3ABN On the Road

Project Reports And Members In Action - Thursday Evening Pt. 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000833


00:01 Thank you for the hope that you have given us.
01:03 The hope of your soon return to take us home.
01:06 Thank you for this ASI Convention
01:09 that we can be gathered together to fellowship
01:12 and to worship you.
01:13 We pray tonight that you will be with each one
01:17 that has a part in the program.
01:18 Lord, we pray that you will speak through them
01:21 in the words of that they say.
01:23 I pray for our hearts,
01:25 that we will be open and receptive
01:27 to your leading and your guiding tonight.
01:29 And as a result of what we hear that we will
01:32 be closer connected with you as a result.
01:35 We thank you and we praise you
01:37 for being here tonight,
01:38 in your name I pray, amen.
01:40 Please be seated.
01:52 Good evening.
01:53 Now is another time when we can take
01:56 a look back to reflect a little bit on the past,
01:59 the humble beginnings of ASI.
02:01 Tonight, as we talk a little bit you will hear
02:05 the rest of the story about
02:06 some of the beginnings of ASI.
02:08 And with me I have Ann Goodge,
02:11 and Ann Goodge has a very interesting
02:14 connection with ASI.
02:16 Ann, tell us a little bit about your first
02:19 beginnings with ASI?
02:20 Well, my first beginnings with ASI was
02:23 when I was 3 years old and my parents
02:26 attended the meeting in Cincinnati
02:28 where ASI begin in 1947,
02:32 and I've heard about ASI ever since
02:36 and I've come to many of the meetings.
02:38 Now I understand that you are related to someone
02:41 who is actually pretty special to ASI.
02:44 Who is that? Well, of course, my father
02:48 and I want to say how blessed someone
02:52 can be to be born to parents that love ASI
02:56 and came to ASI.
02:57 My father was very active in ASI
03:00 and also became the ASI president
03:03 and I think it was 73, 72-73
03:06 and he was president for 6 years
03:08 and all the time I've been able to attend many,
03:12 many ASI meetings and I love it
03:15 more today then I did.
03:16 I guess that, that's something
03:19 that happens with ASI people.
03:21 The more you come, the more you come,
03:22 the more you come, because he just love it.
03:24 Now tell me a little bit about I recall you
03:27 telling me that your father
03:28 used to talk about ASI in some very
03:31 endearing ways, I'm talking about
03:33 the kind of people that were here?
03:34 Well, my father said there were no better friends
03:38 in the world than ASI friends.
03:40 And he spoke of many of them
03:43 that he met and learned as the salt of the earth
03:46 and even when I didn't go to ASI
03:50 then my parents would come home,
03:52 they would tell all the new people who had
03:55 joined ASI and what wonderful people they were,
03:57 so whether I went or not I thought I've been there.
04:00 Now, I know that there are somethings
04:03 that happened now that maybe didn't happen
04:06 when ASI first started.
04:08 Let's talk about something that very near
04:10 and dear and close to our hearts.
04:12 Or should I say maybe our stomachs.
04:14 Tell us about what happened
04:16 with the fellowship meals back then?
04:18 Well, my early remembrances of ASI
04:22 was taking food from home and my mother
04:26 would prepare meals in our room
04:29 at the hotel and invite friends and family
04:33 and so forth into eat with us
04:35 and there just wasn't money to go
04:38 to a restaurant and eat,
04:39 so we had many fellowship meals in our room.
04:43 Now was the meeting,
04:45 were the meetings still like Wednesday evening
04:48 through the weekend,
04:49 were they that long, do you know?
04:50 I don't believe they were,
04:52 I think they were more Friday
04:57 and Saturday Sabbath.
04:59 So it's kind of a weekend experience.
05:01 Yes. Now we just jump back to the food.
05:05 So everyone kind of fellowship in small groups,
05:08 how many people would come to ASI?
05:11 Were these many, many, many,
05:12 many rooms that people would cluster together
05:15 and have meals? No, no, I would say
05:19 many of the ASI meetings early on I attended,
05:23 I am a bit surprised if there were a hundred people
05:25 all together there, small groups.
05:28 When, at what point did the shift happen
05:32 when there were fellowship meals
05:34 of all the members together?
05:35 Did that happen during your time?
05:36 Well, it did.
05:39 I remember I did not go to the meeting,
05:42 but I remember my parents coming and talking about
05:45 the wonderful meals that Paul DiMaggio
05:48 had prepared for them and so forth,
05:51 and that was quite exciting
05:53 and now we have Sharon Robertson doing that
05:57 and I just want to say that I think the meals
06:01 are one of the most wonderful things
06:03 that happened because of all of the fellowship
06:06 that you have sitting at the table with different
06:10 people every meal and it's just a wonderful
06:13 time and I certainly want to give them a wonderful
06:18 thanks for all they do in that respect,
06:22 and those of you that don't remember the days
06:24 when we didn't have meals you would understand
06:27 my feeling. Now I remember
06:30 you told me about an experience,
06:31 just emphasize this point that a particular person
06:35 that you always wanted to meet and you were able
06:38 to actually have a meal with them
06:39 when you were here at ASI.
06:41 Well, yes I remember a few years ago when
06:45 Don Snyder was elected the North American Division.
06:51 And I thought well I would like to talk to him
06:54 and I thought there is no way I will.
06:57 And while I was at ASI I think,
07:00 he and his wife sat at my table a couple of
07:02 different times. So I enjoyed that
07:05 and finding out that his wife grew up
07:07 where my mother did and it was very interesting.
07:10 So you were so much more brothers and sisters
07:13 and alike then we are really apart
07:15 and it's a wonderful thing that ASI
07:16 brings us together. Yes.
07:18 Tell us did we have members in action
07:20 in the same way that we do now?
07:23 Oh, yes, we did, that is one trademark of ASI
07:28 that has not faded away.
07:30 That's always been the thing where the members
07:34 told of so many wonderful experiences
07:36 and so forth and I remember that
07:39 from early on. Do you have a
07:41 favorite memory of members in action
07:43 that you recall?
07:44 Well, there is a lot of people I could mention
07:49 but one that stands in my mind
07:51 is Jesse Harris and her home,
07:53 the children and even as a young person
07:57 I loved to hear her get up and tell the stories
08:00 and all of the needs of the children
08:03 and somehow she had room for all of them.
