Seeking Membership — Miriam Mikhael, Robert Mikhael, Carson Suggett, James Tot, Amy Van Belle
The Mikhaels
Testimony of Miriam Mikhael
I have been attending church since infancy, thanks to my parents, and church has always been my “happy place”. I was taught the gospel at an early age and I prayed the “sinner’s prayer” every time I got the opportunity. I understood that I was a sinner early on, and had a pretty intense fear of hell. I wanted so badly to go to Heaven and be accepted by God, and my young brain had a very hard time understanding grace. Even though I knew the right answers in Sunday school, I really didn’t understand that my “good works” could do absolutely nothing to add or take away from what Jesus accomplished on the cross. I didn’t really “get” the gospel until much later in life. Long story short, I had to experience quite a bit of loss and disappointment in order for the gospel to penetrate my heart. It took me years to realize that my main heart issue was pride, and a lot had to be stripped away in order for true repentance to take place.
Testimony of Robert Mikhael
I grew up in a Christian home in Kuwait. My parents were very involved in our church and they poured out into my brother and I as best they could. Our church was a complex of different congregations from different ethnic backgrounds (North American, Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian) and some of my teachers in the American school that I was attending were members of the English speaking congregation in the church complex. My 6th grade math teacher was one of them and the class room was his missions field. He invested a lot of time and energy into myself and the others whom he knew were attending the church and our school. This instilled a knowledge of God the father and of Jesus but there was no heart conversion.
After graduation I moved to England where I had lived a godless and rebellious lifestyle before my parents immigrated to Canada. I also moved with them with the expectation to go back to England for university. While here though, God had begun to strip away all that I had idolized and set my identity in leading me to a depression. One night when I was heading home from night school in Toronto, I ‘randomly’ ran into and old friend from Kuwait who had moved to Canada 6 years prior. We chatted and he invited me to church. I accepted the offer thinking it would be nice to catch up with old friends.
As I began to attend the church, God began to stir in me a desire for Him. Not long after I got asked to help start and lead an English speaking youth group in an Arabic speaking congregation of immigrants. I was not saved yet but accepted the invitation to lead. This is where God grabbed hold of me as I studied to begin leading and teaching.
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Testimony of Carson Suggett
I first developed a relationship with God at a VBS when I was very young. I do not remember many specifics, but I remember that the leader told us about Jesus and that he wanted to have a relationship with me. I understood that Jesus had saved us through his death on the cross and that means that I could live with him forever. The leader asked that anyone who wanted to give their life to Jesus stay behind and so I did, and that was when I was first saved.
I was raised in a Christian household, I have been going to church all my life and I started attending Bethany Community Church in 2012. I also went to Eden High School through grades 9-12, which is a Christian school and although there were ups and downs, my relationship with God stayed pretty strong. I had many Christian friends through both school and youth group, and I had the great opportunity of growing with them.
When I moved to Hamilton and started at McMaster University, I connected with a campus group (Intervarsity Christian Fellowship) for bible study which was a great way for me to dive into God’s word and spend time in prayer with fellow believers. I also went to West Side Church in Hamilton for several years before the pandemic hit. Throughout the pandemic I mostly attended the online church services with Bethany and I continued to meet virtually with members from Intervarsity for fellowship.
Last November, I started to doubt my direction in life. Even though I was doing fine in school I just was not as passionate about my university program as when I first started and the decisions that I made when I first entered university didn’t make as much sense anymore. I ultimately made the decision to change programs from engineering to nursing around this time last year. I didn’t know what city I would be in come next September and what I would be doing when that time came. Things seemed very unstable around me and there were periods where I had no idea if anything would line up for me this year. The whole experience was disorienting but throughout I made sure to keep my trust in God. I kept reminding myself that although it may not be clear to me now, that this is a part of His plan and it will all work out alright in the end.
I made the decision to be baptized this past June at Bethany as a public declaration of my faith and relationship with Jesus. I kept my confidence in God and I was accepted to the nursing program at Western. I moved to London and started in my program this past September. I am blessed to have started in a small group through the Power to Change group at Western, so far it has been a great opportunity to have fellowship and study the word with several other young men. I also started attending Knollwood in October and I am very excited to have the chance to become a member. This is important for me because I would love to join the Knollwood community and get the opportunity to serve the church while continuing to grow in Christ.
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Testimony of James Tot
I was born into a Christian Family. I grew up going to Church. God has shown His kindness to me time and time again. I can’t wait to see what God does with me next.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
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Testimony of Amy Van Belle
I have always believed that I need Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior because I was blessed to have grown up in a Christian home. I don’t recall a time where I ever doubted this, even during my rebellious teen years.
I believe that I started taking my relationship with Christ more seriously after having my first two children and realizing that I needed to be a better example to them so that they would learn that Christ could be their Lord and Savior too. The idea of them not knowing him in this way scared me immensely.
Our family attended Forest City Bible Church for years and became involved with small groups and I was so blessed with beautiful discipleship by so many. I feel like I have a hard time saying this is my testimony because it doesn’t feel like there was a real turning point but this is my story of how Christ has been present in my life, I continue to sin and by his grace only, I know I am saved. Thank you Jesus.