By C. H. Koundakjian
In 1982 I was newly-married and had been a Christian for 4 years. Linda Menegat was newly-married, not a Christian, but had brothers praying for her. We met on jury duty in Berkeley Civil Court.
I was involved with a ministry to the “up-and-outers” (vs. the “down-and-outers”) called Christian Business & Professional Women, through Stonecroft Ministries. We held monthly dinners at a nice restaurant, provided some (secular) fun, after which a speaker told her story of how she became a Christian and then gave an invitation for anyone else who wanted to do so.
At 9:00pm one evening, I got an urging to call Linda and invite her to the dinner the next evening. I thought: “No…It’s too late, and this is a very last-minute invitation.” I got the urging a second time. I refused a second time. I got the urging a third time and suddenly wondered if it was God doing the urging. I made the phone call. Linda answered and said: “Sure!”
The next evening at the dinner, she received the Lord Jesus Christ as her savior. WOW!! The Holy Spirit had been fighting for Linda.
She came to church with Ted and me, and later that year her husband was transferred to Washington DC. Our Pastor suggested a good church and she went there and grew. I prayed for her for quite a while, then we lost touch.
In 2012 I was greeting people at Church on the Corner, and a familiar-looking woman walked in. I thought, “Oh, nuts! I forgot her name! Was she here 2 weeks ago? 3 weeks ago?” Then we each recognized the other. We exclaimed, hugged, and laughed. Her husband had retired, they had moved back here, and she was looking for a church. It hadn’t been 2 weeks since I’d seen her, or 3 weeks, but 30 years!
She asked where the closest women’s Bible study was and I said: “Oakland, at First Covenant Church.” (I had helped lead this one for years). She went, but balked at the travel. Then she decided to start a study in her home. I encouraged her over the phone, as I was busy teaching women at my church. When I left COTC, Linda asked me to join her in leading a Beth Moore study here in Albany.
It has been a delight for us both. God quickly brought us Alyssa Hosbach and we joke among ourselves that since the Lord did all this, we had better all get along!
Between the three of us, we have had prayer support, encouragement, ideas, and someone to cover for us when we need it. Now other women have stepped into these roles for us and for each other in the group. We are all seeing God’s many blessings to us, not the least of which is our mascot, Danny the Basset Hound.