The
luni-solar truth requires that everyone study for himself to see if these
things are so (Acts17: 11). It requires
effort. It requires time. But once you start with the right spirit and
mindset, you do not want to stop studying!
It’s really worth all the effort!

I
was born into a Greek Orthodox family, although our family was not generally
interested in spiritual matters. I have
one brother and one sister. At the age
of 7, I lost my father in a terrible accident.

When
I was 14, I knew of the Seventh-day Adventist church and began reading
Adventist literature (The Great
Controversy, etc.). I became
convicted of the Adventist message. My
brother, sister, and I faced fierce opposition from our uncles because of our
ties with some Adventist relatives and our interest in joining the SDA church,
which took place in 2004.

Eventually
we became more and more independent of our uncle who had been taking care of
us. We became increasingly tied to one
of our SDA relatives who assumed the role of our mother, and had a great role
in helping us join the church.

After
finishing high school in 2004, I started my undergraduate studies at a Seventh-day
Adventist University in a nearby country.
I quickly became involved in university church activities and student
life. I formed friendships with the
SDAs, and along the way I fell in love with a classmate. We shared many education courses as we were
both majoring in Education. She was a Maronite,
an eastern branch of the Catholic Church.

While
doing my Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education, I started another program of study in
Arabic literature and grammar at another university. Some time into my graduation year from the Adventist University, my girlfriend broke up with
me!

At
first, it was terribly painful. The
pains over this separation were coupled with problems at home with “the
Adventist Mum,” in addition to all the demands of the two B.A. programs. This took place late 2007 and into 2008.

I
could not figure out what was happening or why. Occasionally, I would pray
about it and receive really encouraging messages from His word, but still
nothing specific was given as to why all of these “separations” were taking
place. One problem after the other, the
changes were sweeping and fast. In the
meanwhile, my sister was having immense pressure from one of her teachers. My sister was a brilliant student. She was determined to study medicine in order
to join some form of medical missionary work.
Her teacher’s daughter was also in the same class and was strongly
competing with my sister for the highest marks in the class.

All
of these sweeping rapid changes produced the following results:

1. I was no longer in a relation to my girl.
2. I was no longer staying with “mum.”
3. My sister was not coping with increasing school obstacles.
4. We were independent of our uncles’ control.
5. We were growing spiritually very weak and vulnerable.

After graduating from the Adventist University, I enrolled in the graduate program, and was studying for my fourth and last year of Bachelor of Arts in Arabic. I was also working with the Al-Waad Channel, which is the Arabic version of the Hope Channel.

Those days in December 2009, will be always remain fresh in my mind. My sister, who was staying in our home country, told she would be visiting me for some time. The purpose of her visit was not to meet with me, but to meet with a team member from World’s Last Chance, Brother Sameh. She had recently been visiting WLC and studying their various teachings.

After around a week or so, my sister came to my place a new person. She began sharing with me very strange ideas:

1. The SDA Church was hiding the truth on the Sabbath!
2. She was no longer interested in studying medicine.
3. The Sabbath is to be kept according to the moon.
4. The feasts are to be kept, etc…

At
first, I was very agitated over her new attitude to “our Adventist church.” I remember, it was a Saturday, and I was in
charge of the Sabbath school. The theme
was, of course, Christmas. I considered
myself a good student of the Bible and I was determined to “get her back to
sanity.” I wanted my sister to continue
her studies. I tried to reason with her
using various arguments, twisting Scripture, resorting to common sense and
logic, hoping I would undo all the “brainwashing” she had been exposed to.

She
told me, “Are you willing to study with me?” I accepted the challenge. Leafing
through her small notebook, she began sharing the Biblical arguments for the
luni-solar calendar with me. I had never
seen my sister this involved and interested in bible study!

The
themes were fresh and new. I was not prepared
for such a battle! After a "short"
discussion lasting several hours, I was faced with two options: either to
blindly ignore the strong arguments my sister was presenting from the Bible in
support of “her new Sabbath” and just go with the large masses who keep
Saturday, or to have the moral courage to admit I had been keeping the wrong
day.

