Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190031A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:52 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn, 01:11 and we welcome you once again to 3ABN Today. 01:14 And I'm so happy to have my better half 01:17 with me here today. 01:18 Amen, amen. 01:20 JD Quinn. 01:21 Welcome. I got to teach him. 01:22 He's not supposed to say amen. 01:24 You're supposed to say... 01:25 I feel like saying amen. 01:27 Amen, amen. Okay, well. 01:29 We all want to just take this opportunity 01:31 to thank you so much for your prayers 01:34 and your financial support of this ministry 01:36 and thank you for your Love. 01:38 We get so many wonderful letters 01:41 and phone calls, it's really exciting. 01:44 We have an inspiring 01:47 and relevant topic to talk about today 01:51 because if you want to know 01:53 how we can keep the young people in the church, 01:56 you're going to find out. 01:58 I mean, this is exciting. 02:00 Before we start, though, 02:02 let me read Matthew 5:13, 02:05 "Because," the Lord Jesus says, 02:08 "You are the salt of the earth. 02:11 But if the salt loses its flavor, 02:14 how shall it be seasoned? 02:16 It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out 02:19 and trampled underfoot by men." 02:21 So salt adds flavor, salt's a preservative. 02:26 Are you salty? 02:27 Amen. 02:29 Because you know, we've... 02:30 That's right. We've got to ask that question. 02:32 If we're just sitting in a pew, 02:34 we're not getting out and doing anything. 02:36 We're losing our saltiness, aren't we? 02:37 Yes. Losing its savor, yes. 02:38 Yeah, yeah. 02:40 Well, let me introduce our special guests today. 02:43 We're so excited to have these two young men 02:46 who are just giants in the faith, I think. 02:50 And we have Eric Camarillo. 02:52 Eric, thank you for being here today. 02:54 Thank you for having me. 02:56 You are the President and Founder actually 03:00 of a ministry called SALT, S-A-L-T, 03:04 and that is Service And Love Together. 03:06 Exactly, yup, that's right. 03:08 Well, we're going to come back 03:09 and find out how you began all of this 03:12 and chose that name. 03:14 And then we also have with us Lo-Ammi Richardson, 03:19 and you're the Harvest Director. 03:20 Yes, ma'am. 03:22 And we're going to find out 03:23 what a harvest director is in just a second. 03:24 Yeah, well, you will. 03:26 You will. It's exciting. 03:27 Thank you, all, for what you do for the Lord. 03:30 And I'm so glad that you're on His side, 03:35 on his harvest team. 03:36 Yes. JD? 03:37 Yes. 03:39 We're very excited because our special music 03:40 is Message of Mercy, 03:42 five lovely ladies 03:44 who have beautiful voices singing, 03:45 "He Leadeth Me." 03:49 He leadeth me! 03:52 O blessed thought 03:55 O words 03:57 With heavenly comfort fraught 04:02 Whate'er I do, 04:05 Where'er I be 04:10 Still 'tis Christ's hand 04:13 That leadeth me 04:17 He leadeth me! 04:20 He leadeth me 04:24 By His own hand 04:27 He leadeth me 04:31 His faithful follower I would be 04:38 For by His hand 04:41 He leadeth me 04:45 Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom 04:52 Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom 04:58 By waters still 05:01 O'er troubled sea 05:06 Still 'tis God's hand 05:09 That leadeth me 05:14 Lord, I would clasp 05:17 Thy hand in mine 05:20 Nor ever murmur 05:23 Or repine 05:27 Content, whatever lot I see 05:34 Still tis God's hand 05:37 That leadest me 05:42 And when my task on earth is done 05:47 When by Thy grace 05:50 The victory's won 05:55 E'en death's cold wave 05:57 I will not flee 06:01 Since God through Jordan 06:05 Leadeth me. 06:09 He leadeth me! He leadeth me! 06:15 By His own hand 06:18 He leadeth me 06:22 His faithful follower I would be 06:29 For by His hand 06:32 He leadeth me 06:36 For by His hand 06:40 He leadeth me 06:44 For by His hand 06:51 He leadeth me 07:00 Beautiful harmony. 07:01 I just love that. 07:03 I just love it. 07:04 Yeah, amen. 07:06 So we want to thank Message of Mercy, 07:07 our sisters from Tennessee. 07:09 And just what a gift 07:11 God has given to each one of them. 07:13 Well, if you're joining us just a little late today, 07:16 we have the President of SALT. 07:19 His name is Eric Camarillo. 07:21 And then, we have the Harvest Director 07:23 of SALT ministries, 07:25 and his name is Lo-Ammi Richardson, 07:28 but we're just going to call you Ammi. 07:30 Ammi. 07:31 And we'll explain that in a minute. 07:33 Sounds good. 07:34 Before we really jump in to how God is using 07:38 you to touch so many lives, 07:40 not just people on the street but how He's using you 07:44 to bring young people back into the church, 07:47 people who walked away, 07:50 let's kind of talk a little bit about your personal background. 07:55 Did you grow up in an Adventist Christian home? 07:57 I didn't. 07:59 No, I grew up in a Catholic home. 08:00 Okay. 08:02 Yeah, my family would go to church on holidays, 08:05 you know, Christmas, Easter, 08:07 but I didn't really believe or anything, 08:09 I just kind of went with emotions 08:10 with my family, yeah. 08:12 So how did you then discover the Lord? 08:14 You know, I was going through a downtime, 08:16 I was feeling depressed. 08:18 And I tried so many other things to, 08:20 kind of, numb that. 08:22 But all of a sudden, 08:24 you know, I opened the Bible, 08:25 someone had bought me a Bible the prior Christmas. 08:27 I opened it, 08:28 I flipped through and the words in red caught my attention. 08:31 Started reading the Sermon on the Mount, and... 08:32 Praise the Lord. 08:33 I started to feel a comfort I had never felt before. 08:36 You know, and from there, you know, the rest is history. 08:39 I continued to grow from that point. 08:42 Did you study your way into the church? 08:45 Did you study with people? 08:46 How did you... 08:48 Yeah. 08:49 So actually, I was reading... 08:51 I remember I started with reading the common stories 08:53 I heard about like, "Oh, David and Goliath, 08:56 let me read David's whole story," you know? 08:58 Adam and Eve, so I started reading, 09:00 but then there was... 09:01 I came to certain parts that I didn't understand, 09:02 so I called up three groups of friends of mine. 09:05 Two of the groups were Adventists, 09:07 one of the groups were non-denominational. 09:10 So I learned from both groups, 09:13 but the Adventist's truth, 09:16 it just made so much more sense to me, you know? 09:18 And I realized that that was the Bible truth. 09:23 And so from there, 09:24 I continued to study and I was baptized maybe, 09:28 what, three months after I started studying the Bible. 09:30 Praise God. 09:32 You know, I didn't grow up in an Adventist home either. 09:36 I thought I was a Christian. 09:37 That's questionable, maybe. 09:40 But what happened 09:41 is when I really got into deep study, 09:43 letting the Lord lead me, 09:45 I found so many things 09:47 that I had never noticed before. 09:49 And then I found out the Adventist church 09:51 taught all of these things. 