Alarms In the Middle of the Night

Back in December my car did something really weird. My car alarm would randomly go off, even when I wasn't touching my key. I seriously had no idea what was wrong so I did two things, I googled it and I asked my guy friends to take look at it. After figuring it was probably a dying battery I figured I would just change it when I got to Sonora.

The problem went away for a while but recently it's decided to go off again. However, this time things escalated to be far worse then before. Now my alarm was going off at the most random times (at inconvenient times I might add, like 2 am) and frequently as well too. It was getting so bad that my car was going off at least 15 times a day. (I really wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.) I'm really glad we live in the middle of the country far from neighbors because I'm sure they wouldn't be too pleased. Unfortunately since my schedule has been extremely busy I had to endure it until my day off.

People told me that I should just disconnect the battery from my car, but I realized that wouldn't solve the problem. I wouldn't even be able to use my car if the battery is disconnected. The next thing I thought to do is to go to Radio Shack to buy a new battery for my key. So on my day off, I drove to the little shopping center and walked into Radio Shack. The worker took one look at my key and immediately said, "these things are delicate, you need to go to a dealership because I'm afraid to break it."

Since we live in a small town and the nearest dealership is in Modesto, I had to wait for the next day off to get it fixed. I was starting to get to the point of not wanting to use my car. When we would go to church I'd ask Melina if we could take her car because I didn't want my alarm continuously going off during the service.

Finally the day had arrived and I beyond stoked to go to Modesto to get my car fixed. That very day it got so bad that my alarm went off while my car was on. (You can imagine how awkward that was. People must've thought I was trying to steal my own car.) When I went to the dealership, my car alarm was going off just like it had been. I'm actually glad it was, I didn't want it to be like those situations where you go to the doctor and all of the sudden all the symptoms go away and they think you're lying. Nope, it went off at least 8 times.

When they took my key they discovered that it wasn't the key battery that had the problem. The real problem was deep inside. Over time the panic button had been worn down so much that on the inside it was pushed in and it kept triggering the alarm. The only way to fix it was to get an entirely new key. Thankfully it didn't take long. They got a new key and had to reprogram it and then everything was completely fixed. The weird part is that even though I knew my key was fixed and still had this feeling that my alarm would go off. It was like I had been scarred so much by the constant alarm that I was even scared to use my key. In fact instead of pushing the buttons I had gotten into the habit of just unlocking my door manually. But then I had to keep remembering that the problem is gone, and it's okay to use my key again.

Even though that experience was definitely character building, I learned a lot from it.

1. The car alarm is like the warnings of sin. It's telling you something is wrong, please fix it.
2. One way to temporarily stop the problem is by disconnecting from the Life Source altogether. It may stop the alarm for a bit, but then you become useless.
3. Sometimes we try to run to others to help us fix the problem, but even they realize that they can't do anything about it. 
4. What you have to do is go to the original Maker.
5. It may take opening you up to see what the problem really is. You may not be able to tell what it is on the outside because the problem is deep within. 
6. It also may not be a quick fix, many times you actually need to be made completely new.
7. Just because you're made new doesn't mean you aren't scared of the effects that you've previously suffered.
8. Don't be afraid. It's okay now, because you're made new. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ending to the Study (Walk to Me and I'll Run to You)

For those of you who are wondering what happened at the end of the study with Alan, this is what happened...

Alan was just as mind blown as I was (I really wish you could see how animated he is, it's great). Alan had questions about the Man that Jacob was wrestling with and he went to grab a study Bible so he could look up cross references. When he brought it, we started looking at the different verses and a thought popped into my mind, it said, "pull out your History of Redemption and read the chapter "The Night of Wrestling" in Patriarchs and Prophets." So I asked Alan if I could read him the chapter, and after I got his consent I read it out loud.

