We Have Been Here Ever Since: Meet Don Williams
We want to continue to introduce you to a few of the devoted members of New Life Community Church, now Sandals Church Fresno, as we honor them and ask God to multiply their faithfulness.
Meet Don.
About three years ago, my wife Karee and I were looking for a church, so I went online to find one in our area. There was a church about three blocks from where we live, so I thought maybe we could try that one. Then I saw one in Easton that looked like one we should try. My wife thought it was a bit of a drive, but we decided to try it out. 
We came to New Life Community that next Sunday, and after the first service, we went out, and I said, “Are we going to try the one close to home next week?”
said, “No, we are going to stay here.”
We have been here ever since. I serve as a greeter, and I love it. I like saying hello and getting to know everyone who is coming to church. We have a lot of regulars that I enjoy seeing each week and being the first person they see when they come to church. I also help another member named Jesse fix things around the church. We fix toilets and rain gutter and sprinklers, anything that needs to be done. We have spent – I don’t know how many hours – repairing the sprinklers over the years.
When our pastor left and things started to get tough, I was not ready to become part of another church, especially a big church. I had gone to another big church. It was huge, and it is nice, but when we walked in and sat down, no one came over and said hello. And when we left, no one said goodbye. We would come and go, and no one ever noticed we were even there, and I didn’t like that.
Knowing that Sandals Church was a big church when we started talking to them, and when the vote was getting close, I said, “No, I don’t want that at all, no way.” I told Karee, “I’m not gonna like this.” And she said, “Let’s wait and see.” We drove down to Riverside to visit the Palm Avenue campus. I didn’t go into the service right away. I wandered around to look at the campus, and when I walked into where the service was, I had three people walk up and say, “Hello, how are you doing? My name is…”
And I thought, “Wow.”
I still wasn’t sure, and when it was time to vote, I told Ron McCoy from the ROGO Foundation that I wasn’t sure I could vote yes – that I would abstain from voting until I was certain.
And it has been great. I like it, and I like what they have done here. I still serve as a greeter, and I enjoy saying hello to everyone. I love it when certain people run up and give me a little hug and say, “Hi, Don, I’m glad I made it this week.”
I continue to repair the sprinklers, and we have a few that need some work soon. I can’t wait to get those fixed.
I enjoy working with my hands, and I wish I was retired so I could spend more time doing stuff here.
Don served in the Air Force and spent time in Europe, Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Along with his service to New Life Community and Sandals Church, we want to thank Don for his service to our country.
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