Joella Dankwah
I was born in EICC and grew up in the church but had little understanding of who God was. I was drawn to the world, the circular music, the way of dressing etc. Everything about people that didn't have a relationship with God looked good. So at 17 I started trying to be like my friends in college who were unbelievers and seemed to live happier lives than me because of their lifestyles. I started smoking, sleeping around, dressing scantily, and wearing as much makeup as possible to feel as beautiful as I could. All I found in it all was I was becoming addicted to this lifestyle that didn't make me any happier. I decided to start wearing body piercings to see if that would make me happy but it didn't. Instead I got sadder and more miserable as I realised the smoking addiction was becoming intense as I couldn't control the increasing amounts I now had to smoke to feel calm. I felt betrayed when the relationships I was in were not working, and all the men I was sleeping with were also sleeping with other women. It was like a game we were playing. I got frustrated when I'd invested so much into my hair and beauty with never ending products only to have to buy more and do more to myself because the last trend was over and was no longer deemed attractive. I was sad, depressed, angry, and slowly becoming sick. I was always in a sexual health clinic or pharmacy for a new infection from a sexual partner that affected me from sexually to physically to mentally. My turning point came when I confided in my sister because I was hearing voices and wanted to further pierce my body and get tattoos. I'd also failed miserably in college. She got my family involved and they prayed for me. I felt the love and peace and contentment in God that I thought I was going to get outside of God. I decided, with God's instruction and the encouragement of my family, to get away from it all, to go to a place that had people from all walks of life join together to seek the face of the Lord. I did this willingly because I wanted more of the love of Christ that I'd rejected before. As I built up my faith in God and began to read the bible more and develop a relationship with Christ, I was able to quit smoking and I've never looked back in 13 years. I was able to throw all the make up and skimpy clothes away and appreciate my natural beauty. I cut ties with all the different men I was sleeping with and threw away all the mobile phones I had that I used to communicate to these men. I made Jesus my focus and cut all ties to friends that would not influence me positively, and as I did all these things I began to feel the joy of the Lord. I didn't hear voices or feel an unknown pressure and presence urging me to do wrong anymore. I could look in the mirror and see that I was beautiful without tonnes of makeup or little clothes. I was able to become focused again and go back to college with a better focus on my education. This time around I could appreciate the teachings and the word shared at EICC. I understood the privilege I had in being in the house of God and fellowshipping regularly. I now share the Word and encouraged others, especially young people, to take their relationship with Christ seriously and use my experiences to be able to advise and guide them to a deeper relationship with Christ, and help them see their beauty and worth. I’ll always be grateful for EICC and the love of my family that helped me stay grounded in Jesus.
