A LIFE CHANGING TESTIMONY

I remember hearing on the radio one morning that five missionaries were slain by the Auca Indians in Ecuador. In my junior year in high school, I read with great interest, "Shadow of the Almighty", the journal and testimony of Jim Elliot. I was so impressed with his devotion to Jesus Christ. Through his journal, it was obvious that Christ was first in his life. God used his testimony to challenge me on in my devotion to Jesus Christ. His writing about his time at Wheaton College interested me in applying to Wheaton. Jim wrote, "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." That truth has been very helpful in my life and I pray it will guide those after me.

GOD USED IT FOR GOOD

Teenage years can be very difficult. One experiences many changes and adjustments. I remember the difficulty I experienced with acne and my complexion. It made me quite self conscious. Looking back, I have thanked the Lord many times for the blessing which I considered a curse. It was a real safeguard against over attention to girls and dating. Over the years, I have noticed that some of the things we consider to be bad for us are there for a purpose. God saw that Paul needed his thorn in the flesh. God did not want me to get my life fouled up with girls before I would meet His choice for me.

GOD DOES HEAR ME

As a young person, I remember a great desire to share my new found faith in Jesus Christ, but with little instruction of what to do. During my Jr. High years I told the Lord one day, " if you ever have Mrs. Cosgrove assign a paper entitled 'The Most Important Event in My Life', I will write about my salvation experience". I think only several days later she gave that assignment almost word for word. I was sort of stunned. I did follow through and wrote about accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior. She always picked several students to read their paper. I was a little scared that she would call on me and she did. I am grateful for this early test of obedience. Looking back, I realize what it did for me was to give me an awareness that God does hear my prayer and was able to move a teacher to respond to my prayer. I also learned that God takes us at our word. I know now, God used it to encourage me on in daily conversing with God.

MEMORIES OF OKABOJI

An occasional vacation spot for our family during our years at home was Lake Okaboji about 80 miles from our home. It was quite a resort area with fishing, swimming, and an amusement park. One week each summer there was a missions conference sponsored by the Christian Missionary Alliance and the Omaha Gospel Tabernacle. Dr. R. R. Brown was the pastor during those year. As I think back, there were some significant things that occurred there. I have a distinct picture in my mind of seeing Billy Graham in the beginning of his ministry. I was baptized in the lake early on a Sunday morning with a number of others. I was 12 years old and the water was very cold. It was a special time for me of following the Lord Jesus. I remember another time as a teenager hearing a missionary from Viet Nam speak. She had her husband and children taken away when on the mission field. She had no idea what happened to them. She challenged young people to make their life available to God for His service. I remember going forward with many others making this commitment to the Lord. I looked up as she gave the dedication prayer for those who had come. Her voice was steady but tears were streaming down her face. I recognized in her a deep work of God produced from her suffering. I have fond memories of the fun being at the lake and am grateful for that which impacted me spiritually for the Lord at Okaboji.

THE LORD'S BLESSING

Moses told Israel in Deut. 30:19f, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey His voice."

After that special time with our family and Dr. Bob Cook, Mom and Dad began considering finding a church that preached the Bible. As I mentioned, they settled on the Meriden Evangelical Free Church nearly 20 miles from home. Now we were attending church 3 times a week instead of once a week 5 miles away. For the first time I saw people bringing their Bibles to church.

Some time after attending this church, Dad was in a prayer meeting one morning with some other men. One of the men told him about a farm that was soon to be sold. The folks looked into it and were able to purchase the land less than a mile from the church. It was a wonderful farm that always produced a good crop. The income from the farm was such a blessing to the folks through their retirement and then to us children after they went home to heaven. We recently sold the land nearly 50 years later. It sold for more than 11 times the price the folks had to pay.

It was very difficult for the folks to leave the family church and then to leave the family farm where my Dad was born. They chose to pursue God even though family would not understand. Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it." We have been blessed in so many ways for Mom and Dad's obedience to the Lord.

AFTER THAT SPECIAL NIGHT

I have a clear memory of the next day being so happy that I knew I was saved and would one day go to heaven. I can't say that memories of my childhood were all clear, but that is a vivid memory. I remember right where I was when that joy filled my thoughts. I was given a copy of the gospel of John that night. I carried that with me in hip pocket for years. I remember having a strong desire to do something with my new Christian life but lacked help and direction. At the time, we were attending a church that was quite liberal so I didn't find help there. About that time God moved my parents to leave the family church and seek out one that was teaching the Bible. They ended up taking the family to the Evangelical Free Church in Meriden, IA, several towns away from our home. Our family was now under the teaching of the Gospel. Not only were we being fed God's Word, but God blessed our family in special ways for that decision of my parents. I will explain that in a future entry.

BORN INTO GOD'S FAMILY

June 15, 1952 was my spiritual birthday. I had heard about the need for salvation and the lostness of those who had not trusted Christ. But, to that point, I had not felt challenged to accept salvation. That night was different. Our family attended an evangelistic meeting in Sioux City, Iowa, about 50 miles from our home. Dr. Bob Cook was speaking to what seemed to me a huge crowd in the Municipal Auditorium. When the invitation was given, the thought of my heart was, "I may never find my family in this crowd of people, but I don't care; I want to accept Jesus as my Savior." I think I was the first one to go forward. I remember a lady kneeling with me and leading me in prayer to confess my sin and invite the Lord Jesus to be my Savior. That night I was born into God's family. I was blessed never to doubt my salvation from that day. My sister, Roberta, trusted Christ the same night and my parents came forward and rededicated their lives to Christ. My brother, John, was not with us but trusted Christ some time later. I not only found my parents, but I remember Dr. Bob Cook praying with our family later back stage. That night I was delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son:(Col. 1:13)
My thanks to Grandma Johnson and others who prayed for my salvation, to my Mom for her burden for our family to hear the gospel, to Dr. Cook for the message, and to the lady that prayed with me. Above all, my thanks to the Lord Jesus for paying the price so I could be born into God's family.