My Testimony
I’d have to be insane to NOT love, trust and put all of my hope in Jesus, my Savior, Deliverer, Redeemer and dearest Friend.
Words alone could never express my love and gratitude for the grace and mercy shown, in my life, by God my loving Father, who never let go. He already had known I was His.
As I sat praying and wondering how to share with you today, this story of God’s grace, a song began to play and has continued to sweetly run through my heart and mind, because it’s words ring true, in my life, from the very first day.
Here is the chorus of that song:
Mercy Said No
Mercy said no
I’m not gonna let Melissa go
I’m not going to let her slip away
Melissa doesn’t have to be afraid
Mercy said no
Sin will never take control
Life and death stood face to face and
Darkness tried to steal my heart away
But thank you Jesus, that mercy said NO.
Keeping those words in mind:
Climb on the express train of Melissa’s life so far, with me.
Let’s journey back in time and see where in my life His great mercy took hold, and how it continues even today.
As God began to knit me together in an unsure, abused, teenage girl’s womb, my life was not plucked away, Mercy said NO and I’m here today.
A few months later, nameless in a crowded foster home, I fell asleep sicker than anyone knew. Lying there in a coma, Mercy said NO, I have a plan for her, and I am here today.
Through the years that followed, it is because of God alone, His great love, mercy and grace, that I am even alive and sharing with all of you right now.
From abandonment, to adoption, receiving a name, hearing about God in a church, placing that first seed and spark in my heart.
Followed by abuse of every sick kind, rejection, attempts to silence me, fear, confusion, suicide attempts, group homes, running away, promiscuousness, homelessness, doing what ever it took for my next meal, rape and alcoholism to numb, then finally turning 18, marring an abusive and much older man, thinking it would be freedom, then several times almost dying at his hand.
I believe through all of this, though I didn’t know Him, God definitely knew me. He was my shield and fortress and continued to stir in my heart a desire and need for HIM.
I’d like to say it ended there, but many more years followed with abuse, tremendous loss and so much more, all because I wanted God on my own terms. I just wanted him to hand out justice to those who had hurt me, and in this thinking I had missed something huge.
What about my own sin? the punishment I deserved? Hmmmm I was guilty of doing some pretty awful things too.
It was three years ago that place of brokenness arrived. My need for Jesus became suddenly and overwhelmingly clear, that only through His grace, believing Jesus died in my place, removing my debt, only in this would I find life.
I needed His mercy and forgiveness and realized through Him alone would I begin to heal, forgive others, learn about love, and in Him find hope and my reason for living.
Is my life perfect today? Uhh nope, but doesn’t change His love for me.
Have I been abused since then? Yep quite recently actually because of this new found love for Jesus❤, but He’s even working that out for His glory and my good.
Here is why my heart joyfully chooses to trust Him each day, no matter what occurs….
He who began a good work in Melissa will be faithful to complete it.
He is the reason, I get out of bed each day with hope, the reason I have breath to share my story, because of His love for me, I can love others no matter what they do to me. He is how I find peace when things seem impossible, I no longer need to feel ashamed, I am redeemed and I am loved!
Because there in NO condemnation for Melissa who is in Christ Jesus, I can now boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive grace and mercy to help in times of need.
Get Free Bible Training – This Woman that He Made
Jennifer Champion
United States
I live in Northport which is a small city in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA. Tuscaloosa is a vibrant place that is home to the University of Alabama. It is known for the Crimson Tide, a nationally ranked college football team as well as it’s place in history as the birthplace of Segregation among whites and people of color. On every corner there is a church yet attendance is in decline. It is a beautiful place that is still rebuilding after a tornado came through and destroyed over 5,000 buildings and took almost 50 lives. Apartments are booming left and right yet we do not have enough shelters for the homeless. My mission field is Tuscaloosa County. It is my passion to reach the lost and hurting in the wooded homeless camps or those in jail. I was led by the Lord to reach out and take the gospel to those that struggle with addictions and poverty. Below is my personal testimony of God’s grace in my life and I take the opportunity to share it with others seriously.
See, Jesus picked me up right where I was and forgave me. On a nasty hotel room floor in Las Vegas almost twenty years ago he freed me from over twelve years of drug and alcohol addiction. It was a sin I had lived in for way too long.
He freed me from the guilt of an abortion at seventeen and from years of promiscuity.
***
He forgave me of the pain I had caused so many people like my mom, my grandparents, my friends, my husband and my child. He stayed with me as I struggled in a failing marriage to a man I loved for over twenty years. He did not leave me as I went through a painful divorce.
Later in my life, Jesus would rescue me again from the sorrow I suffered from the sudden death of my ex-husband. On steps in the parking deck at Druid City Hospital, he gave me the strength to tell our daughter about her daddy’s death. A year later he gave me the courage to forgive the man that had caused his death.
Jesus wasn’t done rescuing me though. A short time later he stayed with me and my daughters and protected us in my second marriage to an emotionally and physically abusive man. In June of 2011, he made sure that we escaped from what would have been a murder-suicide.
My life had become unmanageable and I was ashamed. I was embarrassed, scared and had no confidence. Jesus stayed with me as my girls and I found ourselves starting over alone in a garage apartment with very little to call our own. Jesus gave me the resources and patience to get through another divorce.
