Hosanna Wong is an international speaker, author, and spoken word artist helping everyday people know Jesus for real. The 2011 graduate of Hope International University (Fullerton, Calif.) is widely known for her spoken word piece, “I Have a New Name.”
Hosanna shares in churches, conferences, prisons, and other events around the world, reaching across various denominations, backgrounds, and cultures. Some churches where she has appeared recently include CrossCity Christian Church (Fresno, Calif.), Central Church (Henderson, Nev.), and Summit Christian Church (Sparks, Nev.), among many others.
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. During those years without a permanent home, she began speaking and creating resources to serve the local and global church.
She currently travels and speaks year-round 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 heroin addiction and the gang lifestyle. When a man introduced him to Jesus, he turned from gang activity and addiction, 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, with no stained glass or comfortable seats, and it was in those streets that Hosanna built the foundation for her current ministry, through which she preaches, teaches, and helps others know Jesus “for real.”
“I learned spoken word poetry and hip-hop on the streets, and I never realized that those art forms could serve Jesus,” Hosanna says.
HOSANNA’S TIME AT HIU
Her nontraditional childhood meant that school was a struggle, because she didn’t quite fit the model of a scholar. Still, her grades were sufficient to lead to multiple scholarship offers when it was time for college. She chose Hope International University, the only faith-based institution among her options, because it offered her the biggest scholarship package.
Shortly before her freshman year, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and Hosanna did not want to leave him, but his desire for his daughter to earn a college degree persuaded her to move to Fullerton. 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, ultimately declaring an English major.
She struggled with her faith, feeling deeply wounded and confused by the church, but she found a stronger spiritual connection midway through her college years.
“I had met Jesus when I was very young,” she says, “but, when I was about 20 years old, I realized that I needed my own relationship with Jesus, not connected to my father’s relationship with Jesus.”
That fresh relationship with God, combined with her English major, led Hosanna into mentorships with two professors who supported her in ways that profoundly impacted her life. Hosanna says Professor Cora Alley, now retired as chair of the English Department, and Dr. Natalie Hewitt, currently dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, always allowed her to be raw and honest, but they also demanded her best. Hosanna says the “A” she received in a grammar class with Dr. Hewitt was the hardest-earned grade ever.
“They supported my desire to use my art form to help others know Jesus,” Hosanna says. “They pushed me to be excellent, to learn literature and writing in their more classic forms, and to express myself in written form. I wouldn’t be a published author without them.”
“Hosanna Wong was one of the students in my first cohort of English majors,” Hewitt remembers. “I was just starting my career in undergraduate teaching, and having Hosanna in the program inspired the creativity of everyone involved, including myself.”
Hewitt readily acknowledges Hosanna’s giftedness as a writer and a talented spoken word artist. “But what I love most about Hosanna is her generous spirit. In all things, Hosanna demonstrates a deep desire to merge joy and laughter with authenticity and wisdom, and she shares this gift so freely with others.”
“It’s not only what she says, but how she says it that makes Hosanna’s words stir your mind and pierce your heart,” Cora Alley says. “For 45 years, I taught drama and literature at Hope International University, and I must say, Hosanna Wong is the most gifted communicator I have ever met!”
At HIU, Hosanna says she found it hard to relate to many of her fellow students. But she had a small group of friends, and they often drove to Los Angeles on weekends so that she could perform her work at slam poetry gatherings and other types of events.
She played tennis doubles her senior year with best friend Kasey Martin-Lau. Hosanna says she was privileged to have performed Martin-Lau’s wedding ceremony last year.
LEARNING TO USE HER TALENTS TO MINISTER
During college, Hosanna began ministering through spoken word, feeling convicted that she didn’t want to wait until after graduation to start serving. Her friendships and L.A. experiences, in addition to the 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 received several invitations to work at local churches that summer to share her unique spoken word poetry. 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.
Hosanna has written two books, How Not to Save the World: The Truth about Revealing God’s Love to the People Right Next to You, and the more recent 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, and she continues to travel extensively, spending about 42 weekends per year, ministering in churches, conferences, and prisons.
Learn more about Hosanna and her ministry at HosannaWong.com. Her YouTube channel is @hosannawong.
This article is adapted from an “alumni spotlight” that originally appeared at Hope International University’s website. Special thanks to Joseph W. McCarthy, HIU’s director of marketing and communications, for his help preparing this for posting at Christian Standard.
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