Participants: Sebastien Braxton
Series Code: 09GYC
Program Code: 09GYC000009
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00:12 Good evening GYC. Audience: good evening!
00:14 Welcome to our Friday evening service. 00:17 How many of you went on outreach today? 00:22 Wasn't it a blessing? Audience: yes! 00:25 I understand that it was, well it was cold out there. 00:28 I understand it was 10 below freezing, but it was a 00:32 blessing nonetheless. 00:33 By way of a quick update, I understand that so far they 00:39 have tallied up 925 Bible studies, Amen! 00:43 Audience: Amen! 00:44 We are going to get more updates tomorrow morning. 00:47 My name is Mark Teh and I currently serve as the director 00:52 for the Western Youth Conference. 00:54 On behalf of GYC's West, I want to extend to each of you 00:58 a happy Sabbath and also a blessed New Year. 01:02 I want to wish you the best in this upcoming decade. 01:06 I echo the sentiment of Pastor Asscherick, what a 01:10 blessing it is to start this New Year, and this new 01:14 decade, as part of this holy convocation. 01:18 As I reflect on our theme "Unashamed", one of the things 01:23 that I am reminded of is when we look at our 01:26 circumstances, or the situation that God may allow us to 01:29 be in, we are to look at it not from the lens of the 01:34 world, not from the eyes of self-interest, but rather 01:38 with the lens of faith, with the eyes of God. 01:42 Often we begin a new year, we wonder what does this year 01:48 hold for me, what does this year hold for you. 01:51 But I submit to you that the question we should be 01:55 asking, or the greater question we should be asking, 01:59 is what does this year hold for God in regards to our 02:03 vital connection with Him? 02:05 My appeal to you is that as we begin this New Year 02:09 together that each day we are blessed with, that we would 02:14 give it back to God in loving submission to our Creator, 02:19 our Redeemer, and are soon coming King. 02:22 May the Lord add His blessing to our 02:25 worship this evening. 02:36 If we could bow our heads for prayer. 02:40 Our Father in heaven, thank you so much for this 02:44 beautiful day as we begin the Sabbath rest that You 02:47 have provided for us. 02:49 Father I pray that You will send your Spirit on this place. 02:52 That You will send your Spirit on each one of the people 02:55 here. Father I pray that You will be with the speakers and 02:58 You will be each person who will be presenting a message 03:02 tonight, that You will be with them as they tried to put 03:06 across the message that You have and have sent through 03:09 them. I pray that You will be with the viewers and open 03:13 their hearts and open their minds. I also pray Father 03:17 that tonight You will help us be unashamed for You, and 03:21 we pray this in Your wonderful name Amen! 03:38 Good evening everyone! 03:39 We were extremely privileged this year to be part of a 03:43 pilot program that GYC tried this year. 03:46 It involves mission work and the program is called 03:49 Intermission, our goal was simply to get young people 03:53 trying for mission work themselves. 03:56 So we set up two trips, one to Ecuador and one to the 03:59 Philippines and we are going to be sharing with you 04:02 tonight a little about those mission trips and the 04:05 experiences we had on them. 04:07 The first set of trips that I was involved in or to the 04:12 country of Ecuador. 04:13 We had three different groups that went during the month 04:17 of May to build one-day churches with Maranatha. 04:21 We held some health clinics and to do community service, 04:26 get to know the church members we were 04:28 building a church for. 04:29 Overall it was a powerful experience and I have brought 04:33 some of the participants with me today. 04:35 They will share with you what their 04:36 experiences were like. 04:38 The first person I'm going to interview is 04:40 Dulsey Morales. 04:41 She was with us on our first trip where we went to 04:43 Ecuador, a beautiful city right on the sea. 04:46 We built three different one-day churches, held a 04:50 medical clinic, and also did some community service time. 04:54 Dulsey is one of our translators, as well as heavily 05:00 involved in some of the medical work we did. 05:03 So I'm going to ask Dulsey, what did you gain from the 05:06 trip, what did you learn from the experience, and would 05:09 it be something you would do again? 05:11 Well Audrey I must really say I enjoyed going to Ecuador. 05:16 I enjoyed meeting all the wonderful people. 05:18 What I liked most about going was able to help people. 05:22 I was able to understand ministry on a different level. 05:25 You are able to see people that were in great need. 05:28 After building the three one day churches we were able 05:30 to have an opportunity to do medical outreach to the 05:33 community, people started lining up at 8 in the morning. 05:36 We had approximately 28 groups of families with 5 to 7 members 05:42 in each family and we were there all day 05:44 working and helping them. 05:47 We were ministering to their physical needs, which later 05:49 the church will follow up with their spiritual needs. 05:53 I was there all day from the morning until the last 05:55 crew to leave and I must say it was the most wonderful 05:58 experience, I didn't take a break or eat lunch. 06:03 I was able to understand the word sacrifice in a 06:07 new light and was thinking if we would be able to do 06:11 that every day and Minister to everyone in our 06:13 neighborhood, in our area, and broader as well the 06:16 message would of this wonderful hope we have, Jesus is 06:19 coming very soon will be able to be spread to the 06:22 world a lot faster. 06:24 I would definitely do it again. 06:28 Our second trip was to the city of Esmeraldas, 06:31 it is a coastal oil town. 06:33 It's known to be a less than reputable town in Ecuador. 06:36 But we had amazing experiences there. 06:38 One of our participants is Kenneth Fulkman, 06:42 who is with me today. 06:44 He had an accident 10 years ago that caused the 06:47 loss of his legs and Ken was wondering if his work for 06:51 God was finished. 