Wisconsin

Adrian and Heidi Crabb were members of the Rastafarian religion who read the Bible and prayed daily before becoming Adventists. Adrian was dealing marijuana on a large scale and using it himself as a sacrament in the Rastafarians religion. Adrian noted, "We were under quite a bit of stress before coming to the church. Heidi was pregnant, we didn’t have any idea of how to deal with money, and we had little family support."

Adrian and Heidi first encountered Adventists through 3ABN. They were inspired by what they saw and decided to attend the prophecy seminar by Steve deLonge in the fall of 2002. Their experience at the seminar led to their baptism in October 2002. After baptism, the Crabbs began to see gradual changes occur. "I gave up smoking before I was baptized, but then I started again," noted Adrian. "I was trying to resist on my own. After trying to quit numerous times, I just asked God to take away the addiction. The Holy Spirit took the desire away from me altogether."

The Crabbs are also excited about the health message they found in the Bible and have changed their diets as their consciousness about health has changed.

Most importantly, though, Adrian and Heidi believe that God has given them a focus to their lives and a heart to reach out to their old friends. They also believe that it is through the acceptance of church members that they stayed active in the church. "The church members were really supportive and welcomed us wholeheartedly by bringing us food and asking us if there was anything we needed," said Adrian. "The information we received in the prophecy seminar wasn’t new to us. The one thing that kept us coming back was the way that the church members treated us."

Brian and Kristin Potts were active members in the Columbus Lutheran Church when they received a card in the mail advertising a prophecy seminar in Sun Prairie. Kristin initially attended the seminar by herself, but her excitement soon led Brian to join her. At those meetings, the Pottses believe they heard the truth through the word of God and were convicted to start attending the Adventist Church. They became baptized members in May 2003. Kristin thanks God for the blessings He has brought to their lives through the church.

"Before I came to the church, I was an extremely depressed, even suicidal woman. I didn’t see any hope in my life and felt lonely and rejected by the people around me," Kristin shared. "I thought that I had to be a certain type of person—successful, beautiful—for people to like me. God healed me of my depression and gave me a church family who accept me just the way I am."

While Kristin and Brian love their new church, they have had to get used to some different ideas. Praying out loud, foot washing, even camp meeting were experiences that took them out of their comfort zones.

Despite these adjustments, Kristin and Brian feel welcomed and accepted in their new church family. "The church members said to us, ‘We’re family, we love you, and we want you here.’ We know that the church really cares. We would never go back!"

Laura Larssen, Madison East Church correspondent