We tried a “get rich quick’ scheme…we ended up with huge debt…we were scared to death of losing everything. It was time to look for God.

Vicky’s Faith Story
February 2007

I was baptized as a baby, grew up going to church every Sunday, I never read my Bible, and rarely prayed. After graduating from college, Glen & I got married, and we both had good jobs. We knew it all, and we had it all.

During the recession of the 1980s, the economy was bad, just like today, and I got laid off as an Industrial Engineer, not once but three times. We tried a “get rich quick� scheme – buying real estate with no money down using credit cards. We had around 50 units at one time. Then the bottom dropped out of the rental market. We ended up having to give back property, leaving us with a huge debt. We were scared to death of losing everything. It was time to look for God.

We thought we’d try a church that was close to where we lived. After going one Sunday, a couple of guys came to our door one night, welcoming us to the church, asking us if there was anything they could do for us. We said, “No, there’s nothing anyone could do for us. Our problems are too big.� They asked us to come to a Bible Study that they attended. We said, “Sure, what do we have to lose?�

We went to that Spirit-led Bible Study where we studied the Bible verse-by-verse. There I learned about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, about the Holy Spirit, and became born again. Did God take our financial situation away? No. We had to walk through it. But we were not alone. We let God into our hearts and lives. We also started giving God ten percent of our income, even while I was laid off and we had that huge debt. It was truly amazing to watch how God was faithful. He has always provided when we were obedient in keeping Him first as Lord of our lives.

An important part of my Faith Story involves one of those guys that came to our door that night and invited us to the Bible Study. Seven years ago I had the honor of donating a kidney to him. To God be the glory!

I am thankful that my husband, Glen, and I went through all of this together. Instead of tearing us apart, our marriage grew stronger as we followed God’s will and not our own. Remarkably, we just celebrated our 30th anniversary. We are blessed by God to be proclaiming God’s mercy together. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!