CONVERSION STORIES

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number … saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

—Revelation 7:9, 10

THE FOLLOWING ARE CONVERSION STORIES FROM VARIOUS TIME PERIODS AND VARIOUS EXPERIENCES

846 Change On Pitcairn Island

The true story of the Mutiny on the Bounty has often been retold. One part that deserves retelling was the transformation wrought by one book. Nine mutineers with six native men and twelve native (Tahitian) women put ashore on Pitcairn Island in 1790. One sailor soon began distilling alcohol, and the little colony was plunged into debauchery and vice.

Ten years later, only one white man survived, surrounded by native women and half-breed children. In an old chest from the Bounty, this sailor one day found a Bible. He began to read it and then to teach it to the others. The result was that his own life and ultimately the lives of all those in the colony were changed. Discovered in 1808 by the USS Topas, Pitcairn had become a prosperous community with no jail, no whisky, no crime, and no laziness.

—Gospel Herald

847 Sequel To Crusoe

Few persons, I suppose, have read the sequel to Robinson Crusoe’s story of his captivity on the lonely island in which Crusoe tells how he revisited the island and endeavored to convert to Christianity the mixed colony of English and natives.

Most notorious among these islanders was the wicked and profligate seaman Will Atkins. After his conscience had been reached and it was suggested to Atkins that he and his companions teach their wives religion, he responded, “Lord, sir, how should we teach them religion? Should we talk to them of God and Jesus Christ, and heaven and hell, it would make them laugh at us.”

In his ever charming style Defoe describes Atkins sitting by the side of his tawny wife under the shade of a bush and trying to tell her about God, occasionally going off a little distance to fall on his knees to pray, until at length they both knelt down together, while the friend who was watching with Crusoe cried out, “St. Paul! St. Paul! Behold he prayeth.”

—C. E. Macartney

848 Moffat And Africaner

Africaner was a Hottentot desperado of Mamaqualand. He was such a hardened character that the governor at Cape Town had offered five hundred dollars for him dead or alive. He and his men were the terror of South Africa. When Robert Moffat went as missionary to Africaner’s tribe, the people at Cape Town never expected to see him again. They told him that Africaner would use his skull for a drinking cup.

Trusting in God, the brave missionary preached the Gospel to these savages. His first convert was Africaner. Later Moffat took him to Cape Town with him. When the colonial ruler saw the savage changed into a humble Christian man, he said, “What a miracle! This is the eighth wonder of the world!”

849 The Human Tiger

A French explorer was crossing Africa from the Zambezi, and came into the region of the Barotsi people. He heard stories about the native king Lewanika, whose greatest delight had been to put to death, by newly invented tortures, those who offended him, and who was known as the “human tiger.” This French officer came to the station where Pastor Coillard was in charge, and the pastor himself, a Frenchman, entertained him kindly.

Then came Sunday. The French officer, as a matter of politeness, went to church and sat through the service. When he came out he said, “Monsieur Coillard, who was that remarkable-looking man sitting next to me, who listened so carefully?” “That was King Lewanika, the “human tiger.” “Was it?” “Yes.” “Then if that is what Christ can do, I mean to be His.”

850 Origin Of “Ben Hur”

Two infidels once sat on a railroad train, discussing the life of Christ. One of them said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about him.” The other replied, “And you are just the man to write it. Tear down the prevailing sentiment about His divinity, and paint Him as a man—a man among men.”

The suggestion was acted upon and the romance written. The man who made the suggestion was Colonel Ingersoll, the noted atheist. The writer was General Lew Wallace, and the book was called Ben Hur.

In the process of constructing the life of Christ, Gen. Wallace found himself facing the greatest life ever lived on earth. The more he studied, the more he was convinced Christ was more than man. Until one day, he was forced to cry “Verily, this was the Son of God!”

851 Father Chiniquy Accepts Gift

One Sunday morning, a Roman Catholic priest appeared before a congregation of a thousand persons in an Illinois town and said, “My people, I resign my priesthood, though I have been here thirty years.”

At their earnest request he gave his reasons why he did so: “Last night I spent every hour praising God. All sleep had left me. After reading the New Testament I saw that salvation is in Jesus Christ, and is the gift of God’s eternal love. Penance is not in it. Purgatory is not in it. Absolution is not in it. On my knees in my room I accepted the Gift, and I love the Giver. I walked the room most of the night saying to myself: “I accept the Gift, and I love the Giver.””

And thus for an hour and a half Father Chiniquy expounded to the people the grace of God. At the close of the sermon he asked how many of them would join with him in accepting the Gift and loving the Giver. Every man, woman, and child, except about forty, responded. And there is a Presbyterian church today.

