II. The Journey of Salvation and Transformation
Chapter 2: A New Course
“Youth Camp. What’s that?” as I heard that announcement from the pastor. It was an event where sister churches invited their youth to spend a week at Redwood Alliance. Everyone was signing up, but I didn’t bother because I didn’t have the money to go. Later, the pastor announced that there were scholarships available. Someone asked me, “Why don’t you apply?” I did and someone graciously paid for my first camping trip.
I needed a sleeping bag. I didn’t have one. I didn’t ask my parents for the money because I knew they didn’t have much money. The few dollars that I saved being a newspaper boy and later as a part-time Saturday custodian, vacuuming the stairs, polishing the mailboxes, and sweeping or washing down the front entrance was just enough to buy that sleeping bag.
Just riding in a car to get to the camp was an adventure for me. I had never been that far away from home, let alone being in the woods. I was out of the “concrete jungle” of the City and into a real live forest. In the evenings, the stars were so bright at night. It was amazing. When I walked out into the forest, I would sing and talk to the Lord.
I was assigned to a cabin with other boys. As we started our day, we sat and listened to the speakers and the various workshops. I began to understand what it meant to be a Christian and how I was to live as a child of God. There were altar calls after each service for someone to receive Christ or to dedicate of one’s life to Christ, to commit to Jesus Christ as Lord. While I wanted to go up, I never went. It was just too scary for me. During the evenings, there were campfires where people shared their testimonies of what God has done for them. I was moved by their testimonies of their struggles at home and their commitment to Jesus Christ.
Towards the end of the week, as I laid in my bunk bed, I thought about Jesus and His love for me. I knew that He gave His life for me, so I thought, “Am I willing to give my life to Him?” In the quietness of that night, I surrendered my life to Jesus. He was the King and Lord of my life. I don’t recall whether I shared that decision in the campfire, but that decision changed my life.
Returning home, I had an insatiable desire to learn more about the Bible and Jesus. Now, Friday Bible study was not just a place to hang out with my friends. I took notes for myself, like many of my peers who desired to grow in Christ. This was the first time that I began to really participate in the Bible Studies and to understand what I was reading.
The following year, 1966 (I think) at the Youth Camp, I was baptized in a swimming pool. I made a public declaration that Jesus was my Savior and Lord. I understood that I would die to myself, to my own goals and dreams. Coming out of the water represented that I was a new person in Christ and that I will live for Him.
Until graduation from Galileo High School in the Spring of 1967, I would often walk through the Broadway Tunnel to get to school because I couldn’t afford to ride the bus. During my years in high school, I excelled in Junior ROTC. I became the school’s training officer. The Vietnam War and Civil Protest was on with Free Love sweeping San Francisco. One by one my older brothers left for the military until I was the only one left.
I didn’t realize that the long walk to and from Galileo High School would be the beginning of a long walk with the Lord. A path that I didn’t expect and the destination unclear. I was still that awkward, shy boy, deeply insecure, but I knew that God loved me and I wanted to know more about Him. He was the Good Shepherd leading me and I didn’t even know it.