Can you go from atheist to Christian in 12 weeks? Meet the friends who turned Alpha into a social experiment

Two years ago, Jay Painter was an atheist. 

The 26-year-old’s past experience of Christianity had been limited to a few school assemblies and RE lessons. But in the summer of 2024, while sitting with his dying grandfather, Jay experienced something he couldn’t explain. “I don’t know whether I saw or felt his soul, but something changed; what made my granddad, my granddad, was gone,” he remembers. “It was super weird.

“I moved from this hard atheist position, [believing that] there’s nothing when we die, to: I’ve seen something strange here.” It led Jay on a journey of spiritual exploration – and when he stumbled across Christian content online, he became convinced that Jesus was real. He bought a Bible, read the Gospels, found a local church and gave his life to Christ.

A year later, he began creating online content to reach others, like him, who were searching for hope and meaning. Instagram videos entitled: “Christian goes on a pub crawl?!”, “Is it possible to stop swearing?” and “I’m a 27-year-old Christian and I’m lonely” tackled the doubts, questions and struggles Jay was facing as a young man and a new Christian. These videos quickly proved popular, generating thousands of views. 

Around the same time, Jay was challenged by his church to invite a friend to their upcoming Alpha course. Initially, his best friend, Lewis, rejected his invitation. Despite noticing how peaceful Jay had become since finding faith, Lewis says he was “on the fence” about Christianity, and quite comfortable on his perch. 

That’s when Jay had an idea – to film him and Lewis attending Alpha for a video series that asked: “Can you go from atheist to Christian in twelve weeks?” Being a good friend, Lewis was eventually persuaded to partake in the experiment “for the ’gram”. 

“I don’t know if I would have convinced him without the video series,” Jay admits.

As evangelism techniques go, it’s unorthodox – but did it work?

Lewis, were you interested in Christianity when Jay invited you to Alpha? 

Lewis Rebaudo (LR): I wasn’t judgy of it; I was just trying to stay out of the way of it, sort of fly under the radar. So, when Jay approached me, I was like: “I don’t know…it’s not really my sort of thing.” And then, he came up with the idea of: “Well, you know I’m on social media, I’m trying to make it big…

Jay Painter (JP): [laughs] I never once said that! That’s a total lie! 

LR: I wasn’t too sure, but he’s my best friend, so I said: “I’ll do it.” 

It sounds a little bit like he blackmailed you…

JP: I knew what a good friend Lewis was, and I absolutely leveraged that! I don’t know if I would have convinced him without the video series.

LR: It was also the transformation I saw in you. I was definitely like: I want a piece of that. He was a nice guy before – quite jumpy, a little bit anxious. But now he’s just so peaceful, and it’s hard not to be jealous of that.

Jay, you already had a social media following before filming Lewis at Alpha. Why is it important to you as a Christian to be active in those spaces? 

JP: I started doing social media for someone exactly like me. I had no idea about Jesus, and social media drew me in, so I thought: If more people hear the truth about Jesus and the evidence behind it, surely more people will come to Christ. 

I’ve been sitting on the fence for a long time. At some point, you’ve got to take that leap of faith, right?

My idea was: Can I be a 26-year-old man (as I was at the time) that someone else looks at and goes: “Oh, he’s a normal bloke. He doesn’t look like one of these crazy Christians” – because the impression I had was that every Christian was an absolute nutter…I thought: If I can help just one person like myself hear about and look into the Gospels, I want to do that.

How have your families responded to you exploring faith?

JP: My family came to my baptism. It was really powerful; my brother and dad were tearing up, so they all felt something. It’s been strange though, because Lewis said: “It’s like you’ve changed”, and I’m like: Why are my parents not seeing it? Why are they not interested? They’re supportive, but not open yet. 

LR: When I first told my stepdad I was going to Alpha, he said: “That’s fantastic. I don’t have to feed you on a Wednesday night!” Each week, I’d come back and tell him what I’d learned, but he wouldn’t ask any questions. When it got to the end of the course, he said: “What do you think?” Honestly, I was convinced after the fourth or fifth week. It was like: Why have I not looked into this before? Now I’m openly presenting Christianity at home, he’s challenging my views. It’s nice to have that back and forth, because he keeps me real. 

Lewis, you said that you were “convinced” Christianity was true quite early on during Alpha, but as we sit here today, you haven’t yet made a firm commitment to follow Jesus. What’s stopping you?

