An Amazing Fact: Diamonds are the
hardest natural substance on Earth. They form deep in the planet’s mantle under
extreme pressure and heat. Depending on certain conditions, diamonds can come
in various colors—including rare hues like blue, pink, and green. While commonly
used in jewelry, diamonds are crucial in industrial applications, such as
cutting and drilling, due to their exceptional hardness.
“The Sabbath is heresy!”
The leaders in Ms. Xu’s church in China kicked her out after
she learned about God’s fourth commandment through your support of Amazing
Facts. But like a resilient diamond, she says, “No matter how great the
persecution, I will stick to the truth and bear witness for Jesus!”
Standing up for truth is not for the faint of heart. In our
age of compromise, truth is rarely received with open arms. Our culture has
watered down once common values, such as God’s design for gender and marriage.
To not offend anyone, Christian morality has been thrown under the bus—even by
many churches!
This year marks Amazing Facts’ 60th anniversary. The
diamond—often used to mark a 60th anniversary—illustrates our unbreakable
mission to preach the unchanging Bible truth. The early church
prayed, “Lord, … grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may
speak Your word” (Acts 4:29).
Will you pray for us to maintain this courageous
evangelistic commitment in 2025? Your faithful support empowers our mission to
stand strong for Christ! Now let me tell you Ms. Xu’s inspiring testimony …
Finding Christ
As a child in China, Ms. Xu was not raised a Christian. As
an adult, when she found work in Fiji, someone shared the gospel with her, and
she accepted Jesus. “I was so happy to believe!” she shares. When she returned
to China, she began attending a Sunday-keeping church. But many of its
teachings didn’t make sense. “The Bible says to keep the
commandments,” she thought, “so why don’t we keep all
of them, including the Sabbath?”
It’s common for churchgoers to say, “I don’t understand
everything about the Bible, so I’ll trust what my pastor says.” Yet, when they
study for themselves, questions pop up. The diluted messages they hear from the
pulpit don’t match what they read in the Bible. That’s why it is essential for
you and me to present the “industrial strength” doctrines that cannot be
compromised even under pressure.
Standing for Christ
During COVID-19, Ms. Xu discovered the Amazing Facts Chinese
website. What she saw was clear, thorough, and consistent with the Bible. “It
was like a treasure!” She signed up for two online Bible courses to learn even
more. Naturally, she wanted to share these diamonds of truth with her friends
at church. But when the leadership heard about her newfound faith, they
confronted her. When she disagreed, they condemned her as a heretic and kicked
her out!
Today, Ms. Xu owns a factory. When she announced to her
workers that the factory would be closed on Saturday, some joined her in
keeping the Sabbath. But pressure from church leaders—and even the local
police—caused some workers to quit. When we refuse to compromise the truth, the
devil gets mad. The apostle Paul warns, “All who desire to live godly
in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). For 60
years, Amazing Facts has boldly stood for truth, come what may.
Through your bold gifts, Amazing Facts stands like Elijah on
Mt. Carmel to call to the undecided, “How long will you falter between
two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21). Just like there are fake and genuine
diamonds, there is real truth and truth mixed with error. You can tell the
difference only when it’s tested under the pressure of Scripture.
Growing in Christ
Ms. Xu’s business began to grow, and many new employees
joined her in studying the Amazing Facts Chinese Bible lessons. Today, she has
a much larger building, and on Sabbaths, many join her in worship at the
factory since there is no Sabbath-keeping church in town. These faithful
believers contacted the Amazing Facts Chinese team that you empower through
your gifts and were directed to nearby Sabbath-keeping churches. (We won’t name
these places in order to protect them from persecution.)
Ms. Xu closes her letter to us with this powerful Bible
verse: “Know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who
keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and
keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
Do you deeply love the Lord, friend? Are you committed to
faithfully keeping His commandments? All of them—even when your faith is under
pressure? If we cling to God’s unchanging, uncompromising, undiluted truth, He
will honor our faith and save us in His everlasting kingdom!
A New Year With New Opportunities
As we enter this new year in faith, God has already opened
many opportunities to proclaim the truth boldly in 2025. Amazing Facts
takes Jesus’ command to go into the whole world seriously!
For instance, in 2025, as God permits, we plan to boldly
preach undiluted, unbreakable truth in Cuba, Florida, Dallas, the Dominican
Republic, Washington State, Brazil, St. Louis, Vanuatu, Australia, Thailand,
and many more places. And this is the year we will release the long-awaited
documentary Armageddon and distribute our newest sharing
magazine, Creation or Evolution? Examining the Evidence. We
are also planning a Creation Summit (March 28, 29) at the W.O.R.D. Center and a
60th Anniversary homecoming revival weekend (September 26, 27). Your loving
gifts make all of these possible!
So, will you join me in lifesaving truth? I want to
challenge you during this 60th anniversary year for Amazing Facts to give a $60
gift that will send truth to more people like Ms. Xu. And if God so moves you,
commit to being a Champion of Truth partner by giving $60 or more every month
in 2025. You may also choose to be involved with Amazing Facts’ evangelistic
work with a bold $600 or even $6,000 gift this month! Whatever size gift you
send, I’m grateful that you trust Amazing Facts to be a good steward and make
as much of an eternal difference as possible with your co-laboring support
through our multitude of outreach programs. We don’t know exactly what will
happen in 2025, but we trust God will lead us as we remain faithful to His
solid Word. I pray you will keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus!
Sister Xu and her persecuted friends in China are eternally
grateful that you are helping God’s truth reach the entire world. In many
places around the globe, people are receiving the precious, unchanging diamonds
of truth because you care. Thank you!
Always mining for truth,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts International