Participants: Wintley Phipps (Host), Adly Campos, Georges J Fleurimond, J.D Quinn
Series Code: PFM
Program Code: PFM000012A
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00:27 Hi, I'm Wintley Phipps, and welcome to our program,
00:31 Perfecting Me, Becoming More Like Jesus. 00:35 I'm so glad you joined us. 00:37 My guests today 00:38 on our program are J.D. Quinn, 00:40 3ABN Pastoral Ministries Manager. 00:42 George Fleurimond, 00:44 Pastor of the West Park Seventh-day Adventist church. 00:46 And Mrs. Adly Campos, 00:48 Speaker and President of Family Wellbeing International. 00:52 You'll hear from them a little later. 00:54 Who can forget when the Boston Marathon Bombings rocked 00:57 the nation in April 2013. 01:00 The images that emerged form that scene of bloody chaos 01:03 we're powerful, 01:04 and yet even more powerful than the evil that took place 01:08 with the stories of powerful kindness 01:10 that began to rise out of the dust 01:12 and despair to lift our spirits. 01:15 I want to tell you about Carlos Arredondo. 01:17 He made the national news twice actually, 01:19 the first time was when he found out his son 01:22 had been killed in Iraq. 01:24 Shocked by grief, he was devastated and reckless. 01:27 He took, in his van, 01:29 he took a gas can and propane torch 01:31 and began splashing gasoline everywhere. 01:34 The marines who had delivered the news of his son's death 01:38 tried to helplessly talk him out of his frenzy, 01:42 but the van exploded in flames. 01:44 Carlos was pulled out of the van, 01:46 but spent the next part of his life strapped 01:48 to a hospital bed, unconscious at first, 01:51 and then awake to this experience 01:54 of the agony of a burn victim, the bandages, 01:57 the feeling of his dead skin being pulled off. 02:01 After he recovered from his burns, 02:04 he also lost another son to suicide. 02:08 The second time Carlos made the national news 02:11 was after the Boston Marathon Bombings. 02:13 In the desperate seconds following the attack, 02:16 Carlos acted on instinct, 02:18 tearing up pieces of his sweater 02:20 he found on the ground. 02:21 He began to use them as tourniquets 02:23 on the bloody stumps of amputees, 02:26 even retying them when they fell off. 02:29 He did his best to minimize the horror 02:32 by reassuring victims that they would all be okay, 02:36 and he was hiding the worst of their injuries 02:38 from them while he got them help. 02:41 Though carrying his own burden of pain, 02:43 Carlos forgot about himself, his acts of kindness, 02:47 and in the process he saved lives. 02:50 Such is the power of kindness, 02:54 a dimension of God's character. 03:01 There's something about us as human beings 03:04 that responds to an act of kindness 03:07 like nothing else. 03:09 After all we are only flesh and blood, aren't we? 03:13 We're not steel and iron. 03:15 We are for the most parts, soft tissue. 03:18 We are fragile, so fragile, 03:20 in fact, that sometimes as simple 03:23 as a kind word, a kind act, 03:26 a kind gesture can make 03:29 all the difference in the world. 03:32 A man told a story about 03:33 how, not long after he graduated college, 03:37 a man approached him in a restaurant. 03:39 He had known the man from high school, 03:41 well enough to remember his face, 03:44 If not his name, but he remembered him. 03:47 The man walked up and extended his hand, 03:49 "Hi, Jack." 03:50 He said, "Remember me, 03:52 Joey Smith from the tenth grade." 03:55 "Yeah," Jack said, "Now I do, "How are you?" 03:59 "I'm doing okay," Joey said," 04:02 And that has a lot to do with you." 04:05 "With me, what do you mean?" 04:08 "Yes," Joey said, 04:10 "In fact, I can honestly say that if were not for you, 04:15 I doubt I would even be standing here. 04:18 No, I know, I wouldn't be here, 04:22 I wouldn't even be alive." 04:25 Jack was stunned 04:27 and he looked at him and asked, 04:28 "What are you talking about? 04:31 I grew up in a dysfunctional family." 04:33 Joey said, 04:35 "My father was manically abusive, 04:37 left my mother with three children, 04:39 we never saw him again. 04:41 I was the oldest of three, 04:44 and though I often caught the brunt of his abuse, 04:46 I still felt something lacking 04:49 in my life without him there. 