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Jehovah's Witness Spouse Found Jesus with APX
Wed., Feb. 5. 2014 12:19pm EST
J. Jackson here again. After last Friday's concert in Weirton WV, I spoke with a longtime fan (whom we'd met before) named Rita Kowalski, who calls herself the "Smooth Grandmama." Rita told me a testimony that touched my heart deeply.
Her late husband had been a Jehovah's Witness, and Rita said God used our music to help lead him to Christ, a year before he died. She hadn't known the deep calling I felt to share the Gospel with Jehovah's Witnesses, but God knew. I asked Rita to write down what she'd said and email it to me, and she graciously obliged:
"When I first met my late husband, he was floundering in a sea of doubt and despair, going through a nasty divorce after 25 years of what he believed to be a solid, God-blessed marriage with three beautiful children, He told me that he had been a Jehovah's Witness, but had left the congregation due to the break-up of his marriage. I later learned that it was because of his ex-wife's involvement with one of the elders. I encouraged him to attend services with me at a Free Methodist church where I knew the pastor and his wife. The pastor later married us.
"There came a time when John's work-acquired asbestosis began to affect the oxygen flow to his brain, but we didn't know that at that time. His behavior towards me grew increasingly abusive, and we separated for a brief period. Prior to this, we were attending the Family of God Fellowship, as it was called prior to their move to Weirton.
"During our separation, he began talking to an old friend who was still a Jehovah's Witness and began attending their meetings. We reconciled when he agreed to seek medical help, for the Lord kept telling me He had plans for John to return to Him, but I needed to keep praying and take him to a lung doctor. I did what the Lord asked, and John began a physical road to finding his solution to his violent outbursts. He had only 80% of his oxygen going to his brain, and sometimes less than that. This was causing his outbursts.
"We traveled all over the northeast for my work, listening to every Christian radio station we could find. While listening to WORD-FM near Pittsburgh, we heard one of your songs playing. I think it was 'John 1:1.' This was in late October of 2009.
'A few minutes after your song was finished, he pulled off I-79 in a rest area in tears. I could see something was wrong, as I knew my 72-year-old husband had significant lung damage and thought perhaps he was ill. I can hear his tremulous voice to this day asking me, 'How could I have been so blind? How did I miss it all these years?' There must have been confusion on my face, as he followed that by asking if what he had 'secretly' read in my NKJV bible was true about asking Jesus into his heart and confessing with his mouth. I told him that it indeed was true. In that rest area, John finally and totally gave his entire being to Jesus!! Praise the Lord!
"We talked about these and other scriptural discrepancies that he had been indoctrinated to while in the Jehovah's Witnesses. From that day on, John was a changed man, truly born again. Several days later, I told him what the Lord had been impressing on my heart, and that he now needed to learn to listen for that Voice as well. When we got home from our trip, he surprised me by asking me to go to one last meeting at the Kingdom Hall. He just wanted to give his testimony to the entire congregation! He asked me to attend to answer any questions they may throw at him. We went, he stunned them all, and we issued an open invitation to any who wanted to learn more to stop at our home.
"Later that afternoon, three of them knocked on our door, Over coffee and cookies, we answered their questions, gave them some materials that I had and told them to read and think about what had just transpired. They asked for a few minutes alone. One of their cell phones rang and it was an elder who told them if they didn't leave immediately, they would be disfellowshipped! Apparently, he was sitting in the park across from our home to see if anyone would show up! They told us then and there that they believed everything we had told them, especially since we gave them the same freedom of choice that was given them by Jehovah! We led them in prayer and they are out spreading the Word to this day.
"Our Lord called John home on March 26, 2010. One of the last things he told me was that the best act of our marriage was my staying the course our Lord had asked of me in seeing to the health of his body, but most importantly, his soul! The only words that will ever be more dear to me will be, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"
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