Bladder Cancer – Salvation – A New Family
Warren & Sangita Seaburg’s Story
Around October of 1997 Sangita, my wife, and I started to realize that we’d needed some trusting help with raising our two children. Her Mother had recently passed on and her Father wasn’t very involved with our children. My Father had passed on and my Mother lived in
Although I had yet to accept Christ we decided that the safest surroundings for our children would be to get involved with a church. God sure does know what He’s doing.
We tried a couple different churches and ended up at VBCC. It had been recommended by Loyd Bohlinger who was the drummer in the band that I was performing with at that time.
After a few weeks of attending regular services, we filled out a contact card not really knowing what to expect. George and Nancy Harvey called us and asked if there was a time for them to stop by and meet us. George was a shepherd of what they called the “house church” in our region. During their pleasant visit George mentioned “house church” and invited us to attend. They met on Wednesdays back then and it was all we could do to get to church on Sundays. He and Nancy were very understanding of our refusal and after finishing a pleasant visit, they left.
The following March I had a recurrence of bladder cancer and was scheduled to have surgery. We asked for prayer and George visited me in the hospital where he shared the gospel with me. I Accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior in Virginia Beach General on March 12, 1998!
The following couple of weeks I was laid up at home and people from the small group started showing up every day with food and asking us what our needs were. Some we had met and others that we hadn’t. I recall answering the door one evening while Sangita was away. I was still on some pretty heft pain medication and answered the door in my bathrobe. The woman at the door maintained her composure, handed me a bucket of chicken and politely excused herself. We felt it was time to visit their small group and say thanks.
The gathering was very pleasant. We were a bit awkward having the only children there but everyone went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It felt like family. One time one of our kids had a diaper accident and peed on the brand new carpet. We were terribly embarrassed but everyone told us how much they enjoyed having our children there. It really was family.
During the past eleven years the meeting has relocated to 5 different family’s homes and moved from Wednesday to Sunday evening. We have grown so large that we had to birth another group. The church has changed the name from “house church” to “home church” to “care group” to “t group”. We now meet at the Grovatt’s and occasionally visit the
Regardless of where we meet or who we meet with it will always be family. We have been cared for, chipped in and cared for others, shared numerous meals, attended concerts, ballgames, and amusement parks, met new people, prayed, shared more meals, and most of all shared each other’s burdens and cared for one another. I don’t know where we would be if it weren’t for the love of Christ revealed through our house church family.
God had truly shown us His love through the family of Christ.