Grace be unto you and peace. It is so good to see all of you here tonight. Is my mic on? Can you hear me? Yes. Oh, good. All right. Praise God. Good to have so many of you here this evening. It's a special night. We're going to hear the testimony of one who has found Jesus to be her hiding place. And testimonies are wonderful because they remind us of our own stories. And we all have these individual stories of how the Lord of grace reached into our lives and gave us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and brought us into His kingdom. Tomorrow My family and I and our guest a sojourner from the foreign land of France. We're going to be traveling to South Texas to see a wedding and one of the things that weddings do is they Reinvigorate your own marriage as you see these vows made in the presence of God and it reminds you of your own wedding vows in many ways a testimony is like that because we hear of The Lord saving someone and hear from a new believer the excitement and the joy of finding Jesus Christ and it reminds us of our own Salvation those of us who have experienced the marvelous and amazing grace of our Lord Jesus our our guest speaker is not a public speaker, and I want to introduce her to you. Her name is Camille Jolie. Many of you met her on Sunday, and I want to tell you a little bit about how she came to be here and why we've invited her to come and speak to us tonight in lieu of our normal Wednesday night Bible study. So, I got an email from one of the pastors at High Point Baptist Church here in Austin saying, Pastor Greg, have you seen this? And it just had a link. And so, I clicked on the link and I began to watch as Bayshore Baptist Church and their pastor Mark Redd introduced Camille. He had bumped into her that morning, and she began to tell her story. And at this point, all I knew was that she was traveling from France, that she'd come by boat with a backpack, and that she was on her way to see a church in Austin, Texas to say thank you to them for sharing the gospel to her through video ministries in France. And I... I wept as I listened and watched her glorify God, and I called up this pastor at High Point Baptist Church, and I said, thank you for sending that. That was amazing. Brother, is she coming to your church? What church is this that she's coming to? And he said, no, I think it's your church that she's coming to. And so I called him, and he directed me to others who had more information, and I found out that indeed she was She was coming here, but she was not coming here to stand here and to speak. This is very unnatural for her as a non-native speaker, as one who does not speak in public. Her intention was to come and sit in the back on Sunday and to find Larry Wessels and to thank him for his ministry to her. She was planning on coming unannounced. to us, the Lord had different plans and he announced her arrival in a miraculous and amazing way. So it's my pleasure to welcome Camille Jolie. Camille, come on up here. I'm gonna pray for Camille when she gets up here. She's very nervous and scared to be speaking before you, but I know the Lord will give her the words. So stand here and let me pray and then you speak. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you, Almighty Lord, that you are sovereign, that you are the Most High God, that you reign over all things, that you have ordained even this hour before the foundation of the world, and that we can trust you, that you are worthy. And I pray that you would especially anoint your daughter Camille with the power of the Holy Spirit, that you would give her the words to say, and that you would edify your people, and that above all else, that you would receive glory and honor and praise. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. So you wanna make sure that this is turned on? God bless you. So praise the Lord indeed, because he brought me here. As I stand tonight, it's like I don't remember how I got here. I don't know at all what I'm going to say to you, but God knows all what I'm going to say to you. So I'm just going to trust Him. It's all I can do. So I understand that hearing what the Lord has done in my life can help you somehow in your own work with Him. This is how he brought me here. When I was born, I was born in an atheist family, not believing in God. And actually, when I was very small, I did believe in God walking just in the garden and seeing the beauty of the creation. But I really had no words for it. It was just a feeling. It was powerful and beautiful. But then, I guess evolution theory made a big damage in my mind and heart. providing an explanation for everything, but without ever mentioning God and his true love and beauty and intelligence of his plants. So my mind was taught very young to rely on men, their science, their knowledge, their teaching, and I totally soaked it up. And also I learned by myself to lie and steal also. Because I thought it was easier. And today I'm here to tell that it is easier to tell the truth. Even we say that the truth can be choked or buried. We could not say that if the truth was not alive. So we never say that we bury a lie or that we choke it because it has no life in it. And I just thank God that now all of this makes real sense and that Jesus is the truth and that he is alive. What happened was, so growing up, I