My story wouldn’t be worth telling if it wasn’t for God. If I were to imagine a friend approaching me five years ago and telling me how much God would change my life, my old self would laugh in disbelief!
My name is Monika Piotrowska, and I am married to Artur Piotrowski, who is the minister of a church called Grace Baptist Maidstone in Kent.
I was born in Poland in 1988 and was raised as a ‘good’ Roman Catholic girl. However, I also saw and experienced New Age practices, as my parents were involved in both.
Struggling with sin
In my early teenage years, I struggled a lot with sin. I loved my family deeply, yet I could hurt them just as deeply too, and would end up feeling heartbroken.
Growing up, I also saw a lot of hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic church, where I was simply given a list of do’s-and-don’ts and told that I was a sinner. I never heard about the grace or mercy of God.
Meanwhile, New Age ideas suggested that I was inherently good and had a ‘divine spark’ within. I was at a loss! I was also torn over the heavy guilt I felt and my inability not to do what was wrong.
Things deteriorated to a point where I questioned whether it was worth even living. In the end I chose to sin and not feel bad about it (this does not work in practice!). I wanted to be god of my own life.
Running on empty
After graduating from university in Poland, I decided to move abroad and in 2011 I landed in Edinburgh, Scotland. While I was pursuing a career and selfish desires, God had been gradually working in my heart, though at the time I didn’t know it.
