“Growing up, God wasn’t in our house,” said Thomas Hinze. “The most I heard about God was when my father cursed his name in vain.”
In 1961, Thomas was born number six of seven children to a working poor family in Spring Valley, Minnesota. He described his household as ungodly and without guidance, even though his father sometimes took him and his siblings to attend the Southern Baptist Church. Hearing the pastor yell from the pulpit that he would burn in hell made Thomas think, I don’t want to be a part of this. Still, that yearning for something more sat deep in his core, and his search continued as he grew up.
When he reached 18, Thomas joined the Marines, then the police force. He says he “did everything society was telling me I was supposed to do.” Led by uncertainties, he wandered from the Methodist Church to the Lutheran Brotherhood. When the question of marriage came up in his life, he decided to be baptized into the Catholic Church to get married at the altar. “I was doing it for man’s purposes, not for God’s purposes,” he explained. He still attended church, mostly to please relatives, but he truly hoped to find God, because he felt something big was missing.
A seed is planted
One day, as Thomas cast his line into the river for trout, he peered at the empty sky above. “Where are You, God?” he cried out. “Where are You?” He set his fishing rod aside and lumbered around a nearby willow tree. A gust of wind struck him just then. He recalls feeling the Holy Spirit touch his heart—not to change him at that very moment, but to plant a seed. “So that when I was ready,” he said, “I would be able to accept Jesus.”
Thomas sought to water that seed by exploring different churches, but he fell once more into doubt and confusion. He drifted back to the Baptist Church, where he asked to be rebaptized. The pastor, however, told him it was unnecessary, for he had already been baptized. This left him unfulfilled and frustrated.
It was about this time that Thomas’ older brother extended his hand and offered Thomas a place in his home. While Thomas lived there, members of a church he had only heard of knocked on the door. They introduced themselves as Ken and Ann Brown, Seventh-day Adventists, and shared spiritual works like The Great Controversy. This piqued the brothers’ interest.
When the Browns offered Bible studies, the brothers were elated. They loved spending some time each Sabbath learning in communion with friends. For the next few months, Thomas stepped back on the path to finding peace under the guidance of the Browns and his brother. That path, however, is as narrow and treacherous as they come.
February 2025 brought anguish that seemed to tear the path out from under Thomas’ feet. His brother fell terribly ill. After several hospital trips, he was placed in a coma, for nothing more could be done for him. However, he was not alone during this time, for Ken and Ann Brown came to his side. “They sang to him, and they prayed over him,” Thomas recalled. “And I know that he was with Jesus when he passed on.”
Sadly, Thomas did not lean on his faith to heal his wounds but turned to alcohol to numb them. He sat wishing that he would also die. He cried out again, “God, why are You taking him now? He’s helping me.” Thomas felt alone, confused and lost once more.
It was during this great drought that the hands of Ken and Ann reached into his darkness and held him steady. Not only that couple, but Pastor Tony Ferreira of Countryside Seventh-day Adventist Church came and supported him. For the first time, Thomas was met amid his turmoil and accepted as he was.
The seed starts to sprout
In July of 2025, a blood clot the size of a golf ball lodged itself in his heart, leaving him hospitalized with a blood pressure of 60/40. Thus, the faith journey of Thomas Hinze was presumed over when he was put on hospice. Referring to that time, Thomas said, “I’m not looking at living anymore. I’m looking at dying.” The disease in his heart sought to strangle the seed before it could sprout.
“Who comes to see me when I’m on my deathbed?” he shared. “Ken and Ann Brown.” As they did for his brother, they sang to Thomas and prayed over him.
During that time, Thomas had moved in with his stepson in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Thomas and his brother had been discussing baptism earlier, and Thomas still held that desire, now more than ever with his impending death. He expressed it to Pastor Tony and Ann and the event was scheduled.
Thomas confessed his faith to the Countryside congregation with Pastor Tony at his side. “I stepped into the water with fear for God … And I went under the water, then the pastor pulled me out, and I took my first breath of life.” His first breath among the company of people who truly accepted him.
After that, Thomas said he broke the rules and graduated from hospice by “refusing to die.” After his baptism, his heart function increased from 15 to 25 percent. Ever since then, every aspect of his life has been “so much better.”
Instead of dying, that seed planted by the Holy Spirit long ago sprouted like never before, and Thomas knew where he was called.
Before, church attendance was a reluctant obligation. Now, when he falls ill and misses a service, his friends from Countryside call to ask if he is well, and he experiences the kindness and graciousness of God through community.
Thomas said, “My life is the Great Controversy.” He has experienced that push and pull through the years. Questions and doubts tore at his mind, physical ailments wracked his body, and loss halted his faith journey. It was a gust of wind from the Holy Spirit and the warmth of two friends singing to him that focused his mind on what mattered.
Today, at the age of 64, Thomas has peace in the love of Christ, who guided him to his homecoming. “If someone doesn’t believe in God,” he said, “all they gotta do is look at me and see that Jesus works.”
Author bio
Hailing from Colorado, Seth Coe is at Union working through his final year as a Writing Studies major. When he’s not focusing on his studies to be an editor after graduation, he’s daydreaming about stories to craft.
“Life Travel Tip”
When I first played the guitar, my fingers ached and swelled. I kept playing until calluses covered them, and now that pain seems like a fleeting thing. Do not set the guitar back down before that can happen, for consistency is key in accomplishing the goals before you.
