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Testimonies
Read how a personal relationship with Jesus Christ has changed 1M4JC members' lives.
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One night in 1985, I was saved through reading my Bible trying to find out why I wasnt good enough for God. I soon realized that I was under the grace of God and He loves me no matter what. I gave my life to God that night and I felt a true difference inside of me. I could feel God's presence with me. I realized that God was with me and inside of me and I have never been the same since. I was filled with the Holy Spirit about 2 months later and His presence became even more in depth within me. I have a desire to be with God and talk to Him in prayer, reading His Word, and talking to Him as My Best Friend each day.
I have the confidence now to know that He loves me and forgives me each day as I seek Him and ask for His forgiveness when He prompts me to. He is my guididng light and I know that I know that He is real and alive today within His Children.
I love to minister to others through my many testimonies of what God has done for me in my life. I love to love others with His love flowing through me and encourage them and be a great friend to them in complete honesty & transparency. I am blessed by God as I minister to others as He leads, because I learn at the same time as who I am talking to many many times over. God is awesome & Jesus Is The Answer to all of our needs.
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A lost sheep that had trouble finding her way home
Tina’s Testimony
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When I was young I remeber going to church on a church bus that would come by and pick us up. My mom and step-dad never took me or my sister. After a while we moved around alot so I got out of ever going, until I graduated high school.
There was a new pastor at the First Baptist Church where I lived, real small town, a Baptist church or a Methodist church were your only options. After the football games they would have what was called fifth quarter fellowship, well all the kids and the football players would go so I started going with some of my friends. We would eat, play games, and the youth director would share some scripture.
After a while I started attending the First Baptist Church on a regular basis. We had a youth revival one fall and the pastor that came was amazing. He really touched my heart. The next Sunday the pastor of the church was preaching on Jesus second coming and the rapture. He was talking of the trumpet sounding and all the stuff that would take place. We lived close to a car dealership and one night I was laying in bed thinking about what the preacher had said and the Holy Spirt was working on me. Well the alarm at the car dealership went off in the middle of the night and I thought that it was the trumpet sounding and I had waited too long.
The very next Sunday when the invitation was given I was one of the first down at the altar. The pastor came over to talk to me and I told him that I wanted to be saved and he told me to pray and ask for forgivness of my sins and to ask Jesus to save me. That was Oct. 19th 1979. We moved away not to long after that and I fell out of church and didn't go for quite some while. We moved to my mom's home town where she was raised and I knew some girls there my age so I went over to their house one night and I began to run around with them. They attended the First Baptist Church, so I started going with them and joined the church there. They met some guys and got married to them who attended Penecostal Churches so they started going there and I backslid and quit going all together.
I met my husband and every Sunday we would say we need to be in church. It took us six years before we started going again our oldest daughter Staci was four, our second daughter Jami was two,and our third daughter Randi was six months old. We started attending the Missionary Baptist Church here because it had a small congregation and that is what we were looking for. We raised our girls in that church and were there every time the door was open. We were blessed greatly by God in giving us the greatest daughters anyone could ask for. They never gave us a minutes trouble all through their teen years even though we only had one bathroom for five people. They learned to compromise and they were each others best friends. We still attend a Missionary Baptist Church and so does our youngest daughter and her husband,but the other two attend different kinds with their husbands. God is good and I give him all the glory in leading me in the way that He did.
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I used to think my testimony wasn't as strong as others because I hadn't endured such troubling times. God always kept me safe and kept my head on right. I can say though that He definitely took the anger out of my heart and restored me. I never went down a destructive path, but I had my bumps in the road - have done some things I'm not proud of and still am working on some. But the beauty of God is that He STILL loves me. He knows the depths of my heart and He loves me the same. And thats the most powerful love out there. Now my mission is to grow stronger and smarter in my faith. I want to be a better person through Him, and I know I can be. It just takes work, and I'm willing to do that. He died for me, why not live for Him? God bless and be safeeeee. [:
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I'm a work in progress.
Darcey’s Testimony
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My mom prayed with me when I was 5 years old to ask Jesus to come into my heart. She encouraged my spiritual development all through my childhood. We had radio bible teachers on in the background of our lives, and listened to Christian kids tapes/music. We were involved in Sunday school/church/Awana. I rebelled as a teenager, knowing full well I was being a hypocrite, but would rationalize it by telling myself "why not? I will only be this age once, and I need to get all I can out of it". I dated several jerks, then met Scott, who was more mature. He had a 2 year old girl when I started dating him, which my parents objected to. I fell in love with him and they decided that they would give him a chance (since they basically had to or face me rebelling even more). I never really left the Lord, I just intentionally put Him on a shelf. After we got married, I realized God could not remain on a shelf, He needed to be the center of my life.
