My story
by orsylove86
It all started when I went home for the first time in my life. My brother came to the baby basket and asked my uncle "what is this?". And that was me, a little blond girl with a big smile on her face. At the age of 2 years I started kindergarten and I really loved to play, but my favorite thing was to listen to stories.
Both of my neighbors were Adventists. Both families had kids and they went to church every Sabbath. And because we played a lot together, they invited me to come as well, and I decided to go with them. My mom let me go, because she knew there’s nothing bad. I have read and learned, and she also did read the Bible, but she was afraid of my father and she never came. I asked her many times to come, and she always told me that she will as soon as my father will come with her. I really enjoyed Sabbath school and the programs they had for kids. I loved to sing those beautiful songs and I was always wondering about who this Jesus must be, because I have seen many pictures of Him with kids on his lap and that made me wonder …
I felt happiness in the church. But not everything went well, because my grandmother always told me that she does not want to see me going to that church. She even told me if she see me going, she will pull out all my hair :) But that never happened…
Happy, or maybe not…
At the age of 7, I went to a music school and started to learn violin. I was really good at it and even played on concerts. My parents were really proud of me. One day a pastor came to my village to have some evangelistic meetings for people who don’t know the truth of God. And because he stayed at my neighbors' house he visited my parents a couple of times before the meetings started. My parents decided to go to the meeting and listen him preaching. When the last meeting took place, he asked people to stand up if they want to get baptized. And my mom was the first one who stood up, but then she saw my father still sitting. So she sat back next to him and they talked for a while, then I saw both of them stand up holding hands and crying. I was soooooooo happy. I can still remember their faces… Even the pastor was amazed by this, because he never imagined my father wanting to get baptized. Even he was surprised and so happy for both of them. The whole church and my neighbors were glad as well. But not everyone was happy about this decision. My grandparents stopped coming to our house and they did not want to accept my mother as their daughter any more. They did not come to the baptism either.
I was so happy, but my happiness did not last long. By the time my parents converted, I started 2nd grade. It was very difficult, because my classmates could not accept the idea of me being Adventist and they stopped being my friends and one day one of the girls even told me that she hated me. And when I asked her why, she told me that she hated me, because I was different from the others. They could not understand me and I could not understand why they just can’t accept what I am. Almost every day I went home crying or just cried at night when everyone was asleep. I even told my mom that I will not go to school anymore, but she always prayed with me and sent me the next day. It was even harder that I did not tell everything to my parents and kept the things that really hurt inside me. I know that it was my mistake not telling, but I was afraid that they will not understand.
This kept going on for years, and I decided to put an end of my life. One afternoon, when nobody was home I took a whole bottle of sleeping pills and waited. But that night after I went to my bed I just could not fell asleep and I could not understand why nothing happens. After that night, I decided I will not try to do this again, but I was still unhappy. I kept going to school, but I felt that something is missing from my life. I went to church, but I could not feel the happiness I felt before. Somehow I never gave up with the Sabbath. In school many exams were on Saturday, but God always managed it in a way that I would not have to go. And when I had an exam on Saturday, I went on Friday, or Monday. But it got more difficult with the Sabbath, when I started to play in the school orchestra, and we had concerts on Friday evenings or on Saturdays. Of course I never went, but I had a lot to listen from my teachers cause of it. Once, in Hungary we had a concert on Sunday and the practice was on Saturday, and I remember that my teacher agreed to let me go to the church in Hungary, but just to go with them. I remember that time, when we had to go to Holland with the school orchestra. I found out that we were supposed to travel on Saturday. And I told the principle that I will not go. But they really needed me because by this time I played the viola and there were only 4 of us and me being the best viola player from the school, they did count on me to go. They tried everything to convince me to go, but they just couldn’t. So the principle told me that she will kick me out from the school if I will not go. But I refused. It was really hard to make the decision, because I called my father for help, but he told me that I’m old enough to make my own decision. And I did not go. And I wasn’t kicked out from school either :) God really cares for me.
America
I met an american girl, who came to the Missionary School in Herghelia, and I asked her if she could help me, because my dream was to go to the USA. She told me about a camp and she told me that she will e-mail the pastor who organizes the camp and she also gave me his e-mail address. This was in January. I told my parents that during the summer vacation I will go to that camp. I remember my mom telling me that I should not walk between the starts, because she knew that if it would not happen, I would become even unhappier. But I prayed every single day for this. And after a couple of e-mails I got the invitation. It was so funny when my parents saw that I really got it. So we went to Bucharest with the Visa request. The first time I did not get the Visa and I was so sad that I cried almost all the way home (300km). But later on, I understood why all this happen. If I would get the Visa, that would mean that I would have take my exam a little earlier, because I wanted to go before the end of the school year. And there was a really mean teacher, who could not stand anyone who was not her student, and she always gave smaller grades to us. And because I would have had my exam earlier, that would have made her angrier. But now I had my exam the same day with the others. And I will never forget that on that day when we had out exam she got sick and we all got higher grades…
After two weeks the other invitation arrived and I went to Bucharest again. And this time I got the Visa. I remember that this time I was really happy. This all happen on Thursday, and on Friday I went to town to see if I can find any fly ticket. But it was in the middle of June, it was hard to find anything available. I was sure that if God wants me to go, He would find me the right one. And there was a seat available for the next Monday. I know, this sounds wonderful, but it is true and I believe that it was God’s hand. So, on Monday at 6.45 I had a plane to take from Bucharest to the States. I was sooooooo happy. I remember when I first stepped into the airplane… I arrived to the States and attended this camp. It’s called Flag Camp International. There I met some really wonderful people and this was the time, when my life started to change. Being there as a musician, I played almost every Sabbath in the churches and to the kids. It was great spending my summer there. I learned a lot more about Jesus, and was amazed by those young people who were in the staff. They really loved God and they were not ashamed to tell about Him to the others. It made me think, and I wanted to be like them. The pastor who was the director of this organization was really amazing as well. He was my father for the summer. I loved him a lot and I can thank him a lot. After the summer, the next year he invited me again to attend the camp, and of course I went. It changed my life so much, that when I came back home, my parents asked me what happened to me over there. They were so glad that they have seen me happy again.
Baptism
On the 29th of May, 2004 I got baptized. I owe much to that pastor from Flag Camp but I owe everything to God. He loves me so much. Jesus came to the Earth and died on the cross to save me and to offer me eternal life. We were 12 people getting baptized that day. It was so nice to have my godmother getting baptized the same day as me. We all cried cause of happiness.
I’m not saying that it’s easy and that I don’t have hard times, but God always helps me and gives me the strength to move on. All I have to do is trust Him.
I’m happy to be His child.
All I had to do is to let Him come into your heart …