I was not brought up in a particularly religious home. My parents were good people, worked hard, and took good care of my sister and me. We rarely went to church but, as a child, I remember believing in God. When I was a senior in high school, I became very ill and almost died. I was in intensive care for about a month and my parents were told I probably wouldn’t survive, but amazingly I did. Unfortunately, this experience didn’t bring me closer to God. Instead, I wanted to experience all the things I might have missed, resulting in my making poor lifestyle choices.

I later married, and my husband and I were going nowhere spiritually. Then one day he came home from a sales call and shared how a client had told him that he needed Jesus as his Savior. Quite honestly, I thought this was good for him- he needed this- but of course I didn’t. Yet as I saw my husband’s life changed, I began to understand that Jesus was real and by accepting Him as my Savior, my life could change too.

We found a wonderful church, Eastgate, where the pastors love the members in mentoring and teaching them. Our lives totally changed, becoming one of trusting God in all things, and our marriage was renewed and strengthened. We experienced a new closeness and joy like we’d never known.

The Lord took my husband home over 20 years ago. I cared for him till he died and had the privilege of doing the same for my parents, both of whom came to know Jesus. If I didn’t have the Lord in my life, I would not have been able to do all this. He gave me the strength and grace when I felt I couldn’t go on anymore.

Now as a widow, the Lord Jesus continues to strengthen me and help me through all the struggles and challenges of life. I shudder to think where I’d be without Him.

Jan M.   

I believe in MIRACLES, and because of a MIRACLE I am a new man.  My wife experienced the same MIRACLE on the same day.

We were both devoted to our Catholic church from birth. We attended Mass most every day. My wife had a great devotion to Mary.  As a family, we recited the rosary daily. I was very close with my parish priest.   I attended many retreats.

My wife and I attended a charismatic prayer meeting and we both received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We had never read the Bible; we were told “only the church was able to instruct what to believe”.

Our second miracle happened when we received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This gave us an insatiable thirst for the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit became our instructor.

In our Catholic Jerusalem Bible we found the source of our miracles.  II Corinthians 5:17 reads: “And for anyone who is in Christ there is a new creation, the old creation has gone and now the new one is here.  It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation” (to others like you).

Now we live a new life full of love and joy and the assurance of our salvation. You too can receive this miracle and be assured you will never suffer the incarceration of purgatory when your life is over. 

Peter D.

I was raised in a large established church where following church criteria was my assurance of salvation. I always considered myself to be a “good person” who stayed away from “obvious” sins and situations that would threaten my good standing with the church and God.

When we were first married, my husband came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior through work relationships. That’s when, by his newfound joy and peace, I started to question my own faith. My initial “mistake” of thinking myself good, soon came to an end when I discovered in the word of God (the Bible) that we are ALL born sinners and NONE are without the stain of sin. I was just as guilty of sin as any addict, liar, sexual sinner, thief, etc. I needed Christ as my Redeemer…my salvation was in Him, not any church or work of my own. I was going to hell in my own good works.

There is no lesser sin- sin is sin and needs to be washed and cleansed in the blood of Jesus. The cross of Calvary is no fairytale. Jesus did die there and it’s because He did that, we have eternal life.

We have raised a large family in the principles and precepts of the Word of God and we have seen His faithfulness in every situation and trial, in every relationship, in every area of our lives. His promises are true.

Adele C. 

Early on, I was on a search, but didn't realize it. My family moved a lot when I was growing up and didn't attend church. I would make my own way to whatever church was closest, and participate in whatever way seemed appropriate: an altar boy in the Episcopal Church, a Scout in the Congregational church,  I even earned the religion merit badge. In my hometown in sixth grade, a neighbor boy asked if I was saved. I didn't understand the question at all, and he never again spoke to me.

I checked out the Methodist and Catholic churches next. At seventeen, I read the Bible cover to cover and asked to be baptized. I got the sprinkles but no instruction, and nothing about being saved.

I got a job and was sent out of state for training. My roommate was always singing and happy. One day I asked him what made him that way. He told me about Jesus and suggested we go to church that coming Sunday. We had both flown to training and didn't have cars so we walked to the nearest church, an Assembly of God. When my training was over, I sought out an Assembly ofGod church and at a service accepted the altar call for salvation.

Since then, we have changed where we live, but the biggest changes are in my wife and me. God is good.

Peter G.

I was brought up in the Catholic Church where I had my first Communion and Confirmation. I attended Mass and went to Confession at times, until the eighth grade. During high school, I lost interest and did not attend church.  After I married my wife, we went to a Catholic church near our home.

After having our first child, a few men from Bath Iron Works where I worked would talk to me about salvation and being born again. I believed in Jesus, but didn’t understand how to be saved. After a time of searching and struggle with depression, I accepted Jesus as my Savior, became born again and started sharing my faith.

I began to attend prayer meetings with some friends from work and my wife always came with me. I did not play as much sports as I had before becoming born again. I stopped drinking and smoking in order to please the Lord. My wife and I started to attend a small local church for about a year, then were led to go to Eastgate Christian Fellowship, where we’ve been for 32 years.

Since I accepted Jesus as my Savior, He is the source of my learning the truth about life: why we are here, what happens when we pass on, the gift of eternal life, seeking His love and power to help others be saved. Alleluia!

Bob  V.

