Redeemed by Truth: How the paths of two couples intertwined on their way to redemption

Two couples, once trapped in addiction, violence, and despair, are now vibrant members of the Forest City Seventh-day Adventist Church in North Carolina—living proof of God’s power to restore and transform. Through divine appointments, Bible study, and a shared hunger for truth, Cliff and Angela Ivey and Jordan and Stephanie Hayes have not only found new life in Christ, but have also led each other toward the everlasting gospel.

Cliff Ivey’s early life was marred by abuse and street life. He began using methamphetamines at age twelve and soon spiraled into crime, anger, and hopelessness. “I didn’t have love for people. I didn’t have love for myself,” Cliff shared. He met Angela while still deep in addiction, eventually drawing her into the same destructive lifestyle. Angela, already struggling with alcoholism and marijuana use, found herself compromising convictions just to stay close to him. “I lost custody of my son twice,” she said. “But my mother never stopped praying for me.”

While Cliff served time in prison for identity theft, Angela remained faithful, remembering who he was before the drugs. After his release, she urged him to attend church. “I didn’t believe in God,” Cliff admitted, “but I loved my wife enough to go.” Slowly, the Holy Spirit began softening his heart.

Around this time, Cliff began working with Jordan Hayes. Jordan, too, carried a past filled with pain. From age eight, he had been on antipsychotic medication, and later battled addiction to pain pills, alcohol, and heroin. After years of self-destruction and tragic family loss, including the deaths of both parents and a stepmother, Jordan heard God’s voice say, “It’s going to be alright.” That moment began his journey back to hope.

Cliff was on fire for Jesus, and Jordan noticed. “I wanted what he had,” Jordan said. The two began frequent conversations about Scripture—often disagreeing but committed to studying the Bible independently to seek answers. It was Jordan who first introduced Cliff to the Sabbath truth and the health message. Though he wasn’t ready to embrace it yet himself, Jordan shared a video called The Blueprint by Ivor Myers, which deeply convicted Cliff. Soon, both men were watching Walter Veith’s Total Onslaught series with their wives, and the Sabbath truth took root.

Stephanie Hayes, Jordan’s wife, had also faced her own darkness. Pressured to have an abortion at sixteen, she instead chose life for her child after hearing God say, “Thou shalt not kill.” Her early years were shaped by domestic abuse, addiction, and a violent marriage that ended with her in the hospital. She eventually met Jordan at a bike rally—an encounter that began a rollercoaster relationship grounded in mutual brokenness but ultimately guided by grace.

As both couples began to embrace Adventist beliefs, they sought a church home. Reluctantly, Jordan and Stephanie walked into the Forest City Church, where Pastor Tim Sheridan met them with open arms. Soon after, Cliff and Angela followed. “Cliff had so many questions,” Sheridan recalled. “We spent hours after prayer meetings digging into Scripture.” Both couples began Bible studies with Sheridan and were baptized within months.

Angela reflected on the transformation: “The man I married and the man standing here today are two completely different people.” She described her baptism in the Adventist Church as the first time it felt “real.” Cliff added, “Jesus took my heart of stone and made it flesh. I love people now.”

Today, the Iveys and Hayeses continue growing in faith and sharing their testimony. From late-night Bible discussions to Sabbath fellowship, their lives are deeply rooted in Christ. “Everything we went through brought us to this point,” Cliff said. “I wouldn’t change any of it, because it took every detail for me to find Jesus.”