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I think one of the biggest
things that I've learned
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about sharing my faith is that,
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it's not gonna be the same for everyone.
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My name is Beth, and this is my story.
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So, when I was a teenager
my brother was murdered,
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and my dad had a stroke when I was 17.
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As a teenager I didn't react well
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to the things that happened.
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I got very angry at the world,
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and basically anyone I could be angry at.
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So, I didn't want to
explore faith at first,
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but the thing that led me to do so
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was when I came to university.
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It was during Freshers' Week
and it was a great week,
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but it just felt like I wanted more.
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Two of my flatmates who
were Christians said,
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"why don't we do this thing
called Text-A-Toastie?"
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Which is where you text the
Christian Union a question,
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and then they come and
answer it with your dinner.
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So we text this random question,
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and they turned up at about 8 o'clock,
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and stayed til half 12,
answering all the questions
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that I didn't know that I had.
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They really helped me in many ways,
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when I was very adamant
that they weren't going to.
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On the Friday night, I
went along to 'Unite',
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the Christian Union's weekly,
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kind of celebration meeting thing.
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And they all just stood
up and started singing
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when we got there, and I just
found that slightly weird.
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Why has life turned into
a musical all of a sudden?
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Why does everyone know
the words and I don't?
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I was a bit overwhelmed, I think,
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and I didn't want to be a Christian,
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but I kind of knew that
something was happening,
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and something was changing in the way
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that I was thinking about things.
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A few weeks after that, I met
up with my hall group leader,
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and she bought me an ice cream,
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and she sat me down, and she was like,
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"So, what are your questions?"
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And I was like, "I don't
want to talk to you."
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And then, she basically
told me about Jesus,
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and people had done that,
but I hadn't really listened,
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and then I went back to the
weekly meeting, 'Unite'.
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Everyone stood up and
started singing again,
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and I thought, I'm gonna join in.
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And I was thinking things through,
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and I decided that I
wanted to be a Christian.
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So, I became a Christian, in that song.
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The way I understand suffering
is very different now
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that I'm a Christian, to
the way I understood it
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before I was a Christian.
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When I became a Christian
I asked a lot of questions.
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I read through the Bible cover to cover,
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and found a God in the pages there
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that didn't cause pain,
but that did redeem pain.
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So he promises that one day
all pain will be made right,
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and that there will be justice,
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and those things were
just so important to me.
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I think for anyone going to uni,
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I'd encourage them with one thing,
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ask every question you have and
don't be afraid to ask them.
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Because there are answers,
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and it's gonna be the
easiest time in your life,
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when people are the most open
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to answering your questions, to do so.
