches throughout the United States.

Hosanna never meant to attend a private, Christian university. She was raised by a father who had struggled with a heroin addiction and the gang lifestyle. 当一个人把他介绍给耶稣时, 他戒掉了帮派活动和毒瘾, and then raised Hosanna in a church that looked very different from those that most HIU students experience. They served in the streets and worshipped outdoors, 没有彩色玻璃，也没有舒适的座位, and it was in those streets that Hosanna built the foundation for her current ministry, 她通过它布道, 教, 并帮助别人真正认识耶稣.”

“I learned spoken word poetry and hip-hop on the streets, and I never realized that those art forms could serve Jesus,和散那说.

Her non-traditional childhood meant that school was a struggle, because she didn’t quite fit the model of a scholar. 仍然, her grades were sufficient to lead to multiple scholarship offers when it was time for college. 她选择了希望国际大学, the only faith-based institution among her options, 不是因为信仰基础, but because it offered her the biggest scholarship package.

就在她大一入学前不久, 她的父亲被诊断出患有癌症, 和散那也不愿意离开他, but his desire for his daughter to earn a college degree persuaded her to move to 富勒顿. 她一到, she planned to stay for a year and then leave, but her father lost his battle with cancer during her first year and, not really feeling like she had a place to return, she continued in her pursuit of higher education, 最终选择了英语专业. 她与自己的信仰作斗争, feeling deeply wounded and confused by the church, but she found a stronger spiritual connection midway through her college years.

“我很小的时候就认识了耶稣,”她说。, “但, 那时我大约20岁, I realized that I needed my own relationship with Jesus, not connected to my father’s relationship with Jesus.”

与上帝的新关系, 结合她的英语专业, led Wong into mentorships with two professors who supported her in ways that profoundly impacted her life:

Professor Cora Alley, now retired as Chair of the English Department, and Dr. Natalie Hewitt, currently Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She said they always allowed her to be raw and honest, but demanded her best; she remembers that the “A” she earned in a grammar class with Dr. 休伊特是史上最辛苦的成绩.

“They supported my desire to use my art form to help others know Jesus,” said Wong. “他们督促我变得优秀, to learn literature and writing in their more classic forms, 并以书面形式表达自己. I wouldn’t be a published author without them.”

和散那也有一小群朋友, 喜欢她, also found it difficult to relate to many other HIU students. She and her group of friends drove to Los Angeles on weekends, so that she could perform her work at slam poetry gatherings and other types of events. 和她最好的朋友的终身友谊, 凯西·马丁·刘(2011), thrived when they played tennis doubles in their senior year, and Wong is privileged to have performed Martin-Lau’s wedding ceremony this past summer.

在大学期间, 她开始用口头的方式传教, feeling convicted that she didn’t want to wait until after graduation to start serving. 她的友谊和我.A. 经历, in addition 到 guidance of faculty members who helped her through a dark time of loss and discovery, were all part of the growing realization that she really could use her talents to minister, but it took some time for her heart to soften toward the church as an institution.

She was prepared to teach English after graduation but was beset by invitations to work at local churches that summer, 分享她独特的口语诗歌. The girl who didn’t feel like she fit in with typical congregations found herself living with pastors’ families and that work grew into more than four years of traveling and ministering. Early in her travels, she met her husband, Guy Johnson, and they married two years later.

和散那写了两本书， How Not to Save the World: The Truth about Revealing God’s Love 到 人们就在你身边，以及最近发表的 You Are More Than You’ve Been Told (Unlock a Fresh Way to Live Through the Rhythms of Jesus). Her husband, Guy, is a pastor and president of their nonprofit, Word on the Street Global. The themes of sharing the gospel with everyday people and authenticity in faith feature prominently in all of her words and work, 她继续广泛地旅行, 每年花大约42个周末, 在教会服事, 会议, 和监狱.

To learn more about Hosanna and her ministry, go to HosannaWong.com.