“What a joy it is to be able to come here today to share this wonderful experience. I can finally say that I have a new life with God. Everything became new, starting from the inside.”

17 years ago, a young woman came to the Universal Church – a victim of countless problems.

“I was born into poverty. At the age of 10, I was a victim of paedophilia. I faced many humiliations and rejections, but at the Universal Church, I felt accepted and was welcomed with love.

“No one trusted me out there, but in the church they believed and trusted in me. They accepted me when the world despised me. I was young and had been a victim my whole life. That was my biggest problem because a victim is always defended. She is never accused of anything.

“I encountered the God of Love. And like every victim who is cared for, I wanted to give back. I had never felt that way; I finally felt important. I started to value myself and became dedicated to giving love to the victims in this world. This gratitude made me leave everything behind to serve God.

“The problem is that I went from being a victim of misery and contempt to a victim of persecution and injustice, but that only motivated me to keep going. Nevertheless, as a victim I always tried to defend myself, and that’s how I was in the church for 17 years. I didn’t know what it meant to be in the “dock.” At the age of 18, I did not have the clear understanding that I have today.”

“As time passed, my victim wounds began to increase. I was a victim of a marriage that was not working. I was doing the work of God, but full of questions.

“Why so much suffering? Why was everything always so difficult for me?”

“I looked at those around me and sadly thought: “Everything seems to be right for them. Why has God always allowed me to suffer from the day I was born?”

“Cris, when I looked for you, I was desperate. All that was on my mind was: “You don’t have to go through all of this, it’s enough!”

“I was tired of being a victim of all that. In that moment, you helped me not give up. So, I began to seek the light with sincerity, the light that would make me understand and see the whole truth.

“And Cris, the truth was that I was trying to keep my castle standing, but it collapsed even more each time. That was until I—who, up to then, was so ‘righteous’—started making mistakes that caused me to reach my limit.

“I knelt down and said, “Lord, it’s over, I surrender. Everything has fallen apart. I surrender, because I don’t know what will become of me anymore.”

“It was at this point that God was able to convince me that I was in fact sitting in the “dock.” God made me see my actions in the midst of the rubble; it was like a movie playing in my mind. He told me that I couldn’t keep something that was compromised, that I should see how prepotent and arrogant I was.

“Scenes popped up in my mind of situations where I had reacted badly; moments when I had been selfish, when I thought I was superior, or subtle, impure thoughts that had convinced me I was right; that I had nothing to repent of; that I was always the best at what I did, and because of that, I would accomplish something better in the work of God. In short, sins and more sins in disguise.

“I felt so dirty and ashamed to think of how proud, vain and superior I had been. So, I sought for forgiveness in that moment.

“As I had been a victim all my life, I had never reflected or asked for forgiveness with sincerity and consciousness of the sins I’d committed. Consequently, daily mistakes seemed normal to me. I was deceived for such a long time.

“Today everything is so clear! I understand those who spit on the plates they ate from at the Universal Church. They are victims who never saw themselves as sinners.

“Now, my new state as a sinner no longer allows me to think I deserve anything. I have so much gratitude for receiving God’s forgiveness. After 17 years, I met God the Saviour. I fear to think about how I had lived for so many years thinking I was saved, when I had never truly repented.

“After being cleansed and having my eyes opened, I started planting. I no longer sought for love or for my husband’s attention. I no longer felt like a victim. I just wanted to plant by believing in the word of God.

“In fact, I started to reap new and good fruits. My interior, my eyes, my mind, and heart were no longer the same. An indescribable peace lives in me every day. I am no longer selfish. I truly consider my neighbour’s pain.

“After this, my focus was on how to help my husband to be better too. I started to really care about pleasing God and obeying Him in everything.

“Today, everything is new in my life. I have a new relationship with God and with those around me, and I have a new marriage with my husband. I have the peace of salvation.”

Anonymous