EMMANUEL​

Pastor Jeff Hawks was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and his parents raised him in church. He was saved at the age of four after he heard his mother teach Sunday school one Sunday at Midway Baptist Church. She said, “If you are not saved, you have a black, sinful heart (holding up the black heart); it is dirty and ugly. But if you ask Jesus in your heart, He will wash away the sin and make your heart white as snow (holding up the white heart).” All week he was under conviction. He did not want sin in his heart and wanted Jesus to clean it out. That Saturday, he could not take it any longer and told his mother that he wanted to be saved. They went into his bedroom and knelt beside the bed, and he asked Jesus to come into his heart and save him. The next Sunday, he told the whole Sunday school class that Jesus had saved him. He wants to tell the same story to see others come to know the Saviour. At the age of seventeen, he went to the Vacation Bible School at Midway Baptist Church. His teacher asked the question, “What if someone asked you a question about the Bible, could you answer them?” That began to bother him. He wanted to learn more about the Bible but didn’t know how. He asked his teacher, and he told him to study the Bible; he did and grew tremendously. After that, the Lord started to deal with him about preaching the gospel, but he did not like to get up in front of people. He struggled and ran from the call, but God would not leave him alone. Finally, on Sunday morning of October 14, 1984, he walked the aisle and surrendered to the call to preach. He had the privilege of leading his first soul to Christ at 17. Since then, God has given him many wonderful opportunities to serve Him.