Kowan woke to a sharp banging on the door.
“Kowan! Let me in!” his brother shouted, desperation in his voice.
Opening his eyes, Kowan looked blearily around him. Slowly, he remembered the heavy drinking, the search for the bathroom, and becoming ill. Had he passed out here on the floor?
The banging continued. “Kowan, are you alive? Open up!”
Kowan staggered to his feet and opened the door. One look at his brother’s terrified face convinced him—he needed to change his life.
And Amazing Facts and you would soon play an integral role in the process.
A Child’s Witness
Kowan and his four siblings grew up in a secular home in which their father used drugs and alcohol liberally—even introducing various substances to his children. Though Kowan’s parents divorced when he was just 9, his father’s bad example had already impacted him.
By age 10, Kowan started smoking with a neighborhood friend. On his 12th birthday, his brother introduced him to marijuana. He began drinking at 13. As an older teen, he became reckless. He was drunk in public on multiple occasions and would smoke marijuana while riding his bike down the street. He didn’t care who saw him.
Still, there were positive influences in his life. Kowan remembers attending church as a child for nearly two years with a friend named Nick. So when he came to his senses in the bathroom at age 22, he knew God was the only answer to the problems in his life.
I Baptize You
A few days later, Kowan picked up a Bible and began reading the New Testament. A passage about baptism impressed him deeply. “That’s what I need,” he thought. Not understanding the typical procedure, Kowan gathered a large bowl and a pitcher full of water. He went out on the deck, leaned over the bowl, and held the pitcher above his head.
Repeating the Bible’s words, he spoke out loud, “I baptize you—well, me—in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” As the water from the pitcher splashed over his head, he felt a sudden impression. “Kowan, this isn’t right. You have to be baptized by someone else!”
Kowan was not deterred. He immediately sought out a local nondenominational church and was soon baptized by the pastor—the proper way! As he came up out of the water, he felt amazing. “The love of Jesus filled the whole room,” he writes. He never used alcohol or drugs after that.
Growing in Christ
Three months following his baptism, Kowan was surfing channels on television when he ran across a program by Amazing Facts. As he watched, he learned incredible new truths. All his life, he had believed that death was simply the end, but now he learned about heaven and hell. He was relieved to learn the truth about the afterlife and the state of the dead.
“The Sabbath was a huge epiphany,” Kowan reports. Though something changed in his mind as he listened, he didn’t put it into practice right away. After all, every Christian he’d ever known kept Sunday. But the Holy Spirit continued to work with him, and eventually, Kowan was convinced he needed to change his work schedule to accommodate the Sabbath.
“It’s been a struggle,” he shares, “as employers prefer someone who will work any schedule.” Nevertheless, his new knowledge was worth the struggle. “I first read the Ten Commandments when I was 10,” Kowan says. “But I didn’t understand it. Now I do. Pastor Doug taught me that the walk with the Lord is an ongoing process. Day by day, we submit to Jesus, and we are changed by beholding Him.”
A Message to Share
In 2010, Kowan was writing a fictional story on his computer. As he wrote, surprising words popped into his head: “Heaven is the resting place of the atoning sacrifice, which is the blood of Christ.” He realized that instead of spending his time on magical stories, he had something more important to say. He’s been recording his spiritual insights ever since, which he shares as a witness to friends and acquaintances. “If you’re unsure or struggling,” Kowan shares, “keep praying. Keep believing. Keep reading the Word. You’ll find God when you search for Him with all your heart—so don’t give up!”
Your continued support enables Amazing Facts to keep sharing God’s Word with many others who are struggling and searching for the truth. Through your witness, lives are being changed every day!