A Precious Child

I began this blog as a way for people to share their own stories of coming to faith in Christ, but today I am going to share about the privilege of leading someone to Him. About ten months ago a family that had moved out of the area came back and began attending our church again. While they were away their two little girls had grown up quite a bit, and the couple now had a third daughter as well. I had the honor of teaching the two older sisters in Sunday School for several months. As I would share the gospel in each class the one child was receptive and excited, while the other was reserved. Her mother and I talked and I began to pray. I confess that I did not pray as much or consistently as I feel I should have, but I prayed. As the months sped by I began to see more understanding in this child and more acceptance, but not a willingness to make a decision. I stopped teaching at the end of the school year, and about the same time the family moved across the mountain from the church, and into the valley where I live. The kids signed up for soccer and I had the blessing of socializing with their mom during practices. As the school year drew nigh I began to think about teaching released time class again and shared with my friend that I would be teaching her daughter's class if she came. She was eager to sign her girls up for the class, and assured me that my student was excited to come. I was so glad to hear that! Today we had our first class. When the invitation to trust Christ as Savior was given, this child, who had been so shy about the gospel, chose to receive Christ as her personal Savior. Praise the Lord! He had it all planned out, and I thank Him for allowing me to participate. Who except God could have known, even before I prayed, that the prayer would be answered in such a way? The angels in heaven are rejoicing! Today another child has been adopted into God's family! "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

Amy

I was born in 1975. My Mom and Dad soon got into heavy drugs and I was not taken care of so I went to the country to live with my Gramma. She is my Dad's Mom. While living there up to age 12 my dad would be high and beat me with a belt. I would be black and blue neck to knees. My Mom had a very delicate mind and the drugs really put a strain on her. Alot of her actions were very confusing. I ended up being molested by 13 different people up to the age of 15. When I was 13 my mother was stabbed to death. Several years later her little sister was raped and strangled, Also my Uncle and Cousin hung themselves. Things were really rough. I was saved at 12 but made lots of mistakes. With the abuse I began a path of sexual promiscuity. I became pregnant and ended up being coersed into an abortion. It tore my heart out and in 11th grade I was in a hospital for 2 weeks. I got pregnant at 22 and had to drop out of college. I met my Husband and he willingly became my son's dad. I ended up cheating on him with 8 different people. It tore out his heart. He found out 9/12/2001. He did not leave me. He said our family will start to attend church. I chose where. I enjoy contempory worship. CLCC was an amazing place to experience a true relationship with Jesus. I also got involved with Day Seven. It is a Christ centered place where people who are sexually broken can learn tools to allow God to fill the empty void and to find healing. I play the flute on the worship team and have come along way. The things that happened to me I believe are an encouragement to allow my pain to work for God's glory. Nothing happens without purpose and I know God will see me through.

I came to the Lord through AWANA at Wyebrook Baptist church in Elverson. The same person married Marty and I.

Loni

Sometymes I hear or read stories about people that had a life changing experience that prompted them to seek out the Lord and accept Him as their Savior. The stories are usually very inspiring and often border on the line of unbelievable, but I know God does miraculous things and that the only way the story could be true is if He was involved. I have to admit, I tend to be envious of those stories from tyme to tyme because I don’t have a story such as that. The truth is, I don’t remember becoming a Christian, at least not the first tyme anyway. Now, before you go getting all up in arms, I know full well that you can only become a Christian once because you cannot lose your salvation, however, you can lose memories, especially memories from when you’re five years old and that is when my mom told me I became a Christian.

She told me that on a trip to Virginia, we were living in Pennsylvania at the tyme, to visit my aunts that I accepted Jesus as my Savior, but she could have told that it happened on top of Mount Rushmore in a blizzard and I have to believe her, because I simply cannot remember anything about it. The truth is, I don’t remember much from my childhood, so the general lack of memory didn’t concern me really, but as I got older, the lack of my salvation memory started to trouble me.

I don’t think anyone realized it, but all through my teenage years and into my twenties I was afraid that I wasn’t saved. I remember several tymes when I prayed the salvation prayer because I feared I did it wrong in the past or because I thought that maybe I just imagined or dreamed that I did. I even thought that maybe my mom heard wrong when I was five. I lived with that fear for a long tyme. Whenever I did something wrong or messed up I thought it was because I wasn’t saved, because a truly saved person didn’t mess up, right? Wrong!