09:52 And that's what brought me... 09:54 You know, the reason 09:55 I'm a Seventh-day Adventist Christian 09:56 is because I believe this church 09:59 teaches more Bible truths than any other. 10:01 And I always say, 10:03 "If I found one that taught more, 10:04 I would go to it, right?" Right, yeah. 10:06 Yeah. 10:07 I'm with you. Okay, Lo-Ammi. 10:09 Yes. Tell us about your story. 10:11 Well, actually, the quite opposite. 10:12 I just grew up in Adventist Church, 10:14 in an Adventist home. 10:15 So my mother and my father were both Adventists and, 10:17 you know, I knew what it meant to go to church 10:19 seven days of the week. 10:20 I went to the home church there and the Pathfinders, 10:22 and if you've ever been to a black church, 10:24 it's all day events. 10:25 So, you know, AY, and socials, and everything else in between. 10:27 And what does AY stand for? 10:29 Adventist Youth. Okay. 10:30 So it's actually a program in the afternoon, 10:32 Sabbath afternoon directly, 10:34 you know, geared for 10:35 young adults and children, teenagers. 10:37 So you were saturated in church culture? 10:39 All the time. Yeah. 10:40 Okay. 10:41 So, you know, but the church doesn't save your relationship 10:43 with Jesus, does it? 10:44 Amen. 10:46 So eventually, you know, as you get your license 10:47 and you start making your own decisions, 10:48 you gradually drift away. 10:50 And so I kind of pursued 10:53 the goals and the things of the world, 10:54 you know, pursuing basketball and got caught up with music 10:57 and everything that comes with it, 10:59 and drugs and violence, and you name it, 11:01 I got involved in it. 11:02 And so it was about 9, 10 years ago, 11:05 I'd actually got invited to go to GYC. 11:08 My sister said that I was sponsored to go, 11:11 come to find out it was my mother 11:12 who paid for me to go to the GYC. 11:14 She sponsored you? 11:15 She sponsored me in. 11:16 And let's... 11:18 For some who may not know what GYC is. 11:19 So GYC is a youth conference that happens every year. 11:21 It's Generation Youth Christ, 11:23 and so thousands of young people 11:24 all across the country come to this big conference. 11:28 And so I've said, "Yeah, I'll go check it out." 11:31 And one message after another, and before you know it, 11:34 I made a decision to follow the Lord 11:35 and been in fulltime ministry ever since. 11:37 Glory to God. 11:39 You know, that's what we love about GYC is there's... 11:42 Yes. 11:43 Let me ask how the two of you met. 11:45 Oh. Yeah, it's funny. 11:47 So he actually ended up working with GYC. 11:49 Yup. 11:51 But we were doing... 11:53 We went to a church for a program 11:54 where I was advertising the ministry at the church. 11:56 It was near the... 11:57 Maybe what, like four years ago, 11:59 three years ago? 12:00 Mm-hm. 12:01 And well, after we advertised, he advertised GYC. 12:04 And so, you know, afterward, our group, 12:07 we had a bunch of people with us, 12:09 we ended up saying, 12:10 "Hey, why don't you come with us to Taco Bell?" 12:12 And, you know, he came to Taco Bell with us, 12:15 and since then, 12:16 you know, we've been friends. 12:18 So I was promoting GYC, 12:19 he was promoting SALT at the church, 12:21 you know, for the youth event. 12:22 And we connected at Taco Bell, and he said, 12:25 "Hey, if it ever works out for us 12:27 to work together, let's do it." 12:28 I wasn't living in Orlando at the time. 12:29 Then I came back and both parties meshed, 12:32 and we've been trying to fulfill the vision 12:33 that he shared with me at the church ever since. 12:37 And right before we get into what SALT is all about, 12:40 you recently got your master's degree. 12:43 Tell us what your education is. 12:45 Yeah, I graduated on Friday. 12:47 So praise God for that, this past Friday. 12:51 But yeah, I have my Master's in Non-Profit Management. 12:54 So... What was your bachelor's? 12:57 My bachelor's was in social work. 12:58 In social work. Yup, yup. 12:59 And I ended up 13:01 getting a certification as a CNP, 13:03 which is certified non-profit professional. 13:06 And the goal is, because, you know, when SALT started, 13:08 I wanted to focus my life around the ministry. 13:11 And so I didn't go to school for a particular career, 13:15 but it was to be able to strengthen 13:17 the ministry even more. 13:18 Ooh, that speaks of the strong commitment. 13:20 So that's kind of what the path I went down. 13:22 All right. 13:24 So tell us a little bit about how you came up, 13:28 how the Lord inspired you with this idea for Service 13:33 And Love Together, which you call SALT? 13:35 Yeah, yeah. 13:36 So SALT, it was inspired by a few things. 13:39 I mean, you know, and, you know, I am from Orlando. 13:42 And that's where, you know, SALT is right now. 13:44 But when I first came into the church, 13:47 one of the things was, 13:49 you know, we realized young adults 13:50 were leaving the church. 13:51 That was a big thing. 13:53 You know, and when you go to the churches, 13:54 I mean, there's two young adults 13:56 at this church, maybe five at this one, 13:57 three at this one. 13:59 There wasn't something bringing them all together. 14:01 And so that was one of the reasons 14:03 why we wanted to have a vehicle to bring 14:05 the young adults together from the different churches 14:07 so there can be a young adult community. 14:09 'Cause here you are, as a young adult, 14:10 just joining the church, 14:12 and you're seeing other people pull out the back door, right? 14:14 Right. Exactly. 14:15 Right, you see it. 14:16 And so that was one thing. 14:18 The other thing was we realized that young adults 14:21 just hanging out with each other 14:22 isn't really the answer to keep young adults 14:25 in the church, you know? 14:26 They have to be... 14:27 You know, young adults want to change the world, 14:29 the millennials want to change the world. 14:30 Amen. 14:32 And so when you provide an outlet for young adults 14:34 to be able to change the world, 14:36 to be able to make a difference in their community, 14:38 that's what makes them stay. 14:39 So SALT became 14:41 this young adult community of service. 14:44 And, at one point, 14:46 half of our leadership 14:48 were backslid Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 14:50 young adults that came back to the church. 14:53 Praise God. 14:54 And so that was... 14:56 And, you know, the other thing 14:57 as well is when I came to the church, 14:59 there were a lot of outreach projects happening, 15:02 but there weren't relationships being built, you know? 15:05 And Christ's method is to create relationships 15:07 with those that He's serving. 15:08 And so... 15:10 So you're saying 15:11 they were a kind of a hit-and-missed? 15:12 It was, "Let me get my Jesus points this weekend, 15:14 and I'm done," you know? 15:15 But that's not how it should be. 15:18 It's needs to be... 15:19 For someone to truly be converted and to stay, 15:22 that commitment with Christ, 15:24 they need to see it practically. 