06:52 When Kenny e-mailed me and asked if there was any way 06:56 that someone in a wheelchair could come on one of our mission 06:58 trips, we were really excited to make it possible. 07:01 Since then Ken has gone on to realize that God is still 07:06 using him, and Ken I want you to share how you felt God 07:10 used you in Esmeraldas and how that has changed the way 07:14 you have served Him since. 07:16 Well it was at last GYC I saw the film for the one-day 07:21 church and I have a mechanical background so I thought 07:26 that's something I would be interested in doing. 07:29 When I sent the e-mail I was hoping there was a way 07:32 that I could go. 07:34 It made me realize I can still do stuff to reach people. 07:40 I actually returned from a mission trip in Peru just 07:46 the first two weeks of December. 07:49 Audience: Amen! 07:51 So Ken has realized that God is never done with you, 07:54 in fact God is only continuing to use you in more 07:58 powerful ways no matter what experience your life 08:01 takes you through. 08:02 Kim share with us briefly what Ecuador met to you. 08:06 This was my first mission trip and I always wanted to 08:09 go on a mission trip. 08:11 I got the imitation by another friend and it was so 08:14 uplifting to see young people actually want to help. 08:18 Who love the Lord and take the Ministry of God, 08:21 preaching, teaching and healing to a another whole 08:25 level and it was a blessing to be in Ecuador. 08:28 To meet the friendly faces and be with the friendly 08:30 people and to build a church in one day. 08:32 You hear about it, it's like it's impossible, 08:35 but with God all things are possible. 08:37 So it was wonderful. 08:39 Our last trip was particularly exciting. 08:42 We canoed four hours down the river into a village 08:47 they had no electricity, no running water. 08:50 It was primitive as you have ever seen. 08:52 I had amazing experience there and over course of the 08:56 time I learned of a rumor that was going around that 09:00 the boat drivers that had originally brought us in were 09:04 planning to kidnap the girls on our trip and 09:08 hold us for ransom. 09:10 So we ended up trying to plan on leaving a day early, 09:14 avoiding the mess altogether and it was really cool 09:18 to see how the Lord stopped a potential problem we 09:22 could it had with some gangs that broke out when we 09:25 were in the city trying to leave for the capital again. 09:29 Over all a really exciting experience and I want 09:32 Shannon to share as we were getting ready to flee a day 09:37 early from our captors, what was going on in her mind. 09:43 Actually when I first heard about what could possibly 09:48 happen, in my head I was thinking oh my, this is 09:51 actually exciting, stuff like this doesn't happen 09:55 to you everyday. 09:56 It was just so powerful to see how God worked everything 10:00 out for us, like with canoes arriving early and 10:04 unexpectedly a day early. 10:06 People being at the docks there in the city waiting for 10:11 security people and we got out. 10:13 God worked everything out amazingly, it was so cool to 10:18 see that in real life like that. 10:21 It was really, really powerful. 10:26 Well the last day of the mission trips, it inter-mission 10:29 trip was the Philippines and the San Pablo Laguna area. 10:32 We were there for almost 2 weeks this past July with 10:36 all these people on my left here and myself. 10:39 While were there we held a medical clinic everyday. 10:42 We held children's ministries and also nightly evangelism 10:46 that culminated in a big baptismal service the last 10:50 Sabbath we were there. 10:52 Carlos was there on the trip with us, and Carlos walk us 10:54 through a typical day on the trip. 10:56 Well Katie a want to say that I have done my share of 10:59 mission trips, but this is hands down the best mission 11:02 trip I have ever been on in my life. 11:04 Chiefly because we combined the right arm of the Gospel 11:07 with preaching the gospel as well. 11:11 So in a day we will wake up early in the morning and 11:15 have a breakfast and immediately formulate our game plan 11:18 some of us were care providers and preachers, others were 11:21 just preachers. 11:23 I want to say that nobody had preaching experience, 11:27 specially not in evangelism series, so all of us 11:31 were very, very scared. 11:33 We would go to a particular church, one of the 12 we 11:37 were preaching at, provide care for the members and the 11:40 visitors there, invited them to the meetings in the evening 11:43 and then in the afternoon we would go do visitations to 11:47 the particular members. 11:49 We would draw those visitors and the patients into the 11:53 report and in the evening we would deliver our message 11:57 which was the Revelation of Hope, a Mark Finlay series 12:00 that anyone could use. 12:02 It was definitely busy but we were all 12:05 definitely blessed. 12:06 I'm sure I can speak in behalf of all the people up here. 12:09 Carlos was there something specific that impacted your 12:12 life from this trip? 12:14 Well I was baptized at the age of 11 and I don't see 12:19 anything wrong with that, for the age I had the 12:20 knowledge I needed to accept Jesus Christ 12:22 into my heart. 12:23 But after preaching two weeks, I thought with as busy 12:26 as our schedule was there was no way I was going to 12:29 be able to reach any of these people. 12:31 But on the night of baptism the whole church came forward 12:34 one night when I made my appeal. 12:36 I got all emotional, I didn't want them to make an 12:38 emotional decision but I couldn't help it. 12:41 That's Sabbath when the church members went into the 12:44 waters for baptism I decided to rededicate my life 12:48 through baptism as well. 12:50 I just felt the Spirit was calling me to do so. 12:53 You know over seas evangelism, there is something special 12:57 about it, evangelism is good here in the states but 13:00 overseas there is just a little extra something special. 13:03 It makes it so much more of a blessing. 13:06 Mellow you helped us out with our children's program. 