Gordon Christo ...Here is my story Ronnie.
One afternoon when I was alone I felt myself being pulled out to the open sea. It was a rip current. I tried to put my feet down on the sand, but I was already beyond my depth.
I didn't panic knowing I was a strong swimmer and so I stroked myself forward for a couple of minutes and reached for the ground, but there was no ground.I repeated it, but realized I was being sucked out ward. There was nothing I could do but reach out to God..........
Like so many who have grown up in Adventist homes I lacked the conversion that others experience when they encounter Jesus for the first time.
But we have our dramatic moments too. Mine came in the summer of 1966.
Dad was conducting an evangelistic series in Goa with a group of Spicer students that included the SMC quartet. I was 15 years old and in the ISC class.
It was summer vacation for us his children. Our accommodation for Pastors Mattison, the Hetkes, and the Spicer students was in a large bungalow on a beach in Caranzalem on the outskirts of Panjim.
Every morning I spent a couple of hours with my mother and siblings in the sea. Every afternoon I spent an hour or so by myself in the sea, and every evening another two hours with everyone.
I eventually grew into a strong swimmer.
(Then this near death experience occured added by Ronnie)
I made a bargain with Him, that if he got me out of there I would take theology in college.
Having prayed that, I put my head down and swam as powerfully as I could towards the shore and just when I felt I could go no further
I put my feet down in desperation and my toe touched sand. I dug in like it was an anchor and pulled myself forward bit by bit till I could stand properly.
I made my way to the shore.
I still ignored my bargain for a while. If you check my Spicer transcript you will see that my first year is full of science and maths classes with all A's.
But by the second year I realized that God had done His part and I had to keep my part of the bargain. 
So now people know why I am a pastor.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
PETER MUNDU PERSONAL STORY OF CONVERSION TO  SDA FAITH PETER MUNDU   PETER MUNDU Dear Dr. Ronnie Gyi,  thank you once again the interest that you people have taken in Newbold Church Sabbath School. NEWBOLD CHURCH UK Now let tell you little bit about my ancestors. Now, I must inform you one of my relative who studied in Newbold College, my own cousin sister’s son, Mr. Ashley Kongari. ASHLEY KONGARI  His grandfather Mr. Prabhusahay Topno, his brother Yakub Topno, my father Nehemiah Topno and one more person from another village I forgot his name, were converted in 1922 by first missionary couple Pr.& Mrs. Burgess MRS BURGESS  of SDA church in Ranchi within three days of the Bible studies.  Interesting story! They lived nearly 50 miles from Ranchi city   click here and they heard that this missionary is preaching that the Sunday is not real Sabbath day but Saturday is the seventh day Sabbath, therefore they
Read more
Image
My Conversion Story Spiritual Journey of Borna Das from Kolkata (CMC Vellore graduate) My Family Background My family is a very strong Hindu family. So, from my childhood itself I was much interested in reading scriptures. I always used to carry a small Gita in my bag and used to read in my free time. I finished many scriptures even when I was just in high school. And as I kept reading, I always used to ask questions. But as in Hinduism, like many other religions, women are supposed to be inferior to men and they are not supposed to ask many questions. Whenever I asked questions, I got a reply saying " why can't you just believe/ you don't have faith/ you are not supposed to ask many questions ". My Search for God So that was my childhood. I remember I used to read not just about Hindu books, I also read Quran, read about other forms of religious beliefs and different spiritualisms. But as I kept asking questions, and never really got any answer,
Read more
Image
Spicer Auditorium (Spicer High on the left side) Life at Spicer High (Sabbath Day) There is a buzz of activities before the sun goes down of Friday. My task is usually to make the young men look prim and proper. And I have a few customers all line up ready for a haircut behind the Men's Hostel. Winston Jacob, better known as Winston Churchill, is my ardent fan, and he meekly subjects himself to my not too sharp scissors. Someone starts singing Click Here for the song. and others join in, On Sabbath days, after breakfast, we have time to get ready for church. At 9 am we go to the Auditorium and sit in our assigned places and the person in charge takes our attendance. For my group it is Pramode Shivajirao Gaikwad. He sits next to me. I like the song service. There seems to be a perfect blend of harmony as the ladies sing the soprano and alto while the men sing the bass and tenor. Here are some of the sermons I remember and the speakers. Pr G J Christo
Read more