Peter Wiser clearly remembers the night God called out to him. Everything went quiet, and the traffic became invisible. At 35 years old, he cried out to God in his grandmother’s backyard saying, “I know You’re real. If You hear me I need Your help. I don’t have anybody else.”
Immediately, Peter heard God’s voice tell him, “It’s time.”
He got up off his crate and responded, “Here I come. I’ll do whatever I have to do to get to You.”
Tough Start
Peter’s life wasn’t always this clear, however. Peter grew up in an environment filled with drugs and abuse. He went through much of his early years on his own and did not know where to seek out help. He married young, before he could understand the importance of love or commitment. “I remember thinking, I’m alone. Where do I go from here? There was a point in my early thirties where I was suicidal,” he said. Even though his family frequently attended church services, his relationship with Christ was never that deep. God was more of an afterthought than a leading force in Peter’s life.
During Peter’s childhood, he was frequently sexually abused by one of his relatives. For a long time, he pushed the feelings and memories associated with this mistreatment far away. Although he severed ties with his abuser, he carried his lifestyle of substance abuse with him. “I used drinking and drugs to try and cut everything off because it seemed like God wanted that,” he said.
Eventually, Peter was sentenced to prison for five-and-a-half-years for drug abuse. He quickly began to use his time to cultivate a relationship with God as well as to become a better husband to his wife, Tonjia. He started participating in Christian courses and asking God for forgiveness. “Once I started taking classes, I came to understand that having a relationship with God was the only way to lead a good life,” he said. He realized that having God in his life allowed him to develop a better relationship with his wife, and God slowly shaped him into a more caring and sensitive man.
One verse that especially stuck out to Peter during his early classes was 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “Or do you not know that the wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers … nor thieves, nor drunkards… and that is what some of you were. But you were washed.” This passage moved Peter when he thought about his past, and he realized that he would have to change his lifestyle to truly be a disciple of Christ.
A Changed Man
After God entered his life, Peter was finally able to put his past behind him. “I became sober after I found God. I figured things out,” he said. Peter wrote his cousin a letter detailing all the wrongs he had done to him-all the ways he had prevented Peter from becoming who “God wanted him to be.” He and the volunteer who helped him write the letter cried over his story, which helped him realize that he had support in this world.
In his fifteenth month in prison, Peter began taking Prison Fellowship’s Seven Areas of Life Training (SALT) class. He especially enjoyed the class geared toward marriage. “It showed me I was off-basis for much of what I asked of my wife. It blew my mind. This program allowed me to feel love and understand God’s glory,” he said. Peter formed a close friendship with the volunteer who taught the class, and they rejoiced together as Peter truly began to turn his life around with Christ’s help. “I revealed to her the things in my life that had prevented me from becoming who God wanted me to be. She helped me become a vessel of use,” he said.
Through the volunteer’s help, Peter realized he married for secular reasons, such as lust and loneliness. He wasn’t able to give his spouse the love she needed because of what he learned during his childhood. This class helped show him the true meaning of love, and it taught him that God put marriage in his life, so he would have a partner in his walk with Christ.
“He’s definitely happier now. We don’t argue any more about his drinking or jealousy. He’s much more understanding and sensitive,” said Tonjia. After 18 years of marriage, she told Peter they didn’t have any time to waste to fix things.
“I’m really proud of how he handles his emotions. As long as he’s following the Lord, I’ll be right there with him,” she said. The couple makes an effort to read the Bible and pray together most nights. “When we’re getting a little snippy with each other or if we feel like we’re getting off track, we turn to the Bible,” Tonjia said.
Near the end of Peter’s prison time, he had the opportunity to become involved with PFM’s InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) in Texas. The program is run by Tommie Dorsett, and Peter believes “the program has been successful because of him.” IFI is a reentry program for prisoners that is based on the life and teachings of Christ. It stresses the importance of personal responsibility and the value of hard work. Eventually, he became a mentor for the program, and his wife had the chance to sit in on a few of his classes. It was a very rewarding experience for her, and she said “It’s a really nice program. I’m glad Peter got the chance to be a mentor. He taught some men how to read!”
Surrendering to God’s Will
Even though they’ve had a few rough patches, Peter and his wife have learned to rely on God in times of trouble. “It’s easy to leave God at the front door, and we really make an effort to put Him first,” Tonjia said. Peter now knows that if he were to give up on his marriage he “would be throwing away all he has learned.” He realized that God held their relationship together, and he has to turn to God to pick up its pieces.
“My wife and I pray together and for each other. It’s important for spiritual centering,” he said. They also attend Phileo Church, which has provided them with a strong Christian support group. Although he has come a long way, Peter is still learning how to be the husband and the Christian man God envisions him to be. “Every day I try to walk hand in hand with God. I’m married to God first, and through Him I’m married to my wife. I always keep a prayer on my heart,” he said.