A Walk with God

It is one of many Christian signs in and around her home. And her devotion to Jesus Christ led to her writing a book that was 13 years in the making.

She chatted about her new book A Simple Man’s Walk With God and her background during an interview last week with Sunday Newsday.

Collins-Johnson was born in La Brea, just overlooking the Pitch Lake, and was a “miracle child” as her mother was already experiencing menopause. As an infant moved with her family to San Fernando and it was there she spent her teenage years.

Her mother was the “pioneer” on the religious side and showed her and her siblings the Christian walk and raised them in the Methodist Church. Her father was a Roman Catholic but he never went to church except on special occasions.

During vacation time she would visit the Church of the Open Bible in San Fernando. She recalled in her early years as a Methodist she was encouraged to go to church but no to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ. At age nine she attended a service with world famous American evangelist Billy Graham at the Presbyterian Church in San Fernando and it was then she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and saviour.

“His message was the same today as it was all those years ago. Making you realise your spiritual life is so important,” she said.

As a teenager she had rheumatic fever and missed out on a lot of school. At about age 18 she moved to the United States (US) to be with her brother and complete her high school education.

From the US she went to London to do nursing. Her dream was to be a doctor but it was too expensive at the time but she could study nursing free.

She returned home to Trinidad at the end of 1969 and the start of the Black Power Riots.

“My first major welcome back to Trinidad,” she recalled.

She did not return alone but with three children and “a trying marriage”.

She also faced many struggles to complete her final exam for nursing so she decided to quit.

She went into business and opened Netta’s Drugs, a pharmacy which is now run by one of her sons.

While she looked after her own children, five boys, her house, over the years, also became a sanctuary for other children who were in difficult situations and had nowhere to go. One girl lost her mother at seven months and stayed with Collins-Johnson until she was old enough and then went back to her father. Some of the children had been abused, and for others their parents had gone abroad.

“People always felt I was a little bit crazy with all those children,” she recalled.

In one instance, she kept two children while their mother was in hospital. When the mother was released, Collins-Johnson realised she had no place to stay and took her in as well.

She remained in the church and loving God but was “drawn away” when she moved abroad. She said she would not follow all the church “rules” and while she knew Jesus Christ was the most important person she had not made a full commitment.

Back in Trinidad with her struggles with her marriage and children she felt that God was calling her to do something.

“One day he just caught up with me,” she said.

It was then she made the decision to be really committed and “go the full distance”. She became a Sunday School superintendent at the Methodist Church and planned to become a preacher.

She said, however, that Jesus called on her to choose between him and the traditions of the church. She experienced a mild stroke and was hospitalised for a week. She felt this was God trying to get her attention.

“After that there was no turning back,” she said.

Thirteen years ago she was awakened one morning and started praying. She realised that she had received a message from God and the outline and name of the book.

She was in Washington DC with her youngest son at the time and he was impressed by what she wrote.

She felt, however, that it was a mistake and for years did nothing.

“I knew I had to do it but I just couldn’t start. I didn’t think I could do it,” she explained.

She recalled the story of Moses when God called him and he was afraid. She went to the altar at church and prayed for God to remove her fear and “one day in his presence it broke”.

Last year, she felt an urgency to complete it and it was launched in Atlanta, Georgia on December 16.

She said that she has no education in theology but the book is about parts of her walk with God and is about really exalting him in his majesty, showing the power of God and his faithfulness, how much he loves us and how far he would go to reach his children.

“Words cannot explain,” she added.

Collins-Johnson explained the chapters show different aspects of her walk including on unity and on the power of prayer. She said it was written in a manner that it can also be used as an evangelism tool.

The book also contains a number of testimonies and different meetings with strangers to whom she ministered to via God working through her.

She said one of the main points of the book is that whoever we are God can use us, once we have a willing heart. She added the book helped her to develop the biblical fruits of the spirit and build her faith.

“What (the book) did for me I know it will do for others,” she said.

She described as a “major distraction” to the completion of the book, the death of a son many years ago - he was stabbed to death. She knew the perpetrator, a young boy aged 15.

“My heart went out for him,” she said.

She explained she realised that in a lot of circumstances where these “no good” young men in crime have a stage set for them from parents and generations before.

“The book encouraged me to look deeper at these things. The book wasn’t mine. I never thought I could write it. The message is coming from God, passing through this vessel.” The book is available at Christian Booksellers, Edward Street, Portof- Spain, Divine Destiny Worship Centre, Diego Martin, on Kindle, Amazon and eventually at Trinidad Christian Centre (TCC), Petit Valley.

She thanked the Lord, the Methodist Church, her schoolteachers, Sunday School teachers, and ministers who contributed to her walk including those at TCC, Apostle Dr Austin De Bourg and Pastor Kelvin Siewdass.

Collins-Johnson said the ministers encouraged her to follow the commandments to love the Lord with your all and to love your neighbour as yourself. She stressed that if this country followed these commandments we can be where we God wants us to be. She also thanked her sons and their families, her siblings and her parents.

The sign behind the couch where she sat read, “Jesus Christ Heals All Hurts”.