"A friend worth knowing"

by Eugene Dacanay

Eugene

I got to know the Lord personally on July 12, 1992, when a "friend" invited me to a meeting. What followed is a turning point of my life that I never considered nor imagined being possible.

Being in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, I was born and brought up in a family with the same faith. So, I grew up believing there's a God, but of course I found out later that it's not enough believing in His existence. My parents were not practicing it but told us to go to church and so we did. We were taught to pray to Mary and the saints, and we did that too. There were many traditions to observe every year and we failed not to do so. I was an altar boy, sung with the church choir in high school and continued to call myself a Christian never knowing what I had been missing. I had to admit that during those times, I was a sinner like everyone else, never read a Bible (though you hear it read by the priest from time to time, but seldom explained), and the only things I know about Jesus are those taught by the church, mostly represented by the statues and pictures and traditions.

I could not call myself a really devoted Catholic despite all the activities I was involved in. Honestly, I was there only for the "company of the friends" I came to know and for me to have more time away from home. My father was a drunkard and used to be very violent to us. He once came home with another woman and decided to let her stay for a couple of years, my mom went to work far from us because of that. He started his few affairs long before this but it is the worse one. Even my siblings couldn't take it and started to be rebellious. Our personality is shaped by the environment, experiences and the parent-model we have as we are growing up. I didn't know what to do and where to go. But I couldn't complain. Most of our neighbors have the same orientation and situation so I thought it's the normal way of life. And my relatives couldn't care less; others just don't like to interfere. I couldn't blame them.

My other "group of friends" influenced me in a different way. We have the same family background but some were more hurt, others confused and still others badly damaged in their personalities. We started to do things other "normal" teenagers do. Smoking, drinking, violence, pornography, pre-marital sex and drugs. This kind of influence made an indelible mark on me as I was growing up. It became the kind of life made just for me, and so I thought. Things were forgotten for a while and each dose gave the kind of relief that no one could ever give. Detached from the realities I tried to run away from. I didn't know it was a trap. I was naīve in the ways of the world and Satan. My parents separated for good and so were their children. I was given to live with my relatives, my siblings went somewhere. We never got together again as a family since then. This is not the life I dreamed for my family and me. It's just a dream. My going to church stopped because it's either not helping anything to get better or does God really care? I wasn't complaining and my mind couldn't understand what's happening. My other friends became very handy and more influential. Old habits are hard to break.

The longer I stayed in the quicksand the deeper I get. The doses increased. Relief is not the priority anymore but just to get that different feeling. I started to sell to get more. I encouraged close friends who haven't taken drugs to try it. And they did. My other friends became worse and a few died because of drug-related accidents and domestic tragedies. I nearly died of overdose and lost consciousness twice myself and considered it a miracle for me to survive without medical help. I was afraid the relatives I lived with would learn about my using drugs. These two unforgettable incidents started me rethinking where my life is going. I began to pray differently from what I learned in church. This time it's very personal. I need help. I was afraid to die. I told that to the Lord. I don't like this kind of life, I told the Lord that too. I believed I got an answer because nothing worst happen. But I went back to the old routine, to the life I told the Lord I never liked. Still not Christian.

Until one day a friend of mine from a Christian Church paid a visit to tell me about Jesus and His salvation. Reading and explaining the Bible to me. This was nothing like the way I heard about Him before. This was three months after I prayed that prayer. I already forgotten it but God never did. Maybe it's the sincerity of my hopelessness and my crying for help. Or because He love me very much to see me self-destruct without Him doing anything about it. I heard after that I was created in His image, for His glory, and He greatly valued me. The next Sunday I went to their meeting and surrendered my life to God. I told God I was a sinner and I was so sorry. I asked Him to help me. I got immersed in water baptism and prayed to God to fill me with the Holy Spirit and I spoke in tongues as He came with peace and joy as promised. I stopped believing in statues, pictures and praying to the saints or Mary for God says in the Bible to pray and worship Him alone instead. Believing and living His Truth bring freedom from the deceptions of false even Satanic traditions and beliefs, however adhered to by the majority. His coming and leading broke old habits. Other things I slowly learned as I read His Word which answers seeming complicated questions about the turn of events in my life and my family. I love to grow and know more. I'm still immature in some ways but thanks for His abiding grace and presence to receive and teach me more of Him. Yes, I am enjoying my life now. The changes that came after and how they took place still amaze me until now.

The introduction of Jesus, my True Friend and Savior, is the power and the answer I unconsciously searching and longing for a long time. Praise God Goodnews has a name- Jesus!!! Two things I will never forget from my experience:

First, however Bible-soaked a nation is, will not make you a Christian nor ensure salvation to anybody. I grew up believing God. My friends, family, neighbors, priest believe we're saved and all Christians. But I truly became a Christian, forgiven and saved when I acknowledged my sin, deciding and allowing myself to believe Jesus can only saved me. And then asked for His salvation to come to me and live in me by His Spirit. Water baptism is also crucial. Being born in a Christian environment will not make you Christian. Neither is attending a Christian church. They are just provisions for salvation.

Second, that God not only answers prayers but that He has all the answers. In all our brokenness, personal and/or relational, don't get a "fix" but rather get fixed yourself. This, He is only willing to help us with.

Come to Jesus and meet a friend that will change your life...that will change you.and this is not a dream.

Auckland Christian Assembly - 26 Albany Highway Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand - Phone +64 9 444 550/ + 64 9 444 8634