Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001903A
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00:01 Hello, friend.
00:02 I'm John Carter. 00:04 Welcome today to the Carter Report. 00:05 We have two special guests here with us today, 00:09 Susan Piraino, Alan De Leon. 00:12 They've just come back as missionaries to Cuba, 00:16 Communist Cuba. 00:18 And they've got a tremendous story to tell. 00:22 Stay with us and welcome to the Carter Report. 00:29 I'm John Carter in Moscow. 00:32 In Havana, Cuba. 00:35 Now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:38 I'm John Carter in Petra. 00:41 Right here in Communist China. 00:44 Reporting from India. 00:46 Hi, I'm John Carter in the Solomon Islands. 00:49 I'm John Carter in Soweto. 00:51 From El Salvador. 00:54 I'm John Carter in Sydney, Australia. 00:57 John Carter investigates a Miracle in Cuba. 01:04 Welcome back to the Carter Report. 01:06 We have a tremendous program today. 01:08 I have two special guests 01:10 who have just come back from Communist Cuba. 01:13 Susan Piraino, 01:15 we're so glad to have you with us today, Susie, 01:18 and Alan De Leon. 01:20 Now, Susie, how long have you worked 01:22 for the Carter Report for? 01:24 I am now in my 25th year with the Carter Report. 01:28 I never knew you were 25 years old, 01:30 25 years with the Carter Report. 01:31 Twenty five years, yes. 01:33 You are the Director of Communications 01:35 for the Carter Report, 01:37 Evangelistic Worldwide Association. 01:40 Yes. 01:41 Alan, you're doing a degree right now 01:44 at Fuller Seminary, aren't you? 01:45 Yes. Correct. 01:47 What are you doing it in? 01:48 I'm doing it in theology and ministry, 01:50 and I'm currently finishing my last year. 01:52 Ah, this is tremendous, Alan, 01:54 we're very, very proud of you, a degree in theology. 01:58 Yes. 01:59 You know, you didn't have to do that degree. 02:00 You just had to talk to me. 02:02 It's right? I'd be a lot cheaper. 02:05 We're glad to have you with us. 02:07 You've just come back from Havana, in Cuba. 02:09 Yes, indeed. 02:11 Now, while you were Havana, Cuba, 02:14 you're helping to run on behalf of the Carter Report 02:17 an evangelistic campaign... 02:19 Indeed. To preach the Gospel of Christ. 02:21 Yes. Mm-hmm. 02:23 And the roof blew off. 02:24 Yeah, it's a pretty amazing story actually... 02:26 Tell me about the roof that blew off? 02:28 Well, we were meant to run this campaign in a theater. 02:31 It's a public theater that Pedro was able to 02:34 get from the government. 02:35 And who is this Pedro? 02:37 Pedro is a young Cuban, 02:38 who is now presently going to seminary as well. 02:42 And he's working towards his degree in theology. 02:45 He came with us to Russia. 02:46 Yes. 02:48 And he's a bit of a firebrand, isn't he? 02:49 Oh, Pedro is pretty incredible. 02:51 He's bit of a preacher, isn't it? 02:52 Yeah, very much so. He got some dunamis. 02:54 Oh, yeah. Exactly. 02:56 Okay, tell us about the roof that blew off? 02:59 Well, the theater that we were meant 03:01 to run the campaign and beautiful theater. 03:04 And Pedro has worked very hard. 03:06 But I understand in Cuba, 03:08 you can only run campaigns in church building. 03:11 You can. 03:12 Yeah, but because Pedro is recognized as an artist, 03:15 a musical artist in Cuba for his singing, 03:18 he was able to get a contract for a government building, 03:21 which was this hall that we originally 03:24 intended to do the campaign in. 03:25 And it's a nice place. 03:27 Oh, it was beautiful. It's a theater. 03:28 And it's in Havana. 03:30 It's outside of Havana, actually. 03:32 Oh, I never knew this. 03:33 It's in a city called Guines. 03:35 And so, this is where Pedro, it's two hours from his home. 03:40 And so it's a little track for him, 03:42 but he was able to find it. 03:44 How did he get permission 03:45 and from whom did he get the permission? 