Pastor Delhotal's Testimony

Though my mother took me to church when I was very young, she was offended by something the pastor did and left the church for several years. When I was about ten, a friend invited me to attend a Tuesday night children's program at First Baptist Church in Amboy, IL. I became a regular rider on the church bus, riding both Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings. In November of 1988, God began to convict me of my need to be saved and I began to wonder if I was good enough to go to Heaven. I can remember trying to judge my public-school classmates to discern which ones were going to make it to Heaven, considering myself a standard of who was good enough. Then one night, the youth pastor told us that salvation was by faith, so not fully understanding what he meant, I determined to work hard to believe that I was going to Heaven. I can remember very clearly the youth pastor preaching on the fact that there are sins of omission as well as sins of commission, though I do not recall exactly what was preached the night I first raised my hand. I finally realized that I needed to be saved. I raised my hand one Tuesday night that I wanted to know more about salvation but was too bashful to get out of my seat at invitation time. I held out for a week, but the next Tuesday night, November 8, 1988, God worked mightily in my heart, and I responded. I not only raised my hand but got out of my seat and was taken from the church basement where the preaching had taken place to the back of the church auditorium. There an older gentleman took the Scriptures and showed me how to be saved and, with tears in my eyes, I trusted Christ to save me. When I arrived home, I knew I needed to tell my mother that I had been saved. I will never forget how she hugged me and cried as she realized her need to get back into church and bring my siblings up in the knowledge of the Lord.