BY RON QUICK

ouise was watching television when she noticed a television commercial about a Bible prophecy meeting at the Adventist church in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Originally from Australia, Louise had grown up in an Adventist home and had been baptized at the age of 17. The TV spot enticed her. However, convincing her husband, Kirk, wasn't easy. Louise begged Kirk to go; finally he agreed. However, this meant the family would have to travel about 40 miles from their Concord home. Kirk had never been in an Adventist church.

Driving home from the first meeting, Kirk said he thought that Adventists take the Bible too literally. "Besides," he said, "there are too many meetings, and they're too far from home."

Because of outsourcing and downsizing, Kirk's job in the computer field had been eliminated. He told Louise he didn't want to attend all the meetings. However, he said, if the meetings were closer, he would consider it. He remarked that if they both weren't working, they'd have plenty of time to attend the series.

Just a Coincidence
A couple months later Kirk and Louise bought a home a mere three miles from the Concord church. Shortly afterward Kirk's son, Taylor, who had been living in California, came to live with his father and stepmother.

Louise was the managing director of a small assisted-living facility. Since Kirk hadn't yet found work in his field, he told Louise he didn't know what to do. "We are going to put our trust in Jesus; that's what we are going to do," she replied.

"But I don't know how. Maybe we need to go to church," Kirk answered. He suggested they visit a church that one of his Baptist friends attended. Louise suggested that they attend the church in which she grew up, the Adventist church.

Kirk expressed his concern about the meeting they had attended in Salisbury. "Too much doom and gloom," was his assessment; he just wasn't interested in prophecy. Louise reassured her husband that God would get them through this difficult time. They would meet some nice people at the church. So Kirk agreed to go with her.

More Meetings
Before this happened, the family received a Word of Prophecy flyer in the mail announcing meetings to be held right in Concord.

The very next day Louise was informed that she had lost her job. Armed with this information, Louise reminded her husband: "Remember how you said if the meetings were closer to home and if we were both out of work that you'd attend? Well, I got this flyer Monday; Tuesday I lost my job; and the meetings begin this Friday night at the Seventh-day Adventist church only three miles down the road. There's no excuse; we're going."

Louise, Kirk, and Taylor didn't miss a meeting. Taylor mentioned to his stepmother that it must've been God's plan for him to live with them so he could learn about the Sabbath.

Another Providence
Originally, evangelistic meetings had not even been scheduled for Concord; they were to take place in Huntersville, North Carolina. But the unavailability of a suitable meeting place in Huntersville made it necessary to reschedule the meetings. Concord church members went to their pastor, Werner Gil, and requested that the Word of Prophecy meetings be scheduled in their city.

"I learned a long time ago," explained Dale Pollett, conference evangelist, "that God has His own timing. I don't need to worry when things don't seem to be working out. All I have to do is follow His leading and He'll take care of the rest."

On Valentine's Day, Kirk, Louise, and Taylor were baptized. A few weeks afterward Louise received a phone call. The person on the other end of the line asked her to be director of marketing for Carillon Assisted Living, a position far better than the one she lost. Kirk has had several job opportunities, but because they involve Sabbath work, he continues to wait for the right opportunity.

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Ron Quick is the the communication director for the Carolina Conference.