was molded by the world. And I became this young lady. And I developed a strong self-confidence, because I had nothing higher than me to put my confidence in. I did not trust my parents, because I could see their failures. I did not know that it was normal, that they were not perfect. You don't know that. And I thought that you were the master of your own destiny. And I was pursuing after fleshly attractions. And I went astray. And also, I hurt many people. But God was already active in my life. I did not know that, but looking back now, I can see. And he protected me from the world power of the air. When I was six, I remember I watched the news. And I remember thinking at the end of it, well, this is all very fake and sad. And it's not by showing a puppy at the end that it will erase all the violence. And so I decided I'd never watch the news again. And today, I think, now, OK, thank God, because this is from him. It was from him already. Then I decided to study music, and it was not to praise God. It was to go far away from my parents' house. This was the true reason, so that I could do what I wanted then again. And I studied music. And then I studied Gregorian chant, which is a chant of the Catholic church. But I thought that the church was just this remaining leftovers of history, and that the people were still, some were still believing in it. And soon enough, they will stop and understand it was, it belonged to the past. And I found myself in church for the first time. It was seven years ago. And then I was into this setting where all was codified. It was in Catholic church. And I did not understand anything. I did not know when we should kneel down, when we should bow, when we should turn, when we should. And somebody was always telling me, OK, do like this, do like that. And I thought, wow, those people, they are better than me. They know all these things that I don't know. But something was wrong, because they had this, white clothes that they would put on for their service. But then when it was over, they would just put the white clothes away and go on like everybody else with the same mean attitude. hypocrisy. So I remember thinking, but is Christianity really something that you put on, and then you go to church, and then you put off? But I was very much attracted to Gregorian chant, and it was very easy for me. And that was really weird because even in music, I was told that there was a slow evolution process and people before the 11th century did not understand that they could They could put two different notes together. You know, they were still very dumb and because of this evolution. So, no, but later they discovered that, wow, they could put two notes together. Wow. And I thought, but wait a minute. Those chants do not seem so dumb to me. And there is something wrong here too. At that time, I was living together with a boyfriend. And as I discovered Gregorian chant, he would tease me a lot. And he would call me Sister Camille and make fun of me. It was so annoying because I was like, but you don't get it. There is something. But the more I tried to say there is something and I didn't know what, he was really teasing me because he was very well at ease with the world and everything. So then I found myself researching, researching about, actually, about evil. It may sound weird, but I could see all those weird things happening in the world, but I knew that what we were told was not true, so I would research by other means. That's where I started to use the internet for videos. And somehow I found that it was the last days and it matched up with biblical prophecies. But for me, I thought it was just another prophecy. And so I did not care much about that, but already I was starting to be attracted to the Word of God. And I could not believe, because of this evolution theory, I heard at church that the Bible was the Word of God. People were not really acting upon it. So I thought, OK, it's just a manner of speaking. And it's easy to allegorize and to say, oh, it's great literature. It's great poetry. And so we can go on with our life like that very easily. But there was something more. And I would stumble over what other would call details. I once heard from the Bible that Jesus said, do not call anybody father on the earth because you have one father which is in heaven. So I was like, okay, but why would we have to call every priest father? Because it's contrary. But when I would ask a priest about that, he was, oh. You don't know anything, and like that. And it was true. I said, yeah, I know. This is why I asked you. Actually, when I was researching about all this evil, many false teachings came to me. denigrated the truth of Jesus Christ. And so, in 2009, when God struck me with the truth of creation, just because, all of a sudden it was obvious, it struck me like, okay, oh yes, creation is true. And I had still all those false teachings in me, but it struck me and I thought, oh, but actually, Then if I believe, it means I'm a believer. So OK, I'm no longer atheist. Sorry, misunderstanding. I'm a believer. I believe in God, the creator. So I would tell everybody, OK, no, no, misunderstanding. And this is when I remember that when I was very small, it was obvious to me then, too. And at this time, I started to want to be baptized because I thought this was the way to