Great Hope in Doctor’s Office

By Andrew McChesney

A series of major life changes troubled Hélène Iborra in Paris, France.

Image © Pacific Press

After raising two children, she lost her mother. Wishing to do something new in her life, she took a job at a luxury store. But then she suffered a leg ailment that required surgery. After the operation, she had to visit a physician regularly for foot examinations.

During one of those visits, she saw a small book lying on the table in the physician’s waiting room. Its title, The Great Hope, seemed to be calling out to her.

“This is just what I need!” Hélène thought.

Back at home, Hélène read The Great Hope from cover to cover that same day. She was fascinated with the story about earth’s last days and the second coming of Jesus. She decided that it was not by chance that she had stumbled across the book in the physician’s office.

She saw a note in The Great Hope saying it was an excerpt from a bigger book called The Great Controversy and inviting her to send away for the full volume. She went online and ordered Ellen White’s The Great Controversy.

Also in the book she saw the words “Seventh-day Adventist Church.” She was not familiar with the denomination. But then she remembered that she had a late grandmother who had become an Adventist in her old age. They had never met.

Hélène decided to read the Bible next.

“After reading this book, I absolutely must read the Bible now,” she thought.

She had many questions about her life, but she didn’t know where to look for answers in the Bible. She didn’t feel qualified or knowledgeable. Then she remembered that her grandmother had become an Adventist after studying the Bible with an Adventist pastor. She needed to find an Adventist pastor.

Going online, she found an Adventist church and began twice-a-week Bible studies with its pastor. As the months passed, she learned about the seventh-day Sabbath and baptism by immersion. She and her husband were baptized.

Hélène has no idea who left The Great Hope at her physician’s office, but she knows it wasn’t the physician, who wasn’t an Adventist. Today, she leaves copies of The Great Hope in physicians’ offices across Paris. “I am very grateful that I came across the book,” said Hélène, 56. “I am convinced that it was no accident. My self-esteem has grown, and I have more to learn as I study the Bible and Ellen White’s writings. God had a plan. I love my church.”

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Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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