3rd Quarter 2019
“What spoke to me most was the teaching on the Sabbath. I just knew in my heart it was right.”
After his early success in sales, Bill’s life looked great on the surface. “Anybody looking at me from the outside would have seen a successful up-and-coming manager,” he says. “They didn’t see the self-medication, the frustration, the self-loathing, the depression, the complete dependence on self. I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.”
Bill grew up attending a Catholic church and served as an altar boy until he was 13. But having no real concept of God or salvation, he came to believe he was the master of his own life and destiny. Despite outward appearances, Bill was miserable. After two failed marriages, he drifted into drugs, and his anger with himself grew.
Tall Blue-Eyed Texan
Weary of empty relationships, Bill joined an online dating service and chose the name Tall Blue-Eyed Texan. And there he met Carrie, a woman who had been praying for a long time that God would let her meet a tall, blue-eyed Texan who loved the Lord.
Bill still smiles sharing the story. “I'm 6 feet 4 inches tall, live in Texas, and have blue eyes. Exactly what she was looking for—well, almost. I didn't know the Lord, let alone love the Lord.”
Carrie had been reared in a Sabbath-keeping home but now attended a non-denominational church. As Bill listened to Carrie share, he came to love and accept Christ as his Savior. Eventually, Carrie became his wife and they attended church together every Sunday. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being on the outside looking in—of not really belonging. While he and Carrie tried several first-day churches, nothing ever quite fit.
Finding the Missing Piece
Meanwhile, a friend of theirs was already praying they would become Sabbath keepers and felt impressed to send them a set of Amazing Facts Storacles.
“As we went through them,” Bill explains, “I was amazed at what I was learning. What spoke to me most was the teaching on the Sabbath. I just knew in my heart it was right.” It took some time, but Bill and Carrie eventually decided to attend a Sabbath church.
However, Bill was pessimistic, concerned that Sabbath-keeping would affect his career of managing a $25 million business. “I was always working or thinking about work,” he says. “As soon as we truly started observing the Sabbath, though, I realized what a blessing it was to set work aside for one day and focus on God and my family. I do more with six days than I could ever do with seven.”
And Bill realized he’d found the last piece he’d been searching for. “I finally felt at home in a church. The Sabbath became a huge blessing in my life and that feeling of being on the outside looking in disappeared!”
Bill and Carrie have been attending their church for three years now, and he still uses Amazing Facts to guide his journey with the Lord. For some time, he has taught a Sabbath School class and always watches the Sabbath School Study Hour to help him prepare. Recently, he was honored to be asked to preach a sermon.
“I’ve gone from an infant on baby food to helping feed others with solid food. I love to teach and share the lessons with others,” Bill explains.
Because of gifts from people like you, Amazing Facts helped Bill grow in faith and find that deeper connection which brought peace into his life. “I know that the Holy Spirit worked through Pastor Doug to reach me, and for that, I am ever grateful to him and the Lord!”
Amazing Facts
Touching Young Hearts
Your thoughtful giving helped to broadcast the Amazing Adventure series globally—with viewers in Hong Kong, Kenya, Colombia, Germany, India, and many other locations. Heidi writes: “My boys looked forward to it every night!” And Hannah shares: “Halfway through one program, when my 9-year-old daughter heard about cockroaches running and hiding when Jesus returns and moths going towards Jesus, the Light, she looked at me and declared, ‘Oh, wow, Mom, I'm a moth!’” Friend, you opened the door to more than a million views, touching the hearts of precious kids everywhere!
AFCOE Africa
Through your efforts, the AFCOE training center in Uganda is building strong disciples and reaping hearts for Jesus. The past quarter’s attendance started at 400 and quickly doubled to 800. The Holy Spirit has worked powerfully through this center and the disciples that you helped to support—resulting in 52 precious souls baptized in May and bringing the total to 426 baptisms so far this year in Uganda!
Calling Them Out
Did you know you’re building a bridge that helps many answer the call to come out of Babylon? The sabbathtruth.com website draws more than 30,000 seekers each month. Marika writes: “In my personal study I was convicted of Sabbath, but when I brought this to my pastor, he wouldn’t listen to the Bible. Then I found Amazing Facts. God was inviting me into His rest—and with eight kids, I needed one!” Over 307,813 people have visited the site so far this year!
Your Impact!
- Thanks to your wonderful support, the new sanctuary magazine has launched. This 48-page tool, A Divine Design, traces the history and reveals the purpose of the Old Testament sanctuary, to showcase God’s incredible plan of redemption through Christ. Already, 28,425 have been distributed, bringing truth and hope to thousands!
- Your sacrifice helps broadcast soul-saving truth on major television stations like LIFETIME, touching over 5,000,000 potential viewers like Elisa, who writes: “I’m unable to express how grateful I am. Not long before your program came on, I was thinking of ending my life.” Thank you for sharing hope!
- This year, you’ve put “boots on the ground” and blessed searching hearts with 16 evangelistic seminars, resulting in over 300 baptisms! One of those baptized, Claudette, relates: “I cried on the day of my baptism but said, ‘Dear Lord, after this day I will only have tears of joy.’”
- Thanks to you, thirsty souls are quenched through Amazing Facts’ Bible school, which sent out over 64,274 lessons during the past quarter. Osvaldo says: “When I did your Amazing Facts Bible studies and learned so much truth, I turned a corner to a new life filled with hope.”
Your faithful prayers and gifts deliver clear, compelling Bible truth daily to thousands more like Bill, connecting them to the Source of life. I thank God for your caring heart and pray you will continue standing alongside Amazing Facts to share Jesus’ love with the entire world! God bless you!