Christelle’s Story

My mom was Catholic, and she passed away when I was young. But as I grew up, I just forgot about faith, like the majority of teenagers do, I guess. Then as a young adult, I was in a relationship that wasn’t working out, and a friend encouraged me to focus on Christ. But back then I didn’t know what she meant.

When I tell my story, people sometimes think it sounds creepy or unreal. But I think many Christians limit God. In the Bible, the Lord spoke to people through dreams. I’ve been a heavy dreamer since I was a kid. And I had an encounter where God called me to come back to faith in my dream. That, along with the direction my friend was giving me, drew me back to faith.

But it was a long journey, because I was doing life 50/50. I wanted to follow Christ, but I also wanted to do things my way.

I hit a roadblock with depression, and it got to the point where I was considering suicide. I am from Togo and Ghana, and Africans don’t believe in suicide—Suicide? What is that? But I came face-to-face with death. When you are depressed, and you are literally looking for ways to end things, you have all these “what if” thoughts. Like “What if I just let go of the steering wheel?” But at the same time, something told me to pick up the Bible. I started reading the Gospels. I started learning about how Jesus Christ died for me, so that I could have life in abundance. That in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. So I started combatting the dark thoughts. The Spirit told me: Every time you hear the voice telling you to kill yourself, tell them what Jesus Christ said. And I’d say to that voice: “The Lord Jesus Christ said He came for me so that I can have life in abundance.”

I’m at the point now where I really understand that the Bible is the truth—it is the Book of Life. Jesus says, “Talk to me. I just want to spend time with you.” If you love someone, you talk to them daily. You maintain that relationship, because you know that once you stop doing that, then it will fall apart. That’s why I’m in the Word. It’s not about how I want to make it, how I want to be prosperous, how I want to be married. Jesus says to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. That was a revelation to me. And now, that’s how I’m trying to live out my faith.