When I moved to Virginia in 2004, I started to actually listen to my pastor (what a concept) and I realized that being saved doesn’t make a person perfect, it simply makes them forgiven. It was like a revelation to me. My whole life up until that moment, at least the years I could remember, I was looking at Christianity all wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I was saved, it was that I never stopped to ask myself if I believed what Christianity taught; I simply went by what I was told. My mom, my pastor, my Sunday school teachers, my aunts and uncles all told me that Jesus died for my sins so it was obviously true, but there’s the catch. They told me, but I never stopped to think about it. Who was Jesus? Was He really the Son of God? Did He really die for me or was the Bible just a bunch of stories?

I was twenty-seven when I had this moment of clarity and right then and there I asked myself, “Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to save you from your sins?” The truth was, and is, that yes, I did, and do, believe that Jesus is my Savior and that His death was a sacrifice for me and His resurrection was to secure my eternal life in Heaven. It wasn’t long after I made this confirmation to myself that I asked my pastor to baptize me so I could let my beliefs be known to the world around me.

Today I will admit to you that my head doesn’t understand everything that the Bible says, but my heart believes it all. When I think back to all my tymes of fear and uncertainty I realize that my salvation story is kind of remarkable. At a very young age Jesus found me, saved me and took up a permanent residence in my heart because He knew that there were going to be tough tymes in my life that I wouldn’t be able to handle if He wasn’t there. All the tymes kids picked on me in school, all the tymes that my home life was unbearable, all the tymes that I had difficult decisions to make or had to stand up for what was right,. Jesus was there to direct my paths. Could I have done any of it, gotten through any of it if He hadn’t found me on that car ride to Virginia when I was five? Indeed not!

Loni Kirklin:

Saved at 5 yrs.

Baptized at 27 yrs.

Loved by God always and forever!

Miriam

I was born the tenth out of twelve children in an Old Order Mennonite family. Though being devoutly religious, the Old Order sect puts their focus on adhering to the church's strict rules and traditions. As a child I was taught that only God knows your eternal destiny and my part was to follow the church's ways. The plainer and more strictly you lived the more righteous your standing before God. Bible reading was considered as a beneficial exercise, but studying the Bible was pretty much a foreign concept.

I was always an inquisitive child and as an adolescent I began to question the reasons for the church's traditions. My questions were either dismissed or deemed as rebellion against authority. My insatiable desire for learning and education caused me to read, observe and evaluate everything. I tried to repress my questions but was not very successful.

My mother, who was the family disciplinarian, died when I was twelve years old. After her death I seriously began to question the ideas and inconsistencies I had been taught. Teachings such as you can't know if you are going to heaven, yet so many people said that was where my mother was, how did they know? And it is wrong to own and operate a car but ok to pay some one to drive you somewhere. These things continued to plague my mind for several years.

At age sixteen my older brother, who had left "the church" invited me and my sisters to go to a revival meeting at the church he was attending. The gospel of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by His death & resurrection was clearly presented by the speaker and I accepted Christ's payment for my sin. That night I became a redeemed child of God.

I struggled through my teenage years as I left the "Old Order" ways and struck out on a new path. I had little guidance and the absence of the strict rules I was accustomed to caused me to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction, but God was watching over me and gently guiding me to a close relationship with Him.

In my early twenties, God led me to a group of believers who taught me to study God's word and set me on a path of following Him. It was through this time I met my husband and the rest they say is history. We have endeavored to show our devotion and love for Christ through service to Him wherever He leads us. We stumble and fail but God is gracious and loves us in spite of our failures.

My prayer is that our devotion to Christ will be an example for our four sons to follow and pass on to their children.

My life verse is II Timothy 1:12.

Jack

Jack's Testimony

I was fortunate to be raised in a loving family. I was, however, brought up Catholic. My brother and I had to attend Sunday School (CCD) until our first communion, and then we could decide when we wanted to go to Church. Typically, in our house it was on Christmas and Easter. God was certainly not at the center of our family, but we did know that He was there.

Through my teenage years, I became fairly rebellious and started drinking, smoking and trying drugs. I thought that life was about having a good time, and doing hard work. Work, which was for my father’s construction business, was probably the one thing that kept me out of more trouble than I should have been in. This wild behavior continued into my mid twenties. Through those years I had been arrested a couple of times for drinking related offenses, including two DUI's in one night. Yes, that was right two DUI's in one night.

It was that night, September 20 1996 that would change my life forever. I had been out partying with friends, when I met a girl I knew at a bar. We had left together so that we could spend the night together. It was on our way through a town close to my home that I got pulled over for erratic driving and was later charged with my first DUI. The police would later release me to the girl I had been with and she was instructed to take me home. I had parked my truck at my friend’s house earlier that night, and it was more convenient for her to drop me off there, so she did. I had sat in the truck for a while thinking I would sleep there. That did not work, it was very uncomfortable, and I kept telling myself that home was only a mile and a half around the corner. The last thing I remember is turning left out of his development. The next thing I remember is being in the back of the same police car I had been in earlier.

