Article November 7, 2011 Issue

I wasn’t afraid anymore

Christivie

I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where my grandfather is a Christian Scientist. My family moved to Indiana four years ago, and I started coming to the Christian Science Sunday School when I was ten years old. I like living in the United States because it is cooler weather. In the Congo, it was really hot, and there were no swimming pools near where we lived. Sometimes my grandfather, who used to teach English, would take us to a hotel so we could go swimming and get cool. 

My healing story happened at a Christian Science camp this summer. It was my second year at camp, and I had to try things that I never tried before. One of these things was the climbing wall. Before every camp activity we have a Bible reading to help us have good thoughts to think about. I was in fear, but I didn’t show my fear. I knew that fear couldn’t take over my thought because I was God’s child. The Bible Lesson subject for the week was “God the Preserver of Man” and the Golden Text was, “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life” (Ps. 121:7, New Living Translation). Thinking about that really helped me so much and made me feel safe. I knew that I was in God’s care where no harm could come to me. 

When the counselor asked who wanted to be one of the first to start climbing the wall, I raised my hand. I chose the tallest wall to climb. The counselor helped me put on my helmet and my harness. Even though I was still a little frightened inside, I made sure my face showed only happiness and not fear. I knew God was with me. I also wanted to encourage my friend to try to climb the wall. Then I started climbing, and when I got stuck, the counselor guided me. It didn’t take long before I reached the top. I wasn’t afraid anymore, and I even wanted to go again. 

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