This past Monday evening, after seeing so many people come to our community outreach dinner that we ran out of food, pastor Wally and I went on a visit to see the parents of a girl who had participated in our Upward Basketball program. We sat for a few minutes and talked; the husband and wife were very gracious hosts. The couple told us about all the things that had happened in their lives in recent months to point them toward God. They bragged about Upward and what it meant to their family. The wife talked about visiting a ladies Sunday School class at our church the day before and how special that was.
Obviously, God had been working on them. Pastor Wally and I shared the gospel as plainly as we could; then we asked if there were any reason they would not want to ask God to save them right then. They responded enthusiastically. Both prayed. Both confessed their faith in Christ. And both pledged to follow through with believer's baptism!
It was exciting to hear how God had brought them through obstacles in life to get them to where they are now. The husband has lived a sometimes difficult life and faced some recent medical challenges. The wife had a bad experience with 'organized religion' as a child, and, as an engineer, had struggled with the concept of faith. But through it all, God saved them!
What a great start to the week!
By the way, this week has seen some other highlights as well...
Tom and Susan Brown had a baby girl over the weekend, and Ron and Sheryl Tank had a baby boy on Tuesday. On a sad note, Dolores Roy, the lady we baptized in her bath tub and showed the video at church, died yesterday, but as my seven year old daughter reminded me when I told her, "Dad, that's not bad news. Now she gets to go to heaven."
Pastor Noel Dear
