The McCray's

Chalisa’s Story of Healing

Well in 2013, I was diagnosed with stage IV Ovarian Cancer and I was told that I would not live past 18 months.  But once I got over the shock,  what was said may have been the facts but, I refused to accept that as the truth.  In Revival Fellowship Church we are taught to have Faith in God. At that point I had been under Pastor Troy’s teaching for about 4 years and I absolutely knew that if I trusted my loving heavenly Father, he would heal me. 

I did not want others to display pity for me so Jamar and I only confided in the Pastors.  Jamar and I fasted, prayed and sowed seed and our Pastors held us up interceding for our physical and spiritual weaknesses.  We did as we were trained at our church and found comfort and faith through the Word of God like never before. Six (6) months after my diagnosis and with absolutely no conventional treatment at all, my doctors where unable to find any trace of cancer in my body and I was healed!!  All glory belongs to our loving heavenly father.  When I received the results from my doctor, I cried and shared it with Jamar.  His response was, “We already knew that you were healed!”

Since coming into this loving intimate relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ as a part of Revival Fellowship Church,  we are continuously amazed by God’s grace, love, and forgiveness.    We are more and more excited each day as he continues to lead and guide us towards what he considers “true success”.  We are learning daily, how to live the only life that really satisfies—— a life that is covered by the blood of Jesus!

Their Stories of Salvation

As long as I can remember, God was there—in some way.   I recall my grandmother and my aunt went to church faithfully and my husband Jamar—-he grew up in church.

Because examples of others were in our forefront, and these people were there for us spiritually, as well,  we both believed, “Hey, we were “good” people.  To those who knew us, we were helpful, joyful and definitely accomplished!  I truly enjoyed the attention, the praise and the appearance of success that I publicly portrayed and embodied.  Yet those feelings of happiness and satisfaction never lasted behind closed doors.  My husband Jamar can openly tell you that he too was a deeply private person who in direct contrast to myself, rarely sought out any kind of attention because of his sins, flaws and weaknesses  (imperfection in the face of “religion”) . 

For both of us, despite how many material things we had, regardless of how many people called us friend or how many outward achievements we had accomplished, there always seemed to be a deep-seated emptiness and rather hollow feeling inside that we just could not fill no matter what we did.  (We now understand that all people have this feeling without God but we keep doing and running and hiding to avoid giving attention to it). Of course Jamar’s mother was always telling him about ‘church’ and ‘Jesus’ trying to help him to realize that he needed God.  That is how you may be.  You think I know about that already and we don’t really take God seriously.

Some of us who grew up in church take God for granted when we really don’t even have a real relationship with him.  We think we know when we really don’t know anything!   Yet, life was not working and we did not want to take forever to figure that out.   As Jamar was watching the lack of ‘real joy’ in others lives… including  people that he knew, friends that he knew as well as his own, he begin to realize that Jesus and ‘knowing God’ was in fact, the missing link in his life!!  As we begin to come to Revival Fellowship Church and listen to our Pastors, we begin to ‘come to our senses.’  What an “aha” moment and turning point for the better for him as well as myself. 

Subsequently,  Jamar and I were in conversation and he invited me to come to Revival Fellowship Church.   Pastor Troy’s message felt like it was just for me.  I wondered, how could this man know these things about me, he’s not in my house or in my heart for that matter.   Later I came to understand that God knows us and knows what we need to hear to help us along the way.  The messages you hear when you come to Revival Fellowship Church (RFC) are inspired by God and not some written concoction of man’s opinions and emotionally charged ideas.  I was listening and I allowed God to deal with my heart.

I felt compiled to accept Jesus Christ into my heart ‘for real’ and as  I was discipled and mentored, I got to know him more and more.  We have learned that when God is speaking to your heart—flow with him.  He loves us.  In RFC we are not ashamed or prideful to allow any person or other’s cause us to miss God’s goodness in our lives!    Jamar also rededicated his life ‘for real’ to God as well.  We have come to know and are still learning at RFC what it really means to be ‘truly satisfied’.  We are developing intimacy with God through Jesus Christ.  It is ‘real’!  I would never tell anyone that this transformation was overnight or that there weren’t some tough days.  Yet during those times, we found strength through being a part of our church  community at Revival Fellowship Church.  Also, the pastors treated us like their own children, and the members welcomed us in as if we had always been.  We instantly became a part of our church family.  The love and encouragement was genuine.  

