My story

Deputy Director of Fund Development & Communications | TWR Europe

I just came back from the cinema where I watched "Heaven Is For Real””, based on a true story. Highly recommendable! The amazing part about this movie is how a four year-old boy actually catches a live glimpse of Jesus and heaven and lives to share about it. A four year-old! When I look at kids today, and also reflecting on the young child in the film, I see how Jesus can speak right into the hearts of anyone, even small children, in a way that they understand. That’s also my story…

I was five years old and my mother would often read to me before bedtime. We were reading a devotional booklet for children with questions to discuss and think about at the end of each story. That is when we starting talking about God. I don’t remember the exact words, but I do know that I was serious and that I wanted to be God’s child. Some weeks later, I can recall sitting together with the pastor of the church to talk about my decision.

And shortly before my sixth birthday, I was baptized with several other adults. I still must smile when I envision the situation. Here were the adults with their own conversion story and willing to be baptized and next to them was…a five year-old who, in childish innocence, wanted to follow God, too. Maybe some people may discard this as childlike naivety and manipulation. All I can say is that the decision I made was personal and it came from the heart.

So what can we as adults already take from this? Do not underestimate the intelligence and ability of children, also when it comes to understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well, my life continued pretty well and fairly uneventful. My grandmother and mother were strong believers and certainly role models in their respective churches. However, my mother’s father was an atheist. He was a very down-to-earth person, who appreciated the moral teachings of Jesus, but couldn’t believe the supernatural aspects of Christianity.

For years, my grandmother and mother prayed for him to come to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, but nothing happened. Even when he came down with diabetes and nearly died during the procedure, he did not see any need to reconsider his opinions.

However, in 1995, there was a week-long evangelization event called ProChrist which the church, where my mother and I were visiting, was participated in. I don’t remember the exact details of why my grandfather decided to join us for an evening, but he did. And the Lord Jesus convicted him through the words of pastor Ulrich Parzany preaching that evening. He accepted Jesus into his life and came up front during the altar call.

He later said: “It fell like scales from my eyes and I understood the Gospel message.” My family was shocked! We had been praying for years and decades, but we had basically given up hope. But here my grandfather was, at the age of 82, and made a decision that went totally against his previous beliefs. What a miracle!

He and his wife only lived for a couple of more years before they passed away unto heaven, but it was truly amazing to see the change. Both of my grandparents became pillars at their own church. It was a change of night and day.

This made a lasting impression on me as well as on my two younger brothers. In the following years, my brothers would also come to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Hallelujah!

What can we gather from this experience? Not only can Jesus convict young children but also people who are up in age. Honestly, how hardened is a heart when a person is 82 years old? It takes a miracle for that person to change. But who else than Jesus is able to make that change happen? The Gospel message is truly meant for people of all ages in all walks of life!

Ten years after the conversion of my grandfather, my mother passed away due to lung cancer. It was a short battle of five months between the diagnosis in July and her death in November.

However, I was able to witness from her example how we as Christians can be witnesses and lights of this world even in times of illness, pain and death. As you can gather from what I’ve written earlier, my mother was a strong Christian. This was particularly evident in the area of prayer. I recall her waking up early at dawn and spending quality time reading the Bible and praying for us as her family, the members of her church and numerous other areas. The quality of her prayer life easily puts mine to shame. What I was particularly amazed at was the dedication she showed to others in her own time of pain and suffering.

She had reason to complain about her situation. Her cancer illness forced her to receive medication, go through chemotherapy, and receive liquid food injections because she could not eat normally. But instead she made a decision to encourage others who were going through difficult periods in their lives, both in our church and beyond. My mother refused to allow a ‘victim mentality’ to grow within her. The funeral service in November allowed me to see how many people she had touched. But not due to her own strength, but because of God’s strength in her.

What can we take from this? God is the God of life and death. We cannot choose how our life ends, but we have the choice and responsibility to live life for Him. My mother’s life and death showed me that anyone in any situation can be a light in this world, if we just open our hearts for God to use us.

All in all, I would say I have experienced a fairly ordinary life. But through stories such as my grandfather’s and my mother’s, I have been able to see the amazing change and peace that comes from following the way, the truth and the life: Jesus Christ.

I would be thrilled if the words I have written down may encourage those who are sceptical about God to take a jump of faith and discover the living waters that come from a personal relationship with Him. It is truly like drinking cool water in the dry desert.