More Baptism Stories: Members Tell About Their Calling

In response to requests in previous issues, members share the inspiring stories of their callings and baptisms.

"We Were Still There!"

In 1954 we were living in Pocatello, Idaho, and listening to Herbert Armstrong on XELO. The Plain Truth lead article in January of that year was about baptism—"Are You Baptized?" They wanted to know who might be interested, as they were sending out baptizing teams in the summer.

I wanted to send in my husband's and my names, but he was hesitant because we moved frequently, sometimes staying only a couple of weeks or a month in a location. His job kept us on the go, and we had a 25-foot trailer that made it easy to hook up and go. He didn't know where we might be by summer.

In July we received notice that Gerald Waterhouse and George Meeker would meet us in Pocatello, and we were still there! After counseling, we were baptized in the Snake River and we moved two weeks later—53 years ago.

— Frieda Iiams
Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, congregation

----------------

"It Was Like a Light Went On"

It appears that our calling consists of a series of circumstances we have to go through to be ready for God. Otherwise, we may not be ready to answer that calling.

My husband was in the Air Force for a number of years. One of his assignments was Clark Air Base in the Philippines. It was during the Vietnam War in the early 1960s.

Our family was able to join him in the Philippines in May 1963. While we were there, there were a lot of job opportunities for dependents of the airmen. I was able to get a good job working for the Safety Division of the Inspector General's office. Because I was in the Inspector General's office, I learned a lot of things I probably would not have known if I was not working.

There was a lot of unrest in the Philippines at that time. Politicians shot each other downtown every once in a while.

There were incidents on the base that affected our children, especially while at school. At one time a hand grenade was thrown over the fence and landed under a Quonset hut our son was attending class in! Thankfully it did not detonate. Another time, cobras were thrown into the schoolyard where the children were playing!

I had a very stressful job as our office had the responsibility of investigating all plane incidents all over the area where the war was going on. We had to keep a house girl in our home all the time as people were being robbed even on base continually.

After a couple of years with those circumstances, I found that I desperately needed God's help to survive. We did finally rotate back to the United States in December 1965. The first opportunity we had, we visited our parents whom we had not seen in over two and a half years.

My mother-in-law had been taking a correspondence course from Ambassador College. She asked me to look at a test she had there and asked if I could answer any of the biblical questions.

It was like a light went on. I knew immediately that the literature she had there was truth. I didn't know why or how, especially at the time, but I knew. I immediately started ordering all the booklets and material I could get from the Church of God. I listened to Mr. Armstrong on the radio.

About a year and a half after we got back to the States, my husband got orders for an isolated tour of duty in Thailand. So we decided to move to Spokane while he was gone so the kids and I could be near our parents. We bought a house, and a friend of my brother learned about our interest in the Church. We learned he was a member and that the Church met about five blocks from where we had purchased our home. It wasn't long before I started counseling and was baptized a few months later.

— Donna Kottke
Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, congregation

----------------

The Preacher's Wife

Who would have suspected it? I, the preacher's wife—a sinner! Everyone could see the righteous deeds I was doing—teacher of the ladies' Sunday school class, active in missions, Vacation Bible School and most other church programs and playing organ at church.

But my sin was about to be exposed. A radio preacher, Mr. Herbert Armstrong, kept proclaiming loud and clear, "Six days shalt thou labour… but the seventh is the sabbath of the L ord" (Exodus 20:9-10).

I studied God's Word diligently, trying to prove him wrong. It only proved him right. I had not been keeping God's Sabbath, and neither had my preacher husband. When I showed him this, he was furious! He forbade me from listening any more. I listened when he was out of the house by hiding behind the drapes to watch for his car to return.

One Saturday when I got into the car to drive to church, he threatened, "You're not driving this car one inch to that church!"

So, although I was a middle-aged woman and the road was steep and the day blazing hot, I hopped on our son's bike and took off. I returned perspiring and breathless to discover my husband's church friends visiting.

"It sure is a hot day, isn't it?" one said.

"It sure is!" I panted without explaining why I wasn't allowed to use the car.

Eventually, when friends came to take me to church, my husband dashed out to their car and announced, "My wife is not going. Don't ever come here again!"

The next Sabbath when I walked to a Laundromat to meet them, he followed me in his car.

Life at home was miserable. He would say, "You are a constant embarrassment to me."

I asked the minister about getting a divorce. He said, "Pray and be the best wife you can."

Then a strange thing happened.

After preaching at a revival, my usually robust husband returned with an attack of severe arthritis. He had to be carried into the house. He couldn't dress himself.

I lovingly cared for him for many days. One day when he was better, he brought me some beautiful red roses—his way of saying, "Thank you."

He never again complained about my religion.

A newcomer was heard to remark, "Isn't it amazing how well those two get along, when he is a minister, and she attends a very different kind of church!"

P.S. My husband is now deceased.

— Lois Gordon
Bentonville, Arkansas

----------------

An Event at a Summer Camp Changed My Life

One beautiful summer day, we campers were seated in an outdoor amphitheater in the woods. A male youth leader took center stage, opened a Bible and read scriptures on being "called" by God. When finished, he simply closed the Bible and announced that we would all be going for a walk.

Walking quietly along, my mind was riveted on those scriptures. What does it mean to be called of God? And, if called, how would it affect my life? I tried to pray, uncertain of how, and uncertain of what, if anything, it meant personally.

Then, since nothing else unusual happened that day, I forgot about it for a while.

But about that time my dad heard a broadcast and started receiving literature from the Radio Church of God. After studying for years, he gently requested that I consider applying to Ambassador College. That approach was effective, and the AC prospectus was convincing, so I applied.

Events followed—our first ministerial visit, our first Sabbath service, my acceptance to AC, a trip to Pasadena, baptism counseling and baptism. It was the start of a new life—3½ years after hearing those scriptures at a summer camp, the scriptural calling of God was actually taking effect!

— Sandy (Thornton) Nelson
Cincinnati, Ohio, East congregation