Coming to Plainfield

I want to share a short story. God does grant the desires of our hearts, but we must let Him do it and let Him have His will done in our lives. When we do that, the desires of our hearts always come to pass. In the Bible, we know the story of when Jesus called Simon, a successful fisherman, a very experienced fisherman. Then Christ called him and told him, going forward, I will make you fisher of men. Peter, at the moment, didn’t quite understand what that meant but was happy to follow Christ when Christ said, “Follow me,” even though he didn’t know what it meant. He followed Christ faithfully, and that’s how God works. He knows the desires of our hearts. Wherever you are in the world, it’s God that draws you to this church, and if God is drawing you here, you just let Him. Many of us come here through different circumstances.

Some came here through sickness, and some through friends and family and things they heard. Some that came here were born into a Christian Science family. I was born as a Methodist and raised as one, and God drew me through wonderful news I read about Christian Science when I came here 19 years ago. When I came here, I met many people I had never met, some I knew by name. I had the privilege to meet a few people here, including the teacher of our church at that time, Mrs. Evans.

I saw something that I’d never seen before in my life, something completely unexpected. I met men and women who genuinely love God in a way I’ve never seen before. I mean, like the hymns we read, they truly loved God and humbly followed Him, following the teaching of Christian Science. The teaching of Mrs. Evans struck me; it was surprising to me how the things of the world could drive people. The world’s education, wealth, or materiality was not necessary to them. They had the desire to know God and to love Him. After a few days, the teacher asked if I wanted to stay in Plainfield. I asked myself how I could not stay here after what I had seen. I mean, this is what I had dreamed of all my life, even as a child. I would be a fool not to stay. God drew me and brought me here. After all I saw, I said yes, I will stay. Like Peter in the Bible, when Christ told him he would make him a fisher of men, he had no idea what that meant. I have no idea what I was saying, but Iike Peter saw the miracle that Jesus did after they had spent hours of the night trying to catch the fish, but they caught none. Then Christ Jesus performed a miracle of a huge catch. Peter had to give up everything he knew to follow this man. That is how it felt to me when I agreed to stay. I had no idea what I was responding to, but I have seen enough, and I have no doubt and said I will follow faithfully.

I stayed, and step by step, little by little, I started to learn what it means to be a Christian Scientist. It was in this church that I learned how to do some stuff. I had never painted a house or touched a brush, but I painted an entire house in this church. I saw people cleaning the church and mopping the floor happily, just not like somebody was forcing them, but people happily mopping every inch of this church, keeping it clean. Our teacher’s house was the cleanest house I have ever seen in my entire life. It was kept clean by people in this church. Every weekend, people would go over there and lovingly take care of her and her home because she was taking care of us through the word of God. We printed our text with a machine, but proofers checked everything by hand. I wanted to stay and be part of the mission.  All these years have been a tremendous blessing for me and my family. It was life-saving because if I hadn’t stayed, my life would not have been what it is today. God does grant the desires of our hearts. I’m so grateful that God brought me here. I’m grateful for what God is doing and everything I learn here.