How I Got Here (Testimony)
Growing up in a home that very seldom went to church, I still found myself very curious with faith. The only church that my family ever went to was a Roman Catholic Church. We were, loose and non-practicing Catholics. Even though I never engaged with church community, nor did I ever read the Bible for myself, I was always interested in God. But because there were no direct influences, it was easy for me to ignore those curiosities. Fast forward to the beginning of my 8th grade year, I was the new kid in school. Overwhelmed by fear and angst, I was met with a kind individual named Nate, who quickly became one of my best friends. Being new, I wanted to reinvent myself as the cool kid. All on my mind was being popular and getting girls to like me. I had no interest in becoming lame at all. So when Nate invited me to church with him, I immediately shut that down. But Nate was persistent and continued to ask me. I respected how he never pushed me or made me feel bad for not going to church with him, he just asked. Finally, after maybe weeks of rejection, I ran out of excuses and felt almost forced to go. So I did. And I fell in love with it. From the energetic atmosphere to the loving individuals, I never wanted to miss a Wednesday again. And I rarely did.
After a few weeks of going to youth group, I began to find myself connecting more to worship and having questions for the pastor after the message. Even though I started coming because a friend invited me, and even though I came back because it was a lot of fun, I remained in the faith because of the grace of God. After a few months, that very same friend led me to Christ during worship and I surrendered my life to Him right there. I didn’t fully understand what that meant, but I knew I couldn’t do life alone and I wanted to live for God. During high school, I never really rebelled or pushed the faith away. Instead, I fell deeper into my love for Scripture and church. The unfortunate thing is that it developed in me a prideful heart. I began to be very critical and, frankly judgmental toward others. And like many, I made a lot of bad decisions that I am not proud of. The Lord worked on this in me for years until I was greatly humbled near the end of my first year of college.
Fast forward to the present and I have been on staff at a church for nearly three years. I have had the opportunity to preach to our congregation and youth, lead small groups of teenagers and young adults, organize a local worship night for the community, lead my brother, fiancé, and mom to Christ, and many more unseen miracles that the Lord won’t reveal to me until Heaven. I list all of these incredible miracles as a testimony of the power of God. I am not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, eloquent in speech enough, or cool enough to do any of the previous things on my own. Apart from the goodness of the Lord, I am nothing. Therefore, with God, my entire life has been transformed upside-down. Not only mine though, almost everyone close to me has also been somewhat affected by the love of Christ through me.
Luke writes in Acts 10, “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:44-45). I have been gripped by the love of God and tasked with the incredible honor of leading and loving whoever I can in the name of Jesus. Similar to Luke’s account, I heard the word and the Holy Spirit fell on me. I, too, am a Gentile that experienced the glorious grace that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.