salvation. I thought, well, actually, I had never too much heard about salvation, even attending and singing in church. I thought it was the way to belong, the way to learn. I thought it was all through knowledge. And I was very confused, still. And at that time, I was not sure about Jesus Christ. So, actually, I began to read the Koran. And my heart grew very cold and scared, but not the reverential fear of God, a fear, a bad fear, because the love of God was not there. So I turned back to the Bible, but I felt really better. And I still thought at that time that hearing three chunks of text on every Sunday was huge already. So I did not have my own Bible, and I thought already this was very much, and I did not read it. I did not read it by myself, but my heart would memorize verses from the Bible, and that's where Gregorian chant really helped me, because it had all, well, some verses from the Bible, which really were sewn into my heart with a good melody, and it would comfort me so much. I found myself in situations where I was very depressed, I was so down and medicated, but Gregorian chant was still a big help for me. Also, with this research I was telling you about the evil prevalent in the world, At some point, I started to think that the devil was real and he was active. So God used this, I guess, to nourish my faith the other way. So because if evil was real, then you had to be some truth on the other side and say, oh, but yes. So if evil is real, then good is even more real. And... It pushed me to research more and more. And at that time, I was still persuaded that the true Christianity was in Roman Catholicism. And because I had not read that in the Bible, many verses contradicting. And I was uncomfortable with many things, but I would reason myself and Put that aside, OK, I was always thinking it's because of me, because I don't understand very well why we would have to pray to Mary and why there is a pope that looks so wealthy. I did not understand many things, but I still listen to their teaching that they were the truth. And I heard at that time, kind of a good news that they were here. They were here for us. This was the good news for me. And what happened then is, I found myself teaching Gregorian chant. And I volunteered then to go to Africa. And this was two years ago. And I was working in the Catholic Church, but still not baptized, because they would always say to me, you have to find a parish and stay there for a little while, not move around, and go through this catechism. I was not comfortable with that. So I was still not baptized and I was trying to serve God because I thought I had to earn it. I thought it was a matter of what you do in order to be accepted before God. I did not know it was through faith that the truth lightens our hearts and life and brings life actually. And in Africa, also many difficult situations came. And I could feel that some help was coming from God directly. But I was still confused. I said, OK, I'm not baptized, but I still get some help. I did not know it was grace. And because this is the thing. In Roman Catholicism, grace is in the sacraments. It is through taking the Holy Communion that then you get grace. So because I could not have that, I would always stand on the side and see everybody go, and I would stay there and be very sad. I could not take part of that. Then something really difficult happened. I was really alone. It was like God was cornering me into a position. I could do nothing. I could only cry out to him. And I did, but knowing that I would not yet be answered. Actually, what happened to me is that I was afraid to become pregnant. And if I were, then... God showed me at that moment that the biggest fear I had was not to be pregnant without being married. It was not to bring shame to myself or to friends because I was in Africa. It was that if I was, well then, I could not get baptized and I would never have access to him. And that broke my heart. At the same moment, it comforted me because I thought, wow, this is what matters the most to me. And I thought, well, it must be a good thing maybe in the eyes of God. So I came back one year ago And I had exhausted myself trying to teach all over the country and on my own. by I don't know how many Fahrenheit degrees, but anyway, and without cheese, can you imagine? And anyway, I thought, okay, I have no strength to serve God and to be acceptable to him because I'm not baptized and I cannot access the sacraments and receive all this grace. Although I had sadly witnessed that some people may take the Holy Communion every day. And it would not prevent them from sinning. So I was confused then again. And I was so exhausted when I come back, I came back. And I thought, okay, now, really, if I don't get baptized, I will never have any strength at all. And I thought, I need to prepare myself for this, because being an adult, I have many, many history of falsehood from the world and from false teachings that prevent me from being ready for this baptism. So I thought that reading the Bible would be a good thing. And so I did not have a French Bible when I came back. And I bought an English Bible. And it was really different. I mean, the words do carry meanings. And when we are very used to hearing some words, then it's like we don't hear them anymore. And the text was renewed through