This is another one of our
Offering in Action segments.
00:00:19.08\00:00:22.78
And throughout the convention,
00:00:22.82\00:00:24.35
we have brought to you
00:00:24.39\00:00:25.72
just a few of the
projects of the 42 projects
00:00:25.75\00:00:29.09
that will be funded
from the offering this year.
00:00:29.12\00:00:31.89
And we've heard
from many of them
00:00:31.93\00:00:33.76
that God has really blessed them
00:00:33.80\00:00:36.70
and that, through
partnership with others,
00:00:36.73\00:00:39.30
God has helped them
to be more effective
00:00:39.33\00:00:41.30
in their ministry.
00:00:41.34\00:00:42.67
And I just want to turn in
00:00:42.70\00:00:44.04
and thank Danny on behalf of ASI
00:00:44.07\00:00:47.51
for 3ABN becoming
one of those partnerships
00:00:47.54\00:00:51.15
for many of our ministries.
00:00:51.18\00:00:52.88
Because of 3ABN, many ministries
00:00:52.91\00:00:55.65
who otherwise
would not have a voice
00:00:55.68\00:00:57.95
have been able
to share with others
00:00:57.99\00:00:59.52
the burden on their heart
00:00:59.55\00:01:01.09
that God has given
them to reach others
00:01:01.12\00:01:03.29
for His kingdom.
00:01:03.32\00:01:04.66
So we are thankful for
3ABN and all that 3ABN has done
00:01:04.69\00:01:08.13
to give voice to
so many ministries.
00:01:08.16\00:01:09.93
Thank you, Debbie.
00:01:09.96\00:01:11.30
And I in turn have to thank ASI
00:01:11.33\00:01:13.64
because 1985 I
went to my first ASI,
00:01:13.70\00:01:18.67
that's longer
than some of these folk
00:01:18.71\00:01:20.14
have been alive.
00:01:20.18\00:01:21.64
Went to it first in
1985 in Big Sky, Montana.
00:01:21.68\00:01:26.35
And there I was asked,
00:01:26.38\00:01:27.72
Phil Winsted was the president
00:01:27.75\00:01:29.35
and Henry
Martin, vice president.
00:01:29.38\00:01:31.45
And I had an
opportunity, there was no 3ABN,
00:01:31.49\00:01:33.92
we were just beginning it,
00:01:33.96\00:01:35.46
they let me share the vision
00:01:35.49\00:01:37.39
of building a television station
00:01:37.43\00:01:39.23
to reach the world.
00:01:39.26\00:01:40.60
From there,
00:01:40.66\00:01:41.96
many of the individual
people began to step up.
00:01:42.00\00:01:43.83
Some joined our
board of directors.
00:01:43.90\00:01:46.00
And today, the
history is what it is, 3ABN,
00:01:46.03\00:01:49.57
because of ASI and
the Lord's blessings,
00:01:49.60\00:01:52.71
of course, we're
now reaching the world
00:01:52.74\00:01:55.18
with an undiluted
Three Angels' messages,
00:01:55.21\00:01:57.28
one that would
counteract the counterfeit.
00:01:57.31\00:01:58.81
So I want to
say thank you to ASI
00:01:58.85\00:02:01.62
and we're happy in turn
to be able to share that
00:02:01.65\00:02:04.95
and give opportunity to others
00:02:04.99\00:02:07.06
to share the Gospel as we do.
00:02:07.09\00:02:09.12
So we want to
just ask you tonight
00:02:09.16\00:02:11.83
that you would pray
fervently in your hearts
00:02:11.86\00:02:14.20
when you go back to your
rooms to consider the projects
00:02:14.20\00:02:18.20
that are listed in your program,
00:02:18.23\00:02:20.70
pray over them and
ask God to tell you,
00:02:20.74\00:02:23.57
"What is it that I can do, Lord?
00:02:23.61\00:02:26.04
How can I
partner with you, Jesus,
00:02:26.07\00:02:28.31
to help these ministries
00:02:28.34\00:02:29.68
to reach more
people in the world?"
00:02:29.71\00:02:31.85
So I want to thank you,
Danny, for 3ABN and for ASI
00:02:31.88\00:02:35.82
and all those that are
watching on 3ABN to help us.
00:02:35.85\00:02:39.45
I'd like to
encourage the folks at home too
00:02:39.49\00:02:41.56
because so many can't be here
00:02:41.59\00:02:43.49
that I'm sure
would love to be here,
00:02:43.53\00:02:45.59
but again, as the
Holy Spirit is impressing,
00:02:45.63\00:02:47.60
you pray and say,
00:02:47.66\00:02:48.96
"Lord, what
would you have me to do
00:02:49.00\00:02:50.70
for this great organization
that is sharing Jesus
00:02:50.73\00:02:53.77
in the marketplace not only here
00:02:53.80\00:02:55.84
but around the world?"
00:02:55.87\00:02:57.24
And I know that the Lord
would have you to do something.
00:02:57.27\00:02:59.01
So while you're
not here this Sabbath
00:02:59.04\00:03:01.24
and aren't able to physically
00:03:01.28\00:03:03.55
put the money in an
envelope, you can contact,
00:03:03.58\00:03:05.68
the address will
be on the screen.
00:03:05.71\00:03:07.15
And we encourage you to support
this great godly organization.
00:03:07.22\00:03:12.25
Thank you very much, Danny.
00:03:12.29\00:03:16.26
Each of us has a
testimony to God's grace
00:03:16.29\00:03:19.33
and His goodness to us.
00:03:19.36\00:03:21.70
Our speaker tonight
Alexis Abrahantes Carralero
00:03:21.73\00:03:26.84
was born in Communist Cuba
00:03:26.90\00:03:29.57
and through a
series of miraculous events
00:03:29.60\00:03:32.51
came to know Jesus.
00:03:32.54\00:03:34.64
I asked Alexis
00:03:34.68\00:03:36.08
"What is the
core of your message
00:03:36.11\00:03:37.85
that you would
like for us to hear
00:03:37.88\00:03:40.38
as you share your testimony?"
00:03:40.42\00:03:41.98
And he said,
00:03:42.02\00:03:43.35
"Debbie, with all
that I've gone through,
00:03:43.39\00:03:45.42
with what I've experienced,
00:03:45.45\00:03:46.92
I realize one
thing that no matter
00:03:46.96\00:03:49.92
how weak and disabled
00:03:49.99\00:03:52.46
and downtrodden and out we are,
00:03:52.49\00:03:56.20
God is continually on
a rescue mission for us,
00:03:56.23\00:04:00.74
for each of us.
00:04:00.77\00:04:02.57
And I pray that
everyone will remember
00:04:02.60\00:04:05.01
that regardless of how
we feel about ourselves
00:04:05.04\00:04:08.54
that we don't
have anything to offer,
00:04:08.58\00:04:11.08
Jesus, to do anything with that
00:04:11.11\00:04:14.32
because of God's love and
Him always reaching out to us,
00:04:14.35\00:04:19.32
we mean that much to Him
00:04:19.35\00:04:21.66
that He would
come and die for us."
00:04:21.69\00:04:24.83
So I ask that you
would pray with me for Alexis
00:04:24.86\00:04:29.36
as he shares his testimony
about God's mercy, His grace,
00:04:29.40\00:04:34.77
and His favor to
him as He rescued him
00:04:34.80\00:04:38.17
from the clutches of Satan.
00:04:38.21\00:04:39.91
Thank you.
00:04:39.94\00:04:41.28
Amen.
