Testimony by Christy Ann Dyck
I grew up in Mexico. My parents worked at a Christian camp (El Monte) with other missionaries. I had awesome Christian friends who supported me. I grew up believing in Jesus but it wasn’t very personal. I accepted Jesus when I was 10 but I struggled a lot with wanting to do more for Him.
When I was 13, after the camp got invaded and taken over, we visited our leaders and my parents were looking at pictures of the Purhépecha people and I looked at them too. I felt a strange interest in that work. Over the next few weeks I prayed and asked God if that was His plan for me in the distant future. Soon my parents talked to us about wanting to move to Michoacan to work with the Purhépecha. I got very excited about it and when we visited them I really enjoyed seeing everything. It was overwhelming though to find out that we were leaving El Monte and moving there within a few months. Soon we were working there, but again everything felt like routine and I didn’t feel close to God or that I was doing enough for Him. That continued for a while even though I really did enjoy it there.
Two years later we moved to Canada. It was quite a shock moving to Canada after growing up in Mexico even though it’s our ‘home country.’ School was an even bigger shock. The first few weeks/months were very hard. Looking back it amazes me how God worked in me through that time. Everything was so new and hard for me that all I could do was ask God to help me. Whenever I thought I couldn’t’ do more I would pray for God to help me and He would either make it easier than I thought it was or we wouldn’t have to do it. Whenever there was an assignment that I thought I would fail on I would pray for God’s guidance and I always made it. I’ve made a habit of asking for God’s guidance before every test or assignment that I’m worried about and I’ve done well every time even when I don’t know the stuff well.
I feel closer to God than I ever had even imagined possible. I love watching what He’ll do each time I let Him guide my day. It has amazed me how when I can’t do something and I ask God to take care of it, it simply happens. I love watching Him set things up for me and teach me new things whenever I let Him take control.
Looking back, I’m so thankful for all my experiences in Mexico. I’m also very glad that I came to Valley Christian Academy in Canada because God has been teaching me to trust in Him. He has shown me that I can trust Him and that if I let Him, He can do things that I could never do. I know it won’t be easy but I’m glad I’m here because He continues to teach me to trust Him.