Testimony of Faith
A Convert Tells Her Story of Embracing the Pentecostal Faith by Associate Editor Virginia Aguilera A Simple Life
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he night I was born my father was hastily closing out his gas station in my hometown of Hilmar, California, when a young man in a truck pulled up to the gas pumps. “Sorry, I am closed,” my father apologized. “I have to get to the hospital. My wife is having a baby.” The young man pleaded with him that he was very low on gas and wouldn’t make it to the next station. My father reluctantly gave in and sold him some gas. The young man was very grateful and said a prayer as my father sped away. “Please Lord,” the young man prayed, “let this kind man’s child receive the truth one day and become an Apostolic Christian.” The young man’s name was Henry Feuerstein from the United Pentecostal Church in Turlock. Thus with this prayer unknown to me and my family, I was born on December 20, 1955, to Art and Nora Olson. My mother always said I was her Christmas baby, and she would tell me how she lovingly rocked me as she sat beside the lighted tree on Christmas Eve. I grew up in Hilmar, California, with my two sisters, Cookie (Noreen) and Kathy, and my brother Larry. My father became the postmaster in Hilmar, as well as the fire chief of the volunteer fire department. My mother was office manager at Emanuel Hospital in Turlock. My mother was raised in the Lutheran Church and my father in the Covenant Church. Both churches were made up mostly of Swedish members when Hilmar was established as a Swedish colony in the early 1900s. Sermons in both churches were originally given in Swedish and standards were very strict. Card playing, dancing, and reading the comics on Sundays were not allowed. Both my parents were Swedish and only spoke Swedish before they entered their first year in the public school. My mother remembers how the teachers in school would wash her brothers’ mouths out with soap if they were caught speaking Swedish in class. Both my parents graduated from Hilmar High School which would also be my husband and my alma mater a generation later. Even though my parents were married in the Lutheran Church, they chose the Covenant Church in which to raise their children. The Covenant Church is staunch in the Trinitarian doctrine. Babies are baptized shortly after birth and adult baptisms are rare. About the age of 12, children attend confirmation classes for several months and are confirmed at a ceremony in the sanctuary at the conclusion of their classes. At this ceremony I remember we had to recite the Apostles Creed and answer certain doctrinal questions posed to us by the minister. We all wore white robes. However, this ceremony did not make us members of the church. In order to join we were required to take additional classes with
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SPRING NEWSVINE 2017
Virginia (standing to the right) poses with her family soon after graduating from college. the minister before signing the church roster. My childhood was very happy, filled with wonderful memories of family vacations to Disneyland, Yellowstone National Park, and the coast of California. I remember tagging along with my poor brother, happily playing army in the mud behind his friend Steve’s house. My girlfriends and I would organize parades complete with our pony, Cinnamon, and a homemade float constructed on top of our pushcart. My friend Janice and I would have carnivals in her backyard and haunted houses in her garage. Although my parents did not have very much money raising four children, I never felt like I went without. My parents always filled our home with love. For as long as I can remember, my parents saw to it that their children faithfully attended Sunday school every week at the Hilmar Covenant Church. Even when we were on vacation, we attended church. I had a Sunday School pin which had bars attached for every time a child attended church for 13 weeks in a row without missing. There was only one boy who had a longer pin than myself. I remember memorizing Bible verses and hymns and attending Vacation Bible School. How I loved to ride the Vacation Bible School train around the streets of our small town, waving at our neighbors. I will always be grateful to my parents for bringing me up in Sunday School where I received the foundation on which to build my Christian faith. Every summer since second grade I attended Church Camp. I remember Ruth, my Counselor, asking me that first year if I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart. I answered yes and the tears streamed down my small cheeks as we prayed together. It was my first personal experience with God.
A Scary Diagnosis
My simple life changed dramatically in the eighth grade when I was diagnosed with scoliosis--curvature of the spine. One day while I was playing a game wearing my bathing suit, I bent over imitating an old lady and walked over to the kitchen where my mother was talking on the phone. My mother glanced over to me and noticed for the first time that my spine was crooked and my rib cage was twisted. She was alarmed that she had not noticed