00:07:23.84\00:07:26.14
Happy Sabbath to my
brothers and sisters here
00:07:26.17\00:07:29.61
and across the globe.
00:07:29.64\00:07:32.61
What a journey
has brought me here
00:07:32.65\00:07:34.32
before you.
00:07:34.35\00:07:37.39
Before I begin,
00:07:37.42\00:07:39.19
I think it's proper to
make a short introduction
00:07:39.22\00:07:43.22
and I want to
use the words of Paul
00:07:43.26\00:07:45.36
in 1 Timothy 1:15.
00:07:45.39\00:07:49.80
And there he says the following.
00:07:49.83\00:07:53.70
"This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation
00:07:53.74\00:07:57.77
that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners,
00:07:57.81\00:08:04.18
of whom I am chief."
00:08:04.21\00:08:08.72
What could I presume
to teach you tonight?
00:08:08.75\00:08:14.09
What do I know
about your struggles,
00:08:14.12\00:08:17.16
your battles, your pains,
your triumphs, your victories?
00:08:17.19\00:08:22.63
All that I can do
tonight is share with you
00:08:22.66\00:08:27.24
some of the
lessons of mercy, hope,
00:08:27.27\00:08:31.17
and rescue that God
has shown in my life.
00:08:31.21\00:08:36.75
And before I begin, I just want
to have a short word of prayer.
00:08:36.78\00:08:40.55
Let's bow our heads.
00:08:40.62\00:08:44.42
Dear Heavenly Father,
00:08:44.45\00:08:46.39
we thank You that
we're gathered here
00:08:46.42\00:08:48.19
this evening to worship
You, Lord, on Your holy Sabbath.
00:08:48.22\00:08:53.63
Thank You for this
incredible opportunity
00:08:53.70\00:08:55.90
that we value
so little at times.
00:08:55.93\00:08:58.90
Lord, may You use me as a vessel
00:08:58.93\00:09:01.10
so that we can
realize how valuable,
00:09:01.14\00:09:04.94
how precious this freedom is.
00:09:04.97\00:09:08.58
And, Lord, how You work
so relentlessly to rescue us
00:09:08.61\00:09:13.95
each and every day.
00:09:13.98\00:09:16.05
In Christ's loving
name I ask these things.
00:09:16.08\00:09:19.25
Amen.
00:09:19.29\00:09:22.89
I come from the island of Cuba,
the largest in the Caribbean.
00:09:22.92\00:09:28.66
I was born on April 9, 1981
00:09:28.70\00:09:32.43
and to a world
that was partitioned,
00:09:32.47\00:09:36.40
the Soviet Union and the
West were the great powers.
00:09:36.44\00:09:41.71
And my father was a
colonel of the Interior Ministry
00:09:41.74\00:09:46.38
of the Armed Forces.
00:09:46.41\00:09:48.75
He had been
working also as a diplomat
00:09:48.78\00:09:52.12
and served in Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria, and Romania.
00:09:52.15\00:09:57.73
My mother worked in commerce.
00:09:57.76\00:10:00.60
And born into that
sort of military family,
00:10:00.63\00:10:04.67
I knew nothing at all about God.
00:10:04.70\00:10:08.67
I was being bred
and prepared to take,
00:10:08.70\00:10:13.64
some day, my father's shoes
00:10:13.68\00:10:16.58
and some role of the
Communist government.
00:10:16.61\00:10:19.81
So when I was born,
00:10:19.85\00:10:21.42
my parents were
living in Revolution Plaza
00:10:21.45\00:10:25.09
which was the
equivalent of what the Kremlin
00:10:25.12\00:10:28.59
was to Russia in Cuba.
00:10:28.62\00:10:31.13
And we're living in flat one.
00:10:31.16\00:10:35.06
And I was born knowing
absolutely nothing about God
00:10:35.10\00:10:40.37
and it was most likely
00:10:40.40\00:10:42.50
that I would know
very little about Him.
00:10:42.54\00:10:45.11
But unbeknownst to me,
00:10:45.14\00:10:47.51
a rescue mission
had been going on,
00:10:47.54\00:10:50.51
a rescue mission
00:10:50.58\00:10:51.91
that God had been
partaking very long
00:10:51.95\00:10:55.78
before I was even born.
00:10:55.82\00:10:58.69
And now with that introduction
of that moment in 1981,
00:10:58.72\00:11:03.86
when the world
was in competition,
00:11:03.93\00:11:06.39
the Soviets and the West
00:11:06.43\00:11:08.60
each wanted to
prove their ascendancy
00:11:08.63\00:11:11.70
and their
superiority, and I was,
00:11:11.73\00:11:15.17
like all the
children of my class,
00:11:15.20\00:11:18.81
stuck in that
world of competition
00:11:18.84\00:11:21.44
to show the world
00:11:21.48\00:11:22.88
that we were
better, faster, smarter
00:11:22.91\00:11:26.68
than the
decadent and corrupt West.
00:11:26.72\00:11:30.45
But before all of
this had occurred,
00:11:30.49\00:11:34.49
the Lord had begun to lay
00:11:34.52\00:11:36.73
the groundwork for my rescue.
00:11:36.79\00:11:40.96
And so I will
take you back in time
00:11:40.96\00:11:43.80
into to history
00:11:43.83\00:11:45.53
and into a particular
family called the Carraleros
00:11:45.57\00:11:49.94
and what God began to
do for the Carraleros.
00:11:49.97\00:11:54.84
In the earlier 20th century,
00:11:54.88\00:11:57.85
there were several
members of the Adventist Church
00:11:57.88\00:12:00.45
that felt the call to convert
and establish communities
00:12:00.52\00:12:06.22
and spread the
word of God in Cuba.
00:12:06.25\00:12:08.62
And so in the 1920s
several missionaries
00:12:08.66\00:12:12.39
began to travel
00:12:12.43\00:12:14.20
in the
countryside and in the cities.
00:12:14.30\00:12:16.30
And one of these
gentlemen was Emmanuel Pupo.
00:12:16.33\00:12:20.54
And Emmanuel Pupo began to go
to the oriental regions of Cuba
00:12:20.60\00:12:26.24
and began to go
from farm to farm to farm
00:12:26.27\00:12:29.84
sharing the Word of God
00:12:29.88\00:12:32.25
and the Adventist message.
00:12:32.28\00:12:34.78
Now this was a difficult
task and a very Catholic Cuba
00:12:34.82\00:12:40.26
where Protestants were
still seen with suspicion.
00:12:40.32\00:12:45.49
But he did not stop
00:12:45.53\00:12:48.60
from his calling and persevered.
00:12:48.63\00:12:52.57
And one evening
he arrived at a farm
00:12:52.60\00:12:55.17
of the Carralero family.
00:12:55.20\00:12:58.07
Now he gathered
there with the workers
00:12:58.11\00:13:01.74
and began to
share the Word of God.
00:13:01.78\00:13:04.35
And one of the
sons of the farm owner
00:13:04.38\00:13:09.52
went to listen to the
meeting and he was very moved.
00:13:09.55\00:13:13.56
And he went back to his
father whose name is Emiliano
00:13:13.59\00:13:17.03
and he said, "Dad,
00:13:17.06\00:13:18.49
this man is sharing
this amazing message
00:13:18.53\00:13:21.20
and I want to keep on
going to his meetings."
00:13:21.23\00:13:24.23
But his dad didn't want to
have anything to do with it.
00:13:24.27\00:13:27.50
So the young man
continued to go to the meetings.
