Nathan Cranson – Montrose, Colorado … About 60 members of the Montrose Seventh-day Adventist Church in Montrose, Colorado, enthusiastically gathered after a Sabbath potluck to help prepare 1,500 copies of Ellen G. White’s book The Great Controversy for distribution to the surrounding community.
“What a blessing it has been to be working together in God’s vineyard,” remarked Nathan Cranson, head pastor at the Montrose Church. “After many months of planning, the time had finally come for action.”
Tucked into the book was an invitation to a week-long Bible study seminar taking place at the church. The feeling in the church was energetic as supplies were being passed back and forth between several tables. What would have taken one person at least five hours to complete was done in less than an hour. Prayers were offered, maps were passed out, and instructions were given to the volunteers that were to distribute the books.
Over the next two weeks, church members worked eagerly to pass these books out to the households around our Montrose.
Eric, the newest Montrose Church member as of a couple of months, joined in too. Together with his two daughters and a daughter’s non-member boyfriend, Eric began to distribute to his entire neighborhood. One of the doors was opened by an old-time friend.
With a confused look on his face, Eric’s friend asked him what he was doing. Eric began to explain that God had changed his life, and he was now going to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and that his new church was passing out books in the community, so he was helping out.
Eric noted that his friend laughed in disbelief. Eric had never participated in religion as a former gang member, and he had never been to church until God started working on his heart four years earlier. Standing at that door, Eric realized how different his life was now.
Cranson recounted, “While it hurt [Eric] to have a friend laughing at him, as he reflected on it, he began to rejoice and give thanks for the transformation God had worked in his life. Never would he have pictured himself passing out religious books in the very community he used to terrorize as a young person.”
Eric and his family passed out books to nearly 100 homes that day. Even when it started raining, they persisted until every book had been distributed. Eric finished with wet clothes and a deep sense of accomplishment.
—Nathan Cranson is the lead pastor for the Montrose, Gunnison, and Paonia Seventh-day Adventist Churches. Photos supplied.
