Storyline Fall 2018

Rebecca saw a change in her friend Vanessa’s life and asked if they could
attend church with her. They came as a family for the first time to FAC in
March. “I was so happy to be learning,” she wrote. “I learned that God
was leading in my life, and that if we followed Him, we would see the
difference it made in our lives.”
On April 8, she listened as Pastor James talked about the Holy Spirit and the
resurrection of Jesus. She was surprised when he stated that anyone who felt the Spirit’s
leading was welcome to come right away and be baptized.
When her young son, Alyer, leaned over and indicated he wanted to be baptized, she too felt it had to be
‘today.’ “I’ll take your hand and we can go together,” she replied. When Alyer hesitated, she remembers
telling him, “Whenever you’re ready you can do it, but I need to be baptized right now! You and Ophelia just
wait here.”
As she left the kids and stepped out onto the aisle, Heather, a new friend at FAC, “came out of nowhere” and
said to her, “I was elsewhere in the building but God told me you were ready to be baptized.” Afterwards,
Rebecca remembers feeling “so fresh and new!”
Since then, both her husband Chris and daughter Ophelia have been baptized. Alyer broke his arm on the
monkey bars, but when I met them in early August, Alyer excitedly explained to me, “Both my sister and dad
got baptized and I’m going to get baptized as soon as the cast is off my arm!” In taking this step of baptism,
the whole family has publicly declared their desire to follow Jesus and be sensitive to His leading in their
lives.
When asked what God has been doing in her life since she was baptized, Rebecca responded, “God works
in the most blessed of ways. I will be out and about chatting with people, and realize that God is
working in so many ways in my life, as long as I listen to Him. My family is much stronger. We have
all accepted Jesus as our Saviour.” Rebecca has seen a difference in how they act and react to others. She
has listened as her children expressed their thoughts and then exclaimed, “God would appreciate that!” Both
Ophelia and Alyer have asked her to pray for specific situations in their lives during their nightly prayer time.
“The road we’re on is so gracious,” she writes.
Rebecca has been amazed to see the Holy Spirit come alive in extended family
relationships as well. They bonded closer with her husband’s grandmother when they learned she
has been praying for them for years. There have been opportunities to talk with others about their journey,
helping them to understand their relationship with Christ and to grow in their faith.
During the summer, they read through the book of Matthew. Come September,
Rebecca hopes to get involved in a Bible study as well. Service to God and to her family
have become her highest priorities!