My name is Evelyn Hasana. I’m 24 and I’m from Indonesia.
I moved here to Australia when I was 16 for my studies and I’ve been here for seven years now.
I was born into a very strong Protestant family and I’ve always felt close to God
As a Protestant, whenever I met a Catholic I wanted to pray for them, so they would know the truth and become Protestant.
That changed at the end of 2021, when I was on a phone call with my parents and they told me they were learning about the Catholic Church.
That terrified me. I remember crying and praying to God and asking him to set my parents back straight, to make sure that they stayed on the right path and not veer off to the wrong path.
I suddenly had a thought. How can my parents, who have been faithful for so many years, be directed wrong like that? And so, I thought, maybe there’s some truth in there.
And I decided to pray again. I asked God, God, if this is truly the truth, if this is where you want me to be as well, then please open my heart, soften it so that I can learn as well.
And so, I started doing some research online.
I first learned that the Catholic Church is the original first church.
Second, I found that the Catholic Church doesn’t worship Mary or the saints, but they venerate them. That to me was mind blowing.
But the real game changer was when I learned about the Eucharist. As a Protestant we had Holy Communion, but it was just bread and wine.
When I learned the Eucharist is actually the Body and Blood of Christ, it was life changing. For once in my life, I knew for certain that God can be in me.
As a Protestant, we always say God is in us, he lives in us. But you always have to imagine it and just really have faith that God is in you.
And yet here was something very tangible, something that you can actually see and touch and even taste and know that by receiving this, God is in you. That is life-changing. When I learned that I felt so loved. And I wanted that.
I think that’s what’s different. I never questioned God’s love. Even as a Protestant, I knew he loves us, but having more real, tangible evidence and proof of that divine love just strengthened my belief even more.
And I thought I don’t want to be Protestant anymore. I wanted to be Catholic.
It turns out that I wasn’t alone. I went to an Indonesian Catholic Mass and approached someone there, telling them that I wanted to be Catholic. I found the RCIA community in in the Indonesian community. I joined a class of 18, the biggest they’ve ever had.
In March this year we finally came to the day of Rite of Election, which is a very big day. We were received as catechumens by the church and met the archbishop. And I was so, so happy.
This year we have the largest amount of people becoming Catholic in Sydney. I felt very blessed that I’m getting baptised this year and becoming part of this large community.
As a convert, when I look at Catholics now, I just feel a little bit sad for them because I know the truth. And I feel sad some take it for granted.
I would love to use my story to share to Catholics. To truly know the truth about their faith and just love God vigorously.
I feel so loved. I feel very grateful, and I feel the closest to God that I’ve ever been.
And I just I can’t imagine not being Catholic now.
To watch Evelyn’s Story, click on the link here.