Hello, I’m Kathrin from South Tyrol, Italy. I grew up in a loving family and as children we went to church almost every Sunday. It was always obvious to me that God existed and that’s why I prayed every now and then, even if I didn’t know how at the time.

As a teenager, I rarely attended church and began to fabricate my own faith. I ended up in the same class as Miriam in high school. She went to the Revival Centre Church and we immediately became good friends. She told me about the Lord from the beginning of our friendship, but I wasn’t interested in it. I was convinced that what I believed in was right.

It wasn’t until four years later, when my grandma became very ill and eventually died, that I started asking Miriam questions about what she believed happened after death. When she told me her church believes in and lives by the Bible, I knew what she was telling me had to be true. It was almost as if I was in love because all I could think about was God the whole time. So, I asked Miriam how I could receive the Holy Spirit.

One night I returned home after a class meeting at three in the morning and decided to pray for the Holy Spirit. Immediately I started speaking in another language. The next morning I prayed because I wanted to know what had happened, and I immediately found the scripture in the Bible at 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, which describes all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

A week later I was baptised by full immersion in water. Since then I have had a peace and a joy within me that I cannot describe. One of the greatest and most wonderful gifts is that a short time later my entire family came to the Lord.

I had already started reading the Bible before I received the Holy Spirit, but I didn’t understand much, they were just beautiful stories. But after I received the Holy Spirit, it was as if God had removed a veil from my eyes. Everything suddenly had a meaning and became alive.

Even though I grew up in a wonderful family, had no problems and lacked nothing, I know that I missed God and that without Him everything is worthless. He has given me real meaning in life and is always with me no matter what. I don’t know what the future may hold but I know that, in the end, I want to be ready when Jesus returns and I want to reign with Him and live forever.

Kathrin – South Tyrol