Our family is excited to announce that on Wednesday, January 26th, the program featuring our testimony, entitled “Finding Forgiveness for My Abortion” will air on Focus on the Family’s radio broadcast.

The following testimonies were sent to us by the Hoffman family upon completion of the
Basic Seminar.

Mr. Brian Hoffman:

“The Basic Seminar helped to reinforce and enlighten me concerning several Principles of Life: Design, Suffering, Ownership, and Success.

I was a professional soldier, and me identity and approach to life were greatly influenced by the Army. I felt I was designed and built for a military career/ life. I thrived under the responsibility and pressure of being a senior non- commission officer.

In January, 2008, I suffered a serious lower back and leg injury requiring surgery and rehab. I was no longer able to perform my duties as an infantry man. This led to my retirement. My design was permanently changed. God showed me, and the Basic Seminar reinforced the fact that God did not do this to me, He did it for me. Since my injuries, God has used the Principle of Suffering to mature me as a Christian, helping me to be a more loving and patient husband, father, and friend.

The injury also made real the Principle of Ownership, God knows best how to use me and my family’s lives for His purposes. God has used the Principle of Success to help me fill my soul with Scripture so that my thoughts, actions, and words are directed by God’s wisdom and not my own wisdom.

Overall, the Basic Seminar has reinforced and encouraged me and my family’s walk with the Lord."

Mrs. Laura Hoffman:

“God is teaching me that the key to success in life is meditation on His Word. For most of my life as a believer, I have read the Bible and have even participated in numerous Bible studies. While group Bible studies do keep me accountable to complete the lessons, I was aware that my life was not noticeably changed. Within a short time, I would forget what I had supposedly learned. My personal Bible reading at home had become casual and “surface.” Something was missing, so I would recommit myself to be more faithful in daily Bible study. However, my attention was easily diverted by distractions and mismanagement of my time.

The Basic Seminar reminded me that God wants to transform me by renewing my mind, will, and emotions. He will accomplish this as I memorize, visualize, and personalize Scripture. I liked the definition that ‘meditation is prayful recitation with personal application.” My family and I began memorizing Matthew 5 a couple months ago, and now we are working on Romans 6. Scripture has new meaning when it is visualized and personalized. God’s Word has become alive to me as it is being engrafted into my soul.”

Ryan Hoffman:

“One thing God has revealed to me is the power to overcome sin. I have a problem with procrastination, and in the past I’ve tried to overcome it with my fleshly efforts, but it never seemed to last very long. I would make lists of the tasks I needed to accomplish, and I would put sticky notes around the house to remind me. I would do okay for awhile, but eventually I would go right back to procrastinating.

God has convicted me about the use of my time. I have dedicated my time to God to use how He wants to. I am asking for wisdom in the use of my time. I realize that I’m dead to the sin of procrastination because victory is already won in Christ. My parents are helping me manage my time, and I strive to meditate on scripture day and night. I have begun memorizing Romans 6 and quoting it when I am tempted to go back to my old habit. As I follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, God will help me overcome this sin.”

Written, May 2010

"At the start of the year my wife and I both felt that the Lord was telling us that this year would be a year of change and now that the year is past, He has only confirmed this. The start of the changes began when our family joined ATI.

The discipleship we have received through the ATI video programs and curriculum has been instrumental in our spiritual growth. God has worked tremendously through them. We have been so excited about all the molding that God is doing and how He’s opened our eyes to so many truths. Although there have been family and friends that have not understood our change, we have welcomed this journey and our new insights about knowing our Lord more. We find it peaceful to follow the Lord with our whole hearts and lives. God says in Proverbs 2:10, “For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”

We had started the Basic Seminar before we went to the family conference in Nashville. The Lord prepared us and opened our ears spiritually for the incredible week. We were so excited to be with like-minded people. Our daughters, Madelyn – 15 and Abigail 14 – years old, “felt at home” they told us. Out of all the vacations we’ve taken this was where they wanted to return the next year. We all enjoyed the teaching, the study of God’s Word and meeting others there. What a blessing to have such incredible vessels of God sharing, encouraging, and igniting our walk with the Lord. We all strongly feel it is an invaluable week to experience together as a family and plan to return.

