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IN THIS ISSUE LARRY AND PHYLLIS LASER 14 It’s a tale as old as time: high school sweethearts get married and live life on mission together… as CIA operatives.
BAY AREA’S RESPONSE 6 Life in the midst of a global pandemic: how does the church respond? Read about Bay Area’s response to COVID-19 and how YOU showed up in BIG ways.
MEGAN HEATH 20 Read how God prepared Bay Area Women’s Ministry Director Megan Heath for the path He would lead her on, even before she knew where it was headed.
RESPONDING TO INJUSTICE 18 In light of recent world events, learn about God’s heart for injustice and how we, as followers of Jesus, are to respond.
MAGAZINE
ELDERS
BAY AREA LEADERSHIP
EDITOR Abbie Hoekstra
Barry Willhite Bill Plenge Bill Smith Chris Heacock Don Wiley Greg St. Cyr John Taylor Keith Riniker Ken Gilmore Kyle Sponaugle Merrill Hoekstra Peter Godfrey Rich Heath Tim Grossman Tom Dalpini Tom Hogan Warwick Fairfax
Allen Smith, Missional Communities Pastor – allen.smith@bayareacc.org Brent Squires, Student Ministry Pastor – brent.squires@bayareacc.org Brian Hopper, Annapolis Campus Pastor – brian.hopper@bayareacc.org Greg St. Cyr, Lead Pastor – greg.stcyr@bayareacc.org Jason Barthelemy, Odenton Campus Pastor – jason.barthelemy@bayareacc.org Jeff Supp, Executive Pastor of Operations – jeff.supp@bayareacc.org Jerry Shirlen, Financial Administrator – jerry.shirlen@bayareacc.org Jocelyn Sacks, Serving Director – jocelyn.sacks@bayareacc.org Jonathan Madrid, Worship Leader – jonathan.madrid@bayareacc.org Josh Shirlen, Director of Art & Culture – josh.shirlen@bayareacc.org Kristin Collins, Annapolis Children’s Ministry Director – kristin.collins@bayareacc.org Leanne Lane, Care Network Director – leanne.lane@bayareacc.org Megan Heath, Women’s Ministry Director – megan.heath@bayareacc.org Michele Rollins, Short Term Missions Director – michele.rollins@bayareacc.org Pat Linnell, Teaching Pastor – pat.linnell@bayareacc.org
ART DIRECTOR Josh Shirlen PHOTO EDITOR Arianne Teeple LEAD DESIGNER Josh (Burgi) Burgin DESIGNERS Jake Williams Callie Johnson CONTRIBUTORS Allison Butterfield Michele Rollins
ON THE COVER CLASSIFIED
For a comprehensive list of all Bay Area staff, elders and deacons, please visit bayareacc.org/ourteam.
PHOTO BY CLASSIFIED
We appreciate your comments and questions. Please email us at feedback@bayareacc.org and a staff member or elder will respond within 48 hours.
FINANCIALS
MAKE A COMMITMENT
GIVING METHODS
On June 1, 2018, Bay Area began a two-year generosity initiative called Unrivaled that will fund our ongoing ministry at all campuses, construction of our new student center and children’s addition, and expansion of Christ’s reach from here to the nations. Our two-year giving goal is $16,500,000.
Our primary goal in Unrivaled is 100 percent engagement - that every person at Bay Area would ask what it means to put God first in their finances. To make a commitment, pick up a commitment card at an information counter or go to baccunrivaled.org/commitment.
You can give toward your Unrivaled commitment through the offering during the gatherings or online at bayareacc.org/give. You can also give by text: “BACC 50” (for Annapolis Campus) or “Odenton 50” (for Odenton Campus) to 30131.
Giving Progress Toward Goal: (June 1, 2018 - May 31, 2020)
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIVING!
