Davina Boateng

Age - 16

Branch - Lci Leeds

Hey guys, I am from Saved Lci Leeds! I want to tell everyone about my life story and how I’ve been transformed by God’s grace.

Well when I look at it I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll start from when I even got to the United Kingdom.

Before I got to the UK I was in a church, I used to sing in church and I used to just always be in the children’s ministry. But during that time I used to be afraid of my mum back when I lived in Holland. I mean everything that she said that I should do I did, her wish was my command.

My Life changed when I got to the UK. Before I came to Leeds, I lived in Manchester (Bolton) and everything basically started from that point. My life was affected when my family started to develop problems. I am the oldest girl in my family so what ever happened in my family; so because of that my mother came to me all the time to talk about all the problems. It came to the point where I was fed up of hearing everything that was happening in my family. I was tired of coming home everyday just to hear my parents quarrel. I wanted everything to stop; I would go upstairs and cry at night because I felt that I was going to lose my family that they were tearing apart. It was to the point where I felt happier at school than at home because of all the problems my family was going through.

So because of all this trouble between my mum and dad, my mum, my little sis, my three brothers and I came to Leeds and that’s where it all started. So I had to change schools because I came to Leeds and I met my two friends in school who influenced me a lot without knowing it at first. We used to stay out really late, steal from shops and drank. They had introduced me to boys and showed me many things. Basically it was the three of us; we used to be together all the time.

I then later started to disrespect my mum because I saw that my friend was doing it to her mum and it could shut her up, so that used to be one thing that I did a lot. I would shout at my mum, insult my mum and just be disrespectful to her. I and My mother were like enemies! I hated her! I hated her because I blamed her for my dad leaving us because I was a daddy’s girl and I didn’t care what my dad did I just assumed it was her fault!  Now that I look back on those past events in my life, I know that it is a path that I do not ever want to cross again!

I remember that first time I got invited to Lci and I loved it, it started off as me and my friends going then one dropped out and said it wasn’t her type of church. So then it became me and my other friend going together, but then she left me saying that she didn’t like the church anymore. Then finally it was just me going for a while, but I still did not stop being friends with the other girls who stopped going to church. When I gave my life to Christ, from that time and moment I felt a certain relief. I changed many things including my friends. The Church had been and still is a correction to me; I have people who help and guide me, they direct me to doing the right things and stay on the right path. Church has helped me rebuild my relationship with my mother; I am much closer to my mum than ever before. There are times where I want to rebel or go back to my old ways but then the Holy Spirit will whisper to me No more!

I am so happy that I have found Lci. I believe the struggles that I’ve been through were for a reason. I even believe that perhaps if my dad had never left then maybe I wouldn’t have been in Lci Leeds and I wouldn’t have had a relationship with God. By his Grace I am a Soloist in the Youth Church and I just can’t have enough of Him! Thank you so much for reading this. Blessings!