Once a prisoner of drugs and sin, now John is set free
By God's grace working in his life...
And through a family's faith and prayers
that never gave up
HOPE.
*********************
Brother John is doing so much better now!
John with his excellent Christian doctor, Dr. Culver
at BEYSTONE NURSING HOME in NC
I have wonderful news to report to all my cherished readers and intercessors with this blog. I asked for PRAYER for John to heal and improve, and YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! Thank GOD through Jesus Christ, and many thanks to ALL you wonderful readers for your faithful intercessions.
After his life-saving surgery several months ago, John's legs were super-sensitive. The slightest touch brought horrific pain and discomfort to John. I dreaded being in his room whenever the CNA's came to change his bandages or to move him. The slightest touch was agonizing for John.
And so we prayed...and prayed...and prayed for A MIRACLE that this constant pain he suffered from would be relieved and go. And God answered our prayers!
One nurse commented that when they gave John a shower the other day, he was totally calm and relaxed and had no problems with pain whatsoever. All his caregivers have noticed this incredible change in John's health condition.
His foot continues to heal slowly from the previous surgery, but it is HEALING nonetheless!
John is recovering in so many other ways as well. His mind is improving from all the terrible pain and stress, and he is talking clearly and has a great sense of humor...he makes all his health care providers laugh whenever they come to help him.
Even more important are the conversations we have about God and John's walk with Christ Jesus his Savior and healer. John knows that he is only alive because of the mercy and the grace of God.
Three years ago, John finally surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. He repented of his sinful lifestyle of drugs and crime to support his addictions, and became the prodigal son who finally came home.
For forty years John was trapped in that dark and tragic world of drugs and drug dealing and physical addictions, including to alcohol.
Sucked into that tempting and deadly vortex while a young teen in high school, John developed destructive addictions at an early age, that would sadly control his life for forty desperate and tragic years.
My wonderful Christian mother was heartbroken, but adamantly refused to give up on her precious son! I also refused to let the devil steal and destroy my beloved brother. And so, we prayed for John and witnessed to him throughout those years, beseeching God to save John.
And finally, after much suffering and travail, those prayers miraculously worked! You parents who are struggling with children who are entangled in the world of drugs and alcohol and related problems, NEVER GIVE UP ON THEM! No matter how great their sins and darkness are, GOD'S GRACE IS GREATER! Continue to love them...continue to forgive them...continue to show mercy to them...and SOMEDAY, you will see the power of God answering those prayers AT LAST!
Brother John now loves Jesus His Savior, Who has forgiven him so very much. John is now seeking how to glorify God through his testimony, and so am I. We are even praying about filming John for YOUTUBE with his moving and exciting true Christian testimony of HOW and WHAT God saved him from.
TRUE CONFESSIONS have been pouring out from John as I sit by his bedside in the nursing home. Things that he never dared to admit to my mother or I, he is now confessing to me.
WOW! As I listen to his past escapades, I am reminded of the title of that movie that came out a few years ago, "BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU???"
Fascinating tales of little brother's antics during those years, literally have me sitting on the edge of my seat with suspense as he shares just how wild and crazy those years really were. Oh, little brother, how great is the mercy of God in your life!
Thank God for the precious blood of Jesus that his mother and I covered his life with through prayer throughout those years! Many of his former druggy and hippy friends of that era are long dead, due to drug and alcohol abuse or perhaps a drug deal gone bad. John remains a true survivor of that hippy culture and drug era.
I was shocked one day when little brother admitted something. I was discussing with John my years of going to NYC to share Jesus with the Russians so prevalent in Brooklyn, and how I missed those years and wanted to go back for a visit.
John said, "Pam, you gave me a crazy idea when you talked about Brighton Beach and the Russian neighborhoods! While you were going there to share Jesus and pray with the Russians, I decided it would also be a good place to go to make drug connections! 'Cuz Russians are always into drugs. So I decided to go there too and make connections...... and I did!"
Oh, little brother..break my heart. Thank GOD those days are OVER! How sadly ironic.
While I was there in Brooklyn sharing the glories of Jesus the Messiah with the Russian Jews and their precious children, my crafty little brother was there to make drug connections with the underworld.
Who knows? Maybe even rubbing shoulders with the notorious Russian mafia!
He continued. "Hey...after making connections for heroin deals, I would talk to them about different stuff...even about you. When I told them about my sister and how she was working with Russian Jews here, sharing Jesus with them, they said,
"Oh, yeah!...We have HEARD OF HER!"