I was brought up a Catholic from childhood through my teenage years. I left the church after my parents no longer forced me to go.   I was married in the Catholic Church, and right before my marriage I started battling severe anxiety. I would struggle with this anxiety for many years to come, trying everything from psychic readings and hypnosis to counseling, behavioral therapy and several more things to help rid me of anxiety. Then I finally hit bottom and started to seek God. Instantly, the anxiety started improving, yet ultimately caused my divorce.

In 2007, I read a prayer and was water baptized at a Baptist church where I attended. After 6 years or so, I began questioning the lukewarm teaching there and started searching for another church. Through a friend, I went to Eastgate Christian Fellowship where the pastors counseled me twice a week for 6 months. There I experienced real salvation, deliverance, baptism in the Holy Spirit with the gifts of the Spirit, and the meaning of a true Christian life.

I then repented of my whole life, changing my life to seek a life of holiness. I learned what love is and found people who loved me because we all love Jesus. I truly know what it is to be a Spirit-filled Christian. I am forever grateful for His love for me! I was purchased with His blood and I will seek holiness in my life because of who He is and what He did.

Bob M.

 I was born into a Christian family with wonderful parents, I heard about the bible and all about God, and Jesus dying for me.  At a young age I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and take me to heaven. In my teenage years I stayed involved in our church but I began to realize 2 things. 

First, I sinned easily and often. I avoided big sins.  Not that I didn’t want to, but somehow I did not by the grace of God.  I felt pretty good about the fact that I didn’t do many of those things.  I was full of pride and self-righteousness.  Jesus dealt very strongly with this kind of person.  It is a terrible sin thinking you are better than the next guy.  Outwardly I was a pretty good person, inwardly I was full of sin and I knew it. 

Second, whatever other Christians had, I did not have. I knew other Christians who were not religious but different than everybody else.  I wanted to be like them.  I thought I had to go through some traumatic experience to change.  When I was 19, I prayed

“Lord, I admit that I have sinned against you, I ask your forgiveness. I give my life to you- do whatever you want with me.

It was not a dramatic experience but God took me up on that prayer and my life has never been the same since.  I serve Him as He shows me what to do, and when this life is over, I look forward to His wonderful presence and serving Him forever.

Glenn A.

I was raised in a Catholic home but always had many questions that couldn’t be answered. The Gospel was first shared with me when I was in 7th grade, but I did not receive it at that time. I continued to search by looking into psychology, philosophy, etc., yet found no answers there either. A former high school friend shared the Gospel with me again in 1978 and challenged me.

In 1978, I went to an event called “Jesus ‘78” in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I heard speakers like Keith Green, David Wilkerson and others, and it was there that I gave my heart to the Lord. I read tracts on the error of Catholicism and presented them to a priest, who didn’t like what the tracts said. However, I was convinced that I needed to leave the Catholic Church.

There really isn’t much in my New Life that resembles the Old Life and I guess that is a good thing. My life is a continuing work that He will complete! Jesus is my everything; the giver of every breath that I take. He deserves all praise, honor and glory!

Diane E.

I was raised in a Christian home and my childhood was awesome.  I had a loving family and I thought I could take God seriously later on in life and do whatever I wanted for now. So I played nice:  I went to church and behaved myself but in private I was rebellious and immoral. As a teenager, I started dabbling in alcohol and smoking and didn’t guard my eyes and ears when it came to movies and music.

By 21, I was getting drunk all the time and was addicted to cigarettes. My relationships were damaging and I was trying to “find love” where all there was,  was emptiness and hurt. When I was 25, I was completely out of control, yet no one knew. I was drunk every night and went to work drunk every day. I’d buy more alcohol on the way home from work and wait till everyone was asleep to drink it and hide the bottle. That was my miserable life and I was powerless to change.

One night when I was drunk, I could feel how empty and lost I was so wrote in my journal. Weeks later, I looked in my journal and was surprised to read pages of desperate words, “Help me, please help me. I’m so lost. Help me.”

God came into my life, but not how you’d expect. He just showed me my sinful, black heart like a disease festering inside and I couldn’t get away from myself. I needed to face my sin or I knew my end. I was at a crossroad and only one way made sense- Jesus. He gently guided me to Himself, showing me my sin and completely delivering me from alcohol and smoking. He has transformed me into a new creation and given me a wonderful husband and stepdaughter. Jesus means hope and joy and His word is true!

Sarah M. 

I was born and raised a Catholic and went to Catholic school from 1st to 8th grade. I made my first Communion and Confirmation, went to Confession often and prayed the Rosary. I went to Mass every week and observed all the Holy Days.

I married a nice Catholic man and after a few years we had our first child. I was very happy, but my husband was in a rock band and it started taking a toll on our marriage. My marriage began to fall apart a few years later, and yet God had mercy on us. Someone in the band became Born Again and shared the good news of Jesus Christ with us.  My husband and I both received the Lord and He saved our marriage.

Later on, my husband left the band and we both became very involved in the Catholic Church. But the more we read our Bibles, the more we found Catholicism in error. Finally, 5 years after receiving Christ, the Holy Spirit led us out of that church and I asked God to lead us to a church that teaches the truth from the Bible. He led us to Eastgate in 1985. God blessed us with a beautiful family, caring pastors, and a loving church family: brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Over 10 years ago, my husband went home to be with the Lord. That was a very difficult time, but Jesus spoke to my heart and said He would never leave me or forsake me. He hasn’t left me and I know He never will. He is faithful and true. The Lord has blessed me with another wonderful husband and I am very thankful.

Debbie H.