October 2009 Real Life
In 2007, Jill Jones, a twenty-year-old college student who had been visiting First Baptist Church of Springdale finally “got the nerve” to attend a Connection Group. After walking into the room of mostly strangers, Jill was approached by a young woman who welcomed her to the group with a smile. The young woman’s name was Julie Story, a fellow student and active church member. Jill remembers, “Julie was the first person to come and say ‘hi’ to me. That is a huge deal when you’re a guest.”
For many Sundays after, Jill and Julie spoke casually and referred to themselves as “Connection Group friends.” Jill explains, “Each Sunday we would just visit a little while. She always made me feel very welcome there.” The girls soon exchanged phone numbers, and in the summer of 2009, Julie called Jill and invited her to a movie with a group of friends. “I didn’t know if she would come,” Julie recalls. “We really didn’t know each other well, and Jill didn’t know any of my friends who were going. But she decided to come with us!”
Both Jill and Julie agree, after that night at the movie, they became inseparable friends. Julie explains,“…we just clicked and kept hanging out every day. We could talk about anything together and laugh and just have fun.” Jill adds,“We had the funniest conversations where we cried from laughing so hard, all the way to the deepest heart-to-hearts.”
It would be one of those heart-to-hearts in May 2009 that would change Jill’s life forever.
After a Wednesday night Bible study, Jill told Julie she “needed to talk.” The two ended up at a local gym, and Jill remembers well,“We were on the treadmill, talking like girls do, and all of a sudden, I just blurted it out. ‘Julie, I don’t think I’m saved!’”
Jill, who grew up in church, had been struggling with the question of her salvation for years but had shared her concerns with no one. Until now. “I thought I was saved at eight….” Jill explains. “But I realized when I was nineteen that I was not. It was very hard to come to terms with this.”
There, on the treadmills, Jill poured out her heart to Julie, and Julie recalls being completely “caught off guard.” Still, Julie listened. Jill recalls, “Without hesitation, Julie began talking me through it. I was amazed at how clearly she explained everything to me.” Julie knew she could not let Jill lose another day battling with uncertainty. “I told Jill, ‘What better time than now to nail down your salvation?’ She had so many doubts and had been searching for so long. She needed to make it final once and for all.”
Jill, too, knew what she had to do. “That night, in the gym parking lot, I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. I prayed the prayer, and when I was done, both of us had tears streaming down our cheeks.”
That Sunday, Julie held Jill’s hand as they made their way down an aisle at First Baptist Church of Springdale for Jill to profess her faith and join the church. A week later, Julie stood just behind her friend as she was baptized. Jill explains,“Julie was with me every step of the way. To me, that’s the perfect example of how to reach others. It would have been easy for her to walk past me on my first day in Connection Group, but Julie stopped and said,‘hello.’ When I told her I was not sure if I was a Christian, she could have said,‘Yes, you are. We all question our faith.’ Or,‘Go talk to a pastor.’ But she didn’t. She invested time in me and showed me she cared. Because of that, I am now a follower of Christ.”
On October 25th, First Baptist Church of Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills will celebrate “Friend Day,” a Sunday set aside to encourage members to bring a friend(s) to church. The concept of “bring a friend to church” may seem a simple one. But if you are ever in doubt of how small gestures could possibly make a difference in someone’s life, ask Jill Jones about the day someone walked across the room and said,“hello.” She would love to tell you the story.