Seth’s Testimony
I was born in NC while my parents were in transition from the mission field in Liberia to working with the Liberian refugees in Ivory Coast. They went to Liberia as short term missionaries and then returned from the field because of the war that broke out in 1990. They then raised some more support and went to Ivory Coast. I was there before my first birthday.
When I was 5 years old, we were on furlough and were staying in Salem Baptist Church’s missionary house, in Winston-Salem NC. Some of my siblings and I stayed in the finished attic and one evening, I think in either the fall or winter, my dad was having devotions with us and I asked Jesus to save me. I do not remember what exactly I said but have always remembered that night as the night that I got saved.
As I grew up, I kept learning about God and started a very good habit that I still have today of reading my Bible every day. I think I was about 11 when I started, but as I grew I also began to doubt my salvation. I prayed countless times for God to save me. Those were pitiful nights when I went to bed having to try to re-convince myself that I was truly saved. The doubts came and went for quite a while until I finally realized that my salvation was not contingent upon me but upon Him and He is not a liar.
Paige’s Testimony
I was saved at the age of six on March 14, 2001. The church I grew up in used the Patch the Pirate curriculum back then, and the devotional section I had to do that day was a salvation message. My mom read through it with me several times and explained it to me, and I realized that I was a sinner in need of Jesus Christ. That day, I knelt in our living room with my mom and prayed that Jesus would be my Savior.Â
As a teenager, I became angry and bitter because of some trials our family was going through. My relationship with God was almost non-existent and remained that way for a few years. Finally, the Lord got a hold of my heart and I slowly began rebuilding that relationship with Him which I had torn apart in the years before. But while my heart was open to God, my heart was not open to His will for my life. I had my own set of plans, and I was determined that things would go my way. After graduating high school and sitting out a year, I decided that I wanted to go to college. We thought about different local colleges, but nothing seemed to work out. Finally, my mom remembered Ambassador Baptist College, where I decided to go for a One Year Certificate in Bible. After that, I would come back and do whatever I wanted for the rest of my life – or so I had planned.
The summer of 2013, just a few weeks before I went to college, I went on a missions trip with my church to Costa Rica. The Lord was strongly pressing missions on my heart, but I fought it until the last day of the trip. In the end, I told the Lord that yes, I would go into missions… but I would do it with a grudging spirit. Then, in the middle of the semester, at ABC, I experienced their annual missions conference. Again, the Lord was making it impossible for me to get missions off my mind, and at the end of the week, I willingly surrendered to go wherever He wanted me to go. It was amazing to finally have a life’s purpose, and to know that God had a plan for me! But I didn’t know where He wanted me to go yet. That same year, I met Seth Cuthbertson, and God showed me through him where he wanted me to go… and that I wouldn’t be going alone. I am so thankful for God’s grace and mercy to me, and that He desires to use me in His service! And I praise the Lord for the wonderful gift He gave to me in my sweet husband Seth.