From Emptiness in Religion
To A New Life in the Body
Empty Wandering
For most of my childhood, I grew up in a Catholic household. My family and I would go to mass once in a while. I remember that I never felt content being there. It always felt as if there was something missing. Throughout the years, my family wandered, looking for somewhere to meet. We would go to various churches, but always felt an emptiness without any enjoyment. My friends and family were all Catholic, so I always thought that I’m supposed to be Catholic also.
A New Life with A New Purpose
When I was 13, I went to my cousin’s house for a sleepover. It was on a Friday evening and there was a home meeting – a gathering with some brothers and sisters in their home. My cousin and her mother asked if I wanted to participate and I said yes. After the home meeting, my cousin and her mother started to preach the gospel to me. It was then that I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. After I received the Lord, I felt that I finally knew the purpose of my human life – to contain and express Christ. The following Lord’s Day, I went to the corporate Lord’s Table meeting for the first time. I met the saints there and had fellowship with them.
Life in the Body of Christ
I kept in contact with the saints and they encouraged me to attend the Summer School of Truth one summer. The Summer School of Truth is a two-week Christian camp for junior high and high school students. By going, I was able to know more about who Christ is and how to know Him as a person. I also learned about being baptized. After camp, I got baptized along with some other young people. I ended up attending the Summer School of Truth every year until the end of high school. I appreciated that I was able to be in the church life through my high school years. My locality started having young people’s meetings and I went frequently. Through those meetings, the Lord became real to me.
In my freshman year of college, I grew spiritually and physically. I was able to attend the weekly Bible studies on campus and I enjoyed beginning to partake of the Word as my food. In the church meetings I was able to get to know the saints in a new locality and began to know the Body and be built up with others. I’ve learned to be one with the saints. With the saints, I’ve established a family in the Lord.
~ Maria