I was raised in a Christian family, went to church every Sunday and it was all the same: I’d go there then come home and still act the same as if being a Christian was just a Sunday thing.

I was often bullied at school and I got into the habit of thinking up of ways to get people back for the horrible things they said or did to me. It got the point that in year 8 I got bullied and had arguments with friends so much I cried myself to sleep every night, dreading the next morning. I’d use any excuse to get out of school but nothing worked and the bullying continued. Then, when I turned 16, I fell in with the wrong crowd; instead of going to church I went out drinking with them. I became depressed and began to self harm. This went on until about April and my family noticed I was swearing, really uptight and upset all the time and then one day my sister walked in on me self harming. I just burst into tears; I felt like I had nothing left to live for. That was one of the lowest points in my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'gave my life to Christ...’

This is what people do
in order to become
Christians. Recognising
that Emma had fallen short of what God wanted for her, and realising that she could be redeemed through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, Emma surrendered her life and her plans to God, so that God could be in control. She would live the life that God wants her to live, and to live devoted to God

 

The very next day my friend Michael invited me to Soul Survivor 2007, so I said yes as I’d been the year before and I thought it was incredible; I thought it was going to be the same as 2006, but it was really different because I ended up making so many new friends and on the second day of Soul Survivor I gave my life to Christ. This was when I started to understand what it was all about and that it wasn’t just a thing on a Sunday but that God should be the centre of every part of my life.     

When we got back from Soul Survivor, I started going back to the church I had been a member of when growing up but something didn’t seem to fit any more and I just got the sense that God wanted me to move on. I wasn’t sure what to do so I asked God what He wanted and that Sunday a verse from Jeremiah was used which really struck me:

 “For I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. “They are plans for good not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”- Jeremiah 29:11

I just knew that this was for me and that God was asking me to trust Him with this so I asked Him “where do you want me to go?” Then at school my best friend, Ollie, who has had such an impact on my life, asked me to go to re:generation to hear Tony Anthony speak. I said yes as I was really keen to find a new church. I went along and I saw quite a few people I knew or recognised because they went to my school. Tony Anthony’s talk was amazing and I felt God was calling me to attend re:generation church, so the Sunday after I started to come and I got more and more involved in everything that was going on there. I can definitely say that since I started going, my relationship with God has got so much better and I just want to go deeper and deeper with Him.

I’m finding it so much easier to put God at the centre of my life as I have learned I can always fall back on Him and also I now feel like such a part of my new church where I have new friends who inspire me so much in my life as a Christian – they’re such a blessing in my life and I really thank God for them. I told my old friends about my faith and the work God’s doing in my life and they didn’t abandon me, instead they really respect it and sometimes ask about Jesus and who He is to me, which is fantastic. I still have ups and downs but now it’s different because rather than turning to alcohol I fall back on God, pray to Him and read the bible: I know He’s always there to listen to me. God saved me in so many ways and I can’t thank Him enough for what He did for me.