Testimonials


Testimonial:  Pierce Family 

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Last year was our first Chest of Joash experience. We had just begun attending The Gathering in October.  By the time of Chest of Joash my husband, Richie, had not worked for 2.5 months due to an injury. Our reason for starting in October was because our marriage was well, over.
 
Needless to say we were both completely broken. That day our only prayer that morning was for God to heal our family - physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Since that day we have become faithful tithers, as well as giving above our tithes.
We both read the Bible daily. Our marriage and family are healed. Physically, God restored Richie from his inury. 
 
Beverly 
Sevierville, Tennessee
 

Testimonial: Rupp Family

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When I got married almost 7 years ago to a nonbeliever, I was a Christian but Jesus wasn't LORD of my life. About 3 years into our marriage God revealed to me what I truly was,  and showed me what He had done for me. After that I started reading the Bible everyday (morning, noon and night) and listening to Christian music and nothing else. So of course,  I started changing but my husband stayed the same. He would get frustrated when I mentioned the Bible or church. It got to the point where we both questioned our marriage. How could two people who have such different beliefs possibly stay together and raise a child. Everything was a conflict.
 
One night after a fight I kept thinking about the verse where Jesus was explaining if your eye offends you then pluck it out.  I started thinking - if my marriage was going to hold me back from God's will then maybe we shouldn't be together.
 
After reading Ephesians, I learned that if you are a Christian and your spouse is not, you should stay together and show God's love and just keep praying for them. So that's what I did. For three years I prayed for my husband and little by little I saw changes in him.

Then when we moved here in the spring of 2007 I found the Gathering. I made it my church home and loved everything about it. That December when The Chest of Joash came around I scrimped and saved as much as I could to give as much as possible without upsetting my husband. On the big day I walked up to the chest (5 months pregnant) holding my 5 year old's hand and we prayed for my husband's salvation. Then my 5 year old dropped our modest offering into the chest. Months went by and I just kept praying as I always did, until Easter Sunday of this year. I invited a few friends from our work to church and they decided to come so my husband joined. This was only the 3rd time in 6 years I had ever seen my husband in church but little did I know that that was the service that God decided to save my husband and change our lives forever.

In 6 short months - my husband was baptised, started reading his Bible, started giving our tithe, and volunteering in KidzPlayce. Now we are all part of a small group and thanks to God I have the husband and family I have always prayed for.
 
JoAnn
Sevierville, Tennessee
 

Testimonial: Cravy Family

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When I started training for photography a little over a year ago, I felt like that was God's way of answering my prayer that He would give me a means of income that I could use to give a little extra to our church's building fund. So at the end of last year (keep in mind business was not good yet) I made a pledge to God to give a certain percentage of the photography income for the first six months of 2007 to the building fund. In January business got so good that between my regular/real job and the photography I was working around 80 hours each week and getting very little sleep. God truly poured the blessings on! This past Sunday I took in the first payment of my pledge. Of course, the thought passed my mind that I sure could use that money for this piece or that piece of equipment. But a promise is a promise. So off to church the money went.

Little did I know that within forty-eight hours God would have 100% of the pledge handed back to me through a virtual stranger.

I have a client that really appreciates my work and feels that through my photos, he gets more income from his investment. He is a little on the "heavy maintenance" side. Tuesday he called and wanted to talk with me - again. I had my day already planned out but this is the man that had just 2 weeks ago given me a $300 bonus so  - I felt I owed him the time. We visited a while and he gave me some good business ideas and pointers. He and his wife walked me to the van and opened the door for me. Just before he closed the door he dropped a small roll of money into the pocket of the door and said, "Take your husband to dinner." I fussed at him a bit but he won - as usual. I thought he may have given me $100 in fives and tens since there were several bills there. When I got home and opened the money, the top bill was $100 and at that time I remember thinking, "boy, he has given me $200," a $100 and some fives and tens. When I opened the roll completely up, every single bill was a $100 bill. The total amount was exactly the same as the pledge I had just given at church Sunday!! I was numb and in awe that our God, as great as He is, took time out of His day for me, that He even knows my name.

Judy
Sevierville, Tennessee
 
 

Testimonial: Snyder Family

God has really been good to us in so many aspects. Almost 5 years ago I was working in a job I didn't like & so I had decided to give my notice go out on my own with only 3 months of work lined up in West Virginia and no clue after that. On my last day of work at the office, the new receptionists who I'd only ever said "Hello" to stopped me and told me she had a dream about me and in that dream God told her to tell me "it's going to be ok".

With tears in my eyes and for nearly 5 years now life has been great. I've been able to travel the country with a wonderful job and meet great people. I live a very blessed life and I'm able to help others; and people closest to me use me as a testimony of how God blesses your tithes.
The day we decided to start tithing I set aside 10% of my check on a friday and I was given the exact same amount back in less than 12 hours. The following week, I tithed again and again I was blessed. A company I had never heard of called me up wanting me to design all their houses which I still do to this day. From then on we have been obedient in giving what is God's and have had many blessings; but my biggest blessing is the 2007 Chest of Joash.

We didn't have money for the 2006 Chest of Joash so we took the money from a credit card to give our offering. By 2007 Chest of Joash, not only had we paid the credit card back but we gave nearly the same amount but this time in cash and we prayed a very special prayer that our dear friend would be saved in 2008. On Easter, our friend asked is she could go to church with us and I was so excited, I thanked God the whole way there.

During the singing, tears came to her eyes and kept returning throughout the service. At the end of the service, she accepted Jesus to come into her heart and has been going to church ever since. God answered our prayers and we are forever blessed that our dear friend is now our sister in Christ.

God had always provided and we are very thankful that he chooses to bless us and answer our prayers. He is placing people in our lives that are allowing us to go forward and how to be more obedient and pleasing to him.

Veleda

Sevierville, Tennessee

 

 


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