My Personal Testimony of Salvation and Experience of Christ, Benjamin Haman

I am twenty years old and I am going into my junior year of college. I have been a Christian since I was about five years old. I was born and raised into a Christian family and I particularly remember being saved when I was watching a Christian television program. The speaker encouraged the listeners to open their hearts to the Lord Jesus, ask the Lord Jesus to come into them and to make His home in their hearts; therefore, I did exactly that. I remember having a sense of joy, peace and confirmation of the Holy Spirit within me (Romans 8:16) that I had done the right thing. Not long after I became a Christian I remember being aware of my conscience, and of being bothered within whenever I sinned or did something wrong. This bothering preserved me and stopped me from doing many negative things. This bothering was a result of another life, which had come into me, a sinless life, the life of Christ Jesus. When I was twelve years old, I was baptized, meaning that I was willing to “die” to myself and “live to Christ.” I felt like I was taking a stand for the Lord Jesus. However, I did not have many more experiences of Christ until I was seventeen years old. Unfortunately, I became distracted and rebellious throughout my junior high and high school years. The result of those years left me feeling empty, dark, and discontent. Slowly I turned back to the Lord. I experienced a number of hardships in which I “cried out” to God in desperation. In different instances, I ran into Christians who were faithful to and in fellowship with God. Something about them was attractive. They seemed happy, content, and warm.

When my older brother came home from college (when I was sixteen/seventeen years old), I observed how he pursued the Lord Jesus, enjoyed going to church meetings and fellowshipping with other Christians and how he was happy. Eventually I started to read the Bible with him and pray a little bit. I experienced something sweet and satisfying when I read the Bible. And the Lord Jesus re-captured my heart me during the end of my junior year of high school. Gradually I began to pray and fellowship more with the Lord and with other Christians. During my senior year of high school I attended a number of conferences with young people where I learned to experience touching the Lord in my spirit by calling on His name (Romans 10:12-13), enjoying Him in the songs and hymns, and by fellowshipping with other believers about this wonderful person, Christ Jesus. I began to spend a daily time (especially in the morning) to pray over the Bible with other Christians and I preached the gospel to many of my classmates during my senior year and first two years of college. Preaching the gospel preserved me from loving the world and stirred up my love towards the Lord.

One of the things that helped me the most in my Christian life was the Recovery Version of the Bible (a study Bible) and the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. I received much help and enlightenment through their writings to have a deeper experience of the Lord. Their ministry unveiled many things of the Bible to me and taught me how to pray, fellowship with, contact, and experience the Lord Jesus. Something I would have never seen without their ministry was that the goal of pursuing Christ is not merely for my own individual enjoyment but for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church, which is all the genuine believers of Christ. I continually receive help from my faithful parents and fellow Christians at my church through their sharing of their experiences of the Lord Jesus. In addition, I still receive much help from reading the Recovery Version of the Bible and books by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. I am grateful to the Lord Jesus, His Word, and to the church.