Testimonies~ Lora | April | Janine

A Son's Healing

Hi! My name is Lora Poore. I have sung as far back as I can remember. I started singing in the youth choir at my home church, Fairview Church of God, as a little girl. I have been married to Tim Poore for 10 years & I have 3 children, Nelson, Nady, & Nyle. We live in Higdon, Alabama. I am going share my testimony with you and tell you how God has been such a miracle worker in my life.
I was pregnant with our 1st child and it was a boy. I started trying to go into preterm labor and the doctor was a little concerned wanting to make sure everything was okay with me and the baby. They decided to do a 3-D ultra sound and what showed up was devistating. My husband and I were told that our son's kidneys appeared to be dead. They were showing up solid black on the ultra sound. We were told that he would have to have surgery as soon as he was born and that he would be in the NICU for a while.
I remember lying on the table while they were doing the ultra sound and tears were streaming down my face, but I knew that I had to hold it together for the baby. When we left there I called my daddy and I told him everything that was going on and I said "Daddy, I am not excepting this. I ask God for a healthy baby and that is what I am going to get." I am telling you, I was really scared. I had to keep my FAITH in the Lord cause I knew what He was able to do. The word started spreading and people started praying.
I was sent to the hospital to be induced. I delivered him at 2:33 a.m.. We got to see him a little bit, but not too long. I was wondering about him and the nurse came and told me that he p'pd on the doctor. I was thrilled. They ran series of test on him and come to find out he had Kidney Reflux. The doctor told me that he would have to have surgery to correct the obstruction and I told the doctor that I believed in prayer and having FAITH and that would be used first.
Nelson had to go every 6 months to a year to be checked with a VCUG and ultra sound. Everytime that we went it seemed to be worse or not getting better. The doctor even talked about taking part of his kidney out. I was so tormented in my mind about my son. I feared for his life constantly. I would wake up in the middle of the night and I could see his funeral. I was laying in his bed one night and the Lord spoke to me and said "Behold, you shall hear a new report...." I thought, Lord is that you? I knew the devil wasn't going to tell me something like that cause all he had done was torment my mind.
Sure enough, we went back to the doctor and he told us that Nelson had stopped refluxing. He couldn't believe it because Nelson has 2 ureters and the doctor had told me that no one with double ureters will stop refluxing without surgery. I was thinking "You just don't know how many prayer lines this child has been through and how many prayers have been prayed for him." After that, we went back a year later and the doctor told us that he wasn't going to do surgery. He said that he could not make an A+ growing child any better. We were tickled to death.
After all that we went through with Nelson for 5 years, I think back of how I wanted God to heal him right then. God didn't heal Nelson right when I asked him to. It was in his own time. By going through what I did with my son, I have so much more of a testimony. I appreciate what God did for him more than if He would have did it right then.
Sometimes we wonder "God, why am I having to go through this? Why is all of this happening to me?" And God says " I am giving you a lot more of a testimony to share with people, to tell them about what you were going through and how I came right on time." I love the Lord and without my FAITH in him, who knows what kind of shape my son would be in. No matter how impossible things look in any situation, Keep the FAITH in God because there is nothing that He can't do. - God Bless, Lora Poore

April ~ A Broken Home

Hello, My name is April Michelle Grist. I was raised in small town called Ider, Alabama by my parents, Rev. Frankie & Debbie Carroll along with my sister Leeanne Dove and brother Clint Carroll. One of the things that I remember most about my childhood was my dad and mom teaching me about Jesus. They were always telling me to be dedicated to God. I was raised from birth attending Fairview Church of God, located in Flat Rock, Alabama. It was there that God called me to sing.

Through my childhood, and now adulthood, I did what my parents taught me. I dedicated my life and talents to God. God has given me the talent to sing and I love singing with the annointing power that God has given me. Little did I know while growing up, that the annointing comes with a price and it is given to you by lessons that you learn.

My biggest trial that I went through in my life was with my first marriage. If the devil knows where to get you he will start with the person who is supposed to be the closest to you. My first husband and I were married for 11 years. In those 11 years, God taught me how to trust and have FAITH in him fully. For many years I prayed diligently to God for a christian home and marriage.

