Katie Ivings grew up in the Peak District in a family that did not go to church. She was not against God. She just did not know how any of it worked. "I didn't know you could just go to church," she said. "I thought you had to be invited or become a member."
Praying Without Knowing How
Twice as a teenager she had prayed, once for a sign that God was real and once for her dad's safety, and both times she forgot she had even asked. Then in February 2023 her grandad, the only Christian in the family, died. At his funeral she heard the words of Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life," and an overwhelming peace came over her. She started going to Lincoln Cathedral, still unsure how to take the step. "I want to be a Christian, I believe in God, but I don't know how," she said.
The Vision of a Black Door
A year later she was praying alone in her university room. "I opened my eyes and saw a vision of a black door on the wall in front of me," she said. "Then I was filled with the same overwhelming peace I'd felt at my grandad's funeral. That's when I knew it was Jesus welcoming me home." Soon after, she came across Jesus' promise about knocking and the door being opened. "God literally just showed me that," she said.
Jesus Opened the Door Himself
That night Katie gave her life to Jesus. She joined a church in Lincoln. And when her twin sister heard what had happened, she came to faith too. Katie had spent years on the outside, not knowing the way in. Jesus opened the door himself.
