Our identities are in Jesus…..

Becky (Pharmacy 2004-2008)

I was brought up in a Jehovah’s Witness family. From an early age I struggled to understand why they believed what they did. At school I was labeled as the JW, the one that didn’t believe in Christmas and birthdays and got to leave certain classes because of it. That became my identity. When I was 10 years old a fellow JW and family friend took advantage of me. This lead to several events that ended in the family being asked to leave the congregation, meaning when we needed our friends, they were not allowed to be seen near us let alone support us. I started to question if there was a God, how he could allow all this to happen.

From then until I came to uni, I stayed away from religion as much as I possibly could. But to some of my school mates I was still under the same identity, the little religious girl, so I fought hard to remove that. There was a constant battle between who I thought they wanted me to be and who I wanted to be. I developed a filthy sense of humour, I swore, I would talk about people behind their back and judge people. I’d feel awful, but I wanted to be accepted somewhere.

When I came to uni, I found it very hard to fit in. I struggled to make friends and was home sick. I eventually met a Christian in my hall, who invited me to join there Bible group. I wasn’t sure as it was religion, but for some reason I felt compelled to go. “I can go just for the friendship/social side of things” I thought. So I went. I was constantly invited to different things which I went to, eventually I had a hunger to find out who Jesus really was. So I started asking to go to things.

That December I felt sure I knew Jesus’ true identity. He is God, he came to earth to live the perfect life that we couldn’t and died and rose again to remove our imperfections and to allow us to go to heaven through faith in him. At my verbalisation of this to one of my Bible study leaders, they said I should pray to God and give myself to him. So I did that very night.

Life since I have become a Christian hasn’t been easy, Jesus doesn’t promise that our lives will be, but he does promise to help us though. We are his, we are his children and in him we are saved. He has a plan that he is working out in our lives to bring his glory to all the nations. In him I am complete. I’m not perfect and I will make mistakes, but he gives the help to overcome it and he gives the assurance that we are forgiven when we say sorry to him. When he comes again, I will be made perfect in him. My identity is now in him.

Louise (Geography 2006-2009)

I grew up in a secure, happy family but neither of my parents are Christians. When I started secondary school I was a rebellious student. I’d mess around like crazy but what annoyed the teachers most was that I still managed to get the grades. I was so out of line that by the end of year 7 I was suspended. This was the first time I realised how serious it was, in particular I’d let down my parents and that was something I never wanted to do.

Throughout that first year of school I’d developed a crush on a guy in my year who was a Christian. I was eager to change my ways and impress so I decided to attend his church, I thought I’d be able to look the part. I’d hoped for this boy to notice me, to want me. However, every Sunday God was showing me that he noticed me all of the time, that he wants me so much that he sent his son to die on the cross, despite everything I’d done.

I began to realise that impressing other people was fun, but it was empty. I now have Jesus in my life, I’ve come to realise that nothing I can do will impress him and that nothing I do without him is worth it. My identity comes from God who has promised "never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews, another book in the Bible, chapter 13v5b).

Li (Architecture 2005-2008)

My name is Li, from Inner Mongolia in the Northern part of China. I am currently a third year student at Nottingham University.

There used to be a family tradition of Christianity in my family at the time of my great grandfather. He became a Christian during his study in America. After completing his studies he returned to China and married my great grandmother who was a deeply devoted Christian during her entire life.

I had not been a Christian before I came to Nottingham. However, I have always believed in the idea of an omnipotent power as the very foundation of humankind. I knew that there was something worthy of believing, I just could not figure out what it was and I was unable to define my own faith. I used to be very attached to nature, probably being influenced by Mongolian culture that has a very close association with nature. However, I was interested in the Bible from childhood, believing that the Bible’s teachings are full of wisdom. It was already having a deep effect on my approach toward my life and others.

I met many Christian friends in my first year in Nottingham and they were very helpful during my growth toward Christ. They introduced me to a local church, and since then, that place has become an important part of my stay in Nottingham.

I decided to devote my life to Christianity before the Christmas of 2006 with the help of my friend Aidan who has always been guiding me through my growth as a Christian. After becoming a Christian, my way of seeing things became very different compared with before. I now see everything in my life as a gift from our Lord and I am becoming more and more thankful. I find that the only way to pursue true peace and joy is to have faith in Christ and to become his true follower. My identity can now only be found in my relationship with our Lord.

I wish that more people would become aware of Christianity and have their faith in Christ as I did. The world will become a much more peaceful land if we all follow the teachings of the Bible and apply those teachings to our lives.