Participants: Alexis Abrahantes Carralero (Host), Debbie Young
Series Code: 17ASIC
Program Code: 17ASIC000009A
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00:19 This is another one of our Offering in Action segments.
00:22 And throughout the convention, 00:24 we have brought to you 00:25 just a few of the projects of the 42 projects 00:29 that will be funded from the offering this year. 00:31 And we've heard from many of them 00:33 that God has really blessed them 00:36 and that, through partnership with others, 00:39 God has helped them to be more effective 00:41 in their ministry. 00:42 And I just want to turn in 00:44 and thank Danny on behalf of ASI 00:47 for 3ABN becoming one of those partnerships 00:51 for many of our ministries. 00:52 Because of 3ABN, many ministries 00:55 who otherwise would not have a voice 00:57 have been able to share with others 00:59 the burden on their heart 01:01 that God has given them to reach others 01:03 for His kingdom. 01:04 So we are thankful for 3ABN and all that 3ABN has done 01:08 to give voice to so many ministries. 01:09 Thank you, Debbie. 01:11 And I in turn have to thank ASI 01:13 because 1985 I went to my first ASI, 01:18 that's longer than some of these folk 01:20 have been alive. 01:21 Went to it first in 1985 in Big Sky, Montana. 01:26 And there I was asked, 01:27 Phil Winsted was the president 01:29 and Henry Martin, vice president. 01:31 And I had an opportunity, there was no 3ABN, 01:33 we were just beginning it, 01:35 they let me share the vision 01:37 of building a television station 01:39 to reach the world. 01:40 From there, 01:42 many of the individual people began to step up. 01:43 Some joined our board of directors. 01:46 And today, the history is what it is, 3ABN, 01:49 because of ASI and the Lord's blessings, 01:52 of course, we're now reaching the world 01:55 with an undiluted Three Angels' messages, 01:57 one that would counteract the counterfeit. 01:58 So I want to say thank you to ASI 02:01 and we're happy in turn to be able to share that 02:04 and give opportunity to others 02:07 to share the Gospel as we do. 02:09 So we want to just ask you tonight 02:11 that you would pray fervently in your hearts 02:14 when you go back to your rooms to consider the projects 02:18 that are listed in your program, 02:20 pray over them and ask God to tell you, 02:23 "What is it that I can do, Lord? 02:26 How can I partner with you, Jesus, 02:28 to help these ministries 02:29 to reach more people in the world?" 02:31 So I want to thank you, Danny, for 3ABN and for ASI 02:35 and all those that are watching on 3ABN to help us. 02:39 I'd like to encourage the folks at home too 02:41 because so many can't be here 02:43 that I'm sure would love to be here, 02:45 but again, as the Holy Spirit is impressing, 02:47 you pray and say, 02:49 "Lord, what would you have me to do 02:50 for this great organization that is sharing Jesus 02:53 in the marketplace not only here 02:55 but around the world?" 02:57 And I know that the Lord would have you to do something. 02:59 So while you're not here this Sabbath 03:01 and aren't able to physically 03:03 put the money in an envelope, you can contact, 03:05 the address will be on the screen. 03:07 And we encourage you to support this great godly organization. 03:12 Thank you very much, Danny. 03:16 Each of us has a testimony to God's grace 03:19 and His goodness to us. 03:21 Our speaker tonight Alexis Abrahantes Carralero 03:26 was born in Communist Cuba 03:29 and through a series of miraculous events 03:32 came to know Jesus. 03:34 I asked Alexis 03:36 "What is the core of your message 03:37 that you would like for us to hear 03:40 as you share your testimony?" 03:42 And he said, 03:43 "Debbie, with all that I've gone through, 03:45 with what I've experienced, 03:46 I realize one thing that no matter 03:49 how weak and disabled 03:52 and downtrodden and out we are, 03:56 God is continually on a rescue mission for us, 04:00 for each of us. 04:02 And I pray that everyone will remember 04:05 that regardless of how we feel about ourselves 04:08 that we don't have anything to offer, 04:11 Jesus, to do anything with that 04:14 because of God's love and Him always reaching out to us, 04:19 we mean that much to Him 04:21 that He would come and die for us." 04:24 So I ask that you would pray with me for Alexis 04:29 as he shares his testimony about God's mercy, His grace, 04:34 and His favor to him as He rescued him 04:38 from the clutches of Satan. 