This is the first time I am publicly writing about my walk with God so bear with me as I try to remember everything....First off I want to thank those in my life who have helped me realize who I really am and who I really belong to. That would be first God, then my husband, then my parents: Tony and Lois, then my church family of the Church in Framingham MA, and also an apostle of God namely, Brother Dong Yu Lan.
Through these people and others I've learned where I am supposed to be; and each day I learn more of how God wants to use me to do His will and see His purpose through.
So let's start at the beginning...I first accepted Christ when I was 4 years old in a little white church in Jaffrey NH with a pastor's wife there, she helped me say the sinner's prayer. I wasn't satisfied with saying it the first time so I went to her multiple times to say the prayer, eventually I got it. :)
I remember realizing I was a sinner when I disobeyed my parents and I needed Jesus to save me from my sinful nature. Several years later I was baptized in a big Baptist church. After that I got dissuaded and began to believe I had my “fire insurance”. I believed I was all set and on my way to heaven. After a long conversation with my parents, I realized I wasn't all set, there was still need for growth in my walk with God. That was when I was about 13 years of age.
During my teen years I struggled as I'm sure every teen does with peer pressure, feeling small, and worthless at times. Once I graduated from high school, I went to a small Christian post-graduate school to learn more about God. There I tried to understand God more with my head than with my heart. I don't blame my teachers or mentors for this, it was my own walk and I had to learn by taking the long way I suppose. After going to that school for 2 years, I put my focus on studying at an online Christian school to get my bachelors in Education. During that time I began to become depressed and have trouble with anxiety.
Then I met some very precious people who shepherded me and helped me understand more about Christ and his great love for me. Their names are Cezar and Sandra Menegucci. They also introduced me to the church life, meaning a place where Christians can fellowship both inside and outside of meeting in a building. In 2013 I went to my very first conference in Sumare, Sao Paulo Brazil, where I met more beautiful people and began to know God more with my heart than just with my head.
I believe I always had a desire to know God but I just was stuck in a rut of believing I needed to know everything about the Bible and didn't practice it much. There in the Estancia Arvore Da Vida I learned how to worship God with my voice, jump for joy, and touch my Spirit by calling on the name of Jesus! Learning to call on the name of the Lord helped me in so many situations and circumstances it's unbelievable! I'll go into more detail later about Calling on the name of Jesus in a later post.
I began reading edifying books that share about the practice of the Word, not just living by the letter. Many of these books were written by beloved Brother Dong Yu Lan. Through reading the books he wrote I have been guided in my walk with God and have learned to come to God as a child not as a scholar that has God in a box of what they conceive God to be.
It was about a year after the conference in Sumare that I got baptized, although this time I understood more fully what I was doing, which was testifying to the People around me, the Hosts of Angels, and to God himself that I was fully His and never turning back or choosing my way again. It's all Him now! He is the Great I am and there is no other, as one of my favorite songs says, “He is the Great I am, All Powerful.” I have no power or capability in and of myself, my strength comes from Christ alone and in His might do I trust. Ok now I'm getting poetic but can you tell my favorite Bible Character is David? :)
That is where I began my spiritual journey and walk with God and I don't intend to stop there. Please feel free to write to me directly or post comments here on my blog if you have any questions or comments. I'd love to hear your feedback.
In Christ's love,
Rachel
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