Hysteria had begun to kick in due to COVID-19, and America feared what the future held as change became a constant. During these times, the staff members of Fletcher Academy in North Carolina pondered what the academy could do for those in need.
Fletcher’s principal, Phil Wilhelm, and chaplain, Eileen States, came together to devise ideas that would serve as a ministry. Then, a local food distribution organization reached out to the academy asking for help in restocking in order to meet the high demand for food. They decided to combine a food drive and passing out the Great Controversy book.
Remnant Publications was chosen; however, the total cost for shipping and books proved too expensive. Help from God was the only thing that could save this promising plan, and that was exactly what happened.
States said about a contributing encounter she had, “I went to the academy’s finance office to find out how much money I had in my budget. A coworker heard about the project and asked what we were doing. When she discovered what we were doing, she was overjoyed and asked if the Great Controversy books could be passed out in her 600-home neighborhood and [she] would help to finance those books herself.”
Remnant Publications went above and beyond to find a way to help secure as many books as possible for the least amount of cost. What originally was going to cost $2300 for only 27 boxes of books, ended up costing $2500 for 54 boxes! “That was a huge miracle,” says States. “In addition to this, we sent out an email requesting for donations, and received over $5600. We have enough to order another 2800 books and reach many more people with this message.”
Many students who helped with this project shared their testimonies. Students Josh Norris and William Holt had an encounter with a man who was not as excited about the book being placed on his doorstep. “After dropping the Great Controversy book off at one particular door,” Holt says, “the man proceeded to give the book right back, but then stood there and talked with us for the next two hours. He wasn’t trying to change our minds; he accepted that the Sabbath was the day of worship. We felt he must have known what the book was about.”
Student Micaela Moffit also ran into a similar encounter while collecting donated food from the drive. Moffit and another student approached a house that had left the Great Controversy on the doorstep with a paper stuck to it, reading “we do not want any propaganda.” Although this served as a negative, the very next house the pair went to belonged to a grateful couple who had really enjoyed the Great Controversy book, and donated not one, but four bags of food. “We went through this negative experience with the book, but were able to get a really positive impact right after,” Moffit shares.
Student Hadassah Julien shares that while preparing the books with a personal note and putting each one in a hanging bag, everyone in her group started a major song fest of hymns and choir songs, and it was “a really great bonding experience for us since it was something we had never done before.” Julien said she was terrified about passing out books at first. However, “I realized I was doing God’s work for a reason, and if He wanted me to do this, then this is what I needed to do.”
With everything going on in history, fear has been stirred within the world. Thankfully there are many like those at Fletcher Academy, working to bring light to the people stuck in darkness.
Carolina | February 2021
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