04:52 Meanwhile, my mother struggled to make ends meet, 04:57 and she was always stressed and out of sorts. 05:01 Home life was miserable. 05:03 I was struggling with drugs and alcohol, 05:07 and I was on the verge of dropping out of school. 05:10 The thing was I really didn't care, 05:12 in fact, I didn't care about much of anything, 05:15 I was constantly depressed. 05:17 From the time I was 15, 05:19 barely a day went by 05:21 when I wasn't thinking about suicide. 05:24 I was a mess. 05:27 Then, well, a whole train of bad things happened to me 05:31 and I just couldn't take it anymore." 05:33 He said, "I wished that I were dead, 05:34 and I finally decided to go ahead 05:36 and do it and kill myself. 05:39 I really meant it this time," 05:40 he said," 05:41 And I went to a hardware store after school, bought a rope, 05:45 threw it in my backpack, and was headed home. 05:49 I was determined to hang myself in my room 05:52 so that my mother would walk in 05:54 and be the first to see me dead." 05:57 "Ouch," Jack said listening. 06:00 "Well," Joey continued, "Here is where you come in. 06:05 I don't even know if you remember, 06:08 but I was walking home past the school, 06:12 and you came up to me and just very kindly said, 06:17 'Hi Joey, how are you?' 06:20 I don't even think you knew 06:22 who I was, much less my name. 06:27 But we chatted 06:28 and you invited me over to your house. 06:31 We hung out in your room 06:32 for a couple of hours playing video games. 06:35 You probably don't even remember 06:37 any of this, do you?" 06:39 Jack kind of shrugged, 06:40 "Well, I think, 06:41 well I do, maybe, vaguely a little." 06:45 It doesn't matter," 06:46 he said, 06:48 "What matter's is that 06:49 my mood completely changed that day. 06:53 I walked out of your house, 06:56 and I threw the rope into the first dumpster 07:01 I came to, and I moved on." 07:04 He said, 07:05 "I never again contemplated suicide." 07:10 He said, "I can't say my life has been great, 07:13 but things have gotten better for me. 07:15 The thing is I always wanted to thank you 07:19 for the kindness you showed me that day. 07:24 It saved my life." 07:28 Well, we might not all be suicidal teenagers, 07:31 but we have flesh and blood and even more so, 07:34 we are all emotional creatures, 07:36 our emotions easily drive us to action 07:39 even more than our reason does. 07:42 Maybe you can think to a time 07:44 someone did something kind for you 07:47 and you've never forgotten about it. 07:50 Think back to a time when someone was unkind to you 07:53 and you've forgotten about that. 07:56 Now think about a time, 07:58 if you can, 08:01 when you were kind to someone else 08:05 just for the sake of being kind. 08:09 You weren't trying to get something from them, 08:11 you were just being kind for the sake of being kind. 08:18 Remember how that kindness made you feel? 08:21 Everyone has heard of The Golden Rule, 08:23 do unto others as you have them do to you. 08:28 Oh, what kind of world would we live in 08:30 if everybody lived that way, 08:33 if everybody was kind? 08:37 There'd be no such thing as all the drugs and wars. 08:42 You could leave your doors unlocked. 08:46 Always seek to be kind. 08:49 Want you to watch this video made possible by our friends 08:54 at CBN News showing kindness in action. 09:04 No matter how strong your faith or how positive your outlook, 09:08 when a family welcomes a child 09:10 with disability into their lives, 09:12 it's common to feel overwhelmed, sad, 09:15 even to question God. 09:16 If and when that initial reaction fades, 09:19 we live in a country with resources available 09:21 to provide children with disabilities a full life 09:24 and parents the necessary support 09:26 and education to care for them. 09:28 But what if you have that child in a part of the world 09:30 where you have no support, no idea what's wrong, 09:33 and no idea how to help. 09:36 I take care of him 09:38 and later he should help me learn a skill, 09:39 become a man normally. 09:41 But this isn't normal. 09:43 In Haiti, parents often view a disabled child 09:45 as a problem to be fixed. 09:47 They go from hospital to hospital, 09:49 trying to find the doctor 09:51 who can make their child like all of the others. 