Colin’s testimony

I have always had a ‘heart’ for the Jews. I don’t know when or how it came.

I went to the parish church on and off until my teens. While at college I had many friends who were Jewish and socialised with them in Cardiff. Amongst them were families who had survivors of the holocaust who still bore the tattoos on their arms. They had witnessed horrors too difficult to speak of, yet still held their faith.

My road to God really started when I met Jan (who later became my wife).

By now I owned my own busy garage repairing and selling vehicles and Jan and her husband Max worked in the factory opposite which belonged to Max’s father.  Jan later explained that Max had become a Christian in  his 30′s and she had gone along to church with him.   One particular service she felt that the minister was talking just to her and realised that God was speaking to her. The words came to life and she accepted Jesus as her saviour, later going on to be baptised.

Max had many serious bouts of illness from a congenital heart compliant, then cancer.  After an operation in preparation for a heart transplant Max suffered two seperate strokes, the last fatal.

A while after Max’s death Jan bought her car into me for some repair work and as a result we started seeing each other.

Her faith touched me greatly.

Once again I found myself thinking of those who suffered and had faith. In witnessing her faith it renewed in me a desire to find faith for myself.

Jan was going to a little Church in Ogmore-by -sea, and I agreed to go with her to  their bible study evening which was held in a house belonging to a couple who were members of the church.

I was immediately touched by the sincerity and genuine love and faith in God that was common amongst this small gathering of people. I knew that among the gathering was the pastor (who in those days was a wonderful man called Vernon Salkeld), yet it wasn’t immediately obvious which of the men present was the pastor, for all held equal importance, equal input and equal faith. I only found out when we were introduced.

Amongst that small congregation in Ogmore-by-sea Church I was able to learn not only of the importance of the Old Testament and the important role the Jews had played throughout time, but more importantly I was able to learn the absolute importance of Jesus and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the prelude and prophecy to the absolute importance of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our saviour and advocate with God the Father.  Without Jesus there would be no access into heaven, no reunion with god.

I learned that God is perfect and we are all in some way imperfect, only Jesus is perfect and only by His sacrifice can we enter heaven.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

1 Cor 15:22 “For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.”

I found Christ as my saviour and accepted Him into my life, and so I was baptised in that little church in Ogmore-by-sea.

My love for the Jews continued to grow, and I joined and organisation called Bridges for Peace which is a Christian organisation supporting Israel and building relationships between Christians and Jews.  It is our desire to see Christians and Jews working side by side for better understanding and a more secure Israel. Bridges for Peace seeks to be a ministry of hope and reconciliation.

Three years ago I suffered a stroke which after 7 months in hospital left me confined to a wheelchair. During those 7 months both Jan and I were supported by our fellowship in prayer and practical ways. During that time Psalm 23 was very real to me. “Ye though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

I can only praise God for my ability to be able to accept this disability. I was a healthy strong man working long hours with heavy machinery in my garage, walking the dog over the fields and mountains.

We have had our bad times and times when we don’t understand why. Times when the day seems dark and stormy, but as Jan says it doesn’t matter how grey the weather gets a crack of light always reminds her that the sun is always there, just as the Son of God is always there no matter how dark the day.

Suffering is hard but keeps us close to God and suffering without the knowledge of God would be so much harder to cope with.