Amelia’s Search for Truth
It took me 40 years to understand the enormity of God’s love for me and to come to terms with the impact of His faithfulness, mercy and grace,” says Amelia. “When God wants your attention, He has a way of nudging you where there’s no choice but to pay attention.”
Amelia was raised in Tonga in the Methodist tradition, although her mother didn’t go to church. “Those were the days when children were seen and not heard, so I listened and a lot of spiritual seeds were sown, even though no-one was aware at the time.”
Each week her father took her to one church, then after lunch a neighbour took her to a children’s Bible-study program until, says Amelia, as the result of a tragedy, she felt God nudge her for the first time.
“A few days before my 10th birthday my father and four friends went fishing. A storm came up and they never returned. Not even the boat was found. I was distraught, and in my grief I called into the Catholic church to talk to God when no-one was around. I poured out my heart to God, pleading for their safe return and continued these private visits day after day.”
Such was Amelia’s attraction to the faith, she decided to become a Catholic. Her family tried everything avoid this, but such was her state of mind, they let her have her own way. But this resulted in rejection by much of her extended family.
“It hurt at family gatherings when I was treated like a leper, yet my desire to be close to God was more important than anything else in the world,” she says.
She attended a Catholic school in Tonga and later New Zealand when her family migrated. Amelia met her husband-to-be, who was then studying in a Catholic seminary. When he came out of the seminary, they were married.
Amelia’s thinking was greatly affected when, as a 13-year-old, she read a book on Mother Teresa, who captured her heart and imagination. “My greatest desire was to happily serve God the way she did. My life in Tonga was very comfortable, but the pull for me to join Mother Teresa’s order was strong. I wanted to work in the Calcutta slums,” she says, “but this didn’t work out.”
Rather, she had her own needs, which included time in hospital after mental and nervous breakdown. So, after 13 years of marriage, she left her husband and struggled to rebuild her life trusting in God. Once again she ended up in hospital.
“I was getting good at having mental breakdowns,” she says. “But each time my Saviour restored me, and I’d arise spiritually and mentally stronger. Without these experiences I would have been unaware of the sufferings of others in similar situations.”
Without her husband, she looked to the church for support. “They had courses for divorced and separated people, but I didn’t go. I continued going to mass daily, but on Sundays, after the sermon, I would come home angry, my spiritual and mental needs unmet.
“I started to ‘church crawl,’ on Sundays, praying for another one to fill my need.”
She tried a number of denominations and congregations, eventually taking on a leadership role. “Something was still missing,” she recalls. So, still unsatisfied and longing for a greater involvement in God’s Word, she once again left her church and waited on God for direction.
She was visiting a cousin in Sydney, who was attending a Bible-study group, and realising Amelia’s need, invited her to attend. She had no intention of changing her faith, but always interested in spiritual things, went along to listen.
“I liked what I heard and then the penny dropped! There was truth in what these people were saying! On the next Saturday, quoting Scripture, the preacher called God’s people to come out from where they didn’t belong. I knew God was answering my prayers—again.
“All the way home and through the next day I thought about that sermon. In my heart I began to observe the seventh day as God’s Sabbath. But I couldn’t wait to hear more, so I made some phone calls to find out what else this church—the Seventh-day Adventists—believed. The next day a minister phoned and he asked if I’d like him to visit.
“At his first visit I knew in my heart that God was leading and I attended church the very next Saturday. When I arrived, it struck me that I didn’t know a soul; I had no idea where to go! But as I approached the entrance the first person I met was an acquaintance. It was such a relief to see a familiar face!”
Amelia says that since that day, she’s never looked back. She continued her Bible study and was eventually baptised.
“I continue to live in awe of God’s great love for me and the way He led me through death’s valley,” she says. “Psalm 23 has a special place in my heart, but then, every word of the Bible rings true. I simply believe God waited till I was spiritually mature enough to accept His word and love Him as He deserves.”
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