 with
guests:
Arthur & Mary Noskey
Arthur: I had grown up in a Christian home. I heard a
lot about the gospel and I went to Sunday school and to summer camps.
And when I was twelve years old the Sunday School teacher gave us little
red Bibles.
I began to read the Bible a lot, and I loved reading about the
miracles that Jesus did. As I grew up, I wanted to see the Lord in
action. I went to church as a teenager to try and actually see miracles.
Seems like I didn't see anything, though. But I heard a lot of
testimonies of people and the struggles that they were going through ...
always talking about the "hard times." And then I questioned
God ... if Jesus is the only way, then why is it so hard?
And why would God want me to be born into this world, only to destroy
me in hell? Those were some of the questions going through my mind. It
even caused me to start thinking about suicide.
One summer there was this tent meeting, and whether you were inside
the tent or outside, you could still hear what the preacher was saying.
I began feeling a strong conviction. So I ran out of there to be with my
friends, trying to mingle with them and shake it off.
But then I went back in. I sat and I just looked around. Normally
I'm a shy person, but I didn't even think about that. There was
something just gripping my life. That night I came to the point where I
admitted that I knew that I was a sinner bound for hell. The preacher
was saying that if you want to accept the Lord as your Saviour, you can
come forward. I just started crying and I walked up.
I said, "You know, Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm lost. I
know I've made a mess of my life. And if you'll forgive me of my sin and
come into my heart, I'll give you my life." Right away the guilt
just lifted and I remember thinking, "You know, Lord, I spent all
these years trying to see a miracle to prove to me that Jesus Christ is
real. But the miracle had just happened ... the miracle of a new
life!"
Mary: I was about six years old when we moved to Loon
Lake from Little Buffalo. My mom started attending a little church and
she gave her life to the Lord. And she would take us kids with her and
that's when I started hearing about Jesus.
When I was a teenager I met this lady. Her name was Juliette Noskey,
and I would babysit her little girl. I saw that she really cared about
me and was concerned about me, and she would talk to me about the Lord.
They moved away for awhile and when they came back I started visiting
her again. We became best friends, and the lifestyle they lived was the
kind of lifestyle that I wanted for myself. That was the kind of
Christian home that I wanted to raise my kids in.
At the age of 18 Mary met Arthur. Arthur was not walking with the
Lord at the time, and they began living together. They had two children,
yet Mary was not satisfied with what she had.
Mary: There was something missing in my life and I
began to drink a lot. And I always had feelings of fear. I had seen a
lot of violence in my young life. I wasn't even sure what I was afraid
of, but I always lived in fear.
One night I remember I asked my auntie and her husband and the pastor
from the church to come and pray in our trailer. I had no plans on
giving my life to the Lord at that time -- I just asked them to come
and pray for me. Four of them came and they started singing songs. I
knew the Lord was calling me that night. I felt it in my heart,
something I had never felt before.
That night I stood in the middle of my living room and I told the
people who were there that I wanted to give my life to the Lord. I
remember praying and crying at the same time, but the hurt that I had in
my life and the fear just left me that night as I was praying. I asked
God to come into my life, to forgive me of my sins, and that's when God
began a change in my life.
Arthur: It was a struggle, but I knew that I had to get
right with God. And when I did (in 1987) both Mary and I knew that we
needed to do something with our lives -- we needed to get married. The
Lord's hand was in it and everything fell into place for our wedding.
After that I got really enthusiastic sharing with people about God. I
always had wanted to, but I had to make things right with God first.
When we got married I had this liberty to share every chance I got. It
got to the point where I'd race up when there was testimony time in
church, just to share about God and to try and encourage people.
Mary: I like singing for the Lord, and that's been my
desire since I started learning how to play a guitar. I started helping
out in church and when our song leaders weren't there, I would be asked
to do it. Pretty soon we were on a schedule, and we started taking turns
every Sunday and Wednesdays.
It has helped me grow spiritually. Every time before I sing, I pray
that the Lord would just work through me. I know that God can lift His
people up through a song and encourage them.
What you've just read was adapted from a television
broadcast of Tribal Trails. We would be happy to hear your response.
Please contact us.
To meet more people like Arthur and Mary -- Native North Americans
whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ -- be sure to tune in to
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