Hope Stories

Hi, my name is Mazz, and I look after the pastoral care for the women at Hope Church. I just want to tell you a little bit about myself.

Well, my story is that I grew up in a family where we went to church every Sunday. But we knew a lot about God, but we really did not know God personally. And that happened from me when I was in my early 20s. I was going through at difficult stage of my life, a time when I was really anxious. I was in a lot of turmoil and confusion and I was deeply unhappy. And so, I reached out to God. And in that moment, he filled me with his peace, and he gave me a sense of purpose in my life. And He let me know just how much he loved me. And so that set me on a journey to find a journey of discovering about who I was in, who I was as a child of God.

Fast forward seven years and what I went through – that first part was a defining moment when I made that decision. But another defining moment came in my life. When I came home from hospital with my fourth child and there was great joy in the house because after three girls, we had a son. But that joy was quickly turned into sorrow when on that very same day, my youngest child was killed in a tragic accident. And so, our house, which had been joyful, was thrown into a time of deep mourning.

But do you know, because I had a relationship with Jesus, a personal relationship with him. He took me through that. He walked with me through that time of grief and he healed my broken heart. And dare I say, he even gave me joy at that time. The joy was that I knew that my child was with him and that I would see her again one day.

And so, God, as I look back now, I am nearly 70. And as I look back on my life, I can see how God has been so faithful, always so faithful to me. He has never let me down. And he will never let you down. If you are going through some time in your life like I was, reach out to him because he said, those who seek me will find me.