Although I didn't know it at the time, God was still at work in my life; he wasn't ignoring me, even though I was ignoring him. It was at this point that God gave me some skills to bring me closer to serving and worshipping him.

When I was 15, my parents gave me a set of juggling balls for Christmas, and I developed an overwhelming desire to learn the art of juggling. Within a matter of weeks, I had mastered the easy 3 ball tricks, and began learning more advanced patterns. I still didn't realise that God had given me a gift, but within a few months, I was performing at Church, and for Charity events. I kept on learning, and moved on to more and more difficult tricks.

Although, I never lost the willingness to learn new tricks, perform routines and master new juggling equipment, I was still not going along to Church or praying.

 

When I was 17, I left my job and had a summer free before I started at College. I was asked to put on a show for a group of people in who were on a training day for a children/youth mission to Surrey. The Surrey team was made up of about 20 Christians of all ages and talents, and after my performance, some of them asked if I would consider joining the mission team. I said yes, and a few weeks later, I was meeting up with the team, and I spent a week doing Children and youth events as well as enjoying worship with the team and locals.

When I got home to Reigate after this amazing week of feeling God's presence and seeing God at work, I wanted to know more about him, so I started going along to Church (not Sunday School). My Dad bought me a bible, and I read it occasionally. After just one mission, I had suddenly developed a taste for telling others about this wonderful amazing God who transforms lives (just as he had transformed mine!)

When I was 18, I was asked if I wanted to join the Brighton Easter Mission team. At the end of this mission, I was asked on to another 3 or 4 teams for the summertime, and I ended up going on all of them! God was working in my life, and I was using the talents he had gave me to entertain people all over England. God knew I was a shy person, and through time, he began to take my shyness away by giving me a great group of friends on these mission teams.

My Grandad then gave me a keyboard for my birthday. I went through the same process of learning the keyboard until I became good enough to take it with me on mission and perform in Churches and for worship events.

I joined Viewfield Church in 2005 (When I was 18), which is when I stood up in front of the whole church and declared my faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
When I went to University, I became involved with my Christian Union and became the e-mail co-ordinator. This allowed me to encourage everyone in the CU through the use of e-mails, attachments, bible verses etc and it was a joy to watch the number of e-mails around the CU grow every day! I also started to go to Central Baptist Church and really enjoyed the teaching there. The Christian friends I made in the two years at University are a real blessing to me.

 

During the summer between my 2nd and 3rd year at University, I joined the Church of England CORE Scheme, which is a scheme that enables young people with mission experience to do mission work for 8 weeks. My faith grew considerably in this time.

God has looked after me every step of the way since. On the weekend before I went back to university, I was a Youth Counsellor at Festival '07. It was very moving seeing hundreds of people all come forward to be saved every night. I had the privilege of counselling three such people.

I have also got involved with my Church (St. Mary's Church). They have been great and offered me the chance to do

 

youthwork on Thursday nights and lead football on Monday nights.

On 6th May 2007, I was baptised along with 4 friends. This was the most important day of my life. I am still glowing! God means so much to me, and the feeling when I came up out of the water was awesome!

I have now developed my Juggling to involve telling the Gospel through juggling, and now have a full one-hour one man Gospel Juggling Show! One more indication of the way that God is steering my life and helping me to get involved with many outreach activities all over the UK!

God has given us all gifts. We just have to learn what they are and practice them. He will then give us many opportunities to glorify him.
BIBLE TEACHING (Romans 12:6-8) Living Sacrifices:
"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If a man's gift is to teach, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy to others, let him do it cheerfully."

Conclusion

Even in the early days when I didn't think much about God and ignored him, he was still thinking about me and preparing me for the day that I could declare my faith in front of a church and then follow him, and do what he asks of me. He has given me so much out of life. I have made wonderful friends through mission work. God has given me the ability to juggle for a living. Who knows what the future holds - the sky's the limit!

God is at work in all of our lives. We may not realise this, but it is true. God has given us all talents and wants us to use them to glorify him and bring others closer to him. If you are good at something, then consider using this talent wherever possible to tell others about God. He has changed my life, and I know that he is at work within all of you.

If you are a Christian
I encourage you to realise your gifts and use them to God's glory. Don't be modest! We all have talents. Everyone is good at something, and enjoys doing certain activities. Please pray to God for the opportunities to use your talents and keep developing them.

If you are not a Christian
I encourage you to consider becoming a Christian. Please contact me or make an effort to find out more about the life that God wants you to live. God is real, and involved in all our lives. Please consider this way of life, AS IT IS THE ONLY WAY.

THANK YOU FOR READING MY TESTIMONY,
MAYBE ONE DAY I CAN READ YOURS...