Evangelists come into a church, present a series, and leave soon after, rarely having the opportunity to baptize all the people they worked with.
However, David Wolkwitz, Washington Conference trust services director, recently had a surprise when he and his wife, Gaylene, presented a Holy Spirit seminar at the Ferndale Church.
Just a week before the seminar, a woman was driving past the church and thought to herself, "I should go back to church."
The woman—Joyce Crane—arrived at church that Saturday after 50 years of not attending an Adventist church. The bulletin advertised the upcoming seminar, and she thought, "There can only be one Dave Wolkwitz."
Many years ago, Crane's brother, Dave, had been best friends growing up with Wolkwitz in Kansas City, Missouri.
During the seminar, Crane introduced herself and indicated she wanted to study for baptism. After studying with Pat Grant, district pastor, Crane asked Wolkwitz to baptize her last November.
"I rarely baptize anybody, as the pastor usually does, so this was a thrill to baptize the sister of my best friend," Wolkwitz said. "Who would have thought we would move here six years ago and would just now present the Holy Spirit series in Ferndale where I would meet my best friend's sister and baptize her into the Adventist church? It's a small world when God gets involved."
Joyce Crane is all smiles as she reflects on her baptism along with Pat Grant, Ferndale pastor, and Dave Wolkwitz (right). (Gaylene Wolkwitz)
