Welcome, Elder George B. Barden!

My conversion experience dates back to 1992. I have always been one who went to church but only because I was born in the church and that, my father was the pastor and we lived upstairs over the church. One day when I was home trying to go to sleep, I lay there and began drifting in and out of consciousness. Although I was not tired, I was trying to get some rest. I first thought that I had drifted off to sleep but was wide-awake. While I was lying in bed, I looked toward my bedroom window and saw what I thought was a very big and large man fly into the room. The window at the time was closed and I knew it was locked but also the window was in such a place in the house that it was virtually impossible for anyone to come into that window especially coming from up above. The large man then stood by my bed and bent over, as I was lying there unable to move. The man began to whisper into my ear. I was unable to understand what the man was saying and I was unable to move a muscle in my body including my eyes. I then saw the man take a step back and go back out of the window just simply by leaping straight up. As soon as the man left, I was able to move my entire body as if nothing had happened. I immediately jumped up and went to the window. I then had to unlock the window and put it up. I looked out of the window looking up as if to see where the man had went to but again like I said earlier the only thing above me was the roof of the house. I did not understand at the time what it all had meant and I sought to ask my father who was a minister and a pastor during that time but was delayed asking for some reason unknown to me. A Couple of months later my father became ill to the point the doctors told him that he would have to relax and possibly retire from preaching. The family then came together to make a decision on how to get my father medical help that he so desperately needed. Again I thought about my vision but laid it on the back burner because I thought the welfare of my father needed more attention. When the family made the decision to ask my father to retire from preaching, he agreed and made a date to preach his last sermon. On the day that my father preached his last sermon, he decided to tell the church congregation about the time of his conversion experience and call into the ministry. When my father began his testimony it caught my attention deeply because he began to tell of his conversion experience as if it was the same conversion experience that I had a couple of months earlier. In addition, what was so stunning is that my father’s conversion experience occurred to him in the 1950’s. My conversion experience occurred in 1992. Moreover, especially because I never told my father of my conversion experience. When I finally realized it. It was the call of the Lord telling me that I must be about my Heavenly Father’s business and had to shed off the old life and put on a new life in Jesus Christ and continue on when the Lord call my earthly father home. One thing that did happen is that I never had the chance to tell my earthly father of my conversion experience afterwards because he became very ill and passed away in 1996 after a long illness. Most of all especially since my conversion experience was nearly identical to his conversion experience. Even though God had called me into the ministry in 1992, I did no different than any other person who was afraid, I ran and ignored the calling. Wrong choice, you cannot run or hide from God! My wife and I then moved to Newburgh N. Y. in February 2000 thinking that maybe things would change because of the new environment. We chose Newburgh because after my father had passed away my mother moved here to live closer to my sisters after my mother became ill. We decided to move here to be closer to my mother because of her illness. I have been to Newburgh many times when I was a child and always liked Newburgh because this was the first place my father came to in the 1930’s before returning to North Carolina and then returning to Newburgh in the 1950’s and later meeting and marrying my mother in New York City. By the late 1950’s, my father had help to establish a church in Newburgh and I had a lot of family here who I really did not get a chance to meet and some that I have never met because my father had left here and began another church in Mount Vernon, N. Y. After relocating to Newburgh and becoming a member of another Church of Christ, God again visited me. While I was returning home from driving my wife to work at approximately 3:30 am on a Wednesday morning, I felt that I was not in the car alone. I felt that someone was sitting in the back seat looking at me through the rearview mirror smiling. I then looked into the same mirror and smiled back. I then turned and physically looked in the back seat as if I knew a person was sitting there knowing that no one was in the car with me but all I got was a smile. I then arrived at my home and went into the house to lie down. As soon as I got in the house, I turned on the t. v. but laid down with my clothes on because I really was not tired or sleepy yet. I laid my head back as if I had propped it up on two pillows. As soon as my head hit the pillows, I immediately