Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Cheri Peters
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000064S
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a woman who was abused, homeless at 13
00:04 and illiterate until she was 23-years-old... 00:07 Find out how God has transformed her life... 00:10 My name is Yvonne Lewis, and you're watching Urban Report 00:35 Hello and welcome to Urban Report 00:37 my guest today is Cheri Peters founder of True Step Ministries 00:42 author, speaker and host of Celebrating Life in Recovery 00:46 on 3abn and Dare to Dream... Welcome my precious friend... 00:51 You know what... we have not got to hang out 00:53 together... this is like the first time... 00:55 I know, I know, I'm so excited 00:56 that you're here because I was looking forward to just 00:59 spending some time with you, I know our viewers already 01:02 watch you on Celebrating Life in Recovery 01:04 but some might not know you, so, I want to kind of 01:07 let them know who you are, what you're doing, 01:09 I got to tell you this, so, like about a year or two 01:13 before I actually met you... I was watching you 01:16 on Celebrating Life in Recovery and I'm saying, 01:18 "Man, this woman is so transparent, 01:21 is so on fire for God, she just exudes God's love, 01:25 and I said, "I have to meet you" and then when the Lord 01:29 brought me here... it's like... 01:31 you had to be on Dare to Dream... 01:33 because what you're doing is so appropriate for our 01:38 Dare to Dream audience... 01:39 Well, when you say that, what's really interesting is 01:42 you talked about coming from... I mean, my parents were 01:45 just lost in their own stuff... they had parents that were 01:48 lost in addictions... they got lost in that kind of stuff, 01:51 my dad was sexually twisted and was molesting us... 01:54 they were both kids, you know, and I was on the streets 01:57 by the time I was young, but I remember, you know, 02:00 even in their addiction, if you liked something, 02:03 if I had a toy and I liked it, it was like... 02:06 they'd get agitated and I would lose that toy, 02:09 so, I stopped daring to dream about anything 02:12 Hmmmm... ... and so, in my recovery 02:15 at 23... I meet God and God shows me... 02:18 not only who am I... after my.. coming out of my drug 02:21 addiction because by this time, I am illiterate 02:24 but I'm strung out on heroin, I've been 10 years on the street 02:27 I've seen stuff that would just make you want to throw up, 02:30 and He shows me who I am the day after resurrection... 02:33 Whoa... ... not who am I after the day 02:36 that I stopped using heroin... the day after resurrection... 02:39 who are you? Unpack that for us... 02:41 Well, you know, just like... what I saw was this 02:45 incredibly healthy, innocent, "whole" person, 02:49 that is myself... but is not close to anything I ever knew, 02:53 you know... when you... I love this network... 02:55 Dare to Dream... because you talk to people 02:57 that are really lost sometimes, in some hard places... 03:00 they're raising kids and they're financially 03:02 are going from paycheck to paycheck... 03:04 or they're struggling with all that kind of stuff 03:06 or single parents... all of that kind of stuff 03:08 but you know... it's just like... 03:10 who are we after all this is over... 03:12 you know, who are we after all that, you know, 03:14 and I'm thinking... I just wept and I thought, 03:17 "If you can get me there... if you can literally get me there, 03:21 I will do whatever... " so I'm standing up 03:24 not to just stop using heroin, I'm standing up to find out 03:29 how do I get to the day after resurrection... 03:31 How do I get there? and God says, 03:33 "You allow me to love you... you allow me to transform you, 03:36 you allow me to show you what your talents are... 03:38 and I don't care who you are, but you have talents 03:41 that you never even explored... the enemy has lied to you 03:44 sometimes from the womb, all of your life... 03:47 you've got this lie... and this society that may be 03:50 even lying to you because of your circumstances and God says, 03:53 "Can you step away from the lies just briefly... and let me 03:56 show you how cool you are, how incredible you are... " 03:59 How amazing is God! because... you came from a 04:05 situation of rejection and so you needed to feel this 04:09 enveloping love and God showed you who you are at your essence 04:14 because you were rejected by your parents... 04:17 but so loved and accepted by Him and He's showing you who you are 04:22 and not only who you are... but the plan that He had for you 04:26 Absolutely... Your divine destiny... 