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From a Religious Life to the Full Expression of His GloryI am originally from Cameroon in West Africa. I was born in a Catholic family, and was baptized when I was still a baby. Before I got saved, I was about to take the “Holy Communion” and the confirmation which represented the two final sacraments the Catholic church required in order to go to heaven. In our family, we were all good members of our denomination; we barely missed any meetings on Sundays and sacrificed our money to give to the poor. From our youth, we were very religious without even knowing the Lord. Today when I look back, I can say that I didn't really care as much for God as I was pretending to. I knew that there should exist a God hidden somewhere like so many believe. However, my conception of God was that He created us so that we may enjoy life while He is situated somewhere beyond the sky taking care of His own business. What I mean is that I did not know that I could have an intimate and personal fellowship with Him. I knew I needed to pray only whenever I got in trouble. I knew I had to try my best in order to be good. I knew about what to do and what not to do; yet, my life was spoiled and dirty. At a young age I was involved in all kinds of sins that were outside of God's divine purpose. I loved the world and all that could give me temporary satisfaction. I had several worldy friends. In fact, I am not ashamed to admit all my failures today because the person who used to do all those things is now dead Rom. 6:6), and a new person resurrected in Spirit (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:13). I remember also that I was very scared of dying. Every night before going to bed, I would think, what if I don't get up tomorrow morning? What's death like? What's waiting for me? I was scared to go to hell if it happened to be real. Sometimes, in order to comfort myself, I used to imagine that those stories of heaven and hell were made up in order to scare men into living a right life. But I could not live a right life even if I tried hard. There was a power in me that always convinced me that it was okay to lie or to cheat. Because God wasn't there, who knew if He cared for me or not? That was my life before I met the Lord in an evangelistic crusade on April 12, 1990. Believers in my country invited people to a campaign. My mom went the first day and got saved. At first I didn't want to go because I wanted to hang around with all my guy friends, but the Lord captured me for the meeting. That was the first time I saw people who were really happy. I mean it. The brothers and sisters in the Lord seemed to be different from me though I considered myself a Christian. I listened to a word of love right from heaven that day. I used to go to church every Sunday, but that was the first time in my life that I heard about the gospel. I was indeed touched by the preaching. I decided to follow the Lord and He really changed my life; I am no longer the same person. The simple prayer of repentance I said did more than what I expected. I started loving the Lord and the church, reading my Bible, preaching the gospel, and hanging around with fellow believers. Basically, I was captured by God's divine life. More surprising was the fact that I was no longer afraid of dying. I knew I had power over death. As Paul confessed, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). A year ago I came to the U.S. in order to pursue my college education, and for about two months I prayed to the Lord about where to attend church. I didn't know where to go because I was new in the society and the culture. I shared this concern with a friend and brother in the Lord who was also from my country. He had moved to the U.S. two years earlier, also for his college education, and it worked out that he met some believers in the local church in Chicago and loved the fellowship. He gave me phone numbers of some believers in Richmond, Virginia where I went to school. The first day I went to the meeting of the local church I just fell in love with the fellowship. It was so neat, so good. I knew that we were all one in spirit. I felt that they were my brothers and sisters. I mean it. I was so homesick at that time, but when I met the brothers, I felt I had found a part of my family that had been missing. It's true that I was not at all used to the style of the meeting, basically because of my background in my church at home. However, I knew that despite the differences, we are one Body in the Lord, and instead of looking at the differences that create division in the Body, we should focus our attention on what unites us--the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being with the Chinese-speaking believers in the local church also has been a good experience for me. I am so amazed to see how the Lord has worked in that old Communist country to produce so many believers standing for the Lord. When I was in my country, I had had the chance to read some of Watchman Nee's books that my mom bought, and I felt good about his messages. I believe he was a minister of the Lord. What he taught is very pertinent and applicable for our present generation. I don't know a lot about Witness Lee because I never had a chance to read his books or to listen to him, but I definitely think that the local church is of God because of all the fruit that has come out of it. Jesus said that we recognize a tree by its fruits (Matt, 12:33). That's the testimony of the local church. The Lord is perfecting His bride for His coming and more people are getting saved, nourished, trained, and shepherded for the Lord's purpose. Marie Ange Eyoum | Back to List |
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