My mother told me that my first response to the Lord was on 24th August 1958 when I was seven. Apparently, a preacher had been sharing about the second coming of Jesus and I was not certain if I was ready for His return. My mother led me to the Lord and told me how I could receive him. I was then presented with a framed quote of
Revelation 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me”,
written in beautiful calligraphy style letters by Mr Ransome Cooper, previously mentioned.
I was baptised in water by immersion as my faith grew. I think I was fourteen at the time. It was around this time that I became conscious of the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart. I had sincerely believed and had been baptised but I was acutely aware of struggles in my walk with the Lord. I had outbursts of temper, unclean thoughts, and unsure of my experience of the Lord. I also was aware of a desire to worship and to know the Lord much more intimately. At this point I am so grateful for the friends I had around me. There was a boy at school who was a prefect, an amazing sportsman representing the county in football and cricket, and yet had an open testimony of knowing Jesus and sharing about him fearlessly. I was so challenged by his life. I found out he came from an Elim Pentecostal church. That gave me a few problems, because when post used to come through my parents’ letterbox from ministries that referred to the Holy Spirit or miracles, and healings etc, they would immediately bin them.