04:28 which is what we talk about on this network all the time 04:31 where He wanted you to be and the things that you've 04:34 accomplished... by the grace of God... 04:36 Cheri, did you ever think that God would use you 04:39 to host a program, to write books, 04:41 to do all of these things... 04:43 that God has done for you... He's shown you... 04:46 who you are... at your essence. And Yvonne... and some of your 04:50 viewers are going to actually get this... 04:52 but even in the writing of the book... 04:54 someone hears my story and my recovery and they said, 04:56 "We want to write that as a book" 04:58 and they assigned a writer to me I mean, I was illiterate at 23, 05:02 I had to learn to read... went back to school... 05:04 did all that kind of stuff... but, you know, I'm not a writer, 05:06 and so, they assigned this writer who is so normal 05:09 she's been 4th-generation Adventist... 05:11 she's vegan... vegetarian... and I'm thinking... 05:14 my sister has a porn site and is a stripper 05:16 and my other sister is a meth addict... 05:18 my dad dies in a crack house, I was strung out on heroin 05:21 how are you going to write this story? 05:23 and I asked her, I said, "Have you ever... " 05:25 you know... like... 05:26 "Have you ever done anything" and I mean, 05:29 that's a ridiculous question 05:30 but, "Have you ever done anything?" and so I called my 05:32 sister in LA and I say, "You know what... I'm going to 05:35 send this woman over to you... can you kind of take her 05:37 to work and just walk around with her... 05:39 and she's doing a drug deal, she's stripping at a club, 05:42 and I'm sending this writer that's been assigned to me 05:45 by a publishing house... to a strip club... 05:49 and I'm saying, "Just hang out... " 05:50 and my sister meets her at the airport and says, 05:53 "What do I do with her again.. " "Just hang out with her... " 05:57 and even when she came back, I realized, you can't write this 06:01 so I had to let her go... and then she wasn't real happy 06:03 with me... "I just have to let you go... " 06:05 and I'm crying to God... I'm saying, 06:07 "God, I just fired the writer... and I'm not a writer 06:11 and I know that... " Wasn't she horrified though 06:14 when she was hanging out with your sister? 06:15 No, she just didn't get it... she couldn't relate at all 06:18 and she was so out of the thing... and I said, 06:20 "How do you write this story and not write it as if you're 06:23 horrified... or not write it in such self-pity... 06:26 don't pity me... just help me to stand... " 06:28 you know what I mean... Yes... yes... 06:29 and a lot of people just yell like that... 06:31 "Don't you look at me like that, I just need to stand... " 06:33 Yeah... "I just need to learn... 06:34 and I don't want you to teach you... have you teach me 06:37 as if I'm ignorant... teach me 06:38 with respect... " Yeah... 06:39 "You know, I really want to look at that stuff. " 06:41 So, I let her go and I'm crying 06:43 to God and I'm praying, and I said, 06:45 "God, I just fired the writer" and I hear the Holy Spirit say, 06:47 "You know what... I can help you write that... " 06:49 and I'm even crying more, I'm not a writer... 06:51 I couldn't even... I mean... I was illiterate at 23... 06:54 I mean... this is ridiculous for me to think that 06:56 and I hear God saying, "You know what Cheri, 06:58 I've written a book before and it's doing okay... " 07:00 And I thought... shut up... how cool is that? 07:03 I love that... I love that... 07:06 This is nothing new for God right... "I think I got this. " 07:10 And being able to say... even in our ignorance 07:13 and to anybody that's listening please get this, 07:16 when you feel like you have nothing to offer 07:19 God says... "Please don't even give that to me... I am God... 07:22 I spoke the world into existence and I can speak whatever 07:26 into your life... I know you baby girl... " 07:29 you know what I mean... Yes... yes... yes... yes 07:31 ...and so for me... it was... coming from the lifestyle 07:35 I came from... and even looking back now... 07:37 I look back at my mom and my dad I still have more compassion 07:41 on them than I did in the first part of my recovery... 