How i came to meet the Lord:

Back when i was aged 14, i used to attend a Christian Church in Paola. Although I was still very young, my parents always left me and my sister to decide for ourselves whether we wanted to attend church or not. Our parents never imposed on us that we attend by force, although they spoke about the Lord often to us and explained everything that we ever asked. I knew that our church was different from the one my friends and relatives attended but i felt comfortable meeting new people and making new friends.

During the weekend, normally on a saturday I used to attend a youth meeting named Firehouse which was led by Marcel together with her younger brother Fabian and Graziella. All of them are today married and living abroad, however they often visit and its always great to have them with us. At this youth meeting is where my life started to change and how i grew up to understand the ways of God and His plans. The meetings used to consist in a short service, accompanied by praise and worship as well as prayer and at times even a play.

I every much used to speak to Fabian and started asking questions about how to become closer to God and how to walk in his steps. With all the patience, he used to explain in detail all that he studied from the bible and in simple words i started understanding that God is always with us, not only when we ask for Him, or when we attend church but everywhere. By these meetings I even noticed that the youths i was surrounded with where different from my other school and neighbourhood friends, they had something which outshined in them. They were always positive and smiling and encouraging me to biuld my faith in God.

I am today aware that the difference in their life was God. By the help of these meetings and these people, together with my parents (who seek God attentively), i came closer to God and am today proud to say that He is my Saviour and my Lord.

Since that time I have done my best to be faithful to God and now that I am older I still want to follow Him even more it is not always easy but He is a faithful God.

I’m currently living in the UK where I am continuing my studies and seem to be doing really well. The first few weeks where a little tough in UK, away from my family and friends, living with complete strangers whom I had only met few days before. At school, we students were still trying to mingle with each other which was at first difficult due to our different nationalities but as time passed we all became really good friends.

Meanwhile, I became much closer to one person in particular called Christian. Christian is a 30 year old guy who was born in America but moved to England when he was still in his early years. He fathers 3 children and is not married but is living with his children’s mother. Due to his studies he had to leave his family back at the Midlands and moved to Bournemouth where the course currently is taking place. We clicked and enjoyed talking about our life’s and our futures. Although we happen to be both good listeners we do have very different views. This difference between us struck me and I felt I needed to do something to help him change or open a wider picture of life in his mind. At a young age Christian and his parents went to live in Birmingham which is known to be one of the most dangerous places on UK soil due to a lot of gang groups.

At the age of 8 years he formed part of a gang selling drugs and guns, where he was even involved in fights against other gangs, therefore growing up was a really tough time for him because although he knew that what he was doing was wrong, still his inner conscious yearned him to be part of a gang believing it would be safer on the streets for him.

The way he led life was very misleading and this brought him face to face with prison charges, the last one being in 2009 punished for some crime he had committed. Last year he decided to put an end to all this and be of an example towards his family especially his children. Putting an end to this still has not stopped him from speaking of his good old friends and neither has it stopped him from visiting some of them in prison.

Off course, I got to understand that the way he expresses himself was and is very much influenced by the way he used to speak with his gang. Constantly, while talking I noticed the great difference between the way he led his life and mine. Let me give you few examples of these differences. A typical example would be how we imagine our life’s when we become pilots, Christian is more or less concerned only about the money he would earn, the cars he could buy and the parties he would be able to make. The sound of all this makes me laugh because there is much more than just that. On the contrary, I imagine my life very differently than the way he explained, however to my astonishment he always gives me the same feedback stating “david you’ll definitely change your mind when you become pilot and possess such money.”

Apart from the things Christian mentioned above, he is very much concerned with women. To his believe one woman is not enough, even though at present he has a girlfriend which is of course the mother of his children. Whenever he starts to talk this way, I always end up with one question in mind… “Is having more than one woman more satisfying for you?” His answer is always a defined yes and he believes that money can buy all the happiness in the world.

