Full-Time Training - Testimonies

Being Trained to Serve Christ, Matt Payne

My name is Matt Payne. Currently, I'm completing the last term of a four semester Christian training program known as the Full-Time Training in Anaheim (FTTA). The last two years have been an exceptional privilege. I have enjoyed the Lord Jesus very much every day in prayer, in His Word, and in fellowship with other believers.

Since I was a teenager I have had the thought that I would like to give my whole life to the One who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Older Christian brothers and sisters helped me to see that as Christians we need to nurture our spiritual health and be equipped to help others by having a daily personal touch with the Lord Jesus in prayer and confession and by having consistent times in the Bible. This was an incalculable benefit to me, but I wanted to have more, even the best preparation to serve the Lord.

I found out about the FTTA in 1987 and was interested right away. I learned that I had to have a four-year college degree so I went to the University of Texas and got a degree in Mechanical Engineering. By the time I graduated in the summer of 1997, I had also worked one year in engineering and served in the Army National Guard five and a half years as a paralegal. The many failures I had trying to bring Christ to all the people I met throughout these things reinforced my realization that I needed training.

I started the FTTA in August 1997 and am so pleased about coming here. To me, Anaheim, CA does not have much to offer, but my Christian life and vision of God with His purpose to dispense Himself into man has been enriched and greatly strengthened. I feel like the Lord has had a way to grow and bring me on to more of a concern for others and less for myself. My hunger for the Word and fellowship has increased, and there has been some definite equipping for ministering Christ to others.

Now I still intend to give my life to the Lord to serve Him. I just have to see where. I look to the leading of the spirit as I continue to pray and fellowship with others.

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