Elton Hamilton

Over fifty years ago I came into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. Since then I have been a recipient of the bountiful blessings and goodness of God.

My blessings started when I was a boy, even though I wasn’t raised in a Christian home. Dad was a logger, and often we lived in camps without a church, a Sunday school, or anything to induce a person to come to Jesus. When I was about eleven years old, an elderly man came to the camp and gave us a little Bible. I read from the Book of Revelation of the awful things that were going to happen to those who didn’t know God, and it frightened me.

About that same time, my aunt also visited us. She taught my twin brother and me a little prayer and told us to say it each night. It was that well-known children’s prayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take.” As I said that every night, something began happening in my heart. I began to realize that I had a soul. Did I need something in my heart to make me ready to meet God?

. . .my heart I cried out, “Lord, I’m not ready to meet You. Don’t come now!”

One night I went to bed alone. I got on my knees as usual, and began to say that little prayer. It was dark in the room, but as I prayed, the room lit up. I opened my eyes and looked toward a little window. There I saw the face of Jesus. Now I didn’t know Jesus, but He revealed Himself to me. I thought that He was coming to catch away His people, and in my heart I cried out, “Lord, I’m not ready to meet You. Don’t come now!” I never got away from what I saw.          

Eventually two young men came to preach in our camp. At the end of their meeting, my dad, twin brother, and I stepped forward indicating that we wanted to be saved. The young preacher opened the Bible and read a few Scriptures, especially emphasizing, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” He read that Scripture three or four times before he wrung a confession out of us, and we finally said we were saved. I felt no change, and neither did my brother nor my dad.

That day I believed in my head, but I didn’t believe in my heart. The preacher said nothing about turning my back on my sin, and really getting a born-again experience. However, I did receive a little button that said “Jesus Saves,” and I wore it on my coat lapel. One time a friend of my dad’s said, “Oh, a Christian, eh?” All I could do was bow my head in shame. I had no experience to talk about.

After some time we went to Seattle, Washington. There I met my wife-to-be, and later we married. She wanted to serve God also, so we started attending church and Sunday school.

Meanwhile, my aunt had been saved in the Apostolic Faith Church in Port Angeles, Washington, and she sent a church paper to my uncle who lived not far from us. He wanted nothing to do with the paper and so handed it over to me. Well, I read it from cover to cover. I read the testimonies of what God had done for people who had really prayed and been saved, and what joy they had in their hearts.

I knew I didn’t have that joy. So I said, “I’m going to Port Angeles.” There I attended my first Apostolic Faith service. At the end of the meeting I went forward to an altar of prayer and knelt to pray. I poured out my heart to God, pleading guilty for my sins. The Spirit of God came down, and I received something that was heartfelt. It was more than head knowledge. Jesus became an integral part of my life.

The Spirit of God came down, and I received something that was heartfelt.

I went home and told my wife about it. She said, “Well, I’m not going to bother you, or put any hindrance in your way, but I’m going to watch for a while.”

We moved to Port Angeles and attended the church there. Then we were invited to attend the camp meeting in Portland, Oregon. By that time I had received my sanctification, so I purposed in my heart to seek for the power of God on my life. I expected to receive the baptism in my first service at the camp meeting. But when it was time to pray, I couldn’t seem to pray. I felt as dry as an old stick.

A brother received his baptism, and he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “The Lord baptized me with the Holy Ghost and fire.” Another man said, “See, God did it for him. He can do it for you.” Someway God helped me to take hold of those words. It wasn’t five minutes until I felt something happening in my soul. The Spirit of God began coming in, and the more I received, the more I wanted. The Glory of God filled me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. What a change the experience of the baptism made in my life. It changed me from a timid young man to one who could stand up for what I believed.

In that same camp meeting, the Lord saved my wife. And before we went home to Port Angeles, she received her sanctification and baptism. What a wonderful life we’ve had all of these years since then!

I love this Gospel with all my heart. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Why? Because it has brought us through the hard places and the difficulties. I have a bright hope in my heart that Jesus is coming. Now I’m ready to meet Him and am looking for His soon return.