I am hardheaded and the Lord has used times in my life when I was at rock bottom to speak to me. See, when I was in the craziness of my addiction, I couldn’t hear him. When I was high, my focus was not on him so he could not be seen. When I was drunk, my hangovers sickened me to the point that I couldn’t feel him near. It took life getting hard, unbearable even before I knew he had never left me. The choices I had made during my life were sinful and they didn’t affect just me. They affected everyone around me.
Jesus showed me that I mattered to him even though I felt worthless as a mother, a daughter, a woman, a friend, a granddaughter and a human being. He showed me that life could be different.
Today, my third (and final) husband Patrick and I along with our five children look to the Lord daily for guidance in all that we do. Jesus guides our steps into the homeless camps around Tuscaloosa County where we minister to those in need. He has placed me as a Celebrate Recovery Inside leader in the Tuscaloosa County Jail to minister to women inmates struggling with their own addiction and losses.
Jesus keeps our cars running so that we can pick up homeless people or women released from jail and bring them to church on Sunday. He provides food for our pantry to feed the hungry. He has blessed us with a home that we open to groups of men and women that are hungry for his saving power.
My life is not without troubles and pain. I still grieve when someone dies from an overdose or is killed in a car accident caused by drunk driving. I suffer alongside my homeless friend in the ICU as he watches his wife die. I still get anxious when the bills come in and it doesn’t seem we have the money to cover them. I still cringe when I hear a siren and our daughter is on the roads. Life is not ever going to be without problems and sadness but it is so much easier to get through it all with Jesus going before me, walking beside me, and standing behind me. I am also reminded by Jesus every day that this life is just temporary and there is something far greater waiting on me in heaven.
If you are tired and broken tonight, give it to Jesus. If you are fighting a battle that you cannot win, give it to Jesus. If you are ashamed, scared, depressed, miserable, and lonely – give it to Jesus. Do not leave here without asking him to forgive you and to take away the load you have been carrying around for so long.
***
As the Founder and Executive Director of The Find HOPE Here Project, I am constantly looking with new eyes at the world around me. There was a time before the Lord called me to minister to the downtrodden right here in my own community that I would walk or drive past the man on the corner, dirty and begging for a couple of dollars. There was a time when I would say things like, “they brought it on themselves” when someone was arrested. Now, the Lord has taken that hardened heart of mine and humbled it. He is still molding me into a person with growing empathy and compassion of the people in my world. I thank him daily for the vision he has given me of building twelve missions centers in Tuscaloosa to serve those living in poverty and to build The Refuge, a shelter and transitionally living home for people without a home. I pray daily that he will use me in a mighty way to grow his kingdom.
My family and I attend Rosedale Baptist Church where I have been a member since 2011. My husband and I teach Sunday School, help with missions such as Operation Christmas Child and Vacation Bible School. We love our church family and love seeing the Lord at work there.
I have attended briefly New Orleans Theological Baptist Seminary but he just got to be too expensive for me to continue. Then I came across CLI and praised the Lord for this opportunity to delve deep into his Word and grow closer to him. I never finished college because of the lack of money and time but CLI allows me to do my classes on my own time from the comfort of my home. I was so excited to see in my first Connections Course at CLI an entire section devoted to personal and family devotions. My bible is ragged, held together with paperclips, staples and a little tape. It goes with me everywhere. It is where I go for decision making and it was the first place I turned to in prayer when it came time to make a decision about whether or not to attend CLI.
###
Biblically Sound Training
My name is Shanna Coker and I am from East Tennessee, US. I am married to my high school sweetheart, we have been married for 7 years now, and we have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter. My life can be crazy at times but I am so grateful from where God has brought me.
Growing up, my family didn’t talk about faith, God, etc. My father was an abusive drunk and my mother liked to stir the pot. I was very sick as a toddler ( 3 years old), I had what is called ITP. At the time, they had no idea about it, so I was having lots of tests run on me. I was always in and out of the hospital. I remember finally being home, yet I was still sick, and a Pastor and his deacons came to our house. They spoke with my parents and I remember them bringing me to the living room and sitting me down on the floor as they began to pray over me. I remember feeling a relief as they prayed. I was so young I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I was so grateful, even then.
As I got older I began to seek out Christ, going to local churches and such. But it wasn’t until I was about 22 years old before I decided to turn my life over to Christ and be who He wants me to be.
I have always felt like God has had some kind of calling for me, I know he has something amazing in store for me. I am still not quite sure what it is exactly but I am so excited to find out. Ideally, what I would like to eventually be some type of Christian Counselor. I have always been the “Go To” person for anyone that needs advice, but I would love to be able to do that on an everyday basis with the most Biblically sound training preparation. Ultimately, I plan to take this blessing with Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) and allow it to lead me where God wants me.
I happened upon CLI when trying to google free online bible study courses. And it is so hard for me to believe this opportunity is real because all I have ever wanted is to go to school to get Biblically sound training and further my knowledge of God’s Word and strengthen my faith. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always been an option, due to my husbands off and on health conditions, we are a low-income family and being able to afford a Bible college was not in our budget.
We have decided for me to stay home officially, and homeschool our daughter, which is very exciting and scary. But we want to be able to give her the most Biblically sound training as possible, and I feel that CLI is going to help me do that!
I also babysit 3-5 children through out the week and kind of do a pre-school type atmosphere with them, we learn Bible stories and songs and do lots of crafts to go along with the bible story. I just am so excited about CLI. I am trying not to break down in tears of joy. I can not thank you all enough!