1st Quarter 2018
Chris vividly remembers the Ten Commandments plaque that hung in his parent’s house when he was young. And for a while, his folks regularly attended a Pentecostal church—but eventually, alcoholism took a toll on the family. “A lot of bad things happened,” Chris says. And he ended up blaming most of it on God.
His interest in drawing eventually led Chris to a career as a tattoo artist. He bought his own shop and made a good profit; he also made money from his sideline business of selling drugs. “I never took drugs, but I didn’t understand how I was helping them to destroy their own lives.”
However, when Chris met Rebecca, things changed. “She gave me an ultimatum,” he explains. “ ‘Either the drugs go, or I go.’ ” Chris immediately dropped the drugs.
Early in their marriage, the two attended a Pentecostal church. But Chris didn’t feel accepted in the church family. Many in the congregation even avoided him. “With all my tattoos, most would not even shake my hand,” he says. Although he tried to participate, Chris was excluded from many activities and eventually lost interest. While his wife continued to attend, Chris went back to his old ways—bad movies, cussing, fighting, tattooing, and “raising Cain.”
Chris wanted nothing more to do with church. “I had lost all interest in God. Everything was going great for me, so I thought I had no need of God. I had the woman of my dreams, my own business, and plenty of money.”
Finding Truth Online
Over the next five years, Rebecca begged Chris to return to church. But when some church members suggested to Rebecca that if she didn’t speak in tongues, she wasn’t saved, she was tempted to give up on church too. That’s when she began studying her Bible for hours a day, searching for assurance of her salvation.
During this time of seeking, Rebecca uncovered surprising truths. First, she discovered there was no biblical support for the “secret rapture.” When she announced her findings to Chris, he was indignant. He says, “I told her she was crazy and that I would call my grandfather, who was a minister, to show her where she was wrong. But when I made the phone call, to my surprise, he had no answer for the Bible verses she had given me.”
Another day Rebecca told him, “Chris, I think the Sabbath is on Saturday.”
Chris shares, “As we looked together at all the texts, we couldn’t believe it. We thought we had found some secret that no one else in the world knew about.” Their quest for truth soon led Chris to search further online.
Pastor Doug’s sermons on YouTube especially caught their attention, and they watched them over and over for months. The messages of Amazing Facts were so powerful that one evening, Chris decided that he would go back to church—but it would be the church that Pastor Doug belonged to. Chris and his wife had never heard of Sabbathkeepers even existing, but when Chris made a call to a local church, he was warmly received. They have since joined that very congregation. Even better, Chris has become a Bible worker and has regular speaking engagements sharing God’s last-day message in West Virginia and Kentucky. He is currently studying religion with a dream of becoming a pastor.
Thank you for your faithful giving, which made it possible for Chris to find uplifting Bible truth online through Amazing Facts—and a new life in Christ!
Because of your faithfulness, millions more can discover Amazing Facts’ Bible-based websites, programs, and online videos—always pointing them to Jesus. Every day, your generosity and prayers provide lasting hope for people like Chris and many others around the world. Thank you!
YOUR IMPACT
Foundations of Faith
You have helped more than 70,000 people know Christ better and strengthen their faith through the Foundations of Faith revival, reformation, and evangelistic series presented by Pastor Doug in November. Nearly a thousand local people in Maryland attended each night, and thousands watched online. They will soon be airing on major stations broadcasting Amazing Facts programming. Thank you for making this series possible! It continues to burn a flame in many hearts!
Indonesia AFCOE
With the Lord’s blessing and your generosity, fifteen enthusiastic students recently graduated from IAFCOE. Traveling to Yogyakarta, they presented an evangelistic series that drew more than 100 visitors—an impressive turnout in that Muslim-majority country. During the meetings, two outreach partners were canvassing when the owner, upon learning they were selling Christian books, shouted at them in a language they didn’t understand. The men stayed calm but later discovered the man had actually threatened to kill them. Praise the Lord for His protection, and for the evangelistic series, which resulted in twelve baptisms!
The Afterlife Mystery Magazine
Filled with fascinating facts, our new 32-page sharing magazine The Afterlife Mystery brings biblical clarity and shatters common deceptions on the subjects of death, hell, and eternal life. Already 46,000 copies have been distributed in a few short months, enlightening people as far away as Australia, Bahrain, Cameroon, Japan, and South Africa. We continue to receive requests for more—so thank you for helping to create this life-changing resource.
Praise Report!
- During the last quarter of 2017, more than 15,000 people called Amazing Facts to request more Bible truth in response to our broadcasts. And over one hundred people asked for help in finding a Sabbathkeeping church in their area.
- Amazing Facts volunteers in our Bible School, media, and shipping departments stretched your evangelism dollars even further. They donated more than 8,400 hours of work in 2017 in bringing the light of truth to those in need. It’s truly their labor of love!
- Thanks to you, eager hearts are tuning in and listening to Bible truth on our sixty-minute, call-in radio program Bible Answers Live while driving on the road. While many callers flood the phone lines, our website for this program has had over 14,000 visits!