As the years went by, things kept getting worse. I was always taught that God would never leave you nor forsake you, but I was thinking that the first time that God left someone, he started with me. It seemed like the more I prayed for my marriage, the worse it got. I tried to hold on and to just have FAITH. As time went by with praying, fasting, and crying out to God for some kind of peace and happiness in my life, my husband of 11 years decided to leave and go on his own way.

As devistated as I was, I started to question God, "How could this be the answer that I have prayed about for years?" But just as my husband left, God stepped right in and stood in the gap. He gave me so much peace like I have never felt before. As soon as that happened I knew God was working out something for me. He in fact heard every prayer that I had prayed.

After my husband ended our 11 year marriage, God gave me so much peace, he shortly sent a man to my church named Melvin Grist. He is a man that loves God and has dedicated his life to him fully. Some friends at church introduced Melvin and I to each other and we instantly hit it off. It was like we had known each other for years. Shortly after we started dating, God told Melvin that I was the one that he was supposed to marry and that God had sent him to me. At the same time, God also confirmed to me that Melvin was the Godly man that I had prayed about for years.

We got married October 23, 2004. It was one of the happiest days of my life. God is truly blessing our marriage, and we both continue to grow with Jesus and God each and every day. Our priorities are straight and we decided that God was going to be first in our marriage and in our life. We as a married couple would fall in second behind God.

I look back and remember all of the earnest prayers that went up about my marriage before. At the time, I thought that surely getting a divorce couldn't be the answer. Some people might say that God didn't answer my prayer, but sometimes God's plan is different that what we think. God knew the future and saw that the only way that I could have a happy Godly marriage was to send me Melvin. It was a very trying time, but don't get me wrong, I would do it all over again to receive what I have now. Being taught about trusting and having FAITH in my childhood kept me focused on God when I thought that he was not hearing anything that I was saying. Little did I know, he was working on my prayer the whole time.

Even though you may feel at the time that God is not hearing any of your prayers or seeing any tear that has been shed over a trial that you are facing, always remember to keep the FAITH. God is never going to leave you and he hears every word. He is working on your problem right now. I know that God answers prayers because He has answered mine. I am happy to say that I NOW HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE & HOME. -God Bless, April Grist

Janine ~ No Hope of Forgiveness

Hi, my name is Janine Rigstad and I am from Flat Rock, Alabama and I attend Fairview Church of God, also in Flat Rock, Alabama. I grew up in a wonderful christian home full of music and filled with lots of love. I have sung Gospel music most all of my life, along with my sister and 2 brothers. I became a Christian at 12 years of age and fully dedicated my life to serving God.
My family and I traveled many miles spreading and sharing the word of God thru song. I also came from a family of songwriters and in the late 80's I began to write also. The songs that God gave me came from a broken heart due to years filled with pain & sorrow. I found that living for God does not guarantee a life without problems, because my life was filled with them.
When I say problems, I am speaking of spiritual, mental, emotional & physical battles. I have suffered from depression, anxiety, doubt, chronic fatigue, low self esteem, obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) and the list goes on and on. After many years of struggling and what seemed like one failure after another, I failed God. I walked away from the only way of life that I had ever known.
I was taught that sin committed after salvation was unforgivable in the eyes of God and that I was forever lost. So I set out on my own in a world that was foreign to me. I thought that I was all alone, but little did I know that God was there thru it all. I found that God had thoughts & plans for my life & he would not let me go.
First of all, he had a knight in shining armor picked out just for me, an angel to watch over me and to give me the love that I was missing. That knight ( William) is now my husband of 10 years and is my best friend. Then God gave me a wonderful son ( Jesse ) who is now 7 years old. I have a brand new life and a wonderful church family and a happy peacful home.
God brought my husband and I to Fairview Church of God not long after we were married. That is where I was taught about the forgiveness and grace of a loving God. I couldn't really understand the extent of mercy & grace of God until he reached into the the pitts of hell just for me and brought me out. The scripture says that he will never leave me nor forsake me. I thought that this was true at one time, but now I know that it is true because he has proved it to me.
Now I would not take anything for my past, because it's made me what I am today. I want with all of my heart to help those who are in need of spiritual renewal. God has fully restored and increased all that was lost to me. I will forever lift up God's name in song. -God Loves You, Janine Rigstad