My Testimony - by A. C. VanSchuyver
Although it is difficult for me to open up and share with other people, nobody loves God any more than I do. He’s the best Friend I have, and I’m so glad I have Him to talk things out with. The Lord has been a great Friend, Comforter, Healer and Savior...You name it, He does it for me. I asked God, "What do I need to do? You do so much for me." And that’s why I’m here to tell how great He is.
You think you can handle whatever comes your way; you don’t need any help. God’s been knocking at your door and you say, "I can handle it; not today." Leave the door closed and God will back off. But, one day you will need Him and you’ll cry out for Him, and I pray that door can be opened for you.
About 10:00 one night, I heard a noise in the back room. Thinking one of the kids was having a bad dream, I tried to wake him and couldn’t. I picked him up and he was blue and lifeless. I started CPR but it wasn’t working, and he was getting darker. Calling out to Ruth to call our doctor-nurse across the street, I headed that way. She told me to lay him down in their yard and started CPR. Looking at me, she screamed at her husband: "Call an ambulance; tell them it’s life and death!" The EMS got him into the ambulance and were working on him. I sat at his head and they radioed the hospital doctor that there were no vital signs, no response. Right then, I opened God’s door and said, "God, don’t take him; he’s too young. Let me go in his place." Thank God! He opened the door and came in. One hour later, our boy was sitting up in bed and talking! The doctors couldn’t explain it and said he wouldn’t "be right" because he was out so long. They were wrong. God doesn’t do things halfway!
The Lord made a way so we could adopt our little girl. It was His will that we get her. When she was six, she had a tumor in her ear. We took her to church for anointing and prayer. The next day we went for surgery, and the doctor discovered the tumor was gone! April told him, "God took it out last night." Then came Brother Terry Erwin, who was able to open the door wide and put God in my heart–not just my head. The Erwins came to visit when Ruth was in the hospital, and we talked and prayed. And God let me know we were to attend the church they pastored.
A visiting preacher was used of God to bring me to obedience to the plan of salvation. I was filled with the Holy Ghost and obeyed the command to be baptized in Jesus’ name. That changed everything! It gave me peace like I never knew; it gave me a new attitude and control and a personal walk with God that has not stopped growing. Since then, Ruth has been healed of cancer (when we thought surely we’d lose her). I came very near to death and was brought back by His power. I wasn’t there when Jesus did all the miracles in the Bible, but I was there through all the times of healing in my family. God is still alive. He can still raise the dead. He can still heal. My family is living proof. I wouldn’t trade my walk or fellowship with God for anything. I strongly encourage you–open that door NOW, before it’s too late!
For prayer or a free Home Bible Study,
contact the Paoli Pentecostal Church at (405) 484-7200
