Story by Edwin Manuel Garcia
Unbeknown to him, Fred Shoemaker’s first inclination toward Adventism included a conversation he initiated with his mother at the age of 6 or 7 when they attended the Church of Christ in Linden, Ohio, on Sundays. “You know, Mom,” he said, “this isn’t the seventh day; it’s the first day.” She didn’t disagree.
Years later when Shoemaker was studying for a doctorate in history, a fellow history graduate student, Jim Rohrer, challenged him to broaden his reading list beyond political history to also include religious history. That’s how he came across footnotes that mentioned the Millerites and the Advent movement.
arco Estrada had no idea he would end up being a pastor. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “my dream was to be a soldier.”