$14,322,235
Questions: finance@bayareacc.org
LETTER FROM THE LEAD
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Dear Bay Area family,
As I write, my heart is filled with love for you and with great anticipation of being together face to face! I’m thrilled you are receiving this special edition of GO&MAKE, and want to share a few encouraging words. When it comes to trials and hardships like we’ve been going through we want out, and we want out fast. That’s our natural response. I don’t believe we should ask God for suffering. Yet trials are part of God’s grand refining plan for our lives. Most of us live according to this unspoken philosophy: My goal in life is to live in such a way as to maximize my happiness and minimize my pain. Whatever is a source of my pain or discomfort, I strive to avoid. Whatever is a source of my perceived happiness, I pursue. What if God has a different philosophy? What if God’s goal is to make us more like Jesus? What if, in His economy, character trumps dollars, and holiness is more precious than comfort? Indeed, it is. Over the years I’ve come up with axioms to help me stay on track. Here are two for such a time as this. Anything that makes me more like Jesus, I’m for it! A friend shared this with me years ago when I was walking through a deep, dark valley. “Where are You,
God? Why don’t you do something?” His words landed with such force that it shook me out of my funk. The struggle I was walking through was a tool in God’s hand to reach someone: ME! God wants to reach me, and He was using the pain to take me deeper with Him, to mold me and change me. My dear friends, God wants to reach YOU! Anything that makes you more like Jesus, I pray you are for it as well. Whatever the disappointment and heartache, God wants to use it to make you like His Son. The second axiom is actually my favorite one of all: My highest priority in life is cultivating a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord. Nothing is more important. Nothing is weightier. Nothing else deserves first place but Jesus. Our goal is not to maximize our happiness and minimize our pain; it is to know Jesus. The death of dreams, disappointments in life, and unfulfilled hopes are all occasions to cling to God, experience Him more deeply, and experience His supernatural love, joy and peace. As we make it our habit of spending daily time with Him in the Word and in prayer, we experience Him as our Good Shepherd, our fortress and our Potter who is shaping the clay of our lives into the likeness of Jesus. My prayer for all of us is that we would allow the Lord to use our present trials to reach someone He loves infinitely: YOU and ME!
From here to the nations,
Greg St. Cyr Lead Pastor
Greg St. Cyr is the lead pastor at Bay Area Community Church and a monthly contributor to GO&MAKE.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
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BAY AREA’S RESPONS By Greg St. Cyr and Abbie Hoekstra
SE
o one asks for trouble, hardship or crisis. When an unwelcome calamity intrudes on our agenda, few view the situation from God’s perspective. Yet from God’s watchtower a crisis provides extraordinary opportunity for kingdom advancement. Crisis provides the church with divine opportunities: for believers to reexamine what they are placing their faith and hope in, to trust God more deeply, and of course, to share the gospel in word and deed. God wants us to make the most of this current divine opportunity to become more like Jesus and to impact others. But how? How is the church to respond? Well first we must understand that crisis is a grace reminding us that this world is not our home, that we have no rights of our own, and that God is in control and we are not. When we embrace the LORD as absolutely sovereign, infinitely loving, and forever good, we can accept and be at peace with crisis; surrendering our circumstances wholly to the Lord and trusting Him with every outcome. Then, with our eyes fixed on Jesus and our hearts at peace, we are ready to be used in the kingdom advancement that the crisis has prepared. We care for the least and in doing so we care for Jesus. We live a life of righteousness and seek justice for every person, in every sphere of society, and boldly share the message of God’s love demonstrated through the death and resurrection of the One who is the answer to every person’s deepest needs.
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& BAY AREA’S RESPONSE
GATHERINGS Losing the opportunity to gather physically on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, we took to the internet to continue worshipping together. In this time we heard some great messages from Pastors Greg and Pat, met some new people through Virtual Guest Central, and joined together in intercessory prayer with Odenton Campus Pastor Jason Barthelemy and Easton Campus Pastor Jake Wieduwilt.
