Restored and Renewed
I was born on a dairy farm in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1950. I was born again at a Christian camp in Ontario twelve years later.
My parents were separated when I was just three months old and my mother raised me in Toronto. At twenty-five years of age the Lord saved my mother while she was searching the Bible to see what it said about divorce. My mother was seeking a way out of her marriage and discovered that her problem was not her husband or her mother-in-law. The Lord convinced my mother that she was a sinner in need of a Savior. The year was 1955. I remember it well. From that day on my mother sought to reconcile with my father and we began attending a nearby assembly (Eglinton Avenue Gospel Hall) where I was genuinely loved and faithfully taught the scriptures. I especially appreciated the Young Men’s Bible Class and rarely missed a Sunday. The men who taught us were loving, fatherly, and caring.
My teen years were busy with three part time jobs, three hockey teams, a baseball team, and the school swim team. Oh yes and high school classes were attended in there somewhere.
At nineteen years old I went away to university. I stopped attending meetings and in addition to a full load of university courses began flying lessons and singing with a friend six nights a week in a fancy dining room to pay for the flight training.
My childhood friend Dave and I were signed to a recording contract in 1970. Success came quickly and unexpectedly. We toured and performed from Tokyo to Jerusalem and from Caracas, Venezuela to a Canadian Forces Military base in Alert just three hundred miles south of the North Pole. Our aviation careers were also in full “flight.”
Thankfully the Lord had other plans and by August of 1978, He had convinced me of my foolish ways and graciously brought me back to Himself. I had been introduced to a lovely Christian lady while entertaining on a Greek cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Claudette Degagne was a young Christian saved a year and a half earlier on the South Pacific Island of Fiji the first time she heard the gospel! I was deeply impacted by Claudette’s joyful living for the Lord and her active witnessing. I recall thinking to myself, “I could never do that.”
In the marvelous grace and goodness of God Claudette and I were married in 1980. We are approaching our forty-second wedding anniversary. In 1982 while well employed as a professional pilot the Lord once again had other plans. Through an interesting series of events, in consultation with our elders, and guided by the word of God we were commended to the Lord’s work on August 1, 1982.
The next four years saw Claudette and I engaged in teaching and gospel ministries in preparation for overseas work. The Lord took us to The Republic of Ireland on August 1, 1986, where we served among the assemblies there for eight years. Claudette and I have returned to Ireland often (21 times) to assist in the Lord’s work. We have also been privileged to serve the Lord in missions work in Greece, Japan, and throughout Canada for the past thirty-nine years. The Lord blessed us with three wonderful sons, all believers, and their wonderful Christian wives. To date we have six precious grandchildren including one who is with the Lord.
Our lives in the Lord’s service have been an adventure. At this point I was tempted to say, “We could write a book.” In fact, Bob Cretney, long-time friend, author, and brother in spiritual arms did just that. You can read more details of God’s goodness to us and others in Bob’s book entitled, “Could You Ever Love Me Again? The Gary Weeks Story of Forgiveness” published by Gospel Folio Press.
To obtain a copy of Gary’s biography “Could You Ever Love Me Again?”, contact Gospel Folio Press at gospelfolio.com or call them at 1-800-952-2382