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I would repeat over and over was Proverbs 3:5; "Trust in the Lord with all

Thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding." When I felt afraid,

depressed,nervous, anxious, or any bad mood, I would start saying these passages mentally over and over and I would be delivered. Praise God! The incredible thing about this is that I did not know Christ as my Savior and really wasn't trying to live a Christian Life. My wife and I would attend the Methodist Church occasionally, but I used profanity, drank and smoked and every Saturday night we went to a drinking,gambling and dancing party at someone's house. I would lose my temper easily,shout and act in very satanic fashion at times.

In the month of November, 1959, Shirley (my wife) and I were in an auto accident. I received a sub‑basal skull fracture. The bottom inside of my skull was cracked and I had a broken right ear drum from which blood flowed, as well as from my mouth and nose. I had very little pulse and blood pressure and the Doctor told my wife not to get her hopes up because 90% of the people in this condition didn't make it. Well, the Lord had his hand upon me because of the Prayers being sent up to Him, from my friends and loved ones. (We just don't realize the power of intercessory prayer.) The Lord completely healed me with no paralysis, blindness, deafness, or many things that could have resulted. I was out of the hospital in two weeks and the neuro‑surgeon could only shake his head and tell me what a lucky guy I was. During my recuperation period, I thought about this quite a bit and discussed it with Shirley and we joined the Marion United Methodist Church. I figured that God must have healed me and that seemed like what I ought to do in gratitude. So I accepted Christ, made the vows, was baptized and joined the Methodist Church. But I still didn't change my way of living. At the time I did not know that God wants complete sincerity and complete surrender before there can be a new birth experience.

In the summer's of 1962, 63, 64, 1 attended Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) and graduated with an M. S. in combined Sciences. I attended Church sporadically during these years, but with no change of heart. I quit teaching school in 1965 after seven years and went into Quality Control work in Industry. First, I worked with Sperry‑Rand for 2 ½ years as an inspection foreman, then for Ford Motor Co. as inspection foreman. During this time we had moved back to our home town of Sibley, La. and moved our Church membership to the Sibley United Methodist Church. After several preachers and teachers had talked to me about being a Sunday School Teacher and Superintendent and other offices of the church, I finally did because it was my duty, (I thought), During these years (late 60's and early 70's), I was beginning to show a little more interest in the Church but it was still "play christian", duty bound" legalism. I still drank and used profanity, but I had quit smoking. I see now that the Lord helped me to stop but at the time I would tell everyone that "I" quit of my own self as the result of the Surgeon General's Report.

During the year of 1974, 1 started attending Wednesday Night Bible Study and later became the teacher. One day, an employee on the job witnessed to me about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I really didn't pay much attention to him because I thought that I had all there was. The Methodist Church had not preached and taught against this, nor against healing as some denominations do, but they had not taught it in the fullness of the Go9pel. I was about like one of the 12 Ephesians that Paul asked if they had received the Holy Ghost since they first believed. "I also did not know if there was one." A few more days went by and another man on the job brought me two books. One was

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"They Speak With Other,Tongues" by John Sherill and the other book was "A New Song" by Pat Boone. These made an impact upn me. I was beginning to believe that there was more to The Christian Life than I had experienced, but the thought came into my mind that It (The Baptism) was not for everyone and this hindered me greatly in receiving the precious, indwelling, overflowing, Holy Spirit. I thought you had to get good enough, get your life cleaned up, do this, do that and finally I began to think that I was Demon possessed. HALLELULAH! PRAISE THE LORD! How ignorant I was!

One day after I had become interested in the Baptism and thought that I might

could receive it, I saw an old Army buddy that was now principal of the

grammar school where my youngest daughter attended. He had received the

Baptism several years before and he gave me some tracts and information on

this. I was still doubtful that this was for everyone that wants it, especially

me,and I confessed this to my friend, but he wouldn't listen to my unbelief,

Thank God. I took this information home and read it and began to read all

I could about it and talk to all the Spirit filled people that I could.

Also,I began to read other books that gave testimonies of the infilling of The

Holy Spirit and the lives of these people. Some of these were as follows:

(And I would recommend them to anyone.) They Speak With Other Tongues, A

New Song, Two Sides Of A Coin, Since Jesus Passed BY, Hey God, Prison To

Praise, Like A Mighty Wind, Nine O’Clock In The Morning, Shout It From The House Top, High Adventure, I Believe in Visions, Cross and The Switch Blade…

there are so many more and I am afraid that I have leftout many more that should be listed, but time doesn't permit me to list themhere. As I read more and more about this miracle happening to people in all walks of life and talked to people that had received It, my Faith grew more and more. I started praying and pleading with God each day to fill me. I did not realize that a person does not have to beg God for something He promised us.