LR: This is the big one. I really want to give my life to Christ. I’m just waiting for that last final step. I know I’m ready. I just need to get it done. Jay went to church, met someone, said a prayer and gave his life to Christ right there and then. I don’t feel like I’m worthy of it. For me, it’s trying to understand what grace is all about. None of us are worthy, that’s why we take that step of faith…

It sounds like you’re answering your own question…

JP: We had this conversation in the car last week. Originally, Lewis wasn’t giving his life to Christ because he was waiting for something. Then he said: “I’ve come to the realisation that I need to take the step of faith, and then God will show Himself to me.” The classic analogy is that you don’t get in the shower clean to get clean, you get in the shower dirty to get clean. 

Some Christians are fearful of sharing their faith in case they’re asked hard questions that they don’t know the answer to. Has that ever happened between you two? 

JP: Because I came to faith on a lot of apologetics, I’ve read a lot of books and watched so much stuff. So, if anyone asks me a hard question, I love it. I’m like: Now I can really test myself!

I definitely got tested by friends at the beginning – and I didn’t have an answer. Lewis’ journey came a bit later, so I feel like I’ve had some time now. There are always some answers that need more explanation, or I don’t do a good job – but I don’t have to answer it at the Alpha table. I can go home and research it and give Lewis a call later. 

Lewis, as someone who’s exploring faith, does it put you off if a Christian cannot answer your question straight away?

LR: You’re asking the question because you’re intrigued to know the answer, and I’d rather somebody took that away than made up an answer on the spot. That demonstrates a tremendous amount of effort, and it really meant a lot to me that people at Alpha would do that.

How have your friends reacted to your faith journeys? 

LR: During the Alpha course, I was quite open. Every week I’d come into work and talk to everybody about it. At first, there was loads of support. Then, as the weeks went on, they were like: “You seem to be taking this very seriously now.” Towards the end, people were like: “You seem different, you seem a lot happier.” I thought: It’s rubbing off on me!

There were also lots of people at work who, when I told them I was doing an Alpha course, said: “Oh, I did an Alpha course 30 years ago. I’ve been a Christian for ages.” Or even: “I’ve been Christian my whole life.” I had no idea!

JP: I’ve always been very impressed with Lewis’ openness. I know that becoming a Christian at this age is a strange experience, so I was very shy at the start, whereas Lewis is a sharer – there’s definitely an evangelist in there! I was in awe of what Lewis was doing with his friends and work colleagues, because it’s something I didn’t do. 

My friends were very much like: “You’re chatting rubbish, mate. What are you going on about?” At the start, they thought: It’s a phase, you’ll get over this. But I didn’t, and I think that’s made them step back and go: “OK, we’ll listen slightly more.” No one’s been as open as Lewis, but I’ve grown up with these friends; they have been there for me. It’s a case of: Can I just show them the love of Christ?

So, who are you planning to invite to Alpha next? 

JP: I’d love my mum to come. She’s so against coming, but I’m like: “Please come with me. It would be so good. You might even become a Christian…”

Or an Instagram star…

JP: That might tempt her more, to be honest!

Jay, you’ve been quite open about the challenges of becoming a Christian on social media – going on pub crawls and not drinking, for example, or struggling with relationships or doubts. What’s been the hardest change you’ve had to make?

JP: I did university as a non-Christian, and the way I was acting – drinking and just being a bit silly – that’s what needed changing in my life. As a new Christian, I was still partying, acting a certain type of way, and I realised that I needed something deeper and more meaningful. The Spirit was convicting me to walk away from those things, and when I was ignoring the Spirit and still doing them, it was like: I actually don’t find fulfillment in this anymore.

Now, I enjoy sitting down and praying, reading my Bible, which is a strange thing! If you’d have said that to me a couple of years ago, I’d have been like: “What are you on?” But now, I’d rather do that than act the lad like I used to.

I had no idea about Jesus and social media drew me in

Lewis spoke about having friends at work but not knowing they were Christians. Do some of us need to be bolder and more open about our faith? 

JP: As a person who grew up atheist, I do think that there is an onus on Christians to do more. No one ever told me that they were a Christian. I cannot recall one person saying to me: “Oh, I’m a Christian.” So how am I meant to know? 

Can we drop the name of Jesus into conversation, or mention Christianity to someone? You don’t have to preach, it’s more: “I’m a Christian. It’s done a lot for me. This is my testimony.” 

You never know what someone is going through. They might be searching for meaning and purpose, and Jesus comes up at the right time. You don’t know how that will change someone’s life. 

To hear the full interview, listen to Premier Christian Radio on 4 July at 8pm, or download The Profile podcast premierchristianity.com/theprofile