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INfocus
with Randall Boettcher...
Key-Way-Tin Bible Institute student
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I'm from
Kikino Metis Settlement in Alberta. It's pretty close to Lac La Biche, so
at KBI I'm not too far from home. I grew up seeing my family drinking a
lot, and all that goes with it. Even so, it was my dad who first told me
about the way of salvation, that it wasn't just "religion" that
would save a person, but only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on
the cross.
With that teaching I understood that I
was a sinner, and that I needed Christ to save me. So I accepted Christ
when I was about eight years old. I don't think I fully knew what that
meant at the time, and I didn't grow as a Christian because of all the
negative things at home.
I started to experiment with drugs and
alcohol at a very early age, around age nine. I started to use them more
regularly after my father died when I was 15. I started to go to parties
and things like that for fun. I thought that's what life was all about,
and that's how I would find fulfillment.
At the same time, as a teenager, I
started to get interested in the Bible. I can't explain my desire for the
Word then, other than God put it on my heart, and from what I'd heard from
my dad. Sometimes I'd lay awake and wonder if I was really saved, or if I
would go to hell.
My interest in the Bible continued and,
when I was 18, just after I graduated from high school, I got interested
in Bible prophecy. I read a book about Bible prophecy by Hal Lindsey
called "The Late Great Planet Earth."
I guess you could call it a
rededication. When I was 18 I decided to really hand my life over to God,
and begin to live for Him according to His Word. Since that time there's
really been no turning back. I didn't want to go back to the way I had
been living, because it was empty.
In one way or another I've had God's
Word in my life all these years, and the Bible says that His Word doesn't
come back void (Isaiah 55:11). Even though I didn't have the greatest
Christian examples to look up to, God still spoke through His Word and it's
been good.
Along with being at Key-Way-Tin, a
short-term ministries trip I went on has also been very encouraging for
me. It was at Warrior Leadership Summit (On Eagles' Wings ministry) in the
States I realized that there are a lot of other young Native Christians.
That was really good because when I turned my life over to God I felt
alone, and thought I was going to be just one of very few. There was some
cool music at Summit, too. It was really encouraging to learn that I can
use music as a tool.
Since surrendering to God, He has been doing a lot
of work in every area of my life. Surrendering to the Lord may not be
easy, but if we don't surrender, we don't grow.
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