Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Caleb Coller, Jamie Pottinge, Karina Silva, Jean Jarda
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR00076A
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00:11 Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recovery, today we are
00:13 actually walk somebody through some of their stuff 00:16 through prayer and you're not going to one to miss this 00:18 or you are not going to want to miss the kids from 00:20 Miracle Meadows, they are an incredible group. 00:22 So come join us in the café. 00:52 Welcome, you know what? It is really amazing to me about 00:55 having this particular group on, from Miracle Meadows 00:58 is that the first time I went I knew they were going to 01:01 have some at risk kids. 01:03 I knew they dealt with some pretty serious stuff. 01:06 It was the first time that I had walked someplace and 01:08 felt like these kids know exactly how I feel. 01:12 They know what it feels like to be ashamed. 01:15 They know it feels like to be full of anger. 01:18 They know what it feels like to have somebody not take 01:21 care of them, in this sense growing up. 01:23 They know what it feels like to walk in and feel from the 01:26 very core of who you are that I have to defend myself. 01:30 The more heard their stories, the more heard different 01:33 parts of what happened in their life, I just wanted to 01:36 hug them and say, you can't hug them because right now 01:40 they are still angry, what are you doing in my face? 01:42 So you can't do any of that and I even know what that 01:46 feels like, so on this particular program I am going to 01:50 introduce you to a number of the residents from 01:52 Miracle Meadows and they will share with you what their 01:56 life is like, what their healing looks like, and what 01:59 they are working on at Miracle Meadows. 02:01 If you see any stuff or junk, I just want you to know it 02:06 is there and God is not afraid of any of it. 02:08 I want to talk a little with the group in the café before 02:11 I bring you up. 02:13 I want to talk about, there are sins that God forgives. 02:19 We can come to Him with any thing, forgive me for my anger. 02:26 Forgive me for the fact that I just beat up someone. 02:31 Forgive me for the fact that I'm acting out online stuff. 02:35 For the crazy thinking in my head, forgive me for all 02:39 that, God is really amazing about the forgiveness of sins. 02:43 There is forgiveness of disease, right? 02:47 Our diseases, I just got diagnosed, not too long ago, 02:51 with Cancer, and by the way I'm doing amazing, so keep praying 02:55 for me, but I just got diagnosed with cancer and 02:57 God heals those things. 02:59 So there sins that He forgives, there's disease that 03:03 He heals, but there is another thing called infirmities. 03:08 Infirmities, the only way that has ever made sense to me 03:11 is a person I talked to one time, is if you go out west 03:15 and you see the big Sequoia trees, there are some big 03:19 trees in some of the places out in California. 03:23 Redwood trees, and some you can literally cut a hole in 03:26 the middle of the tree and drive your car through it, 03:29 it is so huge. 03:30 If you take those trees and cut them in half and get a 03:33 slice of them, there are rings that you can see. 03:36 Those rings are places in the life of the tree that have 03:41 been trashed, a drought, a fire, a disease that almost 03:47 took the tree out. 03:48 A park ranger will say, this year this tree almost totally 03:52 died, this year was a fire, this year was two or three 03:56 years of heavy rains where the tree almost died because 03:59 of that and you can see it in the ring. 04:02 This year there was no water and 04:04 you can see that in the rings. 04:06 Like us, we have things in are very heart, are very soul, 04:12 that are damaged like that. 04:14 There are years of fire, there are years of drought, 04:17 there are years where I was flooded with too much junk. 04:21 Those in the Bible are called infirmities. 04:25 God has the ability to heal our infirmities. 04:28 Like those Redwood trees, they still look great. 04:31 They are standing there all great looking, but when you 04:34 cut into them you can see all that stuff. 