Sheily

Here is Sheily’s story of how God was faithful to draw her to Himself and continues to complete His work of faith in her life:

“I grew up in Puerto Rico in a non-Christian household. My family identified themselves as Catholics, but we only went to church maybe once a year for a holiday, so I didn’t have a real relationship with God. I always knew that He existed, and I constantly felt like He was calling me but I was ignoring Him. I was rebellious toward Him because of the circumstances that I faced growing up. I have always been really shy and talking to people would make me so anxious that sometimes I could go a whole day without having any real conversations. So, when I was in high school, I got really depressed because my life was nothing like I had wanted it to be. I felt alone and unworthy, I barely had any friends, my self-esteem was really low, and my grades were falling down terribly. But the Lord has always found ways to place me where I needed to be even if I didn’t know it at that time. I got accepted to the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, where I spent almost four years working on my bachelor’s degree on social work until hurricane María hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

After the hurricane it was really hard to continue my studies because of the bad conditions we were living in. So my family decided that the best option was for us to move to Florida. So, I started looking for colleges here. I ended up moving to Florida on my own and I found myself living alone for the first time in a place with a different language that I used to never speak. But the Lord knows the plans He has for my life and on the first week of school I met an amazing girl named Amanda, who is a minister with Cornerstone Christian church. She asked me questions about what I believed in and if I thought I would go to heaven when I died. It was in that moment that I realized that, indeed, God was calling me, and it was time to stop avoiding Him. I started going to church regularly and eventually began doing Bible studies with Amanda. Through Bible studies she helped me realize that knowing that God exists and trying to do my best to be a good person was not enough. I actually needed to surrender my life to Christ and let Him be the one who has control over it. It was only a year ago that I decided to make that decision and gave my whole life to Him. There are no words to describe how thankful I am that the Lord has brought me where I am today. Since I got saved, the Lord has delivered me from all depression and has provided me with everything I need, including a new family in Christ that has helped me to grow as a Christian. He has also showed me the truth of who He is and who I am as His child.”

~Sheily