Carl Deffenbaugh

I thank God for the Gospel. I am glad there was a lady in this Gospel, Sister Florence Louise Crawford, who had a faithful heart that loved souls and sent Apostolic Faith papers all over this world. It was through that means my mother received one of these papers in the Midwest, in what is known today as the nation’s dust bowl. My mother was one of the pioneer women who moved west of the Mississippi when I was only a year old. We were a family of three boys, growing up and knowing nothing about God. But, thank God, we heard about the Gospel.

When we received a paper from Portland, we sent our mother out here and she came back with a wonderful report. There was something in our hearts that wanted to move right away and see about this marvelous Gospel. We were all tied up in the affairs of this world, but we decided to sell out and come to be among these people. As soon as business deals and property deals were transferred, we came and have been here ever since.

I was employed at that time in the United States Department of Agriculture in the soil conservation work, and I thought, “How would it affect my position in life to come among these people and live with them?” But I thank God I have proved that one can live the life of a Christian on the job every day. Today, after twenty-five years, I am still employed in the same department with the same position of engineering. I am a staff man and travel throughout the Pacific Northwest—Oregon, Washington, and Northern California.

There was something in our hearts that wanted to move right away and see about this marvelous Gospel.

I meet up with problems every day, but I have found that the God I serve can do anything. Even though a person might have technical training and specialize in a particular line of duty, I find that the Lord is able to lead and meet every situation that may arise, including the major decisions.

A number of years ago when I did construction work here in the city, I had from twenty to thirty of the Apostolic Faith men working for me at a time. At one jobsite we were building a large store building, and a man living across from where we were working was so impressed with the way our men worked and lived that he came over and asked my foreman about our boys, and who we were. He said it surely beat anything he had ever seen—the quietness with which the work proceeded—nobody cursed, nobody smoked, and there seemed to be unity and harmony among them to complete the work without any loud commotion.

God has proved Himself to be a healer in our home. I married the daughter of a prominent physician, an M.D. in a small eastern college town. Our oldest child was afflicted and paralyzed. The grandfather and grandmother of the child offered much information regarding medicines and care, but we stood very firm in our belief that the Lord would heal this child. The anxiety of the thing grew so great that the grandmother and two of the grown children came out to Portland to see the child for themselves. Several days after their arrival, the Lord healed the child perfectly and also healed the grandmother who was on crutches at the time.

I have two boys. Those two children are saved. They are both in high school. God gives them wisdom and understanding to deal with all the many little problems they meet at school. God takes care of our family.

I appreciate the Gospel. It means everything to me. Right in the midst of life, when I was trying to get a good position and a good education, I found out the necessary requisite to a joyful life was not in what you could gain in this world, but in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.