Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Michael Charles
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000090S
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00:00 Stay tuned to meet a former NFL player
00:03 who's on fire for God. My name is Yvonne Lewis 00:06 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:29 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:31 My guest today is Michael Charles, former NFL player 00:35 and lifestyle consultant. Welcome to Urban Report Michael. 00:39 Thank you... thank you for having me. 00:40 It is so great to have you here. Praise God! 00:43 We've been trying to get you here for a long time. 00:46 The Lord had me do a few travels but He finally landed me here 00:50 and I praise Him every day for just giving me this 00:53 opportunity. Thank you again for having me. Amen. 00:55 Well thank you so much for being willing to come 00:57 'cause our viewers need to know your story. 01:00 Oh, you don't have enough time. 01:02 I know, we have to get everything... crowd everything 01:05 into a 30-minute spot. But tell us about your journey. 01:10 Tell us what... where did you grow up? 01:12 Well, I'm from a big town, big city: Newark, New Jersey. 01:16 Oh, Newark! You know New Jersey is literally 01:18 a hop, skip, and jump from Manhattan. 01:20 You know, you could hop on the bus, 01:22 take it downtown Newark, skip through the train station 01:26 there, hop the turnstile and you're in Manhattan. 01:30 Hope a turnstile... wait a minute. 01:34 People from that city know about hopping the turnstile. 01:38 And so right across from Manhattan. I tell people 01:41 I used to... grew up playing hooky sometimes 01:43 in Times Square. They're like "Oh really? 01:46 You've been in Times Square. " I'm like: "Ahh, 01:47 it's not all that great. " It was just a nice growing up. 01:52 I was born in Newark like I said and grew up in 01:55 the Stella Home Project Area, so that's the west side of the 01:59 city, west side of Newark. 02:01 Newark is plagued with a lot of crime and blight... 02:05 economic blight. It was strifeful back at that time. 02:09 The only way of getting out, the only kind of light at the 02:13 end of the tunnel was through Satan's way which was drug sales 02:16 and some type of crime industry 02:19 or through God's... I don't even know if it's God's 02:21 way... Still it was Satan's other way which was sports. 02:23 Ummm. You know, organized sports. 02:26 And I see now how parents treat these kids, 02:29 you know, trying to prod them to be these great football 02:33 players or great basketball players, and it's just not right 02:35 I don't think. Tell us a little bit about that. 02:37 How do they prod their kids in New Jersey? 02:39 I've seen them pushing kids. I remember one time going 02:41 to a T-ball baseball game. 02:43 And T-ball is just for kids to just learn the game, 02:46 understand the game. Right. 02:47 And you put the ball on the T and then the kids stand up there 02:50 with their bat and swing and then they run the bases. 02:52 I've seen, you know, kids miss the ball. 02:55 You know, they do miss the ball. 02:56 Swing and it's right there and they still miss it. Right. 02:58 And I see parents just go... become unglued. 03:02 "Hey! It's just a kid... it's just a game. 03:06 They're not going to ever make it to the major leagues 03:09 and you're sitting here screaming at this kid like, 03:11 you know, he's a loser. And he's not! " 03:13 And same with football. I've seen, you know, parents 03:17 because their kid was so big. It's not like: "Well let me stop 03:21 feeding you cake and ice cream in the middle of the night" 03:23 and something like that. No, it's "Let me throw you out 03:25 here with these football coaches" who are trying to live 03:28 their former lives and live vicariously through these kids. 03:32 And next thing you know they've got them doing what I perceive 03:35 to be Army grass drills out there, and these are just kids. 03:39 And they wonder how these kids get beaten after the games. 03:42 So when they become of age... of a mature age... 03:44 they don't even like the sports any more. 03:47 Wow! So what you're seeing with these kind of back stage 03:50 parents who like if the kid is going into the entertainment 03:56 industry you have one kind of parent that's pushing. 