Cristóbal Krusen - They Were Christians: The Inspiring Faith of Men and Women Who Changed the World

I WAS TWENTY - NINE YEARS OLD when I became a Christ follower. It didnt happen overnight. Early in the process, when I was reading the Bible on my own, a co-worker asked me if I was born again. I stared at him blankly. I had no idea what he was talking about. No one had ever spoken to me before about the need to be born again.

Looking back over my life, I certainly had many blessings, including a godly grandmother who inspired in me a sincere devotion to God. But her influence over me waned following her death when I was eleven years old. By my midteen years I believed in a vague sort of agnosticism that hardened into dark nihilism by my early twenties.

Then I traveled to Australia for a writing assignment and read the Bible as part of my research. Until that time I had wanted to be a big-shot director and writer in Hollywoodrich and successful with a woman or two on each arm. But as I read the Bible, I began turning from a world I could see to one I could not see. I began a conscious search for truthif truth could be foundand fell in love with a man I encountered in the pages of the Bible. The romance lasted nearly two years until I finally succumbed wholly to his beauty and gave him my all. Ill never forget the first thought that went through my mind when I made that sweet surrender to Jesus Christ: Ill never be a filmmaker now.

My assumption, of course, was that wholehearted faith in Christ and commitment to the Gospels would translate into a life of ministry as the ultimate outlet for self-expression and service to God. Naturally enough, I began to wonder if I might become a pastor or a missionary to some far-off land. I did, in fact, become a missionary for two years, but in time, I came to understand that service to God has manifold, indeed unlimited, expressions. In truth, if God exists, then one should expect to find those who love him in every field of human endeavor.

The twelve individuals I have gotten to know through writing this book have become personal friends. They are highly regarded today for their contributions to science and medicine, literature and philanthropy, government and diplomacy. Unfortunately, people seldomif everremember them for the rich storehouses of faith that gave their lives meaning and purpose in the first place.

Its time to change that. Its time to let the record show that They Were Christians .

While writing this book, I found myself crying out at times to the ghosts of Abraham, Dag, Frederick, and the others, saying, Well make this part of your story known!

I was repeatedly moved to tears as I considered how much the living God had been so much a part of their lives.

But please understand. These are not exhaustive biographies. Rather, they are more akin to profiles on what Paul Harvey might have called the rest of the story, specifically those Christian elements in the lives of twelve people who changed the world for the better. May their examples inspire and encourage you, as they have me, and may we all let our light so shine before others that the world will see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).