You could see Alan sitting on the edge of his seat, deep in thought. When I finished the chapter he said, "you know when you told me that you were going to read some book I first thought, I was a little hesitant, but by the third sentence I was hooked. Who wrote that?" I showed him my book and told him it was written by my favorite author, Ellen G. White. He then said, "that name sounds familiar, I had to read some of her writing when I was in college. Even when I read her work back then I just knew she had to be inspired."

I started showing him how my book was really a compilation of her most popular writings and told him how I've been able to use it to help me understand the Bible. As I said the name of each book and explained what it went over, Alan intently listened.

I then said, "the next one is called The Desire of Ages."

"Wait, say that name again." Alan responded.

"The Desire of Ages." I repeated.

Alan said with excitement, "That title has been in my mind, but I had no idea what it was! I need to get that book."

This past Sunday, my house parents and I went to the hospital with Alan for a movie event. The local church was putting on an outreach event while playing the film, Forks Over Knives. Alan wanted to go so we all went with him. The first thing Alan told me when he saw me was, "I went to the library and I found a copy of The Desire of Ages! I'm so excited to read it." It was amazing because I told Alan I would work on getting him a copy, but he couldn't contain his excitement, so he decided to get it himself.

Fighter

Lisa is a soldier, not literally as, but she has definitely seen the devils side to the Great Controversy. After 20 years of being beat by several different spouses throughout the time. Having physical and financial struggles, she has had her low days. Mrs. Tuazon and I knocked on her door, her kindness Exuded her as she immediately invited us in and began talking to us. We learned that she decided to get her counseling certificate and give to the community what she at one point in time didn't know. She's a fighter. Through all of the way Satan continuously attacks her, her faith in God is strong; some views are skewed, but she has strength in knowing she has a best friend she can find peace in. She had a fear that Satan (whom she shared she could feel the power of Satan through the wall that separated her with her neighbor's apartment) would come in her apartment and hurt her family. Mrs. Tuazan shared with her, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Psalm 34:7 As we began talking to her and invited her to study deeper into God's promises in the Bible for her, she became excited and signed up to attend the Revelation seminar and study the Bible with me. Praise God for fighters who don't give up on Him, even though Satan desires differently.

Walk to Me and I'll Run to You

Have you ever had those moments where you've heard/read something so many times you're not even going to try to keep count, yet all of the sudden you see/understand something that you've never seen before? Well that was me today. Recently God has been putting on my heart to not just spoon feed people the Bible but to also teach them how to study it for themselves. Basically, I've had a burden to teach people how to do devotions. I've started doing this with a few people and my friend Karen has been reminding me that even when I'm studying something for someone else, God is still trying to speak to me.

This leads to today. At noon I had a study with Alan (the guy I met at Starbucks). Before going to the study I spent some time in prayer asking God to help me know what to study with him. There was a study that I had previously done with a friend over the phone last week and it kept popping into my mind. It was so strong that I decided that I would redo that study but this time for Alan. It really is a powerful study but I thought I got everything out of that study that I was going to learn. I'm happy to say, God proved me wrong.

The story God told me to study with Alan was the story of Jacob wrestling with God and then reuniting with Esau. Alan loves to study the Bible but he seems to be more fond of the New Testament and not so much of a fan of the Old Testament. Because of this I needed to recap Jacob's life so Alan could understand what was going on. I told him of how Rebecca had twins, Esau and Jacob, and of the prophesy that the older would serve the younger despite tradition saying otherwise. Then I explained how Jacob stole the inheritance from his brother and ran away because of it, and now Jacob is returning. (That really is a super short summary that doesn't do the story justice, so if you want to read it's entirety read Genesis 25-33. It's seriously a crazy story. Who needs soap operas?)

To pick up the story Jacob is now returning to see Esau. Every step of the way, Jacob is reminded of the way he betrayed his loved one and now he is on his way home to see him. He first tries to make amends in his own self by sending servants with a message ahead to Esau basically saying that Jacob is willing to be a servant to him. When Jacob's servants return they inform their master that Esau is coming towards them with 400 men. The situation doesn't look promising and Jacob then pours his heart out to God. First he claims the promises that God has given him. Second he acknowledges that he isn't worthy of God's mercies. Next, Jacob is completely honest with God and tells him how afraid he really is. And lastly, Jacob claims God's promises again. After Jacob finishes praying, he then sent a massive gift to Esau. To me it seemed like Jacob is still doing everything he possibly can to seek forgiveness from the one he betrayed.

