Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230026A
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00:04 I want to spend my life mending broken people.
00:15 I want to spend my life removing pain. 00:25 Lord, let my words heal a heart that hurts. 00:36 I want to spend my life mending broken people. 00:46 I want to spend my life mending broken people. 01:06 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn. 01:07 I'm JD Quinn. 01:09 And we welcome you to 3ABN Today. 01:12 We have such an inspiring story. 01:15 You're going to hear a divine voice out of Africa today. 01:20 You know that Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 that 01:26 before the end of the world, this gospel must reach 01:31 all the countries of the world. 01:33 Now, does that mean we're supposed to sit back and say, 01:37 "Okay, church, get busy." 01:38 No. 01:40 Did you know, in Acts 1:8 Jesus told His disciples. 01:46 "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 01:51 has come upon you. 01:52 And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, 01:56 in Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 02:01 What was He saying? 02:03 "I want you when you receive the Holy Spirit, 02:07 He's the one that will give you the words to speak, 02:10 to share your testimony. 02:11 to share the good news of salvation by grace, 02:15 righteousness by faith, into your neighborhood, 02:19 into your country, and around the world." 02:23 God calls all of us to be witnesses. 02:27 And we have a young man with us today. 02:31 We found out, as we were speaking before the program, 02:34 we actually met about 8 years ago or 10 years ago 02:38 when we were at the Sedaven camp meeting in South Africa. 02:44 And his name is Melusi Lalamp... I messed it up. 02:50 - Lalambi. - Ah, close. 02:53 - Lalambi. - Melusi, hi. 02:55 Tell us how you pronounce your last name. 02:58 Thank you so much, JD and Shelley. 03:00 And what a blessing it is to be here. 03:02 And greetings to your 3ABN viewers from around the world. 03:07 My name is very simple. 03:10 If you just think of Psalms 23, it actually means, 03:14 "shepherd," in English. 03:16 And the first name is, Melusi. 03:20 Melusi. And the second name is just three syllables. 03:24 Lalambi. 03:27 So I think, JD you got it very close. 03:30 ~ Lalambi. 03:31 ~ For somebody from Texas, it's real close. 03:33 We got an "A" on that. 03:35 But you had to be pretty smart just to know how to 03:37 spell your name when you were a child. 03:41 There were times I regretted having that long surname. 03:46 I'm sure. 03:49 Well, we want to get to know you a little bit, 03:52 and then hear the story of how God is using Melusi 03:58 and his wife, Vivian, how they have begun 04:02 a ministry that is amazing. 04:05 And before we get deep into the story, though, 04:09 we know you love music. 04:11 I think we've got our sister, Yvonne, 04:13 going to sing for us today. 04:15 Yvonne Shelton, she's going to be singing, 04:17 Wonders Never Cease. 04:39 I heard He walked on water and opened blinded eyes, 04:48 the deaf were made to hear again, 04:54 and the dead were called to rise. 04:57 O, but when I gave Him all my heart, 05:02 a greater thing took place. 05:06 The Lord of every miracle redeemed me by His grace. 05:17 Wonders never cease as long as I believe 05:26 and place my life within the nail-scarred hands 05:32 that bled for me. 05:35 And when I think I've seen His best, 05:40 I stand amazed to see 05:46 His glory never ends 05:53 and wonders never cease. 06:13 He still walks on water to calm my troubled seas. 06:20 And in the midst of thunder I can hear Him speaking peace. 06:30 And though some believe His miracles 06:34 are just part of yesterday, 06:39 I'm living proof His changing power will never pass away. 06:51 And wonders never cease as long as I believe 07:00 and I place my life within the nail-scarred hands 07:05 that bled for me. 07:09 And when I think I've seen His best, 07:14 I stand amazed to see 07:20 His glory never ends. 07:26 O, wonders never cease 07:34 as long as I believe 07:38 and I place my life within the nail-scarred hands 07:44 that bled for me. 07:47 And when I think I've seen His best, 07:52 I stand amazed to see 07:58 His glory never ends 08:05 and wonders never cease. 08:11 O, His glory never ends 08:18 and wonders never cease. 08:47 Glory to God, that was a beautiful song. 08:50 And we thank our precious sister, Yvonne Shelton. 08:53 And she's got a beautiful talent and she uses it for the Lord. 08:58 Well if you are just joining us, our special guest today 09:02 is Melusi Lalambi. 09:06 Am I close? 09:08 Lalambi. 09:09 And he's actually, we're here in a cornfield 09:14 and he's clear across the world in Pretoria, South Africa. 09:20 Let me ask a question real quick. 09:24 When we were growing up, as a Seventh-day Adventist 09:28 when I grew up, we all had a desire 09:34 to be missionaries in Africa. 09:38 Here, you're growing up in Africa, did you ever have a 09:44 desire to be a missionary in America? 09:48 I know that you use a lot of English over there. 09:54 - Okay. - That's true. 09:56 So I mean, here we're aspiring, I love the word, "aspire," 10:01 you're aspiring, you know, to dedicate yourself 10:05 to the Lord and do His work, and you're covering the whole world. 