My Road
by Pastor Spencer Preece

Editors note: This testimony arrived in the Experiencing God Through Missions Inc office in January 2008 as was to be published in our next monthly Newsletter. Our apologies to Pastor Preece. For unknown reasons, his fantastic testimony was lost and just recently re-surfaced while digging through an old computer file. It's just as heart touching now as it was in January 2008.

Afton, Wyoming was the place of my birth.  Being the oldest of seven boys, I was required to work closely with my Mother.  She was a devout Mormon and raised her boys to be the same. 

Our family moved to the Cache Valley area of Utah to farm.  We went to public school during the week and attended Mormon services on Sunday.  Mother was very involved in the works of the church, which meant I was left in charge many times when I really wanted just to be a kid.  Resentment began to creep in and there began my unknowing search for something better.

Upon graduation from high school I left home for Salt Lake City to seek my fortune.  The cost was great, but the ultimate results were monumental. I was a man driven.

I married and fathered three children. My self-centered intensity on climbing the corporate ladder resulted in my wife and children moving back to her parents home. Shortly thereafter, we were divorced. I jumped from relationship to relationship seeking happiness and fortune.  Stress caused medical problems that could have killed me but I keep on searching. 

I was living in San Bernardino, California in an upstairs apartment. Often I left my windows open to catch the pleasant California breeze. On Sundays, I would listen to happy spiritual music that wafted from the little Baptist Church just below my apartment. I wondered why there was so much joy in their music when the music at my church was so somber and dirge like. At that time, I didn’t know that God was starting to prepare me to serve Him in a powerful way, many years later.

I continued on my quest for fortune and did it my way.  Another child, another failed marriage.  Even though my life seemed to be crashing in around me, while living in the tiny, high desert town of Opal, Wyoming, I had this tugging, deep in my heart, to start a church! But that was not to be...at least not then. I moved back to Utah.

Still not knowing a better way, there was another marriage and 22 years of total marital chaos. Life threatening medical problems starting occurring one after the other: heart attack, emergency appendectomy, aorta aneurism, peritonitis, gangrene and gall bladder surgery. While I lay in the intensive care unit at the hospital, my wife decided that she didn’t want to be married to a sick man. Divorce papers and a restraining order were served on me in the Intensive Care Unit!

I couldn’t understand what God had in store for me because he continued to spare my life through all of these medical and marital problems. Then, a friend gave me a little, but powerful, book that I could not put down! As I read into the wee hours of the morning, the real truth of God’s teaching began to sink in. I got down on my knees and prayed. I acknowledged, before a Holy God, that I was a sinner and couldn’t save myself.  I told Him that I wanted to turn away from my sins. I wanted the free gift of Eternal Life. Then, the Holy Spirit came to live in my heart and finally I understood that Christ is the one and only way to Heaven.

While attending a Baptist Church in Hyrum, Utah, I met and married a Christian woman (who was born and raised a Baptist in White Bear Lake, Minnesota) whom God placed in my path. We searched for a church home and prayed for the Lord to show us His will.  In March 2005 on a snowy day, I was in the Opal, Wyoming town hall on business and two gentlemen (Director of Missions Don Whalen and Pastor Mike Maynard of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rock Springs, WY) walked.  They had prayed for a long time for a 'spiritual door' to open in Opal, Wyoming.  I believe that God placed the three of us, in that tiny town hall, at the same time, so that He could use me to open that 'spiritual door.'  We opened our home to them for a Bible study group and the Opal Baptist Mission was born.

In June, 2005 God sent us a gentleman who came out of retirement to be our church pastor.  We continued with Bible studies and the Opal Baptist Mission started to grow. In September we had grown enough to start Sunday worship services. Unfortunately, March 2006 the pastor resigned.  The church was in turmoil and all but three of the core group left the church.

What was happening to our little church?  What did God have in store?  Was it to close?  After the dust settled, God began showing us what He was doing. Both Opal and Granger Baptist Missions were under the watch care of  Hilltop Baptist Church in Green River, WY.  They asked me to serve as Pastor of both churches! How could I lead a congregation when I was so new at this thing of Christianity?  How could I be worthy of His leading me to shepherd His flock?  All of these questions continued to haunt me until I gave in to the Spirit’s leading and said yes to God.

Every day is a new and sometimes frightening adventure, but with God by our sides, my wife and I carry on to do God’s will.  We know that He is in control and that He will show us His way in His time.

Opal Baptist was still meeting in the living room of our home and we were quickly out growing our space. Then God brought us in contact with Experiencing God Through Missions Inc from North Carolina. God had his way with their hearts and now Opal Baptist will have a real church building! Thank you God for shepherding a beautiful little Baptist church, here on the high plains prairie of Southwestern Wyoming.  With God’s help the plan is to make this church a Haven of Worship, not only for the little town of Opal, but for the widespread ranches and ranchers surrounding us. Another blessing from God in my life.

Editors note: Over 100 volunteers, from many states, churches, youth groups and others arrived in Opal in July 2008 and watched God perform a miracle. In just 9 days, a 2,000 sq ft church building was raised from a concrete slab to a completely finished building. During the dedication service, with tears streaming down the face of everyone, Pastor Preece's dream was fulfilled as he was handed the keys to God's church, under his care.

If our webmaster can recover some wayward files, the complete Miracle of Opal story will be placed under the Library tab here on this website. This will take some time, so please be patient and check this website regularly. Click here to see the Opal website from 2008