I was raised in Lititz and am the youngest of 3 brothers. Although I vaguely remember hearing some Bible stories as a kid, my family was not Christian. Growing up, I never had a close relationship with the Lord. Although looking back, I can see him moving in my life even when I didn't know him. As a child, I was often bullied; this led to me being very shy and not having many friends. As I grew older, I developed depression and anxiety. In high school, I had few friends and felt like I lacked purpose in life. This led me to try to fill that void with work, relationships, and various other things.

Last year, I started having conversations with someone I worked with regarding their faith. Their belief that God truly cared about them and wanted to have a relationship with them became the first seed that brought me here. I became interested in understanding more; before then, I had believed that God existed but never tried to build a relationship with him. After several conversations about who God was, I decided to go to church. The first time I walked into LEFC, I was nervous and not sure what to expect, but God had started to work in my heart to bring me back. After attending for several weeks, I began meeting others who were excited to invite me in and share their love of the Lord with me.

If you had asked me a year ago what my plan was, I would have told you I was going to become an engineer and build something that would change the world. I was determined to build a legacy for my name, something that I could be proud to leave behind. My biggest fear in the world was to die and have no one remember who I was. How foolish I was to think that such a thing would be attainable on this earth, but I now know that even after I leave this earth, Jesus Christ will never forget my name. For I will forever be with him in his kingdom, and anything I do on this Earth is through him and his grace.

Over the past year, I have seen how God has changed my life. He has given me peace, community, and faith that there is something far better than this world in store for me. He has shown me that even though I have sinned against him and although I am undeserving of his grace and forgiveness, he still loves me and wishes to have a relationship with me. Praise God for finding me and changing my life.