09:54 Patient doctors often 09:55 don't want to give parents the truth 09:57 because they know what's likely to happen next. 09:59 No doctor wants to tell you 10:00 because they know in Haiti how bad our situation is. 10:04 If they tell these parents the truth, 10:05 they're going to drop those kids 10:07 in a hospital or anywhere. 10:09 They're not going to love them anymore. 10:11 But Pepito knows firsthand 10:12 the challenges of raising a child 10:14 with a disability here. 10:15 In 2009 his son Chris Jerry 10:17 was born with severe cerebral palsy, 10:20 but Pepito's wife died in childbirth leaving him 10:23 with three pound incredibly sick baby boy 10:26 to raise on his own. 10:28 Two and half years passed before he truly learnt 10:30 when he needed to know about taking care of his son. 10:33 I have never worked with a widowed father before, 10:36 and here he was with his two and half year old, 10:39 with no intention of wanting to give him away 10:41 to an orphanage 10:42 and that would've been so easy for him. 10:44 A lot of orphanages would've said yes 10:45 because he was a widowed father 10:47 and Chris Jerry's disabilities are so severe. 10:50 He wanted to raise his son, 10:51 he wanted to provide for his son, 10:53 he wanted to take care, and be there, 10:55 and love his son forever. 10:58 Heather Meyer Gabaud moved to Haiti in 2010 11:01 with a background in special needs. 11:03 She was helping at an orphanage 11:04 when Pepito showed up seeking answers about his son. 11:08 They two worked together to find Chris Jerry 11:10 the right medical care. 11:11 They grew so close that they married in 2012. 11:15 The following year 11:16 they took their combined passion 11:18 for the special needs community 11:19 and started Footprints of the Son. 11:22 Our mission is educating 11:23 these parents to love their kids, 11:26 help them, and do what they need. 11:28 I believe it's a rescue mission 11:29 especially for the little children. 11:31 The babies that we get, 11:34 I just feel as though 11:36 the parents are that turning point of 11:38 they don't know what to do with their child, 11:41 and I feel like sometimes we get to them just in time, 11:45 just in time before they're losing hope, 11:47 before they're so desperate that they'll leave 11:49 that child at a hospital 11:51 or they'll leave that child with a grandparent. 11:55 Haiti's voodoo culture often works against Heather 11:58 and Pepito's efforts. 11:59 That's because families often turn first 12:01 to voodoo priests for help 12:03 because of their own beliefs or pressure from family. 12:06 Some families judge them 12:07 because they don't want to do it. 12:09 But some of them did it, and when everybody sees, 12:11 oh, there's no answer for this, they just give up, 12:15 because they way they tell them to go 12:17 is not the right way so they come back. 12:20 When we come in, we were like just embrace it. 12:22 Let's do this together, let's educate your child, 12:26 let's get therapy for your child, 12:28 but most importantly, 12:30 let's just create a family that loves this child. 12:32 It's sad, and it's a really, really slow process. 12:36 It's a slow process for them to give up 12:39 and, like, fixing and go to raising. 12:41 Footprints of the Son 12:43 is breaking new ground this year. 12:44 They built a school to provide education 12:47 for children with disabilities. 12:48 This year, we're going to have three classrooms. 12:51 We'll have a two 12:52 to three year old level classroom, 12:54 that doesn't mean all the children 12:55 will be two to three years old. 12:57 And then we're going to have 12:58 a three to four year old classroom, 13:00 and then one unique classroom 13:02 that we're gonna open this year is the sensory classroom. 13:06 And that's geared for the children with autism, 13:09 and severe autism, and severe ADHD. 13:12 Heather and Pepito don't plan to stop there. 13:14 Their land gives them room to grow, 13:16 and one day hoped 13:18 to reach child in the community. 13:20 This has been mine, like, 13:21 biggest dream since I moved to Haiti, 13:23 is to have an inclusion school of typical functioning children 13:28 and children with disabilities learning together 13:30 in the same environment. 