Those Were The Days

This month is the 25th anniversary of our church, New Life Assembly of God, in Pampa. I put together a special edition of our newsletter, telling some of the history of the church. My mom and one other lady are the only two remaining charter members. I interviewed them for one article in the newsletter. I also wrote a column, telling some of my memories about the church. This is the column I wrote:

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I was a junior in high school when our church started. It was an exciting time as people came together to start a new work in Pampa.

I remember the youth group we had then. It was small, but we bonded much like a real family.

In the early days of the church, we met in a storefront building. The Youth Sunday school room was in the back next to the nursery, with only a partition separating the two spaces.

My mother taught the nursery class at that time. Whenever she turned on her tape player to play a song, which the little kids all loved, we could hear the music loud and clear in the youth room. She often played the same song over and over, so the little ones could learn the words. Well, the youth group learned the words, too. When the tape came on, we’d stop our class and just sing along. Those were the days!

Later, the youth moved down the street to the back room of our youth leaders’ store. It was actually a beauty shop. I remember sitting in the hair dryer stations while we had our Bible study. Yes, those were the days.

After the church had been going a couple of years, I graduated high school and later went off to college. I missed New Life, but I came home on weekends as often as I could. I was glad I could still be a part of the church.

I was so excited when construction began on the new building. I had just finished college and was home for the summer. I rode my bicycle to the site nearly every day to watch the progress on the building. It sure was exciting watching that building go up. Those were the days.

The building was finished in June 1992, and everyone was looking forward to moving in. I was, too. I was so disappointed when the day came for the dedication ceremony, and I wasn’t able to be there for the service. I had gotten a job in Amarillo that same month, and I had to work that Sunday. I had to miss the dedication. I was heartbroken.

Over the years, I attended Sunday service at New Life whenever I came home for a weekend. New Life still felt like home to me.

Now that I’m living back in Pampa, I’m happy to be a part of the church again. I believe God has many more great things in store for New Life!