Thirsty For Truth | Young People Are Searching the Bible for Answers
Marlon Wallace
was at the door greeting people following the worship service at the Brownsville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brownsville, Tex., a few months ago when a young man asked, “Are you the pastor?” After confirming I was, Ivan Guajardo (left) asked permission to attend our worship. “Of course!” I replied. What he didn’t know was that we had been praying as a church for more young people to start attending.
Seeing that he was alone, I asked if someone invited him. “No, sir,” he replied. “I was just reading my Bible and found out about the Sabbath and wanted to start keeping it.”
We started studying the Bible together and before his baptism, he faced some challenges. First, a great opposition from his parents, who set up a debate between the local Catholic priest and I, in an attempt to prove that their theology was the truth. After a few hours of friendly and respectful debate, Guajardo looked to me and said, “Pastor, I’m more confident now that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has the truth.”
Since Ivan’s baptism, he has invited everyone he knows to learn about the truth. One of his managers, Adalberto Mendez (right), was baptized last month and is also active in bringing others to study the Bible, among them his best friend, Jonas Vergara. Both of them are very determined to become pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
It is incredible to see how God is actively calling people of all ages and different walks of life to hear His call, “Come out of her my people.”
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The article originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of the Southwestern Union Record | issuu.com/swurecord
Original Submission
I was at the door greeting people after I was preaching a sermon at Brownsville church a few months ago.When this good looking young man came to me and asked, “Are you the pastor?” and I replied yes. He later asked for permission to attend our worship. My response to that was “Of course!” We have been praying as a church for more young people to start attending. Seeing that he was alone, I asked if he was invited by someone or related to one of our members. To which he replied, “No Sir, I was just reading my bible and I found about the Sabbath and wanted to start keeping the Sabbath. Ivan is 20 years old and no one invited him to church or a seminar, but he was thirsty for the truth and searching for it. We started studying the bible with Ivan. Before his baptism, he faced some challenges. First, a great opposition from his parents, who set up a debate between the local catholic priest and I, in an attempt to prove that the catholic theology was the truth. After a few hours of a friendly and respectful debate, Ivan looked to me and said, “Pastor, I’m more confident now that the Seventh-day Adventist church has the truth. Since Ivan’s baptism, we haven’t found rest as a church. He is inviting everyone he knows to learn about the truth. One of the managers at his job named Berto was baptized last month and is also active in bringing others to study the bible. Among them His best friend Jonas, who is getting ready to baptize next month. Both of them are very determined to become pastors of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Its is incredible to see how God is actively calling people of all ages and different walks of life to hear his call, “Come out of her my people.”