June 30, 2011

• God's gift to me: My friendship with Lois Bergsma

  Sometime around 1971 – 40 years ago—I personally was in an extremely hard period in my life. I was actually contemplating suicide. I was backsliden. I asked God to send me a Christian woman friend.
  Not long thereafter I was taking a lunch break (from my job as a social worker at the Kent County Department of Social Services) and I bumped into my childhood piano teacher, Ruth Lanninga Kamps. Ruth asked if I wanted to attend a Christian luncheon with her across the street at the Sweden House after exclaiming to me , “YOU are the one the Lord sent me into here (Rogers Plaza) to ask to the luncheon”. I called my job for extra time off that day and headed to the luncheon with Ruth.
  I was seated at that luncheon next to Lois Bergsma.  At that time I was basically culturally black and had a demon in me (unbeknownst to me, later expelled through ministry from Loie and her husband, Cal ) that could not stand white people. I declared to Loie my distaste for white folks and that my husband was black. At that time I was married to Louis Adams, a backslidden guy at that time . (Since then – maybe 2 ½ decades from the time I met Loie, he has been wonderfully saved!)
  Three weeks after that I was home from work again considering suicide. I got a phone call from Loie. She had tracked me down by calling Ruth, asking Ruth my maiden name , and then calling my mom to get my home number. For me to be home was very unusual and for her to call in the state I was in was a gift from God!
  Actually it was Louie whom the Lord placed on her heart for prayer at that moment. But, it was an answer to my prayer for a Christian woman friend that God moved her to call me that day.
  I am certain that God putting Louie on her heart also played a part in his ultimate coming back to the Lord. I remember one time when I was looking more at circumstances than feeling any faith I asked her if she thought Louie would ever come to the Lord. She responded by saying that she was certain he would because God would not waste her time with such a strong prayer burden for Him. That principle has blessed me over the years whenever I get a strong , continuing prayer burden for someone.
  Over time Loie and I became very, very close friends.
  I was at Grace Christian Reformed church when I met her. But, I – independently of the influence of anyone else and totally unaware that the Lord was awakening thousands of others to His Pentecostal outpouring all over the world – began to ask the Lord and others why the people in the New Testament had been so much more advanced than the church of our present time. Finally one of the members of Grace , Carla Weidenaar Collins (the artist Ray Weidenaar’s daughter) said to me, “I think that what you are looking for is at St. Mary’s Church on First St, N.W.”
  I told Loie and Cal Bergsma about this meeting. We went together. We were amazed . Some of the nuns were singing beautifully in tongues; some others interpreted. The atmosphere was unmistakeably charged with the presence of the Lord. It WAS exactly what I had longed to see and hear .
  From there my journey into a deeper and deeper walk with the Lord was often shared with Loie and
  Cal.
  I think I was their first (or near to ) experiment in hands on deliverance after we’d read Don Basham’s “Deliver us from Evil”. We met – after fasting awhile – at Olive Renkema’s (do I have the name right?) barn and did not know what to expect. For a long time we just worshipped the Lord and read Psalms. After a LONG time, Cal starting asking me about my responses within me to what was going on. Eventually I began to feel a choking sensation and a demon inside me, a spirit of hatred, informed me that he was not going anywhere and – if he were asked to leave and forced to – I would have NO personality because he had been my personality since I was 10 years old. I shared this transaction with Cal and Loie and they proceeded to command it to leave. It left. With it – miraculously – the racism left too. Immediately I loved white people right along with black people (remember me telling Loie I did not like white folks the moment I met her? I think it is ironic it was her and Cal who cast out the demon causing that problem!). Along with the racism, profanity went too. I had been having a horrible time – although by then I was a Spirit filled Christian walking with the Lord actively – trying to stop saying some really foul words! INSTANTLY I got delivered from that problem.
  To give tribute to ex Christian Reformers (which is how I was raised too) for casting demons out of me (many more demons were to follow that spirit of hatred out of me over the subsequent early years of our walk together) is humorous to me. Who would have ever thought…?
  Cal and Loie stood by me through some extremely turbulent years in my continued time with Louie – even taking me into their home to stay for a few days – both in the Christian Reformed provided parsonage and in their home on Wilson SW where the Spirit filled meetings were held in the basement.
  During those years Cal and Loie had a teaching tape ministry . They collected tapes from the then current Charismatic teachers , e.g., the “Florida Five” (Basham, Prince, etc.) . I devoured, I think, ALL of them. I actually enjoyed doing dishes because that is when I listened to these tapes.
  We went to the “Glory Barn” together to hear Hobart Freeman too. And we read his books.
  Loie would always be saying to me “Have you read _____________ yet?” (She just did that again a couple of weeks ago.)
  Loie has made sure over all the decades of our relationship that I subscribed to everything that blessed her, e.g., the Berean Call, Maoz, David Wilkerson’s newsletters, and more.
  There came a time that just staying at Loie and Cal’s for a few days did not provide what was necessary for a respite from the turmoil at home. I left Michigan and moved to San Diego, California in May of 1975. Cal was the ONLY person in the world – because he was a strong, straightforward, honest, Godly pastor – whom I trusted to say that it would be safe to come home if HE told me that my husband, Louie, had changed and that it would be advisable for me to live with him once more. So I told the Lord that – if He wanted me back in Michigan – I would only come home if Cal said to do so. I called Cal once during that time and he said, “Stay there”. When I again reminded the Lord of the condition I had asked Him for so I could go back , the next phone call I got was in late summer. It was Cathy Barrows (now Williams) telling me of Cal’s death. Then I knew to stay in California with certainty .
  My dad died in January of 1976 so I came home to Michigan to be near my mom. At that time I formed a friendship with Robert Barnes. He had actually been to Cal and Loie’s meetings while I was gone. He lived in Niles, Michigan at the time and had taken a few friends there (I have no idea how he found out about the Bergsma meetings way down in Niles.)

