This is Gretchen’s testimony she wrote when she was applying to be a missionary in Haiti

Testimony of Gretchen Zachary

I was born in 1946 the oldest child of a Catholic mother and Baptist father. I was raised Catholic and attended parochial school for 8 years. Here I learned devotion and love for Jesus but no personal relationship with God was present.

After high school, I attended Marion County General Hospital School of Nursing in Indianapolis. While in school, I continued going to Sunday mass, but shortly after graduation in 1969 I stopped going to church at all.

Soon I became involved smoking marijuana socially. In 1971 I met and married my husband and we “enjoyed the sins of life together, thinking all the time that we were “good people”,

In 1974 our first child Lori was born, followed 363 days later by another daughter, Licia.  At first, I was busy just doing the things mothers do for little babies. When the girls turned 2 and 3 years of age, I began to think about taking them to church- it was the right thing to do. right thing to do. I did go a few times and enjoyed it. In 1977 we moved to a new community, and my elderly neighbor began taking my girls to church while I stayed home and rested. Our son Casey was born in 1978.  With the birth of each child, I was on my death bed, and God spared me – for I would have surely gone straight to the Lake of Fire. During the birth of our first born I had spiritual experience where I saw myself going through a tunnel of light, and asked God to let me go back to care for our new baby, which He granted. The delivery of our son left me with 2 major operations in 5 days. I came home facing another surgery as soon as I could build strength for it. God miraculously healed me – I acknowledged this to be God’s work but still was not ready to serve Him.

Early in 1979, I began to go to church, as time went on, I went more and more. I would sit with my 3 children and cry during a great portion of the service this went on for months. I was so miserable using drugs, empty in spirit, in a stormy marriage, suffering comm depression and having severe suicidal drives. The Holy Spirit was trying to reach me, but I didn’t understand and no one tried to direct me. I went to the altar twice during this time for salvation, but again only because it was the thing to do.

In In 1982, I was barely hanging on to life and then only for the benefit of my children. I was at the bottom of the bottom. In March, I went to the altar a third time the desire to change was strong. I could hardly walk the aisle and had to pull myself pew by pew as the presence of the Holy Spirit was so great. When I got to the front God gave me the words to speak, I was planting myself as a seed for God to do with what He wanted. I meant it with every bit of my heart, mind and spirit. I felt a great peace and excitement finally on the third try I was Born Again.

I did not change instantly, as some are able to testify, it was a slow process. I had no one to tach me at that time. The church was lukewarm, if you didn’t feel guilty, sin was not sin.

Almost right away I began teaching Sunday school, I knew very little, but the Holy Spirit began leading me.  I was excited about God. Every week I had more revelation of who God was and who I was in Him. I started with 12 children, and we grew to go attendance of well over 45 on Sundays. Soon we started having children’s church as well as Sunday School. There were 2 other workers besides me and we were busy- but God gave us the grace and the strength.

In 1985, I began taking a Bible study at my next-door neighbor’s house once a week.  She had been serving the Lord 40 years and opened the scriptures and taught me many truths that I never heard at my own church. I began to develop a really personal relationship with my Savior. The more I knew the less I felt at home at my local church, the word was watered down, and a lot of things went on that were not pleasing to God. God was telling me to go, but in the natural I wanted to stay and work with the children. In March of 1987 the Lord shoved me and I had to leave. In obedience I resigned not knowing what God had planned. God in his awesome goodness touched my husband exactly two weeks later with a supernatural salvation experience, and we have been serving the Lord together ever since.

We soon found the church where God desired us to be. There God rapidly matured us in His ways. After about 6 months there was an opening in the children’s department, we went to work and learn as we taught.

After we felt comfortable teaching, we felt there was more God would have us to do. We began praying and talking about outreach to the community. We began a food pantry outreach called the Love Basket. We took food out to people all over the county. Soon a need was seen and birthed for a bus ministry. People needed food for their physical bodies and also spiritual food the church could offer. Soon other needs were apparent. A clothing-give-away was begun and held twice a year. We also helped people get furniture and personal items as the Lord provided,

This year I went to Haiti with my husband, My daughters had both gone with their dad on work teams, all three tried to express to me the need they saw there, I always knew God was training us for the mission field, but I thought it would be several years from now, while in Haiti I felt the drawing of the Lord to the people. I have no doubt this is God’s will for us.

In all this, God works His perfect hand. He takes us step by step. I’ve learned to trust Him in all things. He gave me salvation, He healed ne from mental illness, He’s made me a worker in the vineyard. Volumes cannot tell the blessing He has given my family. God has allowed me to have many spiritual adventures and the best one yet to come. There is no turning back.