From My Heart To You

Born Again

Vicky never gave up. For 42 years she prayed for her uncle.
Last year she thought she could see some cracks forming in
his 101-year-old heart. Earlier in the summer, Vicky's
daughter joined a short-term mission group in Hawaii. Her
emails home were all about what God was doing in her life,
and Vicky's uncle read them all. Vicky wasn't sure, but he
seemed moved by them. And then something happened that
broke his heart. Was God was opening up a place in the
hard heart for Himself?

"I am a scientific person," he once screamed at Vicky,
"and I need scientific evidence. I need proof! I won't
believe unless I have proof!" C.S. Lewis has said that God
dragged him, kicking and screaming, into heaven and Vicky
decided to hold onto the hope that God was dragging her
uncle in like Lewis. He's an intelligent man and a
self-made millionaire. He's been fighting God for 100
years. Those are hard odds to overcome, but nothing's
impossible with God.

Vicky and her daughter went to see him after her daughter's
return from Hawaii. "We went with highest hopes," Vicky
said. "As usual, he was incredibly distracted and appeared
not to be listening. My daughter kept trying to steer the
conversation back to Jesus and he kept changing the subject.
Finally I told him how I knew he had no purpose and hope for
living and asked him if he wanted to pray with us to find
the peace that his sister and I had found in Christ.
Miraculously, he softly said, 'Yes.' My daughter and I
couldn't believe it!"

Shortly after Christmas, the sister he dearly loved and had
looked after all his life, passed away. Vicky believes it is
the grace of God that kept her alive long enough to see her
brother's salvation. Though he was deeply saddened by her
leaving, Vicky's uncle was visibly buoyed by the knowledge
of being able to be reunited with her in heaven. This is
the same man who only a few months earlier had claimed
there was nothing after death. Nothing. Now he has a new
purpose for his life, and, by the way, another sister to
take care of. This one is only 96 and in better health
than her older sister, which puts a little sparkle in her
brother's eyes because it means he can get out again. He
may not be screaming anymore at 102, but he's still kicking!

Last October, Vicky's family got to celebrate her uncle's
one-hundred-second and her aunt's one-hundredth birthday
with the joy of adding the celebration of his first natural
birthday as a Christian. Born again at 101. Proof that it's
never too late; and encouragement to all to never give up,
even amidst the most obstinate resistance. Just ask Vicky.

Written by John Fischer

Midi playing "Only Believe"

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