I was born and raised in the Catholic faith in a very strong and supportive family.   As the last of six children and the only son, my life was pretty good.  Nevertheless, as a young man, I ventured off to college, got married, and lived the life that everyone dreams of; I had a beautiful wife, wonderful children, a fabulous home, and a great job!  I guess you could say that I felt as if I was living the American dream.  During this time-frame, I participated in all of the sacraments of the Catholic faith but I really did not give much thought about any kind of relationship with Christ, as my religion taught me that I was all right. You see, I was one of those 'good' people; I went to church on Sundays and had my children baptized, along with doing the Easter duty with confession and all of that good stuff.  However, if the truth be known, I really was not a a faithful practicing Catholic at all; I was a completely selfish person and living my life any old way that I saw fit.  The fact is, I was only serving God with an outward appearance but my heart was far from Him!  As my relationship with the Lord grew more and more distant, I began to indulge in the so-called pleasures of drugs/alcohol (not the hard stuff mind you).  Slowly, my life started to spiral out of control and my family began to deteriorate right before my very eyes.  My life had become unmanageable but I had no idea how to fix it! 

Fortunately for me, my wife had been introduced to Christ by a man by the name of John Barone and she had already accepted and surrendered her life to Jesus.  Her life was dramatically different from mine and she began to pray like never before during these times.  In fact, the entire church started praying for me.  In addition, they continually reached out to me by inviting me to church and any other Christian events that were happening.  Consequently, I would attend church service once in a while, just to appease my wife Kathy and get her off my back!  However, during these times, some amazing things began to happen in my life and I started attending church regularly, as I really enjoyed the preaching.  After three years, life was beginning to make some sense and I could see things much more clearly.  I discovered that Jesus was all about relationship and not about religion.  Also, I learned that we were all sinners (I was chief among them) and that everyone needed repentance in order to change.  The truth was, I realized for the first time that this change would never occur without Jesus; He was my only answer and I now knew it!

          Shortly after, my life became complete, when I finally took the step and accepted and surrendered my life completely to Jesus!  It was Sunday, January 31, 1982, a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life!  The sermon had just ended and the guest speaker had invited individuals to the alter to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  I was still pretty hung over from the previous day-long drinking binge and knew something had to change, as I was in serious jeopardy of losing my life and family.  I had tried for so long to do things my way and failed miserably, so I figured it was time to give Jesus a chance (little did I know that the Holy Spirit had been prompting me all along).  Therefore, I came up to the alter and cried out to the Lord!  He immediately reached out and rescued me!  I could sense His presence in a powerful way and my life has never been the same!  On that day, Jesus restored my broken life and I am forever grateful to Him!  Not only did he restore my family, my finances, my career, and place in the community, but He has given me eternal life with Him!  I have been living my life for Jesus ever since and I have discovered that life is good but God is truly amazing!  If Jesus can radically change my life, then He can change yours!           

Kathy Eberle

          Shortly after I gave birth to my second daughter, Kelly, it was determined that she had a serious heart defect.  Kelly was diagnosed with a hole in her heart, as well as a narrowing that would require open heart surgery.  She weighed six pounds at birth and at four months of age, she did not weigh much more.  Surgery was going to be risky, so the Cardiologist said that the longer we waited, the better off we would be.  Ideally, he said that the best time for surgery would be around five years of age.  Needless to say, I was scared to death!  I had been raised in a mainline denominational church but I had never really followed the rules.  I believed in God, in Jesus, but I had successfully ignored Him for most of my life.  However, now I had this enormous need, so I began to pray to a God that I did not know personally because I did not know what else to do, where to go, or who to turn to in this extremely difficult time in my life.

          One day, a women came into my store seeking employment and the phone rang as I was explaining that I really did not have any job for her.  It was my babysitter giving me an update on Kelly because she had pneumonia.  This women hung around and half listened to my conversation with my babysitter.  When I hung up the phone, she said, "Do you know that God wants to heal your daughter?"  For some unknowing reason, I began to pour out my heart to a complete stranger.  She invited me to what she called "Twig Meetings" that she had started.  She promised me that she could show me how to connect with God and SECURE a healing for my daughter if I attended one of her meetings.  Motivated by my 'mother's heart' and a desire to have my daughter well, I went to her meeting and was introduced to a powerful cult known as the Way International.  I was taught that the key to Kelly being healed by God was to get to know Him better.  It just so happened that they were currently offering a class that would certainly clarify all that I needed to do to claim what was available.  The course cost $350.00 to attend and it was very simple they said.  When I paid the money, I could enroll into the class, and Kelly would get well.

          I began to read my Bible every day and even brought it to work with me.  One day, I man came in and made a comment about the Bible and asked what church I attended.  I assured him that I did not need a church, as I had these Twig Meetings that I was attending.  He quickly told me that I was involved in a influential cult.  He said that this powerful group was certain to strip me of every cent that I owned but more importantly, this cult was slowly brainwashing me to believe that Jesus Christ was not God.  He gave me some scriptures to read and told me that I needed to be very careful.  Needless to say, I was rather skeptical of him and the the things that he shared with me.  Little did I know but this man went back to his Pastor and church and began to pray for me.  After that, his Pastor sent someone to visit me and invite me to church.  My reply was, "Thanks but no thanks!"

          I began to get confused but I read in the Bible that God does not offer confusion.  I could sense that something was very wrong but I had no idea what it was.  I became very scared, so I decided to take that person up on his invitation and I went to visit his church.  As I looked all around the room and saw people raising their hands and closing their eyes, I was certain that I had made a big mistake by coming.  I remember closing my eyes and crying out in frustration.  Here I thought that my greatest need was a physical healing for my beloved daughter but boy did I have things wrong.  Truly, my greatest need was to be redeemed!  It was my need to have a Lord and Savior!  So I surrendered my life to Jesus and asked him to forgive my sins, to wash me clean, and to take care of my need.  At that instant, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and revealed Jesus as God and my life has been forever changed!  Jesus revealed to me that it always has been a matter of the heart; first it was mine and then it was Kelly's.  Jesus showed me that He was in control and that I could trust Him!  Kelly is now a grown woman with her own family and she never did end up needing that open heart surgery.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!