From Google to Church

“In 2020, I came to God broken and humbled. I sought after Him with my whole heart. He was all I wanted. I tried other churches, but it wasn’t where God wanted me,” Kim says. 

It was then that a simple Google search led her to Adventist.org. 

But before we get there, let’s learn some of the backstory. Kim isn’t joking when she says she’s tried other churches. She’s been on quite the journey.

Learning to Love Jesus 

As a child, Kim didn’t attend church, though she had some exposure to God because her mom would say bedtime prayers with her every night. This was the foundation for her search to know God better. 

Unlike her mom, Kim’s dad was an atheist until he chose a Christian denomination when Kim was eight. She attended that church a few times. But only a couple of years later, her family moved to an area without a church of that faith, so she decided to go to another local church with a friend. 

It was an important step for Kim: “I remember learning from a book a little more about Jesus.… I fell in love with Him even more.”

Unfortunately, another move disrupted this journey. Her dad wasn’t interested in church anymore, and though Kim never lost her belief in God, she became caught up in the typical life of a busy teenager.

A Divine Appointment 

As she transitioned into adulthood, Kim continued her search. After getting married at 17, she and her husband were expecting their first child, and this major life event led her to seek God again. She and her husband, who was in the army, had just moved to Texas, United Sates. 

They didn’t even have a car at the time, so she was walking to the store one day when a car pulled up next to her, and the window rolled down.

“Hi, do you want to be our friend?”

In the car, Kim could see a young couple with a baby about the age of her own five-month-old. Little did she realize how this couple would be an answer to her prayers! 

Margaret and her husband went to a Christian church nearby and invited Kim to join them there. Having been a Christian for many years, Margaret became like a mentor to Kim, and it was there that Kim made the decision for baptism. This was another steppingstone in her journey with Jesus.

Crying Out to God 

Kim’s story would take some more twists, though: moving to Oregon, attending new churches again, and facing some difficult trials. In 2009, her marriage of 32 years ended, and during this time, she says, “I put God on the back burner… as I decided I was going to do things my way.” 

She found herself again in an “on-and-off” pattern with God. 

Then, in 2019, she fell and broke her knee, her second marriage ended, and she found herself longing for more in life. For the first time in a while, she reconnected with God.

“I cried out to God for depth and for a real church family,” she shares. He was about to answer in an unexpected way.

Wondering about Adventists

During this crisis in her life, Kim started noticing the sign for the Seventh-day Adventist headquarters when she drove on Interstate 5 between Longview and Vancouver, Washington. 

Who are Adventists? she wondered. 

All she’d ever heard was that they were legalistic and vegetarian. But she decided to do her own research:

“I googled Seventh-day Adventists and many things came up — some negative things like ‘forbidden’ and ‘legalistic.’ Had I not been directed by God to research Seventh-day Adventists, these comments may have dissuaded me to look further into it.” 

She decided to try searching “what do Seventh-day Adventists believe” on Google. This time, Adventist.org came up.

As Kim began reading the articles on Adventist.org, she was thrilled. “I loved it all! Absolutely everything. It is all based on Scripture. It was clear and concise to alleviate any misunderstandings.”  

She adds, “There was no doubt that God was calling me to be an Adventist.” 

And so, she started attending Journey Adventist in Kelso, Washington, where she’s become part of the community and now helps others learn about Jesus, the One who’s been with her through this journey. 

“During my hardest times, I had no one to turn to,” Kim says, “I was lost and so very alone. [But] Jesus never left me.”

And through the winding path of her life, He led her right where she needed to be, using a simple search on Google in the process. Kim’s story is a beautiful example of the power of digital ministry. God is using positive content about Adventists to lead people to the Bible’s truths and a worldwide community of believers.

Center for Online Evangelism is a nonprofit organization that supports the mission of the Adventist Church, but it is not operated by the corporate Seventh-day Adventist Church.