My parents were missionaries and I grew up in Japan

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘My parents were missionaries and I grew up in Japan. When I was 16 we came back to the UK, and a year later I decided to be baptised. But, as I’d grown up in a Christian family, I hadn’t had a conversion. There was no before and after for me. I just couldn’t relate to stories of how people became Christians.  

‘I had had this enormous upheaval and was in culture shock. I had changed countries, schools and one of my difficulties was that I didn’t fit in with the young people at my church. I felt like an outsider and thought that must be because I wasn’t a Christian. Now, I realise that I was culturally different and academically able. But, then I thought I wasn’t a Christian.  

‘I found a passage in Isaiah 40 that says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” 

‘That helped me to see that I had heard, that I did know. I didn’t have to have a dramatic moment. It reassured me that I was OK, I was a Christian and God had spoken to me. I wanted to get baptised because I wanted to say, ‘This is my faith’. I knew it was my faith. It was a very, very special day.’ 

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