GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

Terry-Ann Harper-Edwards worships at the Bible Truth Church of God at Cashew Tree, Glengoffe, in St Catherine. Not only is she a member, but also serves as a Sunday school teacher and church secretary.

Harper-Edwards, who has been attending that church for all her years, said she got baptised in 2002, and five years later in 2007, she was appointed to serve God and humanity in the capacity she currently works as secretary.

"My work as a secretary requires me to do a lot of recording for the church. I am more of a recording secretary and the work can be challenging," said Harper-Edwards.

challenges

Part of her challenge in the church she said include having to address the matter of persons not willing at times to perform certain tasks, among other things. However, despite the challenges encountered in the execution of her duties, she made it clear that she loves what she does for the Lord and has been able to stick to the task.

"Not that I am not willing to do the work, but there are times when you would like other persons who are willing to work in different offices. Sometimes in an organisation, you would like to rotate as well - to have a feel as to what it feels like to be a part of the Sunday school, treasury and so on; because there are different roles in the church that you would like to perform," explained the church secretary.

Harper-Edwards like other church workers admitted that there are persons who think that church work is easy. However, she does not subscribe to that opinion. She admitted that any organisation that has to deal with people must have challenging work to do.

"People are individuals, they are all unique and they come with their different backgrounds just the same; so you have to know how to deal with them, how to make sure the blend of personalities do not conflict and do not clash. So it is not easy to do church work," stressed the church secretary.

Harper-Edwards' walk with God started when a friend invited her to a crusade. She stated that she did not hesitate to take up the invitation. When she was there, she said the minister delivered what she described as a normal message.

surrender to Christ

"Sometimes in your spirit you feel like it is time for you to surrender to Christ. I remember at the end of the message, the pastor said, 'If there is anyone who is willing to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour, please raise your hand and we will pray for you'; and there and then something inside of me caused me to calmly said yes," testified Harper-Edwards.

She stressed that she did not hesitate when the invitation was given by the pastor, as in no time she raised her hand, indicating that she was ready to accept Christ in her life.

She said her life has been a daily struggle since accepting her Maker. She explained that there are days when things are good and at other times things not as good. She added that some days are not good due to some of the persons she has to deal with; and her personal life experiences do not allow things to be easy for her at times.

"Sometimes it is not necessarily people; your personal life challenges, your experiences sometimes come in conflict with the Word of God; and you have to always try to remember what it is like and try to put yourself in the mind of Christ and ask, 'What would Christ do' to guide your steps and your daily actions. So it has not been easy," said the church leader.