By Bobby Davis
Jack Shepler grew up in the small town of Temperance, Michigan. “We had fruit trees and grew our own vegetables,” he says. “I can even remember when we got our first TV! Then, in 1957, we moved to Port Clinton, Ohio, where my dad worked for the Ford Motor Company.
“I’m the youngest of five kids, and my sister and I went to Sunday School sometimes. We were Lutherans, but I only remember going to church one time with my family.”
As idyllic as life seemed, things turned tragic for Jack at the young age of 14 with the devastating loss of his father. “I missed him greatly, and just couldn’t get used to the fact that he wasn’t there anymore,” he recalls. “I kept dreaming he was coming back, but he never did.”
After high school, Jack had many different jobs. He got married when he was 26 and they had one child. He studied drafting and welding in college, and repaired small engines to support his family. Then he left college and worked as a newspaper circulation manager.
Newspapers
“Sadly, my marriage only lasted five years, and when the company I worked for went out of business, I decided to start a newspaper, myself,” Jack recalls. “It was a great learning tool, but it lasted for less than a year, so I worked as a service manager for tool rental company in Ashland, Ohio. I also got remarried to a woman who had four daughters, and we had twin sons and a daughter together.
“When that company also went out of business, I started yet another newspaper, but my second marriage also ended in divorce. I kept my three children, and desperate for help, I began taking them to the Lutheran church every Sunday and got them involved in every activity possible. I even dedicated my newspaper to Christ and began running a Proverb on the masthead. While I struggled to keep it together, I was injured in three auto accidents in less than 14 months, and that left me pretty much disabled.
“At this point I was producing the whole newspaper by myself, and I was in pain all the time,” he says. “I was so overwhelmed by everything that I sent my children to live with their mother. That was a difficult day.”
More Trouble
Desperately clinging to God, Jack closed his secular business to start a Christian newspaper. “That didn’t work out, either, so I moved to Toledo, to be near my sisters and my mother. Meanwhile, I went through many doctors who couldn’t seem to diagnose me, until they finally discovered I had a cyst growing in my head. It was so big that it was affecting my breathing and eyesight.”
After surgery, Jack says his health improved, but he had been diagnosed with diabetes, fibromyalgia, and a collapsed disc pressing on his spinal cord after the accidents. Overwhelmed by medical problems, he decided to use the money from his accident settlement to buy a small cabin in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky.
A Godly Wife
After two failed marriages, Jack left any future plans up to God. “I prayed every day for God to find the right woman for me, but only according to His will and His timing,” he says. That happened in August 2006, when he met Charma online.
“She was born and raised in the small village of Sindangan, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. We talked to each other a lot by video, and the first time I saw her cry I knew she was the one!” he exclaims. “By the next year, we were ready to marry.”
After a long plane ride, Jack finally met Charma for the first time, and they both realized that their feelings were genuine. “We met on a Friday and were married the following Tuesday,” he says. “We spent three weeks together before I returned, but it was over a year before her visa cleared, and she arrived in the United States.”
Sky Angel and 3ABN
When he moved to Kentucky, Jack bought a Sky Angel dish, which carried a package of Christian channels, including 3ABN. “I watched 3ABN a few times,” he says, “but then I vowed I wouldn’t watch it anymore, since what I saw disagreed with what I’d always believed. They kept saying that we wouldn’t automatically go to Heaven when we die, and I didn’t want to hear that my father wasn’t in Heaven!” he says.
“Then Sky Angel went off the air, and since I couldn’t pick up anything else, I thought I’d be without TV altogether. Oh, there were a couple of foreign channels that would occasionally broadcast on that satellite, but 3ABN was always there, of course. So when boredom eventually overtook my ill feelings, I began watching it, because it was all I could get on my satellite dish.
“Doug Batchelor was the one who really got through to me,” Jack says. “I began to see what the Bible taught, and the Holy Spirit began working on my heart.
“The day came when I decided I wanted to become a Seventh-day Adventist, but now I had a huge problem on my hands. I had to tell my wife that something important had happened, but I was afraid to tell her what, since she had been a lifelong Catholic. I didn’t know how she’d react, so I waited until she arrived. However, I knew I had to be an Adventist, regardless of her decision.”
What Do You Think?
Charma finally arrived, and since 3ABN was the only television channel available, she began watching it, too. “I didn’t really ask her about it much,” Jack admits. “Instead, I let her develop her own opinion.
“Then came the day when we found out the satellite was changing to digital, and I knew we would lose your channel. So I finally asked her, ‘What do you think about all these new ideas?’
“You can’t imagine how shocked I was when I heard her say that she understood the truth she had been hearing, and completely agreed with it!”
A Church Family
Jack and Charma attended three Seventh-day Adventist churches in Kentucky, but as happy as they were together, mountain life didn’t really appeal to Charma. “We were 45 minutes away from anywhere,” Jack says, “so when my brother invited us to move to Pensacola, Florida, we decided to go.
“We attended an Adventist church in Pensacola and were baptized together. That was one of the happiest days of our lives. But after a while, I began to feel uncomfortable, so I decided to go to the pastor with my concerns. He encouraged me to stick it out, and gave me a book by Ty Gibson called, Abandon Ship?
“The book was very good,” Jack says. “We decided to stay. I’m glad we did, because I realize we are very close to the end times, and we needed to be a part of the Remnant Church.”
Seeking God’s Will
But there’s more to this story. “After we became Adventists, I had my biggest realization,” Jack exclaims. “I finally discovered that God has something He wants me to do for Him! I have to take an active part in my church and tell others about Jesus. So I started writing down my testimony.
“Then, when a church friend died, I realized that I didn’t even know he was terminally ill. I felt so bad about that, and the thought struck me, Did anyone pray for his healing?
“I began praying for others more, and shortly after that, our pastor started a series on the Holy Spirit, and how to get involved in church. But it was a series by Pastor Kenneth Cox on 3ABN that drove the point home all the way. God was speaking to me, and He wanted me to do something for Him.
While I was contemplating all this, I remembered a book I had previously read by Mark Finley called, Revive Us Again. I’ve read it so many times the pages are falling out!
“I decided to start a weekly Bible study based on that book and was preparing my first session when my phone rang and 3ABN World asked me if they could print my story!”
Perfect Timing
Isn’t God’s timing perfect? Jack’s testimony underscores Jesus’ call to all who follow Him. We can’t wait to see what God has in store next for Jack and Charma, but we do know that they make every effort to share the good news they have found with all those they meet.
Have you made your decision to follow Jesus? Have you taken the step to look up your local Seventh-day Adventist church? Don’t wait. There are those who desperately need your help, both in and out of the church.
Share your story with us, and share it freely with all those who will hear you. You can help some that others can’t, and the Lord Jesus hopes you’ll use your experience to bring hope and salvation to those around you.
University Parkway Seventh-day Adventist Church – Pensacola, Florida