13:08 Tell us a little about what we did for the children 13:11 and something special you have to share for us. 13:16 I thought I would only be helping out with medical 13:21 mission but I had to do a lot more there 13:23 when I got there. 13:24 In the Philippines we were asked, a few of us were asked 13:27 to be speakers at one of their weeks of prayers. 13:32 In the Philippines we usually have a week of prayer one 13:33 or two times every school year. 13:36 So we were invited to do that, and three or four of us 13:39 were speakers, I can't remember. 13:41 Then it isn't really a good way to evangelize the 13:43 students that were not Seventh-day Adventist 13:46 attending Adventist school. 13:49 It was way for them to be evangelized and to hear 13:52 about the word of God. 13:53 Also I believe, I personally believe, that for every 13:57 evangelistic series we did, it is a must that we also 14:01 have a program for the children. 14:02 So that is exactly what we did in the Philippines. 14:06 Every church we were designated to we would have 14:09 programs for children. 14:11 What I notice is that the children were the most sincere 14:15 they were the avid attendees through evangelism. 14:19 These were the ones that were inviting the adults to 14:23 come in and join our series. 14:25 So at the end of our evangelistic series, my Church 14:28 that I was designated to, we were able to baptize 7 14:32 teenagers because of that. 14:38 Now GYC this is a chance for you to get involved. 14:40 Tonight on your seats when you came in, you should have 14:44 had a survey that we want you to look for right now and 14:47 fill it out, like Audrey said in the beginning this was a 14:50 pilot program and we want to know if we should continue 14:53 this, if this is something you would be interested in, 14:56 if you could help us support, if you can help us attend, 14:59 we know there are lots of talented people in our GYC 15:02 audience and we want to hear from you. 15:04 Also for those of us that are watching on line via 15:08 www. GYCweb. org on 3ABN, you can log online and fill out 15:15 the survey our front page. That is WWW.GYCweb. org. 15:20 We want to hear from you, so please fill out the survey 15:23 and let us know if we should continue this. 15:25 If this is something that you are interested in. 15:28 If this is something you would like us to continue we 15:30 need to hear it from you. 15:32 Thank you so much. 15:38 Modern views of evolution stem all way back to theories 15:41 developed in the mid-1800s. 15:43 Out of the same time period came ideas that shaped our 15:47 educational system today. 15:49 The common school movement for example, saw schools 15:53 more like a factory with students blindly memorizing 15:56 instruction rather than thinking for themselves. 15:59 Their curriculum was rigid and theoretical instead of being 16:03 flexible and practical. 16:05 It was designed to conform the individual into a specific 16:09 ideological mold that fit the needs of an old 16:12 industrial era that has long since passed. 16:14 Just like our view of creation in six literal days, 16:19 we believe the Bible contains an educational blueprint 16:23 radically different from the one we see now. 16:38 Good evening once again. 16:40 I have two friends up here with me that I would like to 16:42 introduce, Dr. Nedley and Dr. Siebold. 16:44 You saw in the video little bit ago about Weimer. 16:47 A question that always intrigues me is 16:50 what motivates people? 16:52 You went to Weimar and we heard about it last year, 16:55 why do you even go there? 16:57 Well the last work to be done along ministerial lines 17:01 is medical missionary work. 17:03 One of the last conferences that Ellen White was at, 17:07 she said to a successful pastor, have you done medical 17:11 missionary work, have you tried to heal soul and body, 17:15 you would have seen hundreds and thousands coming 17:17 into the truth. 17:19 And Weimar is particularly positioned for people to 17:22 come and not only do Pastorial training, to be 17:24 successful as a pastor, but to have live patients come 17:27 from all over the world, Christian and non-Christian, 17:30 who do not know the full message of the Bible and would 17:33 be introduced to the Savior. 17:34 They learn how to do that at Weimar, how to do medical 17:37 missionary work as part of the Pastorial training. 17:40 So they can be successful for God right up 17:43 until the very end. 17:45 So if you go to Weimar, you could get some training, 17:49 it could be health, it could be other things. 17:51 Last year we learned about this ambiguous vague college 17:55 that was going to start and I wonder Dr. Siebold. 17:58 It has started now, what's going on there? 18:01 Well we have worked real hard at trying to figure out 18:05 how to organize all of this. 18:08 What we have done is put it under what we call the 18:10 "Core of Four", it has four pieces to it. 18:13 The first one personally evangelism. 18:16 We have every faculty member, every student involved 18:19 in soul winning activities. 18:21 We want that to pervade the whole environment. 18:24 The second one of course is academic excellence 18:27 is what we do. 18:28 There's two real critical pieces to this, one is that 18:32 we have faculty members that are top-notch. 18:35 They are academically qualified and they are spiritually 18:39 committed, and second of all, you make your classes 18:43 involved in knowing God. 18:45 The content is about revealing who God is. 18:47 Another piece, the third piece, is dynamic health. 18:51 We want health to permeate the whole campus, and not 18:56 just physical health, but emotional health. 18:59 EQ is very involved in predicting success in life, 19:04 much more so even than IQ. 19:05 The fourth one is practical training, making sure the 19:09 physical labor, we have faculty members going out side 19:13 by side with the students and are working in the fields, 19:17 in the garden and everything. 19:19 What do you think? Does this sound intriguing? 19:23 Personal evangelism, academic excellence, dynamic health 19:27 and practical training. 19:29 I remember going out to an initial strategy meeting, 19:32 if you will, out at Weimar and a little piece of me 19:35 thought to myself, I wish I was still in college. 