Conversion Experience of Peter Lausevic, Evangelist

I was born May 15, 1960 into a Slavic family who believed in the imminent return of Jesus. Yugoslavia was at that time under a milder form of Communism than some of the other East Block countries. Freedom to worship our Creator was granted with some restrictions after President Josip Tito realized that the hard line communism just didn't work. My father, Daniel, had already suffered the communistic oppression by serving a prison sentence because he refused to work on the seventh day Bible Sabbath and would not take up arms to kill another human being.

I asked my dad what gave him the strength to endure those years of beatings and mental torture? He told me of an experience he had near the beginning of his internment. As the tortures were becoming more severe, he was contemplating his next course of action when in the distance, he saw three crosses overlooking the prison. As he thought about the sufferings of Jesus, he determined then and there to fully accept Jesus as his personal Savior.

Soon afterward they put a loaded pistol into his mouth and were determined to break his will and lead him to renounce the faith. He was waiting for the gun to go off and end all the suffering, but he survived after three and a half years of suffering. The promises of God are a real blessing in such times of need. “ When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers , they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire , thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Isaiah 43:2.

I was born soon after my grandfather, Petar Lausevic Sr., a minister in the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement, immigrated to that far off land of liberty called the United States of America . In memory of a man they thought would never again be seen by the family of his oldest child, they named me Petar or Peter in English.

An opportunity of a life time soon came when my dad signed up for a lottery styled chance to move to the United States . I do not remember when we boarded the ship, stopped at various ports in Europe, or when we left Lisbon , Portugal to cross the mighty Atlantic . I was told that my father maintained a low key throughout the voyage when he realized that the chief persecutor during his time in prison for the truth was on board that very ship. It was only after we had entered into American waters and the stars and stripes of the universal symbol of liberty was flown that my dad went to that persecutor and told him, “You will never persecute me, nor my children, ever again.”

On September 9, 1962 my dad, my mom Vidosava, my brother Sam, and I entered New York harbor and passed that glorious monument called the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island had closed many years earlier as the first port of entry so we just came onto the mainland of this beacon of liberty. With only a few hundred words my mom had learned of the English language, we boarded Continental Trailways and headed for Sacramento , California by the smaller of two bus lines.

We often stayed at the home of my grandparents where my grandmother, Milena Lausevic. would tell us Bible stories. It is hard to realize how important these stories become in a child's life. Although we didn't like the idea of being restricted from mingling with all the neighbors kids, we sure enjoyed the stories.

As a child begins to grow into the beginnings of manhood, confusion often blurs the mind of otherwise sensible creatures. The vile nature of rebellion begins to stir in the soul and before you know it, one has left the ways he may have learned in those tender early years. To most youth that beginnings of challenging all authority begins in the teen years. I do not know why I made the choice to be different. My full scale rebellion began at around ten years of ages.

Rejection of parental authority leads one to reject legitimate church authority which leads to the rejection of the authority of God Himself. My language changed from that of a innocent child to the profane curses of one who is not controlled by the Spirit of God. To assist in this downward spiral, Satan introduced me to Rock music which I listened to at all times with the exception of the Sabbath day.

During those critical years, I can just imagine what trouble and sins I could have gotten into because of my determined rebellion. One of the safeguards that God gave in my life was hard work on a farm. It seemed like a torture chamber at that time because all my friends at school did not have to work or even lift a finger at home and here I had to work day and night. Some times we would work 20 hours a day. That left little room for the trouble I so much wanted to get into. This is why the sin of Sodom was escalated by “ pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness.” Ezekiel 16:49.

With those kind of hours, I quickly learned the value of doing your absolute best at school. Spiritually I was sliding into a deep hole that is very difficult to get out of.

One day as I was waling to Rio Linda Jr. High School with a friend, he began asking me all sort of questions about God, salvation, church, and the Bible. I casually gave him all the answers he desired on a level of an eight grader. He then asked me if cursing and swearing were appropriate for a Christian. I responded in the negative to that question. Then a question came that really made me think. He said, then why do you do those things? The answer was simple, “Because I am not a Christian.”

About the same time, the faith of my parents began to drift in this land of liberty. It seems that we have to constantly work to make anything and sooner than we realize, we are just as lost as an unbeliever. Apparently at the local church business meeting some words were exchanged that were not the best and my dad decided never to go to church again. He kept that decision for twenty years.

When I came home from school that Monday afternoon just three days before my 14 th birthday, I heard the greatest news I've heard in a long time. No more church! I didn't want to go to church anyways so this was a great excuse. Although we would not be attending church, we would still maintain a semblance of Christianity in the home.

After doing some chores on the farm, I began to get a little uneasy about this whole matter. That evening I realized that my faith had always been my dad. No matter how wicked I would become, or even how wicked he would become, those three and a half years in prison would atone for any sins we would commit.

But suddenly, I was no longer standing in my dad's shadow. Although I was rebellious against my parents or any other authority, I still wanted to be called a child of God. Now, there was no one to stand between me and God. I had to stand alone and that I could not do. I wrestled quite a long time that evening until I went to our dining room, and my heart was broken. I asked Jesus to come into my heart. It was at that moment, May 13, 1974, that I date the beginning of my walk with Jesus.

It seems so simple that a person, only about fourteen years of age, can understand it. I recognized my sins and asked Jesus to become the Lord of my life in a simple child like prayer. It does not matter how young or how old you may be, it is the same prayer. Maybe in different words but the same thought is there. It does not matter what kind of life you have lived. The same power of the gospel is able to radically change your life.

Almost unconsciously, miraculous changes began to take place in my life, changes that I thought would be impossible. My taste in music changed. You may know how difficult that may be. My language changed and the purpose of my life changed. A child who was timid and bashful, suddenly become bold and unashamed to speak of the boundless mercy and love of our Creator. At that moment of conversion, I heard the voice of God speak to me through impressions that my calling is the ministry. I shrank from that thought as I was not a public speaker, but the One Who gives the call also gave the preparation.

Today after 25 years in full-time ministry, I can truly say that it is worthwhile to be a Christian. If you have not accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life, I ask you to take this opportunity to surrender it all to Jesus. It does not matter the language or words you use as long as it is spoken with your heart.

“ Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

My wife, Susan, and I the evening of my son, Joshua's, graduation from George Walton Academy—May 2004. I was about his age when I began full-time ministry.