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This is My Story, This is My SongColossians 1:27-28 ``To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory, Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.'' In 1940 my father fled Paris, France with his brothers and parents, narrowly escaping the capture of the advancing German army. His mother was Jewish, and the family foresaw their inevitable end should they not make it to Spain. They boarded a tanker out of Lisbon, Portugal and eventually arrived in Curacao, of the Netherland Antilles off the Northwest coast of Venezuela. My mother was a Christian and she met my father in 1951 while visiting the Caribbean islands on a vacation. She had a strong faith in Christ and worked as a youth director at the Union Church in Panama City, Panama. At the age of six we fled Curacao and immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, where we were ``farmed out'' to various relatives until my folks could recover some financial stability. My uncle and his family fully adopted me as their youngest son and it was through their living that I was impressed even further with our Savior Christ. I attended a Christian college in Tennessee where I was baptized and drawn to study God's word more seriously. Here Christ became so real to me that some looked at me as a Jesus freak and others admonished me with caution, saying that this phase of excitement for the Lord would eventually fade away and I would become normal again. To me to live a normal human life had to include a deep enjoyment of Christ. The gainsayers prevailed; for five long years I backslid into a deplorable condition in the world, questioning even my salvation until God's mercy once again found me out. I remember crying out to the Lord in my conflict and deep anguish. I made a deal to give my life back to Christ if He would but see me through graduation. It was then that I came to know the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. I remember reading the Orthodoxy of the Church while at the same time having a renewed hunger for the Bible. At times I felt like Saul of Tarsus, having scales fall from my eyes. The Bible began to make sense to me. God's word became open to me. At the same time the realness of Christ and His living presence once again returned, though in fact He had never left me. My doubts diminished more each day. It was as though I had been born again, again. All my life I had viewed the Christian life from an individualistic standpoint. Whenever I applied the word of God to my living, it was only personal. Through the ministry of Watchman Nee I saw God's desire for the church in the New Testament and because of Witness Lee's shepherding, the way to practice the church life became practical. I had found the church, which the New Testament revealed. That was twenty-two years ago and every day He's dearer than He was the day before. It is my aspiration and deepest desire to grow in Christ. The ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee is helping me to reach that goal. Rick deWit | Back to List |
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