Life Stories

Dr. A.J. Monty White holds a B.Sc. (Hon.) in chemistry and a Ph.D in gas kinetics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. During his academic career he held a number of senior administrative positions at Cardiff University. Here he recounts his journey to faith. My parents could hardly have been described as religious. Father was an atheist, mother an agnostic. During childhood I was told that God did not exist, Christ was not the Son of God, and the Bible…

I was brought up in a Roman Catholic family in Poland so I always knew I was a sinner. I didn’t enjoy going to the Mass very much and I found it boring. But I always wondered “How do I know if my Catholic faith is the right one? I’m Catholic because my parents are catholic, but what if they were Muslim or Hindu?” But I never actually asked anyone these questions, they just stayed somewhere in my mind. I…

I was born in June 1956 into a ‘Christian family’, in a ‘Christian country’ (England). That made me a Christian, right? Actually it didn’t! But I didn’t find that out until I was in my 40’s. My Dad was in the Royal Air Force, so my sister and I grew up in a military family that enjoyed the luxury of travelling around the world (Singapore, Germany etc.). The constant moving presented a challenge too. In every new location I had…

Coming from a family of 7 children, we had a fantastic time getting into all sorts of trouble and feeling the sharp end of mum’s hand; but we never doubted we were loved. Mum told us God was watching us and we were sent to church every Sunday morning – more to give mum a rest than to learn anything! But that was pretty much it as far as religion was concerned. We were raised nominal Roman Catholics, just knowing…

I was born in the town of Liaocheng, Shandong Province, China in 2002. I grew up in a family of three: my father, mother and me. My parents are great and hardworking people. They grew up in poverty in Manchuria, but they worked hard and gave me a very comfortable life in my hometown. My parents did well raising me up. They taught me moral lessons, and punished me when I did wrong, like lying, stealing, and swearing. But they…

I was brought up in a strict Christian family, but a very loving one nonetheless. Growing up I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ preached, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. I didn’t want “salvation”. I just wanted life, my way. I lived a contradictory sort of existence. Deep down I respected the Bible, and I attended Christian meetings every now and again out of a fear of God – the God who held my breath in…

Roy W. Spencer received his Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981. Before becoming a Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2001, he was a Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he and Dr. John Christy received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their global temperature monitoring work with satellites. To be honest, what little I knew about Christianity bothered me. In particular, Christians in my…