| My Journey of Faith
I grew up in a Turkish household in America. Thus you can call me ABT- American Born Turk. It was a good childhood, with a sister and brother, we got along and was involved with many sports. Mischevious was my middle name, and I got into a lot of trouble. Never did I go to church or heard about the story of creation until I was about 19 years old through my grade school friend. With a bit more curiousity of this thing called life, I was able to ask questions and explore this thing called "truth" at a bible study for about 6 months. Then I was invited to attend my first church service when I was out of college at 22 years old and working. The vocabulary didn't capture my attention, neither did the old style English that was used. At the end of the service, the pastor who was speaking started to yell. "Whomever wants to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives- come forward NOW!". "Whomever wants to declare Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives- you must come forward NOW!". I thought this was so weird! Not really knowing what the heck was happening, I just sat there watching this foreign thing I've come to know as an alter call. In my seat, I started to sweat. No big deal- I think. Then the most weird thing happened, I then stood up! In place, I began to sweat even more! At this time, my ears didn't work any longer and i couldn't hear what the pastor was saying, only aware that I really shouldn't be standing! My brain was quite conscience and clear. I was telling my body to sit down, and it didn't obey me for the first time in my life! Then you might guess what happened next, I was making my way forward, following the rest of the people who were also about to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. April 14, 2002 I received, rejoiced, and remained sealed into the kingdom of heaven with the Holy Spirit in my heart. At that point, I was told to follow the Fabulous 15. That is, read the bible for 11 minutes a day, and pray for 4 minutes everyday. In prayer, I was to praise God for 1 minute, confess my sins for 1 minute (massive life change here!), and to as for things for 2 minutes. In this daily disciple, I grew and grew in my faith, trust, and appreciation for what the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus means to me. It was in bible study that I was able to ask questions before I received Jesus as Lord. It was in my first bible study where I was personally mentored, and also allowed to ask questions to solidfy my faith. It is while leading bible studies where I see in front of my own eyes lives being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. So also bible studies is where my passion lies- where I choose to invest to provide a platoform for people to ask, challenge, and discover the truth and power and grace of Jesus. |