Hannah's Story

My Name is Hannah and I am 15 years old. I remember giving my life to God wen I was 12 but nothing seemed to change. In fact, my life seemed to get worse and I dealt with this in self destructive ways.

For years, I used to self harm ( I still have the scars), starve myself and punch walls - anything I could do to make myself fel better. None of this worked and because of the deep sense of shame I felt, I locked mysewlf away from other people.

I turned into a horrible person - disobedient and rude. I'd lie compulsively to make myself look good and get the attention I felt I wasn't getting from my friends and family at home.

To add to this, my home life was difficult too. My parents fought all the time and eventually divorced. This made things even harder as they began to depend on me for emotional support and as a young girl already struggling with her own issues; I started to crack under the pressure to the point where suicide looked like a very attractive option.

Thanksfully, my story doesnt end there. After a random meeting with JC and the Extreme Team at an after school club, things slowly started to turn around. They were exciting and fun and spoke about the love of God in a way that made it real; so when they invited me to Kings Church, I decided to see it for myself. A few eeeks later, I joined their youth group and after a very short time I was hooked. I met some great people, including Trenna Hulley, Tilley Hayley and Sam McGough who all showed me what it was like to live with God as No.1!

Months later, after seeing this in other people, I deceided to recommit my life to God. I asked him to forgive me for the mess I'd made of my life and help me live differently and from that moment, I felt as though God had given me a fresh start and that my past no longer mattered as I'd been completely forgiven. This didn't mean that all my problems suddenly went awayl; it meant that because God is now with me, I have a hope and a new strength and power to face whatever difficulties come my way.

WIth God's help, things did start to turn around and on the 3rd of November 2006 I got baptised. It was an amazing day becuase my friends and family who weren't christians came to see it and hear my testimony.

Now I just want to make sure that I give God the first place in everything I do.

I'm so thankful to all the people who have helped me get where I am today and I'm especially thankful to God for turning my life AROUND AND GIVING ME A FRESH START!