Charles Isaacs

I was born and raised in Syria. I was brought up in the Greek Orthodox Church. I went to the priest to confess my sins, but I didn’t really know what sin was.

God knew my heart was hungry and honest. One day a man read Matthew 23:9 and 10, “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ,” and I told the man that I would never again call the priest, “Father.”

The priest told my dad that I was a lost sheep, so I started attending the Presbyterian Church. When my dad found out, he put me out of the house. For four days and nights, I slept in a field with nothing to eat. I had no one to help me, for my mother was dead. I prayed, “God, take me away to find a people with whom I may serve You the rest of my days.” God later answered that prayer.

My dad let me come back home and I told him that God was going to take me away. My dad replied that I would never fly from his hands. A few months later, a man offered me a ticket to the United States without demanding written security. I accepted.

While living in the United States, God gave me good health, so that I was able to work hard and repay the man double the price of the ticket. I had come to find the people of God. I attended and joined many churches, but I never found any satisfaction for the hunger that was in my heart. One day, my wife was very sick, and when I took her to the doctor, I was told she needed an operation. This nearly broke my heart, because I had six children, and as a working man, I had no way of taking care of them.

I thought I was a Christian, even though I was bound by the tobacco habit. One day, I walked ten blocks to purchase tobacco. Then I heard a Voice from Heaven say, “What is that poison good for?” I knew it was the Voice of God. I took the package of tobacco and threw it across the street and told God not to let me see that stuff again. I became heavily convicted for my sins and I didn’t know what to do.

One Sunday morning, as I was sleeping alone in my room, God spoke to me three times. I didn’t know until the third time that it was God talking to me. He told me to go to the Apostolic Faith Church, and they would tell me what to do. I answered, “Yes, I will go.” I could not sleep after that. When my wife woke up, she found me dressed and ready to go to church. She wanted to know what happened to me. I told her God wanted me to go to the Apostolic Faith Church. She didn’t believe that God had talked to me, so she sent two of the children with me to see where I was going.

I took the children with me, and after the church service, I sat in my seat. I was under conviction and brokenhearted. I could not move from the seat, nor could I talk or look at anybody. A man came up to me and said, “Brother, what is wrong with you, sitting here alone?” I replied, “God talked to me and I do not know what to do.” He assured me, “Brother, God loves you. Ask Him and He will save you.” That was the first time I ever saw myself as a sinner before God. I said, “God, I believe, but I cannot live a Christian life. If You will only give me a foundation to live a Christian life, I will give You my life, my all.” That very moment God saved me. I knew I was saved. I was the happiest that I had ever been in all my life. My children wanted me to go home, but I told them “No,” because I had found the people of God. I sent them home, but I stayed in church all day.

The next Sunday, my wife went with me. God saved her and healed her, so that she did not need the operation. For the next thirty-five years, she raised our six children without a single drop of medicine. God has since called her home to Glory.

After I was saved, God showed me to make restitution, and when I cleaned up my life, He sanctified me. When I consecrated my life deeper to Him, He baptized me with the Holy Ghost and fire.

I still have the love of God in my heart today.