Participants:
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC202012S
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00:01 >> Hello and thank you for
00:02 joining us on 00:03 It Is Written Canada. 00:04 Imagine spending 25 years 00:06 locked in solitary confinement 00:09 and your prison is a mental 00:11 cell of anger and rage 00:13 with guilt and shame 00:16 acting as your guards. 00:18 Guilt keeps reminding you that 00:20 you have done wrong 00:22 and shame labels you and says 00:25 that you are wrong. 00:27 >> Our guest on It Is Written 00:29 Canada today is Daniel Cullen. 00:32 For 25 years, this was 00:34 his experience. 00:37 [René] Daniel felt like he was 00:39 just a statistic, a number on a 00:41 piece of paper, a homeless man. 00:44 For 25 years, Daniel Cullen 00:47 was living on the cold streets 00:49 of every major city 00:51 across Canada. 00:53 >> And Daniel is here to tell 00:55 us how he turned his life 00:57 around from being an addict, 01:00 slowly coming apart mentally 01:02 and emotionally, using drugs 01:04 to numb the pain, 01:06 but what fascinates me about 01:08 Daniel's story is that he did 01:10 more than just recover, 01:13 he is now thriving and for the 01:15 last 20 years, he has been 01:17 helping others to recover from 01:20 lives of homelessness 01:21 and addictions. 01:24 ♪♪ 02:00 [heart beating] 02:14 >> Welcome, Daniel Cullen, 02:16 to It Is Written Canada. 02:17 >> Thanks, Mike, 02:18 it's good to be here, 02:19 René, it's good to be here. 02:20 >> I'm really fascinated by 02:21 your story, it's an amazing 02:23 story and I know that our 02:25 viewers will be amazed as they 02:27 listen to it as well. 02:29 I wanna go back 02:30 to your childhood. 02:31 >> My father was radio 02:32 broadcaster, radio personality 02:34 in the community. 02:36 My mother was a real estate 02:37 agent and she was good in the 02:39 community and two of my 02:41 brothers and sisters that were 02:42 still at home were with me and 02:45 they were-- we were all in 02:46 school together and they were 02:47 doing good and... 02:49 Yeah, I had a good home. 02:50 Five-bedroom home in a nice 02:52 neighbourhood in Kelowna, BC. 02:54 >> And, Daniel, from an early 02:56 age you had an experience with 02:58 the Bible and with 02:59 Christianity and that acted as 03:02 a compass to guide you and to 03:04 lead you, especially when 03:06 things started to fall apart 03:07 in your life. 03:08 Can you tell us what happened? 03:10 >> Yeah, I'll never forget 03:12 Aubrey, you know, um... 03:15 My parents wanted me-- 03:17 like, I was rambunctious so my 03:19 parents were always trying to 03:20 get me into things to keep me 03:22 going and busy 'cause I had so 03:23 much energy. 03:25 And so I was a candy striper, 03:27 a healthcare cadet working 03:28 in a hospital and my job was 03:29 to go in every once a week and 03:31 to visit with the patients in 03:34 the long-term extended care 03:35 and keep them company. 03:37 One of them there, his name 03:38 was Aubrey, I used to feed him 03:40 on a regular basis. 03:41 Six-foot something this guy 03:43 was, he was a huge man, but 03:45 muscular dystrophy whittled 03:46 him into a chair and he used 03:49 to tell me that he was a 03:51 different man before he got 03:52 struck down by muscular 03:53 dystrophy and he talked about 03:55 a faith that he found. 03:56 He finally said, "Are you" 03:58 "born again, are you born" 03:59 "again, are you born again?" 04:00 I had no idea what he was 04:01 talking about so I said "yes" 04:02 so he'd leave me alone. 