08:05 And those of you that don't remember her
08:09 or weren't members, try reading the book,
08:12 "A Promise in the Cornfield"
08:15 that was written by Madlyn Hamblin
08:17 and it's a wonderful to read.
08:20 So just tell me Ann,
08:22 as long as we are here on this earth,
08:24 if we keep having ASI Conventions,
08:26 do you think you will be here?
08:27 Something big will have to keep me away.
08:33 I love coming. Thank you very much
08:36 for sharing of the humble beginnings of ASI.
08:38 Thank you.
08:49 I love ASI and one of the best things about it
08:52 is the projects that we've done in the past.
08:55 Who do I have with me tonight?
08:58 Musa Mitakro. Musa Mitakaro. Yes.
09:03 So are you like from Kentucky.
09:08 No, I am from Tanzania in Africa.
09:11 Tanzania in East in Africa. Yes.
09:13 Now you have a ministry over there,
09:16 is that right? Yes.
09:18 Tell us about what kind of ministry you have?
09:20 The ministry's name is Twing Association
09:25 for Health Evangelism and Education Development.
09:30 So you have and how long is this,
09:33 have you had this ministry in Tanzania?
09:35 We started in 2000. Two thousand. Yes.
09:39 So now, ASI last year give you some money
09:43 to your ministry. Yes.
09:45 And what did you do with those moneys?
09:49 We conducted thirteen [foreign] site evangelism.
09:56 Thirteen different sites. Yes,
09:59 in unentered villages.
10:01 So in Tanzania,
10:03 now we hear lots about Africa
10:05 but you had unentered areas in Tanzania.
10:08 Yes, not only in Tanzania,
10:10 in whole Africa we have some parts where
10:15 the three angels message hasn't reached.
10:20 You have, the people haven't been reached,
10:23 and so now, how did you originally
10:26 become associated with this ministry?
10:31 A missionary family from USA
10:33 came to Africa in 1970.
10:40 When I was 14 years old I was taken in that family.
10:44 So they taught me from that age,
10:48 they taught me how to preach,
10:50 they taught me English and from that time
10:55 I started preaching.
10:56 You started preaching at age 14.
11:00 Now my understanding is your father,
11:04 not your Father in Heaven
11:05 but your father on this earth was a King,
11:08 right, of the area. You're a tribal.
11:12 Yes, He was a King of Haya tribe in Tanzania.
11:18 And from there from being the son of a tribal King
11:22 you became one who works for the Lord at age 14.
11:28 Yes, the missionary when they came,
11:31 the first thing they did
11:33 they approached to my father.
11:35 He became an Adventist
11:37 and then we were taught also
11:41 and we became Adventist.
11:43 And you became an Adventist.
11:44 Now, this project you did,
11:47 you went and you went out to the villages,
11:51 thirteen villages, right. Right.
11:53 Now out of those thirteen villages
11:56 that you did your meetings
11:58 how many baptisms did you have?
12:03 We baptized 4000 souls
12:08 and not only 4000,
12:11 currently the membership were doubled
12:15 from those villages. So you've doubled it.
12:26 Now for those of you who like to get
12:29 value for your dollar that works out for about
12:32 $6 and 25 cents of baptism.
12:34 So you baptized, so you baptized the 4000 people,
12:39 now tell us there was some people
12:42 that were baptized,
12:43 Alisha or tell us about some of the stories
12:47 of people that you baptized there?
12:49 Well, in our meeting,
12:52 in one of those thirteen meetings
12:55 we experienced the outpouring
12:59 of the Holy Spirit.
13:00 It was a dry season and therefore,
13:06 we were excited to do the crusades
13:09 in the dry season, but though we are
13:14 excited then there was one problem,
13:17 there was no water for baptism.
13:21 So we had to walk five miles to find the water
13:27 in the jungles and then we received the message
13:33 that we have to go for baptism in three villages
13:38 in one day and here there was no water.
13:41 So what should we do?
13:43 I asked the church members to pray
13:46 and after the prayer, within 2-3 days there
13:52 was much rain and so that we had plenty of water.
13:55 We thank God that God answered our prayer.
13:59 So you prayed for rain to have your baptisms.
14:07 Yeah. Praise God. Tell me, in shortly,
14:12 in our time, tell us about Aisha?
14:14 She was a woman who came to your meetings
14:17 and you baptized her, talk about her?
14:21 Aisha was from the Muslim believers
14:26 and therefore she decided with her daughters,
14:30 three of them, to attend the meeting.
14:32 But first I made the call and Aisha couldn't stand
14:39 because she was afraid of the people
14:43 and even the husband,
14:44 because she didn't say anything to the husband
14:48 that she is attending the meeting and therefore,
14:52 Aisha decided to go back and talk with her husband.
14:57 The husband refused. He said,
15:01 you can't join the church that eats pig meats.
15:10 And therefore, Aisha thought about it.
15:16 The following day she came back to the lay person
15:21 to ask him about pig meat eating
15:27 and the lay person told him,
15:31 told her that we Adventists we don't eat pig meat
15:37 and therefore, Aisha was so happy,
15:40 she said, now come that you may teach my husband
15:45 about the food. The lay person
15:50 went to that family, he was invited well.
15:56 He started teaching from Leviticus chapter 11
15:59 about the meat and the man,
16:04 Ibrahim the husband of Aisha
16:07 understood that we Adventists doesn't eat
16:11 unclean foods and one of it is pig meat.
16:17 So Ibrahim allowed the wife to be baptized
16:26 and to join the church. Can we say amen?
16:29 Musa, Thank you so much for your ministry
16:31 and what you do. Thank you.
16:36 Next coming out is Cheryl Martin.
16:45 Hi Cheryl. Hello. How are you? Great.
16:49 Now Cheryl, where you from?
16:53 What ministry do you represent this evening?
16:55 I represent the Kids in Discipleship Ministry,
16:58 that's based in Collegedale, Tennessee.
17:00 Collegedale, Tennessee, Kids in Discipleship.
17:03 What does it mean when you talk about Kids
17:06 in Discipleship? Number one,
17:08 how do you define a kid?
17:11 Any young person,
17:12 our ministry is targeted towards children
17:16 at the ages of 8 to 13. So you're putting,
17:19 you have a ministry that targets children between
17:23 the ages of 8 and 13.
