Judy is a young, single lady who has a genuine heart for God. She felt the Lord leading her to move to Larimore and join our church. She came here in August and got busy for the Lord as soon as she arrived. What a blessing she has been already!
Judy’s parents came from the state of Michigan and later moved to Minnesota. They were living at Cass Lake, Minnesota when she was born, the third of six children. She has 3 sisters and 2 brothers. They lived on a hobby farm and raising goats and chickens. She has fond memories of playing for hours at a time in the fort on their property with her siblings. She was home schooled from the 4th-7th grades. She grew up attending Landmark Baptist Church in Cass Lake, Mn. and was saved at age 19.
Her home church began as a mission work, Heritage Indian Baptist Mission, started by Brother and Mrs. Frank Combs. In church, she grew to admire the kindness and faith of her Sunday School teacher “Granny” Combs, missionary wife of Frank Combs. After completing high school, Judy considered preparing for careers in nursing, computer technology support, data processing, and teaching. The Lord led her into the field of teaching and blessed her with the opportunity to attend and to graduate from Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a degree in Christian Education and an emphasis in Bible.
Following her graduation she spent a summer as a youth counselor at a Bill Rice Ranch in Tennessee. She came away from there feeling blessed and excited to have heard so much preaching of God’s Word. And how she enjoyed the children there! A great thrill for her was personally leading one camper to the Lord in salvation. The following is a story she related to me about one experience she had with one of the young campers there.
“One of the most wonderful memories for me while being a junior counselor at the Bill Rice Ranch happened late in June of 2000. I had the responsibility of being a “Med Run Driver.” The Lord has a wonderful sense of humor. He knew that that week on that particular day that I would need a good laugh, and boy, did I laugh--until my abdominal muscles hurt!! There was a young man who had been bitten by a brown recluse spider, so we went to get his medicine. While he, his counselor, and I waited for the prescription to be filled, to pass the time we stopped for pizza and bread sticks. This turned out to be no ordinary young boy. He had a great sense of humor and cracked joke after joke. It was not only an enjoyment to be around funny and hilarious people, but also to know that our God provides laughter in the most difficult of times.”
We may wonder how Judy happened to come to our church. Well...Judy has a past connection with Brother and Mrs. Silcox. They met while visiting Judy’s church when the Silcoxes sometimes attended there when they would be staying at their nearby lake cabin. Her family was hungry to hear God’s Word and attended some special meetings in North Dakota in the early 2000s. Now living within a 3 hour drive from her parents is an added blessing that makes it possible for her to see them about once a month.
Her favorite Bible verses are “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:4,5.
Judy trusted God to get her through college and thanks Him for bringing it to pass for her. Now she is trusting Him for guidance in every way He calls her to serve Him. She plans to follow Him wherever He leads. One might say that an appropriate theme song for her is “Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow.” All of the Bible is dear to her . When she reads of Ruth in the Old Testament, she finds herself wanting to be like Ruth in the areas of commitment and service. She hopes to be used of God here, especially in children’s ministry. She is already actively volunteering in our Christian high school and would like to be able to teach in children’s church in the future.
She likes winter, the color purple, puppies, children, reading Christian biographies, singing, playing the piano, and crocheting.
When we pray for Judy, we might ask God to help her at her secular job and especially we can pray for her youngest sister.
Welcome to New Testament Baptist Church, Judy! You are brimming with potential and we are blessed to have such a Godly young lady in our church. Please let us know if there’s any way we can be of help to you.
