Chloe's Testimony

My name is Chloe, and I’m 17 years old. I’ve been saved for about four years but during that time I’ve re-dedicated my life to Jesus.  I’ve been in church all my life so I haven’t known any better. When I was three my Dad was sent out to preach in Luton, he pastured there for 8 years and we came back to London in 2001. 

Although Walthamstow church was our mother church for us children it was weird settling back, but it didn’t take me long to reunite with my childhood friends and I soon become familiar with my surroundings.

Around the age of 12 I had a solid friendship group in which we did everything together. I was no longer interested in the things of God but what was outside ‘church rules’ and my parents standards. As time went on I was soon in places and  doing activates that I shouldn’t of been involved in.  During  this time Pastor Darkwa was the youth leader and I used to constantly be frustrated with the fact that I didn’t get invited to youth events, even though I was doing my own thing outside church. Pastor Darkwa used to always ask me if I was saved, and I always used to say yes but I knew I wasn’t living the life.

The consequences of my actions soon caught up with me, and I decided to make a proper decision to live for God and stop ‘Playing church’. I was about 14 when a lady in church confronted me about something I was involved in and told me to ‘stop playing with fire because I would get burnt’; when she said this I broke down and repented. After this things began to change slowly, I changed my friends and my social life.

When I was about 15 I still hadn’t learnt, and was again caught up in sin. I couldn’t carry the guilt and told my Youth Pastor, Pastor Brown and a couple of close friend.  Through my repentance and honestly God had grace and I had the honour to stay in church and continue to live for God, this time with a whole heart. So over the past couple of years God has intervened and made me a real person that doesn’t have to live for the lies of this world. I learnt to love God and he has taught me to love myself. Through this process I have always gained valuable friendships which have helped make me the person I am today.