Inside Story for Friday 13th of September 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Father developed stomach problems, and Mother and Anush decided to pay close attention to his diet. Anush was a vegetarian, and Mother, a biologist by training, knew which foods were healthy. But they had not sought to place the healthiest foods on the family table. Mother and Anush began to feed Father mostly plant-based meals, and the stomach problems went away.

Then Father had another dream. He saw a bright light in the garage. It was so bright that he couldn’t look at it. “Do not be afraid,” said a voice from the light. “Come. Take this bucket with seeds, and plant them on this table.”

Father saw a bucket of seeds beside a stainless-steel table. But the command made no sense. As a university student, he had trained to become an agricultural scientist, so he knew plants. But even without that knowledge, he knew that seeds couldn’t sprout on steel. “Seeds have to be planted in the ground,” he protested. The voice did not waver. “Do as I say,” it said.

Still in the dream, a day passed, and Father saw healthy three-inch shoots growing from the table. He was shocked. “What’s going on?” he asked. “How can seeds grow in one night and on this stainless-steel table?”

“You need to pull up the green shoots and sell them,” the voice said.

Father related the dream to his family. As Anush listened, she wondered if God was telling Father to make tofu. There was no company that made tofu in Armenia. Father was a business owner with agricultural training, and Anush was sure that he could do it. But she didn’t want to try to interpret his dream. She prayed for Father to hear God’s call directly.

Then Anush participated in a medical missionary conference in Ukraine. The 300 participants grew excited when they heard about Father’s dream. It was 2019, and Adventists had flourishing tofu production facilities and health-food stores in the country. When the conference organizer asked who would be willing to teach Father to make tofu, everyone raised their hands.

Two months later, Father bought plane tickets to Ukraine. Like Abraham and Sarah, he and Mother left home without knowing exactly where they were going. God organized everything. Medical missionaries from the conference met them at the airport. Father and Mother stayed with them as they visited Adventist health-food stores and tofu facilities for 12 days. Father saw Christians could work not only for money but also for God’s glory. He was impressed. He returned home and opened Armenia’s first tofu company.

Anush was overjoyed. She was amazed to think that Father had once used her vegetarian lifestyle as a reason to bar her from going to church and now he was selling tofu and promoting a vegetarian lifestyle.

Part of last quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to open a center of influence for families like Anush’s in Yerevan, Armenia. Thank you for helping spread the gospel with your offerings. Next week: The family unites to spread the gospel in Armenia.

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