“Such a big weight has been lifted off of me. Thank you so much! I am so thankful for Pastor Daniel and all of you!!”
It’s always a really special opportunity when we get to hear about Jesus transforming someone’s life…but there’s something especially moving about the stories of Jesus stepping into someone’s life from a very early age. We loved talking with Sophia this week – she’s just 18 and already learning what it means to follow Jesus with everything she has.
Sophia knew who God was from her earliest moments…but early in life, she also felt the immense cultural pressure so prevalent today to live in a way that is counter to God’s plan for sexuality. When our team reached out to Sophia she was so relieved to have someone to share the truth of what she has been going through all these years. Though she may be young, Sophia has already felt the burden of her own brokenness and of trying to keep her choices a secret from those closest to her.
She grew up attending Christian school and church with her parents, but as early as the age of 9, Sophia found herself already trying to fit in with her peers. She said, “Sexually immoral thoughts crowded my thinking. It consumed me! From a young age, I was always doing things in secret sexually, that other kids my age said it was not just okay to do, but was actually cool!”
Even as she was “fitting in” with her peers, Sophia lived in a constant state of anxiety for trying to keep up her Christian appearance too…all while struggling to live up to the church’s expectation of sexual purity, which was way different from what she’d learned from people at school.
She found herself in a cycle of attending church with her parents on Sundays and then going out with her friends in secret throughout the week. Sophia said, “I was choking my relationship with God. I hated what I was doing and knew that I was hurting God and my relationship with Him.” Â
But then Sophia heard a message from Pastor Daniel about sexual sin. She said, “Man, did it hit me through my soul! I could feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit!”  That’s when Sophia started to change her life around. She knew she needed to know and follow Jesus with all her heart and in all her decisions. Click To Tweet So she stopped looking at pornography. She started listening to Pastor Daniel’s messages in her free time. And now she “just wants to live the right way, pure and holy in the sight of the Savior!” Everything about Sophia’s life is transforming now, she told us.
Before hearing one of Pastor Daniel’s messages, Sophia had never shared her struggles with anyone. She told us, once she heard that message that changed her life, she knew she was ready to ask for forgiveness. She reached out to our team and prayed and felt freedom for the first time!
We will continue to be in touch with Sophia and partner with her as she walks out her journey with Jesus. We continue to be blown away and so thankful for the ways God is using Daniel Fusco Ministries to reach people right where they’re at, with the message that Jesus is real!