
“Because we were so involved in Ministry, people in the Ministry knew and they were praying, they were storming heaven with prayers and everything, it was something I thought we could pray it all away…”

“And then I knew that, I wanted to be fishers of men… And by that calling, I felt that Landings was a place that I could try, and having said that, it has been more than 10 years, since I’ve been involved in this ministry…”

“I remember having a terrifically carefree and liberating time studying in Virginia and then working in NYC. I was financially and socially independent, career driven and had a full social calendar. But whenever I was in my apartment, I felt empty. I remember that.”

“God is truth, God is life, God is everything. He will always be there, permanent, solid, the pillar. He’s always there…”

“That particular Sunday saw me queueing up in the queue outside the confession room, and I was very nervous, I wrote down everything I wanted to say. It didn’t really help, because once I stepped into the room, before I could even open my mouth, tears started rolling down…”

“My relationship with God had always been purely transactional. I give my time in prayer and service; He returns blessings. That went on till I started working.”

“For the first part of my life, it was great. I had a close-knit community in USA – which I left behind when I left for college. Years passed I became a young atheist travelling around Asia, having the time of my life. Until my God moment”

“I never left the Church because I never really entered it. Getting baptized at 22 made no difference to my life at all. I was busy travelling, going on exchange programmes and starting work. I had left my home in Vietnam when I was 14, had no real concept of love, and no need of God. My life was crisis-free, carefree and good.”

“For 45 years, I never went to Church and I was scared when I first came to Landings. The people at Landings encouraged me: “Take baby steps, one at a time.” You know what else they did for me? They offered to pick me up and go to Mass together.”

“My relationship with Landings was once rather ‘on-off’. I first left when I felt I couldn’t be a blessing to someone I was journeying with, and that broke me. Then I left again when I got retrenched and needed to devote myself to job-seeking.”

“Honestly, although I’ve always been in some community or ministry all my life, I never thought there would ever be one that would bring me closer to God. But Landings changed my mind.”

“It was a Taoist ‘master’ who told me to return to Jesus. Life had been good after I ‘graduated’ from Confirmation. Happily, I declared myself a free thinker but also explored different religions. My beliefs?”

“I was in a youth group once, a really nice one I enjoyed serving at. But we didn’t have a common mission. After that, I decided community is for those who need something to anchor their faith on – me, I’m already grounded in God. Then my girlfriend and I broke up, and the community I ‘didn’t need’, was what sustained me in my despair.”

“When I finally let God go, it was liberating. I didn’t have to answer to anyone and kept no commandments but mine. For 20 years, nothing changed until this Lent “