07:43 because they didn't have what they needed 07:45 in order to be loved, I mean, so, now I'm looking at 07:49 God and saying, "I so... 07:51 I want to kiss you on the face, 07:53 I want to thank you for every time you woke me up 07:56 and showed me something else, gave me the courage 07:59 to dare to dream... gave me the courage to stand up, 08:02 gave me the courage to allow people to speak into my life 08:05 so that I'm not saddled with the lies that were 08:08 generationally old... " And, you know, we need to... 08:11 we need to focus on that just for a minute because 08:13 so many of our viewers feel that they are so encumbered 08:17 by their circumstances, you know, my family didn't love me, 08:21 my family rejected me... my family abused me... whatever, 08:25 and you're saying that God gave you the 08:27 spirit of forgiveness... a way to look at them with compassion, 08:31 that you didn't have before... because you were in it... 08:34 you were in the throes of it, and God can do that... 08:37 He can give us that forgiveness, He can give us that compassion, 08:40 so that we can forgive those who really hurt us... 08:43 Not only... you can forgive... but you literally can step back 08:49 in... and ask them to forgive you... 08:52 my mom... every time... 08:53 as a 3-year-old girl, 08:55 even younger... every time I needed her to 08:58 love me or touch me... or hold me... 09:00 she's got so guilt-ridden... so angry with you 09:04 so much... that because of her shame 09:06 of not knowing how to do that, 09:08 not knowing how to be there... 09:09 that she withdrew more and more and more... 09:11 when God showed me that... I felt like... what a cycle... 09:16 so the devil strategically came against her... 09:18 even when I just wanted to be kissed... 09:20 so, I called her one day and I said, "Forgive me for that 09:22 because I didn't know... " and she's like, 09:25 "What... to forgive you... " you know, 09:27 and it was just a cool place to be... is that... you know, 09:30 I no longer am demanding someone to make it right... 09:34 God is making it right... I'm releasing the people 09:37 around me and all the strategies that the devil had 09:40 to ruin my life... just fall away... 09:42 Yes, because when you forgive and when you release that 09:47 it's so healing to you... it's not just what happens 09:52 for them... it also helps to heal you 09:55 and God is releasing you from the pain... 09:57 and from all of that you went through... 09:59 He's releasing you from it... It's an amazing thing... 10:03 So not only healing psychologically 10:05 Why... ... because I'm so damaged, 10:07 I'm so twisted... I'm flaky... I've got attachment disorder, 10:09 bonding disorder... those that really heavy issues... 10:12 and yet all of a sudden... I'm forgiving, 10:15 and I feel like... somehow... I'm an inch taller... 10:18 my bones feel healthier, I laugh deeper, 10:22 do you know what I mean, and all those kinds of things 10:25 You feel joy... It's huge... 10:26 "The joy of the Lord is our strength... " 10:29 and when we hold on to bitterness... 10:31 even if it's... you know... I have the right... 10:34 my dad molested me from the time I was 3-months-old, 10:36 I have the right to be angry with someone... 10:38 but God said, "You know what... 10:40 I paid the debt for you... and all those things 10:42 you ever did... pay His debt... and release him... 10:45 and then surrender his debt to me... " 10:46 Hmmmmm... ... and all of the strongholds, 10:48 all of the strategies, all of the stuff... 10:50 that you're worthless, you're no good... 10:52 the world is not going to be trusted, I'm angry, 10:54 I'm homicidal, suicidal, I'm all of those kinds of things 10:58 will drop away... because the enemy will have 11:00 no more power in your life... and I thought... really... 11:03 you know... and I couldn't do that... 11:05 how do I do that... how do I look at 11:08 my dad... who was so sexually twisted... 11:09 how do I look at it and forgive him... 11:11 and at one point... 11:13 I had this little baby shoes... 11:15 you know those little white ones with the little... 11:17 Yeah... yeah... yeah ... that they bronze later on... 11:20 Yeah... ... so the little baby shoe... 11:22 and I heard the Holy Spirit say, 11:24 "I want you to look at this shoe... " 11:25 and I don't know how I got it... it was my dad's... 11:28 I don't know how I got it, so I look at this shoe 11:30 and then He said, "at one point... 11:31 your dad was a baby... he wasn't molesting anybody... 11:34 and so... say right now... out loud... 11:36 "I forgive my dad as a baby... 11:39 before whatever happened to him, in his life... 11:42 before all of that... to where he couldn't even be 11:46 appropriate with his own children... " 11:47 and so I forgive him in that state... 11:49 I couldn't forgive him as an adult male 11:51 because my injury was so intense so I forgave him as a baby 11:54 later on... God brought it all the way up to the sadness 11:58 of when we're so twisted... 11:59 that we never have the joy of families... 12:01 we never have the joy of raising our own kids 12:03 we're off doing all of this crazy stuff 12:05 like on-line porn... we're doing all this kind of stuff 12:07 now... I can forgive him later on... 12:09 but I couldn't start there, my mom... I saw a picture 12:12 of her as a 3-year-old girl, on a swing... 