These Are Our Stories

I grew up in a Christian home and because of that I always considered myself a Christian and didn’t think much about it.

But As I got older I realized I needed to be saved because I was a sinner and Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead so I could be cleansed from my sins! I knew the only way to get to heaven was to put my trust in Jesus as my Savior!

And so around the age of 6 or 7 I took that step of faith, but now that I’m older I realize the reason I took that step was mostly because I was scared and didn’t want to go to hell. Later, around the age of 8, I got baptized at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Cottage Grove!!

After that I just thought I could live my life as I’d like! Because I was saved and baptized, I had nothing to worry about, right?

But around the age of 11, I realized there was a lot more to being a Christian than just being saved! I realized that you had a relationship with God and that when you follow God and live for him you’ll be truly happy and live your best life!

I was wanting to learn more and was taking steps in my faith as I heard preaching from camps I was going to and also from going to church weekly. But, unfortunately, around 2020 I started struggling with different mental illnesses and that really affected how I saw my faith.

I started doubting a lot and I was looking for any signs that God was real and he could actually heal me from what I was going through. Now I know that he would heal me!

The next year I started working at a Christian summer camp in Iowa! I was hoping it would help me grow in my faith, and it did! Since then I’ve been going to different events with our church and growing more and more!

I can gladly say today that I am saved not only so I can go to heaven but also to have a relationship with God, the one who created both you and me.

Being saved has helped me change for the better. I’m much more patient and kind to those around me and I have so much more hope and happiness in my life!

My testimony is a little different from others; it starts out sadder but ends with great rejoicing.

You see, growing up, I never had a mother or father figure. My birth mother suffers from bipolar disorder, is a drug addict, is an alcoholic, and was in and out of jail regularly. She would pick fights whenever she could and was never there for my sister and me.

I lived with my mother and father in Iowa till I was about a year old. My mother was admitted into rehabilitation for her issues, which then led my father and me to move up to Minnesota to live with my grandparents.

Once my mother was released from rehab, she soon gave birth to my sister. Even with multiple kids, she never stopped living a worldly lifestyle. My father gave my mother two choices. She could change her ways and help raise my sister and me, or she could leave. A few minutes later, she walked out the door. Shortly afterwards, they divorced.

That would be one of the last times I'd see her.

At an early age, I noticed my home life was different from others'. I came to the realization that my father was no different from my mother; in fact, he could be considered worse. I watched my father do horrendous things to my family, and I heard him say vile things as well.

My father remarried when I was 7, to my stepmother, who also had problems, but to a lesser degree. They would often fight, get drunk, get physical with each other or others in the house, apologize, then do it again.

It was a never-ending cycle. They would often leave for days on end and show up out of nowhere just to repeat it again.

One day my father's actions escalated so badly that my stepmother left. Just last year, they divorced.

I remember feeling betrayed and angry with her. I was so furious. I mean, how could you leave us behind? We were children. But as I grew older, I realized I couldn't blame her; she didn't deserve what was happening to her. None of us deserved any of it.

While this was happening, I was still attending church at the Lighthouse Baptist in Cottage Grove. I was taught that if I prayed hard enough, God would answer my prayers and help me, so that's what I did.

I remember being in my room late at night, praying and begging God to help fix my father and to get him to stop doing the horrible things he was doing. I begged and pleaded with God for 8 years.

Yet nothing seemed to change; if anything, my father's actions seemed to escalate and worsen.

By the age of 9, I felt defeated.

I could no longer handle the extreme emotional abuse I was receiving from my father. I had given up on school and lost all motivation.

On top of my home situation, I was treated poorly by other students at school. I never had school friends till about the 6th or 7th grade. All of the "friends" I encountered while in primary school ended up betraying me; a few ended up doing bad things to me, which would temporarily alter my view on friendship.

All of this had a big impact on me and my faith. I knew I was saved, but I never saw a change. I thought maybe I did it wrong or God couldn't hear me. I was dealing with strong spiritual warfare.

By 2020, I really doubted God's existence, even though I had previously been saved. I mean, "Why would a loving God want to hurt someone?" I wrestled with this question for many years.

I was involved in worldly activities and living a worldly lifestyle at the time. I was dealing with self-destructive behaviors and struggling mentally. Little did I know that in 2 years, my God would deliver me from those struggles.

