Hiding in Him A frozen turkey was just one evidence of God's care for a boy whose home was in turmoil. By Ryan Chasteen

From the time I was an infant, I was taken to church in Roseburg, Oregon. Dad did not go, but Mom took my younger sister, Jodi, and me regularly. And if Mom could not take us for some reason, I could call Grandma. She lived nearby and picked us up whenever we asked.

The nursery had a big window looking into the sanctuary, and from there we would watch the people as they prayed. I especially remember the times when people received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, although I did not learn what that was until I was older. I just saw the joy on their faces and knew it was good.

A change in a child

As a young child, the Lord would speak to my heart. I never struggled about whether I needed salvation; the first time the Lord told me I needed to be saved, I responded by going up to the altar of prayer. My grandma came and prayed with me, and soon many other church members came too—my Sunday school teachers and loved ones all prayed with me. At just ten years old, the Lord came into my heart and gave me a real experience of salvation.

When I went home that day, I was different. Even as a child in elementary school, I had sin that needed to be removed. I had a bad temper and would get so mad that I would clench my fists, grit my teeth, and purse my lips until they turned blue. After I got saved I no longer had that awful anger inside of me. The Lord had made a definite change in my young life.

Trouble at home

Not too long after I was saved, life at home started to unravel. Mom and Dad were not getting along, and Dad started a cycle of moving out for a while, and then moving back in. It was up and down from day to day and there was constant fighting and heartache for all of us. At that young age, I was confused and just prayed that they would stop fighting.

Mom was still taking us to church during that time, and she became the rock in my life. God also used my grandma to keep me on the right path. She always made sure that we were at Sunday school and prayed with us. When Mom and Dad first separated, she took my sister and me and said, “We’re going to pray right now.” It was morning and she was still in her bathrobe, but we got down right there and she started praying in earnest. That was the example I needed.

A second gift

While I was still in elementary school, the Lord did another great thing for me by showing me what sanctification is. I used to watch at prayer meetings and see people getting blessed, but I still did not understand what it meant.

At a camp meeting one night, I saw my mother praying fervently. As I talked with my Grandma about this, she mentioned the word sanctification. I asked, “What’s that?” In words that a child could understand, she explained that sanctification is when we consecrate our lives to the Lord, and He cleanses our hearts. Right then, I started praying for sanctification. I did not know exactly what I was seeking, but I knew that I wanted more of the Lord. He led me so simply—just like when He saved me. I had wondered how I would know that God had sanctified me, but when He dropped His joy down in my heart, I knew the work was done.

Carried through

As time went by, things got worse at home. My sister and I had to lean on the Lord more each day as Mom became preoccupied with the situation between Dad and her. No one helped us with devotions anymore, so I had to learn to read and pray every night by myself.

Eventually, our home became a scary place. Many nights I would shut my door and be fearful of what was going on outside my room. At those times, I would turn to the Lord. He would come down in such a powerful way that I knew He was right there in the room with me. He really was! For hours I would cry and pray, and the Lord would come down and tell me, “Just hold on, Ryan.”

After a while, I started having health issues because of the turmoil at home. I even went to the hospital because of heart problems caused by stress.

Throughout those days of living in fear, God used the church members in Roseburg to carry us through—they treated my sister and me like their own children and grandchildren. The Lord knew we needed people like that in our lives.

Thanking God for a turkey

Once, during a time when Dad had moved out, Mom was struggling financially. One night, Mom was praying in her bedroom and I was in the kitchen, when I heard something outside. I opened the door and found a frozen turkey on the doorstep, with money stuffed through the holes in the netting! When I looked up, I saw some people from church getting into their car. They waved—they did not say anything, but just smiled. Mom and I literally cried over that frozen turkey. Only moments before, we had been praying about our need, and then the Lord used our wonderful church family to answer our prayers.

A spiritual hunger

As I got older, the Lord started talking to me about seeking for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. During my last year in high school, I got an after-school job at a retirement center. The week before a series of special meetings began at our church, I was asked to do dishwashing at the center, but I knew the church would be open for prayer meetings that week.

With such a hunger to receive my baptism, I decided to go to the prayer meetings even though I would not get off work until almost the end of the meetings. But I was determined that I wanted my baptism. The Friday night of our special meetings, I walked into church with a confidence that the Lord was going to bless me, and He did! As I was praying in a pew and praising the Lord, He came down and filled me with the Holy Spirit.

The Lord knew I needed my baptism then. The next month, everything completely fell apart at our house. Just as I was graduating from high school, my parents decided to divorce. Dad went his own way, and I had to face some difficult things. I had been scared to mention anything about the Gospel to my dad, but right when I needed to stand up to him, the Holy Spirit was there to give me boldness to say the truth and not back down. I was finally able to talk to my dad about being saved, and to tell him that the Lord loved him and that everything could be forgiven.

An open door

In July of that year, I turned eighteen, and shortly after that, I moved to Portland. Soon after I came to Portland, a friend called me and said the Post Office was giving a test for part-time jobs. These tests are only given every few years, and after passing it, some applicants wait a year or two before they are actually hired. However, God had a plan and I was hired in just three months. Later, I took a test for a higher position and was hired for that job very quickly also. The Lord opened the doors for the job, enabling me to support myself at a young age.

The Lord had given me many blessings, but sadly, I began to neglect the most basic things that I had been taught to do as a Christian. The importance of reading the Bible and praying every day cannot be emphasized enough, and when I stopped doing those things, I started slowly drifting away from God. I found myself in a place that I should not have been, making decisions that were wrong even though I knew what was right. I was not caught up in many sins, but there was one thing that I kept making the wrong choice about. I had an arrogant attitude that I was right and could do what I wanted.

Back to the basics

Once I admitted to myself that what I was doing was sin, I knew it needed to stop. I got down on my knees and asked the Lord to forgive me. Admitting that I was wrong was hard, but I did it, and the Lord came in and saved me again.

Then I knew that I needed to seek the deeper experiences. I loved God so much and felt horrible for hurting Him with my wrong decisions, and He knew that. One day, as I was praying and talking with the Lord about it, He sanctified me again in just a moment of time.

Asking the Lord to baptize me again was also important. I watched a movie about the Crucifixion, and the Lord spoke to my heart through the whole thing. He surrounded me in such a powerful way that even the next morning I could feel the Holy Spirit everywhere. That day was a Sunday, and in my car on the way to church, the Lord came down and baptized me.

A blessed home

God gave me a Christian wife and we have been married for six years now. He has blessed our home with three children, and it has been wonderful to be able to establish with my children the things that disappeared from my home when I was growing up—things like doing devotions as a family, and praying together at the altars and before bedtime. The Lord has flooded my life with so many blessings that the heartache and pain have been completely overshadowed.

As I look back through my life, I can see how God always prepared me for what came my way. He never left me lacking what I needed to overcome the obstacles I faced. When I tell others about the Gospel, I tell them that the Gospel works, and I am living proof!