04:36 For some of us all that stuff is always there and plagues 04:39 us, someone gets in our face and all of a sudden I'm back 04:43 to that year fire and I don't want you to hurt that. 04:46 That is a wounded area for me and I don't want 04:47 you to hurt that. 04:49 I haven't yet understood to give that to God and let Him 04:51 heal me, I don't know that yet. 04:54 We are going to talk in this program about how God heals 04:58 those things, because those things constantly get in our 05:01 way, to do that I want to introduce you to a number of 05:04 the folks that work at Miracle Meadows. 05:07 Some of the folks that are trying to get healing. 05:10 To do that I would like to also do a prayer with one 05:13 of the residence at Miracle Meadows. 05:15 We have already agreed to this and we are going to work 05:18 through an issue, but work through the issue as if it 05:21 was him and I at Miracle Meadows and literally looking 05:24 at how God was going to bring healing. 05:26 I want you to know that when we do that I'm going to try 05:30 and forget that I am here. 05:31 I am hoping that Caleb forgets that too and that we 05:33 literally get to work through this and get to pray. 05:37 Somebody asked me one time, how do you lead someone in 05:40 prayer with these heavy issues? 05:42 So we are going to do that on air, 05:44 so pray for us before we even start. 05:47 Right now I want to introduce you to Jamie. 05:49 Jamie works at Miracle Meadows so go ahead and come on up. 05:53 What cracks me up a lot of times, when somebody is at 05:58 a ministry like this, is I know these kids and they are 06:02 not every day saying, I love Jamie, he so cool. 06:05 They really get on your, they really test all their anger 06:09 on you, they look at you sometimes as the enemy. 06:12 So what leads you to a place like Miracle Meadows and 06:15 where are you from? 06:17 I was born in Jamaica, Miracle Meadows was introduced to me 06:20 by my friend, and we worked in Canada with kids that 06:23 were stuck in drugs and stuff in the past, 06:25 while going to college. 06:26 He said to me come and try it out in West Virginia for 06:29 a couple weeks before graduation from college. 06:30 I said, you know what? I've never heard of West Virginia. 06:33 That sounds like the boondocks, I don't want to be there. 06:37 After I came, I went to Miracle Meadows for about two 06:40 weeks before graduation and I thought you know what? 06:42 These kids remind me so much of myself when I growing up 06:45 as a kid, because I am from a large family of 8 siblings, 06:48 so I was exposed to all different personalities. 06:51 Right away I was able to connect with some of these kids. 06:55 So I went home and had gotten job offers as 06:57 I was a computer major. 06:59 A computer major? That's not even close to working 07:02 behaviorally. - No way close to a computer major. 07:06 I have a minor in communication studies also there 07:10 so I had nothing in my back- round that would attract you. 07:14 So while I was there he said, the director at that time 07:18 say you should come back. 07:19 I went home after graduation and thought should I go back. 07:23 My mother was like, you would make more money in Jamaica 07:26 working in your field, but if that is what God wants you 07:29 to do, you should go ahead and do it. 07:30 I'm like, God doesn't want me to, God wants me to start 07:32 a family and move on and have fun. 07:34 Anyway wrestled with it, I prayed about it and said, 07:37 God if you don't want these things to work, don't let them 07:41 work out and I had two interviews. 07:43 They were almost at the point of working out and then they 07:46 didn't one of them ended working out when I was back in 07:49 West Virginia, and I said you know God this is the plan 07:52 for me and I came back. 07:53 So what, you said that you had a large family so 07:58 you could relate to these kids. 08:00 But sometimes, in our damage, we can be so cruel. 08:03 What keeps you there? 08:05 I think what keeps me there is the vision of what they are 08:09 capable of becoming, because sometimes we look at kids 08:13 and say okay... - I want to kiss you on the face 08:15 when you said that, because for a lot of us 08:17 we can't see that vision. 08:18 When I come in and work with kids, especially from an 08:22 outreach place like Miracle Meadows, I know that they are 08:25 incredible, and some of these kids are so talented. 08:29 You can see that, there is just that injury and edge 08:33 that interferes with them. 08:35 The thing is when you meet a kid for example. 