He and I had 2 boys together a few short years later. He had a love for his dogs that placed them on a level of importance that always seemed to be higher than it should. We worked through the normal issues young couples deal with. He became more and more the spiritual leader I had hoped for him to become-he helped in Awana, was faithful in attending church with us.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2004, we had an unseasonably warm day. He and I worked together in the home, having what I would describe as a very fullfilling day as husband and wife. The next day, it snowed and we went to church, then he took the boys, age 6 and 9, sledding. We then drank hot chocolate together as a family. Then he went to the grocery store. After his trip to the store, he took his dogs to a local park where there are geese who swim on ponds. Somehow, probably trying to rescue one of his dogs who had fallen through the ice on a pond, he fell in and drowned. This event dramatically changed the course of our lives forever.
Everything I had learned, known, believed before my husband's death was called into question. I never thought about ditching my faith, but I was brutally honest with God during that time. I let Him know that I did not like this turn of events in our life. He faithfully sustained the boys and I through the difficult grieving process, and used this situation to grow me up in Him. I think He is still using this situation to draw me to Himself. I'll never be the same.
He has graciously allowed me to have the joy of remarriage. Frank is my new husband. We are working out the issues that are involved in blending families, learning to communicate well with each other, and coming to terms with the new reality we are living in. I have studied James several times since my first husband's death. I am now to the point where I don't feeling like grinding my pen into my bible and scratching out the words, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be found perfect and complete, lacking nothing". Only the Lord can bring about that kind of change in my life. I now try to live my life with the attitude of "what do You want me to learn from this?", but I easily wander into thinking "I deserve to have a good life and it is Your job to provide it to me. Thanks, Lord".
Christmas day is a good day to write this testimony. I want to live my life remembering what Jesus did for me, in leaving splendor and taking on the form of a lowly baby, with the ultimate goal of dying for all mankind to pay the penalty for my sins. When He said "it is finished", he meant that the entire reason He came to this world had been realized, and now He is preparing a place for me in heaven. I live in this time according to His purposes for me, and I want to run the race in such a way as to win the prize-my eternal life with Him forever, leaving the shackles of sin behind forever!
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Restoring my Faith.
Dawn’s Testimony
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In 2004, I went to Italy. I decided when I came back that I needed to restore my faith in God. I found a contemporary Christian church in my area. I loved it. In 2006, I got baptized and " Got the Power" again. It's been a journey. A fascinating one at that. I believe in the power of prayer. But most of all I believe in the power of The Lord Jesus Christ again.
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I grew up in a Christian family, and went to church like everyone else. I was baptized when I was in my early teens, but I kind of drifted away in my late teens and early twenties. I didn't go far, but some of the ideas of Christianity didn't make sense to me. I came back to Jesus after I was married and started having children, because then you really realize how little control you have over your life! Through the Grace of God, my children have grown to be fine young adults, and two of them are currently in college, and the other one is working to get money to go back to college! People compliment us on how well our children have turned out, but I can only point to Christ, because you have SO little control over their little lives, especially once they become teenagers!
Two of my children (I have three) went on missions trips to the UK, Eastern Europe, and Africa when they were teens, and gained greatly in faith and maturity from the experiences.
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I found this website through facebook adversites. Very awesome website. I grow up in christian family. When I graduated from high school and went to school then I get trapped invlovled in worldly things. Til I was 25 years old and I make my final decision go turn back to Jesus in my life. I am very happy man in this world ever. I am not going to look back. Jesus is AWESOME!!
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On the road for Jesus...
tim p’s Testimony
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By God's grace, my wife and I are honored to volunteer with MAPS (Missions America Placement Service). We have traveled the country for six years, building churches, Teen Challenge facilities, kid's camps, parsonages - some from the ground up and most just needing remodels/repairs. Wherever God calls us - we load our tools and prayers in our little camper and GO! There are 1400 RV MAPS volunteers, working to build God's Kingdom. We love to wear shirts that advertise for our Lord and the Gospel. Thank you for the 1M4JC project! May we all stand on tip-toes in expectation of His coming soon!
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I was raised catholic and have had a relationship with God all of my life. I don't subscribe to catholisism anymore but my faith has never been any stronger as I feel the coming of a great movement of the Spirit in the world coming soon!!!!
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One morning, in August of 2001, I received a call that my brother-in-law (my sister’s husband), was in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit and it was questionable as to whether he was going to make it. I had meetings scheduled that morning, so I had no choice but to go to work. I finished up at work and got to the hospital by late morning. There was a waiting room outside the ICU. I called the nurses station and was told that my sister was in with Jesse but they would let her know that I was in the waiting room. There, sitting in the waiting room was a man that over heard my call. He came up to me after I hung up the phone, reached out his hand, gently taking my hand in both of his he introduced himself as my sister’s Pastor. His words were soft and gentle as he spoke giving me an overwhelming sense of peace that I had never known or seen. He didn’t tell me that I was a sinner damned to hell if I didn’t repent. He didn’t start spouting scripture. He did however say that Jesse was in Jesus’ hands. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time talking before my sister came out but it was enough time for me to know that I wanted and needed what this man had. (I later learned that Pastor Bruce had been with my sister since the ambulance came to their house the night before.)
