Held!

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘It was the night of Pentecost when the change came over…’

I had heard the stories of old, where the disciples were transformed from their former timid beings, to their latter bold selves. It is a story that every christian knows; regular or outstanding. I always identified myself as an ‘Outstanding Catholic’, the inside was a little too much for my liking. I was regular in my attendance, but poor in my participation. You could say I enjoyed being in the world more. It was more pleasant, more real than anything I experienced. I was a rebel, a bully. I took on life easily and made it hard on others. My spirit was dead, and I ran away from retreats and youth meetings. God alone knows how I was revived.

They say that, God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. I can vouch for this a million times. A few months before the feast of the Pentecost that I was invited to attend a christian life seminar, hosted by ‘Couples for Christ-India’. I had no plans of attending this, but God had other. It was then that I first started noticing some difference in me. All that was just preparing me for what was to come. He not only called me, but also transformed my life.

It was the night of the Pentecost. During the night vigil prayers, I felt this sudden great power come over me. For the first time in my life, I began to speak in tongues! Just when my senses began to grasp this wonder, I felt a firm, assuring hand rest on my shoulder-a hand that I known. At that moment I understood that all my fears, all my failures, all my wrongs were just thrown by the wayside and I was accepted and loved for who I was. I’m a guy who doesn’t cry, but at that moment when I realised this marvel, when I came to know my Maker, I couldn’t help myself. I broke down and wept. I opened up every single area of my life to God and allowed Him to move. It was then, on the night of Pentecost, that change came over me…

Its been four years since and my life has been nothing short of a living testimony! I am blessed in every way and I strive everyday to be a better christian than I was yesterday. I work in ways to make Christ known to those who are still in doubt.

My name is Avinash Christy, and this is my testimony.