How do you like my testimony? What's yours?

Question

I'm a 13 y/o boy and I live in a pretty well off middle class suburb in Phoenix. I go to a good school and I have a pretty good group of friends. All my life I've been a Christian, but I didn't always act like one in school. For example, there was a girl in my PE class last year who came from a problem family. She got into a lot of trouble, bullied kids from a nearby elementary school, shoplifts, and vandalizes things. She is always being mean to people in class too. Whenever she said anything nasty to me, I would say something mean back. Even though she did a good job covering it up, I could tell that my words hurt her more than her words hurt me. I would feel a little guilty, but I still felt justified.

Then came summer 2006. Our youth group went on a 10-day mission to Mexico. I met a boy from a Denver church there, who was there for the same reason as I was. He is my age, and we became good friends.

I loved that mission trip so much because it was so easy to make friends and everyone was just so loving and accepting towards each other, even though we had only been together for 10 days.

Anyways, about this boy, I never noticed anything particular about him. He was an awesome person, and we could take to each other about anything, so I assumed that he was like me, growing up with Jesus sort of in the background. But I was way off on that assumption.

One night we had a little heart to heart discussion. He poured out to me his life's story. He used to be an atheist before the trip. He grew up in a problem family, and had bad friends who were always getting in trouble, and he often tried to avoid them but only succeeded sometimes. None of his family is Christian, and his church only has 8 people. He told me all about the car accidents, drug dealers, juvenile delinquents, suicides, and teen pregnancies he had seen in his life. Then he told me, "I really don't want to go back home.

I have no real friends there. I don't see why God would show me a place where people can love each other in peace, and then only let me keep it for 10 days." I almost cried when I heard that.

When the mission was over, we hugged and said good bye, and I promised to keep in touch with everyone in that group. About 2 weeks later, I heard that this boy had lost his faith because his friends were giving him a hard time. I prayed really hard for 3 days, and then I received an email from him. He told me that he had burned his bible out of anger, and then regretted it and prayed. The next morning, his bible was back in one piece.

A couple months later, he told me that he had started to lose his faith again, but miraculously got it back. He had almost been killed by a paint ball shot 3 feet from his head. A loud voice in his head yelled out "Duck!" and he did. The paintball was shot before he ducked, but he was untouched.

These are probably the 2 most amazing things that God has done to anyone I know. But that was a whole year ago.

One lesson that I have learned is that innocence is always destroyable by hate, but always redeemable by love. This boy I made friends with was similar to the girl in my PE class before he met Jesus. I wondered how different she would be too, if she had gotten a 2nd chance.

It's the perfect friendship. God put us together because he needed to be loved, and I needed to learn how to love.

David, What I mean is that her parents were divorced, and they didn't really care about her. She's gotten in trouble so much, and her parents never try to get help for her. 8th grade has started, and she's in some of my classes again. I'm trying to be a friend to her, but it's really hard.

We were both there to help out in an orphanage in Mexico.

Pseudonym, I have a verse for you too.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

Alan G, thanks for the compliments. You may or may not believe me, but I am 13. Older people tend to think that younger people are immature. God is amazing. He can put words into my mouth that I cannot come up with on my own.

Alan G, I'm very sure that a lot of other 8th grade honors English students are capable of writing just as articulately, if not better, than me.

Answer 1

i loved ur testimony i'm fourteen and have that problem sometimes but the Lord is helping me through it!

Answer 2

It always warms my heart to hear a testimony from a young person. Sometimes I think the young are closer to God than we older and "wiser" people are.

You sound like the kind of friend many of us look a long time for. May God Bless you richly for the encouragement you give others.

PS--I live about an hour southwest of Phoenix!

Lifeonloan

Answer 3

Great Story from your heart.

My is simple, I believe in God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost

The Lord guided me to the LDS faith, by Handel's Messiah song by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1950.

Answer 4

I happen to think that you write VERY well for a 13 year-old.
Keep it up!

Answer 5

I used YA to help me find scriptures because my sister got in a car accident. Click to find out what happened.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao0XOmDPfFjDMODchX.vdZnty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070930001301AA4mC6j

Answer 6

You write very well for a 13 year old kid. I think you are really a lot older. That is my testimony.

Answer 7

I like your testimony.
Unfortunately i do not have one that I can share with you.


"came from a problem family" ... what does THAT mean?

"(he)... was there for the same reason as I was." ... what was your reason for being there?

Answer 8

thats a really good story- thanks for sharing--