By Emmanuel Okwuono
When I think back on my path to conversion, I remember the years before I was baptized were a mix of joy and pain. When I left home for college, it was the first time I was aware of my freedom to make decisions uninfluenced by my parents, my brothers, or close friends. Everything about college seemed to be exactly what I had planned for a future playing football. I was on a good team, with a good coach and great players at each position.
One day during training camp, one of my teammates invited me to worship with him. He promised there would also be a meal at the end. At the time, I considered myself a Seventh Day Adventist. My parents were faithful churchgoers, worshipping every Saturday without fail. They were active in our local religious community and they made a point to encourage my brothers to do the same, often “dragging” us to various events. I did not think anyone could change my view of God, and I rarely passed up a chance to get a home-cooked meal, so I accepted my teammate’s invitation.
I remember walking with him into a room filled with players and members of his church group. Everyone I saw seemed to be filled with joy. There were individuals on a stage standing behind guitars, a drum set and microphones. Before I knew it the group started singing, and the audience began clapping and some were even raising their hands into the air. The scene reminded me more of a rock concert than a worship service. There was a lot going on, but the people involved seemed sincere. I began to tell myself, “Hang in there, E. I can smell something cooking and it is worth the wait if I don’t have to eat in the cafeteria!”
After all the singing stopped, a man jumped onto the stage. He had short blond hair, sea blue eyes that matched his shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. I remember thinking of him as small in stature and did not look much older than me. The man in blue jeans yelled out to the crowd, “Who is in love with Jesus?”, and everyone started clapping and cheering. I began to wonder what I had gotten my self into. He started preaching a message about accepting Christ into our lives and living a full Christian life. As I listened, some things he said started to peak my interest. He asked if we were to die tonight where we thought we would end up. I began to wonder if God would let a person like me into Heaven. I had not been away from home very long, but college had already proved to be a place where morality was not always priority number one!
I was convinced I was just living a condemned life. I felt like my soul would never find the peace or happiness I saw in the people standing around me, cheering for the blue jean man. I began to rationalize the way I held on to a dream of a future in football so tightly. It seemed football was my only source of value in this world. At the end of his lesson, the blue jean man asked if any of us wanted us to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He told us we could go into the next room and there would be people waiting to talk to us.
By this point I felt compelled to get up and go into the next room. I walked in the room, I sat down in a chair, and two men began to pray with me. When they finished, a man told me to ask Jesus in my heart. After I said a few words, he told me I was saved. I walked out of the room confused. I wondered, “Is this all I have to do?”
Two years passed and there was not a day that I did not think about the words of the blue jean man. Things on the football field were not going the way that I had hoped. I knew in my heart that I was a better than player than my performance reflected. My coach rotated another guy into my position. I knew I would never go pro while playing “backup.” I called my brother who played football in Missouri and I explained to him how I felt about my wilting career. He spoke to his coaches shortly afterward, and they told me they would love for me to transfer. We always wanted to play on the same team, just like in high school. So I took a leap and changed schools.
I remember walking onto campus feeling like a new man. I knew this was going to be a great chance to recreate myself. I remember going to parties with my brother and the attention from the girls. This was more like the life I envisioned. All of a sudden, I started to notice changes in my brother. He abruptly stopped going to parties; he stopped drinking. He started asking questions about the faith that we were brought up under like, whether we should be worshipping on Saturdays. I thought maybe my brother was suffering from too many blows to the head on the football field.
My brother mentioned he wanted me to meet a man named Willie Franklin who was willing to answer any question I had about God. Two years earlier I spent time with some religious people and the only thing I gained was a world of confusion. I told him I would think about it.
One day while I was on my way to an afternoon workout, I saw a man walking with my brother. After we were introduced and before I could get out a word, he picked me up (I was a “healthy” 230 lbs) and kissed me on my left check. I did not know if I needed to start swinging or running! I could not believe what had just happened.
Then he said he had heard I had some questions about the Bible. I said with the manliest voice I could muster up “Yes sir.” Willie said he was open to talk at any time I was ready to study. He left my company that day with a disclaimer. He said that the path I was about to take was going to change my life forever.
We met on the basketball court. Willie had brought his son who at the time was aspiring to learn to shoot. Before we started studying the Bible he gave him some instruction on the court. While his young son worked out, we both went off to the sideline and started studying the Bible. I questioned him about things that were present in my life like drinking alcohol, and he asked me to hand my Bible over to him, and he turned to a passage. I asked about going to parties. He turned again to a passage and asked me to read the words. As I read I began to feel convicted. I asked what the Bible said about cursing. Once again we turned to another passage in the Bible and Willie asked me to read. After every question I asked, Willie never offered his personal opinion. Each time he opened the Bible and he just told me to read.
I have never in my whole felt so scared. I truly began to realize that this book that I had been looking at for years truly had all the answers that I had been looking for. The hours seemed to pass by like minutes each time we studied the Bible together. After I asked all the questions that I could ask he began to ask me questions. He asked if I knew what the Gospel was. I had no clue. He asked me what I did to be saved. And after we looked at what I did two years prior, we began to look at what the Bible said. As we read all through the book of Acts, I knew all along he was right about my life forever being changed. I began to realize that I had really never known who God was.
As we continued studying, I began to worry, because I knew I could not live the life of a Christian. So I ended up just trying to avoid Willie, but I continued reading over each passage that I had studied before. I though it might be possible that I misread something.
I was heading to a workout one day and my brother pulled me aside. He began talking to me about Willie. As it turned out, we were struggling with the same convictions. I knew in my heart what must be done. Right after we finished working out, we headed to the church building where I was baptized into the body of Christ. I wish I could say everything after my baptism was perfect, but I cannot. I had to make a tough decision to come to Christ, which split my family in half. I hurt my parents, brothers, and close friends. I even for a short time fell away. But one thing that I never forgot was that God would see me through everything. I stand here about thirteen years later never regretting the choice I made, because as I sit here recording this story, I can hear God’s blessing manifested in my wife and son who are downstairs enjoying time with each other. I know without the grace of God and Willie’s service to our God in my life, I would never had this opportunity to experience the joy I was looking for all of my life.
