“Am I here because I have to be or because I want to be?”

Maybe you’ve asked yourself that same question. Natalia did. As a Salvation Army officer’s (pastor’s) kid, she went to church because that’s what pastor’s kids do. There came a time, however, when that wasn’t good enough and she had to examine herself to find out what she truly wanted. As young adult, Natalia found herself fading away from the church and from God. The effects of that really started to show in her attitude. “I have always been someone who was very into helping others,” says Natalia, “but I became very cold and unmoved. I realized there was a lot of anger in me.”

Though Natalia drifted from God, He had not drifted from her. He knew exactly what she needed and that was to be moved from her comfort zone. “My parents got an appointment to another province. It felt like my whole world was falling down,” she remembers. God used this time to draw Natalia back to Him. He knew what He was doing; it was through this move that a door was opened, a door Natalia didn’t see coming, a door to America. Natalia gained the opportunity to come to the States to work on the Christian Education team at camp. It was there that she discovered her passion for teaching others about Jesus. Though she would call herself an introvert, she comes to life when talking about Jesus. The passion begins to flow, and her reservation is stripped away. After finishing up at camp, Natalia began an internship at The Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) where she creates content for their social media pages.

Throughout this experience, God has been teaching her about peace and listening. “Sometimes we struggle with a lot of thoughts in our mind. Our minds are everywhere when we pray, thinking about the 50 different places we need to be. I have been trying to exercise a little bit more on being quiet and finding peace in those moments, making those moments with God be a moment of peace and quietness,” says Natalia. During these exercises, one song has recently come to mind over and over. It says, “Jehovah is Your name, Mighty Warrior, great in battle, Jehovah is Your name.” These lines repeat again and again, reminding Natalia that even when the world around us is in turmoil, the battle belongs to God. He is mighty and great, and it is in His hands.

Natalia will soon wrap up her internship at the ISJC and has accepted a position at a local corps (church), helping with youth programs. Passionate about Christian Education and eager to learn everything she can at the corps, she hopes to become an officer in The Salvation Army. “When it comes to talking about God, I become brave. I have a voice that needs to be heard.”

Favorites:

• Food: Pasta—any kind!
• Drink: Coffee is life
• Smell: Vanilla
• Color: Pink
• Book: The Diary of Anne Frank—”I read it when I was her age so that made it seem way more real for me.”
• Bible Character: Joseph—”I have always been intrigued by his story. Since I was a very young age, it really impacted me. I would not say just like because of what happened to him but also about how God used him. For me, as a kid, it made me feel like the power of God was more real than I had imagined before.”
• Scripture: Joshua 1:9 and 1 Samuel 17:45

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