Gord Evans
26th March 2006, 03:00 PM (15:00)
Today we had a guest speaker at Cedardale church, here in Pefferlaw ... Rev. Rosemary Redshaw is our District Chaplaincy Director, and was invited to speak during our pastor's vacation this week.
Rosemary brought with her an inmate from a Federal prison where Rosemary is the Chaplain. Although the prison is about 2-3 hours away from Pefferlaw, this woman inmate was brought up in a town not very far from us.
She had a testimony of abuse from her childhood and teen years, then breaking away from her family situation, getting involved with alcohol and pot, then creating a successful career in real estate. So much so that she owned a number of homes, cars and other 'stuff'. Booze and pot led to cocaine, and the money was available ... then disaster in the real estate market ... total financial loss. She ran away to the west coast where she got into more drugs including heroin. To feed her own habit she became a drug dealer, and eventually was arrested. Not once, but multiple times until she found herself in Rosemary's prison here in Ontario.
She spoke today of God, and how God has been working in her life. Both Rosemary's message of reconciliation, and this woman's testimony of God getting ahold of her and her life, albeit still in prison, were powerful.
At our children's time, before the message and just before the children were dismissed to "Kid's Church", our service facilitator asked the kids if they had any questions they would ask God when they got to heaven. The answers were alot of fun for the most part, but, like most things out of the mouths of children, rang of truth and sincerity.
As our guest "prison inmate" speaker finished her talk this morning, she turned to the congregation and said, "you know when the kids were telling what their questions to God were, my own question is "Will He let me in?"
Our resident evangelist picked up on those words, and the fact that this woman had spoken about God, but had not once mentioned the name of Jesus during her testimony. He, and one of the women from our congregation (also gifted in evangelism), spent a few moments with her, and they all realized that this woman was unsaved.
Well, Hallelujah! That's all changed this morning. This woman who had been allowed out of her prison cell this morning to come to speak to us with our and her Chaplain, was gloriously saved at Cedardale church this morning!!!
God is good ... all the time!
She will be returning to prison this afternoon, but she'll be returning with a new-found hope and assurance in Jesus Christ, and she now has an answer to her question!
We are celebrating here in Pefferlaw today!!
Rosemary brought with her an inmate from a Federal prison where Rosemary is the Chaplain. Although the prison is about 2-3 hours away from Pefferlaw, this woman inmate was brought up in a town not very far from us.
She had a testimony of abuse from her childhood and teen years, then breaking away from her family situation, getting involved with alcohol and pot, then creating a successful career in real estate. So much so that she owned a number of homes, cars and other 'stuff'. Booze and pot led to cocaine, and the money was available ... then disaster in the real estate market ... total financial loss. She ran away to the west coast where she got into more drugs including heroin. To feed her own habit she became a drug dealer, and eventually was arrested. Not once, but multiple times until she found herself in Rosemary's prison here in Ontario.
She spoke today of God, and how God has been working in her life. Both Rosemary's message of reconciliation, and this woman's testimony of God getting ahold of her and her life, albeit still in prison, were powerful.
At our children's time, before the message and just before the children were dismissed to "Kid's Church", our service facilitator asked the kids if they had any questions they would ask God when they got to heaven. The answers were alot of fun for the most part, but, like most things out of the mouths of children, rang of truth and sincerity.
As our guest "prison inmate" speaker finished her talk this morning, she turned to the congregation and said, "you know when the kids were telling what their questions to God were, my own question is "Will He let me in?"
Our resident evangelist picked up on those words, and the fact that this woman had spoken about God, but had not once mentioned the name of Jesus during her testimony. He, and one of the women from our congregation (also gifted in evangelism), spent a few moments with her, and they all realized that this woman was unsaved.
Well, Hallelujah! That's all changed this morning. This woman who had been allowed out of her prison cell this morning to come to speak to us with our and her Chaplain, was gloriously saved at Cedardale church this morning!!!
God is good ... all the time!
She will be returning to prison this afternoon, but she'll be returning with a new-found hope and assurance in Jesus Christ, and she now has an answer to her question!
We are celebrating here in Pefferlaw today!!