If you had met me when I was 18 I would have told you that I was a Christian. I was born in Southport and was a young child when my mother first took me to Sunday school at a nearby Salvation Army church. After a brief pause, my mother, younger sister and I started going to a local Methodist church, and we attended regularly for about three years.

I always enjoyed going to church and I didn’t doubt or question the things I learned there. I believed in God, and I believed that Jesus was God’s Son. I believed that Jesus had been crucified, and I believed that he had been raised from the dead. Looking back, there were some words in the prayers that I didn’t understand – like grace and salvation, but being a child I assumed that these were "big" words that only adults understood!

When I was 13 my family moved to a tiny village on the Lleyn Peninsula, and because the surrounding churches were predominantly Welsh speaking chapels, several years went by when we did not attend church at all. I was about 18 when we became aware of an English speaking Anglican Church in nearby Botwnnog and were able to start going again. I later discovered that my mother had been praying for a church that we could attend!

You can see why I believed that I was a Christian. If you had met me, though, I don't think it would have taken you long to realise that I was not. Church was definitely something I did on a Sunday morning, and the beliefs I had did little to influence the way in which I lived my life.

Everything changed when I was in church one Sunday morning and the vicar (Rev Peter James) started to talk about salvation. He explained that I was a sinner, that my sins had separated me from God, and that without forgiveness I was destined for hell. He then explained that Jesus' death had been a sacrifice so that I could be forgiven and that all I had to do was invite Him into my life.

It was as if a light came on. I had been missing the point all this time, and now it all made sense. I really don’t think I had ever heard the gospel preached in this way before, and I am profoundly grateful to the Rev Peter James for plainly speaking the truth. Over the weeks that followed, the Holy Spirit gently began bringing to my attention behaviours and attitudes that I needed to repent of and change. My walk with God had begun.

I was baptised In July 2002 along with my mother, younger sister and younger brother, all of whom came to know Jesus at around the same time as me. My step father, who has been somewhat absent from this story so far, finally gave his life to the Lord last year, but that is a story for another day!

As you would expect, there have been some ups and downs since, but God is always faithful and never tires of my stumbling and wandering. I moved to Wrexham nearly six years ago after finishing University and until recently have been a member of Queen Street Christian Centre in Chester. I found St John's Church when Judith and Darren [Churm] invited me along to David Fewster's Bible study group and since then have felt increasingly called to worship in Wrexham. So here I am...

Heather Waring