JoJo 5.4; SALVATION!

Sunday, June 10, 1973, 1:00 PM

 “Are we going to UMYF tonight, JoJo?” Tommy eagerly asked from the other end of the phone.

“Is there any long hair on the band members of Lynard Synard?” JoJo tried to wittingly answer.

“I would say that was corny, JoJo. But, that just straight out stunk!”

“OK, You dang right we’re going!”

“Cool! I look forward to it.”

“I’m glad, Tommy. Why the change?”

“I don’t know how to put it into words, but I can feel God working on me.”

“How so?”
“I don’t know, but I know I really need him. And, I never knew it until last week when we went to church.”

“That is cool. We will be by about 4:45.”
“Sounds like a plan, man.”

Click. Click. The usual ending of a phone conversation for those two.

4:45

Dan and JoJo stop by Tommy’s house. JoJo is surprised how neat Tommy looks. Plus he has a big ole smile.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.”

“Tommy…” Both Smiths reply.

Dan asked, “What is going on at UMYF tonight?”
JoJo responds, “I think we have a guest speaker.”

“Oh. Who?” Dan asks. Tommy perks up for the answer.

“I think Mr. Faith said this guy who had a tough upbringing is going to talk to us.”

“Let me know how it goes,” Dan says.

“Sure, Dad.”

Inside the church

“Man, there are a ton of people here!” Tommy exclaims.

“I don’t know about a ton, maybe 1995 pounds.”

“Sha! OK, Corny JoJo. Maybe not a ton, but twice as many as last week.”

“That’s for sure, T.”

Mr. Faith comes over to greet the boys and introduce them to John Witness, the guest speaker.

“Hello JoJo…Tommy!”

Wow! He actually remembered my name! Tommy thought to himself. Sometimes, he felt like a nobody. Worse than that. He wondered if his parents wished they had NO children, much less six! Even the kids at school made fun of him for his “cheap clothes”.

John stuck out his hand, “Hi Tommy!” “Hi…was it Doe Doe? Ha, just kidding JoJo!”

The boys shook Mr. Witness’ hand. Tommy thought the joke was funnier than JoJo, but JoJo played along. As UMYF began, there were snacks, music, and a time for the youth to talk to each other. Mr. Faith really believed this was an important time for the youth. After about 20 minutes, the Youth Band, called SoldOut began to play. The kids sang along—some, more than others. 

Finally, it was time for John Witness to speak.

John told the kids about his tough upbringing in a small town about the size of Smallville. His father was mean and often out of a job. When he was about 15, John began to hang with the wrong crowd. He said that group of kids cared about him more than his parents. The group members often got into trouble for things like stealing and drinking beer. (He said it like it was not a big deal.) John went on to tell the kids how he got kicked out of school, and a family from the United Methodist Church in his hometown took him in to live with them. However, John gave them trouble from the very start. so much so that they placed him in a home for troubled boys. It was called the Paul Anderson Youth Home. PAYH was located in Onion City. It was down in the lower part of the state. It was there, John said, He was saved! God turned John’s life around. He earned High School credits at the PAYH High School. And, when he was 20-years-old, he graduated from high school and the Home. At first, he lived with his uncle in another city…he didn’t want to get back into the crowd where his life fell apart. Later, he became a missionary in Uganda. Now, he was working on his college degree, while speaking to Youth Groups. He had his own organization called: Witness.

John told them the way to become Christians. He used many verses from John and Romans to back up each point. However, JoJo was still a little confused. However, everything was crystal clear to Tommy. At the end of the talk, John offered for anyone who wanted to be saved to come down to the front. To JoJo’s surprise, Tommy jumped up and headed down front. Miraculously, about 20 other youth went down front to be saved! That was about half of the kids present that day!! Everything else was a blur to JoJo, and it seemed like they were back in Dan’s car headed home in no time.

Tommy was so excited to tell Mr. Smith! Dan was beyond thrilled to hear about Tommy’s salvation (as well as the 20 other kids)! As they pulled up to the Wildfires’ house, Tommy asked Dan if he would be available to answer some questions about being a Christian when he had time to talk.

“Absolutely, Tommy!”

“Great! Thanks, Mr. Smith! Good night, JoJo!”

“Nite,Tommy..”

“JoJo, are you OK?”

“Well…”

TO BE CONTINUED