04:04 And he said, 04:05 "Well, then how do you spell" 04:06 "your last name?" 04:07 And I told him how to spell my 04:08 last name, C-U-L-L-E-N. 04:11 And then he said, "OK." 04:13 "Thank you," and that was it. 04:14 The next week I come to feed 04:16 him, he said, "After we're" 04:17 "done, when you've got time," 04:18 "come and see me." 04:19 And I came and saw him, 04:20 he handed me a box about this 04:22 big, hard cardboard. 04:24 I opened it up and there was a 04:25 blue Bible, King James, 04:27 leather-bound Bible with my 04:28 name embossed in it, 04:29 "Daniel Cullen" and he gave me 04:31 my first Bible and that was a 04:32 book that's been with me for 04:33 43 years now. 04:35 [René] How old were you 04:36 at the time when you were 04:37 volunteering at the hospital? 04:38 >> Fifteen. 04:39 >> Fifteen? Wow. 04:40 >> Yeah, yeah. 04:41 >> So you're coming from a 04:43 good home, you're 04:45 volunteering, you're having 04:46 Christian input, that seems so 04:48 ideal, like an idyllic 04:51 environment, what went wrong? 04:53 How did you end up 04:53 on the streets? 04:54 How did you end up in 04:55 the addictions? 04:56 >> Uhh... 04:57 I was the one that didn't fit 05:00 in, I didn't find good 05:01 friends, I just-- I was low 05:04 self-esteem, no self-worth, 05:05 no self-awareness. 05:07 I had a friend, brought me 05:08 home one time and he showed me 05:10 his father's collection, 05:11 his father had a gun 05:13 and so when my friend went to 05:16 the washroom that day and I 05:18 was at his house, his parents 05:19 weren't home, I snuck into the 05:21 room and stole the gun and 05:23 stuffed it in my jacket and 05:24 made an excuse that I had to 05:26 go home and I went home with a 05:27 stolen gun. 05:29 I went around bragging that, 05:30 "Yeah, I got a gun," 05:31 "I got a gun." 05:32 It didn't take long for the 05:33 principal to come and check my 05:35 locker and yeah, I did 05:36 have a gun. 05:37 And back in the 70's, taking a 05:38 gun to school was not a good 05:39 thing to do. 05:40 >> So what did you end up 05:43 doing, I mean did your parents 05:44 find out about this? 05:45 >> When I got home, everything 05:48 was good and about a week 05:49 later when I walked in the 05:51 house and there was a cop 05:53 sitting there and they told me 05:56 that "No, you didn't find" 05:57 "the gun, actually the gun" 05:58 "has been stolen." 06:00 And I had a great long lecture 06:03 and my mom said, "When your" 06:05 "father gets home," 06:07 "we're gonna have a very" 06:08 "serious talk." 06:09 And so my remedy to that was 06:10 to run away. 06:12 And I ran away. 06:13 And I ran up into the hills 06:15 behind our house, but then 06:18 about midnight, it was getting 06:20 cold and I was getting hungry 06:21 and I'd never run away before. 06:23 I was 12 maybe, I think, 12 or 06:25 13 and I'd never run away 06:26 before and so I made my way 06:28 back home and instead of my 06:29 parents being really angry at 06:31 me, they were just grateful to 06:32 have me home so I kind of got 06:33 away with it, but what that 06:35 set inside of me was a pattern 06:37 that when I couldn't face 06:38 something or when I was 06:39 scared, I would run. 06:41 Run and hide, just gone. 06:43 And that set a pattern for me 06:44 for my years on the streets. 06:47 [Mike] So you developed this 06:48 pattern of running away 06:50 whenever you got into trouble, 06:51 in time so you kept on getting 06:53 into trouble. 06:53 >> Mmhmm. 06:55 >> How did that lead you to 06:56 get onto the streets? 06:59 >> When I was about 14, a guy 07:03 introduced me to what is LSD, 07:05 I don't even know what the 07:06 technical name for it-- but 07:07 back then, we called it "acid" 07:10 and I did like five hits. 07:12 I'd never done drugs before. 