Changed Lives

As I travel around visiting Home Missions churches, I hear many stories about how people were saved and their lives changed by following Christ. For this issue of ONE Magazine, I asked two home missionaries to share a story about someone in their church. Here are two of those stories.

—Richard Atwood, director of missionary assistance, Home Missions

Virginia

I first met Jim and Lisa when they visited our booth at the Suffolk Peanut Festival where we gave away balloons and had a drawing for a free Wii game console.

When they stopped by our table, we talked to them about our church and gave them a brochure. Lisa said she didn’t even know if there was a God and certainly did not attend church. Jim had attended a Christian school as a child. He even attended church until he had a bad experience and vowed he would never go inside a church again. We never really expected to see them again, but they showed up at church a few weeks later.

They began attending our church faithfully and even came to our home Bible study on Thursday nights. Many began witnessing to Lisa, but she was adamant that she did not believe in God. People still welcomed and loved them, and they kept coming back.

About a year later, Lisa called me around 1:00 a.m. because she and Jim were having some problems. (They were not married and living together.) They came to my house the next morning to talk, but I knew the real problem was Lisa’s heart. We talked about the Lord Jesus, and what He did on the cross.

About 45 minutes into the conversation, Lisa started crying and said she wanted to receive Christ into her heart. She prayed to receive Christ, and Jim rededicated his life to the Lord that same day. Lisa recalls that after praying, she “felt changed and saw things in a new way.” Jim and Lisa moved apart and then were married a couple of months later.

“We have not always had it easy,” Lisa adds, “but I know God will take care of us. In the past, when problems came, I would have worried, but I now know God will help us and give us what we need.”

Jim and Lisa are one of our most faithful families. They serve in several areas of our church. What a blessing they are, and what a difference Christ has made in their lives!

David Sexton is planting CrossPointe Free Will Baptist Church in Suffolk, Virginia.

Colorado

Until the age of 20, I lived a life of denying God. I was a rebellious and defiant teenager and scoffed at authority. This behavior led to my eventual arrest and conviction. After emerging from the trial, I realized I had to change. It felt as though God was telling me it was time to wake up. I heard His call and obeyed His command.

What started with tidying up some nasty habits led to occasional church attendance. It wasn’t long before I found a church I could call my own—a start-up church that met in the gymnasium of a charter school in town. Before I knew it, I had repented and invited Jesus to live in my heart! In May 2011, I confessed to my grandfather that I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

Then something incredible happened. The Lord allowed me to use my musical gifts to glorify Him. Pastor Donnie Burke invited me to join the worship band, playing the guitar and singing, so, of course, I accepted. This opened a new door. I could now freely praise God within a congregation of fellow believers. I consider it a privilege to honor Him with the gifts He has given me.

As the months passed, I became more and more involved with the church. I led worship for the youth group and Wednesday night meetings, and also plugged into small group Bible studies. I soon understood the Lord was calling me to pursue a career in ministry. He ignited a new passion in my heart. I wanted to offer up myself to His will, so I applied to a Christian university. I was accepted with a scholarship in vocal performance, and now, I am pursing a degree in Worship Arts, a music major.

I never comprehended God’s amazing grace until I experienced it in my own life. God has blessed me so richly in the past year, and my gratitude extends beyond the farthest stars. Who else could take a person so broken by sin and restore him to fullness in peace and joy? Only the Lord Jesus.

T.J. (pictured above, left) attends Truth Free Will Baptist Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, where Donnie Burke is planting a church.