I am only a Christian because God made it possible for people to know him and be in this kind of friendship with Him; not because I have done anything special. God could have made people, all those years back when he created people and life, but then chosen to remain anonymous. But he is always kind, he likes to communicate. First he communicated with Adam and Eve. When they didn't follow his commands in the Garden of Eden, he asked them why they were trying to hide from him. He sought them out, and helped them out. But it was only when Jesus came that we could really be in full relationship with God again.
Jesus, God's own son, chose to leave the glory of Heaven to live among man, in Israel. When he was 30 he spent the next three years rounding up men and women to follow him through invitation - not to follow a religious doctrine, but simply to follow HIM.
He travelled about, with his band of 12 close followers, saying he came to release the captives from darkness, to set people free (these were words the Jews knew from their religious books - they had wanted such a person). This wasn't only for those in physically challenging situations; it also stretched to rulers and Jews, as well as the sick and disabled. In a lead-up, Jesus was taken to the Cross, due to false charges against him, and crucified there. But he always said that this was part of God's will. He was humanity's substiute, taking God's wrath for humanity's sin against God, upon himself (Jesus). He died.
On the third day Jesus came back to life. Many people saw him, about 500 in fact. 40 days later he was taken up to heaven before people's eyes.
Jesus sits there now, working with God the Father through his Holy Spirit which covers all the earth, to bring more people into the large family of people that follow Jesus today.
I heard a bit about this when I read a religious tract that was poked through our front door when I was about 12. This built on (1) some Sunday school backgroud I'd had, as my parents had started going to church when I was born, the youngest of thier three children. And (2) My Godmother, Carol, was Christian. She no doubt prayed for me, and she gave me Bible study notes for children which I read with my mum in the evenings. So I had a belief in God, especially in times of trouble, but I stood out little as a 'Christian' at school. Even one time someone asked me about the cross on my blazer, I was very embarrassed, and didn't really admit to knowing God!
Aged about 14 I stopped going to church for a few years. But aged 16, at North Devon College, I started feeling uncomfortable with this. I experimented in very small ways with alcohol, and meeting boys at the college dances, and although exciting in theory, it didn't leave me feeling great or really pleased as I had thought it would. In fact, one day, while walking up the hill to college, I felt really ashamed.
I heard a bit about this when I read a religious tract that was poked through our front door when I was about 12. This built on (1) some Sunday school backgroud I'd had, as my parents had started going to church when I was born, the youngest of thier three children. And (2) My Godmother, Carol, was Christian. She no doubt prayed for me, and she gave me Bible study notes for children which I read with my mum in the evenings. So I had a belief in God, especially in times of trouble, but I stood out little as a 'Christian' at school. Even one time someone asked me about the cross on my blazer, I was very embarrassed, and didn't really admit to knowing God!
Aged about 14 I stopped going to church for a few years. But aged 16, at North Devon College, I started feeling uncomfortable with this. I experimented in very small ways with alcohol, and meeting boys at the college dances, and although exciting in theory, it didn't leave me feeling great or really pleased as I had thought it would. In fact, one day, while walking up the hill to college, I felt really ashamed.
I returned to church, but could only shake the hand of the vicar as I left the church, I couldn't come to God and shake hands. I didn't know how I would get out of this state. I was too scared to give myself all to God. Meanwhile, my brother had become a Christain at univeristy and was very keen now, and later I found out that him and his friends had been praying for me and our family while at university. The result was that, finally, I attended a special service for the Toronto Blessing in another church. In that service, God entered my life in a powerful way, that was a key night in my life.
It was the turning point, after which I could witness about God more, (or at least wanted to), pray in a more real and excited sense with a real God in my bedroom but also as I walked along the street, and discover that three of my good friends from college were already Christians. I also started reading through the New Testament each evening in bed, and that was a real eye-opener - rules for living! A purpose behind the life of Jesus!
Also at this time, perhaps due to hitting 17, I developed an interest in travel and wanting to go abroad. I looked at a number of 'gap year' organisations, and ended up in Uganda with a great group of others like me, on a similar Christian journey. That experience of Christians abroad (in Uganda), and then of university Christian small groups where we studied the Bible together, led me more towards a rounded deeper Christian life.
It was the turning point, after which I could witness about God more, (or at least wanted to), pray in a more real and excited sense with a real God in my bedroom but also as I walked along the street, and discover that three of my good friends from college were already Christians. I also started reading through the New Testament each evening in bed, and that was a real eye-opener - rules for living! A purpose behind the life of Jesus!
Also at this time, perhaps due to hitting 17, I developed an interest in travel and wanting to go abroad. I looked at a number of 'gap year' organisations, and ended up in Uganda with a great group of others like me, on a similar Christian journey. That experience of Christians abroad (in Uganda), and then of university Christian small groups where we studied the Bible together, led me more towards a rounded deeper Christian life.
I was given some leadership in the Christian Union at Swansea University and afterwards worked for a year in the same field, over in neighbouring Cardiff. That was great year of learning more about how to use my time in Christian ministry, and one thing led unexpectedly to another, and after that I moved to Oxford to work with the international version of the same work. The story continued as I met international students there, worked with Christians from around the world, and grew more ready for mission work overseas.
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