I pieced together the events the best I could from my friends in the fire service, and witnesses. Apparently, I had failed to negotiate a bend at a high rate of speed crashing into a telephone pole on the passenger side and rolling the truck several times over a stonewall before coming to rest on the roof. I walked from the wreckage with only a concussion. The truck was completely destroyed with the exception of the area immediately around the driver’s seat. The passenger side frame rail was split in half and the bed of the truck was found in pieces with some being as far as fifty yards from the crash. As I would latter realize, this had nothing to do with luck.

Over the next several days, I found myself questioning just about every aspect of my life. I knew that drastic changes needed to be made. I knew that there were a lot of questions that needed answers. I knew the one, and only, place to go for those answers was church. I knew that I did not want to go back to the Catholic church though. I did not know where to go, there were so many choices. Protestant, Baptist, Methodist, and many others. Where should I start, was my biggest question. It was in January of 1997 that my father hired a woman to do the company's drafting work that had begun to consume too much of my time. It was that woman who had offered to take me to her church, a Bible believing non-denominational church. I accepted August 1997, and when I went, I immediately felt at home. I felt as if a tremendous burden had already been lifted.

It was during the next year that not only would I begin to find the answers that I was looking for, but I had began to find a life long companion to share those answers and decisions with. Yes, the woman we hired became my wife on May 6, 2000. She was very instrumental in helping me to learn the scriptures and find those answers. I have typically been a fast learner and it did not take long for me to realize that it was only by the grace of God that I am able to share this testimony. I knew that it was Him protecting me on that awful night, allowing me to walk from a horrific crash. It was through a study in the book of Romans, which has become my favorite, that I learned that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. I had realized for the first time that I was in fact a sinner. I had also learned "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" Romans 6:23. These verses really hit home. However, the one that hit the mark was "for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:13. With those verses and the help of so many good people willing to help me, I realized that I was a sinner and needed Christ in my life and in my heart.

It was October 30 1997; yes mischief night, that I accepted Christ into my heart and life as personal Savior. It has by far been the best decision that I have ever made. It is also by far the best, and strongest, relationship I have ever had. That night in September of 1996, that so many would think of a horrific event in anyone’s life, I now refer to as the second best night of my life. The first being the night I accepted Christ into my life. I have strived to continually develop and strengthen our relationship, and follow His will.

I still attend that same church and with the exception of visiting and speaking at other churches have not attended any other. I became a member, was baptized, have served on the Board of Missions for six years, been Sunday School Superintendent for two years, and currently serve as a Deacon. I had said earlier that I had thought that life was about having fun. The last ten years have been a whole lot more fun than the first twenty-six. The only difference is Christ. Since that night in September 1996 I have not drank, smoked, or even thought about trying drugs. I have a loving God, family, church family, and friends. And, in the end, those are the things that are important.

Rebecca

Testimony, Rebecca Stewart, 2010

I was saved as a child, at the age of three. My mother led me to Christ after I questioned her about heaven and Jesus. At the age of twelve, I went through a particularly difficult year in school and started to ask questions again. I questioned my salvation because I was so young, I didn’t remember my decision. My parents talked with me and I rededicated my life to Christ. Soon after, I decided to be baptized. I base my assurance on the fact that God is the one true God and He has the power to save me. His Word is true and it tells of God's love for me and Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. His blood has covered my sin.

Prayer is one thing that I have made a big part of my life. A friend’s example influenced me to pray more. With my commitment to be more faithful in prayer, I have found I also learn more about prayer. My spiritual walk with God has become real and personal. Learning this has convicted me of how much closer I could walk with God if I were more faithful in reading my bible. Since I was a child, I have always had trouble sitting myself down to read anything. My new goal is to daily set aside quiet time to read my bible.

My husband Jack and I were greatly influenced by a mission trip we took six months after we were married. That was such a growing experience for us and we have been involved in missions ever since then. We both realize that bringing souls to Christ is the only profession that is really important, and all other distractions are worth nothing. Doing for others and for God is what truly makes us both happy. We are learning together as we seek God's will for our lives and trust Him as He leads us into service for Him.

Norman

How did I come to accept Christ as my Savior?

I grew up in the church. Every Sunday, my mother would take my sister and myself to the small, rural church that sat across the road from our house. From the earliest age I knew all about God and Jesus. But that was all it was: I knew about Him, but failed to have that relationship with Him. I was book smart, but failed to fully have that relationship with him. Looking back, I guess part of me thought maybe I had a “free pass,” because after all, I went to church, wasn’t that enough?

