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Personal Testimonies
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JAMES PRIDGEN I was born the Fort Ord Army base in Monterey California. My father was in the Air Force and he was taking language studies at the language institute at Fort Ord. In the early years of my life we lived in San Angelo Texas, Crete Greece, and Athens Greece. Upon leaving Athens Greece were were then stationed in Omaha, Nebraska. I had been saved at the age of 10 in San Angelo, but it was not until I was in Omaha that the Lord really began to deal with me about surrendering my life to Him. We were attending Midwestern Baptist Church and through the preaching, teaching, and various ministries the Lord spoke to my heart. We went to a youth conference at Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma and while there I surrendered my life to the Lord as a missionary to Africa. Upon graduating from high school I went to Oklahoma Baptist College. It was there that I met Cheryl (my wife). After graduating from college Cheryl and I were married and then six months later we started deputation. We arrived in Uganda in November 1998, and we have been serving the Lord here since that time.
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CHERYL PRIDGEN Isaiah 43:1-2 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. I was saved at the age of 13 at Triple S Ranch in Rosebud, Arkansas. We were having dorm devotions and Melissa Vineyard was giving her testimony. I realized that being a church kid wasn’t going to get me to heaven. That night, Melissa led me to the Lord. A few years later, at the Youth Conference at Windsor Hills Baptist Church, I heard Darlene Rose give her testimony. She told of how she served the Lord, even when it meant being on death row at prison camp. She had a love for her people. The Lord spoke to my heart that night and I went forward to surrender my life. The altars were full and all the staff was busy, so Bro. Ross had Mrs. Rose pray with me. I met my husband at Oklahoma Baptist College. We were married in December of 1995. We joined BIMI in the summer of 1996 and then started on deputation, In November of 1998, we left for the field of Uganda. Jennifer was 6 months at that time. We worked with a veteran missionary and we helped to establish a church in the village of Karama. The Lord blessed us with another girl in 2000 and we named her Ashley. We knew the Lord was leading us to a different place so after much prayer we moved to the city of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. We wanted to get a church started as soon as possible but the Lord said, “Wait”. We didn’t understand but the Lord did. That November our daughter Ashley became sick. The doctors said she would be fine and sent her home several times. She became very weak so we took her to the hospital and stayed there. While we were there, we saw many mothers trying to take care of their sick children. I asked the Lord to give me a verse to help them. The Lord gave me Isaiah 43:1-2. The next day, after the doctors realize how very sick she was, we had her medivaced to Kenya. As we were on route to the airport, I got frustrated with the Lord. I said, “ Lord, why would you give me these verses, but not give me the chance to share it with the Ladies?” He so sweetly replied, “These verses are for you.” We stayed for twelve days in Kenya and then our daughter went home to be with the Lord. We were able to bring her body back to the States and buried her in the same cemetery that my dad was buried in. Because of my daughters death, many people received “new life”. On our daughters grave stone, we put the verse, Romans 8:28. We know that He has His reasons for taking Ashley and only in heaven will we know how much her life was used to further the Gospel in Uganda and around the world.
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