POCATELLO — Matt Sommer said he and his wife, Nichole, knew their relationship was in trouble and family members had attempted to intervene in his alcoholism. But Matt said it was God and the faith of one local reverend that brought peace to the couple and their family.

    During a special event to be held in St. Anthony later this month, Matt plans to share his story and he hopes it will help someone else. Word in the Park is scheduled for Aug. 24 at City Park in St. Anthony. The event starts at 10 a.m.

    Matt said finding his faith dramatically changed his life.

    “Honestly, I drank to the point that I didn’t want to live,” Matt said. “I was at the end, I had three kids in St. Anthony and I wasn’t seeing them and I wasn’t raising them.”

    Matt and Nichole have been married for two years, but the relationship was at a volatile point just one year in.

    Nichole said the Rev. Jim Jones with Blazing Grace Church is a distant relative. In fact, Jones had married her and Matt.

    “We just told him we were in trouble and didn’t know what to do,” Nichole said.

    “He stood right up and told us what was wrong with our marriage — we didn’t have Jesus in it.”

    Nichole said she has always believed in God, but had never attended or belonged to a church — Matt was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he had not been active in the church for years.

    “(Jones) was someone we came to love and trust,” Nichole said. “It was new and scary, but as we started doing our homework we saw changes and we became believers.”

    Matt has been sober for the past nine months and said his faith gets him through the tough days that used to lead him to drink.

    “There isn’t anything that you can’t get through if Jesus is in your life,” Matt said. “(Jones) introduced me to God, to Jesus, and my whole life changed, it was like night and day.”

    Matt posted his testimony and his progress on his Facebook page and readers’ reactions surprised him.

    “I must have gotten 100 messages that (asked) how you did it,” Matt said. “I talked to (Jones) and we came up with the idea for Word in The Park. I think we’re going to have a huge turnout.”

    Jones has served with the Blazing Grace Church since its creation. Currently the church is at 1250 Pershing Ave. The church has about 100 members in Pocatello and a second church is in Boise.

    Jones said he counseled the couple weekly through Scripture readings and he said he didn’t pull any punches.

    “I told them Christ was not part of their marriage, that was the problem,” Jones said. “And they came to Christ.”

    Jones is emotional when he talks about the couple’s spiritual awakening.

    “They were ready to give it to God,” he said.

    A longtime member of the Christian Motorcycle Association, Jones earned the moniker, Rev, but the call to the clergy didn’t come until 1998.

    “I was in jail, I was broken, I was at the end,” Jones said. “I just hit my knees and said, ‘if you are real, here I am.’”

    Jones said he felt a strong calling to preach. He and his wife prayed about it for some time, but when Pastor Jacqueline Thomas offered to share her church with him, Jones said he knew it was time for him to step up.

    “(Thomas) called and said she wasn’t sure why, but she thought she was supposed to share her church with me,” Jones said.

    Blazing Grace Church relocated to its current site five years ago.

    Jones and wife Sparky have been married 10 years.

    “Whenever I marry anyone, I want to make sure they understand that commitment,” Jim said.

    During Word in the Park, Jones will share his testimony, and Jerry “Doc” Hawkins is also set to speak during the event.

    Matt and Nichole also planned to be baptized during the event.

    Matt and Nichole have a combined family of five daughters and one son — today they spend lots of family time together.

    “I want to show people that you can’t live in this world without God, without Jesus,” Matt said.