Marek’s life began to change as he read The Great Controversy in Poland. He decided to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. He read that smoking is bad and decided to quit. But he couldn’t.

One Saturday, he passed a street poster offering a five-day stop smoking class. The address was a Seventh-day Adventist church. Marek had never heard of the denomination before, even after reading The Great Controversy and visiting the Adventist bookstore where he had bought the book.

Marek went straight to the church. He saw a poster for The Great Controversy on the church bulletin board and knew he had found the right place. It was 2 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, and the church normally would have been empty after worship services, but a group of literature evangelists were there, and they invited Marek to return the next Sabbath morning to worship.

Marek returned the next Sabbath and enjoyed the sermon. He was amazed at the kindness of the churchgoers. They told him that a large group of young people would meet in a nearby city the next Sabbath and invited him to go with them.

The next Sabbath morning, Marek waited by a road for the Adventists to pick him up. It was a hot day, and he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. As he waited, he sensed two voices speaking to him. One said, “Stay outside, and enjoy the nice weather.” The other urged, “Wait here because it’s really important that you go to this meeting.”

The Adventists arrived and took him to the meeting. The worship service amazed Marek. Every word was meaningful to him. The preacher, a British pastor from London, spoke until noon. Then he said, “I know I am supposed to end now, but I know there is somebody here who needs Jesus.”

Marek thought, “Who told him about me?”

The pastor then shared his personal story. He was born into a religious family but had left the church. He had used drugs and drank. His church and even his mother had stopped praying for him. 

“Then I met Jesus,” he said. “He took me up from the bottom where I was, and now I’m here to tell you about His power. And that He can change your life.”

Then the pastor made his appeal. “If you want Jesus to change your life, just come here to the front,” he said.

Marek saw 1,000 people in the crowd and cringed at the thought of standing in front

of them. With the very next sentence, the pastor addressed his doubts.

“Don’t think about others looking at you,” he said. “Just come here. Come to the front. It’s between you and God.”

Marek stood up. He couldn’t sit anymore. His heart beat wildly as he went to the front. As the pastor prayed, Marek understood the plan of salvation for the first time. He had lived a bad life, and Jesus had taken his place. Marek began to cry, and nobody could stop him. The tears flowed freely. But Marek also was excited and joyful.

“I really feel that God saved my life not only for His kingdom but also from physical death,”

Marek said later.

While studying at the Adventist seminary, he learned that his childhood friend Matthew was found dead with a knife in his heart. He had been using a lot of drugs, and no one knows what happened. He was only 23. His other childhood friend, Martin, ended up in prison for seven

“I really want to help young people find their purpose in life sooner than I did,” he said. “Maybe they will live better lives after hearing my story. I’m really thankful to God.

He saved me from everything, and He gave me everything. So, I have given everything to Him.”