03:47 Well, because he's recognized as an artist, 03:50 he gets special permission 03:52 to rent out government owned halls to do performances. 03:56 So he was able to get in contact 03:57 with one of the commanding officials of that 04:00 hall in Guines. 04:02 Because that's pretty rare, isn't it? 04:04 Oh, it is extremely. 04:05 To run an evangelistic campaign 04:07 in a public hall in communist Cuba. 04:09 It is. 04:10 And he was able to convince the government 04:13 that it was in fact more of a concert 04:15 than it would be an outreach program. 04:17 See, I can never do that. 04:18 Yeah. No. 04:20 Because of his recognition as a good singer in Cuba. 04:22 Yeah, yeah. 04:23 They were more inclined to let him use the hall. 04:26 And so because of that, he was able to get 04:27 all the paperwork settled to do the campaign. 04:29 And so he's going to run this campaign 04:31 and you're over there with Javier, your husband. 04:33 Javier came with us. Yeah. 04:35 So there's a team of three Americans. 04:38 And then there's Pedro, our young preacher. 04:42 And his wife and his beautiful little Dora. 04:44 Yes. Yes. 04:46 Has a beautiful family. Yeah. 04:47 And so he's got permission from the communist government 04:49 to run this campaign for Christ and truth 04:52 in this auditorium, just outside Havana. 04:55 Yes. 04:56 And so the story begins where we're getting ready to go 05:00 and obviously, 05:02 this hall is already he's advertised, 05:05 he's prepared 10,000 invitations. 05:07 How did he? How can he advertise? 05:09 Well, we sponsored him. 05:11 He said he wanted to do certain number of things. 05:14 And so we said how much 05:15 and we said we could help him do this. 05:17 We said, let's double it. 05:19 Well, thankfully, with the help from the donors, 05:21 specifically donating for evangelism in Cuba. 05:23 Yes. Right. 05:24 You were able to take those funds 05:26 and directly submit them to Pedro. 05:28 So that he could get 05:30 all of these small cost theater. 05:31 What sort of advertising? 05:32 He did print advertising, 05:34 and I believe he also did, 05:36 well, just a large print campaign. 05:38 He was able to send all of those out 05:40 to all over that city of Guines. 05:42 Yeah. 05:44 He also prepared a banner. 05:45 It's about six feet across. Yeah. 05:48 So he had a banner for the church 05:50 and he did posters, 05:51 and he told me he did 5,000 invitations. 05:54 And I just want to say to the audience, 05:58 I've met Pedro. 06:00 He came with us to Russia, and he's a great singer. 06:03 And Pedro has got something 06:04 that a lot of preachers don't have. 06:06 You know what he's got? He got fire in his belly. 06:08 Yeah, he does. And his singing. 06:09 You don't have to wind him up, do you? 06:11 No, no. 06:12 You got to hold him back. 06:13 Yeah, you got to say okay, take it easy. 06:15 Yeah. Take it easy. 06:16 And his wife is a great supporter. 06:18 Oh, she is his... 06:19 She's by his side, and she helps him 06:22 and he can't do it without her. 06:23 So he's got permission from the communist 06:26 authorities in Cuba. 06:28 He's got this big public auditorium. 06:30 And he's given out all of these handbills 06:32 and he's ready to go. 06:34 Right. 06:35 And this theater seats 800 people. 06:36 Well, that's not bad for Cuba. 06:38 So that's not a little theater. 06:39 It's not bad inside. It's pretty big. 06:41 So he's excited because 800 people 06:43 we're for sure gonna fill it up. 06:44 It's a great theater, too bad it had a weak roof. 06:48 That's right. Okay. 06:49 But it wasn't counting on the bad weather. 06:50 Yeah, tell us what happened? 06:52 So tell us, 06:53 he's about ready to start the campaign. 06:55 Right. 06:56 We arrived on the Tuesday and we were getting ready, 06:58 helping him with all the preps. 06:59 And it was to start on Saturday. 