“My life has been like the Titanic,” Ashley says, looking back through her past. Unlike the unsinkable boat that hit just one deadly iceberg, Ashley says she has hit many in her life. “The emotional pain became so unbearable that I tried to take my life more than once.” Now as a young adult, she is amazed at how God has kept her head above water through the storms she has experienced.
At a very young age, Ashley was told she was never wanted. Her mother even said she tried to abort her. Neglected and malnourished, even when relatives stepped in to help, she had already lost most of her hearing and had severe problems with her teeth. She was also extremely underweight.
It’s no wonder, then, that she grew up angry. Ashley says, “My heart was filled with malice and hatred.” Ashley was bullied and never felt loved, wanted, or accepted. One day she met a boy, “And the naïve girl that I was, I fell head over heels in love.” But he only shattered her already broken heart.
Ashley sank deeper into depression, never feeling cared for by family or friends. She felt like she could never do anything right. “It seemed like I was wasting space in the world,” she recalls. “I had no purpose in life. I cried my eyes out for years, sometimes praying to God for help, sometimes blaming God for my aching life.”
She finally decided to end her life. “I became suicidal,” Ashley says, “and tried to think of the least painful way out. All I wanted to do was stop the pain.” But she repeatedly failed. “Each time I realized I wasn’t going to die I wondered if God was saving me.” Just the same, she felt trapped. She knew there was a heaven, but if she couldn’t make it there, she didn’t want to exist at all.
No Longer SinkingThen, like Peter sinking in the dark stormy waters, Jesus reached down and lifted Ashley up into a growing relationship with God. “Amazing Facts helped to set my feet on a solid rock,” she explains. “I heard some of my church family talk about Amazing Facts. I became curious and through my own research on the web discovered sermons by Pastor Doug Batchelor on YouTube.”
One of the first videos she watched was called
Final Events. She was so intrigued that she kept searching and then found the Amazing Facts website. “I wanted to build a healthier relationship with Christ,” she says, “so I browsed the site. I couldn’t have been happier with the results. I don’t think there’s a better website to help people grow in Jesus.”
Whenever Ashley watched a sermon from Amazing Facts, she always ordered the free book offers. She continues to enjoy reading free books and articles online. “I’m on a limited budget, so I really appreciate how Amazing Facts provides lots of helpful information at no cost.” She recently watched
Revelation: The Bride, the Beast & Babylon. “I feel so educated after seeing this documentary. Its great how Amazing Facts explains prophecy in ways that everyone can understand.”
For people looking for answers to their questions about God and the Bible, Ashley enthusiastically encourages others to go to the Amazing Facts website. “Their material is straight forward and tells you everything you need to know about building a relationship with Christ."
Ashley knows from personal experience that no matter how deep you have sunk in the waters of despair, God can lift you up. “He will not turn you away. Amazing Facts helped me to see God as a loving Father instead of an angry and unforgiving master who punishes people. Now I know how much God loves me and cares about me.”
“Thank you Amazing Facts for making it possible for people like me to have a better outlook on life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless this ministry and all who seek it.”
Thank you for helping us to reach Ashley and many thousands more like her
who need to experience the love of the Lord and find lasting hope in the everlasting gospel!