VIRTUAL GUEST CENTRAL MESSAGES INTERCESSORY PRAYER
In the midst of the stay-at-home order, Bay Area put together a series of online events and interactive opportunities so that we could stay connected to each other, the church and most importantly Jesus. Thanks for partnering with Bay Area as we all continued to strengthen our relationships with Jesus at home. Let’s take a look back at some of the ways we were able to connect virtually.
COOKING WITH BRIAN
A CHAPTER A DAY
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR COUPLES
PRAYER NIGHT
THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE
RIGHT NOW MEDIA
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KIDS AT BAY AREA SUNDAY SPECIAL BASM DAILY DEVO BASM AMPLIFY
LOCAL OUTREACH
Over the last few months Bay Area took to the streets, taking collective steps of faith through church-wide outreach initiatives. In this way, God’s love has been put on display!
SNACK ATTACK
AT YOUR DOORSTEP
CARE PACKS FOR KIDS
BENEVOLENCE
BLOOD DRIVE
WOMEN’S ZOOM SEMINARS
WINTER RELIEF MASK MAKING
WORSHIP SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Thank you for all the ways you contributed to Bay Area’s efforts to love like Jesus and serve our neighbors in times of crisis. AT H O M E GO&MAKE 9
MIGUEL & ROSE TERREO:
CARRYING OUT BAY AREA’S MISSION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC By Michele Rollins
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this was any other year, Miguel and Rose Terrero would be in Higuey right now, chasing 9-month-old Kai around their home, welcoming baseball coaches and their church family in for dinner. That’s what they love to do – share their passion for Jesus, family and the local church with others. Over Memorial Day Weekend last year I sat across a table from Rose in the Higuey mall, enjoying some delicious Dominican ice cream. Her heart for family and for the work they are doing in Higuey spilled out of her. It’s that kind of passion, that kind of love for Jesus and people, that attracted Bay Area to work alongside the Terrero family. The middle child of eleven, Rose spent her adolescent years traveling to Guatemala each winter in a busturned-motorhome. Her parents had left the Amish faith community as they wrestled with Amish beliefs – especially about God’s heart for the nations and global missions. It was in Guatemala that Rose learned Spanish and gained a love for Latin American culture and ministry. And it was also in Guatemala that God used a book by Teen Challenge founder David Wilkerson to open her eyes to the evils of prostitution and human trafficking. Even then, twelve-year-old Rose told God, “I’ll go to the toughest people you send me to; I’ll go anywhere you send me.”
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At nineteen, Rose spent a year as an intern with an organization in Guatemala – helping with social work, sponsorship, translating, hosting short-term teams and more. That internship led to a connection with a brand-new anti-trafficking organization for minor girls in the Dominican, and six weeks later, without ever meeting in person, Rose signed on as the personal assistant to the ministry leaders. She planned to give it five years before re-evaluating but four months after moving to the DR, she met Miguel. By then, Miguel was already working for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) – but the road to get there had been winding and tumultuous. Like many children in the Dominican Republic, Miguel grew up without a picture of what healthy family could look like. His mom, a teenager when Miguel was born, struggled to provide for her son while his father was mostly out of the picture. When his dad was around, life wasn’t much better – neglect, beatings and witchcraft characterized the times Miguel spent in his father’s home. As he got older, Miguel became angry – and then, around age 11, baseball came into his life. Every boy’s dream in the Dominican Republic is to become a baseball player. As he grew older, his mom started going to church and faith entered the picture for Miguel. He professed faith in Jesus at 16, but he saw it more as “God on my side” – so that God would help him with what he wanted to do, which was baseball. He dabbled in voodoo at the behest of his stepdad – “whatever helps me play baseball,” he figured. He dabbled in steroids, too, which eventually led to the injury that would end his prospects on the ballfield. At age 19, the end of his baseball career was a turning point for Miguel and he realized that God, and not Miguel, had to take the reins of his life. “Whatever You want, I’ll do it,” he promised. Miguel started attending Bible Study with FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and soon became a volunteer and then a staff member in his
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hometown of Boca Chica. He became an area director, then a regional director and just a few weeks ago became the country director for FCA, where he gets to lead FCA staff and volunteers to disciple and care for coaches. When coaches follow Jesus and are equipped to lead and disciple, the possibility for gospel multiplication is limitless.