  Robert and I became sweethearts and we got married in 10/76.

  Over time, as I resumed my times with Loie, Robert became a beloved friend to her as well.

  When we first got married, if we had a disagreement , we would say, “Let’s call Loie and she will help us sort this out”.

  One week before we started River of Life Ministries in our living room in Burton Heights (official starting date was 1 5 80), we had a group of seasoned Christian friends over to declared to them what we were about to do the following Saturday night. Loie was one of those in our livingroom that night. There were maybe a dozen people there. We wanted her input . We knew that neither she nor the others were going to be a part of our church because they had there own places to attend; however, we valued the input of these precious people.
  Since then,many times – starting in that livingroom – Loie has taught at River of Life Minsitries. Our people absolutely love her and see her as part of our church. In fact, when the church Loie and Cal started (yes, I am one who sees the Chicken Coop in Jamestown as the root of what became Maranatha) began to go through some rough patches , Loie began to attend River of Life (when we were on Kalamazoo SE) and -- until her son, Cal, became a part of the elders who started the church she is in now, it seemed she would continue with us. (I, of course,have heard repeatedly what a wonderful church she is in now and am thrilled to hear each and every story of the Lord moving there!)
  Robert and I have had some precious times over the decades with Loie and count her as one of our nearest, dearest friends, a gift from God!
  God answered my extremely desperate prayer for a Christian woman friend far above what I could ever imagine He would give me!!!
  Yesterday morning I was crying because I realized what an extremely big space she will leave empty in my life as she leaves this realm to enter into Heaven. So I felt an urgency to go to see her again last night.
  At first she actually did not recognize me. After my just sitting there for fifteen minutes or so (giving her a long speech of gratitude), Ardene came into the room and informed her who I was. Loie came “alive” and said she thought she heard me say my name was “Rose Ann” and she had not known who I was. Then she proceed to talk to me . Smiles. Love….much joy for me. I repeated my gratitude speech because by then she had put in hearing aides, knew who I was, and was listening.
  At the end , when I said I needed to go because Robert did not know I had gone there , she said , “I bless you. I bless your ministry” with great fervor.
  I am SO glad I went! She was not only my friend, but also a spiritual mom to me.To have her so fervently bless our ministry is a priceless gift to me.

   

  • 9:55 pm
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