Rodney Froggatt's story

  I come from a non-Christian background, but my parents always sent me to Sunday School. When I was old enough to make up my
  own mind, I stopped going for a number of years. Like most people, I only went to church for weddings and funerals.

  In my early twenties I started to go to a local Methodist Church, and attended there for thirteen years. The only difference in my life
  at that time was that I didn’t drink, smoke, play Bingo or swear while I was in church.

We used to get invited up to Staincliffe Baptist Church on special occasions by Jackie. I used to say to Laurie Hayes, "I would not change churches!" And Laurie said, "That's alright!" Then one Sunday morning I set off for my church. When I got half way there, for some reason, I decided to go to Staincliffe Baptist Church. When I came home I told Betty I liked the Baptist Church because they were very friendly. So that following Tuesday I went to the Bible Study which I enjoyed very much. After much discussion with Betty and Simon, we all agreed to come to the Baptist Church to try it out. So, the following Sunday we all went up to the new church and we were all made extremely welcome.

After a few weeks of going to the Baptist Church, Betty became a Christian. This shocked me because Betty used to make excuses so she didn’t have to go to church, and yet she became a Christian. And yet I had been going all those years, and I still wasn’t a Christian. Three days after Betty became a Christian, Laurie came to visit. While he was in the house Betty told him that I had been whittering about why I wasn’t a Christian. Laurie told me I had to admit to being a sinner, and that Jesus had died on the cross to pay the price for my sins. On the 22nd of January 1997 at 9 o’clock in the evening, I prayed. I admitted to Jesus I was a sinner, and asked Him to forgive my sins. And He did, and buried them in the deepest sea.

Now that Christ has paid the price for MY sins, I know that I am going to heaven. The Bible tells me that Jesus is in heaven, and that Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for YOU”, for me personally, John 14:2.

I have a peace about our Simon, who is also a Christian, that he will do the right thing - like not getting involved with drinking or drugs. As my family is now a Christian family, there is less conflict as we all enjoy Christian activities. I enjoy the Men’s Reading group and Betty enjoys the Ladies’ weekends.

The Lord has led us as a family to get involved in Church life. Although we are not preachers, we all take a very active part in the day to day life of our Church.