Testimony of James A. Webster
I grew up in Greensboro, N.C.where I lived a wild teenage life. I drank more than my
parents wanted and spent lots of time gambling and playing pool in Doug's Pool Room
where the smoke was so thick that you could only see the pool balls on the table. After
I was out of school I met and married Rachel. I did not have a good job at the time, so
I quit painting and tried to sale cleaners at Sears. Not making much money, I found a job
at Newmans Machine Co. as a wood pattern maker. We made parts for machines to be
used in furniture companies and lumber yards. Patters were made of wood and then cast into iron or aluminum.
After we had been moving ahead fairly well (I thought), one of our friends asked if we would like to sing in the choir of one of the Billy Graham meetings. I was not very religious, though I attended church some, but I thought it might be fun to go and see the people and Billy Graham. I didn't know much about music so I stuck with it.
My friend and went into the tenor section--no one noticed that I was not a tenor. Night after night I sang, Billy Graham preached, and what he was saying was making sense to me. He was sharing how the Bible says we are doing things wrong and that the outcome of wrong doings was eternal death. But Christ died on the cross because of His love for us so we could have, by receiving Him, eternal life and be free from this penalty of death. After hearing this night after night, it really made since, so I thought I had better do something about this.
Thursday night, at the end of the talk, I got up and went down where the other people were. They gave help on how to take care of this business of inviting Christ into your life. I walked down front and said a prayer inviting Christ into my life.
I didn't feel a thing, but I knew that something important had taken place. But since then I can see a change in my life--one of stability and happiness. Things still get tough and I have my ups and downs like everyone, but I'm thankful to God for coming into my life and giving me the knowledge of having eternal life in Christ. After this, I got into God's word--reading and prayer. I went to church and surrounded myself with a small group of people and became a Sunday School Teacher. In 1960 I met the Navigators and moved from Greensboro, N.C to Norfolk, VA.We then moved from Norfolk, VAto Texas and then from Texas to northern VA. Our last move was from VA to Fort Knox, KY.
Jim and Rachel were married for 61 years ago on the 3rd of November, 1951. They had three children (Connie Turner, Edward Webster, and James Webster), eight grandchildren (Kristie, Marcie, Carrie, Lorie, Eric, Kindel, Rachelle, and Jessica), and two great-grandchildren. They had been on Nav. Staff for 46 years and served in Fort Hood, TX (1967-1969); Alexandria, VA -- Ft. Belvoir,Ft. Myers, and Quantico, VA (1969-1973); Ft. Knox, KY(1973-2012). Jim’s life verses were II Timothy 1:9 and II Corinthians 4:16. His prayer to God -- Psalms 92:14 and Genesis 17:1,2.
Faith does not need answers; only
direction.
My friend, mentor and co-laborer in the harvest passed away on March 22, 2012. His memorial service was conducted on March 26, 2012 at Stithton
Baptist Church,Radcliff, KY.[83 years, 7 months, 16 days
David Perry shares his favorite quote made by Jim Webster, "God said it, good enough."
