Ana’s story

When I came to the UK I felt quite lost and lonely even though I had a good job and somewhere to live. My home in Eastern Europe was in a quiet rural village, and I found city life busy, crowded and a little frightening. Then one of my friends invited me along to an Alpha course. I was already a Christian and I thought if I went I would make some new Christian friends. The course was quite fun, and I enjoyed making friends, sharing meals and talking about my life. The only thing was, coming from another country, people didn’t really understand my background or the church life I was used to. They thought it was strange that men and women stayed in different parts of our church and had different roles and that there weren’t any chairs in our church, only carpets! I think they all thought my church was rather ‘backwards’, but to me it was my Christian home and I loved it.

After the course I tried going to big city churches with some of my new friends, but they were noisy and seemed rather chaotic. I didn’t like it. So I gave up church for a while, but I missed the singing and the worship.

Then I met my boyfriend. He wasn’t a Christian but his family home was in a rural village. When he took me to meet his parents, I asked if I could visit the local church. He thought I meant just have a look round, but I wanted to go to a service. When I went there, there were only about ten people in the church, but I really liked it. It was quiet and respectful and I liked the singing. It was then I realised I could find a home in a church here and this was it! My boyfriend thought I was mad, but every weekend we go out to see his parents and I go to the church. Sometimes my boyfriend’s mum comes with me. It’s very special. I feel like I’ve found a home from home.