07:02 And so we didn't know that 07:04 there was going to be a change in the weather. 07:06 And so it took place. 07:08 And because we didn't have any communication, 07:10 there's no TV, no internet, nothing, 07:13 we were clueless other than looking up 07:15 at the sky and saying it's cloudy. 07:16 You were in splendid isolation. 07:18 Yeah, a little bit different, wasn't it? 07:20 It definitely was. 07:21 And so as soon as or as a result of the weather, 07:24 it knocked out power completely in the area where we were. 07:27 But what happened to opening in the hall, 07:30 the communist hall? 07:31 Well, we were with him on Thursday 07:33 and word had gotten out from some people 07:35 that we're working closely with him, 07:37 that us as Americans, 07:39 we're going to participate in the campaign. 07:41 So there was a lot of misinformation 07:42 and miscommunication. 07:44 But the person that he originally had spoke to, 07:47 to rent the hall 07:49 found out that Americans were going to be attending 07:51 and possibly speaking. 07:53 So they called him on Thursday 07:55 to ask for our passport information. 07:58 He was a little weary in terms of giving it to them. 08:01 But the person had threatened 08:02 to completely cancel the campaign 08:04 unless we handed over our passport information. 08:07 Once we did, 08:08 he called back within the hour saying 08:10 that the entire campaign was cancelled 08:12 and that Pedro would no longer be able to use the hall. 08:15 That's pretty disappointing, isn't it? 08:17 He was devastated because obviously, 08:19 he'd been preparing for months. 08:21 And it wasn't, 08:22 you couldn't have felt too good 08:23 because now you've gone to help him. 08:25 Yeah. Right. 08:26 And it was potentially our fault 08:28 that we were unable to do anything there. 08:29 You heard the story of Jonah, haven't you? 08:30 Yes. 08:32 That's what we told him, we say, 08:33 well, if need be, we won't attend. 08:35 We won't even go to the hall. 08:37 So they won't see us there if that helps. 08:40 And so I understand that he went then 08:44 and played with the top man there... 08:48 Yes, he was the political leader of the... 08:50 The communist official. Exactly. 08:52 And I was with him all day 08:53 as he was going through this process on Thursday 08:55 and I witnessed it firsthand. 08:58 He was essentially shackled to his phone 09:00 trying to get all of this information 09:01 and communicate the idea across. 09:04 He was even trying to go out there 09:06 and physically speak to them face to face. 09:09 But they kept putting him off 09:10 because all they said was it was cancelled 09:12 and nothing was gonna happen. 09:14 So that's what happens in a communist country. 09:16 Right. 09:17 You've got all of these faithless bureaucrats. 09:19 Right. 09:20 If you think we got a bureaucracy in America, 09:22 try going to a communist country. 09:24 Right. 09:25 And he had been cleared by all the other officials 09:28 of the city, so everybody knew. 09:30 Except one person. 09:31 Except one because he had been sick. 09:33 And so apparently, 09:35 it wasn't shared with him that 09:37 it was gonna be that weekend. 09:38 So he was upset 09:40 because he wasn't in the loop so to speak. 09:41 So, you know, we have a little team come from California, 09:45 little part of the Carter Report, 09:46 three important people 09:48 that go over there to support Pedro. 09:51 And they've got this great auditorium 09:54 and they're ready to go, this is history in the making. 09:58 And a communist official the headman, 10:01 what do you call him in Spanish? 10:03 The Headman? 10:04 Yeah, it says. 10:05 The head honcho but... Oh, the head honcho. 10:07 Yeah. That's pretty much. 10:09 Wants you folks to know that I'm up on my Spanish. 10:11 So the head honcho the communist says? 10:13 No. No. 10:15 In Russia, he would have said what? 10:17 Nyet. That's right. 