00:13:27.54\00:13:32.77
Now his father
was the son of a man
00:13:32.81\00:13:36.81
whose name is Locadio Carralero,
00:13:36.85\00:13:39.08
and this man
00:13:39.11\00:13:40.72
in the early
decades of the 20th century
00:13:40.78\00:13:43.95
had 28 children.
00:13:43.99\00:13:47.36
And out of these 28 branches,
00:13:47.42\00:13:50.79
there are hundreds
of descendants today.
00:13:50.83\00:13:54.23
And this one
branch, the Emiliano branch,
00:13:54.30\00:13:58.47
was the one that this
young man belonged to.
00:13:58.50\00:14:01.84
And so he began to go
00:14:01.87\00:14:03.20
to all the
meetings night by night.
00:14:03.24\00:14:06.44
And he was
convinced that this message
00:14:06.47\00:14:09.64
was what he needed in his life.
00:14:09.68\00:14:12.01
So he decided to be baptized,
00:14:12.05\00:14:14.35
but his family wanted to
have nothing to do with it.
00:14:14.38\00:14:17.72
He had a prayer and his prayer
was that for the second coming,
00:14:17.75\00:14:23.46
he wanted all of his
family to be there with him.
00:14:23.53\00:14:28.43
And so he began to pray
for his father and his mother.
00:14:28.46\00:14:32.73
And as the months progressed,
Americo began to occur.
00:14:32.77\00:14:37.57
The practice of the
beliefs that he had learnt
00:14:37.61\00:14:42.01
had so changed this young man
00:14:42.04\00:14:44.31
that his example touched
every member of his family.
00:14:44.35\00:14:49.18
And before the year had ended,
00:14:49.22\00:14:51.32
all his sisters and
brothers and his parents
00:14:51.35\00:14:55.12
had become
Seventh Day Adventists.
00:14:55.16\00:14:58.59
He was very
young, a late teenager,
00:14:58.63\00:15:02.13
and he had fallen in
love with a young lady
00:15:02.16\00:15:04.60
and decided to marry.
00:15:04.63\00:15:06.74
And so the family gathered
for this beautiful wedding,
00:15:06.77\00:15:09.17
the bride with
her white satin dress,
00:15:09.20\00:15:11.97
and they were
living their fairy tale.
00:15:12.01\00:15:16.34
His wife
quickly became pregnant,
00:15:16.38\00:15:18.85
and a year later, a
little girl was born to them.
00:15:18.88\00:15:24.19
But three months
after she was born,
00:15:24.22\00:15:27.59
he fell ill and lay dying.
00:15:27.66\00:15:30.83
And in the
1940s, there was still,
00:15:30.86\00:15:34.96
in those regions of Cuba,
00:15:35.00\00:15:36.73
not the same capacities
00:15:36.77\00:15:38.70
that we have
today around the world
00:15:38.73\00:15:41.64
and they couldn't
figure out precisely
00:15:41.67\00:15:43.37
what was wrong with him.
00:15:43.41\00:15:44.97
And feeling himself to
be close to death's door,
00:15:45.01\00:15:48.58
he gathered his very
numerous family around him.
00:15:48.61\00:15:53.48
And he made
them, each one of them,
00:15:53.52\00:15:57.35
promise him something
00:15:57.39\00:15:59.09
'cause he wanted one
thing that was his dying wish.
00:15:59.12\00:16:03.66
And his dying wish was
that since he was going to die,
00:16:03.69\00:16:08.36
he wanted to have the great
joy on the day of resurrection
00:16:08.40\00:16:12.33
of seeing his daughter
00:16:12.37\00:16:14.47
and his
descendants there with her.
00:16:14.50\00:16:18.44
And so all the
members of the family
00:16:18.47\00:16:21.14
bowed to
educate this little girl
00:16:21.18\00:16:24.41
in the precepts of
the Adventist Church
00:16:24.45\00:16:27.88
and to prepare her
00:16:27.92\00:16:29.25
so that when her father some day
00:16:29.28\00:16:32.75
would be resurrected
for the second coming,
00:16:32.79\00:16:37.96
she also will be there
and share with the same joy.
00:16:37.99\00:16:42.43
And secure in
that promise, he died.
00:16:42.46\00:16:48.40
So the little girl grew
up going from home to home
00:16:48.44\00:16:52.91
in her family
00:16:52.94\00:16:54.41
and being educated with
different family members
00:16:54.44\00:16:57.98
until she grew up
and it was time for her
00:16:58.01\00:17:01.32
to go to academy.
00:17:01.35\00:17:04.22
And in Cuba, there was
a very prestigious academy
00:17:04.25\00:17:08.12
called the
College of the Antilles,
00:17:08.16\00:17:12.09
which still exists
today in Puerto Rico.
00:17:12.13\00:17:15.76
And so she went to the
College of the Antilles
00:17:15.80\00:17:18.93
and began to study and prepare.
00:17:18.97\00:17:23.81
And something interesting
was happening at the same time.
00:17:23.84\00:17:27.38
There was another family
00:17:27.41\00:17:28.74
that her family
knew, the Castros.
00:17:28.78\00:17:32.08
And one of the sons in
that family Fidel Castro
00:17:32.11\00:17:36.89
was beginning to
rile up the whole country
00:17:36.92\00:17:39.39
because he had the
answer to an ancient problem
00:17:39.42\00:17:43.73
that we have
been trying to solve
00:17:43.76\00:17:45.79
since the beginning of time,
00:17:45.83\00:17:48.03
the ancient problem of
inequality and poverty.
00:17:48.06\00:17:53.10
And so he began to
rally the society and say,
00:17:53.13\00:17:56.14
"You know, we have so
much missing in education,
00:17:56.17\00:18:01.64
so much missing in healthcare,
00:18:01.68\00:18:04.31
so much missing
00:18:04.35\00:18:05.81
with the
difference in the classes,
00:18:05.85\00:18:08.35
but we have the answer to this
00:18:08.38\00:18:11.22
and the answer is to overthrow
00:18:11.25\00:18:14.12
the dictatorship
of Fulgencio Batista."
00:18:14.19\00:18:18.09
And he resonated
00:18:18.13\00:18:21.43
with a great
deal of Cuban society.
00:18:21.46\00:18:24.70
Even the Cuban upper
classes began to help him.
00:18:24.73\00:18:29.74
Now we are in
the glamorous '50s,
00:18:29.77\00:18:33.68
the age of Christian
Dior and Harry Winston.
00:18:33.71\00:18:37.78
And Cuba and its glamour society
00:18:37.81\00:18:41.95
were all caught up in the balls,
00:18:41.98\00:18:43.92
in the ball gowns
and the fancy cars
00:18:43.99\00:18:47.66
and extravagant living.
00:18:47.69\00:18:50.86
And Castro is
saying the whole time,
00:18:50.93\00:18:55.10
"This is not fair,
00:18:55.13\00:18:57.23
we have to fix this gap,
we have to fix our society."
00:18:57.27\00:19:02.70
And so young people
began to catch up to that.
00:19:02.74\00:19:07.04
And they wanted to
reestablish the Cuban Republic
00:19:07.11\00:19:10.48
before the dictatorship
of Fulgencio Batista.