15:25 And the only way you can do that is through relationships, 15:27 so... 15:29 So what are some of the types of programs that SALT does? 15:34 Yeah, so we have our hospital outreach. 15:36 Our hospital outreach, 15:38 we have groups of young adult volunteers, 15:39 go room to room, 15:41 they sing and pray with patients. 15:42 That's been a blessing. 15:44 We've gotten invited to funerals 15:45 and have had some testimonies come out of that. 15:50 And then we have a tutoring program 15:52 we're working on building right now to get to launch. 15:55 We need some tutors to really man that program. 15:58 But we have... 15:59 Tutoring. 16:00 Tutoring, actually at a title one school. 16:02 Oh, praise God. 16:03 So we started out in the community, 16:05 just kind of working with the kids 16:07 in that kind of a low-income community. 16:09 But we want to transition 16:10 to tutoring at a title one school 16:12 because it's a little more measurable as well. 16:14 We can see the impact being made 16:16 and volunteers might be more dedicated 16:19 to that sort of thing. 16:20 And our homeless outreach 16:22 is our biggest outreach right now, 16:23 the most known in the community. 16:26 And that is... 16:27 We're implementing, hopefully soon, 16:30 a back-to-work program for the homeless. 16:32 So we're providing all the services needed 16:34 for a homeless individual to obtain employment 16:38 and then eventually move into a case management 16:40 aspect of that program, 16:42 which we're working on right now. 16:43 All right. 16:44 And before we go to Lo-Ammi, 16:46 let me ask you, 16:48 you said you're providing all of the services needed. 16:51 Tell us what some of these serves are. 16:52 Yeah. 16:53 So if you're a homeless individual in Orlando, 16:55 you come to our outreach. 16:56 It's, you know, all outside, everything we have is mobile. 16:59 So a homeless individual will come, they'll register. 17:02 After they register, they go to our clothing trailer. 17:05 At our clothing trailer, we call it change trailer, 17:08 they get their towel, their washcloth, 17:11 their hygiene product, 17:12 and they also get a change of clothes, 17:13 brand new clothes. 17:15 Once they get that, they go and they get a haircut. 17:19 Once they obtain a haircut, 17:20 they can go into the shower trailer 17:22 and take a shower. 17:23 How cool. 17:25 You know, we have Spread the Vote, 17:27 an organization that helps them attain identification. 17:30 We have other partners that we work with 17:33 to help in different areas. 17:35 But ultimately, that's kind of, 17:38 you know, the gist of certain main services 17:41 we offer the homeless right now. 17:43 So this is very well organized. 17:45 It is. 17:46 Yes, yeah. 17:48 This is not something that's arbitrarily done. 17:49 Exactly. 17:50 They come and they follow a procedure. 17:52 Exactly. 17:53 There's been a lot of test-and-trial. 17:54 You know, obviously, you know, we have this vision, 17:56 we want to implement it. 17:57 Then we realize as soon as we implement it, 17:59 "Oh, we didn't think about this, that, and that." 18:00 Yeah. 18:01 So there was a lot of test-and-trial. 18:03 But, you know, as we continued to do it more and more, 18:04 there's now a smooth system that's in place 18:06 that allows our homeless friends... 18:08 Praise God, you didn't just sit back 18:09 and wait till you have this smooth system. 18:11 Yeah. 18:12 And, you know, I just have to say, 18:13 we are so spoiled in the United States. 18:16 You know, we take... 18:18 Most of us take our daily shower for granted. 18:22 You know, every now and then, 18:23 when I'm in the shower and I'm praising God, 18:26 and that's my time... 18:28 God and I have a good time in the shower. 18:30 But anyway, 18:31 you know, quite often I will say to the Lord, 18:34 "Thank you, Lord, that I've got a hot shower." 18:38 And to be homeless, 18:40 I can't imagine what it would be like to go 18:42 for maybe weeks. 18:44 Imagine two, three days without showering, 18:45 you know how you feel. 18:46 Right. 18:48 Some individuals, three, four months without showering, 18:49 so you can see their demeanor change, 18:51 once they take a shower and come out, 18:52 they just look like a new person. 18:54 So it's been a blessing. 18:56 So being mobile... 18:57 So let's just say you go to location, 18:59 how are these locations picked? 19:01 Yeah, so there's a couple of key things 19:03 that we look for. 19:04 One, we need a power hook-up. 19:07 We need a host hook-up. 19:08 And then we also need a dumping area 19:10 that the waste that needs to be dumped somewhere, 19:13 and so we have to get... 19:14 There are areas that are approved by the city 19:16 where we can dump black water. 19:18 So those are the churches that are ideal. 19:20 Conveniently, and I don't think it was coincidentally, 19:23 I think it was intentional, 19:24 the two Adventist churches close to Downtown 19:27 have all of those things? 19:28 Praise God. 19:30 So it works out. 19:31 And they have big properties, so it works out really well. 19:34 You've got some pictures. 19:35 So I think this would be an ideal time 19:37 'cause we want to get to the harvesting. 19:38 But let's look at some of the pictures that... 19:40 Okay. 19:41 Because I love this slogan, change your body, 19:46 change your soul? 19:47 Change the body, change the soul. 19:49 Change the body change the soul. 19:50 Let's look at these pictures right now. 19:52 Yeah. 19:53 So that's our clothing trailer right there, 19:54 our change trailer. 19:56 Some homeless individuals there. 19:57 And we have our volunteers inside, 19:58 kind of giving clothing. 20:00 All right. 20:01 So they've registered 20:03 and now they're standing in line 20:04 waiting for you to call their name. 20:07 And then they'll go up, and then they'll get a haircut? 20:11 They'll get a haircut after the change trailer, 20:14 then they go and get a haircut. 20:15 Yeah, I think in that picture, 20:17 if we can bring that picture back up, 20:18 see, right at the very back... 20:20 Yeah. Yeah. 20:21 And at the back stand... 20:22 Under the blue canopy there, yup... 20:24 So they get a haircut before they take the shower. 20:25 And then they're lined up there in the seats to get a shower. 20:29 How precious. 20:30 Now who is this? Yeah. 20:32 So we had the opportunity to go up 20:36 when the hurricane hit recently. 20:41 There were towns and cities without water, 20:43 access to water. 20:45 Yeah. 20:46 And so the people there, they didn't know what to do. 20:47 We actually got called by a county up there 20:49 in North Florida. 20:51 And, you know, I just kind of put it out there, 20:53 I am like," Hey, we have a shower trailer, 20:54 if you guys need us, let us know." 20:56 We got contacted, 20:59 you know, we brought up our trailer 21:01 and we were able to provide showers 21:02 to the community there that didn't have access 21:05 to shower during that time and we're able to witness 21:07 in that way too 21:08 to just so many different people in that area. 21:11 Amen, amen. 21:12 So not only with that family, but who are these people? 