17:25 that's right, and our goal for these children
17:29 is best summed upon our mission statement
17:32 which is mentoring kids to be empowered
17:34 disciples of Jesus now.
17:36 Wow! I just love that mission statement.
17:40 So you, you want to empower kids,
17:42 we talk about young people, youth for Jesus,
17:44 here we're talking about kids, 8 to 13 years old.
17:49 So now you're based what?
17:51 you are out of Collegedale, Tennessee.
17:53 That's right.
17:55 Our ministry the kids in discipleship ministry
17:57 is a church based ministry of the Collegedale church
17:59 and we operate small group interact
18:03 Bible studies for families,
18:04 designed for families but focused on the children.
18:07 So when you say it's designed for families,
18:10 tell me more about that?
18:12 What you, doesn't all families
18:14 know how to teach their kids about Jesus?
18:16 Not necessarily, but that's our goal
18:19 with the ministry. What we do is
18:22 we help parents to become the primary disciple
18:24 of their children spiritually
18:26 and we do that by Bible studies.
18:28 We bring in the families and we help them
18:31 through the means of twelve Bible
18:32 study lessons to learn,
18:34 to go closure to God themselves
18:36 and to learn how to disciple
18:38 their children to Jesus.
18:39 So you teach, you teach the parents
18:43 how to kind of give their kids Bible studies
18:46 and show them about Jesus.
18:48 Exactly, well we tell our parents is basically
18:52 if we want our kids to go deeper with God
18:54 we need to go deeper with God ourselves.
18:57 So now do you just do this locally
18:59 or what happens,
19:01 do you have other people that come and learn?
19:03 We sure do. We are so excited
19:05 and God has really blessed this ministry
19:07 is all over the United States
19:09 and now in four different divisions of the world.
19:11 Four different divisions of the world,
19:13 all the over the United States.
19:15 How many groups you had come through?
19:17 We've had over 80 church teams
19:20 from different churches and different divisions
19:23 of the world. Eighty teams,
19:25 so around the church from the North America
19:27 and the world have come to hear about
19:31 what you do there.
19:32 Now last year we gave some money
19:35 for Australia I believe,
19:37 so tell us how you would down
19:40 and help the people down under?
19:42 That is so exciting, God is so good,
19:45 He has taken this ministry to children,
19:48 to benefit children all over
19:50 and we are so grateful for the money
19:52 that the ASI family has given for this.
19:54 A team came from Australia a year ago,
19:58 saw the ministry model in the Collegedale church
20:01 and then went back to the Avondale
20:03 Memorial Church, gathered their families
20:05 together and began a small group
20:07 Bible studies for them.
20:08 So a small group Bible studies
20:11 to teach the parents to teach their children.
20:14 That's right, we start with the parents
20:15 and then we bring the children and basically
20:18 have interactive Bible studies
20:20 for the whole family.
20:21 Do you have any specific examples
20:23 or stories that happened down there?
20:25 Absolutely, I'm glad you asked.
20:28 We had a gentleman who shared in the ministry.
20:33 He took his family through
20:34 and at the end of the first evening of training,
20:38 we had about 80 people there at the Avondale
20:41 Memorial Church and parents were asked
20:44 about their testimony, what did this class
20:46 do for you? And one father picked up
20:49 a microphone and he said,
20:50 a year and half ago I was in a life
20:52 threatening accident.
20:53 He messed up his back,
20:55 he shattered a leg and over time
20:58 as this didn't heal, didn't heal,
20:59 he began to get depressed
21:01 and that depression turned
21:02 to suicidal thoughts and he said,
21:04 I was just a mess,
21:05 I separated myself from my family,
21:07 from my wife, from my church and from God,
21:10 and he said about that time kids in discipleship
21:13 started at our church and this family
21:16 was invited to participate and he said
21:18 its changed my life. He gave his wife a hug,
21:21 he said, now we are closer together
21:24 and the family is close to God again
21:26 and just he said, Kids in Discipleship
21:29 has made that difference
21:30 and now he has a ministry for children
21:32 in the community, Children's Church.
21:34 Children's Church,
21:36 so he took what you teach at your ministry
21:39 and now he has appointed in Australia. Amen.
21:43 The essence really of the ministry
21:44 is that gentle life transformation
21:46 that God does in our lives
21:48 and then turns us around out of love for Him
21:51 to share with others in our market place.
21:53 It's similar to what our president talked about
21:56 last night about we start with ourselves
21:59 in our heart and we change ourselves
22:02 on the inside, the Lord changes
22:04 us on the inside and then we can reach out.
22:06 Now you've got, you've also done
22:08 this with people in England.
22:11 Tell me about maybe you have a story
22:15 about England and what happened there
22:18 with your ministry that's kind of international?
22:21 We were in England, in London, England,
22:23 a couple months ago where we established
22:25 the training center for the Trans-European
22:27 Division and after one class the facilitator
22:30 asked the children.
22:31 The class was on sharing Christ
22:33 with your friends and she asked the children,
22:35 is there something that you would like to share,
22:37 someway that you want to share Jesus
22:39 with others. One little girl
22:41 raised her hand and she said,
22:42 you know I really like to draw
22:44 and I know there is a boy down the street
22:46 who likes to draw and he is really good at it.
22:48 I think I want to invite him to my home,
22:51 into my family and we'll draw together
22:54 and I am going to be praying while I'm drawing
22:55 that God will help me to be able to share Jesus
22:57 with this boy. And how old was this girl?
22:59 She was about 9 years old.
23:00 Nine years old, so there is a
23:04 market place for children.
23:06 When we talk about sharing Christ
23:08 in the market place,
23:09 we think of just business
23:11 but this is their market place,
23:14 these young people,
23:15 you know as the saying goes,
23:16 preach always and use words if necessary,
23:21 and boy is this very applicable to this girl
23:24 in England. Well, tell us,
23:27 you've had 80 different people
23:30 come through and have you had people
23:32 approach you while you've been here
23:34 at your booth here at ASI?
23:37 We have, we've had a conference president
23:40 and several key leaders,
23:42 just interested church members,
23:45 we'd love to have more come by and learn.
23:46 So it's a way to reach out to our children,
23:51 8 to 13. You're doing a great ministry.
