Jeff and I first met Lee & Betty when our Pastor, Pres Nowlin invited them to lead a weekend retreat at Powhatan Mennonite Church.  We started attending Faith Bible Fellowship in 1990 when the congregation had just moved into the current church building. Because there was a bank mortgage at that time, people attending had to become “official church members” to submit their names to the bank to get the loan approved. For several years I taught the first-third grade Sunday School Class. We used to bring our grandchildren to church. One Sunday our 5-year-old grandson, Charles got really excited because in his words “the guy up front” invited everyone to a church picnic! The “guy up front” was Pastor Lee!

One year Betty asked me to plan monthly activities for the entire church. The most popular one was “Guests and Hosts”. Those who signed up to be hosts knew guests were coming – they just didn’t know exactly who they were until the “surprise guests” arrived. During another activity we were playing “The Newly Wed Game” and the question was “What is your spouse’s favorite season of the year?” Jean Noone said she knew she was supposed to choose “winter, spring, summer or fall” but told us ET would say “baseball season” and sure enough that was his answer. We all got a good laugh over that.

Another memory is when dealing with a health crisis with Jeff, both Pres and Lee volunteered to come and sit with Jeff for a day so I could go to work. Others from the church also stepped in and helped us with assorted needs during this difficult season.

Jeff and I rotated in and out of FBF over the years to help start three different churches. Although we weren’t going to FBF at the time, Jeff was asked to be in charge of beverages for Lee’s big milestone birthday celebration at the train station. For over 30 years, even when we were serving at other churches, we have continued to host an FBF small group each month at our home for a meal and prayer time. Decades later we are back attending services at FBF, and we now are bringing our two great granddaughters to church.