Friday, July 31, 2009

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Seeing the light By THEA RUTHERFORD ~ Guardian National Correspondent ~ thea@nasguard.com: Port Nelson, RUM CAY - Rev. Pearl Maycock, pastor of St. John's Native Baptist Church in Port Nelson, didn't accept the role of pastor right away. There was no doubt that Maycock, a wife and mother, loved the Lord with all her heart. She loved teaching the Sunday School classes she taught faithfully each week, and she loved leading the church prayer meetings in her role as a deaconness. Being deaconness was a role the preacher's daughter felt more than capable of handling. Becoming a pastor, on the other hand, took a lot more time to consider. "I didn't have any fear," she remembered of first considering the invitation to get ordained. "I just didn't feel like getting ordained to go to be a pastor. You know, to be a leader isn't a small thing." Maycock went along with the duties she had always loved and felt comfortable with, but the prospect of becoming a pastor loomed before her. Her father, the then pastor of the church, had told her that he wanted her to get ordained. He had even turned the church over to her before his death in 2004 with the hope that she would get ordained. It took Maycock five years to wrestle with the idea and to accept the huge responsibility that would come with leading a flock. She made her decision shortly after New Year's one January. "I said 'well dad, I'm going this year.'" Since then, Maycock has led the congregation of about 30 members in praise and worship with all of her heart. One of three churches on the tiny isle of Rum Cay, and of two Baptist churches, St. John's Native Baptist works closely with the island's Zion Baptist Church, where Maycock's husband, Samuel, is a deacon. And though it took her a few years to accept what seems to have been a calling all along, Maycock has embraced her role in the ministry with fervor. "It's all about God you know. It's all about God," she said. "I love Jesus. I can go on the street and [preach]. I love doing it. It's all about Him." And for her congregation, about a third of the island's population of a little less than 100, she prays for grace. "I love them. I always pray, ask God to help them and strengthen them and give them a good desire for Him . . . I'd like to see [them] grow in grace." Thursday, July 2, 2009