Personal Testimony - The Holy Conviction


By Kaela Joseph


            Two years ago I was enrolled in an Anthropology class, for our midterm assignment we were directed to watch the movie ‘Avatar’ and to identify and analyze the cultures within it. Since becoming a Seventh Day Adventist I was taught to be weary of the things I watched, even for the purpose of school assignments. I was conflicted on what to do. That same day I went home and prayed asking the Lord for guidance, whether or not I should do the assignment. On the Sabbath of that same week, the church announced an upcoming seminar focusing on entertainment and I knew that this was a call from God; this would give me the answer to my question, “what I should do?” The seminar was filled with many interesting points that I had never heard before, such as the history of the entertainment industry and the leaders of it. After attending the seminar I was certain that the Lord wanted me to take a stand and tell my teacher that I couldn't do the midterm assignment.

            To do this, I knew it was going to take sincere and fervent prayer so that my teacher would be understanding of my beliefs and give me another assignment to do.


            I made my way to my anthropology teacher the next class day. I exercised caution in my delivery; I respectfully told him that I could not do the assignment and requested another assignment. After I made the request he was completely understanding of my religious convictions, he gave me an assignment that would allow me to share my faith with the class and the beliefs of Seventh Day Adventists. After giving me this new assignment, he made the following statement; "I believe this will be a good assignment for you, especially for you to build faith in your beliefs.” I believe this statement came directly from the Lord Himself and I couldn't be more thankful to the Lord for that event.

      While doing the new assignment I had to study the Bible closer than usual, as a result, I now possessed a greater knowledge of the fundamental beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventists. This was one of the greatest blessings for me, I got to study the Word of God for homework unlike in past times where I often struggled to find time to even spend 30 minutes in devotion and time with the Bible. When it came time to present my project, I prayed fervently for my classmates and my teacher to understand the words I spoke and that the devil would not be permitted to interfere with anything during the presentation, so there would be no distractions. During the presentation, I talked about Ellen White and her writings; I shared numerous scriptures that we used to support our faith, The Health Message, observance of the Seventh Day Sabbath. In the end I had many questions coming from numerous classmates and even the teacher himself. At the end of class my teacher told me how proud and interested he was in my presentation.

     That day I was amazed to see the way the Lord worked in my life and learned that it is better to stand for the Lord than to compromise truth. I ended up with an ‘A’ on the project and my faith in God increased. Though the Lord has done many things for me in my life, this is one of the greatest experiences I can recall, an experience where I significantly grew in the Lord and believed in His power.


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