went into a vision as if I was being taken into space with nothing to travel in. I immediately sat up thinking that I was in trouble or was falling off the bed. When I sat up, I looked around to see if anyone was in the room knowing that no one was in the house with me. I again laid back down. Once again, as my head hit the pillow I immediately again went into the vision and began to see numerous upon numerous people made of a cloudy, Smokey white clothing who I quickly realized were angels. They were standing in two long lines as if they were showing me a path that I had to walk down. At first, I became afraid but being willing to find out what was happening I shook the fear and obeyed the commands that were given to me. The angels began to sing. “When I come into his presence I humble myself lift up both my hands and I began to worship him, I worship him, and for all He’s done for me, redeem and set me free and because just because He is God!” As they came to the end of the song the angels then pointed down the path which at this time I realize that it was an aisle which led to some one who was sitting in a large white smoke made chair. I look at the figure who was sitting in the chair and he smiled at me at the smile was very similar to the one that I had gotten from some one who I thought was in the back seat of the car. The figure motioned me to come and sit down in a chair next to Him. I then started to move my feet but they would not move. I then look at the figure as to say I cannot because my feet will not go! However, before I could say anything my feet began to move as if I was levitating on an escalator that moved straight. As I came closer to the figure in the chair, I realized that the aisle was longer than it really looked. When I arrived to the chair the figure again pointed for me to sit down next to Him. I sat down and looked at him and immediately I noticed that the figure that I was looking at was God. As I got a closer look, I realized that He pointed to me but He had no hands. He sat in a chair but He had no body. He crossed His legs but he had no legs. I then said to myself let me look at the face. I then turned to look at His face but there was no face but yet He had a wonderful smile on His face. The only thing I could do was to sit, listen, and answer “Yes Lord” to every thing that I was told to do. God showed me the face of my pastor and told me that I had to go back to my church and tell my pastor that I was going to be the one to take the place of someone in the church who was an associate minister and who God told me was leaving soon and that it was time for me stop running and be about my father’s business. To preach His word and spread the gospel. God then showed me the face of the person who was leaving the church. I then asked God, “Who me!” He replied, “Yes you” I then acquired again, “Who, me?” He replied again, “Yes you!” I then asked “Why me?” He replied, “Just go and deliver the message!” I then stood up to walk back down the long aisle. As I began to move, my feet and almost immediately I woke out of the vision. I then looked at the clock believing that hours had gone by but the clock read that only two or three minutes had elapsed. I then got up still dressed in my clothes and prayed and asked God to reveal to me that this vision was truly of Him. I then undressed and went to bed. Approximately one week later, I was in Brooklyn N. Y. at a school that I was attending for my Doctrine degree of the Church of Christ Disciples of Christ when an Elder approached me who was also my cousin and who was in the class. As soon as he saw me standing by the water fountain, I saw a surprise look on his face and smile on his face resembling the smile of God and the Elder immediately walked over to me. He began talking to me and started telling me things about the vision that I had a week earlier. I was so amazed because I had never before this revealed to anyone including my wife, about the vision. The Elder spoke to me in a way that it was almost word for word to what God had told me including the information about the associate minister who was leaving the church. I then went to class but was unable to concentrate. When school was over that night, we drove back to Newburgh. The next morning I went to my pastor and began to tell her of my vision. She immediately realized that God was delivering her a message that she had been praying about and that she had revealed to no one. Just as God had said to me that person left the church that following Sunday and without me revealing that I was suppose to replace that person as Sunday School teacher, my pastor announced that I would be the new Sunday School teacher. After this, I revealed to her the entire vision and later chose a date to preach my initial sermon. I then, now and will always believe that all things are possible if you only believe in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be obedient to Him. I pray to God that He may continue to watch over everything that I do and that it is done to the glory of Him. However, one thing that I desire is to obey God our Father in Heaven and preach His word in season and out of season and I know that my earthly father is in Heaven with the Lord and is smiling down on me!