I don’t know where exactly to begin my story but the best place I can think of is the day we left for NYC. Everyone was telling us that this was going to change our lives forever and that there was no way we could go through that week without seeing God. I remember sitting in my chair thinking that there was no way.

You see, I was raised in a church environment, and always had God as a part of my life. However, I realized that even though I had asked Jesus into my heart as a child, it wasn’t necessarily something I believed. It was just something that I went along with because it was what I was raised to do. At that point I was angry with God, unable to let certain parts of my past go, and not wanting to go on some youth retreat with my church. If I had been given a choice, I would not have gone, but the money had been paid and there was no getting out of it.

So, off I went to Saint Louis, and I will admit, I had a wonderful time, but throughout the trip I was still fighting God. I had done the shorter weekend retreats, always coming home “changed” for a few days before returning to my prior self, and I did not want to do that again. I knew I would feel like I had let myself down if I accepted God and dropped him again. I realized that if I was going to accept God, it would have to be with all of my being, and I wasn’t ready for that. Or so I thought.

Throughout the week I watched people change. My roommate became one of my most respected friends, and as I watched her change and grow in Christ, I began to realize that if what she had was a true relationship with God was, I wanted it. So, finally I began to pray, asking God to come back into my life.

On one of the evenings my district was on floor, they called an altar call and my roommate I mentioned before ran past me, tears streaming down her face, to go to the floor. I decided to go with her and there on the floor I felt God. I felt him like I have never felt him before, and wonder if I ever will again. I realized that I needed to give my life to Christ once and for all. And so I did.

I asked for God’s forgiveness and to be a part of his holy church, to be his completely. Then someone in the stadium started singing. I believe it was “I Surrender All” and I can’t tell you how perfect that song was for me. Soon the whole stadium was singing with me right along with everyone else. And you know what? I meant it. I did surrender all, and later I felt God’s call for Africa.

I remember thinking “Me God, new believer? I’m not ready!” and then remembering that I had just told God I’d give everything up for him, so I agreed. I remember repeating over and over, “God if you want me to go to Africa, find a way for me to get there, and I will.”

Now I have been invited to spend my next summer with a missionary family in Kenya. I will be going around and talking in the high schools about purity and abstinence, in hopes of helping with the AIDS epidemic. I will also be working in their orphanages, which are now overrun with children, and doing all that I can to help those with little hope. It will be hard for me to earn the money to get there, but I am obeying God and I know that he will provide.

I am so grateful to what NYC has done for me. It helped me find God, and now I pray that through me, others will be reached and some kind of difference can be made. No matter how small, things will change. In fact, they already have.

I remember one of the speakers saying how so many people would return and go back to their old lives, but a few of us would change, and how those few would make a difference. I am one of them. I hope one day I will go to heaven and God will look down at me and say, “Good job Amber. With you I am well pleased.”

- Amber, Student