the English Bible at that time. And as I found a priest that was willing to baptize me in a Marian sanctuary in the south of France, all the questions about Roman Catholicism arose. And I could not reconcile. The more I was studying the Bible and getting help from videos from the internet, Bible studies, the more I could not reconcile. But I had not found Larry Wessel's videos yet. So last year, around June, I started to really research about evolution and creation. and I would watch debates about this issue and find out how pervasive and how wicked this whole process is and how it had affected me deeply and I wanted to unroot everything so that my heart would be pure. And I still thought it was my doing. And then, it was in July, I came across an article about the Pope, Jean-Paul II. He was pretty much acknowledging this evolution theory. And at that moment, it was the extra drop and I said, no, it is just too much. I cannot be part of this church because I cannot believe that the Pope is infallible. So if I were to be part of this church, it would not be honest. I would be like a hypocrite going there and not really believing what they tell me to believe. So then I researched about Protestantism. And I was really scared at first, but immediately I found Larry Wessels and Rob Zinn's videos. And there they were, calmly discussing all the problems with the Catholic Church, with their chart. And they would always begin their videos by this one chart. OK, so Rob, what do we have here? And here is the Philippian jailer asking Paul, what should I do to be saved? And they have one part of the chart saying what the Bible says, that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, you and your family. And the other part of the chart said keep the seven sacraments and all the doctrines of the Roman Catholic system and perhaps you shall be saved. And this contrast made me, brought me so much comfort and it made so much sense. It was so simple. I thought, wow, but maybe this is God bringing me out of this system and bringing me into his truth. Then it all came together. It all made sense that the Bible was true, that it was simple, that there was an access directly and directly to Jesus. And it so made sense, because otherwise I would have had the disadvantage of being born in an atheist family. But we know that God is just, and he does not make respect of person, and he hates iniquity. So why would he make disadvantages like that? No, there was no such thing. he already knew that what he would do in my heart would be glorying to him. And the whole Roman Catholic system just crumbled. It all crumbled. And I think at that moment, the Lord opened my eyes to show me that it was between me and him. And I was trying to go in it, but without the baptism, the other sacraments, including confession, were not available to me. But it just crumbled, and I could go directly to Jesus. And this was so powerful, so beautiful, so comforting, so new. I mean, this is the truth. And he showed me then that everything that was between me and him was idolatry. That is what was idolatry. And this system, it was like when you have something beautiful in nature, for example, some waterfall or beautiful cave, and you will always have one man to stand there and ask others to go through him to visit the stuff. And this system was like that. And it was man-made. it just looked like a big theater to me. And I would watch Larry Wessel's videos every day in last September and October. It would bring me so much comfort and strength and a clear presentation of the gospel, which is the good news, the good news of Jesus Christ and simple devotion to him. And that his elect just come to faith and go to him no matter what. And it was a huge deliverance. And I felt really pulled by the Lord from this system. But I was really in the core of it. I was a singer myself in one church, one parish, Roman Catholic Church. And I had many Catholic friends. And I was a Gregorian chant teacher. But it was now an honor to give up all those things for the Lord and for the truth and to you know, take out grave clothes, or I don't know how to put it. And at that time, though, I would go around and try to convert Catholics. And I would try to see them, don't you see? It is written. It was so obvious now to me that it was a big fraud and that it was dangerous because it carried kind of a work salvation. I cannot call it a gospel, but. work salvation process and but I would try to convert them and I would go around really like the Lord show me I was with like Peter with a sword and with the word I was cutting the the ears of people and I was doing much damage around me. It was not with meekness, no meekness. But fortunately, the Lord was teaching me already with his scripture, and his word would make so much sense. It spoke to me in a direct manner. He showed me that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. And not like that. And actually, this was the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So I thought, oh, oh. And I was burdened with my Catholic friends and, of course, atheist friends and families and Muslim friends. But it was a burden. And it was not normal. Jesus says my burden is light. And my yoke is gentle, so I had to learn from him humility. That he taught me to commit everything to him and to trust him with