04:39 Thank you. 07:23 Amen. 07:26 Happy Sabbath to my brothers and sisters here 07:29 and across the globe. 07:32 What a journey has brought me here 07:34 before you. 07:37 Before I begin, 07:39 I think it's proper to make a short introduction 07:43 and I want to use the words of Paul 07:45 in 1 Timothy 1:15. 07:49 And there he says the following. 07:53 "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation 07:57 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 08:04 of whom I am chief." 08:08 What could I presume to teach you tonight? 08:14 What do I know about your struggles, 08:17 your battles, your pains, your triumphs, your victories? 08:22 All that I can do tonight is share with you 08:27 some of the lessons of mercy, hope, 08:31 and rescue that God has shown in my life. 08:36 And before I begin, I just want to have a short word of prayer. 08:40 Let's bow our heads. 08:44 Dear Heavenly Father, 08:46 we thank You that we're gathered here 08:48 this evening to worship You, Lord, on Your holy Sabbath. 08:53 Thank You for this incredible opportunity 08:55 that we value so little at times. 08:58 Lord, may You use me as a vessel 09:01 so that we can realize how valuable, 09:04 how precious this freedom is. 09:08 And, Lord, how You work so relentlessly to rescue us 09:13 each and every day. 09:16 In Christ's loving name I ask these things. 09:19 Amen. 09:22 I come from the island of Cuba, the largest in the Caribbean. 09:28 I was born on April 9, 1981 09:32 and to a world that was partitioned, 09:36 the Soviet Union and the West were the great powers. 09:41 And my father was a colonel of the Interior Ministry 09:46 of the Armed Forces. 09:48 He had been working also as a diplomat 09:52 and served in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. 09:57 My mother worked in commerce. 10:00 And born into that sort of military family, 10:04 I knew nothing at all about God. 10:08 I was being bred and prepared to take, 10:13 some day, my father's shoes 10:16 and some role of the Communist government. 10:19 So when I was born, 10:21 my parents were living in Revolution Plaza 10:25 which was the equivalent of what the Kremlin 10:28 was to Russia in Cuba. 10:31 And we're living in flat one. 10:35 And I was born knowing absolutely nothing about God 10:40 and it was most likely 10:42 that I would know very little about Him. 10:45 But unbeknownst to me, 10:47 a rescue mission had been going on, 10:50 a rescue mission 10:51 that God had been partaking very long 10:55 before I was even born. 10:58 And now with that introduction of that moment in 1981, 11:03 when the world was in competition, 11:06 the Soviets and the West 11:08 each wanted to prove their ascendancy 11:11 and their superiority, and I was, 11:15 like all the children of my class, 11:18 stuck in that world of competition 11:21 to show the world 11:22 that we were better, faster, smarter 11:26 than the decadent and corrupt West. 11:30 But before all of this had occurred, 11:34 the Lord had begun to lay 11:36 the groundwork for my rescue. 11:40 And so I will take you back in time 11:43 into to history 11:45 and into a particular family called the Carraleros 11:49 and what God began to do for the Carraleros. 11:54 In the earlier 20th century, 11:57 there were several members of the Adventist Church 12:00 that felt the call to convert and establish communities 12:06 and spread the word of God in Cuba. 12:08 And so in the 1920s several missionaries 12:12 began to travel 12:14 in the countryside and in the cities. 12:16 And one of these gentlemen was Emmanuel Pupo. 12:20 And Emmanuel Pupo began to go to the oriental regions of Cuba 12:26 and began to go from farm to farm to farm 12:29 sharing the Word of God 12:32 and the Adventist message. 12:34 Now this was a difficult task and a very Catholic Cuba 12:40 where Protestants were still seen with suspicion. 12:45 But he did not stop 12:48 from his calling and persevered. 12:52 And one evening he arrived at a farm 12:55 of the Carralero family. 12:58 Now he gathered there with the workers 13:01 and began to share the Word of God. 13:04 And one of the sons of the farm owner 13:09 went to listen to the meeting and he was very moved. 13:13 And he went back to his father whose name is Emiliano 13:17 and he said, "Dad, 13:18 this man is sharing this amazing message 13:21 and I want to keep on going to his meetings." 