By Bobby Davis
Over the years, we’ve published scores of the most amazing stories of how the Lord brought people of all descriptions in contact with Three Angels Broadcasting Network—stories of satellite dishes stuck on 3ABN, radio broadcasts picked up hundreds of miles away, and TVs that would pick up nothing else. But this story happened close to home— practically in our backyard!
Mike Cavaness was raised in Akin, Illinois, just a few miles away. “My family owned property here in Franklin County, and I bought part of their farm,” he says. “I’ve always been very content in southern Illinois, and honestly, I’ve never aspired to live anywhere else.”
His wife Kris agrees. “My family moved from Oklahoma to McLeansboro when I was in grade school, and although I could live anywhere, I want to be where Mike is, so I love it here, too. Mike and I met one summer, and we began dating. But I was working in Springfield, four hours away, and Mike was attending Bailey Technical Schools in St. Louis, Missouri. So we drove back home on weekends to go out on Saturday nights.
“Two years later, we married, and Mike became the youngest transportation manager his boat factory had ever hired. He was blessed with successful careers in the auto parts and tire businesses, and I worked for the state’s Rehabilitation Services until we decided to start a family. Then I stayed home to be a full-time mom, and I believe that’s God’s greatest job! Today we have two grown daughters, Erin and Joanie; a fine son-in-law, Steve; and a wonderful boy and girl set of twin grandchildren who are now seventeen!”
When their children were older, the couple decided to buy an old gas station in Thompsonville, and while Mike worked on car and tire repairs, Kris washed car windows and pumped gas. Eventually they tore the old station down and built a new one, and some years later, they sold the business, and both of them worked other jobs until they retired.
Beliefs
Mike says his mother tried to raise him as a Catholic, “But my dad was a Baptist that didn’t go to church, so that didn’t last long. From then on, we didn’t have any church affiliation,” he says. “But when I was 16, a terrible motorcycle accident changed my life .My leg was crushed, so I had multiple surgeries and was in the hospital for nearly six months. During that time, a Baptist preacher came by to visit me once, and although I didn’t know him, he prayed with me, and then gave me his little white Bible with a zipper, and encouraged me to give my heart to the Lord and be saved. I was desperate for change, so I did, but I never knew what else to do—until I met Kris.”
“Mike told me he prayed for three things in that hospital,” Kris recalls. “He prayed to be able to walk normally someday. He prayed to be able to farm again. And he asked God for someone to share his life with.” She pauses for a moment and then laughs. “He never farmed again, but two out of three isn’t bad!”
The influence Kris had on Mike was profound. They both began attending the 10-Mile Baptist Church, and soon he was baptized in Miller Pond.
“I thank God every day for a mother who took me to church every Sunday,” Kris says. “Because of her, I was saved when I was thirteen, and I remained in church ever since.”
Their commitment to the Lord continued throughout their marriage. Mike drove the church bus and was a trustee for many years, while Kris taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, ran sound for the Passion play, and did whatever needed to be done at church.
Questions
When it came to doctrines, Kris says she always trusted the man behind the pulpit. “If he said that God had called him to preach, then who was I to question it?” she explains.
However, Mike wasn’t so trusting. “Sometimes I’d question things, but I didn’t push it,” he admits. “I didn’t want to argue, so basically we left those things alone.”
It’s important to note that Mike and Kris were there when Danny Shelton first felt impressed to build a television station that would reach the world. As fellow Christians, they were supportive, and over the years, when some townspeople would criticize 3ABN, they always stayed out of those conversations. “We knew Danny and did business with him at our gas station. We even shared construction equipment while they were building the first studio.”
The Cavaness family was happy in their church and their work, and 3ABN continued to grow into a worldwide television network, adding a radio network in 2000. But while Mike and Kris were aware of our television ministry, it was 2006 before Kris heard 3ABN Radio for the first time.
