WINDHAM, Maine — When a woman from Windham opened her mailbox to find a mysterious book she didn't order in the mail, she was confused. She wasn't the only one.
In the last few months, thousands of Mainers have received a copy of "The Great Controversy." For some, it brought a feeling of uneasiness.
"It was a conservative text. We were really dismayed by that and confused why anyone would spend that amount of money on something like this," said the woman, who asked us not to share her name.
She said she had a feeling it was part of a bigger project to spread certain religious beliefs, and she was right.
"It's called saturation mailing, like any advertisement—like Ford or Chevy," Dwight Hall, CEO of Remnant Publications in Michigan, where the book is printed and distributed, said.
Hall says the books are funded through donations and sent in mass quantities across the country.
"Somebody called in and said I have 'X' amount of dollars, I'd like to do this," Hall said, explaining the process that kickstarted the million-dollar project to get a book to every resident in Maine.
Hall said they've done about three-fourths of all homes so far, costing about $1.50 per book.
Although every single page has at least one mention of God or scripture, Hall said they don't believe they are pushing religion through the mailings.
"It's a religious book in nature, but it's more history," Hall said. Not everybody agrees with that.
"I think that's probably not true. I think that it's propaganda, intended to sway people's understandings of things," the woman from Windham who received a copy in the mail said.
The book starts with the fall of Jerusalem and predicts the End Times. It was written back in the 1800s, by one of the founders of The Seventh Day Adventist Church, who happened to be from Maine, but not all local members of that church are on board with this project.
"This is not a project of our local church," Gration Perera, pastor of White Memorial church in Portland, said. Perera said he understands why these projects can come across the wrong way.
"If not provided with the proper background of why it is being said for what, people have a misunderstanding," Perera said. He prefers a more interpersonal approach, believing mass mailings can appear aggressive.
"To me, mailing seems like the most unaggressive. They're not getting Bible-slammed, they can read it, throw it away, set it on a shelf, give it to someone else," Hall said. Though staying defensive of their strategy, Hall acknowledged that second option is a common choice, at least for the woman from Windham, who said she recycled her copy.
However, Hall said he genuinely doesn't mind that outcome. "Because it got sent to them, there's no strings attached."
Yet, to some people, even without any conditions, the whole idea still seems concerning.
"I support religious belief no doubt, but I just feel like this, in the hands of someone vulnerable, could be potentially dangerous," the woman from Windham said.
Hall estimates about 20 million books total have been mailed in the last 15 years to several different states across the country. He also said Remnant Publications is considering adding some extra messaging to future mailings, to avoid this kind of confusion and make their mission more clear.