My name is Denise, and this is my Testimony…

My name is Denise (Bartkoski) Watford. I was born in Kansas City, MO. I grew up in the city, my father was a Catholic who went to church pretty regularly.  My mom used to be catholic, not sure what happened to make her quit church and believing in God.  So, I was raised in a non-religious household. I honestly did not think about God or Jesus until I was deployed to Iraq.

September 11, 2001, I was in the Army in Germany with my husband, Dixon Watford. It was strange to be out of the country when all that happened. I still always believed in God but did not know anything about believing in Jesus or being a Christian. With the attack on the United States, I still didn't have a desire to know God. In March 2003 we deployed to Iraq. I was in 501st MSB on 1-37 MST and Dixon is in 2-37 AR.  Being in Iraq and seeing soldiers dying, I started to think about death and was scared for my life and Dixon’s life. I had a team chief SSG Forrestt who would read his Bible daily and that got me thinking about God, life, and death.

We make it back from our first tour and I forget about everything. I was just happy that Dixon and I made it back. We are transferred to Fort Carson Colorado and get sent right back to Iraq. I was really torn up about this deployment. I was so scared of one of my soldiers dying.  I was taking more risk than I needed to by going on almost all conveys. So, we both made it through that deployment, and I knew I could not handle mentally going back to Iraq, so I got out Sept 2006.

We are living in Colorado and Dixon, and I started going to a church called SunRise, we just saw a flyer and the guy invited us. I really started to think about God, Jesus, and my salvation while Dixon encouraged me. We transferred from Colorado to Fort Knox, KY. In Kentucky, I was working at Healthsouth as a Physical Therapist Assistant and met a lady named Bethany and she invited me to a women's Bible Study and we became friends. Dixon was temporarily in Indiana for 6 months. As I talked to Bethany and said "I am thinking about getting baptized" she said "If you are thinking about it you should do it." I was going to church at First Christian. So, I emailed the pastor and he agreed to baptize me, but I waited until Nov 7, 2010 so Dixon could be there. 

I prayed for Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and publicly proclaimed it that day by the baptism. When I came out of the water, I had tears in my eyes and a feeling of relief. I didn't really know anything about church or reading the Bible but felt the need to know more. I started going to church with Bethany and she mentored me about reading the Bible and serving in the church. My life has changed so much since then. I used to be really shy and not talk to people.  Since I have been saved, I have been on six mission trips, three to the Philippines, two of those with Pastor Eric.  On the last mission trip, my friend, Veronica who I helped lead to Christ, got baptized in the Philippine sea.

It is such a great feeling to have Jesus in your life. I don't worry about anything except "not sharing the Gospel enough”. I have hope in Jesus and that is all I need. It is such a comfort to know no matter what happens, I will one day be with Jesus my Lord and Savior. Even though my husband has had health issues, my comfort comes from the Lord.  It is hard to explain, most people don't understand how to take everything in stride. If you have Jesus, you have hope for the future. I am no longer scared of death. When you believe in Jesus, you are never alone and will always have hope because of what Jesus did for me, giving his life for mine.