21:15 Yeah, so those are the first responders 21:18 that came out, they don't have access to showers either, 21:21 you know, they're out there helping people 21:22 that the houses are messed up, 21:24 but they weren't able to shower. 21:26 So we were able to get them showers as well 21:28 throughout the time that we were out there. 21:30 Okay. 21:31 Now you partner with 21:33 or various people partner with you, tell us about this. 21:35 Yeah. 21:37 So this is the department of health. 21:38 Actually, they come out 21:40 and they do a hepatitis vaccination 21:42 for the homo citizen epidemic. 21:44 Praise God. 21:45 And so they're doing the vaccinations there 21:46 to help us out. 21:48 All right. 21:49 And then we have the University of Central Florida. 21:53 They come out, 21:54 they have a group called Hearts for the Homeless, 21:56 and so they do, you know, checks on the heart, 21:59 blood pressure, 22:01 you know, other various checks on their health to see 22:05 how they're doing. 22:06 Wonderful. 22:07 And then we've got... 22:09 Yeah, Clean the World 22:10 actually donates hygiene products to us 22:12 so we can help provide the hygiene 22:14 to the homeless as well. 22:16 So they do help support us. 22:17 And one of the beautiful things about all these partnerships 22:21 is these are all secular organizations, 22:23 you know, and so as a result, 22:27 you know, we're able to reach people, 22:29 not just our volunteers, 22:30 not just the people reaching out to 22:32 but then there are corporations 22:33 and other people that are getting involved, 22:35 other organizations, 22:36 and it really provides such a wide range of people 22:39 that we're able to reach, which is awesome, 22:42 you know, it's great. 22:43 You know, I wanted to tell this story, 22:46 Lo-Ammi, I am gonna call you Ammi, 22:50 about the atheist. 22:52 First of all, Ammi is the harvest director, 22:56 tell us what that means and then tell us 23:00 the story of the atheist 23:01 who is actually volunteering with you 23:03 and when you're talking about not just changing 23:08 for the homeless or changing for our church members 23:12 but other volunteers whose lives are being changed. 23:14 Yes, so I know, people always kind of raise their eyebrows 23:17 like what's the harvest director, 23:18 you know, what are you planting? 23:20 Yes. 23:21 Well, we plant seeds throughout the community, 23:23 reaching people and, 23:24 you know, showering them and giving them haircuts. 23:26 And so my responsibility is to harvest them. 23:28 So one of the responsibilities at least this year 23:31 was to try to really emphasize advance 23:34 at all of our local Adventist churches. 23:36 We all volunteer, we all go to different churches. 23:39 So every month, we wanted to do like, 23:42 in the beginning of the year, 23:43 we started doing a week a prayer. 23:44 I conducted a week of prayer, 23:46 we did an evangelistic series every Friday, 23:48 at least once every Friday of each month, 23:50 we wanted to do a harvest event at one of our local churches 23:53 to invite the people that we've been witnessing to 23:56 to come to the local churches as they had make decisions, 23:59 so either Bible studies or baptisms, 24:01 then those context can be placed in those local churches 24:04 that we're doing at those events. 24:05 So though we're a hub of a lot of volunteers 24:08 from different churches, 24:09 we want to make sure that to let the churches know 24:11 we are here to help, we want to, 24:14 you know, have the church grow and so the work 24:16 that we're doing in the community, 24:18 we wanna plug them into the local churches 24:19 because it's great that we shower them, 24:21 it's great that we're feeding them, 24:22 it's great that we're clothing them, 24:24 but at the end of the day, 24:25 if they don't have a community of believers 24:26 that they can grow 24:28 in their experience with Christ, 24:29 then it means nothing. 24:30 So my job is to harvest them and after we serve them, 24:32 we harvest them 24:33 into making decisions for the God, 24:35 so that's my responsibility. 24:36 So, back up just a second cause said lots of churches. 24:39 Yeah. 24:40 How many Seventh-day Adventist Churches 24:42 are there in Orlando? 24:43 So within a one mile radius, 'cause we talked about this... 24:45 I've lost count. 24:46 Within a one mile radius, we have about 15, 24:49 about 12 to 15 Adventist churches 24:51 through different conferences. 24:52 In just one mile? Yeah. 24:54 So we expand that to, you know, 10 miles, 20, 24:57 you know, Orlando was a very Adventist saturated city 25:01 'cause of Advent health and hospitals that are there. 25:04 So a lot of churches and then we realize 25:07 there's not a lot of work that's being done. 25:09 And so one of the unique things about SALT is that we're, 25:11 you know, gathering people from, 25:13 you know, different churches, 25:16 different conferences, focusing on one mission, 25:18 but at the same time, 25:19 want to implement those people back 25:21 into the local churches so they can alternately 25:24 fulfill this vision in their local churches. 25:26 That way they can have a SALT hub 25:27 and they can do what we're doing in downtown, 25:30 they can do it in their local church 25:31 in their local community to have that impact. 25:33 So it's duplicable? 25:34 Yes. And that's what we're trying. 25:36 And that's in the process. So that's the long-term goal. 25:38 That is the long term goal. 25:39 So right now, you're proving it and it is working. 25:42 It is making a major difference in peoples' lives. 25:46 Wonderful seeds are being sown. 25:48 So and my job is to try to say okay, 25:51 we've reached them, 25:52 we've made connections with them, 25:53 we're building friendships and relationships, 25:55 we invite them to Bible studies, 25:56 we have a foodies group that, 25:57 you know, we go out to eat. 25:59 So we have all of these ways to communicate 26:00 and connect with them. 26:02 So how do we have them, 26:04 create another atmosphere 26:06 that they can grow their deep desire to know God, 26:10 and so that's what all of their harvest events 26:12 are for the week appraisal, revival weekends, 26:14 the Friday night events, 26:15 the evangelistic series is to gather all of the people 26:19 that we've connected with and plug them 26:21 into those programs so they can ultimately 26:23 make a decision for Jesus. 26:24 One thing that I just wanna mention, 26:25 if you could just focus in on the logo, 26:29 I absolutely love this logo, and it's so catching, 26:31 and on your shirts, it just jumps at you. 26:34 Right. 26:35 SALT, with a salt shaker upside down, okay, 26:39 and then Service and Love Together. 