“Prior to coming to the Church, I had a limited understanding of Holy Spirit and all that was available to me through being filled, and walking by the Spirit. Although I have been born again for about 3 years now, until being baptized in the Holy Spirit I have never walked in greater authority, power and intimacy with the Lord. I remember when I first came to The Church of SC, seeing the body operate in such a different way than I had ever experienced with the baptist background I had grown up in, was something so deep and pure. I knew that the people I was surrounded by had something I didn’t. After a few weeks of continuing to come to the Church, my hunger for Holy Spirit grew like never before. After hearing about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and this new level of spiritual intimacy that was available to me, I started researching. After listening to audios, reading notes, scriptures, and listening to Paul’s messages, my eyes were opened to the fact that receiving the Holy Spirit at Salvation is a completely different experience than being baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are two separate events. Once I had this great revelation, I started praying that the Lord would fill me with His Holy Spirit. I remember a few days passing and I would continually pray the prayer “Please baptize me in your Holy Spirit, please baptize me in your Holy Spirit!” I was unaware that just as desperate as I was for Him to fill me with His Spirit, He wanted that infinitely more. Luke 11:13 !!! The night of the Lords supper, I vividly remember during worship, as I was standing there pressing in, my eyes were closed and my vision went almost completely white. The noise around me died down, and all I could focus on was Jesus. It was the most powerful thing I have ever felt, and I was convinced there had to have been someone behind me stretching out their hands in authoritative prayer. As tears rolled down my face, I was so overwhelmed with Holy Spirits presence, that I felt like I was going to fall to the ground. I am convinced and believing that in this moment, He filled me with His Holy Spirit. Since this moment, the Lord has revealed Himself to me in mighty ways. The following day, as I was sitting in my room, I finished listening to Paul’s message on tongues and realized that over time, there had been a mental block that was built up, preventing me from praying in the Spirit. After addressing this, and bringing it to the Lord I surrendered all of my questions, stepped out in faith and rivers of tongues poured out of my mouth. It was one of the most beautiful, freeing experiences I’ve ever had with Holy Spirit. I think I danced in my room for 15 minutes after this. Not even a week later, there was a woman that just so happened to sit in my chair, and as I was doing her hair, the Lord made it abundantly clear that He wanted to use me to reveal Himself to her. I started telling her about Jesus and seeing her through the lenses of love. Before she left, Holy Spirit told me to pay for her service and pray for her. The boldness and authority that came out of me as I prayed over the healing of her body was something completely new. She was overwhelmed with gratefulness and couldn’t believe that I wanted to do this for her. About a week later, I was in school and saw her walking around without a limp and with the biggest smile on her face. I thank God daily for leading me to the Church of SC, and placing me alongside other believers that are deeply in love and on fire for Him. I simply can’t imagine what life would be like without being filled with the Holy Spirit, and operating in the gifts, now that I am experiencing what it looks like to walk more in the fullness of God.”