How I came to know Christ

I was about 14 years old and was in a church that I hated going to. God forgive me, but I found this church to be boring, out of touch and to be honest, I felt that the people there were very judgmental and hypocritical. As a result I would only ever go because my parents forced me (I didn't have much other choice).

On one particular Sunday morning, our church had a guest preacher over from Turkey. He was definitely passionate in his preaching style and moved with a lot of charisma from what I recall, but his Turkish accent was quite thick which left me (and I'm sure most of the congregation) quite clueless as to what he was preaching about. So, as was usual for me during many previous sermons I had sat in, my mind drifted off to fruitless adolescent thoughts. It was not until the end of this preacher's sermon that my mind came back to him and what he was saying. He stopped pacing up and down the podium and actually climbed down the stairs to stand inches away from the congregation. I remember now that my attention was fully upon him, and at a point I could feel my heart beat becoming a bit faster. Despite the fact I had struggled to understand him clearly before, I now understood his following words. He was making an invitation to the young people in the congregation. He was inviting us to get closer to God and to experience Him for ourselves. I remember it clearly as though it was yesterday.

"If you are a young person here, and you don't know Jesus just lift up your hand now I'm going to pray with you."

I don't know why but I was touched by this. He was going to pray for us to know Jesus, and there and then I felt a desperation to really know Jesus. Not church or religion - I was done with all that - but to know Jesus. I closed my eyes, then I lifted up my right hand and waited. Then he spoke again.

"If you have lifted up hands, please come to the front here with me and let us pray."

"No way!" I thought to myself, "I'm not going to the front of this already judgmental church for them to have another excuse to judge me some more."

I put my hand down faster than I had lifted it up. Unfortunately for me my mother had caught me and without any trace of mercy or understanding, she demanded that I go to the front, adding that I of all people really needed Jesus.

I walked to the front alone and it was painful. It felt like I had walked a mile to get to the preacher. When I arrived I stood in front of him and closed my eyes, more to block out the scenery of the congregation around me. Then again, I felt my heart beat faster, but it wasn't because of nerves or embarrassment of standing in front of everyone. It was that desperate feeling again; it's almost as if I knew that I was about to experience a change.

I felt a palm rest on my chest, and opened my eyes out of shock. I saw that the guest preacher had laid his hand on my chest and shoulder and he wanted to lead me in prayer. Before I closed my eyes to pray with him, I saw other young people trickling to the front to join us. We prayed for God to forgive us of our sins and for us to receive Jesus into our lives.

After this, I returned to my seat and to be honest I didn't feel any different straight away. But the journey that ensued helped me to know that it was the best decision I have ever made. Romans 10:9-10 confirms that my belief in Jesus and my prayer to him has made me a righteous person and saved me from sin. My life has changed drastically since that Sunday morning and today, by the grace of God, I am a preacher, sharing God's love with people and also inviting them to know Jesus for themselves.