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Testimony of Sue Pelckmann...
It was August 2001. We were at my brother's house in Ontario celebrating their renewal of their wedding vows. I was almost the only non Christian there. The day was beautiful. There was a sense of peace and love that I could not yet understand. I remember someone coming up to me and asking me when I had found Jesus. I looked somewhat oddly at her and answered rather flippantly, "I didn't know that He was lost."
At that moment, I didn't realize that the only one lost was me.
A few weeks passed and I didn't think much more about that day. Until the 11th of September, that is. September 11, 2001, a day that changed not only the world that we lived in, but more importantly, the world that I lived in. I remember vividly standing in the office, glued to the television screen, watching in absolute horror as one plane after another crashed into the twin towers. As another plane slammed into the side of the Pentagon and yet another crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. I could not believe what was happening. I was so scared, no wait that's not true. I was absolutely terrified. My sister was living in New York City at the time and I could not get hold of her. I was panic stricken. I just did not understand what was happening to us. I started to feel a sense of loss, loss of control over my life. I was constantly afraid, there was no longer this sense of well being and peace in my life; everything had been replaced by fear. It felt like there was no place left in my world that was safe. All I wanted to do was stay at home with my son, lock the doors and windows and hide until someone told me that all was okay again. But that never happened.
Instead, something wonderful happened. I was driving past the Alliance Church, got as far as the Ben & Jerry's driveway, and was literally turned around and pulled back to the Church. It was almost as if my car had a mind of its own. There was no one in Church, but there was a sign outside saying that it was open for prayer. I don't remember if I had ever prayed before, but I thought now was as good a time as any to start. I walked into the empty Church, sat down in the last pew, and started to cry. Heart wrenching sobs that came from the very depths of my soul. And as I sobbed, I felt a calm descend on me until my crying subsided and I was at last able to leave and go back outside. Strangely, I felt a bit better than when I first walked in. It seemed that I had found, in that empty Church, the sense of peace that I was looking desperately for. I no longer felt that my life was out of control; instead, it felt like someone bigger than me had control over everything.
This was to happen several more times to me, at different Churches in the area, but I always went back to the small Alliance Church. Nothing fancy, just a deep sense of peace. One day, they had a sign out front advertising some sort of simulcast thing. I had no idea what that was, but for some reason I stopped and went in. This time, I was not alone; there were a lot of people there. Pastor's wife Bonnie came over to me and explained what was going on and welcomed me to stay. I don't remember what the tape was about; I only know that I heard a man by the name of Max Lucado talk about something. What he said and how he said it stirred something deep inside of me. That evening I went home and opened my night stand. In the top drawer were two books that my brother had given me almost 10 years before. You see, my brother is a minister and he and his wife had been praying for me to accept Jesus as Saviour for almost 10 years. He had given me a Bible, which I had never even opened, and a book called "No wonder they call Him the Saviour" by none other than Max Lucado.
September 11, 2001 was the day that I finally heard the Lord knocking at my door. On September 8, 2002 Pastor Rinehart baptized me, and I have followed my Lord ever since. Has it been easy? No. Has my life been changed forever? Yes. Would I do anything differently if I had the chance? Yes, I would have found Jesus many years sooner. I would have realized earlier that I was truly the one who was lost. |