26:42 We talked about serving and being available, 26:46 but you need to have some substance to that serving, 26:50 and that's called love, that's called care. 26:52 That's right, yep. 26:53 If love is not rooted in the reason 26:55 why you're serving, avails nothing, 26:57 and so as we are all serving one purpose, 27:02 outward expression of our Love for Jesus, 27:04 you see that unity come together. 27:06 So actually if the logo that just showed up, it says, 27:10 "At your service," a good friend of ours, 27:12 he's actually the leader for our homeless outreach... 27:14 And just got promoted 27:16 to vice president of the organization. 27:17 He just got promoted to vice president now. 27:18 He always has thousands 27:20 and thousands of slogans and ideas, 27:22 and he's like SALT at your service, 27:24 and it stuck, and I was like, 27:26 "I think that's should be our updated logo." 27:28 At your service 'cause that's exactly what we're doing. 27:29 Our catchphrase yeah? 27:31 Yeah, catchphrase, we wanna be at your service. 27:33 How can we, you know, help and serve you, 27:35 and which kind of leads into the story 27:36 about our atheist friend that we mentioned about. 27:40 You know, Eric and I, 27:42 we're roommates 27:43 and so we have a third roommate, 27:45 and he kind of let us know about a situation 27:46 that took place with a guy that he knew. 27:50 And so he's like, 27:51 "Hey, man, he's just gonna stay here 27:53 for the weekend, he needs a crash." 27:54 And I was like, "Yeah, no problem, 27:56 he can stay for the week." 27:57 Well, what ends up being a week ends up 27:59 being three months. 28:00 And so as we unite... 28:02 Give us a little of the back story. 28:04 Yeah, so Eric can kind of give you 28:06 a little backdrop to the story and then I can... 28:08 Yeah, yeah. 28:09 So he was... 28:11 So this individual, 28:13 he was diagnosed with brain cancer, 28:16 and so he's in the MMA instructor, 28:19 could no longer do his job. 28:21 So he had brain cancer, no longer do his job, 28:23 his girlfriend left him as soon as he was diagnosed 28:25 because she's like, "I can't deal with this." 28:28 She left, and he's living in his car. 28:31 That's when our third roommate... 28:33 You know, he reached out to our third roommate 28:37 and then after that... 28:38 Yeah, he asked, 28:40 "Hey, can he stay for the weekend?" 28:41 Then we found out he lost his job, 28:42 and after he lost his job, his car broke down, 28:45 and he had no money, he had no place to stay, 28:48 he reached out to all of these friends 28:49 that he thought he had, they all kind of bailed on him. 28:51 Yep. 28:53 And so, you know, it's interesting 28:54 because we serve so many people outside of the community, 28:56 we have personal relationships 28:57 which we'd never actually extended anyone 28:59 to come into our home and so when you read the Bible 29:02 and you read Matthew 25 and you read Isaiah 58, 29:05 you see this emphasis 29:06 to invite people into your home. 29:08 Usually, we think, "Oh, yeah, it's a weekend thing, 29:10 you know, stay." 29:11 But as, you know, things developed, you realize, 29:14 "Man, Lord like..." 29:17 Yeah, he's a mess, like, 29:19 you know, he's going through depression, 29:20 he's lost his job. 29:22 What do we do? We don't really... 29:23 I heard he's an Atheist. 29:25 Yeah, he's an Atheist as that. 29:26 So to make a long story short, the Lord has blessed, 29:27 he's been able to go to counseling 29:29 and the counselor that he met essentially was... 29:32 I believe it was a miracle. 29:34 That whole counselor situation was a... 29:36 It was evident that he needed counseling, 29:38 I mean, he was going through severe depression for sure. 29:41 And with everything going on I mean, 29:42 you know, what do you expect? 29:44 So I ended up looking up counselors online. 29:47 And I was like, 29:48 "Oh, I think there's a free counselor. 29:49 Call him, call the counselor." 29:51 He called. 29:52 He went in for an hour session just to, 29:54 you know, I guess that was the intro session. 29:56 So this lady charges close to $200 an hour. 29:58 Ooh. 30:00 I didn't know that, but he sat there, 30:01 he was with her for three hours and she said, 30:04 "Don't worry about paying me, come back next week. 30:07 I like you. 30:08 I wanna keep seeing you." 30:09 Wow. 30:11 So this isn't anyone that's associated with your ministry? 30:12 No. Just a random counselor. 30:13 So now he's giving the counseling, 30:15 now he felt like, 30:16 you know, he had nobody to be with him 30:19 while he's taking his treatments for cancer 30:21 and so we've been 30:22 able to be a support for him as well. 30:25 To make a long story short, he's now been able to get... 30:27 He found a job now, 30:29 he's been taking his treatments, 30:30 he's going to counseling, 30:32 he's now made a decision to follow Jesus, 30:34 and he's going through Bible studies, 30:36 he wants to be baptized. 30:37 And originally when he heard the news, he said, 30:40 "Man, I only have about three or four months to live." 30:41 And that really took a toll on him. 30:44 And, you know, when you invite somebody into your home, 30:47 they kind of see who you are. 30:49 You know, that's really 30:51 where you can let your hair down, 30:52 you know, what the conversations we... 30:53 You get to see who you are too. 30:55 Yeah, exactly, yes. 30:56 And it's funny you say that because when, 30:57 you know, Jesus, you know, commanded us to do so, 31:00 it wasn't necessary to help others, 31:02 though essentially that's the idea. 31:04 It's to really reveal who you are. 31:05 And Eric can testify, 31:08 it really bothered me more than anybody. 31:09 I am like, "This guy just, 31:11 you know, a week and three months," 31:12 and the Lord had to rebuke me after seeing 31:16 where he began to where he's at now 31:17 to make a decision for Christ. 31:19 Now, you know, when he calls himself, 31:21 he's like, "Oh, I am a Christian." 31:22 You know, he labels himself as a Christian where four, 31:24 five months ago, he's like, "Man, I ain't believe in God, 31:26 I am an atheist." 31:27 And now he's, you know, a proud Christian. 31:29 And he goes through his troubles but he has, 31:31 you know, people that can kind of talk to him 31:33 and work with him and praise the Lord, 31:36 like a found a very good paying job. 31:38 He's gonna be moving out here in a bit 31:39 and he feels like a man again. 31:41 He feels like he can get back on his feet. 31:43 And so it's been a test for me, 31:44 I can speak for myself 31:46 or my character because at times, 31:47 you know, this is a stranger, 31:49 I don't know, but then seeing, 31:50 "Man, Lord, you've been teaching me 31:51 something about myself throughout this whole process 31:53 and essentially this is what we want to do 31:55 on a greater scale with self." 31:57 Yeah, we've helped one individual, 31:59 you know, having this individual 32:01 come into our home and helping him 32:02 the best way we can and now seeing him back 32:04 on his feet, but most importantly, 32:06 having a support in Jesus that he can rely on, 32:09 that he didn't have before, 32:10 we want to be able to provide that 32:12 for all of our homeless friends and all other people 32:13 we reach out, you know, in a community of Orlando. 