A Brief History of Victory Baptist Church
Victory Baptist Church was started in July of 2003 by Pastor Jerry Dye. The church began meeting in a storefront in West Jefferson, Ohio, with the congregation consisting of the pastor's wife, daughter, and his parents. As the church gained a couple of families and the Lord provided the means, the church moved into a larger building in West Jefferson and then to our present location in London, Ohio. In December of 2020 Pastor Jerry Dye unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord. The church had remained closed until it was re-opened on August 7th 2022. During this time it had been reduced to three members. We are now growing and excited to see what the Lord will do!
Pastor Timothy Miller - Testimony of a "Church Kid"
Here is my testimony of salvation and call to preach....
When I was about 7 years old I started to have a real desire to know more about God and the Bible this desire was encouraged by my parents who read the Bible to me every day. I wish that I would have been born again at this point but I had heard from a "preacher" that "children could never serve God" and thought... that if that was the case, why would I worry about it! I was NOT SAVED at this point and entered into a period of misplaced anger and rebellion. One Sunday I had gotten into a lot of trouble at church and sat in the back contemplating my "demise" when the idea came to me that I would "get saved" and then my parents would forget about my punishment! The plan worked, but little did I know that I had made matters much worse. I followed a path of utter rebellion and my parents started to worry that I would get into "real trouble".
When I was about 12 years old, I started to realize that I was heading down a wrong path. I would try to "be good" but always ended up worse! I was miserable and had started to realize my need for salvation. The main problem that I had, was the fact that everyone around me THOUGHT I was saved! I tried to tell myself that I was, but I knew I wasn't. I started to really pay attention to salvation messages being preached but this only started a NEW problem! I would hear; "all you need to do is believe in Jesus", another would say: did you say "---" in your prayer? another would say are you "in repentance sorrowing to tears?" another would say "are you trusting Him as LORD? or just as a savior". I got discouraged (during this time I also read tracts that said different things), I would lay in my bed and weep at night. What made things worse was the fact that while I was going through this, everyone thought I was saved.
My parents had started watching rapture movies and this only added to my fear, I remember waking up after dreaming that the rapture had happened to find that no one was in the house and I ran from room to room in a panic. I found out that they were all outside and my heart returned to my chest. I continued to tell God no, and thought that He had "given up" on me. Again i gave up, only this time I thought "I would fake it till I make it"! I sought God but felt that there was really no hope for me and that maybe if I tried to serve God he wouldn't put me in the LOWEST Hell!
There was a missionary who had stayed at my parents house who had tried to encourage and help me, thinking that I was saved and "on fire for God". One time he gave me a whole shoebox full of Dr. Peter S. Ruckman preaching tapes. I started to listen to them and found that the only peace I got was while listening to these. I would listen to them almost every day over and over again. This went on for a few years until one afternoon when I was about 15. I was going through my usual routine of crying because i thought that I couldn't be saved, when I finally cried out to God and begged for "another chance"! In desperation I put a tape in and started listening, the message was called "the point of no return" I cried out to God after listening to this message and begged not to be at the point of "no return" I popped in another tape titled "A letter from Hell" after hearing that tape I got on my knees and asked God to save me.
I prayed something like this....
Lord, I know I'm lost and I don't deserve for you to save me, I need your blood to cleanse me from my sin and wash my sins! I believe that you died , you were buried and rose again, If you don't save me I will never bother you again! I know YOU know, but if I die and go to Hell, I will be burning having trusted you to save me.....Lord I know I know you CAN NOT lie so .....I MUST BE SAVED NOW!!!
There was such a joy and relief after that and I have never doubted since that time!
After a time of trying to figure out if I was REALLY called to preach, God made it very clear. I doubted because I was involved in street preaching during my time of searching for God BEFORE I was saved. I really did have a burden but was not sure if it was a call. After I was saved, I told my Pastor that I wasn't going to preach any more and that I was trying to figure out Gods will. I continued to pass out tracts and try to serve God in the ways that I could. I could not escape the call, I even woke everyone up because I was "preaching/yelling in my sleep" after that incident I read Jeremiah 20:9 and about fell off the chair! God had used that verse to deal with me and prove to me that I was called to preach. I surrendered and have been preaching ever since.
