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Andes Testimony and Witness
When I was a small boy, about 9, my Mom and Dad attended some Tent Services and were Saved by Grace, accepting Jesus as Saviour. I still remember being shocked at my Dad crying. That is something we had NEVER seen. That was when we starting going to church.
When I was about 11 I accepted Jesus as my Saviour. It was at a Candlelight service during a Church Revival. I grew up, along with my five brothers, attending different churches as we moved around.
For reasons I didn't understand Dad was constantly changing jobs and working in different cities. So, we kept changing churches. I had changed schools 12 times in my first nine years of school. My two older brothers got tired of changing schools so they just quit going. We finally settled down and I was able to finish the last three years, 10th, 11th and 12th grades, at one school.
When I was 18 I felt the call of God for the Ministry. I did do some preaching and I was a Sunday School teacher for the 5 to 8 year old children of the church and was learning to sing and play a guitar. God then gave a thirst for knowledge about China and the exotic Far East. I felt the pull to go to China but my Faith was not strong enough to accept that and I foolishly disobeyed God's calling.
I then received one of the last Military Draft notices sent out by the State of Maryland. I didn't want to be in the U.S. Army and decided that if I stayed single I would join the Marines but if I got married I would join the U.S. Air Force.
I married my wife just 10 days before having to report to the U.S. Air Force Boot Camp at Lackland A.F.B., Texas. I was only 19 and this was the first time I had ever been separated from my family and friends. About half of the people on the aircraft were just like me; young, never been away from home, free for the first time in our lives.
When the Stewardess' and the other people on the aircraft found out who we were and where we were heading they insisted on giving us whiskey and beer. This was the second time I had ever been drunk and it marked the beginning of a very long and pitiful life for my family.
I spent the next 22 years, in the military, learning how to stay drunk. The Military Philosophy was "As long as you keep them drunk and preoccupied with entertainment you won't have many discipline problems." I learned that lesson better than anyone I knew.
When I first started getting drunk my wife was confused but forgiving and thought I would get over it. After all I was a Good Christian. Little did she, or I, know just how strong Satan's grip on my life would become. I can't even begin to describe how terrible a person I had become or how badly I treated my loving family.
It tears me apart every time I allow Satan to dig up a memory of something I had done to or said to my family. Satan has also stolen the good memories from my life, some because I never let them happen and others because the alcohol destroyed them along with a large part of my brain. My family will talk about something from the past and ask if I remember it, I'll say yes; but in reality, most of the time, I really don't remember. I have some pictures I had taken that I try to use to help me remember, but even that fails in most cases. I am an amnesiac for most of the past in my life. Sometimes, I wonder why do I seem to only get flashes about the bad things and not the good things. In truth, it is probably because I did not give enough pleasure and good things to my family to actually be able to know or remember them.
As Christians we are not to linger on or dwell on our past mistakes, but we can not afford to forget them completely, or else we will become like others down through history; "Those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it." — George Santayana, Philosopher
After praying for over 25 years my wife's prayers to Jehovah were finally answered. One morning as I was leaving for work The Holy Spirit put me under such strong conviction I literally could not stand up and fell to my knees. When my knees hit the floor I found myself crying out to God, "Father PLEASE forgive me and let me back into Your Family."
All of the pressures were lifted off of my shoulders and I haven't touched any alcohol since that moment on May 10, 1999 at 7:30 a.m.
But, that doesn't mean I was a perfect man or a respected Christian from that moment on. I had to earn back the love and acceptance of my family, while they waited for the other "shoe" to drop. I had been so terrible for so long that no one actually believed God had forgiven me and that I was truly a "new" man in Jesus Christ. It took about three years before my own family started to believe it.
Even after that when I told someone I respected that I was going to start teaching a Sunday School class their reply floored me; "You will never be worthy to teach a class."
Satan had had such a strong hold on my life that I had a lot of baggage to go through and throw out. The worst of which was what I called the "Anderson Insanity." I would fly into a rage and literally break things if something did not work right. Changes did not happen over night but over years. And, with each step God was there holding my hand and helping me to overcome and throw out the trash, one-piece-at-a-time, which Satan had saddled me with.
Even today I am still growing and throwing out baggage, seeking strength and perseverance through God and The Holy Spirit with Jesus as my Intercessor. With Jehovah's help I may someday be able to stand in a Pulpit and let The Holy Spirit use me as The Almighty had once used me before.
I have also adopted John 17: 15 as my life's scripture. For you see, instead of taking me out of this world, He protected me from not just the real physical dangers I had been through, He also protected me from the Eternal Damnation set aside for Satan, Satan's angels and Satan's followers.
Praise God!!! So, it too is my prayer for you.
Rev. William H. Anderson
Healing The Body of Christ Ministries
John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (KJV)
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