My angel led me to WHF in 1994.
One day I was led to try to try attending church again after a five-year abstinence. Since I did not drive, I walked to the closest church up the street. The people were so nice, and we met after for fellowship, coffee and chocolate cake. Chocolate cake! Being that I am a true chocoholic, that surely was a sign I should go there.
On the way out, there were two nice elderly ladies at the door handing out a paper. I read it while walking home. It was a list of what and whom I should vote for in the coming election. I could not believe they would do that and did not agree with most of it.
My neighbor Barbara lived across the street with her young son. When I got home, Barbara was outside having a tag sale as usual to pay her monthly rent. So I stopped to let her know my disappointment with the church. We agreed they were wrong in what they did.
Barbara said she’d heard of a Quaker church in the neighborhood and maybe we could go there next week. I said “QUAKER?” She said yes, and going to a Quaker church would help to keep her young son out of wars. I said, “I hear they are tolerant people, but would they actually put up with us?”
Together, we gave it a try, and we liked it, but no chocolate cake. On the way home, I read the bulletin, and it said on the back that women were invited to Helen’s for a Christmas get-together. Well, we looked at each other and burst out laughing. Us? At a church women’s do? What a hoot! Then I read there would be food. As we were both poor, we decided to go for the free food.
We had a nice time at the get-together, and after that I attended women’s group every time it was available. WHF and the women’s group saved my life. They were the only places I could find peace in my very sad and chaotic life. I learned to walk and talk with Jesus again. I became a member until I moved to Massachusetts ten years later.
Barbara attended WHF a couple of times and then moved away, and we lost contact. I know she was my angel placed to lead me to WHF, a wonderful place with loving people, and she did a perfect job. I was also led back to Jesus, and occasionally we had chocolate cake.
—Maryellen Marino