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Out of the Pit of Sin

Out of the pit of sin

Abuse in any form may be the most horrendous and appalling condition that exists in the human family, especially when it is perpetrated against a child, since they will form views of God through the lens of their abuse. As a young child, Sabrine’s abusive alcoholic father set the stage for her descent into sin’s dark pit.

“My dad was very abusive to our family. My mother, a Seventh-day Adventist, gave us Bible studies, taught us to pray, and planted the gospel seed in our hearts. We had learned my mom had a brain tumor while I was in high school.

“I felt so worthless because of my dad’s abuse, so around 18, I left home and rebelled by choice. I chose to smoke, drink, use pot, and became a meth addict. I chose to sleep with the kids that dealt in meth to get my fix, and later to prostitute myself for other reasons. If I survived the night, I was fine; and if I didn’t, I would have welcomed death. To top it off, I found out I had bone cancer, and when my neck broke, they put a lot of metal in there.”

Sabrine was in her late 30s when she learned her mother was very sick, and returned home to care for her during her last years.

After losing her mom she thought, I can’t live like this. I’ll move somewhere and get a new start, so she decided to move to Landers, Wyoming. While there, she checked out a local Seventh-day Adventist church, but felt it just wasn’t time. However, a few weeks later, she found 3ABN. “I knew instantly this was an Adventist station, so stayed at home and contentedly watched 3ABN for three years,” she says. “During one of the programs, Pastor John Bradshaw of It Is Written said we needed fellowship with one another, so I got dressed and went immediately to church. I felt so welcome, and soon I was taking Bible studies from Pastor Jason Logan. I was baptized on August 6 of this year, and I can’t thank 3ABN enough for the way they presented the truth so God could reach deep into my pit of sin to fulfill His promise to me, ‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.’ ”

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How I met God

How I met God

Donna Steele grew up with ten siblings at the end of the Great Depression. They were was not raised in church, and God was never mentioned in their home. “In fact, there wasn’t a Bible in the house!” she says.“But I always knew there was a God, because He came to me in dreams.” After visiting a mansion for the first time, she says her goal suddenly became to own one. “But that night, God came to me in a dream, turned over and sat down on an old bucket, and talked to me about life’s values. I was not to seek the things of this world, but to seek love to spread out to others,” she recalls. When Donna’s parents divorced, she began attending her grandmother’s Baptist church, and at the tender age of nine she answered an altar call and was baptized. After she married, she began attending her husband’s Pentecostal church. “The people were loud,” she says, “and I didn’t like it. But it was church, so I kept going.” Her journey took her through the Nazarenes, Catholicism, and even the Native American beliefs, but there was always something missing. “I look back now and I realize that although I had loved and known about God all my life, I’d never met Him,” she admits. Then, several years ago, Donna moved to southern Illinois to help her daughter Kristina, who works for 3ABN. “At that point, I wasn’t going to church, because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere,” she says, “but Kristina kept mentioning her co-workers at 3ABN, so I began watching. I liked listening to Shelley Quinn, and soon I fell in love with the preaching of CA Murray, David Asscherick, and Kenneth Cox. Then one day, I met Danny Shelton and suddenly we were talking about the seventh-day Sabbath. I’d been taught that it was just for the Jews, but as I continued studying what Jesus said, everything lined up! Then I knew!”

She began attending the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, and says, “Everything I heard was backed up directly in the Bible, and I’ve been there from that point on.

“It’s an amazing journey, and at 75 years of age, I finally have a freedom I’ve never had. No matter what happens, I just trust God!”

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Sharing Her Joy

Sharing her Joy

Jane Gibbs was raised Catholic, but never really knew the Lord. Growing up with ten siblings, her father’s alcoholism and drug addiction made for a very unhappy childhood, but God made sure she felt His love. “A lovely Jehovah’s Witness family lived across the street, and they were very kind to me,” she says. “However, as I grew up, I began self-medicating, and my addictions kept me trapped for most of my life.

Then, one day, I found a channel I’d never seen before on DISH Network, and as I listened to 3ABN I was hooked! In time, I felt a need to be baptized, so I prayed, Lord, if You’re serious about this, please help me find a church. Then I called 3ABN, and they got in touch with the Oakwood Seventh-day Adventist Church in Taylor, Michigan.

When someone called to ask if I’d like to study the Bible, I was so excited that I blurted out, ‘What I really need is to be baptized!’ They sent Mary Skrobowski, who was also raised Catholic. We had so much in common; and as we studied, I felt so alive and so saved that I wanted to tell everybody!

I remember the day I was baptized. When I came up out of the water, I knew my life was different. I’d quit smoking, drinking, and taking drugs before; but this time it was real. The Lord was holding me up!” Pastor Ariel Roldan had the privilege of baptizing her and says that Jane is a tremendous blessing to his church.
“Just a few months ago I baptized two people who received Bible studies from her,” he says, “and she welcomes and nurtures all of our new members!”

Jane believes that 3ABN is a great tool, since it reaches everywhere. “I know firsthand,” she adds, “because you certainly reached me!”