10:19 We've heard that many times. Yes, we have. 10:21 You know. 10:22 Unfortunately Pedro was very devastated 10:24 and we were too for being responsible. 10:27 And so a credit to his intuition 10:30 and his craftiness to figure out another solution. 10:33 Craftiness? Exactly. 10:35 Wisdom. Exactly. 10:36 Wisdom exactly and he was able to speak 10:39 to a pastor that had a church 10:41 within a mile of the original hall. 10:43 That was a blessing, yeah. 10:44 And so because of that he was slightly disappointed 10:47 that it wasn't able to hold the 1400. 10:48 And this was an Adventist church, was it not? 10:50 Yes, correct. Yeah. 10:52 Exactly. 10:53 And so by the end of Friday morning, 10:55 Pedro had stayed up that entire day Thursday, 10:58 the night prior trying to organize this new campaign 11:01 and so we were essentially able to lock in this church. 11:04 And we had moved the entire campaign 11:08 to this smaller church, 11:09 which was a mile from the original location. 11:11 But the church was packed, wasn't it? 11:13 Oh, it was. 11:14 There wasn't enough room for the people. 11:16 I mean, I went upstairs to the balcony, 11:18 and they had to bring in more benches. 11:21 And they kept bringing out more benches 11:23 and it was just jam packed. 11:24 Pedro's preaching away. Yes. 11:26 Pedro's going full steam. 11:27 Did he sing too? Yes. 11:29 And, you know, Pedro, his campaign he had a choir, 11:32 he had a violinist. 11:34 Oh, he did. 11:35 And he gave his opening, he shared about Russia. 11:38 He had video of himself singing in Russia. 11:41 And so he had quite an elaborate program. 11:43 Yeah, he's a doer. 11:44 We were pretty amazed. Yes. 11:46 We were impressed 11:47 and he had so many different aspects to his program. 11:51 And all of them were organized through him and by him. 11:55 So he singlehandedly put all of this together. 11:56 So he's preaching, and he's teaching, 11:59 and he's singing in, 12:01 in this auditorium and he's got how many people? 12:04 He's got... In the church you mean? 12:06 In the church, yeah. 12:07 Yeah, there were over 450 more, no more could fit. 12:11 In Cuba, that's a big crowd... Right. 12:12 Going to a religious meeting. 12:14 And he had an audio team. 12:16 He brought in lighting, 12:17 see how all of this prepared for the theater. 12:20 So they had to move all of that equipment. 12:22 I'd like to give him a job. 12:23 Oh, I know. Yeah. 12:25 He's deserving. Quite a doer. 12:26 I'm telling you, he's pretty impressive. 12:28 And so the logistics of just having 12:31 to move everything in itself was a huge undertaking. 12:34 So I'm told that he went 12:35 and spoke to this communist official, 12:38 but maybe there was more to it than meets the eye. 12:42 But somebody or some people were out to, 12:44 to do this young man in. 12:46 Yes. 12:47 And to stop him preaching the gospel. 12:49 Goodness me. 12:50 Who is Pedro? Yeah. 12:51 He's got a bit of a nerve, hasn't he? 12:53 Right. 12:54 He's hired this big auditorium, 12:56 and he's got the backing of the government. 12:58 I think he was too successful. Yeah. 13:00 It doesn't pay my friend to get too successful. 13:05 I'm just being facetious. 13:06 Yeah, no. It's true. 13:08 I mean, he had a lot of attention. 13:09 Yes. 13:10 And so especially the fact that three foreigners had come. 13:13 I mean, that was sort of unheard of, 13:15 for this little local pastor. 13:17 So he's given the big heave-ho. Yes. 13:20 You say, no, you're not gonna do it. 13:22 So we said, "Okay, let's make the best of this. 13:25 Let's just move to the church." 13:26 And he even got a couple of our deacons from the church, 13:32 and they printed up flyers on the last minute. 13:34 So he had those deacons go to the theater. 13:36 In night of, 13:37 he had those deacons night of the campaign 13:40 standing at the original venue directing people 13:43 to the new venue of the church. 