the salvation of others. I cannot open the eyes of people by force. It is not possible. So this was a difficult time for me and for everybody around me. It was at that time, because I felt angry towards the Roman Catholic system. I felt I had been lied to and it was deceiving a lot of people. And it was six months ago and at that time I bought a ticket to come to Texas and maybe meet Larry Wessels and say, thank you for your videos and for doing all this exposition, which is so comforting because I was alone in this in France. Well, I was not alone. Thanks to God, I was not alone. God used him to bring me a clear presentation of the simplicity of the gospel and to always trust in the scriptures, trust on the Lord. He's our rock. He's solid. We can trust in him and no man can save himself. And this is why he had to come and be obedient for us. So I had an agent who could find me a passenger seat on a boat. And I asked him, do you have any boats going to Texas, from Europe to Texas? And a few days later, he replied me. but he had a misspelling in his email. I know it is very small thing, but there are no small things, right? And he said, instead of, I have had a reply from the shipping company, he said, I have dad a reply from the shipping company. And for me, it was just, I said, okay. I'm going because I have dad too. I have dad in heaven and he will provide. And I was very much trusting in the Lord for this. So I bought the ticket. And then it was in early December last year. And then around Christmas time, Well, actually I was sad to have no church and I was alone. I thought, okay, it is good so that I can meditate on how Jesus came into the world. and in such a humble way. But still, I had no church. It was very sad for me. And also, the Bible says that we should not forsake the assembly of ourselves together. I started to look for a church in France because the Lord had calmed me down and showed me that his people, his true church was not a building and was not a particular denomination. And because there is only one name through which we can be saved. And his true church are the ones who believe in him. And the human eye cannot discern the true church is now scattered on all the earth. So he had calmed me down very much. showing me that even in France, I could find a church. And I started looking. No, sorry, I say even in France, but there are Protestant churches in France. But at first, I would go to one and discover it was very ecumenical. And I'll go to another, and it was very not so much really living the word of God. But then I did find this very small evangelical church. When I say small, it's 15, 20 people. She's not small like you. And it was a good comfort. And I had much doubt about this trip. I thought, well. This is crazy. But I saw in the scriptures that I was not to cancel my commitment, and that fear was not from God. We did not receive the spirit of fear, but the spirit of adoption. crying out, Abba, Father. So I had to trust. And every fear I had then, it was just another opportunity to trust in him. But I was so scared. And then came the time of the embarking. At this moment, the Lord revealed to me all the things that I used to cling to, material things. Yes, I wanted to live without a computer, for example. And I discovered it was like an electronic teddy bear. I did not want to live without a computer, but I was so ashamed before God, you know. a few months before, he had given me like a comforting vision to take a trip with only the Bible. And it was so beautiful because in Roman Catholicism, you have all those other books. And if you are thinking to travel, it's a problem. But knowing that the Bible was all the food that my soul needed was so warm to my heart. And it was just a huge blessing. And I embarked on the ship. It was six weeks ago for three weeks. And I was really not sure of what I was doing. Because I was afraid I was tempting God, that I was putting myself in a situation where he had to protect me and care for me. And I felt like I was throwing myself into his arms and I was not sure about that because I understood now the true gospel is I have been bought at the highest price possible, which is his own blood. And I'm not allowed to take foolish risks. And I also saw in the scriptures that tempting God is doubting that he can provide a table in the wilderness. So. I thought God can do all things, and it was Him all along in my life, so I will just cling to Him and trust Him. And on the ship, as I was feeling down, I remember on the second day, I was sitting after lunch, and I thought, oh, it has been two days on the ship, and I haven't talked about Jesus to nobody. And I was feeling like a real failure. And there came the cook of the ship, and he sat down and says, are you a Catholic? I say, no, did not work. He say, are you born again Christian? I say, I can only hope so. And we starting discussing and sharing God's word together and encouraging one another because of course the life of those men on the ship, it is very hard. They are far away from their families for many, many months. And well, you know, with the sea and no days off and everything. And on the following Sunday, four days later, three days later, actually, there was a sign in the crew mess room saying, we praise you, Lord Jesus. Come 6 PM. We worship you. And I thought, wow. And