I hate to admit it, but 2020 was when I was furthest from God, and I was very angry at God for putting me through those trials.

I was never taught that God had a personal plan and purpose crafted to fit you specifically. In my mind, you were born, did what you wanted for a few years, became successful if you were lucky, died, and hopefully went to heaven.

Around the middle of 2022, there was a new youth event I had never attended: Jr. and Sr. High Camp at IRBC. I was hesitant to go because I had never really left the house for extended periods of time, but I decided to go with the encouragement of the youth group, my youth pastor and my grandparents.

That one week at IRBC changed my life.

God worked wonders in my heart, and I realized that if I wanted to have a strong relationship with him, I had to stop living the way I was.

So that's what I did. The second I got home, I got rid of anything that could take me away from God. I started to read the Bible more and pray more, and I was so much happier.

Throughout 2022 and the beginning of 2023, I started to rebuild old friendships. I took responsibility for my past actions and asked God and others for forgiveness. Now that I had been forgiven by the Lord and others, it was my turn to forgive.

It wasn't until January 2023 that I was able to forgive my father and mother for their actions. It was hard to do, but I'm glad I did it. I know the Lord never wanted those things to happen, but I'm glad they did.

If it weren't for all those things that I had gone through and dealt with, I wouldn't be here professing my love for the Lord. I know I'm a sinner, but I've been born again, and my sins have been washed away. I no longer struggle with things of the past and no longer feel weighed down and defeated.

After being baptized in September 2022, I had this never-ending urge to do more. I was living for the Lord, but I wanted to help others change their ways and live for him too! I now share the gospel on social media and am assisting many people in developing a closer relationship with the Lord.

Not long ago, I led one girl to salvation. I still have the drive to do more and to become involved with the Church and to become closer to the Lord. 

Looking back, I realize God saved me numerous times, and I hadn't even noticed. He was there with me the entire time, yet I was too stubborn and ignorant to see.

My heart is overwhelmed with God's love, and I can't express how much I love him. I've bashed him and used his name in vain, yet he still forgives me. I've turned on him, yet he's never turned on me. His love is unconditional and everlasting. There are still areas in my life I can improve, and I will still struggle now and then, but I know I won't go through them alone.

I thank my grandparents, my godly friends, and my youth leaders and pastors for showing and demonstrating God's love. I thank you for not giving up on me but instead helping me improve in my faith.

I'm excited to see the journeys God has planned for me. I trust him and his judgment, and I know that no matter what happens, he is there with me.

My parents were Lutheran and raised me that way for about 4 years until they got a divorce. My mother then remarried to a guy named Nik who wasn’t a very good or loving guy. And we had to live with him for the next 7 or so years, and being how he was, he gave me many many forms of PTSD.

He claimed to be Christian (as a way to easily seem like a good guy to have an excuse to manipulate and etc.) and brought my mother to get saved.

In doing so—he made God seem like a cruel and ravenous God. As you would expect that drew me farther from Him. But thankfully my mother divorced him.

So after leaving the church that he made us go to (it didn’t have good people, nor was it owned by good people), we decided to change churches. Three churches later, we settled at my current one, Lighthouse Baptist Church.

Gradually I became more and more into coming to church (keep in mind, I hated going to church at one point). Soon I found myself attending as many Sundays as I could.

Eventually, I realized I was saved: I had my faith in Christ and turned my life to him. And so now here I am! And I pray that I get the opportunity to lead as many people as possible to salvation!

I don’t remember much from when I was younger. I was about 6 years old when I first asked questions about salvation.

One night I remember going to my dad and asking him how I can be saved. I don’t remember much of what he said, but I do remember him saying that I am a sinner and that the sin is what separates us from God. The only way to get rid of that sin is repenting from it and asking God’s forgiveness.

After, I remember praying with my dad. Soon after that I was baptized.

I don’t know if I fully understood what it meant to be baptized or really to be saved then.

Later on I doubted a lot and kept wondering if I was truly saved. It went on for a few years like that (it was mainly in my younger teen years).

When I was younger I put way too much focus on the prayer that I ended up basically relying on my prayer to save me instead of actually trusting Him to save me. One night while I was praying I asked God to help me with my doubting and to help me to trust Him more.