Illinois

I (Lisa Helgesen) think I was an Adventist before I knew what an Adventist was. When I was six years old, someone gave me an old copy of Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories. I read the stories over and over; they were so funny and delightful, and had such good character-building lessons to absorb. Then I discovered more books from that series in my elementary school library, and I read all of those, too.

When I was eight, I received Christ; and in high school, I became very involved with the evangelical movement. Then, my freshman year of college, I had a brief but very frightening encounter with an extremist charismatic group. According to them, you either followed their movement and their leader or you were out of the will of God, and your salvation was in question. I left the group but lost any sense of God in my life. That experience cast a shadow over my college years and beyond.

In 1984, my daughter was born. Though I no longer considered myself a Christian, I wanted to raise her with some sort of religious belief. There was an Adventist church in my neighborhood. At that time Saturday was my only day off, so I visited one Saturday morning and soon enrolled my daughter in Cradle Roll. I came to really love the church, and realized that this was the church Uncle Arthur had spoken of! And I knew according to Scripture that Saturday was the Sabbath.

As time went on, I played piano for the Cradle Roll and led song service. But when the pastor asked me about joining the church, I put him off. I just didn't know if I could trust God with my life again.

When my daughter was 11, we moved to Illinois and I took a job as a 911 dispatcher. I worked all shifts and every Friday and Saturday. There was no Adventist church in our town, so I gave up on the idea of keeping the Sabbath. Many years went by. Then, about a year ago, I felt strongly drawn back to church. The nearest one was 30 miles away, but I was willing to make the trip. I prayed, "Lord, if you find me a job where I can keep the Sabbath, I'll go back to church—and I'll join this time."

Shortly after that, my boss asked if I would like a different position working Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Needless to say, I accepted. And the very first week of my new job, I visited the Champaign Church. I asked the Lord to show me if this was the right church for me. At church, the very first hymn sung happened to be my all-time favorite hymn, "This Is My Father's World." After attending a few more services, I asked about becoming a member.

What a joy to study the Scriptures with the pastor and his wife, and to be reconciled with the Lord of my youth! I now approach God with confidence and trust. The Lord has honored my mustard seed of faith—so many prayers have been answered, so many blessings bestowed.

Lisa Helgesen, member, Champaign Church

Lisa was baptized and joined the Champaign Church on November 1, 2008.