Stephanie Kantonen

    "Just let Me love you." This has been the theme of my life for the past year.

     I came to AFLBS last fall with the knowledge that I was a sinful human being who was called by a holy God. After a few months of striving to please God by my own efforts, I reached a point of frustration. I was sitting in the chapel service one Tuesday morning and prayed, "God, I can't do this anymore." I was led to Psalm 103:8, 11-12: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love [...] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have been set free! God does not look at my sin anymore but at Jesus who lives in us!

    I headed into my summer with a growing love for my Savior and a desire to serve Him. He had shown me so much love, and I wanted to give back. I spent my summer on an AFLBS summer team teaching VBS, and all I wanted was to be the best. I thought I had to be. I wanted to love, serve, and teach these kids and thought it would be so easy, but it wasn't. It was hard! By the middle of the summer I was getting burned out, and I didn't understand why. I asked God all the time why it wasn't working. That's when I realized for the first time that you cannot keep pouring yourself out unless you are being filled up. In the words of Francis Chan, "God didn't want a good slave who tried really hard. He wanted me to see that He was a good Father. He wants intimacy."

    Jesus calls us to be His own. God told the children of Israel in Isaiah 43:1, "I have called you by my name, you are mine." Over the course of my time at AFLBS God has taught me that being loved by Him and loving Him back is the most important part of life, and I am so thankful for that!

Katy Dahl
Glyndon, MN

I was blessed to be born into a strong Christian home. I was taught all about the Bible growing up and I was always receptive to the Gospel and accepted Jesus into my life when I was young.

I grew in my faith through attending church, VBS, youth group, summer camps, and family devotions, but most importantly through my personal time with the Lord.

When I was about twelve years old, I went to summer camp at Bethany Bible Camp in Bemidji, MN. I remember Pastor Tim Johnson speaking for one of the evening sessions and he compared our spiritual walk to the passage in Ezekiel 47:1-5. He said that we either have a little faith or we are completely surrendered to Christ, holding nothing back. That night I chose to follow Jesus as my own personal decision.
My relationship with Him always seemed pretty constant and steady, but I sought to know Him more and more. I tried to have my devotions daily and would feel guilty when that didn’t happen, but I desired more of Him.

I attended a women's seminar and Christ revealed Himself to me in ways that I cannot explain! I was completely set free from any duty or bondage that I felt to the law! The Holy Spirit is definitely living inside of me and what I knew to be true in my head is now true in my heart. Galatians 2:19 says, "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God." The Holy Spirit is definitely living and active and God wants to have communion with us through His Spirit. Galatians 5:1 proclaims that, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject to a yoke of slavery." I understand more fully what it means to put on the yoke of Christ. Even as a Christian, I was bound by a duty to the law. Nothing we could ever do will change the way that He loves us! Christ is constantly shaping and forming my heart. All praise be to Him!