As I look back on my life, three, four times I should have been killed. But the Lord saved me.

The first time was in England. I enlisted just before Hitler invaded Poland. I didn't want to be, what you call it here, drafted. We call it conscripted. In September 1939, war broke out. We boarded a train going to the south of England in preparation to going over to France. A train coming from the opposite direction was carrying steel girders and they shifted. The girders cut through some of the carriages and the one I was in. They went over my head, but a lot of the troops were killed. That was the first time.

Before I go on, I should tell you something about my background. I came from a Jewish Orthodox family who escaped out of Poland when it was under Russian rule. Their name was the same as the little village where they lived. If you know Fiddler on the Roof, that showed the kind of life my folks had. That was one of the reasons my father ran away. He was supposed to serve time in the Russian army and he wouldn't. So he got out by the skin of his teeth with my mother who was only sixteen years old. He carried her across the river on his shoulders to get away. They settled in England where I was born and grew up. I joined the army soon after graduating from high school.

My second escape. When the Germans invaded France in 1940, we had to get out quickly. They broke through the Maginot Line and we were on the run. I couldn't get to Dunkirk, because we were cut off, so we traveled south and I was still in France for practically a month after that. I finally got down to a port called St. Nazaire. The same thing happened as at Dunkirk. The boats came out from England and we went into the water to get on a boat. We were sort of lined up on the beach to go. The party that I was with was ordered to head for a fairly large boat. We were sort of wading out to it while the Germans were strafing us and dropping bombs. Just before we got close to the boat, the Germans made a direct hit, down the funnel, and it blew up. I should have been on that boat. But we turned around and went back and waited for another boat to come out. That was the second time.

The third time was when I was in Eritrea, East Africa, after we liberated the country from the Italians in 1941. I was stationed right on the boarder, in a deep valley between the towering mountains. Once a month I had to go up to the capital, Asmara to get supplies. It is way high, over 7,000 feet. So I got up to Asmara, and being an uncouth person, I had a good time before I went back. I drank too much. I got into my jeep to drive down, and the road is winding. And you've got a drop on one side, all the way down. I fell asleep at the wheel and went over the edge. The jeep fell more than a thousand feet until it hit a level spot. I was shook up and banged up, but the jeep was still in working condition, so I was able to drive it out on level ground. That was the third time.

I had transferred out of the army into the British Military Administration. We studied law and other things that would be required of us. Greek, also. I was stationed on Cyprus and helped train refugees to be prepared to retake their homelands from the Germans.

At this time I met a young lady named Irene. How shall I say it? I don't know if we fell in love or if I just liked her face but I decided to marry her. She was Greek, but she had been born while her country was under Italian rule, so that made her of Italian nationality, which was the enemy. I appealed to the governor of the island we were on at the time. He and I used to go around visiting the islands. He couldn't speak the language. I could, and he used to take me as his interpreter. So I didn't just know about him. I knew him personally. And he arranged the whole thing. So you see how knowing somebody helps.

After we were married, since I had been in Eritrea, they sent us back there. One time I was out chasing bandits. We captured the head of the bandits and some of his gang. I had learned to speak and understand Italian, so he came to me and said, "Why are you taking me in to prison?"

"Because you are killing people. You're raiding all the villages and stealing from them.

He said, "I could have killed you many times. I had you in my sights many times. But you're not Italian. I only kill Italians."

So that's four times that the Lord saved me.

Our first boy, Stuart, was born prematurely and only weighed four and a half pounds. The doctors said if we didn't leave Africa he would die. There was no way they could do anything for him there. We returned to England and stayed six months. Then we came to the United States.

Stuart was a very sick child. When he was only three years old the doctor finally told us that he had to have his tonsils removed. The doctor removed them in his office and we took Stuart home. He was in agony-crying and crying and started bleeding again.

Our landlady was a Christian. She says to my wife, "Let's pray for Stuart."

I'm listening and I say to her, "Pray what? What's in a prayer? We need a doctor."

So they both get on their knees, and I'm standing there in front of the crib, and they pray for Stuart. He's been screaming and screaming. They started praying. The crying stopped. Stuart turned over on his side and went to sleep. I get tight inside of me when I think of it. How can anybody do that if it's not the Lord Himself? Well, that played a big part in making me reconsider my thoughts.

Soon after that our neighbor came collecting for the March of Dimes. She asked about my wife's accent. As they got acquainted, Edith said she was a Jewish Christian. Irene grabbed her and said, "Come inside. I have to talk to you about my husband."

That was the beginning. Edith used to try to talk to me about the Lord Jesus. I would close my ears and my eyes. Then I consented to go to meetings in a home where the Word of God was taught. That's when I started believing, really believing the Bible, but I wouldn't accept Jesus. I was also reading my Bible and Edith was teaching me. At one of the meetings I really listened to the speaker and his preaching got to me.

The next morning before I went to work, Edith's friend Jim came to our house. He came in and said, "Are you ready now to accept the Lord Jesus?"

I said, "Yes," and we got on our knees and prayed. I told the Lord that I had been a sinner. I knew that by accepting Him as my Saviour I had immediate contact with God. I had life everlasting. It was a simple, short prayer.

To this day I remember the date, place and time-Monday, June 13, 1955-- because it changed my life completely. I had practically a new aspect on life. The Bible, not just the Old Testament but the New Testament (they belong together), is the truth. I gained more compassion than I ever had before. I firmly tell people what I believe and even try to convince people that what I believe is the truth. But I really don't hold it against them if they can't see it, because when you get right down to the rock bottom, it's only the Lord that can show them.

And the wonderful thing is…you know that lots of Jewish people that have changed their hearts by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ have been cast out by their family. But, thank God, my family just accepted it. They didn't believe it and I couldn't convince them, but they didn't hold it against me. I'm still their brother.

Declaration by Joe Pierson © 2003