This past Sabbath morning a gentleman got up to speak of his transformation and his remarkable coming to the Lord.

He stated that he was married and living in the US. He owned a home in California and had a couple of children as well. He was drinking heavily when he lost his job, his home, and then his wife and family.

He decided to move back to the Philippines where he grew up and had some family. He managed to acquire a small boat and decided to go fishing to earn some money – to support his drinking habit.

One day he went out to fish as usual. He brought with him his bottle of whiskey and several pounds of rice to cook and eat, because he had decided that he would stay out for a time to make his fortune. He also brought some dried fish and some coffee. He headed out to an area between several islands thinking that the fishing would be good there. He arrived at the fishing spot and started fishing and drinking. Before long he noticed the sky was turning dark and heavy clouds were rolling in to the point that he was no longer able to see. The weather turned from bad to worse very quickly. Now very much afraid, he started his little motor and began to move, but the water was so rough he could not tell which way to go. The sea continued to get rougher and water began to pour over the sides of his little boat. Soon he was being tossed around the boat. One especially large wave hit the boat so hard, it forced him face-down onto the bottom of the boat. He began to swear at the Lord. As he cursed the Lord he shouted, “Take me now. Drown me right now, I have nothing to live for; just do it now.” Suddenly he heard what sounded like a voice in his head that said, “NO!”

He started to pray with a new will to hang on for dear life. He awoke many hours later. The seas had calmed. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, still hung over, he began to look around to try and figure out where he was. He realized he was in a cove of one the islands. Palm trees lined the shores with their tops broken off half way down and others on the ground. The whole beach looked devastated. Soon several local people came down to the beach as they heard the sound of his engine. He motored to shore. People immediately started asking many questions about what had happened to him. Then they pointed to his motor and asked how it could be running with the spark plug under water? They then noted that his rice in the boat was dry. The fish and coffee were also dry. They asked him, “How you can explain this?” He had no explanation and said it could only be that the Lord had decided to spare him that day.

He found his way back to Bacolod City where he met one of the church pastors and told of his transformation. Since then, he attends the ShareHim and Quiet Hour series of meetings every night. He plans to be baptized at the end of the meetings with the rest of the folk coming to the Fortune Town SDA Church.