23:55 Anything you want to say in closing.
23:57 No. Just come by the booth
24:00 if you're here in Louisville 427,
24:02 or if you're watching on the web or 3ABN,
24:06 we'd love to have you visit our website at
24:08 kidsindiscipleship.org. Thanks Cheryl.
24:24 There are days I know
24:28 when you get so discouraged,
24:32 It seems that all hope is gone.
24:38 But there's only One who can give you courage
24:46 And strength to carry on.
24:53 Never give up, Jesus is coming.
25:00 It's the darkest just before dawn.
25:07 Never give up, Jesus is coming.
25:15 Never give up, keep holding on!
25:22 This old world I know can't last much longer,
25:31 And sin will soon pass away.
25:37 But my faith in God simply
25:42 keeps growing stronger,
25:46 For Jesus is coming some day!
25:51 Please join me.
25:52 Never give up, Jesus is coming.
26:00 It's the darkest just before dawn.
26:07 Never give up, O Jesus is coming.
26:14 Never give up, keep holding on!
26:23 Never give up, keep holding on!
26:42 Amen. For 60 years ASI
26:45 put a strong emphasis on having members
26:47 share their testimonies and stories
26:49 of how the Lord is working in their lives.
26:51 This members in action has served
26:53 as an inspiration to many who hear
26:55 and often results in lives being changed.
26:58 Tonight will be no exception is my prayer.
27:01 This evening I am joined on stage here
27:04 with Pastor Wendell Jeffrey
27:05 and DuPriest Eastern and I am so thrilled
27:09 for you Pastor Jeffrey to share with us
27:11 a little bit about your background
27:12 and your passion for working with
27:14 marginalized individuals?
27:16 Thank you very much Joy.
27:17 It has always been my pleasure,
27:20 my life work it seems to work with the
27:23 marginalized and those who are suffering
27:25 in the community. Ever since I was a little boy,
27:27 growing up in the projects,
27:29 back there in the Caribbean,
27:31 I would remember that when the guys
27:32 would be pelting at the old folks
27:34 or pulling at the mentally retarded
27:36 I would be one to say, no, don't do that and so on.
27:39 And I grew up like that,
27:40 I felt a call to the ministry and began
27:43 my theological studies back there in Trinidad.
27:46 I didn't complete it there,
27:48 I came over here and I was working
27:51 with a very large company.
27:53 I was a senior executive sales representative.
27:56 I am working for a lot of money
27:58 but I didn't feel satisfied,
28:00 so I quit the job and finished my
28:03 theological studies at Oakwood College
28:06 and then went onto in the seminary
28:07 at Andrews University.
28:09 And then you got started working
28:11 at a church that was in a Ghetto,
28:14 and share with us how your
28:15 Practical Christianity Ministry grew from that?
28:17 Amen. Well, I was assisting at the church
28:21 there in South Bay, Indiana.
28:22 And I wanted to go after the marginalized people.
28:27 The people who were really hurting
28:29 and I contacted a couple who had a bar,
28:33 a tavern that they had bought
28:37 and they weren't using and we went
28:41 and we got at the bar and we made the bar
28:44 into a church. It seems like a likely place.
28:49 Yeah, and so while we were,
28:51 I had the guys, I would go to the homeless
28:55 shelter and I would get the guys to come in
28:57 and help me got that bar
28:58 and so on as we were preparing it for a church
29:01 and then it dawned to me
29:02 that this would be a good way to get these guys
29:05 employed and to keep them out of the prison
29:08 and that's how the ministry started.
29:09 Okay, so that was Practical Christianity
29:11 Ministry and then you also were able
29:14 to get into prison.
29:15 Share a little bit about that story as well.
29:17 Okay, well, after we became know in South Bay
29:21 as the church where these ex-offenders
29:25 and recovering addicts could come.
29:27 Word began to get out as to
29:30 what we were doing,
29:31 we would receive a number of calls.
29:32 There was a meeting where they,
29:35 there was a guy who was the Chaplin
29:38 over all the prisons in Indiana.
29:40 I went a meeting that he was at,
29:42 I made a few comments in the meeting.
29:44 And when it was finished he approached me
29:47 and he said that he would like me to work
29:48 with the Department of Corrections for Indiana.
29:51 And they asked me to come in as a Chaplin
29:53 and I went and they gave me a course that
29:57 they asked me to teach.
29:58 Well, when I looked at the course,
30:00 I am a ex-offender myself,
30:02 so I looked at a course and I said to myself
30:05 that if I was in prison and somebody
30:08 shared this with me.
30:10 It wouldn't mean anything to me.
30:12 So I wrote a proposal to the prison,
30:13 the largest in Indiana,
30:16 they have close to 2000, close to 3200 men.
30:19 And so I wrote a proposal and I said to them,
30:22 can I create a lecture series
30:25 to teach instead of this and they accepted
30:27 the proposal. And when we started
30:29 we had 80 men coming to the class,
30:31 now we have three hundred in meeting.
30:33 Praise the Lord. And they have now asked us
30:34 to teach the course to all 3200 men. Amen.
30:43 Now Pastor Jeffrey would you share with us
30:46 just a little I think everybody
30:47 would be interested to know
30:49 some of the statistics in the United States
30:51 on prisons. We have a disaster to say
30:56 the least with prisons in the United States.
30:59 As we speak, there are 2 million people
31:03 incarcerated in the United States.
31:05 Then we have 7 million who have been released
31:11 but are still monitored by the Federal government
31:14 or by the local on probation or parole
31:17 or house arrest or work release
31:19 or something like that.
31:20 So as we speak you've got 9 million people
31:23 who are being, who are either incarcerated
31:26 or being monitored. Now only 10 percent
31:31 of released prisoners find gainful employment.
31:35 In other words, 90 percent of the people
31:39 who are coming out of prison are not gainfully
31:41 employed and that is why three out of every
31:43 five people who go to prison,
31:45 three out of every five go back to prison.
31:48 I'm gonna share some statistic with you Joy.
31:50 Eighty percent of all prisoners don't have a GED
31:57 or A high school diploma,
31:58 another 80 percent or 80 percent
32:01 of the same number were not gainfully employed
32:06 at the time they were arrested for the crime.
