Hi my name is Rachel and I am 14. I have been going to church the whole of my life and The Pulse since it opened. Growing up in a Christian family I always took God for granted and thought I believed in him because I was told about him a lot. I didn’t live a proper Christian life because I hadn’t properly accepted God. I went to church on Sunday mornings, I sang the songs and liked colouring those sheets about bible stories.
As a family, we went with the Coates family and their cousins to a scripture union holiday every summer. It was there that it really started hitting me that God wasn’t this big man in the sky with a long grey beard. He actually could move amongst people and change lives. About two years later I went to Barnstaple for the first time and my whole life changed. I didn’t do the thing where you say you want God in your life - I was too nervous and I didn’t want that, so I let God come into my life gradually. I started off by praying a few prayers when I went to bed. I also did some bible notes. I just started praying more and more.
I went to Barnstaple again this summer and I really wanted to be with God. The worship was fantastic and really inspired me. I got prayed for by one of the cooks I think and I just started crying because I wanted and needed God so badly. A few days later I went to Soul Survivor, which was a completely different and new but exciting experience for me. I witnessed so many people worshipping carefree and so differently from 13 year olds at Barnstaple. I saw people shouting and singing out loud. I saw people jumping up and down and reaching for God.
Now I want to stay as close to God as I can. It’s so exciting to be a Christian and seeing what God can do.
Cheers,
Rachel Harlow
Source: The Pulse Online