12:15 forgive her as that little girl, look how cute she was... 12:18 and she could never even hold you... what happened? 12:21 and so... being able to release them 12:23 at the time that I could release them... 12:25 and then up to an adult woman, and I can say to my mom, 12:28 "I forgive you... " and somebody says, 12:30 "Does she love you right now?" No, she doesn't... 12:33 and I never had her look at me with love... 12:36 in fact... the last time I saw her... she was so... 12:38 she doesn't like Christians either... and I became one... 12:41 I think she'd rather me be a stripper or a heroin addict, 12:43 you know... but now that I'm a Christian... 12:45 that's even worse for her... and so, you know, 12:48 I don't have that but man... I love her... 12:51 and I have forgiven her... 12:52 and I pray someday... that on the streets of gold 12:55 she will turn around and hug me, Yes... 12:57 ...you know... it may not be until then... 12:59 but I can wait... because I've see myself today 13:02 after resurrection... Yes, and look at how 13:04 God took you from the place where you could accept her... 13:09 as a baby... you know... babies are harmless... 13:12 babies are... you know... it's an innocuous situation... 13:15 so God brought you there... and took you a little bit further 13:18 at your pace... God takes us... where we are... 13:25 and grows us... as He can... because He knows... 13:31 what you need... where you are... 13:33 and He knows what you need 13:34 to get you from Point A to Point B 13:36 Amen... ... and He's so faithful... 13:38 He's so faithful... in each of us 13:40 and I would love to... you know, sometimes I'd love to 13:44 like jump out and get on the other side of the cameras 13:47 and grab whoever is viewing and say, "Every single one of us 13:51 God delights in our recovery, delights in our healing, 13:54 and wants to restore us to sanity 13:57 wants to stand us up... and help us to step away 14:00 from all the lies... wants that... 14:01 more than anything else... and will patiently wait 14:05 until we can receive and accept that... 14:07 and He doesn't care... I think He cares that it's 14:10 our last breath... He said, 14:11 "Even if it's your last breath, I'll wait for you... " 14:14 That's right... that's right, so, God took you 14:18 from this place of brokenness... brought you into 14:21 a place of healing... and now... you're in... ministry 14:24 that is all around the world... tell us about what you're doing 14:28 in Ministry... Well, I got to say... you know, 14:30 I've been... I've worked with heroin addicts in Russia... 14:33 I've worked with prostitutes 14:34 in the Red Light Districts in Thailand... 14:36 I've worked with kids being mutilated in Kenya 14:41 and sold into marriage young... 14:42 you know, it's like... He's taking us all over 14:44 because the human condition... Yes... 14:46 is that... the devil is tenaciously after us 14:49 and we are being destroyed on every level... 14:51 so you know, God is just saying, you know... I want to... 14:54 you know... work in... like you got this 14:57 the Urban Ministries... it's like... I don't know why 15:00 people... I was on the streets of South Gate, California 15:03 Lynwood... you know... in areas... Oakland... 15:06 in areas that were really intense areas... 15:09 and I don't think people realize that the cultural damage 15:13 that happens in those... so He sends us all over... 15:16 we do prison, rehab ministries, recovery ministries in other 15:20 countries... all of that kind of stuff... 15:21 and then I look at my own Church... 15:23 and I pray that nobody gets offended with this... 15:27 but one of the things that we lack in the Church building 15:30 because we have 20 million members in the denomination 15:33 as Seventh-day Adventist denomination... 15:35 20 million members... and somebody can stumble 15:38 into an Adventist Church... and not be able to say out loud, 15:41 that I've been through a divorce so, now, I'm a drug addict 15:44 stumbling in... and I know that you can't say 15:46 you're divorced... and so I'm so not saying that I'm an addict... 15:49 you know... and then I go to potluck and say, 15:51 "I don't like brown rice... " and I feel guilty on that... 15:53 you know... so it's like... being able to say... 15:57 "Is there something we could do to bridge that... " 16:00 is there something we can do when people are coming in 16:03 to actually allow them to come in 16:06 and not be ashamed... of what they've been rescued from 16:08 not be ashamed of their journey... 16:10 being able to sit down and say out loud... 16:12 "Thank you so much because I need a safe place... " 16:15 and so we ended up writing the program... 