07:13 He said, "Have these," 07:14 and I did like five hits. 07:15 And then I smoked a quarter 07:17 ounce of, I think, marijuana 07:18 and so I was pretty high and 07:21 that was my explosion into my 07:23 drug addiction on the streets. 07:25 And so I couldn't handle 07:26 things, I'd run away, I'd get 07:28 into trouble because I didn't 07:29 like myself and when I ran 07:31 away, I'd end up doing drugs, 07:32 and when I'd end up doing 07:33 drugs, I'd get fed up and then 07:35 it just turned into a cycle. 07:37 So I run away so many times 07:39 that when my parents caught up 07:40 to me the last time, 07:42 shorten the story, I'll just 07:43 bring it to that point, when 07:45 they caught me-- caught up 07:47 with me the last time I ran 07:48 away, I was in Calgary, 07:51 I started-- left from Kelowna 07:52 and they caught up with me in 07:53 Calgary and my father said out 07:56 of just-- he did all that he 07:57 could do and he had to let me 07:59 go, I was 16 and he said, 08:02 "If you wanna be on your own," 08:03 "good luck." 08:04 He shook my hand and he said, 08:05 "Good luck." 08:06 And that was the beginning of 08:07 my life and so I hitch-hiked 08:09 across Canada 08:10 the first time to Quebec. 08:11 And then I got tired of Quebec 08:13 and I hitch-hiked back and 08:15 that's when trouble started. 08:16 >> And that's trouble, what 08:18 did that look like? 08:19 >> One in three run-away 08:22 children, teenagers, 08:23 approximately on the street, 08:24 male and female are sexually 08:27 exploited and raped. 08:29 The first person brought me 08:32 down to Abbotsford, he said, 08:34 "You know, it's a cold night." 08:35 "Come on down to Abbotsford." 08:36 "You can head out in the" 08:37 "morning, I'll give you a" 08:38 "good place to sleep" 08:38 "and a meal." 08:39 And I didn't have any idea 08:40 about nothing, I was wet 08:41 behind the ears. 08:43 He said, "Hey, have some" 08:44 "wine," and he said, "Here," 08:46 "smoke this," it was marijuana 08:47 and I felt like an adult, 08:48 I can live on my own, 08:49 I'm on my own now, 08:50 making my own roots. 08:52 And he put on a song called 08:54 Bad Out of Hell from 08:55 Meat Loaf and that was 08:58 the first guy to rape me. 09:01 I got away from that and that 09:02 was in Abbotsford and I got 09:04 away from that and I ran up to 09:05 Grande Prairie, Alberta. 09:07 And I was alone and lonely. 09:10 There's a difference. 09:11 Aloneness and lonely are not 09:13 the same thing and aloneness 09:14 was following me. 09:16 And aloneness-- 09:17 I wanted back home, I wanted 09:19 to find my family. 09:21 At that point I was ready to 09:23 fix it, I didn't want to do 09:24 addictions anymore, I got 09:26 tired of it, I'd hitch-hiked 09:27 across Canada, I'd seen enough, 09:30 I was confused, I was hurt. 09:32 I would go to this religious 09:33 place that cares for the 09:34 homeless and they'll help me 09:36 'cause I remembered my Bible, 09:37 right, and I was-- 09:38 I had faith that maybe this 09:39 was the thing to do. 09:41 And I went there and the 09:43 night shift manager of the 09:44 place told me, "God brought" 09:46 "you here and God's been" 09:48 "good to you, and God brought" 09:49 "you here so you could learn" 09:50 "what love was." 09:52 And he was the second guy, 09:53 he told me God loved me 09:54 and raped me. 09:56 And I got away from that 09:58 and ran away to my hometown, 09:59 Fort St. John. 10:02 And again, I'm stupid, young, 10:05 wet behind the ears, 10:07 16 years old, a guy invites me 10:09 over to a party at his place 10:10 and there was only him. 10:12 And he was the third guy to 10:14 rape me and that's when my 10:15 mind snapped and that was 10:17 the beginning of a 10:18 25-year experience. 