But then Satan then taints your mind.
2
00:00:02,127 --> 00:00:05,046
So you start finding these things very
3
00:00:05,046 --> 00:00:05,839
lovely.
4
00:00:05,839 --> 00:00:07,882
Like, not lovely, but like you were.
5
00:00:07,882 --> 00:00:11,177
You find the dark things
beautiful in a twisted way,
6
00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,765
like you romanticize death, you know,
you don't see it as what it is.
7
00:00:16,766 --> 00:00:19,853
You see, there's some people in nice black
dress,
8
00:00:19,978 --> 00:00:22,981
white in forever
frolicking through the forest.
9
00:00:22,981 --> 00:00:27,318
I don't know how to say it, but,
yeah, it's not the real thing
10
00:00:27,318 --> 00:00:28,403
at all.
11
00:00:34,034 --> 00:00:34,617
Susie,
12
00:00:34,617 --> 00:00:37,954
welcome to the Anabaptist Perspectives
podcast.
13
00:00:38,538 --> 00:00:41,708
You're originally from Slovakia,
I believe.
14
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Which isn't where we are right now.
We're actually in Ireland.
15
00:00:44,419 --> 00:00:48,757
But there's a story there,
and we want to capture some of your story
16
00:00:48,757 --> 00:00:52,010
of how you came to Christ and the journey
17
00:00:52,010 --> 00:00:55,889
you've been on over the years,
and so, I guess, to start off with.
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00:00:55,889 --> 00:00:58,016
Yeah. Where were you born? What kind of
19
00:00:59,100 --> 00:00:59,601
did you have?
20
00:00:59,601 --> 00:01:02,145
A religious upbringing, you know? Yeah.
21
00:01:02,145 --> 00:01:04,272
What was the environment
you were born into?
22
00:01:04,272 --> 00:01:06,232
Well, I was born in Slovakia.
23
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I'm from Bratislava,
which is the capital city,
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and I grew up in the most densely
populated district,
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which was called Petrarca, which,
26
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has a lot of, concrete
27
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blocks of flats,
like the typical Russian ones.
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Oh, that's true, because they'd been
Soviet Union before, Yes, yes.
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So, yeah,
it looks very, very similar to that.
30
00:01:32,133 --> 00:01:36,554
And, yeah, I lived in
one of those buildings with my mom and dad
31
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and my brother and we were just like a typical family.
32
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We went to school,
my mum and dad were working
33
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Yeah, I had no religious upbringing at all
34
00:01:48,066 --> 00:01:51,611
because during the Soviet
times, religion has been banned.
35
00:01:51,736 --> 00:01:55,740
So there was like,
you couldn't have any, religious
36
00:01:56,116 --> 00:01:59,911
ideologies, like not just Christian,
but any other ones as well.
37
00:02:00,745 --> 00:02:05,208
So Christianity really kind of disappeared
from from Slovakia at that time.
38
00:02:05,708 --> 00:02:09,587
So no one was getting baptized,
no one was going to church or,
39
00:02:10,964 --> 00:02:11,798
you know, people were
40
00:02:11,798 --> 00:02:14,926
learning more about what
the party wanted them to know.
41
00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,888
And so, yeah, when I was born,
the communism fell.
42
00:02:20,014 --> 00:02:22,267
the world had started changing.
43
00:02:22,267 --> 00:02:24,602
I when I became,
44
00:02:24,602 --> 00:02:27,188
when I went to my first grade.
45
00:02:27,188 --> 00:02:30,942
That's when the religion started
to get back again into the country.
46
00:02:31,359 --> 00:02:34,237
They opened the first religious class.
47
00:02:34,237 --> 00:02:36,406
It was a Catholic class.
48
00:02:36,406 --> 00:02:40,076
And, I only knew about Jesus
from Christmas stories.
49
00:02:41,161 --> 00:02:43,538
a lot of the children
went to this religious class,
50
00:02:43,538 --> 00:02:46,749
but I didn't, and so you didn't. So why?
51
00:02:47,167 --> 00:02:49,460
I don't know.
I just didn't know what to do. There.
52
00:02:49,460 --> 00:02:51,212
And my parents were not interested.
53
00:02:51,212 --> 00:02:54,382
So I just was out with the teacher
because it was after school.
54
00:02:54,716 --> 00:02:57,802
So it was like an after school thing
that you can choose to go to or not.
55
00:02:58,553 --> 00:03:02,390
But I was very bored, so I was like,
56
00:03:02,390 --> 00:03:05,268
all my friends are in this class
and I want to go there too.
57
00:03:05,268 --> 00:03:08,313
And I want to learn about Jesus.
58
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Like it would be nice to know
what what is it about more.
59
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And he's a nice guy.
60
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Just those little innocent thoughts.
61
00:03:15,862 --> 00:03:18,823
And so I ask, mom, can I go?
62
00:03:18,823 --> 00:03:21,826
And she was like,
okay, she just let me go.
63
00:03:22,410 --> 00:03:24,871
I don't really remember any details.
64
00:03:24,871 --> 00:03:27,624
Like, did she have objections or not?
65
00:03:27,624 --> 00:03:30,627
But then it turned out
that this religious class was about
66
00:03:30,835 --> 00:03:32,378
children getting baptized
67
00:03:33,838 --> 00:03:36,841
because children
were not being baptized back then.
68
00:03:36,966 --> 00:03:41,095
So they wanted new people to start
attending church and stuff like that.
69
00:03:41,137 --> 00:03:44,140
So yeah, I was ten years old
70
00:03:44,557 --> 00:03:47,560
and I asked my mom, can I get baptized?
71
00:03:48,311 --> 00:03:50,772
Because I started to like Jesus.
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00:03:50,772 --> 00:03:53,358
He became my friend in a way.
73
00:03:53,358 --> 00:03:55,193
I learned how to pray.
74
00:03:55,193 --> 00:03:58,112
I was going to church with my friends.
75
00:03:58,112 --> 00:04:01,032
My family didn't go to church
because So just you then?
76
00:04:01,032 --> 00:04:03,952
Yeah, it was with your friends.
Yeah. And again, this is Catholic.
77
00:04:03,952 --> 00:04:05,536
This is Catholic, Yes.
78
00:04:05,536 --> 00:04:08,957
We just had church
very close to our house,
79
00:04:08,957 --> 00:04:11,376
so it wasn't a problem to go there
with my friends.
80
00:04:11,376 --> 00:04:13,586
And,
81
00:04:13,586 --> 00:04:13,836
Yeah.
82
00:04:13,836 --> 00:04:15,755
And then I ask, mom, can I get baptized?
83
00:04:15,755 --> 00:04:19,384
And she didn't want me to get baptized
because she didn't believe in it.
84
00:04:19,926 --> 00:04:21,511
She didn't think it was necessary,
85
00:04:21,511 --> 00:04:24,514
or she was worried that I was going
to deep into it or something.
86
00:04:25,265 --> 00:04:29,018
And she told me that
I had this look of horror
87
00:04:29,227 --> 00:04:32,230
on my face
that I didn't want to go to hell
88
00:04:32,814 --> 00:04:35,817
and so when she saw my face, she said,
89
00:04:35,817 --> 00:04:38,319
okay, you can get baptized.
90
00:04:38,319 --> 00:04:40,697
And I started the process
of getting baptized.
91
00:04:40,697 --> 00:04:41,072
I was,
92
00:04:42,115 --> 00:04:43,199
we had several
93
00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:46,744
meetings with the priest and,
94
00:04:46,744 --> 00:04:50,707
yeah, he was just
preparing us on the journey, and,
95
00:04:51,582 --> 00:04:55,920
yeah, I got baptized
and I still believe in God.
96
00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,172
I still attended this class.
97
00:04:58,172 --> 00:04:59,382
I was way older.
98
00:04:59,382 --> 00:05:03,636
And then you go to your first communion,
and then you go to confirmation.
99
00:05:03,886 --> 00:05:06,848
And that was
when I was in my teenage years.
100
00:05:06,848 --> 00:05:09,600
I was about 13 or 14.
101
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,978
And then the priest said
102
00:05:11,978 --> 00:05:14,230
that if you want to get confirmed,
you have to be very serious
103
00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:17,859
about your faith, because that means
you were beginning your journey to live
104
00:05:18,484 --> 00:05:21,487
like God wants you to live,
and to follow the Catholic,
105
00:05:22,071 --> 00:05:25,033
how would say faith
106
00:05:25,533 --> 00:05:28,202
and, you know, like the rules and stuff
107
00:05:28,202 --> 00:05:33,583
not just the basics of the Christianity,
but like what the church would say, right?
108
00:05:33,583 --> 00:05:35,793
Like what the Catholic Church
would, would ask you to do.
109
00:05:35,793 --> 00:05:38,296
Yeah. Okay.
But I started having different,
110
00:05:39,714 --> 00:05:41,090
different I
111
00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:44,135
would I say interests,
you know, teenagers.
112
00:05:45,261 --> 00:05:48,056
They're influenced by television and music
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and magazines and your friends especially.
114
00:05:52,268 --> 00:05:54,520
And so I said to myself that, you know,
115
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I am not serious and
116
00:05:57,940 --> 00:05:59,942
I don't think I will be able for it.
117
00:05:59,942 --> 00:06:04,989
And I would not be honest
if I went ahead and got this confirmation,
118
00:06:05,948 --> 00:06:09,535
and I told that to the priest
and he was very disappointed.
119
00:06:10,745 --> 00:06:14,082
But maybe he felt like, you know, better,
120
00:06:14,082 --> 00:06:18,044
to be honest, than doing it
and then just do it for the wrong reasons.
121
00:06:19,003 --> 00:06:21,964
And yeah, ever since then
I just abandoned the whole
122
00:06:22,340 --> 00:06:24,967
like I didn't like I did like Jesus still,
123
00:06:24,967 --> 00:06:27,512
but I just got deeper into other things.
124
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So Christianity
125
00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:32,975
kind of falls out of your life
so to speak.
126
00:06:32,975 --> 00:06:33,267
Right.
127
00:06:33,267 --> 00:06:35,520
It just regular life starts happening
128
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,399
and you get involved in other things
and just, it just kind of disappears Yeah.
129
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In a way.
130
00:06:40,316 --> 00:06:42,735
Yeah. Especially when you don't have it in
your family.
131
00:06:42,735 --> 00:06:44,737
It's very easy. That's true. Yeah.
132
00:06:44,737 --> 00:06:49,492
So so like you so you had a sibling,
you know, and your parents.
133
00:06:49,492 --> 00:06:51,994
So they never really got involved
in any of this.
134
00:06:51,994 --> 00:06:55,039
No, no, I my brother
used to make fun of me a lot about it.
135
00:06:55,581 --> 00:06:57,583
So, you know, I was like, oh, okay.
136
00:06:57,583 --> 00:06:59,919
I didn't find it.
137
00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:04,090
I know, I guess I didn't have
a relationship with Christ at the time,
138
00:07:04,257 --> 00:07:07,260
and I just knew it
from the Catholic point of view.
139
00:07:07,301 --> 00:07:09,679
I didn't really read the Bible.
140
00:07:09,679 --> 00:07:13,558
There were just the songbook
that we had or whatever.
141
00:07:13,558 --> 00:07:15,059
How the mass goes every time.
142
00:07:15,059 --> 00:07:17,770
And it's always the same here.
143
00:07:17,770 --> 00:07:21,566
And I didn't know much about
how Christian lives or anything like that.