Both Jamar and I know that it was not until we came to know Christ intimately that we begin to feel fulfilled and to grow to really enjoy life.  We now have a great sense of purpose and significance that is bigger and greater then we could have ever imagined on our own.   In 2014 Jamar and I married and God being a part of our relationship has made all the difference to having a loving and purpose driven family.

The Butler's

The Butler’s Story

My grandmothers were praying grandmothers and my mom grew up in church. I‘m the oldest of four girls and we were always instructed on how to live, how to treat people and how to carry ourselves in a

Christ-like manner. Looking back at my upbringing, and the woman I am now, you’d never guess that I did not grow up fellowshipping in church with others who believed in Jesus because he has made me whole.

My parents were middle-class, good people who made sure that me and my sisters were cared for. They taught us to be kind, respectful, and the value of a good name. Our Sundays were not spent in church. Yet growing up, I frequently read the Bible and was familiar with the word of God. Thus, I had some kind of knowledge and a fundamental understanding of the Bible. But did I have a relationship with Jesus?

Many people talk about how they are spiritual and how God knows their heart but it’s only a one sided relationship. Am I using God for what benefits me or am I actually in relationship with God? These are the kind of questions we need to ask and stop taking God for granted. I was taking God for granted yet he was not a significant part of my life. Like many people, prayer was not new to me and I even thought that I had a relationship with God. Does that sound familiar to you?  Throughout my life, I would never say that I was “bad” or even “ignorant” concerning God but listen to this. I preferred to do things ‘my way.’ Does that sound familiar to you too?

There’s a scripture in the Bible that Jesus said about himself and who he is to me but at that juncture in my life, I did not have this experience with God because I really did not have intimacy with him. This scripture now has so much more relevance to me. I hope you can see it too as you continue to read my story. Jesus says in St John 14:6— "I am the way and the truth and the life…”

Because I desired to do things my way there was conflict at home pretty much because I did not regard the significance of my parents’ rules.  So, when I became a legal adult and felt independent in my thinking excluding not only my parents but also God, I started dating older guys and hanging out in older crowds of people that did not have my best intentions in mind. Listen— this was immensely different than the structure and discipline that I came up with. As I no longer desired to respect the rules of my family, I moved out at 20 years old. This was not good for me, but I was doing things my way. Like a lot of ladies who have lost or have never known their true identity, greatness, dignity and beauty of what God has made them to be, I too thought, it was no big deal since I was financially able to support myself independent of a man. On the surface, I carried a tough exterior and thought I was ‘a strong woman’ all by myself (without God), able to handle anything that I was presented with. Yet, on the inside, I wanted what most of us desire: Love, Security, Trust. In the back of my mind, in my subconscious, I absolutely knew that I was not living right even for myself. I knew in my heart that there was something ‘better for me.’ To get to the ‘better’ I needed to connect with God and so do you.

Every man and woman was made to walk with God.

God will work with you from right where you are. That is what our Pastor teaches that is in the word of God and I have found that to be correct.

When you connect with the wrong people, they have negative influences on your life. This leaves the door open for violence, dysfunction, and creates a toxic environment. How are you being treated and disregarded in ways that you know aren't good for your life? How are you treating others? God has a better plan for you. As this serious pattern of violence, control and disrespectful behavior escalated, circumstances got even more negative. At one point, two males attempted to rob the house at gunpoint and I was there alone. They tied me up, I could hear one speaking of his plan to ‘rape me.’ Oh my God what was I to do. I then, remembered God in my thoughts and I begin to pray to God. It was strong and more like a command for God to intervene “right now”. God gave me a vision of what I would need to do. When I prayed to God and obeyed him, God came and saved me. Through me following his directions, he protected me. It was at that moment that I realized that I had separated from God and I was headed in the wrong direction. My way wasn’t working.

