back to index2022-03-27 Jessie Kim Baptism Testimony
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My name is Jessie Kim and I'm currently in BAM ministry. 00:00:10.300 |
I graduated cosmetology school last year and I recently started working full time. 00:00:15.880 |
So my testimony isn't a big one time event, but there have been multiple milestones in 00:00:20.360 |
my faith that have led me to where I am today. 00:00:23.480 |
I was born in Korea and moved to Toronto, Canada when I was very young. 00:00:27.360 |
I was raised in Toronto for a lot of my younger years, but I never really grew up going to 00:00:37.960 |
So every couple of years I'd be in a new house or a new city, but the biggest move growing 00:00:44.640 |
It took me some time to adjust, but when I did, I really loved it there. 00:00:50.560 |
And then at the three year mark, my mom said that we'd be moving back to Toronto. 00:00:55.760 |
This was really hard for me to hear, but on top of all this, that year my mom was diagnosed 00:01:00.200 |
with cancer and we were also living with my grandmother who was suffering with dementia. 00:01:06.180 |
This was a super emotional and dark year for me and eventually led to self harm and some 00:01:12.000 |
And after struggling with these thoughts for a year, I was so tired that it led me to pray. 00:01:17.400 |
I said, God, I don't care if you change what happens in my life. 00:01:24.040 |
Gradually after that night, the self harming stopped and I prepared for the move. 00:01:29.320 |
So in grade 10, I moved back to this old but new city. 00:01:32.840 |
And that's when God started softening my heart and gave me the desire to go to church. 00:01:37.200 |
So I asked my mom to see if there was a church near our house and I started attending. 00:01:41.400 |
My parents still weren't going to church at this time. 00:01:43.740 |
So I'd walk to and from church every Sunday and Fridays for youth group. 00:01:49.520 |
And at this point, I thought I was able to overcome my struggles because I had a good 00:01:53.080 |
personality and I was good at adapting to new situations. 00:01:58.080 |
After attending this church for a year, I went to one of the youth retreats. 00:02:02.360 |
And this is when God revealed to me that it was all him. 00:02:05.320 |
Until this retreat, I totally forgot about the prayer that I said that one night. 00:02:09.240 |
And I was reminded of that prayer and realized my hopefulness, my desire to go to church, 00:02:16.440 |
That night is when I learned that God is so real and I repented for even thinking that 00:02:20.560 |
the past years I was able to get through on my own. 00:02:23.400 |
And that he was with me all of those dark nights. 00:02:26.920 |
So the next few years, I started serving and getting really involved at church. 00:02:30.360 |
I begged my parents to go on mission trips, but they always said no. 00:02:33.760 |
They're okay with me going on Sundays, but not spending too much time at church. 00:02:39.360 |
Eventually I graduated high school and they let me go that summer. 00:02:42.280 |
We went to a small native reserve island and spent our time there supporting the missionaries 00:02:48.760 |
This trip is where God taught me how perfectly sovereign he is because everything we planned 00:02:52.840 |
for that trip completely went out the window and our days unfolded as they went. 00:02:58.840 |
During this trip, I learned how I needed the gospel just as much as anyone on that reserve. 00:03:04.000 |
And because I was going to church didn't mean that I was saved. 00:03:07.700 |
After I came back home, the details of my life started to change. 00:03:10.840 |
I grew a desire for the work and I got involved with the campus ministry that following fall. 00:03:16.480 |
Since then, I've had to take a few more stops before landing in SoCal, but I learned through 00:03:21.760 |
it all that I don't have a home on this earth. 00:03:24.480 |
And when people would ask me, "Where's back home for you?" 00:03:26.760 |
I would always have trouble answering and that fact used to make me feel very lonely. 00:03:31.960 |
But now I have comfort that this earth is not my home, but I have eternal home with