My Life

I went to a non-denominational Christian church on 18 July 2015. I grew up as a member of the LDS church and I no longer go to church as well as no longer believe as well. I chose the non-denominational church because it seemed less intimidating as others and I also had a friend to go with that frequents this church. Non-denominational Christian churches have always intrigued me as well.

At the age of fourteen Bonnie Phillips, (my grandfathers daughter) had moved out with her boyfriend Michael James Coyle because she was pregnant. My grandfather tried to get her to stay home, but my mother wouldn’t. My mother then had my brother at the age of fifteen, then later at the age of eighteen was having me in 1997. I really knew my grandfather that well because of this situation. I seen him every once

After arriving in Tennessee, my parents were very adamant about getting plugged into a church. I was raised in church but up until then, I went because I was told to. Usually I had to count ceiling lights or people in pews to keep from falling asleep during sermons. We attended countless services, but it wasn’t until one special Sunday that we found Sand Ridge Baptist Church. Unbeknownst to me, it would change my life.

I was born to a Christian mother I had 7 brothers and sisters we wasn’t perfect but we all loved the Lord. I went to church every time the door was open I loved Sunday school and loved to sing the good ole songs that Baptist Churches sing. I am now 52 and my mind has never changed I love the Lord with all my heart and soul he has helped me so much I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him.

When I was around five or six years old, my family was stationed in El Paso, Texas after my dad came back from overseas. The church that my family attended every Sunday was the Church of God and Christ. The Church of God and Christ is where southerners say all of the “holy-rollers” attended or the overzealous Christians attended. My parents were not really holy-rollers themselves, but we attended this church because my dad wanted my family to attend to gain a sense of God and know about Christianity because he always attended church as a child while he was growing up in Mississippi and that helped him as he developed. He wanted my mother, sister, and I to be exposed to Christianity as well, especially my mom since she did not really attend church during her childhood.

So, my grandmother didn't go back to Cabo Verde because she needed to work so she could sustain her kids who were left in Cabo Verde.

I was brought up Christian and believed in on only one God. A different god for love, war, and a variety of other things fascinated me.

I was born in Bogota, Colombia where most people are catholics. Thus, I was baptized at the age of five. I also went to a catholic school from kindergarten up to second grade. However, I barely attended church because my parents were busy throughout the week to go to church. Then, at the age of nine my family and I moved to the United State.

When I was a three week old newborn, Social Services decided that my mother and father were no longer fit to raise my sister and I. My mother was an alcoholic who would soon be in prison, my father was not yet an American citizen, and my parents were in the midst of a divorce. Instead of allowing my sister and I to be split up and sent to separate foster homes, my grandparents brought us into their home for what was intended to be a temporary length of time. This temporary length of

The mission trip to New Orleans. I had let Jesus into my heart but I started to get this desire and passion to want to start following him, but I didn't know what that looked like or what that meant or how to do it. And so I prayed and longed for him to show me that. As we headed down to New Orleans, the back of my van started to get into really good conversations about life and each other and Katie Thul asked the question that forever has changed my life. “What has been the hardest part of your life so far?”. This might not seem like to bad of a question, but the fact of the matter was that I had never told anybody about the dark and gritty parts of my life before. I had always bottled it up, to scared to tell anyone because I feared what people thought of me, to afraid they’d turn away. And as people went around sharing, it came my time to share and I knew I couldn't do it, so I said I didn't want to share, and as they went around deep inside me I was being told I needed to. I needed to let it out and just speak. And so they came back to me and I let them in, I told them about what I had gone through and as I was in tears I looked up and saw this kid looking back at me from the front of the van. He wasn't apart of the conversation we were having but you knew he was listening in and as our eyes met, he was in tears. I then realized that this was Anna’s brother. This was the kid. That week I embraced my past and used it to help and grow and evangelize this kid, Jackson. I knew what to say because I was in the exact spot he was in just a year earlier. The Lord showed me that I can make a difference in people's lives through him. God opened my eyes to the people I had around me. He put Sydney into my life, someone who on this trip poured a tremendous amount of wisdom, truth, and love into me and essentially pushed me to love and follow Jesus recklessly and at all costs. So many people, from Ally to Zach, to

Transitioning from my denominational church of the Baptis faith, to the Church of Christ was

Within my own family, there were different doctrines. My great-grandmother was Pentecostal, my grandmother is a Baptist and my mother is an Atheist. While everyone seemed to have different belief systems, I participated in them all. I had to learn to adapt to each religious institution. In one church I was allowed to wear pants and women could also be pastors; whereas, in another, women could only wear full length dresses and were not allowed in the pulpit.

I decided to go to a Baptist Church here in Miami. The reason that I chose Coral Park Baptist Church was because most Baptist Churches that I called here in Miami had the service in Spanish but Coral Park Baptist had an English service as well. I went to the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. The whole church itself was pretty big. There is the main temple that has the regular service in Spanish and then there is a whole other building that has separate classrooms where the English service is held and other Sunday school type classes are held.

My parents as well as my extended family have been crucial in providing the foundation for my beliefs, attitudes and values. I grew up

Since the day I was born my parents took my sister and me to church ever Sunday. I grew up in a loving Christian home and was encouraged at an age where I could fully understand, to purse a relationship with Jesus. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was in the second grade and was baptized in the fourth grade at age 10. Growing up I have always been super involved in Church. I have a heart for people and love serving. Since 3rd grade until now, my senior year of high school I have been on the leadership team with my youth group. I can not imagine my life without Jesus as the center. I have been pushed to step out of my comfort zone and because of that I have grown in several different ways. For example, I am an extrovert and enjoy getting new people, but never liked public speaking as I felt nervous and intimidated. By the many adult leaders, and pastors coming along side of me and encouraging me to step of on my comfort zone I now highly enjoy speaking and spreading the truth about The Lord in big groups of people. I am so thankful for the many God loving people that have come in my life and helped stretch me. Jesus is my entire life and I am nothing without him.