That doesn’t mean they’re any less dedicated – Kai has already made several trips to the baseball field with his dad, and Rose and Miguel continue to pour their lives out for the people of Higuey. Their life and ministry experience to date has prepared them to be flexible, to follow the Spirit’s leading and to love people fervently in whatever situation
“ I was working in my dream job – I thought I was there; I thought I was set, but God took me down a different path.” “Ministry looks like one-on-one relationships, teaching disciples how to disciple and really going to and through the coach to the players. The heart that Miguel has is to show and teach the coaches the influence they have,” Rose shared. Miguel and Rose serve FCA as a team, often opening their home to coaches and families. “Living out what biblical family looks like has become so much more a part of our ministry than we ever realized,” Rose explained. So especially in this season, as their son Kai is so young, their priorities have adjusted to ensure that they can lead their family well. For Rose that means taking a step back from her role serving in the anti-trafficking arena, at least for now. “I was working in my dream job – I thought I was there; I thought I was set, but God took me down a different path. But I wouldn’t trade this time for the world. God has been reminding me what ministry is right now – and for me, for now, it’s Kai. I need to embrace this time to instill in him everything that we can.”
they are in. The commitment they each made in their younger years rings true: wherever God sends them, they’ll go; whatever He calls them to, they’ll do. It’s the life of a disciple, and like Bay Area, Miguel and Rose are committed to making passionate, maturing followers of Jesus from here to the nations.
Bay Area is thrilled to be offering monthly financial support to Miguel and Rose’s ministry. In 2019 we sent our first team of missionaries to visit Higuey, and we’re excited to start sending teams annually to work with Miguel and Rose. Look for opportunities to reach people for Jesus in the Dominican Republic in the near future.
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CIA OPERATIVES TURNED JESUS FO By Allison Butterfield
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DECLASSIFIED
t’s a regular evening in Brazil - the sun is setting, the temperature cooling, and Larry and Phyllis Laser are getting dressed up for another night of undercover work. “What most people don’t realize about an undercover CIA operative, is that their main job is to get information through entertaining and hosting,” explained Kevin Laser, Larry and Phyllis’ son. Birthday parties, cocktail soirees, social events; they would attend and host various functions almost every night of the week.
OLLOWERS
You may recognize them from a Sunday morning gathering - their matching Redskins or Western-themed outfits always brightening up the lobby - and they even might have ushered you to your seat every now and then. Whether it was a small interaction every Sunday or a long-time friendship with them, Larry and Phyllis Laser have been a noticeable and endearing part of our Bay Area church family for 30 years.
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Larry was born in Washington D.C. on May 2, 1933. He was later raised in Kenilworth, MD, and it was there in high school that he met his future bride, Phyllis Honour. By the end of their
left he faced struggles of his own. Kevin recalls that throughout the first 15 years out of service Larry battled with alcoholism and eventually hit rock bottom. “I was a Christian at that time, and one day I told him that I knew he was going to come to Christ, but he would have to hit rock bottom first. But I knew he was going to make it.” Two weeks later that’s exactly where Larry found himself, and at that moment he fell to his knees and committed his life to Jesus. It’s a story Larry told others throughout his life, and always wondered how Kevin knew God was going to work in his life in that way. When asked, Kevin laughed and replied, “I’m not sure Dad, I just knew.”