I said, did you put that to the cook? He said, no, did you? I said, no. But there was this other Christian on board. And so we were at least three of us. And Jesus says that if two or three are gathered in his name, then he is here in the midst of them. And so it was like a church on board. It was such a blessing. We could have Bible study and discuss together and share God's Word with the other members. And I understood a few days or weeks later that none of them were scheduled on this ship to begin with. They were scheduled on other ships, but God had arranged everything and brought us together And he also showed me that my being here was also good for them. And that was really new for me. Being also an encouragement to others, I did not know that I would have to, I could be used by the Lord in this manner. So it was really wonderful. And when we were approaching Texas, of course I was scared because I did not know anybody and I did not know anything. I tried to make a hotel reservation but they cancelled it so I had no place to stay. But then again, it was all from God because when I disembarked, And they would encourage me and say, God will provide people and brothers and sisters to take care of you, even in Texas. And I said, oh, thank you. But still, I was scared. So when I disembarked, a cab driver was called to pick me up at the Siemens Club. Actually, we became friends right away, and it was a great opportunity to share with him the purpose of my trip, which is to say thank you to you and to Larry Wessels and Richard Bennett for their ministries. And it was very exciting to meet him. And he helped me to find a US phone, and he booked me into a hotel room. He told me, OK, if you need anything. It was so nice. And then I was in this hotel room precisely three weeks ago. And I was outside and thinking, OK, I'm here. all alone, don't know anybody, don't know where I am, where I'm going, how I'm gonna do anything. But I realized that's actually what I had prayed for to God. I had myself prayed that he would remove every comfort that I had, which was not in him, in his providence, in his might. So I realized, wow, This is what I prayed for, but it is scary. And so I just prayed for instructions. And weirdly enough, I got this kind of instruction, OK, check out of the hotel and start walking with your stuff. So I did. As I was walking, well, I could not travel so light. And unfortunately, so I saw this Kroger store and I thought, okay, I will just read the scripture and ask for more direction from there and have some green tea, you know. And then indeed, the Lord provided pastor actually. But I did not know yet and when he sees me he says, oh what's your story? Because I was such an outsider, you know. And I say, well do you have time? And he said, yes, yes, sure. People are so nice in Texas. Do you know that? So nice and welcoming and really, it is such a blessing. I did not know. And because in France, we are afraid of the US because well, of the weapons and things and well, anyway. But I shared to him my story or part of it, I guess. And then he said, OK, I'm a pastor. And what? What now? And I thought, oh, I just witnessed to a pastor. Well, I didn't know. And he invited me to speak to his church. And actually, he made a video out of it. And then things got crazy. People saw the video. and even some of you, and yes. Yeah, I thought that if I did not, many time I tried to write an email to Larry Wessels or to the church or to contact, I dialed his number many times. But somehow it just did not go through. And I thought, okay, but then it just leaves more room for God to act. So, and I was fine if I was not going to meet him, I was fine. If I would not reach Austin, I would be fine. And I did not expect anything. He provided so much, I mean, and it's, even today I, He gives me the opportunity to say this to you and it is just beautiful. Like I told you on Sunday, I read in the scriptures that when Jesus healed 10 sick people one time, one came back, and just the fact that he came back and thanked the Lord, this gave glory to God. So here I am. I say thank you. Thank you for your ministries. Thank you for your church. I thank the Lord that he brought me here. It feels unreal for me, but he's so mighty and so good. I'm just overwhelmed to realize that we have such a strong rock in Jesus Christ to stand on. And he frees us from worrying, from fears, from the stainy world system. And he works in us to prepare us for his coming. And I am really not worth it to stand here and tell this to you. but you are my brothers and sisters. And I just thank him to bring me here and meet with you and you have been so nice to me. This is very exciting. And I'm very happy to hear you praise the Lord. It is very beautiful. It is so beautiful. And thank God, and thank Pastor Greg, and thanks to Larry Wessels one more time, and Richard Bennett, and thank you for listening. Thank you. Glory to God, isn't that amazing? Well, we, after our prayer time, are going to have fellowship in the fellowship hall. We invite you all to join us there. We have birthday cake for birthday night, and there'll be opportunities to visit with Camille and to get to know her a little bit more. She's now an honorary Dayspringer from France. We have some prayer requests that I'm going to put up on this board that we're going to