00:19:10.51\00:19:13.78
And so Cuba,
00:19:13.85\00:19:15.18
which was very
prosperous at the time,
00:19:15.22\00:19:18.12
began to wield
its muscle and say,
00:19:18.15\00:19:21.82
once we have Castro,
00:19:21.86\00:19:23.76
the republic
will be reestablished,
00:19:23.79\00:19:26.16
democracy will
truly be working once more
00:19:26.19\00:19:30.37
and we will begin to address
00:19:30.40\00:19:32.37
some of the social
evils that we have had.
00:19:32.40\00:19:37.01
And so Civil War breaks out.
00:19:37.04\00:19:42.08
And many of the
Carraleros went to fight
00:19:42.11\00:19:46.48
for Castro's side
00:19:46.51\00:19:48.68
and to support him
with arms and money
00:19:48.72\00:19:51.99
and with their
contacts in society.
00:19:52.02\00:19:56.93
And soon enough the revolution
caught up the wind of change.
00:19:56.96\00:20:02.53
And in 1959, Fidel Castro
00:20:02.56\00:20:06.40
with his rebels
triumphantly entered Havana.
00:20:06.43\00:20:11.27
But quickly after
he entered Havana,
00:20:11.31\00:20:14.04
his rhythm changed
00:20:14.08\00:20:17.21
and while they were coming down
00:20:17.25\00:20:20.08
from the mountains as rebels,
00:20:20.12\00:20:21.45
they had crucifixes
00:20:21.48\00:20:23.18
and said that the revolution
was as green as our palm trees,
00:20:23.22\00:20:27.96
something began to
emerge in the revolution,
00:20:27.99\00:20:32.36
something that was
very far away from us
00:20:32.39\00:20:34.46
across the world in the
Soviet Union, communism.
00:20:34.46\00:20:40.27
And after he had
managed to sit himself in power,
00:20:40.30\00:20:45.17
he changed
everything he had said and said,
00:20:45.21\00:20:49.11
"We are communists,
we don't believe in God.
00:20:49.14\00:20:53.01
God is a fable and
the Christian churches
00:20:53.05\00:20:57.25
have been supporting
and abetting the aristocrats
00:20:57.32\00:21:00.49
and the bourgeoisies.
00:21:00.56\00:21:02.09
And since that
class must be destroyed,
00:21:02.12\00:21:05.76
so must the churches."
00:21:05.79\00:21:08.80
And in the midst
of this revolution
00:21:08.83\00:21:12.10
all this glamorous world
00:21:12.13\00:21:14.04
that they had glided
right into the revolution
00:21:14.10\00:21:17.47
began to evaporate
right before their eyes.
00:21:17.51\00:21:22.61
And as a result
now you have Cubans
00:21:22.64\00:21:25.05
in every unlikely
corner of the world.
00:21:25.08\00:21:30.25
An age of
unprecedented persecution
00:21:30.29\00:21:34.52
and violence exploded in Cuba.
00:21:34.56\00:21:38.46
And much of that violence
00:21:38.49\00:21:40.56
was aimed at the
Christian churches.
00:21:40.60\00:21:44.00
And there was absolutely no
consequence of who you were,
00:21:44.03\00:21:49.20
what your connections were,
how much power you had had,
00:21:49.24\00:21:53.91
everybody was going
to suffer the same fate.
00:21:53.94\00:21:59.28
Soon enough the
communist soldiers
00:21:59.31\00:22:01.18
began to go house by house
00:22:01.22\00:22:03.22
to ransack every library
with a list of black books
00:22:03.25\00:22:07.46
just like the Nazis had done
00:22:07.49\00:22:09.36
not too many
decades before them.
00:22:09.39\00:22:11.69
And in those lists
00:22:11.73\00:22:13.70
were all the
works of Ellen G. White,
00:22:13.73\00:22:15.90
the Bible,
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,
00:22:15.93\00:22:19.67
and all of these works
were entrusted to the flames.
00:22:19.70\00:22:24.57
Then began the UMAP
concentration camps.
00:22:24.61\00:22:28.64
And countless of Adventists
00:22:28.68\00:22:30.71
were sent to this
concentration camps
00:22:30.75\00:22:33.68
in order to silence
00:22:33.72\00:22:35.32
and close up our reach in Cuba.
00:22:35.35\00:22:41.36
Yet Emiliano Carralero,
00:22:41.39\00:22:45.49
the father of the
young man who had passed away
00:22:45.53\00:22:48.70
would gather his family.
00:22:48.73\00:22:51.53
And they were seeing
00:22:51.57\00:22:53.97
how their pastors
were being sent off,
00:22:54.00\00:22:56.87
how their laymen
were being sent off,
00:22:56.94\00:22:59.31
how their houses
00:22:59.34\00:23:00.78
were being
invaded without any excuse
00:23:00.81\00:23:04.15
and ransacked,
00:23:04.18\00:23:05.91
how their relatives
were in fear of their lives.
00:23:05.95\00:23:08.52
And everybody
was trying to escape
00:23:08.55\00:23:10.89
to any country that
would provide them a visa.
00:23:10.92\00:23:14.29
And soon enough he began
to see his numerous family
00:23:14.32\00:23:17.43
began to spread
across the globe,
00:23:17.46\00:23:20.20
some to
Australia, others to Spain,
00:23:20.23\00:23:23.20
others to France,
the United States,
00:23:23.23\00:23:25.67
Mexico, Argentina,
00:23:25.70\00:23:28.14
anywhere with just the
clothes on their backs.
00:23:28.17\00:23:31.67
For every house was inventoried,
00:23:31.71\00:23:33.34
and before you left,
00:23:33.38\00:23:34.81
they went to check if
you had taken even a spoon.
00:23:34.84\00:23:38.85
And if you had taken a spoon,
you were not allowed to leave.
00:23:38.88\00:23:43.02
But he will gather his
family and read them many times
00:23:43.05\00:23:46.76
from the Bible
to encourage them.
00:23:46.82\00:23:49.52
And one of the verses
that is dear to the family
00:23:49.56\00:23:54.40
is in Deuteronomy 31:6,
00:23:54.46\00:23:59.00
"Be strong and of good courage,
00:23:59.03\00:24:02.14
fear not nor be afraid of
them for the Lord thy God,
00:24:02.17\00:24:06.98
He it is that doth go with thee.
00:24:07.01\00:24:09.68
He will not fail
thee nor forsake thee."
00:24:09.71\00:24:12.58
This little girl had grown
up to be a beautiful woman.
00:24:16.18\00:24:20.29
But she was
watching with this man
00:24:20.36\00:24:22.46
how her world was
being completely destroyed.
00:24:22.49\00:24:26.73
But there was the
strength of her grandfather
00:24:26.80\00:24:29.33
who had raised her,
00:24:29.36\00:24:31.03
this pillar of
certainty and faith
00:24:31.07\00:24:35.34
until he got sick
00:24:35.37\00:24:37.71
and he got cancer
and liver cirrhosis.
00:24:37.74\00:24:42.18
And one night he lay dying.
00:24:42.21\00:24:45.45
And he said to his granddaughter
00:24:45.48\00:24:47.58
who he called his daughter,
00:24:47.62\00:24:49.55
"Daughter,
00:24:49.58\00:24:50.95
don't forget who is
the God of your fathers.
00:24:50.99\00:24:55.06
Don't forsake that God.
00:24:55.09\00:24:57.73
Thought the world may be shaken
and fall away, stay true."
00:24:57.76\00:25:04.07
And he died in her arms
00:25:04.10\00:25:08.50
and she was absolutely
devastated by his death.