10:21 >> And after that you never-- 10:23 you decided never ever to go 10:24 home again, right? 10:27 >> Nah, I didn't know how to go 10:28 home anymore and it wasn't 10:29 that I didn't want to go home, 10:30 it was that I just didn't feel 10:32 like I belonged 10:33 at home anymore. 10:35 It was-- my parents would have 10:36 brought me back. 10:37 I showed up many times, I'd be 10:38 gone for months and months and 10:39 months then just without 10:41 calling anybody, I'd just come 10:42 and knock on the front door 10:44 and walk in the front door and 10:45 my dad was such a good man, 10:46 he had cancer, lots of pain, 10:50 but when I'd come in the door, 10:52 he'd jump off the couch 10:53 to come and see me. 10:54 >> Exactly, exactly. 10:56 >> So... 10:58 >> You didn't only sleep on 11:00 the streets... 11:00 >> Uh-uh. 11:01 >> What would help you? 11:02 You would retire 11:04 into libraries? 11:04 >> Yeah. [chuckles] 11:06 I sat in libraries. 11:07 It's cold in the winter time 11:09 and it's hot in the summer time 11:10 so the best place to sit is in 11:11 libraries and I sat in 11:12 libraries and studied. 11:14 And if you don't do something 11:16 in a library and you go to 11:17 sleep, and the library, 11:18 they'll kick you out so I 11:20 learned to study. 11:21 I hated school, 11:22 but I learned to study. 11:23 I studied philosophy, 11:24 psychology, sociology, 11:26 anthropology, metaphysics, 11:28 occult, and theology. 11:30 So I built information in my 11:31 head to stop the noise of the 11:33 guilt and the shame. 11:34 I've done wrong, 11:35 you are wrong. 11:36 I was an angry person, 11:38 angry, angry man. 11:39 I couldn't even talk without 11:40 showing anger. 11:42 My tone, my words, everything, 11:44 my body language was anger. 11:48 >> Did Christianity come into 11:50 your recovery? 11:52 >> Actually what became the 11:53 answer wasn't Christianity 11:55 because the people that were 11:57 telling me Jesus loved me were 11:58 the people that kicked me out 12:00 of the shelter because I 12:01 didn't follow their rules. 12:04 So as a homeless man, I didn't 12:05 fit into their mold how I 12:07 should behave, so I finally 12:09 said, "Give me a chance to" 12:11 "talk to everybody." 12:13 I got the manager, the 12:14 executive director, we all had 12:15 a conversation and I said to 12:16 him, "Does your Bible say" 12:18 "that if a man sins against" 12:20 "you seventy times seven in" 12:21 "one day you're supposed to" 12:22 "forgive him?" 12:23 And they couldn't answer that 12:24 question, I said, "Give me" 12:25 "a chance to prove to you" 12:26 "that I'm sorry and I'll" 12:28 "prove to you that I'm sorry." 12:29 And they gave me one chance. 12:30 I wasn't trying to be a 12:31 Christian, but when I put the 12:34 principles of scripture into 12:36 practice to show these people 12:38 to be hypocrites, my mind got 12:40 clear, my mind came back 12:41 and I went, "What?" 12:43 And the only thing I could 12:44 conclude was it was me 12:45 implementing the principles of 12:47 scripture that gave me the 12:48 ability to find the clarity, 12:50 to find the strength to begin 12:51 the real change in my life. 12:54 So it was the word of God that 12:56 gave me back-- that started my 12:58 journey back and then it's my 13:00 faith in Christ of course that 13:02 carries me through, but it was 13:04 using the principles from 13:05 scripture, the Divine Word of 13:07 God that when I got that book 13:09 and then I applied the 13:11 principles, boom! 13:12 I got my mind back 13:13 and then began a whole 13:14 new transformation. 