PERSONAL TESTIMONY – ALBERT KIENLE – REGINA

I met and had an experience with God. No, I'm not a poached egg. Neither is my experience self or drug induced. And it has nothing to do with New Age philosophy. My spiritual encounter is real and life changing and life affirming. It wasn't of my initiation; it was all of God who is and became knowable.

Perhaps I should backtrack a little.

I am the last of five children born to farm parents at Quill Lake, Sask. Father was a German Lutheran. Mother, a Ukrainian Catholic. Because of the language and religious barriers we learned English and didn't attend church. We learned the value of family, hard work, and good times together. We attended a one room schoolhouse with a pot-bellied stove. This would play a significant role in our lives.

However, soon after my birth it was discovered I had cerebral palsy, affecting my walking and speech; something I bear to this day. I wasn't isolated though and partook of a regular life. My parents sought help from the best of medical science. They also contacted spiritualists and other forms of spiritual healing both for myself and Mother's asthmatic attacks. For several years I was at a rehabilitation hospital in Regina, Sask.; this was a painful experience for me as a young boy being separated from family. Travel wasn't as accessible as it is today so I didn't get home regularly.

A Christian schoolteacher was hired for our district and it was from her that we were first exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Friends invited Mother and me to a healing crusade in Prince Albert where Mother was converted and healed. She began praying for her family. When a travelling evangelist was invited into our area several family members made decisions for Christ. I was hospitalized during this time so did not have direct contact with the Gospel; mine was more of a mental assent to the faith rather than a living faith.

That was to change. As new believers in Christ my family took every opportunity to attend church; the closest being, at the time, was Saskatoon, a 2 1/2 hour drive. One summer day the decision was made to go there. I was home again and since I could not be left alone I, quite reluctantly, had to go along.

While waiting in the back seat of our 1959 VW for the rest to come to make the long trip something strange but miraculous began to take place. I do not know what was on my mind but I wasn't in the mood for the trip. Suddenly, without warning and anticipation on my part, the presence of Jesus Christ came into and filled the back seat of the 'Bug'.

In an instance I was absorbed by it and in it. I cannot explain it but this living Presence enveloped me and I felt happy, free, forgiven, and given a purpose for life. In that moment it was Jesus and me. I felt Him. I knew Him and He knew me. I wanted Him for all time and He wanted me for all time. I loved Him and He loved me. Jesus became a Person to me. And for the first time I felt like a real person. I mattered. I was someone. He cared about me.

I was different. I wanted MORE OF JESUS. I read the little white Bible Mother gave me. I talked with God in prayer and God talked with me… Church was exciting, fresh, and new every time. We, as a family, was baptized in water, taking on the name of Jesus for our lives. I was also filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in a heavenly language.

I'm grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ, for who He is and what He has done for and in me. I'm very passionate for the Cross and the Resurrection, the one event that changed the face of history and has the power to change the life and direction every individual as it has mine. I'm thankful that God is now my heavenly Father; we are friends and I am, really am, His child. Also, the Holy Spirit has come to be with me; His residence is now in me and He empowers me to live and serve. He, to me, is the equilibrium to my life.

Over the years I've grown and developed as a Christian. There are things I'm unable to do so I've honed my reading and writing skills. I completed my education through correspondence and GED, along with several Bible courses. I live independently in Regina. In 1979 I received my driver's license and drive a wheelchair equipped van. I enjoy going out to the farm every summer, helping where possible. My greatest joy is sharing my faith through speaking engagements as they arise but mainly through writing. I count it a privilege to tell you what the Lord has done for me for He is the living and good God. And I ask you to seriously consider Jesus Christ for your life and what He can do for you. Thank you.