Thankfully,
I did not continue to cling to being offensive and opinionated. I chose to follow this new, unfolding truth. I felt very close to my sister as she was the
one sharing this Sabbath truth with me. I
could tell she was a changed person. She
was focused, well-oriented, and clear on the next step: sharing this truth as
soon as possible with as many as possible. She logged in to AO (Adventist Online) to try
to share with SDAs.

Before
she went back home, she handed me a copy of a book she had accepted from Sameh:The Great Calendar Controversy, a
really precious gift. She told me, “Keep
this book. I will need it. Keep in mind
the copies are limited. If you don’t
intend to read, I will take it.”

The
day she was going back home, I escorted her by bus to another city. On the way,
I read chapter 1 of the book and explained to her English words that she did
not know. Yet some facts presented were
difficult for both of us to understand.

Accepting this truth makes you feel special and highly favored in Heaven’s eyes. It makes you feel jealous and zealous for Yahuwah’s truth which is trodden underfoot by the world. This truth separates you from the world only to re-unite you more with your Saviour.

We
were so excited with what we were learning, that we were trying to share this
Sabbath truth even with other passengers in the bus. Of course, to them it was nonsense. But to us, it was enjoyable regardless of what
they might have thought of us.

We
also discussed how to share our newly-found faith with our eldest brother. We knew he would not be happy at all with a
floating Sabbath whose observance would mean leaving school. We were determined to stick together no matter
what. After all, we were the majority! We decided to wait until we were together
before telling him.

I
was so touched by the book and felt that Yah was speaking to me through it and
that He was working on the inside of me to draw me closer to His infinite
loving heart like never before.
Accepting this truth makes you feel special and highly favored in His
eyes. It makes you feel jealous and
zealous for His truth which is trodden underfoot by the world. It separates you from the world only to
re-unite you more with your Saviour.

Now,
my sister and I were no longer together. We each had our own battles on different
fronts. I was in direct contact with
SDAs as I was working with them, studying for my Master’s degree with them, superintending
the Sabbath school, and on top of it all, I was staying in the dormitory of the
Adventist University.

What
to do next? Should I tell them? Or wait and study some more about this truth
in order to get ready for their questions and objections? How could I take Sabbath off when it was a
regular working day in Al-Waad Studio? What
about attending university classes? O.K.,
I didn’t have to attend classes on
that particular day, but what about final end-of-year exams? What guarantee did I have that none would fall
on a Sabbath? I was tempted to think
that Yah might bless me by scheduling exams on days other than Sabbath, but
that reasoning did not originate from Heaven, I guarantee!

I
knew right then that continuing my studies would be a waste of time, money and
energy – time, money and energy which could
be sanctified for ministry in these remaining few years before Yahushua Messiah
returns. The decision was not an easy
one, for I love Arabic literature and had planned a different course for my
future, but Yah had other plans.

I
attended a few sessions in class and that was my chance to talk to some of my
classmates of this truth. Most of the students were Catholics. As I was sharing with one of them, I got the
clear impression that they thought I was being very foolish. The whole idea of leaving school when I had
only one year to go before graduation, was really alien to them. I remember how when I was talking to one of
them, almost the whole class got involved in the discussions. They brought up many topics: the trinity, the
Holy Spirit, etc.

One
said, “God knows your heart. He knows when
you want to obey His commandment and keep His day holy, but He excuses you when
you attend class on that day. For me,
even if the exam fell on a Sunday, I wouldn’t have a problem taking it.”

Those
days when I was ministering face-to-face were a real blessing – probably more
to me more than it was to them! My faith
was being built and established more and more. I had known those students for almost three
years, but never had I dared openly challenge their beliefs like I did after
accepting the lunar Sabbath. Keeping
this Sabbath has made religion come alive more than it ever has before.

I
even photocopied The Great Calendar
Controversy (the inside cover of the book said it was alright!) so I could
have my own copy, and started to delve into the world of luni-solar
calendation. Although I could not
understand everything, I understood enough to accept this truth.

Satan,
however, was trying to keep me very busy so that I would have no time for
studying this truth. He was trying to
burden me with extra time-consuming distractions. I was offered another job: teaching an Arabic
course at the Adventist
University. At first I accepted, but a little later I
realized I was falling into Satan’s snares. I declined to teach the course, praise
Yah!

