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In this updated blog, I want to use this space to be able to share my faith. I grew up in a Catholic household when I was younger. However, shortly before I went to college, my best friend (now husband!) introduced me to the Church of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo). It was vastly different from what I grew up. As I started to attend bible studies, I started to understand what it really means to believe, obey, and trust in God. I was baptized in March 2007 in the Locale of Honolulu. Even though my family didn’t understand or accept my decision for many years, I feel like they are now at peace with my new path.
I’ll tell you the story of how I started with the Church of Christ (INC) in another post if you want to hear it. It’s a story full of coincidences (or fate!), sacrifices, and happiness. 13 years later and I’m still active in our church as a choir member (even though I’m not a very good singer! I try!).
Being a New Convert
The thing about being a convert is the difficulty in opening up your mind to teachings that totally contradict what you’ve grown up with. This is why it was important to me to have all of my questions answered before I became a member of the Church of Christ.
What solidified my decision to join was because everything I learned and all of the answers to my questions came directly from the bible. All of the ministers I met did not provide their own interpretation. They read directly from the bible. All of the reasons why INC members behaved, thought and believed made sense because all of the reasons came directly from the bible.
New Friends and Family
I also joined because of the family friends I gained. College life was a bit lonely until I started hanging out with other college students from our church. We ate out, went to the movies together, studied at the library, carpooled to church, and participated in many sports and fun activities.
I found a sense of belonging that I couldn’t find in other college groups and organizations I joined no matter how hard I tried. I was accepted as is and that was big for me since I was practically alone in Hawaii having moved here from Saipan. In addition, when our family moves to the mainland in the future, I know we’ll always have our INC family welcoming us wherever we are in the world (we have locales in over 150+ countries and territories!).
Peace
Another reason why I joined because I found peace when I prayed. I received solutions to my problems. I received blessings when I least expected it. It’s hard to imagine how after 100+ job applications (yes, I counted!), a handful of job interviews, and many prayers, I landed a good job 2 months after graduating college and a year after the recession.
It was perfect timing because I was also running out of money fast! There were also many times over the years where I cried to God because I was so broke from debt during college but would later find myself with some windfall money to get through it. Then there were the times that I cried because every father figure I had died every few years of each other.
Would you believe it if I told you that I stopped sleepwalking after I joined the church (I somehow had an obsession with doors and would be found standing there creepily. True story! I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but it makes it much easier for me to sleep safely at night!)? Some of these might be hard to believe and some not but these are my stories. These are just some of what my God has helped me through after I joined the Church of Christ.
Sharing My Faith
Despite all of this, I’ve been so selfish and have been having a hard time sharing my faith with others because I’m scared of rejection. However, I’m starting to realize and really feel how time is running out. There’s no time to be scared. The world is getting worse and Judgement Day is coming. In this new year, I want to make sure that many will know the true church before that day comes. This is why I would like to invite you to check out the Iglesia Ni Cristo at our website: https://incmedia.org/. Learn what it means to be a member of the true church and how God can make a difference in your life just how he did with mine.
If you have any questions or want to attend a free bible study, let me know.
