Wisconsin

The dating service advertisement sat around for weeks. Every time Carol (Sande) Kosten went to throw the brochure away, she felt she should keep it a bit longer. Carol, a charismatic Christian, could not believe she was actually sending in her application for a match-making service. "Dear Lord, please send me a Christian husband," prayed Carol as she filled out the form and mailed it.

Bill Kosten was desperately lonely. Having grown up in an orphanage, he believed no one really loved him. When his marriage broke up, he missed the family experience he so much craved. When the dating service advertisement arrived in the mail, he too felt impressed to fill out the application and mailed it in. "Dear Lord, please send me a Christian wife," he prayed.

Just two months later, in early 2002, God answered their prayers. Bill and Carol went on their first date together to a Christian concert sponsored by Morningside Productions and the Madison East (Wisconsin) Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the following months, Bill and Carol became strong friends and soon announced their engagement. They were married in the summer of 2004. Since they both had families, they began to learn more about one another through their grown children.

Bill attended church with Carol on Sunday, but Carol also attended church with Bill on Saturdays. Bill had taken Bible studies twenty years earlier and was baptized a Seventh-day Adventist.

Carol had a deep love for God. Carol and her new daughter by marriage, Debbie, attended Bible seminars sponsored by Madison East. Bill worked nights and could not attend the meetings.

Carol was thrilled with the new understanding of the Scripture and God’s will she was learning. When she shared the new things with her husband, he nodded his head in agreement. "I remember that," he would say with conviction. Carol's new understanding was like a new life in Christ.

"Would it be okay if I got re-baptized?" she asked James Fox, speaker for the meetings. "Of course," he replied, "but many times husbands and wives like to unite their lives in Christ as well as in marriage. Do you think Bill might like to join you?" When she shared the opportunity with Bill, he was enthusiastic in his desire to take part in this service. On November 27, 2004, Bill and Carol Kosten united their lives together in Jesus at the Madison East Church.

God is using hundreds of ways to reach people before His return. He has used the faithful witness of members of His Church. He has used Hope for Our Day meetings throughout the Lake Union. He even used a dating service brochure to unite Carol and Bill and brought them together to Him and His church.