I can not say that my life changed overnight and yours may not either but if you will pray God will begin to direct you. You do need a really good church—-and to surround yourself with "like-minded" people. I entered into a better relationship, and being a parent demanded higher expectations for the family I was responsible for. I begin to attend Revival Fellowship Church. Coming to this church was a turning point in my life. This is where God led me, and this is where I begin my journey to repentance and rediscovering a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  I found that aligning my life to the Word and a trust within God that I had previously taken for granted. Instead of relying on “Grandma’s prayers”, I was diligently seeking to have a relationship with Jesus Christ on my own and now I wanted to be more aligned with his teachings. Why? Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. I realized I needed to do it his way. I have learned that because he loves me perfectly, I can trust him to care for me so I wanted to free myself in him.

At Revival Fellowship Church, we are…  focused on building intimacy with God for ourselves so that we can find peace, love and blessings. We want to get our dreams back and we know that God has a real good plan for us. But we must make the decision to align ourselves. Furthermore, we are taught that God’s word carries absolute integrity, so we need to respect his promises and word to us. If the Bible says it, it is the Truth. The bible is taught in a practical way that is relevant to my everyday life. I am learning to hear his voice in my heart. This is what Jeremiah 29:11 says about me and my husband’s life. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I found, ‘religion’ to be confusing with many rules and demands put on people but I have come to learn that having intimacy with God is not a religion. It is through the acceptance of Jesus taking our place to deal with the sin issue that we can find love, peace and security in Jesus and through Jesus.

It is not about what I can do with my sin, it is about what Jesus has already done with it. I am learning through being a member of Revival Fellowship Church to learn to focus on Jesus and not myself.

The biggest trick of Satan (the great deceiver) is to “keep people in sin” (that is not believing in Jesus that he paid for every sin you will ever commit) until they die without ever having an opportunity to truly ‘LIVE’. One of biggest lessons that I have learned is not to wait for ‘the right time’ but understand that lifestyle changes are a process. Learning how much God loves you adds a layer of protection and awareness that will keep you from settling for less than his best too.

For me it began with a decision to change my mind and start right where I was without being afraid, proud or ashamed. Since that time, I also learned “there is no such thing as a perfect person” but we are perfected by the love of Jesus Christ that lives on the inside of us. Christianity is not about the action of ‘going to church’ perfection or pretending to have it ‘all together’. But if you have a real relationship with God, you will go to church—and want more for yourself and the people you love. Our lives are focused on a spirit that is God-conscious and not sin conscious. There are no gray areas in life and if you do not use your own free-will to follow Christ, it gives a place for Satan to devour you. That is the ‘real you’ & not the outside of you that everyone sees. It sounds ‘cliché’, but Satan will come packaged as “exactly what you think you want” and if it is outside of the will of God, your ego and pride will set you up for “the fall” and destruction of decisions made that are self-centered.  Many people appear to have a wonderful life outwardly but on the inside it’s all ‘dead bones’. Don’t fool yourself by that. The real you is on the inside. That one decision to develop a relationship with LOVE & LIFE— that is God, was the most significant decision of my life because it was a life changing decision that has led me to a life more in line with my dreams and hearts desires.

God made me and my family one of dignity, beauty and greatness. Not because of us but because of what Jesus as done. We are still journeying and learning. We do not claim perfection by any means but all it’s all about Jesus and what he had done. As a result of discovering a growing intimacy with God I am living a satisfying life. My decisions are not coming from a selfish point of view. I am now married. I and

my husband are both in relationship with Jesus. When we started coming to church, we were not married but still living as a family unit, but I knew that was not God’s good plan for me.

When you begin to understand how much God loves you, and how valuable you are, your decisions reflect God’s best and you won’t settle for anything less than what is good for you and those around you that you love. Only God knows what is best. This comes from intimacy with God.