144
00:07:21,649 --> 00:07:24,652
So I find other things to do.
145
00:07:25,194 --> 00:07:26,320
I got into sorry.
146
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,281
So Yeah, that's what I was going to ask.
147
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So what happens to you at this point?
148
00:07:29,615 --> 00:07:32,326
So you're in your
your teenage years? Yes. Yeah.
149
00:07:32,326 --> 00:07:33,953
So life continues on.
150
00:07:33,953 --> 00:07:35,746
You get involved in other things like.
Yeah.
151
00:07:35,746 --> 00:07:37,748
Where do you go then from this point?
152
00:07:37,748 --> 00:07:40,751
Well,
I started being interested in subcultures.
153
00:07:41,169 --> 00:07:44,422
So subcultures
as in the music subcultures,
154
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either the alternative
155
00:07:47,884 --> 00:07:52,388
scene where there was a lot of
it was kind of new
156
00:07:52,972 --> 00:07:58,144
because, yeah, the 90s
and the early 2000s were like kind
157
00:07:58,144 --> 00:08:02,023
of like the boom in the Western culture
coming into the country.
158
00:08:02,356 --> 00:08:03,065
Oh, true.
159
00:08:03,065 --> 00:08:06,194
Because again,
the fall of communism in 89,
160
00:08:06,194 --> 00:08:10,281
I guess, is when I would have or 89, 90
when that would really start up happening.
161
00:08:10,281 --> 00:08:11,240
Yeah.
162
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,243
So there was a lot of new music
coming in and
163
00:08:14,869 --> 00:08:16,954
I really liked it at the time.
164
00:08:16,954 --> 00:08:22,251
Like I like the rock music and different
things you know, the different bands.
165
00:08:22,251 --> 00:08:24,921
And I got different friends.
166
00:08:24,921 --> 00:08:27,340
And then you know
167
00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:31,344
there were interests like in different
like paganism
168
00:08:31,344 --> 00:08:35,890
was very like hand in hand
in with the subcultures and the music.
169
00:08:36,516 --> 00:08:38,726
Oh, interesting.
170
00:08:38,726 --> 00:08:42,021
So okay, I wouldn't have I guess
that kind of makes sense now you say.
171
00:08:42,063 --> 00:08:43,940
I just have never thought of that before.
172
00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:48,569
So when you started getting into the music
scene, did you start getting these other
173
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ideas, world views,
I guess getting pulled in with it.
174
00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,951
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
175
00:08:54,951 --> 00:08:59,038
And everything just started
to be so interesting and even
176
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the television started being like, like
the Harry Potter came out in the 2000s.
177
00:09:04,627 --> 00:09:08,381
And then there was like the different
like the witching movies.
178
00:09:09,090 --> 00:09:12,468
It was a lot of them in the early 2000s
and and on.
179
00:09:12,468 --> 00:09:17,139
But like a lot basically
with almost a a genre It was in a way.
180
00:09:17,139 --> 00:09:18,474
Yeah.
181
00:09:18,474 --> 00:09:22,937
And so that was like well I wonder
you know the internet came out.
182
00:09:23,521 --> 00:09:23,896
Yeah.
183
00:09:23,896 --> 00:09:24,188
You know
184
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it was very dangerous times I guess for it
for, for, for kids at that time.
185
00:09:28,276 --> 00:09:31,279
So yeah there is different
186
00:09:31,279 --> 00:09:34,865
people meeting in different places
and that had the same interests as you.
187
00:09:34,865 --> 00:09:38,494
So you learn a lot of different things
that you don't want to learn about.
188
00:09:39,161 --> 00:09:42,123
So you then find out that,
you know, witchcraft is true.
189
00:09:42,123 --> 00:09:46,127
I like what if we could,
you know, look into it with their parents.
190
00:09:46,127 --> 00:09:47,503
Sure. What can you do?
191
00:09:47,503 --> 00:09:50,006
We didn't know the real witchcraft. Where
192
00:09:51,090 --> 00:09:52,800
people hurt other people.
193
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:57,096
But just like this watered
down, like, a pop culture
194
00:09:57,096 --> 00:10:01,142
where witchcraft is kind of
for entertainment witchcraft.
195
00:10:01,142 --> 00:10:04,437
I like Harry Potter, for example,
and that's an entertainment thing.
196
00:10:04,437 --> 00:10:05,563
I mean, it's a movie.
197
00:10:05,563 --> 00:10:08,733
Whatever It wasn't serious in any way,
because I knew that there are
198
00:10:08,733 --> 00:10:12,612
demonic forces from from,
like, the movies, but whatever.
199
00:10:12,987 --> 00:10:14,238
But I believe in them.
200
00:10:14,238 --> 00:10:17,199
And so I didn't want to go deep
into that kind of thing.
201
00:10:17,199 --> 00:10:20,036
Yeah. So then there was like the white.
202
00:10:20,036 --> 00:10:23,039
The white, they call it
like the white witchcraft or whatever.
203
00:10:23,706 --> 00:10:25,124
It's all the same.
204
00:10:25,124 --> 00:10:28,794
But like, you know, the Celts
and the Vikings and their, their pagan
205
00:10:28,794 --> 00:10:32,798
things and death, you know, the druids
and the herbs and things like that?
206
00:10:32,798 --> 00:10:34,425
That was very interesting.
207
00:10:34,425 --> 00:10:38,679
But I again, I only saw it
as I was just romanticizing it.
208
00:10:39,764 --> 00:10:42,141
You know, it was just in that kind of like
209
00:10:42,141 --> 00:10:45,978
the culture, the music, the clothes,
the people, how they used to live.
210
00:10:46,354 --> 00:10:49,315
That's what drew me to that.
211
00:10:49,315 --> 00:10:52,777
So how how deeply involved then
did you get into this, did
212
00:10:52,777 --> 00:10:56,697
this turn into a major part of your life
going forward,
213
00:10:57,198 --> 00:10:59,700
you know,
through your teens, into your 20s?
214
00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:01,911
What did that look like for you?
215
00:11:01,911 --> 00:11:04,121
because I was from the capital city.
216
00:11:04,121 --> 00:11:06,749
There was a lot of places
where you could meet
217
00:11:06,749 --> 00:11:09,752
with people that are interested in this.
218
00:11:10,378 --> 00:11:12,004
Different things.
219
00:11:12,004 --> 00:11:14,799
Like there were people that were doing,
like, historical reenactments.
220
00:11:14,799 --> 00:11:18,886
And so they were very interested
in this mythology and whatever.
221
00:11:18,928 --> 00:11:23,391
Then there was this Gothic subculture,
and they used to have like,
222
00:11:23,933 --> 00:11:25,142
like different pubs.
223
00:11:25,142 --> 00:11:28,729
We used to go to different pubs, and we
used to have this thing called bat caves,
224
00:11:29,730 --> 00:11:32,733
which
were like kind of like a discotheque,
225
00:11:32,817 --> 00:11:35,444
which was like underground and in
226
00:11:35,444 --> 00:11:38,447
a, like a dungeon.
227
00:11:38,489 --> 00:11:39,115
And it was.
228
00:11:39,115 --> 00:11:41,534
Yeah, it's a bit embarrassing.
229
00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:42,076
Sorry.
230
00:11:42,076 --> 00:11:45,496
No, no I understand though
because there's, this is a significant
231
00:11:46,205 --> 00:11:48,499
undercurrent of culture. Right.
In a lot of places.
232
00:11:48,499 --> 00:11:49,542
I mean there's a lot of people
233
00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:53,212
that get involved in this
or become part of it, whatever.
234
00:11:53,671 --> 00:11:55,339
But then Satan then taints your mind.
235
00:11:55,339 --> 00:11:58,259
So you start finding these things very
236
00:11:58,259 --> 00:11:59,051
lovely.
237
00:11:59,051 --> 00:12:01,095
Like, not lovely, but like you were.
238
00:12:01,095 --> 00:12:04,390
You find the dark things
beautiful in a twisted way,
239
00:12:04,932 --> 00:12:08,978
like you romanticize death, you know,
you don't see it as what it is.
240
00:12:09,979 --> 00:12:12,106
You see, there's some
241
00:12:12,106 --> 00:12:16,819
people in this black dress, white
in forever frolicking through the forest.
242
00:12:16,819 --> 00:12:18,404
I don't know how to say it, but,
243
00:12:19,905 --> 00:12:22,366
yeah, it's not the real thing at all.
244
00:12:22,366 --> 00:12:24,785
Yeah.
245
00:12:24,785 --> 00:12:28,706
You just go on tours
like the horror movies and, you know,
246
00:12:28,706 --> 00:12:30,291
then, like, it's like
247
00:12:30,291 --> 00:12:33,335
it's like Satan is working in your mind,
but you don't know about it.
248
00:12:33,669 --> 00:12:34,920
You know, nothing
249
00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,923
significant is really happening,
but you find yourself getting, like,
250
00:12:38,048 --> 00:12:41,177
depressed
or you're not doing well at school,
251
00:12:41,177 --> 00:12:43,846
or you don't get on with your parents
very well.
252
00:12:43,846 --> 00:12:45,264
You're a loner.
253
00:12:45,264 --> 00:12:48,434
You just want to be with your friends,
or you want to drink or you want to smoke.
254
00:12:48,476 --> 00:12:50,936
You know, these kind of things.
255
00:12:50,936 --> 00:12:54,648
So that's where a lot of my friends
went down that road.
256
00:12:54,982 --> 00:12:58,027
You mentioned Gothic
257
00:12:58,277 --> 00:13:01,655
previously
was that also part of the picture.
258
00:13:01,906 --> 00:13:03,324
Oh yeah. Part of the story.
259
00:13:03,324 --> 00:13:03,741
Yeah.
260
00:13:03,741 --> 00:13:07,995
That was very much so like you would have
identified with that at an for a while.
261
00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:08,496
Yeah.
262
00:13:08,496 --> 00:13:11,957
Oh yeah I would,
yeah I would, we would go to,
263
00:13:13,417 --> 00:13:13,751
we would
264
00:13:13,751 --> 00:13:16,754
go to cemeteries and drink there
and it would be just
265
00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:19,423
that would be our pastime.
266
00:13:19,423 --> 00:13:21,425
And we just love places like that.
267
00:13:21,425 --> 00:13:25,179
Abandoned houses
and just things like that.
268
00:13:26,514 --> 00:13:29,391
There's that is
269
00:13:29,391 --> 00:13:32,853
I don't I don't fully understand all the,
the forces involved, obviously, but,
270
00:13:33,145 --> 00:13:37,483
you know, Christ coming in and defeating
death and conquering the grave.
271
00:13:37,483 --> 00:13:41,570
And, you know, either the core fundamental
doctrines of Christianity
272
00:13:41,570 --> 00:13:45,282
about how death is a great evil
that, God has conquered
273
00:13:45,282 --> 00:13:48,285
and Christ has conquered,
but then you have these other groups,
274
00:13:48,702 --> 00:13:51,288
Gothic, you know, neo paganism,
I guess, you know,
275
00:13:51,288 --> 00:13:54,834
some of these groups that are say,
oh, well, no, that's not that.
276
00:13:55,209 --> 00:14:00,381
They reinterpret what death is and turn it
into something that's they glamorize it.
277
00:14:00,381 --> 00:14:00,881
Yeah.
