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I wAS drIvING HOMe, and suddenly I felt so empty and lost. I became really upset, wondering where I was going with my life. what changed? I’d moved to Cardiff with work, and two people on my team became Christians. I’d watched them get baptised, and they’d told the stories of how their lives had completely changed for the best – and it made me seriously think! I thought I had a nice life doing what everyone else was doing, focusing on things I thought I wanted and needed but I wasn’t happy. deep down I was crying and I remember calling out to God to help me. So I began to read about what it meant to be a Christian. I thought I knew what Christianity was all about, having gone to church as a child, but it became clear that I really wasn’t sure about lots of things. I had wasted enough time. I was an adult now, Gorffennwyd Gan Dawn Wooldridge CLYwAIS yr efengyl am y tro cyntaf pan oeddwn yn blentyn 11 mlwydd oed a minnau newydd ddechrau mynd i’r Ysgol Sul ym Methel. Cyn hynny roeddwn i wedi bod yn mynychu’r eglwys Anglicanaidd gyda gweddill y teulu, ond roeddwn yn cael y gwasanaethau yno’n hir ac yn ddiflas, gan deimlo bod mynd i’r eglwys yn rhywbeth yr oedd rhaid ei oddef yn hytrach na’i fwynhau. I fi, roedd duw yn dduw pell i ffwrdd ac yn un nad oedd ganddo fawr o ddiddordeb ynof. Yn fuan des i ddysgu fel arall. pan ddechreuais fynd i’r Ysgol Sul ym Methel rwy’n cofio cael fy synnu wrth weld bod gan bawb eu Beiblau eu hunain – roeddwn wedi arfer â gweld yr offeiriad, a’r offeiriad yn unig, yn darllen o’r Beibl – ac ar ôl sawl wythnos roeddwn i wedi perswadio fy rhieni i brynu Beibl i fi hefyd. Ond yr hyn a wnaeth fy synnu yn fwy na dim byd arall, yn ddiamau, oedd yr hyn yr oeddwn yn ei ddarllen yn y Beibl a’r hyn yr oeddwn yn ei glywed gan fy athrawon yn yr Ysgol Sul. Clywais nid yn unig am “I had wasted enough time... I needed to figure out what life was all about.” “I fi, roedd Duw yn dduw pell i ffwrdd.” and I needed to figure out what life was all about. I had this sense of God, looking at the beauty of nature, the complexity of life, design was everywhere! I thought of dying too... coming face to face with God. There would be no excuse I could give him. Surely this is the biggest question in life, so why was I doing nothing about it? I started attending Bethel Church in Clydach. Later I went on a Christianity Explored course which helped clarify things for me and I really started to understand what being a Christian was all about. It was about Jesus; why he came and why he died. I realised that the world we live in is a broken world because of the sin that entered it. This caused us to be separated from God, wanting to live our lives our own way, without answering to him. That hanesion yr Hen destament a gwyrthiau a damhegion yr Iesu, ond hefyd am bechod a Chwymp dyn yng Ngardd eden, am Nefoedd ac uffern, a pham yr oedd rhaid i’r Iesu farw ar y Groes. doeddwn i erioed wedi clywed pethau fel hyn o’r blaen. At hynny, roeddwn yn gallu gweld bod fy athrawon i gyd yn credu’r hyn yr oeddent yn ei ddysgu a’u bod yn nabod duw – doedd dim angen llyfr gweddi arnynt wrth weddïo, roeddent yn gweddïo o’r galon. Serch hynny, er i fi fwynhau mynd i’r Ysgol Sul yn fawr iawn, ac er fy mod yn argyhoeddedig o wirionedd yr efengyl ac eisiau dod yn Gristion, roedd yn saith mlynedd cyn i hynny ddigwydd. Yn ystod y saith mlynedd hynny, daeth fy chwaer a’m rhieni yn Gristnogion a nes i barhau i fynd i’r Ysgol Sul yn ogystal â’r Clwb Ieuenctid a’r oedfaon dydd Sul. I bob golwg, roeddwn yn Gristion. Yn wir, roedd fy ffrindiau i gyd yn meddwl fy mod i’n Gristion. Ond roeddwn i’n gwybod fel arall, gan deimlo’n rhagrithiwr llwyr am barhau i fynd i’r eglwys bob wythnos. Felly, er fy mod yn dyheu am iachawdwriaeth, penderfynais yn un o’r oedfaon na fyddwn i’n mynd fyth rhagor i’r eglwys. Fodd bynnag, yn ystod yr oedfa honno, Living my life my way estHer’s LAte teens Were MOstLy FiLLed WitH