00:25:08.54\00:25:12.41
And she vowed that if such a God
00:25:12.44\00:25:15.71
that could permit
00:25:15.74\00:25:17.45
the destruction
of an entire society
00:25:17.48\00:25:20.72
and take away the
only strength that she had,
00:25:20.75\00:25:24.09
if such a God existed,
00:25:24.12\00:25:26.39
she wanted to have
nothing to do with that God.
00:25:26.42\00:25:30.66
And so she decided
that she would never again
00:25:30.73\00:25:35.00
go into a Seventh-day
Adventist Church in her life.
00:25:35.03\00:25:39.03
She turned her heart cold
00:25:39.07\00:25:41.74
and she left the few
members of her family
00:25:41.77\00:25:44.64
that were in Cuba,
00:25:44.67\00:25:46.94
went to Havana
and turned herself
00:25:46.98\00:25:50.41
into a brand new person.
00:25:50.45\00:25:53.78
Many years later,
00:25:53.82\00:25:55.25
she met a colonel
of the armed forces
00:25:55.28\00:25:59.09
and they began to court.
00:25:59.12\00:26:01.76
And he was besotted and in love
00:26:01.79\00:26:04.89
and so asked the
government to give its blessing
00:26:04.93\00:26:09.23
to their union.
00:26:09.26\00:26:11.50
And the government ran
00:26:11.53\00:26:13.07
an investigation
of her background.
00:26:13.10\00:26:17.01
And then presented him
with a thick folio and said,
00:26:17.04\00:26:21.34
"You know that your fiancee,
00:26:21.38\00:26:24.61
she has within
her something evil.
00:26:24.65\00:26:28.32
She has that
evil seed of religion
00:26:28.35\00:26:32.62
because she comes
from a bourgeoisie family.
00:26:32.65\00:26:36.02
And her family
helped to spread the Gospel
00:26:36.06\00:26:39.36
and to build institutions
of the Christian faith."
00:26:39.39\00:26:44.13
And so because this
is part of her character,
00:26:44.17\00:26:47.67
although she may be a
member of the Communist Party,
00:26:47.70\00:26:52.17
that dark seed
within her will come out
00:26:52.21\00:26:56.08
and she will betray the
Communist Party one day.
00:26:56.11\00:27:00.68
But he was in love and said,
00:27:00.75\00:27:04.15
"I'm going to and I'm
willing to take that risk."
00:27:04.22\00:27:06.99
And so he married her.
00:27:07.02\00:27:10.16
And I was born some years later.
00:27:10.19\00:27:14.13
But there was an understanding
that I was never to know
00:27:14.20\00:27:19.43
who my mother was and
who her family had been.
00:27:19.47\00:27:24.87
There was only a
handful of members
00:27:24.91\00:27:27.74
of her family in Cuba.
00:27:27.78\00:27:30.25
And those people
were instructed never ever
00:27:30.28\00:27:34.35
to reveal the secret.
00:27:34.38\00:27:38.29
And so I grew up
completely ignorant
00:27:38.32\00:27:42.16
as to what was happening.
00:27:42.19\00:27:45.13
But God has a
rescue mission working,
00:27:45.16\00:27:48.83
and the rescue
mission was undergoing
00:27:48.86\00:27:51.63
this whole time.
00:27:51.67\00:27:53.50
There was a Bible worker,
00:27:53.54\00:27:55.44
her name is Bethsaida Hidalgo
00:27:55.47\00:27:57.67
who through the
persecution stayed true
00:27:57.71\00:28:00.81
to her faith.
00:28:00.84\00:28:02.41
She went to visit
people in the jails
00:28:02.44\00:28:04.68
and the hospitals,
outreach without fear.
00:28:04.71\00:28:08.05
And her story really
00:28:08.08\00:28:10.15
is a story of
incredible courage.
00:28:10.22\00:28:13.19
And every year,
00:28:13.22\00:28:14.99
Bethsaida Hidalgo
would go and visit my mother
00:28:15.02\00:28:19.83
and remind her
00:28:19.86\00:28:21.33
who the God of her father's was.
00:28:21.36\00:28:24.00
And this was an incredible
risk because the military class
00:28:24.07\00:28:28.04
was under a special set of laws
00:28:28.07\00:28:31.01
called the laws
against diversion of ideology
00:28:31.04\00:28:36.01
which prohibited
them from having contact
00:28:36.04\00:28:38.58
with any religious
institution or with people
00:28:38.61\00:28:41.85
that had contact with
religious institutions.
00:28:41.88\00:28:45.02
So if Bethsaida was
discovered to be doing that,
00:28:45.05\00:28:48.72
she would be sent
off to a working camp
00:28:48.76\00:28:52.36
or worse for a period
of five to more years.
00:28:52.39\00:28:57.13
Some people had
gone to these camps
00:28:57.17\00:28:59.63
for 15 to 20 years.
00:28:59.67\00:29:03.24
But she took that risk.
00:29:03.27\00:29:05.27
And one night
when my father was away
00:29:05.31\00:29:08.08
and went to have
diplomatic trips,
00:29:08.11\00:29:11.48
I met Bethsaida
00:29:11.51\00:29:13.28
and she quickly
didn't lose any time
00:29:13.31\00:29:15.88
and began to tell me
everything about God.
00:29:15.92\00:29:19.19
And I would
notice that late at night
00:29:19.22\00:29:22.69
my mother would sit
00:29:22.72\00:29:26.13
and she would
begin to sing a song.
00:29:26.16\00:29:30.50
And the words of the
song is I will lift up my eyes
00:29:30.57\00:29:33.47
on to the hills from
whence cometh my help.
00:29:33.54\00:29:36.54
My help cometh from the Lord
which made heaven and earth.
00:29:36.57\00:29:41.74
She was literally sitting
inside of the lion's mouth.
00:29:41.78\00:29:46.92
But she was lifting her eyes
00:29:46.95\00:29:49.42
asking God for some
sort of escape route.
00:29:49.45\00:29:54.19
And so after I
learned about God,
00:29:54.26\00:29:56.93
I became extremely curious,
00:29:56.96\00:29:59.23
my dad returned
from Europe right
00:29:59.26\00:30:04.30
as the Soviet Union
was beginning to dissemble.
00:30:04.33\00:30:08.44
And there was a
wind of hope in Cuba
00:30:08.47\00:30:12.17
that maybe that great change
00:30:12.21\00:30:14.08
that had shaken
the world in Europe
00:30:14.14\00:30:16.71
would come to us.
00:30:16.75\00:30:19.11
But the Communist
Party closed up ranks
00:30:19.15\00:30:22.08
and cracked
down on every freedom
00:30:22.12\00:30:24.92
that could possibly spring up.
00:30:24.95\00:30:28.26
And so as this is happening,
00:30:28.29\00:30:32.36
my mother and I
began to visit the church
00:30:32.39\00:30:36.13
which was a very risky endeavor
00:30:36.16\00:30:38.13
and because of
I'm pressed for time,
00:30:38.17\00:30:40.17
I cannot tell
you the adventures,
00:30:40.20\00:30:42.70
the truly
Sherlock Holmes adventures
00:30:42.74\00:30:45.44
that we had to
do to go to church
00:30:45.47\00:30:48.34
and to study the Bible.
00:30:48.38\00:30:50.21
But my mother knew
00:30:50.28\00:30:51.61
that it was a
cat and mouse game,
00:30:51.65\00:30:53.45
it was only a matter of
time before we would be reported
00:30:53.48\00:30:56.72
to the government.