03:59 Or for kids going into sports, that same type of parent 04:03 just kind of pushing them into something that it's not 04:06 best for them to be in. And I've never ever 04:09 in all my life seen parents push their kids 04:12 towards religion. Never seen no parent push a kid 04:15 to be a pastor... push a kid to be a Bible worker. 04:18 Push a kid to, you know, be some type of missionary... 04:22 never seen that. But you know, for sports 04:25 and entertainment, you know, they're right behind 04:28 and they're thinking about all the money that you're going to 04:29 "make for us. " All the money you're going to make for us. 04:32 Yes. A kid grows with all this pain and stress in his life. 04:36 I was a little different. My mom didn't really do that 04:38 with me. She just encouraged me in any direction I wanted. 04:41 She just wanted me to be a good citizen and a good man. 04:45 Were you in a single-parent household? 04:46 Two parents were there. My father was West Indian, 04:48 so I'm half Trinidad. And my mother's from North Carolina. 04:53 OK. And I have a younger brother and two younger sisters. 04:56 And we all are doing well right now. 04:59 Our parents are dead now. My mom had died from 05:02 diabetes in 1991 and then my dad died from prostate cancer 05:06 in 1993. Oh wow! Yeah. So it took a toll on me 05:11 and now that my last uncle just passed a few weeks ago 05:15 that left me as the oldest male matriarch in my family. 05:19 Yeah... patriarch. Patriarch, yes. So now 05:22 everybody's looking at me for all their answers 05:24 and to clear up something, as if I don't have enough on my plate 05:27 now - absolutely - I have to be the patriarch of my family. 05:30 Absolutely. So you grew up in Newark. Um-hmm. 05:33 Did you get drawn into the drugs? 05:36 Did you get drawn into selling and using and all of that? 05:40 Not into selling. Using a little bit. 05:42 You know, I had guys who were my age - friends of mine - 05:45 who were just low key got into smoking and drinking 05:49 of... back then it was the Malt Duck. OK. 05:53 I drank a little Malt Duck, and our neighbor 05:56 sold little bags of weed. And as we walked his dog for him 06:00 or do something for him he would repay us like that. 06:02 And it was nothing major... on a major scale. 06:06 We never thought that we were going to be like a Scarface 06:09 or anything and get into this big heavy kind of use and abuse. 06:12 And then shortly after that... we're talking 6th, 7th grade... 06:16 Wow! We're talking 6th or 7th grade. But then 06:18 shortly after that I went off to high school. 06:20 It followed me a little bit to high school 06:22 but then once I got into college I kind of left it behind 06:25 and drifted off from that and just really tried to focus 06:28 on sports. I didn't really start playing organized football 06:31 until I was about a junior in high school. 06:36 So my third year in high school I started playing organized 06:38 football. And then each year it got better. 06:41 I got getter in leaps and bounds. Like the next year 06:44 I was All-State Performer and All American in high school. 06:47 Wow! And I had all these colleges wooing me to come 06:50 to their university. Now what do you think 06:53 of the whole organized sports situation? 06:59 What do you think about the way the players are treated? 07:03 All of that? How? Well, the players are treated like gold... 07:06 but that's a commodity. You know that. 07:08 So the players? You can't get any better treatment than when 07:11 you're a player. OK. The problem comes... is 07:14 prior to being a player the way it gets into your head 07:17 and the type of person it makes some people, 07:20 you know, as far as being egotistical or self-centered 07:24 or selfish. All these type of things it makes people. 07:27 And then after you get in then you get glorified. 07:31 And this kind of glory reminds you of the gladiator days. 07:34 You know, here I am. I'm this big man. 07:38 I beat another big man and I throw and cast my body 07:42 into a man half my size who has the football, 07:44 drop him to the ground and stand up on top of him 07:47 and wait for 50,000 people to start screaming my name 07:50 and cheering me on. 07:51 And so I felt like it was gladiator days back again. 07:54 And so that kind of gives you that superiority complex. 07:57 And then you don't have to pay for anything. 