16:17 and the first thing... I got to show you this... 16:19 that the first thing that we ended up doing 16:20 is... Steps to Christ was one of the books that changed my life, 16:24 but it was really tough for me to open it up... 16:27 and the language was a barrier, because it was written in a... 16:31 in a style that I wasn't used to and I'm more... 16:36 not more "street ignorant" but I'm just... more kind of 16:41 recovery or street or whatever... and so I... 16:44 Yeah, you wanted more of the common language versus something 16:48 that's kind of archaic... something that's kind of 16:50 "old time"... you wanted the more contemporary kind of speech 16:54 Absolutely... so you know what I did? 16:56 What? I grabbed 3 addicts that I loved 16:58 from different kind of addictions and then I grabbed 17:01 four writers that I loved... and all of us sat down 17:04 and went through every page of Steps to Christ... 17:08 and did a recovery edition to that... 17:10 so we brought it up to "recovery language" 17:12 weaved the 12-step stuff in, when... instead of saying, 17:15 "God is love" we said, "God is crazy about you... 17:17 delights in your recovery, 17:18 can restore you to sanity... loves you more than a mother 17:23 loves her rebellious child... " you know, because you know what 17:26 a mother... you know... your child is acting out being crazy 17:29 are you going to forget that child? 17:31 No... no... No... you're going to call them 17:34 you're going to say, "Come home, let me make dinner" 17:37 all of that kind of stuff... and so, God is like that with us 17:40 Yeah... "Come home" you know, please... 17:42 I love that... God is crazy about you 17:44 if more people really internalized how much 17:48 God really loves us... I mean... 17:51 so much healing would take place but they... 17:54 so many people feel like... God... 17:56 "Well, I've done too many bad things" 17:57 I've had people tell me, "Well, I've done 17:59 too many bad things, God can't forgive me. " 18:00 No, in the Bible God forgave 18:03 murderers and all kinds of people that were doing 18:05 the worst things possible... God loves us and this book... 18:10 it's just so fabulous because you're talking about how crazy 18:14 God is... about us... What to do with doubt... 18:17 What does repentance mean... all of that kind of stuff... 18:19 and you know what's really interesting to me 18:22 about all of that kind of stuff as far as God's love towards us 18:27 and His feelings towards us is that He says 18:30 that I can't let go of you... I can't turn away from you... 18:34 I can't do any of that kind of stuff... that I am love... 18:36 and so, one day, I'm sitting there thinking of all of the 18:38 stuff I'm doing... I'm still stumbling around, 18:40 I'm still manipulating, you know, I wanted a computer 18:43 from my husband and so I seduced into the computer 18:46 and got the money... and God said, 18:47 "Is that a good thing to do for him... you're treating him 18:50 like a trick... " you know what I mean... 18:51 I want to say that in a nice way... 18:54 but God is just nailing me about that... 18:56 so, I feel shame... and so, now, I'm sitting there 18:59 like repenting... and I said, "God" 19:01 I felt like He had a checklist and He's like checking 19:04 everything that I do wrong, and He said, 19:06 "Now, let me tell you how it really is... " 19:08 and I really feel like He gave me this image 19:10 is that... "I don't check anything... 19:13 until you actually just feel loved and safe enough 19:17 to not play the people around you... " 19:18 and then... all of heaven wakes up... 19:20 we definitely checked that... but we don't have to check 19:22 too much because you don't get it very often... 19:24 do you know what I mean... and so it's like 19:26 He doesn't check our bad behavior... 19:28 He checks the behavior that actually is 19:30 loving and is connected with Him and they get it... 19:34 and He said, "That's the only thing 19:35 I'm looking for you guys... to get it... so that your 19:38 behaviors change naturally... because you feel safe. " 19:40 Yeah... .. and we end up writing that... 19:41 we did the book Steps to Christ, and so we did the book 19:44 Steps to Christ and so I'm praying and I'm so excited 19:47 about that... we actually put it into a 14-week program 19:50 for the Church... and so... let me just show you.. 19:52 Tell us about that... the program... 19:54 The Program is a 14-week program with participating guides 19:57 and all of that kind of stuff... and it's 14 weeks 19:59 with Steps to Christ... 28 video clips 20:02 so that you're seeing real testimonies 20:04 all that kind of stuff... 