On Oct. 8, the members of Good News Chapel provided me with a life-changing opportunity.

They elected me as moderator at an event at the Ramada Inn Conference Center, where I presented financial gifts to nonprofits who were all in need of financial help. One of the recipients was the Jesus Party of Doug and Sonia Taylor. I had never heard the Taylor’s life-changing experience. As I listened to this young man, my heart fell under such conviction that my views on Taylor transformed.

To top it off, on Oct. 10, in the Connections section of the Sun Journal, I read the article “Picking Apples.” There was Doug Taylor with 12 young children who were treated to a wagon ride around an apple orchard.

To think that two out of every 10 girls and one out of every 10 boys are sexually abused by their 14th birthday;, with 2004 statistics from the U.S. government stating 62.4 percent of child victims in the United States experienced neglect, 17.5 percent were physically abused, 9.7 percent were sexually abused, 7 percent were psychologically maltreated, and 2.1 percent were medically neglected. In addition, 14.5 percent of victims experienced other types of maltreatment as “abandonment,” “threats of harm to the child,” or “congenital drug addiction.”

In my transformed eyes, Doug and Sonia Taylor are heroes, saving the children of Lewiston, and they deserve the support of every professing Christian in the Twin Cities.

Paul Bernard, Turner