Share my Testimonial and encourage others to do the same.

I really don’t have that much of an exciting testimonial to share. I never have had alcohol, I don’t have sex, and I have never completely avoided God, however, there have been some rocky times. I’m not saying I’m perfect, I know I have screwed up. I don’t spend enough time with God, but I admit to that. I was raised in a Christian home and went to church for the majority of my life. I became a Christian when I was four years old at VBS. The man talking asked everyone who wasn’t a Christian to say this prayer, so I did. I understood that I had Jesus in my heart and that he lived in me.
Then we moved when I was in first grade. I didn’t really go to church that much because it was hard to find one that everyone in my family liked. I wasn’t really involved a whole lot because I didn’t really know anybody. I was too young for youth groups and I don’t even remember anything about Sunday school. I didn’t like most of the churches because no one from my school went there.
Then he summer before eighth grade my family moved into town. Since I was changing schools, my dad thought it would be a good idea to go to a church with people from my new school so I could meet them before I started in August. I really enjoyed the Youth Group. There were about 30 people in it, and my youth minister was amazing. I was very active in youth group. I went to Disciple Now, Bible Study, Mission Trips, Wednesday Nights, and Sunday school. Then in freshman year, I joined the choir. My Youth Minister helped me to really understand what it meant to be a Christian. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. That was something I didn’t understand as a little kid. I was taught to think of him as a friend, not just a person in the sky.
Then, about a year ago, my Youth Minister left our church. The church was very traditional, and they didn’t like the new ideas he brought to the church. They didn’t like the ideas of going on trips and camps unless they were mission trips. My Youth Minister decided that he took the church as far as he could and it was time for someone else to take over. Then, the entire youth group started falling apart. The new Youth Minister is a good guy, but I don’t feel like I can talk to him. I feel like he will judge me if I tell him how I really feel. I also feel like I don’t get anything out of his talks. It seems like it is the same thing every week. Also, two of our interns who I really liked left about six months after our Youth Minister did. It just felt like everything was changing and I didn’t like it.
I talked to one of my friends who went to a different church, and he told me to come. I came one Wednesday Night and met the Youth Minister. He reminded me a lot like my former Youth Minister. Also everyone at that church is welcoming. I felt like I belonged again. The Youth Minister there takes an interest in my life. We get coffee, and he lets me just vent. That is important to me, because I usually just keep everything inside me. I feel like he listens and does so without judging. He is honest with us, so we can be honest with him. I went on a trip with that church over the summer, and it was amazing. We went down to Panama City Beach and had some of the most incredible times of worship I have ever experienced.
I went back to my other church one Wednesday night about a week ago. It felt weird being there. There were about 20 people, and compared to the 40+ people at the other church, it felt small. Which is weird since my church is about twice the size of the church that I just started going to. I am usually anti-change, but I feel this is a good change. I would like to try and be a member of both youth groups, go to one on Sunday night, and one on Wednesday. I don’t know though. It will just depend. We have two new people at my old church, and we also have people playing guitar on Wednesday night again. Hopefully it will get better. If not, I have another one to fall back on.