Timothy’s Story
“I will bring the blind by a
way they did not know; I will lead them in paths
they have not known. I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked places straight. These
things I will do for them, and not forsake them”
(Isaiah 42:16)
As all of us have to face challenges in life. It is
my prayer that this will be a story of encouragement
to you, in whatever you may be going through.
Secondly, I pray, that you’ll see God’s
faithfulness, for He has been faithful in my life.
Many times, God works behind the scenes. Thirdly and
finally, know that despite your circumstances, that
God is a good God. The world is not fair, but God is
good. Now, before I get on my soap box, let me tell
you my story:
I was born and raised in a nominal Christian home.
While I heard about God in Sunday school and church,
He didn't have control over my life. Mom and my two
sisters and I would go to church, only to come home
and argue. All of this would happen in front of my
dad, who said that was one reason that he didn't go
to church with us.
In my early teens, for a very short time, I began to
explore other religions. The church as I knew it
seemed to cold and traditional. I didn't know how
empty I really was.
But before I go on, let me tell you about something
funny that happened in that little church when I was
growing up. I was about six years old and sitting in
church one Sunday morning. It was about lunch time,
and my stomach was growling from hunger. Mom always
made a special Sunday dinner, and that day
especially, I was looking forward to it. Suddenly I
came back to the real world, when I heard the
preacher talking about bread and grape juice. My
ears perked up – it sounded great. Now you'll have
to understand that I can't see – I’m blind and have
been blind since birth. And when they passed the
communion elements, I was disappointed by the size
of them.
One evening, I went to a small youth service in that
church in which I grew up. It was totally different,
and there was a Christian rock group that I could
relate to. At the end of the service, the preacher
challenged us to commit our lives to Jesus, so I
knelt down by my folding chair. The change in my
life was an instant one. The emptiness was all gone.
Later my dad, who I spoke about earlier, asked me,
“What happened to you?” I was changed by the Lord.
It was to be many years later that my father
accepted Christ, but he did accept Him on his death
bed.
Shortly after I received the Lord, I went on a
retreat, and that was where God called me into the
ministry. This new life consumed me, and I couldn't
seem to get enough of God’s Word. I was seeing
things in a new way. Like a hungry child, I would go
to a Bible study or Christian concerts almost every
night.
But, it wasn't all peaches and cream. After being
trained for the ministry, obtaining a Bachelor’s
degree in religious studies and a Master’s degree in
Christian Education, I spent about 22-years working
on telephones, selling products I didn’t believe in.
I wondered what God was doing and sometimes I got
angry with Him. I asked God many times, “Do you know
what You are doing?” But that drive to go into the
ministry never left me.
Now, I am working with Friday study Ministries and
New Vision Ministries. I still don't understand many
things about what I call the dark period in my life.
But now I feel that God was preparing me for what I
am doing now, with a special ministry to the
disabled community as the Minister of Abilities for
Friday Study Ministries, the First Church On The
Net. I am also the Director of New Vision
Ministries. And I praise the Lord every day.
Editor’s Note: Timothy H.
Burdick is the Minister of Abilities of Friday Study
Ministries, The First Church On The net. He has been
blind since birth, and his wife, Susan, who
struggles with multiple sclerosis and cancer, also
is blind. But Pastor Timothy has New Vision in the
Lord, Who makes “darkness
light” before him, and
he indeed praises the Lord every day. You may reach
him through
Ron@fridaystudy.org
