The testimony of Debra Simmons

 My name is Debra Simmons, a follower and servant of Jesus Christ.  I love the Lord with all my heart and soul.  I have given my life to Him as He has given His life for me.  I owe everything to Him and nothing on earth can replace the love and thankfulness that I have to Him, as my Lord and Savior, my Redeemer, my Healer, my friend, and my King.
            God’s plans and ways go far beyond our comprehension.  He knows exactly where we are and he knows the way that he will bring us unto Himself.
            I am a testimony to Jesus Christ and His saving grace.  I was saved at the age of nine years old in a Southern Baptist church.  The choir was singing Come Just as You Are.  I felt the overwhelming leading to go to the altar of the church.  I felt heavy burdens upon me.  I received Jesus Christ as my Savior that day and the heavy burdens were lifted.
            I was saved at the age of nine, but my life of abuse would continue until the age of 30 years old.  I was not brought up in a Christian home.  Even though I was saved, I didn’t know God’s Word, His promises, His ways, I didn’t know Him.  I was physically, verbally, and sexually abused.  God’s saving grace would give me insurmountable courage during my childhood.  Only because of God in me, could I stand in the midst of threats and abuse.
            I am thankful that God is my deliverer and my healer.  He is the strength of my salvation, whom shall I fear?
            God is able to bring us through the fire.  He is able to deliver us from the den of lions; He is able to deliver us from the pit.  No weapon shall prosper against God’s people.  Will you choose to follow God in the midst of your turmoil?  Reach out to him for He is waiting for you.
            I heard God’s voice after thirty years of abuse reminding me of the promise that I made to Him.  I went back to church!  My abusive husband of eleven years left and my journey began back to the Lord.
            It hasn’t been easy, but God has been faithful bringing healing and restoration in my life and in my daughters’ lives.
            I am now married to a wonderful, loving man of God.  We have been married twenty years (as of this writing).  We love the Lord with all our hearts and souls.  My husband has shown me the love of Christ.  God loved me so much that He sent me a husband that would love and cherish me as Christ Himself does.
            Michael and I recommitted our lives at the age of thirty-three to be sold out for Christ and the purpose of the Gospel.
            We raised three daughters, one foster daughter together, bringing them up in the ways of the Lord.  We have five grandchildren.  God has restored all and more that the enemy tried to destroy.
            There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  To God be all the glory and honor due His name!