Hello and Welcome!

This book is the recipe for my walk with Christ while at Second Baptist Church in Merced, CA where Dr. Ronald Dunham Sr. is the Pastor. I call it a recipe because these sermons were what kept me going for fourteen years. They were my soul’s food.

When I came back to Merced in 2003, I was still a new Christian. I had been going to church regularly for six years. I prayed for God to send me to where I could grow. I prayed for Him to send me where I could be of service to glorify His kingdom.

He sent me to Second Baptist Church where most of the members were related to me. I had been gone for over 35 years and all throughout that time, I heard nothing but bad gossip about Second Baptist Church and had made up my mind that I did not want to go there.

One Sunday, after leaving the morning service of one of the many local churches on the (what used to be) black side of town, I felt like I had just left a performance instead of worship. I asked God to send me to a place where my soul could be fed. He led me straight to Second Baptist. When I walked through the back door, the Pastor was in front of the church with his arm around a little boy’s shoulder. He told the congregation that this young man was asking for prayer for his father. At that moment boys and men of all ages came from all over the church and stood around this young man as the Pastor prayed. After the prayer, the men and boys stood in a long line and each came by and either hugged the young man or shook his hand. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. There was such a feeling that came over me. 

I had come home to be a part of a village. This was my village.