Mission Statement
This ministry exists to:
To lead individuals to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and provide discipleship teaching and ministry for believers in Christ.
Beach Glass
My husband, daughter and I recently visited my cousin and her husband in the southwestern part of Michigan. She took us to look for beach glass on the shores of Lake Michigan. Before the trip, I had no idea what beach glass was. My cousin explained it as pieces of glass that has been tumbled in the waves against the sand and has become opaque and smooth. The glass fragments could be from a bottle someone left on the beach, a house that collapsed on the shore or even a shipwreck. It was so intriguing. We hunted for a few hours and came back with a few handfuls of beach glass. We later made necklaces and decorated picture frames with the glass.
I couldn’t help but see a definite correlation between beach glass and my own life. My childhood was filled with fear. It seems like I was born afraid. I had great parents and a good upbringing, but I was just afraid, afraid of not doing every thing right. I was afraid of failure and had an unhealthy need to be perfect. I experienced a lot of death at a young age. I watched my aunt die of a heart attack right in front of me. My grandfathers and cousins died untimely deaths, and I found myself at a lot of funerals. Consequently, I was very afraid that I was going to die. I would wake up at night crying and stricken with panic. My mom took me to the doctor and I was put on nerve pills because of my constant worry. I was only 13 years old. I never wanted to be noticed. I was happiest if no one could see me. I just wanted to be see-through, like glass. I didn’t want anyone to see my sharp edges, where I wasn’t perfect.
When I was almost 14 years old, my mom discovered salvation in the Bible. At that time we went to church, but not one that preached salvation. After hearing the salvation message preached by a TV evangelist and reading about Jesus' love, my mom gave her heart to Jesus and made him the Lord of her life. She then sat me down and explained it to me. It seemed like the right thing to do, so I made Jesus the Lord of my life too. I didn’t expect the change that soon happened in me. We found a church that preached the Bible, and the more I learned the more I wanted to learn. This began my great love and desire for the Word of God. Eventually I learned that the fear I constantly carried wasn’t what God had for me. He wanted me to live in peace. Getting rid of the fear was no easy task. I memorized Psalm 91 and spoke it out loud as often as the fear thoughts came. But I fought the good fight of faith and eventually realized that fear was not my constant companion anymore and that the Holy Spirit was. Fear still tried to take hold of me, but I became quick to stop it because I knew it had no place in my life. God called me to teach his Word when I was 18 years old. I wasn’t sure what that meant at the time because I didn’t really know his Word then. There has been much training to go through. I praise God that I was able to get a hold of my fear problem early in my Christian life because like beach glass, much more tumbling was to come.
In the past 25 years, I have been through a lot. Both of my parents were seriously ill a number of times and subsequently died early deaths. My son had closed heart surgery at the age of 6 and my husband had a long term illness. Unstable finances added to the pile. Although God did not cause any of those things, what Satan meant for bad, God has used for good in my life. I’ve learned to stand in faith and have seen many miracles and expect to see many more. I can say that I know God and his Word even though I’m still learning and will continue learning. Having been through all I have with my walk with Christ, I consider it an honor to be used by God to teach his Word. Like beach glass, I’m more opaque now and many of the sharp edges are gone. I am fine with you seeing me. In fact, go ahead and look. You will see a not-so-perfect person who loves Jesus and is learning to be like him. My life goal is to show you who he is and how much he loves you. If you will allow it, all the tumbling that happens in your life, will make you into a beautiful piece of beach glass just perfect for the Father's use. 
Cindy Neubecker
