Born in a Roman Catholic home in Syracuse, New York, I had aspirations to become a priest, early pretending to 'officiate' in a church service. After finishing parochial grammar school, my parents sent me to a Catholic high school. Our second baseman on the baseball team was converted to Christ and decided not to play his senior year. We were upset at his decision, seeking to convince him that he had evenings and weekends to give to God. He explained that God deserved our utmost and proceeded to speak to me about my soul, and later signed my yearbook with an accompanying verse of scripture. Off to West Virginia University and in the month of November a man collected me hitchhiking from a pub and preached salvation in the blood of Jesus Christ and left me with a gospel tract that gave a clear message:

" THERE'S A HEAVEN TO GAIN AND A HELL TO SHUN."

After an argument with a roommate in a dormitory, I lifted up my eyes to heaven and cried for God to show the way of deliverance. The next Sunday a neighbor on the same floor asked me to accompany him to a church. He was not a believer but had finally acquiesced to invitations such as he gave me. Perhaps he was wanting company of a lost soul like himself. At first I passed on the offer as religion to me had been rituals, robes, stained-glass windows, chanting and the like. But providentially I had an accidental fall that resulted in a change of mind to attend the church with him. Two Christians met us in the lobby and were overjoyed to find not one, but two visitors.

After a seeming long ride responding to many questions, we arrived at a simple church building and were greeted by many sincere sounding people. We sat three rows from the front and the preacher spoke from the Bible about similar things my team mate and the man who drove me from the tavern had said. God impressed me with my guilt and sin against Him, my mother especially, and others generally. But salvation through the once-for-all death of Jesus Christ was set forth as the escape from sin, guilt, despair and the deserved wrath of God in hell. On that November day in 1978 the Lord heard my cry of repentance and gave me faith to cling to Christ Jesus for salvation. Growth in grace was slow but blessed and in 1981 I was called to preach the word that God used to save my soul. The Lord has given me a precious Christian wife and to us four special children and a church of hungry and happy believers in Western New York, who love to tell others what great things God hath done for them too.

"Seek ye the LORD while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near."(Isaiah 55:6)

Philip Owen