My Bucket List

Given 18 months to live, I decided to bring one person to church every month.

By Bob Stuart, as told to Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

The doctor looked me straight in the eye.

“You have inoperable prostate cancer,” he said. “You have 18 months to live.”

Back at home, my family and I sat down to compile a bucket list of things to accomplish in my last 18 months. One of my four sons said he wanted to go on a cross-country bike ride with me. Another son spoke of running a half marathon in Seattle. My daughter wanted to cut a music CD together.

Then I thought to myself, “What do I want to do?” The answer was easy. I wanted to do more to share the gospel. I decided to bring at least one person to church every month.

My first chance to extend an invitation came two days later when someone asked me, “Bob, how’s your cancer?”

I told her about my bucket list and my plan to invite people to church.

“Would you be willing to help me fulfill my bucket list by coming to church next Sabbath?” I said.

The woman looked at me with compassion. She saw this as a last wish.

“Of course, I’ll come,” she said.

I have 2,200 clients a year, so I have a golden opportunity when they inquire about my health. It’s so easy to invite them to church.

At least two people — a married couple — have been baptized, and their eldest daughter will be baptized in a few weeks. Today, the wife leads a children’s Sabbath School class and is bringing other people to church.

“I’ll keep your gift going,” she told me. “I’ve got kids and their parents coming to church.”

Anyone can have a bucket list. It might be 20 years or more before you die, but you can start fulfilling that bucket list today by inviting someone to church every month.

Imagine how quickly the Seventh-day Adventist Church would grow if each of the church’s 20 million members brought in just one person a year. Conceivably our church membership could double in just 12 months.

Twenty-seven months have passed since the doctor gave me 18 months to live. I have invited many people to church, and about half have come.

The bucket list has become a lot of fun. It’s wonderful to hear people say, “Yes, I will commit to visiting your church.” But the most gratifying moment of all is when they actually come. They hug you and sit with you in church. They become part of your family.

Bob Stuart, 68, is a serial entrepreneur based in College Place, Washington. He serves as an elder, stewardship coordinator, Sabbath School teacher, school board member, and more at the Milton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Milton-Freewater, Oregon.