32:16 That's essentially what we want to do. 32:18 Yeah, that's the significant part is, 32:20 you know, we wanna be able to do this on... 32:22 Larger scale. Yeah, larger scale. 32:23 And so this is almost like a... 32:25 Oh, I was just getting ready to say... 32:26 A prototype. 32:28 This is like you're putting together a blueprint. 32:29 Right, exactly. 32:30 And I am just so excited because I could see this going, 32:35 you know, into... 32:36 We sometimes say 32:38 how we're gonna reach this cities. 32:39 Well, in cities, you have multiple churches. 32:43 We complain about two things, 32:44 how we're gonna reach the cities? 32:47 How are we gonna keep our young people in church? 32:50 Well if you've got... 32:51 If you went to New York and got people together, 32:57 youth from the Seventh-day Adventist church, 32:59 man, that would be a fiery team, 33:01 and then you'd be reaching people. 33:03 And so awesome would that be to see, 33:05 okay, every local church has a change trailer, 33:08 has a shower trailer, 33:09 has programs that they can 33:11 able to get their ideas or anything. 33:13 Once you minister to the needs of the people, 33:15 people are gonna flock to the church automatically. 33:16 Amen. 33:18 It's funny because I was talking about, 33:20 as some of the local news reporters 33:23 came to check out 33:25 what are these young people doing 33:26 in the local community, 33:27 and as the news story was flashing, 33:29 it was like, you know, Orlando Central 33:31 Seventh-day Adventist Church 33:33 and thousands of people just heard that 33:34 we're doing work 33:35 at the Seventh-day Adventist Church 33:37 in light and then packing the community. 33:39 So it eliminated all of this hard work that, 33:41 at some times, we got to knock on doors 33:42 and do all of these things... 33:44 Amen. 33:45 We're serving the community at our local church... 33:46 Right. 33:48 And the world noticed that we're doing it 33:49 and they came to us. 33:51 They come to us now. 33:52 That's the thing, you know, Seventh-day Adventist 33:54 is so much in Orlando, 33:56 but how often are we in the news? 33:59 You know, because we're doing, we're serving the community. 34:02 That's why we wanted to, you know, we had Channel 9, 34:04 while we launched, channel nine came out, 34:06 did a whole interview with us. 34:08 Channel 13, Orlando sent another local newspaper. 34:12 We had UCF, 34:13 that's the UCF story there that went 34:16 to all of their advisory boards, 34:18 all of the students, all of the teachers, 34:20 and where the large universities 34:22 in the United States, 34:23 you know, and so Seventh-day Adventists 34:28 are becoming on the map, 34:29 you know, in Orlando, and that's... 34:30 Amen. 34:32 But not necessarily what we're saying 34:33 but what we're doing. 34:34 Exactly. 34:36 And then when it is young people doing it, 34:37 it has far more impact, 34:39 you know, and so because it's like, 34:40 you know, what are you passionate about? 34:42 Like we want to change the world 34:43 in every sense of the word. 34:45 We wanna change the individual's lives, 34:46 but most importantly, we wanna change the world 34:48 'cause we wanted to leave this world, 34:49 we wanna go to the new kingdom that God established for us. 34:52 And so if we can serve people in doing so 34:54 and see the love of Christ in our actions, 34:56 then whatever we say after that is gonna have far more impact, 35:00 and that's the blessing 35:01 we're kind of seeing glimpse of that 35:03 and like," Hey, man, just everyone just found out 35:05 about the Seventh-day Adventist Church 35:07 just like that," 35:08 simply because we are doing service 35:10 and meeting the needs of the people... 35:12 It sounds to me like 35:14 you don't have to go to Africa... 35:17 No. To do mission work. 35:18 Nope, there is so much work in your backyard 35:20 that you don't even realize. 35:21 That's exactly right. It is great to go to... 35:23 I've been to Africa, I've been to overseas, 35:25 Haiti and you can see the devastation 35:27 that they're living in 35:29 and the poverty they're living in, 35:30 but we have those same individuals in our backyard, 35:32 people who don't know how to, 35:34 who haven't showered, 35:35 who don't have proper clothes, who have never, 35:38 yeah, just not an asset to the community, 35:40 and they feel lost and hopeless. 35:42 And now, you know, just by simply taking a shower, 35:45 it's amazing that every time 35:46 that I've gone to these outreaches, 35:48 there's just this beam of hope like, 35:50 "Man, I feel great, 35:51 I feel like I can accomplish the world, 35:52 I'm gonna save up my money, I'm gonna try to find a job." 35:55 And it's just awesome to see and it's like, 35:57 "You guys cared. 35:58 Young people, you could've been easily 36:00 been in that same downtown partying and drinking, 36:03 you guys are here 36:04 and volunteering and serving us," 36:06 and it speaks great volumes and, 36:08 "Can we pray for you?" Absolutely. 36:10 You pray, "Hey, let me give you, 36:11 you knew, Steps to Christ." 36:13 Absolutely. 36:14 They're much more willing to hear 36:15 what you had to say 36:17 because they saw the actions demonstrated. 36:18 You're doing what Jesus did, 36:21 that's the same method of ministries. 36:23 He met their personal needs 36:25 before he was trying to tell them about the Father. 36:29 But let me ask you this question, 36:31 you both work full time, 36:35 you are volunteering full time for SALT, 36:40 you're going to school, what is your... 36:42 You're working on your... 36:43 So I am finishing up 36:44 my undergrad on church leadership 36:46 through Oakwood University online. 36:48 So I travel a lot, when I am not travelling, 36:50 doing speaking appointments, and I'm in Orlando, 36:52 I do my classes online. 36:54 So that's what I am finishing up, 36:55 so between work and travel and school 36:59 and everything else that comes in between place for... 37:00 And you both preach, right? 37:02 You both go out and preach. 37:03 When did you know you had or that God was calling you 37:07 and giving you a speaking ability? 37:09 For me, it was kind of after my test... 37:11 After my experience at that youth conference 37:14 at Generation Youth for Christ, 37:16 the Lord opened up the door for me 37:17 to be a Bible worker in California. 37:20 And so from there, became a chaplain, 37:22 became a Bible teacher, 37:24 and that was about three years ago 37:25 that I got a lot of speaking appointments, 37:27 you know, and I was like, 37:28 "Well, there's no way I can work a full-time job and, 37:30 you know, take care of these appointments." 