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Personal Testimonies
John M. Balmer, Jr. -
Founder and Director
I was saved at fourteen years old when I accepted Christ as my personal Savior
at a Billy Graham Crusade at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 13,
1969. I surrendered to the Lordship of Christ at my home church, Calvary Church,
in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 31, 1972. I then surrendered to the
Lord’s call to preach the gospel and call to ministry at Wheaton College as a
sophomore while preaching at an inner-city church in Chicago, Illinois. During
my first semester at Dallas Seminary, I went on a missions internship with
Practical Missionary Training of CAM International in Mexico and Central
America. Here, the Lord opened my heart to surrender to His call for missions.
After completing my studies at Wheaton College and Dallas Theological Seminary,
I began a ministry of planting churches in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and
Charlotte, North Carolina, for about 10 years. In 1990, the Lord changed my
focus of ministry from pastoring and planting churches to training pastors in
the U.S. and overseas. I have been teaching institutes to train national pastors
every year since 1993 in countries such as India, Russia, Ukraine, Africa,
Philippines, South America, and Europe. The Lord called us to link with Columbia
International University (1990-1995), Olford Ministries International
(1996-2000), and Liberty University (2000-2002) to prepare us to begin this
ministry, Training Pastors International, to meet the need of training national
pastors around the world.
Jennifer S. Balmer - Executive
Administrator
I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home with godly parents and
grandparents. Through their influence and teaching, and that of our church and
Christian school, I always heard about God and never doubted that He existed. It
wasn’t until I was about six that it became personal. I knew that I sinned and
this kept me from God and made Him sad. But I also knew that Jesus died and rose
again to pay for my sins. So, one night, alone in my room, I asked Him to
forgive me and come live in me. It wasn’t until I was in High School and College
that I began to question my “testimony.” Going to a Christian school and being
at church all the time, I heard lots of people and speakers say that you had to
know the specific time and place when you became a Christian. It was kind of
frustrating for me because most people had these wonderful conversion stories of
how terrible and sinful they were and how God changed their life. My testimony
seemed boring. Then there was the issue of Lordship. Did I really know what that
meant at six years old? I began to look in the Bible to see what it said. I
found the verses where Jesus calls the little children to come to Him and says
that we should have the same faith as a child. These verses were a great comfort
and strength to me. I began to examine my own life and saw how the Holy Spirit
had worked in my young life. I could remember times that I wanted to do the
right thing, and times I felt conviction about doing wrong. I had soaked up
Bible stories and Scripture verses that became a part of my life, even without
me realizing it. I may not have had all the answers at 6, but then I didn’t have
them at 18 either. Christian growth is a life-long process, and I was just so
blessed to start it very early. I am so thankful that I have been saved some of
the heartache that other young people go through. My “call” to missions follows
the same pattern. As a Christian we are called to be obedient to the Lord. I
always knew that God had a plan for me and I just keep searching for it and
trying to follow it. The church and school that I grew up in had a missions
conference twice a year, so I was exposed early on. I didn’t really feel called
to go, but I told God I would do whatever he wanted. As I went into college I
felt like I would go into the ministry, but I didn’t know exactly what or how.
It wasn’t until I married John that my global vision actually took off. Through
Him and working at Olford Ministries I have been exposed to different cultures
and have had the opportunity to meet pastors from all over the world. Hearing
their stories and their needs touches my heart. Plus, seeing the burden and the
passion in John’s life motivates me to do whatever I can. It goes back to the
simple faith of the child that says this is what the Lord wants, so this is what
I will do.
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John M. Balmer, Jr.
and Jennifer Balmer
John preaching in Romania, with a translator.
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