I met Jesus in a time of my life when nothing seemed to satisfy me. I was looking for something to fill an emptiness that overwhelmed my heart. An emptiness that no money, no delicious food, no position in work, no activity could fill. At that time I could have all these things but when I was by myself in my bedroom I was just crying and crying.

In my family we used to care very little for each other; even though I used to live with my three sisters, I thought we could do it all by ourselves, no need for each other.

I was full of fear, had no peace, no hope even for the immediate tomorrow. 

Then, one day I met a friend and his mother. After listening to me, He always used to tell me: “Elbia, what you need is Jesus, Jesus is all you need”. He gave me some christian music and as I listened to them I used to wonder “Why this people sing to Jesus like that? Why? They reflected they were filled with something I did not have and I wanted it.

They invited me to church and during the worship I was just reading every song in desperation. While I was singing I felt something was making me rest from my worries. 

After the preaching they asked if anybody wanted to do the prayer to receive Jesus as saviour and my friend’s mother said to me: “Elbia, don t leave it for later you don’t know what s happening tomorrow”.

We went to the front and said this prayer asking Jesus to forgive my sins and restore my life. After that moment I knew I had found what I was looking for, I could not stop crying but this time I was full of joy.

As soon as I started to learn Jesus words, I realized I had to restore our relationship as a family.

I have two deaf brothers and we never used to pay attention to them, so, very soon a pastor for deaf people came for the first time to our church and I started learning sign language to be able to communicate with my brothers. I had the opportunity to take my brothers to the camps to learn not only sign language but to get to know Jesus. My brother Alberto turned out to be a great athlete, he won medals in sport competitions.

As he was knowing Jesus his behaviour, attitude about life changed and for the first time my parents were very proud of him. Now, my brother has had a stable job for about seven years. His bosses admire and trust him. And I got so involved with the deaf that I got to teach them in the Sunday school hoping their lives could change. 

My desire was to get closer and closer to my family. God had begun to restore my relationship with them, especially with my father who we didn’t want to see because we were so full of anger due to many bad experiences we suffered in our childhood. He used to drink a lot. But the Lord made possible that I could forgive my father from the bottom of my heart and made a new love, a pure love grow in my heart for him. I could not have done it by myself, no psychology of the so many that I studied in university, ever helped me, only my faith in Jesus could do it.

My father knew I had forgiven him after one night when i went to visit them ( as they live in the countryside and we all (children) moved to the city to study and work). I went to my mum and dad’s bedroom and I said to him: “Dad can I read this bible study to you? It was about forgiveness, what it means and why we must forgive. When I finished reading the paper, I said to him: “Dad, I forgive you”, I hugged him while he was just crying.

It was such an amazing moment!. 

So, I can only dedicate my life to the lord for all the changes he has done in me and in my life. I love reading his word and learning from his example. In my work life, I have to acknowledge that all  my success, I owe it to Jesus. And I say this because, it’s because I want to please him that I do things the way I do. The Bible says: “Do everything as for the Lord”, pure, honest, not as for men to see but for the invisible God.

Today, I am nothing of what I used to be, He has set me free from fears, He has given me dignity, he has reconciled with me people who once used to hurt me or I had hurt before. I can walk with my head on high not feeling ashamed of anything. He has given a beautiful family where I feel respected and cared for. He has given purpose to my life: To serve others. For all this, to know Jesus’ ways is the best legacy that i long to leave to our children. 

He says He is the way, and to me, it is the best way. If you feel you are alone in this world, you find no value in yourself, no hope, no joy, give your life to Jesus you will not regret it. Give him a chance to show you that He is good. 

That is my testimony. 

Elbia