10:12 So let's, before you answer that question, take us back. 10:19 Did you grow up in a Christian family? 10:23 Good questions. Powerful. 10:26 How much time do you have? 10:31 What a blessing it is to be here really. 10:34 And just want to start by thanking 3ABN for the privilege 10:38 to be on 3ABN Today and to share our life story 10:42 and perhaps a little bit about what God is doing. 10:45 So greetings to you JD and Shelley, 10:48 to our viewers as well on 3ABN. 10:52 I thank you. My name is Melusi. 10:54 Melusi means, "shepherd." 10:57 The surname is Lalambi. 10:58 It also means something very important. 11:01 "Lala," is, "hunger." 11:03 "mbi," means, "hunger is bad." 11:06 So our African names always mean something. 11:09 And your question is quite profound. 11:14 I was born almost half a millennium ago. 11:19 1975. 11:22 Half a millennium or a century? 11:25 Half a century. Half a century. 11:29 I'm waiting for the 1000 years to come. 11:31 But anyway, yeah so half a century ago, 1975, 11:38 in a small little village in the country of Zimbabwe. 11:42 The village is called, Zhombe. 11:44 It's in the midlands of the country. 11:47 And I did my primary education there. 11:49 But it was during the wartime, if you know Zimbabwe. 11:53 And there was a brutal war and we had to move 11:55 to the big city and the big lights of Harare. 11:59 And so, I then grew up in the city of Harare. 12:02 Went through all my education to university level, 12:05 but left for the UK in 2003 for post-graduate studies. 12:11 I'm in the health sector, I'm a senior public health specialist. 12:15 But telling you about me growing up, and the question that 12:18 JD asked about whether I ever dreamed of 12:21 being a missionary, yes I definitely was named 12:25 Melusi because my parents aspired that I would become 12:30 perhaps a shepherd of their cattle and goats, 12:33 which I did for the first 7, 9, 10 years of my life 12:37 before I went to Harare. 12:39 Even when we came back to the rural area 12:41 during school holidays, I would always look after cattle. 12:45 So when I was in the field with cattle and goats, 12:48 I was the rightful man because my name means, shepherd. 12:51 Okay, so whenever they called me, they not only called 12:54 my name, but they called what I was doing at that time. 12:58 And I did that until after our high school education. 13:02 And then even in my youthful years, the Lord, I believe, 13:09 I had a covenant with Him as I was writing my exams, 13:12 and I said, "If You can make me pass my exams, 13:15 I will serve You." 13:17 I remember there was another crucible we went through 13:20 when I got married, and I remember telling God, 13:23 "If you can sort this out for me, just tell me what 13:26 You want to do and I'll do it." 13:28 It's been a long journey. 13:29 I have always aspired to be a missionary. 13:32 But here is where perhaps I could answer you, JD. 13:36 When I was now getting into university education, 13:39 our country's economy was not doing very well. 13:41 So I aspired to leave the country. 13:44 And I applied for a U.S. visa and was denied three times. 13:50 Because in my aspiration I wanted to come to America, 13:54 join the Pacific Health Education Center, 13:56 train in home health education, 13:59 and perhaps launch a ministry from there. 14:02 But the Lord denied that. 14:04 It took a bit of many years from that time until 2010, 14:10 when out of a terrible tragedy the economy crash 14:16 of 2008 resulted in me losing my job, 14:20 two years down the line retrenched, 14:22 out-of-work, based in South Africa now, 14:26 being a foreigner, and not sure what the Lord wants me to do. 14:31 Whether I should go back to Zimbabwe or not. 14:34 That's when this ministry called MelVee Productions was born. 14:38 That's what we called it back then. 14:40 And it was in a clear meditation process and thought 14:45 that God brought me through the realization. 14:48 Just very quickly, and then we can move on. 14:51 So December 2010, I'm cleaning my office as a 14:55 deputy country director of one of the largest 14:58 public health development organizations in Africa. 15:03 I'm coming home to a young wife. 15:07 By then I only had a son who was about 5 years old. 15:11 And I had no job. 15:14 Come January, as others are saying, this January 2011, 15:18 and others are saying, "Compliments of the new year," 15:21 "Merry Christmas," and "Happy New Year," 15:23 I'm facing the most complicated and very difficult 15:27 life decision of my career. 15:29 That's when through the devotions I was reading, 15:33 one of them which really stood and remain very vivid in my mind 15:37 is what Pastor Wintley Phipps says in one of the devotionals 15:41 I read, and his statement was, "It is often in the quiet, 15:46 personal, private, crucibles of our lives 15:50 that God's greatest blessings are given 15:56 and our noblest dreams are born." 15:58 And I harnessed the strength of that statement. 16:03 And then I went online to look for a sermon of the pastor 16:08 who I wanted to listen to because he has blessed me. 16:11 Couldn't find it. 16:13 I asked all his friends and his colleagues, 16:16 "Where can I find his content?" 