Laity Sunday- Pam Young's Testimony

When I was a young girl, I was always fascinated by a plaque on my aunt and uncle’s wall depicting several years worth of “Perfect” or “Faithful” Attendance at their church. I remember standing there, many times, looking in awe at that plaque. To be able to attend church that often—WOW!

You see, my family did not go to church. Which is strange, because the first date my dad and mom went on; he took her to church. Anyway, I was 6 or 7 and wanted desperately to go to church. My aunt and uncle would take me when I stayed the weekend with them, but that wasn’t often enough because they lived 30 miles away. I had had a taste of Sunday school and all things kid-friendly and I wanted to be there.

So, I began a campaign to get my parents to take my younger sisters and me to church. Many Sunday mornings went by and my parents had just as many excuses—especially my father. 

 “I’m tired from being up too late last night”

“We don’t have any clean clothes”

“You didn’t wake us up in time”

Well, I was relentless. Week after week, this went on, until finally, my dad looked me in the eye and said, “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?” “Nope!” I said. “Okay, everyone get dressed. We’re gonna go to church.”

I remember my mom, my sisters, and I danced around the living room. We were so excited. So, we started going to a little Baptist church in the area. I lived in West Virginia, and there wasn’t much church shopping to be done in those days. You went wherever was close enough to drive to. 

When I was 8 years old, we had an altar call (as Baptist churches are known to do from time to time). The preacher’s name was Caddy Moss. The song was “Just As I Am”. We sang a couple of verses, the preacher started talking in that soft-spoken, heart-grabbing way, while the music continued softly in the background. 

I was unable to stand still. My heart was thumping so loudly, I thought everyone could hear it. I knew that I had to go to the altar. I had seen other altar calls and knew that is what people did, but until that moment, I didn’t understand why. I felt so compelled to move forward, even though no one else had done so yet. Pastor Moss said, “And a little child shall lead them” and sure enough, others started coming to the altar as well. Pastor Moss prayed with me and I knew from that moment that Christ was part of my life and that I would never be the same.

That was the beginning of my knowledge that God was working in my life. Very soon, I was faced with challenges and obstacles to overcome. But, thank God, he had his hand on me and he never left me to fend for myself. While I would not want to face those same challenges again, I know that I am stronger, more faithful, and more aware of his presence because of them.