37:32 And so I took a leap of faith, I was like, "All right, Lord, 37:34 you gonna have to provide, 37:35 but I wanna fulfill these appointments, 37:37 four months," and now becoming three years 37:39 and so it's amazing 37:42 because everywhere that I preach, 37:43 I am sharing this vision that SALT has 37:45 and I wanna make sure that let people know, 37:47 "Listen, we are doing this in Orlando, 37:48 but you can do this in Tennessee, 37:49 you can do this in Africa, you can do this in Haiti, 37:51 you can do this in, 37:52 you know, wherever parts of the country 37:54 that you're at 37:55 or whatever state you're living in." 37:57 And so yeah, you know, for me, I am always constantly... 37:59 Actually these next few months 38:01 is gonna be hectic in my schedule 38:03 in evangelistic series and everything. 38:05 And so Eric, I know, I live with Eric, 38:08 so fulltime relationship, fulltime school, 38:11 fulltime work, and then fulltime SALT. 38:13 So yeah, we've been really, really, 38:16 you know, busy to say the least. 38:18 I think they call it big dedicated. 38:21 Yeah, I am gonna use that word dedicated. 38:23 So are you trying to 38:26 or thinking about putting together 38:28 some kind of menu 38:30 'cause you said you did a lot of test and trials 38:32 to find out what worked. 38:33 Have you thought about doing that 38:35 so you can get different chapters 38:36 going in different areas? 38:38 Exactly, so, we want to be able to put together, 38:41 like you said, a blueprint. 38:43 Now that I'm out of school, 38:44 I can start really developing that 38:47 and we have put some things together here and there, 38:50 but really to combine everything together 38:53 and really put everything down in paper, 38:55 it's gonna take a while. 38:56 But, you know, between everything else, 39:00 now that I'm out of school at least my evenings, 39:02 I can spend to put in that manual together. 39:04 The big goal is that 39:06 once we complete this book or this, 39:10 you know, blueprint, we wanna be 39:12 able to go to every church across the country and say, 39:14 "Here's a blueprint, follow this, 39:16 experience your Bible, 39:17 and you'll have young people come back into your church 39:19 and everything would be laid out." 39:21 Amen. 39:22 So it's test and trail for us as we are learning, 39:23 we're growing. 39:25 But in those experiences, we can show you exactly, 39:26 and that's ultimately, my vision, 39:28 our vision as organization is to implement this 39:30 in every church, Adventist Church. 39:32 So you've got this, 39:35 I am gonna say it in a different way, 39:37 in every city, 'cause you got all... 39:39 I love the fact that you've got all these people coming in 39:43 from different churches. 39:45 How many volunteers do you have? 39:47 We have consistently about 100 volunteers. 39:50 Praise God. 39:52 That consistent being defined as coming to at least 39:54 one outreach at least once per month. 39:56 Okay, wonderful. 39:57 And when you bring all of these in, I mean, 40:01 you know, you've got different conferences 40:03 working together, 40:05 different Seventh-day Adventist churches 40:07 working together 40:08 and impacting and if we've got time, 40:10 I wanna ask you personally how it's impacted you, 40:13 but impacting spiritual lives 40:17 and touching so many hearts, 40:21 but it's been what, seven years, eight years? 40:24 Yeah, it'll be eight years in September, yep. 40:28 Eight years, isn't it time? 40:32 I mean, are you getting to a point, 40:34 how do you get your funding 40:35 and are you getting to a point 40:37 where perhaps you could have a full-time, 40:42 become a full-time paid director? 40:44 Right now you're a full time unpaid director. 40:47 Right. 40:48 But especially if you're gonna try 40:49 and open different chapters, duplicate this. 40:52 It's necessary and, 40:54 you know, there's only so far we can go 40:57 without having full-time person, 41:00 you know, we're almost at that place and so, 41:03 by the end of this year, 41:04 my goal would be to transition full-time 41:06 into the organization 41:08 because that would just increase our capacity, 41:11 not only to make a difference 41:12 but it could even create opportunities 41:14 for other young adults 41:16 to be full-time ministry, you know? 41:18 And so yeah, that's the goal. 41:21 Right now, we aren't able to, 41:23 our funding comes from individual donations, 41:26 and we just... 41:27 You are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 41:30 Exactly, yes. 41:31 And so but it's just not enough for that, 41:34 we pretty much just have enough to operate, 41:38 you know, as often as we do, but that's pretty much it. 41:42 Okay. 41:43 I do wanna ask this as well, 41:45 you had mentioned you've got this shower trailer 41:48 and you actually went through it. 41:49 Yeah. When it was right off the line. 41:51 Just right off the line, 41:52 and just your booth was a couple of down from us 41:55 at 3ABN. 41:58 At ASI? At ASI. 41:59 Okay. 42:01 And I heard a lot of people talking about that trailer 42:04 down there, and I just being curious as everybody else, 42:08 I went down there. 42:09 Oh, my goodness, I mean, this is a Cadillac trailer. 42:13 I mean, it's hard to believe, I came from mid-America, 42:18 I've came from the ranching business in Texas, 42:21 and so we talk about big trailers, 42:23 you know like cattle trailers. 42:24 And so in my mind, I thought was gonna, 42:27 "How are they gonna do this?" 42:28 Very sophisticated, 42:30 everything meticulously put in place 42:32 to actually have a shower, 42:34 you know, and I guess, it ran off a generator. 42:36 How does all this run? 42:38 So we can run on a generator, 42:40 like during the hurricane relief, 42:42 we did run on generator, 42:43 but usually we plug right into the building. 42:45 And, you know, I do wanna comment, 42:48 part of the reason why we're able to get that trailer 42:50 is because of the 3ABN viewers. 42:52 It was on 3ABN today, we talked about the vision, 42:56 there was a particular viewer that said, 43:00 I'll donate to you guys and $16,500 right there. 43:03 Praise God. 43:04 And another individual said, if you raise $17,500, 43:08 we'll match you. 43:10 We could pray that I conducted and shared the vision, 43:13 he said, "If you can match this, 43:16 I'll give you the other half," 43:17 and we were able to raise to $40,000 43:20 and a little about over... 43:22 It was I mean, we have the commitments there, 43:24 pretty much very quickly. 43:27 3ABN viewers have big hearts. 43:29 They've been a blessing. They do. 43:30 And, you know, the most amazing thing to me 43:33 is that we have a program called Blessings On The Go, 43:36 our monthly and that's what keeps us, 43:39 that's what keeps our doors open. 43:41 It's these monthly donations that are consistent, 43:44 and sometimes people who write and say, 43:49 "I can only give $5 a month" 43:51 or "I can give $10 a month," 43:53 and you realize what they're giving up 43:56 to even be able to do that. 43:58 And we just thank you from bottom of our hearts 44:00 for your generosity 44:02 and, you know, the Lord's going to... 44:04 He is smiling on that, I'll put it that way. 44:06 It's amazing what we had a vision, 44:08 that vision was fulfilled because of 3ABN. 44:10 Amen, praise God. 44:12 Thank you for saying that. 44:13 Now this trailer though, 44:14 you are in need of a truck 44:18 that's a pick-up F-250 or equivalent? 