16:18 He was late by then. 16:20 And I couldn't find it. 16:21 And I cannot begin to describe the feeling I had. 16:26 My heart literally sank to discover that this pastor 16:31 with all his gifting's, the world never knew him. 16:36 But I knew him. 16:37 And now I cannot listen to him. 16:39 It was out of that sheer sense of loss of a pastor who had 16:44 died that something in me was activated, 16:47 and I said, "Surely we cannot continue losing African 16:51 ministers, and they go." 16:53 Because it's expensive for God to raise a pastor in Africa. 16:57 Like we say, if you kill a pastor, you've almost killed 17:03 the church because we don't have a lot of pastors in Africa. 17:06 So that's how the vision was born. 17:08 We lost another senior pastor from Zambia, Dr. Matandiko, 17:13 and the same feeling came up in me. 17:16 And that's how perhaps I began to see that maybe this is 17:21 where God wants me to be. 17:22 I checked with a few of our leaders here, they said, 17:25 "Definitely I think it's a gap in Africa. 17:28 We would need more ministries here." 17:30 So the rest is history. 17:32 I contacted our brother at SID Media, 17:36 which is our Division office here. 17:40 They walked me through the baby steps, 17:42 because back then I had no clue what a camera looks like 17:45 and to how use it, how to do white balancing. 17:47 So that's how the ministry then began in 2011. 17:53 Let me pause there for now. 17:54 ~ Okay, so MelVee, I assume that's for your first name 17:59 and Vivian's first name. 18:01 That's where it came. 18:02 MelVee Broadcasting, what is the overall mission 18:06 and purpose of the ministry? 18:10 You're quite right, Shelley. 18:12 Yes, so "Mel" is my first three letters, 18:14 and "Vee" is the name I call my wife, Vivian. 18:18 I call her Vee. 18:20 We created that name before we were even married. 18:25 We were courting for about 4 years; I was still a student, 18:30 she was also a student. 18:31 So we said, let's finish school, university, 18:35 then we'll see what we can do. 18:36 So we came up with that name, and put our names together. 18:40 We put it on our wedding invitation. 18:43 Our aspiration was, through us and for us and with us 18:49 God is going to do great things. 18:51 I had no clue what that was. 18:53 But we just held on to the belief that if we can place 18:58 our relationship in God's hands, He will use it for His glory. 19:03 Fast forward some 15 years later, in our life and marriage 19:09 this ministry was born. 19:11 It was born out of an aspiration to want to preserve 19:14 the heritage of the Adventist message out of Africa. 19:19 If I were to ask you right now to give me five names of 19:22 preachers from Africa, you may struggle 19:25 to remember their names. 19:27 Perhaps you may remember the ones you have interacted with 19:30 through our Division or Conference offices. 19:33 And yet, Africa is so endowed and so blessed 19:37 with so many preachers and teachers who are responsible 19:41 for building the church in Africa, but their message 19:44 is not reaching the whole world. 19:45 So our aspiration was that out of Africa 19:50 to the rest of the world, may we share what God is doing 19:54 in this continent. 19:55 Because if you look in the other sectors, Africa is not 19:58 always seen in the good light. 20:01 Very few people know about what we do in Africa. 20:04 I remember when I landed in the UK. 20:06 One of the students I was sharing accommodation with 20:09 from Hong Kong said, "How did you get here?" 20:13 And I said to him, "I was riding a lion." 20:18 ~ That's good. 20:19 So very few people know about Africa. 20:21 So our aspiration is to capture any preacher God sends 20:27 in our lives and put them out so that the world 20:32 may begin to also be blessed by ministers, and preachers, 20:36 and singers, evangelists, and teachers from Africa. 20:40 If we can just achieve that in our lifetime, 20:44 we will be grateful to God. 20:45 ~ So it sounds like you grew up in an Adventist Christian home. 20:49 Is that correct? 20:51 Or how did God get your attention? 20:54 Because to just leave a career of public health 20:58 and say, "Okay, Lord, I'm Yours." 21:00 Obviously, you had a strong relationship with the Lord. 21:07 Yes, Adventists in my family, I am of the third generation. 21:12 So my grandparents were, but my grandfather 21:16 was not a Christian most of his life. 21:18 But by the time he died, 21:20 I'm told that he had turned to the faith. 21:23 He died before I was born. 21:25 My father definitely grew up in the Adventist education system, 21:30 though he didn't live a Christian life. 21:32 But he kept beating us for not going to church on the Saturday. 21:37 He always came and said, "Can I see your feet?" 21:40 Because I think he had a way of know which foot 21:43 was in a shoe and which one went to church. 21:45 So he would look at our feet and say, 21:47 "You were playing soccer in the streets. 21:48 You didn't go to church today." 21:50 So he would make a big issue about it. 21:52 So I grew up in the Adventist church. 21:55 I was baptized when I was 14. 21:59 And I went through the youth development program 22:02 and became a leader at some point. 22:04 So yes, I am definitely a third-generation Adventist. 22:08 And we strongly believe, I think when I interviewed 22:12 my father, a good footage of the video is sharing, 22:15 two of them have since passed on, 22:17 that one of our great grandfathers was actually 22:21 a guide to missionaries who came into Zimbabwe. 22:25 So I believe the blessing of their prayers 22:30 is what I'm harvesting today by the passion 22:33 I'm putting into the gospel. 22:34 I know there were many prayers that were made 22:37 for me to be where I am today. 22:39 And I do feel the weight, definitely, because 22:44 my career was on a very high trajectory. 22:46 Even from 2011 when I lost my job, I subsequently 22:50 got very high-paying leadership positions. 22:53 I've worked for the Johns Hopkins Foundation. 22:55 I've been to Baltimore. 22:57 I've worked for the World Bank. 22:59 I've been to Washington DC a couple of times 23:02 for annual meetings. 23:03 But at that pinnacle of my career, the decision 23:07 weighed heavily on me because of the crucibles 23:10 manifested in my life. 23:13 That definitely told me that this storm seems like 23:17 it's ordained of God. 23:19 ~ Amen. 23:20 ~ So when you began this, this was kind of family-based. 23:26 MelVee Broadcasting, you are online services. 23:30 So you're broadcasting through the YouTube. 23:34 Tell us a little about your start-up time. 23:38 So we started up in 2011. 23:42 It is fully and currently a family-based ministry. 23:46 It's me, my wife, my children who are currently running it. 23:51 But obviously the institutional and strategic planning 23:55 is that it will grow to become a global ministry 23:58 in the mode perhaps of 3ABN 24:01 or many other global ministries we have. 24:04 But at this stage it is a family-level ministry. 24:08 2011 we knew nothing about YouTube. 24:13 We were only introduced to YouTube by brothers and sisters 24:17 in the faith from the UK. 24:19 And we started recording in our small little house, 24:24 which is where I'm still sitting now. 24:26 We've since turned it into a proper studio. 24:29 But we even worked out of here. 24:31 And because we are online, we have invested quite a bit 24:35 in turning videos into online content 24:41 that people can watch anywhere. 24:43 And that does not need a very big studio. 24:46 You only need a small space and good background, 24:49 good lighting and audio. 24:51 So we invested in cameras, very expensive ones at that time. 24:55 Because remember when it was 2010, 24:59 I was unemployed for 18 months. 25:02 But it was during that time of 18 months that God gave us 25:06 enough resources to buy high-quality broadcast cameras 25:10 and the equipment we needed. 25:13 And over time, we have since built our production sets 25:16 to include switching video cameras, and full lighting 25:21 systems, with microphones. 25:23 And the investment really was coming from our personal pocket. 25:27 Much of which was a sacrifice to take from the little we have 25:31 and share it with the Lord's work 25:33 and grow the ministry as we go, and a few well-wishers 25:37 who came along and helped us here and there. 25:40 But largely we built it as a family from private resources 25:45 the Lord has provide. 25:47 And at this stage, I think we are at a point 25:50 where we have become almost a very renowned media house, 25:56 and our aspirations are to continue to do much more 26:01 and collaborate perhaps with ministries 26:03 such as 3ABN and others. 26:05 Because I believe when God calls you, 26:09 some of your blessings are locked with other people. 26:12 ~ Absolutely. 26:13 You've got to collaborate in order to be successful. 26:18 God has not given us everything. 26:20 And so we hope to expand and continue. 26:23 But I think the vision was to produce high-quality 26:26 broadcast content. 26:27 And over the years we have seen our quality improve. 26:32 We have benefited quite a lot from friends of ours 26:35 that are running the SID Media within this Division. 26:40 I think our first mentor out of the woods 26:44 was the director for SID Media. 26:46 If I can mention his name, Noel Sibanda. 26:49 I'm sure you might know him. 26:51 He's the director for media services at our Division here. 26:54 And he's the first person I called for technical guidance. 26:57 So as much as I had a calling, I had to get the technical 27:02 experience to give me a guide on how to run the ministry. 27:08 We have benefited quite a lot from them. 27:10 ~ You know, I just want to speak to you sitting at home. 27:15 When God puts a call on your life, He will equip you. 27:21 He will get the people around you that you need. 27:26 What He is looking for is not your brilliance. 27:31 I mean, if He can use me, He can use anybody. 27:34 He's looking for someone who will... 27:38 God wants your heart. 27:40 That's what God wants. 27:42 He wants your heart. 27:43 And when you give Him your heart, 27:47 and He's looking around saying, "Who shall I send? 27:52 Who will go for us?" 27:53 All you've got to do is say, "Yes, Lord, send me." 27:58 And He will equip you. 28:01 I'm going to make a statement. 28:05 You tell me if I'm accurate. 