Inspire, Spring 2002

Inspire 13 Dennis Patterson ’84 personally knows what happens when God’s people come together and pray. Dennis had a long-repeated request of God that He would restore his marriage and bring his estranged wife to a saving knowledge of Christ. In October of 1983, the entire Cedarville family came together for a half-day of prayer. Many people prayed for Dennis’ family. At that very moment, God was working a miracle Down Under, another continent away. Here is Dennis’ testimony of perseverance in prayer and of learning that there is indeed joy in the journey. I clearly remember the turning point in my life. I was reminiscing, sitting in an Australian coffee bar inside the club where I was employed as a musician. I had fulfilled a boyhood dream to be a professional musician. Every night was soaked with fast music, bright lights, large crowds, and generous sums of money. I may have been the envy of many young people, but despite my seemingly exciting lifestyle, inside I was slowly sinking. I was struggling with loneliness and emptiness that life in the fast lane could not satisfy. As I sipped coffee, I must have appeared a lonely figure in the dim light. Two years had passed since my marriage had broken down. My thoughts turned to the Sunday night I returned home from the band to find a heart-breaking note from my wife, Joy, that spoke of her despair and inability to carry on as a wife and mother. My two little girls had been left sleeping in their room, unaware of the pain and hardship that would lay ahead for us all. Joy had called a friend to watch the children until I returned from work. My thoughts drifted to the nights of dragging myself up the stairs in the wee hours of the morning, carrying my young daughters from the babysitter’s. I knew that this lifestyle was not in their best interest. I loved them deeply. They were all I had. As I sat, I tried to prepare myself for another night of performing, yet I was deeply troubled by thoughts of how things used to be. I drifted to the days of my youth when I attended a church youth group program on Friday nights and to how, at 12 years old, I went forward one night at a youth rally. As I reflected, a dull ache came into my heart to return to that boyhood relationship that I had had with Jesus. As I looked around there was a sea of faces, the noise of poker machines, and that ever-present smell of smoke and spilled alcohol. The turmoil inside of me was more than I could bear. I finally stood up, walked to the foyer, and telephoned an old Christian friend. “Could you come to church with me tonight?” I asked. “I really want to go to church.” As I drove away from the club, I remember feeling a strong beckoning in my heart. Nothing could have stopped me or convinced me to turn back. I was going to church, and I felt as if God were drawing me. As I walked down the aisle, people were singing praises to God. The preacher beamed a smile at me. There was warmth all around, and my spirit was immediately lifted. It felt like a joyous homecoming. I was ready to give everything over to God. I knelt down and prayed, “Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for running my own life. I just want to return to the relationship I had with You. I don’t care what it takes, but I am now willing to do things Your way, if You would only put my life back together.” The prodigal had come home. From that night things changed. I tendered my resignation from the band the next day. Within a week I agreed to let a pastor and his wife begin a Bible study in my house. I invited a group of young teens from a rock group I was managing to come to the study. The next week we all went to hear Billy Graham speak, and the entire band accepted Christ as their Savior. I began to attend church and read the Bible again on a regular basis. As the months passed, I became stronger in spirit. There were days where I fell back, but it seemed for every step backward, God would take me two steps forward. Around this time I was in a relationship with a Christian girl, and friends were encouraging me to consider remarrying. But I felt God was speaking to me to restore my relationship with my wife, Joy. So I broke off the relationship and decided to remain unattached. God was giving me a vision to pray for healing and restoration for the wife of my youth. Once I left professional playing, I diverted my energies to my two daughters and a music teaching position I had taken at a local high school. Through the school (Christian Fellowship) I began to share my love and enthusiasm for Jesus, and several of my students found their own personal relationship with Christ. God was blessing my work at the school. A musical I had written and produced was gaining national media attention, and many prominent musicians and educators came to visit my school music programs. I met people from the Cedarville Australia Team. Harold Green, Mike DiCuirci, and Lyle ’70 and Connie Clark Anderson ’73 all befriended me. However, there were still many lonely days when I would watch the sun go down, feeling a chill in my soul. My daughters and I kept praying for Joy, and we regularly wrote to her. I was now missing her terribly. On several occasions I felt an overwhelming need to find her. And so I would set out to drive the interstate, not knowing exactly where to locate her. Miraculously, God would bring her across my path. Once we stopped opposite one another at the same traffic light on a busy highway in Queensland. When this was repeated six months later at the same traffic light, I knew God was dramatically answering our prayers. Journey The story of Dennis and Joy Patterson’s journey on a road of prayer “Weeping had lasted many nights, but Joy came home that morning.” — Dennis Patterson ’84