Sian, a member of our older youth, was baptised at The Point in May 2019. In September she is joining the team as a volunteer intern during her gap year. Here, she shares her journey with Jesus and how He has changed her life forever.
I’ve been part of The Point since I was six years old. Before coming here, I was at another church, where there was very little interaction with the kids. I wasn’t excited about going at all. Long story short, one of my mum’s friends said, “Why don’t you try going to The Point – it’s a great family friendly church!” Needless to say, we did, and I realised that church can be really fun!
I wasn’t brought up in a Christian family – in fact my mum and I are the only two people who believe. When we first went to church, both of my brothers came along, but soon they felt it wasn’t for them. This was really hard for me, because I felt I had to keep my faith on the down low. They would laugh at me and tell me “it’s not real” but I guess something deep down in my heart knew it was real. It may not have been to them, but it 100% was to me!
Going through secondary school was probably one of the hardest things I have faced in life so far. I was bullied – not just by those who didn’t know me, but also by people I called friends. During this time, home life had become pretty hard as my eldest brother had started to hang out with the wrong kinds of people who had a negative effect on who he was and his behaviour. Life became difficult. I started to spiral down to a very dark and lonely place. I stopped turning to God because I was angry with Him – if He loves me as much as I’m told He does; why is He putting me through this?
I didn’t know who to turn to, or even who to talk to – because home wasn’t the safe place it was meant to be; neither was school.
I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere.
Church became a chore for me. I didn’t want to go, but I felt like I should, so I got out of bed and dragged myself there. I’m so grateful that I did, because if I hadn’t – I wouldn’t be as strong in my faith as I am today!
Towards the end of that year I went to a Christian youth event called Soul Survivor. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I was only going because it was a week away from my hard life. During the week I met with Jesus for the first time ever!
The call for prayer at the end of the talk was for me! All of a sudden, I felt safe, felt free and like I finally belonged. At this moment my journey with Jesus really begun. I was so excited about going to church and to learn about God’s word, because now it felt true! All the bad things in my life didn’t matter now, I had Him!
I was no longer living in a black and white movie; now I was living in full technicolour!
I went back to college after my third time at Soul Survivor and I was bouncing around, even more than usual! Someone in my class said, “Sian, I want some of whatever you’ve taken.” Without a second thought, I replied, “It’s Jesus, if you want Him, all you have to do is ask!”
So now when people ask me why I believe in Jesus, I tell them. He changed my life. He loves me through everything – through all my mistakes; through all the hard times. He will never leave me; His love is unchanging.