Before I became a Christian, I was like any other nonbeliever, not saved and always chasing earthly desires. I was born into a non-Christian family and had little to no knowledge on the topic of God. And it would continue to be like that until I was eight years old.
At this time, my parents would take me to church along with them, starting my journey to be a Christian. And it wouldn’t be long before I ended up accepting Christ through a prayer with a counselor during VBS. While I was young and might not fully understand, during the Summer Retreat in 2019, once again I accepted Christ.
After this, my faith has continued to grow, with each Sunday bringing me closer to God. But slowly after, my connection with God started to dwindle. I started talking through prayer less and didn’t really seem to care about my faith. From here, it would only get worse as Covid came around and forced us to stay inside. And because of this, my mind refocused on earthly desires, rather than Christ. One of these desires was the desire for electronics and video, with that slowly turning into an addiction. This would get so bad that most of the times I wasn’t given what I wanted, I would start having a mental breakdown. Some nights I would cry myself to sleep, regretting everything I did wrong, knowing I wouldn’t be able to fix it. But I never wanted my parents or my friends seeing this side of me, so I bottled everything in and told myself I was fine, even when I wasn’t. And eventually, after another argument with my parents, I couldn’t take it anymore and tried to end my life. But God didn’t give up on me. When I tried to do it, the fear of death overcame me, stopping and saving me. With this, God gave me a second chance. But this time, change came as God started to help me. In this time, he helped me find hobbies, talents, but most importantly, brought me away from that addiction. And it was right after the 2022 Summer Youth Retreat where I once again accepted Christ, truly opening my heart to him. I prayed privately and surely to confess my sins, accept Christ Jesus in my heart to be my Lord and Savior. From that time till now, God has been with me for every step, helping me grow as a person and a Christian. And throughout this time, I found strength, love, happiness, and the will to live as a Christian who was saved by the Lord.