RACHEL ROWLANDS MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Purpose

The Rachel Rowlands Memorial Library provides print and non-print material which will: encourage spiritual growth in Christ Jesus, provide resources to grow in the truths of historic Christianity, enrich devotional life, provide a Christian viewpoint on social and cultural issues, and encourage holiness.

Biographical Sketch

Rachel Rowlands attended Northmoreland Baptist Church with her family from the time she was a few weeks old. She was a happy little girl who enjoyed playing with her sisters, taking care of her little brother, being with her friends at church and school, adventures in the woods around her house, riding her bike, playing dolls, reading, playing games, collecting stickers-all those wonderful childhood things most little girls like.

When she was nine years old, she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. She underwent surgery and then 10 months of various treatments. Her parents knew from the beginning that this diagnosis was extremely serious and doctors offered very little hope that she could be cured.

Rachel was a student at Summit Baptist Academy, so between her family, church activities (Church services, Sunday School, Bible School, Patch the Pirate Club) and school, she learned and knew that God loved her and that she could trust Him, no matter what! When she she was in third grade, she had to write a journal entry for homework about something that scared her. Her mom asked her what scared her and she said, “bears scare me.” So, together they went to God’s Word to find a verse that would help when something was scary. That verse was Psalm 57:1: “Be merciful unto me, O God, Be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." How that simple journal entry would come to mind in the months to follow it!

Just a few months past her tenth birthday, the Lord took her to be with Him. She was healed.

The loss of her presence, her face, and her sweet voice has been at times overwhelming for her family, but they knew they had to “look up through their tears to God”. Even though many years have passed, her family still misses her every day. They know they will see her again and there will be a glorious reunion in heaven because God’s Word says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3…that we should not sorrow as those who have no hope. Their hope, their confidence, is in the one who died, was buried rose again and holds eternity in His hands, the Lord Jesus Christ.