Member Testimonies

Submitted by Anthony G - Central Az USA on Sept. 06,2024

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  Where would you expect a 10-year boy to end up who was just set free, to go ALONE anywhere in the Colorado State Fair of 1969? (Even most boys of that age!) This is my story and without even hearing what your answer would be, that's not where I ended up. (I can rightly say that I know for sure that I ended up in some place 'unusual'. I'll get there in a minute though.)

   I don't remember what day of the week it was, but I remember it was a weekday because we had to be taken after normal work hours. After driving 30 - 40 minutes to get there it was dark when we finally DID get there. It was also cold that night (in the 50s or low 60` temps.) for being in early June & just after school was let out for summer break. (Back in those days, we got out the first week in June until the first week of Sept. for Summer break.) Also, it was literally, "the Summer of 69"!  Before I go any further at this point, I need to give you a little background and history for me in order to understand the MAJOR impact that the events of that night had upon me, THEN and for the rest of my life!

   It was the beginning of a journey that apparently, has no end! I grew up on the suburbs of a small city of about 45,000 people right on the border of a city park which was left natural as alpine desert land, just below the base of the Colorado mountains along the front range. We had just over 2 and a half acres of land on our property which my parents were in the process of buying throughout the 1960's. The natural landscape was covered in brush such as scrub oak and some junipers with the occasional pine tree here and there. On our land, we had one blue pine tree over 50 ft. tall, 2 giant oaks (one over 6 foot in diameter at the base) and several imported Manzanita bushes around the front of a 3 story, 10,000+ sq. ft. Victorian mansion built in the late 1890's (1894 - 96 I believe, and originally as a hotel.) 

   We, as many who lived there before us would go back every few years to check up on the place and the property. Every owner, (including us when it happened to us) was very cordial and accommodating, usually saying; "I totally understand why! We may be doing it one day ourselves. Come on in!" Anyway, this place was a PARADISE upon which little boys could grow up. We had an oval shaped garden in our driveway with a circle in the center of it made of tall juniper trees. (This created a hidden, shaded space inside the circle of trees that we had to sneak our way into without hurting any of the flowers along the way in. Otherwise, we'd have to answer to mom!) We called it "the island", because it was oval shaped and the flowers when freshly watered, were like the waters around our island. (We spent a lot of time in there in the Summers. :-) On the other side of the house was the giant oak tree with perfect big, sturdy branches to climb, sit and lay back on. It had a picnic table that my dad had built which went all the way around the tree. We called that one "the shady tree" and made it our spot to cool off in the summer times.

   In the back of the house were 2, separate groves of very old, and therefore tall scrub oak trees where my father and older brother had built 3 separate tree houses in different parts of the North grove. They then connected them with bridge-ways up in the tree branches about 9 - 10 ft. above the ground that even included a handrail. The tree house that was the furthest back had 3 walls and a rooftop with a lookout on top, and a deck on the open north wall. It also had a small deck area underneath from which to spy out that even had lockable hatchways! (One opening down to 2 x 4 rungs down to the ground, the other up into the tree house!) That's where our mom would ALWAYS call out first in her efforts to find us on any given day of the year.

    Inside the house, there were 3 great rooms (30 x 30 ft.) two of which on the main floor, and the third above the entrance great room on the first floor. (The 2nd story one became the bedroom for myself and my 2 younger brothers.) That room was the only great room that had an outdoor balcony (looking South) and we loved living in it! (We shared that room for what must have been 5 - 6 years and never fought over "space related" issues. EVER!) Keep in mind the style and era of the home as well. This means elaborate moldings around 10 ft. ceilings on every floor. (We got two, 10 ft. trees (1 for each first floor, great room) that my dad and 'the men' (his 4 sons) would go out and cut down, and haul back on top of our 1957 Plymouth station wagons' roof for our Christmas almost every year! (My parents got by like that, I'm sure. Free Christmas trees, etc.) My parents didn't have money, my mom was a stay at home mom, and my dad was a travelling insurance salesman. I don't know how he did it, but I know that he could make his own hours and sales routes, and that he was "salesman of the month" where he worked at least 10 months out of every year! Which also meant that it was a treat to see and spend time with him because he had a "to do" list from mom and therefore, was always busy whenever he just got home!

   We were actually 'lower middleclass' (Looking back now) but we didn't know it. We thought we were doing pretty good in life,. We always seemed to have what we needed and just loved where we were able to grow up. We never seemed to get bored, or tired of it either and that was plenty for us!

   Our Christmases there were a double-sided "birthday" for us as kids. One side for Jesus' birthday, and the other of sharing gifts to each other as a 'celebration of His birthday'. (I don't think I really understood that second part of that explanation by my parents back then, but we gave them the "benefit of our (the 3 young kids) misunderstanding", right? Eesh!) Anyway, we were never told the full story about Christ - WHO He was/is, His life and the importance of His existence. Only that He was "the Son of God" and, the best man who ever lived, and therefore the best example by which to live. That was it! (That was good enough for us. We ALL got presents, right?!) We were like, "Okay, just another birthday party every year, and on this one, it's EVERYBODYS birthday! What's not to love and run with here?!"