32:07 No matter what the crime was,
32:09 80 percent of them were not working,
32:11 90 percent of all prisoners were not actively
32:17 involved in any church at the time of the arrest.
32:20 And so what we've done with the Practical
32:22 Christianity Ministry is we have realized that
32:25 in order to reduce recidivism.
32:27 You have to answer those questions.
32:29 You've got to educate the prisoner,
32:31 you've got to teach them the skill
32:33 and you've got to find a church for them.
32:35 And unless we answer those questions
32:38 we will not reduce recidivism
32:41 in the United States of America.
32:42 Okay, so let's talk now with DuPriest
32:45 who has a testimony of his own.
32:48 Would you share just a little bit of that with us
32:50 and how it tied into Practical Christianity?
32:52 Thank you Joy. Oh, I was incarcerated
32:56 when I was 19 years old.
32:58 I did eleven and half years straight.
33:00 And I came out of prison in 2003
33:03 and when I came out it was hard for me because
33:07 I couldn't find a job, you know
33:10 I put in applications everywhere I went,
33:13 everybody turned me down and a friend of mine
33:16 he gave me Pastor Jeffrey's number
33:19 and I called Pastor Jeffrey and then I met
33:23 and talked with him. And the next day we met
33:26 the Mayor together and then two days later
33:29 I was working for him.
33:31 So you know it was a blessing.
33:33 Now Pastor Jeffrey, he was a wonderful addition
33:37 to your team, wasn't he?
33:38 Joy, he was a wonderful addition to my team
33:41 and some people come into the program.
33:43 We teach them construction,
33:44 I teach them how to renovate houses
33:46 and we have trained 60 people so far
33:49 in the last three years,
33:50 but when DuPriest come to the program,
33:52 DuPriest didn't know what side of the hammer
33:54 to hold and now DuPriest
33:56 is not only doing construction
33:58 but he is teaching the other junior guys
34:00 who come into the program how to renovate houses.
34:02 Praise the Lord.
34:10 Now I would like Pastor Jeffrey
34:11 to just share one more story with us
34:14 about an individual who was
34:16 impacted by Practical Christianity?
34:19 A young lady came to us because
34:23 we have women in the program sometimes
34:25 and she was, she was out on the streets,
34:28 she was a lady of the night,
34:29 she was trying out in drugs and somebody
34:32 told her about the program.
34:33 When she came to us she had no way
34:35 to leave so I spoke to my wife and she came to live
34:37 at our house, because we couldn't,
34:39 we have houses for the guys,
34:40 where we couldn't her with the guys.
34:41 So she came to our house to live
34:44 and we worked with her,
34:46 she was involved with the program,
34:48 she learned, she was doing construction
34:50 with the guys and then one day she said
34:52 she want to be baptized and we did some studies
34:55 with her and she was baptized
34:56 and she is now moved on,
34:58 she's in, I think Battlecreek
35:03 but she is studying to be a minister of the gospel.
35:08 Praise the Lord. Thank you both
35:09 so much for sharing. Amen, amen.
35:18 My next guest is Melody George
35:21 and Melody has a calling that is very unusual
35:26 for most of us and Melody,
35:28 I just wanted you to share how God
35:30 impressed on your heart to do
35:32 what you do in ministry?
35:34 Well, when I was at junior high school
35:36 I didn't know what I was gonna do for a career.
35:40 I knew that I wanted to have something
35:41 that I love doing and then have some
35:43 sort of ministry to be involved in on the site.
35:45 But I remember I went to a very meaningful
35:48 week of prayer and I just remembered
35:50 walking out of that meeting
35:51 and thinking I want,
35:53 I want every aspect of what I do.
35:55 You know, every minute, every hour,
35:58 my entire career to be 100 percent
36:00 focused toward serving God
36:02 and at that point I had a little bit of
36:04 interesting film and video and acting and song.
36:08 And it just stroked me in that moment,
36:09 I'm gonna be a film maker.
36:11 And so you went on to
36:14 Southern Adventist University,
36:16 you graduated with your film making degree
36:18 and as soon as you graduated
36:21 I am sure Hollywood people
36:22 were knocking on your door for Christian
36:25 themed movies.
36:26 Right, right, it's a big deal.. So...
36:30 that's too much.
36:31 So how did you make the decision
36:33 to go to Hollywood?
36:34 Well, when I graduated from Southern
36:37 I spent about 6 months living in
36:39 Chattanooga and working on campus
36:41 actually at Southern and obviously
36:43 you only have a certain amount of time
36:45 that you are able to work on campus
36:47 and that period ended
36:49 and so I started looking for jobs.
36:50 And it had always been an idea in the
36:54 back of my mind, maybe I will go to L.A.
36:56 one of these days but not yet
36:57 and I talked to my dad on a phone one night
37:00 that I was applying for job in Chattanooga.
37:01 He said, well, what about that old idea
37:03 of going out to L.A. and I said,
37:05 well, I just don't feel ready yet,
37:07 I don't know just doesn't feel right
37:08 but we got off the phone
37:10 and it was like God just impressed upon
37:13 my heart that this was where I needed to go
37:15 because I can't stop thinking about it
37:16 for the next couple of days
37:18 and I talked to my parents again,
37:20 we prayed about it together
37:21 and we just unanimously felt that it was time
37:24 for me to go and about three weeks from that day
37:27 I was in my car on the road
37:29 driving from Chattanooga out to Los Angeles.
37:32 What you would define as the worldly world.
37:35 Yes, for sure.
37:36 Tell me a little bit about how God affirmed
37:40 your choice and how He had led in this mission.
37:43 Well, He just affirmed once I got out to L.A.
37:46 just that I was suppose to be there
37:48 by really providing for my needs once I got
37:51 there because I did not have
37:53 you know a job waiting for me.
37:55 I had possibilities but
37:58 I had applied for a job before I even
38:00 left Chattanooga and I was with a Christian
38:03 guy who is looking for an editor in the program
38:05 that I specialize in. He said, well,
38:07 I like your work, give me a call once
38:09 you get out and so I got out to L.A.
38:12 I called him, you know, within a couple of days
38:14 of having arrived and I interviewed within
38:17 that week and he hired me and he interviewed
38:19 me at Universal Studio and so it's been
38:22 amazing to have somebody who is a committed
38:24 Christian to sort of mentor me because
38:26 he has been working in the industry for
38:27 for several years. So just the fact that
38:30 I met him and he was hired immediately in sort
38:33 of a freelance position was
38:34 definitely an affirmation.