I started again, by preaching on the street and also in our local church. As a young adult I met my wife (Angel) in church and we got married in 2012. As a married couple we served the Lord together in any way that we could. She would cook meals and I would preach the meal services to the homeless. In 2018 I knew the Lord had dealt with my heart about being a Pastor while waiting for Gods will I filled in as Charity Mission's (Rescue mission for men) superintendent. God used that time to teach me many things, and in August 2022 God directed me to Victory Baptist Church.
When I was about 7 years old I started to have a real desire to know more about God and the Bible this desire was encouraged by my parents who read the Bible to me every day. I wish that I would have been born again at this point but I had heard from a "preacher" that "children could never serve God" and thought... that if that was the case, why would I worry about it! I was NOT SAVED at this point and entered into a period of misplaced anger and rebellion. One Sunday I had gotten into a lot of trouble at church and sat in the back contemplating my "demise" when the idea came to me that I would "get saved" and then my parents would forget about my punishment! The plan worked, but little did I know that I had made matters much worse. I followed a path of utter rebellion and my parents started to worry that I would get into "real trouble".
When I was about 12 years old, I started to realize that I was heading down a wrong path. I would try to "be good" but always ended up worse! I was miserable and had started to realize my need for salvation. The main problem that I had, was the fact that everyone around me THOUGHT I was saved! I tried to tell myself that I was, but I knew I wasn't. I started to really pay attention to salvation messages being preached but this only started a NEW problem! I would hear; "all you need to do is believe in Jesus", another would say: did you say "---" in your prayer? another would say are you "in repentance sorrowing to tears?" another would say "are you trusting Him as LORD? or just as a savior". I got discouraged (during this time I also read tracts that said different things), I would lay in my bed and weep at night. What made things worse was the fact that while I was going through this, everyone thought I was saved.
My parents had started watching rapture movies and this only added to my fear, I remember waking up after dreaming that the rapture had happened to find that no one was in the house and I ran from room to room in a panic. I found out that they were all outside and my heart returned to my chest. I continued to tell God no, and thought that He had "given up" on me. Again i gave up, only this time I thought "I would fake it till I make it"! I sought God but felt that there was really no hope for me and that maybe if I tried to serve God he wouldn't put me in the LOWEST Hell!
There was a missionary who had stayed at my parents house who had tried to encourage and help me, thinking that I was saved and "on fire for God". One time he gave me a whole shoebox full of Dr. Peter S. Ruckman preaching tapes. I started to listen to them and found that the only peace I got was while listening to these. I would listen to them almost every day over and over again. This went on for a few years until one afternoon when I was about 15. I was going through my usual routine of crying because i thought that I couldn't be saved, when I finally cried out to God and begged for "another chance"! In desperation I put a tape in and started listening, the message was called "the point of no return" I cried out to God after listening to this message and begged not to be at the point of "no return" I popped in another tape titled "A letter from Hell" after hearing that tape I got on my knees and asked God to save me.
I prayed something like this....
Lord, I know I'm lost and I don't deserve for you to save me, I need your blood to cleanse me from my sin and wash my sins! I believe that you died , you were buried and rose again, If you don't save me I will never bother you again! I know YOU know, but if I die and go to Hell, I will be burning having trusted you to save me.....Lord I know I know you CAN NOT lie so .....I MUST BE SAVED NOW!!!
There was such a joy and relief after that and I have never doubted since that time!
After a time of trying to figure out if I was REALLY called to preach, God made it very clear. I doubted because I was involved in street preaching during my time of searching for God BEFORE I was saved. I really did have a burden but was not sure if it was a call. After I was saved, I told my Pastor that I wasn't going to preach any more and that I was trying to figure out Gods will. I continued to pass out tracts and try to serve God in the ways that I could. I could not escape the call, I even woke everyone up because I was "preaching/yelling in my sleep" after that incident I read Jeremiah 20:9 and about fell off the chair! God had used that verse to deal with me and prove to me that I was called to preach. I surrendered and have been preaching ever since.
I started again, by preaching on the street and also in our local church. As a young adult I met my wife (Angel) in church and we got married in 2012. As a married couple we served the Lord together in any way that we could. She would cook meals and I would preach the meal services to the homeless. In 2018 I knew the Lord had dealt with my heart about being a Pastor while waiting for Gods will I filled in as Charity Mission's (Rescue mission for men) superintendent. God used that time to teach me many things, and in August 2022 God directed me to Victory Baptist Church.