"Get out of my room whitey and get out now!"  I grew up in New York City in a good and religious home but like so many young people, I went to church to see the girls or my friends and that was about the only reason for going other than I had to. 

I loved smoking marijuana and getting high.  My friends and I did not care who was around either.  One day while smoking and driving around, a policeman pulled up next to our car while we waiting for the light to change.  As high as we were, we started laughing and then as the light changed we just pulled off.

I had promised a friend that when I went to college, that I would no longer smoke "pot" and get high but one particular weekend, (one I will never forget) I went out and got high on alcohol and "pot."  I had been invited to go to a Bible retreat upstate and I had refused bitterly because they were all a "bunch of religious hypocrites" and I did not want anything to do with them.  I did not go and got high instead. 

As a young black man I early learned about racism and hate and I found myself becoming a racist full of hatred.  I just could not believe that a white person could love a black person in spite of whether they went to church or not. I was invited one day to join the Black Panther Party (a black revolutionary group) but I did not because they were not racist enough for me.

I had bought a gun in college and had threatened to kill a particular white guy who got on my nerves.  One day in my dorm room, I was brandishing my gun and railing against this fellow named Don when who should come into my room asking for help with his car?  You guessed it, Don.  My first words to him were, "Get out of my room whitey."  He was hurt and troubled and I was exuberant about having intimidated another white guy.  What I did not know was that from that moment on Don began to pray for me continually.

Shortly after that, the weekend that I mentioned came up and Don went and there prayed and prayed for me while back at the dorm I was getting high.  When the weekend was over and the kids came back to school, everything seemed just like normal.  I was late for assembly where the whole school would meet in the auditorium and listen to a speaker.  Something strongly in the depths of my mind told me to go to the auditorium even though I was always late and had basically one last chance before being in big trouble. I did not care, but I ran across campus and got there as the doors were shut.  I pulled on one of them and you know what? It opened, so I went to my seat and someone next to me said, "Man you just made it."

As I began to study for a class, I noticed that instead of a speaker, the kids who had gone to the Bible retreat were speaking one at a time.  What really got my attention was that these were some of the "roughest" kids on campus and they were talking about how Jesus changed their lives.  I listened intently as I had never heard such sincerity.

After the last one had spoken they invited anyone who wanted to come up to the stage and there have prayer.
For some reason, I said to the girl next to me, "You wanna pray?"  She said o.k. and so we went up to pray.  But we were not to pray alone for the girl's dean came over and asked to join our group and so I said alright.  Then amazingly Don came over and asked also to join our little group.  Again I said o.k.  Everyone prayed but me and then it was Don's turn.

"Lord - you know that I have been praying for Andre' and you know what we have thought about each other, then when I saw him run through those closed doors I knew that you answered my prayers."  Then just then, something strange happened, Don began to cry. "Lord I don't want to be whitey to Andre' any more and I don't want him to be blackey to me."  By now he was really crying.  I must tell you that I have heard praying all of my life but this prayer touched me and I began to cry.  After his prayer, it was my turn and I prayed "Lord help Don to understand that I love him."  I said that?!  Yes, and I meant it.  When prayer was over, I hugged Don and said to him, "God has taken the sword out of my hands."

After this I went back to my seat and literally trembled as people one by one came up to me and said I have been praying for you.  I didn't know they cared.  I got up and went to find a fellow that I was to buy a large bag of Marijuana from.  "I want to talk to you about that pot," he interrupted me and said "You don't need that stuff; what you need is Jesus."  When I looked around, there were literally hundreds of kids on their knees paying, or reading from the Bible, or crying.  "What is happening, I have never seen anything like this before?"

It was February in Massachusetts and there was snow on the ground and plenty of it.  I walked in blue jeans and sneakers up a hill in knee deep snow and at the top of the hill gave my heart for the first time to Jesus to be my God and friend.  My life has changed and it has never been the same since and I do not look back and I live to tell others about how wonderful He is and how my sins were forgiven graciously by Him and how He died for me while I was still His enemy.  I just praise Him for there is none like him!

An Invitation...

Perhaps you're just surfing and after reading this, have realized that you are in need of a Savior. God loves you so very much and sent His very Best to take our sin burden.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life".

Romans 10:13 says,  "For we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God".

Christ has paid the debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.

If you have never asked Jesus Christ into your heart, please prayerfully consider doing so. He is our Light in the Darkness and our Bridge over troubled water; He is our Peace.

If you are questioning in your heart what this Christian life is all about and would like to know more about being reconciled to God, please click here to learn how you can do that.

If you would like to contact Andre' Wilson, he can be reached at 
countrylife7@juno.com

If this testimony has blessed you, would you please take a few moments and share with us HOW it has blessed you?  Your feedback is very important.  Please mention the author of this testimony when you email your comments.  Thank you so very, very much!  Email:  ptoffice@precious-testimonies.com

To get to know God; to be at peace with God; to have your sins forgiven; to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help understand the importance of being reconciled to God.  What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one.  Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life.