Hello Family,

I have a great testimony lined up for you , it's from Tilly Boakye who I met at Church. 

She worships at VBCI - Mercy Sanctuary Northampton. She is part of Passion Midlands (VBCI) and a Youth Leader in Next Generation Church Midlands. Tilly went to Birming City University and is currently in  Admin , Hair and Mua. Her Story is very touching and inspiring. I know that you will be blessed by her testimony. 

How I found God/How he found me

I have always been a Christian by denomination. I was born into the Catholic Church, baptised and had Catechism, had my first communion and went on to join the choir at around 14 years old for about 3 months and lost interest after(I had no idea what I was doing).

I never actually listened to any of the songs we learnt properly-I just wanted something to do at the time because I attended an all girls catholic boarding school-There was not much to do apart from learning how to be disciplined, educating ourselves to be intelligent women and learning etiquette.

I spent my first 2 weeks in boarding school learning how to walk like a lady from one of my prefects (actress Lydia Forson-her bum was huge and she was confident and powerful-lol we all wanted to be able to convey that chutzpah with our 14 yr. old bottoms)

I went on to join the ladies of the Blessed Sacrament aka catholic mass server in my school’s catholic church and spent most Saturdays ironing cassocks and robes and learning how to shake the thurible without throwing fire on everyone in church.

I learned all the routines and learned to conduct myself in a proper and godly way without any true understanding nor a grounded relationship with God. I knew of God at this time and had a solid sense of righteousness via an aunt who was a huge disciplinarian and a guardian who made me speak English always and woke up early (Phew)

I was other parent’s dream although I was mildly unteachable in my own home ironically. I developed more awareness of myself and the kind of lady I wanted to be, I started making what I thought at the time  was independent decisions(they were actually influenced by educated people’s lifestyles, tv personalities, university graduates I knew and my ideological creation of myself. I went on to plan my life and lived a life of integrity as much as I was able to until….

A few years went by and I had the freedom and privilege to start university and that’s when I began to truly morph into the person I wanted to be. I started with a sense of fear and freedom combined and ambition only to realise soon after that I didn’t start uni because I wanted education. I was actually looking for freedom because I had always lived within the gates of my childhood home and within the walls my family home. I didn’t realise that I was sheltered and that I had not seen or known much. My mind was closed and very naïve and PURE. I was so sweet, excited about life and believed the best of people until I came into contact with teenagers who had lived adult lives as well as adult looking men and women who were not truly ‘’adulting’’

I started going about my business (uni/academics) and my social life picked up. I did all the raving I could do thanks to Fresher’s week and its aftermath. This is the time I learned how to do makeup and hair by the way-(Follow Tillyboakye on social media) I thought it was appropriate to plug my accounts lol-see below

https://www.facebook.com/Tillyboakyemakeup/

https://www.instagram.com/tillyboakye/

https://www.tillyboakye.com/

For the first time, no one was actually telling me I wasn’t allowed to do a, b, c or wear something I wanted to wear- I WAS FINALLY FREE to make the choices I wanted to make. As far as I was concerned, I was better raised than most people around my age anyways. I was responsible and sensibleJ

I gradually eased my way into the arms of a young man who became my best friend and we started a relationship. I realised that I had no knowledge of men because I had never truly been around males (remember all girls boarding school?).

Prior to this by the way, I went to a catholic private school and a car took me to school and waited for me as I came out of class every day so I barely had any social life before age 14 and it was made worse between ages 14 and 19 living with my dad. He was worse than my aunt lol-party pooper!

That relationship EXPOSED me to who I was/am and I discovered myself as an individual and as a young woman. I noticed I was beautiful and I realised that I could easily manipulate men. I noticed I was powerful and could sway a man and receive favour and preferential treatment. I.e. tickets to raves, t-shirts, free entries to raves, discounts, cinema dates, free food, and free car rides-YOU NAME IT!-in Pastor Shirley Caesar’s voice

I did capitalise on it without compromising my body of course-luckily I wasn’t sexually active-I was very green!!!!! But I did lose my mind and self-respect. I ended up leaving that relationship after realising this young man was cheating with an older prettier lady (she’s alright to me now-but I was insecure so her beauty was magnified). I spent a couple of years after reflecting on my involvement with him and the time I had lost, how my devotion was discounted and disregarded and the new set of insecurities and inadequacies I had developed as a result. I felt so UGLY because I had faced my first rejection from a man (I.e. another woman had been chosen over me-I spent months starving and crying.

 I had my first depression and started having blackouts every now and then. I lost my appetite for education, friendship, family, life, myself and sadly FOOD)-YES food was very important to me at the time.

I was heartbroken because I gave the relationship my best and it was my first. I was “mad faithful and well innocent”. I found myself asking for help from God randomly and that’s when I started realising God was/is a person. I found someone and I didn’t have to compromise my uni time or anything else for his attention. That’s what I was looking for deep down.

I went to my Bible and found scriptures about identity because the core of the issue was that I never knew who I was in Christ and no one had really helped me through that. I decided to start hanging around with some “Christians” who FOUND me and we started fellowship which I did very reluctantly in the first few weeks. I called them Christians because they stood out, they were unusual, behaved differently and always talked or sang about God. They made every conversation about JESUS-I was so BORED with them then I started getting excited (SHOUT OUTàTiti, Muyiwa, Ebheto, Patricia, Tolu)

I started posting sticky notes with scriptures on my wall. I deleted all the ungodly music I had on my mp3, my laptop, I STOPPED RAVING-yes ME!!!-I’m shocked tooJ

I stopped having sessions of alcohol chill outs with boys I didn’t know in places/apartments I didn’t know.

I stopped smoking shisha and I stopped feeding myself with material things that made me FEEL important.

I started covering up my body more and decided to treat myself with respect like I had before (I didn’t really know I had it before btw). I did a 40 day fast- a couple of times with the help of my boring Christian friends.

I started become boring to myself. I was changing into my Christian friends. I also realised at this point that I didn’t know a lot of worldly songs anymore.

I started learning Christian songs and joined my church’s choir at VBCI Treasure Sanctuary in Birmingham. Before I realised I had transformed and had developed a FEAR of God.

I became wiser.

I could finish Bible verses when people or preachers started them (HUGE MIRACLE). I WAS CHANGED.

Long story short-unfortunately, it took me running into the arms of a man to find God or for God to find me. I finally heard God and I had no choice but to obey and ask for his help and guidance always.

It has been a wonderful, frustrating, and uncertain but the SUREST choice and decision I have ever made without being influenced by any external factor.

It was my own decision and choice and has helped me find me-(I searched for myself for a long time and didn’t know who I wanted to be with all the voices I heard trying to define me yet not pointing me to God but to status, to gender confined spaces and to a person of this world.

I was free to become who I wanted to become and I have fought since to be defined only by the voice of God.

To those who are searching for yourselves and God in all that you are going through, your salvation is near.

I will leave you with this passage from THE HOLY BIBLEJ

Deuteronomy 30:19-20- This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

Read the whole chapter for understanding-Just read the Bible-Honestly, you won’t be that bored!

SIGNED-Tilly Boakye

Email me if you have questionsJ