Throughout my life, from the time I was three years old up until I was into my twenties, I was abused, either physically, emotionally, or sexually.  By the time I got to Junior High I was very angry and I got into a lot of fights. This continued into my high school years, where I hurt one girl so bad that they were afraid I had caused serious damage to her face and eye.  By this time most people were afraid of me because of it.  I also had no emotions - nothing affected me on an emotional level; at least it seemed that way.  I never cried about anything for years.  I was also very introverted to the point where people didn’t know if I could speak at all.  They thought maybe something physical was wrong with me.  I was in a special education class for English in High School; this was for kids who had problems learning English.  Once I finished High School I remember having no hope for my future and this gave me such a feeling of hopelessness to the point that I wanted to end it all.  I can still remember that awful feeling of having no hope for anything good.

Then I went to college where I met an Indian guy from South Africa. He was a Hindu and was somewhat into black magic.  As I became friends with him he became very possessive to the point where he wouldn’t let me talk with any one, including my family.  He wanted me to marry him and when I wouldn’t he threatened me and tried to kill us both in his car one day. He also threatened to kidnap me to South Africa where I wouldn’t be able to get any help from any one.   I became very desperate for help.  Knowing this was a dangerous relationship and not knowing how to get out of it, I started looking for help anywhere and everywhere.  I even dated a friend of his in hopes of finding a way out but that didn’t work - it only put the friend in danger as well.

When I was almost in despair for help a friend told me about this church in Naperville so I went and talked with the pastor and his wife about my situation.  They said it was demonic and they would pray for the power to be broken.  The very next day I saw the guy and indeed the power was broken!  I had a show down with him at school and from that time on I have never seen him and have been free from him from that day on!

That experience so impressed me that I went back to the church in Naperville and got saved.  This whole process of being saved was so different than anything I have experienced.  First, all my anger from being abused most of my life melted and I became such a different person that everyone around me thought I was in a cult.  I came from a very religious Catholic background, so now my dad didn’t talk with me for about two years - he was so upset that I had left the Catholic Church.  At that same time several other people that I hung around with got saved too, because of my transformation.  I had previously thought that because I had been a Catholic I was already saved, but now I learned that just because you are religious and believe in God that doesn’t mean you are saved.  I spent the following years learning about God and changing my life.  My life took a huge turn in a good direction because of what happened.  The verse Ephesians 2:12 “….having no hope, and without God in the world…” described me before salvation.  Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”  This was my new verse that described me after salvation and what a joy it was to live life in the light of hope!  I also became an extrovert, and very talkative, as well as becoming very emotional - I would cry just watching Hallmark commercials.  What a change it was! I talked different and dressed different.  I was so changed on the inside and my outside changed to the point of not being recognizable.  To summarize my salvation, it was one of finding Jesus and his love for me and developing a relationship with Him and as a result living life with HOPE!