38:37 So that was a wonderful positive affirmation
38:39 but everybody knows here that they are lot
38:42 of moral dilemmas that occur when you are
38:44 working in that environment there.
38:46 It is not a Christian place as a whole.
38:50 What has been some of your experiences
38:52 where you have been able to use your
38:53 friendship evangelism? Right, well, it's been
38:57 definitely a bit of culture shock,
38:58 but I had to get used to. But I remember the first
39:02 job I had working on set. Just some of the people
39:05 that you run into, you definitely work in
39:07 some very dark places, it's a stereotype but it
39:10 definitely has some truth to it.
39:12 And I remember just one man that I met him
39:14 worked with, it was unbelievable that,
39:18 it was sort of like he was one of those
39:19 cliched bad guys from a movie, you know,
39:22 one of the villains that's out to get you
39:23 and I just remember thinking,
39:25 do people like this actually exist,
39:28 and they do. But and you know,
39:33 but, you know I have grown up all my life
39:36 hearing about loving your enemy,
39:39 blessing those who curse you and doing
39:41 good to those who hate you.
39:42 I've never had such an opportunity
39:45 to exercise that, and. Praise the Lord.
39:49 He has given the grace to do it and it's been
39:53 amazing to out and finally be in that setting
39:56 and see the difference that it can make for
39:58 somebody who has Christ to be able to
40:01 uphold those principles and just maintain
40:03 your peace. And just to communicate that,
40:06 the way you're treating me does not affect
40:09 me because you know I have the balance,
40:13 I am solid I know that my value comes from Christ
40:15 and you know not that I would say that
40:17 specifically to Him but just you're demeanor on set,
40:19 demeanor on set, you know just
40:22 that communicate so much that you can just
40:24 serve with a humble heart and take it
40:27 you know that you can take the criticism
40:29 it says a lot. Being like Jesus
40:31 in a very Godless place. You've committed
40:36 yourself to the frontlines of ministry
40:38 in Hollywood something that a lot of us probably
40:41 would not be able to do. Do you have any
40:43 request from the audience for your work?
40:46 Just pray your prayers because it's
40:48 you know it's easy to say well,
40:50 please pray for us but the spiritual
40:52 battle is very, very real and I've
40:54 definitely witnessed some very dark places
40:58 and worked in some very dark places
41:01 and I never before have I,
41:02 have I needed so much to spend that time
41:06 abiding with God every morning.
41:09 I am just connecting and we connecting
41:12 so that throughout the day I have
41:14 that peace it's really important
41:15 so I appreciate your prayers just for me
41:17 and for other Christians all my crews out there.
41:21 You have such a wonderful opportunity to offer
41:23 the world's spiritual theme to films
41:25 and we just praise the Lord for your work there.
41:28 Thanks Joy. Thanks Melody. Thank you.
41:36 Hi, Ted. Hi. Ted, you're a tough guy
41:39 to track down and he,
41:41 he is working with the youth,
41:43 wonderful, wonderful. I understand that
41:46 you yourself are a young disciple.
41:52 Yes, well, I was about 14 years old when
41:53 Young Disciples Ministries began and so I guess
41:56 I just sort of grew up with it and I can't
41:58 believe it's already been about 15 years
42:00 that I have been involved and Young Disciples
42:02 has been such a blessing to me.
42:04 Tell me more about the ministry
42:06 of Young Disciple? Well, Young Disciple
42:09 Ministries started with the Young Disciple
42:12 Magazine that many of you've seen
42:14 and it was a Bible study magazine had true
42:18 stories and my mom started it,
42:22 looking for something for us kids.
42:25 And she didn't find what she was looking
42:27 for something that really taught Bible study
42:29 principles and dealt in a little deeper
42:31 and so she kind of just started something
42:33 for us and it just grew from there
42:36 and now it's a full column magazine that goes
42:38 all over the world. So you have
42:40 the magazine and then you also have a camp.
42:43 Yes. I am now the camp director for Young
42:46 Disciple Youth Bible Camps and we just
42:50 got finished with camp about a week before
42:52 ASI started. And had about 200
42:56 campers that came, wanting to learn more
42:59 about how they can study the Bible
43:02 and going home with the desire to start
43:05 outreach in their churches and learning how
43:08 to share and to study the Bible and to bring
43:11 that home to make it alive in their lives.
43:14 And the reason I introduced Ted
43:16 as a young disciple is that we kind of a
43:19 special impact that's happening from
43:21 this ministry because Ted himself already
43:25 is an officer of ASI, North Specific
43:27 Union Chapter, he is a youth leader
43:30 and it's just an amazing opportunity for us
43:33 to gather these very Bible based,
43:36 wonderful students of the Bible.
43:38 So just wanted to mention that you have
43:42 a new tool available that people can use,
43:46 that's specifically focused on the youth.
43:49 Would you share a little bit more about that?
43:51 Yes. Well, the truth for youth program
43:54 was born just a little over a year ago
43:59 and it started out kind of the same way
44:02 as the magazine did in terms that we do
44:05 youth of evangelism also every year
44:07 we take a group of teens to the Philippines.
44:10 They do the preaching,
44:11 they do the Bible work, they do the kids meetings
44:13 but we had the wonderful new beginnings
44:17 program to use for the adult meetings
44:19 and that what's the teens are preaching but
44:23 when we went to kids program we didn't find
44:24 anything like and we were using crafts,
44:26 we were using felts. When you have 300
44:28 kids they can't see the felts and we were looking
44:32 for something that we could use
44:35 and we didn't find it. And so again we
44:37 thought well, we will just hav e
44:38 to sort of put something together that we can
44:40 use and so we started to finding out about
44:43 it and it's just kept growing and growing,
44:45 the more we told people about it the more
44:47 they said, oh, yeah, you put it together,
44:49 we want that too. And so that's how
44:53 I came into being,
44:54 we were working with ASI,
44:57 we were working with global evangelism
45:00 and we were able to put together as a team,
45:06 beautiful pictures just like the new beginnings
45:09 with the borders and truth for today pictures.
