My name is Rev. Archie Neale and I am writing this testimony for three reasons:

1. To glorify God for his miracles in my life.
2. To thank FGA for their trust and opportunities given.
3. And to share the life of service that I have enjoyed.

85 years ago, I was born into a great Christian family that taught me to love Jesus, attend church and to serve God. My parents not only talked the talk, but they walked the walk and were wonderful examples of Christian parents. My Godly grandparents lived with us, and my grandmother gave me my first bible with the following scripture written on the first page:

I have cherished and followed this scripture all my life and the promise of these verses have come to pass.

I became active in our Full Gospel church in Trafford, PA at a very early age and participated in all the normal functions of the church, such as the choir, orchestra and as a young people’s leader. These activities were good, but it never seemed to fulfill my desire to fully serve God.

The first miracle of my life happened when I was just 18 years of age. After I graduated from high school, I was searching for a job with the Westinghouse Electric Company but was rejected because no jobs were open in the shop. My mother convinced me to return and seek an office job. She then prayed over me, and a miracle occurred. I was hired to work with the Westinghouse new Univac computer center and by a second miracle, in six months I became the youngest major computer operator in the world. This was the first of many miracles of God that I experienced in my 32-year career at Westinghouse.

I was called into the Armed Forces in 1961 and had a wonderful 2 years in Fort McPherson, GA, where I enjoyed a multitude of blessings such as Soldier of the Month, a member of the Honor Guard and Color Guard along with receiving several trophies for sports. This was all by a young man who was naturally an introvert and never was active in high school sports. All this was great in army service but didn’t fulfill my desire to serve the Lord.

After the army life, I got married, had a son, bought a new house, and remained active in church activities and served on a church board of elders. Because of that experience, I was asked to conduct the initial business meeting that formed the Trinity Fellowship Church of New Kensington, where Rev. Victor Fisk from FGA served for over 30 years. Despite that, I still had no pathway to full time service.

In that same time period, I was astonished and blessed to have 3 ministers prophesy over me, which reaffirmed my calling to serve God. An evangelist that I had never met, stopped in the middle of his sermon, came back to me and gave a word from God over me saying “God will use you in a mighty way and you will be a warrior in his service.” A lady minister, Rowena Potts, from FGA, did the same and a women’s ministry leader spoke similar words over me at a ladies meeting. I accepted these 3 words from God, but I said to myself, “It will take another miracle to get me from my job at Westinghouse and into a life of full-time service.”

It was shortly after that, Rowena Potts talked to me about my life and my involvement with ministry and offered to recommend me to FGA for a ministry license which would help me to minister to our congregation in hospitals etc. In 1980, I met Revs. Charles and Anna Mae Strauser and family. I was slain in the spirit and was presented with my first ministry credentials. From that time on, I worked on my job and served in a limited ministry for our church.

In 1985, my dream of becoming a full-time pastor was shattered. My wife of 21 years divorced me and walked out of my life forever. I was broken and suffered for 5 years, all the time trying to mend our marriage. I had a long talk with God during that time and asked him to use me, in spite of the divorce, and he answered me in a wonderful way.

I applied to serve as a volunteer night chaplain in a Pittsburgh Hospital and was accepted. I would serve from 12 midnight until 8 in the morning and minister to any patient that requested prayer for a spiritual or physical need. I experienced a multitude of opportunities to minister to hospital patients and was able to see God perform miracles of healing in many patients. The greatest of these was for a man I met from West Virginia that was dying from a weak heart. He had been waiting for months for a donor’s heart and now he was too weak to stand up. He asked for anointing and prayer on Wednesday, and I received a call on Friday, saying that he had a donor for a new heart and asked me to come to be with him. To make a long story short, I went to the hospital, but was too late to see him and I began to pray as I walked through the hospital hallways. I saw a sign which said, “observation deck” and when I entered, there was Steve Burris on the operating table waiting for his new heart to arrive. I observed the heart arriving, the removal of his old heart and the placement of his new heart. I give all my thanks to God, for the miracle that night and for the 13 more years that Steve lived in good health. God answers prayer in a miraculous way!

