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TESTIMONY PAGE

Testimony from

Austin Nicholas
(Bromsgrove Corps, UK)
January 1st, 2006

Austin's website. http://www.myspace.com/austin2350

With God on my side and with the light of Jesus shining like a torch ahead of me than I shall not falter from the path of duty no matter how rough the journey maybe.

God has a purpose for everyone, even if it doesn't seem like it. If you put all your faith in God then the way ahead will be made clear, if you also pray to God and ask him then he will guide you through the murky forest of the earth and lead you to the deep ocean of love on the other side in heaven.

Remember my friends that God created everyone in his likeness to do his will and be a beacon to all those who have drifted from the path of righteousness and have fallen into the pit of despair, and it is our duty as servants of the Lord to help everyone who needs it even if they say they don't.

There are many different ways to help someone, you can give them food when they are hungry, you can give them clothes when they are cold and you can even help them by giving them the tools, equipment and other items so they can fend for themselves and learn new skills. Also if you help them this way then they could earn money for food and other basic life saving items by using the skills and equipment to help someone else.

My prayer is that the world will be cleansed of all the hurt and despair and everyone will lift their voices in praise of the Lord and be glorified for a life that is full of peace and love that we don't see now. I also pray that God will send another Pentecost to kick start the life changing process of cleansing that I have already spoken about.

“For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him will be saved.” I was walking through the pit of shame for five long years until I found God talking to me through the music I was playing and the people i was talking to at Summer School '06.

but above all, if it wasn't for the Lord working through Wendy Woodhouse and other folk at Willenhall Corps who took me under their wing and helped me to find a roof to put over my head when my dad kicked me out and also inviting me to Summer School then I don't know where I will be today!

The subject of Summer School this year was 'Purpose Driven Life' that was based on the book by Rick Warren which states that everyone on earth has been put here for a purpose and it is everyone's responsibility to find what their purpose of life is.

I honestly believe this to be true because I am an ex-Salvationist who was in the Salvation Army for 17 years but only a senior soldier for the last two. I'm 21 now and in the last five years since i left the Army my life has gone down the drain. I was drinking, smoking, having sex out of marriage and going in out of jobs. All this was causing me a lot of stress and my home life suffered because of it. I couldn't keep up with my rent, council tax or any of my other bills and was getting deeper and deeper into debt causing me more stress. I them gave up living on my own and moved into my dad's which at the time I thought was a good idea but we kept arguing about different things and I lost my job at Poundland which was a good thing in a way because it gave me a chance to start going to the Army again in Willenhall, but about a month after i left work my dad kicked me out and if it was thanks to a friend along with Captains Stephen and Jenny Foreman that I managed to find accommodation at the William Booth Center in Birmingham. For the first month i was still drinking and smoking but about a fortnight before I was due to go to Summer School I was drinking more than i used to and going out more or less every night and coming home so drunk I remember how I managed to get back or what happened the night before. It wasn't until the first Saturday night at Summer School I stopped smoking. It's been a lot harder to give up the drink but I pray to God that he gives me the strength to give up for good so that I can return to uniform and worship him the way he wants me to and to do the work he wants me to do.

Whilst I was at summer School I felt the lord's presence in a way I had not experienced before in and through the actions of my adopted brothers and sisters in God's family. The talks and prayers i had with a friend from Droitwich were a real inspiration to me and I can never repay him for his help through that difficult time in my life. Also I thank God for five people who are really dear to me who have helped me through. Firstly you have two girls who are both from Bromsgrove Corps who i spent most of my spare time with at Summer School, because during the time I spent with them I didn't think about smoking or drinking and also i felt the Lord calling me through them to move to Bromsgrove myself and join the Corps there, which I am thankful for because I am helping out with the band which I love doing also I help out with picking up the old folk who go to the hall on the mini bus. I thank God too for Graeme from Gloucester who I have known since my first ever Summer School and I Thank God he was there this year and I thank God he was because of the fun the two of us had during band practice and the talks we had throughout the week. On the Sunday night at Summer School i burst into tears for the first time in a very long time. That week i felt so close to God that during the rehearsals towards the end of the week I was very tearful during the band piece entitled “Shine As The Light” which is an arrangement of songs like “i Am The Candle Of The Lord” and “Wonderful Counselor”. This piece was ideal for me because it felt like it was written directly from my life and being used as my personal testimony because its written about someone who was living like Christ but due to the temptations of the world they were drawn away from God and live and earthly sinful life. Then they cry out at several points in the piece “Light Me!” and towards the end of the music they shout it loud and God answers and fills them with the Holy Spirit and right at the end of the music the Cornet's sing out with the song “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God Among Us.” It was at this point that I felt God touch me and I burst into tears again.