07:59 Everybody wants you everywhere. 08:01 You don't have to wait in line. 08:03 You don't have to... It's just an open door policy 08:07 for you. Red carpet treatment everywhere you go. 08:10 And then comes the low is when you retire, after you retire. 08:13 Yes. Let's talk about the contrast because I think 08:18 that's a very important point. 08:20 So when you're playing you're up here on a mountaintop. 08:24 Everybody wants you around. 08:27 You're the man... that's it. Um-hmm. 08:29 Then you retire. What happens? 08:32 Well for some people I think if you don't have anything else 08:37 prior to playing football and all your life geared around 08:39 football, then you hit this big low part in your life. 08:44 Who'd you play for, Michael? I played with the Miami Dolphins. 08:46 In '83 I was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. 08:49 Me and a kid named Dan Marino. You might have heard of him. OK. 08:52 Me and him were the first two picks for the Miami Dolphins 08:55 in 1983. And then four years later 08:58 I got traded to the San Diego Chargers. 09:01 I stayed there and played with another great quarterback 09:02 Dan Fouts and a great tight end Kellen Winslow 09:06 and a great wide receiver in Wes Chandler. 09:10 And then left there, and when I left there 09:12 I went and played with the L.A. Raiders 09:14 when they came down to L.A. for those two years 09:16 and they left Oakland and came down to L.A. 09:18 And Art Shell was the coach, and at that time I played on 09:21 the defensive line with Howie Long and Bob Golic 09:25 and some of those great players. 09:27 And then after that I retired. 09:30 My knee was bothering me a little bit. Thought I would 09:33 retire... was tired of the game. 09:34 I went home, and then when I had gone home to retire 09:38 Jeff Fisher had just taken over at the defense. 09:41 He's now the head coach of the Saint Louis Rams. 09:44 But at that time he was the defense coordinator 09:47 for the L.A. Rams. 09:49 Called me out of retirement; asked me to come play with him. 09:52 So I completed my final year with the L.A. Rams. 09:55 It was a nice term... defensive line. 09:59 I had some great years; I had some OK years. 10:02 You know, up and down health wise. 10:04 And when I say health wise, I had nothing really broken 10:07 or sprained, but I just felt my body sort of giving away. 10:10 Did you get concussion? The big thing about that 10:15 now is the concussions that lead to depression. 10:18 Right. Did you suffer with concussions? 10:21 No but suffice to say I've caused a lot of concussions. 10:25 And no... I just... My position: I felt that 10:30 concussions and injury came to people going half speed. 10:35 You know, taking breaks on plays as we call it. 10:37 But me and my defense... you know, I've never really 10:40 taken a break on playing. As a defensive lineman I hit somebody 10:43 every play. And so you figure I played a thousand plays 10:47 a year and I played for 16 years - 10:50 high school, college, and pros - 10:51 so at 16,000 hits I've hit somebody 10:54 at some point in time... and hard, aggressive hits. 10:57 And I never really once came... The Lord blessed me 11:01 with no concussion. Never broke a leg; never broke an ankle; 11:04 never pulled anything. 11:06 So it's just by His grace that He kept me alive. 11:09 But I think He just kept me alive to realize 11:10 that that's not what He wanted me to do. 11:12 OK, OK... how did you? Let's talk about: 11:17 Where were you spiritually when you got involved with the NFL 11:22 and... Let's just start there. 11:25 Where were you? When I got involved spiritually 11:29 I wasn't with the NFL at that time. 11:31 All the while I was in the NFL it was all about self. 11:33 I had this... 11:38 I kind of guided my life. 11:40 Now that I'm a Bible student and I know Bible now 11:43 I kind of picture my life as the Prodigal Son. 11:46 OK. That parable in Luke. Yeah. 11:50 The younger man asked his father to give him his living 11:53 that befall upon him. So I felt that that was my 11:56 senior year of college. And I'm asking the Lord... 11:59 As I'm praying I'm not really praying sincerely. 12:02 I'm just praying, talking, theoretically. "OK, Lord, 12:05 I've been doing all this work, all this workout, all this 12:08 lifting, all this running, all these miles ran, 12:10 all this strength, all this testing, 12:12 it's time for You to give me my just due. " 12:15 And my just due, the parable says, the father gave him - 12:19 um-hmm - all he had. And my just due was my NFL contract. 