Teagan's Testimony

Hey Greenhouse community and visitors, 

For those who don’t know me, my name is Teagan. I’m an 18 year old who, at the time of writing this, has been a part of Greenhouse Church for 6 months now. These last 6 months have seen so much personal growth, as I’ve transitioned out of school, and spiritual growth as I’ve begun my walk with Christ. 

After saying yes to Jesus on Easter Sunday 2025, days later I met members of the Greenhouse Church’s community through a Bible study group of people my age from a mix of local churches. 

Two weeks later, in May, I signed up to run the Bracknell Half Marathon with Nathan Hardyman, just a few days before the race. After mentioning it to the Bible study group, I wasn’t expecting too much, maybe a good luck message, but come race day, they showed up in full force. A whole group of them arrived with banners, meeting us at several points around the course, cheering us on. The community and support that I felt from them was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It felt different! Later that day I went to my first Greenhouse Church meeting, and you’ll never guess what JP Kloppers was preaching on – community! The strong sense of community that I had felt both that morning and in that meeting gave me such a confirmation – in that moment I knew that Greenhouse was where God wanted me to be – this was my church. 

After discovering this incredible community, I found myself in a tricky situation. My family and I were going to be moving to Kent in July, just as I felt like I’d found my community. After the Kloppers’ family became aware of the situation that I was in, JP and Sharon offered me a room in their house. This felt like an answered prayer, and I knew that staying was the right thing to do, even though I recognised how hard it was going to be being away from my family.

In July, after spending a few weeks up in North Wales, I was in complete adoration of His creation. Running in the vast mountain ranges, I felt the magnitude of His work and His presence. Often we are told to run to our secret place to spend time with God, but in those mountains I realised that running was my secret place! 

Returning back to the Greenhouse after

this, I felt a hunger to learn more. Over the next few weeks, I had so many incredible conversations with friends and members of the community. It was whilst spending quality time with friends during these weeks, in Bible studies and at church on a Sunday, that I felt an increase in both my knowledge and my curiosity to learn even more. 

On the 22nd July, whilst at a Bible study, in a sudden feeling of confirmation, I decided that that evening I was going to get baptised. The fact that it was 10pm on a Tuesday evening didn’t matter. It was the right moment. Before I knew it, we were running down to the lake at Dinton Pastures Country Park – I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in my life! Being baptised by Lexie and Ethan, supported by my brothers and sisters in Christ, will be a moment I will never forget. 

Since the beginning of my time at Greenhouse, worship has naturally been something that I’ve been drawn to as a musician. Shortly after my arrival, we began doing weekly worship songwriting sessions for a few hours before the Sunday meeting, writing new material together as a worship team. In this space I learnt so much about what worship looked like and how much more important heart posture was than musical ability for genuine worship. Seeing the growth of our worship team across the last few months has been so incredible to witness and be a part of. God has been doing so much at The Greenhouse, and I’m so excited to see what He does next. 

In September, I was presented with an incredible opportunity to spend 2 weeks in China and Hong Kong for work. This time away stretched and challenged my faith, as being away from community paired with a crazy work schedule made it harder than it had ever been to strengthen my faith. This time away only reassured me of the importance and value that the Greenhouse community had on my life, and so during

my time away I made sure to keep in contact with friends as well as making time daily to be with God. 

After returning back to the UK, Greenhouse had announced the start of a monthly Leaders Workshop aimed at encouraging and growing leaders in all areas of our church. One of my key takeaways from the first meeting was finding mentors in the areas where I wanted to grow in leadership. After asking Victoria Wickins to help mentor me in worship, we set up a weekly time to catch up and worship together. A week later, I had been entrusted to lead worship for the monthly prayer meeting. Thinking back to when I first came to Greenhouse, I had been self-conscious of my voice, but here I was leading in song. This experience was a true testament to the impact that God was having on my life through this community. 

In October, a group of 12 men from the Greenhouse community (including myself) went on XCC Wales 2025 – a life-changing, three-day endurance adventure of mind, body and soul. These three days were full of incredible views, deep conversations and enough ‘You’ll see’s to drive all us first-timers insane! Coming away from this trip, I had so many things to be thinking about, and with the ever-strengthened band of brothers that I had grown closer to over the weekend, I felt so on fire to put these things into action! This trip was one to remember! (If you are a man wanting to know more about it, don’t even bother asking – all you’ll get in response is ‘You’ll see!’ Sign up and you’ll see for yourself!) 

Shortly after returning back from this trip, I was packing my bags once again to head out to China – this time for 5 weeks! After a few days of being there, I was struggling to find my feet, but during October’s Leaders Meeting, everything changed. We were put into breakout rooms with the task of doing listening prayer, where we asked God to reveal things about one another. One of the pictures someone got for me really stood out. They said, “I saw an image of a runner on a running track and felt led to the idea that God sees you, and He wants you to know you are in the right lane. As you hand everything to Him, He has you in the right lane.” I was now asking the question: God, what are you teaching me whilst I’m here in China? Since this interaction, I’ve become more and more aware of God’s unconditional love and His purpose for me during this time. No human love will be the same as God’s love, and whilst I might be away from community, He is with me wherever I go. 

I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop in China – just over a week into this second trip – and as I reflect on the last 6 months writing this testimony, I’m in awe of how much God has moved in my life so far. Looking back, I had no clue what He would do each day, and still He continues to amaze and surprise me. 

Matthew 6:34 - “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

Whilst I’m excited to get back and see everyone in a few weeks’ time, my utmost focus is simply on the next step that I take each day as it comes. I’m so ready to receive what God wants to show me next, and I trust that His future plans for me will be revealed at the right time.