Richard Harvey

I became a believer in Jesus in 1974 through the witness of two friends at school. At first I tried hard to deny the reality of their faith and the difference it made in their lives. After a while their faith became something I could not deny. But the crunch came when they asked me, “Why do you think Yeshua died on the cross at Calvary? And what do you think about the fact that He rose from the dead?” As I struggled to answer their questions, I had a moment of spiritual insight, one of those special times that are outside your own control. I was looking back 2,000 years in history and I saw an empty tomb! I realized that indeed Jesus had risen from the dead!

Yet I was still unwilling to admit this and I replied, “Perhaps you’re right and Jesus did rise from the dead. But I’m Jewish, and we don’t believe that.” This evasion satisfied neither them nor me. I had to consider the substance of what they were saying. Before long, I accepted Yeshua as my Messiah.

I sheepishly told my father that I was thinking of going to church. He replied, “That’s funny, so was I!” He, too, had been on a search for God and wanted to hear what the Christians had to say. My parents were founding members of our synagogue in South London. Yet my father had not found the spiritual reality he was looking for, nor the answers to his deepest questions about the meaning of life. After considering the evidence he, too, became a believer in Jesus!

In 1977, The Liberated Wailing Wall came to England and gave a presentation at the local Baptist church I had begun attending, and my entire family came along to listen. My mother said she enjoyed the music, but not the message. Afterwards, the group came back to our house and my brother Nick spent a long time talking to Jeff Millenson, one of The Liberated Wailing Wall members. Jeff prayed with Nick to receive the Lord that night! Afterwards, I asked Nick why he had taken that step and he replied, “I saw what the Christians had in their lives, and I wanted it for myself.” Twenty years later, Nick has grown to be a strong believer, is now married and has three children.

Though my mother and two other brothers have still not accepted the Lord, I am believing the words of Acts 16:31, “for the salvation of all my household.”