Did you ever thought 🤔 that your assignment was to be that friend or help to someone who absolutely no one wanted anything to do with? Well, my mom's mission was to help a guy, who literally everyone else had given up on. Brother John was my mom's biggest assignment. Brother John attended Full Gospel Interdenominational Church in Downtown Manchester.
Brother John had taken Catechism in 1983 and 1984 and failed both times. He had a fallen out with Pastor Saunders daughter Sister Ellie to the point that Full Gospel Interdenomational Church said to Brother John,
"Look we will give you Sister Yvonne's phone number and you call her and ask her for help."
My mom aced Catechism in 1985 when my mom took it.
Meanwhile, Brother John, who had a history of being thrown out of restaurants, libraries, movie theaters, grocery stores, department stores, malls, etc., really needed a friend in the worst way. My mom used to do Brother John's hair; she would also help Brother John in Catechism because my mom had the patience to deal with Brother John whereas no one else had patience with Brother John. Friends didn't come easy for Brother John nor did people having patience with Brother John.
Me, my mom, and my brother Courtney would tell Brother John that we would have to go out because Brother John didn't know when to leave when mom was done doing his hair or helping Brother John with preparing for Catechism. We all have a past that is both good and bad but Brother John's past saw him get beatings by his parents and being beaten up in school by other kids Brother John's age and older that we didn't know about until many years later. Brother John took up Karate 🥋 and Judo and Brother John was also in the military. Brother John stood at 6' 3" tall and bulky.
Meanwhile, Brother John had finally passed Catechism which was a wonderful 👍 accomplishment. Brother John was so grateful 🥲 that on Christmas afternoon 🎄🎁 of 1985, Brother John invited me and my family over for lunch/dinner 🍽️ in Windsor, CT where Brother John lived at the time with his then wife and their son. I will never forget how organized Brother John's house was and how everything was really neat. The food was delicious! We all exchanged gifts and we all got everything that we wanted for Christmas that year in 1985.
This wraps up my journaling about the different experiences at Full Gospel Interdenominational Church. It was an honor to blog and journal, and Full Gospel Interdenominational Church was my very first church that I attended from 1978-1986. There are too many good memories to try to journal everything about this church. Thank you blogger for allowing me to write ✍️ and share my opinions and stories. Keep an eye out for future blogs readers and fellow bloggers. God Bless You!
