Dear Jennifer,

Just wanted to say I’m sorry for the experience you had in that mega church as a teen. I don’t normally read articles like this — I’m usually here to read web dev stuff, but your article came up in my timeline. It caught my eye because I recognized the header image you used as one I’ve tweeted with a verse before.

I’m writing because my heart goes out to you. I’m not here to sell you on a religion, I just wanted to share my thoughts. I personally am a Christian but I don’t go to church right now. I don’t view myself as a religious person — I think of my knowing Jesus as a relationship with a real Person Who literally saved my life. I wish I could share my story with you but it would probably look like I’d written you a novel if I wrote it here. I’ll try to be brief…

Suffice it to say, I went through a tough time of illness for 5 years and was told at the age of 21 that I had 2–3 years to live without a lung transplant. I also had a hole in my heart and a neurological disorder — all of which I was miraculously healed from by the grace of God. I’m 26 now and just this year I can now say I am in perfect health — without a having had a lung transplant or surgeries and I’m also off all my medication. I believe Jesus healed me — not because I was such a ‘good Christian’ but because of His great love for me. I believe Jesus loves every person in that same way.

I respect your views and I understand that not everyone will agree with mine. Deciding what we believe in is a very personal decision that everyone has to make.

When I read your post I was reminded of a book I read as a young adult — By Searching by Isobel Kuhn. Mrs Kuhn was a missionary to the Lisu tribe in China in the 30's and 40's. But before she became a missionary, she first went through a time of being agnostic. By Searching is all about her journey through agnosticism to faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a really good read if you are ever interested. It really helped me as a young person when I was struggling in my faith.

Thank you for sharing your story with all of us and I hope you don’t mind me sharing a little bit of mine.

Sincerely, Jessi