Our Stories
Helen
I've always believed in God but I was fed up with the preachy, hypocritical Christians I'd come across. They seemed quite happy to point the finger at people who weren't living right and calling us all sinners whilst being the most unloving, unforgiving, unwilling to help bunch of cretins that stalked the planet. I couldn't understand what was so good about being one of them; they condemned people whose lives didn't mirror their ideal, without lifting a finger to help or offering a solution. I left the church in my early teens.
I wanted an answer to MY life problems but because of the things I did, the people I associated with, I was beyond the pale as far as they were concerned. I was like millions of people the world over, lost in a world that didn't care, unlovely and unloved. I was in my late thirties before I got anywhere near liking myself. I was 43 when I came to Christ and it was like a bolt from the blue (so much so that that my family and friends thought that I must have been brainwashed by a cult) Nobody was expecting it, least of all me! but He called me and when He does, it's a bit difficult to ignore. Funnily enough, since I was in my early twenties I'd had this morbid fear of dying when I was 42. In my 42nd year I travelled to the States and it was whilst I was there that it happened....around my 43rd birthday I was born again.
Since being strong-armed into joining, of course I've found out that most people's ideas of what Christianity is are wrong (myself included). It's important to separate the practice from the practitioners and find out for youself.
I never dreamed it could be such an exciting journey, and such a fulfilling one. As a woman who loves to learn, I just know that this is going to be a life-long experience.....and I DO mean the life everlasting!
Debs
I have always believed in God - I was baptized as a baby, went to Sunday School and got confirmed at 11 then became what's best described as a lapsed Christian.
Whenever things have gone wrong in my life I have always reached for my crucifix and prayed, somewhat selfishly "please God make everything right for me". Then in 2001 my mother died of cancer and I spent a great deal of time in my local church, just sitting in silence but getting great comfort from God's presence.
Currently, I am going through the trauma of accepting that my partner of 8 years is having an affair; I was one of the millions of women who thought it would never happen to me. Then one day I received an email from Helen who was interested in volunteering at the Church where I work and I firmly believe that God sent her to me. She has been a wonderful support. I wake up every morning and say good morning to God and talk to him throughout the day. Out of a very black time things are very slowly coming together but I am under no illusion that I still have a long way to go but God is putting people in my path who are positive and are able to help me out of my predicament. I am a very new recruit and I do not pretend to understand a lot but all I know is I could not go through this period in my life if I did not believe that God was looking after me and wanting me to succeed to carry out whatever he has planned for me.
Alan
I grew up in a family where it was mandatory that you attend church every Sunday and most Wednesday nights as well. The church we attended was a Pentecostal denomination. I accepted Christ at a young age and was baptized in the Holy Spirit when I was around 12 years old. I never heard about the freedom we have in Christ though. What I heard being preached was all about sin and what not to do, where not to go, and who not to go with. One night at a special meeting we were having at the church when I was about 14, I heard God tell me He wanted me to be in the ministry. I looked at all the preachers I knew, at all the things they could not do, how poor they seemed, and all the rest of life and decided that I would convince God, He didn’t really want me to be in the ministry. For the next several years, I did everything contrary to God I could, thinking that God would just let me alone and I could go on with my plans. Well that isn’t the way God works. Every time somebody would convince me to go to church, I would hear, “you should be up front”. That would generally keep me away for quite some time. Finally one Sunday morning I was more or less waylaid into going by my 2 year old son and when I got there, the preacher (who I never met before) had apparently been reading my mail. He picked me out of a crowd of over a hundred and preached the whole sermon about my life it seemed. By the end of the service I felt about 2 inches high and wanted to crawl out the door. I just gave my life back to God and said, “Ok take it and use it for whatever you want, because I can’t do anything with it anymore.” He took me at my word and within 18 months He had me attending Bible school in another state and on fire for Him. It seems my life has been in a constant whirlwind since then. He has taken me places I never even thought I could go. He is absolutely the most wonderful savior I could ever find and I love sharing Him with others. I so love seeing other people absolutely light up when Jesus comes into their lives and they for the first time know what real life actually is. There are so many blessings that come with receiving Christ, but the greatest of these is the knowledge that eternity with your living savior is now in your future.
