Finding a Church Home

After Dustin Wilkins was rejected by many Christian groups for sharing Bible truth, he considered starting a new church.

But when he was led to investigate the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he was overjoyed to discover a whole denomination that believed as he did! Dustin had not always been seeking God. But God had always been seeking him!

In his teens, Dustin became involved in addictions and sin. Around the age of 15, he was baptized into a Baptist church. However, his life did not truly change. Around the same time, his father Leigh, who had been interested in mission work, decided to go on a mission trip to Mexico with Dustin, during which they helped build a church.

When they returned from the mission trip in 1995, his father came to the rather shocking conclusion that he was meant to be female. His decision to begin living as a woman led to him being expelled from their church. They went to several other congregations and experienced rejection. The churches seemed unable to offer help in this difficult and sensitive situation. This led Dustin and Leigh to leave Christianity and God altogether, feeling they had gone too far, or that perhaps God did not even exist.

After this, Dustin plunged into a life of sin and addiction and became a popular YouTuber. But in his depths of darkness, God was about to use unique ways to awaken him.

Dustin traveled extensively for his YouTube channel. During one trip, while staying in San Diego at a secure hostel accessible only to registered guests, a man who he had never seen before came to him and said, “I don’t know why I am supposed to say this, but God’s got big plans for you.” Dustin, extremely angry, checked out of the hostel and left.

Sometime later, while doing a live program in Tijuana, Mexico, a random person came up to him and said, “God’s got big plans for you.” This angered Dustin even more.

After this, he went to an area about 45 minutes south of Tijuana where he thought no one would find him. While there, someone came to him and asked, “Are you Dustin? You and your dad came and built our church years ago.” He shared the blessing that the church had been. The church was on the opposite side of Mexico, so this encounter was definitely unexpected. The man invited Dustin to attend a church service with him that evening, and Dustin agreed.

This was the beginning of a gradual life change. Dustin began attending church but still continued in sinful ways. He moved across Mexico to where he and his dad had helped to build the church years before. There he eventually gave up his sinful ways and surrendered his life to God. He went through a course of study and became an ordained minister and specialized in addiction recovery ministry.

But he had some concerns. When he was a child, his grandmother had told him that Saturday was the true Sabbath and that pork was unclean. Although his grandmother and others had told him that Jesus’ death invalidated these requirements, he could see no change in the Bible.

When Dustin’s father developed health issues, Dustin returned to Michigan to care for his father. In Michigan, Dustin started seeking a church that taught the whole Bible truth. When he preached, churches would tell him, “We don’t need you here.” Dustin became frustrated and began to consider starting his own church.

While God was transforming Dustin’s life, He was also working in Dustin’s father’s life. Dustin suggested that his father Leigh’s health problems might be aggravated by taking hormones. When Leigh chose to stop the hormones, his health greatly improved.

Although Leigh had taken a journey through atheism, Buddhism, and more, he had not found peace. He thought he might find peace in chanting, so he procured a psalter but did not know how to perform the Gregorian chants. With still no interest in God or religion, he contacted the Catholic Church for instruction. God used this unusual channel to influence Leigh to decide to come back to God, and to decide that he wanted to return to being the man that God made him to be.

When Leigh was at a local fair distributing saint medals at the Catholic booth, he decided to take a break and walk around. He came to a booth sponsored by the Coldwater SDA Church. He accepted some literature but threw it away when he saw the emphasis on the seventh day. The next year, he sought out the SDA booth again. This time he went home to Dustin and said, “You need to check these people out before you start your own church! They believe everything that you do!” Dustin was surprised and reluctant. He had been taught that Seventh-day Adventists were a cult, but he began to investigate their beliefs on the websites of the Coldwater and Burlington churches.

The next day, Dustin and Leigh received a flier for an upcoming prophecy seminar. Dustin’s dad encouraged him to attend. They had no vehicle, so Dustin emailed to ask the church if they had a transportation ministry. Pastor Bayani Pastrana assured him that they could be picked up. Still, Dustin delayed. In the meantime, a vehicle was lent to them. Again, Pastor Pastrana contacted him, so Dustin said he would come to church.

When Dustin visited the Burlington SDA Church, he quickly felt the warmth of fellowship and Bible-based worship. The members were friendly, the Bible was studied, and the music was not like a concert. He decided to stay for Sabbath School afterward. Following Sabbath School, a member invited him home for lunch. In 2000, when Dustin was in prison, he had read a story about a man being invited home after church. He thought, “Nobody does that. If I went to a church and someone invited me home for a meal, I’d know I had come home.” This hospitality made a huge impression on Dustin.

Dustin, and eventually Leigh, began attending the prophecy seminar. When Pastor Pastrana visited their home, he found Dustin overjoyed to be hearing many of the same biblical truths he had discovered for himself. When the state of the dead was presented, Dustin was elated to discover that the SDA Church also taught this Bible doctrine. As time continued, Dustin realized that God had led him to the church he had been longing for—a church that upheld all of the Bible’s teachings.

Dustin and Leigh made the decision to commit to the Lord fully through baptism and join His church. They shared their testimonies and were baptized on Sabbath, November 16, at the Coldwater SDA Church and became members of the Burlington SDA Church.

Dustin rejoices in sharing what God has done in his life. “He had a plan for me all along,” he says. We look forward to a continued unfolding of the “big plans” that God has in store for Dustin and Leigh as they continue to follow His leading.