DIGGING DEEPLY IN HIS WORD

by Sandra Yandoh
I was a cancer patient at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares when I called out to Christ for the first time. Oh, I believed in God. I was brought up in the Jewish and Catholic faiths.
When I arrived at Florida Hospital for treatment, I was very much in need of God. With cancer, as you can imagine, I prayed often. I noticed scripture verses and pictures of Jesus on the walls and thought that interesting—a hospital based on Christian teachings. With every radiation treatment, I thought of Jesus’ words, “By your faith, you are healed.”
I soon began reading the Bible and got all the way through it in six months. When Florida Hospital Waterman hosted a Cancer Center Christmas party, I met Chaplain Faye Rose.
One day, I made an appointment to speak with her about my relationship with Jesus. I told her it made me feel good to talk about Him, but I really didn’t know Him. She gave me some booklets and counseling. Meanwhile, I continued to read my Bible.
Then, I started listening to a Christian music radio station. At Christmas time 2011, their playlist included “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolf, the Red-nosed Reindeer.” I thought, “This doesn’t sound right for a Christian station.”
After the holidays, I looked for another station and found WGTT 91.5 FM, which I later learned broadcasts from North Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church. This station was different. Rather than music, the format was preaching and teaching, which really appealed to me.
When I had questions, I would bounce them off my fiancé, David, who was a Methodist lay preacher. He answered some of my questions, but I wanted to dig deeper into every truth I heard. We were both excited to learn new keys to open scripture, so we joined a local community church and became part of a Bible study group.
They studied the Bible, but answers were fed to us. Hungry for truth, we really wanted to search the scriptures for ourselves. As we continued listening to WGTT, we realized the presenters were Seventh-day Adventists.
Knowing Chaplain Rose was an Adventist, I approached her in February 2012 to ask if David and I could take Bible studies. With excitement, she suggested we all study together with Obed and Coretta Graham who are members at North Lake Church. Several studies later, the Grahams asked, “Why not come this Saturday and try our church?”
“How can I come this Saturday?” I asked David. “I’ve run my shop every Saturday for the past five years.”
After we prayed about it, I made the decision to take the day off so we could attend North Lake Church. The minute we entered, my thought was, “This is it!” David responded, “The first day was like déjà vu—a reuniting with long-lost friends. They’re like family, and we belong.”
I still faced the dilemma of what to do with the shop on Saturdays. So, we prayed again, and I was convicted no one in my shop would work on the Sabbath. We recently decided to permanently close the shop, and someone has offered to purchase it.
Spring and summer seemed like a whirlwind. We started marriage counseling with Chaplain Rose after she agreed to perform our wedding ceremony July 15 in the chapel at Florida Hospital Waterman. Meanwhile, we continued attending North Lake Church with the intent of becoming members. On December 15, 2012, we were baptized by Chaplain Rose at North Lake Church.
It’s a miracle how God led us into the Adventist Church. For me, this is evidence that our great God brought us to the right place at the right time to join this amazing Church family!
We continue taking every opportunity to study God’s Word. Whether it’s our Wednesday study or the Sabbath School Bible study group, we are being drawn into a closer relationship with Jesus.
When we learned about the April 11-14 Florida Camp Meeting, we knew it would be a blessing if we could attend. The speakers, the topics, and even the theme, Revealing God’s Heart: Digging Deeply In His Word, all point to a wonderful opportunity for getting to know Jesus better, and this is the deepest desire of our hearts.