His past is past! Now his focus is on the future

THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW. II CORINTHIANS 5:17

In the fall of 1999, as he approached The Colony of Mercy at America’s KESWICK, Steve Schmidt was scared… scared he wouldn’t make it! Steve was a second-timer. Several years earlier he went through the Colony program, but like some others, he did not apply the lessons he learned to his own life. He did not walk with the Lord and allow Him to lead and guide him.

After Steve left the Colony, back in 1985, he started traveling with the wrong crowd. He began drinking and doing drugs. One thing led to another. To make a long story short, Steve not only used drugs, he began smuggling them into the country from Mexico. There was no satisfaction in his life. He just wanted more and more.

On September 7, 1999, Steve was released from a federal prison where he had served two and a half years for a crime in which he had been involved — bank robbery! During that time, Steve says, “the last thing I was thinking of, or looking for, was the Lord.” After leaving prison, Steve was completely lost, and he immediately began drinking. He was waiting for some of his buddies to come out of prison.

They had made some plans to get together. But God had other plans! About four and a half weeks after his release, Steve found himself sitting on the sofa in his home one day realizing he had never been so empty in his life. He says “unless you have ever sat someplace on a beautiful sunny day and felt like there’s absolutely nothing to live for, and you don’t know what to do with yourself, then you can’t begin to understand exactly how I felt.”

Today Steve knows that was just how the Lord wanted him to feel, because it was at that time that the Holy Spirit spoke to him and conveyed a very simple message — just one word… “KESWICK.” At that moment Steve got up and walked to the phone and called KESWICK. When he reached the Colony Administrator he was told there was a four to six week waiting period to enter the Program. He was advised to come to the Colony, however, and fill in an application.

Steve made another phone call, and a family member drove him to the Colony to start the application process. It was then that God showed Steve a miracle. 48 hours later he was admitted to the Colony. He commented about how well God knew him. He said, “God knew that if I had to wait four to six weeks, I probably would not have made it to the Colony.”

Like many others, Steve entered the program with a lot of bad habits and a bad attitude. He was an angry man. He had tried to quit drinking many times. He knew it was a problem, and he really didn’t want to drink, but he didn’t know how to stop. He had tried a lot of secular plans and programs, but nothing ever stopped the problem. He really didn’t know just what the problem was, but now he knows. It was simply sin!

Steve says, “people get tired of hearing you promise that you’ll stop.” When he expressed it, he meant it with all his heart. But there was nothing in him to make it happen. Ecclesiastes 5:2 and 3 was shared with him. It says, Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God; for God is in Heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few. For dreams come through much work and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

God laid it on Steve’s heart to just be quiet and to seek Him through His Word and to listen, for a change, instead of telling everyone that he was doing great — that he was doing this and he was doing that. Steve learned that he needed just to seek the Lord and His will. It was very evident to those around him that he did! Since then God has been blessing and blessing! Steve says one of the greatest teaching tools the KESWICK staff used was their example.

He remarked that in one of the classes it was stressed that the best way a parent can teach a child is by example. You can tell a child “Don’t do this” and “Don’t do that,” but if he sees you doing it, he will do it, too. The Colony chaplains talked about a Christian life and a Christian walk, and Steve didn’t know at first just what that was all about, but he knew how to watch people.

Many times he saw the leaders at KESWICK being servants, faithful servants to the Lord. No one was above anyone else. Although they had different responsibilities and duties, their first responsibility was to the Lord. This was deeply impressed upon Steve. The fear that Steve once had has been replaced with peace — a peace that only comes from the Lord. The emptiness that Steve felt before he entered the Colony was filled when he invited Christ into his life.

When Steve completed the 120-day program, he continued in the Discipleship Program. After that he became very involved in a local church and he was accountable to the Pastor. He also stayed in close touch with KESWICK. Each Monday night he could be found at the group counseling sessions. Later he was asked to lead from time to time.

The KESWICK administration noted the definite growth in Steve’s spiritual life. He truly was a “new man.” His “Past” was past! When an opening occurred in the maintenance department, Steve was invited to join the staff. He became a member of the team in December of 2000.

One day he expressed a “desire of his heart” to the wife of one of the Colony staff members. He knew what could happen when women pray, so he asked her to pray for a godly wife for him. She encouraged him to get to know KESWICK’s administrative secretary, Ruth Lockhart. Ruthie came to KESWICK as a “summer staffer” in 1985, and with the exception of a brief period of time, has been here ever since. She has worked in many areas of the ministry through the years.

She remembers when Steve was in the program back in ‘85. After “getting to know each other” once again, a special relationship began, and wedding bells rang for Steve and Ruth on November 18, 2001. So much has happened in Steve’s life. He is grateful to his family for standing by him and not giving up on him through the years . . . for giving him their love and support.

Yes, since coming to the Colony, which he calls “a little piece of Heaven,” Steve now has a larger family. Not only was he welcomed into the family of God, but also into the Lockhart-Bibik family. Now, he and Ruth can focus on the future and serving their Lord and Savior together.

Steve has shared his testimony many times to hundreds of people. Although he definitely is not proud of his past, and is sincerely sorry for the grief he caused his family, he wants others to know what God has done for him and can do for them.