Testimonies

Ok here is where things get personal these are things that our group members went or are going through:

Mary- Hi, I'm Mary from Texas, and I'm 16. I talked to Eric, and he sent me the link to Teen Believers. I looked at it and wanted to join so i'm writing this. I grew up in a Christian family all my life, went to church, and all that good stuff, but I never really listened or paid much attention to it. Until one Sunday when I was about 8 at church w/ these twins I used to hang out w/ and all of a sudden, it sank in. Then, towards the end of middle school and entering my freshman year, I started to forget myself and what was important and did stuff I'd rather not mention or try to remember. There were constant fighting w/ my mom, I hung out w/ the wrong people and got caught up in the wrong situations. Then on New Year's, my mom and I went to this new church by my house for the first time and the pastor's message really moved me and changed me that day...I still don't know what it was, but it opened my eyes. Now here I am! Looking back, I know I've changed (for the better) and I'm so thankful for everything God has blessed me with...I don't know what'd I do without Him. So I wanna help spread His word and help other teens out there. And I'd love to join and be a part of this. Thanks for your time. God Bless.

Courtney- Hi, my name is Courtney and I am a teen believer. I attend church on a regular basis and even more than that serving Christ, My savior. I am 15 years old and I am part of the choir at my church, school of ministry, and Generation E youth group. (www.generatione.org) <<That is my youth groups web site. I have been a christian basically all of my life. At the age of seven, when I was accountable for making the decision to follow God, I made it! Having a one-on-one personal relationship with God is the most awesomest thing ever! Being a servant unto the Lord is so much fun and I love it. I have been called into the youth ministry and I plan on obeying God in all I do. God Bless You!

Caitlin- Well I'll just start out by sayin that i got saved last year.All because of my best friend Bobby-Sue Hawley. You see last year I was going through this whole "the world hates me and I hate the world I might as well go and die" type thing. Especially when me and my mom would get into it. I always felt like i couldn't do anything to make her happy, like i could never be good enough for her. Then I went to Bobby-Sue's church after she begged me to go and I was touched. I just sat there in that church and cried my eyes out and when I left I had this amazing feeling of warmth and peace. It was overwhelming. After that whenever I was feeling down, I would go to sleep and dream of angels and whenever I woke up I would feel so much better. I finally understood that God was looking after me all along, I just needed to let Him into my heart.

Jessica Lauren- Well to start this out i'll say i've ben saed since i was 7 and i've been going to church all my life..but when i started 6th grade it all whent kind of bad from there i was still going to church and all but my dad had a heart attack and passed away and my life went bad from there and i was hanging with wrong people .in 7th grade i started cussing and other stuff christians shouldn't do but i did then i made a friend named bobby-sue she didn't go to church and she wasn't a  good person either but i knew there was a reason i needed to be friends with her then half way through 8th grade bobby-sue started going to church and she got saved and she stopped cussing and all the other bad stuff so as a good friend i stopped also.We'll her and i got closer and closer everyday and i got straightened out and now i don't cuss or anything of the sort that i used to and i prayed for forgiveness of my sins and now i'm clean and i also learned that one good friend can save your life.God Bless.

Skye- hey this is skye.you asked that i share some of my experiences so here it is!ok well when i was 3 i got taken away from my mom because shhe was doing drugs>i lived w/ foster parents for about 4 months.my grandparents then got custudy of me and i lived w/ them until i was 10 years old.my sister,who is a year younger then me,then went back to live w/ our mom.we have lived w/ her ever since.

Eric- hey this is Eric im here to tell you what i've been through, I've been at church all my live, heck my grandfather is a pastor and runs his own. And i grew up there I always knew there was a God, i just didnt have Him in my life, when i turned 13 things started going down-hill and I mean BAD! I was in my room some nights thinking "Why am I here, am I just your sick little joke?" I didnt know God at the time. I was LOST and i needed to be FOUND. I fell into a downward spiral, I listened to depressing music, watched very bad stuff, and said worse. I had a few friends who tried to tell me about God, but I didnt listen. I just made them think I did. And then I just said well hey I gotta go. I went to church with firends and family, but I didnt listen then either. Then my life went bad fast with, Depression, i still have it not as bad, but it was very bad a month ago. I had the worst thought, sudicide, o.d, everything, but then one day i was teaching my youth group then i went home and thought about what i just said then i watched some christian things and they had a things on depression, and how to find Christ, then I was like OK this is weird! I had a little chat with the Big Man and i got SAVED! God has helped me in my problems and i thank him for that. He has given me the strength and wisdom to teach the class, and help do a half leadership role in Teen Believers. Now I witness to people on the net, school, anywhere. I now wrestle for a place called RWA, its a Christian based wrestling, (kinda like WWE) that gives me the chance to spread the word even more. And since im half leader of T.B i ahve the chances to talk to diffrent youth groups, and i am Vice-President of Action Ministries. I now i thank God everyday for forgiving me! Dont Be Ashamed Of God, Cause If You Are He Is Of You.