13:15 [Rene] Wow! 13:17 [Mike] I want you to talk 13:18 about that model that you used 13:20 that you came to, but before 13:23 we do that, I want us to 13:25 listen to a song and this is 13:27 sung by some students up in the 13:29 mountains of British Columbia, 13:30 it's called 13:31 I Know Whom I Have Believed. 13:36 ♪I know not why God's 13:39 ♪wondrous grace 13:40 ♪To me He hath made known 13:44 ♪Nor why, unworthy, 13:47 ♪Christ in love 13:49 ♪Redeemed me for His own 13:53 ♪But I know Whom 13:55 ♪I have believed 13:57 ♪And am persuaded 13:59 ♪that He is able 14:01 ♪To keep that 14:03 ♪which I've committed 14:05 ♪Unto Him against that day 14:09 ♪I know not how 14:11 ♪this saving faith 14:13 ♪To me He did impart 14:18 ♪Nor how believing 14:20 ♪in His Word 14:22 ♪Wrought peace within 14:24 ♪my heart 14:26 ♪But I know Whom 14:28 ♪I have believed 14:30 ♪And am persuaded 14:32 ♪that He is able 14:34 ♪To keep that 14:36 ♪which I've committed 14:38 ♪Unto Him against that day 14:43 ♪I know not 14:45 ♪how the Spirit moves 14:47 ♪Convincing men of sin 14:51 ♪Revealing Jesus 14:54 ♪through the Word 14:56 ♪Creating faith in Him 15:00 ♪But I know Whom 15:02 ♪I have believed 15:04 ♪And am persuaded 15:06 ♪that He is able 15:09 ♪To keep that 15:10 ♪which I've committed 15:13 ♪Unto Him against that day 15:17 ♪I know not 15:19 ♪when my Lord may come 15:22 ♪At night or noonday fair 15:26 ♪Nor if I walk the 15:29 ♪vale with Him 15:31 ♪Or meet Him in the air 15:35 ♪But I know Whom 15:37 ♪I have believed 15:39 ♪And am persuaded 15:41 ♪that He is able 15:43 ♪To keep that 15:45 ♪which I've committed 15:47 ♪Unto Him against that day 15:52 ♪But I know Whom 15:54 ♪I have believed 15:56 ♪And am persuaded 15:58 ♪that He is able 16:00 ♪To keep that 16:02 ♪which I've committed 16:04 ♪Unto Him against that day 16:12 >> Those students are so brave 16:14 to be outside singing on a 16:16 cold winter's day with snow on 16:18 the ground up in the mountains 16:20 of British Columbia. 16:21 The words of this song that 16:23 really spoke to me are these: 16:26 "I know not how" 16:28 "the Spirit moves," 16:29 "Convincing men of sin," 16:31 "Revealing Jesus" 16:33 "through the Word," 16:34 "Creating faith in Him." 16:37 >> So, Daniel, you started 16:40 reading the Bible, and that 16:42 was a transformational 16:44 experience for you. 16:45 You had received a Bible from 16:47 Aubrey when you were younger, 16:48 but now you're looking at it 16:49 with new eyes. 16:51 You're in a position where 16:52 you're just like, "I need" 16:53 "healing 'cause nothing" 16:55 "else is working." 16:56 So what kind of model did you 16:57 come up with? 16:58 What did God show you? 17:00 >> You know, my-- I got all my 17:02 psychiatric records given-- 17:03 gotten for me, all of them, 17:05 a stack of them like this of 17:07 all the years that I'd spent 17:09 in the psychiatric wards and 17:11 I read the psychiatric 17:12 reports, I read everything 17:14 they wrote about me, the 17:15 nurses note, the doctors 17:16 notes, the good stuff, the bad 17:18 stuff, I counted the mental 17:20 disorders the gave me and they 17:21 gave me 22 of them different 17:23 times they couldn't 17:24 figure me out. 17:25 I was on 18 psychotropic 17:26 pills a day. 17:29 On the DSM IV they have a 17:31 thing called acc-- the fifth 17:33 access and it's the access 17:35 they use for socialization and 17:37 working in a community, what's 17:38 your mental well-being for 17:39 that and mine in that access 17:41 was long-term 17:42 institutionalization, it 17:44 doesn't look like you'll ever 17:45 stop being a transient 17:46 homeless man. 17:47 So they had written me off and 17:48 I'm already written off 17:50 because I'm living in a 17:51 long-term care group home 17:52 because I didn't have the 17:53 ability to care for myself. 