“ Larry allowed that servant-hearted spirit to carry over into so many areas of his life outside of his involvement at Bay Area.”
junior year of college they were married, and it wasn’t long after graduating that their exciting, international work in the Latin American Division of CIA began. As undercover operations officers Larry and Phyllis spent ten years in Brazil, four in Miami and travelled extensively throughout Latin America. If you’ve seen Larry and Phyllis in their matching outfits on Sunday mornings and wondered, “why the coordination?”, this is where it began. While undercover at the events they attended, the Lasers were constantly meeting people to develop contacts and build rapport for information-gathering. Because of the nature of their work Larry and Phyllis needed to constantly stay in sync at these events, which eventually led to their outfits always following suit. Coming out of the CIA was a difficult transition for many, and when Larry
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Larry would describe the next 30 years of growing that intimate relationship with Jesus as the best years of the couple’s life. When he first joined Bay Area he was eager to serve and was offered a position as an usher. For the years to come Larry and Phyllis joyfully served as ushers and greeters, truly embodying the heart posture of how to serve like Jesus. Larry allowed that servant-hearted spirit to carry over into so many areas of his life outside of his involvement at Bay Area. He was a strong advocate for AA and intentionally devoted his time to helping those whose lives were on the brink of destruction. “He saved people’s lives,” Kevin remembers fondly. “Even after 30
life, and when he was taking care of my mom. He put her oxygen on at night, got her ready for bed, brushed her teeth, he did everything. When he was in the hospital we were taking care of her and wondering, how did he manage to do this?” Both Larry and Phyllis had suffered from the COVID-19 virus, and prior to the illness Phyllis had insisted on being with Larry during his stay in a nursing home knowing full-well the risks at the time. They were partners their entire lives, and throughout the peaks and valleys they were determined to face their battles side by side. Phyllis has since returned home and is doing well.
years he always went to meetings and stayed involved, just to help others.” The years of entertaining during their time in the CIA continued into other avenues later in life, as the Lasers volunteered as DJ’s, playing at senior centers, nursing homes, the Moose, and other spots. Larry would use the time before the music started to talk about Jesus, and once the party got going he put up an electronic sign that would display Bible verses for the crowd. Larry loved music, entertaining people, and most of all, boldly wearing his identity in Jesus. During the months leading up to COVID-19 there had been some concerns
with Phyllis’ health, and the Lasers were unable to attend Bay Area. In March right before the state of Maryland shut down all gatherings, Larry and Phyllis were able to come back to usher one last time and, as Kevin tells it, they had the best time of their life. “He just served that one day and all he could talk about was how everyone remembered him, came up and talked to him, and how great it was. He really couldn’t wait to come back.” On April 13, 2020 Larry Laser joined his awesome Savior, as he would say. As Kevin recalls stories of his father, he doesn’t consider those years in the CIA to be his dad’s most heroic moments. “I realized it was all that he did later in
There’s a quote from the wife of a famous Norwegian explorer that Kevin is reminded of when reflecting on his father’s life. When asked about her husband in his final days she said, “When you’re young the world is your backyard, when you’re a little older your country is your backyard, your state then becomes your backyard, your garden becomes your backyard, and eventually your bed is your backyard.” For all his life, each time Larry’s world became a little smaller he made the most of what he was given. When Phyllis could no longer dance, they started up water aerobics. When she grew unable to participate in that, Larry was content to take care of her on a full-time basis at home. He served like Jesus in every season he was given, and did so joyfully. In Memory of Lawrence “Larry” Laser May 2, 1933 - April 13, 2020
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By Greg St. Cyr
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But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 In the Bible water can be a chaotic and destructive force like Noah’s flood or the Red Sea wiping out Pharaoh’s army, or it can be living water like Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman or the water of life that flows out of the Temple in Ezekiel 47 that makes the Dead Sea valley turn green and the sea teem with fish. Our country has been rocked by chaos recently since the video of an unjust murder of a black man was shown around the world. Although our lives move on and new headlines grab our attention, God’s heart over injustice remains… and so should ours. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Psalm 82:3 Followers of Jesus know that all human life is sacred because we are made in the image of God. Yet throughout history, we can see the story of one tribe rising to the top and then turning around to oppress the one below them. In our time of social media and rapid video-sharing, the result is that parts of our country become embittered, angered and alienated from other image-bearers. Racism is not ultimately what divides us. What divides us is a spiritual problem that we all have. The ultimate solution to racism, discrimination and every social and cultural sin is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. Romans 5:12,15 How then are we to respond? It begins with a heart of lament. We should lament over the history of racism and the current cultural and political climate. And we are to lament over our own indifference, blindness, hard heart or inaction. With a pure and repentant heart, we need to listen. Listen to the stories and build friendships with those who experience racism, unfair treatment and injustice. We should listen to the word of God that tells us of God’s sadness over this kind of human mistreatment of one another. And finally, engage. This problem is bigger than any one of us can fix. Only the Lord can. Therefore let’s engage the battle in prayer, asking God to bring about humility, repentance and healing. Engage, also, by being available for the Holy Spirit to open doors for each of us to show love, compassion, righteousness, justice and sharing of the good news. This is the kind of church God has called Bay Area Community Church to be. Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! Psalm 106:3
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God’s Providential Love By Abbie Hoekstra
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hen we first decided to produce an issue of GO&MAKE during a pandemic, I was really excited about the idea of getting to know our new Women’s Ministry Director but was saddened by the loss of in-person interaction. With few expectations of how our Zoom interview would go, I posed one directive: “Tell me a little about your story. Whenever you’re ready, just go for it!” “Okay – yeah alright,” Megan started, clearing her throat; “if we’re just talking my story, there’s a few things that definitely stick out.” She proceeded to tell me about being born and raised in a home in upstate New York, where Jesus was always present. Megan fondly remembers her childhood, talking about how even as a kid she truly loved Jesus and believed in Him whole-heartedly. During her senior year of high school, she caught herself straying from the life she had been raised to live. As she says: “I just fell into a sin pattern that wasn’t good for me. It was a short period, ya know, maybe a few months, but it carried with me through college. And though the sin didn’t have a grip on me anymore, the shame did.” Megan reflected on how she felt like she had let the Lord down and that she couldn’t be used in furthering His kingdom.
“God’s path is different than my path,” In 1999, she moved to Maryland to attend graduate school, and lived with her aunt and uncle who suggested she check out Bay Area. “Greg started preaching on Romans and I think for the first time in my life I finally understood grace,” she recalled. Even through college she knew she was forgiven but didn’t understand grace. Soon she started attending Crossroads, a young adults group led by Brian Hopper and Pat Linnell, and a discipleship group. Megan reflected on how that was a really freeing year, and one of the first significant things to happen in her walk with Jesus – she finally felt released from her sin and felt supported by her community. Fast forward a few years and Megan married Jeff Heath, whom she met while attending Bay Area, and 20 years since her initial move to Maryland, she and Jeff now have 5 incredible kids.
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The second significant thing Megan recalled learning, and recognized she is still learning, is this: “God’s path is different than my path.” She sighed and shook her head as she talked about how she had always pictured herself as a stay-at-home mom. “I really struggled with it for the first three to four years years. I had expected just to be with my children. My love language is quality time and I had this constant sense that I was rejecting them if I did anything else.” After her third daughter was born, she spent her maternity leave reading Proverbs 31 with the goal that God was going to tell her to quit her job by the time her leave was over. “That was my goal,” she laughed, “and as I meditated on those words, He revealed to me that I was exactly where I needed to be: I needed to be helping out by working from home – that was His call for my life – and I needed to surrender to it with no grumbling and complaining, but to have a good attitude.” Megan thanks God for the way He has continued to provide work-from-home opportunities, as she also homeschools her kids. “Sometimes I get overwhelmed and frustrated but I always put it before Him, and say, ‘what would you have me do?’ And as long as He continues to lead me, I will continue to do His will. That’s been a really significant journey for me, just trusting Him with my time and each day.”
in August of 2019, but it took her four months to apply. In November she and Jeff went to a Navigators conference and a number of the talks and messages were on Isaiah, leading her to spend the rest of November and all of December reading through and studying Isaiah. In her reading, Isaiah 58:10-11 stood out to her. The passage reads: “If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
Brian Hopper and a few women from the church. Two nights before the scheduled interview, she found an unusual lump right before dinner. On our Zoom call there was a moment of silence and my heart sank. Then she took a deep breath, her voice calm, saying, “it was a really peaceful dinner and I had this really surreal moment looking around and feeling like there was a good chance that everything was going to change.” She was thankful that God had given them that peaceful dinner. Megan’s second interview went well, and Brian offered her the position. She told him she would love to take it but how she had found this lump, that she had a mammogram lined up, but didn’t know what this could mean for the job.