278
00:14:00,881 --> 00:14:03,425
There you go. That's
maybe the word I'm looking for.
279
00:14:03,425 --> 00:14:06,428
And I as a Christian,
I've never understood that.
280
00:14:06,428 --> 00:14:09,098
They just seems I don't get it at all.
281
00:14:09,098 --> 00:14:11,267
But hearing what you're describing.
282
00:14:11,267 --> 00:14:13,310
Wow. That's
actually starting to make sense.
283
00:14:13,310 --> 00:14:16,272
You know how someone could get into that?
Yeah.
284
00:14:16,272 --> 00:14:17,857
You know,
if they don't have the Christian framework
285
00:14:17,857 --> 00:14:22,194
of how death is viewed through, you know,
in the lens of Scripture, they say that
286
00:14:22,236 --> 00:14:25,364
they see it as a bad thing,
like they don't want to live in the world.
287
00:14:25,364 --> 00:14:28,367
Like, for me personally,
I didn't like the world that I was in.
288
00:14:28,993 --> 00:14:30,452
I thought people were judging me.
289
00:14:30,452 --> 00:14:32,413
I couldn't identify with people.
290
00:14:32,413 --> 00:14:33,747
So I thought, well, well,
291
00:14:34,915 --> 00:14:37,835
these people understand me.
292
00:14:37,835 --> 00:14:41,630
It feels good to be when you are down
and like they're
293
00:14:42,882 --> 00:14:45,509
the loner stage of life.
294
00:14:45,509 --> 00:14:50,723
It it is just appealing to, you know,
I don't understand it.
295
00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:52,433
Now either,
296
00:14:52,433 --> 00:14:54,476
but yeah, it was just some
297
00:14:54,476 --> 00:14:57,521
it was just,
I don't know, it was different.
298
00:14:57,563 --> 00:14:59,899
And you can escape into that.
299
00:14:59,899 --> 00:15:02,860
Reality almost like, like escapism.
300
00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:06,071
I hesitate to use that term
because I'm sure there's more involved.
301
00:15:06,071 --> 00:15:09,408
But escapism is very real
for a lot of people.
302
00:15:09,408 --> 00:15:12,661
They just want to get out
of whatever situation they're in.
303
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,748
You mentioned loneliness too.
304
00:15:15,748 --> 00:15:18,918
It feels like that's
an important part of this story.
305
00:15:18,918 --> 00:15:21,962
Like looking for friends,
looking for a place.
306
00:15:22,922 --> 00:15:24,214
Well, yeah. Looking for a place.
307
00:15:24,214 --> 00:15:26,425
A place to belong. To be a part of.
308
00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:27,593
Would have that...
309
00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:30,262
Maybe at the time,
you couldn't have articulated like that.
310
00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:34,600
But that would have been a one of the
driving factors for you, I assume.
311
00:15:34,850 --> 00:15:38,687
I suppose, because I don't know,
was I too emotional or a deep thinker?
312
00:15:39,355 --> 00:15:43,609
But I felt like that subculture
in particular understand me.
313
00:15:43,943 --> 00:15:46,946
Like when children are sad
and then they hear sad music.
314
00:15:46,946 --> 00:15:49,573
And I was like, oh yeah, that's
exactly what I'm going through.
315
00:15:49,573 --> 00:15:50,866
Even though it was just a really.
316
00:15:50,866 --> 00:15:53,494
Teenagers really
sometimes have silly problems. But anyway,
317
00:15:55,412 --> 00:15:58,415
yeah, I guess that's what gets you.
318
00:15:58,749 --> 00:16:00,084
These people understand me.
319
00:16:00,084 --> 00:16:01,835
They know exactly what I'm going through.
320
00:16:01,835 --> 00:16:04,713
They're not trying to help me.
They're just being. Misery loves company.
321
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:08,634
And that's how it was
when we were sad together.
322
00:16:10,010 --> 00:16:11,136
You know,
323
00:16:11,136 --> 00:16:16,266
was there any particular worldviews that
you would have started associating with?
324
00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:17,768
I mean, you mentioned the Gothic scene.
325
00:16:17,768 --> 00:16:20,771
Were there
others like, you know, New Age,
326
00:16:20,938 --> 00:16:24,108
different forms
of the New Age, movement, and
327
00:16:24,692 --> 00:16:27,486
there's different spiritualist movements
and so forth
328
00:16:27,486 --> 00:16:30,239
that tend to get wrapped in with,
as you mentioned, paganism.
329
00:16:30,239 --> 00:16:31,907
But were there any in particular
that you would have said?
330
00:16:31,907 --> 00:16:33,450
Yeah, I identify with that.
331
00:16:33,450 --> 00:16:35,661
I'm a part of this group.
332
00:16:35,661 --> 00:16:38,330
Maybe later on when I met my husband.
333
00:16:38,330 --> 00:16:39,373
Okay.
334
00:16:39,373 --> 00:16:42,376
So that story goes well in my 20s then,
335
00:16:42,584 --> 00:16:46,672
because I would still
was in the subculture until like the 2012
336
00:16:46,672 --> 00:16:51,260
when, like the end of the world and the
Mayans were you in on that, a little bit.
337
00:16:51,260 --> 00:16:52,136
Yeah. That. Yeah.
338
00:16:52,136 --> 00:16:54,638
That was I looked into that a little bit.
339
00:16:54,638 --> 00:16:57,641
And for those listening, I may not have
a clue what we're talking about.
340
00:16:57,975 --> 00:16:59,643
Yeah. That was really a thing.
341
00:16:59,643 --> 00:16:59,935
Yeah.
342
00:16:59,935 --> 00:17:03,397
You know, because the Mayan calendar
supposedly ended in the year 2012.
343
00:17:03,397 --> 00:17:05,524
And so that means the world's
going to end or something,
344
00:17:05,524 --> 00:17:07,234
or there was all kinds
of different interpretations.
345
00:17:07,234 --> 00:17:09,445
So I read some of the literature on it.
346
00:17:09,445 --> 00:17:11,572
Just be like, what what is going on?
347
00:17:11,572 --> 00:17:15,451
And yeah, that was
that was really a thing for a while.
348
00:17:15,701 --> 00:17:20,247
Obviously it's not anymore
because that has come and gone and
349
00:17:20,247 --> 00:17:21,081
but yeah, so
350
00:17:21,081 --> 00:17:21,540
it was that,
351
00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:24,793
it was that kind of a turning point
for you, like it was supposed to end
352
00:17:24,793 --> 00:17:25,586
and it didn't,
353
00:17:25,586 --> 00:17:29,214
it was more that it was supposed to like
transition into, like this better place,
354
00:17:29,381 --> 00:17:32,342
like the world was supposed to be
a better place or something like that.
355
00:17:32,342 --> 00:17:34,511
well, that didn't happen. No, it did not.
356
00:17:34,511 --> 00:17:39,141
You see, when you when you strive
for your problems to disappear.
357
00:17:39,141 --> 00:17:42,686
And the easiest way would be for the,
for the world to end
358
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,773
or just to transform into a better place.
359
00:17:45,773 --> 00:17:47,232
Oh, that is profound.
360
00:17:47,232 --> 00:17:47,524
Yeah.
361
00:17:47,524 --> 00:17:49,818
Yeah, that makes so much more.
362
00:17:49,818 --> 00:17:50,569
And then, you know.
363
00:17:50,569 --> 00:17:53,947
so no wonder a lot of people
really probably latched on to that,
364
00:17:53,947 --> 00:17:55,282
to looking for hope.
365
00:17:55,282 --> 00:17:57,910
Yeah, It's like, oh, well,
I don't have to.
366
00:17:57,910 --> 00:17:58,410
I know I'm
367
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:03,123
in so much debt now when this world ends,
or if we go into the four dimension
368
00:18:03,165 --> 00:18:07,169
or whatever they were calling it, I'm
not into that anymore, I am.
369
00:18:07,169 --> 00:18:08,337
Everyone's happy.
370
00:18:08,337 --> 00:18:10,714
I can start over.
371
00:18:10,714 --> 00:18:12,382
I don't know, things like that.
372
00:18:13,509 --> 00:18:14,009
So that
373
00:18:14,009 --> 00:18:17,054
that was a pivot point
then for you that year.
374
00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:18,764
Yeah. Because at the time then I know
375
00:18:18,764 --> 00:18:21,767
my now husband
and we were talking a lot about it.
376
00:18:22,017 --> 00:18:25,562
So I guess we were learning the different
377
00:18:26,772 --> 00:18:28,982
spiritual
378
00:18:28,982 --> 00:18:31,735
things about New Age,
like how there is, I don't know,
379
00:18:31,735 --> 00:18:35,239
I don't want to go into details
because I don't want to influence anybody.
380
00:18:35,614 --> 00:18:39,493
So but that that's where the new age
element starts coming in
381
00:18:39,493 --> 00:18:43,372
which, which also for anyone listening,
we did interview your husband as well.
382
00:18:43,372 --> 00:18:44,414
Got some of his story.
383
00:18:44,414 --> 00:18:48,544
So Enda yeah, his his name and I'm
not sure which order we’ll release.
384
00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:49,795
Which one will come first.
385
00:18:49,795 --> 00:18:50,921
But anyways,
386
00:18:50,921 --> 00:18:54,091
because he was describing
some of the new age and its appeal,
387
00:18:54,091 --> 00:18:58,303
you know, to, to people and, and I can
I honestly, I can see that
388
00:18:58,345 --> 00:19:01,348
like if you didn't have a community or a,
389
00:19:01,598 --> 00:19:05,310
the Christian setting or,
you know, close friends like that,
390
00:19:05,727 --> 00:19:09,106
you're looking for something,
you know, well, okay.
391
00:19:09,148 --> 00:19:13,360
To back up a little bit because he's, he's
Irish, you're Slovakian.
392
00:19:13,694 --> 00:19:16,989
How did you all meet
and then start doing this new age thing
393
00:19:16,989 --> 00:19:18,699
and yeah, walk me through that
394
00:19:18,699 --> 00:19:21,702
because those two countries
aren't exactly close to each other.
395
00:19:21,785 --> 00:19:22,286
Yeah.
396
00:19:22,286 --> 00:19:24,997
Well, I wanted to learn English,
397
00:19:24,997 --> 00:19:28,000
I went prior, I met him,
I went to England for two months,
398
00:19:28,750 --> 00:19:32,462
and so I wanted to kind of push off
and to keep going.
399
00:19:32,754 --> 00:19:34,381
And so I just was looking for
400
00:19:34,381 --> 00:19:38,051
like some sort of a chat room
that with native English speakers.
401
00:19:38,677 --> 00:19:40,012
And that's where I met my husband,
402
00:19:41,013 --> 00:19:43,015
and I was 16 at the time,
403
00:19:43,015 --> 00:19:46,810
and he was 19,
and the year after I went to Ireland
404
00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:50,522
and, yeah, we met as well.
405
00:19:51,648 --> 00:19:52,649
In Dublin.
406
00:19:52,649 --> 00:19:57,487
We met twice, and then we kind of just,
had a relationship online mostly.
407
00:19:57,487 --> 00:20:00,490
So it was a long distance relationship.
408
00:20:00,490 --> 00:20:03,702
And it went on, I was going to Ireland
409
00:20:03,702 --> 00:20:05,954
every summer holidays,
and then I will come back.
