I became a Christian when I was about twenty-two. I was living in
London
and met a friend in the restaurant that I was working in. This friend
came from
California
and when it was time for them to go back home, they extended an invitation
to me to go and visit. A while later I did go and visit and
began sharing a flat with some friends that I had met there.
One day, my friend asked if I would like to go to church. I said yes as I
had always believed that Jesus was the son of God and had never had any
problems with that. However, I hadn’t been to church since I was
very small. At the end of the meeting the pastor asked if
anybody would like to give their heart to Jesus. I suddenly had an
overwhelming struggle going on inside me. I knew that this man
was ‘talking to me’ and wanted to respond to what he was saying but I
also had this voice in my head telling me that I was such a hypocrite that I
felt I just couldn’t put my hand up in response. I left church
feeling excited about what had happened but had decided that I would never
go back there again!
Sometime later, I began to feel really desperate about my life. I
was asking questions like “ What is life all about”, “ Where is my
life headed?” and “There must be more to life than this?”. I
cried out to God one night to help me. That night I had a
wonderful dream. I dreamed that there was someone standing at the
bottom of my bed looking over at me. From his heart there was an
intense beam of light shining over me and with this light I felt all of my
deepest needs were met, all of my questions were answered. I felt
peace and a security that I could never have imagined. I knew that
this was where I belonged. In the morning I woke up thinking,
“I have just been baptised in the Holy Spirit”, although I really had no
idea what that meant. I just knew that I was going to become a
Christian. It wasn’t for another week or so until I had the
opportunity to pray with others and commit my life to Jesus.
That all happened twenty-three years ago. Through all my
experiences and the ups and downs of life I have learned that God is my
father and that he is faithful. Knowing Jesus has brought me a peace
and security that I could not find elsewhere. He has helped me in
everything I have done. In my marriage, bringing up my children, in my
work. I know that he is always there and I wouldn’t want to live any
other way.