13:45 So he had organized all of this on the fly. 13:47 And so you told me this when you came back, 13:51 the communist official 13:52 put on a special opposition program. 13:55 Program, a program. 13:57 Yeah, they got on a national singer. 13:58 That's right. 13:59 Because they saw that there was a lot of people 14:01 coming in and wanting to see something happen there. 14:04 We're going to beat these people, 14:05 these Christians who are preaching the gospel. 14:07 That's right. 14:09 We're going to beat him bad. Yeah. 14:10 And we're going to put on a big concert. 14:12 Oh, and it's gonna be popular, 14:14 and we're gonna make a lot of money 14:15 because they were gonna charge for each seat. 14:17 And this little Pedro, he's down the road, 14:20 and nobody's gonna hear about this Pedro. 14:22 That's right, that's what they thought. 14:24 Yes. 14:25 So they actually hired a famous Cuban singer 14:31 that does Cuban music. 14:34 Pretty well-known, Pedro told me. 14:36 And this singer was then to come in on Sunday. 14:40 Because since Saturday, 14:41 there was no one and the people were there. 14:43 So they thought, oh, well, 14:44 we'll give them something on Sunday. 14:46 So they hired that special singer 14:47 to come in on Sunday. 14:48 And that was... And that was... 14:52 I understand that was really a great program. 14:56 Yeah, they said it was packed. 14:58 Pedro is preaching down the road. 15:00 A mile down the road. 15:02 And he's got a packed church. Yes. 15:03 And he's got people coming to Christ 15:06 and the communist official, he's up there. 15:08 And he's got this beautiful Cuban singer. 15:11 And they're going to have 15:12 the greatest concert in the history 15:14 of that part of the world. 15:15 That's right. 15:16 Unfortunately, they didn't take into account the weather. 15:18 No. 15:19 Tell me about it too? Tell me what happened? 15:21 Well, it's started to get cloudy 15:22 and it started to rain pretty badly. 15:24 I mean, we thought, oh, boy, 15:25 this is gonna affect people even coming to the church. 15:29 And we didn't realize just how bad the weather was. 15:32 Did it affect people coming into the church? 15:33 I don't think so because 15:35 there wasn't enough room anyhow. 15:36 You can only have it full, can't you? 15:38 Yeah, I mean, 15:39 they were outside and they were at the windows, 15:42 on the side so they could listen. 15:43 You know, I'm getting impatient, 15:45 tell me what happened up the road? 15:46 So anyway we had no clue what the weather, 15:49 what's gonna happen, whether it was gonna happen 15:51 and all of a sudden the wind started, 15:54 the rain started and it was a downpour, 15:57 and Cuba is not known for tornadoes. 16:01 No. 16:02 And there was a tornado that actually took place. 16:06 A tornado came through 16:08 and you're not gonna believe this, 16:09 but it came through right over the theater 16:12 and the roof was blown off this theater. 16:15 Now, I'm just restraining saying hallelujah. 16:18 So I'm not gonna say that. I know, I know... 16:19 So tell me, what, the roof got blown off. 16:22 The roof got actually blown off the theater. 16:25 With the old communist official sitting there. 16:27 With a full house. 16:28 Packed to the doors. People just... 16:30 The lights were gone, 16:32 because all the lights were gone in the whole city. 16:33 So they're in darkness. 16:35 So it's in darkness, the tornado, the wind, 16:37 and the rain. 16:38 And the roof is gone. The roof is gone. 16:40 Chandeliers are sort of just bursting. 16:43 Did chandeliers came down? Yes. 16:45 Yeah, that's, this is horrible. And what else did they say? 16:47 Yeah. 16:48 Because of that it caused such a stir, 16:50 the people started running out of the building. 16:53 People were starting to get robbed 16:54 and there was a couple of stabbings also, 16:56 as people were trying to leave the theater. 