A Life of Victory

                       By Mrs. Nell Montgomery (pictured above)      
 
  (Mrs. Nell Thompson Adams Montgomery was my first-grade teacher at Mt. View Elementary School. She married Mr. Richard Adams. He passed on, and she is now married to the Rev. Bill Montgomery. She is a sister to the late Rev. James H. Thompson, founding pastor of Faith Temple and attended Faith Temple for many years. — Steve Crain)  

My family had a dairy farm in the Double Springs Community, about seven miles north of Greer, SC. I was one of five children: Jimmy, me, Betty, Tommy, and Judy.

I was ten years old when I gave my heart to  Jesus in a revival meeting at Double Springs Baptist Church, just across the road from our house. We grew up in that church. 

While I was growing up, my dad heard about Pentecost — his heart was open to it, and he wanted us to have the experience. He would tell us, and we didn’t know what he was talking about. He took us to revival meetings and to Holmes Camp Meeting at Holmes Bible College. They had a big tent on campus, always in May. 

At camp meeting, I saw people praying around the altar. I couldn’t get away from the joy on their faces and the freedom of worship. I knew this was what I wanted. We were still in the church near our home.  

One Sunday at our dinner table, my brother Jimmy announced that he was going to be a preacher. My dad said, “I’d rather you be a preacher of the Gospel than to be President of the United States. It was after this that we started seeking the Baptism. 

There on the farm, we felt so close to God. It was about 75 acres of land and a beautiful meadow with a little stream, beautiful trees, and a large rock where we could sit and see the beauty. It was a place for one to go to pray for the Baptism. I spent many hours there. Prayer is not only talking to God. God also talks to you.

I taught first grade at Mountain View Elementary School for four years after graduating from Furman University while still living at home. I was 25 years old, and it was time to start a a life somewhere else. When you spend time with Him, He directs your steps. I decided to apply for a job in Columbia, SC. My sister Betty was in nurse training at the Baptist Hospital. So I thought I could be with my sister. 

I got the job, and after she helped me find a room on Marion Street with elderly Mrs. Eleazar. When Betty graduated, she said, “I’m going back home to work at General Hospital.” I didn’t know anyone in Columbia, and I was very lonely for a year. I did find a church that helped. God guides our steps. 

The second year, I met a lady named Althea Burroughs in Columbia. She had two little children and her husband traveled as a Church of God evangelist. She said, “Come and live with us.” And so I did. She said, “I’m going to find you a husband.”

God was still directing my life. I did not know that Richard Adams taught at Presbyterian College. I did not know that his mother lived in Columbia, S.C., and that he came home every weekend to teach Sunday school at First Assembly. She introduced us, and later, we were married. We had 45 years together.

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