By Ezekiel See
Canvassing is an exhilarating job. You never know who you will meet at the next door. Oftentimes, people do not appreciate the fact that you are at their door asking for a donation, and oftentimes, these people will vehemently declare their personal opinion on the subject. But there are other people. People you don’t meet on a regular basis. People who are searching for the truth, but don’t know how to find it. People who God has led you to. People who are ready to welcome you at the door. This is the reason canvassers exist. To find these people, and bring them to Christ.
This past summer, I had many of these experiences; many more than I can count. But some of them stand out in my mind as divine appointments I will never forget. One such experience happened on the last day of the summer.
It was the first house on the street, and there was about an hour left in the day. As I walked up to the house, I immediately noticed two things. The door was open, meaning the owner was home, and inside were some large dogs. I shook the fence surrounding the yard to get the dogs' attention, and sure enough, they came bounding out, barking like it was the last day of their lives.
Hearing the commotion, their owner came out shirtless, on the phone, very overweight, with a big, bushy beard. He looked like he would turn me away immediately. Still, I wasn’t going to leave without trying my best. By the sound of it, his phone call seemed rather urgent. He was yelling at the dogs to shut up, and trying to hang up the phone. This was surprising as most people in the same situation would just wave me away with some arbitrary excuse.
When he hung up the phone and asked me what I wanted, I went into my canvass as usual. He seemed happy about what I was doing, but he kept saying that he didn’t have any money. I dropped down, giving him a Happiness for Life, which is the canvassing version of Steps to Christ. Again, he said that he loved what I was doing, but had no extra money. But for some reason, I felt that he needed that book, so I offered to give it to him as a gift.
He took the book, looked at it, then exclaimed, ‘I know Ellen White! She is a blessed person!’ Looking at him in surprise, and having no clue what to say, I asked him how he had heard about her. He told me that his father had done extensive research on her, and he himself had read many of her books. He then went on to tell me that he believed in what Seventh-day Adventists were doing and that we were keeping the right day as Sabbath. Shocked, I wondered why he had never visited our churches. As if he read my mind, he told me that he had really wanted to visit one of our churches, but had never had the opportunity.
Quickly, I gave him a small sharing version of the Great Controversy and offered him Bible studies. The man was thrilled, saying that he didn’t care when and where the Bible studies were, he would love to attend them. After signing him up, and praying with him, I left his house knowing that God had led me there for a reason. I had experienced an incredible divine appointment.