13:24 But his dad didn't want to have anything to do with it. 13:27 So the young man continued to go to the meetings. 13:32 Now his father was the son of a man 13:36 whose name is Locadio Carralero, 13:39 and this man 13:40 in the early decades of the 20th century 13:43 had 28 children. 13:47 And out of these 28 branches, 13:50 there are hundreds of descendants today. 13:54 And this one branch, the Emiliano branch, 13:58 was the one that this young man belonged to. 14:01 And so he began to go 14:03 to all the meetings night by night. 14:06 And he was convinced that this message 14:09 was what he needed in his life. 14:12 So he decided to be baptized, 14:14 but his family wanted to have nothing to do with it. 14:17 He had a prayer and his prayer was that for the second coming, 14:23 he wanted all of his family to be there with him. 14:28 And so he began to pray for his father and his mother. 14:32 And as the months progressed, Americo began to occur. 14:37 The practice of the beliefs that he had learnt 14:42 had so changed this young man 14:44 that his example touched every member of his family. 14:49 And before the year had ended, 14:51 all his sisters and brothers and his parents 14:55 had become Seventh Day Adventists. 14:58 He was very young, a late teenager, 15:02 and he had fallen in love with a young lady 15:04 and decided to marry. 15:06 And so the family gathered for this beautiful wedding, 15:09 the bride with her white satin dress, 15:12 and they were living their fairy tale. 15:16 His wife quickly became pregnant, 15:18 and a year later, a little girl was born to them. 15:24 But three months after she was born, 15:27 he fell ill and lay dying. 15:30 And in the 1940s, there was still, 15:35 in those regions of Cuba, 15:36 not the same capacities 15:38 that we have today around the world 15:41 and they couldn't figure out precisely 15:43 what was wrong with him. 15:45 And feeling himself to be close to death's door, 15:48 he gathered his very numerous family around him. 15:53 And he made them, each one of them, 15:57 promise him something 15:59 'cause he wanted one thing that was his dying wish. 16:03 And his dying wish was that since he was going to die, 16:08 he wanted to have the great joy on the day of resurrection 16:12 of seeing his daughter 16:14 and his descendants there with her. 16:18 And so all the members of the family 16:21 bowed to educate this little girl 16:24 in the precepts of the Adventist Church 16:27 and to prepare her 16:29 so that when her father some day 16:32 would be resurrected for the second coming, 16:37 she also will be there and share with the same joy. 16:42 And secure in that promise, he died. 16:48 So the little girl grew up going from home to home 16:52 in her family 16:54 and being educated with different family members 16:58 until she grew up and it was time for her 17:01 to go to academy. 17:04 And in Cuba, there was a very prestigious academy 17:08 called the College of the Antilles, 17:12 which still exists today in Puerto Rico. 17:15 And so she went to the College of the Antilles 17:18 and began to study and prepare. 17:23 And something interesting was happening at the same time. 17:27 There was another family 17:28 that her family knew, the Castros. 17:32 And one of the sons in that family Fidel Castro 17:36 was beginning to rile up the whole country 17:39 because he had the answer to an ancient problem 17:43 that we have been trying to solve 17:45 since the beginning of time, 17:48 the ancient problem of inequality and poverty. 17:53 And so he began to rally the society and say, 17:56 "You know, we have so much missing in education, 18:01 so much missing in healthcare, 18:04 so much missing 18:05 with the difference in the classes, 18:08 but we have the answer to this 18:11 and the answer is to overthrow 18:14 the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista." 18:18 And he resonated 18:21 with a great deal of Cuban society. 18:24 Even the Cuban upper classes began to help him. 18:29 Now we are in the glamorous '50s, 18:33 the age of Christian Dior and Harry Winston. 18:37 And Cuba and its glamour society 18:41 were all caught up in the balls, 18:43 in the ball gowns and the fancy cars 18:47 and extravagant living. 18:50 And Castro is saying the whole time, 18:55 "This is not fair, 18:57 we have to fix this gap, we have to fix our society." 19:02 And so young people began to catch up to that. 19:07 And they wanted to reestablish the Cuban Republic 19:10 before the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. 