Testimonies of Searching and Finding the Truth

After being at University, I moved to Glasgow to work at a firm of stockbrokers. I had friends, a good job, a nice flat and a great family. But as life went on, I realised that there was something missing. My interest in the spiritual side of life had brought many questions, but no firm answers. In the end, it boiled down to three main questions... 

Finally, when I was about 18-years-old, I was sick of seeking. I was very disappointed and even tried to kill myself twice for I saw no sense in existing in such a corrupt and crazy world. Fortunately both attempts were unsuccessful, and after the second attempted suicide, I suddenly knew in my heart…

I grew up going to church and Sunday school and had repeatedly ‘asked Jesus into my heart'. As time went by and I grew up I realised that I could not find a single Scripture telling anyone to ask Jesus into their heart to receive salvation. So, despite my churchy background, I was still in need of salvation... 

There, in a park, after explaining to my dog that I could no longer feed him and would have to give him to a pound, I kneeled down and cried to the Lord: “Lord, I have been walking this world for four and a half years, please explain to me what life is all about and if you are there, then show me.” Within minutes a gardener stopped by and we had a chat... 

When I was six years old my father committed suicide and from that day onwards my mother started to drink heavily. It was a terrible time for my brother, sister and I. My mother was drunk almost every day and there was only fighting and shouting. At that time we lived with my mother's first husband and his new family and my grandfather, who were all alcoholics. Often I was lying in bed and dreaming of a real home somewhere where I would be loved and cared for. At the age of 13 I started to think of taking my own life to go to the place. Luckily I didn't, otherwise I would not be here telling you what happened next.

I realised that there was so much hypocrisy in the Catholic Church, so I stopped going there. I was drawn to an alternative life style and joined a group of friends who were into punk and heavy metal music.. and started reading people’s future from their hands (Palm Reading, Fortune Telling) after reading books about it...

I realised that if the Bible really is the Word of God, then I had better do something about it. So I spoke a lot to some Christians whom I knew, asking them questions about the Bible, about how it could be true, about whether or not it made sense and so on, but they couldn't answer all my questions... 

I had not long started a new job in 1985 when I was first introduced to someone whom I was told was a ‘born again Christian.' I immediately thought she would be some kind of ‘Bible thumping' religious fanatic so I was cautious from the beginning.To my surprise however, she never actually preached to me, nor did she ram the Bible down my throat but she did make an impression on me by... 

After two and a half years of reading the Bible now and then, and studying other material, while also drinking and partying, I saw how the fragments fitted together and formed a picture like a mosaic. I had to make a decision - to follow God according to His Way, or maybe lose the chance of getting saved forever... 

I did not want to hear about that, because it meant that I would have to change my life, but I went on studying my Bible; reading about the miracles, such as when Elijah prayed for rain, or when Daniel survived being thrown into the Lion's den. I missed this power in church, where it was rather boring. 

I did not have any peace or assurance of salvation... I wasn't 100% right with God and knew something was missing. For many years I lived in fear and asked myself the question “what does it take to be saved on Judgement Day?" 

I went to parties and did other teenage things and yet I grew more and more unhappy. I felt that something was awfully wrong in my life. There was a big difference between the things that happened in my own life and in my church and what I read about in the Bible. I felt empty and dirty...

"The following Tuesday I was meant to leave for three weeks to go camping in Bavaria. But what I had heard and seen from those Christians had captured me. I knew they had something which I wanted to have too, and I decided to get baptised. I did not want to leave before receiving from God the same thing as these people had..." 

Although I had many friends, I no longer had the joy and happiness in life that I had before this event. At this stage I was really desperate for something positive in my life... 

I knew that the Orthodox faith was not right and that it did not teach the Bible as complete truth; however, I knew that the church I grew up in also did not even attempt to follow all of the teachings from the Bible. In fact, I had become interested in learning about the Jewish holidays and religious practices, as well as Catholic practices because I knew I lacked something. I believed in Jesus Christ, but the faith was not "alive" in my heart, and I sought for that life in Christ whilst not knowing what really I looked for or how to even look...

If you think that you can use yoga only for physical training and not be affected by its spiritual side, you are wrong. You are wrong if you believe the many websites and teachers in the West who declare that yoga is just a harmless physical exercise. The Bible warns of such spiritual seduction....

I saw all the different religions around and it never occurred to me that one of these might hold all the answers. In fact, I got to the point that if I had been asked whether I believed in God, or whether or not I was a Christian, I wouldn’t have known how to reply because everything was so unclear and uncertain. Furthermore, even when I did call myself a Christian, I didn’t read a Bible or spend my time with God...

One day, some buses arrived at the church with people from abroad. When they went inside, nobody was looking after their luggage, and I decided to steal it! I quickly went and took three suitcases, before running away as fast as I could;

When I was about 11 or 12 I became a catholic. I started to believe in God and thought that the Catholic Church was the only true church. During one Christmas sermon I started to become very disappointed as I realised how superficial everything was. At this time I felt like a hypocrite in front of God. I wasn’t there with my whole heart to worship God and sang songs without knowing what I was singing. I stopped going to church at that point but I knew that God was real and there was a way to God which I hadn’t found yet...

God has performed a great miracle in him! ... When Peter flew over to Australia, he was depressed, desperate and unhappy with his situation. He did not have a purpose in his life and even entertained thoughts of suicide... 

When I was a little child, I was always thinking, “Why do people exist, anyway?” As much I puzzled over it, I never came to a satisfying conclusion...