Bernadette Cabrera will always remember May 24, 2012 as the day her life changed forever. It was then she received the devastating news that her father had brain cancer. The diagnosis was stage four.

For months, the 14-year-old questioned why God would allow this to happen to her family. And then, gradually, God showed her how He could use even the most painful situations for good.

“I swear I think I hit rock bottom,” she said. “I started self-harming and was really just not walking with the Lord. I was looking for happiness and satisfaction in all the wrong places.

“Then one weekend I went to a [Word of Life] Camp over on Grace Island. The Lord showed me this verse: Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.’ It was exactly what I was not doing — trusting God.

“Instead, I kept doubting Him and asking, ‘Why?’. What I realised is people tend to depend on family, friends, doctors, counsellors, drugs or even work to fulfil them, but they soon realise there’s still this void in their heart that just can’t be filled by any of those. Only God can fill it.”

Her father bravely battled cancer for three years before passing away on June 19, 2015. Although it was one of the hardest days of her life, Miss Cabrera had a sense of peace in her heart.

“My dad had accepted the Lord in 2013 so I knew that when he died, he was going on to be with the Lord and that’s the most comforting message for me,” she said.

Her faith has grown dramatically since then.

The 19-year-old is now in her second year of study at Word of Life Bible Institute in New York.

She dreams of using her passion for music to enter full-time ministry singing with a praise band, although she is not 100 per cent set on that path.

“My heart is open to whatever God has in store for me,” she said. “Honestly, at the moment I’ve just been living my life by faith. I know the Lord has put the desire in my heart to go into the music ministry. For me there is nothing better than doing what I love for Jesus, but for now I’m just waiting to see where He will take that.”

In April, she is hoping to travel to the Philippines to work at a Word of Life Camp there. She is currently fundraising so she can afford the trip.

“Although I was born and raised in Bermuda I come from a Filipino family so because of that, I’ve always had a heart for the Philippines and its people,” she said.

“Last year, I completed my first year at the Word of Life Bible Institute in the Philippines and the Lord seriously worked in my heart in ways I would have never imagined.

“God opened up opportunities for me to become a counsellor, which allowed me to invest into the lives of young people and made me realise that everyone has a different story. Everyone is going through struggles and each individual has a trial in life.

“Many people have lost hope. They struggle to see that there is an eternal hope out there in Jesus Christ and so being able to invest into people’s lives and to remind them of this is such a privilege and a blessing in which all glory goes to God.”

Although she has always believed in God, when she was younger she would usually only turn to Him for favours.

“As I got older, I grew very independent,” she said. “My dad worked hard, day and night, to provide for us so I didn’t see him a lot. And my mum was often busy cleaning or cooking. As a result, I struggled with feeling unloved and unimportant.”

Then one day, a friend invited her to HYPE, a youth group at Calvary Gospel Chapel. At first she rejected the offer, then at the last minute she changed her mind.

“Little did I know that was when God started to work in my heart,” she said.

She began to attend other Christian events on the island and eventually gave her heart to the Lord.

“My journey since then has not been easy — life is never easy — but God has remained faithful. He’s shown me that He is unchanging and even when the world turns its back on me, the one thing I’ll always have is Him.

“That is where I find my joy, my peace and my strength.”

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