Coal Valley, IL

Total Visited: 79 Prospects: 4 Trained new youth: 9 Commissioned: 3
The Jesse James Gang

9/18/2002

Dear Pastor Moyer,

My name is Julia Martin from Trinity Lutheran, Coal Valley. (IL) You asked if I would write a few words about how the Ambassadors for Christ played a big part in leading us to the Lutheran Church.

In the first place pastor I can't say anything in a few words so that's why I couldn't do it on the spot when you asked. I'll tell my story and you can condense it anyway you see fit.

My husband Craig and I came from different religious backgrounds. I was Catholic and he was Methodist and Presbyterian. He wasn't practicing either one when we wanted to get married but he wouldn't get married in the Catholic church. So we were married at the Presbyterian chapel. Craig was in the Marine Corps at the time and we had a very small wedding. (We just celebrated 35 years together. Praise God for that.) We stayed away from church for a very long time. I tried to go back to the Catholic church but that's when it changed from Latin to English and I didn't feel like it was even the same church anymore.

So off and on we started visiting different churches. I truly felt that God had a place for us to be and that was the Lutheran Church. Every time we visited a church it always seemed to be on a Sunday they were conducting business or asking for lots of money.

Then one day these two young people came to our door and I've always thanked God for that day. They told me about a survey they were taking and about Jesus Christ dying for my sins. I knew about Jesus Christ but what put the "light" into that short visit was the way they were so excited about Jesus Christ and how they shared that excitement with me. They told me about the Lutheran Church and school in town and by this time we had two boys and they were soon to be going to school.

Our boys were already baptized by then in the Presbyterian Church. We started attending the Lutheran church in Springfield and then we got a call from the pastor there and he said he was happy we were attending but they were trying to start a church in Sherman and would we give it a try.

The first Sunday we attended services (being held in the grade school gym) counting the four of us, and the pastor, there were eight people present. We watched and helped that church grow from eight to over 100 before Craig got transferred here. We now attend Trinity ever since we moved in 1981. We love this church and feel as if God always wanted us to be here, to hear the truth.

So as you can see we are very thankful for the work that the Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ are doing. We have been given the opportunity to host Ambassadors twice now and will be glad to do it again if given the opportunity. I thank God for all who have the gift of evangelizing.

God's blessings to all of you and in your work,

Julia Martin

Editor's Note: OAFC held a weekend on September 13-15, 2002 at Trinity Lutheran Church that is served by Pastor Robert Hagen. It was a pleasure to meet Julia and hear her story when we gathered together on Friday evening. We're thankful that God used the witness of OAFC to invite a family into active and faithful service in an LCMS congregation. It is interesting that they quickly went from being visitors to helping a new mission congregation reach out to others. Julia now teaches Sunday School at Trinity in Coal Valley, Illinois.