Matthew Wilkerson
In May 2017, I graduated with a Youth Ministry degree from the Crown College of the Bible in Knoxville, TN. For a year following, I have been assisting my father, Pastor Matt Wilkerson, through the ministry of the Galilean Baptist Church, Cedar Hill, Texas.
It has been my privilege to make two previous mission trips to Africa. One to Ghana West Africa with Pastor Stephen Volante and another to Togo with Yaovi Kpogno in 2016.
I am looking forward to returning to Togo for one year to assist Yaovi in the beginning of his ministry to his people.
My desire is to be an encourager and co-laborer with Yaovi. My pattern of ministry for this trip comes from the example of one of the early Christians, Barnabas. He was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost. Everywhere he appears, he is helping the saints of God.
My Testimony
I was privileged to grow up in a Christian home to Christian parents and under the influence of good Baptist church. I began my relationship with Jesus Christ at a young age, when I trusted Him alone for salvation from my sins and from hell. I believe that I was born again that day based on God’s promise. As I grew older, I began to be like most of those who grow up in an environment that is very religious and grew to be secretly involved in worldly things. The greatest problem though was that I had a self-sufficient life.
While a sophomore at Bible college, God got my attention late one night around two in the morning. It was then that He snatched me from my life of self-reliance and brought me face to face with the reality I was living for myself, by myself. This began a new chapter in my life as I began to learn what it meant to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
As I grew to know God’s Word in a deeper way, a great desire was within me to simply know God apart from anything else. This was nurtured along by people that God sent across my path to help guide me to what this really meant. Every day is a new day with God, and he is constantly revealing Himself to me through His Word, other people, and circumstances. I praise God for what he has done in my life thus far, and recognize that “by the grace of God, I am what I am.”
My desire for my life is what God desires for it – a real relationship with God and the serving opportunities that will flow from that relationship. Praise God for his love, mercy, grace, and generosity to us!