410
00:20:05,954 --> 00:20:07,372
And then eventually
411
00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:11,835
my husband would come to Slovakia for,
I think, about eight months or so,
412
00:20:12,878 --> 00:20:16,215
and we would just go back and forth
until 2014.
413
00:20:16,423 --> 00:20:19,426
That's
where I came to Ireland permanently.
414
00:20:19,718 --> 00:20:20,552
Yeah.
415
00:20:20,552 --> 00:20:23,180
again,
this is where the new age element starts
416
00:20:23,180 --> 00:20:26,183
coming in right after this
417
00:20:26,225 --> 00:20:28,352
point after the 2012,
418
00:20:28,352 --> 00:20:31,772
thing, you know, and,
and so that gets involved.
419
00:20:32,064 --> 00:20:34,524
Were you doing this,
you and your husband together?
420
00:20:34,524 --> 00:20:36,401
I assume there's that element.
421
00:20:36,401 --> 00:20:37,277
Yeah, yeah,
422
00:20:37,277 --> 00:20:41,198
yeah, because there was this lady that
we were influenced by and she had some,
423
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,869
Now, when I think about it, it was.
424
00:20:45,869 --> 00:20:46,620
It was real.
425
00:20:46,620 --> 00:20:50,749
I'm not saying it wasn't,
but the things she thought she was talking
426
00:20:50,749 --> 00:20:53,710
to was not,
427
00:20:53,794 --> 00:20:58,131
some ascended master aliens up in the sky,
428
00:20:59,007 --> 00:21:01,927
but they were demons,
429
00:21:01,927 --> 00:21:04,638
basically, she was channeling
and she didn't know about it.
430
00:21:04,638 --> 00:21:07,641
She thought she was talking to, like a
431
00:21:08,308 --> 00:21:10,560
like a group.
432
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,145
How would I say a group
433
00:21:12,145 --> 00:21:15,607
awareness of some sort like the, there's.
434
00:21:15,607 --> 00:21:20,529
Yeah, there's teachings on that, like
the divine conscious ness of whatever,
435
00:21:20,654 --> 00:21:21,571
you know, it might be.
436
00:21:21,571 --> 00:21:25,367
And we can access it through different,
different means.
437
00:21:25,367 --> 00:21:29,288
And that would that would be very part
of the New Age movement.
438
00:21:29,288 --> 00:21:30,038
Right?
439
00:21:30,038 --> 00:21:31,665
They all get jumbled in my mind.
440
00:21:31,665 --> 00:21:31,790
Yeah.
441
00:21:31,790 --> 00:21:34,668
You know,
But the basic theory about that,
442
00:21:34,668 --> 00:21:36,712
like everyone is a part
of this consciousness and,
443
00:21:36,712 --> 00:21:40,424
and you are here to raise vibrations
or something like that.
444
00:21:40,424 --> 00:21:44,344
And it's very selfish,
self-centered religion.
445
00:21:44,344 --> 00:21:45,178
It's basically,
446
00:21:45,178 --> 00:21:49,433
you are a god in a, in a center,
a part of your part of the divine.
447
00:21:49,558 --> 00:21:49,933
Yeah.
448
00:21:49,933 --> 00:21:54,980
Do you have the role to to help people to
to be enlightened or something.
449
00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:55,439
I don't know.
450
00:21:56,606 --> 00:21:58,859
But it's
very it's a very self-centered setting.
451
00:21:58,859 --> 00:21:59,693
Yeah.
452
00:21:59,693 --> 00:22:02,696
But again that just strikes me as
453
00:22:02,696 --> 00:22:04,781
you know you were searching,
454
00:22:04,781 --> 00:22:07,784
you were searching for something and
455
00:22:08,952 --> 00:22:12,622
without guidance or, or the right people
in your life it's easy to, to.
456
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:13,999
Well we should try this.
457
00:22:13,999 --> 00:22:16,543
Well and you know
you're trying things like okay is this it,
458
00:22:16,543 --> 00:22:17,961
is this the real thing. You know.
459
00:22:17,961 --> 00:22:20,964
And I'm guessing this, this lady
460
00:22:21,548 --> 00:22:24,885
that, you were connecting with
probably had many things
461
00:22:24,885 --> 00:22:28,305
that she did that sounded really
convincing or or were very convincing.
462
00:22:28,305 --> 00:22:29,431
Maybe they were the real.
463
00:22:29,431 --> 00:22:32,100
They seemed very real.
464
00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:33,852
I don't know
if you want to speak into that, but,
465
00:22:33,852 --> 00:22:36,938
because if there's dark forces involved,
I'm guessing there's
466
00:22:37,522 --> 00:22:39,441
there are elements
that are quite convincing.
467
00:22:39,441 --> 00:22:44,363
Very, because we got so deep into it
that we wanted to do it as well.
468
00:22:45,113 --> 00:22:48,116
So we paid a lot of money
to get the course.
469
00:22:48,367 --> 00:22:51,870
And she then she had like an, an,
a private recordings of these things.
470
00:22:52,204 --> 00:22:52,996
And,
471
00:22:53,997 --> 00:22:54,331
she would
472
00:22:54,331 --> 00:22:57,709
interview somebody in this state
and then she would
473
00:22:57,709 --> 00:23:01,088
interview somebody in a different state,
somebody completely different.
474
00:23:01,088 --> 00:23:04,049
And they will talk about what
that person left off.
475
00:23:04,299 --> 00:23:05,550
So it was very convincing.
476
00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,428
But she thought she was talking to
something that was good.
477
00:23:08,428 --> 00:23:11,431
Here she was channeling the same force,
478
00:23:12,015 --> 00:23:14,017
the evil force.
479
00:23:14,017 --> 00:23:15,394
And the penny dropped.
480
00:23:15,394 --> 00:23:17,104
And later on, when we found out
481
00:23:17,104 --> 00:23:20,440
that they told her that she would live
into a certain age or whatever,
482
00:23:21,191 --> 00:23:24,194
and she didn't,
she actually die quite tragically.
483
00:23:25,112 --> 00:23:28,115
And that was just like, oh, wow, they were
just playing with this poor lady.
484
00:23:28,824 --> 00:23:31,201
The whole time.
485
00:23:31,201 --> 00:23:32,828
It was very sad.
486
00:23:32,828 --> 00:23:36,832
But I would say we were seeking a lot,
especially because my husband's
487
00:23:36,832 --> 00:23:39,960
sister was very sick at the same time,
and we wanted to help her.
488
00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:42,838
We thought this would help her. Didn't.
489
00:23:44,548 --> 00:23:45,507
So, yeah,
490
00:23:45,507 --> 00:23:48,468
there was there was a hard time,
491
00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:50,846
Yeah I think
492
00:23:50,846 --> 00:23:53,849
humans are and have this
493
00:23:54,307 --> 00:23:58,270
drive to try to understand things
494
00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:01,273
or to cling to something
that will give them hope.
495
00:24:01,273 --> 00:24:03,275
You know
496
00:24:03,275 --> 00:24:05,944
I'm guessing you can you,
you and your husband
497
00:24:05,944 --> 00:24:09,406
would have been able to very much relate
to this and during that time.
498
00:24:09,906 --> 00:24:11,491
Yeah. Looking for something?
499
00:24:11,491 --> 00:24:13,285
Oh yeah. We want
because we wanted something good.
500
00:24:13,285 --> 00:24:16,913
We were also at that stage
I was just really tired of the whole
501
00:24:17,956 --> 00:24:20,959
the things that I used to like
502
00:24:21,668 --> 00:24:24,629
the ugly and the like then
503
00:24:24,629 --> 00:24:28,425
and this poor sister passed away
and then I seen the real face of death.
504
00:24:29,050 --> 00:24:33,221
And that it's not so glamorous
and so beautiful.
505
00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:37,517
It's actually really horrible.
506
00:24:37,517 --> 00:24:39,769
And that made me feel like,
you know, I'm not immortal.
507
00:24:41,313 --> 00:24:41,521
Yeah.
508
00:24:41,521 --> 00:24:43,398
She was very young. And look at me.
509
00:24:43,398 --> 00:24:46,401
I thought it's just old people
that get sick and die, you know?
510
00:24:47,736 --> 00:24:48,612
There was very.
511
00:24:48,612 --> 00:24:49,905
That impacted me.
512
00:24:49,905 --> 00:24:52,491
Really deeply.
513
00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:56,703
And that made me want to I,
I just started to dislike
514
00:24:57,287 --> 00:25:00,499
everything about it,
and I just wanted something nicer.
515
00:25:00,499 --> 00:25:02,250
Something better.
516
00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:05,253
But again, we were still quite blind
517
00:25:05,504 --> 00:25:08,673
at that stage because, yeah, that's.
518
00:25:09,090 --> 00:25:13,470
After that, when we were with Enda’s,
my husband's mum for a little while
519
00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:18,433
just to support her, and that's when the,
520
00:25:20,227 --> 00:25:23,188
the paranormal
started happening in the house,
521
00:25:23,647 --> 00:25:25,565
where we were, and I was there.
522
00:25:25,565 --> 00:25:27,317
Do you want to talk about that.
523
00:25:27,317 --> 00:25:28,193
Yeah. Yeah.
524
00:25:28,193 --> 00:25:29,194
Like what. Like what.
525
00:25:29,194 --> 00:25:31,947
What was that like. Because.
526
00:25:31,947 --> 00:25:32,405
Okay.
527
00:25:32,405 --> 00:25:36,451
So in in America you know in Hollywood
they like to make movies
528
00:25:36,451 --> 00:25:39,704
about these things
and oh, the paranormal, the ghosts that.
529
00:25:39,704 --> 00:25:40,956
It's that. Yeah.
530
00:25:40,956 --> 00:25:44,626
And on, one level, it's
marketed as entertainment.
531
00:25:44,834 --> 00:25:46,086
Right. It's just entertainment.
532
00:25:46,086 --> 00:25:49,381
But on on another level for a whole,
for another group of people.
533
00:25:49,381 --> 00:25:52,342
It's not. It's real for them. Yeah.
534
00:25:52,342 --> 00:25:55,845
And it's pretty easy to just be like,
okay, that's just kind of Hollywood
535
00:25:56,137 --> 00:25:57,889
trying to make money or whatever.
536
00:25:57,889 --> 00:26:02,936
But there is an element to this
that I think we can say is very real.
537
00:26:02,936 --> 00:26:04,187
I mean. Yeah.
538
00:26:04,187 --> 00:26:05,855
Like from what you all experienced,
539
00:26:05,855 --> 00:26:09,109
but yeah, if you want
to describe that for us Well, you see,
540
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:14,030
I knew that there and Enda was mentioning
a venue was even when he was younger
541
00:26:14,030 --> 00:26:17,784
or when they were just living there,
things would be happening to them.
542
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:19,452
And I was like, okay.
543
00:26:19,452 --> 00:26:21,997
At the time I was like,
oh, that's kind of cool. You know?
544
00:26:21,997 --> 00:26:24,541
As silly as I was,
because I couldn't understand the whole
545
00:26:24,541 --> 00:26:26,751
I couldn't
imagine it. It didn't happen to me.
546
00:26:28,086 --> 00:26:29,170
I don't think I even
547
00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:32,716
experienced anything
when I was in Slovakia.
548
00:26:32,966 --> 00:26:35,510
So it was pretty new to me.
549
00:26:35,510 --> 00:26:39,556
Like I knew these things happened,
but I didn't quite seen it in real life.