Only a relationship with Jesus can make you a truly “strong woman”. That strength comes from knowing God is your source and you are not subject to the stereotypes and labels the world gives you. I had a son and a blended family before I was ever married.  I knew the vision in my heart for my family and as I heard the word I begin to desire the full blessings in my life. The desire for marriage was always in my heart.  I had the vision on the inside.  Anyone can have a wedding and a great reception party to celebrate their relationship, but I wanted a God-centered marriage because I desired the blessing on my life. Marriage can, just be a piece of paper. When we (my now husband and I) came to Revival Fellowship, we were not married but as we heard the desires of God for our lives our dreams begin to be restored concerning home and family. My husband and I made a conscious decision as it related to what was best for our family. My husband had a discussion one day all alone with our Pastor about love, marriage and God’s dream for us.

My husband and I made the decision together to get married. We wanted God’s best and used our faith. We have learned that it is not about our perfection. We still have things that we are working through, but God wants us to enjoy the process and so can you. Having a relationship with Jesus is the ultimate freedom and removes any and all barriers or bondages people encounter. God will meet you right where you are and accompany you as you decide to trust in him.

The Jones'

Often in society today, we hear the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its’ cover.”  Unfortunately, that happens to be the first thing we do when we meet someone with forging ‘first impressions’.  For example, when you looked at our photo—-What was your first thought?  Did it contain something like, “Nice young couple” or “Opposites attract!.”  Or better yet, “they look to young to have a story.”  Yes, we are fairly young and usually nice—-especially after a morning cup of coffee.  We come from different backgrounds and our story may be young but it has fundamentally changed our lives for the better!

Our Story

Andrew grew up in the inner city and had to battle all the obstacles associated with city life.  While he did attend church as a child, his life choices were not always God-like or better yet ‘good for him or good to him.”  I on the other hand, was raised in the country.  Really!  I literally got the eggs from the chicken coup. My only knowledge of God was that doing bad things may end up with “me going to hell!” Often when we don’t know someone personally, others  information as well as false impressions may give us a false perspective.  I had a false perspective of God because I actually did not know him for myself and even though Andrew grew up in church, he also did not have a personal intimacy with God as Revival Fellowship Church helped us to discover.

While there was much variation in our lives growing up, our core desires were quite universal: this was that deep inner desire to find a place where we truly belonged and were loved for who we “really’ were.  Of course, we did not know it but we needed to discover who we really were as well. Revival Fellowship helped us to discover that we were much greater than what and who we thought we were.   It was much better then first impressions.  In high school, our paths did collide. I know what you are thinking.  “High school sweet hearts, whose lust turned into love—end of story.  ‘No’ that is not the story. Yes, lust did turn into love, but that love came with many complications and complexities.  Often times we human beings place ourselves in complex situations and we need someone to help us unravel things.  The love we thought we had for each other was not enough.  We absolutely did not have a deep enough inner root or foundation to build that love on because we did not understand what real love was or how to live life for that matter. Life was, well—-hard.   Our dreams seemed out of reach or would we so easily give up on them because of the issues we faced.  We needed hope.  At Revival Fellowship we found that our hope could take on something more powerful and meaningful that could help us to realize our dreams.

Being young and without godly wisdom and strength, we could have just gave in to the mountains we faced.   Let’s just name a few: I got pregnant right out of high school. In 2008, our son was born. Soon, that son laid on his death bed after having a blood vessel burst in his brain. In 2009 Adrienne’s Mom passed away and in that same year our son laid on his death bed again.  In the summer of 2010, we were evicted from the place we called home. In 2011, we had to leave another place because of financial strain.  This time we moved in with Andrew’s family.  These mountain like obstacles and circumstances were happening while attending college, raising our child, working a job and struggling with all the other challenges of adulthood and life.  All of these factors weighed heavily upon us while we were also trying to mesh our different backgrounds together.  In these years of our lives, it would be ideal to say that these issues brought us closer together but they honestly did not.  We tried to solve each problem our own way.  Yes our own way. It did not benefit anyone. Tempers flared, animosity grew and our relationship day-to-day was on the very verge of collapsing. Somewhere deep inside, we both knew, it was not supposed to be this way.  Little did we know that the moving in with Andrews family in 2011 would impact our story moving forward.  God was trying to help us.

