Journeys Home (26 page)

Someone answered that the Holy Spirit conveys the prayers from
us to them. Now, how could a good Pentecostal argue with that?
Certainly, if God can hear us, and the Holy Spirit is God, and
God is everywhere, then why can't He tell the residents of heaven
what our prayer requests are? And if we can ask believers here
on earth to pray for us, as we all do, then why not ask those
in heaven to do the same? I thought of it as God's email system,
with the Holy Spirit as the moderator.

This concept of praying to the saints opened the door to understanding
requests to Mary. After all, who would be in a better position
to intercede for us than the mother of Jesus? Since she was always
close to Jesus during His earthly ministry, certainly she would
be close to Him now. Just as she asked Him to solve the problem
of the wine at the wedding feast, so now she would ask Him to
meet our needs. And He would grant His mother's request just as
He did then.

In the spring of 2000, I taught a course at a Bible school in
Hawaii. The course was "Twentieth-Century Pentecost." In studying
the Pentecostal movement that I had been involved in for almost
twenty-five years, I discovered great instability. Each leader
had his or her personal belief system. They fought bitterly while
forming hundreds of "nondenominational" denominations. There was
great fervor, many conversions, and healing miracles. But it always
seemed to end in fights and confusion.

Then, in the fall of that year, I taught a course on the nature
and character of God. The text we used was quite a theological
study and quoted many early Catholic Church writers. I not only
learned about the nature and character of God but some history
of the Church as well. It moved me closer to the Catholic faith.
Still studying about the Catholic Church, watching EWTN, and participating
in the Coming Home Network International discussion list, I was
more and more impressed with the doctrinal stability, morality,
and authority of Catholics.

Visiting our son again in August 2000, I read and reread some
of his books. He and I discussed the issues. Again we attended
Mass and the local Catholic charismatic prayer group.

One by one, my objections to the Catholic Church were being overcome.
For the first time we discussed converting. Ruth wasn't in favor
of it and said if I converted, I would probably be going to church
alone. I was not in favor of that.

In June 2001, we decided to resign our position in Hawaii and
return to our home state of Wisconsin. During the weeks between
submitting our resignation notice and leaving our church, Ruth
went off to our son's home in Florida for the birth of our second
Catholic grandson. While there for one month, she did some Catholic
reading for the first time.

She chose
Rome Sweet Home.
Reading the Hahns' story, she decided
that if I converted, she would also. She didn't want to be spiritually
separated as they had been.

But while I was still finishing up in Hawaii, First Assembly prevailed
upon me to return to Uganda for at least six months. I had left
there in March 1999 and visited in March 2000 and January 2001.
I knew the need was great and no one else was available to go.
So after moving the family back to Wisconsin, we somewhat reluctantly
returned to foreign missions.

I bought
Surprised by Truth 2
by Patrick Madrid and brought it
along. While there, I read it through twice, and Ruth read most
of it. Fifteen people tell their stories in this book.

Some were former Catholics who returned after years as Protestants.
Others were lifelong Protestants. They each tell how God drew
them to the Catholic Church and explained many of the doctrinal
issues.

To my surprise, the Internet had improved greatly in Uganda, and
it was possible to receive the Coming Home Network International
email discussion list. It provided daily discussions of issues
that concern potential converts. I also brought along the
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
and read it all the way through.

This book contains the official Vatican-approved beliefs of the
Church. I had bought it a year earlier and had read parts of it.
I was surprised to find that the basis of the teaching was the
Apostles' and Nicene Creeds that I had learned way back in Lutheran
confirmation and had reaffirmed at the end of my Bible school
training.

In Hawaii, I took notes from the
Catechism
and preached a series
of sermons on the creeds. There was nothing that conflicted with
our Assembly of God beliefs in the discussion of the creeds. The
material is well-presented and easy to follow. Hearing what Catholics
themselves had to say about what they believed was much different
from hearing the Protestant version of what the Catholics believed.

Settling back in Uganda, I was distressed by the problems in the
churches that we had left behind. Without consistent leadership,
much of what we had left in place had fallen apart. The other
Protestant churches in the area were experiencing many disputes
about doctrines, and great error and corruption were rampant.

New little churches were springing up everywhere. Each one in
its own eyes was right and better than the others. With my almost-Catholic
eyes, I saw a fragmented, confused group of churches all competing
with each other for members and money. It was not a pretty sight.

Nevertheless, the gospel and love of Jesus does go forth, and
some souls are saved from the fires of hell. But I could see that
there had to be a more lasting, more effective way. I noticed
that the Catholics had a large church on each end of our town
while there were over sixty little Protestant churches. Now I
was beginning to understand why.

During our inquiry into the Catholic Church, we were looking for
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. To our dismay, we discovered
that Protestants have lost or purposely discarded several major
benefits of the New Covenant. What the Catholic Church had recognized
as truth was reevaluated by the protesters, who had to make things
fit their new "each one is his own authority" belief system.

Who gave them the authority to overrule the Church Fathers? As
I studied these, I could see no valid reasons for discarding these
truths.

Authority was the biggest issue. From childhood I had witnessed
bitter wrangling over doctrines and morals among church members.
Once the issue of who has the authority to decide these things
is settled, everything else falls into place.

Who should make decisions in the Church? Who can be trusted to
do it right? Such questions had plagued me for a long time.

I began to see that Peter and the other Apostles had been given
the authority to run the Church, and that they had passed this
authority on to their successors. I found great comfort in that.
From the very beginning, as shown in the book of Acts, the Apostles
made decisions on the issues and sometimes held councils to assist
in the process.

