FREIE CHRISTLICHE JUGENDGEMEINSCHAFT

Hi! My name is Jonathon and I was born and raised in Texas. Around the time I was born, my parents got divorced, so as a single parent, my mother raised my brother and I. Despite the fact that my family attended church regularly and I was even reading the Bible at home, being fatherless was having an immense impact on my life and on my attitude towards all sorts of things in life. As a teenager, I turned to music and pornography, then at the age of 17 to alcohol and marijuana. I was very introverted and severely depressed. My life was nothing but an escape from reality, with fear being my constant companion. In 2014, I was living in Austin, Texas. I spent a lot of time partying on 6th Street. There were moments when I would look around and realize what my life would become if I continued the same way. ! ! I needed a change and this led me back to church. At the end of the preaching the pastor would always make an altar call, but it was in those moments that shame and fear gripped me. Eventually, after a couple of weeks, I responded and gave my life to Jesus.

Later on, I got connected with Christians from Germany who live and run a ministry in Austin: HELP for all Nations. Through this ministry I also got to know FCJG in Lüdenscheid, Germany. Twenty months ago, I decided to join the drug rehab. At first, everything was new to me: The language, the people and culture, … It took me a couple of months to really be able to trust and come into what was happening. Still, I knew I had to get to know the love of the father; he was going to be the only one able to fill the big void in my heart. My constant companion of the past, fear, was still around and the Holy Spirit pointed out to me that I needed to confront and overcome it. The verse from 1 John 3 - perfect love casts out all fear - encouraged me over and over to take steps in that direction. Part of overcoming fear was passing on impressions that I received in prayer or sharing through the microphone songs or bible verses that the Holy Spirit put on my heart. I trained myself with the Holy Spirit to overcome fear of man by focussing on Jesus. The more often I obeyed his voice, the easier my life became. It got easier to pray, sing, share impressions, and little by little I watched fear of man decrease. Instead, I received the courage to walk in obedience and take on the challenges.!

Before coming to the Wiedenhof, I was barely living in relationship or communion with God my father. The desire to seek him more grew and I started to open up my heart to trust him! Today I can tell how the love of the father that I experienced here has totally changed my heart and life.! Where my heart had turned cold and hard, today I have a love for the lost, abandoned and fatherless, and tell them about the love of the father. Not just through words, but also by being an example. When I was a child, someone prophesied that I would be a preacher some day. At that time it didn’t appeal to me, but now I take it seriously and really know it is God’s plan for my life.! One thing I know for sure: God is with me, and will be, wherever he might send me!



Jonathon