45:14 And the script that you can present
45:16 or young people can present ages 5 to 13,
45:19 so now we have not only the new beginnings
45:22 and other programs for the adults but
45:25 there is a complete program for
45:28 the ages 5 to 13, an evangelistic series.
45:31 So now we don't just produce what we
45:33 don't just preach one of evangelistic
45:34 series but two; one for the adults
45:38 and one for the kids. Now, when we talked
45:41 a little bit I just found it fascinating that
45:46 there are some good stories related to
45:49 the use of these CD and DVD.
45:52 Would you like to share it?
45:53 Sure, Well, we were sort of testing it out
45:56 in the Philippines as it was underdevelopment
45:58 and then finally ASI actually helped produce,
46:03 the North West ASI chapter it helped
46:06 with the funding to produce it.
46:08 In the first year we produced,
46:09 we did an evangelistic series
46:12 and the ministerial director for
46:13 the North Specific, North Philippines
46:17 Union mission came and he was observing
46:20 the program and he was with the adults
46:22 and he was watching the kids preaching
46:23 and he was really excited about that and we said,
46:26 Pastor, come and look at the kids meetings.
46:30 We want you to see this program.
46:32 He said, oh, no that's, you know,
46:33 he was watching the adult meetings
46:35 and so we finally dragged him over
46:38 there and said, come on, you got to see this.
46:41 And so He went over and he never went back
46:43 to adult meetings. He just got stuck there
46:47 and when we saw him later, excuse me,
46:50 later that night, he was just totally
46:53 blown away and he said, you have to come
46:55 and do this in Manila. We have a field school
46:57 training for all of our pastors that graduate
47:01 and we need you to train them
47:02 in this kind of evangelism.
47:05 And so the next year we went to Manila and did a,
47:08 there was a large of evangelistic series
47:10 in the city for the adults and they also
47:12 wanted us to do the kids program with
47:14 the truth for youth. And so they had a
47:18 building all prepared for us but some reason
47:20 they demolished it just before we got there
47:22 so they ended up putting us in the parking lot.
47:26 And so we thought well,
47:27 that's fun you know,
47:29 felt a little put down but we went out there
47:31 and we did it and we asked for pastors
47:34 to come in the last night because we knew
47:36 a lot of young people were gonna make a
47:37 decision for Christ. We're gonna want
47:39 to be baptized and no pastor showed
47:42 up and we said, where are they,
47:44 well, they are on the adult meeting,
47:45 and so finally brought them out and it turns
47:47 out more young people even though
47:50 there are about five hundred young people
47:51 and thousands in the adult meeting more
47:54 of the children made a decision for Christ
47:56 even than the adults did. So when we start noticing
47:59 people dwindling in this meeting to well know
48:01 where where to find them.
48:02 Amen. I know this is a tool and a resource
48:06 the people are gonna want to use.
48:09 Where can they find it? Can they come by
48:12 your booth and discuss more with you.
48:14 We have a booth here at ASI,
48:17 also youngdisciple.com. It's being translated
48:20 things to ASI into four different languages
48:23 and others are also in the works.
48:25 Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you.
48:36 I am so excited to get to share,
48:39 have Daryl and Mary Jo share a little bit.
48:41 I know that we could probably spend about
48:43 three hours talking with there,
48:46 with them about their ministry.
48:49 Tell me about how the Lord led you into ministry?
48:54 Hi, I am Daryl, and I am Mary Jo.
48:56 And we are business owners from Payson,
48:58 Arizona. This is story is not about us,
49:00 it's about how good God is to us.
49:05 In year 2000, Mary and my,
49:07 our lives took us so far away from church
49:10 that we would do, our membership
49:12 from the Adventist Church and even though
49:14 we gave upon God, God did not give up on us.
49:18 Several years later we found ourselves
49:21 working away back to the church knowing
49:23 we had something very missing in our life
49:26 and one Sabbath we decided we're gonna
49:29 go back to the home church in Payson.
49:32 We weren't suppose to be there but we
49:33 had an opportunity to get back in town early.
49:37 We arrived at church and lo and behold
49:38 there was a man name Duane McKey
49:40 that he was preaching there.
49:41 We didn't know Duane had no idea who he was
49:44 but he had a wonderful sermon.
49:46 Our little church had a potluck afterward
49:48 and by the time, it was the time
49:50 for Mary Jo and I to sit down there were no
49:51 seats left except for next to the conference
49:54 president of who we would have never chosen
49:56 to sit next to at that time.
49:59 Now we can't ever get to sit with Elder McKey.
50:02 Anyway leading up to that two days before
50:07 I have been for months before,
50:08 I have been praying to God.
50:10 God worship what should we do about church?
50:11 Should we go to Payson?
50:12 Should we go to this Church down in Phoenix,
50:15 where do you want us to be,
50:16 and out of frustration two days before I've
50:18 finally say God; I will go where ever
50:20 you want us to go and then we met Duane
50:22 and probably if you know Duane and Kathy,
50:24 you know what happened to us.
50:26 Now the rest of the story.
50:30 So, basically you now have a lot of ministry,
50:34 is that right? That's correct. Share with me
50:36 a little bit about what the Lord
50:37 has led you to do? Well, as a result of that
50:40 potluck that day, that meeting with Duane
50:42 and Kathy McKey. They invited us to go
50:43 to Kenya and we were totally shocked
50:47 by this invitation, we were very unlikely
50:49 missionaries but we went home and we prayed
50:52 about it and we decided well if God would
50:54 open now the doors with our business
50:56 so that we could live for that long that
50:59 we would do it and amazingly there
51:01 was only about a month until it was time to go.
51:03 We were able to make arrangements
51:05 for our business, get the airline
51:08 reservations and we were able to go.
51:11 It totally changed our lives.
51:13 The experience of getting the ShareHim
51:15 presentations and how to depend on God
51:19 for everything. We were so far
51:21 out of our comfort zone and totally
51:24 depended on God. We loved that feeling,
51:27 we never wanted lose that.
51:29 Before we left Kenya we prayed together
51:32 and we made a commitment to God that
51:34 we would God home and get to work right away.
51:38 And one of the first things we did was we
51:40 thought well, if we can do those
51:42 meetings in Kenya we need to do them
51:44 here at home. So we talked to our
51:47 pastor and He was agreed with it so we
51:51 arranged between our Pastor and our
51:53 church to secure an outreach meeting place
51:56 which we call the meeting place.