550
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:43,184
And so yeah there were a few instances
like I remember
551
00:26:43,893 --> 00:26:47,564
like the knocking on the window,
like when we were just, just chillen
552
00:26:48,523 --> 00:26:50,942
in, in Enda’s room and next thing
553
00:26:50,942 --> 00:26:53,903
it was dark
and I think his mom went somewhere
554
00:26:53,945 --> 00:26:58,617
and we just heard this real three knocks
on the window, and it was a split second.
555
00:26:58,617 --> 00:26:59,534
He opened the window.
556
00:26:59,534 --> 00:27:02,537
There was nobody there,
and there was nothing outside.
557
00:27:02,996 --> 00:27:04,831
So that was quite scary.
558
00:27:04,831 --> 00:27:07,292
We couldn't understand it
because we knew that demonic
559
00:27:07,292 --> 00:27:09,419
always does things in threes.
560
00:27:09,419 --> 00:27:11,504
So the three knocks. Was this like, okay,
561
00:27:12,505 --> 00:27:13,882
next thing,
562
00:27:13,882 --> 00:27:16,885
we had the kitten at the time as well.
563
00:27:17,427 --> 00:27:20,430
We clearly see a kitten
climbing up on the bed,
564
00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:23,808
just like the how the claws.
565
00:27:23,975 --> 00:27:25,852
I just trying to get up.
566
00:27:25,852 --> 00:27:28,688
And then I look across the room
and the kitten sleeping in the bed,
567
00:27:28,688 --> 00:27:32,942
its own
bed, fast asleep away from the bed.
568
00:27:33,568 --> 00:27:36,571
So there was like, okay, well.
569
00:27:36,655 --> 00:27:39,449
And it's still, you know,
I still kind of like, you know,
570
00:27:39,449 --> 00:27:43,328
I wasn't too scared about it,
but I started to be kind of curious
571
00:27:43,828 --> 00:27:46,373
in a way.
572
00:27:46,373 --> 00:27:48,708
Then Enda’s uncle's picture
573
00:27:48,708 --> 00:27:51,711
that he passed away
was turned to the wall,
574
00:27:53,004 --> 00:27:54,255
and no one turned it around.
575
00:27:54,255 --> 00:27:56,758
And his mom was very upset
about that hanging on the wall.
576
00:27:56,758 --> 00:27:58,510
No, it was it was...
577
00:27:58,510 --> 00:28:01,513
but it was just me and and his mum.
578
00:28:01,846 --> 00:28:05,225
And no one touched the picture
and it turned itself.
579
00:28:05,433 --> 00:28:09,145
I was turned to the wall facing the wall
and she was very upset about it.
580
00:28:09,813 --> 00:28:11,648
I was like, I would not dare to do that.
581
00:28:11,648 --> 00:28:14,401
You know, that's very disrespectful.
582
00:28:14,401 --> 00:28:16,903
And then another instance
583
00:28:16,903 --> 00:28:20,365
was I heard Enda’s mum calling him
584
00:28:21,366 --> 00:28:23,159
and he just would not go.
585
00:28:23,159 --> 00:28:26,162
So I just wanted to like, why don't you go
and like your mum is calling you
586
00:28:26,579 --> 00:28:29,040
and he said she's not at home.
587
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,585
And at that point I was like, okay,
well there is something going on in here.
588
00:28:33,086 --> 00:28:33,420
Yeah.
589
00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:37,632
And ya’ll both heard that No, I asked
you just I heard it and I came to Enda
590
00:28:37,632 --> 00:28:40,635
and I said, why aren't you going
like she's waiting for you?
591
00:28:40,677 --> 00:28:42,137
Oh my. Okay.
592
00:28:42,137 --> 00:28:45,849
That must have been, that must have been
terrifying when you realized.
593
00:28:45,849 --> 00:28:46,224
Wait.
594
00:28:46,224 --> 00:28:49,060
She's not even in the house. Yeah,
she wasn’t in the house.
595
00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:52,063
So somehow like then starting to be
596
00:28:52,272 --> 00:28:55,275
instead of, like, not be in the house.
597
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,778
We started to get interested
in the whole paranormal thing.
598
00:28:59,946 --> 00:29:03,408
And I know there were different
apps on the phone that you could download
599
00:29:03,408 --> 00:29:04,242
and like,
600
00:29:04,242 --> 00:29:07,912
you know, ghost boxes
and isn't like, like ghost hunting
601
00:29:07,912 --> 00:29:09,164
and some of these things like it's
602
00:29:09,164 --> 00:29:11,416
actually a thing
like I thought it was a joke.
603
00:29:11,416 --> 00:29:14,461
And then I started looking at I was like,
no, people take this very seriously.
604
00:29:14,544 --> 00:29:16,755
They do all you can get
all sorts of equipment for that.
605
00:29:16,755 --> 00:29:18,965
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly.
606
00:29:18,965 --> 00:29:21,634
I mean, in my naivete,
I just kind of a, you know.
607
00:29:21,634 --> 00:29:23,845
Okay. Yeah.
I mean, nobody takes this seriously, but.
608
00:29:23,845 --> 00:29:24,137
Yeah.
609
00:29:24,137 --> 00:29:26,806
Oh, no ghost hunting
and all the equipment that comes with
610
00:29:26,806 --> 00:29:30,310
it is very much a real thing,
which is terrifying.
611
00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:31,144
And Yeah.
612
00:29:31,144 --> 00:29:34,481
But some people just get some sort of
how would I say
613
00:29:35,023 --> 00:29:38,401
not enjoyment, but it's like an adventure.
614
00:29:38,401 --> 00:29:40,111
It's kind of like curiosity.
615
00:29:40,111 --> 00:29:40,528
Yeah.
616
00:29:40,528 --> 00:29:44,783
Like this is
but but even you said like before you went
617
00:29:45,283 --> 00:29:47,327
and experienced it
yourself. You're like, oh, okay.
618
00:29:47,327 --> 00:29:50,371
Like it didn't really it didn't. Yeah.
619
00:29:50,663 --> 00:29:55,043
As as something, wait,
this is actually horrifying and not okay.
620
00:29:55,251 --> 00:29:55,919
Because you might think
621
00:29:55,919 --> 00:29:59,672
that maybe it's just ghosts
and they may want to say something,
622
00:29:59,839 --> 00:30:03,301
you know, because I knew they were demons,
but I thought demons were different.
623
00:30:03,802 --> 00:30:04,677
I thought demons
624
00:30:05,929 --> 00:30:06,846
do worse things
625
00:30:06,846 --> 00:30:09,808
than just knock on windows,
you know, like, yeah.
626
00:30:09,891 --> 00:30:11,851
Now, now, you
you would have known there's demons.
627
00:30:11,851 --> 00:30:12,769
Like, why is that?
628
00:30:12,769 --> 00:30:16,773
From your experience, going to church
right early on or the music
629
00:30:16,773 --> 00:30:18,149
or something like that, but.
630
00:30:18,149 --> 00:30:20,568
okay.
But you didn't put the two together that.
631
00:30:20,568 --> 00:30:25,281
Hey maybe,
perhaps the demonic element is behind
632
00:30:25,281 --> 00:30:29,202
these things with the new age stuff
you're involved in and, and so forth.
633
00:30:29,410 --> 00:30:32,163
The connection hadn't been made yet
for you at this point.
634
00:30:32,163 --> 00:30:34,123
no, I didn't think that at all.
635
00:30:34,123 --> 00:30:35,625
That's in it.
636
00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:36,042
That's it.
637
00:30:36,042 --> 00:30:40,338
That's I think a very important piece
I think because I know
638
00:30:40,338 --> 00:30:41,756
there have been plenty of times in my life
639
00:30:41,756 --> 00:30:43,925
where I just thought,
oh, anybody involved in this stuff
640
00:30:43,925 --> 00:30:47,929
must clearly know
that they're involved with dark forces.
641
00:30:47,929 --> 00:30:49,305
And I've been hearing more and more.
642
00:30:49,305 --> 00:30:53,518
No, it's actually deceives
like, it's deception.
643
00:30:53,518 --> 00:30:54,352
Yeah, yeah.
644
00:30:54,352 --> 00:30:56,271
Again,
when I was interviewing your husband,
645
00:30:56,271 --> 00:30:59,357
he was saying we were trying to
we thought we were trying to do
646
00:30:59,357 --> 00:31:03,653
good things, and we were completely off,
you know, I mean, very dicey,
647
00:31:03,653 --> 00:31:06,823
you know, just just,
you know, clearly had it wrong.
648
00:31:06,948 --> 00:31:10,702
But at the time, it felt like we were
trying to do what was right, you know,
649
00:31:12,579 --> 00:31:13,580
Wow. Wild.
650
00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:14,414
Yeah. Yeah.
651
00:31:14,414 --> 00:31:18,167
Now, I think that these are really
important pieces because it's so easy to,
652
00:31:18,793 --> 00:31:20,003
misunderstand these things
653
00:31:20,003 --> 00:31:23,464
or maybe not take them seriously
or whatever the case may be.
654
00:31:23,756 --> 00:31:23,923
Yeah.
655
00:31:23,923 --> 00:31:28,803
So with the paranormal, situation
like the.
656
00:31:29,137 --> 00:31:30,471
Yeah, that must have.
657
00:31:30,471 --> 00:31:33,266
Did that have a pretty big effect
on your worldview and,
658
00:31:33,266 --> 00:31:34,934
and how you thought about these things.
Yeah.
659
00:31:34,934 --> 00:31:38,479
Because it introduced me to like, oh, wow,
the spiritual world is true is real.
660
00:31:38,688 --> 00:31:41,983
I still didn't think of God
or heaven or hell,
661
00:31:42,692 --> 00:31:46,154
but it just opened the possibility
of of life after death.
662
00:31:46,863 --> 00:31:50,241
You know that there, there,
there is more to life.
663
00:31:50,617 --> 00:31:52,619
Like you just
664
00:31:52,619 --> 00:31:53,578
made it, did it.
665
00:31:53,578 --> 00:31:55,747
I believed, like I just had an idea of it.
666
00:31:55,747 --> 00:31:58,416
But now I believe that
there is like when you die, you, you,
667
00:31:58,416 --> 00:31:59,584
you are still going to live.
668
00:32:00,835 --> 00:32:01,753
So we were then going
669
00:32:01,753 --> 00:32:05,465
into deeper into the paranormal
because I don't know why I was so curious.
670
00:32:05,548 --> 00:32:09,135
But yeah,
we watched hundreds and hundreds of them,
671
00:32:09,636 --> 00:32:12,513
and then we started
672
00:32:12,513 --> 00:32:15,767
to see a pattern in
how these things operate,
673
00:32:16,267 --> 00:32:18,853
how they just subtly start
with just making
674
00:32:18,853 --> 00:32:21,856
people argue or,
675
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,026
you know, sometimes
676
00:32:25,026 --> 00:32:29,364
paranormal things or, or demonic forces
don't just necessarily move stuff.
677
00:32:29,864 --> 00:32:34,077
They usually work on your emotions
and they separate people
678
00:32:35,370 --> 00:32:36,496
and, yeah.
679
00:32:36,496 --> 00:32:40,792
So start to see different patterns
and then different ways that help people
680
00:32:40,792 --> 00:32:44,170
who are dealing with these things,
how they were trying to get rid of them.
681
00:32:44,921 --> 00:32:47,924
So our mission was to get rid of it.
