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the Mary -
Grace story |
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I am sister Mary-Grace Umbao
and I am 24 years old, I have one husband and two
children and I am Filipino by natural birth, a saint by
new birth/born-again experience. In the past, I lived a
very mixed up and messed up life. To start with, my
parents separated when I was a child and I was then
basically left to myself and was brought up with a very
bad street attitude, swearing, gambling and hardship
followed me everywhere I went...........ref/Ephesians
1:1 (saints/disciples).
With my parents separated and me being tossed from one
parent to the other my childhood was a real terrible and
horrible life. My love for gambling increased so much as
I grew up, I was soon addicted and found I could not
stop. People even started to call me the 'Queen of
Gambling'. So I decided to look for help at times
through different churches and religions, like the Roman
Catholic Church,, El Shaddai a charismatic roman
catholic church and Buddhism, the proclaimers of peace
but still no peace of mind. I also went one time to
Iglesia Ni Cristo here in the Philippines, Bacolod City
but I wasn't really welcomed there because I had no
money..........click.
I was looking for a church to help me and deliver me
from my gambling and miserable life. I would go to these
churches and religions and listen to what they had to
say in the morning and then in the evening I would be
back to the same old tricks and bad deeds, always doing
the wrong thing. I would gamble everywhere at anytime
and all the time. It was nothing for me to be sitting at
a card table around 6.00am in the morning with my child
on my lap and whatever money I could get my hands on. I
couldn't control myself, I was addicted and it was
wrecking my life. At times I would lose the food money
for the family at the card table and then I'd feel even
worse, what would I tell my husband and what would I
feed my children, my life was a mess and miserable.
When my husband would give me money, I would have bad
thoughts, like using that money for gambling, without
giving any thought that my husband worked so hard for
that money and I would waste it. After my gambling was
done and no money was left, I would be broken, with a
terrible headache, tired and worn out, troubled and my
children would be crying because they were hungry.
What will I do, I asked myself........what will I
do?????????
I said to my child, you stay here for I am going to the
scrap shop to sell this sheet of rusty roofing iron to
get some money, so I took the baby with me and
left the older child at home. I was looking up to the
sky with tears running down my cheeks, a splitting
headache from worry and I cried out to the
lord.......Lord, please help me with this hardship.
Only a few seconds later a white man called out to me
as I passed a church called "Jesus the Christ
Ministries-Mission" and asked if I needed help. Then
a young man by the name of brother Clark was sent by the
white man, the pastor, to help me.
I asked him, why are you helping me and he said that the
lord Jesus is going to use someone to help me.
I felt so much better when I heard the name of the
lord. I knew about Jesus but I did not know him
personally until I came in contact with 'Jesus the
Christ Ministries-Mission'.
Brother Clark then asked me if I wanted the pastor, Paul
Sheehan to pray for me and I said yes.....click.
The pastor layed his hands on my head and prayed with
me, I confessed I was a sinner,, asked Jesus
to forgive me and I received Jesus as my lord and
saviour, then I started to feel very light, my
headache was gone and I had a wonderful peace within. It
was like Pastor Paul was an apostle of Jesus sent to
help me......halleluyah!.......ref/Romans 10:9, Romans
11:22.
I have never had so much blessing at one time, in all my
life. Through Jesus the Christ I now have power to
abandon all my sins. I have received the promise of
Father......holy ghost power. Now I know myself, I have
courage to say no to gambling and the
devil....................ref/Luke 24:47-49; Romans
6:15-23.
Since I came across 'Jesus the Christ Ministries
Mission', Bacolod City, by the grace of God, I have
been blessed with salvation, peace of mind, deliverance
from gambling and I am now learning to be humble before
everyone, especially my husband. I have found that in JTCM-Mission we have a lot of freedom here but we don't
have the liberty to live in known-sin and be part of
JTCM-Mission, this is a good standard for all. I also
distribute the 'Word of God' to the lost people
in my area, just as this testimony will be given freely
to all that I can reach, as Father leads by his spirit. |
LET US WORSHIP OUR LORD - JESUS THE CHRIST IN THE
SPIRIT OF HOLINESS! |
Honesty, Truth and
Humility is the way to go, just as pastor teaches, with
Jesus as number one.
The pastor's wife, sister Juvy has been very helpful to
me also as God's instrument, she treats me like her own
sister and the fellowship treats me no different than
anyone else. They accept me, my children and my husband,
on Jesus terms, this is very nice, thank you
Jesus......Amen........click. |
Sister: Mary-Grace Umbao
Brgy, Taculing, Mansilingan Highway, Bacolod
City, Philippines
28th August 2010
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JESUS THE
CHRIST MINISTRIES - MISSION.......CHURCH MEETS
....ERCOR BUILDING, SUNTAL VILLAGE, LIBERTAD EXT,
MANSILINGAN HIGHWAY.......BRGY TACULING, BACOLOD CITY,
PHILIPPINES. |
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