Full-Time Training - Testimonies

Trained by the God of Mercy, Nathan Betz

I first heard about the Full-Time Training in Anaheim (FTTA) in 1987, when I was in middle school. I was at a high school conference in the Southeast and had just recently made a renewed turn to the Lord. Among many other things shared in that conference, there was something said about a place called the FTTA where young college graduates could go to be trained to be useful in the Lord's service. For some reason, although I had no idea of what the training was about, I determined to get through high school, get a college degree (I wanted to do this regardless of whether I went to the training or not), and then go to the training. For some reason, this little 11-year-old kid set his sights on the FTTA. The Lord, rich in mercy, was the only source.

Soon after that decision, I became distracted from the Lord by several things, primarily soccer and classical music, and promptly forgot about the FTTA. I had been studying music since age four and I was just starting to get good and enjoy it. I got a job at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the recreated colonial capital of Virginia, playing the harpsichord and focusing every waking moment on “historically informed performance” of early music. My entire life, by the time I was fifteen, was completely set toward having a career in music. Had not the Lord intervened, I certainly would have gone through with my desire of submerging myself in music and culture for the rest of my life. However, the Lord had mercy on me and turned me back to Himself and away from all the other things I had given my life to. After being won back to Him in 1992, He reawakened the desire in me to grow in the Lord in a steady way and to become useful to Him. So, when I came into contact with several graduates of the FTTA, I longed for the day that I too could go. Only later did the Lord remind me of my consecration to Him in 1987 of going to the FTTA. He certainly did not force me to go, nor did anyone else, for that matter. The Lord simply gave Himself to me for me to enjoy. This enjoyment of my God rekindled my desire to go to the training.

And so life went on, day by day, in the local church in Newport News, VA, where I was living. Life with God and with all the believers in the local church was so sweet and so enjoyable. I soon began coursework at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, from which I graduated in 1997 with a bachelors degree in German Language and Literature. All throughout college I could barely wait for the day when I would graduate and pack my bags to fly out to Anaheim for the FTTA.

In August of 1997, I began my first term of the FTTA. Thus began the best two years of my life. In the training there are hundreds of seeking believers spending time in the Word, studying the truth, preaching the gospel, and learning how to serve the Lord in His church. It was absolutely glorious! I was like a kid in a candy shop. I loved everything: being in the Word, being with the fellow believers, meeting with the local churches in the area, preaching the gospel, and spending time with the Lord personally.

My second term, despite being disrupted at the very beginning with appendicitis and a prolonged period of recuperation, was very much the same. It seemed that nothing was bad at the FTTA. After two years, I feel the same way.

During my third term, the Lord went beyond mere enjoyment of Him and began to impress me how I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:20; Romans 14:8). I belong to Him completely and should give my whole life to Him to serve Him. It was during this term that I was led to give my life to Him to serve Him with all my time for my entire life. This was one of the most joyful periods of my Christian experience.

Now, just completing my fourth and final term, during which the Lord had an added way to gain me in many other areas, I am filled with all the rich experience of the Lord Jesus I have had in the FTTA. Actually, none of this experience is just for me, it is for the Body of Christ. This is another great benefit of the FTTA: I am in a place where I have learned to be in, trust, and live for the Body.

I am full of thanks to the Lord that He had mercy on me to lead me from age eleven on to come to this blessed place, the FTTA! In my experience, there is no greater single thing one can do in their young years than come to the training to be trained by the Lord in His Body and for His plan. It certainly has been more than satisfying to me, and I trust also for my Lord. Now, by His mercy, I am planning to serve Him with my full time as He leads. All I can say is “Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy!”

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