Renee Esteban

Renee Esteban of Sallisaw has a busy weekend coming up.

Beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, the church which she and her husband, Raymond, pastor, Price’s Chapel, will celebrate Good Friday with a kids’ Easter event.

The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the church located on the corner of state Highway 101 and U.S. Highway 59, north of Sallisaw, and is held annually for children up to sixth grade in age, Esteban said.

“We have all kinds of activities planned and we invite everyone to come out,” she said.

Activities will include making arts and crafts, a puppet show, table games, a bounce-a-round and, of course, an Easter egg hunt.

“We’ll also be serving lunch. It’s something we’ve done for the past few years and we and the kids have always had a good time,” Esteban said. “They really like the Easter egg hunt. This year, we have about 900 eggs ready. Not real eggs, I don’t think anyone can afford those.”

“If we have 900 kids show up, they’ll all get one egg,” she said, jokingly.

“Being a pastor’s wife, serving as the Sunday school director and the current youth director keeps me busy,” she said.

“If we don’t have someone to do something that needs to be done at the church, well, being a pastor’s wife, I fill in to do the work and it’s okay, I enjoy it,” she said.

“Just like today, we’re hoping to reach out to the children in the community. We need more youth in our church and this is something we can do to introduce them to our church and the Lord because all activities we have planned include a message about Jesus. My husband will be providing a devotional,” Esteban said.

Esteban said she has always lived in Sallisaw. She and her husband have pastored Price’s Chapel Church for the past 11 years.

The couple met in California in 1977. A couple of years later, they married and she brought her husband to Sequoyah County.

“He likes it here. We both do,” she said. “I think the best part about it is I’m around family and friends.”

The couple has been married 44 years and have three grown children, two sons and a daughter. They take care of a 2-year-old granddaughter while her parents are at work.

“Her name is Paden. We enjoy the time we have with her. She’s really smart and comes up with words and leaves us wondering how she knows so many. But she keeps us on our toes,” she said, laughing.

When Esteban is not busy, which according to her is not too often, she enjoys sewing.

“I’m not too good at it but it’s something I enjoy,” she said.

Prior to becoming a full-time pastor’s wife, Esteban said she worked for Sequoyah Manor Nursing Home as an activity director. She also worked in the cafeteria at several schools in Sequoyah County including Brushy, Central and Vian.

These days, she devotes most of her time to taking care of the church with her husband, she said.

“Our church isn’t very big. We have a congregation of about 60. We’re beginning to get more people in because during the pandemic, the number of people attending churches, not just ours, went down,” she said.

Esteban said there are also other events planned in the future at the church, including Vacation Bible School in June and a puppet show and hamburgers in July.

“We’re always doing something. We have a lot of activities ongoing all the time,” she said.

“When my husband first came here, God called him to begin a Spanish Ministry at Blunt Baptist and now he’s serving as a pastor at Price’s Chapel.

“We didn’t know in the beginning this is what we would be doing. But God had a plan for both of us,” she said.

“I enjoy getting to do the Lord’s work. I do it because the rewards are great. God teaches us to trust and obey, and being here and working for Him at my church makes me believe I’m doing just that and I’m blessed,” she said, smiling.

Just Folks. Just Folks is Your TIMES way of honoring the regular people of Sequoyah County, recognizing their unique talents, personalities, jobs, abilities, etc. Your TIMES appreciates the cooperation of each Just Folks and the public’s nominations for this feature. If you know of someone you think might be a good story, contact Amie or Lynn at 918-775-4433.