Two ways that I know, A.K.

I'm a sister from the church in Atlanta, a small member of the Body of Christ. I began to be contacted by believers here in September 1995, and until now I have been living a deeply rooted Christian life without shaking in faith by the feeding, caring, and nourishing of the believers in the local church. Thank the Lord for everything. Thank Him for the love of the believers. Because I know there were many hidden prayers for me, I want to be a believer who obeys God in my whole life and depends on God in everything.

As a matter of fact, I knew of the local churches first in 1981, 18 years ago. At that time I was 14 and I was a middle school student. I got saved through my elder sister who had started meeting in the local church before I did, and I also got baptized because of the believers' prayers. Although I was young, I loved God purely, and I wanted to know God Himself with a single heart. In the period of my youth my Christian life was like a sweet paradise.

But that life did not last long. At first I felt that the local church was the real church, which could not be compared with any other place in the world and could not be found anywhere else. But as time went on it was hard for me to relate to the other believers. Originally, I considered these believers to be absolutely different from people in the world and I respected them. But whenever their faults showed up I became disappointed and cast down. Meanwhile, I decided not to meet in the local church any more and then my despair increased. Although many of the believers contacted me steadily, I grew cold toward them and my heart became hard.

For 18 long years I forsook meeting with the local church. Though I lived in a worldly manner, sometimes I heard the voice of God from the depth of my heart. I could not deny the fact that God was in my being. So, I went to a denomination but it did not solve my thirst. In that situation, I immigrated to the United States. I was excited to live in a place where there wouldn't be local churches and I could be free from the internal accusation of my conscience. But in the U.S. the local church was ready to welcome me. Thank God for His arrangement. I'm so glad that I have come back to the local church and have begun to walk in the light. I can say clearly that it is the place where I feel the Lord's love in the believers. I really have realized how precious the local church is. To live in the local churches is to joy of joys.