Before Christ, Allyssa found herself going through the motions. She realized she was beginning to bottle up emotions she didn’t fully understand and found she wasn’t fitting in with the friends she had at the time. These feelings only lead her to self-doubt and confusion.

Meaghan grew up in a good home and was close to her mom.  But there were also drugs and alcohol in her house, and lots of deaths in the family.  She went to church mainly for funerals.  She went to a Catholic school and felt that Catholicism was forced on her, but she didn’t enjoy it.  When Meaghan attended orientation during college, she found the Naz Christian Fellowship Table.

Kenny grew up in a single-parent home with his mom and sister.  They attended a pentecostal church, but Kenny thought an encounter with God only happened at church.  As he grew up, he became a chameleon and was good at blending in with other people.  His search for others to accept him led to his internal struggles.

Rebecca felt alone and trapped in her choices before she came to Christ.  When she was a young teen, her mom got saved and married a very Godly man.  They both shared the Gospel with her, but she wasn’t ready to accept it for herself.  She told them both, “If your God is who you say he is, then he knows what I need to reach my heart.”

Before Grace came to Jesus, she stole things, lied, and was also mean to her sister and brother.  In Kids’ Ministry, she learned that you can ask God to be part of your heart right now.  She also attended Camp Better and heard Maddie tell the leaders to share their personal stories with the kids about how they came to Christ.  One leader had a similar story to Grace, saying, “You can’t live with God in your heart unless you actually have him in your heart.  You can’t fake it.”  That impacted her. 

Dan’s life felt hopeless, tragic, and difficult before he came to Christ.  His first year of college was especially challenging as he moved away from family and was introduced to alcohol.  Over the next several years, he became reliant on alcohol.  This impacted his grade point average and resulted in him getting a “notice of academic dismissal.”  At this same time, he went through a relational breakup, and moved back home.  

Before Matt came to Christ, his family went to church regularly.  As the only deaf person in the family,  he didn’t get much out of church because that church didn’t provide interpreting.  There was no spiritual connection accessible to him, so he checked church off the list.

Maggie’s life was a struggle before she came to Christ.  She grew up in a Catholic church and didn’t study the Bible at home.  She can remember herself at the age of 7, attending church with her mom. They were at the various “stations of the cross” when it hit her that Jesus died for her sins.