Calvin Nixon II

     My testimony is how God helped me through my tough time - the recent passing of my father.
      At first, I didn't know what I was going to do, but God has given me comfort. When I pray to God and tell my needs to Him, I feel joy and peace. God has blessed me and my momma so much. All the help we have received has been nothing but Jesus. It's only been a month since my dad past away. During that month it has been nothing but Jesus working His special will for us. In fact, I recently received news that I have been accepted to Oak Mountain Classical School.
      I wonder about all the things that I have walked through with Jesus in just a month's time. At one point I was tore up inside with tears of hurt flowing out of me. Then later, I am seeing God's will for my life begin to unfold when I spend time in prayer. When that tragedy happened, people told me that, "Time will heal some pain." It has - especially when I combine it with God's promises in His Word. As Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." This verse has encouraged me all my life.
      I hope this testimony reveals that God is real and He will provide and take care of you.

Beth Patillo

     Last year, my grandmother and I, went with our children's pastor to Honduras. Before the trip, I was thrilled about going. I was excited up to the point of our first outreach on the trip. We were in a third world country and I didn't know the place, people or language. I came up with a number of excuses why I couldn't go out with the group, but I never expressed my feelings to anyone and did not complain when we went to minister that day.
     After we got back to the hotel late that day, I felt better about going but still very unsure. That night I awoke in a fright! I was sweating and could hear and feel my heart pumping in my chest as if it was to pop from my chest. Making sure not to wake my grandmother, I climbed out of bed. I went out onto the balcony where it was cool and I could rest and think. Soon I began to pray. The Lord told me that if I trusted Him to go out and minister that He would tell me what to say and do. The Lord also brought to my mind a promise that I had made about keeping my favorite verse true. Psalms 19: 14 states, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, my rock and my redeemer."
     The next day I made a friend named Maria. She was one of our Spanish native guides. Maria spoke just enough English to talk to me. She could not say my name, so Maria called me her little sister. We saw each other each day for the next four days. On the fourth day, Maria celebrated her 16th birthday. As we were traveling by bus to one of our outreach sites, Maria called me to the front of the bus where she used our children's pastor to translate what she was speaking to me in Spanish. I was so touched by what she shared with me that I broke out in tears and Spanish telling her how much I and God loved her. I went on to explain that God loved her more than she could imagine. How I knew how to speak Spanish to express my thoughts only God could have provided for me. God had kept His promise from that night of prayer when He encouraged me to trust Him and He would tell me what to say.

Jonathan Torbert

     The Lord Jesus is special in my life because of His everlasting love. I know that sounds stereotypical, but God's love has had a positive influence on me while I was going through a lot of stuff that could have turned my life in the wrong direction.
      One example of this was when I attended a Christian middle school in the seventh grade. Two guys who should have been in the tenth grade had been held back several times and were in my seventh grade class. These guys were new to my school and because they were older they had a great deal of influence over the whole middle school. Unfortunately, their influence and behavior was negative and went against God's Word. It was popular in this Christian middle school to follow the actions of these two guys. That school year, no one escaped making a choice - follow what you had been taught from the Bible or become popular and cool for a season by following these two guys. For those like me who took a stand and refused to comply with the demands of these guys, school life was horrible and very difficult. However, I just continued to live my life by God's Word. Soon seventh grade ended. I and most of the seventh graders moved on, but these two guys once again remained behind. Because they were not a novelty item the second year as the first year, their influence began to drop. I was unable to reach these guys with the gospel, but my classmates did see my example of holding on to a relationship with God. Many began to realize that they had made some damaging life choices just to be cool within the in crowd for a season.
      I thank the Lord that He was in my life to get me through that year. That experience made me stronger in my faith so that experiences in college and the workplace have not been a temptation. I am so thankful that God did not remove that difficult school year but walked with me through it in order to prepare me for my next steps in life.

Wayne Pendergrass

     I was invited to a church revival and agreed to attend. I went a couple of times and decided to ask the Lord into my heart. Prior to this, I drank and did not have good control of my life. The Lord has turned my life around and now I am involved in ministry in children's church and in the puppet team ministry.

Karen Torbert

      Jesus first became real to me when I was just a young girl. My parents were not church goers but they wanted my brother and me to attend church. It was at church that my Sunday School teachers taught me about God's love and how it could make a difference in my life. I asked Jesus into my life and my personal relationship with Him has grown ever since that first experience.
     God has shown His mercy, faithfulness, grace, forgiveness, protection, and love to me in everything I do. Jesus has been with me through sad times and confusing times with encouragement - holding me up with His strong and patient hand. Jesus has been there in the good times giving me guidance and wisdom. Because of how Jesus changed my life, I want everyone to know how a relationship with Jesus can make a difference in their life as well.

Henry Melson

     Several years back, I didn't know Jesus. I sometimes did things wrong. For some reason I felt that the wrong things I did was bad for me, but I never knew why. After some time passed, I attended a church where the pastor noticed that I looked troubled. I told him what happened and he understood what I was going through. The pastor prayed with me and I asked Jesus into my heart. Then I jumped up and down because I was glad that Jesus was now in my life.