An Encounter That Changed Everything

From a broken childhood and years of searching to a life radically transformed—this is the story of how an unexpected encounter with the Holy Spirit ended decades of wandering and revealed a faith that moved from the head to the heart. What followed was not only peace and a new identity, but a living relationship with God that continues to shape everyday life in real and tangible ways.

Before I met Jesus I had already lived without Him for 33 years. My history, as far as I can remember, starts from our living room. I was two years old, sitting on a small cube-shaped children’s chair, watching my parents fight. I was five when they divorced, seven when I moved into my first foster family. My teenage years were difficult; I used substances and nearly died of an overdose entirely by accident at the age of fifteen. I was reckless. I traveled alone across Europe and even spent five weeks in Morocco on my own without money right after turning eighteen. I rode a motorcycle at 230 km/h, trying to make life “feel” like something.

An encounter with the Holy Spirit

I searched for years, even though I did not know what I was looking for. In the end, the Holy Spirit appeared to me completely unexpectedly in the middle of the city while I was talking with a believing friend. I asked her how she could always be so joyful, even though her situation in marriage was extremely difficult. She answered that she had faith, and then said, “the same is true for you.”

In that moment, decades of searching came to an end when the Holy Spirit revealed to me in an instant what I had been lacking: faith in the heart. The Holy Spirit showed me that my faith had been in my head—in rational conclusions and things I had been taught—but my friend’s faith was in her heart. A couple of days later, as I sat in her kitchen and gave my life to Jesus, I experienced in a concrete way what I had been living without: the supernatural peace of the heart.

Supernatural training methods

In the first days after encountering Jesus, that peace of the heart grew stronger and deeper. From the very beginning, He started to lead me through supernatural “training methods”; I experienced unusual miracles that immediately proved to me that God is real.

Every person’s journey of faith is different. The Father sees what we need in order to begin our spiritual growth well. He taught me in everyday life through miracles, and in such a way that answers to prayer often came either during the prayer itself or immediately afterward. The first months and years were extremely important years of being rooted, when I often had to rely on Jesus alone. (Which, of course, is the most powerful help in the world!)

My life has completely changed since Jesus became a part of it. The greatest transformation has taken place in my identity. I am no longer “fatherless, homeless, a placed child, and a troubled young person,” but a child of God.

The identity of insecurity, rejection, being “different,” and a hardened heart has been replaced with the identity of being God’s child. As an adult, I have received a kind of “childlike faith” that acknowledges that God can do anything; it is of immeasurable value. I have seen it in practice countless times.

I KNOW that I am enough for the One who created me. He loves me and wants me to move forward in my life and in my faith. He also wants to fulfill all the dreams He has given me. In many ways, God has become, above all else, a “Father” to me. I speak of Him as a Father, I think of Him as my Father, and I approach Him as my Father.

Just a common Miracle

God’s guidance is real, and it is tangible. Here is just one example. At one point, He led me to Uganda concerning my studies. Before leaving, He did several unusual things in my everyday life that made me pay attention to the fact that something was about to happen.

Because this was an exchange through my school, it meant that I had to have all my coursework completed; otherwise, I would not be able to go.

It was the last day for retake exams before the summer break, and I was supposed to leave for the exchange in August. Before that, however, I absolutely had to pass an exam in social policy. I had not even had the chance to take it yet, and now this was (both the first and) the last opportunity to complete it and pass, so that the exchange could happen as planned. (The exam book was several hundred pages long, and I had not even had time to open it. I was a single parent of two school age children, studying and working at the same time.)

I prayed for God to help me. Two hours before the exam, as I was going through my notes, the Holy Spirit showed me the exam question! And indeed—when I received the exam envelope and opened it, there were two possible questions, one of which I had to answer. One of them was directly about exactly what the Holy Spirit had shown me in my notes just a couple of hours earlier. And - well - I passed the exam with excellent grades! :D

Belonging to Jesus is priceless. With Him, I received peace in my heart and the assurance of my salvation—of eternal life with the Father when I one day leave this earth. He helps me in my life even in the most ordinary things (well, I still have to do the dishes myself! :D).

Nothing else in the world is as important as having my name—and yours—written in the Book of Life. YOU CAN NOT LOSE IF YOU GIVE JESUS A CHANCE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE!