Page 47 - a-columbia-county-boys-recollections-and-memories-of-columbia-county-florida-(2012)-lenvil-h-dicks

A Columbia County Boy's Recollections and Memories of Columbia County Florida (2012) Lenvil H. Dicks

I GET SAVED

When I was about 12 years old, we had a revival at Hopeful Church, and the old Baptist preacher that
preached the revival was named G.E. Jones. I suppose he was one of the greater influences on my life. I
attended Hopeful Church for as far back as I remember. In those days it was just a little wooden church
with two doors on the front and two aisles inside the church, with short benches on the outsides on the
aisles and the long pews in the center section.

I doubt that the church could have held more than 75 people at one time, without some of them having
to stand up. The church in those days was a far cry from what Hopeful Church is today in the year 2012.

As 1 said, I had been attending the revival each night, and found the sermons of Reverend Jones to be
very interesting, even though I was just a lad of about 12 years old at that time.

I remember that I began to think about joining the church, and I can recall very vividly even though it
was 72 years ago as I put this down, something that I have never discussed nor told to anyone else until
now. I was out in the field in front our house one afternoon, and this would have been in the summer
lime. I can recall that I was thinking about joining the church and asking the Lord for guidance in my
boyish way, and it seemed that more or less all of a sudden the world got much brighter, the birds began
to sing much sweeter, the colors of everything became more vivid and I came to realize later that I
believe the Holy Spirit had came over me.

I experienced something that day that just seemed to fill my inner being, and I recall this as being an
extremely enjoyable and pleasant experience.

I have never forgotten that feeling that came over me.

That night, after Reverend Jones had completed his sermon, and issued the invitation to join the church,
1 recall that without any hesitation whatsoever I went to the front of the church and professed to be
saved, and asked to be included as a member of the church.

There were some in the church who naturally had a little bit of a doubt about a 12 year old boy
committing his life to the Lord, but nevertheless I was accepted into the membership of the church, and
scheduled to be baptized.

I will never forget to my dying day the act of my baptism. 1 was baptized in Olustee Creek, east ofthe
old wooden bridge that crossed the creek just before the road reached Old Providence Baptist Church.
There was a large cemetery on the north side of the church which extended almost all the way down to
the creek, and there was a deep spot in the creek there where there was amply water for those of us who
had joined the church during the revival to be baptized.

Strangely enough, although I have been in that area many, many times since then, 1 don’t believe I have
ever again visited the exact spot in the creek where 1 was baptized, but I believe even to this day I could
go straight to it.

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