Stories

My name is Allan Levi. My wife Ariana and I have 4 children. I am a qualified decorator with my own business.

My parents split up when I was one. I remember seeing my dad twice when I was little.

I was raised in the Waikato until I was seven, when my family moved in with my Mum's Uncle and Auntie in Lower Hutt.

After moving there, I started going to work with her uncle. The first time he took me to work he began sexually abusing me. The abuse continued for years before I gained the courage to speak up. It was embarrassing, and I was very young. Fortunately, I didn’t have to see him again.

We moved a lot after that. My Mum had multiple relationships. I didn’t view them as father figures. They were certainly not role models.

With less attention I became more independent. In my first year at college I felt broken and lonely, trying to deal with what had happened to me.

I turned to cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol. By 14 I had basically stopped going to school. Mind altering substances sent me further off track. At 15, I was sent to my nana and given 3 choices: school, course or a job.

I was too young for a job, so I started a carpentry course and gained work experience building. Next, I worked at a holiday park for 2 years before being made redundant.

I then started my painting and decorating apprenticeship. I went to Christchurch after the earthquakes in 2011 to help with the rebuild. I was drinking, started taking ecstasy, was still smoking a lot of marijuana and began smoking methamphetamine.

After the rebuild, I moved back to the Waikato and continued my apprenticeship while still heavily using mind-altering substances.

At 19 I was at my auntie's house when her friend's niece arrived to drop off some methamphetamine. I couldn’t even look at her, I was too shy. She was a dealer, and I was an addict. A few days later I texted her and we decided to meet. Six months later I proposed. I was drinking less, had stopped taking ecstasy and smoking methamphetamine but hadn't stopped smoking marijuana.

One year after we met, we had an engagement party and 9 months later our eldest daughter Eva was born. Life felt good.

6 months after Eva was born, we found out we were expecting again. Ariana had started to seek the Lord by now so when doctors said our son would have birth defects, she refused to accept that. I struggled to relate to her faith. When our son, Mirraco was born without birth defects my wife proudly announced, “I told you so.”

Whenever I am asked how our marriage was restored, I simply say that we stopped being the people we wanted to be and started being who God created us to be.

Two years later we finally married and Ariana became pregnant with our third child.

Doctors said she wasn’t growing well and wouldn’t make it full term. Again, Ariana refused to accept what the doctors were saying. Alicia was born full term and healthy too.

Life was going well until my addiction to marijuana took over, I was dependent, abusive and unreliable.

Our marriage started to fall apart. I would run from the problems I was causing and blame others. At 3 months old Alicia suffered from reflux. We took her to hospital “just to be safe” but had no idea the turn our life was about to take.

Long story short, Alicia was misdiagnosed, suffered 3 cardiovascular collapses, was ventilated incorrectly, given an overdose and was then flown to Starship Hospital in a coma. We were told that Alicia wouldn’t survive.

My wife's Auntie and Uncle came to the hospital and told her to pray in tongues. I had no idea why she was talking like that.

After 4 days Alicia was taken off life support. She started crying. It made us cry too.

On the 6th day, Ariana told me that the Lord said we had to take Alicia home. We were scared to take her against the doctor’s wishes, so we didn’t.

In short, a host of happenings like wrong medication, water being added to breastmilk, folded blanket being placed on Alicia’s head led to Ariana’s decision to leave the hospital with Alicia.

She asked the doctors what needed to be done to take her home. It was clear that they weren't going to discharge Alicia.

On the 10th day Ariana wrote a self-discharge letter, and we headed home. The doctors tried to get hospital social workers and security to stop us leaving. None of them were available.

Next morning Oranga Tamariki social workers came to our home. They had received an urgent report that Alicia needed to be returned to Starship immediately by whatever means necessary. The case with Oranga Tamariki was closed suddenly 2 weeks later.

The Lord protected Alicia in every area and her health began to improve. But I wasn’t ready to admit it was God at work restoring her. I used to mock God and Ariana whenever she would mention God.

One morning I had been fighting with Ariana before I left for work. I didn’t make it far before I lost control of the vehicle, spun out, went through a telephone pole and rolled multiple times through a paddock before coming to a stop. God had this hand on my life. I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, but I had braced myself by holding the steering wheel and the grab handle above the driver's door. When I told Ariana what happened she said there was no handle above the door. Then I checked and found that there was no door handle. Ariana said it was God’s hand holding me. Looking back now, I can't deny it, but at the time I didn’t want to accept God.

I was still an addict. I would be abusive when things didn’t go my way. I decided to leave Ariana and my family. We didn’t have a car, so I got on my bike and rode off, not knowing what I was going to do next. But God knew.

Six hours later I arrived at Manifest Love Church in Hamilton. There was nobody there, so I took the number off the door and asked someone off the street to call it for me. Geoff Winter, the pastor of the church, answered: “How can I help?”

I asked if he could come and meet me. He told me it was his birthday so I said I would be fine, but he insisted that he would come. After 2 hours of ministering to me I gave my heart to the Lord. Geoff offered to help pay for a motel for the night. I said I would bike back home, but my legs were so sore I decided to challenge God: “If you are real, the next car that goes past will pick me up.”

Well, the next car was a little Mini Cooper, the driver offered me a ride. I didn't want to leave my bike, but he assured me it could fit. When he opened the boot, he already had a bike in there, but managed to fit my bike in as well. He asked where I had come from. I told him and he asked if I was a Christian. I thought for a second and then replied “Yes, I am”. I had just given my heart to the Lord. He was a Christian too. He was happy to give me a ride and I felt blessed.

For a while, I still wanted to live the best of both worlds. Then COVID hit and our family went to stay with my Ariana's Auntie and Uncle in Greytown. I went to a FGBMFI dinner meeting with her uncle. That night my wife urged me to join. I became a member of the Martinborough Chapter.

Not long after that I went to my first FGBMFI convention. I was in the lobby when Geoff Winter walked in. It was the first time we had seen each other in a year. I felt embarrassed because I hadn't been back to church for a while.

After the convention we returned to Manifest Love Church where we are now firmly planted.

By the grace of God, with good teaching and guidance our marriage has been restored. I am free from addiction to marijuana, and now pursue God’s will for me. We are out of debt by living for God and not by the desires of the flesh. Our family is thriving now.

“And God’s not finished yet…..”

I was seventeen, at the start of a new journey in my life. I felt a distinct sensation of differing temperatures between my left and right sides; very cold, very hot. The man sitting to my right was a spiritualist medium. He told me that his spirit guide was creating the temperature difference.

He asked me if I was interested in knowing God and spirit. He offered to train me.

My training lasted six years and included: meditating, psychometry, spirit contact and giving clairvoyance.  I became a Spiritualist Medium using those faculties.

Once while I was giving a trance talk, my spirit guide turned me away from my audience to face the wall. I continued to speak loudly for 40 minutes so that my audience could hear me. (This, I believe, was to illustrate that my spirit guide was in control. I mean, who would consciously talk to a wall in front of an audience?)

All this spiritual activity left me emotionally depleted. Negative energy was affecting my life. The positive energy was so good; the negative so bad. I became spiritually addicted, other addictions also took hold of me.

Suffering from severe depression, I sought to take my life by hanging myself. When putting the rope over the garage rafter; a brilliant light entered the garage behind me.

A voice from within the light spoke: "Amyas, would you hurt your father’s son?" "No!" I replied. "What would you do for him?" the voice asked. "I would fight to save him!" was my answer.

Then this Great Presence reached into me and said: "Amyas, you are your Father's son." He turned me within myself and left. Immediately I felt elated and happy.

Had I just had contact with the Greatest Spirit of all?

My addictions remained. I was emotionally bankrupt, but my life was saved.

Had I just had contact with the Greatest Spirit of all?

My spiritual work continued, speaking at spiritualist churches around the Auckland region, as a speaker and clairvoyant. Clairvoyance and clairaudience are giving messages from the deceased: by vision or impression or direct voice. My intention was to prove "there is a spiritual  life after death."  However, that was not what was really happening.

I had angered God who had spoken of his love for me. The devil was also speaking through me. I was between a rock and a hard place. Where do I go?

The cost of my ignorant, unrepentant life was skyrocketing.  My personal life was being destroyed, my spiritual life unaffected.

I AM TAKEN PRISONER.

The Lord spoke to me one day when crossing an intersection, "Amyas, your whole life has come to these crossroads. Will you speak the truth, or, not speak? "

While reading a wonderful spiritual book with a friend, we started on 1st Corinthians chapter 1.

When our reading reached verse 23, "but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles......" In my heart I said: "Foolishness, that’s me." Verse 25: "for the foolishness of God is wiser than men......" In my heart I said:. " Yes God you are wiser than men." Verse 25: "and the weakness of God stronger than men......"  In my heart I said: "Yes God you are stronger than men."

GHOST BUSTER BUSTED

Right on the third yes (although my friend did not realise) a great and awesome Presence entered the room. Without speaking He put His hands inside me right through my back and turned me around supernaturally and left.

Jesus Himself came and healed me from: unbelief, false belief, depression, hearing of spirit voices.

He healed me from clairvoyance, and all related faculties dependant on the occult.

He set the prisoner free. The Greatest Spirit of All (the Holy Spirit) had made contact.

THE HOLY SPIRIT TAUGHT ME: CLAIRVOYANCE IS AS DANGEROUS AS DRUGS.

If you have had contact with a clairvoyant, those deceased relatives you were contacting are evil demonising spirits masquerading as family. They are known as familiar spirits whose sole purpose is to infiltrate the relatives’ family to bring curses: sicknesses, depressions, accidents, mental issues and premature death.

Because they are familiar with the deceased, they have intimate knowledge about them that becomes a point of recognition.

That recognition becomes a point of contact, an open door for the familiar evil spirit to enter the younger generation. As an example: deceased Uncle Arthur (not a real name) is in his grave, but Uncle Arthur's masquerading familiar spirit is seeking recognition as Uncle Arthur.

Naturally one is inclined to listen for Uncle Arthur. When he speaks to the relative’s mind, damage is done. The spirit is entering through an opened door. The door to the occult is opened, just as if you had taken drugs.

CLAIRVOYANCE AS DANGEROUS AS DRUGS — THE PURE CURE

The pure cure for this is Spiritual.

Let's pray together out loud.

"Lord have mercy upon me a sinner.

I regret my past actions and turn from evil.

I ask you to enter my heart Jesus Christ, to restore and heal me.

Cover me with your Precious Redeeming Blood and free me from bondages.

Set me free to pray to You." Amen.

Seek out Christians to rejoice with them.

Hi, my name is Andrew Robertson, I am married to Joanne and we have four Children. Sam, Gabriella, Isaac and Summer. We live in Auckland New Zealand.

My wife and I owned cafe and catering businesses in Auckland between 1996 and 2018. We also setup Surf N Turf Tacos Hawaii in 2012, located close to Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I grew up in a family where faith in God was central. I was read Bible stories and taught to believe in Jesus as the way to get to know God. We went to church every Sunday but I usually couldn’t wait for the services to finish so I could go and play with my friends!

It all changed in my teenage years. I was taken to some meetings where I saw miracles happen right in front of my own eyes! In 1983 my parents took me to a Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship National Convention in Dunedin (where I grew up). Here I saw, for the first time in my life, people being delivered from demons and people being healed. It was intriguing to me as a twelve-year-old. Something I will never forget.

At one these meetings a man approached me and asked me if I would like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I replied; “Yes”, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into… What happened next impacted my life forever. I felt the power of God come over me as he started to pray for me. It was so powerful that it knocked me down to the ground. I started speaking in tongues, (praying to God with a heavenly prayer language). I immediately knew that I had been filled with the Holy Spirit and that God’s power had come inside of me.

That opened up a new dimension in my faith. I knew God was real, powerful, and wants to display his power to show people his love and goodness! Being filled with the Holy Spirit, was one of the most important steps I took, in allowing God to come more fully into my life.

The following year our family attended a conference in New Plymouth. I watched a close family friend being healed of a severe neck injury right next to me during worship. Then my mother was healed of a long-standing back issue when the guest speaker, Bill Subritzky, prayed for her.

I felt the power of God come over me. It was so powerful it knocked me down to the ground.

In each case, it was undeniable that miracles had taken place. Something had happened in my heart towards the Lord. I knew that not only was Jesus real, he was a miracle working God!

I knew the stories I had heard about Jesus in the Bible. But here they were happening to people whom I knew!! Around the same time of those events, the Church I had grown up attending, started experiencing the Holy Spirit on a weekly basis. Young people were getting excited to serve Jesus. It became way more exciting to attend Church, miracles were happening and people’s lives were being changed by Gods power.

In my last year of high school, while I was playing a game of cricket, one of my teammates Tim approached me and said: “Can I ask you a question?”

I said; “Sure.”

He said; “Are you a Christian??”

That question brought me to a crossroads in my life. My response was required for the first time without the help of friends or family.

I replied; “Yes I am!”

That was the first time I had publicly acknowledged that I believed in Jesus and that he was my personal saviour. From that day on it has become a regular part of my life to share my faith and express to others how Jesus will become real in your life if you believe in him.

After High School I went on to study at the University of Otago and achieved a Bachelor of Commerce with an accounting major. After University I spent a number of years in the USA first attending a Bible College in Southern California and then a short time as a Youth Pastor in Salt Lake City, Utah.

After returning home to NZ from the USA in 1996, I was broke, and very much in need of direction for the future. I took up busking on the streets of Auckland Central with my guitar and singing just to earn some money. While doing so, my friend had the bright idea to start a business. He said to me: “Let’s make sandwiches and cookies and sell them in the high-rise building’s downtown”. I said: “Yeah let’s do it”. So we used the last few dollars to purchase a plastic bowl and two baskets. The bowl to mix the cookie dough and the baskets to sell the food. We were in business!!

