In November of 2004, the Hacienda Heights church leadership initiated planning for an Amazing Facts Bible prophecy seminar.

“We wanted to get involved in evangelism,” said Pastor Albert Frederico. “We set a budget of $50,000 for the series, and church members donated an additional $10,000. The board selected AF evangelist Tyler Long to conduct the meetings. Long had lived in Los Angeles and leaders felt he would appeal to young adults as well as California people. Jim Hillman, a graduate of AF’s College of Evangelism, was chosen as the series’ Bible worker."

Hillman initiated “Soup & Salvation” classes, instructing members in giving Bible studies. A number of studies were soon underway. To heighten the interest of youth and young adults, the church hosted a Youth Rush team of literature evangelists. The young LEs told stories of reaching people in the community who are hungry for truth. “They helped infect our members with the desire to go door-to-door,” Frederico reported. The church also engaged youth pastor Will Sellers to minister to young adults before and during the series.

Women’s ministry, led by Irene Jimenez-Chacon, supported the series’ preparation with a ladies’ tea, inviting women Bible students and others from the community as well as women who had come to their “Project Angel Tree” Christmas party for families of prisoners.

When it was time to invite the community to the meetings, brochures were sent to three area zip codes. Some members distributed brochures door-to-door; others included them in letters to former members. One former member reported, “A brochure came through our mail slot. I liked what I read and then forgot about it. Then I got one in the mail!”

More than 200 attended opening night, half of them from the community. That ratio continued throughout the series. Ten individuals were baptized at the close of the meetings, and four were welcomed into church membership on profession of faith. A buddy system began nurturing the new members. The church scheduled classes in discipling and spiritual gifts and held Sabbath morning doctrinal study classes.

“Our hope is for a new culture of outreach,” Frederico said. “Our church is known as friendly, loving and kind. We want to do that with guests now.” Following the meetings, that involved studies with 30 individuals. “We hope to baptize an additional 15 persons in the year ahead,” he added.

Hedy Ganis, a Dutch-Indonesian woman, brought 20 friends to the meetings. Ganis said, “I pray a lot, but I am not good in speaking, so I bring people I have known from a Bible-study class that has met for years in the home of an Indonesian-Chinese pastor of another Christian faith. Because he had studied about the Sabbath with us, I was interested when a fellow Bible student introduced me to the Amazing Facts television program.

"In watching DVDs from that ministry, my family decided to come to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. My husband and teenage son and daughter were baptized at the close of the meetings held there, and I joined the church through profession of faith. I had prayed that Amazing Facts would come to L.A., and God heard my prayer.”