I gave my life to the Lord in June of 1991. At the age of 40 I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and quit running from Him. I had grown up in a Lutheran church until about 14 and then quit going completely. I led a life of sin, which included alcoholism and many other damaging sins. At the age of 20 my father took his own life and I fell deeper into alcoholism. At age of 23 I completely gave up alcohol. I know today that it was the Lord protecting me for future plans He had in my life. I was still addicted to other sins and resisted church or anything to do with the Lord.

In 1989 my job took us to Bordeaux, France where we met a Southern Baptist missionary couple and they introduced us to a young American Christian couple who were also there for work. They shared the gospel with us and showed us by their lifestyle and actions what it meant to be a Christian. We spent a lot of time with this couple, as they were only people we knew who spoke English and went to the missionary church. Eventually I even started reading the Bible. The missionary couple bought me an English/French parallel Bible and I used it to help in my learning of the language. Having this Bible helped me in more ways than I had planned. Using the Bible during a sermon and after to research words and meanings got me deeper into the Bible than I had ever been. God used this to open the eyes of my heart.

Early in 1991 an event from my past came back to haunt me. This caused me to realize that I was a sinner and had no hope. That night I got on my knees and cried out to our Lord for help. I confessed my sins to Him, asked for forgiveness, and gave my life to Him. Since that moment He has been in my life and guiding me in His path. After returning to the States He led us to a strong Southern Baptist Church where we grew more in Him each day. Through other believers He has shown us what it means to be His and what it means to serve Him. We got really involved in His work in our church in Wichita and He used that for our spiritual growth. Early this year the Lord called us into full time ministry. He called us to seminary and asked us to step away from all the “stuff” we were accumulating and to follow Him. We don’t know where He will lead us, but we trust fully and completely in Him.

Every time I hear the song Amazing Grace and sing the part where He saved a wretch like me I usually end up in tears. I was lost and heading toward hell, but He loved me so much that He reached out and brought me to Himself through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. I had myself trapped in the world and by His grace He saved me. Today, I have a tremendous burden to share the Good News about Jesus Christ with the rest of the world. If someone had not shared Christ’s love with me I would be still headed for eternal hell. I want to share with you that there is Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He offers us eternal salvation with Him. If your confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9).

Currently we are at the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City and I am working on my Masters of Divinity degree. The Lord has me on the streets of downtown KC each Saturday sharing the Gospel with the lost. He has used me and several other members of the team to lead people to Jesus. What an honor that He loves us so much that He would use us to share His Good News and lead others to Him.