By Bobby Davis
Tess Floro-Dutt was born in the Philippines where her mother was a teacher and her father worked as an engineer at home. “I grew up in Quezon City,” she says, “and was baptized and heavily indoctrinated in the Roman Catholic beliefs. At age 22, I got married, and we had a daughter who became my inspiration to pursue medical school, due to her illness as a baby. I became pregnant again and lost twin boys at 24 weeks of gestation. I also found out that my husband was being unfaithful, so when I graduated, I moved to the United States and we got divorced.”
Judaism
Tess became friends with a Jewish man who asked her, “Who killed Jesus?” And because of what she had been taught, she answered, “The Jews did.”
But he disagreed, saying, “No, the Romans did. The Jews don’t kill on Fridays.”
Tess says, “He meant physically, of course, but his answer started me on a quest to know what the Bible says. So at age 31 I bought a big Catholic Bible, and it was the first one I touched and actually opened.” She goes on to say that she couldn’t understand the Old Testament, so she read the gospels, instead. Then, the book of Revelation puzzled her, so she put the Bible aside.
“We continued attending a synagogue on Sabbaths and St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sundays, and after four years, we got married. But sadly, our marriage ended during my Internship in the Internal Medicine Residency program.
“Influenced by the Jewish community where I worked, I decided to convert and be baptized into Judaism to experience the environment and tradition of how Jesus lived. ”
The Tornado
Tess was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve—Medical Corps, was trained in military medicine, and finished her Fellowship Training in Geriatrics at NYUMC/Bellevue Hospital in New York City, before moving to Minnesota.
Exhausted after a trip to a medical conference, she was awakened that afternoon by very loud sirens. The radio announced that a tornado had touched down in the next town, so she grabbed her 13-month-old baby and ran to the basement. “Before I reached the last step, I heard the windows upstairs explode!” Tess says, “I could see the ceiling of the basement shaking, and I thought we were going to die that very moment. So I cried out, ‘God, save us!’ and suddenly the wind stopped! Finally, I walked upstairs and saw two long shards of glass stuck into the mattress where my baby had been sleeping and I screamed! That was a turning point in my life. I went outside, smelled the flowers, and thanked God we were alive.
“Many disaster relief agencies and local volunteer workers were there to help, and the Salvation Army gave away free groceries and Bibles. However, two years went by before I began reading that red NIV Bible they gave me, and when I did, God’s Word began turning my life inside out as I continued searching for truth. As I went through the Old Testament this time, I realized that the health information it contained was a lot better than what I’d learned from medical books altogether. My medical library at home was nothing compared to this simple Book when it came to health and healing people!”
Hungry for More
Near the end of 1999, Tess received a copy of the Jesus Film as part of a mass mailing by the local Assembly of God church. “I watched it and mailed back the reply card, thanking the giver,” she says, “and soon the pastor contacted me and invited me to his church. He was of Jewish heritage and served in the U.S. Air Force, so I decided to visit his church on January 2, 2000. They had good music and prayed in tongues, which sounded like languages I’d heard back in New York City. I had lots of questions to ask him!
“My interest in studying the Bible grew more when he pointed out that Peter had a mother-in-law. That implied that Peter was married—which was different from what I was taught as a child. He led me through the Sinner’s Prayer, and we met every Tuesday. He also taught a class on Revelation, which I did not fully understand, and the Jack Van Impe tapes he loaned me didn’t make it any clearer, except that he said physicians and pharmacists were like sorcerers, since their titles come from the Greek word pharmakeia.”
Tess was baptized in the Assembly of God church shortly afterward, and taught their preschoolers for a year. But her daughter told her she wanted to go to the non-denominational Trinity Church because her pre-school teacher taught in their Sunday School. Soon they began attending each week and eventually Tess was rebaptized, became a member, and served in many of their ministries. “I was still hungry for the Bible, though, and someone invited me to the Bible Study Fellowship International group where I learned a lot more!” she says. “Then, I started winning the Bible Quiz, and was even interviewed during the fundraising Share-A-Thon at KJLY FM, a Christian station in Blue Earth, Minnesota.”
A Cooking Program
In 2006, Tess met a professed Christian man, and shortly after, they were married. However, their marriage turned into a nightmare when he admitted he was a functional drug addict. “The unbearable pain of addiction and abuse ruined our lives financially, socially, mentally, emotionally, and physically,” she says. “I hung on because of our marriage vows, but I learned to cry out to the Lord in prayer, and I learned what I could about addiction. I became actively involved and supported him in his rehabilitation programs, and finally he was able to sober up after three years and a heart attack. A new light would soon shine, as God prepared to do a marvelous thing in my life!”
In June of 2009, Tess’s husband was clicking through the channels and stopped on a 3ABN Today cooking program with Kyong and Larry Weathersby. “He called me over to watch it, and we both liked it,” she says, “but neither of us knew what 3ABN stood for.” Soon she discovered it stood for Three Angels Broadcasting Network, and began watching it a lot. She especially enjoyed the programs that taught evangelism and the health message.
“3ABN changed my life, and I began searching in a phone directory for a Christian church that didn’t have loud music. I was starving for spiritual and healthy food, and finally come across a church with a plus—the health message! When I approached the greeter at the door of the Seventh-day Adventist church, I said, ‘Before I come in your door, I have three questions: Are you vegetarians? Are you legalistic? And do you welcome people who are not of your faith?’ Her answers were honest – fifty percent yes, no, and yes, respectively. So I went in!”
Their Sabbath School lesson on the book of Romans taught Tess that it’s easier to obey the Ten Commandments when you love God, because they are God’s character, and when she attended a Bible Prophecy series in Le Center, Minnesota, she was convicted of Bible truth and was baptized once again—this time as a Seventh-day Adventist.
Searching for God’s Will
Looking for a different approach to life, Tess attended the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) and learned a healthy vegan lifestyle.
She wanted her husband to attend the NEWSTART program in Weimar, California, but he declined because of the cost. However, her heart was set on taking their medical missionary program, and the Lord marvelously provided the funds through the sale of her house.
When her course was completed, she passed her boards in massage and hydrotherapy and was ready to return home. But her husband imposed so many conditions—including giving up her faith—that another divorce seemed imminent. “Not long after this, he did divorce me,” Tess says, “and shortly afterward, he remarried.”
Throughout this ordeal, Tess remained faithful to God. She took the NEWSTART Health Program and enrolled in the Amazing Facts College of Evangelism (AFCOE). Next, she volunteered for a year of missionary work in San Francisco doing outreach, Bible study, health fairs, urban ministry, and depression recovery. “Today I’m a freelance missionary and a member of the Fremont Seventh-day Adventist Church,” she beams.
Pastor Tom Dodge is happy, as well. “We love having Tess at our church,” he says. “She is such a blessing, and she currently has a home Bible study on Wednesdays and follows up the interests from our visitors and from our media ministry.”
“I’ve learned to minister to people by Christ’s method alone,” Tess concludes, “and Ellen White explains it this way: “The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’ ” (Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 143).
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