It Takes a Village

November 1971

In the days that followed my new found faith, I discovered that almost one third of people on the ship were Christian - most of them had come to faith through Brian. He was a tremendous evangelist. But Brian didn't disciple. He led people to faith, got them to church and then let them on their own, so I never had a mentor, discipler, or whatever you want to call him or her. For years that bothered me because I was left on my own to fend for my own. I had to struggle through so many basic things, make so many mistakes, face so many trials without one person working with me to help me.

But I was not alone. I had a ship filled with fellow Christians who all chipped in to help me start my journey.

Mike was the first to step in. Mike was an overweight Asian American mix who use to say a bigger vehicle needs more fuel (he was talking about his need for so much food). Months after I met Mike I was surprised that he ended up with a very sweet good looking wife - he was not a good looking guy and had a very different personality that kept me from ever becoming close to him. I guess she found something in Mike that I never saw.

The day after my new found faith began, Mike told me that I needed a Bible, so he gave me a King James Version bible. He told me to begin by reading the book of John. The King James language didn't bother me for some reason. I guess when I came across archaic words or theological words I didn't understand, I simply guessed at the meanings by how the words were used in their context, and believe it or not, I was right most of the time. I had never heard single verses quoted before, so I naturally read sentences within the context of chapters, and chapters in their book surroundings, and of course, words within their sentence surrounding.

For the first Sundas as a new born believer, Brian took me to church on Sunday with some of the other guys. We went to South-Side Assemblies of God in Jacksonville which I will talk about later. From that day on, I connected with South Side and hitchhiked many times from the ship into town to get every service I could, Sundays and Wednesdays. I also went to youth groups and any event that they had.

 Even though I don't remember that first service I remember driving back from church in the backseat of Brian's car. Church was a new experience and I needed a cigarette afterwards so asked Brian if I could smoke in his car. He had me unroll the window. Well, it was Florida - it was warm.

One of the officers whose name I don't remember was one of the rare Christians who did not come to faith through Brian's witness. He was Southern Baptist of the Fundamentalist persuasion. His passion in life was getting Brian's converts baptized in water being fully immersed at First Baptist Church in downtown Jacksonville before thousands of worshipers. So the second Sunday after my experience of faith, that same officer brought me to First Baptist Church where before thousands of people I was fully immersed in water.

The difference in worship services was subtle. Both seemed very excited about God, but the South Side Assemblies of God was so much more verbally and emotionally involved. At the time I had no idea there were doctrinal differences; I had no idea that the pastor of the Fundamentalist Baptist church was saying that praying in tongues was from the devil himself. I just liked the Assemblies of God better.

Tommy Booth arrived at the U.S. Sweetgum months before me. Before he became a Christian through Brian's witness, he was a Southern drinking, fighting and bar-hopping Redneck. I was a hippie wannabe who hated the types that started fights. He hated hippies. But we became best friends right away. We were both passionate about our new faith and we both were novices at it. We also both had vices we had left; his was alcohol, mine was different forms of smoking substances and swallowing pills. Most of all, we were both extremely zealous about following Jesus. Neither one of us thought twice about carrying a bible anywhere. Neither one of us thought twice about talking about Jesus to anybody, in front of anybody. Some new Christians can be a little nauseating at times - we were very nauseating... and yet as you will see, it oftentimes had an amazing effect on people around us.

Then there was Ron. Ron was not like Tom and me. Whereas Tom and I were openly zealous about Jesus, Ron was quiet. Around 40 people on a 210 foot ship is no place for anybody to live privately, so we all saw each other all the time. Over 2 dozen of us slept in the same room, bathed in the same showers, lived in the same quarters. So even though Ron may have been quieter about his faith, one would oftentimes see him sitting in a quiet place on the ship with a bible in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He could never quite kick the habit. A year later he was transferred to another ship and like Brian he led many to the faith.

These were the strongest Christians who had most influence on my lives. There were others who came and went, but these were there most of the time I was and helped me discover the way I should go.