Sandra Dawn Rowland

Little Known Things about Me (Sandy Rowland)

I grew up in a very anti-Christian home, and my father was an abuser and he claimed to be an atheist. He was so anti-God that he refused to allow me to go to church. When I was 16 years old I wanted to go to church and I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior that night. Jesus Christ became a very important part of my life, and I know I had to go against my father and find ways to go to church services and youth groups. As a young Christian I also spent hours locked up io my room reading my Bible which literally became the BREAD OF LIFE to me, and in much prayer. In order to get to church I sometimes walked up to 3 and 4 miles to church in the dead of winter. Someone at church would usually take me home. When entering the house my dad usually met me at the door and punished me, sometimes severely. He knew how much my lord meant to me so he even went so far as to tear up the Bible and threw it into the fire.

When I graduated from high school, because I had no money of my own, I had to find a job so I could move out of the godless house. I found a job working in my uncle's motel. I worked long hours. Since my uncle was my dad's brother my dad asked my uncle to make me work extra-long hours on Sundays so I couldn't go to church (I always went to morning, youth group and evening services). I still managed to get to service sometimes dragging in exhausted and very dirty and soaking wet. My pay was a dollar per hour and I saved every penny, which wasn't much because

my dad made me pay room and board.

I felt God calling me to go to Bible College in Los Angeles. This terrified me, but trusting God to provide and take care of me, I made secret plans to leave Corvallis and take a bus to LA. It wasn't long when I ventured out on my new journey with only $600.00 I managed to save. Not knowing where I was going or how I was going to live and in a large city like LA (I had always lived in Corvallis) was very terrifying to me. That was totally a walk of faith. Knowing I didn't have enough money for even school tuition and supplies, a place to live and food I had to quickly find a job to support myself. In the area where the school was jobs were not easy to come by and I didn't have qualifications for most jobs. With God's help I finally found a job at the local Woolworths store just a few blocks from the school. Even though I made only about $50.00 per week after all the deductions it was enough just to get me by since I was in walking distance and didn't need anything for transportation or food and lodging.

After a few set-backs I finally graduated in 6 years with a Bachelor in Theology as well as a BRE which is a Bachelor of Religious Education.

Shortly after graduation I was asked to be a co-pastor in Lafayette, Indiana. After a while I felt I had to come back to Corvallis as I was not well physically. I served faithfully io my home church as Christian Ed director and teacher training and remained in my home church in Corvallis to this day.