19:39 Now I'm not, but some out here, or are turning in our 19:43 still in a collegiate stage, maybe about to start. 19:47 If they wanted to know more about Weimar, 19:49 what should they do? 19:50 You can go to www. Weimar. edu is a great way. 19:53 But one final quote is from Ellen White where she said, 19:57 if you are a Christian and a competent physician, you 20:00 are qualified to do ten-fold more good for the work of 20:03 God then you if you go forth merely as a preacher 20:06 of the Word. 20:07 So we are not only training pastors, we have a great 20:10 pre-med program, pre-dent, pre-nursing, and the health 20:13 line is there so that the individual can not only learn 20:16 the top nutrition cutting edge lifestyle research, but 20:19 also how to win souls for the Master for the 20:22 rest of their life. 20:24 Thank you very much, we will be sure to check it out. 20:28 Next we have another friend coming out. 20:30 Elder Bill Knott, you might know him, you might not. 20:36 I wasn't planning that, but we spoke initially at ASI. 20:43 You were telling me about a magazine, it is about 160 20:49 years old, it's a publication from our church. 20:52 Now my question is this, its the Adventist Review, 20:56 everyone has probably heard of it. 20:58 Knowing that is 160 years old, how in the world can we 21:02 relate to something like that? 21:04 Well Justin, truth never goes out of style. 21:07 In fact the Adventist Review, founded by young adults, 21:11 160 years ago has been about the truth, the Sabbath, 21:16 the sanctuary, three Angels message, our belief in soon 21:19 coming of Jesus, we have been about that for a very long 21:23 time and we are still about that. 21:25 We are still committed to exactly those same principles, 21:27 those same beliefs in the life of the Adventist church. 21:30 Praise the Lord, I like that, the truth - say that again? 21:33 The truth never goes out of style. 21:35 The truth never goes out of style! 21:36 Now you recently ran an article on GYC. 21:40 I am particularly interested in GYC so I would be 21:43 interested to know, why run a story on GYC? 21:46 It happens to be the one that is in that edition sitting 21:48 on your chairs this evening. 21:50 There is a five page article, interview with the general 21:53 Vice President, Justin Kim. 21:54 We decided to do this article because I as a father 21:57 began to understand what GYC could do in the life 22:01 a young person. 22:02 My 16-year-old went to San Jose last year and when he 22:05 came back and told me his story, I said I have to learn 22:07 more than I know right now. 22:10 In that process of learning, I learned about an 22:12 organization that I am proud to feature in our magazine. 22:15 Praise the Lord! 22:16 So your son came, I'm guessing he went on the 22:19 evangelistic outreach, much like we did today. 22:21 He was excited and came back and you said, I have to be 22:23 a part of this? 22:25 I began talking with people around who said, 22:27 Bill you have been missing a lot on not being 22:29 at the GYC conferences. 22:31 And there's always travel and are itinerary schedules 22:33 that took me other places, but when I realized we had 22:36 the opportunity to partner with GYC, to show what the 22:39 Adventist Review has always cared about is the same 22:42 mission and passion of this organization. 22:45 I knew it was a natural that we would be together 22:46 this year. Praise the Lord! 22:48 Let me ask another question. 22:50 My wife and I currently do not have a subscription to 22:53 the Review and we would like that, but since I've met you 22:57 close friends of ours have it and we get to page through 23:00 it, I've been particularly interested in it. 23:03 It's probably most of us, to be honest, that haven't even 23:07 opened the Review unfortunately. 23:10 What are we going to find when we do open it? 23:12 Well a quick way to learn, is to go to 23:15 www. Adventistreview. org, and you will see a gray box 23:20 Pop up and asks you if you want the newsletter that comes 23:23 three times a week into your e-mail box. 23:26 It has all the links to all the free stuff on the Adventist 23:28 Review site and gives you a chance to sample it 23:31 without making a purchase yet. 23:33 You'll get there yet Justin, don't worry. 23:34 The reality is you get a chance to look at award winning 23:37 website loaded with news and information, faith building 23:41 information about your church. 23:43 You go to the pages of the Review, you join 75,000 other 23:46 unique visitors a month on the online Ministry 23:49 of the Review and your faith will be built. 23:51 You're going to find mission stories. 23:53 You're going to find opportunities to witness. 23:55 You're going to get connected to a group of dedicated 23:58 believers around the globe who are waiting for the soon 24:00 coming of Jesus. 24:02 Those are the things that are going to happen in your 24:03 life if you go to this magazine. 24:05 Doctor Not if I could, on behalf of GYC young people here 24:09 I would like to thank you for taking an interest in us. 24:14 We are committed Seventh-day Adventists and are going 24:17 to do what we can to help our church in every outlet. 24:21 It is a blessing for us to see you take an interest in 24:24 young people and for that, can we promise him we will go 24:28 to the website at least to give him a chance? 24:30 Will you do it? Audience Amen! 24:32 What's the website? Adventistreview. org 24:36 I will get a subscription and my wife and I will start 24:39 reading and we praise the Lord for your ministry. 24:41 Is there anything else? 24:42 I appreciate what you are doing here and I appreciate 24:44 the connections you are making and the mission you are 24:47 spreading around the world about a dedicated group of 24:49 young people, exactly the same kind of people who 24:52 founded this magazine 160 years ago. 24:55 Praise the Lord! Thank you! 24:57 Good morning, we are here because we are not ashamed 25:01 to be counted among God's people. 25:04 We are not ashamed to tell people about our Savior. 25:09 Jay, have you always been eager to tell people 25:17 about Jesus? 25:18 I wish I could say yes to that question, but the answer 25:22 to that is no. 25:24 Why not? Well probably right after I was baptized. 