My Personal Testimony
I'm Deacon Marc I. Langerman and this is my story.
A Jewish Christian!?! Who would have thought I would convert to the Christian
faith after being raised in a Conservative Jewish family? This is my story of
how I became curious about the Christian faith and eventually receiving Jesus
Christ as my true Messiah when I was 17 year old Preparatory student at Gallaudet College AKA Gallaudet University.
Growing up, I was exposed to all Jewish holidays. I attended Jewish Sunday school and learned more about Judaism and Jewish customs. Also, I learned about Christian holidays in deaf classes in public school and at Maryland School for the Deaf. I used to tell my mother how unfair it was for me not to celebrate any of those Christian holidays. I felt empty and alien being a Jewish boy in a "Christian" environment. Other kids used to tease me and call me names such as "Jew." It was hard on me, having to listen to them while I knew we had one thing in common, our being deaf.
When I was 11 years old, my family and I moved to Colorado. At Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind during my teenage years, I met several deaf students who were Christians. Some of them were my classmates. On occasion, I found several tracts lying around different buildings. I gathered them and read them in my personal bathroom in the dormitory. I was convinced that the things I read in the Chick tracts were true. At that moment, I knew that I was a lost sinner on my way to Hell. I made a mistake in deciding that I would postpone my salvation until I enrolled Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C. The reason why I decided to postpone my salvation was because I strongly believed in one of the Ten Commandments that said I had to love and honor my parents. Looking back now, I know that my decision contradicted with 1 Corinthians 6:2. Praise the Lord that He was so merciful that he kept me alive while I was still a lost sinner.
While at Gallaudet College as a preparatory student after my junior year at CSDB, I did not keep my promise to be saved. I fell into the college "party scene." I drank and smoked nearly every weekend. After Homecoming weekend, I realized that my social life was in shambles even though I was doing well in school. I felt empty, lonely, and depressed. During that time, the Holy Spirit put me into the "corner." At the same time, I had frequent nightmares about Rapture as I read about from one of the Chick tracts. I dreamt that I missed the Rapture because I was still a lost sinner and knew I had to do something about it.
I decided to seek out a Christian who was a churchgoer. The Lord made that task easier for me when He led me to talk to a Christian lady who used to frequent the Student Residence Advisor office in the dorm where I resided. She was the "light" like in Matthew 5:14. I approached her and asked her to invite me to one of her church services. She invited me to attend the Wednesday evening service at her church. She made me even more enthusiastic to attend the service by sharing with me that she knew a Jewish Christian there. On Wednesday evening, November 3, 1982, I tagged along with her and other Christians in the church van. The hearing pastor preached about Heaven, Hell, and Rapture, which reminded me of my nightmares about Rapture. During invitation time at the end of the service, I went forward to the altar. An elderly male Jewish Christian, who was the Deaf Ministry leader at the church, followed me to the altar and asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior. I said, "YES!." He showed me the "Roman Road" to Salvation from the Holy Bible. After that I asked the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive all my sins and invited Him to come into my heart to save me from HELL! My burden was lifted at that moment. I will never forget that night.
After I was saved, I was determined to tell everybody including my Jewish family about Jesus Christ and His salvation plan. My family was upset with me for telling them about the true Messiah. I was forced to leave Gallaudet College before I started the 2nd Semester in January 1983 because I was still underage. Yet, I was determined to practice my newly founded faith in Jesus Christ. However, a few months later found me being a backsliding Christian because I was angry with the Lord for letting things happen with my family and me. Through the next nine years, I told my friends that I was saved while I was not really practicing the Christian life. In the summer of 1992, a friend of mine encouraged me to go back to church and start practicing being a Christian. I struggled for a while but then the Holy Spirit really worked into my heart and life. I started to change little by little. Praise the Lord that since then, I have been and I am a faithful member of Hampshire View Baptist Deaf Church. I also want to praise the Lord that I met my wife, Catherine in autumn of 1992 when she was newly saved. She is also a faithful member. We have been married for over 14 years. I am one of the first student at Capital Baptist Deaf College (CBDC) a ministry under our church founded in the autumn of 1996. I am still serving the Lord in various aspects of the church ministry after my graduation from CBDC.
Thank you for reading my testimony. I pray that my testimony has already helped you or will help you in the future. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me at marcat95@hotmail.com.
Deacon Marc I. Langerman lives in Olney, Maryland, with his beloved wife, Catherine and our precious son Nathaniel and daughter Marika. If you would like to hear more about how the Savior affected our lives, you are welcome to attend the Hampshire View Baptist Deaf Church.