The writer was raised on a farm in Southern Ontario, Canada, one of eleven children. My parents had, after much soul trouble, received peace in Christ, and gathered with an assembly which met in a town about five miles distant.
My mother took time to school us in divine truth while we were young. She was an avid story teller, and often gathered us around the kitchen table, where we listened with pleasure to Bible incidents, missionary adventure and biography. At the time, I thought nothing of my father stopping work to get us to the meetings, but I now see that no little conviction was present, to thus put our salvation first.
In the fall of 1935, the late Charles Keller and A. P. Klabunda had six weeks of gospel meetings in Sarnia. I attended all of those meetings. I was deeply concerned about my soul, and wanted to be saved. Being brought up as I was, however, I thought that I knew how to be saved. My sister Martha (who later went as a missionary to Venezuela) was saved at that time. The meetings closed, and I was still in my sins.
In January 1936, Lorne McBain and Robert Crawford came to Sarnia, and nightly meetings began again. I learned afterwards that the brethren were much cast down, as the fourth week of the meetings was entered and none was yet saved. Salvation now became my chief concern. I read different gospel booklets and asked God to save me, but no light came.
On the Tuesday night of that fourth week of meetings, my closest brother John came home saying that he had been saved during the meeting. He told me that it was very easy, which annoyed me, as we had before agreed that it was very difficult.
Friday night at the door, Mr. Crawford gave me a tract called "Sudden Summons." I lay in my bed and read the tract, while my two brothers slept. It said the same thing that I had heard so many times before. People seemed to suddenly see something about Jesus' death that they hadn't seen before.
I stopped reading, thinking "I'm as dark as a heathen." Then I began to reason: "Didn't Jesus die for the ungodly?"
"Yes."
"Well, isn't that me?"
"No argument at all — I'm the one." "Did He die for my sins?"
"Well, isn't that what the text says?"
"Surely it can't be that simple. Why didn't those preachers tell me?"
After a while, I got down on my knees by the bed, and thanked God for Jesus' dying on the cross. I turned out the light and went to sleep.
In the morning, I thought, "Did I get saved, or did I dream it"" I went over Rom.5.6 again — "Christ died for the ungodly." That was clear enough, so I went down to the kitchen, where breakfast was being made. On telling my mother that I'd been saved, her answer was "How?" I was somewhat non-plussed, and finally said, "I believed that Jesus died for me."
More than sixty years have come and gone. What I got then, I still have now — that assurance from the Scripture that Jesus took my place.
Conversion does make a great change, creating in the soul a love for our Lord Jesus, a tender conscience about sin, and a desire to tell others of the Saviour. Some of the elders of the Sarnia assembly influenced my life in a marked way. They accompanied a number of young men in open-air meetings, and looking back, I can appreciate their patience with us. They would counsel us, and we felt that they were really on our side.
Having a desire to give ourselves to the work of the gospel, we looked for openings. In 1947, we came to help Mr. G. P. Taylor for the summer in tent work in the Bay of Quinte area, in Eastern Ontario. Finding some interest in the gospel, my wife and I moved to the area and have made it our home. An assembly was formed in Picton in 1950. It has known many ups and downs, but continues to this day. It was in 1949 that I was commended to the Grace of God for the work of the Gospel by the Assembly in Sarnia, Ontario. At that time they met on College Street, now on London Road.
We have known and respected many godly men over the years. One in particular was Mr. Archie Stewart, who took an interest in us and joined us at times. While in meetings together in the city of Peterboro, he and I went to the office of the big Canadian General Electric plant, and asked to tour their factory. The officer replied "Yes, providing you don't work for a competitive company." Mr. Stewart glanced my way with a twinkle, and said, "Oh, we work for a far bigger Company than General Electric. It has three partners, and will never go broke." The man caught on, and said "OK, I'll get you a guide." Mr. Stewart was unique.
Along with other men, we have sought to carry the gospel into many years. We likely began with unwarranted expectations, forgetting our Lord's words "The servant is not greater than his Lord; if they have hated Me, they will hate you." "However, there has been some lasting fruit in the gospel, for which we bless the Lord. We acknowledge His faithful supply, and the prayerful encouragement and support of His people. We need to remember what a great privilege it is to be "workers together with God."