When I started secondary school, one of my school friends was a Christian and she took me along to a youth group where they spoke about a man called Jesus who loved me so much he had died on the cross for my sins. One week we were told that Jesus wanted to have a relationship with each of us and all we had to do was ask him. So that night, I went home and for the first time in my life I prayed that God would reveal himself to me. I sat and waited and nothing happened. Looking back, I don't really know what I was expecting to happen, but I think I was waiting for something dramatic or a big sign that God was there. Instead there was nothing. From that point I became convinced that what I had been brought up to believe was true. Christianity was just a collection of stories and God wasn't listening!

Despite rejecting God at that moment, I still wanted to know more about this person that all my friends seemed to be so certain really existed. I started to read the Bible and attend church. One Sunday evening, I was sitting in a church service and something in the sermon really spoke to me. I suddenly became aware of what God had done for me and asked Jesus into my life. That prayer I had prayed all those years before had been answered; God had shown himself to me, just not in the way I had expected.

A few months later, I went to university and out of the safety of my group of friends. I really struggled and had a bit of a crisis of faith. I found it hard to find my place, not feeling like I fitted in with my Christian friends, yet feeling completely different to my friends who weren't Christians. The things that had made so much sense to me before, I began to question and for quite a while I stopped going to church completely. Thankfully God, through some of my friends, picked me up and I managed to settle in a church.

I moved to Eastbourne in 2008 to complete my Masters and I was eager to get involved in a church and to make the most of my second attempt at university. For the first time in my life I have felt completely settled as a Christian. I feel over the last few years God has changed me so much. He has made me happier and more confident with myself. I realised that I don't have to pretend to be something I am not. God loves me for who I am, with all my faults. He has given me a new enthusiasm and I have gained a passion for telling others about him, something which I would not have done before.

I often feel challenged by the fact I didn't grow up in a Christian family. I have done things in my life that I am not overly proud of, but I feel God is working in me, changing me and making me into the person he wants me to be. I feel overwhelmed every day when I think that God loves me and he died for me, even before I knew he existed. Looking back, I can see God's plan for me, putting people in my life and putting me in situations to bring me closer to him. I am excited for the first time to be following the path God has laid out for me and hope I can bring him glory.