story

Lilian Montoya Zavala

“It gave me a community where I felt love, where I felt grace, where I could be myself, I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else.”

How did you start surfing?

During the pandemic I started surfing because I saw my cousin surfing and I said, why not? It was a dream I’d had since I was a child, and I wanted to surf, but I never got to do it. Actually, nobody knew it was a dream, I think only my brother did. So I started taking lessons, and from the very first moment I stood on the board, it was incredible.

What was it like finding a community through surfing?

But I felt alone because around me the surf world was unpleasant—drugs, sex, and so on. I started praying for community, and one day while I was surfing, the Holy Spirit brought Christian Surfers to my mind. I had heard about it when I was a teenager, but I didn’t know if it still existed. So I looked them up on Instagram, they replied, and I started connecting with them online and then in person.

It was incredible because at that moment I felt that this was what God had for me. It gave me a community where I felt love, where I felt grace, where I could be myself, I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else.

“And I feel that I will never be alone again.”

How has your journey with Jesus changed your life?

From that moment on, my life began to walk with Jesus, and Jesus began to transform my life. Being a person who lived in sin and far from Him began to give me a new identity and bring me back to His original design. To heal my heart, to heal my mind, to remind me who I am, that I am His beloved daughter and that He has good plans for me.

The road has not been easy; I’ve gone through difficult times, through many valleys as well, but God has been strengthening my life and my character. It’s amazing how He transforms your heart and makes you see what is truly real—Himself.