Back in 1985, I was diligently searching for the truths of God. I had a friend in Idaho whom I would call regularly for help. She suggested that I put out a Paul Revere newsletter. I didn't understand.
"Don't you know who Paul Revere was?" she asked.
"Yes, he was the midnight rider waking up the people."
"Isn't that what you are doing? Why don't you start up a Paul Revere newsletter and start evangelizing."
Within the month we put out our first Paul Revere newsletter. We needed a mailing list, so we sent it out to everyone we knew including brothers, sisters, parents and neighbors. Within a week, five newsletters were back in our mailbox marked, "Return to Sender." These people didn't receive us.
We didn't get discouraged, but just kept mailing the newsletters every month, signed by Paul Revere. Within a short period of time, I was asked to speak at different gatherings. I traveled the circuit from Portland to Medford to speak in homes where 10 to 20 families had gathered.
At a meeting in Medford, I was introduced as "Paul Revere." No one at the meeting knew me by any other name. Up to this point I was just using Paul Revere as a pen name. On the way back home we stayed with a family who insisted on calling me Paul: "We don't care what your old name is. It means nothing to us. You are Paul and your wife is Rachel. And those are the only names we will call you."
Rachel and I discussed our names on the way back. "Who are we? What are our names?" By the time we arrived in Sublimity, we knew God wanted us to change our names to Paul and Rachel Revere.
The next day we opened a new account with the telephone company under our new names. Next, we went to the Post Office and filled out a form for a post office box. We were truly amazed at how easy it was to start a new life.