00:30:56.75\00:30:58.69
And because of the laws
of diversion of ideology,
00:30:58.72\00:31:02.12
I would be taken away
from my parents at that point.
00:31:02.16\00:31:07.13
So it was a race for knowledge.
00:31:07.20\00:31:11.70
I began to read Bibles
00:31:11.73\00:31:13.30
that had been handwritten
by children and compiled
00:31:13.34\00:31:18.54
because the Bible
was a very rare book,
00:31:18.57\00:31:20.64
very few people had them.
00:31:20.68\00:31:22.91
And so the Adventist children,
00:31:22.94\00:31:24.88
many of them
had given themselves
00:31:24.91\00:31:26.78
the task to be the
scribes to save all these works
00:31:26.82\00:31:30.39
for the next generation
and for the next generation
00:31:30.45\00:31:33.02
that was living.
00:31:33.05\00:31:35.19
And so I began to read
00:31:35.22\00:31:37.59
as a small child
underneath my bed
00:31:37.63\00:31:40.06
with my last Soviet
batteries the Bible.
00:31:40.10\00:31:44.83
And I was
enthralled by everything
00:31:44.87\00:31:47.80
that I was reading.
00:31:47.84\00:31:49.17
And I knew in the
library of my home
00:31:49.20\00:31:50.84
there was a copy of the
Bible that my father read.
00:31:50.87\00:31:53.81
And he read it because
00:31:53.84\00:31:55.18
he had a degree
in ancient history
00:31:55.21\00:31:56.54
and read it as just
another book of fables
00:31:56.58\00:32:00.72
like the Iliad and Odyssey,
00:32:00.75\00:32:02.92
but he would not
permit me to read the Bible.
00:32:02.95\00:32:07.06
Why was the Bible so dangerous
00:32:07.09\00:32:08.69
when the Odyssey
and the Iliad were not?
00:32:08.72\00:32:12.83
And so my father returned,
00:32:12.86\00:32:16.97
and at that time we had
been visiting the church
00:32:17.03\00:32:20.60
and one night I decided
00:32:20.64\00:32:22.37
that I was going to be baptized.
00:32:22.40\00:32:26.11
And I told my mother,
00:32:26.14\00:32:28.08
"Mom, tomorrow I'm
going to tell my dad
00:32:28.11\00:32:32.35
that I've been visiting
00:32:32.38\00:32:33.72
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:32:33.78\00:32:35.65
and that I want to be baptized."
00:32:35.68\00:32:38.45
My mother was thunderstruck,
00:32:38.49\00:32:42.66
"Do you know what that means?
00:32:42.69\00:32:45.26
Do you know that your
father will divorce me
00:32:45.29\00:32:47.60
and you will be
taken away to a camp
00:32:47.66\00:32:51.43
where you will be reeducated?
00:32:51.47\00:32:53.77
And then most communist member
00:32:53.80\00:32:56.10
of the family will
be given to your care
00:32:56.14\00:33:01.18
when you're 21 years old?"
00:33:01.21\00:33:04.81
But I had read
the story of Esther
00:33:04.85\00:33:08.08
and those words of
00:33:08.12\00:33:09.88
"If I perish, I perish"
resonated deeply within me.
00:33:09.92\00:33:15.92
So that night, we prepared,
00:33:15.96\00:33:18.06
we prepared for what was
gonna happen the next day.
00:33:18.09\00:33:22.03
And I tried to
memorize my mother's face
00:33:22.06\00:33:24.53
because I knew that perhaps
I would never see her again.
00:33:24.57\00:33:28.60
And so that night my
parents both came to my room
00:33:28.64\00:33:31.21
and my dad said,
00:33:31.24\00:33:32.91
"Alexis, I will be going to meet
00:33:32.94\00:33:36.71
the prime minister of
Nigeria tomorrow morning
00:33:36.75\00:33:39.25
and your mother
has to go to a trial
00:33:39.28\00:33:41.45
that has to do with her work.
00:33:41.48\00:33:42.82
So you're going
to be by yourself
00:33:42.85\00:33:46.02
and we will be at home
00:33:46.05\00:33:47.72
later on in the
morning, so don't worry."
00:33:47.76\00:33:50.59
So the next day I woke up
00:33:50.63\00:33:53.86
and I was waiting for my parents
00:33:53.90\00:33:58.00
and it was
getting later and later
00:33:58.03\00:34:00.34
and I decided that I
was going to cook breakfast.
00:34:00.37\00:34:04.77
So I went to the furnace room,
00:34:04.81\00:34:06.71
I grabbed a
container of kerosene,
00:34:06.78\00:34:11.28
and I went to a kitchen
in the back of the house
00:34:11.31\00:34:15.75
and began to try to cook.
00:34:15.78\00:34:19.25
What I didn't
realize is that the match
00:34:19.29\00:34:22.02
that I had snuffed out,
00:34:22.06\00:34:24.69
I threw on the floor
00:34:24.73\00:34:26.63
and that match went
right into the very small
00:34:26.70\00:34:30.43
receptacle
entrance of this container.
00:34:30.47\00:34:35.94
I closed it without realizing it
00:34:35.97\00:34:38.94
and I put it underneath my arm
00:34:38.97\00:34:40.64
to return it to
the furnace room.
00:34:40.68\00:34:43.65
And as I was
walking to the furnace room,
00:34:43.71\00:34:48.35
this container exploded.
00:34:48.38\00:34:52.89
I had caused, I had
created a bomb really
00:34:52.92\00:34:57.79
because half the
container was full of air
00:34:57.83\00:35:00.13
and half of fuel.
00:35:00.16\00:35:03.23
And this, the wave of expansion
00:35:03.26\00:35:05.77
that it created was
felt for a kilometer radius.
00:35:05.80\00:35:09.84
It severed my right
arm and left it hanging
00:35:09.87\00:35:13.78
from the tendons in my back.
00:35:13.81\00:35:16.75
And it began to
burn me from inside out.
00:35:16.78\00:35:21.02
This was a rare
chemical reaction that happens
00:35:21.05\00:35:25.35
when a room is
completely enclosed
00:35:25.39\00:35:27.56
and until that wave
did not have an escape,
00:35:27.59\00:35:32.36
I got burnt from inside out.
00:35:32.39\00:35:35.73
And so I
decimated all of my airways.
00:35:35.76\00:35:40.74
I didn't realize
what was happening
00:35:40.80\00:35:43.30
and I thought that my house
00:35:43.37\00:35:45.07
had been bombed by the junkies
00:35:45.11\00:35:48.18
because as a child,
00:35:48.21\00:35:49.61
of course, you're brainwashed
00:35:49.64\00:35:52.68
that the junkies
are going to invade.
00:35:52.71\00:35:54.45
And of course,
00:35:54.48\00:35:55.82
whose house
would they bomb first
00:35:55.85\00:35:57.59
but the military's?
00:35:57.62\00:35:58.95
So I thought,
00:35:58.99\00:36:00.39
"Well, here the
junkies have finally invaded."
00:36:00.42\00:36:03.19
So I knelt down
to roll on the ground
00:36:03.22\00:36:06.46
and then I noticed
this wind in my hair.
00:36:06.49\00:36:10.67
I had long straight
hair that I miss very much.
00:36:10.70\00:36:15.50
And I felt like
something caught up in my hair.
00:36:15.54\00:36:20.71
And so I lifted my arms
and that's when I noticed
00:36:20.78\00:36:24.28
that I didn't have my right arm.
00:36:24.31\00:36:27.22
And when I felt it was
that I was being encircled
00:36:27.25\00:36:31.32
by the flames
over and over again.
