The Testimony of Jerry Wayne Byrd Salvation Date June 13, 1975

Jesus died on the cross to pay my sin debt to God and I asked for my sins to be forgiven, so that I can go to heaven when I die.

I grew up in a Christian home. My grandparents and parents on both sides of the family were Christians and served in their churches. I can always remember my mother taking me to church services every Sunday. She always sat in the second pew on the right of the Worship Center. I can remember sitting on that pew and sometimes falling to sleep when I was about seven years old. One day when I was nine years old there was a Revival at my grandfather's church. I remember the preacher saying that if you wanted to go to heaven when you die that you needed to be baptized in the water. I remember learning about the devil and hell in church and did not want to go there. I went down at the invitation and told the preacher that I wanted to get baptized. My mother talked to the preacher and she told him that she would tell the preacher at our church. It was decided that I could get baptized at the church we attended. The baptism was set up for me one Sunday morning. I can remember other people getting baptized also. The baptistry was behind the pulpit in the church. I remember the water was deeper than I was tall. They had put a Masonry Block in the middle, so the preacher carried me, so I could stand on the block until I was put under the water. I thought my way to heaven was ok and I could go to heaven when I died. I kept going to the same church. We would go every Sunday like my family had done for years. One day when I was fourteen years old, the men of the church decided to have a prayer breakfast for the men and boys of the church. This prayer breakfast was sponsored by the men's group called the Brotherhood. It was decided to go to a local hotel to have the event. They invited a layman preacher to speak. My father was in bad heath during this time. One of the men at my church knew this, so offered to give me a ride to the event. I accepted and went in the morning about 7:00am I started listening to the message. The preacher explained about sin and how it separated everyone from a relationship with God. He said that everyone sins and that each person must be forgiven to be right with God. Each person that was not forgiven would be separate from God and would go to hell unless they got forgiveness. He then told me about Jesus God's Son that had died on the Cross to pay the sin debt to God for everyone. He said each person had to ask forgiveness for their own sins and that Jesus had made it possible to be forgiven by God. Each person has to ask God to forgive them, so they could go to heaven when they died. I was under a deep conviction from the Holy Spirit that I was lost and needed God's forgiveness. I returned home from the Prayer Breakfast and was still under the Holy Spirit's conviction. Somehow, I knew what I needed to do to be saved. I prayed a simple prayer asking God to forgive me. I believed that Jesus's death on the Cross paid for my sins. I was on my knees in my home and felt a peace in my soul that God had forgiven me. The Holy Spirit then got me thinking about baptism. I somehow knew I had done things in the wrong order. During the invitation time at church that morning I went to talk to the pastor. I told him that I had decided to follow Jesus at the prayer breakfast. I told him that I needed to get baptized again because I was not saved until that morning. He told the church and baptized me during the evening service. Since that day I have continued to follow Jesus and live my life in service to God. He has been faithful to use me in many areas of ministry, music, teaching, and missions in the church and in the world. Jerry Wayne Byrd

I still experience God's peace in my life everyday and know for sure that I will go to heaven when I die.