When I came to Gateway I was on a search for something.  I believed in God but knew little of Jesus or the Bible. Having done things the other way, I could see pretty readily how Christian principles were meant to give me a better life and draw me closer to God.  It didn’t take long for me to open my heart to Jesus, and the decision to get baptized was an easy one. A few months later I joined a small group where I began to experience true community, and since then I have had the wonderful experience of discovering brothers and sisters in Christ. In essence, I was and still am becoming more deeply related to a family unlike any I have ever known or thought was possible. I am amazed to find so many others who, despite whatever pain or anguish they have suffered before in their lives, have opened their hearts to God and to one another. It is now through my relationships with others in the church that I am learning the truth about Jesus. An open heart, growing within my self, and apparent in others, is something I so did not expect to find, but underneath it all was something I was probably longing for all my life.

– Joy