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Discover Prophecy

Sorry for the delayed post. but Discover Prophecy Modesto begun on February 20! The first night was a success. A few of our Bible study contacts were able to join us as well! Continue to keep Modesto in your prayers!

Was privileged to sing the special music on opening night - Sherri Mae

Late Post: Crunch Time before Discover Prophecy Seminar

Leading up to the prophecy seminar, we GLOWed tons of parking lots, homes, and apartment complexes, personally invited our Bible study contacts, and finally kickstarted the meetings with a special prayer meeting with all of the volunteers!

Valentine's Day Outreach was a success! One lady brought 8 people to the seminar because she received a valentine's gift with our customized GLOW in it!

Sweet Josie.

I've been studying with Josie for 5 weeks now! I have watched her grow and have seen this renewed love for the Bible! 2 Sabbaths ago, Josie joined me at church! She highly enjoyed her time spent there. She got to connect with many church members as well as gained vegetarian recipes to help her with her health! Matter of fact, the recipe she got from a church member, she tried and served it to me for our Bible study. It was delicious! After leaving the church Josie told me, "If the seminar starts at 6:30, I need to get there super early so I can have a good seat!" Josie is excited to learn more truths and I thank God for leading me to this precious jewel's doorstep! -- Sherri Mae

"I want to reach my neighbors"

This is what Sumathi told me several weeks ago at church. She asked me to come to her apartment complex during the week and teach her how to find people to study the Bible with.

"I often pass out GLOW to all the neighbors, but I don't know how to talk to them," she commented. After a few hours of knocking doors, we had passed out over 50 GLOW, had great spiritual conversations, and even found several people who wanted to study the Bible!

Several days later in the apartment's laundry room, Sumathi met *Maria, one of the ladies we had met going door-to-door. Maria and Sumathi had previously seen each other, but had never tried talking to each other--Maria being a Spanish speaker, and Sumathi being from India. However, after we met Maria at her door, they discovered they could communicate in limited English! In the laundry room, both Maria and her husband expressed their excitement to attend the upcoming Discover Prophecy seminar, the children's Bible night for their son, AND attend church with Sumathi!

Sumathi doesn't let her thick Indian accent or her busy schedule being a mom of two small children stop her from reaching out to her neighbors. How can you and I reach out to our neighbors today? -- Heidi Maekawa

Sumathi and Heidi GLOWing and surveying Sumathi's apartment complex

A Deeper Relationship with God

At the very end of our first study, Josie decided she wanted to have a deeper relationship with God. "Instead of reading my novels, I want to replace that time with reading the Bible." She was able to give a donation for 3 books that I carry: The Great Controversy, Man of Peace (Desire of Ages), and Peace Above the Storm (Steps to Christ). She couldn't wait for me to leave so she could start spending time reading! Such a sweet lady, Josie has even invited me to eat lunch with her and her husband. --Sherri Mae

A little preview of what went down during our Evangelism: To Go seminar

Pumping Gas.

I met *Nancy as I was pumping gas into my vehicle. A very friendly woman, I decided to invite her to our Discover Prophecy seminar. She was excited to get the invitation and wanted more to share with her friends! I asked what church she went to and how long she went there. She has recently attended one of the mega churches here in Modesto. Our conversation then led to me asking if she would like Bible studies. She agreed to my invitation and now I'm super excited to study with Nancy soon and very soon! All because I brought GLOW to a gas station, I was able to gain a Bible study contact. --Sherri Mae

*Not the real name

Our Weekend Seminar is coming up! Modesto Parkwood Seventh-Day Adventist Church, we cannot wait to see you all there! Please pray for us as we continue to prepare!

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

This isn't your average experience that we usually post, but I (Sherri Mae) do love to share how God has been working in my life. The other day, I found myself wrestling with God and constantly praying about Him helping me with a problem I've been dealing with. With mixed emotions, I had to forget about my feelings, and walk out and do the Lord's work in faith. By God's grace, that day I found 2 more contacts to study with! Finding those studies really helped lighten my mood. During lunch that day, I had received terrible news from a couple of friends of mine. Difficult for me to grasp the news, I knew God's work needed to be done. With mixed emotions, Heidi and I prayed about the situation and also to give me strength to finish out the day. PRAYER IS DEFINITELY POWER! Motivated to get out there to knock on doors, I started to realize that I was connecting with more people, meeting them where they were at. The Lord blessed with families being able to give a donation for the books. That was truly God's strength playing out. He knew very well how weak I was feeling and that day His strength was made perfect. Thankful for this work! Not only does this work reach out to others, but this work also reaches our own hearts.

--Sherri Mae Olandag

Manuel's Prayer

"Wait, you mean you're saying this DVD is a Christian outreach tool?" The man who had a second ago been preoccupied on his phone turned all ears. Manuel had been a pastor and missionary to Peru for many years, and just as I had been knocking at his door he had been praying to the Lord. When I told him about my desire to share the gospel in Japanese, he shared his personal experience and encouraged me saying, "One day, you're going to look back and see how God has fulfilled that dream He has given you!" He signed up for Bible studies and purchased four books from me. Before I left, he shared with me some of the health problems he had been experiencing. I showed him a DVD on health which he eagerly traded for another DVD he had already purchased.