—A. C. Dison

852 Story Of John D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was strong and husky when small. He early determined to earn money and drove himself to the limit. At age 33, he earned his first million dollars. At age 43, he controlled the biggest company in the world. At age 53, he was the richest man on earth and the world’s only billionaire.

Then he developed a sickness called “alopecia,” where the hair of his head dropped off, his eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared, and he was shrunken like a mummy. His weekly income was one million dollars, but he digested only milk and crackers. He was so hated in Pennsylvania that he had to have bodyguards day and night. He could not sleep, stopped smiling long since, and enjoyed nothing in life.

The doctors predicted he would not live over one year. The newspaper had gleefully written his obituary in advance—for convenience in sudden use. Those sleepless nights set him thinking. He realized with a new light that he “could not take one dime into the next world.” Money was not everything.

The next morning found him a new man. He began to help churches with his amassed wealth; the poor and needy were not overlooked. He established the Rockefeller Foundation whose funding of medical researches led to the discovery of penicillin and other wonder drugs. John D. began to sleep well, eat and enjoy life.

The doctors had predicted he would not live over age 54. He lived up to 98.

853 How Billy Sunday Got Saved

One Sunday afternoon in Chicago, a group of ballplayers entered a salon. When they emerged, they saw a group of people playing instruments, singing gospel hymns, and testifying of Christ’s power to save from sin.

Memories of a log cabin in Iowa, an old church, and a godly mother raced through the mind of one of the ballplayers. Tears came to his eyes. Presently he said, “Boys, I’m through! going to turn to Jesus Christ. We’ve come to the parting of the ways.” Some of his companions mocked him, but others were silent. Only one encouraged him. He turned from the group and entered the Pacific Garden Mission.

Later the ballplayer told what occurred. “I called upon God’s mercy. I staggered out of my sins into the outstretched arms of the Saviour. I became instantly a new creature in Him! The next morning at practice, my manager, Mike Kelly, greeted me and said, “Billy, I read in the paper what occurred yesterday. Religion isn’t my long suit, but I won’t knock you, and I’ll knock the daylights out of anyone who does.””

The converted ballplayer was Billy Sunday, who became the world-renowned evangelist.

—Gospel Herald

854 “New Bill”

His first name was Bill. At an early age he began to drink and live in the depths of sin. Sometimes he was referred to as “Old Bill.” One night in a drunken brawl, a man hit him so hard that he was often referred to as “One-eyed Bill.”

But something happened to that wretch of a human being. Bill was told about a Saviour who could save him and give him a new life. In simple faith, he accepted the Saviour, and his life was completely changed.

For many years after that, Bill worked around the rescue mission in Evansville, Indiana. Because of the remarkable change in this man’s life, many of his old friends began to speak of him as “New Bill.” In fact, he actually went by that name for the rest of his life. While in my junior year of college, I heard “New Bill” give his testimony. I do not even remember his last name, but I remember him as “New Bill.”

—Marvin Lewis

855 Lord, If It’s Not Too Late

Years ago a unique character was converted in the Water Street Mission in New York. It was “the Old Colonel.” Through drink he had sunk very low.

At the time of his conversion he was sixty years old. He looked as if he were one hundred. He looked more like an animal than a human being. He was clothed in rags. The overcoat he wore was fastened with a nail. “Old Bill” was a caricature of the man he had been—a college graduate and a brilliant law student in the office of E. M. Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War.

On the night of his conversion, he cried, “O Lord, if it is not too late, forgive and save this poor old sinner!” God heard the cry of his heart. He was gloriously saved. God restored his intellect. That which had been his greatest love and had almost ruined his life—strong drink—became his greatest hate. He became an honored and beloved Christian gentleman!

—Walter B. Knight

856 An Unpolished Gem

Glen Campbell, a member of the counseling department of Radio Bible Class, told a dramatic story in one of our devotional periods. He said that years ago a drunken man in Chicago headed toward Lake Michigan to drown himself. As he stumbled past the Pacific Garden Mission, someone helped him through the open door. He collapsed in front of the preacher and fell asleep.

The superintendent cared for him, gave him a bed, and explained the Gospel to him the next morning. That day Harry Monroe was transformed by the grace of God. Later he was to preach the Gospel from that same platform where once he had slept in a drunken stupor. Mr. Monroe became superintendent of the mission, and when he died, it took all day for people to pay their respects. A newspaper editorial described him as one of the most useful men in Chicago.

—Our Daily Bread

857 Right Weapons At Okinawa

Clarence Hall, a World War II correspondent, gave this remarkable testimony:

“I can never think of the boons and benefits that the Bible invariably brings without thinking of Shimmabuke, a tiny village I came upon as a war correspondent in Okinawa.