08:39 When Caleb was fresh, at Miracle Meadows, you would battle 08:43 constantly, because he had a way of life, and I had a different 08:47 idea as to where he should be heading. 08:49 He would be like, why are you so interested in me? 08:52 He would use the meanest words, he would call me all the 08:55 words... - He'd try to push you out of his life. 08:57 He would push me around and sometimes get into my face. 08:59 We would have to do Pastor exchange sometimes because, 09:01 but the thing is working through the kid and watching 09:04 that kid after you have finished saying okay you know 09:06 what Mr. Pottinger, two or three weeks after 09:08 I understood what you were saying. 09:10 Or I get the picture, watching a kid marching at the end 09:13 of graduation, that kid whose parents had no hope for 09:16 them, that kid that was hooked on drugs, in an out of the 09:19 delinquent halls and stuff like that finally making a decision 09:21 to move forward. 09:22 That in itself is a motivating factor to be working with 09:26 kids like those. 09:27 That is huge, one time I was there and it was before you 09:29 were there all but one time I was there and some of the 09:32 kids said they wanted to be baptized before I left. 09:36 We hunted for church that could open their doors up to 09:39 let us be baptized, we found a church. 09:42 Their families came in and I watched as, I don't know how 09:45 many kids like 4 were being baptized. 09:47 I watched their parents just in tears because that is the 09:50 goal of us to get someone to a point where they can walk 09:53 away from all that hurt and all that anger and just allow 09:56 them to live their life now. 09:59 Free of all that damage. 10:01 I think what happens most kids we receive at Miracle 10:04 Meadows, they are coming from a construct where 10:07 they are told that success is nowhere in their frame for 10:13 life. - They can't even dare to dream about it. 10:14 They can't even dare to dream, they been kicked out of 10:16 church or school, they been kicked out of the public 10:19 system and at Miracle Meadows these kids are looking for 10:22 is love, not just the love where I give you everything you 10:25 want, but love that says, you know what? 10:27 I am willing to work through with you, even if it takes 10:30 the tough approach and by doing that they recognize that 10:34 not only do you care, but you are willing to be hard when 10:37 it is needed for you to be hard on them. 10:40 - Caring enough to confront. - definitely. 10:42 On confronting them, what happens is that you develop 10:45 a relationship and that relationship allows them to 10:47 trust you, and by trusting you in the long run it will build 10:51 a relationship with their parents. 10:53 As a result of their delinquent practices they found it 10:56 difficult to bond and trust issues and everything. 10:58 So as a result of your willing to confront, willing to love, 11:02 willing to scold, willing to play around have fun and 11:05 goof off, they understand that this person cares about me even 11:08 though I may not like them. 11:10 There is something about me that I have to recognize that 11:12 somebody is seeing, and that makes a big difference. 11:15 I love that, so how has that changed your spiritually? 11:18 What it has allowed me to do is to look at myself. 11:21 I understand that I'm nothing, I'm nothing until I start 11:26 serving and giving to God. 11:28 Just by recognizing the potential that is trapped in the 11:32 minds of our adverse youth is just like I have been wasting 11:35 so many years just sitting back as if life is all about me 11:39 when it is all about giving. 11:41 Giving time to adverse youth, spending time with adverse 11:44 youth is creating a better future for not only them, 11:47 but for their families. 11:48 And for the world at large. - Amen! I love what you said 11:52 is that it really forces you to get inside yourself and 11:56 look at all that stuff. 