By Sandrina de Klerk, Communications Assistant
This article was first published in our Spring 2023 Ready magazine. Since then, Jack has left the Army.
Fourteen hours is more than anyone would want to spend in a prison cell.
‘Jack’ (not his real name) is no exception to that statement. But there he was, in prison for selling drugs.
Today, Jack is a witness for Christ and leads a Bible study on Monday nights. How did Jack go from being a drug dealer to leading a Bible study? It would be impossible to explain, were it not for grace.
Throughout the history of Christianity, we can see time and time again, God choosing the unlikely. The weak, the foolish and the sinners. From the story of Samson, Mary or Paul the apostle, to the story of Corrie Ten Boom, Brother Andrew and George Müller, we can see lives changed by the gospel. The stories of men and women who lived and gave their lives to Christ are not just heroes of an age gone by. We serve the same God today, and He still changes lives through His undeserved love.
He was chasing desires and looking for fulfilment in anything and everything.
Jack never had faith in much and was swept along with any conspiracy theory, like aliens. In his words, he was chasing desires and looking for fulfilment in anything and everything.
He and a former housemate grew and sold cannabis, which seemed a successful business until they were caught, resulting in Jack’s fourteen hours in prison! That night, he did not sleep much, which gave him time to ponder his surroundings. On the ceiling, there was a marker pointing North. He wondered why it was there before remembering that some people pray to the East. Without much to lose, he prayed that God would get him out of prison; he was quite convinced he would not do well there.
Without much to lose, he prayed that God would get him out of prison.
Though he did not spend long in that cell, it did rock the proverbial boat, causing him to realise that bad things can happen if you do the wrong thing. His friendship with his housemate broke down, and two years later he ended up joining the military while still under prosecution.
During Phase One training, he liked the principles being taught. The idea of living by core standards, such as integrity and honesty, appealed to him. Everyone during Phase One training was made to go to church and given a Bible. Jack began reading that Bible; he would pick a random page each evening, and he grew more and more interested in what he read. The Bible gave him a lot of comfort at that time, particularly at night when he would wake up after nightmares of the police coming to get him.
As he read, he came to a passage about baptism, prompting him to ask the Chaplain at Winchester whether he could be baptised. The Chaplain asked how long Jack had been reading the Bible.
‘Four days’, Jack replied. To which the response was to keep reading a little longer.
The idea of living by core standards, such as integrity and honesty, appealed to him.
The Chaplain in Winchester referred Jack to the Chaplain in Lyneham, where he was posted after Phase One. Once there, Jack was sent directly to ASR Tiaan de Klerk, so that they could read and study the Bible together. They read through the book of Matthew and over Jack’s time at Lyneham, also worked through Romans and Acts. This is just one example of the many amazing opportunities that ASRs get when interacting with soldiers.
Image: Jack (right) with ASR Tiaan de Klerk (centre).
He was a new Christian and a bold one, which certainly brought challenges.
ASR Tiaan de Klerk shared the story of the first time Jack prayed out loud after his conversion. It was a simple and sincere prayer, ending with a phrase that Tiaan will never forget,
‘And God, I hope you have a nice day.’ Jack said it seemed a perfectly natural and logical thing to say, seeing as God had done so much for him.
He was a new Christian and a bold one, which certainly brought challenges. There was a barrage of questions waiting for him every time he returned from the weekly lunchtime Bible study. One soldier asked Jack, ‘If God is good, why did He send the plagues and kill so many people?’
He learnt to rely on God, who gave him resilience to press on amid the challenges of Army life.
As a new believer, Jack was unsure of how to answer such questions and bore much teasing over those initial months of becoming a Christian. Through the Lord and the guidance of a Scripture Reader, Jack grew in his understanding of God’s Word. He learnt to rely on God, who gave him resilience to press on amid the challenges of Army life. Jack was baptised on 6 March 2022 in the cold waters of the river Thames in Oxfordshire; buried with Christ through baptism and raised to walk in newness of life.
Jack is now married, and he and his wife are part of a local church and run a Bible study group in their home. Jack shares that his faith in Christ, ‘[Is] the firm foundation you should put your life upon. The house built on the rock did not avoid the storms, but it did make it through them.’
The beauty of the transformative power of the gospel is truly evident in Jack’s life!
Jack is considering leaving the Army soon, and some of his colleagues are convinced that he will return to drug dealing despite Jack assuring them otherwise. The beauty of the transformative power of the gospel is truly evident in Jack’s life! Something that was once easy to do, is something he could never even consider now. In his words, he could never go back to what he was because God has done something in his life that could never be ignored.
PRAY WITH US
- Praise God for the transformative work He has done in Jack's life and that Jack now is a living testimony of what difference the gospel can make.
- Pray that Jack and his family would continue to serve the Lord and tell others about Him.
