Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference: Goodland UMC

Goodland United Methodist Church is a small Native American church situated far from the main highway, down a graveled road in the lower corner of Southeast Oklahoma. If you have never been there, you will have trouble finding it, as is the case with most Native churches.

Yet this church is growing. People visit and, after a few months, decide this is where they want to continue to grow in their faith walk and have their children trained to serve God.

Goodland has three Sunday school classes every Sunday. The adult class allows adults to serve, as they take turns teaching the lesson (if they so choose) from the lay leader to any member. They feel their growth can develop only if they dig into the word to bring forth the lesson for that day. It’s a big responsibility.

The children and youth each have a designated teacher for each group. This helps the children become comfortable. After the classes, the children are brought forward to tell what they learned and lead a song. This helps them get comfortable being in front of people.

Each Wednesday night is another opportunity for an adult who desires to lead Bible study. This gives the adults another chance to dig into the word for themselves. This opens them up to teaching the word and to the Holy Spirit’s teaching.

This type of sharing the load eases the responsibility of only one person teaching. It also helps adults be energized by hearing the word; and sharing the load keeps teachers from burnout.

Each time a community or outreach project is presented, the entire church (those who are able) participates, supporting the individual who suggested it. This support helps everyone feel valued by their church, which is truly a church family. They feel connected as they support one another; no one has to carry the full load physically or financially.

Personal Testimony of Pastor Flo Williston

Early in the mornings, I sing praise to God for my salvation, as I can see his hand in my life throughout the years. As a small child, our family attended a Methodist church two miles from our home. We memorized answers from a small book that Mom would drill us with over and over again.

I remember getting fighting mad at my siblings if they said, “Dog gone-it” because I felt they were cursing, and “no cursing” was one of the family rules. I was probably five when our church closed, and we didn’t go to church again until I was twelve. People from the Church of Christ found us. They had to find us because we lived several miles out in the woods. During a tent meeting, I felt a strong urge to go to the front during an altar call to the hymn, “Just as I Am.” I gave my heart to God and was baptized at age fourteen. That hymn still moves me to tears today, tears of gratitude. That was God’s prevenient grace.

In my late twenties, I withdrew from God. I was far from God and a lost soul. I was ashamed and I felt I would never be accepted by God or the people in church. I wandered for many years in misery and deep sadness. God had not left me; the urge to return to church was still strong, especially on Sundays.

One Saturday night, I knew I could no longer live this shameful life. I had tried many times to straighten up my life, but I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. I reached toward the ceiling as I lay crying and poured out my heart as I asked for forgiveness and asked God to help me.

That Sunday morning, I told my four children I was going to go back to church. I was then thirty-eight. Although I didn’t go to church, I kept my children in church. As I dropped them off that morning, they said, “Momma, don’t change your mind.” Walking through the doors of the church was one of the hardest things I have done. I had gone to another church, so I was alone. It’s easy to run with a crowd; the devil supplies many to help you go the wrong way; but to do right, many times you are alone. But I wasn’t alone. God’s justifying grace walked me through those doors that morning.

I stayed in that church for fourteen years with my children coming along. Though I began serving as a Sunday school teacher, I had a deep urge to do more work. A painful situation forced me to leave that church, and I began attending a Methodist church close to my home at the invitation of a neighbor and new landlord. At this church, I was mended by the enormous show of God’s grace in the love, acceptance, and guidance of this ministry and its members Within a few years, I became a lay servant and speaker, which led me to where I now am in my walk with the Lord.

It is because of God’s love, mercy, and saving grace that I and my now-grown children are blessed. I now strive to tell others of God’s great love, mercy, and saving grace.

God is still working on me, and I’m thankful he has compassion for me and saved me. This is God’s sanctifying grace. Praise God.