So many times in my life people tried to convince me that Christianity was what I needed. Lord knows, my sister had been praying for me for years. But, then there where all those bible-thumping, you’re going to hell types! I went home that day longing to be in that peace, wanting to know how to get what Pastor Bruce had. That’s when I opened the bible, something I had never done before. I didn’t know what I was looking at and I didn’t know where to start. For reasons unknown to me at that time, I went to the concordance. From there I found hundreds of topics that applied to my life which led me to scriptures that spoke to my heart. I sat there with that bible for five (5) hours that day. That was the beginning of my life being transformed by Jesus.
The next Sunday, I went to Pastor Bruce’s church, Calvary Chapel of Livermore. From the minute I walked into that church, I was welcomed, loved and filled with a sense of peace that I can’t even begin to describe. It didn’t matter that my life was shattered into a million pieces, how much money I had, how I looked or what I could do… I was loved and accepted just the way I was, with all my flaws… Jesus loved me!
As the Word was spoken through Pastor Bruce, it spoke directly to my heart. This man didn’t know me, yet he spoke to me in a very personal way. After the service, I thanked Pastor Bruce for his words and told him how I felt like he was speaking directly to me. He told me that it wasn’t him it was Jesus speaking to me that He speaks to us through His word and through His body of believers. He told me that he was so happy that I came and how he hoped that I would come back. Come back?! I didn’t want to leave!
In retrospect, I was and am blessed that the Lord brought me home through people filled with Him. The people weren’t perfect and glowing with halos, it was Him flowing through and out of them. They were just like me, and now I was part of His family, part of His body.
I can’t stand before you today and say since I have had a close and personal relationship with the Living God that my life is perfect. I still make mistakes. I still have tribulation and most often, I don’t know what to do in situations that I encounter. But I can tell you that I wouldn’t be able to get through or exist through anything without Him. He is my strength in difficulty. He is my advisor when I need wisdom. And He is my peace. Apart from Him, I have and am nothing. For a lot of years I lived on the “wide road” and I know first-hand that it’s the loneliest most difficult place on earth. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) If you let Him, He will do it all. He will do things in your life that surpass what you can imagine. Not because of what you want to do, but because He loves you, knows you and knows all.
I am now seven (7) years old in the Lord. As some may know, in His Word, seven (7) is the number of completion. Well, I’m not complete, nor am I done! He has been working in my life far longer than I have even known Him. I won’t go into all the details of the tribulation in my life because I know He has and will use all times for His good. Most recently, I was prayerfully led to move to this area. Next to Mount Shasta where my father, my father’s, father and my father’s, father’s father migrated to, lived and visited. I was raised being told that this was God’s country. Well, they were right, it is! Since moving here the Lord has been opening doors that I didn’t even ask Him about. With Jesus at the helm, Mount Shasta Ministries has been founded.
Mount Shasta Ministries is being formed and divinely inspired by God through His Holy Spirit to touch the lives of His people for whom He sent His only begotten Son so that none should perish but all would “change direction”, come to know Him, and have everlasting and eternal life through Jesus Christ.
In prayerful diligence we aspire to Romans 12:9-13, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”
Our mission is to serve the lost, lonely, displaced and hurting people in and around Mount Shasta in Siskiyou and Shasta Counties by initially organizing and facilitating biblical ministry resources, Christian programs for adults and teens (Christ-centered studies that promote healing from the painful things we inevitably encounter in life). We are also in the process of negotiating a long-term lease option on a property that we currently manage. The redevelopment of the community will includes a Christian based resource center, community/ family recreational facilities and co-operative gardens.
It is our faithful belief that the hardships we encounter in our lives are opportunities to grow and learn. We are all a work in progress living in a fallen and difficult world. Steadfast in faith and united by Christ, as one body with strengths and weaknesses, we find hope to overcome the harshness of circumstances and share in the joy of lives transformed.
Mount Shasta Ministries is not a church, we are strictly a Christ-centered organization that loves and seeks to serve the Lord in obedience through loving others. It’s all about Him, and He’s opening the doors to His kingdom on earth to reach the lost, the hopeless and the broken, in love.
Thank you for allowing me the privilege of sharing my testimony, you can rest assured that He did the speaking; I was just the vessel that He wanted to use today
In His Precious Name, Amen
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