20:05 and all in Recovery Language all with a really... 20:09 the only goal is to help you to connect with each other... 20:12 connect with God and in friendship... 20:14 and not sink away in shame... 20:16 you know... just come out... 20:18 Yes... this is so important because so many of our churches 20:21 in fact, I want to say... most of our churches 20:23 have no clue about 20:25 how to deal with... 20:26 someone comes in off the street... 20:28 and they're an addict... and they're... 20:30 I see this in the churches in the inner cities... 20:32 What do I do? What if they're just divorced, 20:34 what if they're a workaholic what if they're just somebody 20:36 that's angry... we don't know how to deal 20:38 with any of that... so... and I mean that... 20:40 I'm not meaning that in a bad way... 20:42 So, what we did was... we tried to put a program together 20:44 ...some tools... what we tried to do then... 20:47 is... let's make it really simple... 20:49 all of the books that you see right here... 20:51 are on this card... and you stick it into your computer 20:53 and have it on the computer... so, we tried to make it 20:56 very simple... and then... one day... 20:58 I'm literally praying, right... and I have a program 21:02 that I said... is let's do a children's program 21:05 so that if the families have kids 21:07 they can bring the kids and it goes into the 21:09 children's program... but God says, 21:10 "But what are you going to do for them?" 21:12 and I'm thinking... you know... I'm thinking 21:14 I'm hearing the Holy Spirit say that 21:15 but I'm thinking... "I don't know what you mean" 21:17 And He says, "Well, why don't you do a 21:19 Steps to Christ version for a 5-year-old... " 21:22 and I'm thinking... "What does that mean... 21:24 for a 5-year-old... " "Well, how about a 5-year-old 21:27 that's been dealing with bullying... 21:28 what about a 5-year-old that has a broken home... 21:30 what about a 5-year-old being raised by a single parent, 21:33 or dealt with molest... is how can you honestly 21:35 talk to them about that kind of stuff... blaming each other... 21:39 fighting... all of that kind of stuff... 21:41 so, I got this whole vision and you know how He does this 21:45 Yvonne, you just get this whole vision... 21:47 Yes... ... this whole vision... 21:48 and it's a book called Skips to Jesus... 21:50 so instead of Steps to Christ... Skips to Jesus... 21:54 and the entire book is about God... teaching kids... 21:58 the basic concepts of Steps to Christ... 22:00 so the 14-week program now... is for adults... 22:02 14-week program for kids... and now I have to find Jesus 22:06 right... and so I'm looking for Jesus in Wal-Mart... 22:08 as I'm driving down the street and I'm looking for somebody 22:11 that looks Middle-Eastern... they can play the part... 22:14 and I'm getting my computer fixed at the Mac store... 22:17 and I look up... and this guy it's just as beautiful... 22:20 I thought Middle-Eastern guy, beard... dark hair... 22:23 and just looks like the Holy Spirit is shining 22:26 off of him... and I said to him, 22:27 "Hey, I'm looking for Jesus" and he said, "What?" 22:32 and I told him about the whole project 22:34 and so, he's Christian... so I said... 22:36 "Would you play the part for us?" 22:38 and he said... "Can I pray about that?" 22:40 and I said, "Jesus would so say that" 22:42 so... "Yes" so we end up... 22:45 I bring a seamstress... just in case he says, "Yes" 22:48 we're walking in front of the Mac store 22:49 we're checking out his size, so in case we make his clothes 22:53 we end up hiring him... bringing him in 22:55 bringing him in with a photographer... 22:57 we're doing all the shots with the kids... 22:59 for the book Skips to Jesus, and he tells me... 23:02 he looks at me and he said, "You know, the only reason 23:04 I said 'Yes' is for one... you're a Christian... 23:07 one... you're a Seventh-day Adventist Christian... " 23:09 and I thought... "Well, how did you know that?" 23:11 he said, "Well, I went to your website" 23:12 and I said, "What made you say 'yes' about that...?" 23:14 and he said, "I was a starving kid in India, 23:17 and I was picked up by the Adventist School System 23:20 and they saved my life. " Praise the Lord... 23:23 and I thought, "shut up"... so God just brings us 23:25 full circle... I think it's about us 23:28 and our projects... and it's about this 23:30 incredible guy in his journey... so, you know, 23:32 even as we're putting this together... 23:34 for our church of 20 million people... 23:36 equipping them to start honestly talking about 23:39 "stuff" you know... so that we can go out 23:43 and minister to 7 billion people on the planet... 