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Sue Neil is a
member of All Saints Church North Wootton and is a
lecturer at the College of West Anglia. She writes:
 As a small child in Africa my sister and I went to a
Sunday School, which I loved. I remember at about six
years old being absolutely sure that God was my Creator
and that Jesus was my friend. But, my sister being much
older felt she wanted to go to a ‘proper’ church and be
confirmed, so we no longer attended those wonderfully
happy classes. In the new church there were no classes
and you had to sit quietly and listen to the sermon. I
liked the singing but my faith was marooned.
My last year of school was an unhappy one as my parents
were in Australia and my father was gravely ill. But I
did go to a local church and the vicar encouraged me to
be confirmed, despite my being terribly self-conscious
about being so much older than everyone else! Sadly, I
lapsed again at University and although I went to church
occasionally was far too shy to talk to anyone or find
out about Christian groups. I always told people I was a
Christian but my faith had not progressed at all since
the Sunday School!
In my first job I lodged with a married couple. The
husband was training to be a vicar at Westcott College,
Cambridge and we lived in the Rectory right by the
College. But I saw the main advantage of this as having
lots of nice, interesting, young men to go to parties
with and did not seize the opportunity to learn more
about God! I then moved on to the bright lights of
London and had the good fortune to share a room in a
flat with a Christian girl who had a good sense of
humour. I finally started to learn something about God –
but just as soon as I started I got married and went off
to New York where we met all types of people – but no
Christians!
I was in my early thirties and we were living in Brazil
when our baby died of hepatitis. I was also very ill for
many months and a Brazilian friend came to see me and
‘comforted’ me by telling me it was the will of God. I
wanted to tell her that it was not the will of the God
of love that I knew, but did not like to. However, the
seed was sown for my being determined to find out more
about God’s will for my life and I started reading
Christian books, and finally, growing in faith! So I
feel God has been persistent in calling me to Him! And I
am still learning!
Sue Neil |