  I can't speak for any of my 4 siblings, but I know that - I - never knew WHY we weren't told the full story about Jesus until in my late 50's, after talking to my mother about how - she - was taught, (in a Catholic school in South America) and how it severely affected how she wanted, and would decide to let her own children find out, "In their own time, and in their own way."

   This was my mindset, on that chilly, June night in Southern Colorado at the 1969 State Fair. Alone and looking for something ..., 'different' than what my 2 brothers might choose to experience, who were there at the same time, on their own, doing the same thing but only going in different directions than I was. I headed North from the central square area where we agreed to meet back in 15 minutes with the Church Camp couple who had taken us there and given us some trust to have freedom to do our own thing for a while.

   One brother went East, and the other South. (We thought "Wow! This is GREAT!") When I got to a fork in the pathway ahead of me, I decided after seeing what looked like 'usual fair stuff' on my right, and 'little kid stuff' on my left that I would go into a large trailer that was straight in front of me at the split in the pathway. When I noticed that there was no line to go inside, I felt like that was an even better choice to try out first. The trailer was sideways in front of me with a door on each end. The door on the right was marked "Enter", and both doorways were full of bright, yellow light inside. So, with one last look of consideration, off I went into the door on the right end of this trailer.

   When I got inside, I found the first room to be have a TV video player. (One of the first of its' kind back then, but quite primitive compared to modern players.) There was a hallway leading to 3 other rooms down along this trailer and as I looked, I did not see nor hear any other people in there with me. I decided that this fact allowed me some extra freedom to just take my time and just be myself while there, so I kept looking around. The video player had a remote with a large sticker on it that said, "Play", so I hit the button. As I realized what this video was going to be about, my first reaction was to lose interest but, as I continued to watch and listen, I heard something that I had never heard before about the subject so, I decided to keep watching. Before I knew it, I had heard a couple more pieces of new information on this and then, the video said to continue to the next room where there was another video presentation.

   These rooms had pictures on the walls, and a table with some imitation artifacts from the time period of the subject matter. I continued on in the same manner as the first room - being surprised at the new information that I was receiving, spurring me on to see what was in store for me on the next video. By the time that I was in the middle of the 2nd rooms' presentation, I was shocked that nobody had told me about these things before! I kept asking myself; "Why didn't my mom TELL ME about this?!"  I had not only found information that I should have been told, but it was also HUGE information! (By this time, my parents had been separated for some time and were working on getting a divorce. My 2 younger brothers and I were living with our mom in a normal 3 bedroom, 2 bath home while she worked full time to support us. Our MUCH older siblings were already out on their own by then.)

  By the time that I was coming out of the exit door of this State Fair Exhibit I was confused, in shock and had lost ANY INTEREST in seeing another fair exhibit, game or ride! I just wanted to get back to the couple that brought us to tell SOME adult about my experience that I had just had all on my own. When I found them, they wanted me to wait until my brothers came back as well before sharing my experience with them, which was only about 5 minutes or so. (I decided to wait until last to share my story, because I couldn't imagine that either of my brothers would say that they had just found out that our mom was keeping vital secrets from us for some reason!)

   They both shared about what rides they went on, and what cool prize that they saw and tried to win. When it came my turn, I didn't know how to start, or even how to put the message in a way that didn't sound crazy right off the bat, so there was a pretty big pause before I actually spoke. (Before I share what I said, keep in mind that I had always been VERY serious in nature about any, important subject since the breakup of my family the year prior to this Summer.)

   What I remember saying was something along the lines of; "I found this trailer right away, and it talks everything about Jesus. What I found out in there was, that our mom didn't tell us A BUNCH of stuff about Him, and how important His life is!!!" "Did you know that He came so that we may be forgiven for our sins?! Did you know that, etc., etc.?" "Our mom should have told us this stuff! I don't understand why she didn't because, THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!" (I think that I may have cried a little at that point, I'm not sure...) The couple from our church camp was looking at me, grinning from ear to ear THE WHOLE TIME that I spoke! They only said that they couldn't speak for our mom so, maybe I should have a conversation with her. (Of course, right?)

   Now, to end this story I must share one, VERY IMPORTANT detail that I haven't told you yet. At the end room of the Christian Exhibit trailer, the video presentation asked if you "needed to be saved and would like to become a Christian". It then offered a "sinners' prayer" to repeat after each line to become saved. I couldn't imagine a reason to wait to do it, so I did the prayer right then and there, BY MYSELF, in a trailer to a video presentation!

     I GOT SAVED BY A VIDEO PRESENTATION, at ten years of age! Little did I know that I would get saved again 7 years later at a Billy Graham Revival, and again 7 years after that by (whom I STILL BELIEVE to this day was) Christ HIMSELF! Those stories are for another time though.

   I hope that you found this story interesting, and more so helpful.

Thank you for reading