As we learned more about courtship with our daughters through “I Kissed Goodbye to Dating” (with video tapes) and “Before You Meet Prince Charming” we were all excited how it made much more sense than the typical route so many take in finding God’s mate for you. Then when we came to the ATI conference our girls were even more excited about courtship. They came to us asking if they could buy “Seven Secrets to Courtship” with their own money. They are completely sold out to the concept and we are on board in letting God lead us. We appreciated the help in the conference as well.

Our daughters have separate and yet similar testimonies of what God has already done in their lives. Madelyn was a competing gymnast. She has always heard Kelly and I speak of God “calling” us in situations. She came to us one day saying that she finally knew what it meant to be “called” and that she felt God leading her to stop gymnastics. She was so upset about disobeying God that she was afraid to continue another day. She then started ballet. After learning more about courtship and focusing on God’s plan for her life she felt it inappropriate to be wearing leotards and ultimately dancing with male cast members. Her convictions led her to also give up ballet.

Madelyn then had two metal rods attached to her spine in early November as a result of scoliosis (thank you for your prayers, by the way). To her, and us, this is a continuation of the physical changes that God will use in her testimony. We don’t know all that God will do with it, and may never, but, we trust what it says in I Corinthians 2:9, “Eyes has not seen…the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” is true.

Abigail was competing in equestrian events and taking riding lessons. Her heart was burdened with what God had for her life as well. She wanted to make sure that what she was doing was bettering God’s kingdom or she didn’t want to do it. She wanted to be serving instead of receiving. She then decided to stop lessons and competing.

Both girls were spending four to five nights per week, and some traveling on weekends, participating in their respective events. Once they left their lessons they then had a large amount of time open. As a family we have been seeking God’s will in how to serve Him with this extra time. We feel He has something specific for us, meanwhile we are busy serving Him in ways we always do.

Grayson had lost $100 of his own money. We all looked feverishly for it to no avail. We encouraged him that because it was God’s money and if God allowed it to show up, to ask God what it was that He wanted him to do with it. Well, Gray felt like the Lord would want him to get Bibles for the soldiers overseas and give to Toys for Tots needy children. It showed up that very day. He really enjoyed picking out everything for the children and writing an encouraging note to the soldiers in their new Bible’s. He too is learning to follow the Lord and it was really special to see the excitement in his eyes when he experienced that.

It was so exciting to understand and experience God’s principles and wisdom for daily living. God bless Dr. Gothard and all the others that have spent so many years putting all this material together in a way that is easy to understand and follow. There have been so many times that I have understood what the Bible said about this or that subject but, didn’t technically know how to apply it.

The Basic and Advanced seminars has had a great impact in our family in many ways. It has presented in a clear fashion God’s principles and wisdom for living and opened our hearts to so many of His truths. God has shown us so much and we have enjoyed this spiritual journey in finding His treasure. One of the areas that God convicted our family was in cleansing our home. We all identified things that were not edifying or glorifying God and agreed to remove them from our home. These included music as well as contemporary Christian music, books, videos, toys and more. We gathered all of the items and threw them away and then asked God to help us keep our home free from anything that did not bring glory to Him. We also recognized that all we have belongs to God anyway.

I was especially convicted about removing anything involving science fiction including Star Wars. I explained this to Grayson, our ten-year-old son, that none of this honored God and was contradictory to His design of the universe as He created it. After we discussed this, Grayson wanted to and was willing to remove all of his Star Wars toys and books from our home. His example and testimony he shared with a friend has led him to do the same thing. I was so encouraged by his willingness and obedience. We have replaced many of these things with books and videos honoring God and it has brought a new closeness within our family.

God has also convicted the girls to consider how they dress. They have decided to dress feminine yet modestly in order to prevent those of the opposite gender not to sin.

I also gave my children spoken blessings and they were so excited about this. We pray about the blessings and discuss them often.

My wife and I are determined to stop generational sin and after watching this part of the seminar discussed them with our children along with the recommendations. We prayed about each of them and asked God to help us stop generational sin within our family.