At the end of the first day’s “bun run” I was tired and sat down on a park bench near Albert Park in central Auckland. I pulled my Bible out of my pocket, opened it and started to read.  I was amazed as I looked down and read:

“Blessed will be your basket and blessed will be your kneading bowl”. Deuteronomy 28:5

I had just finished kneading cookie dough at 6 am in the morning and we had sold all the sandwiches out of a basket. God was speaking to me! That scripture helped me so much over the next few years and it helped keep me anchored to this small business, which grew and evolved into 18 different cafes and food shops over the next 20 years.

In early 2012 we moved to Hawaii after being involved in a Church plant in 2011 in Southern California. We arrived with a plan to open a couple of businesses. After searching the Island, we took on a lease to open a Mexican taco shop located in Diamond Head.

One evening, about a week before we are about to open the business for trading, I was downtown sitting outside the Sheraton Waikiki hotel. I opened my Bible and started reading. This is the first verse I started to read:

“From the 24th day of the ninth month from this day on I will bless you”. Haggai 2:18

I looked at the date and thought to myself that’s going to be when we open our business and start trading. Again, I was amazed as God had given me another clear word that he was with me in this business journey. The following week on Sept 24, 2012 we opened Surf N Turf tacos at 5:35 in the afternoon. Later, we opened at another location and God has blessed that business as well. It has prospered and it has been a blessing to many people.

To sum up: living for God is the best decision you could ever make in this life. When you truly give your life to Christ, you will experience the Holy Spirit. You will find out that God truly has a great plan for your life.

God Is Faithful

I was born in Malaysia and in 1993 came to Dunedin to study at the University of Otago. While studying I met my wife to be, Seow Kiat (Jesse), also from Malaysia. At that time Jesse was an atheist but became interested in my Christian faith. I was just going through the motions with my faith, but went along to church out of obligation. I managed to say to her, “Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you.” He did reveal Himself and Jesse received Christ. She then attended a “Life in the Spirit” seminar and then an Alpha course. As I “supported” her during the Alpha course I had an awakening in the Spirit myself. The John 14: 6 verse “I am the way the truth and the life” jumped out for me. I needed Jesus myself. God had used Jesse to draw me back to Him.

Blessing of God’s family

God felt so alive to us. As we grew to know Him, we were enveloped with support and love of new friends from church, FGBMFI and Woman’s Aglow. We were on a spiritual high, like a honeymoon. Mike Bunt from FGBMFI invited me to a regional men’s camp. There the men were excited about Jesus and that inspired me. Later I joined the Taieri chapter. The men and their families became like family. Jesse and I got married in 2000. We were blessed with Joshua in 2003. Life was so good, but a painful trial was around the corner for us.

One terrible day

One terrible day Jesse had a massive bleed in her brain, caused by an undetected medical condition. The ruptured blood vessel caused a stroke and her heart to stop. It is a miracle she survived. That evening I was not allowed to stay with her in ICU as I had Joshua with me. It was the loneliest and most heart wrenching night I have ever had to endure. I cried most of the night and all I could do was hang onto a prophetic word that the Lord was going to use both of us together in Christian ministry.

Walking through the valley of grief and struggle

After three weeks Jesse’s condition worsened. Thankfully a visiting Australian neurosurgeon intervened and performed a seven-hour operation which helped. From there she gradually improved. She was then moved to a stroke rehabilitation centre for the next eight months. I found it heart wrenching to see her. She couldn’t remember much, not even recognise our own son Joshua. Jesse then came home. Her healing and recovery was slow. That time was an emotional roller-coaster for both of us. We had tears, grief, doubt, anger and depression at various times. In the midst of it all our many church, Aglow and FGBMFI friends continued to pray for us and support us. I was angry at God, not for causing the aneurysm but allowing it to happen. I couldn’t comprehend it nor be accepting of it. Why us?

A prophetic promise

Meantime Jesse was relying on the Lord a lot as she had lost so much of her previous physical and mental capability. Her spiritual walk deepened. She learned to accept and overcome some of the deficits caused by the stroke. On the other hand I was weary and struggling. Though Jesse was growing in faith I got frustrated as she could not listen for long and didn’t remember what I told her two minutes ago. We had lost our former intimacy. As a result I became bitter and became depressed and withdrew from people. I was at an all time low. I was invited to FGBMFI meetings at times and my hope lifted a bit but my heart was cool. I was given a prophetic word that “the Lord would thaw and warm my heart again”. It sowed renewed hope in me, but there was an elephant in my room, so to speak, which I could not ignore any longer.

My PhD thesis, a distant goal achievable

This “elephant” was an unfinished PhD which I had put on hold when Jesse got sick. I had to stop studying to care for her and Joshua. A month before Jesse got sick I was given the approval to write up my thesis. I now realise that Satan had attacked us when he could hit me the hardest. I felt like a failure. However, a lifeline was thrown to me after two years to complete my thesis. That was a turning point. I had to set a goal and climb out of the hole I was in. At that time the Lord gave me a verse to hold on to: Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed”. I held on to this promise and most days I prayed this word, though I still had some days in the doldrums. Months later at a FGBMFI meeting one of the men gave me the exact same Scripture. It was still hard going writing the thesis. A visiting scientist heard my situation and he spoke a powerful word that stuck. “You just have to grit your teeth and do it.” These encounters and God’s words really helped me, and I did finish my PhD within the year and finally graduated. Furthermore, there was a job waiting for me. Another blessing was the birth of our second son Joseph the following year.

Learning to love, hope and grow in faith

It was still hard for me to accept Jesse as she now was compared to before the brain injury. I was experiencing work stress and sometimes I had outbursts of anger from impatience and frustration. I began to see how little love I really had, especially after Jesse put up a Love poster from the bible in our room. When I read it I felt annoyed that I lacked those qualities of love. In fact I felt disqualified. It took me a while to realise that God was teaching me not to look at myself but look to Him, to forgive others without counting the cost and learn to love at all times.

Looking back now I see more clearly how the Lord helped us through that long hard season that I couldn’t see while in the middle of it. He still works everything together for good! Fourteen years later with our two delightful boys, things are looking up in our family. There are still battles, but I know He is always with us. I am now looking forward in greater hope and believing the best is yet to come!

God has not forgotten you!

If you are struggling, be encouraged because there is hope for you. He will find a way for you even when there seems no way, like my situation. God is sovereign. He has not forgotten you, He loves you so much and He is mighty to save and deliver!

If I had to give a title to my life story and my sporting success it would be: “What God can do with nothing!”

My early years were decidedly average. At school I was never good at sport, and being one of the smallest and youngest in my class I took a fair hammering from the bullies. The only race I ever won was the 100 yards hurdles and that was only because the other runners eliminated themselves.

Although I was very timid and lacking confidence, my father was a keen sportsman and he encouraged me to enjoy sport. I began playing club rugby and, only after an injury, got involved in athletics, joining the Wesley Harrier Club. The club captain recognized some talent in me and eventually introduced me to Arthur Lydiard, the famous New Zealand athletics coach. Under Lydiard's direction, I started pounding the pavements, averaging 100 miles a week, and began training for long distance running. Three years later, at the age of 21, I won the first of many New Zealand titles.

I qualified for three events in the Rome Olympic Games in 1960, but decided to concentrate on the marathon. Rome was New Zealand's golden triumph in running. We won two golds in an hour through the efforts of Peter Snell and Murray Halberg, and I picked up the bronze in the marathon.

After the Olympics I won the Fukuoka International marathon in Japan, and the following year won the World Games 10,000m in Helsinki, setting a stadium record, which was the fastest 10,000m in the world for that year. I also recorded the 2nd fastest 5000m in the world and shared in a world record- breaking 4x1 mile relay in Dublin. I also set a stadium 3-mile record at White City track in London and a Coliseum record for 5000m in Los Angeles, when I defeated the Inter-Collegiate Champion of the USA.

There were many great days of glory and fame that continued through my running career. There were 10 more national titles to add to the 7 senior ones. There were national records and international victories all of this from a boy who was a complete nobody!

What changed me from a nobody to an athletic champion? I believe it all started at a Bible Class camp at the age of 14 when I said “Yes” to God. Following a sermon on Revelation 3, I opened the door and asked Christ into my heart. He came into my life, and I have never been the same again. Over the next 11 years my Christian walk was not consistent and often depended on the situation or what suited me, but all through those years, God never abandoned or left me.

At the age of 25 I knew there was something incomplete in my Christian walk. I attended a 1959 Billy Graham Crusade meeting in Auckland, and as I listened to Billy speak about John 3:16, I realized that Christ had died for BARRY, not just for the world, and that night the love of God fell on me. I gave my total life to Christ. I said, “Lord, here I am. Use me as you will”.

From that time on, I was a different man and a different athlete. Every great race and performance came AFTER that total commitment. I ran with God's presence and power within me, and it was glorious. He gave me everything I needed. He replaced my weaknesses with His strengths. The greatest moment in my life was not receiving the Olympic Bronze Medal or winning, the Fukuoka International or the World Games. It was that night I walked forward at the crusade and gave God my total life.

A few years later I discovered the FGBMFI, where I experienced the wonderful Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which opened up new spiritual areas in my life.

I believe He did more in me than I could have ever done myself. After those great sporting days, I succeeded in virtually everything I attempted - business, home, family, church, etc.

Then, after over 30 years of marriage, the bombshell came and my marriage crashed around me. My wife left me and I was traumatized to the uttermost. I hardly slept at night, filled with remorse, tears, repentance and forgiveness, but no wife.

Then God healed my broken heart and wounded spirit, through the ministry of Bob and Joan Leach. Eventually He gave me a second chance at marriage and sent a wonderful woman, named Heather, to be my wife. We've been together for 25 years now. Together we travel to the FGBMFI chapters in New Zealand, speaking and giving testimony of God's saving grace, and seeing people commit their lives to Jesus Christ, and being healed and set free. Praise God.

Today I believe there is nothing in this world that we can depend or rely on except God Himself. I have no medals that will take me into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can do that. Christ is the greatest prize of all. I am so grateful that He lifted a boy who was a nobody and transformed him into a somebody for His glorious Kingdom.

I stood in front of a huge servery at the Conference dining hall, ravenously hungry for the first time in ten years. Before me were dishes of Southern Fried Chicken and equally greasy tasty dishes.

Hours before I had received an incredible healing miracle of my digestive system. Yet my mind was screaming out it would be crazy to touch the food as bitter experiences of the recent years with subsequent pain spasms, blackouts and rushes to the hospital had shown. I hesitated, a battle going on in my mind. Then I heard the Lord say within, “Arise and eat for you are healed, for I am the same yesterday, today and for ever. I do not change. I am the God who heals. Freely you have received, freely you are to give. Pray for the sick. See that I will confirm with signs, wonders and miracles.”

My story of God's miraculous healing began many years earlier. There was a time when I thought I was invincible. I was smart, a good communicator, physically tough. I had to be as an Instructor in the Army for many years. I succeeded at all the things I did. I was happily married to my “princess” Jenni and we had two young sons. We had become Christians and God was looking after us real good. I felt I could take on anything and win. Looking back, I now see God had to work on some serious areas of my life.

In the space of a few days in 1989 everything changed. I quickly became ill with stomach and abdominal pains. Doctors diagnosed I had a nasty disease that was attacking areas of my stomach and immediate surgery was required. In that first operation about half of my stomach was cut out and the rest stapled together. My gastric acid flow was cut in half to compensate. Normal eating following the operation was not possible as I went through painful adjustment. I believed in divine healing so sought prayer whenever and wherever I could yet my condition did not improve. I no longer felt invincible.

Two years later in 1991 my condition worsened, requiring a second operation. This time I was opened up like a filleted fish by the surgical team. The medical name for the operation being almost as long as the hours I spent on the operating table! Out came more of my stomach and related organs and tissues. I spent many weeks in the hospital recuperating. Lying day after day on the hospital bed I was forced to evaluate my life. Jenni was a wonderful support for me. Among other things she would bring our sons after school to see me. I have memories of them down on the lino floor of the ward quietly doing their homework. Their behaviour changed as they watched me suffer. Our elder boy became withdrawn and quiet while our younger boy became angry and aggressive. I felt helpless in the grip of a disease that prayer would not shake off.

I was clinically dead and stopped breathing for eight and a half minutes

In 1994 the disease again took off with a vengeance. Within days of fresh medical tests following further pain, I had to endure a third massive operation that took 10 hours. Much of what was left of my stomach and associated organs were removed. All this took such a toll on my system that I clinically died and stopped breathing for eight and a half minutes while being moved out of post-operative care. It was very traumatic for Jenni as she was right there when this happened. During that time the medical staff worked frantically to revive me, I had a wonderful near death experience of heaven, almost too wonderful to describe. In it the Lord said I could choose to stay or return to earth as my work there was not finished. I chose to return and revived to the sound of medical staff exclaiming “Thank God! We've got him back, he's breathing again!”

I would like to say all went well, but I had to endure five more difficult and horrible years as a chronically sick person. Some days were fine. On those days I worked as Marketing Manager for the Radio Rhema Network.

I had been re-plumbed inside so that when I ate normal undigested food it went straight to my intestines. This caused intestinal spasms and caused me often to lose consciousness due to the incredible pain. Often I would be rushed to the nearest hospital. Our family life was severely disrupted. I slowly lost weight. The gloomy prognosis of the medics was that I would only live another two years.

In desperation Jenny and I travelled to any significant move of God around the world; the USA five times, Canada, South America twice, and London. All manner of well-meaning people prayed for me. Meantime Jenni was crying out for me to the Lord. She came to the place where she handed me over in prayer to God, whatever He wanted for me, whether death or healing.

