Serving New Wine.

A modern day Jonah. By Rev. Jason Allen
I was born in 1972 and lived in Falls Mills, WV. My parents came to the Lord in 1974 under Rev. Wayford Dennison in Flatwoods. In 1975, we moved to Flatwoods and attended Flatwoods Apostolic.

We then moved to Buckhannon in 1979 and attended New Life Tabernacle under Rev. William Mooring. Under his ministry, I was Baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost.

At the age of 17, I felt the call into the Ministry at Church camp in Point Pleasant, WV soon after, fear and the doubt that I could not do the job set in and I began to get rebellious. I backslid and left home at the age of 18 and began running from God. I began to smoke, drink, and chew tobacco as I started falling into sin. But no matter where I ran, that still small voice of God was always there.

One morning after drinking heavily, I hit a cement culvert head on with my motorcycle. Sitting in a hospital bed with scrapes, broken ribs, and a ruptured spleen, I found myself talking to God, not forgetting the call He placed on my life. My parents came that night and prayed for me and God touched and healed my body. But after a few days at home, I forgot about the promises I made to God that night in the hospital and went back to my old ways.

In 1991, I signed up for the military. In 1993, I met and started dating my future wife. In May for '93, I was severely burned while in the service. Over 58% of my body had third degree burns. I was life flighted to Richmond Virginia Burn Center where I was there for 19 days. The doctors told me that I would never work again and that I had only a 50% chance of ever walking again. Rev. William Mooring and his assistant Rev. Jeff Cochran from Buckhannon, WV came to Virginia and prayed for me. I'll never forget the words Rev. Mooring said to me: "are you tired of running from God and ready to accept your call?" I was released from the hospital and walked out of there on my own two feet. I spent the next 18 months in outpatient therapy and ongoing rehab. Once again I went back to my old ways, even deeper than I had been before. One of my favorite partying places was the "Old Valley Inn Bar" in Ireland, WV.

I was married in May of 1998 and slowed down my partying a little bit. My parents continued to pray that I would somehow find my way back to God. In 1997, I was deeper in sin than ever before. I was addicted to a 12-pack of beer, 2 1/2 packs of cigarettes, a can of snuff, and a pouch of tobacco every day of my life. I counted up just in checks, we had written over $5,000.00 in checks to local bars just that year. I was headed for divorce.

In June, my wife informed me that she was pregnant. God really began to deal with me then. I realized that I didn't want my child to grow up in a broken home with a drunk for a father. I wanted this child to know the Lord.

My Uncle, Rev. Homer Gibson, felt led to come to this area and start a Church. He was preaching a Revival in Weston, WV in December of 1997. During that Revival, on the 27th, I was renewed in the Holy Ghost. My life instantly changed. My marriage started back on the right track and God delivered me from my many bad habits. In February of 1998, our beautiful daughter, Elizabeth, was born. My wife, Becky, was baptized in Jesus Name in May of 1998 and received the Holy Ghost in December of that year.

In 1998, Rev. Gibson, and myself and my Dad as Trustees, purchased the "Old Valley Inn Bar" in Ireland, which had burnt in 1995 and converted it into a Church which we called "Living Word Fellowship". In the spring of 1999, I accepted the call into the Ministry. Rev. Gibson Pastored the Church until January of 2003. He then resigned and I took over the Pastorship. We changed the name of the Church to Victory Apostolic.

The strange thing is, that when I used to come to this building when it was a bar, the bartender stood and served drinks from about the same spot as where I now stand from the Pulpit and serve the Word of God!

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