When 33 patients died in the span of just 24 hours, Dan about cracked. As a registered nurse in the mid-80s caring for people with AIDS, his belief in an eternally burning hell left him asking, “Where is God in all of this?”
Dan, an entrepreneur and medical training expert, does nothing half way. He’s not only a registered nurse, but he also has three master’s degrees. He didn’t just treat patients at the beginning of the global AIDS epidemic, but he helped establish the nation’s first hospital devoted to research on immunological disorders. He also runs a company specializing in online clinical training for nurses.
All that initiative, however, took a toll on his health: Until recently, he weighed in at 252 pounds and took thirteen medications daily. Dan knew that neither his weight nor the number of prescriptions he carried signaled good things for his future.
An Accidental Discovery
One night, Dan was looking for some inspiration on his satellite television service. An observant member of the Mormon Church for 26 years, he didn’t know about churches that observed the Bible Sabbath—and, to be honest, he had no interest in learning about one.
That was soon to change. When Dan “accidentally” tuned in to a Christian satellite network, he didn’t half-respond to the spiritual and health messages that were broadcast there. He dived in, and in less than a year, he was baptized into a Sabbathkeeping congregation, something he credits largely to Amazing Facts. There were tremendous health benefits too.
The first thing he saw on television was a presentation about the afterlife. Dan was stunned to learn that the Bible’s teaching about what happens after death was in no way similar to what he’d been taught growing up. The afterlife had long weighed on his mind. In his early years of treating AIDS patients, most of whom succumbed shortly after arriving at the hospital, he became disillusioned with his childhood Pentecostal teachings about the dead either going straight to heaven or hell—the latter for eternal torment. This sent Dan to the Mormon faith, but even after decades of committed practice, he remained unsettled.
“Something about what was said rang true in my mind,” Dan recalls about his reaction to the message. But Dan says he knew nothing about the Sabbathkeeping faith and went to the Internet to learn more about it. Even though Dan found the presentation compelling, he admits, “I’m not a theologian.” So he started looking on the Internet and found Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug. “I ended up spending an hour-and-a-half online and contacted Amazing Facts because I wanted answers.”
Big Questions, Bigger Answers
This led Dan back to his living room, where he found another program on making healthy lifestyle changes. The presenter shared his testimony of losing weight and being taken off a range of medications after completing the program. It led Dan to try the program out for himself.
In the meantime, he received the first in a series of Bible lessons from Amazing Facts, which he studied with relish. “I completed and sent back the first lesson the day I received it,” he says. More lessons followed, and he completed the course quickly.
At the same time, Dan sought out and visited a Sabbathkeeping congregation near his home, hoping that no one from his other church would see him, as according to Dan, crossing such lines is frowned upon.
His mail-in Bible studies opened the door for Dan to attend a lifestyle program, where he found not only physical help, but also more spiritual enlightenment. Recently, Dan was baptized. He adds, “I got off eleven of my medicines, and I dropped 59 pounds, and it just felt amazing not to have to take the insulin anymore.”
Dan is excited after what he’s learned about the Bible. He credits his personal and spiritual transformation to Amazing Facts, which not only provided the Bible lessons, but also helped him make personal health a priority. “I feel very appreciative to God for bringing me here, and for what I’ve learned and what Amazing Facts has done to try to teach me the Bible,” he says. “I’m so blown away to see how personal God is and how He intervenes in our lives. It’s amazing.”
Dan also cherishes his recent visit to the Amazing Facts headquarters, where he was able not only to meet Pastor Doug in person, but also to speak with the people there who personally grade each mailed-in Bible lesson—often writing back with encouragement and sending more resources. He says this ministry has changed his life in more ways than one, and it’s all thanks to “accidentally” tuning in to a TV channel and finding Amazing Facts online.