Guided to the Seventh-day Adventist Church Through Media

Phil's lifelong journey involved leaving the Catholic Church, discovering the Seventh-day Adventist Church through media, and committing himself to Christ.

Phil grew up in the Welsh Valleys shortly after World War II. He recalls the difficult times his family faced during his childhood, including poverty and food rationing. A tragic accident in the mines left his father without a leg, and the family received no compensation. Later, while attending secondary school, he endured bullying. Despite all these hardships, Phil believed that God was with him and helped him overcome his fears and anxieties.

He was raised in a Catholic family, although his father was agnostic or atheist. Every Sunday, he attended church with his mother and sister. He was baptised and confirmed in the Catholic Church and received his education at a Catholic school. Throughout his early years, he actively practiced the Catholic faith.

LEAVING THE CHURCH

However, in his late 20s or early 30s, he stopped attending church and left the Catholic Church following reports of numerous cases of abuse involving children and young people. Despite several pleadings from his family over the years to come back to church, he stated, “I refused to go back,” except for funerals or special occasions. Nevertheless, he still had his faith in God, saying, “I still prayed and I still believed in God.”

EXPERIENCING GOD THROUGH ANSWERED PRAYERS

Everything changed when his daughter went into hospital seriously ill for the first time. “Then I started to pray really hard. I prayed a lot when she was in hospital. And I think that God did answer my prayers, because my daughter did survive! The doctors told me that she was dying, that what they are doing for her isn't working.” Not only did God help his daughter survive, but Phil also felt God’s presence and comfort during this difficult time in his life.

After her recovery, he began reflecting: “I feel the need to go back to church. I'm looking at the people around me and within my family - some are agnostic or atheist, others are Methodists, some are Church of England, and some are Catholic. I'm thinking, ‘Where should I go? Which church should I go to? What am I going to do?’” However, he remembers, “I didn't do anything about it at that time. I kept thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll consider it next week or next month,' and life continued. But year after year, every winter, she would fall really ill and end up in the hospital.”

THE DECISION TO READ THE BIBLE

A few years later, both his daughter and wife went into hospital, and once again, he prayed and prayed for their recovery. Reflecting on his age and the passage of time, he began contemplating the idea of attending church. “I realised I’ve got to do something about it, and now that I’m older, I’ve never actually read the Bible. I don't know anything about the Bible. My knowledge is limited to a few stories I learned in school, like Daniel in the lion’s den, the Creation, and what my sister taught me. So, I thought I've got to start reading the Bible now.”

Due to his dyslexia and difficulties in reading the Bible, he decided to use the computer to explore its content.

SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT CHURCH

At the end of 2019, when news of Covid-19 first emerged, Phil found himself pondering, “Could this be related to the end times?” “That thought suddenly came into my mind out of nowhere.”

As the pandemic unfolded, Phil developed an interest in end times events and began reading the Bible, particularly the book of Revelation, but he was struggling to understand what he was reading.

“I started searching for all sorts of information online and then looking at different denominations as well, because I thought, I’ve got to go back to church. But I'm not going to go into any church. I want to find the right one. So, I started looking at different things. And because I read so much, I was confused.”

Eventually, he came across David Wilcox, a former Evangelical minister, “who discussed how many denominations had strayed from the Biblical teachings and where they had all gone wrong. And then he said, in his view, the two groups that were closest to the right way to practice faith were the Messianic Jews and the Seventh-day Adventists.”

Phil thought, “Seventh-day Adventists? Are they Mormons or something?” “So, I started looking at the Messianic Jews first to see if there were any Messianic Jews in this country, but I couldn't get a lot of information. So, then I did look at the Adventists, and then I discovered some websites and came across Joe Crews; I enjoyed his online articles.”

WATCHING TBN UK

One day, while watching the TBN TV channel – where he would often tune in to his favourite speakers like Archie Kendall, David Jeremiah, and Joseph Prince, and watch their sermons, although he wasn’t aware of their denominations.

“Then, Doug Batchelor came on the TV, and I thought, ‘I haven't seen him before. I'll have a look at him.’ He was presenting so many Amazing Facts about the Bible and made great comparisons, and he’s really put things in perspective. He was talking about current events, things that are happening now, prompting me to keep following his messages and watch his programs. I didn't know initially he was an Adventist.”

SEARCHING FOR SDA CHURCH

In late 2023, Phil searched online for a Seventh-day Adventist church and discovered the Newport and Cardiff churches. “As I was engaged doing other things, I lost the page, so I thought, I'll do another search. This time, I must have put the word in differently, and Ystrad Mynach church came up, which was closer than the other two.” Then Phil decided he would visit the Ystrad Mynach church.

That same day, he called the church pastor, expressing his interest in coming to church.

This marked the beginning of a serious commitment. Phil kept coming to church week after week and became part of the church family. He also joined ongoing Bible studies and he’s now looking forward to the day of his baptism in Christ. We praise the Lord for the wonderful way He’s been leading him and working in his life, all the way to salvation in Christ.