From unbelief to opening God’s Word with others.
We sat down with Jenn, a Bible sharer in London, to hear about her journey of faith and her experience of sharing the Bible with others.
Thanks for joining us, Jenn! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
The pleasure is all mine! So I live in London and I go to All Souls Langham Place. I grew up in an atheist family, but my beliefs began to change when I went to boarding school. Changing schools from one without Friday prep to one that had, I found it hard to conform to the new concept. I mean, who does prep on Friday nights?!
We were never allowed to leave the boarding house unless we had permission – and I remember seeing this girl walking out the house one Friday evening, and being very intrigued about how she had managed to get out! So I ran and asked her where she was going, and she said that she was going to ‘fellowship’.
I didn’t really know or care what ‘fellowship’ was – I just wanted to get out of prep time! So I went along, and I met a local group of Christians who would meet together every week. Being an atheist, I asked them a lot of challenging questions, but they were always so gracious when answering them. That really struck me, because I would go every week and spend two hours asking all these difficult questions, and yet they were always so kind to me. They took me in as one of their family, and I gradually began to know more about Jesus and the Bible, and eventually I came to Christ!
And it all started because I didn’t want to do my homework!
Q. How did you get started with The Word One to One?
I’m in my church’s Christianity Explored group, and The Word One to One was introduced to us during one of the training sessions. I thought it was a really interesting tool that was branded very well – it didn’t look like the Bible or a Bible resource at all! So I decided to start using it for myself.
Q. Who have you been reading God’s Word with recently, and how did you begin sharing with them?
I enjoy getting to know my colleagues in and out of the workplace, so they’re pretty open as they share their opinions with me and don’t feel judged when they speak their minds. One of them is very intelligent, and a person I have a lot of respect for from work. He would challenge me about various aspects in the Bible – such as Mary giving birth as a virgin – and I would challenge him on the evolution theory. These sorts of conversations would go back and forth with an ‘agree to disagree’ attitude, until one day he didn’t return back to work as he fell seriously ill in the weekend.
I prayed for his physical health, but more so for his spiritual need. I then plucked up the courage to give him a call to send him well wishes – and I said that I had got him a book which started with only 18 sentences from the Bible, and asked if he would like to read it with me. I reassured him that he didn’t have to read on if he didn’t want to, and that we could go back to our normal debates. To my surprise, he agreed, and so we started reading The Word One to One together. However, due to the pandemic, we weren’t able to continue for much longer.
More recently, I’ve been reading with three other ladies who are Christians, but are looking to deepen their understanding of the Bible and who Jesus is. I’ve also been reading with them because I wanted to grow my confidence in sharing God’s Word with others by using The Word One to One!
Each time I read with them, they remark that no one has ever read the Bible verse-by-verse with them before, and that they hadn’t realised just how much is packed in there! It’s been really encouraging to see them grow in their faith and support them from the beginning.
Q. How have you seen God work through reading His Word with others?
I find that my faith is strengthened every time I read the Word with others, because I’m exposing myself to the truth alongside them too! I’m in Book 3 now with one of the ladies, and when we read an episode together, it really helps both of us consolidate what each verse is saying and not miss anything.
When they have questions about the Bible, we often go outside of John’s Gospel and look at other passages – and I’ve found that those discussions have helped me understand the bigger picture and story of the Bible. It’s so good to have that deeper and wider understanding, because it enriches our experience of God and His Word.
“I find that my faith is strengthened every time I read the Word with others, because I’m exposing myself to the truth alongside them too!”
Q. How has The Word One to One helped you introduce others to Jesus?
I would say that The Word One to One has helped me go deeper when it comes to evangelism. Before, I would tell others my testimony of faith and my own story, which is still really important – but The Word One to One then provides a really solid tool that gives us the opportunity to explore who Jesus is and what He says in His Word. I feel like it bridges the gap between sharing your testimony and journeying intentionally with people towards meeting Jesus for themselves.
“Before, I would tell others my testimony of faith and my own story, which is still really important – but The Word One to One then provides a really solid tool that gives us the opportunity to explore who Jesus is and what He says in His Word.”
I also think that it provides a clearer and more personal way for non-Christians to explore faith. A lot of Christians immediately invite their non-Christians friends to church – but that’s a huge leap for them to make, and it might not be the best way to tell them about Jesus from the off. But with The Word One to One, you can build a one-to-one relationship with others that’s founded on God’s Word, which then helps if you’d like to invite them to church in the future.
Q. Do you have any advice for someone who’s looking at starting to share God’s Word with others?
Be confident in what the Word says, and offer yourself to God as a vessel – let Him use you to open His Word with others.
Curious about the Bible? Discover what it says for yourself alongside a Christian friend.
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