Jacob Returning to Esau

The night starts to approach and Jacob decided to spend time alone. All of the sudden a Man starts to wrestle with Jacob. They wrestle all night and even when Jacob's hip is wounded by this Stranger, he won't give up. Despite the pain Jacob is experiencing he refuses to let go and says, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" The Man then changes Jacob's name to Israel. Interestingly enough, names in the Bible represent character, so the Man is actually changing Jacob's character. Instead of being Jacob, the deceiver or supplanter, he is now Israel, because he "struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

The next day, as Jacob is on his way home to meet Esau, Jacob receives a welcome that he didn't expect. Although Esau had the power to harm Jacob, he didn't. Instead, Esau "ran to meet him, and embraced him, and feel on his neck and kissed him, and they wept."

Lost Son Returning to His Father

The second we read that verse, something clicked in my mind that I never saw before. I literally felt like I was in a cartoon and a light bulb turned on above my head. (That didn't literally happen of course, but I was making a bunch of humming noises and was fidgeting in my seat.) While Uncle Pops was still reading, I quickly flipped my Bible to Luke 15 and read to the parable of the lost son. The same wording that described Esau meeting Jacob is the same words Jesus uses when describing the lost son returning to his Father. It also clicked that the parable of the lost son is about a son who wanted his Father's inheritance, ran away, and is now returning home, just like Jacob.

I then realized how much we can learn from the story of Jacob returning to Esau is like us returning to God.

1. First we realize the wrong we've committed and try to fix things on our own. However, we then we realize we can't do it in our own strength.
2. What we really need to do is to be honest with God. Claim promises, realize our state of helplessness, be honest, express fears and ask for help, and then claim promises again.
3. Do whatever we can on our part to seek forgiveness.
4. Spend time alone struggling with God. Even when it's painful, don't give up or let go.
5. God will change our character. He'll take us from being a sinner to one who can have victory in Him.
6. Walk towards God (or limp, it's okay to come to Him wounded). 
7. The moment God sees us coming towards Him, He'll run to us with open arms. 

Even when you decide to walk towards God and He invites you to come back to live with Him, He understands that you may have to go at a slower pace. Jacob asked Esau to go ahead, and he would come slowly at a pace they were able to endure. The important thing is to follow God, and it's okay if you need to go slow. Just keep going in His direction.

Needless to say, I was mind blown. (Who am I kidding, I'm still mind blown by it right now as I'm typing this out.) If you ever feel like you've learned everything from the Bible, read it again and pray for God to show you more...then prepare to have your mind blown.

One Can Make All the Difference

Taj Pacleb (top), Sheila (middle), Justin (bottom)

It's been really awesome to see how God has been allowing me to work with people from the past. I met Sheila about two years ago when I first began working in ministry in a summer colporteur program called Youth Rush. She was my leader along with Greg and Karen Wilson and was therefore one of the people that taught me what I now know about canvassing. The following summer it was my turn to teach students how to canvass. That's when I met Justin. Justin was my student my first summer leading in Youth Rush. It turns out that all three of us are now working together in Sonora. Also our evangelist for our Revelation Seminar happens to be Taj Pacleb who happens to be an incredible speaker (not that I'm bias because he's from Hawaii, he really is an awesome speaker). Anyway, it's been such a blessing to be able to work with so many familiar faces.

I'm mentioning this for two reasons, first it's just too cool how God is allowing me to work with so many people I know, and second, when I drop their names, you now have a little more background info to who these random people are. So this is where the real story begins...it's really epic, so keep reading. 

