Sarah Jernigan is part of our AHUMC community. Below, she shares her connection with our church, the joy of volunteering, and how she would describe our community.
Image: Good Friday and the AHUMC New Zion choir voices streaming online for the service.
____________________________
From Sarah: I first attended AHUMC in 1999. My parents started attending AHUMC during my last year of college. I would attend with them when I was home visiting on weekends from Texas A&M. I was doing my student teaching in San Antonio in the fall of 1999, so I started attending regularly at that time.
My father was in the Air Force, so we moved every two years of my childhood. Growing up, my parents always made sure to find a church home for our family no matter where we lived. It was a rare Sunday for us to miss church, so by the time I was in college it seemed that I had heard a lot of sermons and was often times hearing a sermon I may have already heard before. At AHUMC I never felt that way! Each Sunday, I was hearing a new and inspiring take on scripture that I thought I knew well. I was excited to attend every Sunday eager to learn more and to be challenged in growing my faith. I was also inspired to stay because of the Music ministry and the Children’s ministry. At the time, I was a recent college graduate who was engaged to be married and knew that I wanted children down the road. The opportunities I saw for children to be involved both in music and in growing their faith was something I wanted for my future children!
I was lucky enough to be a chaperone on the New Zion Choir Mission trip in the summer of 2018. As an early childhood educator I am very comfortable teaching and working with young children but teenagers were an intimidating and unpredictable group to me at that time. I entered into the trip hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I was blown away by the incredible youth on the trip! Their commitment to their faith and their church was completely unexpected. Their kindness and compassion for each other, the adults on the trip, and the recipients of our mission work was inspiring and a beautiful thing to witness! My time with the youth on that trip renewed my hope for the future in so many ways! I went on the trip hoping to inspire and positively impact the lives of the youth but felt as though they inspired and impacted me even more!
I encourage others to attend AHUMC to connect with other believers, find meaningful service opportunities, and to know and feel the love of God.
The word I'd use to describe my church is "loving."
Click HERE to share this social card with Tonya's insight.
_______________________________