28:06 You wouldn't trade your situation right now since 2010 28:12 not being employed, now working full-time for the Lord, 28:17 would you trade one minute of these past years 28:23 since God led you in this direction? 28:28 I wouldn't even want to trade any of it. 28:31 And actually, if God can use me in the manner He has 28:37 for the last 12 years since we started in 2011, 28:44 surely He can use anybody. 28:47 Because I had no clue how to do broadcasting. 28:51 Everything I know today, God has taught me 28:56 through people He brought into my life 28:59 and through collaborations I've been able to engage in. 29:03 And even through this platform. 29:05 We are learning so much, that our light has gone so far 29:08 around the world, that God has been doing it. 29:11 Now I can't even explain how even the channel grew up. 29:18 And here's the challenge. 29:20 In 2018 God impresses me to step down 29:24 and come and do this full-time. 29:26 I didn't know what God had in mind. 29:29 Fast forward to 2020, the whole world is shut down. 29:35 People at home, there's Covid around. 29:38 Did you know, Shelley and JD, at that time we were 9 years 29:42 into our ministry, we were at about 50,000 subscribers, 29:47 and it's as if God took the 9 years of our subscriptions 29:52 and doubled it in 10 months because of Covid. 29:57 People found us ready with content online, 30:01 within live broadcast for 24/7, and even during the week. 30:05 And when I look at how God seamlessly brought my call to 30:10 full-time ministry, and the challenge the world faced, 30:14 and how right now we are actually running out of time 30:19 and equipment and space to support so many other churches 30:23 that require the support that we've been giving. 30:26 And so I would not trade the experience 30:29 and the road I've gone through for anything. 30:33 In fact, that's why I believe, when I look at the song 30:35 you played earlier on, as long as I believe 30:38 and place my life in the hands of the One who bled, 30:43 wonders never cease. 30:45 So I'm expecting much more as the Lord leads. 30:49 ~ You know, this is kind of becoming kind of a hobby, 30:56 and looking, the Lord says, the Bible tells us 31:01 that He sees, He hears, He cares, He does. 31:07 And from an earlier age, you know, that was your prayer. 31:12 And not only for yourself, you were praying for others. 31:17 It was your aspiration, "Lord, guide me," 31:22 and then there you were looking for other hands to hold 31:27 to help you. 31:28 And so that was their aspiration. 31:31 And so as you sit back, and you, "How does God really fit in? 31:35 Does God really hear us?" 31:39 ~ Absolutely. 31:40 In fact, here is the test of what God did for us. 31:45 So we set up this channel after many months of not knowing 31:48 how we were going to figure out use of this content. 31:52 We had been recording for like four months. 31:54 We had tons and tons and gigs and gigs of content. 31:58 Then God sets up another channel, 31:59 we used to call it Isambulo. 32:01 It means, revelation. 32:02 Isambulo TV. 32:05 They have no content. 32:06 But we were sitting on what God had already provided. 32:09 When they started, our content was ready to share with them. 32:14 And also when you look at how God has led us 32:20 in the last decade or so, it's been full of miracles, 32:26 it's been full of signs, it's been full of wonders. 32:30 And I have no idea how I can explain how we've reached 32:34 145,000 subscribers on YouTube. 32:38 I can't explain to you how we've been able to... 32:42 Melusi, that is your subscribers, but you are 32:45 reaching even a greater group of people who don't subscribe. 32:50 - Absolutely. - Okay. 32:52 Absolutely. In fact, when we look at the viewers 32:54 who are subscribed and the viewers who are not subscribed, 32:58 we are almost 25% more and greater 33:03 on the non-subscribed members. 33:06 Just to give you a testimony. 33:07 So I go to a meeting of some assignment I was doing 33:11 for one of the organizations here. 33:13 So I'm meeting people who are not in the faith. 33:16 So I'm greeting them, and I'm like, "Long time, no see." 33:20 And this professional lady who is not of our faith said, 33:23 "Ah, what do you mean, long time, no see. 33:25 We watch you every day." 33:28 And I was like... 33:30 And it was not one person, it was a number. 33:32 The other one says, "Hey, you're not a stranger here. 33:36 I watched your prayer meeting 33:37 when you were live two weeks ago." 33:39 And I'm like, wow. 33:40 ~ I know it's amazing. 33:42 So God is reaching His people through us, 33:45 and we are amazed by what He is doing. 33:48 And that's why we feel that as a family 33:50 we want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ 33:53 out of Africa to the ends of the world 33:56 and use the mediums that God has provided for us to do that. 34:00 ~ Okay, I know that you collaborate with other churches 34:04 and organizations. 34:05 Would this be a good time, we'd like to introduce 34:09 his family to you and give you a few pictures. 34:11 This would be a good time. 34:13 Let's run through those pictures right now. 34:16 This is your family. 34:17 You have six children. 34:20 A pair of twins in there, a boy and a girl; fraternal twins. 34:24 Yes, so we lost my sister-in-law, my wife's elder 34:29 sister, when her kids were very young. 