“Thirty years before, an American missionary en route to Japan had stopped there just long enough to make two converts—Shosei Kina and his brother Mojon. He left a Bible with them and passed on. For thirty years they had no contact with any other Christian missionary, but they made the Bible come alive! They taught the other villagers until every man, woman, and child in Shimmabuke became a Christian.

“Shosei Kina became the headman of the village, and Mojon the chief teacher. In the school the Bible was read daily. The precepts of the Bible were law in the village. In those thirty years there developed a Christian democracy in its purest form.

“When the American army came across the island, an advance patrol swept up to the village compound with guns leveled. The two old men stepped forth, bowed low, and began to speak. An interpreter explained that the old men were welcoming the Americans as fellow Christians!

“The flabbergasted GIs sent for their chaplain. He came with officers of the Intelligence Service. They toured the village. They were astounded at the spotlessly clean homes and streets and the gentility of the inhabitants. The other Okinawan villages they had seen were filthy, and the people were ignorant and poverty-stricken.

“Later I strolled through Shimmabuke with a tough army sergeant. He said, “I can’t figure it out—this kind of people coming from a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to be like Jesus Christ. Maybe we have been using the wrong kind of weapons to make the world over!””

—Selected

858 Story Of Pilot De Shazer

Jacob de Shazer was sent as one of Jimmy Dootlittle’s raiders on Japan on April 18, 1942. He was an atheist, believing in no God. During the air attack his plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft bullets and he was forced to bail out. He was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese and thought certainly his life was approaching the end. He saw two of his companions shot by a firing squad and saw another die of slow starvation.

During the long months of imprisonment he pondered the question of why the Japanese hated him and why he hated them. He began to recall some of the things he had heard about Christianity.

Boldly, he asked his jailers if they could get him a Bible. At first they laughed boisterously as at a good joke, grew ugly, and warned him to stop making a nuisance of himself. But he kept asking. A year-and-a-half later, May 1944, a guard finally brought him a Bible, flung it at him, and said, “Three weeks you have. Three weeks, and then I take away.” True to his word, in three weeks the guard took the Bible away and de Shazer never saw it again.

However, in those three weeks of intensive searching, meditating, and delving into the meaning of life and humanity’s ultimate destiny, a change came about. Later he was released from Japanese captivity and returned home. In 1948, de Shazer, his wife, and infant son were on their way back to Japan as missionaries, all because he asked for a Bible and a Japanese guard gave him one for three weeks. He had searched the Scriptures and found life.

—Earl C. Willer

859 Col. Sanders Found The Secret

In his autobiography, Col. Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame says that he was always a God-fearing man. In every venture he gave God a tenth of the profits. Yet he knew that if he died, God probably wouldn’t take him to heaven.

Woried, he traveled to Australia to a special church convention for the answer. He didn’t find it.

One day, Sanders was walking down a street in Louisville, Kentucky, when Rev. Waymon Rodgers of Louisville’s Evangel Tabernacle invited him to some evangelistic services. Several days later, Sanders went. At age 79, he claimed the promises of Rom. 10:9. “When I walked out of that church that night, I knew I was a different man. All my tithing and good deeds had never given me the sense of God’s presence that I knew then,” he says.

860 God’s Hand On Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash! Known internationally as the great country folk singer of all time, he broke all attendance records at the London Palladium. Cash found that his rise to stardom brought more than fame and fortune. It brought problems. While he was rising professionally and more and more Gold Records were added to his collection, in his personal life, things became worse.

Show business pressures soon drove him to take “pep pills,” and soon he became addicted to Amphetamine. His first arrest came in 1965, when he was caught with more than 1,000 pills in his pockets. From 200 lbs. he went down to 140 lbs. in weight. Side effects from drugs caused him a severe car accident—he broke his nose and knocked out four teeth. He was going steadily downhill.

Then on May 9, 1971, Johnny Cash sat in a pew of a small church in his home town. The pastor finished his sermon and appealed to the congregation to come to the front to “make things right” with God. Johnny Cash stood up and walked a few steps to the wooden altar. God put his hand on Johnny Cash …

861 Ty Cobb’s Deathbed Conversion

Then there is Ty Cobb, that all-time great who played 3,033 games and for 12 years led the American League in batting average. For four years, he batted over 400. On his death bed, July 17, 1961, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He said, “You tell the boys I’m sorry it was the last part of the ninth that I came to know Christ. I wish it had taken place in the first half of the first.”

See also: Blood, The ; Salvation ; Witnessing.