Kendall Damron

I thank God that I, too, am enjoying the old-time religion. It has been real to me for many years. We came to the Apostolic Faith Church back in 1910. I heard the same standard and the same Bible doctrines preached then as today. There is no need for any change. The Gospel is perfect.

I was brought up in a minister’s home, and when just a lad, I learned the Christian way. I knew how I should live, and I wanted to live that way, but sin crept into my life. I knew what to do about it. I got on my knees one night and asked God to make a change in my heart like He made in the lives of others. The joy of Heaven came down and filled me and I knew I was saved—the change had come.

At a camp meeting, during children’s church, God sanctified me wholly. A few years later, I was seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Sister Crawford was preaching about the Bride of Christ, and the power of God was falling. Such a hunger seized my soul; I said, “I have to have it.” I went to the altar and sought that experience, and all I could say was, “Lord, I will!” The power of God came down and baptized me with the Holy Ghost. I thank Him for the many years now that I have enjoyed this blessed experience. Trials? Yes. Afflictions? Yes. But underneath it all is a deep-settled peace.

God gave me power to live a Christian life through school. A teacher tried to teach us about evolution. She said the world was like a ball of fire and as it cooled it wrinkled like a baked potato. She said that was how the mountains were formed. It sounded silly to me, and when someone in the class tried to put her straight, she immediately changed the subject.

I thank God for the Gospel and the standard that was put into my life. It has kept me down through the years. I am a senior citizen now, and I am still enjoying the old-time religion.

The Lord is also our physician. I was suffering with a kidney infection, and one night I started hemorrhaging. By morning I had a severe pain in the back of my heart and went into convulsions. My wife called for the saints of God to pray, and God answered. He broke that infection and healed me. Today I feel better than I have in a long time.

A few years ago, I met with a serious accident when a Greyhound bus, loaded with school children, plowed into the rear of my car and went thirty-six inches into the trunk. I blacked out. At a time like that, it is good to be prayed up and right with God. One doesn’t pray when one is unconscious.

The doctor ordered me to the hospital. The ligaments were torn in my leg, pain was going up into the back of my neck and head, and I had a high fever. I didn’t worry; I knew if I died I would go to Heaven. I was put in traction, and the nurses took my temperature every two hours. The doctors were worried about my condition and said I would get no relief from the terrific pain without an operation on my spine. I said, “There will be no operation!” The people of God prayed for me and the Lord undertook.

The second night, after the lights were out, God touched my body. Immediately the fever left. I managed to get the straps off and was sitting on the edge of my bed when the nurse came in to take my temperature again. When she saw me, she threw up her hands and exclaimed, “What has happened to you?” I told her, “I’ve had a touch from Heaven.” She did not understand and said, “I’ll have to give you a shot; you are in a serious condition.” I told her, “No, don’t give me a shot. I will lie down again.” The doctor was surprised when he came in the next morning, and he said, “You are much better; you can go home tomorrow!” That’s the way the Lord works. That is the God we are serving.

I thank God for victory. I want to thank God especially for His healing power in my wife’s life. A wonderful thing has happened in my home. My wife has had Alzheimer’s disease for nine years now. They say a chemical that feeds the brain has been depleted and the brain gradually dies. Well, I saw this going on in my home for nine years, but I trusted God. The devil used to fight me and say, “Now what are you going to do?” But I thank God that, just recently, He has come down in our home. My wife didn’t recognize me for many years and her mind just didn’t work. It was pitiful to see, but we trusted God. She prayed, we prayed, and the ministers prayed. A few days ago I came into the house and she recognized me and said, “Here comes my Kendall.” The mind that was not supposed to work, was working! She then began to answer questions with, “yes” or “no,” and, as we talked, she began to complete sentences. It was right in line with our conversation, and I knew that she was thinking.

The doctors had said nothing could be done, and that there is no hope for those with Alzheimer’s. They said the condition would gradually grow worse and worse. She hadn’t recognized me for years until that day. It takes God to do that. Thank God my name is recorded up in Heaven and I am going to be there for that Heavenly roll call.