The ‘happy high status’

Rev Katherine Chow shares her hesitant entry into public speaking, and the inspiration she draws from John the Baptist

I was 15 years old when I first spoke in public. I had decided to get baptised on Easter Sunday and a few days earlier, we had to stand up and publicly share our faith in front of our friends. I was nervous and unsure of what to say and had a few notes typed up on one side of A4. I did not feel cool enough or confident enough to stand in front of a crowd and speak. It was such a long time ago that I can’t even remember what I said, but we were invited to share again after we got baptised and I distinctly remember speaking from the heart, completely unscripted, about how real Jesus felt and the power of his love. Something had changed in this shy teenager post-baptism; she became confident not in herself but in God and this gave her the courage to be herself, to be honest and to be led by the Holy Spirit.