34:32 So we just raised them. 34:34 In Africa, we don't adopt. We are one big family. 34:37 I think adoption is more of a western concept. 34:39 So in our community of state, if a relative dies, 34:43 you just take the children you can keep. 34:46 We became parents before we had our own children. 34:50 So you'll see on the left side in the back, 34:53 the boy who is carrying that little girl, that's Andrew. 34:57 He is now trained and become a production manager. 35:00 He's trained in media with a degree in media and management. 35:03 So he is doing most of our operations management. 35:06 He has a sister who is older than him. 35:10 And then our four biological children, 35:12 you see them on that screen. 35:14 The twins are flanking the picture. 35:15 That's Claire on the right in the striped dress, 35:19 and that's Ryan on the left. 35:20 This is a little bit of an older picture. 35:22 You can see Wayne, our first born, in that t-shirt written, 35:27 "Relay," on my left in the picture, 35:29 but our right, second right. 35:31 This picture, why I'm sharing it with you is that... 35:35 It was taken some years ago, 2014. 35:39 Just an old picture. 35:41 Most of these guys, if I show you now, they are much grown, 35:44 they're bigger, they're taller than me actually. 35:47 I'm sharing that with you because it's a picture we took 35:51 during the recording of a testimony 35:53 by Hope Channel Africa. 35:56 They profiled me as a father running a ministry 35:58 and what it means. 36:00 And they shared that with Hope Channel, I think it was Europe. 36:04 It circles a very special moment in our lives where our story 36:08 began to be watched in Europe. 36:10 And today we are on 3ABN. 36:12 And like I mentioned, it's a divine voice out of Africa. 36:16 So God is confirming today, and many other times before, 36:21 that the testimony of this ministry is that it is 36:25 going around the world and God has done what 36:28 He could do to get us there. 36:30 And no man can stop it because it's His vision. 36:34 Though it's our story, but it's His mission as well. 36:37 ~Yes, amen. Okay. 36:39 ~ And now we have a picture of, this is your... 36:44 ~ So we designed that cover picture with our ministry name. 36:50 You can see it on the right in the model, 36:52 which is really the driving force. 36:55 We decided to choose a picture of the planet with the sun 36:58 rising, but also with the many waters that you are 37:03 seeing below there, because we know from the Book of Revelation 37:07 the many waters are nations, and kindreds, and tongues, 37:11 and that this gospel is to go to all the corners of the world 37:16 before the end comes. 37:18 And so when I look at that picture, I'm always reminded 37:22 of our vision and our mission and what God called us to do. 37:25 There are so many things we could do, 37:28 but at the end of the day what matters is giving 37:32 the world Jesus, giving them an opportunity to choose Him, 37:37 and helping them to grow in their relationship with Christ. 37:40 And that we want to do it to all nations and kindreds and tongues 37:44 out of Africa using the technology that God has given. 37:48 And it's amazing. 37:49 So JD, one of our, what you're seeing right there, 37:52 that's my lovely wife, Vivian, and myself. 37:57 It was during one of our live broadcasts during the lockdowns. 38:01 So just turn our cameras on, go live and interact with people 38:06 from around the world. 38:08 And it's been a blessing to do this together as a family. 38:12 I don't believe God would have done much with me alone. 38:19 I actually believe Vivian is so gifted in the other areas of 38:25 ministry that have complimented this ministry perfectly. 38:28 You would remember, JD and Shelley, that Jesus says, 38:31 "Man shall not live by bread alone, 38:34 but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." 38:37 We believe our ministry is blessed because with the cooking 38:41 gift and talent that Vivian has, and the ministry we're doing 38:46 on the video side, we are actually capable 38:49 to feed the world spiritually and physically as well. 38:54 So it's a blessing to minister together 38:57 in those particular areas. 38:58 ~ Okay, we have a couple more pictures. 39:01 This is historic. 39:03 Many people may not see it, but let me give you the story 39:05 behind the picture. 39:08 In 2016 to 2019, God did a wonder, 39:15 in that the Conference in South Africa called 39:18 Trans-Orange Conference were looking for a 39:21 communications director, the second one to take that office. 39:25 They couldn't find someone until the president of 39:28 the Conference then, which was Dr. Paulus Shongwe, 39:33 recommended that the Conference considers me to be the 39:36 communications director. 39:37 Now I am not a pastor by training. 39:41 I am just an ordinary, the highest level of recognition 39:45 perhaps you could say, or the lest, is being an elder 39:48 in the church. 39:50 So the Conference appointed me to be a communications director. 39:53 So I became responsible for generating content, 39:56 doing all the PR for the Conference, for three years. 39:59 So that picture was taken in one of our events in Pretoria here 40:04 where the Conference was holding it's Sabbath, the big Sabbath. 