Becky Roolf
I first got my modem about a year ago, near the end of June, 1985. I
just called the usual BBS’s, for computers and so on. Then, I think it was in October or November, I started calling a BBS run by a Bible Baptist Church in Scott Township, near
Pittsburgh. This BBS was different. It was run by a person called Pastor Bob. Now, to the average BBSer, even the title “Pastor” has a threatening, churchy sounding ring. But I stayed on the board, partly because I liked the principles stated in the log-on agreement, which all new users must agree to before they are permitted to use the BBS. The log-on requests that the user agree to log on under his REAL name, not to use profane or obscene language, not to have wars (fighting anfd abusive language), and not to upload any software that is not public domain. Since I had often found profanity on the other BBS’s to be offensive, this agreed with me.
While calling this board, Proteen, as it is called, I began to have “different” conversations with the other users, and with Pastor Bob. Sometime in December, we had a rather deep
discussion on separation of church and state. This, along with a few other conversations, started me thinking about God.
In the past, I had always sort of waivered about what I believed about God, if there WAS a God. I took the whole
confusing lump and just left it in the back of my mind, in the “undefined” corner.
By this time, I was among the most active users on the BBS, especially in the singles section. It was through this singles section that I started typing to this guy named Chris, who was a Christian. We started a rather lengthy conversation in E-Mail (private messages between two users), in which he began witnessing to me. At first, I was reluctant to actively do anything about this, especially as I felt any kind of religion was a very
personal matter, not to be discussed with everyone! I said I din’t have time to read the Bible, and I kept trying to shove it away, back to the “undefined’ corner. But I did admit that it was something I needed to and intended to look into, soon.
Chris wouldn’t take “no” or “later” for an answer, though, so he persisted in leaving me messages about Christ. Eventually, he showed me that I didn’t need to read the whole Bible and to understand everything about God to have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
So, after trying to read the Bible a little, and a lot of thinking and praying, I finally accepted Christ, sometime in the beginning of March.
In the months since then, I have grown tremendously in the Lord. I am still an active user on the BBS that changed my life, although now I am often on the opposite side of the arguments! For me, the BBS was the perfect way to communicate about God, since before, and even after I was saved, I was too embarrassed to talk to talk voice or in person. So, PTL! for showing me the light of His love, in a way that I could accept!
Becky Roolf
Pittsburgh, PA
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