I was making my way to the front of the church to meet up with Melina and Sheila to give our weekly announcements, when our pastor, Nathan Renner stopped me. He motioned to the couple I saw earlier and told me to go talk to them so I did. I walked up and told the mother how adorable her baby is (he really is quite a cutie), and then proceeded to introduce myself. I just took time to get to know them and talk and briefly mentioned that I attend a Bible college and that I’m currently working with the church. Before I could even get to it, Emily asked me if I could give her Bible studies. She said that she had studied the Bible before but she hasn’t in a while and she feels like she doesn’t know anything. So we arranged to meet the next day.
They live about half an hour away so I drove up to see them. I knew that Emily had an Adventist background but I had no idea what her husband Mike had. I walked in and brought Real Heroes and Prince of Peace for their son, Anakin. And the moment Emily saw the books she said with excitement, “I know exactly what those are!” Turns out Emily canvassed 2011 in Bakersfield & Tulare. She told me Ricky was her leader and when she showed me her summer book I saw she was also a student with Heidi Maekawa. However, she felt like she lost hold of God and now she wants to come back. Her husband, Mike has never touched a Bible before and Nathan was able to give him his very own Bible.
I mainly studied with Emily. Mike is a chemistry major and drives to school over an hour away every day. I was mainly teaching Emily how to do devotions the way I was taught. Every time Emily and I would hang out our friendship would grow deeper. I realized how Bible work is far more then just studying the Bible with each other. There where times where I would just go grocery shopping with Emily or teaching her how to cook an asian dish before studying. Emily is absolutely precious. She has a tender heart for ministering to others and sharing the light that she has. Meanwhile, her husband, Mike would listen to sermons every day while drive to and from school. Every Sabbath they would consistently come and when they could make it they would come to the Revelation seminar as well. Mike is a great student and he's super interested in everything that he has been learning. He also takes notes profusely.
Today was the last official day that I was personally able to study with Mike and Emily. It's amazing to see the transformation that Mike has had since the first time I met him. He went from not knowing where anything was to remembering specific things that he and Emily have read and even wanting to share what he has learned with his friends at college.
I've really grown to love this family, especially their little one, Anakin. Mike and Emily taught Anakin how to saw my name and my heart melts each time he says it. I could go on about how adorable Anakin is. I think I have more picture of Anakin on my phone then anyone else. But what I really want to share with you is a text message Emily sent me this afternoon.
This is what Emily wrote me:
"Every single thing you have done for us has helped us in our faith since we met you. Mike was far from a believer and I was far from a follower when we met you but with your help and the grace of God we have come a long way in such a short period of time. We will really miss you when you go, and I want you to see that even if you don't have any other testimony as to why you think God led you to our little town that we believe that you coming in to our lives was crucial in leading us back to God and giving us the motivation to do so. I hope we find some good people to study with when you leave! And you can always stay with us if you're ever back in the area. Thank you for all you've done for us."
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| Emily, Anakin, and Mike |
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