Saved from Depression and Loneliness

Stefanie - Brisbane, Australia

Hi everybody,

Greetings from sunny Brisbane in Australia! I would like to share with you how I was saved from depression and loneliness, as well as being healed from severe head injuries sustained in an accident.

After finishing high school in Germany, I started studying in another town called Landau. It wasn't too far away from home, nevertheless I was pretty much on my own there. I got to know another girl, Antje, who was the same age (20), and really enjoyed spending time with her. As time went on I found out that she was a committed Christian. She talked openly and boldly about the Bible being the Truth, and I knew she was not lying. At that time I was asking myself about the purpose of life. I felt empty - a few years previously I had even thought about committing suicide.

Over time we built up a friendship and I was often invited over to her place, a house she shared with other students. For several months she was quite persistent in inviting me to her home town of Braunschweig, which was about 5 hours away by car. Finally, during our summer holidays in 1986, I went to meet her family and friends for a few days. What stood out for me most was her and her friends' caring ways; they showed me around the city and looked after me very well. They definitely had something special that I did not have, and demonstrated the Bible to me in a practical way. On Sunday I joined them for a meeting in the afternoon. There they spoke about the importance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The following Tuesday I was meant to leave for three weeks to go camping in Bavaria. But what I had heard and seen from those Christians had captured me. I knew they had something which I wanted to have too, and I decided to get baptised. I did not want to leave before receiving from God the same thing as these people had. After my baptism in a nearby lake, we went to Antje's parents place to pray for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. I was pretty scared about this experience, but after some time I realized that I could speak fluently in an unknown language! This was the ‘speaking in tongues' that the Bible talks about.

This marked the step into a new life for me. I kept closely in touch with my new friends although I was away in Bavaria. The first book I read was “The Cross and the Switchblade” by David Wilkerson, which tells the stunning story about the conversion of drug addicts in New York. I devoured the Psalms from the Old Testament because I often felt the same as King David, who wrote most of them.

My favourite scripture was in 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

I was glad to forget about the past and to look forward to something new. This scripture in mind, my relationship to my family improved greatly as if walls were breaking down step by step. In the past I did not talk too much with my dad at all, but when I met him again at home I hugged him. It just takes the first step! After my conversion, with the help of my friends, I learnt - and am still learning - to communicate with others, something I had never really learnt before.

A few months after my baptism, about 80 people from the church flew over to Australia for a visit. I tried to get holidays for that time and praise the Lord everything worked out for me to join them to go to the other side of the world! Quite amazing! It was great to be part of this group of people with different backgrounds from different countries and I learnt more about the life and history of the Assembly. During those 4 weeks I met lots of different people and visited cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide! The beaches were great and I remember quite vividly that the big waves fascinated me. I thought if the Lord created all this so beautifully, how powerful in fact He must be.

Nevertheless after returning back home to Germany I started to drift away. In my heart I started to put my studies rather first and had my own plans for life. But then I had an accident whilst riding my bike to school. I suffered serious head injuries and fell into a coma. The doctors removed a blood clot but my jaw and nose were broken, as well as the bones under my right eye. Despite getting lots of scratches on my face, both my eyes were OK. After an 8-hour operation I woke up in intensive care.

In the beginning I asked one of the nurses to read to me from the Bible since I was not able to do so myself. I chose scriptures from ACTS chapter 2, in order that the nurse would also hear about the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

I was extremely happy to have survived. Despite the circumstances, and my body being seriously injured, I felt inwardly renewed. I was full of faith, relying on the Lord's strength and not my own. I used the time in hospital to talk to a lot of people about the Lord. After only 3 weeks I went back to the meetings and truly praised the Lord for His protection and complete healing. I even started to play the guitar to praise Him, as Antje had given me an old guitar. It was also great to have my friends visiting from far away. One of the students named Patricia, whom Antje and myself knew, was also very stirred up and was saved very soon after that.

Months later I continued with my studies with a different attitude. I knew that with God, there is no such thing as ‘coincidence', and that He is in control of every situation and leads people's lives. I believed that the Lord still had a plan for my life, otherwise I could have died.

He knows every single thought and deals with everyone in a special way, as everyone is special! ‘God has a thousand ways' as the song says.

Today, I live in Australia having come here as a missionary some years ago. I would never have imagined I would end up living permanently in this country! In the meantime I am happily married with two children, and am very thankful for being in this great family of Christ!

Stefanie