Thelma Miles

I had very little opportunity to learn about God as a child. We lived for some time in a small village on the Columbia River where there was no church or Sunday school. In the midst of this worldly environment, though, God let a beam of light shine forth. The teacher of our one-room school would read a few words from the Bible and offer a short prayer each morning before taking up the lessons. Later, that teacher came to live in our home. She bowed her head and prayed before she ate. She kept a Bible on the stand right by her bed. I had never seen such things before. My heart began to hunger for God.

The Lord saw my need and led us to Medford, Oregon. I walked the sidewalks, praying for God to lead me to a place that had the best and surest way to Heaven.

In a revival service, I heard of Christ’s suffering on the Cross to save my soul. My heart was melted and I went forward to surrender my life to God, but there was no place or opportunity to pray. All I was asked to do was to sign a card.

One day, in faithfulness to my heart, God let me see a notice of some Apostolic Faith tent meetings which were being held in the city. Something said, “Maybe that is it.” I attended the meetings and found what I had been looking for—a sure and certain way to Heaven. These people told me that one must be born again and then sanctified. They also taught that one should seek for and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and then continue to keep one’s life dedicated to God’s service.

I hesitated for a few days and the special meetings closed. The Apostolic Faith people left the city. I did not know where they had come from or where they had gone. Sorrow filled my soul and I cried myself to sleep night after night, because of the golden opportunity that I had let slip. I was in a large Sunday school class of high school girls called The Faithful Band, but that faithful band did not know how to help me pray through to victory over sin. I traveled on, in the same old way, and became more deeply involved in the modern trend of thinking.

Again God was merciful to me. I heard that some Apostolic Faith workers had returned to Medford and opened a little Gospel hall. I watched the lives of two of those young people in high school and wanted to live like they lived.

I took some of the Apostolic Faith literature home and compared the doctrines with the Word of God. How happy I was to find that their teachings agreed perfectly with the Bible.

One Sunday morning, after weeping all through the service, I knelt at the place of prayer and poured out my heart to God in full surrender. He gave me the assurance that my sins were blotted out and that I was really saved. I sought for deeper experiences and the Lord sanctified me and later gave me the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

I thank God that the time came when both my parents became Christians and my father exclaimed, “This is Heaven and Home” before passing on. The Gospel truly pays great dividends and God has done wonderful things for me and my loved ones.