First of all, I´m going to tell how I became a Christ follower.
I´m Brazilian and live in Brazil. Due to the school where I studied during my childhood, I became a Catholic, even though my parents didn´t believe in God. But as I reached my adolescence I began to share my parents ideas. At 17 I traveled to California through the Rotary Club Student Exchange program. There I was also hosted by a non-Christian family. But it was through my high School friends that I was invited to go to a Christian church (my father back in Brazil had told me to have new experiences and be part of new things, and it was exactly what I did!). Firstly I was going to church because my curiosity, to make new friends and know new things. I still had no intension of sharing that faith.
The amazing thing is that God knows exactly how to get close to each one of us. In my case two things were necessary. The first one was to be away from all the influence of family and friends I would have in my home land that could keep me separated from Him. Second was to teach me that the Bible was not a fairy tale, but a trustworthy document for everything that is written in it.
In my case, as God planed every detail, when an American friend invited me to his church, it was exactly when the Bible study youth group was learning about Science, Bible, Creationism and Evolutionism. I found out that scientific and archaeological explanations exists for many things that are written in the Sacred Book. The pastor from that church also gave me a book called Evidences that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell. This book contained archaeological evidences about many biblical facts. It's not that I became fully convinced about everything and had every one of my questions answered, but it was enough to open my heart to what is the most important of all, salvation in Christ by faith.
From that day on I started to have many conversations with the pastor, asking tough questions. One question was about the reason why he thought the Christian faith was the was right one among many others. Every Wednesday night, during the youth group meetings, I would stay longer than the others, having long and deep conversations with the Pastor that, thank God, had all the wisdom and patience necessary. He helped me to realize that God loved me a lot and because of this love he had taken me to a distant land where I would find good Christian friends that would lead me to Him. These friends took me to a church that was talking about things I needed to know in order to open my mind.
It was in a Wednesday night that I made my decision to receive Christ in my heart, but it was only on the following day that I prayed with my friends in the High School, asking Jesus to forgive my sins and be my guide. The feeling of the first love, as it's said in the Bible, invaded all my heart in a way that it was clear to me that the presence of God was inside me. I could feel His peace, His joy, enthusiasm and love for the others.
But the way God had orchestrated my conversion was not over yet. In my American church, a small community in a small town with only about 25000 inhabitants, there was another Brazilian that, because of a divine coincidence, came from the same city where I lived in Brazil. When I returned to my country his family reached out to me and invited me to their church. This same church was so right for me that I have attended there since 1996. And most of the concerns that I had before coming back to Brazil, such as good friends and good religious leaders were fulfilled in this community. Even my wife is from this church.
Well, this is my story. This was my journey. Thanks Father.
