front&center Thomas and Sarah Piker

THREE RIVERS AREA — Thomas and Sarah Piker of Bald Knob celebrated their anniversary on Tuesday.

And if 62 years of marriage weren't enough of a reason to celebrate, there's more.

"We've been in the ministry together for 62 years," Sarah said.

That's how the Pikers think of themselves: as a ministry team. Whether Sarah's cooking her famous dishes for church camps and potlucks or out there preaching right along beside Thomas, the life they've built together in the church is best described as just that: together.

Bald Knob First Assembly of God celebrated 39 years with the Pikers by holding a special Pastor Appreciation Day service last month. They've been with the congregation long enough to see children grow up to have children of their own. With each passing year, the list of church children who call them Grandma and Grandpa gets longer.

The people of Bald Knob have been good to them, Sarah said, although she never expected to like the town when they moved there in 1970. A family tragedy, the death of a grandson in an automobile accident, was hanging like a dark cloud over Thomas and Sarah, who moved to Bald Knob for a fresh start.

"At the time, I didn't like the place, but the people here were so nice to us," Sarah said. "They were so understanding about what we were going through. ... I feel like we were led to come here. ... And I guess it was open for us to finish our lives out here, too."

Thomas is 83, and Sarah is 76.

"Since we're the age we are, I'll do the Sunday morning service and she'll do the night service," Thomas said. "It gives us each a break. And our grandson (Vince Vire) is working with us at the church,"

"He's a lot of help to us," Sarah said. "I don't think we could do it without him."

Sarah said it's wonderful to see their children and grandchildren follow in their footsteps. Both of their sons, Lavon and Winfield, are ministers, and two of their seven grandchildren are as well. They're continuing a family history in the church that goes back generations on Sarah's side and started with Thomas when he was 16.

Thomas is originally from Bradford. His family wasn't religious, but a brush arbor revival came to town and changed his life forever. He was saved.

"There were quite a number of people who came to the Lord at that meeting, and we continued to meet there until it got so cold in the fall that we couldn't anymore," Thomas said. "Later, we built a church there on that same place."

That same summer, at 16, Thomas made his first attempts at preaching, there at the makeshift outdoor church with its roof of branches.

After he turned 18, Thomas served in World War II from 1944 to 1946, working in stateside hospitals in Texas, California and other places. He was stationed in Wichita, Kan., when he met an elderly missionary couple.

"They were doing services on the street corner,"Thomas said. "When they found out I'd done a little preaching, they turned it over to me. So that's where I cut my ministerial teeth, was preaching on a street corner."

After he got out of the service, Thomas and his brother traveled together and preached at revivals for a few years until his brother got a permanent post at a congregation and Thomas was left to go it alone. The pastor at a Swifton church invited him to preach at a revival, where Thomas met the pastor's younger sister, Sarah. They were married in 1947.

Sarah was raised in a Christian home, and her father was a minister as well as her brother.It didn't take long for Sarah to take up the calling of her family and her new husband.

"We pretty much had everything in common," Sarah said. "When we got married and I started working revivals with him, I felt a burden to help as well. I preached for the first time at a revival at Hickory Ridge, Ark., when I was 15."

Because of the 1944 GI Bill, Thomas was able to attend South Central Bible School in Hot Springs. The Bible school was only a three-year program, and he still had an extra year of funding available to him through the GI Bill, so he took a few college-preparatory classes.

"I never thought there was any possibility of me actuallygoing to college," Thomas said. "I only had an eighth-grade education."

But he took a college-entrance exam and passed. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in religious education at the Bible school, which no longer exists.

Before settling in Bald Knob, the Pikers served a string of congregations: Swifton, Judsonia, Mountain Pine, Malvern, Leachville and Kensett.

Thomas served as one of the state's regional Assembly of God representatives for 13 years. He was a minister for the Lion's Club for 37 years.

Sarah has cooked for the Assembly of God youth camp in south Arkansas for more years than the Pikers can recall. She also cooked for Bald Knob schools for 14 years.

Thomas said the part about being a pastor that he cherishes the most is being able to help people come to Jesus before it's too late. It's a blessing he said he has gotten to experience several times in his lifetime. He can remember ministering to one man in particular who was in his 80s and was afraid he'd put off being saved for too long.

"I told him, it's not too late," Thomas said. "You're still breathing, and as long as you've still got breath, you've still got the opportunity to come to the Lord. He made the decision to be saved. A few days later I called back and his grandson said, 'He's just laying there, saying, "Praise the Lord."' Two weeks later, theyput him in the ground."

Sarah said they've tried to make a life out of ministering to people both in and out of church. Their door has never been closed.

"He's been such an example, I guess is how I'd put it, in this town," Sarah said. "Everybody in town knows who he is. And when it comes to Bible questions, I don't care what church someone is from, he's always there to talk to people about it."

The Pikers said they'll continue to do what they do as long as health permits.

"I've told him that I don't know what I'd do with him if they didn't let him preach down there anymore," Sarah said. "That's just his life. It really is his life." - awidner@ arkansasonline.commatter of

factThomas Birthday: March 15, 1926 Occupation: Pastor Family includes: Three children: Winfield, Linda Vire and Lavon; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren I cannot live without: My wife When I was young I wanted: To fish all day The person I admire most is: My wife Favorite Bible verse: I wouldn't know what to say. They're all so wonderful to me The world would be a better place if: More people would recognize God and serve him because his name is above everything Sarah Birthday: Nov. 17, 1932 Occupation: Associate pastor Family includes: Three children: Winfield, Linda Vire and Lavon; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren I cannot live without: The love of my family and the church When I was young I wanted: To be a mother and a homemaker The person I admire most: People who stand up for their rights and won't be pushed around Favorite Bible verse: Second Timothy 1:12: " ... For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." The world would be a better place if: Everybody loved Jesus

Three Rivers, Pages 121, 124 on 08/09/2009