A former drug addict who turned to Christianity to change her life declared that her church's decision to refuse complying with COVID restrictions is the reason why she is alive today.
Jennifer Scott thanked the Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, Ontario in Canada for staying open despite COVID restrictions because it was through the church that she found hope to change her life.
According to the Christian Headlines, Scott was previously addicted to cocaine, as she recounted during her testimony during her Christian baptism. She admitted to "shooting seven grams of cocaine a day."
"My son asked me to come to a prayer meeting at Trinity. In my small group, I asked for prayer to help me stop," Scott shared. "I left a comment on one of Pastor Jacob's sermons on YouTube. Pastor Jacob took the time to find out who I was...and called me to pray for me and to encourage me to keep coming to church. I did."
Trinity Church then helped Scott enroll at a sober living house in Cambridge, Ontario. Now, the ex-drug addict has been sober for more than seven months. She has even moved into her own apartment. Scott credited the body of Christ at Trinity Bible Chapel for helping her "with furniture and other blessings."
"None of these things would have happened if Trinity closed its doors and was solely online," Scott declared. "I know for a fact that I'd be dead right now if God had not used this church in my life."
Scott admitted that before becoming a Christian, she was an angry person who was filled with "fear, doubt, and self-pity." She shared that she was constantly looking for ways to "[fill] the hole in me that only Jesus could fill." She added that as a drug addict, she was "very promiscuous, hateful, bitter, controlling and plagued with addictions."
But it was her faith in Jesus and His faith in her that led her back to the right path.
"Jesus never stopped His pursuit of me. He literally left the 99 to save the one," Scott remarked. "He has saved me again and again and again."
"None of these things would have happened if Trinity closed it's doors and was solely online...I'd be dead right now if God had not used this church in my life."
There are people like Jennifer in your community. Refuse to turn them away.#OpenYourChurch pic.twitter.com/OEzFVIW5bM— Trinity Bible Chapel (@TBCWR) January 11, 2022
Trinity Bible Chapel had incurred thousands of dollars in fines after it repeatedly violated COVID restrictions regarding in-person services. Its pastor, Jacob Reaume, was also forced to pay fines, Not the Bee reported. In a lengthy blog post, the church admitted it was "time to civilly disobey [government lockdown mandates] out of obedience to God and love for neighbor."
The church said it sought to be a "lifeline" to Canadians who were lonely, suffering, or in pain during the last few years. It lamented how there had been more suicides and failed suicide attempts after "a year of lockdowns, isolation, and fear" and how people were "desperate for hope, human connection, and community." Trinity argued that "If there was ever a time for a church to open its doors, the time is now."