I first experienced God in my life during the summer between my seventh and eighth grade years while attending a hiking camp sponsored by the United Methodist Church. The hiking camp took us along the Loyalsock Trail, north of Williamsport, along the ridges and hollows, over mountains and across streams, along waterfalls and through the Pennsylvania wilds. Our group of campers was guided by two men who showed us their love of God over those four days of hiking and camping.

During our hiking times, our group was spread out over the length of a mile. As long as we didn’t go ahead of the first group or fall behind the last (those groups had our leaders in them), we were free to hike the Loyalsock at our own pace. I wasn’t as fast as the leaders or as slow as those at the back of the pack, so I often found myself hiking alone somewhere in the middle.

However, on the third day of hiking, I found myself hiking with one of the girls of the group. I don’t remember her name, but I remember her asking me at one point, “Aren’t you afraid of getting lost hiking all alone?”

“Not really,” I had answered in a false bravado. I wasn’t about to tell her I had missed a turn on the trail when it came off an old fire lane the day before; I had gone about two hundred yards before I had realized my mistake.

That moment was really the first time in my life I realized how easy it could be to become lost. Not just lost on the trail, but lost in life.

The next morning, our fourth and last morning, when I got up, it was really foggy out and while the other still slept (it was the only morning we were allowed to sleep in) I got up to read. Taking my Bible, I walked over to spend some time alone at a nearby overlook that was about a hundred yards away from camp.

As I sat there watching the fog slowly lift I really felt God in my life for the first time; there in the silence and calmness, I first felt God in my life. I opened my Bible to a random passage and it opened to the book of Psalms. As I read Psalm 118, verse 24 jumped out immediately: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” But as I continued reading His word that morning the sun broke through the fog as I read verse 27a “The Lord is God; and He has made His light to shine upon us.”

In that moment I felt God saying to me, “I am here. I love you.” In that moment I came to understand that the God I read about, the God I studied about, since I could first read wasn’t just a God written down on paper, but a God who was alive and with me; He was a God who wanted to have a relationship with me and as I sat there I realized in that moment that I wanted to have a relationship with Him.

My prayer was short and simple (and I wrote it in the Bible I had with me at the time to be a constant reminder of God’s endless love for me. The prayer I lifted up to Him was this: “Lord, I don’t want to be lost. Help me. I accept Your Son’s sacrifice for my sins. Give me Your direction in life that I might do Your will in everything I do. Please Lord, I don’t want to be lost. Help me.”

I found that morning a Lord and Savior who has never abandoned me; He’s been there in the good and the bad times. In my fears and doubts, in the times when I seemed to have lost my way I know he is there for me. I can call out to Him and He will answer; I can pray for forgiveness and He will forgive; I can ask for direction and He will give better guidance than any GPS unit.

He is my Lord and Savior. He is my everything, for without him in my life, I would be nothing.

Juanita

When I spoke of the church I "grew up in," my young son questioned me, "You grew up in a church?" At the time I just chuckled and confirmed that I had. I'm pretty sure he thinks that's where I lived. I need to explain to him that I meant it was the church where I went to learn about Jesus when I was a child.

God's family was a part of my life even before I myself trusted Christ and became a child of God. Practically from the time of my birth I heard the message of how God's Son Jesus died on the cross for the wrong things I had done. I heard about how he rose on the third day and then went to live with God in heaven. I was told that if I trusted in Him I could be forgiven for my sin and go to live with him someday.

One evening when I was four years old there was a thunder storm. The lightening flashed the thunder crashed and I was afraid. It was more than a normal fear of thunder storms, I knew that if I died I would be separated from God and Jesus forever. I asked my mom about the one way to get to heaven, and she prayed with me as I received Jesus as my own personal Savior. That day I was born into God's family. John 1:12 says, "yet to all who received Him to those who believed in His name He gave the right to become children of God..."

Just like it is only the beginning of life the day a child is physically born into a family, so also is the day of spiritual birth. Just like a baby I began to grow little by little. At first I was spoon fed; my mom would read me stories from the Bible, take me to Sunday School, and take me to church. As a preteen I was baptized, and during that period in my life I also began to read the Bible on my own. God used Christian friends in my life and experiences at their churches and in their youth groups to help me grow. He used Camps Farthest Out to help make my relationship with Him more one one one. He has used my relationship with my husband and our experience of setting out on our own away from family and friends. He's used the church he's led us to, and he teaches me more about His grace day by day.

I have been given the privilege of being involved in ministry within our local church as well as beyond the walls of our church. Everyday He pours out His grace, His Mercy and His love and I grow. Don't get me wrong, I mess up a lot, and I regret the disobedient choices I have made. Many days I wonder how He can possibly use me at all, but He is God and He is not limited by my weaknesses. "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

To God be the glory forever and ever, amen!