13:32 Until that dream becomes reality, 13:34 heather and Pepito will work 13:35 among Haiti's special needs community 13:37 through education, encouragement and support, 13:40 taking it one family at a time. 13:43 Caitlin Burke, CBN News, Terrier rouge, Haiti. 13:50 Joining us again are my guests, J.D. Quinn, Adly Campos, 13:54 and Pastor George Fleurimond. 13:57 You know, kindness is a dimension 14:00 of the character of God. 14:03 His loving kindness is something 14:05 that we all desperately need and are grateful for. 14:09 But we also are blessed to have kindness shown to us 14:13 all through our lives, little acts of kindness, 14:15 sometimes, big acts of kindness. 14:18 I always tell people that probably, 14:21 the biggest act of kindness 14:22 I've ever experienced is when my wife said, 14:26 "Yes, I will marry you." 14:29 To me that was an act of kindness. 14:32 But JD I wanna start with you. 14:35 What is kindness to you, 14:37 and do you have any experiences 14:40 that you can recall of special acts of kindness 14:43 or a special act of kindness that was shown to you? 14:48 Well, I just, it puts joy in my heart 14:52 whenever the word kindness comes in 14:54 because I love that word. 14:57 I just, and I was thinking is, we we're thinking earlier, 15:03 the first act of kindness that I really experienced 15:07 is when I was probably about 12, 13 years old. 15:11 I was raised on a farm, and all, on the farm, 15:14 all you want to do is drive. 15:15 So I already learned how to drive with tractor, 15:17 but now it's time to drive a car, 15:19 and I went to my Grandfather and he said, 15:21 "We'll, not yet son, 15:23 you're just not quite old enough, 15:24 you're not mature enough." 15:26 So that didn't work, 15:27 so then I go see my grandmother, 15:30 and my grandmother from my mother's side, 15:32 she had a brand new Buick. 15:35 Oh, it was long, and it was sleek, 15:37 and it was just so shiny. 15:39 Oh, I could see myself behind that wheel. 15:43 And I just wasn't begging, 15:47 but I was pulling all the tools out 15:49 of the box in trying to get... 15:50 And bless her heart, 15:52 "David, would you like to drive my car?" 15:56 Oh, I'll never forget. 15:58 As I sat behind the wheel not knowing what to do, 16:02 felt that I should just pull it, 16:04 put in gear, and go. 16:06 But bless her little heart, I was starting and stopping 16:09 and starting, swiggling, and everything, 16:12 but that precious face of hers as I keep looking over her, 16:15 I was scared she was gong to tell me 16:17 to stop and get out. 16:18 There was this beautiful kindness in her eyes. 16:22 That was a tangible moment. 16:24 Well, JD, I'm glad... 16:26 Go ahead. 16:28 And I just, I think 16:29 that put something instilled in me. 16:32 "cause I thank that kindness 16:36 is one of those gifts that's reciprocal. 16:37 Yes. 16:39 If you're kind, 16:40 then other people will be kind to you. 16:42 Well, I really thought you we're going someplace else 16:45 with this story, JD. 16:47 I thought the car was gonna be a wreck, 16:48 and she was going to be nice anyway. 16:52 Well that's... 16:55 Because hey, 16:56 that's probably happened to some of us, 16:57 I know it's happened to me 16:59 when a nice person lent me their nice car 17:02 and I wrecked, you know, scraped it. 17:05 But they were gracious and they were kind. 17:07 Praise the lord, you know. Adly, how about you? 17:11 Can you think of an act of kindness 17:13 that really taught you what kindness was all about? 17:19 Yes, when I was working at the General conference 17:22 in the Ministerial Association, 17:25 we traveled to India. 17:28 And in India, I like to try everything 17:31 that is offered to me, 17:33 I tried a peeled mango, 17:36 and that made me very, very sick. 17:39 I was dying in a matter of hours. 17:43 And the pastor's wife, 17:47 he was one of the vice presidents 17:49 at the general conference 17:50 at the time of traveling with us, 17:52 Mrs. Cooper, 17:53 she stayed by my bed side all night long. 17:59 Taking care of me, she didn't have to do that, 18:03 but out of the kindness of her heart, 18:06 she spent a whole night with me, 18:08 and I was able to return home well. 18:11 Praise the lord. 18:12 That is something you'll never, ever forget. 