51:58 We had some meetings right away.
52:01 We've been having a number of evangelistic
52:05 programs there ever since in the last two years.
52:08 It has just been incredible
52:09 in our little town. We also see our
52:13 business differently. We were able to join
52:15 ASI and then it's helped us to see our business
52:19 as a way to spread the good news
52:21 and not just to make money and God has
52:23 blessed us as a result. So, and then our major
52:28 focus is what we want to do in Kenya.
52:31 We've been back there a number of times
52:32 and I would like Daryl tell about that.
52:34 So the Lord flipped things upside down for you.
52:36 It used to be 90 percent business,
52:39 well, almost no ministry and now it's
52:40 90 percent ministry, praise the Lord.
52:43 And you now have a special emphasis
52:46 that he has caught your heart
52:48 and the Lord has led you to work on.
52:50 Share with me a little bit about how
52:51 that occurred? Yes, we have been back
52:54 to Kenya in two years. it was exactly two years
52:56 ago we went first time,
52:57 we've been back five times.
53:00 I was talking about someone little bit ago,
53:01 we've actually done five ShareHim campaigns
53:04 there now in two years. When we were there
53:08 on our first campaign that we noticed
53:10 on Sabbath morning they started coming about
53:12 7, 7:30 and they stayed all day long
53:15 and we're in Sub-Saharan,
53:16 it was very hot there. So twelve and thirteen
53:19 hours they went without drinking any water
53:21 at all and we were going something is very
53:23 wrong with this picture. We started checking into
53:25 it and we realized that so many of them
53:28 were dying because the water was so
53:30 polluted there. So when we came back,
53:33 we took it as a personal ministry
53:35 I thought well, you know,
53:36 it shouldn't be that hard to get fresh water,
53:38 so we started putting in a water purification
53:41 system that oh it was a good thing that God
53:45 gives us just what we can handle a little bit
53:47 at a time because if we would have seen
53:49 two years ago how big this project was we
53:52 would have been discouraged,
53:53 but we came back last week arrived home
53:55 on Friday, and last Wednesday
53:58 culminated our efforts of a year and half of
54:01 being able to provide fresh water to a village
54:04 that's never had the fresh water,
54:06 we now have, when the wind
54:07 is blowing we have 4 inch pipe that goes
54:11 out in the Lake Victoria,
54:12 that pulls the water and spreads it over
54:15 almost a two mile area with 5 spouts and 18,000
54:19 gallons of water storage and that's just one
54:22 of the first phase what we were doing with
54:24 the water project. And I understand,
54:27 oh, yes. Praise the Lord.
54:32 Like I said we could spent three hours here,
54:34 it just gets more and more exciting.
54:37 While you were there working
54:38 on the water project, you had a,
54:41 a story that, that has led you into the next phase.
54:45 One of the things we noticed the first trip
54:47 we went there was the number of orphans,
54:49 there were so many orphans children,
54:51 we were actually shocked to find out
54:52 that just because they are orphans,
54:54 does not mean they are living in orphanage,
54:57 they live in child headed homes which was
55:01 just incredible to us, that's one of the things
55:04 we wanted to be help with and its very
55:07 sad for the children Sthere because
55:10 there is no orphanage,
55:11 there is no supervision, they are lucky if they
55:13 can scrounge for anything at all to eat.
55:15 We really wanted to do what we could help them.
55:18 The reason there are so many orphans is because
55:20 of the high rate of AIDS and that is spread
55:24 by the fishing culture there in Lake Victoria,
55:27 where the fishermen travel around and they
55:30 will only sell the fish to the women and the girls
55:33 who give them what they want.
55:35 It's a very sad thing and its spreading AIDS
55:38 at an incredible rate. So its left an entire
55:40 generation missing, where they had just
55:43 young children and older people but no parents.
55:48 We really had a burden to help them.
55:49 So we are involved in an orphan feeding
55:51 program over there now, helping with it.
55:54 Right now we are able to feed 48
55:56 of the 200 orphans, one meal a day,
56:00 five days a week. That's not much
56:01 but we like to increase it to feed all two
56:03 hundred to do that we need to get a orphan
56:06 feeding shelter built, that's our next big focus.
56:11 One of the other things we did while
56:12 we were there, each time we tried
56:14 to do meetings and this last trip
56:16 was no exception. We did meeting in two
56:18 different villages and the second village
56:22 was just had an incredible Church behind
56:26 these meeting. They did so much preparation,
56:28 they cleared out a clearing in the middle
56:30 of the bush. Hand, hand built a road
56:34 about a mile long to get to the meetings site,
56:36 personally visited every family which is probably
56:39 about three hundred homes and incredible
56:42 stories came out that meeting.
56:43 I'll let Daryl talk first about one of those
56:46 special ones. Well one of the thing
56:49 that really touched us is we found out
56:50 the reason they wanted to have these meetings
56:53 in this area that were so remote is because
56:56 there was one church there was in that area,
56:58 there wasn't an Adventist church and they
57:00 wanted to have this meetings out where there
57:02 was a lot of non-church members.
57:05 So that's why they went all this
57:06 work to do this well. As the baptisms
57:09 were taking place one of the church elders
57:11 started saying well,
57:12 you see that whole family there.
57:14 They were converted and started telling
57:16 stories but the most compelling story was
57:18 about a little, a 11-year-old girl
57:21 whose parents were actually running
57:23 this other church, this inner faith church
57:27 and they wanted her to join the church
57:28 and she had been in touch with the elders
57:31 of the Adventist church,
57:32 the local church there and she refused it,
57:34 11 years old, she refused her
57:36 parents to join she says you are not
57:39 teaching truth, you are not
57:40 teaching truth so. She convinced them
57:43 to start coming to the meetings that
57:44 we were holding. They came to the meeting,
57:47 the entire church was closed down
57:49 and was baptized. Praise the Lord,
57:53 that's because of an 11-year-old girl,
57:55 so don't think ever think that children do not
57:58 have a place in sharing the good news of Jesus.
58:02 I want to thank you both so much for sharing
58:04 and you're an inspiration to drop everything
58:06 that we're doing and serve the Lord.
58:09 Thank you guys. Thank you very much.


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Revised 2014-12-17