Read first committed her life to the Lord Jesus Christ in the fall of 1979, while she was in the United States Marine Corps. She was stationed in Hawaii, but while on a temporary assignment to Yuma, Arizona the Iranian students seized the American Embassy in Tehran, and had taken several American hostages. A special friend of hers was on a six-month deployment to Japan, and was placed on red alert. He was prepared to go to Iran at a moment’s notice, and she felt so helpless to do anything about it. That was such an uncertain time in her life, and as unbelievable as it may sound, Read was actually thankful for the “Iranian Crisis,” because it was that momentous event that caused her to see the great need for her Savior. About that same time, a young Marine, whom she had never met, came up to her as she was leaving her barracks in Yuma and handed her a Bible and said, “Here, I think you need to read this.” He just walked away, and Read never saw him again, but she will never forget him! That brief encounter was a major turning point in Read’s life and she did take his advice. Read started reading and studying the Bible, but that was just the beginning of her walk with God…