12:22 "OK, here... that's your contract. " 12:24 And then shortly after that I left school, 12:27 you know, and go to the football camps. 12:29 And just like the parable said, shortly after that 12:31 I go to a far country. That was my far country: 12:34 the world. 12:36 And I spent my life, spent my substance, on riotous living. 12:40 And that's what I did: wine, women, and song. 12:43 Party. I was at a ladies' night every night. 12:45 It was very easy for me to talk to women. 12:48 Very easy for me to get involved with the, 12:51 you know, people who had drugs and drug connections. 12:55 Very easy for me to be around that. 12:57 Walk into a bar... they wouldn't take my money. 12:59 They just set up tabs for me and then cleared the tabs off. 13:02 All I'd do is just tip the bartender. 13:03 Just as long as I was there. They liked me there. 13:06 Liked being around. And then from that I had people 13:09 just liked being around me for that, too. 13:11 And then it was just... As I look back, it was just 13:16 a real whirlwind of just debauchery you know. 13:19 Up and down. And just like all merry-go-rounds, the rides 13:22 come to an end. Just as in our parable 13:25 the ride came to an end for the young man 13:27 and there became a famine in this land 13:31 and he began to be in want. 13:33 And that was me: a famine came in my land. 13:35 There's no football now. There's no football; I've retired. 13:39 What do I do now? I've got too much pride 13:43 in me to go and just start self-destructing. 13:46 So now I'm kind of a functioning person 13:49 that could smoke blunts, drink... But then 13:54 still work and be productive and pay my bills. 13:56 So I'm thinking... What kind of work? 13:59 I was a salesperson. Have a degree in communications 14:01 so I've always gotten into sales. 14:03 So I've always had the gift of gab and I just talk to people 14:06 and they owe me. And I started selling products... 14:09 different products. Started with home security sales 14:12 then I went into cell phone sales. 14:15 Just kind of branched off from there. 14:16 Morphed off and back into security sales. 14:18 And I used to design fire systems. 14:21 So it was just a sale of securities. 14:23 And then after a while 14:27 I think the Lord was ready. He knew I was looking. 14:29 I started going... Instead of hanging out and partying 14:33 and bringing the New Year in at a party... some wild party... 14:36 I started bringing the New Year in at a church. 14:39 Oh. And I started looking for churches on my own. 14:41 Um-huh. And I started looking for churches and I'm saying 14:43 "OK. " But then the different churches wasn't my speed. 14:46 I went to a Catholic church. That wasn't for me. 14:49 I went to some type of Baptist church 14:52 and the people got the Holy Spirit 14:54 and they started running up and down the aisles. 14:56 I was like: "OK... that's not for me. " 14:58 And somebody else jumped up to me. 15:00 Just having me seeing somebody who claims they've got tongues. 15:03 They jumped up and started blabbing in this gibberish. 15:06 And I was like: "OK, this is not the place either. " 15:10 But I'm trying, and the Lord knows that I'm trying - 15:12 right - to find Him. But now you're on a new spiritual path. 15:16 I'm on a path... Um-hmm - I'm on a path that I put myself on... 15:19 a self-imposed path. Um-hmm. 15:21 So when I retired, first place I moved to I guess was to 15:24 introduce me to Adventists. 'Cause all this time now - 15:27 I'm 30 years old and I had never heard of 15:29 Seventh-day Adventists. 15:30 Never heard of them... Thirty years old. Wow! 15:32 What an indictment that is on us, though. 15:34 Really. By 30 and you hadn't ever heard 15:38 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. That's an indictment 15:41 on us really. And here's more of an indictment. 15:44 Guess where He moves me to? I retire out of L.A. 15:47 I leave my L.A. home to go to Bowie, Maryland. Wow! 15:51 So I'm in Maryland... Adventist capitol of the country. 15:55 And still no Adventist came up to me. 15:57 And it wasn't until one day I came out of my house 16:00 and I talked to my neighbor... a nice African woman. 