Now that statement got my attention immediately. Huh? Little Brother, you have to be kidding! But he repeated it and said it was all true. And then I realized something: I forgot that within the grapevine among Europeans and Russians in their communities, news and gossip travels fast.
Good news travels fast as well as bad news. I had been working with precious Russian Jewish families and their adorable children for 5 summers, kids straight out of Brooklyn and the five Boroughs, even New Jersey.
The Russian Baptists had a wonderful Christian center and summer camp outside of NYC in Connecticut. They welcomed these Russian children with open arms every summer, sometimes even free. I was big momma for 15 little primary age Russian Jewish girls in our two cabins, every summer for 5 years. We bonded every summer, and I will never forget what God did for those precious children at that summer camp through our prayers and witness of Jesus to them.
The kids would return to Brooklyn and the Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach "Little Odessa" filled with exciting tales of summer camp...and people like the "big momma Pamela" who took loving care of them.
Who could ever imagine that in one family, here is big sister leading people to Jesus and salvation...even while little brother is leading others down the path of drugs and sin...?
How very sad. But again, those days are forever over for little Brother John, now truly sorry from the very depths of his heart for his sins, and deeply regretting how the devil used him for so many years. For by the grace of God alone through Jesus Christ, John is now a changed person! The power of Jesus Christ has set him free, and he is becoming a new creature in Christ, every single day of his glorious walk with Him. Halleluia!
As I think about the things John has been confessing to me, I am reminded of the powerful testimony of Nicky Cruz in the book, "The Cross and the Switchblade," written by evangelist Dave Wilkerson. Nicky had been a Puerto Rican gang member and drug dealer, thief and many other things, often quite violent, until the testimony of Jesus changed his life completely.
Testimonies like his are often the most convincing and moving, because of the contrast between what he was BEFORE he received Jesus Christ, and the kind of person he became AFTER his encounter with Jesus. What a difference Jesus and His power to save and redeem lost souls can make!
The same is now true about little brother John and his testimony now coming forth. And this is why John needs me so much at this time. He remains weak and bedridden, but is so determined to now glorify God with his Christian testimony of what Jesus has done for him. I have to be with him in order to help enable him to make this testimony known worldwide.
We hope to begin with YOUTUBE. Until we are able to obtain a wheelchair lift van and a motorized electric wheelchair for John, he cannot travel to share his powerful testimony. But we can travel across the globe using YOUTUBE!
I have a tripod and a video camera that we are praying about setting up and using to interview John and to share how Jesus finally got ahold of his life after 40 years of living a life of drugs and crime, breaking not only the hearts of his family members but ultimately the heart of God as well. But JESUS MADE THE DIFFERENCE!
And the young people of today are no different than John was so many years ago, as a young teen. When I asked John why he did not accept Jesus as his Savior immediately when my mother and I did, after my miraculous healing in 1971 following my salvation, he replied,
"I was having too much fun partying and drinking with my friends! I wanted to be a part of the 'in crowd' and be cool. I loved playing the guitar in bands and being popular and having lots of girlfriends. I didn't want to give this up, and just wasn't ready yet...." John was 14 at that time and a freshman in high school.
But this was a decision that John was later to deeply regret. His wild "party on, dudes" lifestyle was to eventually bring him (and his family) much suffering and grief throughout the years.
But once you get trapped in that dark world of drug and alcohol addiction and dependency, it is very hard to come out successfully. Some people sadly never do, and die from their addictions. But the Bible declares to the world that, "With GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!" This means there is hope!
John's unbiblical choices throughout those years were to take him many places, including through the revolving doors of jail and prison for his thefts and drug dealing. Many vehicles of his were involved in car wrecks and totalled as a result of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. And his father would simply buy him another vehicle to replaced the wrecked one, repeatedly, in the hopes it would not happen again.
But because of SIN, it did. It is only the grace of God, fueled by the nonstop prayers of his mother and I throughout those years, that he did not die as a result of his sinful and destructive choices and lifestyle.
Today, how many young people are facing the same kinds of decisions that John did as a young teenager? How many realize that the decisions they make at this time, will determine the kind of future they will face for the rest of their lives, whether for GOOD or for BAD?
