Attending the local evangelical church had been a revelation to Sal. Brought up in a one-parent home with an agnostic mother, and brothers who were self-confessed atheists, it had been a new world to her.
What struck her first — before anything the preacher said — was the people’s warmth. Unlike other people she’d known, these Christians were unconditionally kind and accepting.
At first this made her suspicious: what were they after? Eventually she realised their love was sincere and then she started listening to the preacher. Each Sunday his unexceptional preaching conveyed an exceptional message about the love of Christ. Soon she saw herself as never before: a sinner under God’s anger, a sinner under conviction, then at 3.00 am one morning — on her knees before a tear stained Bible — a saint saved by God’s grace! Soon Sal was baptised and welcomed into fellowship at a moving service. Her mother came, her brothers didn’t — but their jibes about taking religion too seriously didn’t matter: she was now a child of God!
