Rev. Lorrie Gibbons, WOD District Supt. ~ I Have a Testimony!

It was Good Friday 1973. I was sitting in Massey Hall in the city of Toronto. I thought I was there only because of the pretty girl sitting beside me … a rebellious daughter of a pastor. What I came to realize was that this was a pivotal God ordained moment in my journey of life.

The pretty girl had invited me to go with her to attend a concert where Andre Crouch was performing … his first Canadian concert. I had never heard of him but agreed to attend the concert, even though I was hell bent on running as far away from God as I could get. Looking back, having ministered in the Greater Toronto Area for these past 11 years, I can get a sense of the bigger picture that God saw for my life that night. Little did I think then, that I would ever be a pastor or minister in the city where God reached my heart. We sweat about the small stuff so often but really,

He does have our lives in control and orders our steps if we are willing to obey.

Remember that in 1973 it was unusual to hear Andre’s style of music described as gospel music. I was touched by the music and humoured by the 400 or so ‘Christians’ who came to hear but left early because they were clearly offended by Andre’s rock and roll. From the opening stanza
of  "I Don't Know Why Jesus Loved Me"  through "Can't Anybody Do Me Like Jesus" and beyond God began to speak to my heart. I had grown up in the church but had made a clear decision to go another way. I knew the way I was living was wrong. Without going into the details just let me say I was far from where I knew I should be and I felt the burden of sin. In spite of that heaviness I was determined to live my own way. Once Andre began to minister I could feel the Holy Spirit moving in my spirit … and my heart began to melt. Much to the chagrin of the pretty girl who issued the invitation, I began to weep. That’s what happens when the fire of the Holy Spirit hits the icy coldness of a wayward heart. By the end of the concert Andre looked up into the crowd and said “Someone here tonight is running from God and needs to come back home.” I knew that someone was me. So, even though I knew it would cost me a lot, I made a decision to ask God to forgive me and told Him I would serve Him to the best of my ability. I became a Christ follower. I knew I would never be the same again and the reason I knew that was because the changes were immediate. For starters, the pretty girl I had brought with me to the concert decided I was having some kind of breakdown and she wanted no part of it, so she found another way home. I drove home alone and stopped at a park bench in Mount Forest around 2 in the morning. Sitting under the stars I told God that I would do whatever He wanted, but I could only be me. If God could use me how He made me, then I was willing to serve. I felt the Lord tell me that was okay with Him. Me and Jesus, we were on our way. What a moment … a Good Friday night that changed my life … forever.

~lorrie gibbons district superintendent