My name is Ellen, and this is my Testimony…

Growing up in extreme poverty, in the Southwestern area of Virginia, my siblings and I were sent to churches around our small town. My earliest memory of Sunday School was when I was 4 years old. I learned through pictures of Bible characters and clearly God-fearing and capable teachers who sowed the seeds for my future commitment to Jesus Christ.

Another influence was my public-school teachers who prayed at the start of the day and lunch time, sowing seeds of the Holy Spirit in the school campus. I married very young. My husband’s parents had a church home, yet not anyone attended church services. In that time and space more seeds of understanding were sown, where many Christians guided me through prayer and nurturing. After graduation from high school, I went to work in Kroger’s’ accounting offices in Virginia. In a dark period of divorce and sorrow, I met mature wise Christian women in my transfer to Kentucky who I believe God used to move me toward my solid Christian walk. 

On my move to Kentucky, I met women who invited me to stop for alcohol after work. I had suffered through my childhood with an abusive father and my first marriage of 7 years to an abusive husband, both as a result of alcohol. In my lifetime, a wall was formed to separate me from using the demon of alcohol and all that goes with it. 

I found a 2nd job at a mall and a Baptist Church was located nearby. I discovered a cold and uninviting group of people were in attendance. I stopped after 4 Sunday services, as a result of no person acknowledging my presence.

I met my 2nd husband, a “solid Christian”, who invited me to make a 50-mile trip to visit Locust Grove Baptist Church, where he had been a member since 1950. The Pastor, Rev. Alden Puckett, the people who were in worship in Locust Grove Baptist and Lonnie, showed a totally different view of church and the Love of Jesus Christ. Very soon, I was invited to teach the Primary students. I was not yet a Christian. The final seeds were sown in that year and growth to become a new Christian.

With the conversion experience, I studied for teaching sponges, called children, in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. I had exponential growth in my Christian Walk with teaching different age levels of Sunday School classes, Leadership Training for work in our church, Bible Study on Sunday and Wednesday nights, Revival Services, having meetings in our home, visitation in our Community, Retreats, and one of greater importance, being a mother. 

My daily Bible Study has enabled me to tolerate “weeds” in our Society and within God’s Kingdom, where I have encouraged many in my pathway to understand the Hope, Trust and Faith that each can and should have in our Jesus. 

I did not let those weeds or weeds in my life choke out my service to our Lord. College courses did not prepare me for the public-school classroom, instead my Christian approach to the profession has helped me to grow through building relationships with my students. 

My experiences with the practice of Christianity have led me to Serve our God through the commitment I own to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.