25:28 So you have not always been a Christian? 25:32 No I haven't always been a Christian. 25:35 I was baptized in the late summer of 1999, August 7. 25:39 School was obviously not in session so I was baptized 25:44 during the summer while school wasn't going on. 25:46 A month later I had to go back to school. 25:49 That school was? West high, it was a public school. 25:55 A high school, you left high school serving yourself. 26:00 Exactly! Now you come back to high school and you have 26:06 a new Master, how did that work out? 26:08 It was a challenge because a lot of my friends didn't 26:12 know about the fact during the summer I had this 26:15 transforming experience. 26:17 I was baptized and they had no idea, 26:19 so when I went back to school everyone was like, 26:21 yo! Jay, how's things going? 26:23 Oh no, how do I bring this experience I had during the 26:27 summer, into my classroom experience? 26:30 You're not ashamed but you don't know how to do it 26:32 either? Exactly, so many times we were next to my locker 26:36 which is the spot we always hung out, I just didn't know 26:40 what to do. 26:41 They would say dirty jokes and everybody would laugh. 26:45 I'm like, do I laugh, do I act very cold, it was a big 26:48 challenge to know how to relate with my old friends in 26:52 light of my new experience with God. 26:54 Did you wear a sign, I'm now a Christian? Yes! 26:58 You did! Yes finally I was a little bit different and 27:03 I didn't curse anymore, so they really was wondering, 27:07 Jay is acting very, very weird. 27:09 What is the deal with Jay? 27:10 So a few of them started talking with me and then they 27:13 kind of forced it out of me. 27:15 I was trying to be very private about my new experience 27:18 with God and they were asking me questions. 27:21 I told them what had happened, but the biggest 27:23 experience that led them to ask questions was, I was 27:28 really convicted, as a new Christian in high school, to 27:33 bring my Bible to school. 27:35 You brought your Bible into school, into the high school? 27:38 Yeah I know that was wild, it sounds crazy. 27:39 So we had a class in our homeroom class, called reading 27:43 class, basically it's just 45 minutes of random reading. 27:46 Some read Sports Illustrated, people brought comic books, 27:49 I felt very convicted to bring my Bible. 27:52 I wrestled with the Holy Spirit for a while, but I 27:54 couldn't resist so I brought my Bible to school. 27:56 I have to confess, I put it in my backpack and before 27:59 taking it out I would look over my shoulders a few 28:01 times to make sure people weren't looking. 28:04 When I took out my Bible and started to read, I just 28:07 wanted to make sure nobody knew I was reading a Bible. 28:12 Now tell me about this Bible business, when people were 28:17 watching you read your Bible, what did they say? 28:19 Well I noticed, I was sitting in the front row, 28:22 I noticed when I was reading my Bible I could hear whispers 28:26 behind me, it was sk, sk, sk, he's reading a 28:29 Bible, sk, sk,sk, and I was like oh no. 28:31 I felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to do. 28:33 So when the reading class was over I will close my Bible 28:36 and put it into my backpack and walked to my next class 28:39 as if nothing happened. 28:41 One particular time as I was walking to my locker room, 28:45 to put my Bible into my locker, one of my friends caught 28:49 me, he saw me putting my Bible into a locker, my locker 28:52 room and he said, Jay, what is that? 28:55 He didn't know what a Bible was? 28:58 He knew what a Bible was but he wanted to make sure that 29:01 this was the real thing. 29:03 It was like Jay, is this really a Bible you are reading 29:05 and putting into your locker? 29:07 So I just said what, what are you talking about? 29:10 So I pointed it different items in my locker trying to 29:12 avoid the situation, I know, I was very ashamed. 29:15 So I finally told him it's a Bible. 29:18 He said, a Bible, why in the world are you bringing a 29:20 Bible to school? 29:22 I said, do you remember I told you that I had this 29:24 experience with God and I'm religious now, that was 29:26 the word I used religious because I did know what 29:28 to say to him. 29:29 He was like wow this is interesting and that pretty much 29:32 was the end of the conversation. 29:35 To my utter amazement, the next day my friend Mike, 29:39 the one who was asking me all these questions. 29:41 In the morning I went to my locker room, a normal day. 29:45 I open my locker and got my math book and etc. 29:47 I notice that Michael was walking toward my locker. 29:50 I look at Mike and in his hand he had a Bible. 29:54 Now Mike, I mean he was anything but a Christian. 29:58 Okay, to say the least. 30:00 I'm thinking to myself, and no this cannot be. 30:02 I'm like, Mike what do you have in your hand? 30:04 Now I was asking him a question, what do you have 30:06 in your hands? 30:07 He's like, I have a Bible. 30:09 I'm like, Mike why are you bringing your Bible to school? 30:11 He said, I don't know I figured we were raised in a 30:14 Catholic Church, I have a Bible I've had all my life, 30:17 I have never read it before and you are a good friend 30:20 of mine and normal so bring your Bible to school. 30:23 I figured I should bring my Bible school. 30:25 So it was amazing and we started talking. 30:27 He started asking about what I believe and I started 30:30 telling him about our doctrines, the second coming of 30:32 Christ, and etc. 30:34 Miraculously that conversation led us to start having 30:39 Bible studies in the high school library. 30:41 It started with two people and then went to four. 30:44 It went up and then it went down again. 30:46 Some people said this guy is weird and I don't want to 30:48 be involved with this Bible study. 