One evening Christian came to my place because he needed to borrow some money. I offered him a drink (Coca-Cola) and as usual we started talking about school and life. All of a sudden he started laughing; however I did not know what it was about, so I asked what was so funny. He replied that he is left amused by how much people seem to like me and love me at school including our lecturers. Implying that my actions were different from others and everyone seemed to look up to me as a friend. At first I was surprised, and therefore he continued by saying that I tend to always be careful of what I speak and how I act. At that moment, I realized that it was true; this is because whatever I say I believe it in and therefore speak with full responsibility. As Chrisitian was leaving, he noticed I had a book next to my bed, it was the Bible! He did not utter a word but just nodded with a grin.

One day he came up to me and invited me to join him for a night out, implying that doing so it would change my perspective towards life. I accepted to give it a shot. That same night we went out for dinner and straight afterwards we made our way to a massive night club. We took a couple of drinks and made our way onto the dance floor. In a split second, all I could see where girls surrounding us, whom I believed where ready to do anything one asks them to. At that particular moment I turned to Christian and asked him how he could do this while having three kids and a girlfriend at home. Turning back to me he said that he could see me enjoying myself, which I wasn’t and left immediately to take a stool at the bar. I waited while he continued whatever he was doing.

Few minutes later, Christian came next to me and I told him that I wanted to get back to my place, so he drove me back. Upon leaving he verified that he was going back to meet with one of the girls that he was dancing with. I tried all my best to change his mind however nothing I said seemed good enough.

The following morning we met at school and Christian told me everything that had happened the previous night after he drove me off. I once again mentioned his girlfriend and children to him. Continuously, he described himself as a selfish man and that I was right, however his temptations were stronger than his will.

Time flew by and our exams seemed to be approaching faster. I studied like never before in my life which also led me to having sleepless nights. On one of these nights, the phone rang and I immediately recognized Christian’s voice on the other end of the line. At first I thought he was drunk, like he usually is, but instead he told me that he was in hospital due to severe chest pains he was experiencing. As a consequence he had to postpone his exams by a month. Every day I made sure I phoned him to see how he was doing.

During my break from studies I used to enjoy going for strolls, where I dedicated some time to prayer. Christian informed me that the hospital results came out well. In the meantime I was in London sitting for my exams. During such time I received an unexpected phone call, where all I could hear was the sound of crying. Christian had told me that Jemma, his girlfriend and his kids were involved in a serious car crash. Jemma had broken both her legs and arms, and was to spend at least 6 months in a wheelchair.

I was shocked and could not utter a word as confusion struck me. Although I have never meet Jemma, I was well aware of the things he was doing behind her back. With him still on the phone, he confessed that from all the friends he had, I seemed to be different. He continued by admitting that I was self-confident in whatever I did, unlike him. At the sound of this, I did not find anything suitable to say. Momentarily after, I turned to God and asked him whether I was really different from him or not, and instantly I was capable to answer him back. I was very clear in my words that although we are all human beings what made me different was that I have utmost respect and faith in God who protects me constantly and listens to me dearly, guiding me in all the decisions we make every day.

Christian admitted that had he led a different life, one similar to mine he would have been a different person from the one he is today. I immediately replied that anyone can change, only if one has the will to do so. He asked for my prayer for his family to get better and to recover fully. I replied that he and his family where always in my prayer but that he had to do his part too. I explained that one should not only turn to God in times of need but to always put Him first and he will strength you and make you victorious.

At present, thanks to God his family is recovering and doing well. Christian had to stop his course and re-unite back with his family to look after them. I kept contact with him and we phone each other at least twice a week to see how we are doing. He thanked me for my prayer and for the wise advice I had given him. I never gave credit to myself but replied that God is the one who makes things possible and always hears our prayer. Today, am glad that I have met such a person, who because of him I grew stronger in God and my faith is an ongoing relationship with Him. God has made new things in life and because of Him I am moving forward, believing He has big plans for me in the future.