A Faith of Her Own

Emma, an only child, was raised in a traditional Catholic family where attending Mass was normal and expected. In her college years, she had friends who had fun going to church regularly, but she didn’t understand what the big deal was.

Emma’s boyfriend tried inviting her to his Bible study, but she didn’t want to go. She believed in God and heard about him at Mass — wasn’t that enough? She didn’t see a need for a relationship with God. The few encounters Emma had with Christians led her to believe that learning more about God wouldn’t bring her fulfillment in life.

While walking around a shopping mall one afternoon, a group of students approached her with a survey. The first question: “Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your heart?” This made Emma regret stopping and she tried to walk away. The group tried telling her the importance of a relationship with God but seemed defensive when Emma tried asking them questions. To Emma, the experience was unpleasant and she regretted stopping to talk with the group.

But Emma’s boyfriend kept asking her to join him for Bible study and she finally relented. Emma sat down in the group, but all she heard them discuss were rules that people needed to live by. They talked about things you should not be involved in or else you could not go to heaven. Emma left that night feeling more unfulfilled and without hope.

These conversations caused Emma to be more hesitant toward Christianity and the church. Her boyfriend listened as she expressed her frustrations. He then asked her to come try a different church with him. Hoping for that “different experience,” Emma decided to give church another try.

The pastor didn’t teach the entire time, and the people in the congregation opened their Bibles and read together. Emma enjoyed how they looked at the Bible in deep way together. She was encouraged to finally have a positive church experience. But many of the questions Emma had about God, faith, and the Bible remained unanswered. The topics discussed in church were often explained in a way that Emma didn’t understand.

Not long after this experience, Emma reconnected with a best friend from high school. After some reminiscing and laughter, they began to talk about Emma’s recent church experiences. Her friend listened as Emma recounted the past couple months. He invited Emma to try out Saddleback’s College Ministry (CM). She hesitated to accept but thought maybe this experience would differ from the others. The trust she had in her friend allowed her to give church another chance.

Upon arrival, many students were outgoing and eager to meet her, which felt very strange. Emma was taken aback by how welcoming everyone was and curious to understand what caused everyone to smile so much. The more Emma attended, she realized her life was missing something— something she never had or saw while going to Mass. She received a foundation of God in her Catholic church, but the people at CM seemed to have something she didn’t. Eager to understand what this was, she returned week after week without telling her family.

She decided to take a leap of faith and attend a main service at Saddleback where she heard a question that would cause her to think hard about her relationship with God: “Are you following your own faith or following someone else’s faith?” Emma knew that she didn’t have a faith of her own.

Emma found a small group of college students where she felt safe asking questions about spiritual things and learned how to read the Bible. She began to see the love and character of God expressed as her group genuinely loved on her. These friends, slowly over time, became her second family.

Six months and many questions later, Emma finally understood what she was missing— a relationship with Jesus. She surrendered her life to him, decided to be baptized and made her faith her own.

Emma stood in baptism pool next to one of the pastors, nervous and excited about what was about to take place. Taking a deep breath Emma was submerged beneath the water then pulled back up. Emma wiped her face, inhaled deeply, opened her eyes, and listened to the sound of cheers from her surrounding friends and CM family. It had been a long journey to this defining moment, but Emma finally realized the importance of her faith and church community.

Learn more about College Ministry (CM) at saddlebackcm.com