story

asheel taunnoo

Hi, my name is Asheel. l’m from Mauritius. l grew up in a non christian family, where they believe in idols. I faced many problems growing up. My family fought a lot, and my parents separated. My mom went one way, my dad went the other way, my elder brothers went with my grandparents, and my little brother and I went with the other grandparents.

My grandparents didn’t want to take me in. So as a young kid, l stayed in different places with different families and neighbors all around the island. I started feeling like no one really wanted me. Eventually I ended up back with my grandparents and little brother. I had to work from a really young age to contribute to the family but no matter what I did, my grandparents didn’t really love me. 

There was a lot of drinking in my family and physical and verbal abuse, along with getting kicked out of the house.
Apart from school, I spent most of my time roaming around the village because I felt like no one was really waiting for me back home. I did reach a point where I just wanted to get rid of myself. But I didn’t want my little brother to have to deal with the consequences, so I just kept on enduring everything.

 I didn’t know anything about Jesus growing up. My family always tried to bring me into their religious things, but since I was a kid I already believed that it was all fake. At some time I was tired of feeling down, so l decided to keep on smiling no matter what life threw at me, and no one could tell how I actually felt inside.

Around my 15th birthday a new kid started at my school and was in the same class as me. He was a surfer and started sharing about how fun surfing is. He told me that he is part of a group full of youngsters, called Salt Surfers and that they meet every Saturday morning on the beach where I live. They have a lot of fun, swimming, surfing and doing different activities on the beach.

So one Saturday I decided to go with him. From afar  I could see a lot of teenagers together on the beach but I couldn’t see my friend. Too nervous to walk to join by myself, l decided to go for a swim. Eventually I was invited to join them in the water. I had so much fun and made new friends! After that, instead of wandering around the village, every Saturday I started going to Salt Surfers.

Every Saturday the guy who led the group shared a little message that related to Jesus. For the first time in my life I felt that I belonged to something. The atmosphere of that group was always welcoming, caring and loving. As great as it was to get some advice on how to live life, I became more and more interested in who Jesus is and wanted to know more about Him.

We began meeting on Thursdays to hang out, have worship together and do Bible studies. My family didn’t like it, but despite the problems that caused, I kept going. 

At home no one took me seriously when I said I didn’t want to be involved in their religion. They tried to involve me time and time again. But in December of 2018 I was baptized after one of the Salt Surfers sessions.

One day back home, my family was preparing for a religious ceremony and they were trying to involve me once again, so I finally told them that I had been baptized. 

Everyone was angry and they called other members of the family to come to talk to me. But  that didn’t change what I believed or decided. Since that day I have continued to be a Christian and my family practices their religion.

It was hard feeling distant from my family.

But what I received in return was peace in my heart. The heartache and the hatred I had for my family was gone. lt didn’t happen straight away but, with time, God healed me and strengthened me. I found the strength to finally forgive everyone for everything that had happened. I used to think l had lost my family, but instead God brought me into his family. Even after that, my problems back home were still the same. But now I wasn’t alone. I had people in Christ who were here to support me. Now I smile because of the joy that God gave me.

I got to be a part of Hope House carpentry workshop, where we learned how to work with wood and also got the opportunity to work among different communities and to bring the love of God to them. And by God’s grace, l’ve done things I never thought I would do. I didn’t have any way to travel to South Africa to take part of a leadership program called CSALT. My family didn’t have any means to pay for that, and God made a way, I got to travel overseas, meet a lot of people and learn a lot. I’m still really grateful for what God has done and will do!

And now l am part of Salt Surfers as a coach. Teaching teenagers how to surf and have fun but also trying to influence their life just like mine was.