Return to the Fall 1996 Encounter Home Page
Mom took us to a United Church when we were children. I learned about Jesus and that He loved me, but I never knew about having a personal relationship with Him.
At about age 13, I stopped going to church. I thought it was the thing to do at the time. I always had lots of friends and things to do. But deep down inside of me I was empty. I began to search, not knowing what I was looking for. I only knew I needed something because the emptiness was more than I could stand.
I got into the bar scene. I moved out of my parents' home when I was 16. Mom and Dad did all they could to encourage me to come home. They loved me, and I knew that, but the emptiness was there too. I knew they couldn't fill the void. The more I searched, the less I found--substance abuse, failed relationships, so many lost souls around me, so many lonely nights (even though I was always with people), so much unhappiness and finally contemplating suicide.
After years of that lifestyle, at age 26, I was proposed to and decided to get married. That was the answer that would end the emptiness in my life and fill the void. Four years and two children later, I was divorced, still searching and still empty.
In 1990, I was working at a local hospital, mostly evenings and weekends. Once, when the hosptial was very quiet, I left my post to walk around the lobby and look for something to read. I came upon a small pamphlet that asked, "After life, where are we going?" I proceeded to read what the author's version of heaven and hell were all about. I was scared and knew that I was not going to heaven. I dusted off my old Bible (that I had received many years ago from a Sunday school teacher) and started reading at work. I really couldn't understand what I was reading. I only knew I felt led to read.
Then began a series of events that would change my life. A friend from grade 7 came back into my life. She had become a Christian at age 18. She shared her story with me and told me what Jesus meant to her and what He had done in her life. How I longed to know this Jesus! She read portions of the Bible to me. After about the fourth visit with her, on a hot August night in 1990, I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and life.
As my friend led me in a prayer, I wondered: What do I do now? I was involved in a common-law relationship. I loved him, but it was somewhat unstable. I asked him to leave my home and ended the relationship. I knew that if I was to know Christ, I didn't need any distractions, and he made it very clear to me that he'd thought I'd "lost my mind". He didn't like this Christian thing at all. He moved out.
I started looking for a church. My daughter Kyla had attended a summer Bible school at Millwoods Mennonite Brethren Church, and the pastor, Ray Wiens, had an obvious love for Jesus. I decided that I would check out this church. I had a lot of questions and such a hunger to know about Christ, and the Christians that I talked to were always more than willing to share the good news about Jesus with me. As time went on, I got involved in a Bible study and with a "care group", a small group of Christians who meet together in each other's homes. The leaders, Jake and Marie Penner, have shown me real Christian love and have been such a blessing in my life. The Lord was changing my heart and my life. In April of 1993, I was baptized as a sign that I had become a Christian.
I grew closer to the Lord Jesus through persistent prayer, Bible study and interaction with other Christians. He has filled the emptiness with his Holy Spirit. The void is no longer there. Although I remain single, I am not lonely. He is the head of our home, and I am sharing His love and promises with my daughter Kyla, 11, and son Matthew, 9, (they have both accepted Jesus into their lives too), and to anyone who will listen. There is no more looking for love in bars, no more substance abuse, no more searching, no more sadness and depression. I found what I've been searching for. Jesus was watching over me then, and He is now my faithful Friend. I still have some struggles and hard times, but knowing He is there with me makes them bearable--this awesome man Jesus who died for me.
Deborah, Kyla and Matthew Klassen live in Edmonton, Alta.
Return to the Fall 1996 Encounter Home Page