“God makes my life rich”

Christof Berneiser has been a partner of CBN for over 12 years. He watches ERLEBT TV, calls the CBN prayer hotline and donates regularly. But he admits that it hasn’t always been easy for him.

I used to mess up a lot. I didn’t know God. Nevertheless, I completed a technical school and an agricultural apprenticeship. I had to drop out of the course I had started due to poor mental health. So I received psychiatric treatment, moved into a residential home and could work in a shop. I later saw this as a blessing, but at the time I wondered why I had been on the secondary labor market for so long.

In 1995, a roommate took me to see a woman. She was a Christian and I felt that she was telling the truth. In October 95, I gave my life to Jesus at her place. It wasn’t all good straight away and I often wondered why God was taking so much time with me. I worked in the shop for 20 years. Many people prayed for me. I needed a lot of persistence and patience. My mother supported me a lot, for which I am still very grateful to her today.

But I wanted and needed to stand on my own two feet. I’ve finally been self-sufficient for ten years now. I receive a reduced earning capacity pension and have two mini-jobs. God is showing me more and more how he wants my life to be. This makes my life easier, more structured and more fulfilling. One aspect of this for me is donating. I used to donate too, but not regularly. Today, I tithe to CBN at the beginning of the month before any other expenses. I watched an ERLEBT TV show in January where a man faithfully gave his tithe from his unemployment benefits, later found work again and made a lot of money. Then I read Malachi 3:10 and realized how God stands by his word. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” 

I experience God in so many areas of my life. Sometimes it’s very simple things: The other day I was about to assemble a cupboard. A friend had promised to help, but nothing came of it. Then I just started myself and God showed me how to do it. Or once I applied for housing benefit. The battle with the authorities was always intense and took a long time. But then I was accepted and got a refund for the whole waiting period. 1300€. Wow! And every morning I read Psalm 91 and God says to me: “I will deliver him and honor him.”

I always wanted to be a missionary, but God didn’t allow it the way I had imagined. But I try to be faithful in small things and I can feel how God is making my life rich.