“ He was preparing me in December for what would come. I didn’t have any idea, but He knew. The journey came and I was already prepared for it.”
Megan found out about the Women’s Ministry Director opening at Bay Area
Megan drew two things from this – that hungry people were those who needed to know Jesus, and that the Lord would guide her continually. “I didn’t feel qualified,” she stated, “but I knew the Lord was qualified and that He could do anything better than I could do anyway.” She trusted that if the job was meant for her – if God wanted her to have the job – He would hold it until she knew for sure that He was asking her to apply. Megan applied for the job just before Christmas. January 2020 came around and she had interviewed once and scheduled a second lunch interview with
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The mammogram was two weeks later, and as it got closer she thought, “even if it’s opposition or cancer, God has led me to this job; God has done things to show that this was the path, so if cancer happened in the middle of the path, God knew about that as well. So, I kind of had to hand it over to him.” Despite all the what-ifs she was asking herself and God, she knew that she had to trust that He wanted this path, even if it wasn’t for the reasons she could see, and that He would guide her continuously – just like He said in Isaiah 58. On February 17, 2020 Megan was diagnosed with breast cancer, and on February 17th she started at Bay Area. Her new role quickly introduced her to so many women at Bay Area who immediately jumped into faithful prayer for her and her family. “God
has used the position for my own personal benefit; to receive love. It’s been a real blessing.” She has recently completed her first round of chemo treatments, and as of the last week in May a scan revealed that her tumor is shrinking and is now a third of its initial size. Soon she will start another round of chemo, and following will be surgery, which Megan recognizes will be really hard as she sees her body physically change. But even in this she has seen God’s grace. Normally surgery comes before treatment, but her specific diagnosis lends itself to a recommendation of chemo first, surgery after. “I feel like God was saying ‘I know you’re not ready for that and I’m going to make you ready for it by the time it comes.’” Megan smiled, sharing a third significant way God has shown up: “He knows what you need when you need it, and He’s giving it to you, but you can’t always see it beforehand.” In December 2019 before her diagnosis, Megan and her daughter were memorizing Isaiah 43:1-3, which ended up being one of the most common passages sent to her upon hearing of her diagnosis. “He was preparing me in December for what would come. I didn’t have any idea, but He knew. The journey came and I was already prepared for it.” At the end of our call, Megan reflected back to 20 years ago and finally understanding grace for the first time, now proclaiming: “His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in weakness.” Stemming from a Casting Crowns song called One More Song, Megan shares that “there is always room for one more song – one more praise offering to God – and that’s what I want my cancer journey to be. It’s not always easy, but I want it to be a time where I can grow closer to Him.” Upon concluding our Zoom call I sat still in the moment, fully aware of God’s providential love in Megan’s life, and the work He would do in and through her story and her time at Bay Area. Her clear understanding of God’s grace reigning over her life, and her willingness to be used by Him to further His kingdom, radiate from her story.
