By Leigh Pritchett
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
Born in Hungary, Suzi Howle spent her formative years in Germany during World War II and in Brazil. She came to the United States to learn the English language and later married a U.S. soldier. At 80, the Jacksonville woman co-leads a group of people who pray together … and have seen mighty results.
Ministry description: Retired after 41 years as Sunday School teacher to 5th and 6th graders
Church name: First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, in Calhoun Baptist Association
Life verse: “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5b)
Q: Describe where you focus your greatest ministry efforts:
A: Serving as co-leader of a prayer group that meets weekly to pray for missionaries, government officials, individuals and their needs, the church, community, state, nation and world.
Q: Who was or is one of the most influential people in your faith life? Why?
A: A friend from church, Margie Workman. She is always pointing people to God and praising Him.
Q: Tell about a “turning point” in your life and how God was involved.
A: (Howle speaks of her childhood as a refugee in Germany. She recounts fleeing to the countryside because the city where she lived was about to be bombed. She tells how her mother hid cigarettes in a secret part of a baby carriage to trade for food. Howle says God was working in her young life to get her to a certain place at a certain time for her to hear about Jesus and to ask Him to come into her heart to be her Savior.)
Jesus drew me to Himself when I was 37 years old. Our children were teenagers and were invited to church by their friends. My husband and I started to go too. … The love of the people got to me. God used the people of the church to draw me to Himself. … Had God not brought me to Jacksonville (State University to study the English language), He would have had to work on me some other way.
Q: What has God been teaching you lately?
A: No matter what changes come into my life, His grace is enough and readily available.
Q: Have you ever read a book or heard a song that changed the way you think about God and faith? What was it and what did you learn from it?
A: The song (lyrics) “because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” Two very unexpected changes came into my life 35 years apart (including a cancer diagnosis seven years ago). The words of that song encouraged me.
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