Testimonies

Taj Pacleb Evangelist for Central California Conference, Revelation of Hope. “The principles I learned in the canvassing work has shaped my life and ministry, as an evangelist, in more ways than one. Reading people, answering objections, closing people, being tactful, working hard and smart, are just a few of the many principles that the canvassing work has taught me I use these skills everyday as an evangelist. Ellen White was right when she said that colportuering is the best preparation for any line of missionary work!”

Christopher Lamb “At first, I did not want to go canvassing,” said Christopher Lamb. “It was not appealing to me. However, after seeing what people, at the doors, go through on a day-to-day basis I began to see things differently. I now see people as souls who need to be saved by Christ.”

Christopher experienced this first-hand when he walked into a small Apostolic Christian church in Lindsay, California. After showing the pastor The Great Controversy, the pastor bought the book and told Christopher to return later that evening. When Christopher came back, he talked to a young lady standing outside the church.

“Oh, you’re the guy that my pastor was talking about!” she said excitedly. She went on to say that her pastor had quoted from The Great Controversy during his sermon, and had highly recommended it to each of his members.

At this point, Christopher entered the church, realizing that he was walking in on a meeting. The pastor saw Christopher, held up the Great Controversy, and promptly said, “There’s a young man in the back, by the name of Chris, and all of you need to get one of these books!” Wide-eyed, Christopher could only praise God as every single one of the families in the congregation bought a Great Controversy.

Danielle Perez I walked up to an apartment, and there was a young girl (late teens, early 20s) sitting on the steps. As I talked to her, I found out that she had a 5-year old son, she was not married, was living with her boyfriend, she never finished high school, and did not have enough money to buy food. She started crying when I told her that God cared, and she said that she was agnostic and did not believe in a God that cared about her. “How could He,” she sobbed, “When I’m going through so much in my life?” I shared with her the chapters in the Great Controversy about why God allowed suffering and trials. She started crying all the more and hugged the book to herself. I tried to show her the others, but she would not take any but the Great Controversy. She did not have the money for it, so I gave it to her. As I canvassed the other doors in the apartments, I saw her sitting on the steps, completely absorbed in the book. It was awesome.

Alyssa Fitting “I decided to go canvassing based on faith, and not feelings. I also decided to give myself a little pep talk first about how important it was for me to do the work of going out, and that by being faithful the Lord would bless. On this particular day, I met the most amazing man. Standing over six feet tall with tattoos everywhere, I suddenly felt very intimidated at the door. Within a few minutes, however, I found out the man was a devout Christian who was struggling with understanding the book of Revelation. With a Great Controversy in his hands, I began to explain to him how people helped out with a small donation of ten dollars that helped me go to school. As I said this, it seemed like a light went on, and he says, “I get it now.” Reaching inside his pocket he pulls out a hundred dollar bill! Immediately, I began to tell the man no, but he stopped me with his response, “Just before you came to my door, God told me to go into my bedroom, take out a hundred dollar bill, and give it to the person who knocks on my door.” As if that was not crazy enough, his next line was a message straight from heaven to me. He said, “Alyssa, you do not understand how much God loves you and wants to bless you.” With tears streaming down both of our faces, we embraced in a heartfelt hug, knowing we had both been blessed.”