Ryan is a ChristLife Young Adult who first attended Discovering Christ in 2011. His first shared his testimony on Sharing Christ. He recently shared some of his story with Catholic365.com.

I grew up in a non-practicing protestant family. We occasionally went to church and the only time we prayed together was at mealtime. I can’t recall my parents ever reading the bible to us.

We moved around a lot because of my dad’s job. This meant we didn’t stay at one church very long, if we did at all. We wound up doing a lot of what I like to refer to as "church hopping." This made it difficult for us to stay grounded in our faith. As I went from church to church and denomination to denomination, I never truly felt at home in any of them.

I was born with a condition called Spina Bifida, which means, without getting very scientific, that my spine and spinal cord weren’t developed properly and this caused a lot of damage to my body. Over the years I’ve had over 20 surgeries; the first of which occurred within 24 hours of my birth.

Growing up with Spina Bifida presented its challenges. It automatically gave me the label of “disabled.” Many kids didn't want to be friends with me because they saw me as “different.” I was often made fun of laughed at and even bullied. As a result of those childhood experiences, I have struggled off and on with depression.

Although I always believed in God, I was angry and resentful toward Him for the things I had been through and for the pain and suffering I endured as a result of my body being the way it is. I rarely went to church. I even more rarely read the bible or prayed. If I did pray, it was most likely for my suffering to come to an end. To my disappointment, my suffering never did come to an end. It still hasn't, but today I'm okay with that. Through this all, I still considered myself a "Christian."

During the summer of 2009, I was invited by one of my mom’s co-workers to attend a course called Discovering Christ, presented for young adults. I was reluctant at first because this was something completely new to me. In all honesty, it was the free meal that was being offered that ultimately convinced me. Toward the end of Discovering Christ, there was a retreat. On that retreat, I experienced a conversion. This experience occurred as I was being prayed over by others. I was overwhelmed by the unconditional love of the Lord. It was beyond words and something I had no idea was even possible. It was life changing.

As a result of my experience of God’s love, I converted to Catholicism on April 23, 2011 and I attend Mass weekly at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City, MD. I have been involved in the life of ChristLife through the ChristLife Young Adult Community since. I’ve had multiple opportunities to share my testimony at conferences and on video in the Sharing Christ series.

I have learned that the Christian journey does not end with an initial conversion. It is only the beginning and the journey is a life-long ongoing conversion.