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By Steve Smith

A bit about me: I grew up attending Trinity Church, in Brentwood, Essex, England and went to the school attached to it, Trinity Church. Having been brought up with a Christian ethos I found I could easily reel off a lot of what I thought the Christian faith was all about. Yet when I joined university, I very quickly realised that I really wasn't much different from my Muslim or atheist friends – what I said to them about my Christian beliefs seemed to resonate with emptiness.

Christianity Explored

In my final year of university, through some amazing coincidences, I was invited to attend a Christianity Explored Bible study in west London. In this meeting, I heard the testimony of an atheist whose life had been totally transformed and come to Christ – it was this that caused things to entirely change in my life too, and since then I haven't been the same!

Stagnant Faith

But over the next 2 years I became too comfortable in my Christian walk. Part of the reason for this was through not taking opportunities to share my faith or grow in my relationship with God. I became a very stagnant and lifeless Christian, with church becoming just a weekly routine again. Yet in the last year, through various changes in circumstances, God really changed my focus in life. Now, I feel strongly that there must be an outworking of my faith and growth in my relationship with God. No longer can I be a Christian who views going to church as a bolt-on to everyday life – Christianity has to mean something more.

Street Witnessing

In November last year, I was invited by a friend to become involved with street witnessing in Leicester Square, London. This challenging way of sharing the Gospel has, for me, become like a refining fire, bringing to the surface things which I knew little about, and constantly testing and furthering my faith. Since starting to street witness, I find myself sharing about God more in a single week than I had previously done in two whole years of being a Christian!

God Drawing Me to Africa

At about the same time that I started street witnessing, I happened to see a news report about one of the many famines in Africa. Normally, I would be able to watch this type of report without being particularly affected. But this time, I was very moved and found myself being unable to stop thinking about it. A week or so later, a couple from the Wycliffe Institute came and spoke at Trinity Church about their translation and missionary work in various countries around the world. And shortly after that, Kent Hodge, the founder of a Bible school in northern Nigeria called Christian Faith Institute, shared about what that organisation was doing to spread the Gospel, especially amongst the Muslim population. On hearing about all of these missionary works, I was really moved and began to feel God drawing me to help Kent and his team in Africa.

Trusting God

And so, I am currently in Nigeria, working with the CFI staff. The way that God has worked it out for me to be here has meant that I’ve had to step back from the situation. I love to plan things out to the last detail, but how God is working things out has meant I’ve had to really step out in faith to follow Him! While I’m growing in my walk with God, I trust Him with my life and know that if I wander of the path to the left or the right, He'll be faithful to guide me back. For me, this is the nature of true faith: stepping out of your comfort zone and being prepared to pay the price – God honours that.