19:13 And so Cuba, 19:15 which was very prosperous at the time, 19:18 began to wield its muscle and say, 19:21 once we have Castro, 19:23 the republic will be reestablished, 19:26 democracy will truly be working once more 19:30 and we will begin to address 19:32 some of the social evils that we have had. 19:37 And so Civil War breaks out. 19:42 And many of the Carraleros went to fight 19:46 for Castro's side 19:48 and to support him with arms and money 19:52 and with their contacts in society. 19:56 And soon enough the revolution caught up the wind of change. 20:02 And in 1959, Fidel Castro 20:06 with his rebels triumphantly entered Havana. 20:11 But quickly after he entered Havana, 20:14 his rhythm changed 20:17 and while they were coming down 20:20 from the mountains as rebels, 20:21 they had crucifixes 20:23 and said that the revolution was as green as our palm trees, 20:27 something began to emerge in the revolution, 20:32 something that was very far away from us 20:34 across the world in the Soviet Union, communism. 20:40 And after he had managed to sit himself in power, 20:45 he changed everything he had said and said, 20:49 "We are communists, we don't believe in God. 20:53 God is a fable and the Christian churches 20:57 have been supporting and abetting the aristocrats 21:00 and the bourgeoisies. 21:02 And since that class must be destroyed, 21:05 so must the churches." 21:08 And in the midst of this revolution 21:12 all this glamorous world 21:14 that they had glided right into the revolution 21:17 began to evaporate right before their eyes. 21:22 And as a result now you have Cubans 21:25 in every unlikely corner of the world. 21:30 An age of unprecedented persecution 21:34 and violence exploded in Cuba. 21:38 And much of that violence 21:40 was aimed at the Christian churches. 21:44 And there was absolutely no consequence of who you were, 21:49 what your connections were, how much power you had had, 21:53 everybody was going to suffer the same fate. 21:59 Soon enough the communist soldiers 22:01 began to go house by house 22:03 to ransack every library with a list of black books 22:07 just like the Nazis had done 22:09 not too many decades before them. 22:11 And in those lists 22:13 were all the works of Ellen G. White, 22:15 the Bible, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, 22:19 and all of these works were entrusted to the flames. 22:24 Then began the UMAP concentration camps. 22:28 And countless of Adventists 22:30 were sent to this concentration camps 22:33 in order to silence 22:35 and close up our reach in Cuba. 22:41 Yet Emiliano Carralero, 22:45 the father of the young man who had passed away 22:48 would gather his family. 22:51 And they were seeing 22:54 how their pastors were being sent off, 22:56 how their laymen were being sent off, 22:59 how their houses 23:00 were being invaded without any excuse 23:04 and ransacked, 23:05 how their relatives were in fear of their lives. 23:08 And everybody was trying to escape 23:10 to any country that would provide them a visa. 23:14 And soon enough he began to see his numerous family 23:17 began to spread across the globe, 23:20 some to Australia, others to Spain, 23:23 others to France, the United States, 23:25 Mexico, Argentina, 23:28 anywhere with just the clothes on their backs. 23:31 For every house was inventoried, 23:33 and before you left, 23:34 they went to check if you had taken even a spoon. 23:38 And if you had taken a spoon, you were not allowed to leave. 23:43 But he will gather his family and read them many times 23:46 from the Bible to encourage them. 23:49 And one of the verses that is dear to the family 23:54 is in Deuteronomy 31:6, 23:59 "Be strong and of good courage, 24:02 fear not nor be afraid of them for the Lord thy God, 24:07 He it is that doth go with thee. 24:09 He will not fail thee nor forsake thee." 24:16 This little girl had grown up to be a beautiful woman. 24:20 But she was watching with this man 24:22 how her world was being completely destroyed. 24:26 But there was the strength of her grandfather 24:29 who had raised her, 24:31 this pillar of certainty and faith 24:35 until he got sick 24:37 and he got cancer and liver cirrhosis. 24:42 And one night he lay dying. 24:45 And he said to his granddaughter 24:47 who he called his daughter, 24:49 "Daughter, 24:50 don't forget who is the God of your fathers. 