It was week one of this practicum. Melina, Sheila, Justin, and I decided to go door knocking in Jamestown (another one of the small towns right outside of Sonora). Justin and Sheila would alternate pairing with Melina and myself to give us tips on talking to people. It totally gave me flash backs to the previous summers. I guess it was more of deja vu's with Sheila since she was my leader and I was used to her working with me at doors, but it was kind of funny having Justin help me at doors since I was so used to being the one helping him at doors. 

Justin and I were right about to meet up with Sheila and Melina. Sheila and Melina were finishing up their last door while Justin and I waited so we could all move up to the next street together. That's when Eloise came walking down the road. Eloise had taken her puppy on a walk and was wondering what we were doing. She was relieved to find out that we were Christians going out to share the gospel. In fact it was an answer to her prayer that Christians would reach out to her community. After talking to her for a bit she decided that she would like to study the Bible with me and we made plans to meet up later that week. 

I had no idea how excited Eloise really was to study with me. Come to find out her doctor is also a Seventh-day Adventist and he's been trying to reach out to her for a while. So when she agreed to study with me, she made sure to let him know. The first study I did with her was over Daniel 2 and how the Bible has predicted over 2500 years of history. Eloise loved the study so much that she wanted to continue studying Daniel. We've been going through Daniel slowly and it's been truly amazing how God has been teaching her so many things from simply studying one book. 

Eloise is one of the most passionate people I'm studying with and she has a deep hunger for God's word. To give you a glimpse of how much she loves to study, each time I study with her it takes a minimum of three hours. The amazing thing is sometimes she just asks a bunch of questions and by God's grace and help, He's been giving me answers. He has really been giving me the opportunity to see John 14:26 happen every week when it says, "The Holy Spirit...will bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

I wanted Eloise to understand more about Daniel so I gave her a book called Prophets and Kings. She's been reading it through the sections on Daniel faithfully (and several times as well) and has been loving it. She also watched all the documentaries (at least three times) such as Daniel Chronicles and Theodicy. Eloise is also been reading Steps to Christ and after I talked to her last night, she's planning on starting The Great Controversy. 

It's amazing to see how mind blown she's been by everything that she's been reading. I originally gave her the Steps to Christ to share with her son-in-law who has been struggling with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). But before giving it to him, Eloise decided she wanted to read it. Last night she told me, "I've been reading this book you gave me and it's unlike anything I've ever read before. I've been enjoying it because it's all true. I almost don't want to give it away because I realize how much I needed this book."

Eloise has a compassionate heart for her family and for everyone she comes into contact. She's always sharing stories with me of how she tells her neighbors and the people she meets about Jesus. It really is precious. There are times after we study that we'll just spend a few minutes praying for her loved ones.

Eloise is also extremely ministry minded. When I first knocked on Eloise's door, she wasn't home so I left a GLOW tract on her door and then later met her on the street. When I actually started studying with her she told me how much she loved that GLOW tract and how it's a great way to share Jesus with other people. God put on my heart to give her a stack of tracts to share and every week I replenish her because she gives all of them out. She's told me that as she talks to others she asks them, "do you want to be happy," then hands them a tract and says, "this will make you happy."

I could probably write a novel on how much I love Eloise and how wonderful it's been to spend time with her and study with her, so if you want to hear more about this, just give me a call. However, for now this is what really hit me the most last night; in the third hour of our study, Eloise's husband called. He works a lot and has never been able to make it to study with us, but Eloise tells me that she tells him everything we've been studying. As she was talking to him, she said, "Oh, Janelle is here right now you can just tell her yourself."

Eloise handed me the phone and her husband Joe told me, "I just wanted to thank you for all of the time that you've been spending with my wife to study the Bible with her. I've been enjoying everything that she's been sharing with me and I also really enjoyed watching the DVDs you've given her. I've been going to church for a long time but I've never learned so much then the things you've been teaching Eloise and the things I've watched in those videos. It's answered so many of my questions. I just wanted to let you know that you're doing a good job, kid. Keep it up."