GOinG Out, drinkinG, CLubbinG, And bOyFriends sO sHe didn’t Give MuCH tiMe tO tHink AbOut GOd. sHe Pretty MuCH WAnted tO dO Her OWn tHinG And Live LiFe Her WAy. tHen One dAy, when she was 24, everything began to change. brokenness was true, it described me! But, I also realised that God loves me and has given me a way out to be saved from this. He sent his Son, Jesus so that I could know God through Him, and if I trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross… in my place, for my sins… then I could be forgiven! Because Jesus dealt with my sin on the cross, it meant I no longer had to be separated from God! This ultimate love and sacrifice deeply moved me and I realised I was a sinner and felt guilty for the way I had been living my life. I prayed honestly to God, I confessed to him the things that I was ashamed of and asked for his forgiveness. That year I had great opportunity at a Christian conference in Aberystwyth to really focus and learn more. The message of the Bible became more real and started fitting together. At the beginning of this story I told dywedodd Mr Mainwaring, y gweinidog yn ei bregeth, wrth fynd heibio fel petai, ‘Os ydych yn chwilio am iachawdwriaeth, rydych chi yn y lle iawn. peidiwch â stopio dod yma tan i chi ddod o hyd iddi!’ A diolch i dduw, des i o hyd i’r hyn yr oeddwn yn chwilio amdano cyn hir iawn. rai misoedd yn ddiweddarach, pan oeddwn yn ddeunaw mlwydd oed, roeddwn i yn un o’r cyfarfodydd ieuenctid yn yr eglwys. roedd y siaradwr yn esbonio arwyddocâd yr hyn a ddywedodd Iesu ar y Groes, yn enwedig ei air olaf, sef ‘Gorffennwyd’. roeddwn yn gyfarwydd iawn â geiriau Iesu ar y Groes. Yn wir, roeddwn wedi clywed nifer o bregethau arnynt, ond y noson honno wnaeth y gair ‘Gorffennwyd’ fy nharo i’r byw. roeddwn wedi bod yn ymdrechu am flynyddoedd i ddod yn Gristion, gan feddwl bod angen i fi fod yn fwy edifar, neu fod angen i fi weddïo’n fwy cyn i fi allu cael fy nerbyn, ond y noson honno des i ddeall, o’r diwedd, nad oedd fy iachawdwriaeth yn dibynnu ar fy ngweddïau na’m dagrau o edifeirwch. roedd Iesu wedi gwneud popeth a oedd ei angen, wedi cyflawni pob dim, wedi gorffen “Roedd fy ffrindiau i gyd yn meddwl fy mod i’n Gristion ond roeddwn i’n gwybod fel arall.” you about driving home deeply upset because I wasn’t happy. I’d just heard a friend tell me how God had changed him. He was so happy and full of this joy. I hadn’t felt that way myself. I had been sceptical of what he told me. I just didn’t understand how it could be true. And now I was driving home from the Christian conference in Aberystwyth. This time driving home was like no other day. Something wonderful happened. Suddenly it all made perfect sense. My eyes felt like they opened and I could see the world clearly. I was just so moved by the power of this conviction that I was crying. It was amazing, and I knew that this was it. I knew that I really did believe that Jesus died for me! Life didn’t feel right before because that separation from God was the cause of the emptiness I was feeling. No longer being separated from God has made me feel so complete and at peace. It was incredibly liberating. Before the conference, I was worried with what people would think, so I hadn’t told anyone I was going to a Christian conference for a whole week! But after, I wasn’t worried anymore of what they thought. I just honestly told whoever asked. It felt I was finally being true to God, being open about my trust in him. I wasn’t hiding away what I believed anymore. It keeps on amazing me how this conviction has changed my life! All those years ago I did not think submitting my life to God would be the most exciting thing in the world. But now it feels like I’m finally alive and nothing else compares. Come and hear more of Esther’s story sunday 6 October 10.30am at Bethel Church y gwaith. Nid oedd angen i fi wneud dim byd ond ymddiried yn ei waith cyflawn ef ar y Groes i’m hachub. Sylweddolais yn raddol fy mod wedi bod yn euog o