This was because I felt that I was the person in the piece due to the troubles I have had over the last five years.

I urge each and everyone who has read this to think about all those I have mentioned and that you will pray for each and everyone of them and I also ask that you would pray too for me because it has not been easy for me to write any of this but I do believe that God has told me to write to tell you about what he can do in your life if you put him first and that you will put your faith and trust in him as I have.

Thank You and God bless you till the end of time.

Austin Nicholas (Bromsgrove Corps)

(in the picture Austin is the guy on the right)

Click here for Austins website. http://www.myspace.com/austin2350

MARIA ANDREACCHI - CANADA
Mon, 06 Feb 2006 07:46:05

Hey Gee Jo, Here goes my testimony. Keep up the wonderful work dear brother in Jesus!!!

I got saved about two and a half years ago. God was clearly speaking to me and drawing me to Himself and I didn't even know it. I always had a longing to know God, and even as a child I remember praying and sitting for hours contemplating God and sensing Him being real. However, the God that was represented to me through my Catholic upbringing was not the God I know today. I guess what I mean is that I did not know Him and He was misrepresented to me by the church. How sad. Growing up in a church and never hearing the Gospel. False doctrine and man made rituals seemed to take president and supersede scripture which should be our ONLY authority. I had never heard that being a Christian is a decision that you must make for yourself. I was on the wide road to destruction and did not know it.

I reached a point where I did not even care to know God because He seemed so distant and dead like He dwelled only in this "religious" place. The deadness in the church was so agonizing and I never knew how much He loved me. Years later, I knew there had to be more and I wanted to find out who this God really was! My soul was longing for Him.

I was seeking before I got saved and I reached a rock bottom point in my life. I was really depressed and felt like my life had NO meaning. I really did not care if I was alive or dead. The enemy caused me to feel inadequate, unloved, depressed and insecure. Then God used my saved aunt to phone me periodically to tell me to seek God and get to know Him. This aunt had been praying for me for years. Then I met this Christian counsellor who ended up being a Christian and I didn't even know. I felt Jesus' love through him. He suggested I go to a church to meet people. He gave me the Gospel of John.

I started reading the Gospel of John and the truth opened up to me through His Holy Spirit. What was missing from my former "religion?" Why did I not feel like I knew God in the church I was at? What was missing?

I started going to a Bible study at an Evangelical church near by. I found myself hungry for the word. I don't remember ever reading the Bible before that. Needless to say...the word of the Holy One spoke to my heart. I fell in love with Jesus and recognized my need for Him. It was a process for me, but I think it all made sense one day when I was in the car listening to a preacher saying "are you saved? You can be sure of going to heaven.'" And he explained how to become a Christian. I remember accepting Christ right then and there in my car. I was baptized about nine months later, and that was such an amazingly powerful experience. Jesus was so real to me and I wanted the world to know!

I have an amazing peace now and He is in control of my life. I am blessed by His word and long to know Him more. Our God is a consuming fire and it is hard to keep the joy of the Lord to yourself---you want to explode! Salvation is clearly a work of God and when we stop trying to work at it our self and we come to the end of our pride, then He is able to come in.

The Lord has answered many prayers in my life, but most importantly he answered my aunt's prayers for me to be saved. We must never give up on others coming to Christ.

Blessings in Jesus name!!!

Maria
from Canada

PS. Spiritual warfare is ALIVE and REAL. I have experienced and continue to experience it and many people can concur.... most importantly the Bible says it is real. Satan wants to deceive people as an angel of light!