00:36:31.35\00:36:35.29
And I had a moment
of incredible clarity.
00:36:35.32\00:36:39.09
I knew that this
was no coincidence
00:36:39.13\00:36:41.60
and it was no accident.
00:36:41.63\00:36:44.23
I knew that Satan
was going to do something
00:36:44.27\00:36:47.90
to stop the courageous
step that we're about to make.
00:36:47.94\00:36:53.44
And to turn once
00:36:53.48\00:36:54.81
and for all my
mother's heart cold towards God.
00:36:54.84\00:36:58.31
And I began to
pray, "Lord, if I die,
00:36:58.35\00:37:02.68
please help my mother
00:37:02.72\00:37:04.05
to continue on the
path that we have chosen.
00:37:04.12\00:37:07.02
But if I live,
00:37:07.09\00:37:08.96
I only want to
live to praise You."
00:37:08.99\00:37:12.36
And that's why I'm here tonight.
00:37:12.39\00:37:13.83
Amen.
00:37:13.86\00:37:16.03
When I opened my eyes,
00:37:16.06\00:37:17.40
I was standing in
front of the bathroom
00:37:17.47\00:37:19.67
which was at the
other end of the house.
00:37:19.70\00:37:22.60
And the bathroom door was
open, and in the large mirror,
00:37:22.64\00:37:26.78
I could see the
flames encircling me.
00:37:26.81\00:37:30.35
To this day, no one knows
how I got from the kitchen
00:37:30.38\00:37:35.75
to the bathroom
00:37:35.78\00:37:37.12
for there was a pool
of blood in the kitchen
00:37:37.19\00:37:40.56
where I had
laid during my prayer
00:37:40.59\00:37:42.82
but no tracing of blood
all the way to the bathroom.
00:37:42.86\00:37:48.50
When I got
inside of the bathroom,
00:37:48.53\00:37:50.83
the faucets of water
were already turned on.
00:37:50.87\00:37:54.24
So I thought that I
must have gone unconscious
00:37:54.27\00:37:57.74
and that somebody must have come
00:37:57.77\00:37:59.11
in the house to help me,
and I turned, still burning,
00:37:59.14\00:38:03.28
and started screaming for help.
00:38:03.31\00:38:05.55
There was no one in the house.
00:38:05.58\00:38:08.68
At that moment
when I saw the water on,
00:38:08.72\00:38:10.95
I remember a story,
00:38:11.02\00:38:12.75
a story that
saved my arm in part.
00:38:12.79\00:38:15.62
My father had told me a story
of a friend of his in Siberia
00:38:15.66\00:38:18.29
who had lost a
finger due to frostbite
00:38:18.33\00:38:22.93
and part and they had
grabbed a towel with water
00:38:22.96\00:38:26.17
and kept the circulation going
00:38:26.20\00:38:28.77
until they were
able to reattach it.
00:38:28.80\00:38:31.51
So I took the water,
00:38:31.54\00:38:33.38
I put on the water the towel
00:38:33.41\00:38:35.48
and with my
left arm and my teeth
00:38:35.51\00:38:38.18
I was able to wrap this towel
around the left of my shoulder
00:38:38.21\00:38:42.28
and to press my arm
against that gaping hole.
00:38:42.32\00:38:48.26
And then I began to
run out to scream for help.
00:38:48.29\00:38:51.39
From that point forward,
00:38:54.40\00:38:56.63
it was miracle after miracle
after miracle after miracle.
00:38:56.67\00:39:02.57
I can sit here for
more than six hours
00:39:02.60\00:39:07.24
and relate each
and every miracle.
00:39:07.31\00:39:11.81
Unfortunately, I don't
have the luxury of the time.
00:39:11.85\00:39:15.82
But God took
this nine-year-old boy
00:39:15.85\00:39:20.79
who was fragile
and reduced to ashes
00:39:20.82\00:39:25.96
and began to
demonstrate with this child
00:39:25.99\00:39:31.17
that He was present in Cuba
00:39:31.20\00:39:34.50
and that it cannot
be attributed to science
00:39:34.54\00:39:37.71
and it could not
be attributed to men,
00:39:37.74\00:39:40.08
it could only be
attributed to God.
00:39:40.11\00:39:43.95
Amen.
00:39:43.98\00:39:45.35
And so something
incredible happened.
00:39:45.38\00:39:48.95
The story of my accident
00:39:48.98\00:39:53.15
took off through
Havana like wildfire
00:39:53.19\00:39:56.83
and Seventh-day
Adventist churches
00:39:56.86\00:39:59.46
regardless of what
was gonna happen to them
00:39:59.49\00:40:01.36
began to go to the hospital
00:40:01.40\00:40:03.10
and began a circle of
prayer outside of the hospital.
00:40:03.13\00:40:08.24
Day and night,
00:40:08.27\00:40:09.84
day and night the church prayed.
00:40:09.87\00:40:12.77
And God inside was showing Cuba
00:40:12.81\00:40:17.15
that He had not been exiled,
00:40:17.21\00:40:20.02
He had not been taken
to the concentration camps,
00:40:20.08\00:40:24.05
He was not in jail, He
was there amongst them,
00:40:24.09\00:40:28.66
He was working with them.
00:40:28.69\00:40:31.99
And so one night the
present dictator of Cuba
00:40:32.03\00:40:37.50
who was at that time
Vice President of Cuba
00:40:37.53\00:40:43.64
came to see me.
00:40:43.67\00:40:45.94
And I was literally
pieces of meat gathered
00:40:45.97\00:40:51.41
in a hyperbaric bed.
00:40:51.45\00:40:54.25
And he sat and he was
looking at the medical history.
00:40:54.28\00:40:59.42
And he closed it up
and he looked at me,
00:40:59.45\00:41:02.09
I was incubated but
I was not unconscious.
00:41:02.12\00:41:06.39
And he said, "You know, Alexis,
00:41:06.43\00:41:09.63
I don't believe in my shadow
because it moves too much.
00:41:09.66\00:41:14.34
But your case,
00:41:14.37\00:41:16.54
your case shows
that there is a God."
00:41:16.57\00:41:18.07
The Lord took
me from that moment
00:41:22.11\00:41:27.32
and used
00:41:27.38\00:41:30.75
this example of vulnerability
00:41:30.79\00:41:35.19
to show Cuba
that He was their God,
00:41:35.22\00:41:40.76
He loved them and
was reaching out to them
00:41:40.80\00:41:42.90
and He is today.
00:41:42.93\00:41:45.73
And so 125
surgeries later, you have me.
00:41:45.77\00:41:52.54
Amen.
00:41:52.57\00:41:55.28
I am one of God's
masterpiece Frankensteins.
00:41:55.31\00:42:01.72
And I am here an impossibility
00:42:01.75\00:42:07.16
talking to you.
00:42:07.19\00:42:09.72
I should not be speaking
and I should not be walking,
00:42:09.76\00:42:14.10
let alone be a life
00:42:14.10\00:42:16.46
but God has given
me those abilities.
00:42:16.50\00:42:21.90
And it's not because
00:42:21.94\00:42:23.27
there is anything
extraordinary about me,
00:42:23.30\00:42:27.14
it's exactly the opposite,
00:42:27.18\00:42:30.98
it is because I am so ordinary
00:42:31.01\00:42:35.95
and just...
