My 15-Second Testimony and the Beginnings of Dear Ambassador

Dear Ambassador,

Welcome to the Dear Ambassador blog! My name is Nicole and I am a follower of Jesus in my 20s. By way of introduction, I wanted to share how I met Jesus and a bit of what the journey of making Him my King has looked like. I will also share why I am starting this blog and what journey I hope to lead you on as a dear reader.

First things first, what is a “15-second testimony?” It is a really simple tool to start an evangelism conversation with someone because all it is, is: 1) two words that described you before you met Jesus, 2) the declaration that you have now made Jesus your King, and 3) two words that describe you and how you feel after you made that decision. It can go longer than 15 seconds if you want, but the idea is to have something concise that you can use to communicate the gospel when you are short on time (or need to grab someone’s attention with a quick, relatable story).

My personal 15-second testimony goes like this:

There was a time in my life when I was anxious and lonely, and I didn’t know where I belonged. I grew up in the church so I knew about God, but that drove me into legalism and more anxiety that I wasn’t doing enough for Him. But then I made Jesus my King. Now, I have peace and have found a place in His family where I belong and know who I am.

To expound on that a little more for the sake of this post, I will say that I actually don’t know what day I was saved. I have a memory from Vacation Bible School when they asked all us kids how long we had known Jesus, so I picked an age that sounded good and said “I’ve known Jesus since I was 4!” I was probably 9 or 10 at the time, and I would say that I was saved back then.

I also have a specific memory when younger me realized that in order to go to Heaven I had to accept Jesus into my heart, so one night when I was alone in bed I prayed the sinner’s prayer that I had heard multiple times just to make sure that I was saved. I’m not sure how old I was at the time, but I feel like it was around the same time that I started to fear that Jesus would come back and my toys wouldn’t be ready to go to Heaven with me, so I slept with them in a plastic bag, all packed and ready to go 😂

The timeframe when I actually began stepping into a personal relationship with God was when I was in middle school. I attended a Bible camp over the summer when I was 11 and met a girl who invited me to her youth group, which I began attending half-way through my 6th grade year. It was there that I developed a passion for reading the Bible for myself (shout-out to all the dozens of YouVersion Bible plans I read during the ages of 12 and 13). I attended a city-wide work camp in 7th grade where I fell in love with corporate worship and serving God alongside other people my age.

By age 14, I felt the call of God on my life to get baptized. I ignored it at first, because I was convinced in my insecure teenage brain that I had already missed my chance and was too old. Obviously people would make fun of me for having procrastinated it so long, right? Plenty of other kids had done it already, so I was a laggard. Plus, I was absolutely terrified of going up on the stage to share my testimony in a microphone for the whole congregation. However, I found that ignoring God only works for so long because He is so persistent and always in pursuit of me.

It was January 3rd, 2019, when I had had enough of the guilt and shame. I felt miserable. I have a journal entry from that day that just made me cry as I reread it, because I remember that feeling.

I sat in my desk chair that day and made a deal with God: if He would open the door for me to get baptized, I would do it. But He had to move first.

Wouldn’t you know, I walked into the church building 3 days later on January 6th and my pastor announced that the baptism sign-ups were open for the next month. Only God. I told my parents (through tears) after lunch that day that I wanted to do it.

I was baptized February 10th, 2019.

And that’s the day I consider to be my spiritual birthday.

I have certainly learned so much since then, and I wish I could go back and tell my 14-year-old self just how awesome life with God has been.

It is so much more than social anxiety.

It is so much more than teenage insecurity.

It is so much more than the aching loneliness I felt at the time.

I would be lying if I said it hasn’t been a journey – I was 19 going on 20 before I found the community I have now. I am still in counseling at 21 for the social anxiety and insecurity that try to pull me back. But Jesus has been so kind to me.

He has also led me into a deeper understanding of the Great Commission to 1) go and make disciples, 2) baptize them, and 3) teach them to obey. I attend a house church these days and have personally baptized a few people. So if sharing your testimony from a stage in front of 50+ people scares you as much as it did me, I have good news for you – it is not a requirement (unless, of course, the Lord personally asks that of you).

It was right before the time of my baptism saga that I began blogging my spiritual journey – late 2018. I posted on and off for a while, got super dedicated and consistent during the COVID pandemic, and then had to lay it down when I started Bible college in the fall of 2021. I surrendered it to God, knowing in my heart that He would one day release me to write and/or blog again, because it is something that I absolutely adore.

I believe that time is now. I am still in college, but I am stepping into ministry part-time and need something to fill up my energy tank. Blogging is such a Sabbath activity for me and I am so excited to see how God uses this re-launch of sorts both in my life and yours.

I settled on the name Dear Ambassador because that is how I start all of my personal journal entries these days (I have also been journaling more or less consistently since 2019). It ultimately comes from 2 Corinthians 5:20 when Paul tells his audience that they are ambassadors on Christ’s behalf, reconciling the world back to God.

Jesus has changed my life – I am no longer chronically anxious or lonely. I made Him my King and now I walk in His family and the peace He gives!

I want to invite you into this journey with me. Whatever age you are, whatever stage of life you are in, I promise you it is not too late. God is still chasing after you and wanting you to come home. He does not see you as a laggard. Stop running from God and living in the guilt, shame, or whatever emotion is holding you hostage. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Have you made Jesus your King? Do you have a 15-second testimony to share?

Comment down below or email me at support@nicoleashleymissions.com. I would love to hear yours!

You are not on this journey alone. Excelsior, dear Ambassador.