As a 26-year-old wife and mother of two children, Susie often looks back over her life and thinks about the choices she has made. Like many of us, she realizes that some were helpful, and some made her life more difficult.
In her teen years, Susie’s friends invited her to attend a program, led by our ministry partners, especially for teenagers at a church in their village. “I remember that the program was called ‘Choose Life,’” she says. “My friends and I learned the Ten Commandments. But I didn’t take time to learn more. I didn’t understand that God loved me and died for me.”
Susie finished the program and tried hard not to break any of God’s Commandments. Right after she graduated from high school, she got married and had her first child. A year later, she gave birth to her second child. “Immediately my worries increased,” she says. “In my busy daily life, I complete forgot about God and His commandments.”
At age 24, Susie felt ill and went to a clinic. “The doctor examined me,” she says. “He diagnosed my problems as throat cancer. Despair and fear overwhelmed me. I thought about my death and about how my children were going to lose their mother.”
One day, as she was lying in bed and thinking desperately about what was going to happen, Susie suddenly remembered "Choose Life" from her teen years. She called her husband and asked him to take her to the church in their village.
“The pastor kindly invited us inside,” she says. “We told my story, and he prayed with us. I felt relieved after the prayer and returned home in high spirits.”
From that day, Susie and her family began worshiping and studying God’s Word with the pastor and other followers of Jesus. She and her husband discussed and studied God’s Word together. “After a while, I repented,” she says. “I decided to choose life. I realized that the only hope in my life is God.”
When the pastor of the church announced a day of baptisms, Susie knew she had to be baptized. “I had to make a covenant with the Lord,” she says. “As it is not known what this disease can do to me, I knew I had to hurry.”
She was baptized with a group of believers. Now, she has complete calm. “I do not know what will happen, but I am sure of one thing: I have salvation,” she says. “Please pray for me, for my healing, for my family, for my children.”
The photo shows Susie at her baptism.
