A NEW ROLE MODEL

Every boy's father is a role model for that child. Jerry's father was a counterfeiter, so it is not surprising that by the age of thirteen, Jerry was already beginning a life of crime.

At nineteen, Jeremiah McAuley was a thief and the terror of the New York waterfront. While still a young man, he was sentenced to serve fifteen years of hard labor in Sing-Sing prison, framed by some of his underworld "friends." Jerry spent years in prison, filled with bitterness toward the men who had falsely accused him, and plotting his escape.

One morning, something happened that changed his life. As the prisoners sat in chapel, Jerry saw his old friend Awful Gardiner sitting on the platform. "I was wearing stripes like you only a few months ago," Awful Gardiner explained. "Then I found Christ as my Saviour..."

After leading in prayer, Awful Gardiner, amid tears, told how he had come to find salvation through knowing Jesus Christ. Jerry was intrigued. For the next few weeks he studied a Bible that was in his cell. He fought a long battle with his own pride until he finally gave up to Christ, not caring what anyone thought.

Getting down on the stone floor of his cell, Jerry McAuley turned his life over to the Saviour. As soon as he did so, he found the joy of his sins forgiven and faith in Christ. Jerry could not be silent now. He told guards and prisoners of his newfound faith, and won several prisoners to the Lord.

When the governor granted a pardon, Jerry McAuley was free to roam the streets again. After personally experiencing the difficulty of adjusting to freedom, Jerry turned his house into a base that he called the Helping Hand Mission. This criminal had found new life through receiving the Saviour, and wanted to do everything he could to point others to Jesus Christ.

As a result of his zeal in reaching the lost and helping Christians to live for God, hundreds of rescue missions were established across the nation.

Today, many rescue missions continue to do a great work, all because Jerry McAuley found new power and a positive role model in his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.