I was born and raised in Australia, and my parents weren’t religious, and certainly not Christians. I never had any guidance in the Christian faith. Might I say I was fortunate because I was very premature at birth and I was fortunate to be alive. I had a slight case of Cerebral Palsy and Muscular Dystrophy.
Well, I was quite young still and was at a friend’s house. This is quite vivid, but I will only fully remember when I go to my long home in Heaven...My friend had a children’s Bible book in cartoon drawing form. It had a little boy like me who had been hit by a car. He was riding his bike and I don t remember if the Lord was going to heal him, but the Lord Jesus’ silhouette was in the top corner. Like I said, it was vivid, and the Lord impressed upon me that everything was going to be alright. If the boy was healed, it was great, or if he died, he would be in Heaven. It was a win-win situation. At that point, the Lord opened my understanding that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Light. So even though I hadn't had a born-again experience I thought and said I was a Christian.
My parents decided to move to a new state where my father was born. Shortly after, my parents got a divorce. My father decided that being raised by my mother wasn’t a good environment for me, so he put me into boarding school. This was very hard on me, being pulled away from my mother and put into a military-type school upbringing. The school was a private school for the rich. My mother thought it would be good for me, so I stayed there.
I was going around saying I was a Christian, and even if I did say some sort of a sinner’s prayer, there was no one that helped me stay saved. They did read out of the King James Version Bible and we sang Psalms (they were put to music). But I was committing way worse sins than people that never even professed to be Christians. There was no being born again, being led by God’s Holy Spirit. It was organized religion. Any students that said they were Christians—it was just a fad-type experience instead of a life-changing experience.
So I left school. Some of my friends from school were going to one of the biggest growing churches in Australia, but it was one of the biggest because it didn’t preach that you have to fear God and keep His commandments. There was "Christian" basketball, "Christian" surfboarding, and the youth group. So I was going to church, but for many wrong reasons and doing whatever I wanted the rest of the week. They didn’t preach about the severity of sin. They never stressed the point that you have to be a separate and a holy people, separate from the world. The church’s idea of witnessing was to be successful in your career or job, and then witness when you can.
I got around the wrong crowd, and people in this group from church decided there was no point working all your life; have fun now. So I went on unemployment. My parents were disgusted. After a short time of doing this, I decided to come to the United States for a change. It was Christmastime, 1986. I flew over here, and just traveled around. I was so backslidden and getting into all sorts of sin, but I was still saying I was a Christian. This went on for 3 months.
I was in Miami where Pastor Alamo had a church. I was coming back from the beach with a beer in my hand and there were two brothers from the ministry on the streets looking for lost souls. They came up to me and asked if I was a Christian and I told them yes. They asked, "Are you keeping all the commandments?" I had to say, "No." They told me the sin on my soul was going to take me to burning Hell. I remember it like it was yesterday. They asked me if I wanted to come to a service, so I followed them to the service.
The service was held in a little house, nothing fancy. I rededicated my life to the Lord. After the service I felt so clean. One of the best points about this ministry is that they told me that I could move into the ministry and all my needs would be taken care of. The Lord knew I needed this type of church environment, because I would have been like so many who say the sinner’s prayer and then go on their way and fall right back into sin.
That was in April of 1987 and I have been with the ministry ever since. In the ministry, I have gone to many services, gone all across the country witnessing and distributing Pastor Alamo’s gospel literature. I have learned many different work skills. Pastor Alamo has been a good friend and helped me a lot spiritually. This Christian ministry is a real safe haven for someone’s soul. I am so glad the Lord has provided a place for me because I would have been like many professing Christians who think they are on the right path to Heaven, but scripturally, they are on the road to Hell. I praise and thank the Lord and Pastor Alamo and all the brothers and sisters in the body of Christ that have helped me.
Praise the Lord,
Lachlan Johnson