My testimony

By Graeme

 The only reason my own testimony is on the site is that I hope it will be helpful to others and also show what I believe the Lord has asked me to do. All glory to Him who showed me the way even when I deviated so far. Please send me your testimony for inclusion! The more testimonies there

are help show the huge amount of Grace that the Lord gives us and shows lives touched in all situations, all cultures, all ages.

our spiritual growth has been on a fast track. With the Lord at the head of our relationship, our faith and hopes have changed beyond expectation. Trying to follow His commands and my favourite verse on the first web page mean that I really enjoy my vision of finding new ideas to share my faith. As an IT consultant, some of that is via technology – or simply gadgets!Scripture Union was one of these things and she soon invited me to church! This is where I gave my heart to Jesus. My father was a great encouragement to me and we had an enthusiastic evening talking about Mark 12:30. However, outside of a school / university Christian environment I found it hard and in my first job I had to work from 7 in the morning which meant my times alone with God suffered. I stopped praying or reading the Bible in the morning. After that, I was out in the wilderness for 30 years. I was young, foolish and impulsive.  Although I always had the “still small voice”, I messed up in so many worldly ways and I sought things that I thought would satisfy me – the usual ones – money, success, women. I also married an atheist. After 12 years we divorced and I sought relationships via online dating. I discovered a lovely Filipina lady who wrote on her profile that she thought that it was important in life to serve God. “This lady is going to get me back on track”, I said. However, relying on myself without trusting fully in the Lord is not a good idea. Our marriage was very close to failing when I finally asked God for His help. There was much refining work to be done in both my wife and I. After trying various churches over a period of years I was led via the internet to find a new, vibrant, scripture based and above all loving church in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. In the last yearI was born in 1959 in Edinburgh, Scotland and was not brought up in a Christian household. Although I was introduced, as I remember, to the ways of the Lord in two areas in my life. Firstly, I went to Sunday school when I was about five or six. Secondly, I recall that when I was around eight there was a school presentation in which there were “angels”. I do not remember much about this at all apart from white shining robes and that we were told that they were so pure that we could never be like them. Skip forward until I was seventeen and I was attracted to a girl at school and wanted to get involved in everything she did.

A Testimony of God’s Glory

by Steve (my Pastor’s father)

This story began when I was about seven years old.   I lived with my two brothers, a sister, and my parents.  Life was all right, as far as a child can tell, but things began to change in me and my parents sent me to a psychiatrist.  As I grew, I began to steal, drink, and skip school as often as I could get away with it.   My lifestyle led me to join a gang, sniff glue and smoke pot.

My mother loved me unconditionally, but my father had a severe drinking problem.  He would relive his past war experiences, and his family became the enemy.  It was a very unhealthy home to be in when he drank, which seemed to be all the time.  My mother did not have any support, and I eventually became an alcoholic and heroin addict. I took every drug that came my way.  By the time I was 14 or 15 years of age, I was arrested for possession of heroin and was held for ten days.  Most kids would have been scared straight, but I did not care.  I managed to graduate from high school, although I was in the class for the kids who would not participate.  The only thing I loved was drafting.  I stole from my family and could not hold a steady job.  By the time I was 22, I had been in and out of jail approximately twelve times.  There were years that I cannot even remember.

At this time I met a young woman.  During our times together I was able to hide my addictions from her. The closer we became, the more my life changed from being a thief to that of a self-employed draftsman.  The steady work helped me to continue my daily heroin addiction.  We were married In June 1976 but still my drug habit continued.  At 25 I became a partner in a machine business, which meant I had more money to spend on drugs. We had two children, and for the next four or five years my habit cost me between one hundred and two hundred dollars every day.

I was slowly going out of business by spending all the money on drugs.  One day my wife walked in on me when I was shooting up.  She was so hurt.  She wanted to go back to her family in Peru, but I convinced her to stay by making promises that I knew I could not keep.

My wife began to have people over our house that would ask me about God and Christ.  They asked me to accept Christ as my Savior and I said yes just to keep my wife happy.  They would lay hand on me and pray for me.   After they left I would verbally abuse my wife.  On one of their visits, I boarded up the only door to the room they were praying in and would not let them near me.  Yet they continued to come, despite all my abuse, for another six to nine months!

Eventually my business shut down because I had sold every piece of equipment for drugs.   At this time I would go to a Methadone clinic to get drugs, but after a while even the clinic did not supply me with enough.  I decided to just disappear and go back to the streets of New York.    On my way towards Route 80 the car would not let me turn to get on the ramp.  In my mind something told me to go to the clinic in Paterson.  I began to argue with myself, out loud, that the doctors were out to lunch and it was a waste of time.  I decided to go, but I told myself that if no one was at the clinic I would go into the city.  Arriving, I did not see anyone, so I decided to go to New York.  As I turned to leave, a counsellor came out of the room and put his arm on the wall to stop me.  From behind me, I heard the doctor’s voice say “all right”.   At that moment my addiction to heroin was gone.  I felt the sickness leave my body and I turned to the counsellor and said, “God is real.”  I left the clinic and went home.

On the way I began to question the voice I heard that had led me to the clinic.  The reply I heard was, “I AM.”  I still had a mountain of garbage in my life, and I still had no feelings toward people.  It took God five years to take all the junk out of my life.   When He first put compassion in my heart for others, it really hurt.

I am now saved for 30 years.  I am thankful to God’s faithful people and to my wife, for their prayers and for enduring what Satan threw at them.   GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS and restores his children to Him.  Praise God that I am now healed!  I am willing to share with anyone who is in need.