Sylvie

I grew up in France. My parents, grandparents and my three siblings were Catholic. When it came to religion, my mum ruled with an iron hand - and we all went along willingly: Church attendance, church festivals, family prayers in the evening... Pressure and rituals defined our faith. Nevertheless, I had developed my own relationship with Jesus and I enjoyed talking to him. But then God changed my life in a short space of time and led me out of a fourfold bondage:

1. Servitude under the parental yoke: education was strict and any resistance was mercilessly crushed. Obedience was something „sacred“.
2. Bondage under the yoke of occultism: As a teenager, I developed an interest in horoscopes and fortune-telling. I had a study made about my future and when I was 20 I went to a fortune teller who promised „help for all life situations“. I had had a big problem for years and had often prayed to God about it - without much success. He had answered a few times and intervened marvellously, but that wasn't nearly enough. „Why wouldn't he help,“ I asked myself. So I turned to a fortune teller. But that was an expensive and bitter experience. I also attended a charismatic church. The living testimonies were completely new to me. I heard speaking in tongues that sounded like Arabic. It was „the language of angels“, I was told. The enthusiasm was contagious and I loved coming to the meetings. When I told the fortune teller about this, he said with a smile: „Even where there is joy, there can be the devil“, and dropped the Bible I had handed him on the floor. I also read Far Eastern literature and was passionate about listening to pop and techno music. The latter helped me to escape the disappointing reality.
3. Bondage under the yoke of my Catholic faith: this mixture of tradition and superstition, interwoven with Marian devotion, was only my faith until I found the real thing: When I was 25 and met my future husband, a German Adventist, at work in France, I became aware of his pocket Bible. This was the beginning of a fascinating journey of discovery through the truth. How wonderful to hear and believe all these new things!
4. Bondage under the yoke of false relationships: In search of acceptance and love, I got involved in relationships but didn't find the real thing. God finally gave me the man for life - who had prayed for a wife - and a new future in Germany, far away from the „slave house“.

After the „Net 96“ evangelisation with Mark Finley, I was baptised in Mannheim. A great joy came into my heart. There is nothing better than the truth! God brought me into his church after many, sometimes painful experiences. What a blessing! Praise and thanks be to him!

Conclusion: You don't have to go through everything to be able to tell later how God led you out of bondage. I would have preferred to take the good path from the start.