geisio ychwanegu fy ngweithredoedd pitw at waith gogoneddus Crist a’i bod yn amser rhoi terfyn ar yr holl ymdrechu ac ymddiried ynddo Fe yn unig. Ac wrth i fi ymddiried, teimlais dangnefedd a gorffwys a sicrwydd anhygoel, sydd erioed wedi diflannu ers hynny. Mae’n wir dweud i bopeth newid i fi y noson honno. efallai na fyddai pobl wedi sylwi ar newid mawr ar y tu allan, gan fy mod eisoes yn mynd i’r eglwys a byw bywyd ‘parchus’, ond roeddwn yn berson hollol wahanol y tu mewn. Yn wir, rwy’n credu bod y trosiad o ‘gael eich aileni’ yn un addas iawn i ddisgrifio’r hyn sy’n digwydd pan fydd rhywun yn dod yn Gristion. Ces i lygaid newydd, gan weld y bobl o’m cwmpas mewn goleuni newydd. Ces i dafod newydd i drafod pethau ysbrydol. A ches i ffordd newydd o fyw. dydw i ddim yn byw bywyd perffaith, wrth gwrs, ond gwn fod gen i Iachawdwr perffaith. Iddo ef y mae’r holl glod.
A tale of two families Alison’s story I Grew up IN CLYdACH in the 1970s. My father (John davies) was the minister of Trinity presbyterian Church and then Bethel evangelical Church. Like many people, we later moved away and in 1989 I met a young man called Geraint. we had only been courting for three weeks when he proposed! we were married that year and moved to Folkestone, england so I could begin teaching in a primary school. what followed was not only great joy but great difficulty. Our son deiniol was born in 1992, but that same year Geraint was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. God’s timing was perfect. Having had three serious miscarriages previously, deiniol’s birth put a traumatic diagnosis in perspective. Having learnt from early in our married lives that God only has what is best for us we were able to trust him with the MS. In the following years our daughters, Sioned and Meinir, were born but Geraint’s condition was getting worse. By 1994 we had moved to wrexham and Geraint had to give up work, first as “We married and what followed was not only great joy but great difficulty.” an excellent primary school teacher, then as a not-so-good financial advisor! By 1996, I too had given up teaching so that I could care full-time for Geraint. Over the years the doctors tried various treatments, but Geraint had every possible MS symptom and from 2003 his health rapidly deteriorated. By 2007 it was clear that he was not going to live much longer, and in November 2009 Geraint died at home with the family around him. kevin’s story I went to Thames valley police aged 16 to start fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a police officer in the traffic division. As a police cadet in Thames valley, and a police officer in Yorkshire, I had to handle many complex and critical situations. However, it wasn’t just in my professional life that circumstances were critical. I met Jennie in 1981 and we married July 1982. She was a devoted secondary school teacher. In the following years our sons were born. david in 1984, Ben in 1986 and Sam in 1988. In 2000 the unexpected Where i belong MANY YeArS AGO I was very involved in a Methodist church. I taught in Sunday school and my children went regularly. I tried to do what I knew was right. After the children had grown up and we moved I stopped going to church as there was no church near where we lived, but I still prayed and sometimes read my Bible, especially at times when things went wrong. Then about four years ago I was accosted one day on High Street in Clydach by a very nice, tall young boy called Tim. we got talking, and he asked me if I was a Christian. I said, ‘I believe I am’ but when he asked me if I went to church I had to say ‘No’. He told me about some special meetings going on in the church, just like the ones advertised in this paper. He invited me to the coffee morning and asked if I’d be interested in hearing Henry Olonga’s story. when I went to the meeting, Tim was looking out for me and sat with me. I was unsure of what to expect, but I found the people were warm and welcoming. I