16:05 And she had a nice family. And when I'm coming from my 16:08 mailbox they're coming out of their house dressed up 16:11 ready to go. And I'm thinking: "Oh, OK. " 16:14 I'm joking with them and I say: "I know I tied one on last night 16:17 but don't tell me it's Sunday already... I missed a day! " 16:21 They said: "No, no... it's Saturday. " 16:22 I say: "Oh, y'all going to a wedding or to a funeral, 16:26 heaven forbid? " "Oh, no, we're going to church. " 16:28 I said: "Really? Church? " 16:31 So then automatically I went to 16:33 "Oh I didn't know y'all were Jewish. " 16:35 That's first thing I said: "I thought you were Jewish. " 16:37 Right, right. I said: "I didn't know you were Jewish. " 16:39 "No, we're Seventh-day Adventists. " "Seven who? " 16:41 "Seven what? " "What's a Seventh-day Adventist? " 16:45 And I said: "I've never heard of them. " 16:47 And she said: "Oh but we're running late. Come on over 16:50 for lunch. We'll talk all about it. " 16:51 And so I came over for lunch later on that day, 16:55 and first thing I noticed as I walked up to the house 16:58 I'm like: "OK, maybe I'm a little early 'cause I'm 17:01 not smelling no meat. " 17:02 Not smelling no meat cooking; nothing in the oven. 17:05 I'm thinkin' "OK, maybe I'm a little early. " 17:07 "Oh, you're just in time. " I'm thinking: "OK, just in time. 17:10 Maybe we're going somewhere. " 17:12 Sit us down, you know... a big plate of fruit. 17:16 All kinds of different food. Big bowl of salad. 17:19 There were homemade dressings, 2 or 3 homemade dressings. 17:22 Some freshly baked bread. 17:24 And I'm thinking: "Wow! OK! This is different. I like it. " 17:29 And then as I start reading stories I see that, 17:32 you know, back in the olden days, back in ancient days 17:36 that's how they ate. It was a big feast. 17:38 It wasn't like... didn't have no animals they was cooking. 17:41 The real feasts back then they had platters of fruits... 17:45 all kinds of fruits and vegetables. 17:47 Just had people eating like that. I said: "Oh! " 17:50 So your neighbors introduced you... just to Adventists... 17:55 to Adventism. But then just like anything, any time 17:57 there's something positive there Satan puts something 18:01 negative there. So what he did was put something in my eye 18:04 then had me move out of Maryland. 18:07 He set up an opportunity. He wanted t get you away from 18:09 that... all away from that period. Right. 18:11 So he sent me an opportunity and I moved to Tucson, Arizona. 18:14 OK. And I'm thinking: "OK. " 18:16 And so I never saw the family no more. 18:18 I got to Tucson I forgot all about the Adventists 18:21 just goin' through life. Just goin' through life every day. 18:25 And then suddenly... Now were you reading your Bible? 18:27 Were you going to any church? You were just... 18:30 just kind of out there? Just kind of out there. 18:31 Sunday was my day of rest so to speak. 18:34 After I went through Friday and Saturday - long weekends - 18:37 Sunday what I needed was to recuperate. 18:40 And I remember I had a cell phone business. 18:44 Had a cell phone business in 2002. 18:48 And I've been there 7 years now and I'm looking. 18:51 I really am looking for some... 18:52 I'm looking not only for something better 18:54 spiritually but I'm looking for someone better 18:57 than the people I've been going around with. 18:59 Aahhh. So I've always had beautiful women in my life. 19:03 Always had exotic-looking women. 19:04 But now as I look back there was nothing 19:08 no substance with them. There was just my time spent with them 19:11 and then, OK, ready for my time spent with the next one. 19:15 Trophies... Basically trophies and notches. Yes. 19:19 And so I'm like: "OK. " So then I go and - 19:22 I have a cell phone business - I sell a nurse some phones. 19:26 She invites me to the hospital; I deliver the phones. 19:29 While I'm there I say: "Hey, why don't you show me 19:32 around the hospital, introduce me to some doctors. 19:34 Maybe I can drum up some business. 19:35 I'll give out my business card and drum up some business. " 19:38 "OK. " We do that, 19:40 and I walked into Tucson Heart Hospital. 19:45 I walked in there, and there's the most beautiful 19:47 woman I've ever seen right in my face. 19:50 And I said: "Wow, that's going to be my wife right there. " 19:53 Wow! And come to find out 19:56 her name is the former LeniliManako. 