Sylvester Liyanage’s story I was born and brought up in Sri Lanka. My parents are Catholics and sent me to a good Catholic school. When I was young my grandfather told me to become a priest when he saw how much I enjoyed singing hymns, but aircraft seemed more important to me than working for the Church, and my interest in Christianity faded even more as I grew older.   Learning about aircraft took me to England to complete a degree in aerospace engineering, and in that time some friends took me to an Anglican Church. The church was really welcoming, and I started to become more interested in Christianity. It gave me opportunities to ask questions about faith. When I finished my studies I wanted time out to pray and discover what God wanted for my life. I took a gap year working with young people, and that’s when I felt called to ministry.   Even people around me who didn’t know about my thoughts suggested that I would go into ministry, and this encouraged me to go through the selection process. Church members were very supportive, which was fantastic because it was quite a hard time with lots of questions to work through. Fortunately the DDO put me in touch with some people to help me get more confident, which was great.