Karina Huayta: So, in my heart and also in my prayers to God, I told Him that I would go back to Peru for my daughter and for my family to know, and God knows. I told Him that I wanted my family to know about this, this truth, I need them to know.
[Show open]
Karina Huayta: I was studying for my master’s degree in digital rights and social information. I’m a lawyer. I was there a year.
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Lima, Peru to Barcelona, Spain
Voiceover: An attorney from Lima, Peru Karina moved over 10,000km to Barcelona, Spain. Leaving behind her then 7-year-old daughter and family. While walking through the streets of Barcelona, Karina came across a building that caught her eye.
Karina Huayta: I remember, one day, it was a Tuesday, I believe. There was a Church, very grand, very beautiful, I said, “What’s that Church? It’s very beautiful.” I copied the schedule. I copied the schedule and said “I’m going to go and visit this Church someday.”
Voiceover: Even before Karina came across that grand chapel, she had already been searching for something.
Karina Huayta: I was looking for something different. I knew the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They invited me to their church, but I don’t know. It didn’t fill my life.
Voiceover: But it was that beautiful building which she had stumbled across on that Tuesday that really caught her attention.
Karina Huayta: I learned about the Church Of Christ. It follows all the Bible, not only for convenience.
Voiceover: Karina found what she was searching for inside the Church Of Christ, but her time in Barcelona was coming to an end, and the reality of going back home to Peru meant the possibility of losing the connection to the truth she had been longing for.
Karina Huayta: The truth is, when I had to leave, I didn’t want to go back, I really liked that place, the Church. I said, “I want to be here. I will stay here. God will do something for me. I want God to help me in this.”
Voiceover: Doing more to share what she had found inside the Church Of Christ is what Karina wanted, especially for her daughter.
Karina Huayta: I remembered my daughter and I said that I had to bring my daughter here, because when I started studying I knew that there was no Church in Peru. I felt a bit sad. So I said, “OK then, I will stay here for everything has a solution. I will stay in this Church, the Church Of Christ.”
Voiceover: Making the decision to stay inside the Church Of Christ, Karina prayed to God to help her introduce her family to the truth she had found.
Karina Huayta: And that’s how it was, so in my heart and also in my prayers to God, I told Him that I would go back to Peru for my daughter and for my family to know, and God knows. I told Him that I wanted my family to know about this, this truth, I need them to know.
VO: Back in Peru, Karina stayed in contact with the ministers in Barcelona, who consulted with the Church Administration about her situation and her desire to continue worshiping inside the Church Of Christ. Karina was given news that brought her heart much joy. That news? The Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, gave instructions that she be given links to join video streaming worship services.
Karina Huayta: The truth is that for me, I cried. I thank God because I don’t know what He did so that my family can know about this truth.
Voiceover: And with the words of God in her home, she uses it not only to strengthen herself, but also her family.
Karina Huayta: Because my family is Catholic, right? I felt worried because my family might not believe me. Sometimes they would say to me, “Oh Karina, you’re exaggerating,” they said and I’d say, “No, it’s written in the Bible.” When I received the news and said, “Now they’re not only going to believe me, they’re going to see what worship service really is and what’s right or how the Bible is read, how the Bible is used.” The words are there in our Church Of Christ. It is by this means, as I have witnessed in the Church in Barcelona or in the Church in Colombia. The medium, for me, I don’t look at it much. The word that comes across to me, that hits me—that fills me, at times talks to me, or comforts me. Even when I hear the word, it’s like I couldn’t leave this, brethren. I can’t leave this. If I left this, I don’t know what would become of me. I don’t know, I don’t know where I’d be, what I’d do. I can’t leave this because I love God. Well, Brother Eduardo, thank you so much, so much because you are the instrument of the Lord God. You lead the Church well; because sometimes it’s not easy. I pray that the Lord will always protect him, bless him, continue to use him greatly to continue to guide us. And I hope that one day you will be able to meet my family and pray a lot for us and for our country Peru, all Latin America and for all the world. I admire your leadership and the guidance you give each of us. Thank you so much.