682
00:32:49,092 --> 00:32:52,261
And so, we started to see that,
683
00:32:53,554 --> 00:32:56,557
like these people, they were smudging
the place with sage and things like that.
684
00:32:56,557 --> 00:32:58,726
The things always came back.
685
00:32:58,726 --> 00:33:01,562
So we abandoned that idea
with a straight away.
686
00:33:01,562 --> 00:33:04,524
And then and then this man,
687
00:33:04,774 --> 00:33:07,777
he was
he was like a self-proclaimed exorcist.
688
00:33:08,486 --> 00:33:09,612
But he was a man.
689
00:33:09,612 --> 00:33:12,323
Like he believes in God,
you know, we know him. We know him.
690
00:33:13,282 --> 00:33:14,117
he started ordering
691
00:33:14,117 --> 00:33:17,120
these things in the name of Christ.
692
00:33:17,161 --> 00:33:21,332
And I was like, that's very interesting
because Jesus was in the new age,
693
00:33:21,916 --> 00:33:24,419
but he was just like an ascended master,
you know?
694
00:33:24,419 --> 00:33:29,257
Oh, so like, not divine in the sense that
Christians would say he is and so forth.
695
00:33:29,257 --> 00:33:30,842
Yeah, he would be divine, but more
696
00:33:30,842 --> 00:33:34,637
with the knowledge that he had, rather
than him being the savior of the world.
697
00:33:34,762 --> 00:33:37,890
Okay, that's a critical difference. Yeah.
698
00:33:37,932 --> 00:33:39,225
Yeah okay.
699
00:33:39,225 --> 00:33:42,145
And then we were like, well,
why weren't they saying,
700
00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:45,606
like, in the name of Budha
or somebody else?
701
00:33:46,232 --> 00:33:49,819
It has never come up in
any of those videos that we were watching.
702
00:33:49,819 --> 00:33:53,197
There was nobody there was called.
703
00:33:53,364 --> 00:33:57,243
They were either doing this shamanic stuff
or they were using Jesus,
704
00:33:57,535 --> 00:33:58,286
but nothing else.
705
00:33:58,286 --> 00:34:00,663
Like at least
what we have seen, there was nothing else
706
00:34:01,873 --> 00:34:04,500
but the name of Christ was working,
you know?
707
00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:07,211
And so I was like,
wow, that's that's very interesting.
708
00:34:07,211 --> 00:34:11,090
And at the time, we had this friend
that used to work with us
709
00:34:11,090 --> 00:34:14,135
and he was the, he is a Jehovah's Witness.
710
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,346
And, you know, he kept telling Enda that,
you know,
711
00:34:17,346 --> 00:34:20,767
these are demons, you know,
and they're like, yeah, okay.
712
00:34:21,225 --> 00:34:22,602
The ghosts, they're not demons.
713
00:34:22,602 --> 00:34:25,605
And, you know, and then so
and there was on the mission to prove him
714
00:34:26,314 --> 00:34:29,317
that he, he started reading the Bible.
715
00:34:30,693 --> 00:34:32,528
And,
716
00:34:32,528 --> 00:34:34,781
then he got interested in Christ
more and more.
717
00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:37,575
Oh, was he
was he started reading the Bible to.
718
00:34:37,575 --> 00:34:40,078
I want to prove this. This person
wrong. Right?
719
00:34:40,078 --> 00:34:43,998
necessarily that wrong but I just want to
learn more and yeah to have a debate
720
00:34:43,998 --> 00:34:47,627
because he, he loved to debate,
you know that friend in particular.
721
00:34:47,627 --> 00:34:49,420
So Enda wanted to be ready for him.
722
00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:52,673
So the more he wants to debate
the more Enda read the Bible.
723
00:34:53,299 --> 00:34:54,467
Oh. That's incredible.
724
00:34:54,467 --> 00:34:58,012
What what a, hey, it gets
you reading the Bible.
725
00:34:58,012 --> 00:34:58,763
That was.
726
00:34:58,763 --> 00:35:01,182
That's amazing. Yeah. You know,
that's amazing.
727
00:35:01,182 --> 00:35:04,936
So, you know, it says every knee will bow
in the name of Christ.
728
00:35:04,936 --> 00:35:06,604
And it did.
729
00:35:06,604 --> 00:35:07,480
And we went.
730
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,317
And then,
we heard that the paranormal activity
731
00:35:11,317 --> 00:35:15,071
which came back to in this mum's house
again, she was experiencing things.
732
00:35:15,071 --> 00:35:19,867
And so we said to her, well,
you know, maybe you can say to it
733
00:35:20,159 --> 00:35:21,536
to leave in the name of Christ,
734
00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:25,623
which is say, say, go in the name of Jesus
735
00:35:26,332 --> 00:35:29,335
and really believe it.
736
00:35:29,544 --> 00:35:31,587
And so she said, okay.
737
00:35:31,587 --> 00:35:34,590
And then one night she rang us
and she said
738
00:35:35,049 --> 00:35:36,759
now, I don't know, sorry.
739
00:35:36,759 --> 00:35:39,470
But she did see, like a figure,
740
00:35:39,470 --> 00:35:42,473
appearing from underneath
a blanket or something.
741
00:35:43,266 --> 00:35:46,269
And then she seen this hand
put towards her
742
00:35:47,228 --> 00:35:51,315
or going towards her, and
she was so scared she couldn't speak.
743
00:35:52,316 --> 00:35:56,487
And but she remembered
what Enda had said to her.
744
00:35:57,488 --> 00:36:00,449
And she did say
745
00:36:00,449 --> 00:36:03,286
eventually for it
to go away in the name of Christ.
746
00:36:03,286 --> 00:36:05,037
And she said it just went like.
747
00:36:05,037 --> 00:36:08,666
Like that was she
she wasn't a Christian? No.
748
00:36:08,666 --> 00:36:10,084
At the time. She wasn't a Christian.
749
00:36:10,084 --> 00:36:13,171
But she believed in the power
that God can do it.
750
00:36:13,504 --> 00:36:16,716
It's almost like,
do you believe that I can do this?
751
00:36:16,716 --> 00:36:19,802
Yeah. Oh, that is that is amazing.
752
00:36:19,802 --> 00:36:20,720
It's incredible.
753
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:24,390
And at that point I was like,
wow, Christ is real.
754
00:36:24,390 --> 00:36:26,142
You know, God is real.
755
00:36:26,142 --> 00:36:27,977
And it was like,
oh, we need to come to church.
756
00:36:27,977 --> 00:36:29,854
We have to find church.
757
00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:32,106
And we were just so shocked
758
00:36:32,106 --> 00:36:35,735
that that's where the Christian
journey for us started.
759
00:36:36,861 --> 00:36:38,070
that is kind of
760
00:36:38,070 --> 00:36:42,074
phenomenal to me, that the paranormal
or whatever you want to call it,
761
00:36:42,575 --> 00:36:46,370
and it's response to the name of Jesus
is really
762
00:36:46,370 --> 00:36:50,082
a significant part of you all
starting your journey to Christianity.
763
00:36:50,374 --> 00:36:53,586
Yeah, well,
that's not the normal path people take.
764
00:36:53,961 --> 00:36:56,047
Christianity.
765
00:36:56,047 --> 00:36:57,423
But it connected with you.
766
00:36:57,423 --> 00:37:00,468
I I'm getting a sense
it connected with you and your husband
767
00:37:00,885 --> 00:37:03,888
because you had been in this world before.
768
00:37:04,513 --> 00:37:09,727
This probably was really stuck out to you
as whoa, We've never seen this before.
769
00:37:09,727 --> 00:37:11,312
No. And it was just so incredible.
770
00:37:11,312 --> 00:37:14,148
Especially the way I believed her
when she told me to start.
771
00:37:14,148 --> 00:37:15,733
Because I knew, you know, why would you?
772
00:37:15,733 --> 00:37:17,151
Why would she lie. Yeah. She.
773
00:37:17,151 --> 00:37:17,735
Yeah.
774
00:37:17,735 --> 00:37:19,987
Like,
I have experience it myself, I know. Well.
775
00:37:19,987 --> 00:37:21,948
And at the time,
she was in such a bad place
776
00:37:21,948 --> 00:37:25,451
that I think that it was
manifesting in a bad way. So
777
00:37:26,619 --> 00:37:30,122
it it confirmed
her like it converted her to really.
778
00:37:30,122 --> 00:37:31,832
So she became a Christian then?
779
00:37:31,832 --> 00:37:33,125
Yeah, but we were very.
780
00:37:33,125 --> 00:37:36,295
How would I say
not a like we were Christians,
781
00:37:36,295 --> 00:37:39,548
but we were we'd still we're like
at the very, very, very beginning.
782
00:37:39,548 --> 00:37:41,676
So we still were in our old ways.
783
00:37:41,676 --> 00:37:46,806
Well, I was I, I don't think
I was reading a Bible at the time much.
784
00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:50,268
I just know I got inspired by my husband
reading it.
785
00:37:51,310 --> 00:37:53,980
And so we were kind of
786
00:37:53,980 --> 00:37:55,731
going on that journey together.
787
00:37:55,731 --> 00:37:58,734
And then after this, we found a church.
788
00:37:58,734 --> 00:38:01,737
And because we wanted
to learn more about the faith,
789
00:38:01,904 --> 00:38:03,906
but I didn't want to go back
to the Catholic Church.
790
00:38:03,906 --> 00:38:06,909
So any church will do at that stage,
791
00:38:07,952 --> 00:38:11,163
and it was very charismatic church too.
792
00:38:11,414 --> 00:38:15,751
So it really helped me to build
that relationship with God and Christ.
793
00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:18,212
But then,
794
00:38:18,212 --> 00:38:20,506
we were learning more about the Bible,
795
00:38:20,506 --> 00:38:23,676
and then we seen the heretical teachings
796
00:38:23,676 --> 00:38:26,846
of that particular church
that we were in involved with.
797
00:38:27,763 --> 00:38:30,683
So that was disappointing.
798
00:38:30,683 --> 00:38:33,311
There was like this whole Christian world
that opened up
799
00:38:33,311 --> 00:38:35,855
with all these different denominations
that we just were.
800
00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:36,981
So we were lost.
801
00:38:36,981 --> 00:38:39,984
oh, that must have been
incredibly confusing.
802
00:38:40,192 --> 00:38:43,279
Very confusing,
because neither you or your husband
803
00:38:43,404 --> 00:38:46,866
had interaction
really with Christianity to this point.
804
00:38:46,866 --> 00:38:49,368
I mean,
not not to a meaningful level, at least.
805
00:38:49,368 --> 00:38:51,996
So you're coming in with
806
00:38:51,996 --> 00:38:56,208
having read the Bible and some of the
things that a Jehovah's Witness told you.
807
00:38:56,459 --> 00:38:57,585
And that's
808
00:38:57,585 --> 00:39:02,214
and a little bit of Catholic background,
so you don't have much teaching
809
00:39:02,214 --> 00:39:05,509
or context, I guess I would say
for Christianity to begin with.
810
00:39:05,593 --> 00:39:07,720
Yeah, that must have been hard.
811
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,639
Yeah it was, but my husband has such
a great ability to research.
812
00:39:10,639 --> 00:39:12,099
Yeah, yeah.
813
00:39:12,099 --> 00:39:14,352
There's he had.
814
00:39:15,644 --> 00:39:16,604
Yeah, he
815
00:39:16,604 --> 00:39:20,524
could, he could discuss with this friend
for hours.