I had chosen the Assemblies of God because it was at least seventy
years old and well-established. It had wavered little from the
views of its founders. Now, however, I had found a Church that
was nearly two thousand years old and had still not wavered from
the views of its Founder, Jesus.

I had been taught that Communion was a memorial service and that
the elements were only symbolic. But now I learned that the Catholics
believed what Jesus said about eating His Body and drinking His
Blood (see John chapter 6). They believed that the consecrated
elements are literally His Body and Blood. They call it the
Real
Presence.

I studied this issue very carefully in the Gospels and Epistles.
I could see no reason not to believe what they said. I felt we
were missing out on a great deal by not believing it.

As I studied the other six sacraments, I found the same thing.
Catholics believe that in Baptism, Confirmation, Communion, Marriage,
Anointing of the Sick, Penance (Reconciliation), and Holy Orders,
God imparts His grace to us. These powerful gifts had been omitted
from my previous belief system, and I could discover no good reason
why. I felt cheated by our Protestant forefathers.

Removing books from the Bible was another maneuver the Protestant
Reformers had used to ensure that the Bible supported their new
beliefs. Although certain books had been approved as part of the
Old Testament canon in the Church councils for more than a thousand
years, suddenly the Reformers decided that these books were not
as inspired as the others and threw them out. Again, on whose
authority did they do this?

Trying to understand the role of Mary and the other saints was
difficult. However, once I understood the difference between veneration
and worship, I had no more trouble. I discovered they are not
worshipped but are respected and honored and held in high regard.
Only God is worshipped.

The rosary interested me, so I bought a little book and started
praying it on occasion. I discovered the rosary was made up of
Scripture verses and a prayer request. So in saying it, we are
simply reciting Scripture and praying.

During the recitation of the Hail Marys, we are asked to meditate
on the life of Jesus and recall what He did for us. Even a good
Protestant ought to be able to do that. It is all Scripture. After
coming back to Uganda in October 2001, Ruth and I started praying
the rosary together every morning.

Purgatory was another thing missing in my Protestant beliefs,
so I had to find out what Catholics really believed. I especially
liked what the
Catechism
had to say about it: "All who die in
God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are
indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they
undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary
to enter the joy of heaven" (1030).

The idea of purifying made sense to me. I have known many believers
who died with major flaws still in their lives. Surely they would
want to be purified before coming into the full presence of God -- I know I do!

We wanted to attend Mass to become familiar with it, but we felt
we couldn't in Uganda or Hawaii. Explaining it to our church would
be a bigger job than we cared to undertake. We didn't want to
bring confusion to an already confused people. So we just shared
the Gospel and the love of Jesus with them. By late November,
we were quite certain we would both join the Catholic Church upon
our return home from Uganda. We would give up our mission work
and my Assemblies of God ordination, which meant giving up our
only means of support as well. I informed my church in Hawaii
that I would be resigning and that we were "seriously considering
joining the Catholic Church."

I wrote a long letter to them and our close friends and relatives
explaining our reasons. We thought the church might relieve us
of our duties immediately, but instead they pleaded with us to
stay. We agreed to complete our six-month commitment but stood
firm in our resolve to move on after that.

God had called us to this mission field, but now He was calling
us home. We were eager to see what He had in store for us there.

In 2002, Ruth and I were received into full communion with the
Catholic Church with its vastness, unity, and diversity. We knew
there was dissent within it. We did not expect to find perfection.
The forces of hell have attacked the Church all through the centuries,
but Jesus said they would not prevail, and they have not and will
not. Therefore, we expected to find the Church that Jesus Himself
had founded, and we are grateful to be accepted as a part of it.

Leaving our church and ministry behind was not easy. We served
the Lord with gladness in our Protestant churches -- at First
Assembly for twenty -- and have no regrets. We wish to thank our
parishioners and God for all they did for us. We gave our time
and money, but the church gave much more than that to us in return.

With sadness we left First Assembly and our churches in Uganda.
They loved us, and we loved them. And now we thank God for them
and pray that He will continue to bless them because they earnestly
desire to do His will. May God bless all those who have helped
us on our journey.

Don and Ruth Newville founded Trinity Community Aid Network in
2006 to do charitable work in the Ugandan villages where they
had served in ministry. Don passed away on December 12, 2010, in Altoona,
Wisconsin, after an extended illness. He is survived by Ruth and their three children and several grandchildren.

former Presbyterian minister

THE REFORMED TRADITION

BECOMING A PASTOR

COMING TO CONCLUSIONS

A GLORIOUS JOY

Throughout our spiritual journey, Jennifer and I always seemed
to be advancing in one direction while our Christian friends were
reverting to others. When we left the Charismatic movement for
modern Evangelicalism, our friends were becoming Pentecostal.
When we transitioned to the Reformed Presbyterian Church, our
friends were migrating to modern Evangelicalism, and when our
friends and acquaintances deserted Rome for Protestant Evangelicalism,
we joyfully went to Rome.

I was born in Springfield, Ohio, into a line of Lutherans whom
I can trace to sixteenth-century Germany. Baptized and confirmed
in a Lutheran denomination, I worshipped with my grandparents
and parents in this liturgical and sacramental environment until
I reached age seven. My parents then quit attending church services,
and we ceased discussing religion in our home.

When I was twenty-two years old, a zealous Evangelical Christian
presented the gospel of Jesus Christ to me. Enlightened by the
Holy Spirit, I consciously embraced Christ as Lord and joined
the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination. I devoured
the Sacred Scriptures and Pentecostal theology.