For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:4)
I would like to tell you a little background story of how I met Sally. I, Beverly Johnson, have served my awesome Lord for the past 21 years. Through His power my mother, my three sons and many other of my family members have become Christians. A few years ago I left my homeland, Jamaica, along with the warmth and passions of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and went to Georgia to assist in caring for my ailing mother. I spend two blessed years with her and had the privilege of watching her peacefully go home to her Lord in July of 2009.
I enjoyed the fellowship of the disciples of the Greater Atlanta Church led by Mike and Shawn Patterson. Shortly after, I made the decision to move to Florida to be close to two of my sons and their precious families. My spiritual roots are also here where I studied the Bible 21 years ago. After moving to South Florida I began caring for Sally. Sally is a special woman who because of a stroke she suffered is not able to communicate very clearly. As time went by, I learned how to communicate with her and began to talk to her about spiritual things.
We started praying together at meal times and then I started asking simple yes or no questions about whether or not she believed in God, or in Jesus. I asked her whether she knew that Jesus died for her, that he rose from the dead and even asked her about baptism. I learned that she was of a Catholic background and went to Catholic School. I tried to use every opportunity to show her God’s power, grace, mercy and love. We started reading the Bible together and eventually I started bringing her to church with me. In time she consented to studying the Bible with women from the church here in West Palm Beach and Port St.Lucie. We prayed, studied, fasted and had her in our homes.
Sally began to be transformed into a spiritual woman. Her eyes would light up when she would attend the church services. She loves the singing, the fellowship and especially the children. I am especially grateful for Mary Montalvo and Jean Davidson who were involved in teaching Sally the plan of salvation from the Bible. At one point during the studies, Sally fell extremely ill and her lungs became clogged with excess fluid. We begged God to heal her and he made her well again. In the following study I prayed that God would allow her to speak clearly and when asked why she wanted to be baptized she answered clearly, “I want to become a follower of Jesus Christ!” When she was baptized, she came out of the water and exclaimed, “I am now holy!” We truly serve and awesome God!