I ran across another testimony that I had to share with all of you. 17 year-old Shalina Thienes has experienced the grace and redemption of God in a way that I know will encourage anyone who hears it. Below I will paste just a paragraph Shalina wrote to introduce herself to you, but you’ve got to listen to the sermon-audio podcast here—> Shalina’s Testimony
Shalina’s Introduction:
“I was born into a christian family with a lot of demonic background. My dad was a pastor and my mom a youth minister. Naturally as a kid, it wasn’t the most thrilling experience to hear about God every second of the day so I wasn’t that close to him. Things really took a dive with my faith when my mom and dad became physically and emotionally abusive towards me. I grew up very angry and spiteful. Always seeking a good dose of revenge on someone who said the wrong thing to me, but at the same time..I kept to myself. Things started blossoming by the time I hit high school. I got into drugs, alcohol, and became a lesbian. My dad was a hard alcoholic by this time and my mom a bitter lady because of the recent divorce. I never really got a hold of good ground with either of my parents so I did a lot of bouncing around. Finally I couldn’t handle my mom being so bitter towards me (I reminded her of my dad) so I moved back with my dad, knowing the previous history of abuse I promised myself if he hit me one more time I would be done. Sure enough. POW POW. That’s not me speaking native tongue. It happened. AGAIN. So I left, was on my own..er…scratch that. Have been on my own since…october of last year. Of course I use the term ‘on my own’ loosely because God put people in my life. Well, the demonic didn’t like this so..they would tell me lies. And I believed them. Of course. I was going to end my life one day, when I decided I really didn’t want to but I felt as if I had no one to talk to..so, ha, I’m a little embarressed to admit this, I called suicide hotline. Im only emberrassed because Im still a proud human being and asking for help is hard for me, but with Gods grace I ask for repentance and forgiveness. ANYWAYS. Im sure they were great, I was just to demonically influenced to hear what they were saying. I did hear them ask me if I needed to go to a hospital. And thats where I ended up. God saved my life in a mental hospital with a song of worship that he planted in my mind. If it wasnt for that…I think I would go insane. God isnt just real to me now. Hes alive. And he loves me even in all my fault. And he loves you.”- Shalina Thienes
Again, please listen to Shalina’s Testimony
You can contact Shalina @ shalinajoy@hotmail.com
Thanks for posting this!
Trevor Hammack
News in Focus
Another testimony drenched in chaos from the get go…*sigh*
Chaos is the devil’s middle name. Jesus Christ is the only way to be rescued from a life drenched n chaos, that’s why there are so many testimonies like this one. That seems so blatantly obvious that I cannot understand your…*sigh*
@bigcha40
I believe my statement (i.e. ‘sigh’) is being misunderstood. In order to catch my drift let’s shift our thinking for a moment away from this blog topic.
Okay? …Ready?… Ya with me? Here goes:
Once upon a time a simple kid with an overabundant love of playing video games joins a support group for likeminded gamers who also have an additction to playing video games. They are all there to try to free themselves of their attachment to gaming. The simple kid shares his story with the rest of the group by saying that from an early age he enjoyed video games that developed from playing 2 hours a day to playing 6 hours a day. The kid’s story is short and sweet. The moderator opens the floor for the rest of the group to share their individual stories. In horror the simple kid sits quietly as each and every member of the group not only shares their development into execissive gaming but also delve into topics of incest, molestation, drug abuse, alcholism, debauchery and all manner of licentiousness. The simple kid is shocked at what he hears coming from the mouths of his fellow gamers. He cringes back feeling isolated as he does not share any of these people’s chaotic experiences other than an excessive passion for Super Mario Brothers! The simple kid ‘sighs’ never to return to the support group again. The End.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Adios amigo!
1Co 1:26-29 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. (27) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; (28) and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, (29) that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Just because someone’s story is more dramatic than yours doesn’t make theirs better or more inspiring. It doesn’t mean that yours affected you less. If it led you to Jesus Christ, then it’s an amazing testimony. Period. I always thought that a “testimony” was a dramatic, chaotic story that only the abused, alcoholic, ex-druggies could tell, because God actually led them OUT of something that seemed so much more substantial than what He led me out of. But the truth is, he leads us all out of one thing: SIN.
Thank you for posting this, great testimony!