16:59 And so us down the road, we were only a mile away. 17:03 The only thing that happened to us 17:04 is as Pedro was preaching, 17:06 the power was completely knocked out inside the church. 17:09 But people didn't get up to leave. 17:11 Actually, 17:12 people ended up taking out their cell phone lights, 17:14 using that to light up the stage 17:16 and with no sound equipment, 17:18 Pedro preached just loudly using his voice. 17:21 And people came to Christ. 17:23 Oh! Yes indeed after the program. 17:27 By now it's 10:30, almost 11 o'clock at night. 17:30 And because it started late, he did an altar call, 17:33 and 53 people came 17:36 and decided to give their life to Jesus Christ. 17:38 Now, praise God. Hallelujah. 17:41 If you folks had been up in the other hall... 17:44 Exactly. 17:45 What would have happened? 17:46 The tornado would have blown that roof off of the campaign. 17:49 The chandeliers would have come down on your heads. 17:51 Exactly. 17:53 And it would have been a packed house. 17:54 And I understand 17:55 robbers actually came into the audience... 17:57 Right, right. 17:58 Started stabbing people. 17:59 Yeah, two people were stabbed, Pedro told me. 18:01 And our people were safe down in the church? 18:03 Nothing happened in our church. And praising Jesus. 18:05 Yes. 18:07 And being saved. Exactly. 18:08 And the people who stopped the meetings... 18:12 And that theater got destroyed completely. 18:14 This theater that they wouldn't 18:16 let us use was totally and completely destroyed. 18:20 Yes, I mean, 18:22 we say praise God that we weren't there. 18:24 Yes, hallelujah. 18:26 Even though we were disappointed, 18:27 and we didn't understand why God was allowing us 18:30 to have to go somewhere else. 18:31 Yes, yes. 18:33 And, you know, it was devastating for Pedro, 18:35 but... 18:36 Only temporarily. 18:37 Looking back, 18:39 we're now thankful that we didn't go there. 18:40 It was a tremendous blessing. 18:41 You Know, Susie and Alan and my dear friends, 18:45 who are watching this telecast, there's a text in the Bible, 18:49 Romans 8:28, you know the text. 18:52 That's right. 18:54 Yes, for we know that "God works on all things." 18:56 Yeah. That's right. 18:58 Yeah, God works on all things 19:00 for the good of those who would love Him. 19:03 You've been called according to His, what? 19:05 You know the word. Purpose. 19:06 Yeah, God's got a purpose. 19:08 That's right. God had a purpose to you folks. 19:10 God has got a purpose for you, my friend. 19:12 Yes, He's got a purpose for you. 19:13 Right, and I think God has His hand over His people. 19:17 Yes, He does. 19:18 He keeps us safe and sometimes 19:20 we don't understand why things happen the way they do. 19:23 This cancellation turned out to be a tremendous blessing. 19:27 It sure did. 19:28 This cancellation was a part of God's purpose. 19:31 Yes. 19:32 This disappointment was a part of God's sovereign grace, 19:38 a part of His blessing. 19:40 He was protecting us the entire time and thankfully, 19:43 He was able to grant us perspective to look back 19:45 and notice that at that time. 19:47 I'm just thinking, if you'd been up there, 19:50 you stay with this little church 19:52 and he is in this place, just visualize it 19:55 and he's preaching, the roof is going off, 19:58 the chandeliers are crashing down 20:00 on the heads of the people, 20:02 and the lights are off, 20:04 and robbers rushing in with knives, 20:08 that could have been but for Romans 8:28. 20:11 Exactly, total chaos. 20:13 And God foresaw this. 20:15 Exactly, and thankfully He know. 20:17 And He used the communist leader. 20:19 Oh! 20:20 Yeah the communist leader was used in that, used by God. 20:22 Used by God. 20:24 Yeah, pretty amazing, it's amazing. 