816
00:39:20,524 --> 00:39:24,862
Why what he believes in some certain
things is not
817
00:39:26,405 --> 00:39:27,281
the way the Bible says it.
818
00:39:27,281 --> 00:39:29,617
You know, because the Jehovah's Witnesses
have their own Bible.
819
00:39:29,617 --> 00:39:31,160
And then there is
820
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,288
the other Bible, like, Oh, I bet
those were some interesting conversations.
821
00:39:34,288 --> 00:39:36,457
They were very long ones, too.
822
00:39:36,457 --> 00:39:38,584
But, you know,
it was good for something like it
823
00:39:38,584 --> 00:39:42,171
was it definitely helped us in our,
our Christian journey.
824
00:39:42,171 --> 00:39:45,383
And then we had the problems
with this church that we were part of.
825
00:39:46,592 --> 00:39:47,968
Yeah, we were learning.
826
00:39:47,968 --> 00:39:48,803
We were still learning.
827
00:39:48,803 --> 00:39:51,514
We were still looking for answers.
828
00:39:51,514 --> 00:39:54,141
It was very difficult
in that church for us.
829
00:39:54,141 --> 00:39:57,520
Well because, because then that, that
must have started you on a journey of okay
830
00:39:57,728 --> 00:40:01,315
you've, you've read the scriptures,
you've become convinced that it's true.
831
00:40:01,399 --> 00:40:02,566
You're starting to follow Christ
832
00:40:02,566 --> 00:40:04,485
now like you said
you're in the very very beginning.
833
00:40:04,485 --> 00:40:06,695
Yeah. Steps. You know, of that journey.
834
00:40:06,695 --> 00:40:10,241
And now you have a pretty, complicated
835
00:40:10,574 --> 00:40:14,328
process of, okay,
what does church look like for for you?
836
00:40:15,704 --> 00:40:18,124
I can't even imagine
what that would be like coming in with
837
00:40:18,124 --> 00:40:22,461
with so little context about Christianity,
you would have so much to learn.
838
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,172
That must've been quite the process.
839
00:40:25,172 --> 00:40:25,589
was a lot.
840
00:40:25,589 --> 00:40:28,843
Yeah, it was like the church
where we were part of it was still kind of
841
00:40:28,843 --> 00:40:33,889
bells and whistles, like in the
in a way that you still felt like the
842
00:40:34,265 --> 00:40:37,977
it was like from going from the new age
on all the, the wonders and the
843
00:40:38,394 --> 00:40:41,147
and the paranormal and everything
where you could kind of see and hear
844
00:40:41,147 --> 00:40:44,150
and touch and so, you know, it was
845
00:40:44,233 --> 00:40:46,569
it was very similar in to that
charismatic church to, you know,
846
00:40:46,569 --> 00:40:49,572
people were speaking in tongues
and there was music
847
00:40:49,655 --> 00:40:53,325
and people were spontaneously laughing.
848
00:40:53,325 --> 00:40:57,872
And it was, you know, but it was not
in their eyes that that was that was God.
849
00:40:58,164 --> 00:41:01,167
There was the Holy Spirit,
there was the opposite.
850
00:41:01,709 --> 00:41:04,378
But I started feeling like, well,
I don't feel that way.
851
00:41:04,378 --> 00:41:06,380
I don't feel like bursting out
laughing, or
852
00:41:06,380 --> 00:41:09,550
speaking in tongues or am I not believing
enough?
853
00:41:10,342 --> 00:41:13,471
You know, if I, I,
I started just feeling that way.
854
00:41:13,471 --> 00:41:16,599
It's like I just couldn't
feel what those people were feeling. Ooh.
855
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,852
And that that must have been disorienting.
856
00:41:20,144 --> 00:41:22,563
Yeah. It was. And so I was kind of like
857
00:41:24,023 --> 00:41:26,108
how would I say I just had to go to God.
858
00:41:26,108 --> 00:41:29,111
Like how do, how do Christian live.
859
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,198
Like I know there's Muslims
and they have their communities
860
00:41:32,198 --> 00:41:35,993
and they have their different clothes
and they have their culture
861
00:41:36,494 --> 00:41:39,580
that they had their faith,
but they live in it all the time.
862
00:41:41,123 --> 00:41:43,250
I go here, and I feel good for the Sunday.
863
00:41:43,250 --> 00:41:47,713
And then I come home, back to my own bed
and my life, you know.
864
00:41:47,713 --> 00:41:49,298
Yeah. And I wanted something more.
865
00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:54,178
I wanted to live it every day
because it just felt right at that time.
866
00:41:54,178 --> 00:41:56,263
It's like, God takes
867
00:41:56,263 --> 00:41:59,266
the the darkness out of your eyes and the
868
00:42:00,100 --> 00:42:04,021
you want him more and more
and you don't find you love.
869
00:42:04,813 --> 00:42:05,648
I used to hate color.
870
00:42:05,648 --> 00:42:07,525
Like I was always
wearing black and stuff, and
871
00:42:08,859 --> 00:42:11,195
it just I started to enjoy things.
872
00:42:11,195 --> 00:42:17,117
I loved flowers, everything lovely and
colorful, and I just wanted to be in that.
873
00:42:17,368 --> 00:42:21,789
And it wasn't when I came back home
from church, like we had no community.
874
00:42:22,414 --> 00:42:24,667
Those people just went back
to their own work.
875
00:42:24,667 --> 00:42:25,459
And yeah, we
876
00:42:25,459 --> 00:42:29,463
then had a very complicated relationship
with the pastors and the people in there.
877
00:42:30,381 --> 00:42:33,092
The more we knew
and the more we were questioning.
878
00:42:33,092 --> 00:42:37,429
So and I was asking God
about how to Christian live
879
00:42:37,429 --> 00:42:40,558
and so, yeah, I seen people head covering.
880
00:42:41,350 --> 00:42:44,687
Then when I was trying to figure it out,
I think I just stumbled across
881
00:42:44,687 --> 00:42:48,107
one lady and she said she was a Christian
and she was head covering where
882
00:42:48,732 --> 00:42:51,735
I was on YouTube.
883
00:42:51,777 --> 00:42:52,695
Sounds like rain.
884
00:42:52,695 --> 00:42:56,156
Oh yeah. Yeah,
well that lady. really. Okay.
885
00:42:56,156 --> 00:42:57,366
So just searching.
886
00:42:57,366 --> 00:42:59,493
Yeah. On the internet
and you just find things.
887
00:42:59,493 --> 00:43:00,327
Yeah.
888
00:43:00,327 --> 00:43:02,663
So I was like, all that is interesting.
889
00:43:02,663 --> 00:43:03,581
Were they.
890
00:43:03,581 --> 00:43:06,125
When I looked at their vlogs,
they were a Christian family.
891
00:43:06,125 --> 00:43:07,209
They had their community.
892
00:43:07,209 --> 00:43:09,503
They talked about God all the time.
893
00:43:10,671 --> 00:43:13,674
They had all of this music or whatever.
894
00:43:13,674 --> 00:43:15,926
And I wanted
895
00:43:15,926 --> 00:43:19,346
and I, and I
so I learned why she's head covering
896
00:43:20,055 --> 00:43:24,018
and I wanted to
I felt like I want to do it too.
897
00:43:25,477 --> 00:43:28,105
And but I couldn't find anybody in Ireland
doing it.
898
00:43:28,105 --> 00:43:31,108
Like even in our church,
no one was talking about head covering.
899
00:43:31,859 --> 00:43:34,862
If anything, it was more like,
I don't know what they were thinking,
900
00:43:36,447 --> 00:43:39,283
Because Ireland would be
901
00:43:39,283 --> 00:43:42,286
at least nominally very Catholic.
902
00:43:42,411 --> 00:43:43,120
Right.
903
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,332
But beyond that it's actually
just pretty secular.
904
00:43:46,332 --> 00:43:46,540
Right.
905
00:43:46,540 --> 00:43:51,211
And there isn't that much no Christianity
as we would think of it.
906
00:43:51,253 --> 00:43:53,464
Right. The kind that’s lived out.
907
00:43:53,464 --> 00:43:54,965
And and so forth.
908
00:43:54,965 --> 00:43:57,509
It's almost more like a box
that's checked.
909
00:43:57,509 --> 00:43:59,678
You know, I'm a Christian, kind of like.
910
00:43:59,678 --> 00:44:01,972
Is that a fair assessment?
I don't want to.
911
00:44:01,972 --> 00:44:02,473
Yeah, there is,
912
00:44:02,473 --> 00:44:06,393
but then when you're like in the,
I would say in the Pentecostal circles,
913
00:44:07,353 --> 00:44:09,730
you do have churches like that,
914
00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:13,984
but I never like I did look like
I told you, it's not too bad, you know,
915
00:44:14,652 --> 00:44:18,322
but I just couldn't find anyone that
head covers, and that was my requirement.
916
00:44:18,322 --> 00:44:22,159
Like, if they do obey this from the Bible,
I'm sure they will obey way more.
917
00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:24,453
And they would take it really seriously.
918
00:44:24,453 --> 00:44:26,121
So are we just searching on the internet?
919
00:44:26,121 --> 00:44:29,458
Like, I don't know, head covering
Christian in Ireland and things like that.
920
00:44:30,042 --> 00:44:31,752
Nothing came up.
921
00:44:31,752 --> 00:44:34,880
And but then when I wrote the head
covering
922
00:44:35,214 --> 00:44:37,966
a bunch of Anabaptist people came up.
923
00:44:37,966 --> 00:44:39,677
So, there was.
924
00:44:39,677 --> 00:44:43,305
Yeah, that's what, that's what that's
what opened the door to all everything
925
00:44:43,806 --> 00:44:46,809
through all the struggles we had
and the searches of the searching
926
00:44:46,809 --> 00:44:49,603
of the different churches
and denominations. And we can be part of.
927
00:44:50,729 --> 00:44:52,398
And I really,
928
00:44:52,398 --> 00:44:57,027
I found this particular lady
that I really enjoyed watching her vlogs
929
00:44:57,027 --> 00:45:00,030
and the way she was presenting herself
and the.
930
00:45:00,114 --> 00:45:03,117
Like, she was wearing a cape dress
and she was wearing a head covering.
931
00:45:03,117 --> 00:45:05,703
And I was really interested in that.
932
00:45:05,703 --> 00:45:07,621
I was like, that's very nice.
933
00:45:07,621 --> 00:45:10,958
and presented it to my husband and
just like, what do you think of this user?
934
00:45:11,125 --> 00:45:13,293
I think she was like, she's a Mennonite.
935
00:45:13,293 --> 00:45:15,546
And then,
936
00:45:15,546 --> 00:45:17,131
so I was like,
937
00:45:17,131 --> 00:45:20,134
I wonder if there's any Anabaptist
in Ireland.
938
00:45:20,342 --> 00:45:23,345
And sure enough, there was
and I just could not believe it
939
00:45:23,595 --> 00:45:26,014
that there is church in Dunmore East.
940
00:45:26,014 --> 00:45:29,226
And so we have looked in their website
and then there was,
941
00:45:29,226 --> 00:45:31,812
listening to their sermons as well
942
00:45:31,812 --> 00:45:33,731
as you were trying
to figure out what they believe in,
943
00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:37,109
because we were just like going
from denomination to the other,
944
00:45:37,109 --> 00:45:39,236
and they believe in this,
but they don't believe in that.