30:49 So lot people left, but two of my best friends 30:52 consistently stayed by and kept having Bible studies 30:55 with me, Sean and Mike. 30:57 We kept talking about the Lord and kept studying the 31:00 Bible, they had questions galore and I was able to 31:03 leave the Great Controversy with my friend Mike. 31:05 I lost touch with him and have no idea where he is at. 31:08 But I trust those seeds that were planted are going to 31:11 bear fruit to the glory of God and I would like to 31:14 entertain the idea that I will see Mike and Sean in the 31:17 kingdom and maybe they can trace their conversion to 31:20 that experience we had in high school. 31:22 How many people at the most, did you have at your Bible 31:24 studies? About 11 at the most. 31:27 Did you lead out in the Bible study? 31:28 I led out thanks to the Amazing Facts study guide 31:31 as well because I had no idea what I was doing. 31:34 I didn't even know how to give a Bible study, so I went 31:36 through the Amazing Facts study guides. 31:38 It was uncomfortable, because in the library people 31:41 are surfing the net, and reading stuff, and re-searching 31:43 for their projects, and here we are reading the Bible. 31:45 I was trying to whisper at first so nobody knew we were 31:48 talking about the Bible, that the Lord really taught 31:50 me that we have nothing to be ashamed. 31:53 Young people who are even outside of the church are 31:57 craving for the things we know. 31:58 In the process of being unashamed, I realized wait 32:01 a second, I have nothing to be ashamed about. 32:03 All my friends are asking all these questions and 32:05 by the grace of God I know the answers. 32:08 So I praise God that He was merciful and He was patient 32:11 with my unashameness and taught me I have nothing 32:14 to be ashamed of. 32:16 Now you are a preacher. 32:17 And now I am a preacher, yes. 32:20 And you too. 32:21 I do work in full-time evangelism, yes. 32:23 Is that what you always wanted to do? 32:26 No, that was never my plan. 32:28 So how come you are into it then? 32:31 Well when the Lord calls, He is persistent. 32:34 I always had this plan of what I wanted to do with my 32:36 life and God radically changed that. 32:39 I was raised in the church but didn't know what I 32:43 believe and the Lord threw me into sharing my faith 32:46 in order to help me be grounded in it. 32:48 So I didn't even know how to teach somebody about 32:51 anything, the Sabbath, the state of the dead, I didn't 32:54 know how to show you, but the Lord brought me to reach 32:56 out to the people to ground me what I believe. 32:59 Have you had a chance to share your faith with other people? 33:02 I have, one experience was a pivotal point 33:07 in my ministry. 33:09 I have shared this story before but it was my first 33:12 time doing Bible work in Texas. 33:14 I was still wondering, is this really what God 33:17 is calling me to. 33:18 This is kind of crazy, God can't really use me. 33:20 I do not know what I'm doing. 33:22 I was knocking on doors... 33:24 See all these people? Yes! They've all felt that way. 33:28 Me too! We're all in that, so tell us how it's related 33:32 to you. 33:33 I was knocking on doors and I met this lady named 33:35 Courtney, and she had sent in a Bible study request card. 33:40 She had been through Katrina and move to Texas. 33:43 She was around 21-22 and had three children, 8, 5, and 2. 33:48 She was there with her kids and she was searching. 33:51 We started studying the Bible and this was the first 33:53 person I had ever studied with straight through 33:56 these Bible studies. 33:58 We got to the topic of salvation. 33:59 No I hadn't studied with anyone before. 34:01 So we were going to the verses and got to the end, 34:04 Courtney would you like to accept Jesus as your Savior? 34:07 There was this pause and she said no. 34:10 My heart dropped and I didn't know what to do. 34:13 I was like, they didn't tell me what to do 34:15 if they say no. 34:16 I just sent up a prayer, Lord I do not know what I'm 34:19 doing but I know this is important. 34:21 They didn't tell me what to do if someone came up 34:22 here and said no. 34:24 Don't worry the story gets better. 34:26 Oh okay, it will all work out in the end. 34:28 So I sent up a prayer, I said Lord what do I do? 34:31 The Lord brought questions and verses to my mind. 34:34 The Lord is so good. 34:36 So I asked her, do you mine if I ask you why? 34:39 Chelsea, I haven't told you but my boyfriend is Muslim 34:42 and if he knew we were studying the Bible he would be 34:45 furious, he doesn't know were studying. 34:47 I know if I accepted Christ it would change my life 34:51 and I am afraid of what that would do. 34:53 So God brought verses to my mind, I didn't even know 34:56 I knew these verses. 34:57 So I was sharing with her of how God would see her 35:00 through for today's the day of salvation and we can't 35:02 put it off. 35:03 The Lord just kept putting words in my mouth and at 35:05 the end I said, Courtney would you like to accept Jesus? 35:07 And she said yes I would. 35:10 Oh good I was worried. 35:12 I said okay I will pray and you pray afterwards. 35:16 So I said a prayer and there was this long quiet. 35:19 I looked at her and she said, I don't know how to pray. 35:22 I said just talk to Jesus like a friend from your heart. 35:25 And she started to pray the most beautiful prayer. 35:27 Right in the middle of her prayer, I'm crying, 35:30 she's crying and our Bibles are in our lap and the door 35:32 bursts open, guess who's there? 35:34 Her boyfriend is standing there and he had gone to the 35:37 store to get some beer and he was standing in the door 35:40 looked at her and looked at me and he saw the Bibles, 35:43 our hands folded, and tears and I are looking at him 35:45 frozen, WHAT DO I DO? 35:48 They didn't tell me what to do once again and I was so 35:50 scared I don't even know if I prayed, I was just frozen. 35:53 But you know what, she kept on praying. 35:55 She knew he was there, but she just kept praying, 35:57 fervently, even more. 35:58 Lord come into my life, change my life, bless my family, 36:01 forgive me for my sins, and he stormed out and slammed 36:05 the door behind him, and she finished praying. 36:07 I left that place and I was amazed. 36:09 God can use anybody, He used me to help this young lady 36:13 find Christ, I had never seen somebody accept Christ 36:16 the first time. 36:18 It was just an amazing experience that I never thought 36:21 I could be a part of. 36:22 And God was able to use me. 36:24 Do you think that God can use the people 36:26 in this audience? Definitely I do. 36:29 What about the person standing next to you, do you think 36:32 God could use that person? 