My heart was touched by hearing those words, and apparently God wasn't done blowing my mind because then Eloise told me something else. She said, "you know, I know you've haven't met any of the people that I tell you about or the people we pray for, you haven't met Joe, my son, my son-in-law, my daughter, my daughter-in-law...(she continued to name off people and I actually lost track of all of them), but I just want you to know, that you've touched every single one of them. By studying with me, it's been softening my heart so that I can deal with them in a more Christ-like manner, and they've noticed. They've been asking what's so different and then I get to share with them everything I've been studying with you. You may not have actually met them, but you've touched them."

Before I left, I gave Eloise a hand full of smaller Steps to Christ to share and restocked her with GLOW. She's definitely not afraid to use it and that's great. In fact she even gives away the study guides I've given her. She told me that when the ladies from her Sunday Church give her some book to read she handed them a study guide in return and says, "great, here's something for you to read too."

As I got into my car to leave that night, the thought then came to my mind, "I know you study with her for three hours every week and you have to pray for strength from Me each time just to make it through, but just know it's all been worth it. You may only get to spend time with Eloise, but I've been using her to reach people that you personally can't." Little did I know that studying with one person could make such a difference.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, 

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 

Galatians 6:9

Perfect Timing

I had been working on different information for the revelation seminar coming up, and finally got an opportunity in the afternoon to go knock on doors for a couple hours. I knocked on my first door, when an older gentleman, Bill answered the door. We began talking and he invited me in to meet his wife Barbara as well. We hit it off, they loved traveling around and helping out orphanages, meeting needs of communities, and sharing their faith. As we were talking they learned that I am Seventh Day Adventist. Barbara then asked me, "I have a question, one thing I know about the Seventh Days is that you don't believe in a living soul. I am at a point in my life where I want to know what it says in the Bible, I have heard both sides but I have never seen anything really in the Bible on what it says, could you show me? I am open to believing that the soul does or does not live after death, I just don't know what the Bible say, and that is what I want to believe." So I answered her questions with Bible verses and she was able to see how a loving God has us rest. At the end of the study she was processing through everything. I asked her if the topic was clear and if she had any questions. She asked some questions on other Bible verses that I was able to explain to her. Her last comment was, "Wow, yes everything was clear. I believe you, I see exactly what you were saying in the Bible."  One blessing about that study is that Sheila wasn't feeling well about a week prior and asked me to give the state of the dead Bible study to one of her contacts, and because of that I had a list of verses and examples and ideas of ways to explain the topic to others who had the same questions about the state of the dead. God sent circumstances to help me be prepared for Barbara's question, and I will be going back to her and her husband this week. =)

Castle Built On a Hill

Melina and I have a saying, "if you're not going up a hill in Sonora, then you're going down one." Sonora is absolutely beautiful and one of the geographical features that adds to its beauty is the beautiful rolling hills. While driving (or walking) you pretty much are always going up or down a hill. I'm telling you this because this story involves yet another hill.

The beginning of this story actually took place the very first night Melina and I ever went door knocking to seek Bible study interests. Melina's leg was hurting so when we split directions on the street, I took the houses with massive driveways. There were four houses in a row with huge driveways. The last house up the steep driveways was special from the rest. I was greeted by two massive dogs as I made my ascent and was also greeted by Nate, a young high schooler dressed in a suit, who was attempting to call his dogs back. After conversing with Nate for a bit I asked him if his parents were home, so he went to call his mom, Heidi. 

Heidi and I totally hit it off from the start. I really don't recall exactly everything we talked about but I do remember that it led to a spiritual conversation. It just so happened that their family was watching the new Nicholas Cage movie Left Behind, and she told me how her son had questions about the secret rapture. She then said, "I sent him to Christian school all his life, and I feel like he should know this...but then I realized, the word rapture isn't even found in the Bible?" Heidi continued to tell me how she had several other questions about the Bible, for example she said, "I believe that when you die you go straight to heaven, but then I was reading that at the second coming the dead in Christ shall rise? So I'm just a little confused about that." 