At that time, I had got interested in Y2000 Evangelism. This was a Christian witnessing tool developed by a Rev. Joseph Steinbeck of London. I managed to get the distribution rights for Australasia, S.E. Asia, USA and Canada. Early in 1999 a Pastor in the USA wanted to use it, which meant he needed my permission and input. The upshot was that a promotional tour was arranged to start at a conference in Florida in May 1999 with me to do the promotion. My body however was not co-operative and my family, friends and doctors told me I shouldn't go on the eight week-long tour as I might not survive it. My thinking was that I was better to die while actively spreading the gospel rather than die in my own bed. Jenni agreed with me provided a suitable companion accompanied me to bring me back dead or alive. A young friend volunteered to go with me.

God spoke to Joseph on the London to Florida flight saying He was going to heal me. When he told me this on arrival I wanted him to pray immediately for me but he didn't as he felt it was not God's timing. Naturally I was disappointed. Would I ever be healed? That was Monday. Our half hour promotional slot for Y2000 was the following afternoon at this Conference. I spent the rest on Monday and Tuesday morning sick in bed. My friend got me up and ready for our first USA promotional talk. I was placed about four rows from the front of the stage so I could get a clear look at Joseph as he presented Y2000 to the six or seven hundred Minister delegates.

To be honest, Joseph's talk was dreadful, he seemed so distracted. Part way through Joseph faltered and stopped. He asked the Conference Chairman if the delegates could please pray for me. This caused the Chairman to be somewhat flustered, but he agreed and invited those who wished to come and pray for me to do so. When the first handful quietly gathered around me something sovereign happened. Starting in the back rows people began to weep, wail and groan in prayer. It was an extraordinary scene and I was overcome by what was happening. Then an electric-like pulse was passing through my body, similar to those experienced by farmers who touch an electric fence wire. I tried to stand up but was pushed down by a hand. After trying to stand five or six times I heard God's sovereign voice saying sternly to me, “Don't you dare to get up when I am doing business with you!” The intense prayer went on for over four hours after which the auditorium became quiet.

The Chairman then announced it was nearly six o'clock and dinner was ready. I was first in the dinner queue with an immense appetite. I ate a huge meal with no after effects. All eyes were upon me as I ate, the delegates cheering echoing around the dining hall. I phoned Jenni with the good news. My boys said later she totally “lost the plot” with joy, dancing, crying, singing, praising God for His goodness and mercy. After returning to N.Z. my specialist did a gastroscope and some scans, all confirming that I had a brand new stomach. All that the surgeons had done; the Lord had restored! Truly I have been healed by our amazing Almighty God whose word and promises are true.

I believe healing is sometimes a process as we are called to walk in faith and not by sight (symptoms or sickness). God always hears your prayer. Never give up for your healing. Be one who perseveres and obtains the victory. For God's heartbeat is to intervene in our lives and bring healing.

He says in the Bible, 3 John 1:2, “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers".

My birth mother was from Australia. She came to New Zealand on a working holiday and to study. She formed a relationship with my father and, as a result, I was conceived. My mother came from an observant catholic family and she could not bear to tell her own mother about the pregnancy. Instead, my mother arranged for me to be adopted.

My adoptive parents were good to me. However, I soon noticed that the relationship between my sister and my parents was different from my parents’ relationship with me. They loved me and cared for me and for that I am so grateful. We would go to Algies Bay in Warkworth at weekends and also during school holidays. We would play, go fishing, dive and sail. I grew up in that loving caring family and wanted for nothing; life was good.

In my late teenage years things went downhill. I developed anorexia, an illness that makes you very inward focused. Your reality changes and all you focus on is food, or rather avoiding it. It almost killed my parents, for they had just sold their business and were beginning their retirement. What should have been their best years were lost to the battle I was having.

I had started studying at the Auckland Institute of Technology, doing a course in electronics. That went out the window and so did my will to live. Not to the point of taking my life, but looking back now, without help, it could have ended that way.

I suffered for a couple of years, but with medication, a psychologist and family I got out the other side.

My focus changed, I became a body builder and was obsessed. Work outs, diets, girls and parties. I applied for and got a job selling encyclopaedias. It was a great job involving traveling the whole country. That was when I met Winnie, who later became my wife. We ended up traveling and working together.

We left that job, the stress and pressure to make a decision of what to do next, combined with guilt of being unfaithful to Winnie through a one-night stand, resulted in anorexia raising its ugly head again. One night the anorexia was so bad I confessed to Winnie about my unfaithfulness and the anorexia. She had guessed about the anorexia as I was only skin and bones. She was heartbroken about my unfaithfulness, but with her compassionate heart she said she would stay until I was well and then leave me. But through the months and years that followed she stayed with me.

I am very grateful she decided to stay and look after me. I can still remember that night, my stomach felt like it was all twisted to the point that a teaspoon of food would be enough to full me. I cried out for her to help and to pray for me. She lay hands on my stomach and started praying in a strange language she had never spoken before. As she prayed, I could feel all my inside turning and loosening. That night I was healed and slowly began to eat.

Overnight we lost the business and all the money we had worked for

I started a business selling cellphone accessories, an awesome business earning big money. I was able to buy flash toys like cars, boats, jewellery and enjoy travelling. Life was great, until it all came crashing down through mismanagement and a bad accountant. Overnight we lost the business and all the money that we had worked for over the previous five years.

I got sick with chemical poisoning at a time when Auckland was aerial sprayed to control the painted apple moth. I lapsed into depression and found it hard to even leave the house. If I went where there were car fumes it would trigger the illness and I would need oxygen. I ended up carrying an oxygen bottle wherever I went.

Because I wasn’t working I now had time for church. I invited a local pastor around for morning tea and the following Sunday headed to church. That day the preacher gave a call for those wanting to give their hearts to Jesus and Winnie and I committed our lives to God.

My best friend had an affair, lost his wife, fell into major depression to the point that he tried to take his life many times. I believed God was saying I was to pray and help him, so I did. One night when he was very bad, I asked if could lay hands on him and pray for him. He agreed, I prayed, God turned up and things started to change for him. Overnight he changed and a short time later he gave his heart to God.

God turned up and things started to change

The Lord now began to set me free from my problems. He began by dealing with my relationship with Winnie. After I made a visit to Christchurch she collected me from the airport and she challenged me that every time we had enough money to get married, I had instead brought cars, boats etc. I admitted she was right, asked her for forgiveness and within 3 months we got married.

A short while later at a friend’s place, I was sharing stories of what God had been doing, when he told me his cousin could do with healing. I asked why? He said his cousin was driving a motorcycle and got clipped by a truck, which sent him head first into a median barrier. It split his helmet from front to back. He told me that he was in a coma and they were about to about to turn the switch off on his life support. I said we should pray. My friend looked weirdly at me. I said: “It says in the Bible ‘where two or more are gathered he will be there’, so you just stand and I will pray.”

Two weeks later my friend phoned me and all he could say was “You need to write this in your book.” I asked what he was on. He explained that an hour after I had prayed for the guy in the coma, the guy woke up, got out of bed and had dinner. Every day since then he got stronger and stronger.

Our church asked Winnie and I to be Youth Pastors. God’s presence was so real to us in our work as Youth Pastors. The youths we were dealing with were labelled the worst of the worst. Today over 90 % of them are on a path to a successful life, have careers and know the Lord. Many of the youth were filled with the Holy Spirit and others gave their hearts to Jesus.

Since that time we have been on a very interesting journey, seeing many signs and wonders. In Samoa we saw a baby being raised from the dead, a young man healed from leprosy, and a mute man speaking, just to name a few.

My understanding is that if it is in the Bible, then the Lord is the same today as He was then. We can pray with confidence and signs and wonders will follow. The Lord has showed up time after time when we have prayed. We have seen food multiplied, the dead raised to life, people being healed, demons fleeing and people restored to their right mind, all in the name of Jesus.

The Lord has now released us into an itinerate ministry. We speak, counsel, mentor and bring encounters in many churches, businesses, in schools and many individuals lives. What a challenge, but also great fun and very rewarding. God has always been faithful to show up and back His word with power, whether in a church, the marketplace or at a meeting.

My father was a doctor. From a young age he wanted to be a doctor. His passion was to see sick people get well. On Sunday mornings and evenings, we would travel from Cambridge to Ham ilton to attend church. When I was young, Dad would often read Bible stories to me before I went to sleep.

When I was seven Dad invited me to choose Jesus as my Lord. I had no problem saying yes and I meant it. My mother had a breakdown after losing a baby and our home life became some what tumultuous. I would hide behind the couch and read a book, trying not to be noticed. I didn’t talk much. Sometimes I was allowed to go to a friend’s place for between 30 minutes and an hour, so I would run as fast as my legs would allow me to. If I was five minutes late, I was often disciplined. I had 4 older sib lings, 3 brothers and 1 sister. We all get on well together to this day. Dad’s faith was real, and it made choosing Jesus an obvious choice. A couple of years later we moved to another church. I became insecure about my faith because I became aware that I didn’t speak in tongues. Unlike the other children I didn’t feel the presence of God, even though I knew in my head that God loved me and loved people. Until one day, when I was nine, a visiting speaker told me to stand up. I stood up in the middle of the church. His word was brief but helped settle me somewhat. All he said was “The Holy Spirit is in you.” Then he told me to sit down.

Apart from stealing cold custard from the fridge and biscuits from the pantry, I was a mostly compliant child. My siblings all played the piano, so I learnt to play the piano too although I’d rather have been singing. My next 2 older brothers played in a brass band, so I followed suit and played in the brass band even though I wanted to be next door doing athletics. I didn’t voice my prefer ences. After a friendship breakup at the age of 13, I suffered si lently for several years with low self-esteem and lustful thoughts. I still attempted to follow God even though I didn’t know how. I infrequently read the Bible but every time I did, I would find help ful correction and a sense of being closer to God. I started listen ing to a rock band called Petra because I liked the liveliness of the songs. It didn’t leave me depressed as with other bands such as Pink Floyd. One of the songs called “Kenaniah” (Chenaniah), told part of a Bible story, leaving me with an awe of God that some how worked on my heart and convicted me at the same time. Dad and I used to run with the Cambridge harriers club. Around 14 or 15 years of age I started running more in the evenings. The more I ran and the further I went the more I became aware of an emptiness, a space, something missing inside. I became aware that running was not going to satisfy my empty feeling or fulfil me. Something was missing.

I met my wife’s youngest brother first. He used to help himself to plums from the plum tree in our front yard and we would chat. When I was 17 years of age and while I was visiting my brother in Roxburgh, my parents changed church again. This time to a church in our hometown of Cambridge. I was pretty upset about that to start with until we got invited to lunch at my wife’s family house nearby. Sitting and listening to her talk from across the other side of their wooden picnic table, I knew Bernette was okay to get to know.

I still didn’t talk much. As I got to know Bernette, I observed how her mother would get up early in the mornings and spend time with God, worshipping him, praising him, and often reading the Bible. I also observed two of my brothers rising early in the morning to pray to Jesus and read their Bibles. Both were very real in that they gave of their time to worship the Lord in the early morning and to serve him during the daytime.

Bernette and I got married the day after my 21st birthday. I was religiously strong willed. The first two years of marriage were very hard, but we loved each other very much as best we knew. I would go to church feeling shameful, insecure, and guilty. I was working in Westpac at the time and would get mind blanks when on teller duty, was fearful and so began going from one work place to another. While we were doing up our first old house my wife confronted me for looking at other women. I didn’t know who to turn to or who to trust. Desperate for answers and a de sire to change I turned to the Lord by rising at 4 am crying out to God in our little lounge. It was a desperate and quiet cry from deep within. I didn’t want to wake my wife. God’s love washed all over me and for the first time I felt the love of God. The next day I got up and cried out again.

The same presence of God came and washed over me. I started reading the Bible every day during my afternoon breaks and whenever I could. I felt compelled to share the love of God for others around me, often sharing out of the well-known passage of John 3:16.

A group from church prayed for me. It felt like grave clothes being unravelled off me. God was setting me free from my bond ages. I realise now that God was there all the time, just waiting for me to draw aside and draw near to him. The Bible says – Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. I hadn’t felt worthy and certainly wasn’t. But he loved me all the same and was waiting for me to draw near. I started to hear God’s voice from time to time. He started teaching me about himself from his word and stirring me with his gifts. During this time, I was still losing my cool regularly at home.

We didn’t understand each other yet. I didn’t know how to love well. One day I picked up a pound of butter to throw across the room and suddenly it was as if something left me. I simply put down the butter – that was over. I could still get angry, but God was working on me. Looking back, I can see now that God has been helping me to speak what he wants me to say and to leave the results to him. He’s teaching me not to overthink what peo ple say or think and to be quick to forgive. I’m still learning how to be more loving, to forgive anyway and to let go of offences.
Often, I have taken far too long to do this. I’ve learnt that receiv ing love and forgiving others is a foundational part of our walk with Christ. Forgiving others as Christ has forgiven us is the way forward, the way to walking in freedom. It is also the way for ward in our walk with the Lord. God helps us to forgive. I’ve found God to be so loving, so patient with us. His love hopes all things. I’ve found that even when we have given up on ourselves, God is still faithful. God is willing not only to forgive us our sins but also to give us freedom from our sin. God’s love is there for you. Call to him and he will answer you.

I have found that wherever I have worked, God has been with me. I have only needed to turn my face and affections towards him. God has set me free from a broken heart, depression, and loneliness. I have found it helpful in my daily life to: (1) take time out to worship the Lord, at times with my face and hands turned upward toward him, and (2) read my Bible, pondering on passag es slowly. These days the Lord is continuing to lead me on a jour ney of shepherding people with a passion to share Jesus as the great shepherd. Like my father, I also have a strong desire to see people made well, healed, and living in freedom.

Bernette and I have been married 33 years this year. By the gra ciousness of God, we are happily married and more in love today than ever before. We have three lovely children and three de lightful mokopuna (Grandchildren) to my daughter Anna and her lovely husband Damian.

My name is Daniel Thompson. I am a self-employed mechanic living in Greytown with my wife Nerissa and two children Tana and Tyah.

I grew up in a stable Christian household with my mum, dad, three brothers and one sister. As a family we attended a good Christian church, and continue to do so.

Despite being surrounded by a caring family, I always felt alone and lost. I never seemed to fit in.

As a kid, I would tell on others when they did wrong. For this, I was persecuted and name called. As a result, seeds of rejection were planted in my life. I had a hard time keeping friends because they kept moving away. As a victim of bullying and belittlement, I found myself drawn to people who were picked on.

On the 24th of June 2000, I was taken to a show called ‘Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames’. In response to an altar call, I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart at the age of 13. I was so excited that I took my best friend along the next day. He also gave his heart to the Lord.

At 14-15 years old, I started to rebel. I was searching for love, validation and acceptance from friends and a girlfriend. I started getting caught up in bad crowds who introduced me to the party scene. Drinking and smoking cannabis became my addiction. My life started spiralling. I stopped attending church, began wagging school and my grades started to suffer.

I had a job at a supermarket. My friend got caught stealing and I was fired by association. We were taken to the police station where our fingerprints were taken for the first time. That same day I was kicked out of my home so the police dropped me off at my friend’s house where I lived for a while. My drinking, smoking, and partying were out of control. My health suffered. I was not taking care of myself or my body. I ended up in the hospital where I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. From here my relationship with my parents began to reconcile and I started living back at home again.

In December 2004 I went to a party where I met Nerissa. The next day was the beginning of our relationship. I found out she was a member of the youth group my Dad was running at church. I started going to church again, but still continued living a wayward life.

Suddenly, God knocked and asked me where I wanted to go in life.

I moved in with Nerissa at her parents' house when she got pregnant with our son - Tana was born in 2006. After a year, we separated and I moved back home. Suddenly, God knocked and asked me where I wanted to go in life.

I enrolled in an NCEA course to complete schooling and achieved it. I got to a better place in my life and reconciled with Nerissa. She was on the verge of moving to Wanganui with her sister. I followed suit and moved with them. The two of them had moved to start a course together. I had no plans or goals. Sitting at home alone one day I picked up a newspaper. Inside the newspaper, God highlighted an advert for a pre-apprenticeship automotive course. The course had already started but I managed to get an interview with the tutor and enrolled ASAP. I completed the course with top marks.

Our daughter Tyah was born in Wanganui in 2008. We moved back to the Wairarapa a month later where I worked at a vineyard. God came knocking again “What are you doing with your life?”

I enrolled at Weltec, Petone to carry on with my apprenticeship. As part of the course, I started work experience at a local garage, Bruce Peterken Motors. The boss said there would never be a job there for me as he had enough workers. Three months later I was employed full-time by him and worked there for 7 – 8 years.

In 2013 Nerissa and I got married but navigating marriage was a struggle without Jesus at the centre of our lives.

In 2016 I re-enrolled to complete my automotive apprenticeship and became fully qualified. In 2017 Bruce Peterken retired and things transitioned from “there will never be a job here for you”, to God helping us become the new owners of Bruce Peterken Motors (now Dan’s Motors).

In 2018, after a night out celebrating my wife’s 30th birthday, I was assaulted in the back of the head with an axe handle. I spent the next couple of weeks in and out of A&E and GPs being subject to all sorts of tests and scans. I was sent 3-4 times a week by ambulance to A&E as I was fitting uncontrollably. I had a slight dent in the back of my head and some wiring in my brain was severed. I suffered from a TBI/concussion and PTSD. I was unable to work for the next 3-4 months and spent the time in and out of appointments. This caused us to exhaust all our savings to make ends meet. I was slowly rehabilitated enough to return to work part-time, but physically and mentally overworked myself so much pushing full-time hours that my body could not cope. I began neuropuncture which helped relieve some pressure but I was still suffering and so was my family.

In 2020, we were hit with our first lockdown which meant I could not have treatment. I was suffering physically and mentally. I concluded that the world did not hold the answer to my healing and I could no longer do this alone. I sat in my garage and I cried out to Jesus Christ for help. I fully surrendered myself to Him.

I was healed immediately and fully restored mentally and physically. I had finally found the answer I had been searching for and I felt God’s true love rest upon me. I spent 90% of the lockdown deep in my Bible, praying, praising, and worshipping Jesus. The words in the Bible came alive and I had a deep hunger for more.

Since fully surrendering to the Lord, my life has been filled with peace, love, and acceptance. We are blessed in every area of our lives.

God has restored me to perfect health. No brain injury or Crohn’s disease.

This year I was appointed as a regional assistant for Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship and vice president of the Martinborough Chapter. This is proof that God can and will use anyone with a willing heart.

Our marriage is flourishing with Jesus at the centre of it and our business is highly successful.

Through our automotive workshop, we have seen many lives change for the better. God has given us that platform to minister to the broken and lost. We are honoured that he has chosen us to lead customers to salvation at our reception desk and in our workshop.

He truly is the God of restoration. If you are struggling in any area of your life today, finances, worry, sickness, disease, or broken relationships, give it to Him. God can and will heal you, in Jesus’ name.

He has a plan and a purpose for every one of you if you just let Him into your hearts.

God has touched my life many times. One of the most dramatic times was in 1969.

I was in the middle of a minefield at the foot of the Long Hai hills in Vietnam. The jumping jack mines were deadly; they had a primary charge to bounce them to waist height, then a secondary charge to detonate them. The secondary charge was enough to cut in half anyone who was standing within a 5-10 metre radius. Three mines were activated, but the secondary charge didn't ignite any of them.

Were we lucky? I'll let you think on that one.

Returning to New Zealand in 1970, and getting on with life, I met a young lady and married her; subsequently having three lovely children. Just after my return home, my Mom asked me, “What was it like in Vietnam, son?” Not getting an answer, my Dad answered instead, “He'll answer when he's ready, dear?” I was trying to block Vietnam out of my mind. My Mom died 21 years later, still not having got my answer. But in 1975, after being back home for five years, Vietnam was coming back to haunt me. The memories of gun battles; on seeing bodies with their heads shot off or their guts hanging out; or the thought that today I might have to kill someone who was trying to kill me and of fallen comrades.

The inevitable horrors that war brings with it; the horrors I had been trying to block out, had come back to haunt me. In Vietnam there was no “front”, war was all around you. The enemy could be the taxi driver, the bar girl, or the little kid selling you an ice cream. War is about killing, maiming and destroying your enemy before he or she kills, maims, or destroys you. War is so ultimately destructive to the human spirit. We can only marvel that the cost to our returned servicemen is not much higher.

My life for the next twenty or so years, was one of living in a mental prison of nightmares, flashbacks and depression; in and out of doctors' surgeries and off and on various medications, from blood pressure pills to anti-depressants to tranquillisers. Then in 1995, my life was devastated. My marriage had finally fallen apart after many years of trying to keep it together. Now after 23 years, I found myself on my own again. No money, no home, nowhere to go and nothing but the clothes on my back and those I could carry.

My sister offered me a place with her. I stayed there for three months, after which I thought I was ready to face the world again. My time there was one of reflection and spiritual discovery. It was also one of the most traumatic periods in my life outside of Vietnam. Many times I would hear the voice of suicide. Sometimes, walking up the street and seeing big line hauler trucks coming, I would hear this voice: “Three steps Dave, and it will all be over”. However, as often as I heard that voice, I would hear another voice: “Don't do this, I have something better for you”.

The last time the first voice spoke to me, I was sitting on the side of my bed. The voice described to me vividly how to do it; how to stick a butcher's knife into my stomach and slowly twist it around. Again, I heard the second voice, a little more assertively this time: “Don't do this I have something better for you”.

Now it should have been obvious to me that I was hearing more than one small voice. I was hearing almost anyone from the President to the Pope. It depended on what tablets I was on that day. But the second voice was different. I was beginning to realise who was speaking to me.

In May 1995, while I was sitting in my friend's car, my will to live now gone, wanting to die, I felt my life draining away. Already unaware of what was happening, I had collapsed on the floor of the car, trying to give up my will to live, in my dying, I cried out to the God I thought I knew: “In death, as in life, Jesus take me, I don't care anymore”.

Then one of the most incredible things in my life happened. God began to have an impact on my life. His presence came down upon me. I felt two hands on my chest lifting me up, raising me up into new life. The next thing I remembered was sitting back on the car seat wondering how I had got there. The God I thought I knew was making himself real to me. He had just given me an example of his love, leaving me thinking that life was worth living again.

Knowing that Jesus existed, going to church and living a good life, was not enough. He was alive and He cared about me. All these years I thought 'I' had all the answers. God showed me that He is really the answer. Jesus was turning me around. I was beginning to believe in God and to put my hope in Him. This was the start of a journey of hope, faith and trust in a person whose name is Jesus.

He died for me on a cross and rose to life again. Over the next few months, God took me through a process of healing and cleansing. During this time God revealed the Bible to me in a way I'd not seen before. He brought the Bible alive to me, showing me the wonders of His kingdom.

I came to realise that when Jesus died on the cross, He also put to death all my sins, trauma, sickness, hopelessness and emotional distress. He took them all. With the help of some wise Christian friends, I was gradually set free and healed of my nightmares, despair and suicidal thoughts. But there were still changes to be made.

In November of that same year while at a meeting of Christian men in a room with some Vietnamese nationals, my heart and mind started racing. The last time I had anything to do with these guys they had AK47's in their hands and were trying to kill me. Not knowing what to do, I heard a voice telling me to hug them. In spite of my newfound relationship with Jesus Christ I couldn't do it. I walked out.

My government had gone to a great deal of time and effort to train me to hate them and now God was telling me to hug them. I had to confess my sin of twenty years of hatred before I could obey God. On my way home I visited my friend to tell him about my experience. He suggested that I ask for God's help. I did.

As I was praying, I had a vision. I was back in Vietnam, watching a Vietcong guerrilla walking along a track with an AK47 in his hand. As I saw this vision, I broke down and cried. What God was showing me in the vision was that He wanted me to forgive the Vietnamese as a people, a nation and an enemy. It wasn't easy; I had only just stopped hating them a short time before. At first I didn't want to, but knew I had to for my own peace of mind and because God was asking me to. When I did, a remarkable thing happened to me. It was like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt released from all tension, stress and depression. My problems with Vietnam all left me and have never returned.

Praise God! What doctors and I had tried to do for years, God did in ten minutes. He forgave me!

It wasn't until May 2000, when my Dad was in hospital dying of bowel cancer, that I was able to open up and talk about what happened in Vietnam. In the early morning solitude of a hospital ward, my Dad finally got an answer to the question my Mom had had asked me all those years ago. “What was it like in Vietnam, son?” At the same time, I saw a softer side of my Dad, which I had never seen before. Six weeks later, God healed our relationship. Dad and I had never really been close as father and son. God used Dad's illness to heal the relationship between us.

On what turned out to be Dad's last night, sitting quietly by his bed, I sensed the Spirit of God telling me to hug him. I was afraid to, not wanting to be rejected again. It had been thirty years since we last hugged, and even then was unwelcome. Here he was now, on his deathbed, and God was telling me to hug him! I didn't want to. Taking a little time, I plucked up the courage to ask if I could hug him. My Dad said yes. In what were to be his last moments alive, as we were hugging, we told each other how much we loved each other. At the same time, I told my Dad how I had tried to honour him over the years.

As we were hugging, my Dad died in my arms.

It is written: 'In the last days I will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to the fathers'. God did that as he restored our hearts to one another.

Again it is written: 'All those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved'.

That night God restored a relationship between a son and his father, and a man and his God. You see, Dad also told me that night, that he too had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour!

I was born in Dunedin in 1955, 1 of 5 children, in an average fami ly. At an early age, I became aware of a lack of affection and my father's drinking. We discovered that he was more approachable when he was drinking. In my early teens (14) I seldom came home during weekends, instead going to parties and drinking. My self esteem was low, not knowing what to do with my life. I got an apprenticeship as a shoe repairer. However, I had progressed to drug use so wasn't learning much at my job. My friends and my self were using LSD. Regular use of this alters perception of reali ty. We progressed to using many types of drugs, becoming more deeply involved in local drug taking, part of the 70's hippy culture. There was a sense of emptiness, and a feeling of being discon nected from society. In 1976, I had moved into a house with a friend who had recently become a Christian. I was selling drugs of different types. We experimented with many types of drugs, which didn't help my work or mental state of mind.

I had also met my soon to be wife. I was supplying a group of bikers with pot and she was part of the group. We soon moved in together, still with my Christian friend. We were not aware that he had most of his church praying for us! There was a feeling in both of us that we should get married.

We married in May 1977. Not long after, we both accepted Jesus as our Saviour. This was a huge change. We started attending church and going to small home groups. This was during the char ismatic revival.

There was much ministry for us in our home group. I found it easy to leave my old life behind, but it was not as easy for my wife.
The following year, our son Samuel was born. Unfortunately, he died after living only 3.5 months. As new Christians, our faith was almost child-like. We didn't question why God would allow this to happen, but trusted that he knew what was best for us. However, this was still a very difficult time for us. Driving to our son's funer al, we felt sick with grief. However, when we walked into the church, the presence of the Father, and probably angels as well, was evident. It was the first time either of us experienced His presence in such a tangible way.

Putting off the old man, and a fervent desire to embrace the new.