I
approached the SDA manager at Al-Waad Studio.
I shared with him this truth, and asked him to allow me to take off any
day of the week for “keeping this new Sabbath.” As I was working part-time, I could make up
for my absence by working full-time later. He accepted my request on the condition that I
didn’t work on a Satyrday, “their Sabbath.”

In
the next few weeks, I started a small campaign sharing this truth with SDA
church members. The pastor of my local
church wanted to prove to me that the weekly cycle has never been broken. He said that the verses in Ezekiel 46, which
establish three different types of days in the Bible, were conditional verses, and that, in fact, this whole section of
Ezekiel was conditional.

I
saw no light in his arguments. He was
blindly adhering to church teachings instead of Scripture. His claims in no way nullified the fact that
there are three classifications of days in Scripture and that these three
different types of days appear throughout the Bible.

Of
course, I had other stumbling blocks that, for a time, shook my faith in this
truth. Some examples include the
following:

1. As I was Googling the subject, I came across the concept of postponement rules which aligned the crucifixion date to Friday. (I did not yet know that these rules came in after the Jews set aside their ancient calendar in the 4th century C.E.)
2. The doctrinal divisions among luni-solar Sabbatarians.
3. Some internet sites promote using postponement rules which, as I understood, harmonizes the Gregorian Calendar with feasts of the Bible, so the feasts can be calculated using the Gregorian Calendar.
4. Some YouTube clips claiming that the weekly cycle has never been broken, with reference to statements made by USNO.
5. My boss at Al-Waad channel, after reading some chapters in The Great Calendar Controversy, made some discouraging comments on:

   a)
   Day 30 of the lunar month. “What happens after the Sabbath of the 29^th?
   Genesis 1 says that after every 6 days of work, a 7^th day Sabbath
   follows. Does it mean this week
   following the 29^th has only one day?"

   b) How can you know with certainty when the New Moon will occur? (Now I know that you can know the dates for future new moons in advance using
   calculation. This is why everyone should empower him/herself by getting
   educated in order to answer these and other questions).

   c)
   The strange part for him was the concept of the long
   holiday after day 29.

It
was obvious he was just trying to cling to any apparent contradiction, or even
create one, in order to stick to a Saturday Sabbath.

All
along, though, I could almost hear that calm inner voice of the Heavenly
Father’s endorsement of this truth.

If
I had a question, I would ask Brother Sameh. In fact, Sameh and I were in constant contact
via Skype, emails, etc. Almost every day
we discussed a variety of topics related to the luni-solar calendar. He has been really helpful in clarifying many
misconceptions.

One
of the problems that lunar Sabbath keepers may have in explaining the truth has
to do with the linguistic resemblance that Saturday has, in many languages, to
the word “Sabbath.” This is the case in
Arabic: the words for Saturday and Sabbath are not close. No, they are identical. This is why
calling Wednesday a "Sabbath" seems absolutely insane. Sometimes, your own culture or language may be
an obstacle. But look at the other
available evidences and weigh the arguments presented.

I
think one of the best ways you, as a new believer in this truth, can get
encouraged and stay firm and strong amidst fierce opposition, is to share your
newly found faith. BE SILENT NO MORE!

Tell people of
this truth. Send them articles. For those who cannot read, explain the
Sabbath in a simple way. Focus on the
moon and how it is high up in the skies, away from man’s alterations and
amendments. Almost everywhere you go,
you find it up in the sky following you, making sure you see it so you know
that the Sabbath is approaching.

Get busy with explaining this truth. You may be asked new questions, but this will
serve to simply open your mind on new
avenues of the subject. You have an
account on Facebook? Use it for promoting the truth, sharing WLC
videos and 4angelspublications.com.

The WLC series of Three
Months in a Row is really special. The earlier version was really nice,
especially part 1, the music and the introduction. I used to watch such clips again and again.

When I returned home and met my sister and brother, it
was like my brother was asking me to convince my sister to continue her studies. He did not know that I myself had decided to
quit school and was no longer attending classes as before. My sister and I presented a united front
before our brother. There was shouting, there was tension, there was
division. There was no peace.

I see that Yah had a special wisdom in making both of
us keepers of this Sabbath, otherwise it would have been more difficult for my
sister to stand against my brother and me.

