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Don's Testimony
I was raised in a very religious Lutheran home. We had to go to church every Sunday, even if the weather was bad, and could not stay home unless we were deathly sick. I learned many of the stories in the Bible and even developed a respect for the Bible. I guess I could say that I even loved the Bible and God, but I didn't know God. When we were small, my dad even made us listen to Billy Graham when he was on TV. In fact, my dad used a Lutheran devotional book and many times would make the family sit down around the table and have devotions. As a child, I hated that. I would rather have been playing. But God used those times to plant seed in my heart.
In my teenage years I strayed far from the Bible and God until one night, when I was 19, and in a drunken stupor, I had a very close call with death. At that time this question really hit me, "What would have happened to me if I would have died?" For the next eight months, I was scared of dying and sought for peace of mind and soul. I tried reading the Bible and lived in anguish of soul for those months. Then on March 19, 1972, I was at the bottom of the barrel, loaded down with guilt and sin. I took my Bible, sat down with it, and just let the book open by itself. It opened to Romans the 12th chapter. As I began to read, many of the sinful things I had said and done in the past came to mind. With a broken heart I began to weep and told God something like this, "God, I've messed up the first 19 years of my life, I'm sorry, please forgive me! I want to give the rest of my life to you." At that point something happened! The guilt was gone! The heavy heart was gone! I became a child of God!
Around that same time I had a visit from the youth pastor of the local Baptist church. I had visited that church a few times, then was Scripturally baptized in June of 1972, and have been active in that church ever since.
To God be the glory!
Don's 2012 Itinerary:
End of Feb: in WI
March: in IL (early in month) and CA (late in month- -for a mission conference)
April: in NJ and DE (15th-29th)
May: (pending in OH)
June: in IL and WI
July: in OH
August: (pending)
Sept 24- Oct 7: (Black Sea Coast Campaign in Bulgaria)
Oct : (Wyldewood Mission Conf) in WI and meetings in TN mid to late in month
Nov: in NJ (and pending meetings)
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