I remember several days I would pray silently then wait for God to "Zap" me with power from on high. Every time I would hear a loud noise (as noise from my car over rough concrete in the highway) my heart would pound and I thought that I was receiving the mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire from The Scriptures. In the Book of Acts, the Baptism of The Holy Spirit was received by the laying on of hands and I started believing that my problem in receiving was the fact that I was in need of some Spirit Filled person to lay hands on me and pray for me. I had lots of education, but I was spiritually ignorant. The Lord honors prayer for each other, but our faith and our acting on that faith in Him causes Jesus to Baptize us with The Holy Ghost and fire as His word promises. As the days went by, I read more and more about people receiving the Baptism with The Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This fascinated me that someone could speak a language that they had never learned. Doubt would creep into my mind and I'd say to myself that it was not real to hear the voice of God through the Spirit or "I believe that Pat Boone, his wife, and four daughters received, bt it's not for me." Nevertheless, I kept reading about It and talking to others about It. On the job where I work there are about 400 to 500 people employed and less than 12 people are spirit filled. Three of these people helped me stay in there and fight the doubt and unbelief... that this experience is for everyone.

One day (Sunday, January 5, 1975, 1 can never forget that day) we had a

guest speaker. He was the youth director at another local Methodist Church. He

had long, almost shoulder length'hair. As I walked into our church, I was

turned off by his appearance, but I enjoyed his message. Our pastor asked us to

share

Sunday dinner with he and the young guest speaker. He was 19 years old. After we had dinner, Lee and I went into the den and I talked with him. Normally, young folks would be with my teen age daughters, but God was about to answer my prayers. I asked (Lee Knipe is the youth's name) Lee if he had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He looked sort of surprized and I was surprized at myself for asking and he said that he had received. I told him that I believed that if he would lay hands on me and pray that I would receive. There was too much activity with kids and noise in my home, so I asked that we go to the Church and we did. At this time I was 42 years old and he had not been in a situation like this and I hadn't either. He said that I should pray a prayer of repentance and forgiveness before he laid hands on me. I did this and also I promised the Lord that my life would be dedicated to Him for anything that he wanted to do. I had accepted the Lord and said practically the same things that I said here on that day, but I never did sincerely mean it with my heart in times past. Lee asked me to sit in a chair and he walked around behind me and stood with his hand on my head. At the time I thought that the laying on of hands was necessary and Lee and I both were not as spiritually enlightened as we should have been. He told me that he was going to pray in English and then in the Spirit (tongues, or prayer language of the Spirit). Just before he prayed in tongues, he instructed me to join my voice with his and to make sounds like the ones from his Spirit. By the Holy Spirit. As he began praying and I joined in with sounds, I felt a burning sensation on the back of my neck and I became aware of strange sounds coming from my mouth. I stopped abruptly and Lee had already stopped praying and was listening to me. I said "It's no use, I'm making all that up." Lee said that he thought that I had received the Baptism. As we know now, I really did receive it, but I wouldn't believe it. God is gracious and He never fails. Jesus Baptized me with The Holy Spirit and with the Heavenly Prayer Language and I was so spiritually ignorant that I didn't realize what had happened. Praise the Lord for being so kind and patient with me!

Lee and I left the Church and I was feeling so depressed and so was he. I said many times "Lord, what's wrong with me? I must have 9 dozen demons! The next morning I went by Harper Elementary School where my youngest daughter attended. Joe Windham was the Principal of the school and was the army friend that I mentioned earlier in this testimony. I told him what had happened the day before. I told him that I did not receive the Baptism and really didn't know if I could. He told me that this kind of thinking was from Satan and that I should not listen to unbelief. He was President of the Minden, La. Chapter of the F.G.B.M.F.I, at this time, and he said that they were having a meeting the following Saturday night and asked me to come and have the Spirit‑filled brothers lay hands on me and pray for me. I said that I was willing. About this time a black man walked in the door and Joe said "Fred here is Spirit Filled. You don't have any hang‑ups about blacks, do you? I said no, so he said, "Let's go into my office and Fred and I will lay hands on you and pray for you." So we did. Again I sat in a chair and Joe and Fred laid hands on me, but Joe told me that I should just sit while they prayed. He quoted Matthew 18:19; about touching anything agreeing and asked the Lord to put words in my mind for me to speak them out. He prayed that the Lord would put these prayer language words in my mind before I got to Sibley that day.

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On the way back to Sibley, I became aware of the following words that came to my mind. "Umbrect, Lakto, DeMosi, Ami, Cumi, Lama, Lichini, Tetra, Neboni, Acqua, Phenol, Lea. I began to say these words out loud and I pondered over them, especially Phenol. I would say (or rather Satan said) "Phenol! That's a chemical' You're just making these words up! On the way home that day, the Spirit spoke clearly to me and said "You have already received the Baptism!" But I pUshed that aside with unbelief. When the Holy Spirit speaks, it is different from any other thought you have ever had. The voice of the Spirit will be heard of any one that desires Him.

One thing that the Baptism does bring that is beyond description is the joy and happiness tears. I cannot understand how I can cry and shake all over and be laughing my head off at the same time. I did not realize that I had been Baptized with Jesus' Baptism, but I knew Jesus was alive and that He was so close that I could just imagine reaching out and touching Him. Just joining the Church and being Baptized with John's Baptism (Water) is not enough. It's not real to play Christian and not feel the Divine Presence. I understand now why I did not understand all those years. When you ask the Lord Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior, yield yourself completely to Him and tell Him that you will do anything he says, then comes the re‑birth. I guess what I'm really saying is that I had accepted the Lord, but had not really meant what I said up until a year ago.