19:59 And she is of Tongan descent 20:02 so she's an island girl, so that struck me right there. 20:06 And she has that exotic look that I've always liked. 20:09 That struck me, and she's a third generation Adventist. 20:12 Come on now. I knew nothing about Adventists. 20:15 Now look at God 'cause He knows that, 20:18 you know, you might have a penchant for beautiful women. 20:21 So what does He do? He sends you a beautiful godly woman. 20:25 A godly woman at that - is that? - godly woman. 20:28 That's the most important thing. You know what, Michael? 20:30 One of the things that I'd like to let our viewers know - 20:34 um-hmmm - because so many of our young men think that 20:38 the answer is in sports or entertainment. 20:41 The answer is in all the women you can find 20:45 and all the money you can make and all the... 20:48 If you would, share with our young men 20:50 how that's not... there's nothing to it. 20:56 All those things, young men, it's how the parable says. 21:01 We are talking about the parable of the Prodigal Son. 21:04 Towards the end there he realized that all these things 21:07 he was after when he was in that far country 21:10 and he began to be in want, a famine grew up in this land, 21:13 was pig food. It was husk. 21:16 There was things that just... it spoils your appetite. 21:20 You know, really no substance to it. 21:23 And so now you're sitting here you're amongst these husks 21:26 and then two things: you die and you swindle in it 21:31 and you drown in it. And you just stay in it, 21:33 and it just brings you down like a big pot of quagmire 21:37 just sucks you in, or you wake up... you have an epiphany 21:41 and you go back. 21:43 And I woke up. I had an epiphany and I went back. 21:46 And in going back... You don't have to go back 21:48 and just run right into church 21:50 and start being this whole saintly person. 21:52 No... it takes a while. 21:53 I didn't just become the person I am today overnight. 21:57 It took a while. It took a longer time for me to be 22:00 the bad person I was. Now it took almost just as much 22:04 time to be this good person. 22:06 And in being this good person it's not like I walk... 22:09 I mean, I still sin. I'm still a sinful person. 22:12 We all do. But it's not that... I don't make sin 22:16 I don't put that as the foremost in my mind. 22:19 I'm not advocating sin. I'm not trying to be sinful. 22:23 I'm not doing sinful things say- ing: "Oh, OK God, forgive me. " 22:27 You know, knowing that it's sinful. Not going into things 22:30 knowing that it's sinful and making conscious efforts 22:33 to do sinful things. Now if I do something sinful 22:36 it's like: "Oh, I didn't realize it. Oh my bad. " 22:39 And I sincerely get down and ask for forgiveness 22:43 every day. And even if I can't remember 22:45 if I sinned that day I still ask for forgiveness 22:48 'cause I know He knows - yes - that I have done something 22:51 that wasn't favorable to Him. 22:53 Yes. And so I will just tell people that, 22:55 you know, find your connection with God. 22:58 You really need to find your connection with God. 23:00 And that's where we always lose. 23:02 And now they've taken it out of the school. 23:04 They've taken God out of school. 23:05 They've finally taken it out of the locker rooms. 23:07 They've taken it out of the work place. 23:10 You know, they just don't want you to have... 23:11 They want you to go out... They're forcing you 23:14 to go out and find your own connection. 23:16 They don't want to advocate a connection. 23:18 They don't want to say: "OK, we have a connection here 23:21 to make it easy for you. " No, Satan is making it hard on us. 23:23 Yeah. Taking it away from us. Taking it from around us 23:26 so now you're forced to go out and find it. 23:29 And then when we do? We still find pig food. 23:32 You know, we join ourself to a citizen of that far country 23:36 and then he puts us in his field to work. 23:40 So whether it be the dope man, 23:42 whether it be the business owner, 23:44 whether it be some 23:48 kind of get-rich-quick scheme. 23:51 Um-hmm. There's always something that's out there 23:53 that keeps you away from the true focus: 23:55 the path that's straight and narrow. Yes. 23:58 And so we wind up taking these zigzagged paths 24:01 and these quickie paths thinking that eventually we'll get there. 