My name is Alan, I was born and raised in Northern Ireland in a strongly Loyalist area. Through the things I saw there I professed to be an atheist, though I now know I never really was one. You see an atheist believes there is no God - and while I claimed to believe God did not exist, I knew He did. I was just running from Him. If I admitted there was a God I would also have to admit He had laws and that I had broke those laws. No, it was easier to say there was no God - then there was no sin and no punishment for sin.

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But He did exist and He was always grabbing at my attention. One night when I was 17 I walked home late at night and looked up to the sky - "God, if you are real, let me know". Nothing happened. 

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Eventually a friend invited me to church. I didn't know what to expect. What would the people think about me? They were friendly and warm. The message shook me. God was so holy that He must punish all sin, and so merciful that He had made a way to forgive sin - Christ had died for me.

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That night, in 2007, I asked God to save me through Jesus. And He did.

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I had been forgiven for every time I had broken God's law! I had been cleansed right down to my soul! My life had begun all over again. 

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In 2009 I moved to England to train for the ministry at Bethesda's Bible College and I've been here ever since.

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I'm so thankful for God's grace in my life. He is always faithful, even when I fail. He has guided me through deep valleys and high peaks and I look forward to the day that I will see the One who loves me that much face to face.