I was 27, married and we had a three-year-old son. I thought everything was rosy. But then my husband decided he couldn’t stay with me and off he went. The bottom dropped out of my world. When you are down, down, down as far as you think you can go...

Prior to becoming a Christian, I had a lot of superstitious feelings. I used to count to three before I did things. I never walked under a ladder. I would throw salt over my shoulder. I thought bad luck would befall me if I didn’t walk into the pat...

Both my parents were alcoholics and publicans. Church never featured at all. But I started singing at school when I was 11 and then was asked if I’d like to sing in the local church choir. I spent so much time on the streets trying to avoid being a...

I got married quite young. After a few years we wanted children, but after a few more years – during which time I’d had a miscarriage – nothing was happening, so we saw specialists for tests. They didn’t find anything, but we had unidentified...

I’d always read the Bible every day. But I was in a job that was all about following the money. Eventually, in a job like that, people become frustrated. Then, in 2011, I was in Kenya attending a conference. There was a break for reflection. I came...

When I was studying at Homerton, Cambridge, my good friend walked into my room one day, blew the dust off my Bible and said, “Why don’t you read your Bible?” At the same time, I’d taken up pottery. I carried on doing it until I was 80. It was...

I’ve only been living here for 19 months. During that time my husband has had two operations and pancreatic cancer. He’s doing very well. But it’s been quite a time for me. I’m only now starting to meet people. What sustained me when I came h...

I was reading economics at Durham university. The career path was most likely management consultancy. But I also played a lot of hockey and got chatting to a friend in the pub. I told him that I prayed sometimes. He invited me to church and it was th...

I grew up in Uganda. When I was about 19 or 20, I saw people like the Apostle Paul travel and there was a sense of urgency to what he did. I’m thinking, “There are 40 different tribes in Uganda, but Africa is much bigger, and oh, there are other ...

I was born here in Bethlehem. When I was a kid, about nine or ten, I went to Bible Society summer camps. That gave a message that added something to our lives. I was inspired by what I learned. What struck me was the way that people treated the kids,...

I was a teacher for 30 years. I was the head of music at a big school. One day I was called in and someone had accused me of an impropriety. I was supposed to have done it 30 years ago. I was extremely determined to make sure my name was cleared. I w...

I studied dance at college. When I had to go to auditions, I was really scared. My first audition was for X Factor dancers. After that I had an audition for the European Music Awards. You compare yourself to others. You think, "What if I ruin th...

I come from a Jewish background. I was a liberal Jew so we only went to synagogue for big events. They read from the five scrolls of the Torah, but there was no translation, so you had no idea what was being read. I had no knowledge of the Bible, but...

For 20 years, I was a monk and lived in West Africa. Then, I did a sabbatical in Ireland. I had to go to see a cloistered nun for six days as a retreat. It was a moment when I saw that the calling to be a monk was no longer on my life. I had a feelin...

I worked in the City for 10 years, in derivatives. It was the fastest, most aggressive and cut-throat part of the City. It was great fun. But I did a Bible course for two years. It was a complete change of pace. I found myself coming back into the C...

The book of Job always comes back to me: it’s the immensity of it, the horrors that he suffers and just when it seems there is no hope, there is restoration. I studied medicine. For me, those were the years when I came closest to suffering. That’...

I came over from Austria in 1959 to improve my English. I was just 19. I wanted to be a nurse, but my father objected, because he considered it to be not good enough. I went behind my father’s back and applied to work in a hospital. I wrote to my f...

I always wanted to be married and a mother. Jeremiah 29.11 means the most to me. It says, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” I got m...

I’m part of our local Open the Book team. We have just done the story of Jonah and the Whale. When we did Jonah, I was Jonah. I don’t know if I was cast for being grumbling and moaning. Jonah is quite fascinating. I think the story shows that you...

I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. Within ten days of going to the GP I was having surgery: a lumpectomy to remove part of the breast. I was working full-time with a mixed class of four-to-seven-year-olds in a village school. My head p...