Meet Izabella Pun, one of our teens who got baptized last week! You may ask, what is a teen’s journey of knowing Jesus like and what compels them to want to get baptized? Read on to find out!
“I was supposed to talk about my life before accepting Jesus, and if I’m being honest, I was stumped. I grew up believing and knowing Jesus. For around the first eleven years of my life, I’ve been what I would call a ‘faithful Christian’. Been to church, and never missed a Sunday unless I or one of my family members were sick. Every time I went to Sunday school or Agapeland, I would always give my ‘churchly answers’. Which were always right, but I really never understood them. I remembered memory verses, but never took them to heart. As most people say, I thought of church as a job. God was a side-job, that I never really understood or took the time to understand. During school, I would play the cello for our choir since my school is catholic. I treated that as a job. Everything Jesus or God related, was like homework, something that was just to get done. When I was at school and had knowledge of most religious questions, since no one else really went to church on Sunday, I was known as the “holiest” person. People thought I was even holier because I always helped play the cello in the choir for masses and liturgies. But in fact, I wasn’t. I had a heart like a non-Christian. I knew him, but I didn’t apply him to my life. Most of my decisions were influenced by my parents. Pastor Adriel said to not make any negative statements about anyone and to try to avoid that during our testimony, but most of us know that Asian moms usually influence our decisions and choices more often because they’re all powerhouses and spirited people.
I remember how there was one time in my life when I felt the Holy Spirit. Not specifically a time, but more like many tiny moments in my life that changed my worldview and helped me dive deeper into Christ. One of those moments was when I was in grade seven. I had a really good teacher, Mr. Diky. He was one of the most Christlike teachers at basil, since most of our teachers weren’t even Catholic at a catholic school, or Christian. But I could see Mr. Diky was very passionate about teaching us religion. We always joked about him, saying he talks too much, and that it ran down his family because Sam his son talked a lot too. Most of the people in our class didn’t care about religion that much, and neither did I. I saw it as a job. Until one day Mr. Diky put a video on. I don’t remember much from that video, but one saying stuck with me. “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Quoted by St. Augustine. I don’t really know why it stuck with me, it just always did. I’ve had many struggles during my junior high years, and it’s never gotten better, but it’s my mindset that keeps me going and views the world differently. For all the times I’ve been struggling, I’ve always turned from God. I blamed everything on him. My faith was weak and challenged, and I always tested God. I would question everything, and never dug deeper. That quote assisted me to understand better. Faith is believing in something you can’t see. We can’t see God, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t there. We can’t see air, but we know it’s in front of us. The second thing that helped me really accept Jesus as my saviour was a movie I watched with my mom and dad. It was called Frank vs. God. It talked about a guy losing everything he had, and was trying to sue God. Everyone that knew God was invited to court. Monks, Elders of First Nations, Priests, Pastors, Rabbis, and more. When Frank, the guy suing, was interviewing the Priest, he asked a very challenging question. A question which we always ask in our daily lives. Why do bad things happen to good people? The priest replied with this: “I do not really know. When I ask for strength, I am faced with difficulties to overcome. When I ask for wisdom, I am faced with problems to solve. When I ask for love, I am surrounded by suffering lives.” Every single time I asked God for something, he’s never given me it right away, or the way I want it to be given to me. He makes me wait, and he sends it in the least expected way. Most of the time I ask God for something and don’t receive anything, I lose faith. When I finally started realizing everything God does is perfect, just, and right, I decided to finally let go. Leaving my whole life to him was what I was supposed to do in the first place, He just wants us to realize it ourselves.
After I finally realized God was with me my whole life, and that I should have never doubted him, is when I found a new Worldview. Now when I examine everything, I realize that life could be much different from all of this. God didn’t have to send Jesus to save our sins, yet he did. Now everytime I see a beautiful sight while hiking, or just feel joy, I know that we wouldn’t have that without God. He will always be for me, and never against me. My whole attitude hasn’t entirely changed, but it still feels like lots are different. Every day while I’m laying on my bed and staring at the roof, I pray. I just talk to God and tell him how I’m feeling. I know He won’t judge, and that he’s always there for me. I want to be baptized today because I want to show that I have a new life in Christ. The communion bread and wine would be good too since I’ve always been envious of my parents who would eat their communion, and I would try to eat it yet they never let me. Another part of getting baptized is to represent my love for God, like getting married and receiving rings to symbolize your love for your spouse. Baptism is a representation. To end off, one bible verse I really enjoy reading is Isaiah 40:31, which reads: ‘but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’ ”