However, life with an empty baby’s bedroom was difficult. We felt like a rug had been pulled out from underneath us. After a stressful Christmas break, a friend suggested we apply to go to Orama Christian Fellowship on Great Barrier Island. That was exactly what we needed! There were over 100 people there, strong Christians who helped us to understand the Bible, and the truths it contains. I gained a lot of confidence and grew in my faith. After 6 months, in December 1979 we moved to Queens town, where we thought we may find other people interested in community living.

We still retained remnants of our hippy / alternative past, but mostly we were motivated by the unity of purpose we found at Orama. Our time in Queenstown was not easy, but we rejoiced at the birth of our daughter Hannah in October 1980. We were liv ing on the banks of Lake Hayes, looking directly at Coronet Peak! It was a time of trials and learning. I become a cook, but the split shifts were difficult. Wendy discovered a new aspect of faith. If she had a doctor’s appointment, she would stand on the road to Queenstown (long before cell phones & 2 cars). Usually she only had to wait 5 minutes before a friend came.

In 1982, we moved back to Dunedin. We didn't have much, and Wendy was pregnant, but within a few months we had our own house! This was a time of growth for both of us. We had a large home group in our house. I was elected on to the Vestry (yes, an Anglican Charismatic church).

I returned to my old trade making orthotic footwear. We were growing in the Lord. For a time I led worship and discovered gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us for the benefit of the church body. For myself, I mostly exercised gifts in the areas of prophecy and discernment. As my journey progressed I discovered that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to all believers, but also in different measures. God also creates every person with motiva tional gifts as described in Ephesians 4:11-16, again for the bene fit of the whole church body. I'm not yet fully sure where I fit in, but I'm on an interesting journey. As new Christians we settled into the first church went to, but we always had a yearning to be a part of community living.

In January 1987 we moved to West Auckland. In hindsight, it was crazy, but I became a more complete person. The reason we moved quickly became a problem. We bought a house in a new subdivision, found a church nearby and settled in, or so we thought. We were visited by someone from the church and told we had to give more. There was also a lack of sound biblical teaching. So began a slow search for a spiritual home.

Our girls were getting older, Wendy was working as a social worker, I had many jobs, truck driving, orthotic shoe making again, and a 9-month period of unemployment.

We also needed to work on our marriage, but we didn't seem to notice. In 2000, Wendy left. We had stopped going to church, and our communication had not been good. That started me on a downward spiral, mostly drinking.

For about 17 years I wandered in the wilderness. Not all was bad. I sensed God as my Father reaching out to me during this time. A friend who needed somewhere to stay moved in with me. We became close. She loved the Lord, but felt guilty about our rela tionship. However, it was good for her and me. She was dying, and needed a place to stay where there was peace. Also, I didn't drink as much anymore!

Unfortunately, my wife (now divorced from me) died in Oamaru in 2013, at age 58, far too young.

In 2010, I moved to Timaru. I didn't want to go back to Dunedin. When I moved the first person I met was a Christian. This pattern followed me until I finally turned my life around in July 2017. I ponder often, about how things happen in life. Why? As we come closer to knowing our Father, and the spirit world that surrounds us, we get glimpses of the why.

Our Father wants us to be sold out for Him. What does that mean? Letting go of unhealthy selfish habits and desires, and developing a fervent desire to embrace new Godly priorities, becoming aware of the Holy Spirit, and His promptings. When I turned my life around, there were no “fireworks”. For me, there was a desire to be holy, to change who I was, to become a fol lower of Jesus. Yes, I had believed in Jesus most of my life, but, for years I was someone simply filling a seat at church on Sun days.

Now I had a desire to get involved. I started going to the annual Full Gospel camp in the Southern region, and getting involved in the local Full Gospel chapter. Also, in my business, showing an attitude that reveals our Father to our customers.

One of my favourite bible verses is: Romans chapter 12 v2. “Become transformed by the renewing of the mind”. That is im portant for all Christians, because the mind becomes a battle ground. The enemy tries to steal, but we, who accept Jesus into our lives, have power to resist temptation, our old nature and to live in victory because of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resur rection.

It's been a long journey, but Jesus enables me to walk in victory. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, once given, never leaves us. Despite the “extended holiday”, the Holy Spirit was (is) still at work in my life. Now, if I am involved in prayer ministry, I expect to see the Holy Spirit move!

Sometimes, I feel as though I am still a learner. I guess I am. There is much truth in the Bible, and much more for me to learn. Any one of us can pray a simple prayer such as “Lord, take my life, it's yours. Less of me, more of You”. In doing so God takes us at our word and will adopt us as sons or daughters with the na ture of Jesus entering into our lives. These are exciting times, The Holy Spirit is moving over New Zealand. I would like to encourage you to listen to His voice. Hear that quiet prompting. Go, speak to that man over there. Bless you all.

Born into a family of 12, there was plenty of sibling rivalry between 9 brothers and 1 sister. Mother told me she prayed, “If I am to have a large family may they all be boys”.

Before the Anglican ‘confirmation’ I was busy reading War Comics with plenty of action. I sat the prep. exams and failed, calling the Even Song service, Evening Song. Frustrated, I told the Lord ‘He can keep it”. The reply came ‘You are to apply yourself to it and get it behind you.’ It was the first time I had heard the Lord speak to me in my heart.

In church for my first communion, I asked the Lord, ‘If you are real, please prove it to me.’ I received a vision of the heavens looking like a million rainbows. My conscience was strengthened and set me on a straight path through my teen years.

CAREER CHOICE

My father had passed away and at sixteen years of age so my mother told me to start earning a living. I decided to be a dairy farmer, using experience gained during school holidays with my brother Ray, who was share milking. After six years farming in the South Auckland region, I realised the best way to obtain my own farm was in the town supply milk industry.

I attended Young Farmers Clubs and enjoyed dancing but never meeting a lady to marry. I said ‘Lord you know the right one for me’. The next dance I attended at the Crystal Palace Ballroom in Mt Eden, I noticed this attractive young lady and when approaching her for a dance a veil of light shone over her. When dancing with Margaret I felt like being on ‘cloud nine’. After a courtship of twelve months she agreed to marry me revealing to me her desire was always to marry a dairy farmer. It’s interesting how the Lord gives you the desires of your heart.

Enjoying married life, we obtained a 50/50 share milking contract at Whenuapai. Our son Andrew was born in the first year. After 18 months I noticed a position at Waiau Pa, South Auckland, advertised as a ‘Golden Opportunity’ and applied. This I thought would help us to gain farm ownership more quickly. There were 40 applicants for this 1100-litre quota position. I said ‘Lord if it’s according to your will I’ll be accepted.’ His will prevailed and we were awarded the position.

CONFRONTED WITH MORE CHALLENGES

Upon arriving on the farm at Waiau Pa we became aware that it had previously been fertilized with large amounts of Potassium Super for increased grass growth. As a result we encountered severe health problems with the cattle, bloat being the main one. On one occasion after breakfast I checked the cows for bloat. I observed about 75% of the herd were in danger and I took four of the worst effected to the cowshed. On the way one started to stagger so I stabbed her with the bloat knife to release pressure. In the cow yard she collapsed and died. (The vet informed me later, the sudden release of pressure caused her heart to fail.) Having treated the other 3 cows, I realised I needed help and asked “Lord, please help I’ve done all I can to save my herd from bloat”. As I looked back to the herd they were all grazing happily much to my relief.

During the hay season, after a hot day in the paddock, I returned home to have a cold drink of beer, then to go out and milk the cows. While milking I had severe pain in my stomach requiring a visit to the doctor who asked ‘what have you done to cause the pain’. After my explanation he replied ‘that would serve you right’. I was admitted to hospital where they found my appendix was gangrenous and removed it. Soon after, back at work, I had another attack of pain. This time worse than the appendicitis, landing me in hospital again. I felt my life ebbing away and asked the Lord to ‘please take the pain away as I was too young to die’. Soon after, the pain subsided and I was discharged. The cause of the pain was not known. The Lord healed me.

MY SALVATION EXPERIENCE

While walking down to the cowshed I was reminded to thank the Lord for removing the pain. He responded by saying ‘I receive your thanks but I want you’. I replied ‘I don’t know what you mean’.

A town milk field officer named Paul Pettit visited the farm while I was cleaning up after milking and discerned I was stressed with life. He shared with me of his love for the Lord Jesus and his experience of being Born Again. This really touched my heart.

I was visiting my younger brother a little while later and I noticed a change in him. He told me he had accepted the Lord Jesus. I replied ‘What you have, I want’. He led me in a prayer where I asked Jesus into my life and received forgiveness of my sins. I had found the missing piece of the puzzle. I understood how the Lord wanted me receiving the fullness of ‘His Eternal Life’ being born again not of the flesh, but of His Spirit. I had a keen desire to read the Bible to know the Lord’s purpose with mankind and me.

THE NEXT STEP IN A NEW DIRECTION

One morning milking the Lord asked me to resign my farming and follow Him. I desired to enjoy family life on the farm. Again, He asked me and I declined. On the third request, his unconditional love impacted my heart, I couldn’t resist. I experienced dropping into an abyss without hitting the bottom then being elevated to a Heavenly realm. I was emotional. He explained I had died to my own desires and now was elevated into his heavenly realm walking with Him in Spirit and Truth. I resigned from farming and moved to Takapuna, and started a building career at twenty seven.

MIRACLE HEALING

Having settled in Takapuna our second daughter Jenny was born. After two weeks we noticed her cry had become a screech and after a doctor’s visit she was admitted to hospital with spinal meningitis. In hospital she was on life support. While preparing to sleep one night we opened the Bible at Ephesians 6 and read about putting on the full armour of God which we prayed over Jenny. The next night we both woke up at midnight, Margaret had a vision of the Lord at the end of the bed, I had an experience of a new day dawning. I rang the hospital to enquire about Jenny and the matron answered the phone and said, ‘I have just fed Jennifer and she has smiled at me’. She had a miraculous full recovery.

SETTLING IN WARKWORTH

We moved to Warkworth, north of Auckland. During one building contract on a tight schedule at Omaha, the Lord asked me to allow Him to be the co-ordinator and administrator while building. It was completed on time. While preparing another quote, the Lord asked me to allow him to be the husband in me to my wife and father in me to my children. To have His divine attributes imparted into myself was wonderful.

THE GOODNESS AND GRACE OF THE LORD

I have done mission work in the Solomon Islands experiencing the peace of the Lord. He said ‘this is a foretaste of what is to come.’ I had a malaria inoculation and during the test the Doctor diagnosed me with prostate cancer. With prayer and declaring the cancer broken off I was healed, Praise the Lord! Over the years we have experienced the blessings and favour of the Lord, with many answers to prayer.

The Christian life is a victorious and abundant life.

I grew up in Auckland. My Grandfather helped me know God. When I was 18 I gave my life to God, but slowly lost my commitment to the Lord.

I became a barber and met Leisa in Te Awamutu. We married and moved to Australia in 2000. We had five children together but without God in our relationship it ended. Leisa and four of the children moved back to NZ and I ended up living in Sydney with one of the children. I had a great lifestyle and was pulling in about $3,500 a week. On the outside it looked good but I was empty on the inside and unhappy. My mates couldn’t work out why I was unhappy when I had all the world’s goods.

In my loneliness I decided to find a church to attend. My intention was to slip in and then slip out quickly at the end of the service. I did that for six weeks. At the seventh week after church a woman asked me to tell her my life story. I replied that I would rather not say, but she pressed me to share, so I did – how I was divorced and unhappy. She said, “That’s unusual. It sounds like my story.” She proceeded to tell me a similar kind of story and how she also started attending that church. She had a dream in which she was getting remarried to her ex-husband. This was five years after they had separated. Her dream repeated for the next four nights. Finally, she realised that God wanted her to reconcile and remarry her ex-husband. That happened for her.

I wanted to run because I thought she was going to challenge me. Sure enough she did, saying “I believe this is a message for you!”. In my mind I was saying “I am never coming back to this church”, and I left. No more church for me.

Two months later, out of the blue, my ex-wife Leisa phoned me, asking, “Has God told you yet". She hadn’t said that to me before. “What do you mean?” I asked. Leisa then told me how she started attending a church service in NZ, and after a few weeks God told her that we would get married again, that I was in a prison and that God wanted her to forgive me.

She told me how she had broken up with her partner; it was all over. The bombshell was when she asked if I was happy. I said no. Did I miss the kids? Yes! Leisa then asked me to return to NZ to see how it would go. A profound feeling of peace came over me and I said “That sounds like a really good idea.” Soon after that call I paid all my bills, got released from my position at work and booked my air tickets to NZ. Supernaturally everything fell into place except for one thing, I didn’t have any spare cash for a final coffee. I told Leisa, who said: “don’t worry about it”.

I returned for the last time to the barber’s shop. A big very tall man entered with an amazing pinstripe suit and handsome golden hair. He asked for a cut. As I trimmed his hair I felt a pure and holy presence from him. He was called Edward. Straight away we started talking about God. He answered every question I had, somehow without moving his lips. I stood back and said, “Are you an angel?” He nodded and I freaked out. I asked my fellow workers if they had seen him and they said no. Anyway he paid for his haircut and left. I then went to the back of the shop to count my coins, hoping there was enough left over for a coffee. To my astonishment there was A$250 in my wallet that wasn’t there before. I knew then that God really wanted Leisa and I to reconcile and remarry.

In 2011 I returned to NZ and my family. Leisa and I reconciled and remarried in late 2011. It was amazing. We decided to go to a Marriage Enrichment class in a Hamilton church where we got to know a couple who were missionaries from Zimbabwe. The husband was a Kiwi and his wife African. They explained how in the poverty stricken nation of Zimbabwe God provided for their needs in wonderful ways. On one occasion there they were gathered one cool evening around an outside open fire. Suddenly a man ran from the back of the crowd, leaped over people and the fire and quickly ran into the bush. The missionary’s wife said to the local Pastor, “Did you see that man?” “What man?” he replied. She said, “The man who jumped over the flames.” “Öh” the Pastor said, “That’s Edu, the angel of provision. That means you are going to be blessed for the rest of your mission.” He then said that Edu means Edward in English. Wow! After hearing that testimony I knew I had really had an angel visitation myself in Sydney.

My story doesn’t end there. We moved to Te Awamutu in 2013 where I rented a chair in three barber shops. I really wanted to have my own shop in the main street but did not see how it could happen. I began praying about this and my faith in God increased. I needed to take a step of faith. Leisa found a small vacant shop in the centre of town, perfect for a barber’s shop, but it would cost $30,000 to fit it out well. I had only $6,000. I haven’t enough space to tell you the details of the miracles of provision. Leisa’s mum gave us $10,000, one glass company gave me $20,000 of large mirrors and eleven tradesmen did work for free or minimal costs. Our FADE SHADE BLADE shop was established to the glory of God.

Was all this a coincidence? No. It all happened because the Heavenly Father honours those who honour and obey Him and His son Jesus Christ. You too can receive eternal and present blessings if you will also put your trust in the Lord. God is faithful and He is good. I have proven it. Once I was divorced and lonely, now we are remarried and abundantly blessed in every way.

I grew up in Christchurch. Mum and Dad have always had a very strong Christian faith and Mum always prayed for us kids, whatever we were doing.

Mum – Hayden has always been a very vivacious, fun person. He has been totally fearless and would talk to anybody, go anywhere, do anything. He always had a vibrancy of life.

We had to go to church as kids but once I hit high school I thought Christianity wasn’t for me. I was never a bad person but there was no way you would have got me into a church. I was more looking forward to weekends, like most young fellers. I would finish a working week anticipating a Friday or Saturday night at the pub, a few beers, having a good time with the guys, heading away hunting for the weekend, doing whatever, just chasing fun, I suppose. I’ve always been an adrenaline chasing sort of bloke.

I went contract mustering cattle in Australia for a couple of years. I would go to rodeos for fun. I got into bull riding and loved the adrenaline rush. As you came out of the chute the bull might give you his best buck, on the 2nd or 3rd buck he might throw you a curve ball and you would respond with your best spur to the ribs. That really excited me and I thought: “Heck, I want to give this thing a bit of a nudge”.

Back in New Zealand I thought I would try to give it a serious crack. I went to a practice night after a day of work and rode my first bull really well. They said, last bull of the night is in the chute, jump on it. Me being as keen as mustard said: “Sure, who cares, it’s got me all over it”. Famous last words. The bull came out of the chute, I got winded and lost control of my body. As the bull kicked up I was going forward. As his head was coming up again for another rear we collided skulls and I was knocked out before I hit the ground. Everyone piled into the arena, forming a human circle around me. Someone dialled 111 and then they sent out a chopper to pick me up. A radio call went through to my immediate family and a coroner was contacted because they didn’t think I was going to make it.

Fragments of my skull were lodged in my brain.

I can’t remember anything about the night of the accident or of riding in New Zealand. I remember riding while I was in Australia and bucking a few bulls out over there. I do miss it, I miss it a lot.

Mum - I got a call about 10 past 10 to say that he was being airlifted into hospital. We didn’t know anything about what had been happening and we just knew that when we got to the trauma room that they had taken him straight for x-ray.

As soon as I arrived at hospital they gave me a cat scan which revealed a brain bleed and fragments of skull were lodged in my brain. Friends of ours actually know someone who was in the scanning room that night of the accident. As soon as they read my scan they said there is no possible human way for this boy to walk out of here alive.

Mum and Dad sent out prayer requests to people all around the globe. People were praying for this kid who didn’t want to know God. I wasn’t really in that market, I just wanted to ride bulls and have fun.

Mum – Very quickly our house filled up. A lot of Hayden’s friends came and stayed. A couple of girls took over the cooking, but I was at the hospital. I remember speaking to the head doctor in ICU on the Friday morning, 3 days before Hayden came out of his coma. They said I am so sorry, we have to give him a tracheotomy, we are looking at long term ICU, I’m so sorry but we can’t do any more. I said, I know, but I’m not listening to that, I’m praying for Hayden and I’m standing in faith. Monday morning, he came out of the coma and that afternoon he was sitting up in a chair and he was walking with assistance.

After my accident I was in a coma for 12 days following 5 hours of brain surgery.

While in hospital I remember one night, it was dark, nobody was around and I cried out to Jesus. I thought: “I don’t know anybody here, I don’t know what is going on, please help me God if you are real. Please help me”. I remember looking up and saw a bloke at the end of my bed holding my feet. He had very dark facial features, hair down to his shoulders and he was wearing a fluorescent white cloak. All he said was, I’ve got you Hayden, you’re not going anywhere.

They were short of beds at the hospital so I went to Laura Fergusson Rehabilitation Clinic, where I stayed for 9 months before I was allowed to go home. During the first 2 months after going home I was in a very dark place. The rug of life had just been ripped out from underneath me. I had gone from potentially staring down the barrel of a professional bull riding career and now I was living back at home with my parents. I couldn’t even cook a meal by myself. I was thinking that life couldn’t get any worse.

There was a spiritual battle going on within me. Half of me wanted to turn my life around and follow the big fella; the other half said no, to hell with religion, I’m going back to drinking beer and chasing girls and doing all the fun stuff. I did think I should at least go to church and say thanks to God for saving my life.

I had gone to a church a few times at high school because a couple of hot girls from school went there. I visited a church where they announced that now was the last opportunity to attend an annual conference in Wellington. At that point of time I wasn’t really well enough to travel. Mum let me go though, even though I couldn’t remember what I had done the day before.

One night at the conference during a song, I started bawling my eyes out. I felt like I was walking around with 100 kilograms on my shoulders. In that moment it was as if someone (Jesus) had tossed that weight off me. Instantly I knew exactly what I was going to do for the rest of my life and that my main goal going forward was to rescue people who were on their way to hell. From that night my life has changed dramatically.

I look at photos and videos of me in hospital, to remind me of where I’ve come from. How thankful I am to have the Lord Jesus Christ in my life, where he’s brought me from and where I could be without his help.

One night while diving for lobster on the small Island of Mauritius I was stung on my forearm by 5 Box-Jellyfish which the local Creole fishermen called "invisibles". A sting from a Box-Jellyfish often proves to be fatal - as exemplified in Australia where 70 people are known to have died from their stings. Many books quote this particular type of Jellyfish to be among the most venomous creatures in the world.

By the time an ambulance arrived my body was totally paralyzed and necrosis had begun to set into my bone marrow. On route to the hospital I began to see my life flash before me. At this point of my life I was an atheist - but I knew I was nearly dead and I didn't know if there was life after death or whether there was just nothing. As I lay there dying, I saw my mother in a vision praying for me, encouraging me to cry out to God from my heart and He would hear me and forgive me (my mother was the only Christian in our family.) I didn't know what to pray and cried out that if God was real, could He help me to pray. Immediately God showed me the Lord's Prayer, and for the first time in my life I prayed from my heart and gave my life to the Lord.

Death & Hell

The ambulance stopped and they placed me in a wheel chair and raced me into the hospital. The nurse took my blood pressure twice but could not find a pulse as my veins had collapsed. The doctors tried to save my life by injecting anti toxins and dextrose into my body, but seemingly to no avail. Within a few minutes I seemed to slip away (apparently life ceased from my body for a period of approx. 15 minutes).

During this time I found myself in a very dark place, not realising where I was. So I tried to find a light switch, thinking I was still in the hospital - but as I reached out into the dark I couldn't touch anything. Reaching to touch my face I found my hand go straight through it. It seemed so bizarre, as I knew I was standing there but couldn't touch any part of my physical body.

As I stood there I began to sense that this wasn't just a physical darkness but that there was something else there. I could feel a cold eerie feeling as though something or someone was looking at me - a spiritual darkness. From the darkness I began to hear men's voices screaming at me telling me to "shut up" - "that I deserved to be there" - "that I was in Hell". I couldn't believe it, but as I stood there a radiant beam of light shone through the darkness and immediately began to lift me upward. I found myself being translated up into an incredibly brilliant beam of pure white light - it seemed to be emanating from a circular opening far above me (I felt like a speck of dust being drawn up into a beam of sunlight).

The Journey

I entered this opening to find myself inside a long narrow passageway or tunnel - at the far end of the tunnel I could see the source of the light - it was so radiant that it looked to be the centre of the universe. As I continued to look towards this light it seemed to draw me towards it at an incredible speed - I wasn't walking but was being translated along this tunnel towards the source of this light. I watched as a wave of light broke off the source and moved up the tunnel towards me - as it passed through me I could feel a wave of warmth and comfort flood my soul … it was incredible. This light wasn't just physical, but was giving off a living emotion … Halfway down another wave of light - this time it gave off pure peace - followed by another wave - of pure joy. Coming out of the end of this tunnel I found myself standing in the presence of awesome light and power - it seemed as though even the constellations in the universe must find their energy source from this focal point.

As I stood there I wondered to myself if this was just an energy source in the universe or if perhaps there could be someone standing in the midst of this light!!!!! A voice immediately responded to my thought and asked me "Ian, do you wish to return?" Return, I thought!!! Where am I??? As I looked over my shoulder I could see the tunnel going back into darkness.

The Light

I thought - darkness - hospital bed - am I out of my body? - is this real? - am I standing here? - or am I in a coma having some bizarre dream? Am I in my body or out of my body?? (I could cognitively think of the two alternatives.) As I looked back towards the light, it was still there ... I responded "I don't know where I am, but if I am out of my physical body I wish to return." The voice responded "If you wish to return - you must see in a new light." "New light", I thought, "I'm seeing the light." "Are you the true light???" Words appeared in front of me "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)."

I had never read a Bible before in my life so I didn't know this was straight out of the scriptures. God is light, I thought - that is pure light - I see no darkness here, I have just come from darkness - I see no evil, no shadows - this is pure light - am I standing in the presence of God??? He knows my name and I didn't tell Him, only God could do that - He knows what I am thinking before I even speak, only God could do that. Then he must be able to see everything I have done wrong in my life ... no ... I don't want God to see that. I felt totally exposed and wanted to move away from the light and go back into the darkness where I belonged. I thought someone had made a mistake and brought the wrong person up. As I drew back towards the darkness a wave of light swept through me...

I felt pure unadulterated Love flow over me. Love I thought, how could God love me - I've taken his name in vain - I've slept around - I'm not a good man … but no matter what I said, waves of His unconditional Love continued to flow over me. I found myself weeping uncontrollably in His Presence. It was so amazing that He had totally forgiven me and accepted me as I was.

The waves of Love ceased and I wondered if I could possibly step into the light and see what God looked like. I was so close. ... I asked if I could step in. ..???.. I heard no response but thought if God could love me so much, He wouldn't mind …. As I stepped into the light I found myself disappear into it as it was so radiant - it had the intensity of laser light, yet you could look directly at it. The light seemed to absorb me into it - the centre seemed to be very bright so I aimed for it - I could feel a healing presence coming off this light that was healing my broken heart ... it was touching me deep inside my heart of hearts where no one gets to see … so beautiful.

God

Suddenly it opened up in the centre and standing in front of me was the most awesome sight - I could see a man standing in front of me, but he was not like anyone I'd ever seen before in my life. His garments were shimmering white in colour - garments of light - I could see His bare feet and His hands were outstretched towards me as if to welcome me. I knew I was looking upon God … as I looked toward His face the intensity of the light seemed to increase 7-fold - you couldn't make out the form of his face as the light was so bright - such purity, such holiness, such beauty.

I asked God if I could step closer. I felt I could, I wanted to see His face. Moving closer waves of more Love began to flow towards me, and I felt very safe. Standing, now feet away, from the Lord I tried to see His face - but I didn't know that no man can see the face of God and live. And so, as I moved my face into the radiance that surrounded His face, He moved - and all His Glory moved with Him. Directly behind Him it opened out into a brand new World - green pastures, a crystal clear stream, rolling green hills to my right, mountains in the distance, blue skies above, to my left fields interspersed with trees and flowers. As I looked at the grass in front of me I could see the same light that was on the presence of God was radiating throughout this entire creation - totally untouched by man - perfect creation. And in my heart I knew I belonged here, that God had created me to live here - I knew I was home.

Return?

I was just about to enter in and explore, when God stepped back in front of me, and asked me this question. "Now that you have seen - do you wish to step in or do you wish to return?" I thought, "I don't want to return. I wish to step in. I have no one to go back for and no one has ever loved me, all they've ever done is manipulate me and try to control me ... I have no one to go back for, I wish to step in." But God didn't move, so I looked back behind me to say "goodbye, cruel world", and standing behind me in a vision in front of the tunnel was my mother.

And as soon as I saw her I knew that there was one person in my life that had shown me love, and that was my mother, and that she had prayed for me every day and tried to show me that this was the way. In my mind I thought, "if I am dead and I did choose to step into heaven, what would my mother think? Would she know I made it or would she think I went to Hell - because she knew I had no Faith? … I realised that it could break her heart and that she would have no reason to believe that God had heard my prayer in the ambulance and forgiven my sins. … I thought, "how can I do that to my mum, it would be so selfish" … and decided I wished to return.

God then spoke to me and said, "If I wished to return - I must see things in a new light." I understood that to mean that I must begin to see through his eyes of Love, Peace, Joy, Forgiveness, from His Heavenly perspective, not my temporary earthly perspective. Looking back towards the tunnel again I now could see a vision of all my family, and thousands and thousands of other people. I asked God who all these people were, and He told me that if I didn't return then many of these people would not get a chance to hear about Him….

I told God that I didn't know most of them and I didn't love them, but that I loved my mother and wished to return for her. God spoke to me and told me that He loved those people and wanted them all to come to know Him. I asked God how could I possibly return back down the tunnel and back into my hospital bed. He spoke and said "Son, tilt your head, now feel the liquid drain from your eye. Now open your eye and see." And I was immediately back in my physical body.

Back to earth

As I opened my eye, I was lying back on a hospital bed with my right leg elevated, cupped in the hands of the young Indian doctor who had been trying to save my life. He had a scalpel or some sharp instrument in his hand and he was prodding the base of my foot like a dead piece of meat. He wasn't aware that I was looking at him. I thought, "what's that man doing with my foot, what is he doing with that knife!!!!!!" At the same time something seemed to spook the doctor and he quickly turned his head to see my right eye open, looking at him…

Terror struck his face and I got the distinct impression that he has just seen a dead man looking at him… My eye wasn't moving much and I could see the doctor thinking to himself that perhaps he had hit a nerve in my foot and caused the corpse to twitch, and that he had the evil eye looking at him or something. As for me, I was trying to grapple with what I had just seen. … Did I just see God, has He just given my life back??? As I lay there I heard the voice of God say "Son, I have just given you your life back." I said if that is true God, could you help me to tilt my head to the left and look out of the other eye, as I was getting sick of looking at the doctor's terrified face. Strength came back into my neck and I opened my left eye to see a whole bunch of nurses and orderlies standing in the doorway looking at me as if the dead had just risen … As my eye locked onto theirs they began to jump backwards out of the doorway. From what I can ascertain I had been dead for a period of some 15 minutes. I prayed to God that night and asked him to heal me and enable me to walk out of the hospital. That night God completely healed me and enabled me to walk out of the hospital the next day.

I asked God what I had become, as I found my entire life was changing for good. God told me I was a Re-Born Christian and that he wanted me to read His Bible. I had never read a Bible and had never heard about being Born Again. Over the next 6 weeks I read the entire Bible. I have never been the same, and believe that I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in His Glorified form (Rev. 1 : 13 -18).

I was born up North in Kawakawa and am happily married to my wife Liza. We have two amazing boys and another child on the way.

I came from a good Christian home; well, as good as any home can be. Mum, Dad and my two older brothers. My Dad studied at Auckland University and after graduating he was appointed Pastor at Kawarau Baptist church.

I lived with my parents until the age of 14. I made some close friends who weren’t the best. They all came from broken homes. I was searching for my place in life.

Resentment began to build up towards my Mum and Dad. I eventually ended up hating them, especially my Dad. I resented that other kids I knew were allowed do things my Dad stopped me doing, such as watching TV shows. At the age of sixteen I was pretty much out of home for weeks on end drinking, smoking, partaking of entry level drugs, living the party life. Home was a smoke and alcohol free zone.

When I would come home late at night, I would see my Mum praying and reading her Bible at the dinner table. Often in the morning, she would be kneeling in prayer beside her bed (I now know who she was praying for).

That lifestyle went on for years. My hate grew worse and I found contentment in being completely intoxicated. I fell in love with a young lady. We were together for a year before she became pregnant. The child was aborted. The hurt and guilt of this did not hit me until later on in life.

I found a job brick laying and the money started to roll in. I lived paycheck to paycheck. My boss was from Rarotonga, a big guy with dark skin, named Sharka. He was a hard man, but he was also a Christian. One day he started to tell me about the Ten Commandments. He asked me: “Have you lied? Have you had sex before marriage?” and so on.

I came from a Christian home so I thought, oh here we go. Cheeky me – I asked him the same questions back. His response was yes; he had asked for forgiveness. Well, I had no answer for that - I hated Christians.

My friends and I used to drink and drive often – it was normal for us; day or night it didn’t really matter. One afternoon I was driving drunk to collect an old mate from school. I got caught and lost my driving licence for six months. I did not care much for the police and I still drove most days until I got my licence back. My heart was very hard.

I was never going to be a Christian!

I was now enjoying the nightclub scene and had given up drugs. My girlfriend had stayed with me for about two years so far. Around this time of my life, whenever I drank one or two bottles of beer, I couldn’t stop drinking until the box was finished. Parts of my night started to go missing from my memory.

One night, we loaded up the van and decided to go get drunk over at Mount Maunganui. It was about 3 or 4am and we were parked at the beach front. A van pulled up beside us. I can’t remember much, but what struck me was that this lady gave each of us a free pie and milo along with a pamphlet. She was a Christian with an American accent. Maybe the first Christian I did not hate. Well, the pamphlets went straight in the bin, but we appreciated the pie and milo.

I had plenty of friends and about three close ones. I found rest in being completely intoxicated and spending long hours into the morning playing computer games with my buddies. Some of these computer games you play with people from different countries. They take your mind away from real life for hours on end and we loved them.

I would never think about my Mum or Dad. I was as far away from Jesus as you can be. I was never going to be a Christian and for that matter I didn’t even know how to become one.

For my 21st birthday, my friends and I visited nightclubs, drank from yard glasses and generally had a “good time”, but in the morning I could hardly remember anything we had been up to. But this was about to change, God brought me to the end of myself.

My girlfriend left and some of my mates also started to leave, but my heart was harder than ever before. After a few weeks I was so miserable I did not even want to drink.

One day at work, I suddenly thought of my mum. She would usually be one of that last people I would think about. I rang her and asked if she could come round so we could talk. I did not even know what for. What do you talk about with your Mum?

They lived outside Rotorua on a small farm. I lived in town in a two storey house with my brother and my best mate. Mum came in with Dad. He stayed down stairs - I did not want to see him.

That hour I gave my life to Jesus. Immediately I felt all the hurt, hate and resentment bottled up inside me leave - I can’t explain it. I could smile.

There’s not a drug or alcohol or anything this life has to offer that can surpass the love of Jesus that came into my life, nothing else can make you feel this way.

The next week I went up to my immediate boss and apologised for the way I had treated him. He looked at me in a really funny way, with his eyebrows raised and asked if there was something in the water.

Within six months the Lord brought me from working in a timber shed to working in an office. Over a period of time I was put in charge of the Sales Office – without any qualifications (at school I was without a doubt in the very bottom end of all my classes – you would think things like this would not happen to a guy like me).

Liza and I now own a distribution franchise in Whangarei where we employ thirty-four part time staff.

To cut a long story short, Jesus took me from where I was and gave me a new life, a hope, a future. He can do the same for you. No matter what you have done or where you are at.

I am a self-employed arborist. Julie and I have been married for 27 years, we have 3 girls and 2 boys. We live in Hamilton, having shifted up from Taranaki at the start of 2010. Julie and I were both born in Stratford. She was a townie. I grew up on a family sheep and beef farm at Strathmore.

Most of my early life growing up on the farm was in a lonely and dark environment in a spiritual sense. I was the younger of 2 brothers. Mum’s parents owned the farm. Mum met Dad at a local dance where he was working as a leading hand in the Te Wera State Forestry.

My Dad had a difficult childhood with an over tough father, having to work long hours even before school and then often falling asleep in class because he was so tired. He went to Ardmore Training College to become a teacher where he suffered a mental breakdown because of the overwhelming pressures on his life.

This led to many years of going in and out of psychiatric hospitals and many years on all sorts of medication. He had several good years in amongst the bad ones and he always tried hard to do the best for our family. It was really hard as a young person to understand why my Dad wasn’t always there when I needed him, and why it was so hard to tell what sort of mood he would be in when he was at home or why his hands would always shake so much.

Mum’s father was a strong supporter of the Masonic Lodge and he introduced my Dad to the Lodge. The Lodge, to its credit, helped our family out many times when Dad wasn’t around, I am forever grateful for their support. Sadly, all lodge members have to swear oaths. Those oaths are directed to Satan and his underlying demonic powers, although the lodge members are ignorant of that fact. Lodge membership can bring curses to the member’s family to the 3rd and 4th generations.

I can remember hearing lots of voices in my head when I was young

I can remember hearing lots of voices in my head when I was young. At the time I had no clue that one of them would have been the God of the Universe telling me that he loved me and had special plans for my life. Other voices I heard told me that I was going to end up like Dad and that there was no point in planning for the future because there wasn’t any.

In my early high school years I found a pornographic magazine in my brother’s drawer. This put my mind even more on the back foot and started a long term addiction. I was very lonely, mixed up, and it was hard watching my brother who was hardly ever without a girlfriend.

I made it through 4 years at Stratford High School with 1 hour of travelling on 2 different buses each day. I still had no idea what I wanted to do in life so I defaulted to what was right in front of me, that is the farm. Hindsight is a great thing and it is very obvious now that neither I nor my Dad were designed to be farmers.

I went to Flock House Farm training school for 1 year, following my brother in what he did without really thinking for myself. I was given the same nickname as my brother and I continued to struggle with an ongoing identity crisis. At the end of that year I came to a major cross-roads where I could sense a certain freedom after my first year away from home. I saw how good it would be to get a job away from home to continue in that freedom. The flip side of that freedom was a feeling of obligation to go home and help out because they needed me. I chose to return home to the farm.

Back on the farm I enjoyed belonging to the Toko Young Farmers Club, playing rugby for Whangamomona and helping neighbours out with shearing and haymaking. The farm and family life was still hard. Without realizing it I started to slip into a state of depression.

Depression is a really hard condition to deal with for the person and the family and others. I eventually wanted to get away from the farm and go somewhere different. I ended up driving round parts of the North Island, meeting up with family and friends. Many people shared with me how they had invited God into their lives and that He promised to help them no matter what they were going through.

I ended up in the far North where I fell in love with a beautiful English girl for all of about four days before she left for Australia. I then drove to my Auntie’s place in New Lynn, Auckland where I sat on the couch reading her scripture posters on the wall. She would have been out on the step praying for me. After a while I called out to her and asked her how to become born again. I prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted Jesus Christ into my life to be my Lord & Saviour on the 31st March, 1986.

Going back to the farm was even more of a battle. The next 3 years were really hard as my new found life in Jesus started to confront the old strongholds of pornography, depression and loneliness. Life was a major roller coaster until September 1989 when I truly learnt to be still and know that God is God and that life is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God. I drew a line in the sand at that point to seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness. I began a long journey towards growing in faith and grace, allowing God to change and heal and restore all of my brokenness and painful memories.

Today I testify that God has set me free from depression, pornography, loneliness and freemasonry. The key for me to staying free is to stay in God’s Word (the Bible) every day. Speak it out, meditate on it, memorise it. He will indeed transform our lives by renewing our minds and hearts through the Word.

When I was young I believed a lie from the enemy that I had no future. Now God’s Word tells me that He knows and directs his thoughts towards me, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give me a future and a hope. God’s Word tells me that He puts the lonely and solitary into families, that He restores all of the years that the locusts have eaten, and that as I wait on him, I will mount up with eagle’s wings to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint.

God has given me a wonderful wife and family, a career that I am very passionate about and strength to still enjoy it at an older age. Most of all, God helps us to forgive and to move on into the rich inheritance that He has for each of us. God’s Word says it and I believe it.

I am a standard sinner saved only by God’s grace. I don’t want to bore anyone with details of my past sinful activities, but I do re member standing around a BBQ with a few fellow learner pilots many years back, with the standard alcoholic beverages involved.
One of our group with a happy somewhat inebriated grin said to me, “When I die, I want to be in hell because all my mates will be there.”

I was a bit surprised by this statement, but then realised two things – an inner conviction told me he was right, if I died then, I would be in hell also.

I also realised I didn’t want to end up there.

I didn’t do anything about this conviction straightaway but after a couple of years, I began to feel very “empty” inside. Life seemed pointless. I thought if I disappeared off the face of the earth, what difference would it make to the universe?

Not that I was “suicidal”, as whenever I got into serious trouble, I would be quick enough to call out to God to help me out of the situation.

I was in a job that meant overnights, and picked up the Gideon’s Bible there in the motel and began to read it.

I was particularly drawn to verses that talked about “eternal life”.
I began to think that I would like to have that. I thought about being a Christian and realised I would have to stop doing some of the things I was doing but I wasn’t ready to give these things up just yet. I believe it’s called “enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season”.

Anyhow, God was drawing me in. Easter back in 1982, I was watching a film on TV depicting the life of Jesus based on the Gospel of Luke. When Jesus said to the disciples, “Come and follow me”, I had an inner conviction I needed to do the same. I said, “Lord, make me a disciple too.”

Well, that little prayer had an amazing effect. I encountered such peace and love, and felt forgiveness for past misdeeds.

I felt as if a weight was lifted off and realised it was guilt for past sins gone. Those things I didn’t want to give up now seemed like rubbish. That began a great hunger for reading the Bible.

Shortly after this, one day while praying – the presence of the Lord was with me powerfully and wonderfully and a new lan guage seemed to “bubble up” within me. I can still speak in it today; without understanding what it means. I now know God had baptised me in the Holy Spirit by His own initiative.

Soon after this, God led me to a church that seemed to be going through the Book of Acts – people getting saved, baptised in the Spirit and delivered from the demonic, and the Bible was being taught enthusiastically.

The Importance of Being on the Right Track

So after some years, I was in an aviation job, flying a light aircraft in the South of Southern Alps of New Zealand. This was pre-GPS days, so navigating was by old fashioned map-reading.

As I headed up a mountainous valley, I suddenly got the impres sion that the terrain out the window wasn’t matching what I should see on my map. I realised I was – lost – and heading up a blind mountain valley.

The mountains beside and in front were impossible to out-climb in my little Cessna and I had better turned back before I couldn’t in the narrow valley. I did so and headed back to where I was last certain of where I actually was. Once there, I could see where I took a wrong turn and the valley I should have gone up was adja cent to the valley I had gone up. The main feeling to be back on the right track was a sense of relief.

I have also been lost briefly while on a tramp with my son Ethan out on the East Coast of the North Island, climbing Mt Hikurangi, to be specific.

It happened like this. While returning from the summit, the weather had turned to low cloud and visibility with misty rain. In the conditions, I took a wrong turn at a track intersection.

Heading along through the bush, I realised our surroundings didn’t match what I should be seeing on our map. That’s when I realised I had gone off-track and was lost! I stopped and re traced our steps back to where I was last certain of where we were. Once again, the relief to be back on the right track was immense.

What about spiritually – am I certain I am on the right track? Is the Bible accurate? Self-study and investigation have satisfied me it is - Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and is alive today.
To trust Him gives me the same sense of relief that I experienced after getting back on the right track after being lost in an aircraft and tramping.

Back in the year 1995 I had been feeling a push from the Lord about going to a Bible College for various reasons. Some well meaning folks in my church said, “Why are you going to Bible College?” I just said, “To mind my own business”. Actually, I wasn’t totally sure why myself. I thought maybe I would get a job “in ministry”.

Well, as I said before, I am a taciturn character so that probably was never likely. I did meet my lovely wife-to-be Joyce there though, and we have been married ¼ plus century now. How kind the Lord is.

At the end of Bible College course, I had no job and thought, “What now?” The phone rang in February 1997 and it was a job offer – back flying. Well, when only one door is open to you, you better take it so I did.

Back to tramping, I and my sons Ethan and Jared have been on several tramps. Ethan and Jared both are now keen trampers themselves.

Ethan and I went on the Waikaremoana Great Walk several years ago. Multi-day tramps require endurance. Ethan was a trooper, putting in a 9-hour day without complaining. The last day as we reached the final pick-up point produced a feeling of exhilaration and joy! All the slogging was worth it.

Recently our youngest son Jared expressed a desire to climb Mt Fuji. I thought about it and thought – why not? So, in July 2024 we went off to Japan to do that. Mt Fuji turned out to be not too technically difficult to climb but was for me, a physiological chal lenge.

I came down with symptoms of altitude sickness. Headache, nausea and shortness of breath. I did think of giving up and heading back down the mountain.

Praying about it, I felt the Lord said, “Go up”, and that was all.
Also, I didn’t really want to give up so close to the summit. Jared said he was fine, no symptoms at all. I must be getting older.

At the summit, there is an archway-gate structure and walking through, I felt the euphoria and the joy again of making it.

I also thought – this is what walking through the gates of heaven will be like – joy, euphoria, and excitement. You might say, settle down. Mt Fuji is not that big a deal – but there it is.

Along the way of life, there have been ups and downs. I was ‘let go’ from my last flying job. It was humbling to be out of work, and I prayed about it. The Scripture came to mind. “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” My dad also passed away the same year.

When one door closes, another opens, and the Lord had gone before us and provided for the lean income years coming up. He has always been wonderfully kind and good to us, far more than I ever deserve, and has never left me or forsaken me.

An opportunity opened for me in the area of woodworking, a hobby of mine. This has now become a little business as a ‘sole trader’.

Back when I was flying, I was walking out to my airplane to fly a Gisborne-Wellington service. An elderly passenger was walking beside me and kept saying to me, “I’m going to heaven”- with a happy smile. I thought, “Not on this flight, I hope!” I looked at him and realised he was just a happy old believer nearing the end of his earthly journey, and quite happy about it. I thought, there – that’s the way to finish life, certain you’re going to heav en and being happy about it.

So, to anyone reading these jottings, please consider this – Heav en and hell are real. Choose heaven; walk closely with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a true and close Friend.

My name is Paul Bernard, I have been married to Janet since 1983. We have three beautiful daughters and as of August this year all have left home; which I am told I will learn to enjoy sometime down the track.

I was ten years old when my mum and dad became Jesus Christ followers. Our family started going to a little Baptist Church in my home town of Cambridge. Our world changed. Years later, I heard the story of several families from that church who had loved my mum and dad, prayed for them, and showed kindness to them in practical ways again and again over several years. How they celebrated when mum and dad were born again.

In February 2015 I was invited to a Full Gospel Business Men’s fellowship meeting in downtown Dunedin, to talk about sharing my faith in Jesus in the workplace. It was an excellent night. I had fun, and there was good comradery as well. Men were sharing and praying for one another. So I kept attending these monthly meetings.

In 2010 I had a dream. It was a scene I knew well from swimming tournament days as a child. Walking out with towel around my shoulders wearing togs and a singlet. I strip off and hand the towel and singlet to one of my work colleagues and head for the starting blocks. I notice that there are no other swimmers in the race. Then in the middle of the dream I start up a conversation with God.

“God, there’s no-one else in this race?”

“Yes Paul, I know. I set this race up just for you. It’s a lap of honour…”

While standing on old fashioned, well-worn starting blocks, I realised that many people had swum this race before me. I became aware of the “Great crowd of witnesses.” My work team mates were watching from beside the pool and my boss was there too, holding the starting gun. I knew that I was going to learn through this to trust God, “Our Father,” at a deeper level than ever before. It was a lap that that would be linking two seasons of my life. The season after the lap would be all about Janet and me going forward together in God’s plans and purposes for and through us from there.

While standing there, looking down, I noticed I was wearing shorts with pockets. The conversation continued;

“God, these are going to slow me down. What shall I wear instead?”

“Put on the garment of praise”

“That’s so cool God, they will be the best.”

I told my Christian friends about the dream and we were pretty excited about it. One day…

Fast Forward to the end of October 2014

I noticed something wasn’t quite right with my pay. When I checked it out I found that for the financial year to that date I had been paid a significant amount too much. “Impossible,” said our administration, but I was right. It was an error that had gone unnoticed for a number of years. The company wrote off the loss from previous years. We corrected the books for the current year and then came the wait until the end of the financial year to find out what that meant for me personally as far as the IRD was concerned.

January 2015. On holiday in Nelson out for a prayer walk. Suddenly God and I are back in the dream (in broad daylight).

God said, “This is it, you’re in it,” then He says, “Look down,” so I look down. “What are you wearing?”

Me, “The garment of praise.”

God, “What else are you wearing?”

Me, “Nothing.”

God, “Exactly.”

And in that moment I knew God created the universe, He created this world, He created me. Everything I am, everything I have, every gifting, every ability, everything of any value in my life was either created by God when he made me. I have nothing of any value that God hadn’t given me in the first place - except ‘thanksgiving and praise.’

That was and still is a WOW moment.

I knew exactly what handing my singlet and towel to my colleague meant. It had already happened.

When my tax return came back April 2015, the figures weren’t bad but once all the penalties and interest had been added onto my total debt was in the tens of thousands over and above the 80% mortgage I had. During the time of not knowing, I had slid into depression. I had only four sales for the year to that point. Being a commission based salesperson made matters worse and I owed my boss a heap as well.

My boss pulled the trigger on the start gun. This was Janet and I coming up with a “bare bones” budget. A new pay structure was put in place on that basis and I got paid whether the pay was there or not. However, the goal was to exceed my pay with performance until the debt was eliminated. First pay under the new structure was in May 2015.

Tuesday June 2, evening meeting FGBMFI, I am heading down the stairs when this Michael dude runs after me. “Hey Paul, God told me to do something” he says.

God told him to, “Look in your wallet and give what’s in it to Paul.” It wasn’t much money, but it was cool obedience, with joy. Something in my heart broke that night.

The following morning there was $1000 in my bank from another lovely couple (also involved in FGBMFI) who had asked for my bank account number several months before “Paul we want to bless you and Janet.”

Wednesday June 3. This was flood day in Dunedin. I had three unconditional sales on that day. The first one was for a Christian vendor who prophesied that I would be given a performance based award in a year’s time, that I would get presented this award in front of my peers, and that I would honour Jesus and thank God for stuff publicly when that happened. I didn’t believe it actually, but that is exactly what happened, even though I was struggling with depression most of that year. My boss took me to one side and told me I had won an award, but he didn’t want to give it to me now. H said he would like to give it to me at the team meeting … so I had time to prepare what to say and so complete the prophecy, which was fun. A big chunk of the debt was eliminated that year and right now as I type this, it is almost completely paid off.

I never felt like I was swimming the race very well, realising that all along I had been relying on my own strength and not relying on God. All along God has been so wonderful to me so many times over so many years.

God’s love is not based on my performance. There was a day when God set me up and said to me: “Paul, you have been measured and found wanting but Jesus was measured on your behalf and found more than enough in every way.” This was another wonderful bright light in a dark moment.

For most of the time “living the dream” was not much fun. I spent a lot of time crying out to God. Sharing and prayer times at our monthly meetings have been hugely helpful for me. Knowing that through Jesus I am a son of our Father and these blokes are my brothers. Choosing to praise each day and declaring that which God has said is true and thanking Him for these truths, has been crucial. He truly is my provider. My cup overflows - on days when I feel like it and on days when I don’t.

At the FGBMFI regional camp this year a few things came together for me and God made it obvious that through all this He has been developing wider and deeper trust in Him as the foundation of my life. I guess there is some more building coming up.

I was born in a small town at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand, Bluff. My mother was living with my grand-parents when I was born and my mum and I lived with them until I was five years old. Mum then had a new home built and we moved in there. I went to Bluff Primary School just across the road and I always went to my Nana and Pops place before school, at lunch time and after school, because my mum was working.

As I was growing up I played Rugby Union. I also enjoyed going to the Mutton Bird Islands with my Grandfather, my Aunty and Uncle and cousins, to catch mutton birds. When I was growing up I didn’t know or have my dad in my life - it was just mum and I, but I had my cousins, who were like my brothers and sisters to me.

I left high school and did a course in wood carving. Mum then talked me into going back to study and I choose to do an automotive engineering courses. I completed an apprenticeship and have been a mechanic most of my working career.

When I was about fifteen years old I stopped playing Rugby Union and switched codes to play Rugby League, a sport I love. I played at club level, winning four grand finals. I represented New Zealand at student level in 1999 when we went to the World Cup in England and Wales - and we won the tournament.

Jesus Is Real

My spiritual eyes and understanding about Jesus were opened on Christmas Day 2007 - it was the same year my Grandfather died. In the morning I went over to my cousin’s house to watch a Santa Claus give presents to my cousin’s kids. When I went back to my house, I opened the front door and to my surprise I was greeted with a familiar smell, it was very strong, but it only lasted for a moment. It was the same smell I used to smell only when I went to my grandfather’s house.

I sat down straight away to think about what had just happened. I then got an awesome revelation that today we were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ - Jesus is real! JESUS IS REAL! Wow! I suddenly really believed in Jesus in my heart. I then told my mother what had just happened. She was confused, but I was so convinced that Jesus was real.

A few weeks later I was at my friend’s house after attending a church service earlier in the day. I heard three very clear knocks so I said to my friend, “Did you hear that knock?” He said, “No!” However, I knew there had been a knock, I thought that maybe it was God and I was the only one He wanted to hear it, because He wanted to get my attention. Well, it worked, because straight away I felt in my heart that I needed to go home to be alone and to pray to God. So, I went home very much focused on wanting to pray.

It was around 11 pm and I entered the house, went into the bedroom and closed the door. I got my Bible out, sat down on the end of the bed and opened the Bible to the Lord’s Prayer. I was just learning how to pray and I needed to read the Lord’s Prayer. Before my spiritual eyes were opened I didn’t know how to pray and I had never read the Bible.

Filled with the Holy Spirit

I had been taught at church that we can ask God to let us pray in the Holy Spirit. “Well”, I thought to myself, “I want to give this a go, let’s see what happens.” I started my prayer with my eyes open and I said these words: “Father, let me pray in the Holy Spirit!” Then I started to pray, reading the lines of the Lord’s Prayer, then praying it out loud. I said, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name JESUS!”

I felt a vibration, a very powerful, tangible feeling, enter the bottom of both of my feet

I felt a vibration, a very powerful, tangible feeling, enter the bottom of both of my feet. It was like electricity surging in my feet, moving slowly upwards through my legs, penetrating every cell in my body as He, the Holy Spirit, was moving through me. Then I felt the Holy Spirit keep moving through my core, right up through my neck, passed through my head, covered the top of my head like a perfect fitting hat.

Several waves of the Holy Spirit engulfed me. When the Lord was sending His last waves of power through me it was so amazing, beautiful and personal - it was in fact a heavenly encounter. I finished my prayer and stood up trembling, shaking with the awe of God. I lay down in bed for two hours, trembling, then I got up and showered to try to relax but it didn’t work and I didn’t sleep for two nights. I had to force myself to eat for two days because I felt sick. For many days afterwards I received many surges of power from the Holy Spirit.

Total Surrender

Before this I had decided to believe in, and follow Jesus, in the hope that what my heart was telling me was right. I didn’t want to take any risks with the reality of heaven and hell - I wanted to go to heaven. But God revealed Himself to me that night. What before had been only searching and a hope that what I was being told about Jesus was real, became an absolute eternal spiritual reality, through this miraculous encounter with God - physically and emotionally. This changed my commitment to Jesus and to God the Father to one of total surrender, allowing Him to have His will done in my life.

Since I was saved I have been to Africa regularly to do the work of God. I have seen God do so many miracles, deliverances, healings and salvations. I am married to my beautiful wife Rina, whom I met while on a mission in Zambia. We are now living in New Zealand and have five beautiful children.

I know with all my heart that Jesus is real and that He is the only way to God.