Our second child was called Zachary. Everything seemed normal, but when we went for the 12-week scan we discovered that he had Edwards’ Syndrome. There was 95 per cent chance that he wouldn’t survive the pregnancy. If he did, he’d only live for...

When I went to boarding school aged 13, I had my first episode of depression, though I didn’t have a diagnosis then. I had a total and utter loss of perspective. I felt cut off from the present, the past and the future. Everything felt completely b...

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...

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 grew up in Pune, close to Mumbai. The gold standard of looks was being slim. I have never been slim. In India, it’s quite a big deal the colour of your skin. You have to be fair. When I was young, I felt inferior. I didn’t think I was attractiv...

About 12 years ago we went to New Wine. We sang loads of songs that I didn’t know. My church was very traditional. But one said, “You are my shield, my shelter, my strong tower, my very present help in times of need”. I thought that was extraor...

I gave my life to the Lord when I was six. But I had a period of time when I went away from God. I was in my early 20s when I moved back towards God. I struggled to accept God’s forgiveness. Psalm 139 made all the difference. It talks about the God...

I’ve had many bereavements. I have lost all my sisters and my brothers. They died. My daughter died, and my husband died two years apart. I went through it. At first, I was sad. But then the sadness went. If you look at Psalm 27, it says, “The Lo...

‘At the beginning of last year, I signed up to the Rooted box following my brother’s death in February. He had had a heart transplant and then had his vaccine. He passed away from blood clots a month later. He was only 30. It was devastating. ‘...

Romans is the longest of all Paul’s writings and is widely regarded as one of the most important letters that he wrote. It is written to the Christians in Rome and is unusual in that the church there was one of the few that Paul had not founded, ma...

The book of Amos is largely a collection of prophecies delivered by the prophet Amos to the northern kingdom of Israel and its king in the eighth century BC. In addition to the prophecies there are a few fragments of psalms and a description of a par...

I worked in the City for many years. Life was brilliant on the trading floor. If you couldn’t stand pressure and didn’t have a sense of humour, it wasn’t the place to be! One lunchtime, two of my colleagues asked me to go to St Helen’s Bisho...

I was 15 years old. I found out through Facebook that my boyfriend had cheated on me with another girl. I was heartbroken. I had not felt proper pain or rejection before that. I got my Bible out. I had heard it read on a Sunday but had kept it in a d...

I work with adults with disabilities. There was a lot of unsettling news over the summer – the suicide bombing in Manchester, the attacks on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, and then the Grenfell Tower fire. I’m in a position where I...

I was a civil engineer: building bridges, railways and roads. My husband and I bought this house and thought we’d fill it with a family. We were going through infertility treatment. I had two early miscarriages and then a later miscarriage with our...

I personally find my most significant encounters with God happen through moments when I’m studying the Bible. In my late teens, I went through Ephesians and it had a major impact on me. I got a fresh experience of God’s love for me and how much J...

My wife and I have been married for four years. We have an end-of-the-day pray and we often pray Psalm 127 which says, ‘It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late, for the Lord provides for those he loves, wh...

I’m a nurse and I love my job. God has blessed me with compassion for my patients, but now, because of my experience, it makes me go a bit deeper with them. Like me, they will feel vulnerable too, and I want to offer them reassurance. I have Menier...

My Dad’s a vicar. There are issues that come with that. As I grew up I went away from the Church, but not from God. I was at university and I was at a bit of a loss about what I was going to do afterwards. I was on a train going home to my parents....

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,...