Jan. 3, 2006 - my personal testimony

Personal Testimony

I received Christ as my personal Savior and received the call to ministry when I was seven years of age.  My parents were starting a new church called Trinity Baptist Church in Rocklin, California.  I had heard the gospel many times as my father preached every Sunday morning.  Every night, before I went to bed, my mother read Bible stories and a missionary story to my sister and me. 

One night, as my mother was finishing a story about a missionary preaching the gospel to the heathen, I felt a strong feeling that I would like to go into a foreign land and preach the gospel too.

Then I had another strong feeling, one of conviction of sin, I began to ask myself if I was really sure that I had salvation and if I was on my way to heaven or not.  I began to ask God to forgive my sins and surrendered my life to Jesus to follow Him that night. 

As the years went by, I felt the missionary call get stronger and stronger and I even felt that I was to go to Asia.  As I grew up, I was able to take youth mission trips to various places and when I was in High School I met a young man of similar background, who also wanted to be a missionary. 

Bill received Christ as a young boy one night while attending a Methodist Church revival meeting.  He had heard the gospel many times before and his father had been a Methodist minister, but he had never really understood the gospel; until that night.

Bill’s friend gave him a nudge and before he knew it, he was down at the altar and an older man was explaining to him how to receive Christ.  That night as Bill prayed and opened His life to God, he was filled with wonderful joy.  Even though his childhood had not been very happy with his mother and father divorcing because of his father’s illness, he began to have a true joy that came from God.  A few months later, Bill was given a book to read about the life of Hudson Taylor.  As he read that book, he began to sense that God also wanted him to go to Asia as a missionary.  He began to prepare with great earnest.  He began to witness everywhere he could and when he graduated from high school, he wanted to attend Bible School but he had to wait to because his mother requested he attend Jr. College first.  Bill honored his mother’s request and finally after graduation, he was able to fulfill his dream and attend Bible College.

 In Bible College his minor was missions and his final thesis was on Asian missions.

As Bill and I prepared for marriage, we thought we would immediately go to the Orient as soon as he graduated.  However, God had much training for us.  Our home church helped us to find a newly started group in Louisiana and we helped them start a church in that town and was their pastor 3 1/2 years.  We also helped another church as assistant pastor in a wonderful church called Community Church.  We had been married 10 years when Bill and I both began to feel God was once again leading us to take a step of faith and move; this time to Thailand. 

A missionary friend whom we had been supporting was calling for help.  He had just started a church and needed someone to come that was experienced in pastoral ministry.  After much prayer, we moved our family to the mission field.

God has truly blessed our lives as we have been here nearly 15 years. 

We have four children, their ages ranging from 23 to 11.  Our oldest two children finished high school and both went on to Bible Schools.  They are both helping us in the work here as missionaries in Thailand.

Update: My daughter (20) is attending Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida working on her B.A. in communications with hopes that it will make her more effective when she returns to Asia as a missionary. 

Isaac (23) has begun a traveling ministry as well as helping us in the ministry here.  He was in India traveling for two months to many different churches, preaching and praying for the sick.

Josiah (16) is in 11th grade.  He is involved in the music and youth ministry of the church here in Khon Kaen. 

Rachel is 11 and is in 5th grade.  I enjoy working one on one with her, training her to be a godly woman and help her in her studies. 

We have traveled to other areas in Thailand and in Asia, but our main work is at home, in Khon Kaen, a city in Northeast Thailand.  Our emphasis is the church planting and evangelism in the city and outlying areas that have not had the gospel preached.  Our method of evangelism is by passing out tracts, holding open air meetings and teaching people one on one.  Our church continually grows with new people as leaders are trained in evangelism and church planting work. 

Our hope and vision is to have many new churches planted in the next few years, a Bible training center to be continually training leaders and sending them out in to the harvest fields. 

For more information: you may see our websites at:

http://goodnewsthailand.50megs.com

http://goodnewsthailand.tripod.com

• Post A Comment!

Comments

Jan. 3, 2006 - Thank you

Posted by Redeemed

• Permanent Link

Entry 16 of 38
Last Page | Next Page