I Thought I Was Doing Well Until …
A Personal Testimony
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As a person born into a Muslim family, I was mandated to only pray to Allah. As for me, at the age of five years old, I battled alone sexual abuse that clothed me with shame and blame. As a child, I fantasized about a divine power to rescue me from my ordeal. I pleaded to Allah for help; Jesus showed up. Jesus picked me up. He soothed my pain and clothed me with love. For five years, Jesus walked with me. As a child, I felt God's love and grace.
Attending a Christian Kindergarten, I memorized the Lord's Prayer. Of course, I didn't understand the meaning of the words, but I loved addressing God, my Father. Please understand me; I loved my dad with all my heart. My dad was the most caring and loving dad you would ever know. My good and loving relationship with my dad helped me trust the fatherhood of God. And yet, God's love was very different. I tasted His unconditional and everlasting love. I felt the power in His name.
Through the Lord's prayer, I understood that God created me to have with me a Father-daughter relationship. His promises to protect me and to forgive me made me long to belong to God as His child. How could I have all this knowledge at the age of five years old? I don't know. How could I believe with conviction that Jesus is the true God? I don't know. I just believed. The faith I had as a child is a mystery. When the Lord Jesus called me to follow Him in April 1996, I answered the call. I embarked on a journey to reinforce my child-faith on a new foundation based on the knowledge of the Word of God and understanding the scriptures.
The book is a story of freedom from childhood bondage. You will walk into my healing journey from deep scars caused by the sexual abuse that I endured at five years old. I don't credit my childhood trauma for turning my back against Islam. I cried to Allah for help, and when I got no response, I turned to my Christian friends' God, Jesus. What made me turn to Jesus? I don't know. From that moment, my journey of faith with Jesus started. Deep in my heart, I believed He was the one and only one God. How did I get this knowledge? I don't know.
When the abuse ended, I succumbed to my family's punishments to stop praying to Jesus. At the same time, I turned my back on Islam and sailed through life, believing in myself alone. I worshiped my 'Almighty Self' and idolized my professional victories. At one point, I surrounded myself by different man-made religions and gods. And, each claimed the 'true' God. What is the meaning of 'true' God? How to identify the 'true' God? Is Allah the 'true' God? Is Jesus the 'true' God? How does one choose the 'true' God? A friend asked me once how I would recognize the 'true' God. I said: "if there is a 'true' God, He will come to me. He will draw me to Himself. I had it with chasing a rainbow of spiritualism. " "Still," she said, "how would you know that He, who is drawing you to Himself, is the 'true' God?" I said: "If His presence is magnetizing. He performs a unique supernatural miracle that transforms me instantaneously into a believing person. Only then will I know that He is the real and 'true' God, and I will follow Him." In my mind, I laid down not only a bold condition but also an impossible one.
In the early part of 1996, three disasters hit me, all at once. I was desperate for a miracle. In my despair, I gave Allah a second chance. I reached out to Him with pleas for help, but my prayer stuck in my throat. I haven't prayed to Allah for years. So why now? Frustrated, I called for the true God of this universe to show Himself to me and help me. On April 28, 1996, unexpectedly and supernaturally, the Holy Spirit transported me from home to Westminster Chapel ( 9 miles) to receive Jesus' calling to follow Him. The moment I heard the Lord's voice whispering in my ears, "Follow me," a switch has turned on inside me, birthing divine faith with power. Then and there, the childhood faith in Jesus, that was dormant for decades came alive! I confessed Jesus as my Lord, the true God, and my Savior. Publicly, I converted from Islam to Christianity. To confirm my calling, the Lord revealed to me the meaning of the dreams that I had a few weeks before my conversion, in which I heard a voice calling a "candle." Wait until you read Chapter 13 about my biggest surprise when I found out that the name of the Senior Pastor of Westminster Chapel is R.T. Kendall! Following my conversion, the Lord performed many miracles in my life. One of the miracles was my baptism in the Holy Spirit in which the Lord gave me signs I asked to remove all doubts about my calling.
The other miracle was my healing from a threatening tumor. Since my confession of Jesus, I never looked back regretfully or moved forward fearfully. My conversion inspired me to write my story. By reading my testimony, you will travel with me through the supernatural transformation and find out how Jesus delivered me. Like peeling an onion, God peeled off my old self. He removed the old baggage of pain and sadness that encamped on me for decades and filled my soul and spirit with the joy of finding true love, His everlasting love. He gave me the courage to come out of the spiritual and emotional dungeon I lived in for years. Jesus helped me remove the many masks off my face. He tore down the brick walls behind which I hid the broken child in me for decades, and He liberated me into a thriving woman!
One of my studies' significant outcomes was shifting my perspectives from seeing life from my own human finite microscopic lenses to GOD's infinite telescopic lenses. Soon after my conversion, I dived into studying the scriptures. I loved the mystery of the Word and the metaphors Jesus used in the Parables. I relied on the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of God's Word and messages. I desperately wanted to explore the Oneness of the Godhead within the Trinity.
The book is a synthesis of my personal journey of how my studying of the Bible took me to discover and witness the love of God the Father, the deity and grace of Jesus as God and Man, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit.
My story is my case for Christ, the foundation of my life, and the pillar of my faith.
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About the Book
I gave the book the title “I thought I was doing well, until…” because, from the age of five years old, that was how I felt until I faced the reality that I was living a lie.
My story started on April 28, 1996, when unexpectedly and supernaturally, Jesus appeared to me and touched me! When Jesus said: “Follow me,” I followed Him without any hesitation and converted from Islam to Christianity.
The book is a synthesis of my journey of discovering the Trinity, the Godhead. You will walk with me through the steps which my studying of the Bible took me to know God as a Father, the divinity of Jesus as God and Man, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. There was never a dull moment in my journey during which I witnessed how God worked miracles in my life, how He showed me that there is a beauty in brokenness and how took me from a place of despair and hatred to hope and love. One of the significant outcomes of my studies is the shifting of my perspectives from seeing life from my own human finite microscopic lenses to GOD’s infinite telescopic lenses.
About the Author
Miah Williams, (Miah Christine De La Plume, known to her friends and family following her conversion) was born in Syria to a Muslim family with a silver spoon in her mouth. Up until the age of five, she lived a beautiful childhood. Unfortunately, her destiny changed drastically at the age of five when she fell prey to horrific sexual abuse that lasted five years. As a child, she couldn’t understand why no one came to her rescue and stopped the abuse. She grew up ashamed and angry, revolting against everything and everyone. She turned her back on Islam, although she didn’t profess atheism. Who wants a religion? She concluded. She embraced the ‘ME-ME-ME’ generation movement. She worshiped her ‘Almighty Self,” idolized her career successes, and hid the shadow of her sexual abuse behind secret addiction to “workaholism.”
Throughout the years, Miah thought she was doing well until life, unexpectedly, took a sharp turn and threatened her physical and financial health. The dire circumstances that hit her led her to face the reality that she needed divine intervention to help her; she called on Allah, Jesus showed up!