Jehu- Well, I have been a Christian all my life so I'm very lucky! I have had some problems during my life but the most has been that I have an disabled brother. Its really hard to take care of him, but I believe that my brother is a blessing from God so I thank him everyday for giving him to me.

Raul- Well.. here is my life in short terms or at least ill try. Ive experienced some crazy stuff. Things that I sometimes rather not remember, but here they are. It starts with my family. They are not believers, it's a very disorganized family, not focused in God. I grew in that family. I never had my dad on my side.. him and my mother separated before I was born. I guess.. I grew up very lonesome. Entering Middle school, the first day, I almost got into a fight..since then..nothing was the same. Things just kept getting worse. The friends I had, I disliked, and I knew I needed something more in my life, but I did not have a clue what. Depression hit be hard that year. and the next year after that. I managed to pass grades don't know how. I practically ditched half the school year on and off. Then came. my freshman year. Not good either. I got into an argument with a gang member ... and he would not leave me alone. I stupidly ignored it..but the problem just would not go away. The friends I had that year, were not real friends ... and I knew they'd back-stab me and a second they actually did, several times. Then something extraordinary happened! I met two friends of mine, who introduced me to God slowly. Soon.. I was gifted my first Bible. One of these friends, helped me the most. she showed me. Something I could not relate to easily. friendship love. It's been two years now since then. I don't think of taking my life away. anymore.

I found Christ through my new friends. I got to know Jesus more. I prayed to him, and my life made a remarkable recovery. Then.. I joined a church, and after a year's worth of study, repented in the alter with the pastor's hands over my shoulders. Now, I have countless friends.. REAL friends. And I keep making new ones, and am forever grateful for that. I have more joy in my life, I changed school's, and am very happy were am at. It's almost like, too good to be true. Everything I needed has been met ... having Jesus, really rocks! it really is incredible how my life changed to the good. All thanks to God!

Amanda- Well here's my story, I've been suffering from depression 4 a couple of months with that (I'm fat& i'm ugly ) stuff and family matters. I knew God my whole life an I got saved when I was little bu I was getting older I started to fall off with God. I still went 2 church though. But you all might think I'm a horrible person because I have had sex b4, but It was with the person I loved and everything else I'm still with him but he understands that I made a choice to become sex-free until marriage. But my Mom and I are going through problems and I think we need help like counseling but we cant afford it and my Mom says all I need 2 do is pray and I do. But thing are getting better now as I keep looking to God for help and Love.

Victoria -Ok...my name is Victoria. I was just saved a about a week ago thanx to some friendly advice. I just turned 16..well i didnt just turn 16. I turned 16 on the 2nd of August.

I always believed that God was there and he would help me through my problems and struggles. I lost my mother at the age of 2 of cancer and my father is ever hardly around. I see him about 3 times a year. Alot of bad things have happened to me and my family but we got through it with God's help. But it wasnt until one of my really good friends kept asking me to go to youth group with her that I started taking learning more about God seriuosly. And I'd make up excuses not to go but eventually I ran out of excuses so I went. It turned out to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. I started to get more invovled in God and reading the bible. The youth group and I would oraganize camps and we'd go off on those camps for 3 or 4 days just talking about God and playing games and having a blast.

I started to get this feeling everytime I heard one of our youth leaders went up and preached God's word. I can't really explain it, but at that very moment I wanted to accept God into my life. But I dont really why I kept holding off, maybe I wanted that feeling to be there every second of everyday of my life. I wanted to finally accept God but I was afraid that I'd screw up or do something wrong. So I was a bit scared. But now that I've done it..i wanna learn so much about God and be more active in God than before. I started reading the bible which I've never had time for before but I'm making time now. Nothing is more important and I finally realized that and I'm ready to change alot of my bad habits and live my life the way God planned.

It should be great and I'm excited to see what lies ahead!!

Anastasia- Dear Teen Believers: My sister Thelma was a strong Christian! I always saw her praying and reading her Bible though I never gathered up enough courage to ask her what she was doing and why! So one day I asked her " Why do I always seeing you reading your Bible and praying each day?" She said that she was a Christian and this was how she maintained her realtionship with God each day. I didn't quite understand her so she told me about what it was to be " saved". I didn't quite understand so she told me that maybe I should talk to others like her So I went into a Christian chatroom on aol ( using my sisters screename) and started to pay attention to what people were saying. These people truly loved God so when I received an instant message from someone from the Christian chatroom I talked about how I desired to be saved just like my sister. So we talked and this man Eric gave me some scriptures that really helped me to understand Anastatsia ( a name that's written in the lambs's book of life!)

Barb-- I have been a believer for almost 6 months. I grew up going to church but learned soon God wasn't there for me. My dad used me for drugs and left me many time alone in his truck at night. I learned not to trust before I was even 8. When I got to middle school I thought of suicide. A lot. I use to sit on my bed with a razor against my wrist. Then I hit hight school. My friends were all christians. But all of them had tried to kill themselves. About 6 months ago, one did. That brought me to know who God really was.