20:25 We were none the wiser 20:27 being in the other church doing Pedro's campaign 20:30 'cause we had no idea about that until we got back. 20:32 No, the wonderful thing is this that all people, 20:36 even including communist leaders 20:39 are in the hands of Almighty God. 20:41 That's right. That's right. 20:42 They may not believe in God, 20:43 they may not share God or think of God, 20:47 but God is aware of that. 20:48 Yeah, they can't get away from God, can they? 20:50 No. No way, indeed. 20:52 It doesn't matter who the leader is. 20:54 God is the leader, God is in charge. 20:56 Yes. Right. 20:58 Alan, tell me what was Pedro's reaction? 21:02 Initially he was devastated, he had put so much work, 21:05 months and months of work 21:07 into putting this campaign together, 21:09 only to have it taken away from him in the last moment. 21:11 Yeah. 21:12 And I just watched him go from strength to strength 21:15 as he continued to pray and rely on God for strength 21:19 to get through this circumstance. 21:22 And because of that he was able to put together 21:25 and take heed of all of these moving parts for his campaign 21:29 and have a great, powerful, successful campaign 21:33 in the midst of all of this seeming tragedy. 21:36 And I'm sure, he saw the hand of God. 21:39 He really did. Yeah. 21:40 It was a powerful experience for him. 21:41 When man closes a door, God always opens a window. 21:45 Exactly. 21:47 We've seen some tremendous defeats apparently, 21:54 awful defeats where doors have closed. 21:58 And then we've seen the mighty hand of God, 22:02 as He has open a window 22:03 that has been much bigger than the door that man closed. 22:06 That's right. That's right. 22:08 I just want to say to the audience 22:10 watching today, 22:12 you should never give up or be discouraged 22:16 when a door closes. 22:18 God closes the door so He can open a better door. 22:24 God never takes anything away from you that is really good, 22:28 unless He's got something that's really better. 22:30 That's right. Exactly. 22:32 And I think this was a pivotal moment for Pedro. 22:35 Oh, yes, he'll never forget this. 22:37 In his work, this has just given an impetus 22:39 for him to continue to do more 22:41 and to keep going in spite of all the obstacles 22:44 that he faces on a daily basis. 22:46 And he's got... He's got tons of those. 22:47 He sure does. 22:49 We're gonna talk a little bit about his life 22:51 and the people in Cuba. 22:52 Why does Pedro do evangelism? 22:55 Because I'm told today, 22:57 we don't need to do evangelism anymore, it doesn't count. 23:00 Why does he do evangelism? 23:01 I think it's because he believes God, 23:03 he believes the Word 23:04 and he believes that taking it out. 23:06 But what does the Word say though? 23:07 Oh, to take out your... 23:08 To go out and preach and teach the gospel. 23:10 Preach! 23:11 You see, I'm in a part in the world 23:12 in Southern California, 23:14 where I'm told over and over again, 23:16 you can't do evangelism. 23:17 It doesn't work, it's not important. 23:19 That's crazy, that's crazy... 23:21 You think it's crazy. 23:22 We've seen it, we see it work, 23:24 we've seen how its transformed lives around the world. 23:27 And what hope do people have, 23:29 what hope do people have in Cuba 23:30 without God's Word and His promises? 23:32 Now, folks, I'm going to do something here, 23:35 I'm going to turn to a text in the Bible. 23:38 I'm going to turn to a different text 23:40 than the text I said I was going to turn to. 23:42 Okay. You see. 23:43 Yes. Can turn to Romans 1. 23:45 Okay. 23:46 Gonna look at verse 14, and this is the Apostle Paul. 23:49 Alan, you're doing a degree in theology. 23:52 Yes. 23:53 But let me tell you something 23:55 that degree in theology is worth nothing, 23:58 unless you have a commitment to go into all the world 24:01 and preach the gospel. 