It wasn’t long after that, I was blessed by another miracle of God at Westinghouse. The position of manager of the East Pittsburgh Computer Center was posted and I applied. I stayed up praying till 1 a.m. in the night before my interview and God spoke to my heart and said, “be prepared”.

I then wrote 3 pages of changes that I would make if I was selected for the position of manager. During the interview, I was asked, “what would you do different if you were the manager.” I read my list and 2 weeks later, I was hired as the manager of the computer center. Others interviewed had more education and/or more experience than me, but I was the only one that was prepared. It was more fulfilling of Proverbs 3:5-6 and a true miracle, which would lead to the biggest miracle of all.

In 1987 I was asked by Full Gospel if I would be interested in receiving pastoral ordination and I accepted and was blessed again by Sis. Strauser and the other Full Gospel ministers attending the conference. I now I had the credentials, but still did not have a pathway to full time ministry.

In 1988, Westinghouse announce that it was closing the factory and it appeared that I would lose my job. I then received a letter saying that if I was age 50 and had at least 30 years of service, I could retire. I celebrated my 50th birthday 3 weeks before the plant shutdown and I had 32 years of service, which qualified me for an early retirement. Shortly after that, I received a second letter saying that because I was in management, I would receive a retirement as if I was 65 with full health benefits. I now have received 36 years of retirement payments. This miracle opened a path to full-time ministry and further fulfilled Proverbs 3:5-6.

In 1989, I applied at Pittsburgh East Full Gospel church for a pastoral position and was rejected until they found out that I had a Full Gospel ordination, a pension and health coverage. I was accepted to fill the position of pastoral care and as the hospital chaplain. By another act of God, in 6 months, I was given the position of Associate Pastor. I had made a vow to God, that if he would provide a bridge to full time ministry, I would walk across that bridge, I did and filled that position until 2019.

In 1990, I met the greatest blessing in my life, Mary. She was a beautiful and classy lady that was widowed 3 years prior to our meeting. She was one of the most dedicated Christians that I had ever met and had a heart of service for God. We fell in love and got married in 1991 and soon formed a ministry known as “Neales on Wheels”. Together, we visited more than 2500 patients over the next 20 years. Together, we officiated at 144 funerals, 23 weddings and counseled over 100 people. Along with those duties, I was privileged to serve as pastor over a single parent ministry, a singles ministry, a ministry for handicapped member and various other ministries. The calling on my life was fulfilled by miracles of God.

In 2019, the “Neales on Wheels” ministry was brought to a sudden halt. Mary began to have some dementia issues which caused us to have a limited ministry schedule and eventually retirement. Mary was in the beginning of the dreaded disease, Alzheimer’s, and required constant care night and day. In 2020 I placed her in home hospice, and I cared for her 24 hours a day for 2 years until she went to be with the One she served at the age of 88.

I have enjoyed a wonderful, healthy, prosperous, fulfilling life and I am so thankful for God’s goodness to me over my 85 years. I am thankful for the words of those that prophesied over me, the scriptures that guided me, the FGA organization that provided opportunity and the many miracles from God, too many to include in this testimony. They have all combined to fulfill my desire to live a life of service for God.

I would like to conclude this testimony with a word of encouragement to those that have a desire to serve God, but don’t feel qualified or educated enough to serve. Look who God used to serve him:

David, a shepherd ………………….. To be a great king
Gideon, a farmer …………………… To be a great warrior
Moses, a murderer ………………….. To be the leader of Israel
Paul, a persecutor …………………. To be the main writer of the New Testament
Archie Neale, an introvert ………….. To be a full-time pastor by miracles of God

All of these were not qualified, but all were willing to serve. Remember the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 and trust God!

Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary,
Praise him in his mighty expanse, praise him for his mighty deeds,
Praise him according to his excellent greatness let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

I give thanks and praise to God for the miracles in my life and love and thanks to president, Pastor Simeon Strauser and FGA for their support. May God bless all who read this and inspire each to serve him.