17:55 So I picked up the Bible that 17:56 I've always had with me for 17:58 all those years and I started 17:59 to look for solutions and I 18:01 realized that, like I said, 18:04 I realized that something had 18:06 to change and nothing was 18:08 working for me, they had 18:09 written me off and my only 18:11 solution was to come up with 18:12 something so I said a prayer, 18:14 I suppose I did, I mean I did 18:16 a lot of thinking and I know 18:17 there were some 18:18 prayers in there. 18:19 I used to sing a song, 18:20 Pour Your Healing Oil 18:21 Through Me, just to myself 18:22 and that kind of stirred 18:23 up my faith, right? 18:25 And by stirring up my faith, 18:26 the scriptures started to come 18:28 alive a bit and so I realized 18:30 if I took the word of God at 18:32 what it was, I could 18:33 do it again. 18:34 So John 3:7, alright, it says 18:36 you must be born again. 18:37 I said, "Wait a minute." 18:39 Now I'd studied psychology 18:40 enough to know that when a 18:42 child is born, they're born 18:43 with nothing more than a few 18:44 imprints that come from birth 18:45 and some genetic things, 18:47 everything else they learn, 18:48 they learn by experience. 18:50 And from experience after 18:51 experience when a child, 18:52 you know, is growing up they 18:54 learn by crying at a certain 18:55 time in a certain way, they 18:57 get a certain thing so they 18:58 start to create memories 19:00 and those memories lead to 19:01 their emotions. 19:02 If the experiences are good, 19:04 because the-- the experience 19:05 has been good, the memory is 19:06 good, the emotions will be a 19:08 positive response, if not, 19:09 it'll all be negative, right? 19:11 It's just destructive and so 19:13 people think and feel based on 19:14 those things so when I said, 19:16 "you must be born again" and 19:18 the scripture said it, but-- 19:19 Born again, I mean, I can 19:21 build this all over again, 19:22 I can start again if I give 19:23 myself a reference point. 19:26 So December had rolled around 19:27 and I'd done all the 19:28 evaluations and looked at 19:29 myself, I was in rough shape. 19:32 I went out in the snow of 19:34 Lake Simcoe on the frozen lake 19:36 at about 11:30, sat down and 19:38 waited for 12:01 to roll 19:40 around when New Year's Eve 19:42 2000, new millennium, it will 19:44 never happen in my life again, 19:45 it could be a mark reference 19:46 point for me and that's when I 19:48 put myself foot forward and I 19:50 said, "I'm no longer gonna" 19:50 "be a statistic." 19:52 I used to feel bad about not 19:53 measuring up to my sister's-- 19:55 she's been very good at what 19:56 she does, she's very 19:57 successful-- she was, and I 19:59 always lived in her shadow... 20:00 >> She was your twin sister? 20:01 >> My twin sister, right. 20:03 And she's a great girl, I love 20:04 her with all my heart, right? 20:06 But I always tried to measure 20:07 up to what I thought her 20:09 quality was and I never felt 20:10 accepted by my quality, 20:11 but I decided now I was gonna 20:13 go back to factory reboot. 20:15 I was gonna start all over 20:16 again and rebuild me. 20:18 And that's what I started and I 20:19 built the model that said if I 20:22 create a vision of who I am, 20:24 then I fill myself with the 20:25 knowledge I need to learn 20:27 to fulfill that vision that I 20:28 have clearly with myself, 20:31 that switched my emotional 20:33 lifestyle of being emotional 20:35 and acting emotional, 20:36 to be driven by a passion. 20:38 And a passion is different 20:39 than an emotion because a 20:41 passion burns low and it goes. 20:44 Emotions are erratic and all 20:46 over the place. 