24:04 And it's not... it's pig food. Amen; thank you. 24:07 What would you? What are you doing now? 24:10 What? You're on a new path. Yes I am. 24:13 Tell us what you're doing now. 24:14 Well now I am executive director for The Healing Place. 24:17 And The Healing Place is an entity of Eden Valley Institute. 24:21 And Eden Valley Institute is a wellness center, 24:24 a lifestyle wellness center in Loveland, Colorado. 24:27 OK, and that's been in business now for about 50 years. 24:31 They've been helping guide people through health 24:35 to the Lord. Ummm. And so now they've acquired 24:38 a city ministry. And you know we're counseled 24:41 to go and reach into the city to reach those that feel they 24:45 have no time and have no time to take time out to come find 24:50 the Lord. We are counseled to go in and bring the Lord to them. 24:53 And so they have a new city ministry which is a health 24:55 education and community outreach center. 24:58 And so I direct that. And what we do is that we... 25:01 we... I've increased it since I've gotten in since Jan. 1. 25:06 And we've increased the ministry 25:08 and we provide a community food bank 25:11 and I put out... You know, I buy about - hmmm - 25:14 I serve about 1,500 pounds of food a month. 25:19 And that services about 450 families. 25:22 Wow! All right. And then we have about... 25:25 I have a community clothes bank. 25:27 And this is for the working poor and the needy too. 25:31 So it's like a thrift store, and people can come through. 25:34 And it's very nice stuff that I have. 25:36 And I've partnered with several agencies around 25:38 that can give me food and give me clothes. 25:41 And then I also give a personal Bible study myself. 25:44 I witness to them. I tell them stories about me 25:47 and I tell them stories about you. I share Bible stories 25:50 with them and tell them how it relates to them today. 25:53 Right, you apply it. 25:56 I apply Bible stories to them today. 25:57 We need to put your website up 25:58 so that people will know how to reach you. 26:01 Well praise God. So what you're doing is 26:04 you're reaching them with food, with clothing, 26:08 and with spiritual food. 26:10 "When I was hungry you fed Me. " That's right. 26:12 "When I was naked you clothed Me. " That's right. 26:14 You're meeting them at their point of need. 26:16 Right at that point... at that point. 26:18 And it's been a blessing. It has truly been a blessing. 26:21 I got a lot of formal training in what I do. 26:25 I picked up some training at Eden Valley. 26:27 They have a school - talk about that - a school called 26:30 THE WELL. And THE WELL is an acronym 26:33 for Training Health Educators 26:36 With Evangelism, Lifestyle, and Leadership. 26:40 Oh wow! I love it! 26:41 It's a beautiful school, a beautiful opportunity. 26:43 I came today... I came to 3ABN today 26:47 with the education director Matthew Dooley. 26:50 And he's going to share a little bit about that 26:52 on the Today program. Wonderful! And so we're excited 26:55 to be able to get that out and for people to 26:58 see what's going on at Eden Valley. 27:00 You know, people come from all over the world 27:02 and they talk about our place. And they come with various 27:04 stages of lifestyle diseases. 27:07 And when they come there and they learn about God's healing 27:10 ways - the 8 laws of health as we coin them - 27:13 and they learn about that and they see these diseases 27:16 reversing and subsiding they want to do more. 27:20 The problem is a lot of times when they come 27:22 they're in a controlled environment. When you come 27:24 to a lifestyle center. We prepare the food. 27:26 We get you up; we get you going. 27:29 Right. And then you have to leave. You go back to your home, 27:31 right, and there's nobody there doing what you want to do. 27:34 Right. That's where I step in in the city ministry. 27:36 We also provide wellness coaching down there. 27:39 So now you can call us and I can help walk you through 27:43 what you already learned. 27:44 I can show you how to cook. I'm a certified raw food chef 27:48 and a certified vegan chef. Come on now. 27:50 Look where God has brought you to! 27:53 Thank you so much for being with us. 27:55 Praise God for that. And thank you for being with us. 27:57 Make sure to join us next time. 27:59 it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2023-10-07