Editor's Note: We asked a few students to tell us how they ended up at the Bible Institute, and how the year had changed their future plans. You can read the other testimonies in the next issue of the Victory Journal, which is on its way right now. Until then, check out this one. We didn't have room in the print edition, but it's one of our favorites.
By Chelsea Anderson, Florida campus (now New York campus for second year)
I grew up in an average, middle class family in California. But within a few short years when I was a teenager, I went from the stability of a family and home to a lifestyle where I was selling drugs, surrounded by people who didn't have much hope, and living in a world that had very different ideas about truth.
When I was 18, I started renting an apartment in Humboldt County, California, after living with friends in the area for a while. Humboldt County is one of the poorest areas in California. It has just one job for every 30 people. Four out of every seven households are below the poverty level, and two out of every five households growing medicinal marijuana legally because of local demand and the money the drugs can make in a tough job market. The area also has a state college that creates an atmosphere where multiculturalism flourishes, all religions are accepted, and absolute truth is non-existent.
When I first moved to Humboldt County, I looked diligently for a job for six months, but I couldn't find one. So, on the suggestion of my fiancé, who sold legal medicinal cannabis, I started selling marijuana in small quantities. In our free time, we worked for industrial growers, and most if not all of our friends were people we met through this “medicine.”
My fiancé was a practicing Hindu. One of my roommates was a practicing Buddhist, and the other believed that if there was a god, he was just a creator. At the time, I believe that all gods were one, and the differences in each culture were just different names for that god. I was very open to all religions, and I didn’t think there was absolute truth.
Thankfully, though, God chose me to be His daughter. After the police came to our apartment one day, we all moved to different locations, and I moved to my hometown, Crescent City. While there, a man named Marlon shared the Gospel with me, and I trusted Jesus.
Shortly after, a good friend helped me connect with the Bible Institute. I filled out an application, was accepted, and decided to come.
The Bible Institute changed my life drastically. By being in God’s Word, I learned that absolute truth exists. I applied this truth to my life and broke up with my fiancé. God showed me that His life for me is abundant, and drugs are not. I realized God’s love for me. I know I can trust Him. I also realized that I am called “to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [Christ] commanded [me]; and lo, [He] is with [me] always, even to the end of the age.”
The abundant life I have now happened because I spent time God’s Word and was taught to know Him deeper through discipleship. My heart breaks for the youth in Humboldt County, who are in darkness. Many do not have the opportunities that I have had.
I have parents and friends who have invested time, money, and love into me, but many young people in Humboldt County do not have parents who love them, or people with the means to send them to a Bible college.
I want to move back to Humboldt County and disciple youth. I want to teach them how to read their Bibles regularly then apply what they are learning to their lives. I want to see young people desperately in love with Christ, and basking in His grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment