In the giving of our testimony, we would like to give God the praise and the glory for all the way in which He has led us.
As the title suggests, we have been together since the day of our conversion. We both came from nominally Christian homes, both belonging to the Church of England, and believing that in our confirmation we belonged to the Lord. June felt the greater impact of such commitment in her life. As for John, singing in the choir and serving at the altar was to him fulfilling his obligation. At that time we had no thoughts or understanding that we were sinners and in need of a Saviour…………..
We met at the tender ages of 15 and 17 years—John having spent just over two years in the army, with all its temptations—yet in an amazing way the Lord kept His hand on us both. On John’s demob, we began going to the Baptist Church each Sunday, listening each week to the challenge of the Gospel, coming deeper under its conviction.
Then on the evening of 17th September 1950, we gave way to the Lord. Our minister preached from John 3:16 and after the service we returned to June’s home and knelt at the settee and asked the Lord to become our Saviour, inviting Him into our hearts and acknowledging that we were sinners and needed His salvation.
Did we understand it? No, but from then on we began to grow and to feel our lives changing, our love for the Lord grew and was nurtured by fine ministry. Because of the uniqueness of our conversion, as a young couple, we gave our testimony in many places and situations. We were soon enveloped in the work of the local fellowship, from Sunday School teaching to Church Secretary and to preaching on the Lord’s day.
Two years into our new life in Jesus, we were called into full time Christian service (with organisations known these days as Home Evangelism, Day One and The Shaftesbury Society and as a pastor) until our retirement in 1994. During this time we experienced many things within the Christian life. Times were hard and sometimes very difficult—bringing up three children caused us to depend upon the Lord to provide for us.
Over the years, we have experienced many wonderful answers to prayer, we have proved the Lord to be faithful and He has led us all the way. We have been very happy in the Lord as to—gether we have grown in Him. We truly have been blessed by the Lord.
It would be wrong for us to say that life has always been easy, far from it. We have been sorely tried over these past six years as we have sought to cope with the sadness of our daughter, Christine’s severe stroke and consequent disability. As a result of this, we have been cast more and more upon the Lord and we believe He has enabled us to grow even stronger—in our understanding of others with difficulties and in enhanced ministry—and we praise Him for His wonderful care for us. Through it all we have found the Lord to be gracious—without Him we would not have been able to have coped.
Looking back over the years we can see the hand of the Lord upon us in many ways. Little did we realise that by that simple act of faith, kneeling to-gether those many years ago, that our lives could be so blessed. Our experiences of the Lord over the years are too numerous for us to record, but we praise Him for His great love and for His grace and mercy that He has so graciously given us.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
John & June Isaacs
May 2004