Since I was little I was told I was a Christian and as a baby I was Christened. So I guess I just went along with it. I grew up going to church with my mum, brother and sister every Sunday, it was just what we did. But I didn’t find it interesting, in fact I found it boring because there weren’t that many children and I thought it was just for old people. As I started to go to school I realised other children wouldn’t come to church and they would do other things that I wouldn’t be able to do because I went to church. So I started to get annoyed with church and wish I didn’t have to go.
In 2007 we moved churches to St Lawrence, Gotham and the Vicar, Steve, invited me to start playing in the band at the church almost straight away. At this point church started to be more enjoyable but I went to church to play in the band, not to grow a relationship with God. We did some musicals with church which I really loved, I thought they were the best bit about church. I met Val who was extremely welcoming and kind which led me to think church was also about being nice to people as well. But here there were no children at church so I still thought it was just for adults.
When we got a new Vicar, Richard, he moved into the village and I made friends with his eldest daughter, Rebecca. We had so much in common and I remember thinking maybe God had sent her to help guide me in my faith. We made a new band at church with even more instruments which was more exciting but I started to get bored of the band, and church became a social meeting place to see your friends.
In Year 7 at school, I went to a Youth for Christ event called The Big Day Out, and realised there was more to God than I thought. There were lots of young people and I remember thinking it was really exciting. At school I had no Christian friends so I found it quite hard to call myself one because people would look at me and treat me differently. But whilst I had the knowledge, I didn’t believe it completely until a new girl, Kathryn, came who I made friends with. She took me to a Youth Group that I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the new modern songs being sung instead of hymns because it made church feel like it was not just for older people, therefore younger people could believe too. It was during worship time there that I felt the Holy Spirit for the first time, bringing me to tears and it was then I knew I was a Christian. But what is a Christian? Someone who believes in their heart that Jesus has forgiven their sins and whom one day will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. A Christian also wants to live their life to glorify God. Christian means “little Christ”. I decided to live my life for God and follow His ways.
Rebecca’s family then discovered the Oakes Christian Holiday Centre in Sheffield which I went to for the first time in 2012 and all the leaders were so nice and I wanted to be more like them so I kept going back to the Oakes each year because I could see how Jesus had changed their lives. In the 2014 camp I decided again to renew my faith and felt the Holy Spirit again but this time it was even more powerful; I remember feeling extremely hot, shaky and even slightly faint. It was then that it really struck me how real everything was and I really wanted in my heart even more for God to be in my life.
Since then I have asked God to be in my life I have had prayers answered and have been able to understand a lot more of the Bible. I also love to sing songs that glorify Him and have gradually learned to dislike any songs that dishonour Him. I never want to go back to before Jesus entered my life because He makes me feel complete.