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Nikki's Testimony

Nikki's testimony: I grew up in what I thought was a Christian home. My dad and mom thought it was important for me to go to church. I am thankful they brought me to church because at the age of 14, the pastor of our church in Tennessee spoke on God as Light in 1 John and Ephesians. He told us of the importance to be like Christ as He is Light and be separate from the darkness and the things of the world. As a young person my desire was to please my peers and not God. I now knew that to please God was eternal; pleasing my peers only brought demise. God saved me that night as the pastor shared more about the road to salvation. After a few weeks of counsel, I was baptized. We moved to California shortly after my salvation. We found a Bible believing church (where Pastor Heinrich was my pastor). When I was 17, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and went home to be with the Lord when I was 20. My father and mother divorced when I was 17 also. My father passed away when I was 26, a few months before Carl and I were married. Nikki’s Call to Missions: I began Christian college at Western Baptist College in Oregon (now known as Corban College), spent a semester in Israel studying the Land and the Bible and finished my senior year at The Master’s College out of Santa Clarita, California. In 1996 during the Olympics in Atlanta, God used a mission’s trip to guide my heart into missions. Baptist Missions started a program that year called ‘Medals for Glory’ where various churches sent out individuals and couples to share Christ with people at the Olympic Games. God used me to lead several young people to Christ and that is when I knew God was leading and giving me the desire to be a missionary. Journal: God called Nikki and I into missions before we met. God brought us together with the help of our pastors, their wives, and God’s hand. At the time, Carl was an assistant pastor in a sister Church to Nikki’s. We were married June 10, 2000. God blessed us with two little girls Ashliynn (7-31-01) and Catelynn (8-4-03). We finished our deputation summer of 2005 and attended Spanish Missionary School in Edinburg Texas at Rio Grande Bible Institute. We arrived in Venezuela August 25, 2006. God is working in many ways. We are working with veteran missionaries, Don and Linda Champeon. God is using them to teach us about the various needs and ministries here. We will work with them for about 2 years and then begin to start church planting on our own. We are currently involved in different ministry activities. These include: hospital and jail ministries, children’s ministries, teaching, preaching (Carl), evangelism, and learning more Spanish.

Carl's Testimony

 Carl's Testimony Salvation Several months before I was born my parents went to the country of Brazil as missionaries. Shortly after my birth they moved our family to the village of Paku so they could minister among the Makusi Indians. When I was approximately four years old my sister Connie came to me one day and told me I needed to get saved. I did not understand what she was talking about, but I wanted to make her happy so I repeated after her the words she told me to say. When we were finished, we went and told Mom and Dad what had happened, and of course they were very happy to hear it. Growing up I always wanted my parents to think well of me. As I attended church I realized that I was not a Christian, but my pride held me back from accepting Christ. I knew that if I accepted Christ I would have to tell people about it and then everyone would know that I had been a phony. As I grew older, my greatest fear was to be discovered as a phony. I went to great lengths to insure that this would never happen. By the time I was in junior high I was helping to teach children’s Sunday school. By the time I was in high school I was leading Sunday school, junior church and V.B.S. meetings. Upon graduating from high school I went so far as to pursue a mission major at Northland Baptist Bible College. I did all of these things not because I loved God but because I wanted others to think well of me. When I reached the campus of Northland I deliberately sought to establish friendships with the type of kids who I knew were really serious about ministry and pleasing God. I thought by surrounding myself with this type of student, everyone would think I was just like him or her. One of my friends was a pastor’s son by the name of Jeff. The summer before we met, Jeff’s father asked him to complete a task for him. In the church, there was an eleven-year old boy who was having problems. He was rebelling against his parents, and his Sunday school teachers were having a hard time controlling him. During the summer Jeff started a friendship with the boy through spending time with him, but he was able to make very little progress when it came to dealing with the young man’s problems. When Jeff returned home for Christmas his father told him some exciting news. Shortly after Jeff had left for college his Sunday school teacher had led the troubled boy to the Lord. The change in the young man’s life since he had accepted Christ as his Savior was amazing. Jeff’s dad urged him to go meet with the boy. Jeff did as his father asked, and, during the course of that meeting, an amazing thing happened. This newly saved young man ended up leading Jeff to the Lord. Jeff had been just like me. He went through all the right motions but in his heart he was just a hypocrite. When Jeff got came to campus he was so exited about what God had done in his life that he began to go to his friends and share with them his testimony. One of Jeff’s best friends was my room leader. Just a couple days into the new semester Jeff came into my room and began to tell my room leader what God had done in his life. After he had completed his testimony he turned to my room leader and asked him if he was sure he was a Christian. My room leader was able to confidently say that yes he did know he was a believer. I started getting nervous. I wished I could hide somewhere because I was certain that Jeff was going to direct the same question to me. I knew that I could not confidently say I had accepted Christ as my Savior. But for some reason known only to him, Jeff never asked me the question He just turned around and left the room. That week we were having evangelistic services with Steve Pettit. That night I sat in the bleachers as he spoke, but I did not catch a word he said. Over and over in my head I reviewed the testimony of Jeff. I knew I was in the same boat he had been in, yet I did not want to go on pretending any longer. That night when the invitation was given I went forward and accepted Christ as my Savior. Call to missions: Growing up in a mission’s family and after I was saved I realized the need to share Christ with the lost. It was important to not only share with those around me but in lands who have never heard. God brought Nikki and I together with the same missions mind and with a desire to serve in a different land. With much prayer and research, God showed us that Venezuela was a place where the land was ready for harvest. Venezuela: Our ministries in Venezuela includes church planting, evangelism, hospital and prison ministries, orphans, preaching, teaching and showing Christ in our lives. Pray for these ministries. God is opening doors widely and we pray we will use every opportunity He gives. Puerto Ordaz Venezuela is a country rich in resources. The city is growing quickly with many factory jobs available and much money to be made. Elections are December 3. Pray God’s will be done, for peace, safety and a smooth transition. We pray God will protect His people here and for our ministry to continue. We love these people and know God is laying many foundations for a marvelous work.