“When we first came to Vineyard, both of us were stressed, hurt, and in need of healing. We were a bit apprehensive about finding a “new” church, but knew we needed a safe community where we could be pointed to Jesus, teaching us scripture, and discipling us and showing us how to become healed. On our first visit I told Tom, ” I really like it here”, but he told me, “Don’t get too attached. We will need to visit other churches.” You know, we never did visit anywhere else! And 15 years later we are still here! The people here, the pastors, small group leaders, have shown us the radical welcome of Christ, supporting us through Tom’s open-heart surgery and our surgeries for broken bones. Tom says, “after 30 years of being a Christian, I was not discipled until I came to the Vineyard. We have found a community who prays for us and who has taught us how to pray with others; A people who are real and genuinely care.

We have been encouraged to grow our faith by stepping out of our comfort zone and reaching out to others inside and outside the Vineyard. God led us to ask a Bayfield Orchard owner, can I pray for you right now? in the middle of the orchard. His staff asked him, “what happened to you?”. When he returned to work and he told that that God has really met him. As 3 years went by, he would ask us to pray with him again and God has brought him abundance of fruit in many ways! Last year the owner donated a huge amount of apples to the Fruit of the Vine food shelf and he wants to bless them again. This is only one story within God’s story. We are grateful we get to play in His Kingdom.”

-Tom & Norma Pust