(this is my testimony that I wrote for the Missions Team at my home church in my application for support for my trip to South Africa this summer. I cut out the South Africa specific stuff.)

I grew up in the Greek Orthodox Church; both my parents were Greek Orthodox (my mom converted from Catholicism when she married my dad), and we went to church every Sunday until my junior year of high school. Through I considered myself a Christian, I did not really believe much of anything besides that God existed. It was not until the end of my junior year that I began to think about “big picture” questions about God and my purpose on this earth. Most of my questions started after talking with my friend in my Psychology class, Brian Thompson, a believer who attended FBCD. He recommended to me Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It was the first “Christian” book I ever read, and while I agreed with Lewis’ arguments for the existence of God, his ideas about Christ and salvation were new to me.

God had been working in my heart throughout this time. It was no coincidence that God had put many Christians in my life, especially believers from FBCD. The high school pastor at the time, Job Lara, was one of my club volleyball coaches, his daughter played with me on my high school team, and many other FBCD high school students were in my classes. The only bible in my house at the time was one my sister owned but never read. A comment in school one day by a student who said the three magi of the Christmas story were not in the bible prompted me to prove him wrong, and I began reading the gospel of Matthew. This turned into a daily occurrence, and I found myself looking forward every day to reading the more and more of Matthew and the Bible.

A few weeks before Easter of my senior year one of my friends, Steven Partnoff, asked me if I would like to go to Mexico on a mission trip during spring break. Looking back, I have no idea why my parents agreed to let me go on a trip out of the country with a group that had an obvious evangelical mission; only God working to allow me to go to Mexico can account for it. During the training for the Mexico mission trip I met Pastor Jon Castillo, and he asked me a question that made me think hard about why I attended the Greek Orthodox Church. When I told him that was where I went to church he asked, “Are you getting fed?” Though I did not admit it aloud, the undeniable answer was “No.” The training meetings, meanwhile, were teaching me more about Christ than I had ever learned before, and I was overjoyed to learn that we could study the bible to find out what it meant and that it contained God-given revelation and truth. I fit in well with the high school group, and the first couple days in Mexico were very fun. Before worship on the third night, all the students were gathered outside the main hall and told that we needed to take worship seriously by preparing our hearts; we could only go back inside when we felt prepared to worship God. I, as did everyone else, took a while to pray, and realized that I had been struggling with jealousy issues towards on of my teammates on the trip and that it was eating away at me. I asked God to take those feelings away. When I felt prepared I went into the worship hall. Something about the worship cut deep to my soul and I found myself on my knees within minutes. I wanted to give my life to Christ and I did.

Many Christians in their testimonies talk about the realization of their own sinfulness and need for a Savior as the turning point in their lives, but this wasn’t exactly what was going on in my heart and head that night. I knew that I was not perfect, but I thought I was in general a “good” person. There was just an overwhelming feeling that Jesus was the way, I did not have him, and so I wanted him. The rest of that week was the best week of my life, and—praise God!—the jealousy I was struggling with went away. I did not tell anyone about my decision because I myself did not realize what had actually occurred. It was only looking back later that I pinpointed that night as the night I made a decision to follow Christ.

The next few months was a time of intense growth and joy at knowing I had a God who created me and loved me so much he sent his Son to take the just punishment for my and the world’s sins. My parents saw me becoming more involved with FBCD, going to bible studies, college wrap-up, and helping with Vacation Bible School that summer. They were not too pleased, partly because they felt I was rejecting how they brought me up and partly because they felt I had been brainwashed. Since then I have learned that my dad is an atheist and my mother, though she believes in a God, is a relativist and pluralist. When I asked for her permission to go to South Africa on a mission trip this summer I was surprised when she asked more questions about the logistics rather than reacting with skepticism and disapproval about the actual trip. She easily agreed to let me go. Praise God! My dad does not approve of my faith and there is definitely a lot of tension when we talk about these issues, but God has blessed me with parents who love me and support me even though we disagree on these matters. They are even helping to fund my trip.

Coming to Stanford has grown me—a lot! It is an environment very hostile to Christianity, but equally important have been the trials any student faces at this time of their lives. The atmosphere here is one of self-reliance, individualism, achievement, and success. I have continually struggled with relying on God and not my own strength; my experiences as a student have taught me to rely on Christ’s promised unwavering strength. It is so easy to think in terms of what I need to get done every week and let myself believe I do not have the time to spare for a good quiet time in the morning, or else just get so caught up in the workload that I feel overwhelmed and stressed. This happened a couple weeks ago during midterms when on Monday night I broke down and felt there was no way I would make it through the week with all the things I needed to get done. These times teach me that I am correct in thinking I cannot do everything. I cannot do all my reading, write my papers, get enough sleep, invest in time with friends, go to bible study, and stay on top of my spiritual life when I try to do these things on my own. But with God’s power, through seeking him in prayer, thirsting for his word, casting my burdens on him, and trusting that his grace is sufficient for every day, I can have confidence that He will carry me through whatever work I have and at the end of the day I will be right where He wants me.

(What I didn't include in the app: so basically what happened was I had a crush on Brian, then after a few months found out he liked another girl and they were dating. This was the "teammate" I had jealousy issues with. Soon Brian, Sarah (his girlfriend), and I are all in the college group in our church. This past summer I spent sooo much time hanging out with both of them and we all took a trip to Vegas together. Fast-forward to this past spring break: Brian and Sarah are now married and expecting their first baby in June and I got to visit them and hang out at their new house. We have a great friendship. God redeems!!)