Heidi then looked at her watched and realized that she needed to take Nate to his basketball game, but she did want to continue talking with me and said she would like to study with me on Thursdays at noon.

The following Thursday at noon I arrived at her house, but she wasn't home. I would sporadically stop by her place in attempt to catch her home but I always seemed to miss her. The following Thursday I stopped by again but this time I ran into her husband, Scot. He told me "my wife really enjoyed talking to you and she really does want to meet with you." He then gave me her cell phone number to try to reach her. I called Heidi and she was thrilled that I got a hold of her. She apologized because emergencies kept coming up and she hasn't been able to be there but she rescheduled for the following Thursday. So the next Thursday I went and again she wasn't there, but I ran into Scot again. He kept telling me to keep trying so I did. I called her again and she apologized and asked to reschedule for the following Thursday. 

The next Thursday, Heidi called me in morning and apologized again because she wasn't going to be able to make it and then rescheduled again for the next week. During this entire time of hit and miss, God kept putting on my heart to continue to pray for this family and not to give up. 

This lead to this past Thursday, six weeks after I initially met Heidi. I drove up to her house knocked on the door and found met her house cleaner. Heidi wasn't home, yet again. I walked back to my car and began to pray, "Lord, I know that you have me coming back to this family for a reason. I just want to commit this situation to You. Please let Your perfect will be done."

After I finished praying, something impressed me to check my phone, I'm not really sure why, I wasn't expecting a phone call and I wasn't even sure if I was because I was going to call or text anyone. However, when I checked my phone I saw I had a text message from Heidi. She said that she was running 15-20 minutes late, but that she was on her way. Joy filled my heart and nervousness also. I've been trying to meet with Heidi for five weeks and today was finally the day, so I decided I needed to pray some more. I called my dear friend, Janell, whom I love praying with, and asked her to pray with me and for this study.

Soon after Heidi came home and invited me inside. Since it had been several weeks from the last time I actually saw her, we spent the first few minutes just catching up and she was just asking me questions to get to know me. Her husband Scot then walked in and greeted me. He said, "Hey it's you! You are persistent, and I like that." Scot and Heidi continued to talk with me and get to know my background. I'm not entirely sure how the conversation led this way, but God impressed me to share my personal testimony with them, so I did.

As I spoke, I could see the tears welling up in their eyes and at the end Scot said, "You've really touched us with what you shared and I want to help you more in your ministry. Come by my office tomorrow and I'm going to write you a check." Interestingly enough, I never asked them for money. Heidi then said, "You know, normally I would've just canceled meeting with you altogether, but something kept telling me that I needed to meet with you and I'm sorry it's taken this long for it to actually happen. But I can see now why God wanted me to spend time with you. You know it would be great if you could study with my 14 year old daughter." Scot then interjected and said, "it would be great if you could study with our entire family actually." 

God then had me do a Bible study with Heidi about wrestling with God and how we shouldn't give up even when it's difficult. Heidi was mind blown by the study and then said that she really wanted have a deeper relationship with God and it studying the Bible would be great for their entire family. They then told me that they wanted me to come back to study and also to cook for them as well (they found out that I love cooking...haha). 

This is Scot (President of California Gold)

The following morning I received a text message from Scot telling me to come by his office because he had a check waiting for me. The more I ran into Scot the more I started learning how influential this family was. Scot owns California Gold Development Corporation and turns out that his company has built and owns all the nicest subdivisions, shopping centers, business offices, medical centers and even gas stations in Sonora. Things started to make sense why they had the nicest house with the nicest view. Scot did tell me that he would call his house a castle built on a hill.

I walked up the stairs to his office and although he was incredibly busy he came out to greet me and give me a check. I thanked him and he told me that they would invite me over again and was excited to try my cooking, then he went back to work. I walked back down to my car and just prayed thanking God for whatever was in the check. I carefully opened the envelope to find that Scot had given me far more then I would've asked for. 

God pricked my heart and the thought came to my mind, "I know you've been busy working for Me and you haven't had a chance to earn much money to support yourself, and I just want you to know, I'll take care of you."

