“This was when my life changed and I fell in love with Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Bible. I have had a roller coaster of a Christian life with many ups and downs along the way. But I am still alive, I didn’t commit suicide, and I am still deeply in love with Jesus, my heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Bible—the book that has all the answers to all our questions and problems.”
Biography
I was born in Preston, England in 1957 and migrated to Brisbane, Australia in 1965. I was one of nine children, from a working-class family, who grew up and lived in a working-class suburb. My father, Gerald Ashton, was a Fitter and Turner who worked long hours to support his large family, and beautiful wife, Christina (Bernie) Ashton. Though we didn’t have much, we never went without.
At age 11, I started selling newspapers after school and all day Saturdays. When I turned 13, I got a job in a service station after school and on Saturdays. At age 14, after completing grade nine, I left school to start working full-time. I have worked in numerous industries and positions from laboring on worksites and in factories, to sales and marketing, managing companies, and being self-employed.
At age 18, I was working as a waiter and barman in a Brisbane nightclub. My life was typical of many teenagers—working, partying, drinking, drugs, and sex. Then, I started listening to some dark voices in my head and contemplating suicide. After several weeks I decided I would commit suicide. Partly from the frustration of not having the answers to many questions about life. And partly because those voices kept telling me there was something better on the other side, and I believed them.
The night before I carried out my intentions I had an encounter with Jesus, through a lovely lady by the name of Naomi Campbell. Naomi would stand on the corner of Queen and Albert streets in Brisbane city, every Friday and Saturday night, playing a piano accordion and singing old-time hymns. Then she would stop singing, put down her piano accordion, pick up her Bible and start preaching about Jesus. This would go on for several hours each time she was there.
I walked past Naomi each night on the way to the nightclub where I worked and would laugh at her and mock her. Then, the night before I planned to end my life, as I was walking on the opposite side of the road, I stopped to listen to her. Then, I crossed the road and walked nearer and nearer until I was standing right beside her. When Naomi finished the hymn that she was singing she turned around and saw me standing there. Then she said, “Hello can I help you with anything?”
I told her what I was going through and what I intended to do the next day. Naomi said this to me: “Why don’t you give Jesus a chance, I know He can help you with all your problems.” After discussing Jesus with her, I agreed to give Him one chance. Then Naomi gave me the name and number of her pastor and asked me to go to see him the next day, and I said I would.
Naomi insisted on praying for me before I left, right there in the middle of town. I tried to walk away, but my feet were stuck to the footpath, and I couldn’t move. After she finished praying for me, I was able to walk again, and I went on to work.
I did go to see Naomi’s pastor, Chris Hohnke, the next day, and he answered all my questions about life from a big black leather-bound book called the Holy Bible. It had all the answers to all my questions and problems, and that day I became a believer in Jesus Christ and was baptized in Chris’s bathtub.
This was when my life changed and I fell in love with Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Bible. I have had a roller coaster of a Christian life with many ups and downs along the way. But I am still alive, I didn’t commit suicide, and I am still deeply in love with Jesus, my heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Bible—the book that has all the answers to all our questions and problems.
If you haven’t already done so; Why don’t you give Jesus a chance, I know He can help you with all your problems and answer all your questions about life.
