Angie met God three years ago on the Tākaka village green.
She was baptised last year, and has just begun a YWAM DTS (Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School) in Nelson. She’ll spend the next three months being trained and discipled before being sent overseas for the following three months to get stretched and challenged on mission.
On a recent trip to Golden Bay, I had the pleasure of meeting her. When I asked her to share her story, she bubbled over with joy as she spoke about Jesus.
Here’s our conversation.
Angie: My family had no belief. When I was a little girl my dad told me Christians were a bunch of brainwashed idiots. I was into the spiritual new age for quite some time – crystals, tarot cards, all that.
I had a pretty good childhood until my parents separated when I was 14, which was ugly. I started dabbling with lots of drugs, starting on smaller stuff and then onto harder stuff. I basically spent the next 20 years – about half my life – as an addict. I’ve had a pretty crazy wild life.
Angie: I was getting close to 39 when I decided I was not going to be a 40-year-old drug addict. So I came down to the South Island, did a lot of travelling, got a boyfriend, and got clean. Three months later I ended up in India with this guy I just met in Golden Bay. The funny thing is that during the last two weeks of my India trip, I was on the back of the scooter, and – I don't know where it came from – I just blurted out, “Jesus loves me! Jesus loves you!” My boyfriend was like, “Shut up man, they worship different gods here.”
We later broke up and I was really depressed when I got back, feeling pretty lost.
I was with my friend Bo, and we were busking on the village green in Tākaka. She told me she had some awesome friends coming over from Wellington. Next thing I was getting introduced to the beautiful women Kirsty and Rachel and Esther. Bo told them a bit of my woes at the time, and Kirsty asked, “Can I pray for you?”
I closed my eyes. And then all of a sudden, as she started to pray to Jesus, I was engulfed, absolutely engulfed in this supernatural overwhelming presence of pure love, joy, bliss, peace – it was incredible. The loving golden warm embrace of the Holy Spirit.
I was like, “Wow, what was that? God's real, Jesus, Bible, it’s all real!” And I just wanted to know more.
Angie: It was the best day in my life – it’s changed my whole world. I had no idea it was real. I thought God was a mythical creature.
I just want everyone to meet Jesus because it’s all real. There are so many lost and broken people out there, and he just makes life better.
He’s all we need and everyone needs him and they just don’t know yet, because they haven’t met him. And I just want everyone to meet him.
It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever found in my life and like, it's a million billion times better than any drugs I’ve tried, and I’ve tried everything. It sounds sick to compare it with that, but that’s the thing. After I first met God I was like, “I know what God feels like, I know what God feels like, I want more!”
I'm quite sensitive and receptive to the Spirit. I have been in some traumatic relationships in the past, brokenness, trauma, abuse – some painful, hideous stuff. And a few times since I started following Jesus, the Holy Spirit has come in like, shwoof, around my heart area, and I’ve felt this warming beautiful healing love. I knew that Jesus was healing my heart.
And Jesus has already been supernaturally healing people through me. I've seen multiple healings now, like instant. I'm not kidding.
Angie: Yeah, especially when I got up north. Actually my mum said recently, “I think you're more crazy now than you've met Jesus!”
They can see a change, for sure.
I just want everyone to meet Jesus because every soul is loved by God equally and they all need him.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
Angie met God three years ago on the Tākaka village green.
She was baptised last year, and has just begun a YWAM DTS (Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School) in Nelson. She’ll spend the next three months being trained and discipled before being sent overseas for the following three months to get stretched and challenged on mission.
On a recent trip to Golden Bay, I had the pleasure of meeting her. When I asked her to share her story, she bubbled over with joy as she spoke about Jesus.
Here’s our conversation.
Angie: My family had no belief. When I was a little girl my dad told me Christians were a bunch of brainwashed idiots. I was into the spiritual new age for quite some time – crystals, tarot cards, all that.
I had a pretty good childhood until my parents separated when I was 14, which was ugly. I started dabbling with lots of drugs, starting on smaller stuff and then onto harder stuff. I basically spent the next 20 years – about half my life – as an addict. I’ve had a pretty crazy wild life.
Angie: I was getting close to 39 when I decided I was not going to be a 40-year-old drug addict. So I came down to the South Island, did a lot of travelling, got a boyfriend, and got clean. Three months later I ended up in India with this guy I just met in Golden Bay. The funny thing is that during the last two weeks of my India trip, I was on the back of the scooter, and – I don't know where it came from – I just blurted out, “Jesus loves me! Jesus loves you!” My boyfriend was like, “Shut up man, they worship different gods here.”
We later broke up and I was really depressed when I got back, feeling pretty lost.
I was with my friend Bo, and we were busking on the village green in Tākaka. She told me she had some awesome friends coming over from Wellington. Next thing I was getting introduced to the beautiful women Kirsty and Rachel and Esther. Bo told them a bit of my woes at the time, and Kirsty asked, “Can I pray for you?”
I closed my eyes. And then all of a sudden, as she started to pray to Jesus, I was engulfed, absolutely engulfed in this supernatural overwhelming presence of pure love, joy, bliss, peace – it was incredible. The loving golden warm embrace of the Holy Spirit.
I was like, “Wow, what was that? God's real, Jesus, Bible, it’s all real!” And I just wanted to know more.
Angie: It was the best day in my life – it’s changed my whole world. I had no idea it was real. I thought God was a mythical creature.
I just want everyone to meet Jesus because it’s all real. There are so many lost and broken people out there, and he just makes life better.
He’s all we need and everyone needs him and they just don’t know yet, because they haven’t met him. And I just want everyone to meet him.
It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever found in my life and like, it's a million billion times better than any drugs I’ve tried, and I’ve tried everything. It sounds sick to compare it with that, but that’s the thing. After I first met God I was like, “I know what God feels like, I know what God feels like, I want more!”
I'm quite sensitive and receptive to the Spirit. I have been in some traumatic relationships in the past, brokenness, trauma, abuse – some painful, hideous stuff. And a few times since I started following Jesus, the Holy Spirit has come in like, shwoof, around my heart area, and I’ve felt this warming beautiful healing love. I knew that Jesus was healing my heart.
And Jesus has already been supernaturally healing people through me. I've seen multiple healings now, like instant. I'm not kidding.
Angie: Yeah, especially when I got up north. Actually my mum said recently, “I think you're more crazy now than you've met Jesus!”
They can see a change, for sure.
I just want everyone to meet Jesus because every soul is loved by God equally and they all need him.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