24:55 Don't forsake that God. 24:57 Thought the world may be shaken and fall away, stay true." 25:04 And he died in her arms 25:08 and she was absolutely devastated by his death. 25:12 And she vowed that if such a God 25:15 that could permit 25:17 the destruction of an entire society 25:20 and take away the only strength that she had, 25:24 if such a God existed, 25:26 she wanted to have nothing to do with that God. 25:30 And so she decided that she would never again 25:35 go into a Seventh-day Adventist Church in her life. 25:39 She turned her heart cold 25:41 and she left the few members of her family 25:44 that were in Cuba, 25:46 went to Havana and turned herself 25:50 into a brand new person. 25:53 Many years later, 25:55 she met a colonel of the armed forces 25:59 and they began to court. 26:01 And he was besotted and in love 26:04 and so asked the government to give its blessing 26:09 to their union. 26:11 And the government ran 26:13 an investigation of her background. 26:17 And then presented him with a thick folio and said, 26:21 "You know that your fiancee, 26:24 she has within her something evil. 26:28 She has that evil seed of religion 26:32 because she comes from a bourgeoisie family. 26:36 And her family helped to spread the Gospel 26:39 and to build institutions of the Christian faith." 26:44 And so because this is part of her character, 26:47 although she may be a member of the Communist Party, 26:52 that dark seed within her will come out 26:56 and she will betray the Communist Party one day. 27:00 But he was in love and said, 27:04 "I'm going to and I'm willing to take that risk." 27:07 And so he married her. 27:10 And I was born some years later. 27:14 But there was an understanding that I was never to know 27:19 who my mother was and who her family had been. 27:24 There was only a handful of members 27:27 of her family in Cuba. 27:30 And those people were instructed never ever 27:34 to reveal the secret. 27:38 And so I grew up completely ignorant 27:42 as to what was happening. 27:45 But God has a rescue mission working, 27:48 and the rescue mission was undergoing 27:51 this whole time. 27:53 There was a Bible worker, 27:55 her name is Bethsaida Hidalgo 27:57 who through the persecution stayed true 28:00 to her faith. 28:02 She went to visit people in the jails 28:04 and the hospitals, outreach without fear. 28:08 And her story really 28:10 is a story of incredible courage. 28:13 And every year, 28:15 Bethsaida Hidalgo would go and visit my mother 28:19 and remind her 28:21 who the God of her father's was. 28:24 And this was an incredible risk because the military class 28:28 was under a special set of laws 28:31 called the laws against diversion of ideology 28:36 which prohibited them from having contact 28:38 with any religious institution or with people 28:41 that had contact with religious institutions. 28:45 So if Bethsaida was discovered to be doing that, 28:48 she would be sent off to a working camp 28:52 or worse for a period of five to more years. 28:57 Some people had gone to these camps 28:59 for 15 to 20 years. 29:03 But she took that risk. 29:05 And one night when my father was away 29:08 and went to have diplomatic trips, 29:11 I met Bethsaida 29:13 and she quickly didn't lose any time 29:15 and began to tell me everything about God. 29:19 And I would notice that late at night 29:22 my mother would sit 29:26 and she would begin to sing a song. 29:30 And the words of the song is I will lift up my eyes 29:33 on to the hills from whence cometh my help. 29:36 My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. 29:41 She was literally sitting inside of the lion's mouth. 29:46 But she was lifting her eyes 29:49 asking God for some sort of escape route. 29:54 And so after I learned about God, 29:56 I became extremely curious, 29:59 my dad returned from Europe right 30:04 as the Soviet Union was beginning to dissemble. 30:08 And there was a wind of hope in Cuba 30:12 that maybe that great change 30:14 that had shaken the world in Europe 30:16 would come to us. 30:19 But the Communist Party closed up ranks 30:22 and cracked down on every freedom 30:24 that could possibly spring up. 30:28 And so as this is happening, 30:32 my mother and I began to visit the church 30:36 which was a very risky endeavor 30:38 and because of I'm pressed for time, 30:40 I cannot tell you the adventures, 30:42 the truly Sherlock Holmes adventures 30:45 that we had to do to go to church 30:48 and to study the Bible. 