We also recognized that we belong to God and each of us dedicated our bodies and our lives to Him. It was so thrilling to “complete” our dedication. We had dedicated our soul when we got saved and now our bodies. Each of us also made vows to read our bibles and to study and apply God’s word to our daily lives. We had never made vows other than our wedding vows. We didn’t realize how important they were and to just be aware helped us realize how much we needed to do so in these key areas.

As I learned to forgive and let go of bitterness, I began reconciling old friendships and reinforcing present relationships, which has been so freeing. I (Kelly) realize Dr. Gothard uses that word a lot about that subject, but it truly is the best adjective. By realizing that my true love and acceptance comes from God, not others, has released the expectations on those relationships, put priorities in proper order, and let go of bitterness and helped me to forgive. This allowed me to see what I was really doing. It was a tremendous relief to ask forgiveness from people and set this straight. It all stems from not feeling loved enough by my parents or feeling I wasn’t a priority as a child. I have been able to love my parents more and be more forgiving. This part is still in the works, but all the other relationships are clean and clear.

The Anger seminar has really humbled all of us and has changed the way our family deals with anger issues. We have adopted a resolution process to help any one that has become angry. First, someone will tell that individual that he or she may be angry. This is meant to help the person realize that indeed they are angry. They must then accept responsibility for their anger, stop and immediately ask for forgiveness. To which the other individual or others forgives that individual and then all will pray for them. This has made dealing with anger a time of prayer instead of a time of conflict. It has brought peace where anger may have continued and caused additional tension and hurt. This was especially powerful for me (Nick) as I truly had the spirit of anger.

I (Kelly) have been diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis (Painful Bladder Disease) four years ago. Since that time my life has changed tremendously. The pain that comes from the disease is debilitating. But, God has allowed this infirmity to cause me to reach deeper into His Word and seek the Lord’s truths even more (and take the family along with me). By the time we started ATI my condition has improved greatly, but God’s timing is so precious every time. It was by this time that God had prepared my heart, all of our hearts; in a way that we were ready for this process that God used ATI to bring us through.

ATI is ultimately about strengthening and deepening our relationship with God and is a wonderful tool that helps focus us on God and His Word. The truths that are presented and reinforced are life changing in the way God intended and desires us to be. We have had the opportunity to share ATI with our home school association, our church family and friends. Our children love the Wisdom Books and look forward to them each day and are disappointed if for some reason we are not able to do them. They love to learn about God’s Word, His wisdom and the world as He designed it. They also love to sing the hymns every day and memorize scripture.

To some, our testimony may not seem as though our changes have been monumental. Yet, if it weren’t for these transformations we could not be where God wants us to be – living in His will – learning more about the Lord we love and serve. How can we be more like Him if there isn’t growth and change? Though some of the molding process has been uncomfortable it has been more valuable than anything. As David said in Psalm 119:71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” We are learning to love our God with all of our heart and soul and mind by learning more of His truths.

We continue to be humbled at the work God is doing in our entire family, especially as parents. It has been our “Bethel” as Jacob had – a place of great change. We are elated that our children get this opportunity at much younger ages than we are to be empowered with this knowledge. We have been passionate about the program and want others to hear the truths from God’s Word in dealing with daily life issues. Our desire is to own the seminars in our home for future generations.

Please encourage Dr. Gothard that the vision God gave him and the mission he has pursued so many years ago is still changing hearts and lives for eternity one family at a time."

Written, December 2009

"On August 28th of this year we were watching a DVD by Bill Gothard (The Anger Resolution Seminar) for our morning worship and part of our homeschool program. On this day, he gave an example of a man who lost his business, put these principles to practice, and within a day or two got not only his business back, but more. Mr. Gothard gave an acronym to use to remember the principles. In short, here it is:

When you are faced with a trial (great or small) remember to be GREAT.

Give thanks immediately! You don’t have to know why or really feel thankful, just give thanks knowing that God has a purpose for everything.

Rejoice in all things. This is where you begin looking for possible benefits like teaching a lesson, drawing you closer to God, putting someone specific in your path, etc.

Engraft Scripture. Romans 8:28 is good for this one, but you can also apply one that fits your situation.