23:46 more effectively... you know, 23:49 God is healing people even in the making of it... 23:53 in the putting together of that... 23:54 so now you got this homeless, illiterate, flaky, 23:58 ADD kid... that God just gives it the privilege 24:02 of putting together something so cool... 24:05 and I am thinking... "How can we not kiss you 24:08 on the face... " how can we not trust the fact 24:10 Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I have a future and a plan 24:13 for you... not to bring evil into your life... but good. " 24:17 Absolutely... and look at what He's done... 24:19 again... it's a system... God doesn't do things 24:22 haphazardly... you have a system... 24:24 from childhood... Skips to Jesus all the way through adulthood... 24:30 and it's just not about drugs 24:31 it's about recovery from any kind of addiction... correct... 24:34 Yeah, blame... fear... divorce.. dysfunctional home stuff, molest 24:40 and then... when they learn... for this 14-week program 24:43 what's really fun about it... is when the child leaves their 24:48 night in the program, and the adult leaves 24:50 they study the same thing... Oh... 24:54 ...and so the child can say, "Mom, man! did you study tonight 24:57 about prayer?" "I did... " 24:59 know what they told me in my class... 25:02 so now you start to do that dialog with parent to child 25:06 and sometimes... people don't know how to do that 25:09 they step into recovery... "and I really don't know 25:10 how to talk to my kids about normal stuff 25:12 or spiritual things... " and we've done it in a way 25:16 that it's just really natural... 25:17 and we've done it... I hope... for everyone... 25:21 you know what I mean... is that... 25:23 to me... I was a kid... living in... in a drug house... 25:29 in a dysfunctional home... all that kind of stuff 25:32 and there are kids that are not from that... 25:34 they're in a more normal home, or they're in a more 25:36 affluent home... but it doesn't matter 25:38 in this kind of a program because we all have been hit 25:40 with stuff... we're at the end of the great controversy 25:43 none of us escape... one of my best friends... 25:46 lost her son to SIDS... so her thing is not drugs 25:50 it's grief... but grief is as destructive as drugs... 25:54 and so the Program works for that... 25:55 let's talk out loud about what our issues are... 25:58 and start to love each other. That's tremendous... you know, 26:01 you can... the children and their parents 26:04 can build memories with this... 26:06 this is a memory builder... this is a bridge builder 26:09 between the children and the parents... 26:12 you know... where they can talk about the same lessons... 26:14 this is so healthy... it's building families... 26:18 helping to repair families... this is tremendous... 26:21 God is using you in a tremendous way... 26:23 ...and once we start repairing families in that way... 26:27 we get our lives back... Yes... yes we do... we do... 26:30 What would you say, what do you want to say 26:33 to the viewer who is struggling with something 26:35 in like 30 seconds... what would you say to the viewer 26:39 who is struggling with an issue like this? 26:40 I would say, "Say out loud 'help... God... help'" 26:44 and then connect with somebody that actually has walked 26:47 a little further along than you, because you can't do this 26:50 by yourself... we're not meant to do it 26:52 by ourselves... and find somebody that you can trust... 26:55 that will give you good spiritual advice... 26:57 and stand up... because God has a plan for your life... 27:00 Absolutely... Cheri... thank you so much... 27:03 what is... before we close... what would you say 27:06 is the plan for getting this out to the churches... 27:10 how can people find out more about this recovery program 27:13 I would say, "Go to our website truestep. org 27:16 go to the website... this program... 27:18 you can use for yourself as couples in your home, 27:20 in your small groups, or the churches 27:22 and get a hold of it and see what you think 27:25 and man... be blessed... " 27:27 Thank you so much, I love you so much... 27:29 and I'm so glad you are here... You know it's the same... 27:31 Yeah, we're like this... 27:32 I know that God has 27:35 such a great plan... for this program 27:37 because it's so needed... our people need this... so badly 27:41 and this is going to address some basic fundamental issues 27:45 that we have within our churches... 27:47 So, thank you Cheri... again... because I don't know... 27:50 Amen... ... we need what you do... 27:52 we need what you offer... 27:53 so, thank you so much... and thank you... for tuning in.. 27:56 Tune in next time... it just wouldn't be the same... 27:59 without you... |
Revised 2025-01-23