20:47 Passion burns all the time, 20:48 it's a low-burning ember. 20:50 That's-- right? And... 20:51 in fact that is 20:53 the literal meaning of the 20:54 word "passion," right? 20:56 And it just switched my 20:58 pattern and I set my goals on 20:59 new things and I set my 21:00 objective on new things and I 21:02 decided I was no longer gonna 21:03 be a statistic, I was gonna 21:04 make a change and that started 21:06 in January 1st, 2000 and 21:08 hasn't stopped. 21:09 >> Wow! 21:09 >> Praise God. 21:10 >> And so, Daniel, 21:12 Jesus set you free. 21:15 >> Without a shadow 21:16 of a doubt. 21:17 >> And you were set free from 21:20 alcohol, from street drugs, 21:22 antidepressants, anti-anxiety, 21:25 and so many other medications, 21:28 right, set free from that. 21:30 So what motivated you 21:33 to keep on going? 21:35 >> At first I wanted to make a 21:36 change, I wanted my mom to be 21:38 proud of me so I pushed and I 21:40 pushed and I pushed so that 21:43 before she died she would 21:46 see that I had made a change. 21:48 I was supposed to appear 21:49 before a parliamentary 21:50 standing committee to talk 21:52 about poverty and 21:53 homelessness. 21:54 The day they buried my 21:56 mother, I was at that 21:57 committee speaking at that 21:58 committee 'cause I had 22:00 destroyed my family relations 22:02 to such a point that it would 22:03 be best if I didn't go home. 22:08 So I didn't go home, 22:10 but I gave honour to my mother 22:12 by speaking at Parliament Hill 22:14 on the issues of poverty 22:15 and homelessness, 22:17 which was my goal. 22:18 And then my reputation ran in 22:20 front of me. 22:21 I started working with the 22:22 nurses at York University as a 22:23 preceptor, using my voice of 22:25 lived experience and the lived 22:27 experience to demystify 22:29 poverty and homelessness and 22:30 then I got-- it goes on. 22:32 I put over 200 students 22:34 through placement, nurse-- 22:36 about 100 nurses at least 22:37 through placement and I'd 22:40 teach about what it means to 22:41 be poor and how to adjust and 22:43 treat the poor differently. 22:44 The GAP committee is a 22:45 committee I'm on in Durham 22:47 Region with Mayor Dan Carter, 22:50 Councillor Rick Kerr... 22:52 I am the assistant director to 22:55 Ann Thompson at New Life 22:57 Neighbourhood food bank and my 23:00 job is community engagement, 23:02 we've got the SLIP program 23:03 going there which is a true 23:04 potential program 23:06 and it talks about identifying 23:08 the real you and once you find 23:09 the real you, you won't sell 23:10 yourself short. 23:12 So we have students running 23:13 for that, Self-Empowerment 23:14 Livelihood Improvement 23:15 Project, phenomenal program 23:17 watching the results take 23:18 place and people's lives 23:21 coming alive because they're 23:23 seeing themselves and their 23:24 true value and they're not 23:25 accepting anybody's opinion of 23:27 themselves, they've found 23:28 their own true worth and we 23:29 move forward with them 23:30 from there. 23:31 I have enough success in front 23:33 of me now to mitigate all the 23:35 failures behind me. 23:36 I've just switched 23:38 the game plan. 23:39 >> And the Lord has just 23:40 worked miraculously. 23:42 >> If it wasn't for the Lord 23:45 who was on my side, 23:46 where would I be? 23:47 >> Can you share with us 23:49 just a couple words 23:51 of encouragement. 