Alvaro Sauza, Gobles Pinedale Church pastor, interviews Sharon Powell.

Alvaro Sauza (AS): Vincent and Nayeli Boekhout, a young couple from the Gobles Church, came to your home, and they told me how excited they were after they had met you. You were so open and ready to study the Bible. What is the background to their visit?

Sharon Powell (SP): I had told the Lord I wasn’t going back to my church anymore. I planned to stay home and learn the Bible by myself. At the church I was attending, the pastor never preached from the Bible. I liked to attend Sunday school, but they decided not to have Sunday school anymore.

About this time, I had to go to the Allegan Hospital for surgery. While I sat in their waiting room, I saw some Bible story books and read them. I noticed a card in the books and filled it out. I wanted a series of books and a Bible. Two men came with a suitcase full of books. I told them I needed some books to help me understand the Bible. They showed me 11 books by Ellen White and a Bible, and I purchased all of them.

Later I realized I didn’t know which book to read first. I needed a teacher. Then a “Something Wonderful” card came in the mail. I filled it out and prayed for a teacher. Soon Vincent and Nayeli came to teach me how to read the books and study my Bible.

They asked me if I would like to attend church with them. I said, "Yes," but I didn’t have any transportation. They said that they could take me to church on Saturday. I said, “Saturday? I go shopping on Saturdays.”

The first time I stepped into the Gobles Church I felt a special happiness. The people shook my hand, and I got a lot of hugs. I felt I had found the church I was looking for.

Pastor Sauza began his sermon by asking everyone to open their Bibles to a text. I thought, “We’re going to read directly from the Bible!!” I used to go to sleep in my old church, but I stopped going to sleep at Gobles.

AS: So did you continue to study?

SP: Yes, every week until Vincent and Nayli left for Wiemar, California, where Vincent is studying to be a minister. Paul Elder from the Gobles Church and Don and Janis Loew from the Allegan Church took over the studies. Paul studied with me on Tuesdays, Don and Janis on Thursdays, and on Wednesday I attended prayer meeting at Allegan and studied with Pastor Sauza.

AS: When the Hope for the Homeland meetings began, Paul Elder made sure Sharon was at each meeting. It was during that series she made her decision to be baptized. However, she was a heavy smoker and thought she could never stop smoking. Evangelist Dan Collins and I visited her, and the church members continued to pray that she would gain the victory over her habit.

Pastor Collins invited her to his evangelistic series at Gobles where they were studying Revelation. She attended faithfully and learned the victory song from Kay Collins. She sang it day and night until she, by faith and God’s grace, gained the victory over tobacco.

SP: As I was preparing for baptism, I looked at all the women in church and noticed they did not wear any jewelry. I asked, “Is this what the Lord wants me to do? If so, I want to do it right away.” I’m very happy to be baptized. The church I used to attend would baptize you the next week. The Adventists want you to understand what the Bible teaches before they baptize you.

Today Sharon is involved in a women’s prison ministry.

Bruce Babienco, Lake Union Herald volunteer correspondent