Testimony Time!

[Abiel]

Can't have a Corps without testimony! The Salvation Army has an honourable tradition of testifying to the Lord's work in our lives. Here's a thread to share your testimony, big or small, and we can all praise the Lord together.

I just wanted to tell you all that my name is Tracy Watson-Brown. I will answer to Tracy and Abiel, and the story is a bit of a testimony so hear goes!

ITS TESTIMONY TIME!!!!

Way back when I was having a really rough time, I heard a message that included the idea that God has a secret name for us that only he knows. Well I prayed something like 'If that's true Lord, whats mine?'
and the next day I had this phrase spinning round my head 'God is my Father'. I couldn't shake it off. So I did some research and discovered the name Abiel which means exactly that. So does Eliab, but that sounded a bit bloky to me!
It was such a comfort to me at the time, and marked a real watershed in my ability to trust God with my everything, and was one of the markers on my way to Officership, currently as Envoy. I use it as my middle name. I keep meaning to do it officially by deed poll, but never quite get round to it.

 

[chaplainjared]

TESTIMONY -
3 months ago i saw a position of 'chaplain' advertised in my old high school, i initially didnt even think twice about applying for it as i was in a full time job, and it is a very big thing for me to step out of my comfort zone, but i was encouraged to apply by my mentor, and so i did. I sent off my application and a couple of weeks later i got an interview.

I went into my interview extremely nervous, but when i went into the room where the interview pannel was, i found i already knew 4 out of the 5 interviewers which automatically to away a majority of my nervs and made me much more confident.
Later that day i received a phone call saying i had the Job!!! PRAISE GOD...

But it doesnt end there...

I went to my current boss and said i had to leave my role as a full time store manager position because i had been given the job as chaplain 2 DAYS a week. (thus my income would drop dramatically).
He basically said to me "then we can give you 2 days off a week so you can do your chapliancy and then you can still work here if you want"
PRAISE GOD!
I was worried about not having enough money and finding a second job and stuff, and i didnt even have to worry.. God had it all under control.

 

[chaplainjared]

and im only 21 yrs old

 

[someone_else]

i would like to share my testimony of how i came to be at the salvos

just some backgroud

i grew up in a christian home and went to church with my folks every week. i became a christian at 11yrs

blah blah blah

i was going to an AOG church but was not very happy there i did not feel like i fitted in at all (something i have always struggled with) in the january i went to plant shakers in South Aust. at this point i was thinking lots about mission work and alot about where i should be for church. in one of the sessions the speaker was talking about how misson starts at home and God said to me "the salvation army" so i though ok. when i got home i rang the local salvos to see if there was anywhere i could do some volentary work and they were ment to call me back and never did. that was that i did not think much more off it. a few weeks after getting home i left the church i was at and just went where ever i felt like going each sunday. after a few months of doing this and not realy finding a church i liked i was about to give up. i was saying to God " i love you and will live for you. But i just cant find a church where i feel at home so whats the point of going, i can worship you at home" for me this was big as i have always said church fellowship is a very important part of a christian life. In about August a friend who went to the salvos invited me and elmo to church. elmo went but i did not. the second time elmo convinced me to go and i though oh why not, and went with no expectations i just went.

well i was soooo amazed . everyone was realy nice and people made an effort to talk to me it was more than just "hi how are you?" i went back the next week and was invited to a life group. i said i would think about it and a few weeks later said yes. i went to this life group and started building some fantastic relationships. one of the girls even ended up being one of my bridesmaids. a year later elm0 and i were looking at becoming members and i was thinking about why i liked the church so much and why i felt at home and i rememberd God saying to me a year and half before "the salvation army"

we have been there for two and half years. i love it. they are what a church is ment to be, a family, i am involved in youth and childrens ministry, welcome team, i lead a life group and have just returned for 4 weeks mission in Zimbabwe with a Salvos team.

I praise God for leading me to the salvos. i finaly found a place i fit and i know that god wants me to stay there

 

[elm0]

Where to start.....

I became a Christian the year after finishing high school. I'd always believed in God, but never known much other than Christmas and Easter. I learned a lot in my first few years as a Christian mainly because I threw myself in the deep end helping with sunday school, 2 kids clubs, and attending youth group as well as a Bible study. Through some unfortunate incidents I ended up changing churches, and due to this, ended up in a career I would never have considered. I worked for several years at a Baptist campsite running activities for school kids. I was surrounded by fellow Christians who I came to regard as family. During this time I also helped run a local church youth group.

Eventually with much prompting from God I left my job to return to study, though I didn't do very well at it. I seemed to be spending more time helping fellow students with their problems than I was spending on my university course. But God had brought me to Brisbane for a reason, and if it wasn't for university, I was just going to have to wait and find out. After a few years of wondering what I was meant to be doing, and after dealing with more problems than I care to list here, I found a chatroom linked to a local Christian radio station. I ended up meeting most of the other people chatting in the room, and to this day still have some great friends because of it. Included in these people is my wife, who posts on here as someone_else. Shortly after meeting her in person, and starting to date I remembered a promise God had made to me years before, which finally showed me why I was supposed to move to Brisbane. We soon started attending the local Salvation Army.

Since then we have become adherents, are youth group leaders, and have just returned from a Salvos mission to Zimbabwe where we worked alongside local Christians at Masiye Camp running week-long camps for AIDS affected youth.

So, quite simply, my testimony is this: it doesn't matter that you can't see why things are happening, God knows where you need to be, and when, and He will get you there somehow. He prepares you for what you will face, you just have to trust Him when He says "GO!"

 

[Abiel]

TESTIMONY -
3 months ago i saw a position of 'chaplain' advertised in my old high school, i initially didnt even think twice about applying for it as i was in a full time job, and it is a very big thing for me to step out of my comfort zone, but i was encouraged to apply by my mentor, and so i did. I sent off my application and a couple of weeks later i got an interview.

