In God's Service

This woman and her husband found an outreach among the children of their neighborhood.

By: Cynthia White

Although I did not truly appreciate it at the time, I was blessed with good Christian parents who loved God and taught my brothers and sister and me how we could be saved. At a very early age, I could feel the Lord speaking to my heart. When I was about nine years old, I went to the altar of prayer and asked the Lord to come into my heart, to forgive me, and to cleanse me. That day, I began living for Him and trying to be obedient to my parents. Day by day the Lord helped me.

The church I attended preached that Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Sanctifier, our Healer, and our Coming King. Sanctification was just a big word to me until I heard it explained. Then I wanted the Lord to do that for me. I asked Him to sanctify me, and He did.

I had heard the Biblical account of what took place “when the day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1), and I felt in my heart that it was an experience I would like to have. As a teenager, I told God, “If the baptism of the Holy Ghost is for people in this day, I want it.” I lived in Barbados, in the West Indies, and in God’s time He brought me to where I could hear about how to receive this experience.

In 1958, I moved to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Shortly after that, I met David White, the Christian man who was to be my husband. He did not know of the longing in my heart to be in a church that taught the whole truth, but he asked me to become a part with him in the Apostolic Faith Church. Thank God that I did!

Church services in St. Thomas were being held in Brother Algernon Blyden’s home while the church was being built. During that time, there was a week of special meetings. I was unable to go on Monday night, Tuesday night, or Wednesday night. Finally, Pastor Blyden called me and said, “Cynthia, where are you? The Lord is blessing!” I answered, “Brother Blyden, I really want to be there, but something always comes in the way.” That Thursday I purposed to be there. I hurried home from work and could hardly wait until seven o’clock to get to the meeting. When David and I arrived, we found people were already praying, and as we began to pray with them, the Lord filled us with blessings. It was not long until the Lord came in and baptized me with His Holy Spirit. It was precious, and I remember it as though it happened yesterday.

On the last day of spring 1961, my husband and I moved to Chicago, Illinois. We had one goal in mind, and that was to remain true and faithful to God and to work for Him. One of the greatest tests we faced was that there was no Apostolic Faith Church in Chicago. Our hearts were burdened for the neighborhood children, because many of them did not attend church or Sunday school anywhere. The Lord provided a place where we could gather with the boys and girls each Sunday and teach them of Jesus' love for them. They were eager to hear the Word and learn Sunday school songs. Many of those children prayed and were saved.

My husband called the Portland headquarters and explained our situation. We kept in touch with Portland and received literature as needed for our little group in Chicago. In August of 1975, we went to Murphysboro, Illinois, and attended our first camp meeting ever. What a blessing! After that, we received strength just being at the camp meetings from year to year.

The Lord called my husband Home on August 4, 1988. I felt the loss deeply and wondered what would be the future for the work in Chicago. I prayed and waited for God’s direction. On Sunday, September 18, 1988, just prior to the dedication service of the church in Winfield, Kansas, Reverend Loyce Carver granted me the opportunity to pastor the group in Chicago. The Lord continues to work among us, and I praise Him for His many blessings. I love the Lord with all my heart, and my strength is in Him.

Cynthia White is the retired pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church in Chicago, Illinois.