enjoyed listening to Henry Olonga’s story of being a Christian and a cricketer. Afterwards Tim said ‘why don’t you come on Sunday?’, so I did. what I found really helpful in Bethel was that on Sundays the Bible was being explained. As I listened to the church services I felt I wanted to know more, so I kept coming. I got to know more about what the Bible meant and about its relevance for me. I even did a Christianity Explored course which helped me understand who Jesus Christ was and why he came. Before I came to Bethel, I had thought that going to happened – Jennie was diagnosed with breast cancer. The various operations and treatments did at first seem to help and Jennie was able to continue the job she loved. But in 2005 everything seemed to go wrong. In the summer, Jennie’s cancer had returned. On 7 July 2005 I was on the Circle line on the London subway and was caught up in the Aldgate explosion. It was that year too that my mum died. By 2007 Jennie had given up work and on 1 december 2009 she died at home with the family around her. tHeir story Just before Geraint and Jennie died, our sons Sam and deiniol became very close friends. Knowing their Mum and dad did not have long left to live, they forged a close bond. This was the start of a friendship that would change the course of our future. Alison: Kevin’s son Sam spent summer 2010 with me at a Christian conference in Aberystwyth. After chatting with him I sent Kevin a book about grieving and bereavement called Tracing the Rainbow. church and reading your Bible and praying must mean I was a Christian, but I began to understand that’s not what makes you a Christian. One night I was doing a Bible study with paul from the church. As it was being explained to me, all of a sudden, I knew! I said to him ‘I finally know what you’re on about and I want to give my life to Christ’. I asked God to forgive me, once and for all. I am a much calmer and happier person since I became a Christian. I’m not perfect but I know I can ask God for forgiveness and he helps me. I also feel part of the church, I belong there now and I want others to experience what I’ve experienced, so I try to tell people about what’s happened to me. Being a Christian hasn’t always been easy. My husband david died a year ago and I’m still asking God ‘why?’. But I know that I can trust God for everything and I “Life has not been easy, but God has always been good to us.” I thought he might find it helpful, totally unaware that his Master’s degree included the whole aspect of grieving and bereavement counselling! Kevin: I replied to Alison’s letter, and we started writing to each other until we met finally in Bridgend during October 2010, which was also organised by Sam and deiniol! By March 2011 we were married! Life has not been easy for either of us, but looking back, we can see that God has always been good to us. Our Christian faith has helped us every single day – if we hadn’t known that God is with us even in the most difficult times, we would probably never have been able to cope. And we’re able to testify that although our faith has been tested by the deaths of Geraint and Jennie, God has seen us through, and we know that they are in a far better place because their trust and hope was also in Jesus Christ alone. Come and hear more of Alison & Kevin’s story on Friday 11 October 7.30pm at Bethel Church know that God is going to look after me. I often think, ‘why did we move to Clydach, when we didn’t know anyone here?’ and ‘why did I go to High Street that day?’ – I don’t even remember what I was doing! But if Tim hadn’t accosted me I would never have gone to Bethel and never become a Christian. God knew what he was doing then, so I can trust him for everything that’s in store. By Mary Ayers
Page 1 and 2: Real Lives Clydach’s October 2013
Page 3: Crying to god LIFe HASN’T ALwAYS
Page 7 and 8: My Mate’s gone mad! By Graham Dan

Real Lives

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