When I returned for the first Bible study, he told me, "Did you know that I was praying to God about my health problems, and God sent you to me with a DVD on health that told me exactly what I needed? God cares about even the tiniest details! " Manuel thoroughly enjoyed the Bible study as well. In preparation for it, he had already gone through the Bible study guide I had given him, carefully looking up each verse and bookmarking them. Please continue to pray for Manuel's quick recovery from surgery as well as an even deeper understanding of God's Word! -- Heidi Maekawa

Manuel is eager to study the Bible! He has already looked up each verse and marked it with a post-it!

She Wants to be a Christian!

"Hi Heidi!" Hazel warmly welcomed me as I dropped off her first correspondence Bible study.

When I first met Hazel the previous week, she seemed rather discouraged and rather hesitant to study the Bible with me. You see, she has been suffering from fibriomyalgia, which gives her lots of pain and makes every day a challenge. However, the sincere Catholic agreed to let me pray for her. After prayer, she agreed to sign up for correspondence Bible studies.

This time, she seemed to be doing better. Before inviting me in, Hazel told me, "I really want to be a Christian! My daughter is going to take me to church this Sunday!" As I showed her how to do the study, she carefully looked up the verse in the table of contents, and carefully read the verse. "This is good, I need more meaning in my life--and I think this will help!" she exclaimed, beaming face to face and hugging her Bible to herself. Please keep Hazel in your prayers. I praise God for how He is working on her heart and I pray that she will find Him as she searches with her whole heart! -- Heidi Maekawa

Stranger to Sincere Seeker

He signed up for Bible studies as he rushed out the door to work. As I came to the first study with him, the only thing I knew about Randy was that he liked studying the prophets. Would he even be home? Would he remember we were supposed to study tonight? Thankfully, he was home! Soon we got to know each other, and Randy turned out to be a very friendly guy and sincere Christian. At the end of the study, as we challenged him to spend time in God's Word each day, he told us that he already does that by listening to the audio Bible every time he is driving. I praise God for this dedicated Christian and pray that God will continue to bless him as he searches the Scriptures diligently like the Bereans did! -- Heidi Maekawa

Merhaba

In case you're wondering what the title of this post means, it means "hello" in Turkish! I learned this word from my Bible study contact, Ishmael! He's from Turkey and has only been here for about 4 months! Today we learned through the Bible that as we read it, it will give us wisdom (2 Timothy 3:15)! We got excited because we also agreed that reading will not only help him with his relationship with God, but it will help him to learn more English! Ishmael is so eager to learn more about the Bible that he made the decision to study twice a week! He said he would really enjoy it because these studies are his only "Jesus time" since he's studying for a PhD and working. Continue to pray for us as we study together! -- Sherri Mae Olandag

Mas testimonies from the field

*the name used in this story is not the person's real name

As Alyssa Morauske (another CROSS-Trainer) snuck behind me to work with me, we approached *Stacy's door. Very open to the books we had, she then invited us into her home. Stacy had shared with us that when she was little she attended a Seventh Day Adventist church and that today, her aunt is heavily involved in an Adventist church in Turlock. Excitement filled Alyssa and I both! Stacy then signed up for Bible studies and I am looking forward to study with her and dig into some truths in the Bible and even in the books that she purchased from me! Continue to pray for both Heidi and I as we continue on a search for ripe fruit! --Sherri Mae Olandag

Testimonies from the Field

Although he said he was a Christian, the teenage boy was hardly interested. After some persistence on my part, he finally agreed to see if his mom could donate for a DVD on Daniel 2. Mom quickly approached the door, ready to turn me away. "We just got evicted from our home the week before Christmas," the distressed woman explained, "We have two weeks to move out." I offered to pray with her, and she readily agreed. After the prayer, as she wiped a tear from her eye, she expressed, "Thank you so much--that was beautiful!" Although she had already given me several excuses why she couldn't do Bible studies, I offered again to study the Bible with her. This time, she eagerly accepted the offer. She even took the initiative to find a suitable place to study together: "We can't do it at my house because it's always noisy, but call me tomorrow and I'll find a nice coffee shop or somewhere to study nearby!" Please pray for her to find a place to live and pray for us as we study the Bible together next week! --Heidi

Surprise Visit from Grandpa Larry!

Sherri Mae Olandag, Larry Carter, and Heidi Maekawa

Larry Carter (Publishing Director of the Pacific Union Conference), affectionately called "Grandpa Larry", graced us with his presence for a few hours this afternoon! His dedication to God and ministry always inspires us! He came to knock doors with us even when he was feeling under the weather! Thanks for joining us, Grandpa Larry, it means so much!

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