Ask God to give you added grace to get through. Realize that He wants you to succeed and be happy and healthy. It takes a good character, and this is sometimes what it takes to develop our character.

Triumph in the victory! When you follow the prior steps, you will triumph and know it was God’s victory in you!

So, we learned this, and I gave it to the children in the children’s story the following day at church. I used the story that Mr. Gothard gave in the DVD seminar. As we were there in the church service, we saw a fire engine race past the church with its siren on. After church, we could see smoke coming from the hills behind the hospital. By the end of lunch, the fire had gotten bigger. On our way home that evening, we stopped by one of our apiary sites that was within 3 miles of the fire to see if it might be in danger. We had 33 of our oldest and strongest hives there. That was about half of our production hives. We drove in, and it was apparent that the fire was moving in the other direction. We asked one of the neighboring residents to call us if anything changed, and then we went home.

At 5:00 the next morning on Sunday, August 30, we got a call from the neighbor saying the wind had changed, and our bees may be in danger. We woke the children, got everyone dressed and in our bee suits and jumped in the truck to race to the apiary which was about 30 minutes away. On the way there, we discussed how we had given hose bees as well as our other assets to God. We reminded each other that He is the one who has blessed our business, and He can remove the bees if it seems best to Him.

When we arrived, it was obvious that the bees would soon be in the path of the fire. There was no time to move them all. Each of the 33 colonies weighed an average of 300 pounds! We had to make a quick decision. We could save a few. Maybe we had enough time to load 4 or 5 onto the truck and get out, but the problem would be with the rest of the bees. There were approximately 1.5 million bees in that apiary. As soon as the fire would approach the hives, the bees would fly out. The only clear air path for them was right into the line of residential homes where the occupants and firemen were already working to put out the fire. One neighbor in particular is deathly allergic to bee stings. This could possibly create a bigger disaster than the fire. The only thing to do was to take the minutes we had to close the entrance of each hive to make sure the bees did not fly out. We broke into teams. Father and Mother got busy using duct tape to close up the entrances on one side of the apiary, Elijah and Tabitha teamed up to tape up the entrances of the hives on the other side of the apiary, and Elisabeth and Esther stood in the back of the truck watching the fire closely and letting us know how close it was getting. Pretty soon, both Elisabeth and Esther were all excited telling us we needed to leave now! We could feel the heat, and the flames were big, loud and close. We had to get out while we could.

We drove around to the street and helped one of the homeowners keep the fire from his house. We used hoses, wet towels and sheets, and shovels. Every once in awhile we would see a cloud of black smoke go up. It was another hive going up in flames. The water carrying helicopters came over us with their buckets and dumped as much water as fast as they could on the residences. We were so thankful that none of the houses got burned, and no one got stung, even though the fire burned over 8000 acres with 17 fingers to monitor at the same time. When it was over, all that was left of our bee hives were little piles of nails and metal queen excluders where each hive had been. As we walked through, we remembered the people whose homes each of those hives came from when we removed them as wild bees. We thought of all the honey we had harvested at this site, and how blessed we had been.

On the way home, hungry, tired, and a bit sooty, we talked about the day and Elijah said, "I’m kind of excited to see what God has in store for us. He wouldn’t just take half of our business away without having something in mind." Tabitha said, "Well, we don’t have to move those bees any more or harvest their honey."

Sure enough, a few days later on September 3, we were invited to speak at a retreat in Canada. We had been asked earlier during the summer, but we declined because we knew at this time we would be busy harvesting honey and moving bees. Now we had only a few weeks to get our talks ready and get passports and tickets, but God blessed, and we had a wonderful time! Those people in Canada told us the things we presented were just what they needed to hear. We just arrived back home two days ago, and God is still blessing. Now we’re just arranging for a new account with a large order. Nieman Marcus wants our honey! Praise God, He is so good!

When the children have a disagreement between them or we’re tempted to feel like we’ve been wronged, we can look back and remember, ‘Oh, G-R-E-A-T!!’"

Pictures:
Top-"Our family at this apiary site a few years ago before the hives were so large."
Middle-"This is what we could see from the neighbor’s place where we were helping keep the fire away from the homes."
Bottom-"Still smoldering, there was nothing left."