40:09 And often when we do this production, behind-the-scenes, 40:13 I think you saw another picture that flashed there, 40:16 Vivian is doing the mixing when she's free. 40:19 If not, it will be our sons that will be doing the mixing, 40:23 and the live streaming, and the broadcast 40:25 on our YouTube channel, or wherever we are connected to. 40:30 Now just to go back to the question you asked 40:33 around collaborations with others. 40:37 During the lockdown, churches couldn't meet. 40:42 And many of them struggled to connect online 40:46 and have the systems to take them to the airwaves. 40:50 And so many of them called us. 40:52 We said we're able to support churches, to conduct training 40:56 for their communications people, and to support them on how 41:00 and what kind of gear to buy, and how to set up 41:03 and how to do live streaming. 41:05 And so word went around, and I think one of the bigger 41:08 congregations here, I'm sure you might know them, 41:11 Sandton Seventh-day Adventist Church, 41:14 they're one of the largest congregations here in our 41:17 territory, the pastor gave me a call during lockdown in 2021 41:22 and said, "Would you be able to help us to do this thing 41:25 that you're doing around?" 41:27 I said, "Absolutely." 41:29 Every Sabbath day we have been driving to Sandton SDA Church 41:34 and conducting their live streaming as MelVee Broadcasting 41:38 Network in collaboration with their young media team. 41:42 You can watch those online, those who are able to Google 41:45 YouTube Sandton SDA Church. 41:47 And we have also collaborated with a number of other churches 41:50 in East Africa; that's Kenya. 41:53 In fact, in the whole continent of Africa, 41:56 outside South Africa, in Kenya we have the second-largest 42:01 best of our viewership. 42:02 So we have many churches that have contacted us, 42:04 we have preached there, we have trained there, 42:07 and we have covered some of their speakers. 42:10 So collaboration is key for us. 42:12 I don't think God has given us everything. 42:15 In fact, I remember early in our days 42:18 we didn't have a fast internet at our home. 42:20 So I would edit my videos and then go to the Division office 42:25 with the communications and IT team, and they helped 42:30 us with the uploads. 42:31 So some of the videos that were produced as MelVee 42:34 were uploaded through the Division office. 42:37 Even the Conferences, when we travel around the region 42:40 in our area, they help us a lot because they watch MelVee, 42:44 they know who we are, and they open their doors. 42:47 And it's been a fantastic experience to work within 42:50 the church and support the work that the church is doing. 42:53 But also reaching out to the whole world. 42:56 ~ It is so exciting. 42:58 And I know you have a number of initiatives. 43:00 We've just got about eight minutes left here. 43:03 I want to get, you have a marriage initiative. 43:06 You have, tell us about that real quickly. 43:11 Yeah, so marriage obviously is because our ministry 43:15 is built around marriage. 43:16 And we have faced a ton of our crucibles 43:21 that have helped us to perhaps by God's grace 43:24 to keep standing and see the value of our marriage 43:28 and how God has called us to help. 43:31 But unfortunately, Shelley and JD, one of the greatest 43:36 epidemics we are seeing in South Africa and globally 43:39 is the attack on the family. 43:41 ~ Amen. 43:42 So naturally we felt we cannot do ministry unless we can 43:46 help people on how to establish, and how to maintain, 43:50 and how to grow their relationships. 43:53 Because the Vivian I'm married to now is not the same 43:57 Vivian, I married 23 years ago. 44:00 We are evolving, we are changing over time, 44:02 and our needs are changing over time. 44:04 So that's a ministry we adopted, 44:06 and we say we're going to have to do a full package. 44:08 It's still a growing institution. 44:11 But we are grateful to God that 44:12 God enabled us in 2019 to add that aspect of our ministry. 44:17 We have other programs we run as flagship programs. 44:20 And again, we've benchmarked some of these on 3ABN. 44:23 We have a weekly Sabbath school lesson. 44:27 It's a shorter version. 44:29 I think 3ABN does it for one hour. 44:31 We do a 30 minute Sabbath school discussion. 44:35 We've been doing it for the past 7 years. 44:38 And we do have also recently we launched in 2018 44:42 when we started full-time what we call MelVee Gospel Conventions. 44:49 But they were disrupted by Covid, so we resumed in 2022. 44:53 And ideally, it's to run high level, kind of like 44:57 your 3ABN camp meetings, 44:59 get high-quality speakers, but we do it on a Sabbath day, 45:03 and get high quality messages that we can then 45:06 repurpose and use to broadcast later on. 45:09 So conventions are another area we're trying 45:11 to grow our ministry. 45:14 We also have music. 45:16 We definitely want to build a lot of archives of musicians 45:20 out of Africa that can then speak and teach through music. 45:24 We are aspiring to do a children's program. 