“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD” (Prov.16:1).
The preparations that preceded this website’s development involve 25 years of studying the Scriptures while sitting at the feet of faithful men who love God and His Word. Leaders who exalted the Lord Jesus Christ and exemplified the mandate of (2 Tim. 2:2): “And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
Pastor Arnold Wayne Weckeman, a native New Yorker, grew up in Staten Island, N.Y. In 1969, after serving three years in the United States Army, he returned home and worked for Consolidated Edison as a heavy equipment operator for eight years. Then on to a 20-year career as a New York City Firefighter.
At age 38, he trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Shortly after being saved, he and his wife Sandy met Pastor Mel Sabaka and began attending Bible Baptist Church services. While under the preaching and teaching ministry of Pastor Mel and many other godly men (Pastors, Joe Silvestri, Pat Dean, and Mike Veach), Wayne felt God’s call to the ministry.
During those formative years, he and Sandy learned (in both word and deed) to minister to the lost and the saved. Wayne served as a deacon and then head deacon overseeing the Church’s discipleship ministry. In May of 2000, after attending Bible Institute, he was ordained.
In June of 2000, pastor Wayne began holding Bible studies and Sunday services in Pike County, PA. As the Lord blessed and the ministry grew, they felt the need to establish First Bible Church in Lord’s Valley.
After seven years of pastoring First Bible Church, Sandy’s chronic illness (fibromyalgia) had progressed to the point that a relocation to a warm, dry climate became unavoidable. After much prayer and godly counsel, Wayne and Sandy decided to move to the southwest. During that difficult time, the Lord graciously raised up a dear brother in Christ, Pastor Dan Ralston, to take over the Church in Lord’s Valley.
Pastor Wayne and his wife, Sandy, presently reside in Arizona.