Testimony - Where it all began

My Journey with Jesus

I am the firstborn in an absolutely amazing family, who is not perfect, but whom I am utterly grateful for. I was born in 1996 in South Africa, and have lived here my whole life. My parents were both born-again Christians before they even met each other and have always done their best to honour the Lord in the way that they have raised me and my two sisters.

Growing up in a Christian household was a huge blessing; yes, it did have its struggles and problems, but overall I have so much to be grateful for. I gave my heart to Jesus at a very young age (somewhere around 4 or 5) and I can honestly remember talking to him and experiencing the Holy Spirit and even getting prophetic words and pictures throughout my younger years; and when I was 12 I was baptized in water.

But as I got a bit older and started hitting my teenage years, I kind of hit a bit of a wobble. I would still attend church and youth group and camps and so on, still encountering Jesus, but I limited my faith to that. I would go about the rest of the days of the week doing my own thing and basically ignoring God. I was extremely shy and insecure and would bottle up all my feelings and hurts. This caused me to become even more insecure and almost depressed. There were many many times where I contemplated my existence and meaning on earth. I never really did anything bad like smoke or drink or whatever, but I was basically emotionally dead and spiritually dying fast.

Then when I was in Grade 9 (fifteen years old) my dad got a promotion, but in another town about 2 hours away from the big city where I grew up. As a family we all felt that it was from God and made the big move at the end of that year. Moving there was quite difficult in the beginning. I had to leave all my friends behind (some of which I grew up with), and as a shy and insecure introvert it was terrifying to try and make new friends. Also, although the new town was only 2 hours away from where I grew up, the culture was extremely different. Most people predominantly spoke another language, of which at that time I knew very little of, and the way this town operated was completely opposite to that of the big city. Luckily, friends of ours from our church in the big city had recently planted a church in this small town, so at least there was some form of community. However, at that stage there were only two other teenagers (besides my one sister and I), and luckily they were both girls.

For the first week or so after moving, I was completely overwhelmed and would literally sit in my room and cry for most of the day. At that point I was at such a low, the “only thing” I had was Jesus, even though my relationship with him wasn’t that amazing. I ran to him and he comforted me and answered my prayers. Over time, my relationship with him skyrocketed and I have really lived such a great 5 or so years since then, which keep getting better and better the more I get to know him.

I was at a place where I had to hit “rock bottom”, reach the end of myself so that I could find Him and let Him satisfy my needs. The journey hasn’t been easy since then, but it has definitely been worth it.