Good Evening Don,

 

I want to thank you for partnering with Village Church in displaying the 36-foot tall carving of the Daniel 2 statue on the property of Andrews University at the Archaeological Museum during the Youth Fair where we could draw the attention of many to ancient history and Biblical prophecy. We've had one incredible encounter after another. I'll include a few.

 

1. One night a man came by while Pastor Conrad Vine was stationed there. The man looked at the statue in disbelief for several minutes. When Conrad approached him, he learned that though the man was not from a Christian background he spent considerable time studying Daniel 2 the night before and watching videos about it. Driving past this statue the day after studying it into the night made a profound impression on him. Praise God for Divine timing.

 

1. While we were taking it down a man from Zimbabwe stopped by. He knew nothing about the dream or its meaning. He was amazed. He had heard the story from an Adventist friend at some point in his past. Pastor Page invited him to come to prayer meeting which he did. That night and met all of the pastors before flying back to Africa the next day. He picked out several glow tracks and got the information on how to watch the prophecy seminar online. He also got to meet our intern pastor from Zimbabwe and had a mutual friend in common. We hope to stay in touch with John.

 

1. On a Sunday Pastor Joe went to the Park Manor apartments to assess how Village church could help the families in need. He made friends with the news reporter from WNDU. He became interested in the statue and came to Village church and did a report on it. WNDU broadcasted Pastor Joe explaining the four metals and the four kingdoms at 11pm last night and 6am this morning.

 

1. It's been exciting for the non-Adventist. A non-Adventist stopped at our church to give us a copy of the Herald Pelladium article about it. We've had non-Adventists driving in from places like Kalamazoo to see it. Our office has gotten calls daily asking if the statue is still here.

 

1. One lady got a call from her grandson who had seen the video about this statue online (link below). He grew up Adventist but had wandered away. He married outside the faith and is going to church on Sunday now. The video stirred something inside of him that prompted him to call his Adventist grandma. He wanted to talk about living in the feet of iron and clay now and future of this world. I heard he was going to drive across state to come see it, but I never heard if he made it. 

 

    6.    On one of the days Elder Mondack was attending the booth. It was a little 

breezy but nothing to be concerned about. I came by to check on things and all seemed to be well. Later that day I came back through and noticed that the big screen TV that I had left there was laying flat on the table. Elder Mondack began to tell me that all things were well and then all of a sudden a huge gust of wind came through picking the table up with the TV, dvd player, books and tracks on it throwing it to the ground breaking the screen on the TV. It also picked up the tent and threw it over as well. The wind went back to a gentle breeze after that and there were no more large gusty of wind like that again. I told them no worries I had another big screen TV in my basement. I went home and got it,   hooked everything back up and we were back up and running again in no time. We do recognize that we are in a great controversy and the enemy seeks to discourage and overcome. We are determined by the grace of God not to waiver in our faith, be fearful or discouraged when things happen that seemed to be unexplainable. 

 

God used this dream to get people's attention and change lives 2,500 years ago and He's still using it today. The stories will continue. The video online is still getting views every day. This statue still stands as a testimony to the veracity of God's Word and the faithfulness of His promises.

 

If you haven't seen it yet, check out our video and feel free to share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7h80xto7xc

 

May God continue to bless your ministry in this community to students and visitors from here and around the world! 

 

From the Pastoral Staff of the Village Church

 

Senior Pastor Ron Kelly 

Associate Pastor Joe Reeves

Assistant Pastor Dennis Page

_________

 

Pastor Garhett Morgan <gmorgan@misda.church> wrote:

 

The owner of the strip mall in Big Rapids told the pastor that he could put it up there at no cost believing it would bring business. In that strip mall is a Mediterranean restaurant, the owner of that restaurant said that he was willing to donate 20% of its profits to the church while the image was there.

 

While the image was being set up the first day, one of the firefighters from the fire department stop by see what it was all about. As the pastor explained why it was there and what it meant he was excited and said that the following day they would bring the fire trucks over and park them around the statue and turn on their lights to draw attention to it. However, the Following day a storm rolled in and tornado warnings were given. The majority of the fire department was on call and was not able to do that.  We praise God for their willingness to support the ministry and be excited about bringing attention to the statue.

 

Pastor Morgan said that have had around 325 people come through and visit the statue as of Friday a 1:00pm. There have been ten people that have pre registered for the meetings, and we have had multiple conversations with people that have been God ordained.

 

One of our members at Big Rapids was converted about ten years ago. Before she was a Adventist, she was a witch and was very involved in pagan beliefs and all of the mysticism that came with it. She volunteered at the statue for two hours, and during that time, and woman who was just beginning to read the Bible and reject her own beliefs as a practicing witch came to see what it was all about. She pre registered for the meetings and met with our member later that week to begin learning about Jesus.

 

In Reed city, our statue is in the parking lot that is owned by a construction company. The CFO of the company stopped by to see it, and he also is the acting principal of the Lutheran school in our area. It is a large school with about 100 in its enrollment. When he learned about it, he was so excited he shared the picture on their churches facebook page and pre registered for the meetings.

 

One more highlight of our week. One of our members was able to talk to a young man who knew what the statue was. Turns out his father was a Adventist pastor from California years ago, and since, the son had left the faith for quite a few years, and was thinking about coming back. When he saw the image all of the teaching from his father flooded back, and he saw it as a sign that he did need to start studying and get to know Christ again.

 

The Lord has been good.