Tarquin and Magdalena Maylam

My wife (Magdalena) and I (Tarquin) are Christians. We have had very different backgrounds.

She comes from Albania, a poor country and the only one in the world, which had atheism as its constitutional religion for nearly 50 years. I come from Surrey, England, with a Church of England up-bringing, and the privilege of both a private and state school education. She was naturally an atheistic-evolutionist. I was taught in the Bible stories, but in my early teens drifted into New Age thought via alternative and homeopathic medicine.

She was acclaimed as one of her region's brightest students, and received many educational scholarships and worldly praise. I could pass exams, but was known more by representing my county (state) in tennis. 

In 1990, Albania opened to the Western world, and many Christian missionaries came to spread the Good News of Jesus. At a meeting, Magdalena (then 15) was given a Bible and also a leaflet which included the sinner's prayer. Within a 2 year period, through a long process of speaking and writing to Christian friends, translating into Albanian for Christian ministers, and reading the Bible for herself, she was convicted of sin and became committed to following the Lord Jesus. From believing that man came from apes, and that life had no purpose, Magdalena started to write poetry, praising God and thanking Him for giving her life a meaning now.

As for myself, I was drifted into alternative medicine and spiritualist (medium / "channeller") interest for nearly 7 years until the age of 19. This was mixed with an abiding acknowledgement of Jesus. One alternative medicine practitioner I visited regularly, used a dowsing pendulum to pinpoint the body's malfunctions - at least 3 well known Royal Family members used to visit him, too. However, in the fixing of my body, I became acutely aware that my spirit was on a destiny to destruction. I visited a Christian lady who showed me my sins from the Bible - this led to a dramatic conversion.

For me, (Tarquin), the Christian walk has been fraught with dangers. From my conversion to Christ Jesus, I was attending a "faith / prosperity" church, which teaches that righteousness with God is more to be claimed than our need to humbly repent of our sins. Everybody said they were righteous, but the actions did not always follow. This was revealed to me in the United States for the first time when at University - for at church there we were asked to confess our sins to God - this was new to me. Secondly, in 1994, the Toronto "laughing" revival started in my English church. I had to leave as the "miraculous" signs accompanying the "revival" were without Biblical backing, just like my days of "miracles" with the pendulum practitioner.

Through many trials as Christians, Magdalena and I met in Istanbul, Turkey in 1997. Magdalena had a scholarship then at the University there. We kept writing to one another as friends, through letters full of God's deeds in our lives. In laying down our own plans and dreams, we discovered that Jesus' ways were the best. In following Him, we got married in Albania in 1999.

Now we have two sons called Boaz, and Caleb, who we endeavour to bring up in the knowledge of Biblical Truth, making sure we tell him the same experiences we told you, dear reader, and much more, yes, all the beautiful things our King and Saviour has prepared for us in heaven.

God bless you and deal with your need in the same powerful way He dealt with ours.

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