18:14 You don't forget. 18:15 My voice breaks 18:17 whenever I think of that kindness 18:19 that she showed to me at a time when you needed the most, 18:23 when you're not feeling well, and you're away from home. 18:26 Yes. 18:28 How about you Pastor George? 18:31 You know, I've been blessed by God 18:33 to have some wonderful acts of kindness done to me. 18:37 But the ones that stick out the most in my mind 18:40 are the ones that you didn't ask for 18:43 or you didn't even know who performed them for you. 18:46 I remember when I was an undergraduate. 18:49 this is the one, the one 18:51 that sticks out the most in my mind, 18:52 I was getting ready to, 18:54 try to financially clear for one of the semesters, 18:58 and the school I went to, 19:00 usually at the beginning of the year 19:02 that the lines are long, 19:03 and by the time you get to the front of the line, 19:06 you know, if you have all your things together, 19:08 they usually send you to the back of the line. 19:10 And so here I was trying to clear financially, 19:13 and I knew that I was missing some funds. 19:15 And so when I get to the front of the line 19:18 I gave the lady my name and she kept saying, 19:21 "There's something funny about your last name." 19:23 I said to her, 19:24 "I know, my last name is a long funny name," 19:26 but still she kept saying, 19:27 "There's something funny about your name." 19:29 she couldn't put her finger on it. 19:31 And eventually she came back, 19:32 and it was an envelope with my name on it, 19:34 didn't know who it came from, 19:36 to this day I don't know who came from. 19:37 But that was enough for me to, 70, to clear by 70%, 19:41 and to get into that semester for that year, 19:44 and so, you know, that taught me 19:46 that God requires of us, 19:49 requires of us to show acts of kindness, 19:53 even when you don't know, 19:54 when the other person that don't know, I'm sorry. 19:57 Yes. 19:59 Who it is that is doing that for them, 20:01 and so that was my experience. 20:04 Well, kindness is necessary, not only for our salvation 20:10 because it was an act of kindness for Jesus 20:13 to come this earth. 20:16 And kindness is necessary for us 20:19 to have in our character to be saved. 20:23 If we wanna resemble Christ, 20:26 we are going to have to learn to be kind. 20:31 JD, we live in a world where kindness is at a premium. 20:35 It is hard to find it these days, 20:37 especially, oh my goodness, in the, on the news today 20:42 all we see is sometimes 20:44 are these terrible acts of unkindness. 20:49 Do you see that it is a time, 20:52 we are living in a time when we need to try to project 20:55 and teach people how to be more kind. 20:58 Even in churches, my prayer is that churches will be a place 21:03 where people will see kindness all around but sometimes, 21:07 sometimes it isn't, you know. 21:09 Sometime people sit in the seat in the church, 21:12 and a visitor comes in, and they're not really kind. 21:17 You know, do you think we need to do more, JD, 21:20 to really help people learn and grow to be more kind? 21:26 Oh I certainly do, 21:28 I mean, I love being able to be the first one to go up 21:32 and hug someone's neck in welcome to our church. 21:36 And our church here in Thompsonville 21:38 is a loving church. 21:39 And we love to have prayers, 21:41 and we can't wait to go up and welcome them, 21:44 learn something about them. 21:46 But, yes, 21:48 I do believe we're living in the latter times 21:49 of this earth's history, and now more than ever, 21:53 we need to be kind, 21:56 and I think that's something that's just in you. 21:58 Now there's people that probably can use 22:01 that word of kindness 22:03 that will hopefully let them see, 22:06 you know, the product of your church. 22:09 And that they would want to be a part of your life. 22:11 But, you know, I believe, I believe firmly in kindness. 22:14 I have a story that I often tell, 22:17 about Captain John Smith. 22:20 You remember Captain John Smith? 22:23 I presume it's a true story. 22:25 Apparently John Smith 22:27 took Pocahontas back with him to England, 22:32 to show off this beautiful Native American woman, 22:38 and everyone was so taken with Pocahontas. 