00:42:35.98\00:42:38.99
And every day
00:42:39.02\00:42:40.92
and just the next
door kind of person
00:42:40.96\00:42:45.33
that He used it
00:42:45.36\00:42:47.13
because he wanted to show
that no matter who you are,
00:42:47.20\00:42:52.63
how useless you think
you are, how untalented,
00:42:52.67\00:42:57.24
how pained, how scarred,
00:42:57.27\00:43:01.14
how beaten up
by life you may be,
00:43:01.18\00:43:06.08
He can make
something really extraordinary,
00:43:06.11\00:43:08.45
miraculous out of you.
00:43:08.48\00:43:09.82
I wanted to close
00:43:14.06\00:43:15.76
and I want to close this evening
00:43:15.79\00:43:20.03
with a story
00:43:20.10\00:43:21.70
because I think
that in many ways
00:43:21.73\00:43:25.00
we read the story of
the children of Israel
00:43:25.03\00:43:27.00
wandering in the desert.
00:43:27.04\00:43:28.64
And we think how is it
possible that these people
00:43:28.67\00:43:32.97
that saw the
Red Sea spread open,
00:43:33.01\00:43:36.31
that had this cloud above them
00:43:36.34\00:43:39.41
so that they wouldn't
be scorched by the sun
00:43:39.45\00:43:41.55
and had Manna raining down,
00:43:41.58\00:43:45.29
how could these
people doubt God?
00:43:45.32\00:43:49.02
And yet here we are,
00:43:52.29\00:43:56.63
blessings raining down
upon us and we doubt God.
00:43:56.70\00:44:02.90
My father had a
very interesting way
00:44:02.94\00:44:05.74
of introducing my scars to me.
00:44:05.77\00:44:09.31
Before I got burned,
00:44:09.34\00:44:10.68
I had been a child
model for Bohemia magazine.
00:44:10.75\00:44:14.32
And I was
somewhat proud of my looks.
00:44:14.35\00:44:18.92
So I had not seen
the monster I had become.
00:44:18.95\00:44:23.16
And one day I got my
reflection and I told my father,
00:44:23.19\00:44:27.50
"Dad, I want to
see what I look like."
00:44:27.50\00:44:31.00
He said, "Okay, okay.
00:44:31.03\00:44:33.34
I will bring you a
mirror but you have to wait
00:44:33.40\00:44:35.50
until I go home
and I come back."
00:44:35.54\00:44:37.61
So he went home he
dressed up in his color uniform
00:44:37.64\00:44:40.64
and he put all the
medals that he could on.
00:44:40.68\00:44:44.21
And he knew that
I loved his medals
00:44:44.25\00:44:47.72
because he had
been around the world,
00:44:47.75\00:44:49.82
had fought in many
wars, had many honors,
00:44:49.85\00:44:52.52
and I was enthralled
by all this Indiana Jones
00:44:52.55\00:44:55.96
kind of stories in
Africa and Madagascar and Europe
00:44:55.99\00:45:00.73
and as he worked as a spy
and infiltrated governments.
00:45:00.76\00:45:03.67
And I was just in awe of
this larger than life man.
00:45:03.70\00:45:08.87
And so he went home,
got all his medals on,
00:45:08.90\00:45:12.51
and he went back into
my room with a mirror,
00:45:12.54\00:45:15.38
he said, "Before you look,
00:45:15.41\00:45:18.58
I just want to
tell you something,
00:45:18.61\00:45:20.22
I'm envious of you."
00:45:20.25\00:45:22.85
And I said, "Of me?
00:45:22.88\00:45:27.26
What can you envy of me?
00:45:27.29\00:45:30.13
I have no accomplishments.
00:45:30.16\00:45:32.76
I have done nothing
compared to what you have done."
00:45:32.79\00:45:36.40
He said, "Well, when I
get home after a parade,
00:45:36.43\00:45:40.34
I have to take off my
medals and my uniform.
00:45:40.40\00:45:44.37
But you, Alexis,
00:45:44.41\00:45:46.27
you are going
to wear your medals
00:45:46.31\00:45:48.58
every day of your life
for the rest of your life.
00:45:48.61\00:45:53.88
So every time you
look at the mirror,
00:45:53.92\00:45:56.12
you're gonna see the evidence
of this fight against death."
00:45:56.15\00:46:02.06
And so when I
looked at the mirror,
00:46:02.09\00:46:05.13
I saw those medals
00:46:05.16\00:46:08.53
and I've had a love
and hate relationships
00:46:08.56\00:46:10.87
with the scars
that cover my body.
00:46:10.90\00:46:13.94
But every day no matter
how much I may doubt suddenly,
00:46:13.97\00:46:19.24
no matter what the
moment of weakness I may have,
00:46:19.27\00:46:22.38
no matter my failures,
God reminds me in the mirror,
00:46:22.41\00:46:27.62
"I did this for you.
00:46:27.65\00:46:30.99
Your scars are your medals."
00:46:31.02\00:46:34.52
We all have scars.
00:46:34.56\00:46:37.86
We can choose to be
a victim or survivor.
00:46:37.89\00:46:42.96
And God has given us
the tools and the calling.
00:46:43.00\00:46:48.64
Not only to be survivors
00:46:48.67\00:46:51.67
but to share our
scars with the world
00:46:51.71\00:46:56.18
so that everyone may be
healed by those ultimate scars,
00:46:56.21\00:47:02.42
the scars on the hands of Jesus.
00:47:02.45\00:47:05.32
Amen.
00:47:05.35\00:47:09.02
I would like to close
00:47:09.06\00:47:10.59
by reading Hebrews 11:1-3.
00:47:10.66\00:47:16.80
"Now faith is the summation
00:47:16.87\00:47:20.97
for the evidence
of things not seen.
00:47:21.00\00:47:24.44
For by it the elders
obtained good report.
00:47:24.47\00:47:28.08
Through faith we understand
00:47:28.11\00:47:30.15
that the worlds were
framed by the Word of God
00:47:30.18\00:47:33.28
so that the things
00:47:33.31\00:47:34.65
which are not seen
were not made of things
00:47:34.68\00:47:36.99
which do appear."
00:47:37.02\00:47:38.35
So I leave you with faith
because in faith there is hope,
00:47:41.46\00:47:46.90
in hope there is love,
00:47:46.93\00:47:49.10
and love is the
ultimate gift of our Lord.
00:47:49.13\00:47:52.60
Amen.
00:47:52.63\00:47:54.00
O love that will not let me go
00:48:20.73\00:48:27.37
I rest my weary soul in Thee
00:48:27.44\00:48:33.58
I give Thee back the life I owe
00:48:33.61\00:48:39.91
That in Thine
ocean depths its flow
00:48:39.95\00:48:44.92
May richer
00:48:44.95\00:48:46.96
Fuller be
00:48:46.99\00:48:52.63
O light that
foll'west all my way
00:48:52.66\00:48:58.57
I yield my
flickering torch to Thee
00:48:58.60\00:49:04.51
My heart
restores its borrowed ray
00:49:04.54\00:49:10.38
That in Thy
sunshine's blaze its day
00:49:10.41\00:49:15.12
May brighter
00:49:15.15\00:49:16.92
Fairer be
00:49:16.95\00:49:22.36
O joy that
seekest me through pain
00:49:22.39\00:49:27.86
I cannot close my heart to Thee
00:49:27.93\00:49:33.57
I trace the
rainbow through the rain
00:49:33.64\00:49:39.24
And feel the promise is not vain
00:49:39.27\00:49:43.78
That morn shall tearless be
00:49:43.85\00:49:50.69