11:58 An adverse kid that is crashed in any way, they do not let 12:03 you just play them, you have to be real. 12:05 If you are not real it's like step away from me. 12:07 So for a lot of us we don't know how to be real. 12:11 We have never really discovered who we actually are 12:14 spiritually or in any of those ways. 12:17 Working or any kind of Ministry, God is asking us, 12:21 Will you trust Me so I can show you who you are, so that 12:24 you can bless the person in front of you. 12:27 Jamie, God bless you for doing this. 12:29 Go ahead what were you going to say? 12:31 The other thing is, when working with adverse what it 12:35 does is it takes you away from your comforts zone. 12:39 I think most times as Christians, 12:41 - I like him nicely you say that! 12:43 You are out in the stormy seas actually. 12:45 I can remember growing up in the church, being a Christian 12:50 isn't about going to church looking pious, dressing nice, 12:54 and speaking nicely and saying kind things. 12:57 When you are taken away from your comfort zone and it's 13:01 as if you are in Afghanistan, around foreign kids who are 13:05 just at each other and you have to find a place where you can 13:10 allow God to use you and at that point you recognize 13:12 that you are nothing. 13:13 You totally have to depend on Him and you also see 13:17 yourself in these kids. 13:18 By seeing yourself, you know God I have to totally depend 13:21 on You, and I am not much better off than the kids that 13:24 I'm working with so it is time for me to get dirty. 13:26 Right, and I need your Holy Spirit, 13:28 I need You to guide me. 13:30 Jamie thank you so much. 13:32 I am going to go ahead and invite Jean. 13:37 I just have to say I heard your testimony, but not as much 13:42 as what you shared today with things. 13:45 You are surrounded by people that obviously love you. 13:48 They saw you come in to Miracle Meadows from the very 13:52 beginning, so tell us about coming into Miracle Meadows 13:56 and what was your life like then, 13:58 and what is your life like now? 14:00 Well I first came to Miracle Meadows and my parents were 14:04 going through a divorce and my mother was getting abused 14:08 by my father so that was a rough patch. 14:11 - so you saw a lot of the abuse? 14:13 Yeah I saw a law of abuse growing up and at that time 14:16 I was very heavy, so I was like the age of 12, 14:20 weighing about 290. 14:22 So you are like a size 48? - yeah I was wearing size 48. 14:27 I'm like 5'8 and he was very hard for me being a little 14:32 kid, I was a funny kid, I got made fun of a lot so it 14:36 was very hard for me and I had low self-esteem at the 14:39 time, being around people was very hard to talk out loud. 14:43 Everything was really hard. 14:45 - this may be a crazy thing to ask, because you may not 14:47 even be there where you are looking at this yet. 14:49 But do you think that part of your eating and weight 14:52 gain it was because of all the abuse you are hearing 14:54 and seeing at home? 14:56 Well even though I was getting abused, my father was 14:59 abusing my mother, I was thinking what was really going 15:03 on and I put myself through tests, so I would move away 15:06 and go away to my aunt's house and other places. 15:08 They would treat me as if I was at home, but I saw that the 15:13 reason I was eating was because I was usually bored or no one 15:18 was there with me emotionally, so I would eat away. 15:21 - You were by yourself? 15:23 Yeah because my mother worked from 11 in the morning to 15:26 2 and sometimes when I got over there she would see I was 15:30 misbehaving and would work 2 to 11 and she was never home 15:34 when I was home so was very hard for me. 15:36 I was always in the apartment by myself. 15:38 My father had divorced my mom so it was me by myself. 15:42 - So you have the abuse background, you have the weight 15:45 stuff, getting teased, and you used humor to get away 15:48 from all that, then you come to Miracle Meadows. 15:51 Were you acting out at that time too? 15:53 Yeah I was really angry, I was really mad. 15:56 - Look how sweet you look, really no way! 15:59 So coming there you have all this stuff, how much, if you 16:03 were a tree and those rings, where you had all kinds of 16:06 damage on every ring. 16:08 So you come in and the staff did what? 16:12 I'm looking at you the weights gone, you have a gentle 16:16 spirit about you and all that stuff so what did the staff 16:20 and your friends there do to bring you out? 16:23 I'd have to say a lot of things because the staff spoke to 16:26 me, because I wasn't used to having one-on-one basis with 16:29 anyone, the staff talking to me personally. 