Tina Sipp

My name is Tina Sipp, and I’m from Spokane, WA.

I actually became a Christian when I was 12 years old. Though we had gone to church services at a military base Chapel, it wasn’t until I was 12 in a small Baptist church that the pastor made it very clear that a decision needed to be made to accept Jesus and to follow Him. It was a very sincere commitment to surrender my life to Jesus when I was 12. I would say I was more compelled to make the decision because I wanted to do the good and right thing, and not so much based on a perceive need for grace. So I made that commitment during a church service. As life has played out, I believe God honored that 12-year-old’s sincere decision.

The church where I became a follower of Jesus continued to invest in my spiritual growth as a young adult. I had great Christian teaching, great Christian role models and mentors – very solid discipleship. I went on to a Christian college where, again, I had great instruction and Christian adults I looked to as examples.

I was so grateful for His gracious forgiveness and this propelled my faith.

In my 30s I would say there was another line drawn in the sand of my commitment to Jesus. I was watching many people get married but I was always going home alone. This hurt became “the thing” that caused me to question God’s goodness and pushed me to a decisive crossroads. Either He was good and deserved the entirety of my life, or He wasn’t and I should just pack my bags and go my own way. God’s patience and grace in walking me through that time ended up becoming a very significant turning point in my faith. I truly believed He was good and could entrust my life to Him, regardless of my outward circumstances. 

During this time I had been serving the Lord through a college campus ministry. Though I hoped I was depositing truth and godly character into the lives of those college students, I’m pretty certain God was using THEM to grow ME. The level of commitment and discipline in their Christian walk within the setting of a large secular university was a beautiful tool the Lord used in my life to further shape my faith.

It was during this time of campus ministry that one of the students introduced me to the African Children’s Choir by taking me to my first concert. Having not ever been particularly drawn to children, I was quite surprised to be so mesmerized by the children on the stage that night. Over the course of the next 15 years in college ministry, I saw the choir a few more times and had the same magnetic draw to them. Just at the time when I knew the season of college ministry was coming to a close, I saw another choir and knew it was time to pursue working with the organization. A year and a half later I was out on the road with my first choir – and that was 19 years ago!

The Lord has used my time with the choir to continue shaping my faith through the lives of our African brothers and sisters: the way they express themselves, the way they live life, the way they live out their faith, and how they live in community. It has really challenged me. It’s helped me see beyond my Western perspective and culture, and I would say, to live more biblically. 

So, why do I love Jesus? Because God has used so many different things to grow me and to reveal Himself to me over the years. I have seen His commitment to draw that little 12-year-old girl to Himself, to keep me close, to draw me into deeper waters with Him. It’s nice to be in my 60s looking back and seeing how all the pieces have been used to develop a purer love for Him.

My faith is not a “youth group” faith, it’s not my parents faith, it’s not just a part of my church culture. It’s in my heart to love Jesus and to protect and honor His name. I want to make His name glorious. He’s changed me. I’ve seen it and I embrace the coming changes. The future is bright because there’s still so much to learn about Him. I look forward to the process of seeing my heart shaped to be more like Him.