An award-winning bilingual author of 4 books and co-author of 14 more, Hadassah loves encouraging the broken-hearted to partner with God so they can endure and grow in the dark valleys of life. Her book "Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings" helps believers find spiritual gain after seasons of loss. Featured on over 70 faith-based platforms and podcasts like Her View from Home, The Upper Room, (In)courage, Living by Design, Proverbs 31 Ministries, COMPEL Pro Blog, she is a hope-bringing speaker and writer at onthewaybg.com, one of the Top 100 Faith Blogs ranked by Feedspot in 2025. Hadassah is a professional member of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and COMPEL Pro Training member, leader, and contributor. Connect with Hadassah on her websiteand social media.

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, His creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you, Adassa.

What part of the world are you in today?

I'm in Bulgaria and this is a small country in Eastern Europe.

Tell me the story of how you met Jesus.

I was a teenager and Bulgaria was a communist country at this time.

I was struggling with suicidal depression because I was searching for meaning in life and I had a difficult family situation and faith was more or less forbidden in Bulgaria at this time as a communist country.

Churches were not working, people were not talking about God as if God didn't exist, so to say.

My journey with God started with placing Him as a kind of ultimatum.

I prayed nearly for half a year, if God exists let Him show Himself to me, because otherwise I don't see any meaning in my life.

I would put an end to my life.

So I struggled with suicidal thoughts too.

Then after six months approximately, one of my schoolmates brought me to an Evangelical Church, to a Pentecostal Evangelical Church.

I even didn't know that such things existed, absolutely not.

And there for the first time I heard the gospel and obviously God had worked in my heart because I responded immediately to the gospel and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and was baptized also with the Holy Spirit at the same meeting, at the same time.

And now my journey with the Lord started at the age of 17.

Was it challenging after accepting Christ to bring that message or that story to your parents or those that were surrounding you at home?

Yes, it was very challenging.

Actually I managed to bring it just to my sister nearly in the first days a week and she was two years younger than me.

She also responded really fast and the two of us started visiting the church.

But to my parents it was really challenging.

They were rejecting it, it was difficult to convince them to let us visit the church.

And then the communist regime fell, so the years approximately when I believed, when I became a believer, then somehow Bulgaria opened to the gospel.

How do you ensure that you're not just pining away in the pain and focusing on what God has for you?

I'm sure that every believer passed through this and I'm sure you know how it feels when God does something or allows something which is completely contrary to our prayers and what we think is good, so to say.

And it was really very difficult after this blow to keep my faith.

I mean the faith I always kept, but to feel this, to keep this intimate, joyful fellowship with the Lord, so to say.

There were definitely a lot of painful feelings, there were a lot of questions, there were a lot of doubts.

I think that I even went through a phase of short disillusionment in faith, but I also think this is normal after experiencing such a blow.

But the thing is that I never, never stopped my connection with the Lord.

I never stopped seeking Him, I never stopped praying, I never stopped reading the Word or journaling or whatever.

Even when I felt really completely abandoned or extremely sad, extremely depressed and in confusion, not understanding what's going on, then somehow this period, this phase was over.

And I need to say, when I accepted that I can still trust the Lord without understanding or without enough understanding in my case, and I can completely surrender and accept His will as good as the best for me and for my situation, then I was on the way to healing.

And now I have even a better and more intimate relationship and connection with the Lord.

If you're listening to this conversation five years from today, what's a message you'd leave for future you?

Oh, the message is keep trusting God, keep trusting God.

He is worth everything and He is your greatest treasure and will always be.

It's been a great pleasure speaking with you Hadassah.

Before we leave, is there anything else you'd like to share?

No, I just want to bless our listeners and to tell them, despite how you feel, despite your pain, despite your grief, know that God is with you.

He is for you and keep drawing near to Him.

Don't turn your back to God, draw near to Him.

Amazing audience.

Links are in the show notes.

If you've connected with Hadassah via her voice and you'd like to learn more, she has all of her links that you can connect with her work and her website, her social media.

Hadassah, a pleasure.

I treasure.

Thank you for being on What is Inspired by 12 Minute Converse.