16:32 - hanging out! - Yeah was different to me having an adult 16:35 figure talk to me, so was very uplifting to me. 16:38 I had a lot of exercises there and healthy diet. 16:41 I heard Jamie, Jamie said he was one of your staff 16:45 there, he would not let you isolate, he would let you hide, 16:48 come on out I want you to exercise. 16:51 If weight is your problem let's get off, because you had 16:54 shared with him that people teased you. 16:57 Let's get it off your going to have to work and he never 16:59 let up. - never let up at all. 17:02 Did you hate him for that or love him for that? 17:04 I actually hated him for a long time. 17:06 - of course you did. 17:07 But could you look at him and know that this guy is not 17:11 going to back off? 17:13 Yeah I found that out after while that he was going to 17:15 back off. - so how much weight did you lose? 17:17 Well I was 300 when I first came to Miracle Meadows, 17:21 right now I'm at 215. 17:24 Wow, how fun is that? 17:26 does it feel-good, do you have that sense, you know what? 17:30 Not only is my life coming together and I'm learning to 17:34 connect with people, I'm learning to let people minister 17:38 to me, communicate with me, but I'm also dropping the 17:42 weight, are you doing school at Miracle Meadows? 17:45 I'm doing school at Miracle Meadows, I'm doing great. 17:50 I came there I had a reading problem. 17:51 I was partly illiterate from my house to mom's I would 17:55 never do my homework or anything. 17:57 Then me come in to Miracle Meadows I had a lot of people 17:59 help me with that, to learn to read. 18:01 You know I was illiterate at 23, and it is really 18:04 tough because we don't want to admit that to anybody. 18:07 We don't want to be teased so somebody obviously found out 18:12 and decided to help you to get up to grade level. 18:15 How about spiritually, where are you at? 18:22 I was really forced spiritually because even though at home 18:25 I went to church and stuff like that, I was just there 18:29 because I was forced to so go to church and just sit down 18:33 and do nothing, or are played with something or 18:35 talk on the phone or something. 18:37 But when I came to Miracle Meadows they didn't 18:40 have those things so I was stuck there. 18:42 A lot of people when they started see me coming out 18:44 of my shell they saw I was really outgoing so they put 18:46 me in a lot of opportunities will like preaching and 18:49 things like that and trying to do outreach. 18:52 So you presented as far as the week of prayer or 18:55 any of that stuff? 18:57 No week of prayers were like Sabbath I would present 18:59 something on a PowerPoint. 19:01 So now let's go back because that is where somebody shows 19:03 you how to do that and you get a good sense of doing that, 19:06 but how about you personally with God? 19:09 Have you ever had God just say to you, man I'm crazy about 19:15 you? I have a plan for you. 19:17 A lot of times because at home I saw I was doing a lot of 19:21 bad things, I was part of gangs and stuff like that. 19:24 There was a lot of times that I did some stupid stuff 19:28 and I felt like I was comforted some of the stuff I was 19:31 with the people I was with I was supposed to be dead, 19:35 not dead but was supposed to get hurt or caught but 19:38 I always had a safe feeling around me. 19:41 I thought was just luck but later on I found out it was 19:44 someone... -God is saying no, no, no I have my hand on you. 19:47 That is incredible, thank you for sharing with us and 19:50 I just want to say, are you close to graduating 19:54 from Miracle Meadows? 19:55 Yeah I moved to another school, Mountain State Academy, 19:58 a stepping school to being out of Miracle Meadows. 20:01 Before going to the real world. 20:03 So what is really funny is when people they talk about 20:07 you, I see your friends talk about you now and they 20:11 really do enjoy your humor, they like hanging out with 20:14 you, and it looks like they are as excited about your 20:18 recovery as you are excited about your recovery 20:21 and that is so cool. 20:23 I'm going to go ahead, and even right now we're going 20:26 to break and when we come back I want to introduce you 20:30 to Caleb and we are going to have the prayer and at the 20:33 end, I would like to bring up another staff, 20:36 Karina and talk about her journey and why she is at 20:41 Miracle Meadows right now, it's amazing you have to hang 20:44 out with us on this program. |
Revised 2014-12-17