Week 4 - "And that's all I know about that . . . ."

Welcome back for the fourth week of

"And that's all I know about that . . . . "

This week I would like for you to meet my friend

Nikki Antone

We have only been friends for 9 months.  I met her in October of 2011.  Her family graciously opened their home for a week and let the "Wild Wyatt's" move in.  We fell in love with this family from day one.  We just so happened to be in their home, in Detroit, the week that the Texas Rangers played the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship.  After church each night we would gather around the television cheering on our home teams.  I have to say, that their children stole our hearts that week.  We still laugh about sweet Danny sleeping in the closet!!  I asked Nikki to share her testimony with you this week.  She is a "new" Christian.  I hope you enjoy what she has to say.




Nikki, Jeff, Danny, Joey and Grace



I am Chaldean.  I’m assuming you have no idea what I’m talking about so I’ll explain.  It is pronounced CAL-de-ann. Many people living outside of the Detroit area have never heard of this culture.  In very simple terms, Chaldeans are Eastern Rite Catholic Arabs (the Eastern Rite is simply a minority branch of the Roman Catholic Church).  My husband’s parents were born in Iraq, and my dad was born in the US shortly after his parents came over from Iraq.  My mom is American, which makes me what I like to call a half breed J  The thing about being Chaldean is that it is a small group of people who came here with absolutely nothing and worked really hard to make a name for themselves and be successful. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone is the other person’s “cousin”.  I grew up watching people compete for material things like cars and houses, and watched so many people work countless hours in their party stores to obtain this kind of success.  Chaldeans are very proud of their heritage and in terms of religion, they are very proud of their Catholicism, even though I would guess, most of them don’t know what the Catholic Church truly believes. 

I fell into that last category quite nicely, despite going to a Roman Catholic school for 9 years.  My husband, Jeff, however, REALLY knew what he was supposed to believe, and he and his family REALLY believed the church teachings.  However, when Jeff and I became engaged and wanted to get married in a Roman Catholic Church, we were told by the Chaldean Bishop that our marriage wouldn’t be recognized under God because we were born into the Eastern Rite of Catholicism and needed to be married by an Eastern Rite priest.  It was then that we really started having some serious questions and it became much clearer to us that we needed to find some answers.

At this point I still felt I did most things right.  I was baptized as a baby, received my first communion in 2^nd grade, and went to church most Sundays.  I didn’t think I was such a bad person- in fact, I thought I was a pretty good person, but I always knew I didn’t agree with every teaching of the Catholic church.   I was what you would call a “Cafeteria Catholic”, picking and choosing what I wanted to believe.  I was okay with that because I loved being part of a big community and a worldwide religion.  I figured, if it was good enough for millions of people, it must be good enough for me. 

However, I started to feel uncomfortable with the fact that I knew something wasn’t right…now I know that was when God started working on my heart and that of the heart of my husband.  We began our journey by attending many different churches and talking to many different people of all denominations, while still attending the Catholic Church, but we were diligently trying to find answers.  This went on for a few years and it wasn’t until we started studying the bible that our lives were forever changed. 

It took a couple years of studying the bible and listening to sermons daily to finally realize it didn’t matter what denomination of Christianity I labeled myself, but what did matter was that I was a true follower of Jesus Christ.  Sadly, when I looked at myself through God’s eyes, I realized I wasn’t a good person at all.  I read that gossiping is just as wicked as murder, and that really made me think.  I read that nobody was good enough to go to heaven and there was nothing I could do that could get me there on my own.   But I also read that when we believe in Jesus and follow Him with our whole hearts we are clothed in His righteousness and only then does God see us as perfect.  It finally made sense that Jesus came to fulfill the law perfectly, because nobody else could perfectly fulfill it except God himself.

Finally I read that the truth shall set you free and for the first time in my life I knew I had the truth and I never felt so free. 

During this same time in which God was working on my heart, he was softening Jeff’s heart and his 2 brothers’ hearts, and his parents’ hearts as well…a mini revival some would say J  This was a huge deal for Jeff’s family because his mom literally had keys to the church down the street.  She would attend mass daily and she literally devoted her life to the teachings of the Catholic church and serving others.  She was the president of a very prominent Chaldean charity and when word got out that she was leaving the Catholic Church things got really crazy.  When I say people were gossiping about her, I am putting it mildly.  Not only did everyone in the community know, but there were letters that went out advising people to spit in her face if they saw her.  Obviously, the writer of these letters was a person on a mission to slander her and my family.  The letters called us devil worshipers and led my mother-in-law to file a police report.  She has since passed away and some people said it was because she “switched religions”.  Throughout it all, our faith grew stronger and God showed us what persecution was and that it was okay because we knew the truth.  I may have not known then but I know now what James meant when he said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds”, because knowing Christ is more joyful than any evil on this earth that can be brought near you. 

Even though my parents didn’t agree with our choices, they still stood up for us, and stood their ground when people whispered behind their backs.  I am still in prayer that God will open their eyes one day soon.

Although, there was no one moment for me that I can say I was reborn, many things have changed for me in the past couple of years.  I no longer rely on any man or woman for the truth about God.  I rely on God himself through the gift of His word. 

I have had many struggles on this journey the past few years.  I don’t understand everything I read and frankly, a lot of it is very difficult to swallow.  The idea that there really is a hell and that many more people will be there than in heaven saddens me beyond belief.

But I also understand that the secret things belong to God and we are commanded to trust God, just like little children do, because he is Just.

I trust God and His promises.  I am amazed at His faithfulness.  I prayed for Him to open my eyes, and He did.  I prayed for Him to find us a good church, and He has.  I continue to pray for the knowledge of how to raise our 3 children in a Godly home even though we got a late start, and He is working there as well.  I have also prayed for my husband to be a Godly leader of our family, and because God is faithful He has brought 2 men into his life to mentor him and they are amazing.

I met Cristy when we hosted her beautiful family for a week last year when she was on deputation.  I didn’t know a lot about Missions then, and I think she found it interesting the questions I had because it was so second nature to her.  Now, I understand the great commission.  Now I understand the need to go out and tell the world, and now my prayer is that God gives me the power and strength and guts to go out and tell the world myself.  I know He will, because He is faithful.

And that is all I know about that . . .