Los Angeles, California, USA

Favorite hymn/worship song:

“Thank You” by Hillsong Worship

Type of church context:

I grew up in an evangelical Pentecostal church in Honduras. It was a church context that had both clear strengths and some less obvious weaknesses that I would only truly unpack years later after being exposed to different church contexts. For strengths, there was a deep-rooted conviction that God was real and played an active role in our lives. People had an unshakable belief that God was near and His presence could be experienced in many different ways. That belief was contagious. You could see it in people’s faces and it stoked my faith. The gifts of the Spirit were embraced, but this also came through diverse expressions of worship like interpretive dance, and spontaneous worship songs. That was a powerful witness to my sometimes skeptical teenage heart. How could these people be so happy and passionate about God? That was the question that pulled me in deeper and eventually by the grace of God I did get to experience Him in life-altering ways.

Of course, there were also pitfalls. A bit of the prosperity gospel seeped in there. Not as overt as what you might see on TV. It was more subtle. Every sermon had a triumphalist spin. There was always a happy ending. There was not enough teaching on wrestling, dealing with doubt, or mourning or speaking to the in-between stages God allows us to live through to develop our character. Not having this education left most of us ill-equipped to deal with adversity as Christians. The explanation for adversity was that it was not God’s will and something was deeply wrong with the individual. It would take exposure to different traditions as well as significant discipleship to open my mind to the wide range of ways in which God can move in our lives.

Commune:

My first memory of encountering God was praying by my bedside at age seventeen. I was a teenager and was desperate to find meaning. I was very dissatisfied at such a young age and was in search of something bigger. I had always grown up in church but was exposed to religion mostly. I had my heart set on leaving Honduras and going to the US for college. That was my dream. I believed God could help me get there. So I waged a real prayer battle where every night I’d get on my knees and pray. I would ask God to lead me to the right school and give me the chance to get a good education. In exchange, I would commit my life to serving Him. Very much like Jacob did in Bethel. It was not quite unconditional surrender at that point but it was honest. In His grace, I do remember feeling God’s presence. I expected angels but what I felt was a lightness and rush of peace like I’d never felt before. I felt fully satisfied at that moment. Fully secure. I wanted that moment to last forever. I remember sitting there in disbelief almost that I had access to God’s presence. That experience at such a critical time really changed me forever. It’s something religion could never do and it’s definitely something you wish everyone you know could experience.

Articles written by Nasry:

https://www.projectarctos.com/archive/tag/Nasry+Angel