Jerry's Journey

It was the first year of bible school and I was totally confused of what in the world English Lake Church was up too. It all started when I was asked if I would want to come and help build bunk beds for the students coming for Bible School. I had no idea what this picture totally looked like, but, I was very curious of what was going to happen with my church in the near future. I showed up that night to find an assembly line of guys all working together doing their particular part in order to buildthe beds. The best part of the night was when the men all joined hands and prayed in the streets of North Judson. I brought a friend who wasn't a Christian with me that night. He was very notorious in our community as a fighter, womanizer, and all out bad guy (but totally loved by God and ELC). I think he was pretty amazed at the way everyone worked together and really had a good time. When it was time to pray I was shocked to see him hold hands with a bunch of guys that he never knew. To be honest I had a hard time praying, because I just knew that someone was going to drive by, see him, and run into a building or something. From this very night I knew this bible school idea was going somewhere big.

As bible school got closer, I was hit with a physical shocker. I was diagnosed with tumors on a couple of ribs and was going to have to have the ribs removed. This meant that I would be off work for several months. Even though it was literally a pain in my side, it made time open up for me to attend the bible school.

My first few days of bible school were a little overwhelming. Here I was a high school graduate from 1990. I have been working in factories since I was 18 years old. And now I am going to bible school with all these smart kids and intellectual teachers. I was very excited to be challenged in this area. The young people were so awesome to be around. The Canadian students were amazing also. One of the first things that God put in my heart was to feed as many of the students as I could, as often as I could. I was able to introduce the Canadians and the British teachers to biscuits and gravy. It was a great way to feel like I was a functioning part of bible school. It was a hard reality each day after the school ended to realize I was the old family man and not one of these younger adults. On one occasion some of the parents came down from Canada and made us all crepes !!! The relationships that were built will last forever.

Each day of school was a great day. We started going on prayer walks around North Judson and Knox on Thursdays. It was a great experience because we not only walked the streets of our community and prayed, but we also picked up trash along the way. At one point we were stopping on the porch of the school board and praying. The people inside had no idea what was going on outside every few days. One day they asked a member of our church if they knew anything about this. The member told them about bible school and that we were praying for them. The school board member responded by asking us not to stop praying for them.

The teachers at school were just plain phenominal. From a Methodist pastor that took us to realizing how simple it is to have a relationship with God every day, to a great teacher challenging us to memorize Romans 8. ( I never quite memorized it, but, I read that chapter more than I have my whole life). We had Mike Beaumont teach us. Mike came all the way from England and has written several books. Two of these books were just amazing reference tools in opening up the bible and the times of Jesus like never before. Aled Griffith and Ben Rook also came from England and challenged us on how to be intentional when we meet people. We even went to the big mall around us and actually put the lessons to work.

All in all, the English Lake Bible School made an impact in my life that will last throughout my life. My only true regret was that I never had an opportunity like this when I was 18 or 19 years old. My work is shutting down this June. It has brought a lot of sadness and worry among my coworkers. All I can think of, is how excited I am that I may get to go to bible school again this year.