After speaking in New Port Richey, Florida, 3ABN president, Pastor Jim Gilley, saw a familiar couple coming his way. Pastor Gary and Juanita Grimes were old friends, and they introduced him to Connie Korcsmaros.
“We’re always thrilled when we get a chance to meet someone who has found more truth by watching 3ABN,” he says, “and Connie was certainly one of these. This lady is on fire for the Lord, and I know you’ll be blessed by her testimony!”
Difficult Beginning
Little Connie was adopted when she was two, but says her home was a terrible place to grow up. “I was the only child, and they renamed me Vicky,” she says.
“My father was a drunk and would pass out on the couch all the time. However, my mother would take me to church with her on Sundays, and I learned about Jesus. I’ve always loved Him, and I’ve always said my prayers every night. But by the time I was 15, life had become unbearable, and I told my father I was going to run away.”
Connie’s determination to overcome her difficult circumstances no doubt served her well. She’s been married for 23 years and has raised two wonderful daughters. But before her adoptive mother passed away, she handed Connie her birth certificate.
“I knew I’d been adopted, so I just put it in my purse. Then later, in my forties, I decided to look up my birth mother. That’s when I discovered my name was Connie Francis, and I liked it so much, I changed it back.
“When I found my dad and discovered I had brothers and sisters, I just freaked out!” she exclaims. “Today I talk to my mom at least three times a week, and stay in touch with my dad by e-mail, too.”
Connie’s been on a quest for truth all her life. “I learned about Jesus, but I was never taught any truths,” she says. “My husband and I began visiting an Episcopalian Church, but then we stopped attending. I tried finding fulfillment in drinking and dancing, and even school, but nothing was satisfying. One day a neighbor told my husband about a church and we began attending. However, I felt like I needed more.”
Cancer?
Then came the day that changed Connie’s life. “It was June of 2011, and a week or so after a routine mammogram I received a call from my doctor’s office telling me that my results were abnormal, and that I’d need more tests.
“I was scared, so after that call, I started talking and praying to God a lot more! That’s when my daughter offered me one of her Christian music CDs. I was finally ready to listen, and the words really touched me. I got closer to Jesus, and I’d look up at the sky and just sing to Him on my way to and from work!
“Finally, the doctor called me in to show me the abnormalities, and it was very scary. He told me I’d need a biopsy at the end of the month, so I kept listening to my Christian CDs while I waited.
“Then the miracle happened. At the end of that month, the doctor said, ‘I can’t biopsy what I cannot see!’ I believe God allowed that cancer scare to get my attention—and it worked! I thanked God I didn’t have breast cancer, and I continued to grow closer to Him. I threw out all my rock and pop CDs, rock star autographs, and magazines. Then I deleted those songs from my iPod and replaced them with Christian music. I stopped skipping church, and started recording two TV sermons each weekend to watch during the week. People at work began seeing a difference in me, and I explained to them that I was following Jesus.”
Another Station
“Then, at the beginning of 2012, I began recording a couple of other TV stations, and one of them was 3ABN,” Connie continues. “I noticed a few of the pastors would say, ‘Happy Sabbath,’ and I thought, I wonder why they’re saying that, since they’re not Jewish?
“I thought the Sabbath was a Jewish tradition, but one day, after watching Pastor Doug Batchelor, I saw a commercial that said, ‘For thousands of years, man has worshiped God on the seventh day of the week. But now millions worship on the first day. Who changed it? And does it matter? Go to SabbathTruth.com and find out.’
“I wrote down the web address, and began researching the Sabbath on my own by googling, ‘What day is the Sabbath? Saturday or Sunday?’ (I would have saved myself a lot of time if I’d just gone to the website!)
“I began honoring the Sabbath on Sunday, and when I explained it to my mom, she did, too. We began resting from house and yard work, avoided buying, selling, or doing our own pleasure that day. I also told my husband I’d be grocery shopping on Saturday, not Sunday.
“Then I researched the Sabbath some more, and suddenly realized I had the wrong day!” Connie exclaims. “The Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday! So I called my mom and told her ‘We’ve been honoring the wrong day!’ Her husband then said he already knew this, and she said, ‘Then why didn’t you tell me?’
“I was so happy to find this out—but I still didn’t have it right, because I was honoring the Sabbath from midnight to midnight!”
Even More Truth
Connie says she finally visited the SabbathTruth.com website in June 2012. “I should have done it in the first place!” she says. “So I called my mom again and said, “We’re still not right! The Sabbath begins on Friday at sunset, and ends at sunset on Saturday!”
“ ‘Then I’ll start keeping it from sunset to sunset!’ she told me.”
Connie’s decisions came with some challenges. “I requested a meeting with my senior pastor, but he was out of town, so I spoke with another pastor at the church. I e-mailed him on what the church taught about the Sabbath, and he replied that Christians are no longer under the Law. So I asked him if he believed we now have nine commandments, instead of ten, and at that point he invited me to come see him the next Sunday. I brought some Scripture texts, but discovered he didn’t believe we are under any of the Ten Commandments; that Jesus had nailed them all to the cross.
“When I tried to explain from Scripture that we are to keep God’s commandments, and that Jesus nailed the ceremonial laws to the cross, he wouldn’t listen, and got annoyed with me. So I told him I’d still keep Sabbath holy, and he said, ‘That’s fine. We have a Saturday service.’ ”
Connie decided to look for churches in her city that kept the Sabbath, and she found the New Port Richey Seventh-day Adventist Church. The next Sabbath, she was there.
“Eventually my husband and I met with the senior pastor [of our former church], and when I mentioned the Seventh-day Adventists, he said, ‘Do you know they are a cult?’ I didn’t expect that from him, and I couldn’t defend any of his accusations, since I’d only attended a few services. Finally he asked if I thought Sunday keepers were all going to hell, and I said, ‘No!’ Then he said, ‘The church you’re going to thinks that!’ to which I replied, ‘I’ve never been taught that.’”
Her pastor went on to say that God only meant for us to get spiritual rest, and that any day was fine. “My day is Friday,” he offered.
On her way home, Connie called her new Adventist friends, Pastor Gary Grimes and his wife Juanita, and they were immensely reassuring. Soon she decided to be re-baptized and asked Pastor Grimes if he would be willing to baptize her.
“We began to study with her, and soon realized that Connie knew the Bible teachings as well as we did, because she’d been studying with 3ABN!” Pastor Grimes exclaims. “She is especially well versed in the Sabbath, and is such a blessing to us!”
After her baptism on November 17, 2012, Connie says she felt compelled to work in prison ministry. “I watched 3ABN’s Free Indeed series, and I feel that God is calling me to minister in a women’s prison. And while I’m waiting for clearance, I’m ministering through the mail.
“He’s also laid a burden on my heart to e-mail pastors of Sunday churches, asking them about the Sabbath and sending them some Bible texts to consider. I just plant the seeds—the rest is up to God.
“My passion for the Lord is over the top, and I’ve learned so much truth watching 3ABN. I became a vegetarian years ago when I watched the movie Babe, but since I became an Adventist, I stopped drinking, too! Our awesome Father in Heaven is using 3ABN to spread His truths, and He’s certainly blessed my life. There’s nothing I’d rather do than be a witness to others of the new truths I’ve learned!”
Visit the New Port Richey Seventh-day Adventist Church