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MATT ARNOLD
RYAN BARTHELEMY GRACE BOURNE
Best Big Brother Award
Most Likely to Replace His Youth Pastor
SYDNEY DAVIS
LINCOLN DONEY
GRANT FEICK
Best Violin Player
Best Wrestler
Most Likely to Win an Oscar
JOE LAGARAS Best Skateboarding Skills
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Most Likely to Brighten Your Day
ELLA MCCARTHY SALLIE MCCOLLUM Most Likely to Accomplish Whatever She Sets Her Mind To
Most Likely to Be a Missionary and Move to Africa
ZACK BRANDON
SANTI DAVID
Most Likely to Set a World Record for Solving a Rubix Cube
Most Likely to Be at Every BASM Event
CIERRA HARGROVE KAYLA HOLDEN Best Eyes
Most Likely to Work at BASM
REX NAGEL
GIANA ORELLANA
Most Likely to Spend an Entire Paycheck at Chick-fil-a
Most Likely to Hide Her Clothes in Secret Places So Her Sisters Don’t Take Them
NATALIE OWEN
JUSTICE PARSONS
LUKE RINIKER
LILLY ROSER
TYONARA SMITH
Most Likely to Teach Your Child ASL
Best Smile
Most Likely to Succeed in Business
Most Likely to Be CEO of Three Companies at the Same Time
Most Likely to Start Conversation With People She Doesn’t Know
HALEY STEELE
LAUREN SQUIRES
MAGGIE QUICK
Most Likely to Travel The World
Most Likely to Be Excited About Leaving BASM
Most Likely to Create World Peace
Dear Class of 2020, Congratulations on your graduation from high school! We know this year didn’t end up quite like you had planned, and that you missed out on many of the things you had been looking forward to. In an effort to honor you and your accomplishments we have given you each a superlative, picked from a long list of things we love about each one of you. We are so thankful for the years we’ve had with you and are excited to see where you go from here. As we cheer you on in the next chapter of your life, our vision for you remains the same: that you develop such passion for Jesus and compassion for others, that you don’t graduate from your faith when you graduate from our ministry. Because He’s Worthy,
BASM Staff and Volunteers AT H O M E GO&MAKE 25
Presents
Jeremiah Jacobs is just like your average 7 year old boy. He loves video games, playing with his dog Franny, and spending time with his family at their home in Arnold, Maryland Adopted when he was a baby, Jeremiah has always been close to his older sister and parents. “My mom and dad were on a mission trip in Norway to help build a new orphanage. That’s where they found me and fell in love with me and my sister and our fuzziness! They adopted us and took us back to Maryland, or at least that’s what they say because I was a baby and I don’t remember.” Before starting third grade in the fall, he’s excited to explore outside this summer. “I love finding frogs in the stream next to our house. When I find a new one I name it after a character from the Bible. One time I found a very small frog
and I named him Zachieus, hehehe. I said, ‘Hello Zachieus,’ and he said, ‘ribbit.’” He also looks forward to playing baseball and going to the beach with his family. “I like to bury my sister in the sand, and then run away. She gets mad, but it’s pretty awesome,” he laughed. “My older sister Jasmine is so cool. She’s in middle school and has everything figured out.” This summer he hopes to keep talking to Miss Kristin on Zoom. Each week Miss Kristin and Jeremiah Zoom with different Deep Blue leaders to laugh together and learn more about the Bible. Discussing Daniel and the lion’s den, Jonah, Noah, and other Bible stories, the leaders focus on Jeremiah being able to connect his life to the events and adventures in the Bible.
By Kristin Collins
Favorite Food “ICE CREAM you scream we all scream IIIICE CREAMMMM. Superman flavored ice cream is the BEST because it’s blue, just like me!”
What He Wants to Be When He Grows Up The host of the Tonight show. “I want to be the next Jimmy Fallon.” In fact, he actually met Jimmy in person on an NBC Studio tour.
Favorite Vacation Memory “I loved going to the Grand Canyon. I could yell and scream and the Grand Canyon would echo after me me me me.”
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Favorite Deep Blue Memory “I can’t pick one! I love being on the worship team with all the fun music! We dance and sing and get to play games! I like the song Happy Day.”
Fun Fact “I’m named after my aunt’s favorite goat in Tennessee! He’s a Norwegian milk goat, but I’ve never milked a goat. Anyway, my parents adopted me and my sister from Norway, so that’s the connection.”
AT H O M E GO&MAKE 27
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