23:52 Someone may be watching and 23:54 feeling really, maybe 23:55 discouraged at this point 23:56 and they're listening 23:57 to your story, 23:59 anything from the Bible 24:01 something that you would like 24:03 to say to them? 24:06 >> Psalms 46, I think, says, 24:09 "When the heart is" 24:10 "overwhelmed, lead me to a" 24:12 "rock that is higher than I." 24:14 You come into a situation that 24:16 you can't understand, 24:17 can't figure out: 24:18 What's going on? 24:19 Where am I gonna go? 24:20 Depression's got ahead of me, 24:21 the bills got ahead of me, 24:22 nobody likes me, 24:23 I don't feel self worth... 24:25 When the heart is overwhelmed, 24:27 you ask, lead me, and He will. 24:31 Bring you to a place that only 24:33 you and Him understand. 24:35 [snap] Like that. 24:38 >> Can you have a word of 24:39 prayer for us, Daniel, 24:40 in closing? 24:41 >> Father, when we come 24:45 against struggles that we don't 24:46 understand, when we've been 24:48 written off, when we don't 24:50 feel the value of life, when 24:52 life just doesn't make sense, 24:55 we can come to You, 24:58 with our hearts open wide, 25:00 as broken as it is 25:03 and You will atone, 25:05 You will redeem, You will 25:07 justify, You will sanctify 25:10 with the simple act of faith 25:12 that says, "Lord, I believe." 25:15 Help me, lead me to a rock 25:17 that is higher than I. 25:19 Whoever hears this program, 25:21 whoever watches this program, 25:24 understand that You, oh Lord, 25:26 are the greatness and the 25:27 goodness and the quality in 25:30 our lives and that You will 25:31 lead us and guide us and keep 25:33 us in our ways. 25:35 So, God, for those who are 25:36 overwhelmed, for those who are 25:38 blessed, God, and have felt 25:39 the glory of Your presence, 25:42 I pray that You would continue 25:43 to move them forward and they 25:45 would understand that they 25:46 alone cannot do it. 25:48 You are the Redeemer and 25:50 Saviour and Confidant that 25:51 walks with us. 25:53 I know whom I have 25:54 believed in. 25:55 Lord, help other to know whom 25:57 You are that they can believe 25:59 in You also, in Jesus' name... 26:01 >> Amen. 26:04 >> You know, while I was 26:05 listening to Daniel's story 26:07 about how he received that 26:09 blue, leather-bound Bible from 26:11 Aubrey, I was reminded of how 26:14 I, too, received a Bible from 26:16 a friend who gave me this 26:19 exact Bible and he told me 26:20 that if I read a chapter a 26:22 day, that this book would 26:24 completely change my life. 26:26 I was a teenager at that time 26:27 and he was completely right. 26:29 It was the right book 26:31 at the right time. 26:33 >> And that's the title 26:35 of our free offer today, 26:37 The Right Book 26:38 At the Right Time. 26:40 This little booklet is 26:42 completely free of charge 26:43 to you. 26:44 So get your smart phone ready 26:46 or a pen and paper to take 26:48 down the details of how you 26:50 can get this free offer, 26:52 The Right Book 26:53 At the Right Time. 26:55 ♪♪ 27:06 Friends, we would also like to 27:08 invite you to follow us on 27:09 Instagram and Facebook and 27:11 subscribe to our YouTube 27:13 channel and also listen 27:15 to our Podcasts. 27:17 And if you go to our webpage, 27:19 you can see our latest 27:20 programs including our 27:22 exercise workouts and 27:24 healthy eating videos called 27:26 Experiencing Life 27:28 and our short spiritual 27:30 messages entitled, 27:32 Daily Living. 27:33 They are all there free for 27:35 you to watch whenever you 27:36 choose because we want you to 27:38 experience the truth that is 27:40 found in the words of Jesus 27:41 when He said, "It is written," 27:44 "man shall not live by bread" 27:46 "alone, but by every word" 27:48 "that proceeds out of the" 27:49 "mouth of God." 27:51 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-12-16