“You know those moments when something big happens and we remember exactly where we were?” Kris asks. “We all remember when President Kennedy was assassinated, or when the space shuttle exploded. Well, that’s how I felt when I found 3ABN Radio. They were talking about the role of the papacy in the end times, and I drove into a parking lot to listen. I’d never heard such things, and I was absolutely stunned! Can this be true? I wondered.
“I filed it all away, and kept listening to 3ABN nearly every day. When I changed jobs, my schedule changed, and suddenly I was hearing Joe Crews and Amazing Facts. I still remember the highway I was on when he spoke about the body and spirit, and how we’re not immortal souls! He said that wood and nails can be made into a box, but when you take it apart, it’s not a box anymore. Then he explained what the Bible says happens when we die. On our way to church that Sunday, I told Mike about it. It made sense to us, and it was exciting. But when he tried mentioning it at church, no one seemed to know how to handle it.”
Cornbread
One day, as Kris watched the Travel Channel, she learned about a Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, not far from Chattanooga. “It was coming up, and since it was right up our alley, we decided to go. That Sunday, when we’d normally be in church, we sat in our motel searching for a church service on TV, and we found something from Amazing Facts. There was this man, talking to children, and for a good half-hour, we sat there glued to our TV without saying a word. When it was over, we looked at each other and said, ‘Who is this guy?’ From that point on, I kept looking through the Dish Network program guide for any mention of Amazing Facts or Doug Batchelor.”
A Sign
Kris kept listening to 3ABN Radio, and suddenly she began hearing a lot about the Sabbath. “That topic upset me every time,” she admits. “My heart was for God, but I wanted it not to be true because it went against everything I’d been taught. So every time they mentioned the Sabbath, I’d turn off the radio! It kept happening, though, so one day I prayed, ‘Lord, if it matters what day we worship on, then let me know! Just give me a sign, please.’”
She didn’t have to wait long. “We were driving through Thompsonville, past 3ABN’s Worship Center, and there, on the marquee, it said, ‘3ABN’s 2014 Spring Camp Meeting with Pastor Doug Batchelor.”’
Mike and Kris immediately took several days off work to attend. “We had no idea what to expect,” she admits, “but as we sat down, we saw people we knew and had done business with all around us. Then Danny Shelton spotted us, and called us up on stage!”
Mike remembers that moment well. “We shared what we had been learning, and then I said, ‘You know, this gospel is going out to the whole world, but we’re finally getting it right here—just two miles away!’”
Kris continues, “We’d heard about these truths, but we didn’t know what to do with them, so we just put them away. When you’re walking in dogma, it’s hard to consider anything else; but now our eyes were being opened to new truth. We’d had a business on Main Street for many years, but now we were around people who could explain it to us. When we understood the significance of the Sabbath, everything else fell into place.
“Jesus said, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.’ How wonderful to know we are now finally keeping His fourth commandment in our Christian walk. Our family members and friends know we love the Lord, and that we’re happy in our newfound understanding of truth.”
Trust
Mike and Kris attended the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, and became very involved in 3ABN’s ministry. “When Danny called me up on that stage, I told everyone that if I ever quit my job, I’d volunteer full time,” Kris says, “Little did I know that my office would be shut down soon after. But God had His reasons, and Mike and I got to retire at the same time.”
True to her word, Kris volunteers at our Call Center, and also works with our church’s Vacation Bible School. Meanwhile, Mike began working part time at 3ABN, but longed to maybe get back into the trucking business.
“I found out quickly that’s not what God wanted me to do!” he says with a laugh, “and so far, all the other doors are closed. But God is sovereign, and He faithfully takes care of us, according to His will.”
“And speaking of faithfulness, we’ve tithed since we first got married,” Kris adds. “I told Mike, ‘You do what you have to do, but I’ll tithe what I make.’ And when he tried it, someone came by and bought an old tractor that had been for sale for a long time. It was like God was saying, ‘Trust me, and I’ll take care of you.’”
Mike and Kris joined the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church by Profession of Faith, and are a wonderful addition to their new church family. God has wonderful plans for their lives, and we can’t wait to see them unfold!
Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church