30:50 But my mother knew 30:51 that it was a cat and mouse game, 30:53 it was only a matter of time before we would be reported 30:56 to the government. 30:58 And because of the laws of diversion of ideology, 31:02 I would be taken away from my parents at that point. 31:07 So it was a race for knowledge. 31:11 I began to read Bibles 31:13 that had been handwritten by children and compiled 31:18 because the Bible was a very rare book, 31:20 very few people had them. 31:22 And so the Adventist children, 31:24 many of them had given themselves 31:26 the task to be the scribes to save all these works 31:30 for the next generation and for the next generation 31:33 that was living. 31:35 And so I began to read 31:37 as a small child underneath my bed 31:40 with my last Soviet batteries the Bible. 31:44 And I was enthralled by everything 31:47 that I was reading. 31:49 And I knew in the library of my home 31:50 there was a copy of the Bible that my father read. 31:53 And he read it because 31:55 he had a degree in ancient history 31:56 and read it as just another book of fables 32:00 like the Iliad and Odyssey, 32:02 but he would not permit me to read the Bible. 32:07 Why was the Bible so dangerous 32:08 when the Odyssey and the Iliad were not? 32:12 And so my father returned, 32:17 and at that time we had been visiting the church 32:20 and one night I decided 32:22 that I was going to be baptized. 32:26 And I told my mother, 32:28 "Mom, tomorrow I'm going to tell my dad 32:32 that I've been visiting 32:33 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 32:35 and that I want to be baptized." 32:38 My mother was thunderstruck, 32:42 "Do you know what that means? 32:45 Do you know that your father will divorce me 32:47 and you will be taken away to a camp 32:51 where you will be reeducated? 32:53 And then most communist member 32:56 of the family will be given to your care 33:01 when you're 21 years old?" 33:04 But I had read the story of Esther 33:08 and those words of 33:09 "If I perish, I perish" resonated deeply within me. 33:15 So that night, we prepared, 33:18 we prepared for what was gonna happen the next day. 33:22 And I tried to memorize my mother's face 33:24 because I knew that perhaps I would never see her again. 33:28 And so that night my parents both came to my room 33:31 and my dad said, 33:32 "Alexis, I will be going to meet 33:36 the prime minister of Nigeria tomorrow morning 33:39 and your mother has to go to a trial 33:41 that has to do with her work. 33:42 So you're going to be by yourself 33:46 and we will be at home 33:47 later on in the morning, so don't worry." 33:50 So the next day I woke up 33:53 and I was waiting for my parents 33:58 and it was getting later and later 34:00 and I decided that I was going to cook breakfast. 34:04 So I went to the furnace room, 34:06 I grabbed a container of kerosene, 34:11 and I went to a kitchen in the back of the house 34:15 and began to try to cook. 34:19 What I didn't realize is that the match 34:22 that I had snuffed out, 34:24 I threw on the floor 34:26 and that match went right into the very small 34:30 receptacle entrance of this container. 34:35 I closed it without realizing it 34:38 and I put it underneath my arm 34:40 to return it to the furnace room. 34:43 And as I was walking to the furnace room, 34:48 this container exploded. 34:52 I had caused, I had created a bomb really 34:57 because half the container was full of air 35:00 and half of fuel. 35:03 And this, the wave of expansion 35:05 that it created was felt for a kilometer radius. 35:09 It severed my right arm and left it hanging 35:13 from the tendons in my back. 35:16 And it began to burn me from inside out. 35:21 This was a rare chemical reaction that happens 35:25 when a room is completely enclosed 35:27 and until that wave did not have an escape, 35:32 I got burnt from inside out. 35:35 And so I decimated all of my airways. 35:40 I didn't realize what was happening 35:43 and I thought that my house 35:45 had been bombed by the junkies 35:48 because as a child, 35:49 of course, you're brainwashed 35:52 that the junkies are going to invade. 35:54 And of course, 35:55 whose house would they bomb first 35:57 but the military's? 35:58 So I thought, 36:00 "Well, here the junkies have finally invaded." 