Scrolling through past posts, I realized I haven't shared my testimony here yet, so without further ado, I present the story of what God did in my life personally from salvation to His service.
I grew up in Massachusetts in the home of my parents, Urho and Faith Aunio. My father was born in Ylistaro, Finland and immigrated when he was 13 years old to Fitchburg, MA where a large Finnish population settled. As most Finns do, he, his five siblings, and parents, Jon and Lempi Aunio, attended the Lutheran Church. My mother was adopted as an infant by Robert and Doreen Cheney. She, her parents, and their other adopted son, Robert Jr, attended the Episcopalian Church in South Lee, MA where my grandparents lived the entire 60 years of their marriage in an Episcopalian church. My family went to church on Sunday mornings but going to Sunday night and Wednesday services was unknown to me. My parents met via a dating service and married on August 1, 1979. They settled in Gardner, MA and attended a Lutheran Church in the next town over.
I came along a few years later in September 22, 1982. I had a very happy childhood and have fond memories of growing up. While being raised in the Lutheran church, though, I never met a missionary of even hear of that as a job title during my youth. I did not even know what a missionary was prior to going to the church where I met my husband which is also the church where his dad pastors.
I was in my teen years when I finally heard and understood for the first time that I was a sinner on my way to spend eternity in Hell. My mother started to attend a little Baptist church in Westminster, MA after the Lutheran pastor offended her. He came to her door one day after she had been out of church for a month or so. He told her she was on her way to Hell because she had not been to church for a long while. Well, that was the last time she ever attended that Lutheran church, though my father continued to attend. When a friend invited her to the Baptist church, my mother started regularly attending. It was in that little church, I heard what Christ did on the cross to take the punishment for sin upon Himself and I accepted the free gift of salvation that He offered.
In the immediate years following salvation, I thought that was it. That life went on. That I could live life as I wanted. I am so thankful our own children have been saved at a young age and are growing up around missions. I was 20 years old when I met a missionary for the first time. After being married for three months, a older couple going to Kenya was scheduled to be at church. They stayed in our home with us. We became friends and kept up with their ministry up until their retirement.
God has placed a number of people in my path to help me see how important missions is and how little everything else matters that we so easily put in higher priority. One of these people that helped share their love for missions with me is my husband, Jason. I am honored to serve by his side as we labour together for the cause of Christ to see lost souls won for His glory in Hungary!
In 2012, when Jason told me he would be taking his first missions trip to Hungary, I began to ask the typical questions that tend to pop up, you know, the questions such as “How are we ever going to afford this?” Jason had put a prayer letter together on Facebook about his plans to go on that summer missions trip. My dad sent me a message asking “I saw Jason is going to Hungary this summer. How much more money does he need to raise?” Now, my dad was into his fourth year of being an ALS patient. Because of the disease, he could no longer talk. So I messaged him back that we still needed to raise a thousand dollars. A few days later, a check arrived in the mail and Jason was able to go on to Hungary that summer. My dad passed away the following October, but praise the Lords he had accepted Christ as Saviour before he died! I look forward to our reunion in Heaven some day when I can tell him all the Lord allowed to be a part of in Hungary just because he was willing to give.
I’m so thankful the Lord allows us to have a small part in His great plan. There are so many other causes we can pursue, but all others pale in comparison to the cause of Christ. There IS no greater cause than the cause of Christ.
John 18:37 "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." So as Christ bore witness of the truth, I praise Him for allowing us to go to Hungary to take the truth to the Hungarians. Again, there is no greater cause.
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