Hy Pickering, born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, was raised in a religious home, but after being christened and confirmed, found he had not been converted. Not far from where he lived, some meeting began in a barn. He said the preacher “made no pretense at eloquence, wore no surplice, used no notes, and feared no man. The first night he preached on the text, ‘The wicked shall be turned into hell’ (Ps 9:17). It was resented. Yet my conscience answered, ‘It is true of you.’ Realizing I had religion without the Redeemer, I sat a hopeless, helpless sinner, anxious to be saved. The preacher pled, ‘Say in your heart, “The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.”’ Acting on the advice, in desperate earnestness, I closed my eyes, clenched my fists, and from my heart said, ‘Sink or swim, just now my heart will trust Him.’ There and then, sitting on a wooden plank in a cold barn, John 5:24 became my birthday text. I had heard and believed and passed from death unto life.”