45:27 But that's a specialized one. 45:29 I'm not going to jump onto it until I know clearly 45:32 how the Lord wants us to do it. 45:35 But I've been surprised and blown away when 45:38 parents send to me clips of their young children 45:42 watching MelVee Broadcasting Network. 45:44 And the parents are saying, "They are loving your content. 45:47 I wish you could just do content for children." 45:49 But perhaps in the future we will do that. 45:52 We also have special broadcasts that we're doing. 45:56 So our children at MelVee, all my children, 46:01 they got together, organized themselves, 46:04 or maybe I did get them to organize themselves, 46:08 to start running episodes that are targeting young children. 46:12 Actually teenagers, to be specific. 46:14 So they create a broadcast content that then showcases 46:20 some of the topics and the issues they deal with. 46:23 So it's quite a broad bouquet of programs that we do. 46:27 And I think as God leads us, we create these programs 46:31 for the audiences that the Lord has identified for us. 46:35 It's a growing portfolio, but we're expanding. 46:38 ~ There is no limit to what can be done. 46:42 I want to say something. 46:43 Before we began this program, I asked Melusi, 46:48 "What is your objective today? 46:50 What do you want to accomplish?" 46:52 And he said, "I want to glorify God. 46:56 And if I can just inspire one other person 47:00 to follow the Lord's lead when He asks you." 47:05 But in all of this, we have talked about 47:10 many of the blessings. 47:13 Tell me about the role of prayer, and how this has 47:17 helped you grow spiritually. 47:19 We've only got like four minutes, but I also want to 47:22 know what are the challenges? 47:24 Because we don't want to just paint the picture that, 47:27 oh you raised your hand and said, "Here am I, Lord." 47:30 and then it's all hunky-dory. 47:32 Tell us some of that. 47:34 Prayer has been the life blood of this ministry. 47:38 I think, like Jesus said, we must pray without ceasing. 47:41 The situations God has brought us through 47:45 and the challenges we faced demanded that 47:48 we not only pray, but fast. 47:50 And we've ultimately integrated prayer into our ministry. 47:55 So every Saturday night at 8:00 pm central African time, 47:59 we are praying with the whole world 48:00 and ministering to others as well. 48:03 And it's been a blessing to know that our home has 48:06 become a broadcast center and place where the gospel of 48:09 the kingdom of Jesus Christ is preached 48:11 to the ends of the world, and that He's using us 48:14 to contribute to the spreading of the message of the cross. 48:19 And there's no better blessing than to know that 48:23 God has commissioned you. 48:25 It is so humbling, it is so ennobling. 48:30 You walk into a place where you don't think you know 48:33 anybody there, but they can identify you 48:35 and they can see you as that person who has helped them. 48:38 Getting phone calls of people whose lives have been 48:42 transformed by the videos we share, it's amazing. 48:45 But it's been challenging. 48:47 In Africa, I think internet is very slow. 48:50 Funding is a huge gap. 48:52 Our equipment gets older. 48:54 We need to replenish it, and it's very expensive. 48:58 The spiritual attacks have been terrible on our marriage, 49:01 our children. 49:02 We can see the devil fighting every ounce of this ministry. 49:06 Every turn of our broadcast has been met with challenges. 49:09 And we have taken it to mean God is actually leading us. 49:13 And therefore, we're just going to have to keep going. 49:16 The challenges won't stop us. 49:19 And we thank God that in all of them, 49:22 He has led us through and He has provided for us. 49:26 And we will do whatever we can. 49:28 One thing I've resolved is that I'll never meet with Paul 49:32 and not have a testimony to share. 49:34 I'm going to have to get him to sit down and listen 49:37 to how we left our homes without going, 49:40 we arrived without leaving. 49:42 We used this thing called, internet. 49:44 I didn't need to have a shipwreck at Malta. 49:47 God provided us a new way. 49:49 I'm going to have to teach Paul what it means to 49:51 do broadcasting. 49:52 So it's been challenging, but we're grateful 49:55 for how God has led us. Amen. 49:57 Well you know, I have to just tell you at home that 49:59 there are some wonderful pastors and speakers 50:02 coming out of Africa. 50:04 And the main way you can reach them is just to go to 50:08 YouTube, type in, MelVee Broadcasting Network, 50:16 and you can watch some great sermons. 50:19 But also, you can get in touch with them through their website. 50:23 We're going to put up their information right now 50:26 on the address roll. 50:29 If you'd like to get in touch or email Melusi, 50:34 I'm sure that he's a praying man. 50:36 And if you feel like God is tugging on your heart, 50:40 and you're saying, "Yes, Lord, I want to do something. 50:44 What can I do?" there's so many opportunities today. 50:48 You don't have to be an expert at anything to get started. 50:54 So we're going to come back in just a moment 50:57 for a final thought from Melusi, but here is the information 51:01 on how you can get in touch with him. 51:06 If you would like to contact or know more about 51:08 MelVee Broadcasting Network... |
Revised 2024-08-29