Michigan—Back in 2002, Bill Blond attended the Adventist church in Coldwater at the invitation of a high school friend, Chelsea Granger.

In the fall, Bill left for school at Central Michigan University (CMU), but not before Chelsea encouraged him to attend the Hope for the Homeland meetings in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Even though the meetings were only a block from where he was living, Bill wasn’t sure whether he wanted to attend the meetings. He kept putting Chelsea off. He says, “I gave her every excuse I could think of, without lying.”

Finally, she asked if he would go with her to the meetings in Coldwater if she came and picked him up. He said, “Yes.” So Chelsea drove 147 miles, one way, to pick up her friend so he would go to the Coldwater meetings. Since his home was in the area, he was able to stay overnight at home, and then Chelsea took him back to CMU the next day. She did this twice, even though her car was having some real trouble. The transmission was going out, and a mouse was putting dog food in her air cleaner. But the Lord kept her car going.

Though he only attended a couple of the meetings, Bill knew he needed to know more. This led to studying the “Storicals” Bible studies, and the “Faithful Unto Death” series written by Samuel Pipim. Bill soon made his decision, and was baptized in the Coldwater Church on July 12, 2004, by Oscar Montes, pastor.

Bill is now president of Adventist Students for Christ (ASC), an Adventist student fellowship on the CMU campus. But this is only the beginning of the story.

A year later, in the fall of 2004, Bill was in the dining commons of CMU discussing religious things with his non-Adventist roommate. A young man by the name of Brent Zimmerman came and sat next to them since there was no other place available. Brent overheard their conversation and joined the discussion. He told Bill he was planning to join the Catholic Church. “What religion are you converting from?” Bill asked. He said that he was a Lutheran, so Bill said in a joking manner, “Think of Luther turning over in his grave if he could see this now. How can I save you from your wicked ways?” That sparked a friendship, and Bill invited Brent to attend the Hope for Our Day series that was already in session on the campus of CMU. That series, being conducted by students from Great Lakes Adventist Academy, became the setting for Brent’s ongoing journey into truth.

Brent was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, but moved to Grand Haven, Michigan, in his high school years. Brent says he had only heard of Seventh-day Adventists once before. One Saturday Brent, his father, and sister were riding in their car when they drove past the local Adventist church. The church was just letting out, and some of the church kids were standing next to a stop sign, shaking it. Brent’s father made an off-hand comment about how the kids were just getting out of church and they were already doing vandalism. The incident registered in Brent’s memory because it was Saturday, not Sunday. And now, some years later, he found out why Seventh-day Adventists go to church on Saturday.

Accepting the truths of God’s Word, 18-year-old Brent was baptized by Darren Greenfield, Mt. Pleasant Church pastor, on December 4, 2004.

More than a hundred Michigan Conference churches participated in the Hope for Our Day evangelistic outreach in September and October. Hope for Our Day kicked off with the Lake Union training weekend in South Bend, Indiana, and continues as people all over Michigan are preparing for baptism and church membership. Although the formal meetings finished in most churches in October, many are still continuing with follow-up meetings and in-home Bible studies to prepare the many who made decisions. In some cases, those who have made decisions are waiting for warmer weather to be baptized in outdoor settings.

Royce Snyman, Michigan Conference assistant ministerial director and Loren Nelson, Michigan Conference ministerial director