Lourdes had everything to be happy about, yet for several years she felt a great void within her. After a winding road in life, she crossed paths with a dancer who brought a new cadence into her life. This young man introduced her to a God who had offered him the melody of happiness. Amazed by the joy she discovered, the Covid quarantine could have called everything into question. But Jesus was there, she felt it, so she decided to connect with Him forever on Saturday, October 3, 2020 at the Vivo Adventist Church in Geneva.
She tells about it herself...
"At a wedding I noticed a young man dancing very well. I didn't speak to him, but he spoke to my sister. She came to me to report that he liked to dance with the young people of his church. The word ‘church’ had an effect on my heart. It was the starting point of my journey to real life.
The next day I searched his profile on Facebook. I saw that he had written a book, I bought it and asked to be his friend on social network. We then started discussions during which I asked him questions about God... Until the day he invited me to go to his church, the Hispanic Adventist Church in Lignon (Switzerland). It was my first contact with the Adventist Church.
What is amazing is that I come from a Catholic family. My parents are Catholic, I was baptized and had my communions in the Catholic Church. Yet my family was not used to going to church on Sundays. It wasn't part of our lives. We can say that we were believers but not practicing believers. Therefore, faced with his invitation to go to church, I was very willing.
I went there August 3, 2019. I was stressed because I didn't know anyone except this young man I had met at the wedding. But I felt very good because people welcomed me warmly. They were interested in me.
I also met Pastor Leo who that day preached on the theme "There is no blind man worse than the one who does not want to see". And without a pun, I opened my eyes to my life.
I realized that I was unhappy and that I had a problem with alcohol. That was the turning point. I went back to church the following Saturday because I had found the experience of this Sabbath really cool. There I heard a message that described our value before God." Again, God spoke to me and I felt that I had value in God’s eyes.
I really think that God has put people in my path to help me in my spiritual journey. Then He also used worship services to talk to me. All this together made me thirsty to know Jesus. I naturally started Bible studies with Pastor Leo.
At the end of the first Bible study, on my way home, I experienced something crazy! I felt joy and peace all over. I felt a sense of well-being that I had never felt before. I was so amazed that I wrote to Leo asking him what was going on inside me. And he said, "This is the work of the Holy Spirit in you."
I drank every day, I was freed from it, I didn't want to drink alcohol anymore. My thirst that was now overflowing, was a thirst for God, to know Him, to praise Him.
The Covid quarantine was a difficult time for me as all the churches were closed. Now I look forward every Saturday to find my brothers and sisters in Christ. They are so warm and welcoming! Around me, on a daily basis, I have no one to share my faith with as I live it now. The closure of the churches was so hard for me, I felt abandoned. I was afraid I'd be alone on Saturdays. And against all odds, it was during the quarantine that my faith grew.
Before Covid, I already knew I wanted to be baptized but in my mind, I had time for that. And during the quarantine, alone with my God, I began to want to meet Him every day, every moment. And my thoughts have evolved in relation to baptism. I felt ready and had no reason to wait. I made the decision to give my life to Jesus. I know I need God in my life. And I know that even if I have problems, Jesus is the solution.
Confined alone at home, I was afraid at one point to fall back to alcohol because the temptation was greater. But Jesus was there with me and that is the strongest. I didn't fall back into alcohol. I've experienced my strength in God. He's part of my life. He won't let go of me and I won't let Him go either!”
If you also want a new melody in your life, God is waiting for you. You can meet him in a church.
The original article was published here.
