Torch, Summer 1994

confused. Some of them wou 1 d not talk to me, and others said, " or a German, you are quite nice." t this point in my life I had to find out the truth. The Lord was working ·n my heart and gently drawing me closer to Him. I met a very loving 1 dy who worked in the Jewish General Hospital. She told me "Jutta, ou can only understand the Jewish people through the eyes of the r . ut ow coo an l not know Him! This woman shared with me from God's Word that the Jewish people are the chosen people. Well, I laughed and said, "They are chosen for what? Chosen to be killed or chosen because they are any better than us?" She answered "You are very right, Jutta. They are no better _,LIUJ.u.us, b God.ha ade_ covenant with Abraham, and e will never back out from His promises." Genesis 17:19-21 says, "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." So I started reading the Bible again and the Lord had put a thirst into my heart for Him. Through taking part in a Bible study and the loving teaching of my friend, my eyes were opened bit by bit to who Jesus was- that He was the Son of God and that only through Him could I have eternal life and salvation. But I still wrestled with the collective guilt feeling of my past. I prayed and Jesus let me see that only He could forgive my sins. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and His peace and joy flooded my soul. After that, it was like scales fell off my eyes and the Lord put a love into my heart for the Jewish people and the joy to witness Jesus Christ the wall is broken down to them and t anyone who did not between Jew and Gentile, and they know Him. are one (Galatians 3:28, Romans One day I took part in a Scripture 10:12). Union weekend. There I met Tom, a When I told some of my German young man f om Hungary. Tom friends who I was going to marry, spoke Germa fluently which they said, "Don't forget that you are pleased me because my English was German. How can you marry a poor. He helped me to understand Jew?" Again and again I could share the speaker ' d also seemed the love of Jesus with them. interested in e. Once back in Under the Nazi regime, if I married Montreal, I agreea to see tlie movie a :Jew, our children and I would have "Exodus" with Tom. After the been arked for severe punishment movie, he invited me to dinner and or even death. The blood mingling shared with me that he was Jewish- of an (\ryan and a Jew was after all, I was German and he considered a shameful sin. Tom and needed to know if that was a I praise the Lord, for in His Grace, stumbling block to me. I laughed He gave us three precious girls- and said, "Oh no, the Lord must Esther, Maria, and Rebecca-who have a sense of humor." He washed love the Lord. away my sins..He se e_.fr_ee..fro"'-'-__..._._._e..mercy of the Lord is beyond all my confus "ons of my background all measure and it is a joy to claim and He took away the burden of the His promises. collective guilt as a German. Then It was a miracle that Tom and I He sent a Je~ish believer into my found Christ and it was topped off life! by meeting each other-a most His ways are surely not ours. unlikely match considering our To make the story short, eventually vastly different backgrounds. Tom asked me to marry him. When I called my parents, my mother said, "Oh brother, cloes it have to be a Jew?" So the ord gave me opportunity to witness to her. I shared from od 's Word that in Tom and Jutta Gerendas with their daughters, Esther (front right), Rebecca (front center), and Maria, with her husband David O'Laughlin. Rebecca graduated from Cedarville College in June 1994. Torch 15