A Transformed Life

   While ministering on Chichagof Island in Southeast Alaska, we were continually dealing with the severe alcohol problems that plagued many in the village. To address this great need, I began a “Turning Point” ministry where each week a group of the local alcoholics would come up to the church for a group session.  This emulated the Alcoholic anonymous meetings, the great difference being we established Jesus Christ as our higher power.  One man who regularly attended our meetings was a cold storage (fish processor) worker named “Sly Dog”.  Yes, that was his name and I never was able to discover any other. He had a black patch over one eye, long black hair, and a mustache and goatee that along with his lean and graceful frame proved that he must have at one time been some sort of a swashbuckler.

    Sly Dog began our meetings declaring his higher power was a D9 caterpillar. He came to this decision because he believed the D9 was the most powerful entity on earth.  He was one of the many very colorful characters that made up the population of our village. Because of the constant pervasive influence of alcohol many experienced by living on the boats down in the harbor, I had turned a storage area next to the sanctuary into what we called a “prophet room”. The prophet room was a bedroom with its own bathroom. We would use this room to lodge any men who had come to Jesus and needed a place to stay. They had a private space but would take their meals with our family.

            While walking down the boardwalk one day (the wooden structure running the length of the village built on pilings over the tidal waters) I was approached by a man named Bill. Bill was a top mechanic for the Cold Storage fish processor.  Previously I had experienced only a minimal contact with Bill. He appeared to be one of those in the village who did not have a serious problem with alcohol. I would learn that I was wrong about that!

            That day as Bill approached me, I could see things were not going well for him. His hair was disheveled, his face red, and he was dirty and generally in disarray. He did not waste time with pleasantries, but got straight to the point.  He told me that he had woken up during the night passed out on the rocks under the boardwalk, thus the reason for his present condition.  If the tide had come in that night, Bill would have drowned. He continued telling me that his drinking problem had been getting progressively worse, and he now recognized he needed help. 

       I returned Bill’s directness, telling him I would be happy to help him, but that the help I offered would begin with giving his life to Jesus Christ.  After an extended conversation, Bill decided he was not ready for such a “drastic” measure.  Later that week he left our village, taking a float plane out and eventually ending up in Anchorage.  I would not hear from Bill for some time.

     Several months later I was again walking down the boardwalk when I saw Bill standing along the rail overlooking the inlet. He again looked terrible. When I approached him, he told me the story of how he had spent much of the past months passed out on the streets of Anchorage.  What had brought him back to Pelican he did not say, but I had some ideas on that subject.  I had many times before seen the Lord drawing souls into places that they did not know why (see the testimony “Drawn by the Spirit in Pelican”). 

            This time Bill was ready!  I brought him up to the church, lead him to Jesus, then moved him into the prophet room.  Over the next few months Bill participated in our “turning point” ministry. He also stayed close to the church eating and visiting with our family. It was not long before Bill was an entirely new man.

            Bill continued with us for several months, growing in his faith and becoming a very well-liked and friendly tenant in our prophet room.  Time came however for Bill to leave Pelican. He needed to get on with his life. He did not want to return to the temptations of living down along the boardwalk, so we put him on a float plane to fly out to Juneau. His plan was to return to his home town in Illinois. Over the next year we did not hear from Bill, but we did continue to pray for him. 

    I was in the parsonage almost a year after Bill had left when I answered the phone.  The caller inquired “is this pastor Larry?” to which I responded affirmatively.  He then said “this is Bill” remember me?  I was overjoyed to hear his voice.  He sounded great. However, what came after our initial greetings gave me even greater joy. Bill’s words were “I have been in the Chicago area for almost a year.  I got my old job back as a mechanic, I have reunited with my wife and we are doing great, I am part of a great church, and I have not had a drink of alcohol at all”.  Bill’s life was truly transformed. A year of testing had proved that Bill had truly given his life to Jesus and allowed the Lord to make him a new man.  Scripture says, “if any many be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things pass away, all things become new” (2 Co.5:17).  Bill was a living testimony to the spiritual power of a new life when you allow Jesus to truly be your “higher power!”