What I learned from a phone book... (Part II)

The pages turn freely under your hand as you head toward the end of the white pages.  Underwood, Daniel.  Uze, Paula.  Vacuum World.  Valley Brethren Chapel.  Valley Calvary Baptist.  Valley Chapel of the Woods.  Valley Christian Church…15 Roper Street.  No!  It makes no sense.  How can this possibly be?  The Donnellys live in the wealthy part of town.  They must be crazy or something to attend church on Roper Street.  Nobody goes to that part of town, not even the criminals.  This phone book thing is really going too far, even for me, but I need to understand what’s happening here.  I can see the Donnellys parking their new Cadillac in the lot at Valley Christian Church.  As they proceed to the entrance, several people call out greetings to them.  People dressed in cast-offs and hand-me-downs.  That shirt on that girl there looks like the one I donated to the Goodwill.  Oh, my head is really starting to hurt now.  As the sanctuary of V.C.C. comes into focus, the interior is full of light streaming in and landing on the cross on the back of the stage.  The minister, Pastor Jude Fitch, steps into the light and welcomes all to this Sunday’s service.  My fingers are itching to go to the f-section, but I’m too intrigued by what’s taking place where I’m at.  How could this be?  The Donnellys are seated near the front of the sanctuary in a worn-down pew that creaks every time Mr. Donnelly shifts his weight.  Pastor Fitch is asking everyone to stand for the first hymn.  Amazing Grace rings out throughout the sanctuary as the eighty-two attendees lift their voices in praise to their Heavenly Father.  As the hymn comes to a close, Pastor Fitch looks over at the Donnellys and…  Good, it’s all going to come out now, and my head will stop throbbing from the overload of imaginative juices flowing through it.  Pastor Fitch looks over at the Donnellys and asks them to come forward and give their testimony.  Testimony?  What?  Okay, okay, I’ll go along with this.  It could be interesting, but I hope it explains why the Donnellys attend church in the “forbidden” part of town.  I blink my eyes as the scene refocuses on the Donnellys at the microphone.  Mr. Donnelly begins their testimony with a voice that is filled with emphasis and wonder.  He tells the congregation about his childhood, growing up the son of an alcoholic father and a waitress mother in a little apartment on a dirty street.  He talks about how his father left his mother, him, and his little brother when he was ten.  Left them for where?  Left them for another town and another drink and eventually a stint in prison.  The testimony had everyone in the audience listening intently.  Andy continued with more emotion as he went on to explain how his mother started working a second job and how he began a paper route at the age of eleven.  When he turned thirteen and his brother was ten, a man came into their lives.  A man named Arthur Ruset, a “big brother.”  He was only twenty-three himself, but he was a man of character and conviction.  Arthur took Andy and his brother Paul on outings and to church.  He brought the boys presents one Saturday when he came to visit.  Each boy was given a little brown Bible with their name in the corner.  Andy’s mother thanked Arthur for his continued kindness to her sons, who were now sixteen and thirteen.  She wanted the best for her boys, the things she couldn’t ever begin to provide for them.  Arthur had told the boys many times about the Savior of the Bible, the man who wanted the best for them and was like a father to them.  Paul refused to accept the truth of Arthur’s words, but Andy wanted to know more and asked questions constantly.  The questions became the basis of many conversations between Arthur and Andy.  Andy told Arthur one day that he wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Arthur sat and prayed with Andy for his salvation.