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Hannah McArdle

I’m one of those super blessed kids who was brought up in a Christian home. We were taught not just how to believe, but to know what we believed and why we did. Because of this, I knew that God was very present in my life and I’d seen so much evidence of His existence and His providence and love that I knew I’d be an idiot to ignore the truth.


However, while I believed God was real and I wanted to go to heaven (who wouldn’t?), I didn’t want someone else to control my life. I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to have all the privileges of being God’s child, but no responsibilities. I wanted to make my own choices because I didn’t trust God to make the decisions that I wanted. So I didn’t obey God’s rules. I lived my own life and did things my way. I was sullen, moody and aggressive. There was so much anger and hatred burning in my soul that it was no wonder I became depressed. I told myself I was happy, but in reality I was miserable. Sin was so enticing and so addictive that I thought I was okay, but I would cry myself to sleep every night knowing that I was causing my family to grieve for me.


But I still couldn't quite bring myself to give my life over to God yet. In the end, I just gave up. I wanted to run away from everything, but I forgot one very important thing.
God hadn’t given up on me.
He was there, every step of the way. He was there when I hated everything, including Him and yet He still loved me. What love was this?



I remember crying out to Him eventually; begging Him to forgive my sins and to replace my broken heart and soul with His heart of love. And He did.
Over the last 4 years, I’ve never before felt such an overwhelming amount of love for God’s people and for spreading His word. I finally have purpose because I know I belong to Him. Sometimes it’s still hard to let go of my dreams to follow God’s plans but in the end, but “[I] know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).


Amos Selvaraj

11 Jun, 2020
I’ve grown up in a Christian home of sorts. Mum did a great job leading and teaching me about Jesus given the circumstances. But even with that guidance I just coasted along for many years- going to church, bible studies, youth groups and other Christian activities- without any real interest. To be honest I can’t say I even wanted to be there. I’ve been attending Drouin Presbyterian church since about 2011, but for the most part of the first 5 years I am not proud of what my relationships with God, family and friends were like. But even through all the mistakes I’ve made and pain I’ve caused, I can confidently say God has been with me. In 2015-2016 a lot changed for me, especially my relationship with God and in turn that has greatly affected my relationship and attitude to family and friends around me. I can now see what is important in life and it’s not me. I now understand what God has done for me in giving his son to die on the cross for my sins. I’ve realised that I am a sinner and that I need Jesus to help me. I’m still far from perfect, but knowing what Jesus has done for me makes me want to help and encourage others to follow him also. Galatians 2:20 says “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” From now my only hope is that I live my life by Gods word, and fully rely on his strength and not my own. Becoming a Christian has given me such a feeling of freedom, it’s incredible. And I am so thankful knowing that Jesus has taken what I was owed, and restored my relationship with God.

Daniel Patchett

10 Jun, 2020
At the end of the day, I’m a Christian because of God’s grace. This relentless mercy has been shown to me time and time again, largely through the Christians in my life that I’ve been blessed to know, and who provide an example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. One of the things I find most convincing and compelling about the Gospel is the implicit rightness of Jesus and his actions, how he epitomises everything that we instinctively know to be good and just. It’s by his self-sacrifice that I’ve been saved, ‘for by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not your own doing, it’s a gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). I grew up in a Christian family, and my parents served as missionaries in Ethiopia for several years. They’ve been outstanding examples to me of imitating Jesus’ self-sacrifice. But I don’t want to rock up to church every week just because my parents do, because faith isn’t genetic, and I’ve found it difficult recently to challenge and question my own beliefs whilst retaining obedient faithfulness. Here, I’ve found discussing issues with other believers very helpful.  I’m still an immature Christian, still doubtful and still torn between God and the world at times. Hopefully that will change by God’s mercy and his Holy Spirit.

Graeme Lowe

10 Jun, 2020
It was a great start in life to have Christian parents, but it didn’t make me a Christian. Being a missionary kid I heard and saw amazing examples of Christian faith and God at work in PNG – but rather than inspiring me to become a Christian I felt that I wasn’t good enough and that God was probably too busy with more important things than to take notice of me. I never doubted the many stories of the Bible that I learned at home and church and the way God worked in human history - but it never seemed to be my story. Around the end of primary school my family attended the Easter Convention at Belgrave Heights and God used the preacher not only to convince me that my sin was part of the reason for Jesus’ death, but that in His death Jesus paid for that very sin and every other sin I had committed. Like the people in Acts 2:37 , I was “cut to the heart,” asked God to forgive me and found out He wasn’t too busy to take notice of me. It was profound to me that I now knew God - because previously I only knew about Him. Through all the ups and downs of life from that moment and to this day God has shown me that I have a place in His story – now and forever. 
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