The encounter with Jesus arouses the joy of witnessing and renewing our trust in Him, so it was for us when we did the Philip course and the methodology for the sisters Missionary of Charity in Gent in Belgium.

So also our sister from community Naomi shared her personal testimony.

My name is Naomi. My family has been member of our community as external members since 1991. I grew up in a healthy environment.  God loved me because he gave me a good family, 4 brothers that always helped me.  But when I was 15 years old I was very tired to hear from my parents always the same things : “god loves you” Jesus is your Saviour… Bla bla.I didn’t feel this.. I was very tired. I wanted to hold my life in my hands. And I wanted to go away from all this things. So I continued my life without Jesus, without the community.

I became a swimmer. And my life was full of activities. With the school. I played piano, clarinet, with the swimming team.  But even though my life was full, I felt alone. I felt that nobody could understand me. I felt that nobody loved me and i started to think that the only way for me was the death. And nobody knew that because I put on my face a mask.

But Jesus knew. And on June 2010 a friend told if i wanted to come at the summer camp in the north Italy. And i answered Yes. I don’t know why I answered yes. But in that moment i felt that i had to do this. During a prayer when we asked the lord to come with his holy spirit  I cried out to Jesus because I felt that only he could help me. My last possibility. And he helped me. I had my experience with The lord, and Through the Holy spirit I felt for the first time that God loved me. And my loneliness left me and I felt joy, his love that filled me. i felt thAt something new was being born in me. When I went at home my friends, my parents saw that there was something new in me. Jesus was in me.

However there were a lot of difficulties because my old life tried to come back and the failures told me : “You are not able to do this. You are alone” but every time i continued to believe that the Lord was my savior and He was with me, he was the way that i had to follow, he kept my life in his hands. And when I proclaimed this, and i believed with all my heart, every time i felt that i could win and overcome my difficulties.

After this moment I continued with my life and I went in Rome to study to become a nurse, because I wanted help people and always i liked the hospital environment. During my study I went to the community in Rome, and with the youth ministry we lived the presence of the lord. My community’s friends became my family.  I played the bass guitar in the music ministry.In this time I felt that I could do everything because I knew that Jesus was with me and i felt his presence thank to my friends in Jesus. Thank to my community.

During a Paul course, in 2012 a course to learn how we can evangelize, during a prayer, I heard, i felt, that Jesus was calling me as a consecrated in my community. He asked me to leave everything and follow him. God wanted me because he loved me so much. He wanted the best for me. But my first answer was : no ! I didn’t understand. It’s not for me. It’s not my way. But when I answered no I started to close my heart. So I stopped to pray, to pray with my heart. I only red the bible because if I opened my heart during the prayer I felt that the was calling me. And I didn’t want to listen to him. Only after 3 years I answered “yes”. But it was a wonderful thing because in this time Jesus changed my heart.  I understood that I couldn’t live without Jesus. And Jesus didn’t give up with me.  So before if I had answered yes it would be like a duty.  But Jesus changed my heart and after 3 years I understood that I wanted to follow Jesus. Because my relationship with him was everything to me. So I answered “yes”. In that moment I felt peace in my life, a peace that the world didn’t give me. The Lord changed my life. His love for me, his grace changed my mind, my heart. A new life full of joy.  He gave me new friendship in the community, he gave me a new life and a new hope. And now I am here after 5 years. I live in Rome as a consecrated in the Koinonia John the Baptist.

What about you? Do you want to give chance to Jesus! WHY NOT?