Good morning. My name is Jessie Kim and I'm currently in BAM ministry. I graduated cosmetology school last year and I recently started working full time. So my testimony isn't a big one time event, but there have been multiple milestones in my faith that have led me to where I am today.

I was born in Korea and moved to Toronto, Canada when I was very young. I was raised in Toronto for a lot of my younger years, but I never really grew up going to church. I would go once every few months. I was always that awkward new girl. I also grew up moving around a lot.

So every couple of years I'd be in a new house or a new city, but the biggest move growing up was to Vermont in grade six. It took me some time to adjust, but when I did, I really loved it there. And then at the three year mark, my mom said that we'd be moving back to Toronto.

This was really hard for me to hear, but on top of all this, that year my mom was diagnosed with cancer and we were also living with my grandmother who was suffering with dementia. This was a super emotional and dark year for me and eventually led to self harm and some negative thoughts.

And after struggling with these thoughts for a year, I was so tired that it led me to pray. I said, God, I don't care if you change what happens in my life. I just want the will to live. And that's all I said. Gradually after that night, the self harming stopped and I prepared for the move.

So in grade 10, I moved back to this old but new city. And that's when God started softening my heart and gave me the desire to go to church. So I asked my mom to see if there was a church near our house and I started attending. My parents still weren't going to church at this time.

So I'd walk to and from church every Sunday and Fridays for youth group. And at this point, I thought I was able to overcome my struggles because I had a good personality and I was good at adapting to new situations. After attending this church for a year, I went to one of the youth retreats.

And this is when God revealed to me that it was all him. Until this retreat, I totally forgot about the prayer that I said that one night. And I was reminded of that prayer and realized my hopefulness, my desire to go to church, it was all God working in my life.

That night is when I learned that God is so real and I repented for even thinking that the past years I was able to get through on my own. And that he was with me all of those dark nights. So the next few years, I started serving and getting really involved at church.

I begged my parents to go on mission trips, but they always said no. They're okay with me going on Sundays, but not spending too much time at church. Eventually I graduated high school and they let me go that summer. We went to a small native reserve island and spent our time there supporting the missionaries and local leaders.

This trip is where God taught me how perfectly sovereign he is because everything we planned for that trip completely went out the window and our days unfolded as they went. During this trip, I learned how I needed the gospel just as much as anyone on that reserve. And because I was going to church didn't mean that I was saved.

After I came back home, the details of my life started to change. I grew a desire for the work and I got involved with the campus ministry that following fall. Since then, I've had to take a few more stops before landing in SoCal, but I learned through it all that I don't have a home on this earth.

And when people would ask me, "Where's back home for you?" I would always have trouble answering and that fact used to make me feel very lonely. But now I have comfort that this earth is not my home, but I have eternal home with my father. Thank you.