A life changed – Ben’s Story James Vaughton recently caught up with Ben, a young man who used to come to our One Eighty skate project years ago, to hear his story, and with Ben’s permission shares it below. Ben came to One Eighty between the ages of 10 and 13 years old, he loved the skating and gave his life to Jesus. During his teenage years he was drawn into smoking drugs and by the age of 16 they were having a significant impact on his life and health. He described what was to him a physical, mental and spiritual battle and how friends would visit but he would just want to hide. During this time Ben says he was aware of God’s love but he remained ill and socially withdrawn and at some point, he says, he lost his faith. As Ben told his story it was clear that although he had lost his faith, he was aware that God had not given up on him. God would speak to him in pictures and dreams and on one occasion he simply sensed that God was there with his arms open saying, “I am still here.” For Ben there was a significant sense of God’s love and power. This was the wake-up call he says he needed. He was still ill, but felt different. “I was still tempted by the drugs and haunted by a sense that the enemy wanted to destroy what God was doing, but I realised God loved me.”
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Over the next year or so things started to improve. Ben reconnected with church and decided he wanted to be baptised. When asked why he was getting baptised, he simply said, “God has a bigger plan for me.” Ben now sees that he has God-given gifts and skills that he can use as part of that bigger plan, he lives independently and is connecting with a church in Bath city centre. Ben told me, “Bath Youth for Christ’s One Eighty project was important in helping me to know God and his love. The project leaders helped plant the seed that is now bearing fruit.” Ben finished by saying, “I am still young in my faith, God is my father and I am his child. I feel like a new person.”