For the next few days I would be gloriously happy, then I would say those words over and over "Ami, Cumi, Lama", then I would become depressed because I knew that I could not memorize words as the heavenly language. I would say "Lord, what's wrong with me? I must have Demons!" Then I'd be happy and sing and pray and start repeating those words over and over, "Ami, Cumi, Lama", I was so happy that I did not eat any food on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday, I saw that David Wilkerson, author of "The Cross and The Switchblade" was to be in Shreveport and right away I started thinking that if I could have David lay hands on me and pray for me that I would receive the Baptism. I look back now, in retrospect, and can see the Lord looking sadly at me and shaking His Head because of His wonderful faithfulness and my unbelief that He had already done for me what I had asked. I had allowed Satan to take away the completeness through unbelief and spiritual ignorance.

I started believing that David Wilkerson could lay hands on me and pray for me and I would receive the Baptism (because of all of those teen age kids on dope in the book "Cross and Switchblade" receiving the Baptism.) David was to be in Shreveport on Wedn6‑sday7night and I asked my boss if I could get off to go and hear him. (I was working night shift.) He gave me permission and I went to the meeting. After he spoke, I went forward with, mostly young people, to receive Jesus. I wanted to tell the crowd that "Look, I'm not accepting Jesus, I'm wanting the Baptism with The Holy Spirit. I've already accepted Jesus into my life." As David was shaking hands with the crowd, I extended my hand to him and said, "I want to receive the Baptism." He said "Go back stage and wait." I had already been away from work for about 1‑1‑, hours and was uneasy about that but I went backstage and waited. There must have been 50‑75 people back there and David was busy having them fill out their Jesus cards. By this time I was feeling very depressed and decided that I had to get back to the job. I started to leave and saw a man on the job that was an usher there and I told him about the situation. He was from the Assembly of God Church and he said "Wait a

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minute, we will get the brothers from my Church and pray for you now." So I said O.K. and we began to look for a place to pray, but people were everywhere. Finally, we stood in their midst with one man holding my left arm, one man holding my right arm and another with his hand on my head. They began to pray in tongues and I started repeating those words "Ami, Cumi, Lama...." Finally I quit and said "It's no use, I can't! The older brother said very emphatically "Yes, you can!" Another of the brothers said "Why don't you try fasting?" I said, "This is my third day of fasting!" He said, "Take another.'" So I walked out of the auditorium feeling very dejected and again I asked the Lord "What's wrong with me? I must have 9 dozen demons!" The joy of the experience that I had had the week before flooded my soul and the dejection left, but I kept saying those words, wanting the language of the Spirit. I knew that the voice of the Spirit that I had heard through these people praying for me was real. A person may not understand this phenomenon, but when he hears the Voice of God, he knows it. The next day was Thursday and I fasted. This was done intentionally. The other three days that I fasted were because I was so happy. I still sang, prayed, laughed, cried and said those words over and over... the Spirit was guiding me even though I didn't realize that I had received the Baptism almost a week before and turned it off! As I said before, I was spiritually ignorant! I know now that anyone that sincerely asks Jesus into their life, and really means it, has salvation. Also anyone (and I mean everyone) that asks for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit will receive it. When a person receives it, the sign will be a new language that he has never learned ... speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. When you ask, dear brothers and sisters, then speak, offer your voice, God will give you the words. Be not as unbelieving as I was!

Friday morning, after I had fasted four days and gone through each episode that I have shared with you, I worked day shift. All day I felt happy and joyous with intermittent periods of saying those words over and over and feeling depressed. Joe Windham had told me to say those words and to believe and not doubt. I took my lunch that day but, I was so happy that I didn't want to break the intimacy between the Lord and myself, so I didn't eat.

I was driving home that afternoon and about midway I prayed to the Lord and said quote:Lord, I'm asking you to free my spirit so that I can worship you in Spirit." Then I spoke those words over and over, "Ami, Cumi, Lami, Lichini...." As I began speaking this time, I started speaking them faster and all of a sudden Glory fell! Hallelujah! The words broke into a language that started flowing and hasn't stopped yet.

There are many other things that I wanted to mention here, but I have prayed about this testimony and God knows that every "Jot and Title" that I have written is from my heart. When I first received the Baptism I was so anxious for everyone to have it that I tried to force Jesus on everyone. I didn't realize that each person has to reach a point in their life that they must either accept Jesus unconditionally, or not at all. Also that laying on of hands and fasting are not necessary but add much more to our lives. You can receive the Baptism of The Holy Spirit anywhere, anytime, standing, sitting, lying down, by yourself(and the Lord) in a crowd of people. Jesus is Faithful. He has promised. He will do it.

I pray that this testimony will be helpful to any and all that want to know if Jesus is really alive. That He ever did exist and if there is more to the Christian life than they have had all their lives.

May God bless you and draw you closer to Him.