31/01/2026
Rev. Ian Clarkson shared this:
My Soul’s Journey
from Darkness to Light
By Anna Neale
Anna works with Barnabas on the 10th floor of 117 King William Street where Barnabas Australia has their office. (You can drop in and meet her and check out Barnabas books. Magazines and what is happening to support persecuted believers)
I asked to share her testimony with us.
“My soul-searching journey began in 2003, the year my beloved brother Ben took his own life. I was only 15, and he was 17. Just eighteen months apart, he was not only my brother, he was my best friend, my confidante, and my mirror soul. When he died, the world around me collapsed. My laughter faded into silence, and my heart drowned in endless questions about life, death, and God.
In that emptiness, I began to search for meaning. I ran to everything the world called spiritual: Astrology, Tarot, Psychic Readings, Palmistry, Reiki, Shamanic Breathwork, Yoga, Kundalini, Yantra, Ta**ra, Mantra. I had a library of more than two hundred books on these subjects, chasing every new-age guru, hoping to fill the void inside me.
I even joined a yoga group that worshipped the goddess Kali through fire rituals. At home, I set up a marble altar covered with statues of Hindu gods such as Shiva, Ganesha, Krishna, and even a golden calf. I offered sweets to the gods, poured sacred Ganges water over the Shiva Lingam, and chanted mantras endlessly. But at night darkness came. I began to have fearful, demonic dreams that made my soul tremble.
A friend once told me, “If you ever face such dreams, call upon the name ‘Yeshua’ for every demon fears His name.” They told me a bit about Jesus and said He was “the open gateway to Heaven.” Their words struck me. Could it be true? Could there really be a light brighter than all others?
During my travels teaching yoga abroad, I met some Christians who confronted me. They said, “Shiva is not God. You are walking in deception.” Their words offended me deeply but something in my heart began to question: Why do these people believe so firmly? What if they are right?
So, I picked up a Bible the Holy Word of God and began to read from Genesis to Revelation. Days turned into nights, and nights into days. I barely slept, I barely ate. Every page felt alive. The words were not just ink they were Spirit. It was more beautiful than the most beautiful poetry I had ever known.
Then, tragedy struck again my father passed away after his battle with cancer. My heart was shattered. One day, broken beyond repair, I placed a pillow at the end of my bed, got down on my knees, and cried out to God. I said aloud: “Jesus, if You’re real… SAVE ME!”
In that moment time stood still. I felt the weight of God’s presence descend upon me, like a holy embrace. Light surrounded me: pure, gentle, living Light. And I knew I was not fatherless. He was my Heavenly Father. Tears poured down like rivers. Then laughter burst forth like a fountain of joy. It was as if every wound in my soul was being healed. I felt His holy presence: it was JESUS! And He said to my heart. “I have turned your sorrow into joy.” In that divine moment, I was reborn. The One I had been seeking all my life had found me. I cried out. “JESUS IS ALIVE! GOD IS REAL!”
Since that day, the sadness that once consumed me has never returned. The chains of grief, despair, and confusion were broken forever.
Soon after, I looked at my yoga books, the Hindu statues, the golden calf, the altar I had set up. The light of Jesus filled the room again, and I knew they were not light but darkness. With holy fire in my spirit, I destroyed them all: the marble altar shattered to dust, the books burned in a great bonfire, and as the smoke rose to heaven, I felt the weight of freedom.
From that day onward, I have known one truth: No ritual, no philosophy, no religion can save the soul only Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, who says:
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)
My journey proves that grace pursues even those who wander in the farthest lands of deception. Though I did not tell every part of my story of how I died and was brought back to life, know that the same God who raised me from physical death also raised me from spiritual death.
To anyone who feels lost, broken, or far from God, know this: The Light of Christ still shines in the darkest places. He breaks every chain of idolatry, He heals the wounds no one else sees, and He turns mourning into joy.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Glory to the Lamb who was slain, who saved my soul and called me home.
All praise, honour, and worship to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the One who turns death into life, ashes into beauty, and sorrow into everlasting joy.
Amen.”