945
00:45:39,236 --> 00:45:43,574
And these go to war and these, you know,
946
00:45:44,283 --> 00:45:47,286
so but then the Anabaptists, they,
947
00:45:47,619 --> 00:45:51,331
they value the Bible so much.
948
00:45:51,874 --> 00:45:53,959
We really like the way
949
00:45:53,959 --> 00:45:57,171
it's not just about the outwardly
appearance, but like even the, the,
950
00:45:57,296 --> 00:46:02,593
the nonresistance was very is like, wow,
they, they, they're even non-resistant.
951
00:46:03,594 --> 00:46:05,179
And so yeah.
952
00:46:05,179 --> 00:46:08,390
And they had, got a contact
with the pastor Dan
953
00:46:09,641 --> 00:46:12,436
at the time and
954
00:46:12,436 --> 00:46:17,107
they became really good friends
and he helped us to answer questions
955
00:46:17,107 --> 00:46:20,235
that we had that we couldn't
talk to our pastor about.
956
00:46:20,986 --> 00:46:24,907
And, yeah,
we then decided to leave the church
957
00:46:24,907 --> 00:46:28,076
we were in, and we came to visit here
958
00:46:29,411 --> 00:46:30,996
and this church here.
959
00:46:30,996 --> 00:46:34,917
And then that begins the whole that,
that next part of the journey.
960
00:46:34,917 --> 00:46:35,167
Right.
961
00:46:35,167 --> 00:46:39,087
Because ultimately, had to move
that I'm assuming from a different place
962
00:46:39,087 --> 00:46:42,174
to join the community here and,
and so forth.
963
00:46:42,216 --> 00:46:46,428
I'm guessing that this whole process,
this is probably a pretty long process
964
00:46:47,012 --> 00:46:50,224
from first coming to Christianity
to begin with, to ultimately
965
00:46:50,224 --> 00:46:54,061
where you are now here in the south of
Ireland, now in Dunmore East.
966
00:46:55,562 --> 00:46:55,854
That was
967
00:46:55,854 --> 00:46:58,857
probably a long process
about how many years was that?
968
00:46:58,857 --> 00:47:02,110
I'm trying to think I was pregnant
with my first child, so that was 2020.
969
00:47:02,611 --> 00:47:05,614
So I think we kind of made
the contact in 2019.
970
00:47:05,989 --> 00:47:10,327
And since then we, we, we were maintaining
our relationship with the church.
971
00:47:10,744 --> 00:47:13,497
And because we lived so far away,
972
00:47:13,497 --> 00:47:16,500
we tried to make it our business
to come every two weeks.
973
00:47:16,750 --> 00:47:18,919
But it wasn't it just wasn't working out.
974
00:47:18,919 --> 00:47:19,503
Yeah.
975
00:47:19,503 --> 00:47:22,381
And so we were like,
we know we have to make a decision.
976
00:47:22,381 --> 00:47:24,424
Do we want to stay.
977
00:47:24,424 --> 00:47:29,054
And who knows what Yeah, we will be doing?
978
00:47:29,429 --> 00:47:33,684
Or do we want to join this church
that we want so badly to be part of?
979
00:47:33,725 --> 00:47:37,604
Because we we, we liked
not just the community,
980
00:47:37,604 --> 00:47:40,983
but just the
you live Christ every single day.
981
00:47:41,650 --> 00:47:43,485
And I just really, really liked that.
982
00:47:43,485 --> 00:47:46,655
And it was like the answer to my prayer
that I was talking to God about,
983
00:47:46,947 --> 00:47:48,156
about how the Christian lives.
984
00:47:48,156 --> 00:47:49,700
And this was the answer.
985
00:47:49,700 --> 00:47:52,327
Wow. And, yeah.
986
00:47:52,327 --> 00:47:54,997
So we decided to move over to New Ross.
987
00:47:54,997 --> 00:47:59,751
At first because for a very long time
we couldn't find any house to stay in.
988
00:48:00,711 --> 00:48:03,589
So the the move was very dramatic,
989
00:48:04,548 --> 00:48:06,258
especially,
990
00:48:06,258 --> 00:48:09,261
Enda’s
parents were not very happy about that.
991
00:48:10,220 --> 00:48:12,723
So yeah, that's we moved there.
992
00:48:12,723 --> 00:48:15,767
And then we got baptized in 2022.
993
00:48:17,019 --> 00:48:19,771
So what a what a journey.
994
00:48:19,771 --> 00:48:23,483
You know from Slovakia you know and
995
00:48:24,693 --> 00:48:27,738
some interactions
early on with the Catholics
996
00:48:27,738 --> 00:48:31,783
and then on to these other things
you were part of, and then ultimately
997
00:48:31,783 --> 00:48:36,038
finding the scriptures
and how that completely changed your life.
998
00:48:36,413 --> 00:48:39,374
Yeah. Just completely. completely. Yeah.
999
00:48:39,416 --> 00:48:42,461
It is just a testament
to how powerful God's word is.
Speaker:
00:48:42,544 --> 00:48:44,087
Very, You know. Yeah.
Speaker:
00:48:44,087 --> 00:48:49,051
So I'm, I'm guessing
there's people listening to this episode
Speaker:
00:48:49,217 --> 00:48:52,638
that are on different points
of maybe a somewhat similar journey.
Speaker:
00:48:52,679 --> 00:48:55,182
You know, they're trying to find
maybe they're testing.
Speaker:
00:48:55,182 --> 00:49:00,062
Is is Christianity true or what
what church should they consider joining?
Speaker:
00:49:00,062 --> 00:49:02,689
You know what community should they
what should they join in?
Speaker:
00:49:02,689 --> 00:49:05,275
And these journeys are sometimes long
Speaker:
00:49:05,275 --> 00:49:08,445
and not always a straight path, you know?
Speaker:
00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:13,116
But what would you say to to someone
in that position to encourage them,
Speaker:
00:49:13,617 --> 00:49:16,620
or any advice you would like to give to
someone like that?
Speaker:
00:49:16,703 --> 00:49:19,373
Well, I’m not the source of wisdom
or like, you know, not very good
Speaker:
00:49:19,373 --> 00:49:22,709
and encouraging people,
but I would definitely say that
Speaker:
00:49:22,918 --> 00:49:27,589
please keep seeking
and there is no wrong questions
Speaker:
00:49:28,131 --> 00:49:32,219
and that God meets
you where you are and he
Speaker:
00:49:33,178 --> 00:49:33,929
he gives you.
Speaker:
00:49:33,929 --> 00:49:36,390
If you are serious about your journey
and if you're
Speaker:
00:49:36,390 --> 00:49:39,393
serious about looking for God,
he will show himself to you.
Speaker:
00:49:40,310 --> 00:49:42,980
If you're doing it for the good reasons,
Speaker:
00:49:42,980 --> 00:49:45,983
then he will meet you where you are.
Speaker:
00:49:46,108 --> 00:49:49,486
Be being in a Pentecostal church,
being out in the world somewhere.
Speaker:
00:49:50,237 --> 00:49:52,531
He will meet you there
and he'll lead you home.
Speaker:
00:49:52,531 --> 00:49:55,242
And just don't give up.
Speaker:
00:49:55,242 --> 00:49:57,619
Sounds like, faithfulness
Speaker:
00:49:57,619 --> 00:50:01,873
to what God is calling us to
is one element, but also patience.
Speaker:
00:50:02,082 --> 00:50:03,083
Yes. Patience.
Speaker:
00:50:03,083 --> 00:50:03,375
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:50:03,375 --> 00:50:06,253
Because it didn't happen
just immediately for you.
Speaker:
00:50:06,253 --> 00:50:08,463
Yeah. This was a long process.
Speaker:
00:50:08,463 --> 00:50:09,548
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker:
00:50:09,548 --> 00:50:13,427
It's nothing radical
like I always thought it would be.
Speaker:
00:50:13,468 --> 00:50:16,471
Just this profound. Radical change.
Speaker:
00:50:16,555 --> 00:50:17,931
But now I just see it's not.
Speaker:
00:50:17,931 --> 00:50:18,390
I don't think
Speaker:
00:50:18,390 --> 00:50:21,393
people would really handle it that
well if it was a radical experience.
Speaker:
00:50:21,518 --> 00:50:23,687
And yeah that's true.
Speaker:
00:50:23,687 --> 00:50:24,938
I hadn't thought of that.
Speaker:
00:50:24,938 --> 00:50:28,442
It’d be almost too much of an adjustment
all at once.
Speaker:
00:50:28,525 --> 00:50:29,484
I'd say. So.
Speaker:
00:50:29,484 --> 00:50:32,487
I think people just need time
and God knows that.
Speaker:
00:50:32,487 --> 00:50:36,450
He knows everybody intimately,
and he knows what works with other people.
Speaker:
00:50:37,284 --> 00:50:41,371
you know there's a
there in revelation it talks about how,
Speaker:
00:50:42,706 --> 00:50:44,416
Christ followers overcome
Speaker:
00:50:44,416 --> 00:50:47,419
through the word of their testimony
and through the blood of the lamb.
Speaker:
00:50:47,669 --> 00:50:50,505
And then you've definitely shown us
both of those today.
Speaker:
00:50:50,505 --> 00:50:53,216
You know, on, on this episode,
you know, that our testimonies,
Speaker:
00:50:53,216 --> 00:50:56,803
our stories have power,
because of what Christ has done.
Speaker:
00:50:56,803 --> 00:50:59,306
Because because of who he is,
not who we are.
Speaker:
00:50:59,306 --> 00:51:04,352
As we bring this, this story, you know,
Speaker:
00:51:04,603 --> 00:51:08,231
pull this package together and,
and bring this episode to a close.
Speaker:
00:51:08,273 --> 00:51:11,276
Is there anything else you would like
to leave with the listeners?
Speaker:
00:51:12,069 --> 00:51:15,072
I just pray that everyone will find
what they're looking for.
Speaker:
00:51:17,282 --> 00:51:17,824
Yeah.
Speaker:
00:51:17,824 --> 00:51:21,578
If you're if you're struggling,
I do pray that you will get in.
Speaker:
00:51:21,578 --> 00:51:23,455
You'll have peace.
Speaker:
00:51:23,455 --> 00:51:24,623
But God is good.
Speaker:
00:51:24,623 --> 00:51:26,541
And he sees you when he sees your pain
Speaker:
00:51:27,793 --> 00:51:29,878
and he will lead you home.
Speaker:
00:51:29,878 --> 00:51:31,379
Just be faithful.
Speaker:
00:51:31,379 --> 00:51:35,884
Well, Susie thank you so much
for sharing with us today.
Speaker:
00:51:36,218 --> 00:51:37,427
Thank you.
Speaker:
00:51:38,261 --> 00:51:40,847
Thanks for listening to this episode
with Susie.
Speaker:
00:51:40,847 --> 00:51:43,266
If you found this interesting,
you should go to our website
Speaker:
00:51:43,266 --> 00:51:47,145
at Anabaptistperspectives.org
where you can find all our content.
Speaker:
00:51:47,270 --> 00:51:49,022
We've recorded a number of other life
Speaker:
00:51:49,022 --> 00:51:52,526
stories on this podcast
and I hope you find those interesting.
Speaker:
00:51:53,026 --> 00:51:56,071
Thanks again for listening
and we'll see you in the next episode.