The Testimony of Rob Vollebregt. Rob is now a Missionary Evangelist working in Holland and Belgium. He works with Open Air Campaingers and has frequently crossed Europe bringing the Great News to Eastern and Western Europe through open air street meetings. Many have been won for the Kingdom of God through his ministry.

Yes, I knew I could FLY! In fact I knew that I could also walk on water and the sea was just five minutes walk away! Really I had taken too much “acid” (LSD) and I was in a different world all together. I was completely out of my tree! I had lost all sense of what was real and what wasn’t. In the hospital they got me back to normal again. Well, except for the occasional panic and funny visions. It was such a terrifying experience that I knew Satan was alive and well. I concluded that if he existed, God must exist too so I gave up my atheism. I started to believe that there was a God.

It took some two years before the fears, the affects of a bad trip, actually left me. I had been doing drugs for some time by now and continued to do so. You might ask why some one would take the risks I took but I didn’t see any risk. All I knew was that reality, life, was too empty and painful. Doing drugs seemed like a good way of escape and it was fun - except when it went wrong and then it’s HORROR was well beyond words.

A few years later I had a car crash on the way to work. I narrowly escaped with my life. My car was written off and I was injured. I had to stop work and my life started to really fall apart. A man called “Dave” used to come to our door to take our clothes to be dry-cleaned. He gave me some leaflets about Jesus and Judgement Day to come. This got my interest as I knew that I wasn’t ready for judgement! I asked for more leaflets and Dave brought me to a “Bible study”. I went to several of these Bible studies where they talked about the Bible and related topics. I understood little, until one night the topic for discussion was “Sin”. God showed me specific sin in my life that night.

After a few more meetings and not much understanding, it all happened at once. At the end of the meeting the man at the front told the story of a Judge and his son. It went something like this:

There was a Judge who had a son. The son had his own company which he robbed money from. One day he got caught and was brought to court. He was brought before the judge, who was his father. The judge was not pleased to see him there on such serious charges. The judge asked him if he was guilty of the charges. The son admitted his guilt, having been caught red handed. He knew that his father loved him and was expecting leniency. His father, the judge, said that he was a just judge and could not bend the rules to suit himself. So he gave his son the full penalty of the law - pay back five times what he stole or life in prison. The son was devastated because he could never raise that sort of cash. He went to prison.

Meanwhile the judge went down to the court clerk and took out his check book. He paid the son’s fine for him. The father went to his son in prison and told him that he had paid his fine and that he was free to go. At that point the son had a choice to make - was he going to pay for his own crime or was he going to accept his fathers payment on his behalf? He thanked his father and went free. He went free not because he was innocent, but because someone else paid the fine.

When I heard this story I knew that it was about what Jesus had done for me. Now it was up to me. I found myself faced with the presence of a very big and very holy God for the first time. I was scared because I knew that the consequences were immense. I knew that when I was dead my friends couldn’t help me, only Jesus could, so it didn’t matter if they’d laugh or what they thought, it was what Jesus thought that mattered now.

The man at the front lead in a prayer for people to turn to Christ. I remember thinking that I would use my own words and not his because I didn’t trust him. I pleaded with Jesus to please come into my life as I believed that He had died for me. I admitted my sin - it was so obvious. I pleaded with Him to save me whatever the cost, realising that Jesus’ forgiveness was the most important thing in the whole world. He came to me and took all my sin and guilt away and gave me His wonderful gift of life, eternal life. I knew I had met with God, with Jesus himself. WOW!!! After three days I noticed that my foul mouth was not nearly so foul any more. I started to use English instead of “French”. I could not use the name of Jesus as a swear word because suddenly He had become real, very real, no question about it.

I didn’t go back to that church because I didn’t trust the people. But Dave used to bump into me everywhere I went. He would insist that I came to a church meeting with him. After six months of friendly persuasion, he convinced me. He picked me up on the following Sunday morning and brought me to church. He gave me a Bible, which used to be so dead, but now it had become alive and I proceeded to devour it. God spoke regularly to me through it and I wanted to hear what he had to say.

Since then I have grown to know Jesus more and more. He set me free from the abuse of Drugs and Alcohol, smoking and some other things. He is so gentle with me and he always loves and accepts me just the way I am. But He is still working on me to make me more like Jesus. He has a long way to go. I realise now that I have a very grave responsibility to tell people about the One who can save them from going to hell and bring them safely to heaven. About the One who makes life worth living, fulfilling and exciting. About the One who helps you get through the pain of life and brings you to a place of peace and joy both now, and forever.

What He has done for me He can also do for you if you will only admit your sin - which is so obvious to Him and put your trust in Jesus. His death was enough to pay for all your sin. He wants to forgive you. Do you want to be forgiven? Do you want to know God? Do you want eternal life now? Jesus has done it all, now it’s up to you!

Why not E-Mail Rob? He is always delighted to hear from those who have been encouraged by his testimony, or who want to know about Open air Evangelism. You can E-Mail him from here Just click on the words 'Contact me' in blue.

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