Testimony of Debbie and Barry Jackson

From a spiritual standpoint, we both had similar backgrounds. We believed there was a God and attended church on special occasions, such as Christmas and Easter but neither of us was aware of our need for a Savior.

Barry was in the Marine Reserves and was called to active duty to serve in Operation Desert Storm. On our last date just before Barry left for Camp LeJeune, I felt the need to go to a church and pray. Being late at night, the church was closed, so we sat on the front steps of the church and prayed together for Barry's safety. We believe that it was at that time that we were beginning to feel the Lord's call to salvation. We were married just before Barry left.

While Barry was in Southwest Asia, a chaplain would come twice a week to his camp, and he would attend the services with some of the Marines in his unit. Meanwhile, Debbie was attending services on Sunday mornings with her grandfather, who had just lost his wife of nearly 50 years. Neither of us mentioned to the other in our letters and phone conversations that we were attending church services. When Barry returned home, Debbie asked if he would mind going to church on the upcoming Sunday, and to her surprise, he said he would like to go! It was at that first service together that an elderly gentleman by the name of Ralph Bort asked us both if we had accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We had never been asked that question before. We resisted at first, but it was through the faithful witness of Mr. Bort and others that led us to invite the pastor to our home one August night in 1991 to talk about salvation. He led us to the Lord that night, and we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior!

Since that time, God has created new lives for us, instructing us through His Word in godly living. The things we used to consider important no longer matter to us. God led us to People's Baptist Church, a church that preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and holds the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. He gave us three children who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and a fourth that we pray will surrender his life to Christ as he grows in understanding. God, through His Holy Spirit, has given us a heart to see people as He sees them--people whom He loves with a sacrificial love, so much so that He gave His only Son to die in our place.

Throughout our fifteen years of marriage, we have been through what all people face on this earth--loss of jobs, the death of both our fathers, a miscarriage, divorce of friends and family, the death of a close friend to cancer, not to mention the uncertainty of living in a troubled and dangerous world. But through it all, God has given us His grace to come through these trials.