Saving Lives Through Literature

ALVARADO, TEX. – The Texas Conference Literature Ministries department works to spread the love of Jesus through the printed page. One of the ways we do this is through student programs commonly referred to as Youth Rush. Youth Rush works to infuse youth like Caleb Trujillo, Diana Urtiz, Dana Gutierrez and Karla Martinez, pictured, with a love for mission and a desire to spread God’s Word. At the same time, Youth Rush provides a way for students to pay their way through school. As students go door-to-door and place-to-place, they meet people, share literature, pray with them, collect Bible study leads for churches and offer books given by donation. The student receives a percentage of the donation giving them much-needed money for their college tuition. In addition to the financial benefit, the satisfaction of spreading God’s love to others is immeasurable.

Edwin Regalado, Jr., pictured, a student at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Tex., decided to join the Youth Rush scheduled for spring break. It was his first-time canvassing, and it was a challenge. Close to the end of the week, he had a divine appointment. 

“I was canvassing in an Aldi parking lot after lunch,” Regaldo, Jr., shared. “It had been a very hard day. I faced many rejections. Finally, I decided to stop canvassing and pray. I prayed for God to send me someone who truly needed the book I was offering. When I finished praying, I saw a car with tinted windows. As I got closer, I saw the window roll down. There was a guy inside. He had seen me looking at him. As I approached him, I noticed that he was a young man, probably still a teenager. I thought for a second that I should go to someone else because he probably wouldn’t be interested, but I decided to go anyway since I was close to the car. I introduced myself and presented the book, Promise of Peace. It is a compilation of the Desire of Ages and Patriarchs and Prophets by author Ellen G. White. 

“After explaining the book, he stopped me. I noticed something changed in him. He said, ‘let me be honest with you. This morning, I was about to end my own life. I had everything prepared but for a reason I cannot explain I didn’t go through with my plan. I came here instead. I didn’t even really know why I came here, so I was just sitting here in my car wondering what to do and then you came up to me, prayed with me and offered me this book.’ I told him that I had just prayed for God to send me someone who really needed the book. It was then that I noticed tears in his eyes. He told me that he had no money. I wasn’t going to leave, though, without giving him the book. He finished telling me that he now knew why he had come to Aldi and told me thank you for the work that I was doing. Something that I took away from this story is that God is always there and is listening to our prayers and working things out so that our prayers can be the answer to someone else’s prayer.”

Through literature ministries, our students, as well as our full-time colporteurs, see God at work. We know the harvest is plentiful and sometimes we find the harvest in unexpected places. 

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By Joshua Reyna

Literature Ministries Director