oberto was a cardiologist, a surgeon, and a professor in the medical school at La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After several years of work he and his wife decided to look for new horizons. They little knew what difficulties lay ahead and how an unexpected change of circumstances would allow God to show them a new road, one that they never could have imagined.

The family moved to Los Angeles, California, leaving their financial affairs in the hands of Roberto’s manager, a longstanding friend of the family. These assets in Argentina were to provide the necessary resources as they sought a new future.

Everything went well for a while. Then, without notifying them, their friend sold their house and spent the money. Roberto and his family were devastated by the deception and the loss of their financial foundation. Their resources soon were completely drained, and instead of the comfortable life they were accustomed to they now experienced hardship.

One day while returning to their home they stopped at a park for a while. When they reached home they realized that one of the girls had left her jacket in the park. Their circumstances did not permit them the luxury of losing anything, so the next day they returned to the park. But there was no sign of the garment. Soon they found a gardener and explained what had happened. After a few questions the gardener, who also was of Latin origin, told them that he had found the jacket and had put it in a safe place. Then he offered to drive them to get the jacket.

The gardener was a Seventh-day Adventist. As they drove along he noticed the frustration and sadness in the doctor and his family. He decided to invite them to his church, a Hispanic church in the Los Angeles area.

The next Sabbath the doctor and his family were in church, and a new relationship was born with the group of humble but faithful Christians. The Sabbath passed, and soon the family was caught up in a new week, with its routine tasks, responsibilities, and uncertainties. One day that week Roberto was returning home, telling his wife how disappointed he was that he could not provide for the daily needs and expectations of his family. When they reached home Roberto opened the door. He was amazed to discover an envelope with his name on it and $500 inside it. The sincere, kind people of the Adventist church had reached out to help.

Roberto and his family decided to return to the Adventist church the next Sabbath to express their gratitude. Through the conversation that followed, the members of the church came to learn of the hardships that Roberto and his family were facing. Without knowing how their advice might be received, they suggested to him that he might sell Christian books to help the family’s financial plight.

Within a couple of days Roberto, a surgeon and professor of medicine, and not yet a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, began to work as a literature evangelist. And something began to happen to him. As he sought the best arguments to introduce the Christian literature to his clients, he began to increase his knowledge of Adventist teachings. His life began to change. He saw before him a new life—one of faith in a God who moves upon gardeners, who gives courage to people to go forward without giving up, who inspires His children and servants to open the doors of a church to help and serve the world, an amazing God who, beyond a lost jacket, finds ways to save an entire family.

Roberto and his family are now members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He and his wife are in service as medical missionaries in Africa, where they have opened a chain of hospitals.

With God, a simple act of love can begin a chain of service.

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Daniel Scarone is a pastor of the Hispanic Seventh-day Adventist congregations in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.