Return Of A Prodigal Son

Written by Rita Pinzone.

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

Jeff Fitzsimmons first became an Adventist at 22 and was soon made a deacon and an elder in the Broken Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2002, he moved to South Australia with his wife to start their family.
Around six years later, he left the Adventist Church, following his wife to the Pentecostal Church. They eventually divorced, with the court awarding him custody of the children.

Although he no longer considered himself Adventist, Jeff was delighted to run into his old friend Daniel in 2019, who he had known from the Para Vista Seventh-day Adventist Church. They exchanged phone numbers and made plans to catch up. However, Jeff was unable to contact Daniel.

He later learned that Daniel had lost and broken his mobile phone.

Meanwhile, Jeff’s son Patrick had developed an interest in spiritual matters, searching out every possible religion, particularly regarding the origins of God and Satan. Through watching online videos, he soon
started learning about the Sabbath and Bible prophecy. He was convinced that the true church had to believe in the Seventh-day Sabbath and the Ten Commandments.

“I thought to myself, this boy has become a Seventh-day Adventist and I need to get him to a church,” Jeff recalls.

In December 2020, Daniel eventually managed to reach Jeff. He suggested they meet up at a pop-up bookstore in Hollywood Plaza, Salisbury. Jeff was happy to be reunited with Daniel and his wife Lolita. When he met Rita Pinzone, the literature evangelist running the pop-up stall, they each thought the other looked familiar. Later, they remembered that they had briefly met at the Queenstown Seventh-day
Adventist Church.

At the pop-up bookstore, Rita and Lolita gave Jeff some free Amazing Facts DVDs from the free literature table. After watching the DVDs, Patrick was so impressed that it inspired him to search the internet
for Doug Batchelor where he discovered the Revelation NOW series.

They were so captivated that they watched all 20 episodes within a week! Jeff also met Shane at the popup bookstore, who invited him to visit the Mawson Lakes church plant at Faith Adventist Centre.
Jeff and Patrick attended the next Sabbath.

“Patrick and I were astonished that this little church plant was so filled with love, care and sensitivity,” says Jeff. “It felt like we had found our church home.” Patrick agreed, saying that “the people
at that church are genuine people who believe the Bible.”

They both felt extremely accepted and welcomed from the start. They had only been attending for four weeks when Jeff and Patrick made the joint decision to be baptised together. On April 17, 2021, Patrick was baptised and Jeff was re-baptised into the Seventh-day Adventist faith.

Since then, Jeff and Patrick continue to volunteer with Rita whenever she runs her pop-up bookstores. “If your church is struggling to grow, pop-up stalls could be the solution,” says Jeff. “It’s a great way to get your congregation talking to the community and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.”