A seed of doubt rooted in the heart began to grow. Doubts must be confirmed! Faith manifests itself in surety.

The Romish church gave me a thorough education and brought me up as a God fearing person. The sacrifice of the Mass was the life of the Romish church that fed me. In my eyes it held all the beauties of salvation. That renewal of the vicarious death of Christ on the cross was essential in my life for nourishment and growth. The seven sacraments were next in importance, all of which I had a firm belief in. Where were those doubts rooted? In tradition! When I graduated from Catholic Central High School, I knew tradition upside down and backwards. The Romish church never let me forget what a supposedly wonderful thing tradition was. In my eyes it was ever changing and worthless in value. At this time also I was taught of the importance of the Bible. In the New Testament I was fairly well instructed. Yet, I knew not how to pronounce the names of any of the Old Testament books. And worse yet, I knew almost nothing as to what was written in them. Why was so little emphasis put on this written Word of God and so much on tradition? This question at that time was not enough to disrupt or even phase my belief in the mass. Thus it was left unanswered.

Then in a serious discussion on the doctrines of Rome these questions were put before me:

1. Do you believe that the sacrifice of the mass is an actual renewal of Calvary in an un-bloody manner? Of course I did.

2. Do you believe that the death on the cross and the agonies that Christ suffered were sufficient for the salvation of His Church? My reply was a certain “Yes”.

3. Then why is it necessary to re-crucify Christ at the mass as you do every day, if one time was enough? Why? I had not an answer. A seemingly million other questions now urgently needed confirming. Then for the first time I started to search and study for answers to all my questions and doubts. Due to the fact that in my eyes, tradition was a lost cause, I had only the Bible to rely on-that Word of God which I knew too little about. In need of help, I retreated to my parish priest who helped only to confuse me more.

Seeing in someone very close to me a church and faith so strong that it stood out in his daily walk, I decided to learn more about his church. I called and talked to Rev. H. Hanko and discussed the possibility of my studying the Protestant Reformed Church. This resulted in the most important change in my life.

For the first time my Bible was my most prized and used possession. Rev. H. Hanko made me search the Bible for the answers to both his and my questions, never was anything left unanswered.

For me to pinpoint all the reasons why I changed would take a book…and that is exactly where you can see why I did so. Read and live your Bible, upon this word of God rely and Rome can never take hold of you. For in the Bible I’ve found un-severable ties by which I can face the powers of darkness and stride on my pathway back to God with ever sure footsteps.

The Protestant Reformed Church has the truth of the Word of God as its heart and life. Our church has the purest manifestation of the Truth; and it is here only that I find the strength to fight the battle of Faith.