Linda LaValley and her daughter Geena Zinkand, of Englewood, have been attending First Christian Church for four years. Linda was saved, she said, at a church in Sarasota. For the first part of her life, Linda called Queens, N.Y., home. Geena, however, is a native Floridian having been born in Miami.
Linda traced back her religious history and said she started out as a Catholic.
“As an adult, I decided it wasn't working for me. I needed more,” she said.
In her search for a church home, a denomination that would fit, she attended a Methodist church for a couple of years and then a Presbyterian one. Interestingly enough, it was children who got her to FCC.
Geena met McKenzie Miller, the pastor's daughter, at school when the girls were 10. She had invited McKenzie to a birthday party, and when Pastor David went to pick up his daughter, Linda met him.
“But, I didn't know he was a pastor,” Linda said.
One day, Geena told her mom that McKenzie had invited them to attend the church. So they did.
“I saw Pastor David at the front of the church, and I was surprised to see he was the pastor. I enjoyed his sermon and we have been coming here ever since,” said Linda.
Linda and Geena are pretty active in the church -- Geena with the new youth group and Linda will also help with the youth. She will be an assistant for the elementary children.
Linda participated in the All Senses Festival and said she likes the love she feels at this church and the relationships she has developed.
“I feel like this is my family. I am a single parent and I need God and God's people. It takes a village to raise a family. I get strength from all of this, and it comes from God,” she said. Galatians 5:13
"Called To Be Free"