Christmas of 2009 was approaching. My brother was totally shocked to learn we were
leaving school. We were known by the
village people as straight-A students, high achievers who, despite the fact that
we were orphans, did very well in school. We had planned to live different lives, to
build different futures, but now as a result of embracing the true Sabbath we
were suddenly "bad examples" to others. We were an object of ridicule.

My brother is a lawyer and he was afraid of the effect
our new belief would have on his law practice.
He was concerned that if we told others that "Sabbath" was on
Monday (in other words, that Saturday was on Monday, since Saturday = Sabbath
in Arabic), he was afraid people would make fun of us and crack jokes at our
expense. He thought it would tarnish his
reputation as a successful lawyer to have his siblings espousing such strange
beliefs. Who would turn for any case to
a lawyer whose brother and sister said that "Tuesday was the Saturday,"
while the villagers were using his brother and sister as an example of
perseverance and diligence at school?

My brother had sacrificed a lot for us both. He was like our father. He loved us and we felt sort of obliged to
obey him and make him happy. At the same
time, we were more committed to our Creator and Father in Heaven. Whom to obey: the Creator or man?

Then I also had to deal with this question from one of
my uncles, “Some years ago, you used to say that the SDA church was the true
church. But now you have left it. You keep moving from one church to
another!"

I am thankful to those who encouraged us through e-mails
from WLC. The last day of the year,
2009, things escalated so badly that we asked the WLC team for prayer. We got many responses to our Urgent Answer
Needed e-mail address.

To make a long story short, I returned to the SDA
church, continued to study these things, and finally asked to have my
membership dropped from the church I had sacrificed to join. I was reconciled to my “Adventist mum” and I
tried to reconcile with those who had cut ties with me and vice versa. I am still trying to do this. I even shared this truth with my
ex-girlfriend, but to no avail. In fact,
I have been thankful that she broke up with me.

Likewise, my sister should have been thankful to that
teacher and her daughter who made school life difficult for her, so she could
be more attentive to Yah’s plans for her life rather than her own plans for
academic studies. Yah’s
hidden hand was working in mysterious darkness in order bring me and my sister
to His glorious light.

Currently,
my sister and I are happily serving Yah, enjoying liberty of conscience and the
fellowship of like-minded believers outside our home country. The hardships we faced at the start have been
overcome. Now there are different types
of temptations and attacks from Satan.
This will always be the case as long as we are living here on earth. My brother respects our convictions and we
pray that one day he will accept this truth, too.

We
so appreciate all of the efforts of the WLC team, the authors of The Great Calendar Controversy, and all
others who have put in a lot of effort to spread His Sabbath truth.

If
you are a believer in this truth, expect to be ridiculed, mocked and called names
from your friends and even loved ones. This truth is divisive!

Stay true to principle no matter what and Yah will never leave you nor forsake you.

For
some time, it was difficult for me to cope with how the SDAs had changed the
way they viewed me. I could sense it in
some people’s looks, in their eyes and tone of voice. Once I was going up to the roof to have a
better view of the moon. A friend of
mine asked me sarcastically, “Are you going up to see the moon more clearly?” There was a lot of peer pressure for being
different. If you feel like that as well,
take heart: Yahushua was labeled as different, too. You can not be a son of Yah if you are not
different.

My
boss at work told me that I could continue to work with them even if I wanted
keep my Sabbath on any day of the week, on the one condition that I keep silent
about the truth. I am happy that I am no longer employing any talent given me
by Yah in service of a church that promotes pagan days of worship instead of
the real Sabbath of creation.

Take
comfort in knowing that you are keeping holy the very day that Adam, the Patriarch,
Yahushua and His early followers kept holy.

Appreciate
this truth. Make it a living testimony
of Yah’s law. Stand true to principle no
matter what, and Yah will never leave you nor forsake you. Get united with your fellow Sabbath-keeping
believers worldwide in hallowing the day that Yah designated.

You
may be called to remain alone in this war, like the Saviour was in the garden
of Gethsemane. Remember: you are not alone! You are accompanied by His ministering spirits
sent to serve the heirs of His eternal salvation. Not long from now, if you stay faithful to
the end, you will be keeping Sabbath in the new heaven and new earth with the
multitudes of faithful ones from all the ages.
“From new moon to another, and
from one Sabbath to the other shall all flesh come to worship before Me”
(Isaiah 66: 23).

AMEN!