36:03 So I knelt down to roll on the ground 36:06 and then I noticed this wind in my hair. 36:10 I had long straight hair that I miss very much. 36:15 And I felt like something caught up in my hair. 36:20 And so I lifted my arms and that's when I noticed 36:24 that I didn't have my right arm. 36:27 And when I felt it was that I was being encircled 36:31 by the flames over and over again. 36:35 And I had a moment of incredible clarity. 36:39 I knew that this was no coincidence 36:41 and it was no accident. 36:44 I knew that Satan was going to do something 36:47 to stop the courageous step that we're about to make. 36:53 And to turn once 36:54 and for all my mother's heart cold towards God. 36:58 And I began to pray, "Lord, if I die, 37:02 please help my mother 37:04 to continue on the path that we have chosen. 37:07 But if I live, 37:08 I only want to live to praise You." 37:12 And that's why I'm here tonight. 37:13 Amen. 37:16 When I opened my eyes, 37:17 I was standing in front of the bathroom 37:19 which was at the other end of the house. 37:22 And the bathroom door was open, and in the large mirror, 37:26 I could see the flames encircling me. 37:30 To this day, no one knows how I got from the kitchen 37:35 to the bathroom 37:37 for there was a pool of blood in the kitchen 37:40 where I had laid during my prayer 37:42 but no tracing of blood all the way to the bathroom. 37:48 When I got inside of the bathroom, 37:50 the faucets of water were already turned on. 37:54 So I thought that I must have gone unconscious 37:57 and that somebody must have come 37:59 in the house to help me, and I turned, still burning, 38:03 and started screaming for help. 38:05 There was no one in the house. 38:08 At that moment when I saw the water on, 38:11 I remember a story, 38:12 a story that saved my arm in part. 38:15 My father had told me a story of a friend of his in Siberia 38:18 who had lost a finger due to frostbite 38:22 and part and they had grabbed a towel with water 38:26 and kept the circulation going 38:28 until they were able to reattach it. 38:31 So I took the water, 38:33 I put on the water the towel 38:35 and with my left arm and my teeth 38:38 I was able to wrap this towel around the left of my shoulder 38:42 and to press my arm against that gaping hole. 38:48 And then I began to run out to scream for help. 38:54 From that point forward, 38:56 it was miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle. 39:02 I can sit here for more than six hours 39:07 and relate each and every miracle. 39:11 Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of the time. 39:15 But God took this nine-year-old boy 39:20 who was fragile and reduced to ashes 39:25 and began to demonstrate with this child 39:31 that He was present in Cuba 39:34 and that it cannot be attributed to science 39:37 and it could not be attributed to men, 39:40 it could only be attributed to God. 39:43 Amen. 39:45 And so something incredible happened. 39:48 The story of my accident 39:53 took off through Havana like wildfire 39:56 and Seventh-day Adventist churches 39:59 regardless of what was gonna happen to them 40:01 began to go to the hospital 40:03 and began a circle of prayer outside of the hospital. 40:08 Day and night, 40:09 day and night the church prayed. 40:12 And God inside was showing Cuba 40:17 that He had not been exiled, 40:20 He had not been taken to the concentration camps, 40:24 He was not in jail, He was there amongst them, 40:28 He was working with them. 40:32 And so one night the present dictator of Cuba 40:37 who was at that time Vice President of Cuba 40:43 came to see me. 40:45 And I was literally pieces of meat gathered 40:51 in a hyperbaric bed. 40:54 And he sat and he was looking at the medical history. 40:59 And he closed it up and he looked at me, 41:02 I was incubated but I was not unconscious. 41:06 And he said, "You know, Alexis, 41:09 I don't believe in my shadow because it moves too much. 41:14 But your case, 41:16 your case shows that there is a God." 41:22 The Lord took me from that moment 41:27 and used 41:30 this example of vulnerability 41:35 to show Cuba that He was their God, 41:40 He loved them and was reaching out to them 41:42 and He is today. 41:45 And so 125 surgeries later, you have me. 41:52 Amen. 41:55 I am one of God's masterpiece Frankensteins. 42:01 And I am here an impossibility 42:07 talking to you. 42:09 I should not be speaking and I should not be walking, 42:14 let alone be a life 42:16 but God has given me those abilities. 