Nr.112 ended with: “Martin had been asking them for some time to meet with me, but they were hesitant. Now, however, they were ready to come, but they brought two Catholic priests along……..!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Well, it became a very interesting evening. The discussion between the two priests and me was very polite, even though I put one question after another to them for which they had no real answers. They were familiar with many of the Bible texts I quoted or showed them, but they said that these could not be taken literally. I kept at them until they quite evidently started to become uncomfortable and excused themselves and left, saying they had another appointment to attend to. After they were gone I asked Phillip to read aloud one Bible text after another as answers to the questions I had asked. When they went home, they took the Bibles I had given them and much later Ingrid told me that on the way home, Phillip had said, “Richard doesn’t interest me but I’m going to read the Bible.” I know what he meant; it was not Richard the person who had touched his heart, but the Bible! And that is so good, I often told folks, it isn’t me or us who you need, but God’s Word. You don’t need to come to us, as long as you go to the Lord and His Word.

I had noticed their interest and went to visit them a number of times. Ingrid wasn’t all that happy with that as she had a stronger bond with the Catholic Church than Phillip. He kept talking to priests asking them what he needed to do to go to heaven. They would give different answers, but it all came down to the same thing, do your best. One Sunday evening during the winter of 1974, they invited a couple with whom they were friends, to come and meet me. This couple also brought a Catholic priest along, but his answers were quite vague, superficial and not satisfying to Phillip. And so, the Biblical answers he received from me began to sprout and soon something wonderful would happen! I left their house at 2 am with joy and anticipation in my heart……! (Go to Musings).