Testimony Mere, Cook Islands

God works in mysterious ways and words cannot explain or express how much God has worked in my life and how thankful I am that he knows me. I hope that reading my story will not only inspire you in many ways but also open your heart to search for God wholeheartedly because he is real. My name is Mere Thomson and this is my story.rnrnI grew up in a Seventh Day Adventist home in Aitutaki with my grandparents and it was my grandmother Naomi who instilled in me key values such as going to church on Sabbath, to pray, read the bible, to stand up in front of the church, to sing, speak and to run Church programs and to always put God in everything you do. She taught me to be confident and to stand up for what I believe in and to speak my mind. I never realized how important these values were until later when I grew up. My grandmother was my role model and my greatest mentor she is an elder in the Arutanga Seventh Day Adventist Church in Aitutaki and also the former retired Principal of the Seventh Day Adventist School in Aitutaki also. She is a strong woman and someone who I looked up to. As I got older my parents wanted me to go back and stay with them on the main land because the level of education was higher in Rarotonga than in Aitutaki, and so I went to Rarotonga to my parents. It was completely different and not the lifestyle I was accustomed to because my parents didn’t go to church, but I was persistent and would ask my parents to take me to church. I would always call my grandmother and ask if I can go back home but she would always tell me to be patient and that she wants the best education for me that is why I can’t go back home. I was so upset and lonely and I would at times cry because I wanted to go home to my grandmother.rnrnAs I got older into my teenage years I was very observant of the things that were happening around me and I saw how people were lured into the night life and drinking and smoking they looked so happy I would think to myself. I wanted to be happy. At the age of 13 I started drinking and partying, I was never the kind of person to be lured into peer pressure but I saw drinking and partying as a way to be happy because I was unhappy. I was still going to church but it was only once in a blue moon and it wasn’t very genuine. I hated the routines and rules of going to church but I loved doing things for God such as standing up on stage to do sermons, to sing, pray and to run A.ys programs. It also got to a point where I was only going to church to keep my grandmother happy and to be involved in a church event. When I look back now I realize that what I didn’t do was wholeheartedly search for God or establish a relationship with him.rnrnAfter I completed year 13 in Tereora College I went to New Zealand for University. I became homesick and I missed my family especially my grandmother very much. I started to read the bible and to pray and I found a church on campus. It wasn’t a Seventh Day Adventist Church but it was a church. Church for me is a place of refuge as a home and it was very comforting to be in a church for worship although it wasn’t a Seventh Day Adventist Church. This continued but I realized that my heart was not into studying because I was already burnt out from Year 13 and I wanted to get out of university. At the end of the year I decided to pack up and go to Australia, I was in a relationship with my ex’s dad. We lived at his parents’ house but I was unhappy because his mum would always invite his ex-girlfriend to come around and they would go out for lunch or dinner. Often it made me feel as though I was just a stranger living in a house while my ex was at work most of the time. Few months later I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect being away from home. I also would cry because I missed my grandmother so much and because I was far from home. I suffered from morning sickness for 6 months and would just stay at home. At times I would also be unable to eat because I couldn’t eat spicy curry when I was carrying and there were times where I would eat crackers or weetbix and cry because I wanted to eat good food for my baby but couldn’t because my baby’s dad was at work every day till late at night. This became my life and when I felt down I would always pray for strength as well as listen to gospel music and listen to inspirational sermons about God online. It gave me the strength to keep going. A couple months later I gave birth to my baby and it was the happiest day of my life to hold my baby in my arms, all my worries and struggles seemed insignificant. My grandmother sent me a message a few days later when I was discharged and told me to come home and that no matter what happens that I am always welcome at home. I finally got the courage and I gave my baby’s dad an ultimatum I gave him two options to either get us a place of our own or I’m moving back to the Cook islands and I don’t care about what will happen afterwards as long as I am back home with my family. October came and I told my baby’s dad that Jaylani and I are going back to the Cook Islands. I was so happy to finally be going home but at the same time sad to be leaving my baby’s dad behind. Until this day I am so thankful to God that despite the challenges he was able to bring me back home to my family.rnrnA few months later I received word from my baby’s dad that he was moving over because there was no point in him staying back in Australia if our baby and I were away from him. So he came over and I started working as a teacher trainee and studying at usp because I needed the extra papers and he started working late night shifts. But while we were together our life was lacking from spiritual nourishment and although I craved to go to church I never had the time to because I had to stay home and look after our baby while my baby’s dad was sleeping for work. Thinking back our lifestyle too was about alcohol and smoking and having drink ups at our place, it was not centered on God. My baby’s dad would also go drinking until the next morning and it wasn’t the kind of life I wanted for us. I gave him three strikes and he striked out and that final strike he didn’t come back home at all. Something just urged me to go inside the room back his suitcases and leave them outside. I went to his friends’ house and got him to follow me home and I told him that it’s over. I became a single mum and it was hard, really hard. I was working, studying and paying for bills on my own as well as looking after my daughter I went down a dark road. My world fell apart. I felt for my daughter because she would grow up without a father. I started drinking, smoking I was doing things that were wrong. Then one night I was outside on the porch smoking while looking up at the stars and a thought came into my mind that I needed to go back to church. That I was better than this. So that Sabbath I started going back to church and it was the most comforting thing. I went to Avarua but then I decided to go to Matavera Church and I was immediately hooked on Sabbath School Study. I started studying my Sabbath School lesson and reading the bible but I wasn’t fully committed I realized. I was living two lives, I was going to church and praising God on Sabbath but at night I was still going out and partying and drinking. Then I went to the Ignite Congress and it blew my mind and Pastor Jose and all the speakers really inspired and challenged me and I thought to myself that I need to get baptized. I had always had this thought a secret vow that when I get baptized that I was going to make sure that I was ready and prepared to change my life and to leave behind the old life such as drinking and partying and that is why I would never accept all those years ago because my heart wasn’t in tune with God. I always struggled with committing to God 100% but I realized that it was the first time that I made the decision to get baptized for God.rnrnIn April 2017 this year I gave my life to God and got baptized. I praise God and thank him every day for his love and guidance throughout my life and am so overwhelmed by his grace and love. I’m so thankful that I’m one of the ones who has felt his support, strength and love, it was like a warm blanket that surrounded me during the hard times.rnrnToday I am a second year teacher trainee, I work part time at Sails but that is more of a social thing for me. I also take part in Church such as sermons, run A.ys programs, sing during praise and worship, Sabbath School teacher, share messages during hospital visits as well as take part in projects that involve reaching out to the community. I am still a single mum because I have realized that I am an independent and person and can do things on my own. My daughter is currently two years of age her name is Jaylani and she is in Aitutaki with my grandmother and she attends church regularly with my grandmother.rnrnComing back into the church I’ve realized that my passion is teaching, sharing, inspirational preaching as well as leadership. I’m also one of those few people who will never pay attention to what others say about me because the only approval that’s important to me is God’s. Looking back I would have to say that God really had a purpose for me and a plan, he has a plan for every single one of us. My word of encouragement to you is this, to seek God with all your heart and all your soul and HE will truly direct your path. He may not make the storms and temptations go away in an instant but you can be sure that HE will be the hand that will be with you every step of the way.rnrn rnrnDiscipleship MinistriesrnrnNZPUC