I was very scared.  I tried praying to Jesus…

I was brought up on a council estate near Watford in Hertfordshire. My parents were not Christians but we were sent to Sunday School. My dad always said it was worth a penny each for the church offering to have an hour’s peace and quiet on a Sunday afternoon! The five of us also joined Girls and Boys Brigade. To be a member of the brigades we had to attend church and parades so I heard about Jesus.

I caught whooping cough when I was three that left me with asthma. It often meant having to stay indoors when it was cold and foggy. I sometimes missed school and spent most of my twelfth year in and out of hospital. There were not any inhalers then and the family doctor told my mum and dad that I would not survive my teens. I had to attend a medical with the school doctor. The school doctor said there were ‘open air’ schools for serious asthmatics that may benefit me but I would have to go on a waiting list. It also meant going away from home.

A place was found at a school in Devon and I travelled there. It was my fourteenth birthday and I was very scared. I tried praying to Jesus that He would be with me and help me.

Most of the staff at the school were Christians and were very kind. The older girls were able to go to church with an ‘auntie’ on Sunday mornings and I mostly went to Teignmouth Baptist Church or the Gospel Hall. On Sunday evenings, some students from Moorlands Bible College came to take the service at school and I started to learn more about Jesus.

Jesus was always with me and helped me learn how to control asthma attacks. I read my Bible more and a few of us were invited to go to a Baptismal Service at Upton Vale Baptist Church in Torquay with an auntie who was a member there. At the end of the service, an appeal was made and I went forward with my friend Iris. This led to us committing our lives to Jesus and having classes leading to Baptism into God’s family.

God has truly blessed me. I survived my teens and although not asthma free I have learned to accept it as part of me. In the Bible it tells us the Apostle Paul had some kind of affliction that caused him lots of discomfort, so I consider myself amongst the ‘greats’!