00:00
I think one of the biggest
things that I've learned
00:02
about sharing my faith is that,
00:04
it's not gonna be the same for everyone.
00:06
My name is Beth, and this is my story.
00:09
So, when I was a teenager
my brother was murdered,
00:12
and my dad had a stroke when I was 17.
00:15
As a teenager I didn't react well
00:17
to the things that happened.
00:19
I got very angry at the world,
00:22
and basically anyone I could be angry at.
00:25
So, I didn't want to
explore faith at first,
00:27
but the thing that led me to do so
00:29
was when I came to university.
00:31
It was during Freshers' Week
and it was a great week,
00:35
but it just felt like I wanted more.
00:40
Two of my flatmates who
were Christians said,
00:42
"why don't we do this thing
called Text-A-Toastie?"
00:44
Which is where you text the
Christian Union a question,
00:47
and then they come and
answer it with your dinner.
00:50
So we text this random question,
00:53
and they turned up at about 8 o'clock,
00:55
and stayed til half 12,
answering all the questions
00:58
that I didn't know that I had.
01:00
They really helped me in many ways,
01:02
when I was very adamant
that they weren't going to.
01:06
On the Friday night, I
went along to 'Unite',
01:08
the Christian Union's weekly,
01:09
kind of celebration meeting thing.
01:11
And they all just stood
up and started singing
01:15
when we got there, and I just
found that slightly weird.
01:19
Why has life turned into
a musical all of a sudden?
01:21
Why does everyone know
the words and I don't?
01:23
I was a bit overwhelmed, I think,
01:25
and I didn't want to be a Christian,
01:27
but I kind of knew that
something was happening,
01:29
and something was changing in the way
01:31
that I was thinking about things.
01:32
A few weeks after that, I met
up with my hall group leader,
01:36
and she bought me an ice cream,
01:38
and she sat me down, and she was like,
01:39
"So, what are your questions?"
01:41
And I was like, "I don't
want to talk to you."
01:44
And then, she basically
told me about Jesus,
01:47
and people had done that,
but I hadn't really listened,
01:50
and then I went back to the
weekly meeting, 'Unite'.
01:53
Everyone stood up and
started singing again,
01:55
and I thought, I'm gonna join in.
01:57
And I was thinking things through,
01:58
and I decided that I
wanted to be a Christian.
02:00
So, I became a Christian, in that song.
02:05
The way I understand suffering
is very different now
02:08
that I'm a Christian, to
the way I understood it
02:10
before I was a Christian.
02:11
When I became a Christian
I asked a lot of questions.
02:15
I read through the Bible cover to cover,
02:17
and found a God in the pages there
02:20
that didn't cause pain,
but that did redeem pain.
02:23
So he promises that one day
all pain will be made right,
02:27
and that there will be justice,
02:29
and those things were
just so important to me.
02:31
I think for anyone going to uni,
02:33
I'd encourage them with one thing,
02:35
ask every question you have and
don't be afraid to ask them.
02:38
Because there are answers,
02:39
and it's gonna be the
easiest time in your life,
02:42
when people are the most open
02:43
to answering your questions, to do so.