Personal Stories

I am twenty-six years old. From an early age, the Lord had started working in me the desire to know Him and have a relationship with Him. However, I held back because I came from a legalistic background and was afraid of losing my salvation.

At the height of my career success, I was at my darkest point. According to the world, I was performing well. My name was known for getting the job done and I was counted on. But I was miserable. I was fighting for my life.

I have been a Spirit-filled Christian attending Spirit-led churches for thirty years. I never strayed from the Lord in those years and always considered myself a committed Christian. But about three years ago, I lost my job as a chemist in a pharmaceutical company.

I had been raised by a cruel and abusive father who was mentally unsound and incredibly legalistic. I spent my childhood fearing him and struggled desperately to be loved. By the time I was a teenager, my self-esteem was incredibly low. I thought I was hideously unattractive, stupid, and a burden to anybody I met.

I was given your book Destined To Reign, some years ago but never got round to reading it. Whilst cleaning out my book collection over a year ago, I donated all my Christian books to a local church library but Destined To Reign somehow stayed in my home unread.

When our son Jonas was 11 months, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. The doctors recommended that Jonas go for a bone marrow transplant as there was no other cure for the disease and we were told chemotherapy might not work.

Earlier this year, I had been told by my supervisor that the company had to let me go because the firm was struggling amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They needed to cut costs and unfortunately that involved the removal of my role. Just like that, I was let go the following day.

I became a Christian at 20 and believed God for marriage. I prayed and fasted about it, but it seemed like the more I did that, the more I got into bad relationships.

My marriage and family life were deteriorating. In our third year of marriage, my husband and I were still getting to know each other while blending a family of two teenagers and two pre-adolescents.

I had to register for my Honors degree at the start of 2015. However, I was unable to as my dad could not afford the fees after paying for my three-year undergraduate course.

After my graduation in 2014, I was given an opportunity to work as a trainee in a logistics company. After a year, I was offered a permanent post.

I grew up in a legalistic environment. We were taught to ask for God’s forgiveness each time we sinned to avoid going to hell. We were also taught that we could lose our salvation and that kept us sin-conscious.