36:33 God has used her in radical ways. 36:35 Do you think it would be okay to ask her question or two? 36:39 Yes, please do, no please do I would like to hear it. 36:43 So have you always been a Christian? 36:47 I guess so, I guess you could say that. 36:51 I was not always raised Adventist, but my dad remarried 36:55 my stepmom who is in Adventist when I was eight. 36:58 So I started going to church then. 36:59 When you were eight, not when she was eight? 37:02 When I was eight, but I was always a Christian. 37:05 So are you in school? Yes! 37:09 Where are you in school? I started going to Sierra 37:12 College, a community college next to where I live. 37:15 After finishing high school, that was my 37:19 first year there. 37:20 That year God really put a burden on my heart to start 37:23 a campus ministry, but I didn't give Him a chance to. 37:26 This was a public college? Yes! 37:28 Don't you know that is not supposed to be done? 37:31 Yes! You know it is not supposed to be done? 37:34 Yes! But you chose to do it? 37:36 Yes, well the first semester I didn't have a chance to, 37:40 but God really put a burden on my heart. 37:41 I was walking by one of my classrooms, it wasn't my 37:45 class time but it was one of my classrooms. 37:47 I was listening in and the teacher was totally bashing God, 37:49 it broke my heart and I realized God has a mission 37:55 field here for me. 37:56 He put the burden on my heart, I wasn't able to do 37:59 it that semester though. 38:00 But the next semester you enrolled in different classes? 38:04 Well what happened after that was I went AFCO the 38:09 following semester and then I continued on 38:11 to do Bible work. 38:13 I Bible work for ASI Youth for Jesus and at the end of that 38:18 I started praying that God would show me where He wanted 38:23 need to go, because I wanted to do more Bible work. 38:25 I didn't want to go back to school, I wanted to do something 38:27 exciting with my life. 38:28 I love Bible work, but as a last resort it was too late 38:31 to change plans so I guess I'll go back this year of 38:34 college, but little did I know that God had many Divine 38:37 appointments set up for me. 38:39 I got back there and had a good friend of mine. 38:43 and he had gotten the church, I didn't know that he was going 38:45 to go there, but he had gotten the church behind him to help 38:47 with the ministry there, and I had a plan to do ministry 38:49 there so we got together and started a campus club, 38:54 a Bible study club. 38:55 We had two studies going, probably had about 10 people 39:00 between the two studies on and off. 39:02 That was a blessing. 39:04 And for some reason or other you enrolled in a speech 39:07 class? Yes, a speech class. 39:09 And in speech class, they assign you to give speeches? 39:15 Yes, it was a public speaking class. 39:18 So what did you decide to talk about? 39:21 Well my first speech was an informative speech. 39:26 You are supposed to inform the audience about something? 39:29 Yes it had to be a very informative speech and God laid 39:33 in all my heart again to share Daniel 2. 39:35 She could have inform people what to say when the people 39:37 say no I don't want to accept Jesus. 39:40 But you chose to do what? 39:44 Daniel chapter 2 for my informative speech. 39:47 Wait a minute, this is a public college, and you are 39:50 informing people what Daniel 2 says? 39:53 Yes! Audience: Amen! Amen! 39:57 Have you ever heard of that before? 39:59 I have never heard of that before. 40:01 So what did you do as an encore? 40:04 They knew that I had a consistent speech topic by then, 40:10 and because I had to do a persuasive speech next. 40:13 So from a persuasive speech idea how a seven-day week 40:16 proves the existence of God. Whoa! 40:18 But it was completely a God thing, but we had to do 40:25 impromptu speeches as well. 40:26 An impromptu, so you don't even know what 40:29 you're talking about? 40:30 Did not know what the topic was, you reach your hand 40:32 in a bag and pull things out, things like what you will 40:35 never catch me wearing, and whatever things, soap operas. 40:37 Of all people in the classroom I got faith. 40:40 So that was completely a God thing. 40:42 Whoa, that Angel said let me see who is up there and I'll 40:47 and hand her this one. 40:48 Pretty much and that was a blessing for me because it 40:53 showed me it was what God wants me to do. 40:55 It wasn't just something, should I be sharing this. 40:58 Is it going to push them away. 41:00 Are they even hearing what I'm saying, but God said, 41:02 no I have you here for reason. 41:04 Did you flunk the speech class? No! Praise the Lord. 41:07 I got an A which was good. 41:09 What did the students say about all this? 41:12 I couldn't tell going through it, but by the last speech 41:16 I gave it was a commemorative speech. 41:19 I did a speech on, it was basically an appeal. 41:26 I shared what Christ had done in my life. 41:29 Something I shared with them, which I want to share 41:33 with you guys as well. 41:34 This is part of my speech. 41:36 I said suppose I found the cure for cancer, I love the cure 41:39 so much that I kept to myself and never shared it with 41:42 anyone, would I not then be responsible for each of the 41:45 deaths that I had potential to save, their blood would 41:47 have been on my head because I would have only had to 41:49 open my mouth to keep them from dying. 41:51 So that was something God put on my heart to share with 41:55 people, I was scared out of my mind. 41:57 I was sick to my stomach all that morning, 42:00 so my friends can testify to that. 42:02 I would call them all over and ask them to pray for me. 42:04 But God got me through it. 42:06 How did you feel about it when it was over? 42:09 Relieved, very relieved. 42:12 Would you do it again? Yes! 42:15 Would you recommend it to the people who are here? Yes! 42:17 By God's grace they can do it too. 42:20 We are not ashamed of what we believe. 