From young, I had always believed that all religions are the same, that doing good is all that matters. 

But I began to rethink everything when my best friend Adrian decided to question my beliefs.

What started as a simple sharing slowly turned into big debates about God and the supernatural over a span of four years.  

Every time Adrian tried to share with me about God, I would get really annoyed and challenge him.

As a non-believer then, frustration and fear came over me every time he started to discuss about Jesus with me.

If I were to agree with Adrian, I would have to admit that I was wrong. But nobody likes to be wrong, so there was definitely ego and pride at work.

Another fear I had was that every time we had those discussions and debates, we were slowly destroying the relationship we had for many years.

So whenever Adrian discussed anything about Jesus, I would always want to change topics.

Fighting was so tiring

During our four years of debating, I was really very exhausted.

Ultimately, there was no winner — but there were victims. Adrian and I were both spiritually, physically and mentally exhausted.

It was so tiring that we didn’t want to debate anymore. We came to a point when we didn’t even want to talk anymore.

Even though none of us won, none of us were happy. In fact, I didn’t feel any peace. I felt very sad.

Because of that, I hated Christianity more because it almost caused me to lose a friend that I really cherished.

But when we agreed to stop debating, that’s when things started to happen.

As a music teacher, I suddenly had more Christian students than ever during that time. I also started seeing signs around me.

When I was driving, I kept seeing vans with stickers saying things like “Jesus loves you”, “God loves you” and “God has never left you”.

Usually I wouldn’t care. But all these signs kept coming, and they made me question whether God was trying to tell me something.

Finally one day, when I saw a taxi that drove past me saying “you are not alone”, I went back home and shouted:

“Jesus, if you are real, you better show it to me, or I will never ever believe you.”

I said it in frustration, but I also felt hopeless. I didn’t know what to do anymore.

Even though it sounded like I was scolding God, deep inside I was really calling for help.

A powerful encounter

That night when I went to bed, I saw this very bright light that shone upon my face. I felt everything around me shaking vigorously and I couldn’t move my body.

There was such an intense power, and I heard this audible voice saying:

“You are not alone. I have never left you.”

In my dream, I also saw a text message that came through a phone saying: “Congratulations, God has sent you a message.”

For the first time in my life, I experienced what unconditional love is.

What really won me over was the goodness of God. 

He showed me how much He unconditionally loves me — a person who condemned Christians for so many years.

Even though I challenged Him, all He said was that He had never left me and that He’s always with me.

I woke up with my entire body feeling like it had been electrocuted. I also immediately started crying.

I became curious

I wanted to know Him more, but due to my stubbornness, I didn’t want to be a Christian.

I told Adrian about the dream, and he told me that that the message of God not leaving me is a verse from the Bible.

He also asked me to read the Gospels if I wanted to know Jesus.

So I started from the Book of John, until I read the sentence where Jesus says:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That verse made me cry again.

Because Jesus had already showed me that He is real, I couldn’t deny His Word — that He is the only way to the Father.

That was when I repented and started to have a relationship with Him.

A few months down the road, my heart was prepared to fully accept Jesus.

I wanted to be baptised and become a Christian.

What I learnt about evangelism

After I experienced the love of God, I understood why Adrian was so persistent during those four years. It was because he had tasted something so good.

When you experience the love of God, you don’t care about how people judge you anymore; you don’t care about rejection anymore. 

You just know that you need to try your best to share with others about how good God is and let them experience what you have experienced.

The mistake that Adrian and I made was that we were trying to win each other over.

Instead, we can have a win-win situation by showing love and letting the person experience the love of God through you.

A debate is when someone needs to win. There has to be a winner.

But the moment you try to prove people wrong, they shut off and don’t want to hear any more because they just want to be right.

Nevertheless, I believe that those four years of Adrian evangelising to me were not in vain.

Whatever he shared with me were seeds that took root in my heart — just that it took four years for the seed to spring up. 

At that time, I really had a very hardened heart towards God. Without seeing the supernatural, I would never have believed. 

Intellectual stuff can only describe God so much. There are so many smart people that will always keep questioning you.

Instead, we can have a win-win situation by showing love and letting the person experience the love of God through you.

Let the person see your experience with God through your testimonies. 

When they start to have this hunger, they will ask questions. That’s when you can start to share the gospel with them.

It is not our job to win people over.

We are just there to share the gospel, and from there, let the Holy Spirit win them over.

An earlier version of Patrick’s testimony can be found on One For Jesus. He and Adrian have also shared about their story in an IG Live. 

This article is published in line with our #PublishPeace campaign, where we’re featuring real-life testimonies of those who have come to know Jesus as well as resources to equip Christians throughout 2022.