To Hell and Back

From: [email protected] Date: Fri, 17

Oct 1997 23:03:25 -0600

I received this mesaage on a genealogy discussion list I subscibe to

and found it very moving, I have deleted the name of the author since I

don’t have her permission to print her name. *************

… I would like to share with you a true experience that my mother

told me recently.

My mother was raised in a household where religion was a very strong

part of every day life. Her mother was a preacher…my family is of pentecostal

faith. My mother grew up by another family of the same belief and they

socialized often. Her childhood friend was named Junior, or at least that

was what everyone called him. About 7 years ago, Junior died of a heart

attack. His mother was very religious and they always went to church. When

Junior got older he turned away from church…not that he didn’t believe,

because he did, but just didn’t go any longer and went on with his life.

When he had his heart attack, he actually died. The hospital attendants

did manage to bring him back, but not until he experienced something terrifying.

He told my mother he saw his spirit come out of his body, and then all

of a sudden something black grabbed his soul. The next thing he knew he

was standing on top of a mountain. It was dark and very hot all around

him. Across from him was another mountain, and on each side of him were

mountains, but in the middle of all of these mountains was a big hole with

fire coming out of it. He said all he could hear was the awful and terrifying

screams of millions of people. He had never heard anything so awful and

terrifying in his life. When he looked past the fire to the mountains,

all he could see was hundreds and hundreds of people all standing around,

screaming and crying. He saw the very old, middle aged, and very young…teenagers.

He then realized that these people were just like him, they had just died

and were standing at the gate of hell. Then all of a sudden these black

things came up out of the fire and he saw them fly past the people on the

mountain and push them into the fire, one by one. He was hysterical and

dropped down to his knees and cryed out to God, “Please, forgive me, what

have I done? Then something touched the back of his shoulder and he thought

at first it was one of those things ready to push him into the fire. Then

a voice spoke to him and said, “It is not yet your time”. The next thing

he knew, he felt an awful pain in his chest and saw a bright light. He

opened his eyes to realize the hospital attendants had managed to bring

him back. He was so relieved, there are no words to describe how he felt

being taken out of that awful place. He told my mother this story days

after it happened. Neither her nor myself can tell it like he did and describe

the pain and terror he and those people felt. He was lucky, they were not.

Junior was given a second chance. He was given a view of hell, that not

many receive, and it changed his life forever. He told my mother, he was

going to get saved and live the way he knew he was supposed to live.

About 3 years later, Junior was in the hospital dying of cancer. My

mother went to visit him on his last day. She asked him if he had been

praying and if he was ready to go. He was very week and could hardly speak,

but managed to shake his head yes, and said, “You better believe it”!…