My name is Katie and  I am from New Brunswick, Canada. I want to share with you how I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior – the life he saved me from and the hope that I have because of Him.

  At the age of 5, my parents divorced. From that point on, I lived with my Mom and three siblings. From time to time, I would see my father on weekend visits. I grew up around prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse, and different men who were in and out of my mom’s life.

  When I was 11 years old, my Mom’s fiance committed suicide. To me, he was the most stable father figure I had ever had in my life. It hurt a lot and it seemed there was nowhere to turn for comfort. Talking with counselors didn’t relieve the pain, and they definitely didn’t have the answer I needed. My way of ‘dealing’ with it was to sit in my room and just cry until there was nothing left inside. I began to shut people out of my life. I separated myself from my family by spending time in my room alone whenever I was home. I grew to resent my mom, feeling that it was her fault that this had happened. I reflected a lot on the way I had grown up and was bitter toward her because of it; never really having a childhood. I didn’t immediately turn to drugs or alcohol. Although I was surrounded by substance abuse growing up, I knew that it would not solve my problem. I used to say “That’s so stupid to take drugs to try and be happy or make things better.” I also knew that I was lost and unhappy. After feeling that way for so long, I asked myself “Why not try drugs?” I wanted to do it just for “fun” and I thought it would be OK because I “knew” I could control it. It didn’t take long at all, though, before smoking pot opened up the door to different drugs. Whatever new drug I tried wasn’t good enough and I always wanted something more. Soon, partying was what I lived for and, as follows, my life began to fall apart. I was back to where I had started except with even more problems. I was filling my life with all the remedies the world has to offer but what I needed was God. In search of love and meaning, I just found myself more and more “lost.”

  My mom was aware of the kind of life I was leading. She didn’t approve of it but basically allowed me to do as I pleased because she was scared to push me away, as my siblings had already left the home for similar reasons. By the age of 16, I found myself using cocaine, a drug I said I would never mess with. I felt like I had found something so good… being high on cocaine was unlike anything I had ever experienced and I quickly became desperate to have it all the time. My mom could tell I was drastically changing and soon found out what I had gotten into (thank God). Long story short, she told me I needed to get help. I was OK with that (thinking that it would be good if I could get off all the chemicals and just stick to smoking pot since it wasn’t ‘such a bad drug’).

  We heard about Freedom Village through a Christian teacher from my school. I knew that it was a Christian program but didn’t know what that really meant. I did know that I didn’t believe in God or supernatural things.

  Not a day or two after arriving here, I heard the Gospel message: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But my ‘logic’ told me that it was foolish believe in something I could not see or feel. And I wasn’t going give up my life of pleasure to live a life of “faith.” I came here thinking that I had enough strength to change my life. I would tell the staff here that if God were indeed real, I didn’t need Him as a “crutch” to help me change and get off drugs. But the more time went by, the more apparent it became to me that I had a bigger problem than just the drugs (or anything else I was involved in). The drugs, the clothes, guys, music (everything I was and did)- I no longer could use them to cover up who I really was and all the things I buried deep in my heart. I was forced to face how empty and lost I was.

  I went from saying I could never believe in God – to saying maybe there’s a God – to asking “God if you’re real, will you help me?” And He did. He brought me to a point where I was too sick and tired of myself to go on. One night, I felt a 'knock' on my heart and I knew it was God. My heart was so heavy. I cried out for Him to forgive me for all I had done and asked Him to save me. In that very moment, I became a child of God. Sixteen years of built-up filthy sin in my life and instantaneously He cleansed me and made me whole!! He offered forgiveness like no other can. One thing that I felt different about immediately was the bitterness that I had held towards my mom. I was able to forgive her (because I was forgiven) and had a new love in my heart for her. I’m in awe that Jesus Christ, and He alone, can “save a wretch like me.”  He made me a new creature that night and has been transforming my life ever since!

  There is nothing in this world that is greater than knowing Jesus Christ! I have not found a new “high” that will fade away. Rather, it is the purpose we were all created for. I wish there were words to describe the love and the peace that is found in knowing Him… it passes all understanding!