Ps 107:2 says ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.’ It is so important for each one of us to realise we have a story to tell and to be involved in telling that story. We often think of evangelism as something difficult, something best left to the ‘professionals’, but at its heart, evangelism (good news!) is simply telling others what God has done for us. It is a personal testimony or witness to what God has done in our lives and what He means to us.
I grew up not giving God much thought at all. My parents had had a religious upbringing and been part of the Methodist Church at Furlong Road, but church was not a regular part of my childhood. God was a vague presence to me; a personal relationship with Him was not mentioned, and reading the Bible and praying did not form part of my daily experience. When I was in my early teens, God began to work wonderfuly in my family as my youngest aunt became a Christian when she left home to begin teacher- training in Leeds. My mother, grandmother, uncle and his wife all became Christians and started attending a local church, but still I was only vaguely aware of what God could do or why it was important to know Him.
Through their prayers, however, I began to consider this God who had clearly made a visible difference in their lives. I wanted God’s help – to do well at school, for example – but on my terms. I didn’t really understand anything about sin or salvation, but I was curious.
I read biographies and testimonies of people like Nicky Cruz and Joni (paralysed in a diving accident at eighteen), but it was only when a friend’s sister went to university and started attending Christian meetings there that I began to wonder if God was relevant to younger people as well. My friend’s sister and her friends were intelligent, educated people who were articulate in defending the historical credibility of their faith and passionate about living out what they believed. I started corresponding with one of them to debate many issues, only to discover that for Christians, the true launchpad for everything was God and His revelation in the Bible.
I visited this group in 1983 and continued to see how real their faith was. By this time, I was acutely aware that I did not have the same personal relationship with God that they had, and so it was on my return that, convicted and uncomfortable, I cried out to God for myself in the lounge of my house one Thursday morning and my Mum had the privilege of leading me to know the Lord for myself.
That’s my story. What’s yours? And how can we share this with other people?
