Page 99 - Clearwater Christian College 2003

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Mr. Ritchie reads the Spanish
Bible to beginning language
students. “The Scripture in
Spanish, which we read daily,
is an excellent tool for teach­
ing not only God's word, but
also the language grammar
and vocabulary.”
THE INSID
Miss Hermes describes herself as "con­
templative by nature" and serious about
her relationship with God, even before
she accepted Christ. These character­
istics prompted her, in the seventh
grade, to dedicate her life to God's ser­
vice; and two weeks after graduating
from high school, she joined the Con­
gregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a
community which would allow her to
pursue a second passion-teaching.
Through her studies of church history
as a novice, she saw the immorality of
the Roman Catholic Church for the first
time. This lack of integrity is what be­
gan a seven-year journey away from Ca­
tholicism, through a nervous break­
down, ending in an encounter with
Truth, which changed her forever. Miss
Hermes recalls, "Integrity is so impor­
tant to me. I can't stand failure in that
area in my own life, and hypocrisy in
the Church was more than I could
handle." God protected her from a sui­
cide attempt, through seventy shock
treatments, and brought her into con­
tact with Pastor David Cummins through
her supervisor at work who arranged a
meeting. Pastor Cummins, using a
Catholic Bible, showed her Ephesians
2:8,9. "I knew that if that were true,
everything I had believed was false."
She chose to believe the Scriptures and
trusted Christ. Her life changed imme­
diately. She stopped all of her medica­
tions without any withdrawal and de­
scribes the overnight transformation: "I
went to bed in black and white and woke
up in color!" Shortly after her conver­
sion, God called her into full-time min­
istry and eventually directed her to
Florida, first as a graduate student and
teacher at USF and then to CCC. She
says that what happened in her life is
not any more miraculous than anyone
else's salvation. "God is calling out a
people for His name. That is what is
most important. My story has value only
in that it reveals the power of God. Life
is not about me; it is about Him."