Following the Truth

To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, November 25.

By Andrew McChesney

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randfather suggested that Obed study at a Seventh-day Adventist high school in the West African country of Ghana. But Obed’s stepfather strongly opposed the idea.

“I won’t allow him to go to that high school because he will come back an Adventist,” said Obed’s stepfather, who was a pastor with another Christian denomination.

So, Obed ended up enrolling at a government boarding school. It was there that he learned about Adventists anyway.

While at the boarding school, Obed worshiped every Sunday with other students in one of the classrooms. He worshiped faithfully year after year.

At the end of his final year, students in the lower grades were sent home as he and the graduating class spent a month preparing for final exams. With so few students on campus, Sunday worship services were discontinued.

One Sunday passed. A second Sunday passed. A third Sunday passed. Obed missed the Sunday meetings.

On the last weekend before final exams, Obed saw three classmates leaving the campus on a Saturday morning. They were dressed up, and they said that they were going to church.

“Can I go with you?” Obed asked.

Obed followed the two boys and girl to a Seventh-day Adventist church. He was amazed to hear them sing for special music during the worship service. He had never heard a song sung in harmony, and the words of the song touched his heart. They sang “Until Then” (Seventh-day Adventist Church Hymnal, No. 632).

The following Monday, he asked the Adventist girl, Sandra, to lend him her hymnal. He wanted to copy down the words of the song that he had heard on Sabbath. Sandra gave him the hymnal and taught him how to sing the song. Then Obed asked Sandra to teach him other songs from the book. The two sang many hymns together during their week of final exams.

The hymns sparked Obed’s interest in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he wanted to know more.

But what would his stepfather say? He remember that his stepfather hadn’t wanted him to go to the Adventist school and had expressed fear that he might become an Adventist.

After graduating from high school, Obed returned home for the summer. He spent his vacation helping his mother to sell fried fish and banku corn gruel on the roadside. He didn’t dare go to church on Sabbath, but he desperately wanted to worship in the Adventist church. He saw that the local Adventist church had prayer meetings from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. So, he came up with a plan. He left his mother for an hour on Wednesday evening, telling her that he needed to use the restroom. The restroom at home was too far away to walk, but there was a public restroom not far from where they sold food. The public restroom happened to be close to the Adventist church.

For two months, Obed worshiped at the Adventist church on Wednesday evenings. He learned new hymns. He learned new truths about God in the Bible. He knew that he had found the truth.

When he entered the university that fall, he immediately looked for Adventist students on campus. When he found them, he joined them in worshiping on Sabbaths. Before long, he was baptized.

Obed’s grandfather was thrilled when he learned that his grandson had joined the Adventist Church. His stepfather, however, was upset. But he has come to accept the decision over time.

Today, Obed works as an administrative assistant at the headquarters of the Southern Ghana Union Conference in Accra, Ghana. He says it is important to follow the truth even if parents or others try to stop you.

“When you find the truth and know it is the truth, you shouldn’t allow anything to take you away from the truth,” he said. “You should follow what you know to be the truth and, at God’s appointed time, God will allow you to worship in church.”

Part of your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter will help expand Seventh-day Adventist education in Ghana. The funds will go toward the construction of new classrooms and dormitories at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College, which opened with 22 students in 2015 and now has 770 students. This is a real mission school, where only 30 percent of the students are Adventists. Thank you for considering a generous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on December 30.