Lois Jean Kreider Peterman

The youngest child of John Hoffman and Anna Kuhns Kreider, I was born on April 22, 1935, on my parents' farm in Mount Joy, Pa. I soon trailed my two older brothers, John and Henry, around the farm, learning everything they would teach me. I grew up in a favored position as the only daughter, learning homemaking skills from my mother and receiving much additional love and attention from my resident Grandmother Kuhns.

Our family life centered around farm duties and our church---first the Mount Pleasant Brethren in Christ Church where my Kuhns grandparents were members, and later the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church where my father became a deacon. There we attended Sunday school, worship, revival meetings, vacation Bible school, prayer meetings, and we observed our parents serving the Lord in various leadership roles. There I also developed a lifelong friendship with Sara Brubaker Lenhert.

I began school at age 6 at Joint School, a one-room country school that my mother had also attended. My brothers and I walked the one mile daily, unless the snow was deep and my father would take us with the horse and sleigh; sometimes he would drive us and our neighbors by car if there was heavy rain or storm. Some of my early memories center around the Christmas programs in which students from all eight grades participated, the recess playtime with the older children, and learning to love great literature as I listened to the older classes recite poetry assignments, day after day.

When Joint School was closed, I attended school at Maytown, in East Donegal School District, now riding on a school bus. As a high school junior, I began attending Messiah Academy in Grantham. This transition was fairly easy, since my pal Sara was also making that change. The two years of high school at Messiah (l951-1953) and two more years of junior college there (53-55) greatly expanded my world, shaped my life spiritually and helped me set goals for the future. As a shy college sophomore, I agonized over the task of Clarion (yearbook) editor---never imagining that God would use that to grow a friendship with Roy Peterman that would lead to marriage! Roy's business expertise on the Clarion staff brought us through successfully---and he continues to be our family's valued business manager.

Since Messiah did not have a degree program in elementary education, six of us Messiah classmates decided to transfer to Greenville College, Greenville, Ill. Those two years were packed with good experiences in a "cross-cultural" Free Methodist setting. I was challenged by exceptional Christian professors, and had opportunities to participate in women's varsity basketball, Greenville Choral Society, and Gospel Team girls' trio.

By long-distance correspondence, Roy and I were growing our relationship, and announced our engagement at Christmas 1956. In June of 1957 we both graduated on the same day---Roy from Messiah with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and I from Greenville College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. The following fall Roy entered Eastern Baptist Seminary in Philadelphia and I began teaching 5th Grade at Maytown Elementary School---the same building where I had attended 7th through l0th grades. My previous music teacher became my principal in this new role!

Roy and I were married on June 28, 1958 at the Elizabethtown Church. Immediately after our honeymoon, Roy became student pastor at Manor Brethren in Christ Church, while continuing his seminary studies as I continued teaching. Our first home was a newly-renovated apartment on my parents? farm where I was born. Two years later Roy was called to be the first fully-supported pastor of the Manor Brethren in Christ Church, and we moved into a parsonage near the church. Our three daughters, Joyce, Nancy, and Carol, were born during our twelve years at Manor. From 1970-1975 we lived and served in Mt. Joy at the Cross Roads Church. In 1975 we made a major move to Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada where for six years Roy pastored the church where his mother's parents had been converted. The Canadian adventure was a highlight experience for all of us!

We moved to Manheim, Pa., in July 1981, and Roy pastored the Manheim Brethren in Christ Church for the next thirteen years. During that time we bought our first home on Sunset Avenue, Manheim, thinking ahead toward retirement.

Instead of retirement, the Lord called us to Pequea Brethren in Christ Church, where we lived in a big farmhouse/parsonage in the beautiful Pequea countryside. Completing our three years there, Roy was called to Mount Pleasant Brethren in Christ Church, just three miles from the farm of my childhood years, and the first church to which I was carried as an infant. During our three years there, Mount Pleasant celebrated its centennial anniversary. Roy and I worked together on a brief history of the congregation which helped us to further appreciate the uniquely far-reaching impact of this church.

We moved back to our home on Sunset Avenue, in Manheim, on August 5, 2000. We are grateful to the Lord for the way He has led us, and for the joy of seeing Him work in our own lives and in the churches and communities where we served. Our three daughters have grown up blessed by the love and prayers of each of these congregations, and are now married: Joyce to Shaun Hughes, Nancy to George Payne, and Carol to Dale Hess. It is satisfying to see each pursuing her own ministry under God's leadership. We have five delightful grandchildren: Mallory, Laura, Eli and Jacob Hess, and Alyssa Payne.

The year 2000 brought a new challenge into our retirement years, as Roy accepted the role of pastor of care in a church planting, Hempfield Brethren in Christ Church. We completed our service there with the coming of a senior pastor in August, 2002. It became an easy transition to worship and serve again at Manheim Brethren in Christ in our home community.

Looking back, I am grateful that Roy gave me freedom to choose homemaking and active church involvement over outside employment during our ministry years. I learned so much by watching his leadership and accepting his challenges to experiment in new areas---like leading children, youth and adult choirs, leading junior high youth groups, teaching youth Sunday school classes, and accepting administrative roles. God did some major renovating in this shy farm girl's life to bring me into and through these risk-taking yet rewarding experiences! I thank the Lord for leading us together, for the clear Biblical guidelines of marriage, and for giving to each of us a Christian heritage that strongly shaped our lives.

These retirement days, I am making grandparenting our preschoolers my priority. I hope to add to their lives some of the security, spiritual foundations, and relationships that I was blessed to have in my extended family. I am also challenged to record the stories of our ancestors so that the following generations will value the spiritual heritage that is ours.