Michigan

One night, I (Sherry Barrett) woke up at 3:00 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep. I was alone because my husband (Jim Barrett) had been working at his brother's house and was not home yet. I wearily got out of bed, turned on our television set, and started aimlessly going through the channels. To my surprise, I came upon a television station that was new to me, the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN). Since it was the only station broadcasting at that time of night, I began watching its programs. I heard some interesting Bible messages that early morning.

A few nights later, when my husband was again at his brother's house and I couldn’t sleep, I turned on our television set again to watch the same channel. This time I watched Doug Batchelor conduct a Revelation seminar in Redding, California. It was so interesting; I listened intently as he explained the Bible symbols and historical facts of Revelation’s messages. What I watched and heard was very different from what I had been taught as a child when I grew up in another denomination.

The next night I asked Jim to watch 3ABN with me during their midnight program. As we watched, I asked him if he thought the speaker was telling the truth. His response was that from the little he had read from the Bible, he believed Batchelor was preaching the truth. Day after day, as I continued to watch 3ABN, I always learned new things.

One day, I decided to telephone 3ABN to ask if there was a Seventh-day Adventist Church near our home. Danny Shelton just happened to be answering the telephones that day, and he told me there was a church not far from where I lived. Thus, Jim and I began attending the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Sometime later, we received a brochure in our home mailbox announcing a Revelation seminar in our city. We decided to attend to learn what the Bible teaches about how we should live as Christians. By the end of that series, we surrendered our lives to the truths of Jesus Christ and were baptized.

When we learned a new Adventist congregation called Three Angels Fellowship was being formed, we chose to join it. As we look back over these events, we believe if it were not for 3ABN we would not be members of the Adventist church today. The Holy Spirit providentially led us step by step, and we have discovered a wonderful church family.

Sherry Barrett is a member of the Three Angels Fellowship and Bruce Babienco is a Lake Union Herald volunteer correspondent.