Life-Changing Courses
Changed Lives
Oliver
My
upbringing has been in a Christian home from which I have been brought
to Church every week.
When I was younger I went to Sunday School where
I learnt the basic truths of the Bible. However, I wasn’t that interested
at the time and thought the teaching didn’t really apply to me.
Up until about the age of 14 I ignored most things to do with Christianity,
even though I understood that if I didn’t become a Christian, by
giving my life to God, I’d be alienated from Him, forever – even
still, I did not believe!
"I did not believe! . . . Now, I know that God has forgiven me and given me a new start in life."
When I was 14 I went on my first Christian camp, it was this camp that got me thinking about what I personally believed. I came away thinking a lot about the talks that were given on Heaven and Hell and how no one is able to save themselves. At this time I was keen to learn more so I started reading my Bible, praying and giving more attention to sermons. However, after a few months this enthusiasm disappeared and life just carried on like usual.
Later that year I was given a Bible at school. Through its topics and help pages I searched for the answers I needed. Soon after this I got hold of a book called ‘The shock of your life,’ which deals with different responses to the gospel – an unbeliever, a person who is thinking about Christianity and a Christian. This book caused me to think more deeply about my own position and which category I fell into. After reading it, I felt in my heart that I was a Christian.
My conversion was not an instant thing but something which, over a period of a few months, was made clearer in my own mind. During this time I asked for forgiveness several times. At first I didn’t feel any different and life stayed pretty much the same; I had no assurance that I was forgiven and I didn’t really know what to expect. Now, I know that God has forgiven me and given me a new start in life.
For a while after this, I thought about baptism as something I should do, because I knew that as a Christian, it is what God commands us to do. Nevertheless, I always made excuses for not going through with it, because I thought it would be easier to just forget about it. However, this was not right and not what I would encourage anyone to do! It soon began to bother me, so I decided that I would face up to my fears and ask to be baptised.
Since becoming a Christian and being baptised, I’ve realised that life is not going to be easy or straightforward but that becoming a Christian is just the beginning of an epic journey; the journey of a lifetime. In some ways, my life has become more difficult and there seems to be a constant battle between good and evil going on within me. However, I know, through the promises found in the Bible that God is always near to those who believe and trust in Him, and that He empowers us to overcome the evil living within and live as He wants us to.
Naomi
I had the privilege of being born into a Christian
family; one that went to Church each week and actively practised Christianity.
As I grew up, I never doubted that God was real – I just attended Church regularly and went along with what my parents did and taught.
"I poured out my heart to God, asked Him for forgiveness and to come into my life, and to be my guide, friend, Father and King."
It was not until I was nine years of age, however, that Jesus became ‘real’ to me as my own, personal, Lord and Saviour. I became challenged one Sunday evening when my younger brother came home from Church excited that he had ‘become a Christian.’ What did this really mean?
My minister was preaching a series of sermons at Church at the time on Jesus Christ being like a door, which we must knock at in order to enter into a relationship with God. Had this meant anything to me before?
That evening, I was convicted of the wrong things I had done in my life and could not settle at all. When I went to bed that night, I poured out my heart to God, asked Him for forgiveness and to come into my life, and to be my guide, friend, Father and King.
God answered my prayer. He teaches me how to live my life through His Word (the Bible) and comforts me when I am down. He loves and forgives me and is always by my side. I will always live in thankfulness and praise for His wonderful kindness!
Julia
Through almost 50 years of being a “born again” Christian
I have found God to be so faithful. I realised in a very personal
way just before my 21st birthday that Christ had died for me and I had
accepted Him as my Saviour. One of the cards I received on that birthday
said “God
has not promised skies always blue, but God has promised... strength
for the way...”
"My life had disintegrated around me in the previous months and I was in a turmoil not knowing which way to turn, what to do - where to go."
One Sunday morning in the late summer of 1978 I returned home from my local church and sat and read and read my Bible. My life had disintegrated around me in the previous months and I was in a turmoil not knowing which way to turn, what to do - even perhaps where to go. As I sat, in a distraught state, slowly the words I was reading began to sink in, until I reached verse 8 of Psalm 32: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go: I will guide you with my eye.”
Here was a clear promise from God, and I trusted Him to do this for me. Life became no easier, but I did manage to cling on, keep going and believe that God was leading me day by day and giving me His strength.
For many years my life was extremely difficult – partly as a consequence of my own wilfulness – and I look back on these years with much sadness and regret, but I have to say that if I had not lived through these very difficult times I am sure that I would not have discovered how good and patient the Lord is. I know now that whatever situation God puts me into, however trying it is, He will be with me and He will give the strength to live in that situation.
Will
Hi;
my name is Will and this is the story of how I became a Christian. God
has been very kind to me in that He has put me in a Christian family – my
parents and both my brothers are Christians. Through their support and
teaching I’ve grown up knowing about Christ.
"I can’t tell you when I first became a Christian because it happened gradually. God has constantly worked in my life since the year dot."
I can’t tell you when I first became a Christian because it happened gradually. God has constantly worked in my life since the year dot. My faith has been a slow maturing one starting from being taught the simple things as a child, like the need to pray to God and constantly communicate with Him, to understanding the deep and amazing teachings of Christ.
But you must understand this when you read my testimony that I am not a Christian because I was born into a Christian family, it’s not a birth right, nor is it earned by praying every night and being a good person. I am a Christian because I believe that Jesus died for me and that I need to turn away from my sinful life in order to live a life that pleases God.
Surprisingly enough, your life is not about you, but about living for God. Of course I’ve always had, and always will have doubts about my faith but that’s just the devil trying to put you down and discourage you. In the end all you need to do is try and stay as close to God as possible and He will never let you go – that’s His promise.
If you would like to read my full testimony then send our pastor an email and he will send it to you.
Judith
My mother and father only attended
Church for weddings etc. It was my maternal grandmother who took my
brother, sister and me to Sunday school twice every Sunday for the
first 8 years of my life. What
I was taught there has never really left me. When we moved away,
Sunday school attendance was not so frequent.
"I realised that Jesus was the meaning and purpose of life. I began my journey back to God and in doing so felt that I was getting to the end of a dark tunnel."
I left home at 18 to train as a nurse and then to train as a midwife. Initially I tried to find a Church to attend but at the same time I was pushing the boundaries and finding there was no wrath from God, pushed some more.
I married and after 7 years my daughter was born and we became too busy for Church. By this time I was teaching midwifery and my husband stayed at home. I realised that to stay as a midwife teacher I needed a degree. Looking back I now realise I took our role reversal to the extreme and put my carer first.
Eventually I met some very open and active Christians who befriended us. Then my husband left me with no warning, my work environment changed and my sister died suddenly. I became very depressed and was signed off work. I attended an adult baptism and the song sung that day had the words “all I once held dear built my life upon - all I once thought gain I have counted loss spent and worthless now compared to - knowing Jesus.” That really made an impression on me – I realised that Jesus was the meaning and purpose of life. I began my journey back to God and in doing so felt that I was getting to the end of a dark tunnel. This eventually led to my own baptism. Looking back I realise that God had never let me go. He was protecting me even when I was not listening and was gently bringing me back to Himself. Those ‘seeds’ of Bible truths that were sown in Sunday school have budded, God has put me in a place where I can continue to grow as a Christian and I am experiencing more and more, with each passing day, the amazing love He has for me.