reference to explain what full-time
ministry consisted of. In time I found
a way to offer a brief explanation of
our work, then change the subject to
our favorite television show. Basically
we are local missionaries. We spend
our days figuring out ways we can
serve the members of our church and
community.
It was the best I could come up with.
You see, when we were in school the
Internet wasn’t a huge phenomenon.
You couldn’t just Google my father’s
name and learn the full scope of our
ministry. So in school, we were just
Cora and Sarah. Some of the parents
and adults knew, of course, but hardly
any of the children knew or cared. For
the most part, they didn’t attend our
church, nor did they spend their time
watching television broadcasts that
showed more church. There was no
way they could know or understand
that people would stop us on Sundays
to tell us our dad said something that
saved their lives.
I’m not sure I fully understood or
appreciated the work we did. I just
knew that I often got tired of going
to the church again to do the same
thing over and over. Sure it was nice
spending time with our friends and
making jokes throughout service, but
the heart of our mission was often lost.
I just felt like we went to church for a
living.
I wouldn’t learn until much later that
spending so much time in church as
a child would remind me where to go
when I was in trouble as an adult.
Like most children, at that age we
understood the basic fundamentals of
our faith and God, but the necessity
isn’t always apparent. Our relationship
with Christ is fortified through life’s trials.
But when you are young and go
to church more days in a week than
you attend school, church becomes
a competition. Who dressed the best?
Who could shout the hardest? Who
could sing the best? Who was the best
at imitating this elder or that deacon?
These were the games that we played
all service long. Occasionally we would
have services where the Spirit affected
even us, and those were the moments in
which seeds were planted inside of us.
One of my first true encounters
with God came on a Sunday evening
service when we hosted a guest
pastor. Toward the end of the message
the congregation was visibly moved.
After engaging in intense worship, the
visiting pastor looked at one of our
family friends and spoke directly to a
situation in her life. There was no way
he could have known those things,
as their paths had never crossed. The
moment he pointed his hand toward
her everyone around us stretched out
their arms to her, signifying corporate
prayer. Something about that moment
made me stretch out my small hands
too. I wasn’t sure exactly what the
sermon text had been or even the
title of the sermon. I did understand,
however, that the atmosphere had
completely shifted.
It was as if, for the first time, I
understood what it was like to be
connected to someone greater than
myself. I felt the presence of God,
before I knew it was Him. Of course,
we would laugh and maybe joke
about it later, but I knew what I felt was
real. I just didn’t know the day would
come when it wouldn’t as easy to find
Him in my life.
Those were the times when,
although we didn’t understand our
parents’ praise, we could feel their
worship. Those were the moments
when the soil of our souls was tilled
and God honored the prayers of our
Solutions 17