I beg of you to take a moment to read my little sister’s
testimony. You will be inspired by
her, I promise. If you know me,
you know my love for this girl. We
shared a bond called “the wild streak”.
We are just two sassy girls who by God’s grace were spared to live for
Him. Being a part of Candace’s journey toward faith inspires me to pray and to
trust that God, despite how long and hard we try to run from Him, wishes to
have us for His ownJ
The reason for this guest post by Candace is that she is now planning on doing
missions in Cambodia and desperately needs support! Please consider supporting her (the information is below). Sit back, and enjoy….
From Candace:
So this is a story about a girl who was born on July 19,
1991…. by God’s grace.
In the beginning…
I was your typical "PK” (pastor’s kid) who loved to be the
center of attention. Naturally, I
did anything I could to make my presence known. I was raised in the church
and had always heard about Jesus as a kid. To me He was just some funny guy
with a beard and a bunch of friends who thought he was smart. Around the age 8 I had accepted him to
be my Savior, and got baptized just so I could be up in front of the church and
experience it with my cousin who was also getting baptized. I never really understood that Christianity was a
lifestyle, or that I needed to actually live for the “guy” saving my life. I guess some would say I was too
occupied with my own will than His. So, I kept living for myself and for the things of this world.
Growing up I was always trying to be a “free spirit”. I would push the envelope on many
different occasions doing the most “radical” gestures and calling them heroic
success. I would do this just to
prove to myself that nothing could hold me back. Inevitably, that was the only thing holding me back…
Searching in the
darkness…
Shortly after I turned 13, I began to discover “freedom” in
a bottle and other various recreational drugs that my friends offered me. The same freedom, that I would later realize
put me in bondage. From gutter
punk boyfriends, to runaway buses that sent me across country, I continued my
hunt for freedom. Around the age
17 I decided that living on the streets would be the most beneficial adventure
in the midst of my self-discovery.
Surfing from couch to couch, man to man, drug to drug, coffee shop to
coffee shop… I knew there needed to be more. There was never enough.
I started to notice my world getting a little grimmer after the age of
18. I never really realized that
it was grim before, but it was as if a light went on and showed me the depths
of darkness within my soul.
…and finding the
Light.
Well, right around Thanksgiving of 2009, I was probably at
the point of continuous intoxication.
The fact that I would pass out in the middle of the mundane, everyday
activities wasn’t a shock to anyone who knew me. In the middle of putting on make-up one day, I hit the
floor. Totally passed out from
substance abuse. Around that same time I had lived through many near death
experiences. I knew I was fighting
something, never asking for help or acknowledging my problem. Something started to change inside me,
it seemed the further I ran the clearer the Lord’s voice became to me. I
thought I was going insane! This
God that I hated for so long…. the one that I was angry with… the one I would
scoff at with the sound of his name…. the God people were afraid to talk to me
about because they knew I would hate them if they even brought up the Bible, or
church…this God. Yes, this God was
talking to me. I didn’t know what
to do; all I knew was that it wasn’t normal. So I decided to check myself into a mental institution for
more answers to life’s questions and my personal issues. I couldn’t possibly hear God. That was out of
the question. I’d rather label myself crazy.
Captivated by the
most wonderful extreme out there…. God.
After checking myself in, they ushered me to my room. Where yes, indeed, the lover and Creator
of the universe decided to chat with me once again. I took one look in the mirror
and that’s when I broke. I started to cry out to him in anguish and in fear. Then, in the stillness of my sorrow I heard him say, “I love
you, you were made for so much more”... a peace had all of a sudden transcended
over me and renewed me with a strength I had never experienced before. Later, after facing my addiction and
God, I checked myself out of the chicken coop and it was New Year’s Eve. I had been very hesitant to making Jesus
Lord of my life, because I didn’t know what it meant for me. All I knew was
that he must love me enough to save me that many times from death and then
personally encounter me while I was all by myself! That night something changed. A pull that I’ve never felt before had moved me to such
extremes of begging my mother (Carolyn Koole) and sister (Annie Earls) to concur that what I was
hearing was the indeed the Lord. So there on the floor on brink of 2010 my sister, Annie grabbed my hand and showed me what it looked like to allow Jesus to come
into my life and be Lord of everything I do, to be my Savior. I had to get to the end of myself to
understand that I can’t do anything on my own. These dreams inside me weren't to fulfill my own will, but
for the will of and glory of my Father!
What God is doing in
my life today…
In the last two years, I have had many exciting adventures
with God. They’ve led me here, to
Tacoma, Washington; A community that I came to visit after seeing what the Lord
had deposited into a friend of mine while they were here. I’ve been living here for about 4
months now, going to a church called “City Central” and they’ve been grabbing
my hand while I go through a season of prayer and restoration, in order to
bring it to the rest of the world! I’ve gained so much freedom in who I am in Christ here! I am
now confident to say that I am free from my past and any other lie that I had
believed before. I am becoming a new creation! I am learning about who He is,
who I am in Him, and what more I can do for the furtherance of the gospel. Really, I’m just a nobody, trying
to tell everybody that there’s Someone who can save anyone. I can have
confidence when I say that I will be a missionary for the rest of my life! I cannot wait to watch people who were
in the same place that I was before the Lord was in my life, come to full
restoration.
Here’s where you come
in…
So, if you wish to walk along side of me in my quest for
Jesus! I can help you be a part of my bigger picture! This summer I’m doing training through
my church here called Catalyst Training School. I’ll be in training for about six weeks learning all about
prayer, restoration, and missions and at the end of our lecture phase we will
be headed out to Cambodia for a month long adventure of bringing food, medicine,
prayer, and evangelism to the people! We pray God’s restoration in Cambodia! I
can’t wait! But I need to raise
money for it through support! Please pray about it, because you won’t find a 20 year
old more in love with Jesus than this girl (at least in my opinion)! The best way to help me get to Cambodia is to donate
to an online banking account, which would mean it would go straight into my
fundraising! Here's a link to it:
OR
Write out a check to “City Central Church” indicating that it’s
for my account (Candace Koole) and mail it to:
2522 N. Proctor St #1
Tacoma, WA 98406
I also am in DIRE NEED of prayer! Please pray I receive clarity for this summer, so I can
receive as much as I can! If you
wish to know more about my story or would love to chat, just e-mail me
C.koole@yahoo.com , I would love to hear
your feedback or questions! I could talk about this for days!
Hi, it's Annie again... she's going to kill me but this is Candace at Bella's 2nd birthday party dressed as Tinkerbell (because it's Bella's favorite). I love this picture because it's sassy and sweet, just like Candace!
