Testimonials
Acts 22:15
"You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard."
"I grew up in a Christian household, and from a very young age i knew about Christ. my days consisted of going to church with my family and dedicating my life to God. i prayed regularly, was part of the Church worship team, and attended Christian camps. In the church i formed strong friendships with the brothers and at the age of 18 i was even baptised. I truly lived for God in the early years of my life, and i could see God's hands upon my life.
However in my 20s my relationship with God began to break down. This caused me to question weather i truly believed in God and whether i actually had a relationship with him. I moved from Bulgaria to Germany, which led me to stop going to church and ultimately to backslide. I began to focus on relationships with girls, drank Alcohol, became addicted to pornography and struggled with anger. All of these issues weighed me down and exhausted me. There was no church in Germany and the longer i stayed away from the house of God, the more i began to conform to the ways of the world.
One day a friend invited me to move to the UK. Although i wanted to, i was hesitant because i deeply desired to find a church i could be a part off and a community that could support me, i prayed to God and asked him to help me find a church. God answered my prayer and led me to the Potters House Hounslow.
I attended bible studies and Church services, and even though i didn't understand the language at first because i didn't speak english, i felt the presence of God in the church and knew i had found a family.
God Began to work in me again, Although i had moments where i failed, he would lift me up and help me start again. I prayed that God would open my ears and allow me to understand the language so i could comprehend the word being preached -and he did. I began to be discipled by my Pastor and the brothers in the church, learning what it truly meant to be a man of God
Today i have a relationship with God and he has blessed me with a wife and with the opportunity to disciple younger men, encouraging them not the give up, just as i was discipled. I now serve God daily.
SLAV
"Before I got saved, I grew up in a Christian home but never had a relationship with Jesus, I would claim to be a Christian when applying for jobs or when friends asked what religion I am, and I found myself going off from my parents faith and doing the generic prayer and simply following a religion. I then left church at 16, and as a teenager, I was trying to seek validation from the things of the world, my friends, going to parties, drinking and so on, but I found I was never satisfied. During that period, my older brother got saved, and I saw a difference in his life. I saw his purpose and a future through the way he was living, and I wanted that for myself. However, I was in deep bondage with the world, so I tried to do both. At the age of 18, i joined "The Potters house, hounslow" but with still the wrong mindset, doing the generic prayer and leaving the same way I came in, I didn't surrender my heart to the lord, I was still living a sinful life, going to parties on Saturdays and then going to church on Sundays, i was very double minded. I had a desire to serve God, but I couldn't let go of the world until I got convicted, a piercing pain in my heart. Pastor was preaching about hell and the people who meet the requirements to enter, two scriptures touched me that day -
"So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth" Revelation 3:16 and "not everyone who says to me 'lord lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day.
'Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and one many wonders in your name?' and then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" Matthew 7:21-23. These scriptures touched me because I met the criteria of being lukewarm, and I thought that just acknowledging Jesus was enough to get me into heaven, only having one foot in and not both feet in, and being rooted. The second scripture scared me because it showed me that even Christians, or should I say people who look like Christians, who thought they were serving the lord, will be cast into hell as they never developed that spiritual relationship with God and never truly surrendered their hearts. From this fear of making hell my home, I gave my life to Jesus, however, God isn't all about fear. He is also a loving God.
GÈRARD
"My name is Yovka, I was living what seemed to be a normal life, I was 16 and living in my country with my boyfriend of 3 years, life was very hard for us, and the relationship was very toxic. After my boyfriend and i broke up, i became very depressed and turned to alcohol and tried to seek "love" from other people, which at the time i was just doing it to numb the pain of how i was feeling, it then got to a point where it felt like there was no point of my life and being here. I didn't have a great relationship with my parents, but one day i was speaking to my mum and she told me i should give my life to Jesus Christ, and he will forgive me and love me for who i am, this took me a while as i was still living in the same sinful enviroment. But thanks to God, I was finally able to come to the UK and be with my family and, more importantly, give my life to Christ. I have been saved for 3 years, and whilst it has not been an easy journey, it has been the best decision I've ever made. I chose Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Saviour.
YOVKA