My name is Deborah. I’m 22 and I’m currently in my final Year at Stranmillis University.  I became a Christian at a very young age and to be totally honest I remember very little about it. As a result, the one question I always struggled with was ‘Am I really saved?’ My immediate solution to this was to become a Christian every night before I went to sleep…just in case!  I knew that I was being silly, but I kept doing it anyway because I really didn’t want to miss out on heaven!  

By the time I’d reached my early teens I was still a Christian, still going to Church etc., but the question ‘Am I really saved?’ was still on my mind.  Looking back I realised that this question, which haunted me right up until my late teens, was of the devil. He wanted to steal my peace – the peace of knowing that I was God’s child, and nothing or no one could ever remove me from His hands. How do I know I am saved?  Easy.  I think about the things God has done for me. Every time I called on Him He was there, and still is, ready to help me out.  

I’ll finish with one brief example. During the summer I went to California to be a counsellor at a kids camp ran by the Salvation Army. The journey was terrifying and lonely.  I didn’t know what to expect! I relied on God from the word go. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever prayed so much, while all the time remembering that God promised, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ (Hebs13:5) Within a few days of arriving at camp they changed my position from counsellor to recreation director.  This terrified me. I’d taught sports before but this was taking me way out of my comfort zone! So I prayed about it and the prayer went like this – ‘God YOU’VE brought me here this summer, YOU help me get through it’.  This wasn’t a request, yet it wasn’t an order either.  It was simply me recognising that a) I was where God wanted me to be and b) I couldn’t survive the summer on my own strength.  I was relying on God’s! He pushed me out of my comfort zone continually during the summer months, never letting me rest on my laurels. As a result I found gifts that I never knew I had. One thing I know for sure is that God really is an awesome God!