Timothy Akinluyi  

Born in Nigeria, the son of an Anglican Pastor, I had no choice but to attend Church meetings.  I became used to the usual ‘Christian’ behaviour, but I was not a Christian.  As the last of eight children, I found it particularly difficult to establish my own identity.  Anything I did had been done before and my efforts were often greeted with little or no enthusiasm.  I soon found a niche in sports, but my parents were always too busy to come and watch me compete, although they showed me a lot of love.

Surprised

As a teenager, I received a lot of admiration from my peers because of my sporting abilities. In spite of my growing popularity I began to wonder about life; I had many questions.  A friend invited me to a Christian Leadership conference.  It was not the sort of place I would normally go to, but I attended anyway.  To my surprise, the people I met at the conference were very friendly and excited about God.  My parents had often encouraged me to participate in church-life and at one stage I was a choirboy; but to see people of my own age (then 16 years) actually enjoying a relationship with God was a real challenge to me.  Their purpose was to lead good lives that honoured God and to be of service to the community.

A question

At one of the meetings, the preacher said that each person would have to give an account of their life to God.  He went on to say that God loves us and that He sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and that we would enjoy the benefits of God’s love when we give our lives to Jesus.  As I asked the question in my heart, ‘how does this happen?’ the preacher said that if we wanted a relationship with Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, we should stand up.  I stood up.  He then led us in prayer, asking Jesus to forgive us our sins and to come and be Lord of our lives and fill us with His Spirit.

Joy

I immediately experienced a release of joy and an assurance of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Now I am like a new person.  I am no longer despondent and uncertain about the future because I have a living relationship with God and a whole new family of God’s children to whom I relate, all because of Jesus.
I also came to know that salvation is for all who believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  He loves you just as much. He can bring peace and purpose, cleansing and joy into your life today, if you simply ask Him.  Why not commit your life to Him right now? He wants to heal your hurts, pains and relationships.