Testimony

A sinner saved by grace!

I had a fairly normal Canadian upbringing. I was raised in a middleclass family, the son of an autoworker, and I dreamed of playing in the NHL. During my childhood I actively pursued my dream, playing hockey at a competitive level for 10 years.

When I was seventeen I came the realisation that I wasn’t going to make the NHL and I turned my sights towards getting an education and partying, with the emphasis on partying. For the next decade or so, the decade of the 1980’s, I became a committed partier. I smoked dope regularly and had what the Bible calls drinking parties with my friends three or four times a week, where in my heyday it was not uncommon for me to party until the sun came up. For that period of time in my life partying was pretty much what I lived for. It encompassed my philosophy of life – enjoy life! And I was pretty successful at it. Unfortunately I was successful at little else. In the midst of my partying I never made it to university or college, and I never did much in the work force either, mainly moving from low end job to low end job and squandering any good opportunities that did happen to come my way. 

The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a time but that the wages of sin is death (Hebrews 11:34-34; Romans 6:23). In my decade of partying I was able to fully experience both side of that truth. The first few years that I partied were some of the best, most fun-filled times of my life. I had little in the way of responsibility and I had little to care about except having fun . . . and I had plenty of good times. By the time I got to the last few years however, when I was in my mid-twenties, things were a lot different. I was alcoholic, I was suffering from a mental illness where I needed to hospitalised on occasion, at different times I was homeless, and I found myself in jail a few times for assault and probation violations. These were the bad times when partying wasn’t fun anymore. 

It was at this point in my life that I decided to fully commit my life to Jesus Christ. 

My conversion 

As a child growing up I had always believed in God. Even from my earliest memories as a little boy I can remember believing in God, specifically the God of the Bible. However except for a few years when I was very young I never went to church regularly, and the church we did go to wasn’t a real Bible believing church, so I never really got to learn very much about God. In my mind God existed to help people when we needed Him, and when people died, He let good people into heaven, people who basically were law abiding citizens, and sent bad people to hell, people who were criminals such as thieves and murderers. 

Consequently, because I believed in God and believed that He existed to help people when we needed Him, when I was starting to go through my difficulties while I was partying, I cried out to God to help me. In my seeking of God I felt, in what I can only call a spiritual feeling, Him point me towards His Son Jesus Christ. Up until that time in my life I knew very little about Jesus other than that He was the Son of God who died for us and rose from the dead. Eventually though I learned more about Jesus including that He is the way to God and that I needed to believe in Him if I wanted God to help me (John 14:6). So I believed in Jesus during this time, but I did it with the attitude that I wanted God to help me do things my way, not that I was willing to do things His way, which biblically is what God wants – life with God is about Him and His way, not us and our way (Matthew 16:24).

During this time I like to say that God gave me the rope to do what I wanted and I hung myself with it. After I believed in Jesus, I saw God take care of me and see me through the worst of the times I went through, but I also saw Him let me go through those bad times as a consequence for my actions. 

Finally in 1989 when I was in prison for the last time my father came to visit me and he told me about a fourteen month rehabilitation program for alcoholics and drug addicts called Teen Challenge, which actually is a Christian discipleship program for alcoholics and drug addicts that teaches them how to follow Jesus. Later that evening when I was alone in my cell I prayed to God about entering the program and I felt that it was His will for my life. That very night, literally at the lowest point in my life while I was sitting my bed on the floor of that prison cell, I made the decision not only to enter that program but from that time on to always do things God’s way, not my own way. And since that time I have to say that I have never looked back. In the same way I saw my life spiral downhill over time as a partier I have seen my life spiral uphill over time as a Christian. 

My new life

I entered the Teen Challenge program in December 1989 and I immediately was baptised in the Holy Spirit as well as water baptised, expressing my commitment to Christ and symbolic of the truth that I was now a new person in Christ. The old Wayne was buried in the water (Romans 6:4) and the new Wayne was resurrected from the water according to 2 Corinthians 5:17 “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new”. 

Over the course of the fourteen month program I was taught how to follow Jesus. I also had the opportunity to serve the Lord in evangelism with a ministry team called the Teen Challenge Choir, which ministered the good news of Jesus in churches, schools, prisons, and on the streets. During a tour to the east coast of Canada near the end of my time in the program I made the decision that what I wanted to do with my life was serve the Lord in full time ministry, specifically in the ministry of the Great Commission, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God and making disciples of those who believe (Matthew 28:19-20). The excitement of being involved in front lines evangelism captured for me the excitement I had as a competitive hockey player in my youth, as well as the excitement I had as a partier. It is a life full of relationships and adventure, plus it is a life that is full of meaning, a life of service to the Lord that is dedicated to helping people. Basically I was hooked and I have been hooked ever since. Of course more than just a career choice, serving God in full-time ministry is also a call from God on a person’s life, which I also deeply sensed. 

After graduating the program the door opened for me to stay at Teen Challenge as an intern and later as a full-time staff member. For me this was an awesome opportunity because Teen Challenge is an international ministry that reaches out to addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, the homeless and prisoners all over the world and to work in that ministry is the work of a missionary, which was exactly the work I wanted to be involved in. 

Over the course of the next ten years while serving the Lord in that ministry I was able to do many great things that I never imagined I would ever be able to do. As a partier I used to love talking about all of the things I wanted to do, but I never actually got around to doing any of them, I just partied. In serving the Lord however I have had the opportunity to take part in ministry trips all across Canada and in the United States, Great Britain, and Africa. 

The Bible says that when you live according to the word of God, God will prosper you (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), and over the course of my years of living for Christ I can testify that this is true. He has delivered me from my alcoholism and drug abusing lifestyle. He has healed me of my mental illness. He has blessed me with a solid personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, which together with the word of God sustains me and guides me through life, a personal relationship that is spiritual and according to John 17:3 is what eternal life is all about – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”. In pursuit of my desire and call to serve the Lord in ministry I was able to complete the work for an Associate Biblical Studies degree through Global University. The Lord has blessed me with many great friends, friends who are not just friends, but family as well, even brothers and sisters in the Lord. Despite mainly earning missionary wages while working in the ministry the Lord has blessed me with my own townhouse. And I still have managed to find time for enjoying life. Over the years I have managed to do my share of travelling and I regularly go up north to fish, which I love, among many other activities (see the “Bio-sketch” link on the home page). 

Closing thought

The first scripture I memorised at Teen Challenge was Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (NIV).

I memorised that over three and a half decades ago and so I have now lived a lot of those plans that God had for my life. Looking back I honestly can say that the plan God had for my life was so good and meaningful and rewarding that if I could, I would go back to the time when I was in the program learning that scripture and live this life all over again. It has truly been that good. 

Over the course my life I have been a hockey player, a partier, and now a Christian. All three were fun for a time, but you can only play competitive hockey for so long, and in the end partying kills you. Following Christ leads to life, a life that will go on for eternity! 

I am so grateful to the Lord for calling me into His Kingdom! 

Wayne Flonders

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