My Testimony for Mary, My Evangelical Pentecostal Friend (1)

I have been a Catholic since I was born, before I had enough conscience to know what Catholicism was all about. For 20 years, I did not care to try to find out. All I know whas that I had to go to church every Sunday, especially during Easter and Chrismas seasons. I think during senior year of high school, I almost never missed any masses. However, it was because the girl I had a crush on was a regular church attendee. Hey, God can use any ways to call us, right?


By: Indra

It was a blessing that I have parents who were pretty well-off in Indonesian standard, so that they could afford to put me into Catholic schools. However, at that time, I only thought that the advantage I had for getting my education at Catholic institutions was the quality of the education itself. Even during high school, when I was put into an all-male Catholic school, which had a church inside the institution, I still could not see the point of finding out more about God nor Catholicism. There were times even, when the school held a mandatory mass for the students, that I hid in the bathroom with my friends (if you ever go inside any Indonesian schools, you will know that hiding in the male bathroom is NEVER a good idea, for sanity reasons… LOL). It is not that I hated the mass, I hid because some of my good friends did, so just for the thrill of it, I joined them.

In 1995, I moved to the US for college. During my first year, I still did not care about God. Furthermore, my parents were not there to push me to go to church, neither was the girl I have a crush on J During that time, I probably went to church once every two weeks or so.

Incredibly, at that time when there were nobody to guide my spiritual life, God had prepared something for me. Right on my first weeks in the US, I was introduced to one of the active members of the Indonesian Catholic Community (ICC). When he asked me to go to one of their activities, I agreed. Not because I was suddenly interested in God, but only because I wanted to make new friends. However, when I got there, I was very astonished. Everyone who attended that night seemed so “holy” compared to me. Hey, I was fresh from an all-male high school. They were just so different from the friends that I used to have. After that night, I did not come again for the next six months or so. Not that I did not like them, it is just because I thought I was not in the same league as they were. The point is, even though I did not plan to come again at the time, at least I had the knowledge that the community was there. I could join them anytime should I decide to do so. God had given me an easy way to find Him.

My point in telling you some of my stories is that all my life, whether I realized it or not, whether I was answering or not, God was always there, calling me to answer His love. When I looked back to my childhood, I saw a point for everything that had happened in my life. I believe that there is no coincidence with our Almighty God. I believe that I entered Catholic schools not by random chance. I needed to be in touch with Catholic institutions to compensate for my ignorance. I realized that during that time, I was not the kind of person who would want to spend his/her time looking for something that “was not there.” I liked things to be simple and easy. At least, being in Catholic schools at that time have made me to get to know, and to get used to, the Catholic teachings and therefore, built my identity and knowledge about God.

It was very easy to do so at that time. Those were taught and practiced to me every day. God knows that I was not strong enough to pursue my faith by myself. I needed the consistent contact with Catholic institutions. So, I do not think I went to Catholic schools for 14 years for nothing.

It is amazing how, when I look back into my life, I realized that God wa svery gentle to me. He built my faith step-by-step, according to my personality. He never violated my free will, however, He never leaves me even when my heart was too hardened to hear Him, even though he has every right to do so. Whenever I feel, or whenever my actions show that I am not ready for something, then He will prepare me further.

It was proven finally, that God did not introduce me to the ICC for nothing.

In January 1996, I somehow started to come again. Actually, it was because I did not have anything better to do. I remembered at the end of 1996, somehow I was asked by one of the youth coordinators to help in their ministries. At first, I thought, “What is this? Was she THAT desperate? I only came to the activities four times for the whole year, and I did not even know the people that well.” However, I remembered that she was very nice and kind. Hey, God knows me, I could not say no to a person like that, so, finally, I said yes.

Continue on Part 2 . . .