24:03 Right. You know. 24:05 What good is a degree if you don't use it 24:07 for the purpose that is intended? 24:09 Absolutely. 24:11 Now, the greatest theologian in the world 24:13 since Christ was the Apostle Paul. 24:16 That's right. 24:17 That people, lot of people don't realize this, my friend. 24:19 He was not an armchair theologian. 24:21 Sure, he wasn't. 24:23 He was a preacher, he was an evangelist. 24:26 And when you have people tell you that 24:28 evangelism doesn't work, 24:29 and we shouldn't do it, 24:31 they're going against the teachings of the Bible. 24:35 That's right. They're fighting God. 24:38 Now, listen to this text, Paul say, verse 14, 24:41 "I'm a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, 24:45 both to wise and unwise." 24:47 He's a debtor because he's been saved. 24:50 Yes. 24:51 Therefore he got to share. 24:53 He says, 24:55 "As much as is in me, 24:56 I am ready to preach the gospel to you 24:58 who are in Rome also." 25:01 I'm a debtor. That's right. 25:03 I'm ready and then he says, 25:05 "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 25:07 for it is the power of God to salvation 25:10 for everyone who believes." 25:13 Now, we believe it. 25:15 Yes. 25:17 You believe it? Definitely. 25:18 Listen, my friend, Pedro believes it. 25:21 The question is, do you believe it? 25:23 The Bible says 25:25 that gospel is the power of God to salvation. 25:28 And if you go into all the world, 25:30 and we've done this 25:31 and we have seen the power of God. 25:33 We certainly have 25:35 and it's been evident every single time, 25:37 it never fails. 25:39 So the people that say it doesn't work, 25:41 it's because they've never done it, and they've never... 25:43 And because they don't work. 25:44 Right, and they've never experienced the power. 25:46 And because they don't have faith. 25:47 Exactly. 25:48 And because they've never seen the power of God. 25:50 That's right. That's right, so... 25:51 Thank God, we have one Pedro. 25:55 Our man in Havana. Our man in Havana. 25:58 That's right. 25:59 Who was not been taken in by these lies. 26:01 No. 26:02 And who believes the gospel is still the power. 26:04 Yes. 26:06 And when the roof blew off, Pedro was not there. 26:11 He was preaching the gospel, and saving souls. 26:14 Amen. 26:16 And we have more tremendous stories 26:19 to share with you from the land of Cuba, 26:22 this communist bastion. 26:25 Stay with us, we'll be back in just a moment. 26:41 Greater Manila is more than 20 million souls. 26:44 Almost all these beautiful people are ignorant 26:47 of the true gospel of Christ. 26:49 Manila needs Jesus. 26:51 Thirty five years ago, John Carter came to Manila. 26:55 Pastor Carter is returning to Manila 26:57 with an urgent assignment, 26:59 preach the Gospel of Christ 27:00 and the great truths of the Bible. 27:03 Don't water down the message. 27:05 Make it plain, make it clear, make it Christ centered. 27:09 The Carter Report needs your help now 27:12 to light a fire in the Philippines. 27:14 Your gift will help open the doors of bondage, 27:17 smash the chains of sin, 27:19 and open the gates of paradise to thousands of lost souls. 27:23 The churches have sent out an urgent plea 27:25 for the Carter Report to return. 27:27 Help us proclaim the true gospel of Christ 27:30 to the beautiful Filipino people. 27:32 Please send your support to the address on the screen. 27:35 Visit our website or call the Carter Report. 27:44 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 27:47 at P.O. Box 1900, 27:49 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:53 Or in Australia, 27:55 contact us at P.O. Box 861, 27:58 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:03 This program is made possible 28:05 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:08 We thank you for your continued support. 28:10 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-04-19