Personal Testimony:
At the young age of eight-years-old, the Lord began to touch my heart revealing that He was real. While I was at my grandmother’s funeral, I felt the Lord’s presence, while singing her favorite hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” I had sung this hymn many times before, but this time I felt the love and peace of God. I didn’t know what to do or if I should tell anyone. I had heard people talk about Jesus, but never about experiencing the Lord's presence. I decided not to tell anyone, but I always remembered the experience.
(I am on the left with my best friend, Mark Conway.)
As the years went by, I grew up like most teens, pursuing my own life and desires. Then one night as I was driving home, I had a terrible feeling that I was about to die. It was more than a feeling. I just knew that I was not going to make it home alive. As I continued to drive, I entered a very dense fog and I could barely see the road. I knew at that moment that the time had come for me to die, and I also knew that I was not ready to go and stand before the Lord. Right then I remembered the song that my grandmother loved, “What a friend we have in Jesus”. I began to sing this hymn with everything within me. Then all of a sudden, I felt an instantaneous peace flooding my heart. I remember having experienced the same peace when I was eight-years-old. The ominous feeling of death left instantly, and in its place came and overwhelming sense of peace and joy. I sensed that the spirit of death had left and that Jesus Himself had come and rescued me. Simultaneously, the heavy fog lifted as I reached the top of a hill, and I instinctively knew that I was going to reach home alive and well.
You would think that this experience would have been enough, but it was not. In just a few days, I was back living my self-centered life, and not living for the Lord. I few months went by and my sister had gotten married and we were moving her belongings to her new house. A storm quickly came up after we made our first trip with my Dad’s truck. My mom said that we should wait until the storm passed. We took her advice and sat down at the kitchen table for some ice tea. The wind and rain became very hard and then we began to hear a roaring sound. By then we could see large objects flying by our window. Later we realized that the items were debris from other homes which had been destroyed. It was not just a storm but a tornado. I ran quickly to the closet and began to pray. Again I knew that I was not ready to meet God, so I told the Lord that if He would spare me and my family, that I would serve Him all the days of my life. He answered my prayer. The tornado had destroyed three homes just west of us but passed over our house clearing a large path through some woods and then destroyed another neighbor’s house. This time I decided it was time to give everything to God and to live my life only for Him. By the grace of God, since that summer day in 1973, at the age of 17 until now, I have lived for Him.
You would think that this experience would have been enough, but it was not. In just a few days, I was back living my self-centered life, and not living for the Lord. I few months went by and my sister had gotten married and we were moving her belongings to her new house. A storm quickly came up after we made our first trip with my Dad’s truck. My mom said that we should wait until the storm passed. We took her advice and sat down at the kitchen table for some ice tea. The wind and rain became very hard and then we began to hear a roaring sound. By then we could see large objects flying by our window. Later we realized that the items were debris from other homes which had been destroyed. It was not just a storm but a tornado. I ran quickly to the closet and began to pray. Again I knew that I was not ready to meet God, so I told the Lord that if He would spare me and my family, that I would serve Him all the days of my life. He answered my prayer. The tornado had destroyed three homes just west of us but passed over our house clearing a large path through some woods and then destroyed another neighbor’s house. This time I decided it was time to give everything to God and to live my life only for Him. By the grace of God, since that summer day in 1973, at the age of 17 until now, I have lived for Him.
(Traveling in Russia in 1977. I am first one in the top row.)
God called me into missions when I was 21-years of age. I was with a group of college students who made a two-month missions trip one summer after my junior year. We went behind the "Iron Curtain" into the Soviet Union. My team and I secretly shared the gospel to Soviet youths who came to our campground as we traveled from Moscow to the border of Turkey. During this time we were also able to transport some smuggled Bibles to Christians who were in the underground church. It was during this time I felt the joy of the Lord and knew that I was truly called into missions.
(My algebra class at Abrams High School in 1983)
Later in 1983, at the age of 27, the Lord spoke directly to my heart that I was to be a High School teacher and he led me into the inner city. One day at school while grading some math papers, I thanked the Lord for my job, but I reminded Him that He had put missions on my heart. He then spoke clearly that if I learned to love my black students, he would send me to Africa. We later had a revival in my classroom. One day in prayer, the Lord showed me a picture of my students praying in my classroom. I told the Lord He could do anything he wanted to do with my students. One day in my geometry class, some of my students said that their school was better when they used to pray. They knew I was a Christian and asked me every day to lead them in prayer. I knew it was against the law to do so but at the request of the students we would shut the door in secret, and pray for them, their families, the school, and their community. Even when I was absent, my students would tell the substitute that they did not want to have class until they had prayed. Then one student would shut the door, and another would lead out in prayer. Only then would they would inform the substitute teacher they were ready for class. The substitutes would tell me the stories and said they would be willing to teach my class anytime. They also said that my students were the best behaved in the school.
My wife and I in the early 80S when we were teachers in Birmingham, Alabama.