Andrew’s family was faithfully attending Revival Fellowship Church (RFC) every Sunday and weekly Bible Studies.  Because of this, they had a great deal of knowledge and understanding about the Bible.  We also noticed how personal and real their relationship was with Jesus Christ as well as their strong faith in him.  That faith was impacting their practical, everyday life.   It wasn’t religious.  It worked.  So that same year, we decided to start attending RFC, faithfully, as well. That one positive decision became the most positive turning point in our lives!   Each Sunday, we learned and continue to learn how much God truly loves us.  Pastor Troy has such amazing regard for what God actually says in the bible and does not give us his opinions but teaches us biblical principles proving the truth in the scriptures.   We had so many of our questions about God answered—-things that were commonly thought about God—-that were not biblical.  As we learned God, we grew to love him in return.  God’s love ended up filling that huge void in our hearts that had been there for so long.   We. noticed, a foundation of truth was beginning to form in our hearts and in our lives to really build a future on,  as well as our relationship on.

After attending for about a year, we made a major decision that would change our entire lives forever.  That decision was to really live our lives based in our heavenly fathers love and care and to stop trying to live our way but rather to live our lives God’s way— for us.  This is what the Bible says about that.

Matthew 16:35

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

The NIV version of the Bible says it in a way you can really understand.

If you try to hang on to your life doing things your way, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

The more we came to church and was taught by our Pastors, the more we realized God’s love for us even in the state we were in personally.  We really got it.  A bell was going off in our hearts every time we heard the word of God.  The first impact we noticed was the love we had for God turned into more love for each other—-more than we ever had before——so we married in 2012—establishing a foundation of commitment, love and trust for our family and child.  As we continued living out God’s design for us, additional positive shifts and changes were seen in our lives that we would have thought were not possible. We were Experiencing God!   

The impossible now became possible because God was with us, helping us and partnering with us.  We were in direct relationship with him.  That’s one of the most important things that Revival Fellowship Church taught us—-how do I really have a relationship with God!!  Often people go to church but have no or a shallow relationship and some people say, I have a relationship with God but I do not go to church.  When God is guiding us, he also guides us to a church that helps us to build an intimate quality relationship with him. A good church is not about how many people sit in the pews or if our best friend goes to that church.  Our Pastor taught us that you should literally ask God, “Where do you want me to go to church?  When you ask,  then pay attention, he will guide you.    As we continued experiencing God, a major change for us did not just deal with money and possessions, but rather in the way we treated each other and other people.  Neither of us had the anger in our hearts that we once had; we actually wake up smiling now with no anger, bitterness or resentment.  We drink our morning coffee with joy, filled with purpose, fulfillment and knowing that God is with us—-really with us.    God has blessed us and we continue to work daily to live by his Word in the hope of impacting you, the way God has impacted us to live the Best Life!  Our little boy who was on the verge of death is now a wonderful healthy little boy who loves nature.  We are in a new home.  I am now a professional traveling across the world and Andrew has is own business.  God is AGAPE—LOVE.  At Revival Fellowship we are taught to have a personal living relationship with God which so many people think they have when they are just religious.  I humbly confess, you can really know God by experience.

Honestly, God has a funny way of doing things to get us to where we are supposed to be.  He knows each person’s heart.  He knows your heart.  If you actually had enough sense to read this—-then God is talking to you!  Do you know that most people are so common and average that they would not read through this testimony!  You did!   He knows when we will make a good decision and when we will make a bad one that creates more and more complications.  Yet he can be there to help us unravel the complexity of what we have made, but only when we allow him in.  He knows what each one of us really needs.  In our case, we needed love; to feel it, to understand it and to display it.  God gave us everything we needed.  At Revival Fellowship Church, we were given the love and the freedom to journey to a better place and we are joyous now as we continue to live the God Kind of LIFE to the full until it overflows.  We want you to come and join us!