Little did I know that there would be a blessing on both sides of this story and the best part is this story isn't over and I'm excited to see what else God has in store. 

And my God shall supply all your needs according to 
His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

Traveling Back in Time for Tea

Have you ever been in a room and heard a phone go off and automatically checked to see if it's yours? It's pretty funny to watch, especially when everyone has iPhones. Even though there's settings to customize our ringtones and even change the pattern for our phone to vibrate, most of the time, we don't bother to change it. Therefore, when one iPhone goes, we all automatically think it's ours. That happened to me this morning, but then I realized I was in the kitchen all by myself, and it dawned on me, "oh that's my phone." To my pleasant surprise, my friend Lindsey called me and invited me to tea in Old Town Columbia. Columbia is about ten minutes away from Sonora. It's a quaint historical little town that makes you feel like you've traveled back in time to the 1850s. The main town square only allows stage coaches to pass drive on the main road as well as travelers on foot. Also all of the employees in the shops in that area dress up like they are from the 1850s as well. It's actually pretty cool. I literally had to park my car several blocks away and walk on foot just to get to the tea house. 

I've never gone to a tea house before but it was really fun. It made feel dainty and elegant. I even held my pinky up as I drank my tea cause I want to feel fancy. Anyway, I had blast hanging out with friends and drinking tea during my lunch break. After leaving lunch I walked back through the town and decided I would get some work done while I was there. I brought flyers for the health seminar and the Revelation seminar as well, and I also stacked my pockets with GLOW tracts.

The first shop I walked into was a black smith shop. It's pretty cool. Everything they make in that shop they do the old fashion way. Anyway, I continued to go into every shop, talked story with the workers and then would invite them to the events coming up and ask them if they are interested in Bible studies. 

There was one shop in particular that stood out the most to me. I walked into what looked like a museum. There was an older gentleman that seemed like a tour guide. The shop was filled with displays and artifacts from the past. In case you didn't know this area is really well known for finding the Mother Lode (the largest gold nugget in California, 195 pounds). Things started to click in my mind such as why the main state route that runs through town is called State Route 49, after all we are in the historic mining area of the 1849 gold rush. (You can obviously tell I'm not from California, cause only now is things really clicking such as why there's a football team called the 49ers. It just makes so much more sense.) Anyway, this gentleman, Tom, started telling me all about the gold rush and it really was fascinating. Then it was my turn. I invited Tom to the health seminar and then proceeded to invite him to the Revelation seminar as well. 

The invitation to the Revelation seminar caught Tom's attention. He asked, "are you associated with the Seventh-day Adventist church?" When I told him I was, he was delighted. "I've been meaning to look you guys up." Apparently Tom has been studying his Bible and has found that the Seventh-day Adventist church is the closest that he's found to following the Bible. There was only one problem. Tom motioned me to walk toward the back of the exhibit hall away from his wife sitting in the front and then said, "the only thing is my wife is very committed to her own religion." I offered him Bible studies and he then began to tell me that he has been doing Seventh-day Adventist study guides online. He then said, "I've realized that the closer you get to the truth the more difficult it is to accept." I left Tom with a copy of every GLOW tract I had on me and he is planning on attending the Revelation seminar and also checking out the church for himself as well. 

True Friendship Evangelism Part 2

Recently (or a couple hours ago) Melina posted about her contact Linda reaching out to her neighbor (who had originally told me no for Bible studies). The interesting thing is this friendship evangelism has worked in reverse circumstances as well. In an earlier post I talked about my friend Kim. Well Kim's parents live across the street, where it just so happens to be the doors that Melina knocked on. Kim had told me to go talk to her parents to see if they would be interested in Bible studies, unfortunately no one answered when Melina came by. However, Kim was able to invite her mother to join us for our studies and they are planning on attending both the health seminar and evangelistic series together as well too. So I second what Melina mentioned, God is able to reach people in a way that Melina and I can't.

