Testimonies

3rd November 2019

Sherree’s Testimony

Good morning – my name is Sherree Scholz

I wish to share a little about my faith Journey before my baptism …

My very first experience of knowing of God was when I was about seven.  I was sitting in the shade of a needle pine, which was one of many to the entrance of the Warramboo School which I attended.  This day was when RI was being taught, I was feeling alone, sad and unloved for a reason I don’t wish to disclose right now.  One of the RI ministers noticed me and dropped a sticker the size of my palm on my lap and walked on.  The sticker read “God is Love” the last part of the verse of 1 John 4:8     I read it and while pondering on it, I felt like I had been wrapped in a cocoon of safety and everything was going to be alright.  Then and now I have always felt loved by a power beyond us when I remembered this, and so began my journey of seeking God.

Because religion was the reason for heartbreak for my parents, I began to seek what it was all about. I attended many different RI sessions, and different churches with my relations and work mates, this is when I found that no church is perfect and being a Christian is quite different from being religious.

Along the way I have found the more time you spend in Scripture, the stronger your bond with God grows.

When I was 10, For a year I went to a Methodist Sunday school where I learnt John 3:16 of by heart, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. … This is when I asked God into my heart “I did not want to perish”

At 13 [yrs old], an Archaeologists who was part of the team that found the (2000) year old Scrolls in a cave by the Dead Sea in the 1970’s, came to Wudinna. He shared with us that he had not believed in God until he had to study the discovery. The discovery demonstrated the accuracy of the biblical writers. He showed that archaeology affirmed his confidence in the bibles truthfulness. This made me more inquisitive, wanting to know more of the bible.

Later with my husband Paul, I attended a traditional Lutheran church, where I loved the order of service and the reverence given to God.  Through teaching Sunday school here I learnt more about the stories and parables in the bible.

When it was time my eldest daughter was to attend school, God called 9 families to home school in our district. Our family was one of them.  In three different ways I was convicted to Home school even though I had enrolled my daughter and was involved in the LAP programme.  Proverbs 22:6 was one of the ways God spoke to me. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I had to now exempt her from school and find a curriculum to use.
I was blessed by a representative of the education department whose wife delivered Anita (which was a beautiful experience on Christmas day where the joy of Christmas and the joy of a newborn were mixed together) and He helped and encouraged me with the exemption.

Every year for 16 years I would pray asking God if I was to continue, asking for a simple yes or no, as it was not easy in a small community where they needed student numbers to access a new teacher. Every year God would let me know.

During the home school years I was persecuted, my ability and worth was attacked, but I learnt to trust God and found When you trust Him things turn out better than you could plan.
On arriving to Port Lincoln we went to the closest church to us which was at Wanilla and benefited from challenges and the teachings of Glen Barnett.
Church and bible study are important to me, because this is where other believers are, and through you God provides love, encouragement, fellowship and accountability, also I have a spiritual outlet through songs of praise, worship and prayer.

God sent a faithful servant from this church when I was very grieved and alone one day and that began my bible study at home and here in Port Lincoln for the last four years with a group of ladies that I learn and share with. My faith is always strengthened and I have learnt my identity in Christ with this group.

Through the years Paul and I have said goodbye to six family members and 2 very dear friends.

Been blessed with four beautiful girls and two great son in-laws.

Experienced financial loss in the recession we “had to have” and our home destroyed by fire.

The fire showed us  generosity from kind hearted people and showed me  God cares about the little things, for example, we were needing a place to live and the disaster committee told us there was no place in Port Lincoln to accommodate 6 people and our dog.  We were left feeling overwhelmed with what had happened and of where to go next, than our phone rang, a home was offered in Tumby Bay. Thanks God.

The second night of residing at Tumby I had bought ready made stir-fry from the Tumby Bay butchers, upon endeavouring to cook it I could not find a frying pan or oil, as I was searching I heard a knock on the door, and there stood a friend with a frying pan from my nephew and oil from my brother all the way from Roxby Downs. God’s timing, letting me know that He was there for me and he cares about the little things.   I have shared this story and other blessings associated with the fire with a lot of people to let them know God is always with us.  I also learnt and acknowledged all that we have belongs to God, it’s just that people don’t distribute it fairly.

A verse that has helped us through 1 Thessalonians 5:18 [NKJV] In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  This verse has helped me have an attitude of gratitude.

From many traumas and trials I have learnt compassion for others that have been through similar situations and I have been comforted by God and experienced the peace of God which transcends all understanding.

During a time of waiting in prayer God gave me a vision of hope before my granddaughter was born,  concerning my granddaughter which continues to sustain me.

When Leigh Phelp was ministering,  It was then I thought about being baptised.

I procrastinated because of the public display and because my parents had baptised my 2 brothers and 2 sisters and myself in the Anglican church at Wudinna, looking at the photo taken I guess I was about 3-4 yrs old.  I do not have a recollection of the event, and I was not yet a believer.

I have since learnt what it means to be baptized.

It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead.

Knowing this I have chosen to be baptised now, in a step of humble faith, My baptism will be a sign of my union, a covenant relationship, and commitment to Christ.

I have chosen this date so I am able to be baptised with my daughter who will arrive Monday night. She had called me and said do you want to be baptised with me?

I am very thankful to my deceased sister Debra, my husband and my girls, two very special nieces, four senior ladies, Mrs. Stiggants, Mrs. Kranz, Mrs. Schmucker and Pauline Krammer, loving and prayerful friends and the church, all that have encouraged and supported me in my faith journey.

God is good all the time – All the time God is good.