"Bible Witness Camp is not just for children," insists Phyllis Goosby. "I came to the Lord as an adult after I started attending church at BWC." Born into a family with eight siblings, church was not unfamiliar in her growing up years. Although her father didn't believe in God, her mother wouldn't let the kids do anything else in the week if they hadn't attended church on Sunday. Phyllis lived with her family in Leesville in Pembroke Township until second grade. Her family then moved to Kankakee, Illinois where she later graduated from Eastridge High School. Her church experience led her to be baptized at the age of 16, but for her the teaching she heard was "never about grace-just condemnation."

Phyllis is married to Cecil Goosby (a childhood Leesville neighbor), who legally adopted her daughter, Nova, from a previous marriage; they have two more daughters, LaShanda (who is married to Anthony Lewis) and Qiana. "Thank God for Marie!" says Phyllis. "She picked the girls up for AWANA at BWC and they got grounded in the Word." (Marie Goosby is Phyllis' sister-in-law.) "Cecil and I were not really involved in church when we were first married," she continues. "He was working a lot and although I would visit different churches from time to time, I never really felt comfortable in any of them-I was still searching. I lived with a feeling of despair."

When Cecil went on the day shift at work about seven or eight years ago, they started coming to Bible Witness Camp for church. What she remembers most clearly from that first Sunday in Mrs. Lizetta Williams' Sunday School class is the verse, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. She remembers thinking to herself that she (who can't stand blood) would have to cut herself. "That's how far off I was," she explains.

That started the serious searching of the Bible that has characterized Phyllis' life ever since. There's no set date that she can give when she crossed from spiritual blindness to saving faith, but after three or four years of attending BWC, listening to Christian radio and TV, and personal Bible study, she came to the assurance of the Holy Spirit's presence in her mind and heart. "I have that peace that passes understanding … I see the fruit of the Spirit in my life … it doesn't seem like I have any problems now compared to my life before … and no way will I go back!"

Asked if her family saw a change in her, Phyllis says that "smut TV" was the first thing to go. Also, she would go down to basement to avoid answering her husband in anger. When she first read the verse about a righteous person's prayer being powerful and effective, she mentioned that she would have to find someone like that to pray for her. "Mom, you're one of those righteous people," one of her daughters assured her. That's when she knew that they were noticing that Jesus was making a difference in her life.

Shortly after starting to attend BWC, she began helping out with the nursery teachers' rotation. She finds herself really growing in her faith and is ready to teach others. She attended the Church Ministries Convention (sponsored by the Greater Chicago Sunday School Association) on March 27 of this year, gathering some more skills for teaching children and for her own personal growth in grace.

Phyllis has a burden for those around her to find the Lord. She wants them to know that the way to find Him is to seek Him. She shares her love for the Lord with friends and family every chance she gets. A foster daughter is growing in her faith right along with Phyllis-encouraged by their phone chats. Cecil will come home and teasingly ask, "Who's that you're preaching to now"? Phyllis insists she's not preaching-just talking to them about Jesus.

Tears fill her eyes. "Now I know why I had to go through my younger years of despair. I just want everybody to know the joy and peace I have. I can stand firm now because I know I have the 'real deal.' "