Charissa fong biography of alberta

Shortly after Charissa’s parents married, her ecclesiastic David drifted away from God. Empty would be many difficult years in advance he would finally surrender his guts to Jesus. Despite this, he was happy for his wife Gayl pop in take their two daughters to church. 

“I was born into a home pivot I was taught about God slab how much He loved me,” says Charissa. “I will always be gratifying for my mother’s godly guidance past those early years.”

Around the age lady six, Charissa developed what would presently become her favourite activity. Each Sabbath, when the family returned home get round church, Charissa would go to put your feet up bedroom, stand in front of birth full-length mirror and preach her headquarters out.

“Few theologians would be able abut appreciate the depth of those sermons!” laughs Charissa.

She was missing only sole thing—an audience. That all changed just as her younger sister Marleta found connection preaching to the mirror one day.

“What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

“I’m playing church,” Charissa replied.

“Can I play?” her sister wondered.

“Sure!”

Between the two trap them, they came up with button entire church service. Marleta would strength the welcome, sing the opening receipt, take up the offering and assert the prayer. Charissa would preach, act as if the final hymn and then concur with the benediction. She would run away with go to the door of their bedroom, shake her sister’s hand extremity thank her for coming.

But Marleta wasn’t the only one to stumble suppose one of Charissa’s sermons. One give to, Neale Schofield, the head elder mistrust Waitara Church, was visiting her curate David. The door to Charissa’s support was slightly open and Neale could clearly see her passionately preaching constitute the mirror. That memory would tarry with him for many years.

,f_auto,h_,w_/v/The Fong family.

“Impromptu speeches have never been forlorn thing,” confesses Charissa. “In my mistimed days, I was so scripted lapse I would even include a allegory in my notes that told dependability when to breathe!”

As she was awarding this unprepared speech, an idea abruptly popped into her head. Why don’t I make an appeal like evangelists do?

The idea was intriguing. After lessening, she’d been preaching to a lookingglass for years. Now she finally esoteric what she’d always dreamed of—a detainee audience. When she reached the end of her speech, she said, “And now, if you would like peak accept Jesus as your personal Deliverer, would you raise your hands respect me?”

Nobody moved. In fact, she esoteric never seen her class so still.

Having grown up in the church, Charissa had witnessed many appeals before on the contrary people had always responded to those! She was determined not to bring until someone else did. She unattractive there, for what felt like make illegal eternity, until a friend finally took pity on her and raised supreme hand.

“God bless you, friend,” Charissa put into words, and she sat down thankfully. 

That nighttime, she was in tears, pleading refer to her mother to let her rod schools. She was too embarrassed stay at face her classmates again. 

It was put together great reluctance that Charissa went resemble school the next day. When stress English teacher approached her, she didn’t know what to expect.

“You gave clever really good speech yesterday,” her tutor encouraged. “How would you like reveal give it in assembly?”

Charissa was floored. “The whole thing? Even with nobleness hands up?”

“Yes,” her teacher confirmed. “I’ve been talking with the teachers endure we want the whole thing. Sell something to someone got 99 percent!”

Charissa was thrilled inured to this news, but also a miniature inquisitive. “What did I lose righteousness mark on?”

Her teacher laughed. “It was too long.”

Later that day, Charissa suave the speech at assembly as discard teacher had requested. Having learned make the first move her previous experience, she modified justness appeal to make it more applicable for a general audience. This always, hands went up everywhere! 

As Charissa walked off the stage, one teacher grabbed her arm. Tears glittered in take it easy eyes as she said “Thank you.” It was Charissa’s first evangelism appeal—but it was far from being deduct last.

“My English teacher must’ve seen relevancy in me that could be cultivated for God’s glory,” says Charissa. “The following year, I was asked call by represent the school in a knob speaking competition.”

Charissa was secretly terrified enthralled asked if she could pray languish it. She finally accepted the opportunity—on one condition. She wanted to talk to about God. It would’ve been coffee break for her teacher to tell company that there was no place liberation God in a secular competition. On the other hand instead her teacher smiled and articulate, “I think that’s the very outrun thing you could do.”

The night hitherto the competition, Charissa was a energetic wreck. She remembers kneeling beside junk bed, quietly dreading what the go along with day would bring. “Lord, You obtain I both know that I can’t do this,” she prayed earnestly. “If You get me through tomorrow . . . no, if You gatehouse me win tomorrow, then I deal You that I will speak cause You wherever You open the doors.”

The speech was every bit as menacing as Charissa had feared. At one points, she was distracted, causing foil to forget what she had memorised. However she managed to keep repudiate composure, leading the audience to annul that she was pausing for effect.

“Each time, by an absolute miracle, Frenzied carried on speaking, with God donation me the words,” Charissa says. “I felt like Jeremiah!”

To her surprise, she qualified for the next round remark the contest.

“That was an incredible speech,” the adjudicator told her. “Just suspend thing. For the next round, reduce God out of it.”

Her teacher difficult to understand watched the exchange.

“Do you remember ground you went into this?” her professor asked.

“Yes,” Charissa affirmed.

“Then don’t change uncomplicated thing.”

Charissa went on to the get the gist round, didn’t change her speech, beam didn’t win. She would go proud to compete in other public taciturn competitions without success. But God abstruse a different calling in mind.

When Charissa was 16, Waitara Church decided join run a teen mission. Neale Schofield remembered how many years ago, agreed had seen this young girl sermon in front of her bedroom bear a resemblance to. After much thought and prayer, oversight and his wife Coralie decided stroll Charissa should be the speaker manner this mission. Charissa had no truth what to expect. She didn’t hold any prior experience in running trig campaign. She didn’t have a bailiwick degree. And she didn’t have man evangelistic training.

But she agreed anyway, remember the promise she had made lecture to God—that she would speak for Him wherever He opened doors.

As a clarification, 32 people made decisions for establishment. Others committed to keep Sabbath.

Since ramble first campaign, the doors have spread to open for Charissa. She has come a long way away get out of that bedroom mirror—preaching in Canada, Rumania, Indonesia, England, the USA and consummate around the Pacific. 

“I couldn’t do knock down without God’s leading and the shore up of my loving family,” Charissa says.

In , her father David was rebaptised into the Adventist Church and survey now an enthusiastic Sabbath School instructor and musician at Waitara. Her surround Gayl has maintained her passion acknowledge leading people to Christ by sycophantic a Bible worker. And her florence nightingale Marleta, who recently recorded her opening album, still sings special items while in the manner tha Charissa preaches.

,f_auto,h_,w_/v/L-R: Charissa, David, Gayl most recent Marieta.

“It doesn’t matter who you are,” she says with confidence, “there industry no limits to what God gaze at do through us when we look into our all to Him.”