True Friendship Evangelism

The same day I met Linda, Janelle was across the street inviting people to have Bible studies as well. Linda's neighbor rejected receiving any activity or help from us, which is her choice, and Janelle moved on to people who would desire Bible studies. After studying with Linda the first time, she shared with me how she really enjoyed learning about how God has shown His love to her by giving prophecies (specifically Daniel 2) so we can learn to trust Him. The next week when I returned, her neighbor, who had declined everything Janelle offered, was at the house as well and asked me if I had another Bible she could borrow. The past several weeks I no longer only study with Linda but her neighbor whom she invited to be able to study with us as well. Friends are able to reach friends in ways that Janelle and I would not ever be able to reach them.

Only at Home

"Dear God, I pray I will meet someone who can only be reached at their home." I began knocking on doors, momentarily dismissing my prayer from my memory . Linda answered, she is retired and rarely exits her home. We began chatting, I struggled to see any interest in any of the activities we offered, but as soon as I reached inviting her to join me in studying the Bible she accepted. You see, Linda and her husband attended a church several years back when he decided he would no longer go to church. Linda, in "respect" to her husband, ceased to attend church as well. Since that decision he made three years ago Linda has longed to sing songs, study the Bible, and have the support of a church family. We nonchalantly set up a time for my return the next week and bid farewell to each other for the time being. As I walked away, I recalled how God had specifically answered my prayer finding someone who desired to get to know God better but was unable to be reached at a social function.

Daniel^2 and Daniel 2

The sun was starting to go down as I walked down this street. I knocked on the door and a muscular gentleman probably in his forties answered the door. As I started to make small talk with him I handed him a DVD entitled Daniel Chronicles. "Hey that's my name," the gentleman said. "Well I guess that just goes to show that this DVD is for you then," I jokingly commented. I was only half joking because I really do think everyone should watch or own the Daniel Chronicles.

Daniel Chronicles is a two part documentary. The first part goes through an ancient dream found in Daniel chapter two, that has predicted over 2500 years of history and the second part goes through the probability of one man fulfilling over 300 prophecies. It's seriously an awesome movie. However, that wasn't my ultimate goal with this family. After talking for a bit, I got down to the real reason I was there, Bible studies. Daniel responded in a very resistant way, and turned the option for Bible studies down.

So I started to strike up another conversation. It so happens that they had a sign on their door that says, "please remove your shoes." The sign looked very familiar because it had similar qualities to ones I've seen at tourist places in Hawaii, so I commented on it. "Hey I love your 'please remove your shoes sign' it reminds me of home." That perked Daniel up again and we started talking about Hawaii. The conversation consisted of a variety of topics such as how beautiful the islands are and how we both thought poi tasted like cement (maybe it doesn't actually taste like cement but it sure has the consistency of it). After a smile returned to Daniel's face, he decided to buy the DVD from me, but he accidentally left his wallet in his truck.

This is poi (seriously...edible cement)

Right then Daniel's wife, Carly, pulled up in his truck and handed Daniel his wallet. I decided to let Carly know what I was doing, I'm sure it's not everyday that a young girl comes to their door with a bag full of books, so I thought I would catch her up on Daniel's and my conversation. I decided to mention Bible studies again because I didn't know if she was at a different place and maybe was even searching for something for herself. The moment I mentioned studying the Bible, Carly's eyes lit up. From reading her response it was much different then it was for Daniel, however Daniel responded for her. His demeanor changed back to being resistant and defensive. However, I couldn't get passed Carly's response, so I interjected, "I understand and respect that, but I just wanted to give your wife the option." Daniel then looked over at his wife and she said, "what about for Daniel?" You see they also have a 13 year old son named Daniel and he has had a lot of questions about the Bible. Daniel (the father) looked deep in thought and said "you're right, this would be good for Daniel." I responded, "I'd be more then willing to study with your son and answer any questions that he has about the Bible." Daniel then looked up and said, "yeah, that would be great and you know what, I'll do them with my son too."