“I was born in Romania, but shortly after I was born my parents decided to move to Canada. I have had eye issues since I was born and was over 70% blind in both eyes. I had eye surgery at age four, had to wear an eye patch everyday and glasses. In Grade five, I was teased because of my eye problems. I went to an eye appointment at the Children’s Hospital, which changed my view of God and what He is capable of doing. The doctors told us that it was a miracle how much my eyes had improved. I could now see significantly better than before. I had experienced God doing a miracle in my life! We began to get connected with NW and attending the campus.

My parents met Sharla, who is now one of my youth leaders and I am in a discipleship group. Prior to coming to NW, I focused more on traditional rules and not so much on my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At my first Youth Retreat I participated in a condensed version of “Encounter God” which was the first time I looked at where I was at with God, confessed and repented of my sins. I felt so connected with God at that time and an awakening of my spirit.

During the last night of the retreat – we were listening to a song called “O Come to the Altar” and these lyrics stuck out to me: “Are you hurting and broken within, overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today there is no reason to wait.” There had been times in my life where I encountered God in such an amazing way – but this was one of the first times when I had felt God give me a push to get baptized. I have had a lot of knee issues this past year – which caused me to question my faith and God. I felt that I did not have much hope for healing.

A physiotherapist helped identify what was wrong and treat me appropriately, as I had been misdiagnosed by a handful of specialists. He knew right away what was wrong. This was so powerful because earlier in the day my family had been praying for proper treatment and a solution. Despite my doubt and lack of trust in God – He showed Himself so strong to me yet again!”