How deeply John regrets the wrong decisions he made throughout those years. Although a tall and handsome, healthy young man in his high school years John at the age of 57 cannot even walk now. His feet are deformed and twisted. His legs no longer have the strength to support his body, He cannot get out of bed, even to go to the restroom. He now requires twenty-four hour care, and must wear disposable undergarments.
Hands that used to play the guitar for hours at wild parties and events, can barely lift a fork full of food to his lips to eat his meals in the nursing home. How my heart breaks for him as I see John in this condition, day after day!
But John finally can be honest with himself and others. He knows that all this is a direct result of his years of living in sin and disobedience to God's word. His many years of abusing his body with drugs and alcohol and wrong choices finally took their toll in his health at last.
But, it was God allowing this to happen to him that also finally brought him to brokenness and repentance, and to come to his Savior Jesus at last for forgiveness and deliverance and a changed life! And now, John wants the world to know what JESUS CAN DO FOR YOU!
And especially, he wants the young people of today to know this as well. He does not want to see them make the same tragic decisions he did at an early age, that will only set them up for future heartaches and loss, suffering and destruction. Not only that, but their families and loved ones will suffer with them as well. Ours did.
There is so much more John and I want to share with you! And we will. Now that Jesus has truly come into his life, miracles seem to happen on a daily basis in so many areas of his life. It is a miracle that I came when I did last September to visit him, only to discover to my horror that he was about to die of gross negligence and malpractice at his former nursing home in NC! They were simply going to LET HIM DIE!
But God had a better plan for John's life!
Christian parents, if you are struggling with children who are much like John during his teenager years, please print this testimony and hand them a copy TODAY. They need to realize that there are consequences for their decisions that they make NOW. They must understand that CRIME DOES NOT PAY and that the wages of sin is DEATH.
Rebellion against God's commandments and refusing salvation through Jesus Christ will only lead to heartaches and sorrows, lost opportunities and great suffering...and eventually death. There is NO FULFILLMENT IN SIN.
Many young people, following the corrupt examples set before them by Hollywood and television and their peers, are sleeping with multiple sex partners beginning at an early age. They think this is cool and fun.
But later, they will change their minds as sexually transmitted diseases ravage their bodies, and even AIDS, bringing with it much suffering and ultimately death from a compromised immune system. I have watched young people, living that lifestyle, die of AIDS before my eyes, and it is not pleasant.
How many precious and innocent unborn children are aborted as a result of sinful lifestyles among youth today??? And how many young women will never be able to have children again because of the damage abortion (even multiple ones) can do to their bodies? Sin always bring suffering and death to those involved! And perhaps millions upon millions of innocent aborted children, dying because of the sins of others, illustrate this lesson the most clearly.
The GOOD NEWS in all of this, no matter how deep or great the sin may be, there is always HOPE because of what Jesus Christ did for mankind when He died on the cross for OUR sins! It is never too late! My brother is living proof of this glorious truth. And now, he wants the world to know WHAT JESUS DID FOR JOHN.
Because what He does for one, Jesus can do for ALL who come to Him for help and salvation and deliverance from sin.
Because of Jesus Christ, SIN CAN BE FORGIVEN! Because of Jesus Christ, LIVES CAN BE RESTORED AND CHANGED! Because of Jesus Christ, a sinner can stand forgiven and justified before Almighty God, because Jesus shed His precious blood for the remission of sins FOR ALL!
If you have children, or spouses or friends you are concerned about, who are living in the same sinful world of drugs and alcohol and the party mentality that John once was, please print this article off of your computer and hand them a copy of John's testimony TODAY. Make copies to distribute to others as well. It is true life testimonies like his that have the power to warn others, and to help bring them to Jesus Christ NOW.
This is the sincere and deep desire of John, that many will come to repentance and to Jesus Christ through his moving testimony. It is mine as well. And I will do everything I can at this point to help make John's story known everywhere. Pray for our success, for the glory of God, in accomplishing this challenging task at this time. I want to interview and film him for YOUTUBE in fact, something I have never done before. But we both believe it needs to be done.
John and I pray for all my readers, and the REST of the world as well at this challenging time to be alive in today's world.
May his powerful testimony of what Jesus Christ has done, bring LIFE and HOPE to your world and circumstances you may be facing today. What God has done for OTHERS, He can do for YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!
Pray for our success to glorify God through John's testimony at this time. Thank you for your support. We love you!
-Pamela Rae Schuffert and a redeemed Brother John-
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