22:42 And Pocahontas was approached by Captain John Smith, 22:46 and he actually asked her to marry him. 22:51 And she said, 22:52 "Give me a little time to think about it." 22:55 And she thought on it, 22:56 and when they came back together, 22:58 she said to him, 23:00 "I have only one question for you, 23:04 are you kind?" 23:08 Are you kind? 23:09 If we have more kindness in our marriages, 23:14 for example, 23:15 if we showed this character of Christ, 23:18 of kindness in our marriages, 23:20 marriage would be heaven on earth, 23:24 just for that one little blessing, 23:27 that one little blessing of kindness. 23:30 What do you think about that, Adly? 23:34 Oh, I think it's very important. 23:36 I was holding 23:37 an Evangelistic meeting in Mexico City, 23:42 and there was a lady that was, 23:45 seemed to be very kind at church. 23:47 She would greet everyone, 23:49 and she would be very friendly to everyone, 23:51 but her daughters came to see me 23:54 because she was the opposite at home. 23:59 And when I visited her and spoke with her, 24:03 she came to recognize 24:06 that she was failing at the most important place, 24:09 which was her home. 24:11 Her husband, 25 years, 24:14 listening to the message would not accept it. 24:18 But when she finally understood that the first place 24:21 where she needed to be kind, and graceful, 24:24 and loving was at home, and she changed her attitude. 24:28 That man came to church, and soon he was baptized. 24:32 When I ask him why finally he had made that decision, 24:35 he said, 24:37 "Because finally my wife is showing 24:40 what she pretends at church in the home." 24:44 So that's a first place 24:45 where we need to start being kind to each other. 24:49 Yeah, you know, one of the tests 24:52 of whether a person is kind or not 24:55 is whether they refrain from words 24:58 and acts of recrimination. 25:03 When someone has hurt you 25:07 and you have the character of Christ in you, 25:11 you don't strike back, 25:14 you don't indulge in words 25:18 and acts of recrimination 25:20 because you, 25:22 if you feel the need to injure someone else 25:28 because they have injured you, 25:30 you need that character dimension of Jesus. 25:34 You need to learn to be Christ like 25:37 and to be kind. 25:39 I appreciate you all being so much with me today 25:42 and talking about this very important trait. 25:45 May God continue to bless us as we strive to be kind. 25:53 What can we do about the unfairness of life? 25:58 It's unrealistic to think we can eradicate injustice 26:01 and create a world that is fair to everyone. 26:05 But we can do our part. 26:07 We can change our little part of the world. 26:11 A story from the civil war tells of a man 26:13 who traveled for days on horseback 26:15 to find General Ulysses S. Grant. 26:18 He asked to see the general and was finally allowed 26:21 into the presence of that great general. 26:23 He stated his name and his mission. 26:25 He had come to plead for the life of one named, 26:28 Fredrick Stone, a soldier 26:31 who was to be executed for the crime of desertion. 26:35 Grant responded by saying that just because he'd come to plead 26:38 for the life of a great friend, 26:41 he wasn't going to commute the death sentence 26:44 "A great friend?" 26:46 The man responded, 26:48 "I have no greater enemy than Fredrick Stone." 26:51 General Grant was stunned, 26:53 he hesitated for a few moments and then he said, 26:56 "You would come all this way 26:58 not for a friend, 27:03 but for an enemy. 27:06 Am I hearing that correctly?" 27:08 "Yes, Sir," He said. 27:11 Grant looked at him and said, 27:13 "You know, for a man 27:15 who would ride four days in dangerous territory, 27:19 all of that to plead the life of an enemy, to plead the life, 27:25 for the life of someone who was his enemy. 27:28 I will the grant the request." 27:32 It's the easiest thing to show love and kindness 27:37 to those who are part of our families. 27:40 But to show kindness to an enemy 27:43 is really something special. 27:46 I'm Wintley Phipps. 27:48 Thank you for being with us and remember 27:50 to be a Christian means to be Christ like. |
Revised 2018-02-22