A quick interview with ... Stephanie!

1. Explain a bit about who you are, family, where you’re from, work etc.

I was born in Leeds and lived in Bramley and Garforth; my mother is English and my father is Portuguese. When I was 10 we moved to Portugal where I lived until moving back to the UK in 2019, when I was 25, with my husband and son (who was 1 at the time). By that point my parents and sisters had all moved back and we wanted to be closer to family.

I work part time as the services manager for Trinity Mission Castleford – a Christian charity providing a food bank, soup kitchen, clothing bank and support co-ordinating service.

2. How did you become a Christian?

I grew up in an atheistic/agnostic household and I had no interest in Christianity, however, I always felt like there was something more powerful that existed. When I was 19 my sister who had recently become a Christian invited me to her church, a Calvary chapel. At this point in my life I was genuinely interested in learning more and was hoping that there was in fact more to life.

I began to go on a Sunday and to attend the women’s Bible study every Tuesday. After a couple of months of witnessing other’s faith, and being ministered to by the pastors wife and reading through the gospels myself, I began to pray to the God I wasn’t sure I believed in. Someone had shared Jeremiah 29:13 with me, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” and so I held on to that and earnestly sought out the truth and prayed.

I’m very blessed to remember the hour I first believed; it was in a moment one evening reading in the gospels and I just knew it was all true, I had a very surreal experience of a presence with me at that moment (which I now know was the Holy Spirit) and I knew I was a follower of Jesus Christ! I suddenly felt the weight of my sin and yet I also felt the tremendous forgiveness and love of God at the same time.

3. What difference does being a Christian make to your life everyday?

Being a Christian is the essence of my person, it is not a hobby or a part of me, it is the defining factor of my whole identity. It guides everything about me and is a solid rock which I can stand firm on, no matter what trials life brings. Being assured of where I come from, where I’m going and who I am is a great comfort and peace and in this world of ups and downs I think every single person is in pursuit of peace above anything else.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” - Isaiah 40:8

4. If there’s one thing you wanted to say to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, but is interested in finding out more, what would it be?

You may have heard the following suggestion before: ‘Jesus must either truly be Lord, a Liar or a Lunatic!’ And that is absolutely right. Many people may just decide there and then well of course he must have just been crazy; the problem is that when you actually begin to investigate the Bible for yourself, and even the historical evidences outside the bible, it very quickly becomes apparent that he was neither of the latter and you are left with the only option that truly makes sense – he was who he said he was – Lord.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

Don’t be discouraged by the scepticism around you! To make a truly informed decision about what you believe you must seek and search and learn; God himself has promised that if you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him!

Everything in life that you put your trust in requires faith so don’t be fooled into thinking you only follow facts because even the facts you follow have been given to you by someone and, unless you’re an expert in everything, you trust those facts on faith! It’s only a matter of what we are putting our faith in, that's the question.