I started reading my Bible more, writing what I had been thinking about in a journal, going to different worship services, and so on; basically doing whatever I thought I needed to do to get closer to God. For a good while, I went from place to place, looking for whatever it was, or whoever it was, that I thought was just the thing for me. I would occasionally find a place that I'd kind of get excited about. I might get some "food for thought" or something that would make me feel convicted for a while, but I never found something that lasted - invariably, I would always fall back into sin. Nothing I was doing or being taught was giving me the power to live a clean life.

God continued to work many things out that led both Carrie and I to where we are right now. I remember having a dream one night that I started speaking in tongues, and it was so very good! God also showed me that I was never going to get out of sin without the holy Ghost. The strength I'd need to overcome sin is only in the holy Ghost. These were the kinds of experiences that God was using to draw us to Him.

One night I was on the Internet and I started searching speaking in tongues and the holy Ghost. I quickly found a page called "Isaiah 58 Broadcast & Tracts". I clicked on the link and one of the first things on the page read, "If you have received the baptism of the holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, or if you are seeking this blessed experience, then this page is for YOU!!!" Something in me believed this when I read it.

I began reading some of the materials that were on this web site and I was shocked at what I was reading. What I read was that I was not saved - no one was until the end, after they've obeyed God and followed the Spirit for their whole life. I read that I didn't have the Spirit of God in me until I heard the Spirit testify in tongues. I read that I had to live a clean life if I wanted to make it in the end. God had prepared my heart to receive what these men were writing about. It was so good to read that there was really only one body; that the power of God really did move on people; that I was not right with God with the kind of life I was living, and so on. I wanted to live clean and for the first time someone told me that it was possible with the holy Ghost.

I sent off for some materials from the webmaster of the page (Gary Savelli) and it wasn't long before the tracts and tapes came in the mail. I absolutely LOVED those tracts and tapes. I listened to those tapes so many times, loving every last bit of what I was hearing. I felt like my soul was going to explode on the inside. I was so happy.

Carrie and I were then invited to go to a home prayer meeting at Pastor John Clark's house. During that first meeting, I remember feeling like everything was perfect. The people mostly talked about what God had been doing for them. If someone felt like singing a song, they'd pick up their guitar and sing one. I heard many speaking in tongues. Pastor John prayed for many people, and laid hands on them. I saw the power of God move on people. Again, everything just seemed perfect.

We went to the meetings for about a year, doing whatever we felt like we had to do to fully repent, and receive the holy Ghost. I felt like I had felt the power of God in these meetings but I wasn't sure if I had really heard the spirit testify through me.

Then, after one meeting in September of 1998, the power of God started falling on some people while they were talking. I remember feeling a tug from the Spirit, encouraging me to just get over my flesh and surrender to the Spirit. At that very moment, I heard Pastor John say, “Turn up the volume!” (I am a fairly soft-spoken person, and it is not natural for me to just “turn it up”.) Well, that’s what I did, and immediately the Spirit took over my body and I started jumping for joy and speaking in tongues. I can't explain what I was feeling that night! It was really, really wonderful – an experience "out of this world”. I felt like I was floating for days, and wondered if my feet would ever hit the ground again! Praise God!!

To end this testimony for now, I want to finish with what I started saying in the beginning of my testimony. We were in a prayer meeting last weekend and we were all praying. The Lord spoke to me, "Remember what you prayed for a while back, how you wanted to know who it was that knows God and can show you the way, well look where you are now." I looked around the room and saw myself surrounded by people who knew the real God, and a pastor who was showing me the right way. I felt so blessed and even now, I can't hold back the tears when I think of how much God has blessed me.

    Parents stress to the children
    the importance of making their lives
    valuable to others.