Our Testimony

 

It was not love at first sight, it was not chemistry, we can't even claim that it was God that brought us together. It was something that often brings couples together, it was loneliness.  We first met at church, each sitting quietly in our seats, listening to the explanation of how people grieve after divorce.  Pain had driven us to a church seminar guaranteed to help us in our time of need; our need to heal from emotional pain (how could he/she do this to me?), the mental anguish (how do I go on?), the spiritual turmoil (why God, why?)  At the conclusion of the seminar, the advice was, "Do not get into a serious relationship for at least a year and a half."

 

Five months later, we found ourselves married and singing, "Getting to Know You, Getting To Know All About You."  Actually, it was a nightmare.  We had brought all our baggage - and weapons - into our new relationship.  Here we were, forty-something and no idea how to make a marriage work.  Both born-again in our last marriage, but both abandoned by non-believing spouses, both determined to make this marriage work.

 

But we had to ask ourselves, were we victims?  We could tell you we were hurt and abused, left and abandoned, all sorts of stories about what had been done to us.  That is only part of the story, because we had to face a hard  reality: Between the two of us we felt the shame and the fear of having left behind seven marriages.  What was wrong with us? How could we possibly hope to survive?  With our new-found faith, we had no way of knowing how to make it work, but we knew Who did know.

 

We sought out a good Bible teaching church and met wonderful people who brought us into a marriage Bible study.  It was there that God ministered to us through these people, through His word and through His Holy Spirit.  Our marriage began to change, because we began to change.  We not only finished the 14 week course, but went on to become leaders and teach five 14 week courses.  We learned a lot in those years.  We saw God heal broken homes and broken hearts.  We saw marriages blossom, flourish and grow into beautiful bouquets arranged by God.

 

Five years later, we found ourselves leading a married Bible study in the inner city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  In an area where poverty, drugs, alcohol, prostitution and abuse are the norm.  It is a war zone. Shootings are common.  Children grow up with no hope of a better life.  They see their future drunk down in a bottle or smoked up in a crack pipe. In the middle of this neighborhood is a beacon of light, Inner City Church of Minneapolis (ICCM).   http://www.iccmonline.com  This is where God put us. 

 

In the beginning, people said it couldn't be done. The barriers were overwhelming: no daycare, no transportation, no finances for books, literacy issues and NO marriage certificates.  During our prayer time, (we prayed for over one year about taking ourselves from teaching in the suburbs to the inner city), God gave us His promise, hence the Promise Bible Study: "Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19  "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the Glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard!"  Isaiah 58:8

 

Our minds were set on planting the ministry at ICCM.  The Bible study we had learned and had brought to the city was a blessing to our new brothers and sisters.  But there were different things to emphasize in the 'hood, different realities of urban life that just didn't fit the model Bible study we had known.  And so we began a labor of love and toil, trial and error and,  eventually, God showed us the Promise Bible Study.

 

Three years later, we were asked to head marriage ministry at Church of New Life Christian Ministries, in urban Minneapolis.  In addition to The Promise Bible study, we were now founding members of the "Let's Stay Together Marriage Minstry" Team.  The marriage  ministry initiatives of Pastors Sam and Shirley Nero of Church of New Life were merged with ours and the other members of this team produced fruit exceedingly beyond our dreams.

 

Through His blood we had each been saved.  By His faithful love and guidance, our marriage was also saved.  Not only saved, but brought forth with blossoms and fruit of its own, ready to be used, one-flesh for His purposes.  Against all odds, despite attacks and tribulation, God has preserved us and lifted us up.  We rejoice in His name and will praise Him forever!

 

And so today we offer our hearts in service to others, to share the hope that is within us.  God sees your tears as well as your smiles.  Your marriage is Holy.  Today, you might not be able to see that, but it is.  The Lord sees things that are not as though they were.  God is not the author of divorce or the purveyor of sadness.  Seek His will for your marriage and follow His plans and He will make it new.  That's His Promise.