I know of many Christians who have friends who they call their 'accountability partners'; these people help them keep on God's path and often pull them through the trials of life. A mutual accountability often works well as everyone has something to give to other people and that way both partners have equal authority. This is a great way for individual fellowship but it is not enough for you to simply rely on one person to support you on your journey with Christ.
Church is the obvious answer to this topic: most of the time you can find people of your own age or people just a bit older if you are still younger. Having people of your own age is really important as they understand what you are going through in life and can often provide first-hand experience advice. People a bit older are often wiser, yet still have a lot of relatability. As a 16 year-old, I find having people who are aged between about 22 and 30 who I can chat to, pray with and call my friends is extremely helpful. (This is why I respect and admire many of the leaders at my camp; they are so genuine and simply want to do all they can for you.) Looking for a Bible study group/ home group/house group/ small group/ cell group or whatever you want to call this sort of thing is also really important as I find once again that these people are people who can answer your questions and be personable to you. Bible study groups often form a very supportive centre to a group of Christians as you journey through exploring the Bible together.
Another sort of fellowship I would encourage would be fellowship with out-of-town Christians (people who are not from your church or your town). I find that the advantage of this is that when you chat to this type of person about an issue, they are looking on the issue with outsiders' eyes and therefore can offer a different perspective, generally an unbiased one. This has helped in many occasions in my life when I have been worrying about something and a friend has pointed out that actually not everyone sees things as I do. I have found letters a brilliant place to express my worries, feelings and thoughts to someone who can read it at home and reply when they are ready. There is also a relief of just telling someone about something which I find is a lot greater when it is someone who you know will actually spend some time with you going over the issue.
A few of these methods are repeated from my previous post but I thought it may be clearer for me to do an individual post for anyone who is struggling with fellowship or keeping their faith going.
Thanks for reading
God bless,
Esther
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