44:21 Yeah, F-250 equivalent truck 44:23 at least can tow up to 12,000 pounds 44:25 because right now we're struggling in... 44:29 Because we've had to rent trucks, 44:30 and it's a big chunk of money 44:32 to have to rent all the time in transport, 44:35 so we're at that point we're like, 44:36 you know, we need to cut this cost, 44:38 let's fundraise for the truck. 44:39 So actually we have SALT day coming up. 44:42 It's every May 13th is SALT day, 44:47 and so we're gonna fundraise for certain project 44:49 and the project this year would be, 44:52 it's gonna be the truck. 44:53 It's gonna be the truck. Yep. 44:55 All right, I just have to ask this 44:57 because you're both... 44:59 If I were the mother of either one of you, I would be... 45:02 My heart would be bursting with joy and pride 45:06 in how you are investing your life 45:10 in the lives of others for the glory of God. 45:13 Tell me, how being involved with SALT, tell our audience, 45:19 how it has changed your life. 45:22 You wanna go first or you want me to? 45:24 Yeah, I mean, I could go, for me, 45:26 I've been in fulltime ministry 45:28 for the last eight to nine years, 45:30 and when I experienced Christ for the first time 45:33 at the youth conference, I realized like, 45:35 my life isn't about myself and my pleasure, 45:38 it's about what God has fulfilled, 45:41 you know, what he wants to fulfill through me. 45:43 And so, you know, I've been a chaplain, 45:44 I've been a Bible teacher, 45:46 you know, I am an evangelist as well 45:48 for soul outreach, and I travel and speak. 45:51 But I realize that it's when you actually 45:53 take time to meet the needs of the people 45:56 that God reveals a lot about yourself 45:58 that you didn't realize you had it, 46:00 you know, and the pride, the selfishness, 46:02 so all of those things are kind of removed to side 46:04 when you're focusing on somebody else. 46:07 And so my relationship with God 46:08 ever since I joined SALT has transcended to a place 46:13 where I've never thought I would have. 46:15 And I always encourage people, listen, 46:16 service isn't necessarily designed to bless others, 46:20 it's designed for you, 46:21 God used that as a means to save you. 46:23 Amen. 46:24 And if it wasn't for an organization like SALT, 46:26 if I wasn't in full time evangelism the way that I am, 46:29 I don't think I'll be in the church, 46:31 I would have been just a pew-warmer. 46:32 But God has shown me like this is the means 46:36 of understanding who you are in me, 46:38 but most importantly, 46:39 what I'm gonna try to develop. 46:41 And the only way that I could have been done, 46:42 that took place and happen is through service, 46:44 and so I feel like I've become a different person 46:48 because of it. 46:49 Oh, you've become a wonderful man. 46:50 And I understand Jesus even much more 46:52 when he says certain things, 46:53 it's like, "Man, God, I understand 46:55 what you're talking about now," 46:56 and it's only when it's those situations 46:57 where you're focusing on others and the betterment of... 47:01 You know, for the betterment of other people 47:03 and fulfilling the commission 47:04 that the God could do that transformation 47:06 that he desires to accomplish. 47:07 You know, service doesn't save us, 47:10 only the blood of Jesus, only Christ can save us. 47:13 But service does transform us. 47:16 I mean, ministry is transforming 47:20 because it is a way that Jesus uses 47:25 to work his character into our hearts 47:29 and, you know, that's the beauty. 47:31 So, for you, you are pretty much 47:33 a brand new Christian. 47:34 You're an old Christian when you started this, so... 47:36 I was, yeah. 47:37 It's just like natural to you, 47:39 part of the natural Christian life. 47:40 Yeah, it is. 47:42 And, you know, to be honest, without service, 47:47 I don't know if I would be in the church, 47:49 you know, I don't know where I would be. 47:51 To be honest with you, if I was not serving, 47:53 if I was not so... 47:54 I believe there is a capacity 47:57 at which everyone's able to serve, 47:58 you know, and some people's capacity is larger 48:03 and some people's is maybe not as large. 48:05 But if I wasn't using my full capacity for service, 48:10 the enemy would have it. 48:12 Yep. 48:13 And I don't know where I would be, 48:15 so I owe a lot to, you know, God putting me in this place 48:20 and to be able to run SALT, it's definitely transforming, 48:25 it's kept me here, 48:26 and my relationship with God is still alive, 48:30 you know, and so... 48:31 You know, that's how we feel, 48:32 we talk about this quite often that sometimes people say, 48:35 "When are you gonna retire?" 48:36 "They have to kick us out of here" 48:38 'cause, waking up every day with purpose... 48:44 Because of that purpose every day. 48:46 And that purpose is never removed. 48:47 Yeah. 48:49 And the Lord turbo charges that all the time, 48:51 you know, continues to energize you, 48:53 and he continues to open up doors. 48:56 And he loves hearing from us and what are our needs 48:59 and so that we should say, "Lord, this is your plan, 49:03 we're just selling here your mouthpiece or feet, 49:07 or hands," and I go back to this, 49:09 I absolutely love this logo, 49:11 Service And Love Together. 49:14 I mean. 49:15 And that is the salt of the earth, 49:17 whenever we do, I'll do that. 49:20 Yes, I do care, and then we're working together. 49:25 One becomes two, two becomes three, 49:26 three becomes a hundred, and before you know it, 49:28 we're fulfilling the great commission 49:30 that God has... 49:31 You're a math teacher. 49:33 Yep, exactly. 49:35 What we want to do 49:37 is we have the address for SALT. 49:43 If you would like to have either Eric or Lo-Ammi, 49:47 come to your church or do a week of prayer 49:50 or any evangelistic series or just come 49:53 and talk about this, you can contact them here. 49:56 But my heart, I just know, as you said, 3ABN, 50:01 God uses his people, the 3ABN viewers. 50:04 And I believe that there's somebody out there 50:07 that the Holy Spirit is inspiring right now, 50:10 maybe they are on a car dealership 50:13 and you could even contribute an F-250, I mean, 50:17 donate that. 50:19 But if you would like to donate and support this cause, 50:25 here's how you can get in touch with these young men. 50:31 Service and Love Together, or SALT for short, 50:34 is a youth and young adult ministry 50:36 that reflects the character of Christ 50:38 through relational evangelism, 50:39 meeting the needs of others, 50:41 equipping people for service and fostering spiritual growth. 50:45 To learn more about SALT, visit their website, 50:48 saltoutreach.org, 50:50 that's saltoutreach.org 50:53 or call them at (866) 237-2589. 50:58 You may also write to SALT Outreach, 51:01 100 East Pine Street, 51:03 Suite 110, Orlando, Florida, 32801. |
Revised 2019-06-18