I went into my interview extremely nervous, but when i went into the room where the interview pannel was, i found i already knew 4 out of the 5 interviewers which automatically to away a majority of my nervs and made me much more confident.
Later that day i received a phone call saying i had the Job!!! PRAISE GOD...

But it doesnt end there...

I went to my current boss and said i had to leave my role as a full time store manager position because i had been given the job as chaplain 2 DAYS a week. (thus my income would drop dramatically).
He basically said to me "then we can give you 2 days off a week so you can do your chapliancy and then you can still work here if you want"
PRAISE GOD!
I was worried about not having enough money and finding a second job and stuff, and i didnt even have to worry.. God had it all under control.

Superb!

 

[Abiel]

i would like to share my testimony of how i came to be at the salvos

just some backgroud

i grew up in a christian home and went to church with my folks every week. i became a christian at 11yrs
I praise God for leading me to the salvos. i finaly found a place i fit and i know that god wants me to stay there

I hear stories like this so often- mine is similar! Praise God that he is bringing so many new folk into the Army.

 

[Abiel]

And hello to someone-else and elmo! Welcome to Cyber Corps!

 

[elm0]

Thanx Abiel

 

[Abiel]

God is awesome! It's a long story, so just the latest chapter for now.

Captain is going to go ahead to get me enrolled for distance learning at William Booth College, so I too can be a Captain! God has done what He told me He would do 4 years ago. And more besides.

When God makes a promise, He keeps it. That is my testimony today.

 

[elm0]

That's right!!! God told me the name of my wife years before I even met her.
The worst thing about that was that I then had to be patient and wait for God's timing to be perfect. I'm usually a patient person, but when I know something like that I just want it to hurry up and happen!

 

[InTheFlame]

Like Abiel, I've got a long story (or a lot of short ones, depending how you look at it!). So here's the most current -

I've struggled with depression for most of my life. Looking back, I think it started when I was 4 - so I've got a couple of decades of dealing (and not dealing) with it in my life. God's helped me a lot through the years, slowly showing me the causes and triggers of depression in my life and how to work through the issues and deal with it. Through it I've learnt one hugely important thing that I wish everyone knew on such a deep level - there is one person in the world that I can utterly rely on and trust. He'll never let me go, he'll never get impatient with my slow progress, he'll never give up, he'll always understand. He always has my best interests in mind.

He led me to my current church, and has encouraged me to share myself with others - especially my struggles. I've never trusted people easily - as a kid I was always told people can't be trusted, and attacked or rejected when my defenses were down - so it's a pretty hard mindset to work my way out of! But he's patient... and right now I'm in an 'up' time, and I can look back over my life and see the changes he's made to me... it's a miracle!

 

[elm0]

He led me to my current church, and has encouraged me to share myself with others - especially my struggles. I've never trusted people easily - as a kid I was always told people can't be trusted, and attacked or rejected when my defenses were down - so it's a pretty hard mindset to work my way out of!

Sounds familiar, except I learned the hard way as a child not to trust people. I don't know if that makes it harder than just being told to not trust people, but it's a constant struggle for me to share with others how I'm really feeling. I have an awesome group of friends that make it a lot easier, so I thank God for them.

 

[Abiel]

It seems like depression is something several of us live with. I am on medication for the same. Mine is chemical. As long as I take my medicine, I function quite well, with ups and downs evened out. My battle in recent times has been with well meaning people trying to deliver me from a non existant demon. The prayers I need are for healing, not deliverance.

 

[InTheFlame]

It seems like depression is something several of us live with. I am on medication for the same. Mine is chemical. As long as I take my medicine, I function quite well, with ups and downs evened out. My battle in recent times has been with well meaning people trying to deliver me from a non existant demon. The prayers I need are for healing, not deliverance.

Abiel -

I'm not on medication. I can function through it, with a fight, and medication could cause more problems than it solves. Since mine was largely situational, and God is consistently leading me through a spiritual/emotional healing process, it's slowly getting better. I don't know that it'll ever go away entirely but... it's like Paul's thorn in the flesh, isn't it? Sometimes God uses our weaknesses to display his strength.

 

[Abiel]

Just like Paul's thorn. I used to hide the fact- but actually now I am more open about it, God has used my condition to bless others who hide embarrassed.

 

[Abiel]

I feel the need to testify to the beauty of God's word. How, when followed obediently, it keeps us on the path. I need to do this because I am seeing the consequences of Christians thinking they know better than God, and the only way out would be for the clock to turn back, and for God's word to be followed. And yet that cannot be. But I thank Him for his word to us, that we can be kept safe from harm. He is truely the rock that is higher than myself.

 

[Abiel]

OKay. So God is working his purpose out. Thats all I can say for now, but thank you for the prayers for my friends. They are bearing fruit. Praise God.

 

[Abiel]

I had a super time at the Children's Ministry conference, Eastbourne last weekend. Duggie dug dug is so cooooool. The testimony is this- I have been so concerned to get as much teaching stuffed between the ears of the little ones that I have forgotten something very important...

TO HAVE FUN!!!

This kids need to know that God is fun! They need to experience the joy that is found in the Lord, in fellowship etc. Knowing the 10 commandments off by heart is great, but fun is better!

So my testimony and commitment is this:

So much I fail to experience the joy of the LOrd for myself, due to depression etc, but from this day forth, I will live joyously, have more fun, and have fun with the young people, and the old people and every one in between. I will not rest until there is a smile on every face, and joy in every heart!

 

[elm0]

Great commitment Abiel!

My commitment at the moment is to 'count it joy' to face my depression! Weird huh?