42:23 Even in a speech class in a public college there is an 42:29 opportunity to explain what Jesus means to us. 42:34 And while you're visiting people in their homes. 42:39 And when we are in high school. 42:42 And wherever you are today, tomorrow and next week. 42:48 Jesus is there ready to help us. 42:55 Everybody that I know of has some fears about witnessing. 43:04 I do, and I have been in this for quite a while. 43:09 I think I'm a little older than you are and I have been 43:15 at it quite a while, but I still get very nervous 43:20 thinking about it. 43:22 I'm not ashamed of Jesus, He has changed my life. 43:27 I'm excited about Him, I worry sometimes about portraying 43:35 Him in the right way. 43:38 All of us have an opportunity to portray Jesus everyday. 43:45 All over this division people are doing that. 43:49 The last year of our, that we just completed, we called 43:54 the year of evangelism and our baptisms went up. 43:58 We are more intentional about talking to people about 44:04 Jesus and we've had young people preach sermons, 44:08 some of them not members of this church. 44:12 Some of them saying, this was a good sermon, now it is 44:16 time for you to accept Jesus and be baptized. 44:20 When no one in the audience moved, the speaker said it 44:24 again, I know this was a good sermon, it is time for you 44:28 to come up to the front. 44:30 When no one moved, the speaker said okay then, I will go 44:36 and stood in front of the platform and said I have 44:40 accepted Jesus, I want to be baptized. 44:44 It is happening all over. 44:47 Marty and I decided to visit a church, a brand-new one. 44:53 We called to see if it would be okay and the lady who 44:59 was doing the church said no! 45:04 I wondered what is the problem with us that we can't 45:11 come to the church? 45:13 Then she told us, the problem with you is you don't 45:18 know how to dress. 45:20 I have been going to church all my life and I wondered 45:25 what is her problem? 45:27 She told us if you come dressed like you normally come 45:32 dressed, you'll scare all my people away because my people 45:37 have an address, and the address is under the bridge. 45:47 Her members live under the bridge, they are dope addicts. 45:52 Well Marty and I talked her into allowing us to come. 45:56 She said I will allow you to come if you promise not to 46:00 wear a suit. 46:02 Well that was a pretty tall order, I took my suit to 46:06 church, I did leave it in the car. 46:11 We went in and helped vacuum the floor because the 46:13 services were being held in a Pizza Hut. 46:16 Or a pizza parlor. 46:19 I greeted somebody when they came in and said, 46:23 how are you doing? 46:24 He said I've been clean all week. 46:25 I realized I was in a different kind of a church, 46:30 a very special place where people were not ashamed at 46:34 all to have a new walk with Jesus. 46:39 We went another day to a church, it looked a look a bit 46:43 unusual, the whole town looked unusual. 46:46 Not a promising town, Shamokin Pennsylvania. 46:51 It's a town where people have been accustomed to working 46:57 in the mines, but now the mines weren't doing well. 47:01 People were moving out, vacant houses and 47:06 vacant stores everywhere. 47:08 We found the right place, we learned the story. 47:12 Two people, only two, went up on top of the mountain 47:18 every day at a certain time and prayed for this town. 47:27 They came off the mountain and the jeweler said, 47:32 why don't you buy our church, our synagogue. 47:36 Well they talked a little bit about it and said, 47:40 how much do you want for that synagogue? 47:42 He said, well you make me an offer. 47:45 They left and prayed about it, and talked about it, 47:48 didn't know what to offer. 47:50 They did know they didn't have any money. 47:55 When the man called them again he said, you haven't 47:58 come up with an offer yet. 48:00 They said no, we don't know what to offer you. 48:02 He said that I will tell you what to offer me. 48:05 Offer me nothing, we want to give our building to you. 48:11 There aren't enough of us to have services any longer. 48:17 So we want you to have it. 48:20 We will take things down that are of our religion. 48:24 For instance, at the front of the church, since we're 48:29 Jewish people, we have the 10 Commandments. 48:32 I don't suppose you want those so we'll take them down. 48:36 And our people said no, we are fine with those. 48:41 The day we went there to church, there were 80 people. 48:48 You can do it too. 48:50 God will work through you, He works through all kinds of 48:54 people, He works through people who are bombastic like 48:59 Peter, who are doubting like Thomas. 49:02 Who are very quiet people, He uses every one of us if 49:08 we are allowing Him to use us. 49:11 If we say today, Lord I'm not ashamed and 49:17 You can use me. 49:19 The God of heaven will come and speak through us. 49:26 Don Mc Lafferty was teaching little kids how to be 49:29 disciples, I mean preschoolers. 49:36 A man watched while one of these little girls was 49:42 talking to her friend. 49:44 He moved a little closer to see how she was doing 49:47 in what she had been taught. 49:50 As he listened, he found out that girl was speaking in 49:55 Spanish and he went back to the mother and said, I don't 49:59 know what is going on with your daughter, but she is 50:03 talking Spanish. 50:05 The mother said not my daughter because she doesn't 50:08 know any Spanish. 50:10 When the little visit was completed and the girl came 50:14 back to where her mother was the man was still there. 50:18 He said, she was talking in Spanish. 50:21 The mother said, were you? 50:23 She said I don't know, I was just telling that friend 50:27 of mine about Jesus. 50:32 Her mother said, well how did you know what to say? 50:37 She said I don't know what I said, Jesus just stuffed 50:41 the words in my mouth and then they came out again. 50:46 If you are willing to be unashamed, the God of heaven 50:51 will stuff the words in and then they will come out in 50:55 the order that He plans for them to come out. 50:58 Today I want to give my life to Jesus again and allow 51:03 Him to work through me to reach others. |
Revised 2014-12-17