Come To Jesus He Will Save You

About the Book

God is the creator of everything and everyone, and sent His son into the world to save humanity. It is time to open our hearts and minds to become aware of His power, respond to the amazing and unparalleled love God has for all humanity and His creation, and then live a life that is pleasing and acceptable to Him. In a spiritual guide for both believers and nonbelievers alike, Geraldine “Gerri” Pickett offers wisdom and tools that encourage Christians to exercise their faith by growing spiritually and consistently applying the Word of God to their lives. While reminding followers to be serious about their faith journeys and keep Jesus Christ at the center of their lives, she shares guidance on how to understand and appreciate that God is always at work and remain obedient at all times. Finally, Pickett offers ways for believers to exercise their faith while remembering that God is always in control and that when they surrender their lives to Him, they can become a new person in Christ. Come to Jesus shares wisdom and tools to help believers grow spiritually and offer a reminder to love God and one another as God loves us.

About the Author

This book is a personal testimony of Geraldine “Gerri” Pickett, a young African American who has complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. In June 1964, Gerri departed from Birmingham, Alabama, after completing one year at Miles College. She left Birmingham, seeking more opportunities for herself and her family. She entered into a contract with an employment agency in Birmingham to perform domestic work in Long Island, New York. The agency placed her with a white family as their live-in maid. Under the terms of the contract, she was obligated to pay the agency for the bus transportation to New York and for the cost of finding the work. After six weeks on the job, she used two weeks of her salary to repay the agency. She then saved four weeks of pay to provide for her independent living expenses, after surrendering the job. In the late spring of 1964, Gerri’s father became ill; he could no longer work and pay her college tuition. She left five siblings back in Birmingham, who depended on her father’s income. The details of her struggles and the challenges she encountered are not recorded; this book highlights the fact that in spite of her circumstances, she always relied on her faith and trusted in the promises of God. She grew up in a Jim Crow society and learned at a young age what can be used against you, by God’s grace and mercy, can be turned around and also be used for you. She was the sixth child of parents with eleven children. Her father had the opportunity to gain a third grade education, and her mother had the privilege to obtain a fourth grade education. Following the conclusion of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in 1865, African Americans were granted the right to read and write and obtain a Jim Crow education. Before emancipation, it was a crime for enslaved African Americans to read and write. Unfortunately, in many ordinary African American families, including hers, there was a low expectation of bucking the Jim Crow laws and fighting for a better education. During the early years of Gerri’s life, her mother often kept her home from school to assist her with washing and cleaning the house. There were two things her mother focused on and insisted Gerri do while growing up: work hard and attend church, as well as Sunday school. A Christian work ethic was ingrained in her from early childhood as part of her home training, including the lessons learned from her weekly attendance in Sunday school and worship service at St. John Baptist Church in Dolomite, Alabama. Being honest and working hard became a part of her DNA. This background helped her work full time, on the night shift, at Bankers Trust in New York City; during the week, she attended college full time. If that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, she had the nerve to party every Friday and Saturday night. By that time, a negative encounter with a local Baptist church convinced her to stop attending Sunday school and church. In 1976, by the grace of God, she obtained a bachelor of science degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. With a bachelor of science in hand, she then applied to Bankers Trust for a full-time day position as a bank officer. When she was denied that position, she recognized the need to become more serious about the purpose of her life. Therefore, she decided to terminate her full-time night employment with Bankers Trust; she also terminated her desire to engage in partying every weekend. Whereby, she then enrolled in and became a full-time student at the New School for Social Research, studying for a master’s degree. While attending the New School, obtaining a quality education with strong academic credentials became very important to her. At this point, in the late 1970s, the political order of society and social justice intersected. Before leaving Birmingham in 1964, she was very much aware of what was taking place in this country, regarding the civil rights struggle. Because of all the political violence in response to the nonviolent protests, all evening activities at her high school were cancelled. According to an internet search, between 1945 and 1963, sixty bombings occurred in Birmingham to African American homes, businesses, and churches. The city received the nickname of Bombingham. In the spring of 1963, Gerri’s senior year of high school, Birmingham became ground zero for the struggle for racial equality and voter rights in this country. In high schools across Birmingham, including the writer’s, all classes were cancelled in the afternoons. High school students were authorized by their parents to engage in peaceful protests in the downtown area, in the afternoons. City Police Commissioner Eugene Connor met the young nonviolent activists and attacked them with police dogs and fire hoses. TV stations across the country reported on these violent acts of cruelty and brutality, raising concerns for the young people of courage who stood up to fight the system of white supremacy, historical injustices, and racial inequality. Such concerns and outrage helped to reverse public opinion and led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many of the author’s classmates and friends participated in these peaceful demonstrations. But her parents gave her a direct order not to go downtown and participate in the demonstrations. However, she was allowed to do other things involving the civil rights struggle, such as registering African Americans to vote, including her parents. This prohibition from her parents left a bitter resentment in the young girl’s heart. Since that time, she’s had a passion to engage in peaceful demonstrations that still exists today. In the early 1980s, the New School of Social Research had no courses pertaining to Africa, African American history, or women’s studies. Many women and African American students, including the writer, thought the curriculum should include research on African American history and women’s studies. They decided to organize and request such courses to be offered. Initially, there was opposition, but eventually, they were successful in having courses on Africa, African American history, and women’s studies included in the curriculum of the New School of Social Research. That was another example of the author organizing and making demands for social change. In the early 1980s, after earning a master’s of arts degree from the New School of Social Research, Gerri joined the National Black United Front (NBUF). Being a member of this activist organization fulfilled the passion she developed for activism while attending high school in Birmingham. During her three-year tenure with this organization, she participated in many nonviolent demonstrations for freedom, justice, and equality for people of African descent. She left NBUF in August 1983 to attend the State University of New York in Buffalo School of Law, where she graduated in 1986 with her Juris Doctor degree. Her activism continued on the campus of SUNY Buffalo. During her first year of law school, she organized the Ronald Longmire Defense Committee. Ronald, a young African American from Niagara Falls, NY, was a freshman at the State University of Buffalo. One day, while living in the dormitory, he had a fight with his roommate, who came from the Buffalo area. After Ronald won the fight, his roommate went out and recruited three of his white friends and returned to the dormitory to beat Ronald up. While Ronald was defending himself against the four young men, the police were called to the room. Before the police arrived, the three white men fled the scene. Two of the men left the dormitory. But the third man mistakenly went into a closet in the dormitory, and the next morning, his body was found by a janitor. Ronald was charged with second-degree murder for his death. As Ronald faced murder charges, the author, who lived in the same dormitory, formed a support committee on his behalf.