Jesus is worth everything
Evelyn giving her testimony
16-year-old Evelyn, from Community Church Forest & Wye in Cinderford, on why her faith didn’t arrive in one dramatic moment, but in hundreds of small ones, and in the people who refused to give up on her.
Evelyn has been part of a church family for as long as she can remember. For most of that time, she hadn’t found God there.
Evelyn says: “As I have been a member of a church all of my life, for me, church was usually just a family and a loving community and not an opportunity to have a connection with God and Christ.” As a child, Christianity felt obvious and correct, but there was little depth behind it: no real trials, no potent experiences of her own. In her early teenage years, faith flickered briefly into something exciting, before fading again.
It was a much harder season, later on, that first made her reconsider. Evelyn was struggling with her mental health, including self-harm, alongside bullying and a relationship with an ex-boyfriend that had left her feeling trapped. She believed (wrongly, as she now sees it) that she had ruined every relationship in her life, with family and friends alike, and the belief left her feeling helpless and alone.
Evelyn (right) at One2Lead
There was no single encounter that turned things around. Evelyn explains: “There wasn’t one particular moment, but more of many little events that, over a large period of time, built up.” A singer she met prophesied over her, speaking, she felt, truly about her future and God’s influence in it. Her youth leaders answered the questions she kept bringing them, and stayed patient through every change of heart. Her family never stopped supporting, comforting and encouraging her. And at One2Lead, Counties’ ministry for young people, she met those who helped her understand who Christ truly was and to picture what her life could look like if she chose to walk with Him.
From there, the pieces kept gathering. She went to Big Church Festival. She watched The Chosen. She started attending One2Lead weekends, which she found especially helpful. She watched Jesus Revolution, and that, finally, was the encouragement she needed to be baptised.
One moment from that time has stayed with her more than any other. In the run-up to Christmas, Evelyn felt God nudging her to get out of the car and talk to a homeless man she’d seen, about Christmas, about what they each believed, and about how he might be helped. She didn’t move. The moment passed, and she stayed in her seat.
She cried to her sister when she got home, ashamed at what she’d failed to do. Her sister told her something that has shaped Evelyn’s faith ever since: that the overwhelming feeling she had wrestled with in the car had been the Holy Spirit at work in her. It was comfort, but it was also something like a commission: the next time that feeling came, Evelyn resolved, she would act on it.
By the time she was ready to commit her life to Jesus, Evelyn realised she had been waiting for the wrong thing. She says: “I feel as though I was waiting for one overwhelming moment to decide, but hadn’t considered all of the many mini moments: feeling the Holy Spirit, hearing about miracles, witnessing them, and feeling loved.”
Evelyn being baptised
Her faith today looks very different to the version she carried as a child. She says: “Now, I would say that my faith is secure and open, whereas before, I was very closed off about being a Christian and was scared of what people would think. I now understand that it’s more important for me to be open about my faith, in order to encourage questions, curiosity and understanding.”
That openness reached its clearest point on the day of her baptism. Evelyn recalls: “For me, baptism felt like an open declaration and commitment to Christianity, which, in a way, was very comforting.” She was, by her own admission, terrified before standing up to give her testimony. Once it was over, the fear gave way to something else entirely: gratitude, and a happiness she hadn’t expected to feel so completely.
Asked what she would say to someone her own age who feels unsure about faith, Evelyn doesn’t hesitate: “Jesus is worth everything that you’re scared of losing.”
One2Lead equips young people aged 16-25 years as disciples of Jesus and leaders wherever they find themselves. To find out more about One2Lead, visit the link below: