“When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me”
Born in May 1948 , I was the unexpected result of an adulterous relationship between a married ambulance driver and a single Nurse who was also a senior midwife.
The man was on the point of emigrating to Canada with his wife and their young adopted son, despite his infidelity.
Ironically he suggested he take my mom-to-be with him, PROVIDED that she undertook an abortion with the ‘medication’ he then offered !
She refused. He moved to Canada before my birth and my mother was obliged to resign her position and she gave birth to me at a facility for unmarried women.
My mom’s retired farmer parents, having no other children, gave little support and my mother hastily married a much older divorced man. who legally adopted me ; an 11 month old baby.
The marriage was disastrous and by age five , I was made to leave with my mother to suffer temporary accommodations, loneliness on the streets and weeks attending various schools promoting differing agendas and leaving me with confusion, and for mother short – lived relationships and two more less-than satisfactory marriages.
At around age 8 , I had to appear before a tribunal and officially declare whom I loved best of my parents !
My pre-teen years were unhappy with weekends travelling back and forth with two ‘fathers’ who demanded I call each one ‘Dad’ and insisting I report on everything going on in the opposite camp.
On a positive note, she encouraged me to consistently attend Methodist Sunday Schools and I know that prayer was made for me, even though she did not satisfy my early questions concerning Salvation..
I was an awkward, lonely child with few friends and at age 11 ,was glad to greet a baby brother.
A few years as later, I suffered nervous and physical ill-health with a close shave with death following abdominal and bowel problems.
I began to blossom academically and was transferred from a secondary school to a more exclusive ‘Grammar School’
I shone with creative poetry and prose on the School magazines and headed up the class.
Within the space of a year or two . I began to excel at Drama taking the male lead in school plays locally and in a wider context and helped coach some of the younger children in Drama.
I also embarked on public speaking.
By age 17, I began to see evidence of what was obviously spiritual life to some degree in school friends
I started attending a different Methodist church and although overall spiritual life was at a low ebb there, I found persons who had a heart for teens.
On Sunday October 10, 1965 . we were taken to an after-church evangelistic campaign and I FINALLY found Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
I Posted my testimony for weeks on end in a local newspaper column.
I had embarked on a course to attend a Drama School in London , UK with the intention of a life career.
It would have been the elevation of SELF but the Lord had other plans.
I had passed initial auditions but didn’t put ‘heart and soul’ into secondary auditions.
I then spent one year at an interdenominational English Bible College with Missions during and after leaving.
At a momentous street campaign in Edinburgh, we witnessed mighty miracles and salvations..
I experienced a growing intervention by the Holy Spirit in many areas of my life.
I started to attend another ‘Holiness Bible College ‘ in Edinburgh but sadly experienced much opposition from what appeared to be just one fellow-student.
I left the college in tears as nothing could have been further from the truth, in the light of a false accusation.
I embarked after an interval, in childrens’ and local preaching ministry in the Hills and Dales of North Yorkshire, England
I eventually made my way to the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire where I married and we started our family.
Sharing in leadership in our small church, I held a post in the Civil Service but after a number of years, I emigrated to Canada.
After a while in a non-glamorous job, I obtained an Insurance Broker’s license and launched a highly successful internet-based motorcycle insurance program, using innovative procedures for fast coverage of Ontario and Alberta motorcyclists.
Now ‘retired’ and at age 78 , I’m as busy as ever with two Lordsbook pages and two facebook pages and a Youtube channel to attend to, as well as some involvement in church life.
By the way – I was able to lead my real father’s ex-wife; my Grandfather ; my mother and the man who had adopted me, all to the Lord.
Therefore, after rising from his knees in that solitary cell, he called for a ‘meeting’ in the usual manner. All the Loyalist Blanket Protesters came up to their cell doors to hear what he had to say; expecting some political poem or some morale booster. Instead, he announced, “Today I have taken the most important step of my life. I have renounced violence. I have repented of my sins. I have asked Jesus Christ into my life, and to save me – and I believe He has saved me. From this day forth I cease to be a Military Commander of the U.F.F. and wish only to be a mere volunteer in the army of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will seek to serve Him to the best of my ability. I just wanted you men to know this.”
There was a stunned silence in the H Block prison wing! After a while some made unbelieving and critical remarks such as, ‘what is the maniac up to now?’ However, today two of the men who made those remarks are born again, Bible-believing Christians serving the Lord in Belfast and have been for a long number of years. (Revelation 12:11)
When Kenny McClinton first went into prison he was semi-literate. After becoming a Christian, God gave him the patience to educate himself as his whole outlook changed dramatically. He painstakingly took correspondence courses with Emmaus Bible College. He took ‘O’ levels in English and R.S.A. exams. He did various educational courses over a long period of years with the Open University and gained a BA Honours Degree in Criminology and the Social Sciences.
After sixteen years of imprisonment McClinton was eventually released on licence in 1993. He has since then worshipped, and taught, in a number of Bible-believing churches, and views the Christian Church as a universal and international Body of born again believers, made up of all nations, colours, and former creeds; with One Head of the Church, Christ Jesus Himself. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)
Employment experts have deemed Kenny ‘unemployable’ due to the high political profile he has and the manner in which he has spoken out against both terrorist violence and State oppression.
He was ordained as a Pastor in an international Missions Ministry called Moments of Faith International based in Texas, U.S.A. in 1995, and under the remit of his ordination, formed the Ulster/American Christian Fellowship Ministry. Many – both in America and in his native Northern Ireland, UK (Ulster) – have benefited from his forthright ministry and sound teachings in the Word of God. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
Kenny met his present wife Wendy – a former Salvation Army Officer for fifteen years – in 1993 and they have a beautiful young teenage daughter, Abigail Catherine. Abby was saved in August 2003. They currently attend, and often minister, at many of the local Churches in Portadown. In recent years, Kenny has also had the privilege of undertaking Bible Teaching/evangelical preaching Missions out to India.
This family has been through the ‘fire’ and though the ‘water’ over the past decade especially – murder bids, death threats; slanderings; and social and economic marginalisation – yet the Lord God has never forsaken them nor failed to ‘…supply their every need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.’ Praise God! (Philippians 4:19)
Since September 11th 2001 and the terrible terrorist atrocity visited upon the great American Nation in New York, Kenny has been denied the necessary visa-waivers to come and minister in America. However, in the three years of dearth that has followed, God’s grace has been richly bestowed.
Kenny – through the accumulated writings of two decades of deep Bible study – has achieved a Master’s Degree in Theology (2002); a Ph.D. Doctorate in Philosophy (2003); and a second Doctorate in Literature (2004) with the European Theological Seminary, based in Birmingham, England.
“…Nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:28-39) (Philippians 4:13)
To talk to Dr Kenny McClinton is to talk to a man who has clearly had such a transforming experience that anybody would have to be totally bigoted to disbelieve in the power of God to perform such a miracle of regeneration. (John 3:3-8)
Even if a person’s background were entirely different from Kenny’s, after hearing his story a person would have to be kidding if he/she did not envy him and want what he has found in Christ Jesus the Son of God.
Today, the former ‘maniac McClinton’ stands before us, fully clothed, in his right mind, a completely ‘new creature in Christ.’ Behold him and give praise and all glory to the Living Lord God. Amen. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Kenny McClinton was one of the most feared men in Northern Ireland (Ulster). His years of terrorist activity culminated in two life sentences for murder and other acts of terrorist violence. He had become a thorn in the side of the authorities. Even in prison he could not be tamed and found himself in solitary confinement punishment cells fifteen times within one nine month period.
He was born in 1947, the second son of a hard-drinking, hard-fighting, coal delivery man; a man who spent all the family income on drink, causing almighty rows in the home an leaving the family in abject poverty.
He was brought up in the heart of Protestantism, in the greater Shankill area of Belfast. For much of his young life he lived in a ramshackle ex-army Nissan hut. His address was simply No. 9 Hut, West Circular Road, West Belfast. He was as familiar with rats as most children are with cats! There was no hot running water in the Hut, and Kenny and his brother were the butt of other children’s ridicule. His father spent time in prison and later left home, leaving his mother, Catherine, struggling to bring up the family with little social or financial support.
Kenny and his brother Davy’s reactions to the bullying and derision was to fight back. At an early age they learned how to defend themselves, thinking they were earning the respect of their peers. In fact, they became the terror of the areas in which they lived.
Kenny’s whole life centred around violence. He lived a kind of nomadic existence during his early years as his mother moved about numerous furnished accommodations in Belfast City. He attended approximately fourteen Primary Schools, always living by the law of the jungle, not realizing that this ruins lives. (Proverbs 14:12)
When talking with Kenny today, he is at pains to say that he does not blame his background for what he later became, although it must have had some effect upon him.
When he was fifteen years old he left school. He had no paper qualifications, and his only ‘ambition’ was to be a labourer. He finished school on a Friday in 1962 and commenced working the following Monday – as a labourer. Within a year he joined he Merchant Navy and sailed around the world for 12 years.
His voice trembles with a sense of shame when he says, “I was involved in the loosest kind of life imaginable, yet, I never ever felt really satisfied. I never found any lasting peace or contentment in this world’s pleasures. I always felt that there was something missing.”
Kenny joined the Ulster Defence Regiment of the British Army in 1972. He was duly trained in the use of weapons, yet carried a little ‘yellow card’ that forbid him to shoot at the I.R.A. terrorists unless they first shot at him. He left the U.D.R. Regiment, and in his own words, “Drifted quite naturally into a Protestant Defence organization called the Ulster Defence Association (U.D.A.).”
“Because of my violent nature and my previous British Army training, I was promoted to First Lieutenant of an active service unit within a mere three weeks…It was not long before I graduated, as it were, to the Ulster Freedom Fighters (U.F.F.) an even more militant and much feared Protestant terrorist group.”
He lead from the front; he trained many others in the use of weapons, machine guns and explosives. He would send lethal book bombs to key I.R.A. terrorists, and attempted to murder many of the I.R.A. Brigade Staff and their families!
Again his voice drops as he says, “It was at this time, I am ashamed to say, that I shot and killed two men and attempted to murder a number of others.”
“My name is Legion, for we are many…” (Mark 5:9)
After a major bombing campaign he spent two weeks drinking hard. He told me, “I remember waking up one morning in a girlfriend’s bed. I had a dreadful hangover and was sweating profusely and feeling disgusted with what I had become – a terrorist murderer. For some reason I prayed perhaps my first sincere prayer to God. I prayed, ‘God, I have always believed in You and the Protestant tradition. I am tired of what I have become. I am tired of my life. Please help me to have a new start?’”
He remembers that was on a Friday in August 1977. On the following Monday morning, the 29th August, he was woken by a heavy hand hammering on his front door. Upon looking out, he found his home surrounded by armed police and soldiers of the British Army. With little resistance, he was arrested and taken to Castlereagh Interrogation Centre in Belfast. He was questioned for five days, and duly charged with two accounts of murder and many other terrorist offences.
Kenny admits, “I had mixed feelings. I obviously did not relish losing my freedom, but in some way it was a relief, because I knew there was no other way but death in which I could get out of the life I was living as a terrorist; I was trapped by my reputation and what my fellow-terrorists expected from me.”
In a large scale crack-down hundreds of other terrorists were taken about the same time. Looking back, Kenny feels it was a real answer to his sincere prayer, although he couldn’t see it at that time.
Within the prison itself terrorist activities did not stop. In fact, there developed a very strong core of militants who were almost a much a threat to the authorities inside the prison, as they had been outside! Kenny was one of the original instigators of the ‘Loyalist Blanket Brigade’ who refused to wear prison clothes nor follow prison rules. The men used to appear in court dressed in their underwear to show their contempt of the British Court System. On one occasion, Kenny and another inmate were reported by the National newspapers as making: ‘A Full Frontal Attack on Society’, as they appeared in court totally naked; an insult to the authorities whom they felt had betrayed Loyalists and let them down in their struggle against the Irish Republican Army terrorists (I.R.A.).
Kenny became the main organizer of such acts of contempt and aggression. Within one nine month period he was placed in the punishment cells fifteen times. He was referred to by Prison Staff as ‘that Maniac McClinton’! Looking back on this period of his life Kenny likens himself to the maniac of Gadara in Mark’s Gospel whom nobody could tame.
“…and no man could tame him.” (Mark 5:3-4)
During his times in solitary confinement in the punishment cells – the floor was black, the walls stark white; the cell bare; and a neon light burned continuously – there was absolutely no means of mental stimulation, so to relieve his utter boredom, Kenny decided to start reading the rather decrepit looking prison issue of the King James Version of the Bible.
“I found I quite enjoyed all the stories in the early chapters of the Bible. I could closely relate to the whole tribal attitudes and nomadic experiences; the wars; the plots; the political intrigue. I could understand King David’s skullduggery when he arranged for a man to be killed, after sleeping with his wife and making her pregnant.” (2 Samuel 11:)
” I could understand the mighty Samson as he fought the Philistine oppressors and eventually pulled down the Dagon Temple upon them, killing thousands of his enemies. That’s what I wanted to do with mine!”
Slowly, he read on, and the weeks turned to months; and the months turned to almost two years of solitary confinement punishments. After nearly two years of Remand imprisonment from the time of his arrest in 1977, McClinton was taken to the High Court in Belfast and tried for some seventeen days. He then heard a High Court Judge say:
“McClinton, I find that you are a callous, cold-blooded, and completely ruthless man. You are in fact, a U.F.F. assassin! I sentence you to two accounts of Life imprisonment with my stipulation that you serve no less that twenty years. Take him away!”
Off Kenny went to the H Blocks of the Maze Prison, but immediately refused to wear the prison uniform, was escorted to H Block 6; stripped off his clothes, and joined the Loyalist Blanket Protest to achieve Political Status for politically motivated offences. “…and no man could tame him.”
On one occasion, after three young Loyalist Blanket protesters had been beaten by Prison Guards and abused, Kenny took on fifteen prison officers at once, dressed only in a prison towel around his waist. Eventually they overpowered him, and administered their own kind of ‘justice’ by hanging him upside down by his feet and beating him until he couldn’t breath. Kenny received twenty-six injuries in the beating, and was ‘awarded’ twenty-two days punishment for ‘attacking fifteen prison officers’. And the solitary-confinement Bible reading continued.
“…Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) (Joel 2:32)
As the months passed in solitary confinement on the Loyalist Blanket Protest, Kenny reached the New Testament in his Bible readings and there in those priceless pages of God’s Word, he experienced the great love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “…things were never quite the same after that…”
Describing his experience he said: “What could not be achieved by prison bars, batons, concrete and solitary confinement, was quickly achieved by the matchless love of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was nobody to talk at length with me about God; nobody to fully explain the way to become a Christian – no books, no tracts, no strains of ‘Oh Lamb of God I come’ during a Gospel Mission. There was only my black burden of sin and guilt and shame – and that old black book of books, the Bible.”
Looking back, Kenny remembers his first realization that he was a “…filthy, Hell-deserving sinner…”, but the Bible pointed him to the righteous Jesus Christ who had suffered and died and rose again from the dead in order to offer sinners His forgiveness. (Matthew 11:28-30)
As he read on, he became aware of a tremedous Spiritual battle that was going on for his soul between Satan and the Lord God. On August 12th 1979 he recalls falling down on his knees in cell 9, H Block 6 of the Maze Prison. He cried out to God in repentance – asked for forgiveness and faith to believe and be saved – and, praise God, he trusted in Christ Jesus and he was saved! (Psalm 51:) (Luke 19:10)
He had read that one of the conditions of becoming a true Christian was an open, public, confession with his mouth, as well as a genuine belief in his heart. (Romans 10:9)
My name is Lei Liu and I was born in Wuhan, China. My parents are both communist party members since their college days, so I grew up in an atheist household. In 2004, I encountered some strange spiritual experiences that I could not explain. I heard some strange voices on my way home late at night, and my mother couldn’t hear it. The next day I broke my leg and was hospitalized for months. This experience made me open to spiritual things and religion.
In 2009 I stepped into a church for the first time in the US, while I was a student there. After 1 and half years of Bible study, I was baptized in an American Chinese church on June 6, 2010. What made me believe was not mental persuasion, but the love I felt from the church members who welcomed me into their midst. I have never heard any strange voices again. I read through the whole Bible once two years after my baptism, and I actively shared my faith. From 2013 to 2023, I actively shared the gospel in China. In 2023, I decided to come to the US again for law school. Right now, I am not sure where to go next after graduation, but I am sure God will lead me wherever He sees fit. Glory to God!
A Home Prepared by God: Twenty-Four Years of Waiting on His Perfect Timing. There are moments in life when we wonder why God asks us to wait. We pray, we trust, and we continue serving Him, yet the answers seem delayed. Looking back over our lives, we now understand that God was never delaying His promise—He was preparing the perfect time to fulfill it. In 1988, Johan purchased a home in Nylstroom. After relocating to Nelspruit in 1997, he rented out the property. When we married in 1999, the house was standing empty, and we decided to sell it, believing we would soon purchase another home together. It seemed like the logical next step, but the Lord had another plan. Early in 2000, while seeking God’s direction, we believed He clearly instructed us not to buy a house but to rent one instead. It was not the answer we expected, yet we chose obedience over certainty. That decision shaped the next twenty-four years of our lives. After Johan left his railway career to enter full-time missionary ministry in 2000, Esther resigned as a town planner in 2003 to join him after completing missionary training. From then on, our lives were devoted to serving wherever God called us. We ministered throughout South Africa and internationally, preaching the Gospel, training believers, planting ministries, and sharing Christ’s love with people from many different backgrounds. Throughout those years we lived in rented homes in several cities. At times we questioned whether we would ever own a home again. Yet every move reminded us that our security was never found in a building but in God’s faithful care. He provided every place we needed, every open door for ministry, and every provision for our family. Then, quietly and unexpectedly, God began arranging what only He could accomplish. Following the passing of Esther’s mother in 2021, part of her estate was placed in a trust. The following year, the trustees agreed to release the funds on one condition—that Esther purchase a home. The trust contained R400,000, an amount that would become the foundation of God’s remarkable provision. At the same time, we sensed that our season in Somerset West had come to an end. As we prayed, the Lord directed us to the Free State. We searched many towns and viewed numerous properties, but nothing seemed right. Several opportunities fell through, and disappointment often tempted us to lose hope. Then we discovered a house in Winburg. Although it was advertised for R550,000—well beyond our budget—we felt prompted to make an offer of R360,000. Humanly speaking, it seemed unlikely that the seller would accept such an offer. To our amazement, it was accepted without negotiation. In December 2023 the property was registered in Esther’s name, and we knew we were witnessing God’s hand at work. Even our move tested our faith. Days before relocating, we lost R5,000 to a fraudulent moving company. It was painful, but God again provided another mover, and on 17 March 2024 we finally arrived safely at our new home in Winburg. Less than two weeks later, on 29 March, two large trees collapsed onto the house we had been renting in Somerset West. The room that suffered the greatest damage was the very bedroom where our sons had always slept. Had we remained there, the consequences could have been tragic. In that moment we realized that God had not only provided a home—He had also protected our lives by leading us to move exactly when He did. Today, our home is much more than a place to live. It stands as a memorial to God’s faithfulness. For twenty-four years we waited, often without understanding His purposes. Yet every delay, every move, every challenge, and every unanswered question formed part of a greater plan that only the Lord could see. Our testimony is not simply about receiving a house. It is about learning that God’s timing is always perfect, His provision is always sufficient, and His guidance is always trustworthy. He sees the beginning from the end, and His plans are far better than anything we could ever design for ourselves. If you are waiting for God to answer a prayer, do not lose heart. His silence is not His absence, and His delays are never without purpose. Continue to trust Him, for the God who has guided us so faithfully is the same God who remains faithful today. As Scripture declares: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” — Jeremiah:11 “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.” — Psalms:5 Our home is living proof that God’s promises are worth waiting for. Pastor Johan LourensSouth Africa
My grandma became a Christian after she retired. She was my main care giver since I was born. My parents had to work, and my mom also had some health issues when she was pregnant with me. When I was little, I went to church with my grandma regularly. However, I didn’t think much about God or Christianity during my childhood.
When I came to Canada to study at university, I brought a bible with me although I was not a christian at that time. It just gave me comfort and encouragement. That was the first time I left my family. After I arrived at Toronto, I had a chance to visit Kingston for a few days with two friends of mine from my high school. One of them knew someone from Kingston Chinese Alliance Church (KCAC). I met with Pastor Lo and had some conversations with him about becoming a Christian. Before I left, he did a prayer with me and also connected me with Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church (SCBC). The mandarin congregation at SCBC followed up with me immediately after I went back to Scarborough.
As soon as I started my study at University of Toronto Scarborough, I joined the university fellowship at SCBC. My journey of becoming a Christian started there. Pastor Louisa Liu was my mentor. She helped me with my questions about christianity and my struggles during some difficult times at University. I decided to baptize at SCBC in December 2007 after completing a season of new-believer classes from September to December 2007.
By God’s grace and the guidance from the Holy Spirit, I realized that I needed Jesus as my saviour. I am a sinner. No matter how hard I try, I still cannot be justified before the holy God. Only the death and resurrection of Jesus can save me from my sins and give me eternal life.
【Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.】
My story begins when I was born into a Christian family on a farm northwest of Freewater Oregon. We attended the First Christian Church of Milton Oregon, where my name was entered on the cradle role of the Church and I was baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ at age nine.
As a child and young teenager I was active in all church activities including camps, retreats, conventions, and then on to collage at Northwest Christian Collage in Eugene Oregon where I met my first wife Evelene.
We were active in Church attendance as we spent ten years traveling the Midwest for Boeing working on Minute Man missile installation and modifications, sale to the Airforce. We returned to Seattle February of 1969.
In April of 1969 I was self employed and all alone in my office at home filling out business forms when suddenly I heard a very loud voice calling my name which startled me so I jumped in the chair and looked around to find no one present, the voice said, “Del! You cannot be effective for Me until you read the Book”. I then reached over and picked up my Bible, turned to Matthew 1:1 and began to read, after I read five pages the same voice said, “You are not getting anything out of it”. I turned back to Matthew 1:1 and said, “Lord, If there is something You want me to see You will have to show me, help me to discern where one thought ends and the next starts.”
So I took colored pencils and began reading for understanding marking the text where it appeared the thought changed and writing a summary on the margin, then moved on to the next thought. After five pages of that procedure the same voice said, “That’s it”. That began a five year intense study through the entire Bible, and as I progressed I found many truths I had been taught and many errors I had been taught through the years and was able to discern the difference.
The day I finished the entire Bible I found rebellion from my eldest son and that afternoon I declared to the family there is a new rule starting tonight, no one goes to bed until we sit down as a family and spend one hour in Bible study. Everyone objected including my wife because school demands would not permit it, however I insisted and prevailed to everyone’s dismay.
It took two years to finish the Bible one hour every night including Saturday and Sunday. Eventually their resentment changed to tolerance and by the end of the study I saw a great change, where the children used to fight with each-other it was replaced with love for each-other. Where they had rebelled against me it was replaced with love and respect My relationship with my w ife which I thought was good became great and our love for each-other was magnified. I also noticed that when we first began, we would read a text as I had marked, I would turn to my wife, a Bible Collage student, and asked what she saw in the text, her response was just as we had learned from our teachers, but I saw it gradually turn to align with my own new understanding, which I perceived as the work of The Holy Spirit.
The change I witnessed in my family gave me confidence to begin public teaching and through the following years we witnessed changes in those who attended our classes as they also began to mature in their understanding. That was the beginning of a lifetime of service to our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Evelene died of kidney failure at age 44 and I was left with four teenage young people still at home which kept me quite busy. After three years The Lord brought Rifkah into my life when she started attending my Bible class and demonstrated great interest in the study, though being an Orthodox Jewess, she came and even stayed after the rest of the group had gone, having more questions and debating about the Messiah. After a few weeks of pelleting me with questions, Rifkah believed that Y’shua was in fact The Messiah, she accepted Him as her Lord & Savior.
My teenagers all stated, “Dad, Rifkah is the one for you.” I liked the idea also. A week later before Rifkah left the Bible study, my eldest daughter, Janice, backed up against the front door and informed us that her first free day from work would be February 16th and for us to be married then. I said to Rifkah, “It looks like I am getting married February 16th, if you want to be part of the program you will have to show up.” She did! Rifkah and my then teenagers began planning the wedding.
I learned about my Jewish roots when Rifkah showed me my name in the book Select Jewish Names and I learned more about my ancestors who had become Hellenists to save their lives at the time of the Maccabees when the Syrians ruled and were killing Jews who refused to convert to Greek ways by giving up Judaism and all Jewish traditions. That turned to be a blessing in disguise as they were left open and receptive when they were first introduced to Christianity. They were probably among the Hellenists mentioned in Acts 6:1.
When the Church was scattered due to persecution from the Jews they left Israel and later migrated to Prussia in northern Germany where they were identified as Christian on church records found in the 1600’s. They departed from Prussia and migrated to America because of programswhere Jews were being killed and persecuted.
Now after 40 years of wedded bliss to Rifkah, I feel that I am the most blessed man on earth. Marriage based on common love for each-other and The Lord God makes for a wonderful life. I am greatly blessed.
My four children all walk with the Lord God and I am the proud “Zayde (which means Grandpa in Hebrew) of 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren all of which are learning the ways of The Lord.
