Jessica's Story

"I just got your message tonight and I wanted to send you my story. I do not know if I can put all of it down on one page but I will do my best. Please feel free to share my story and even edit if it is too long. This is my complete story. Here goes...

"I was brought to Believers Church on business, I was working on a real estate transaction for Mark and Debbie Tietsort with my real estate partner Cathy. Before we sat down to go over the contracts Debbie was proudly showing us her church and telling me and my partner all about the work she does there. I must stop and tell you that at this point in my life I no longer even believed in a God, much less Jesus Christ. I was raised in a home where God played no role.

"As an adult I have been to numerous churches ranging from Pentecostal, Catholic, Methodist, Southern Baptist to Mormon. I could not even tell you the names of all the churches that I have been to in my search for God, but I can tell you of the judgment that was passed on by the members of that church. So I gave up, without truly ever getting started. Then Debbie Tietsort showed me the prayer room.

"I have a hard time putting into words the emotions that overcame me at that moment. Still a nonbeliever, I was rocked to the point of no longer being able to stand on my own two feet. I simply had to sit down. As Debbie continued talking with my real estate partner and the world continued on, I was overcome with emotions. I sat there shaking with tears that I desperately tried to hide, I FELT something but could not, until now, put it into words. I FELT God. I simply felt HIS presence and was shocked. I was here on business, not for God. I thought I had given up on there being a God. The idea that this church would build a room that would be open at all times to come pray in seemed selfless to me. Why would they do it?

"When we left that day I told Cathy, a deep believer, about what had happened and she immediately pulled the car over and prayed. I continued to feel His presence but by the time I got home I discounted these events as nothing. I continued to live my life in the manner that I had before, a nonbeliever. Then a few weeks later I received a call from my sister who was due a month later that she was on her way to the hospital after leaving her doctors appointment. Our baby was very sick and they were inducing labor immediately. Cathy was with me at the time and before I left she put her hands on me and prayed. She called her church and put my sister and the baby on a prayer list. My grandmother did the same and so did many others.

"My sister delivered a healthy, beautiful baby girl to the amazement of all the doctors working on her case. While my family continued to talk of the ignorance of all things medical I once again was rocked to my very soul. I KNEW that I had just witnessed a miracle beyond the one of life. I knew that my niece was healed through the power of prayer and I was instantly and to my own shock a great believer in Jesus Christ.

"That Sunday I entered Believers Church and felt peace instantly. I do not recall what the sermon was about, or what songs were sung. I spent the majority of that morning in tears and when total and complete strangers put there hands on my children to pray for their safety, their continued faith in God I was brought to my knees. I finally found what I had been searching my entire life for, home. I still fumble my way through this walk and feel inadequate about my knowledge yet I know that Believers is the place that will show me the way. That the people inside this church are the same as me, fallible. I rejoice every time that I enter this church and am thrilled to be surrounded by people who are enthusiastic about God and Jesus Christ.

"I pray that my story may inspire others and remind them that God is always with us, even when we think that we don't want him to be."

"May God continue to bless you,

Jessica"