42:21 And it's not because 42:23 there is anything extraordinary about me, 42:27 it's exactly the opposite, 42:31 it is because I am so ordinary 42:35 and just... 42:39 And every day 42:40 and just the next door kind of person 42:45 that He used it 42:47 because he wanted to show that no matter who you are, 42:52 how useless you think you are, how untalented, 42:57 how pained, how scarred, 43:01 how beaten up by life you may be, 43:06 He can make something really extraordinary, 43:08 miraculous out of you. 43:14 I wanted to close 43:15 and I want to close this evening 43:20 with a story 43:21 because I think that in many ways 43:25 we read the story of the children of Israel 43:27 wandering in the desert. 43:28 And we think how is it possible that these people 43:33 that saw the Red Sea spread open, 43:36 that had this cloud above them 43:39 so that they wouldn't be scorched by the sun 43:41 and had Manna raining down, 43:45 how could these people doubt God? 43:52 And yet here we are, 43:56 blessings raining down upon us and we doubt God. 44:02 My father had a very interesting way 44:05 of introducing my scars to me. 44:09 Before I got burned, 44:10 I had been a child model for Bohemia magazine. 44:14 And I was somewhat proud of my looks. 44:18 So I had not seen the monster I had become. 44:23 And one day I got my reflection and I told my father, 44:27 "Dad, I want to see what I look like." 44:31 He said, "Okay, okay. 44:33 I will bring you a mirror but you have to wait 44:35 until I go home and I come back." 44:37 So he went home he dressed up in his color uniform 44:40 and he put all the medals that he could on. 44:44 And he knew that I loved his medals 44:47 because he had been around the world, 44:49 had fought in many wars, had many honors, 44:52 and I was enthralled by all this Indiana Jones 44:55 kind of stories in Africa and Madagascar and Europe 45:00 and as he worked as a spy and infiltrated governments. 45:03 And I was just in awe of this larger than life man. 45:08 And so he went home, got all his medals on, 45:12 and he went back into my room with a mirror, 45:15 he said, "Before you look, 45:18 I just want to tell you something, 45:20 I'm envious of you." 45:22 And I said, "Of me? 45:27 What can you envy of me? 45:30 I have no accomplishments. 45:32 I have done nothing compared to what you have done." 45:36 He said, "Well, when I get home after a parade, 45:40 I have to take off my medals and my uniform. 45:44 But you, Alexis, 45:46 you are going to wear your medals 45:48 every day of your life for the rest of your life. 45:53 So every time you look at the mirror, 45:56 you're gonna see the evidence of this fight against death." 46:02 And so when I looked at the mirror, 46:05 I saw those medals 46:08 and I've had a love and hate relationships 46:10 with the scars that cover my body. 46:13 But every day no matter how much I may doubt suddenly, 46:19 no matter what the moment of weakness I may have, 46:22 no matter my failures, God reminds me in the mirror, 46:27 "I did this for you. 46:31 Your scars are your medals." 46:34 We all have scars. 46:37 We can choose to be a victim or survivor. 46:43 And God has given us the tools and the calling. 46:48 Not only to be survivors 46:51 but to share our scars with the world 46:56 so that everyone may be healed by those ultimate scars, 47:02 the scars on the hands of Jesus. 47:05 Amen. 47:09 I would like to close 47:10 by reading Hebrews 11:1-3. 47:16 "Now faith is the summation 47:21 for the evidence of things not seen. 47:24 For by it the elders obtained good report. 47:28 Through faith we understand 47:30 that the worlds were framed by the Word of God 47:33 so that the things 47:34 which are not seen were not made of things 47:37 which do appear." 47:41 So I leave you with faith because in faith there is hope, 47:46 in hope there is love, 47:49 and love is the ultimate gift of our Lord. 47:52 Amen. 48:20 O love that will not let me go 48:27 I rest my weary soul in Thee 48:33 I give Thee back the life I owe 48:39 That in Thine ocean depths its flow 48:44 May richer 48:46 Fuller be 48:52 O light that foll'west all my way 48:58 I yield my flickering torch to Thee 49:04 My heart restores its borrowed ray 49:10 That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day 49:15 May brighter 49:16 Fairer be 49:22 O joy that seekest me through pain 49:27 I cannot close my heart to Thee 49:33 I trace the rainbow through the rain 49:39 And feel the promise is not vain 49:43 That morn shall tearless be |
Revised 2022-07-26