This is another one of our
Offering and Action segments.
00:00:19.15\00:00:22.85
And throughout the convention,
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we have brought to you
just a few of the projects
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of the 42 projects
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that will be funded
from the offering this year.
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And we've heard
from many of them
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that God has really blessed them
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and that through
partnership with others,
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God has helped them to be more
effective in their ministry.
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And I just want to turn in
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and thank Danny on behalf of ASI
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for 3ABN becoming
one of those partnerships
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for many of our ministries.
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Because of 3ABN, many
ministries who otherwise
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would not have a voice
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have been able
to share with others
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the burden on their
heart that God has given them
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to reach others for His kingdom.
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So we're thankful for
3ABN and all that 3ABN has done
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to give voice to
so many ministries.
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Thank you, Debbie.
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And I in turn have to thank ASI
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because 1985 I
went to my first ASI,
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that's longer than some of
these folk have been alive.
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Went to it first in
1985 in Big Sky, Montana.
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And there I was asked,
Phil Winsted was the president
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and Henry
Martin, vice president.
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And I had an
opportunity, there was no 3ABN,
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we were just beginning it,
they let me share the vision
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of building a television
station to reach the world.
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From there, many of
the individual people
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began to step up.
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Some joined our
board of directors.
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And today, the
history is what it is,
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3ABN, because of ASI
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and the Lord's
blessings, of course,
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and now reaching the world
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with an undiluted
three angels' messages,
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one would
counteract the counterfeit.
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So I want to
say thank you to ASI
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and we're happy in turn
to be able to share that
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and give opportunity to others
to share the gospel as we do.
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So we want to
just ask you tonight
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that you would pray
fervently in your hearts
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when you go back to your
rooms to consider the projects
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that are listed in your program,
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pray over them and
ask God to tell you,
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"What is it that I can do, Lord?
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How can I
partner with you, Jesus,
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to help these
ministries to reach more people
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in the world?"
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So I want to thank you,
Danny, for 3ABN and for ASI
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and all those that are
watching on 3ABN to help us.
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I'd like to
encourage the folks at home too
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because so many can't be here
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that I'm sure
would love to be here,
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but again, as the Holy Spirit's
impressing, you pray and say,
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"Lord, what
would you have me to do
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for this great organization
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that is sharing
Jesus in the marketplace
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not only here but
around the world?"
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And I know that the Lord
would have you to do something
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so while you're
not here, this Sabbath
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and aren't able to physically
put the money in an envelope,
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you can contact, the
address would be on the screen.
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And we encourage you to support
this great Godly organization.
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Thank you very much, Danny.
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Each of us has a
testimony to God's grace
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and His goodness to us.
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Our speaker tonight
Alexis Abrahantes Carralero
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was born in Communist Cuba
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and through a
series of miraculous events
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came to know Jesus.
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I asked Alexis,
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what is the core of your message
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that you would
like for us to hear,
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as you share your testimony.
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And he said, "Debbie, with
all that I've gone through,
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with what I've experienced,
I realize one thing,
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that no matter how weak
and disabled and downtrodden
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and out we are,
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God is continually on
a rescue mission for us.
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For each of us, and I pray
that everyone will remember
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that regardless of how
we feel about ourselves,
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that we don't have
anything to offer Jesus,
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to do anything with
that because of God's love
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and Him always
reaching out to us.
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We mean that much to Him
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that He would
come and die for us."
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So I ask that you would
pray with me for Alexis,
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as he shares his
testimony about God's mercy,
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His grace and His favor to Him
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as He rescued him
from the clutches of Satan.
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Thank you.
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Happy Sabbath to my
brothers and sisters
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here and across the globe.
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What a journey has
brought me here before you.
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Before I begin,
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I think it proper to
make a short introduction
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and I want to use the
words of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15,
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and there he says the following,
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"This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation
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that Christ Jesus
came into the world
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to save the sinners,
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of whom I am chief."
00:08:04.18\00:08:08.85
What could I presume
to teach you tonight?
00:08:08.88\00:08:13.99
What do I know about
your struggles, your battles,
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your pains, your
triumphs, your victories?
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All that I can do
tonight is share with you
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some of the lessons of
mercy, hope, and rescue
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that God has shown in my life.
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And before I begin, I just want
to have a short word of prayer.
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Let's bow our heads.
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Dear heavenly Father,
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we thank You that
we're gathered here
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this evening to
worship You, Lord,
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on your holy Sabbath.
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Thank You for this
incredible opportunity
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that we value
so little at times.
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Lord, may You use me as a vessel
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so that we can realize
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how valuable, how
precious this freedom is.
00:09:03.34\00:09:08.44
And, Lord, how You work
so relentlessly to rescue us,
00:09:08.48\00:09:13.88
each and every day.
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In Christ loving name,
I ask these things, amen.
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I come from the Island of Cuba,
the largest in the Caribbean,
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I was born April 9, 1981,
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into a world
that was partitioned
00:09:32.37\00:09:36.27
into Soviet Union and the West
00:09:36.30\00:09:39.17
with the great powers.
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And my father was a colonel
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of the Interior
Ministry of the Armed Forces.
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He had been
working also as a diplomat
00:09:48.72\00:09:51.95
and he served in Czechoslovakia,
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Bulgaria, and Romania.
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My mother worked in commerce
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and born into that
sort of military family,
00:10:00.66\00:10:04.67
I knew nothing at all about God.
00:10:04.70\00:10:08.60
I was being bred
00:10:08.64\00:10:11.14
and prepared to take
some day my father's shoes
00:10:11.17\00:10:16.51
in some role of the
Communist government.
00:10:16.54\00:10:19.75
So when I was born, my parents
were living in Revolution Plaza
00:10:19.78\00:10:25.05
which was the equivalent
00:10:25.09\00:10:27.32
of what the Kremlin
was to Russia and Cuba
00:10:27.36\00:10:31.06
and we were living in flat one.
00:10:31.09\00:10:34.96
And I was born knowing
absolutely nothing about God
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and it was most likely
00:10:40.30\00:10:42.60
that I would know
very little about Him.
00:10:42.64\00:10:45.17
But unbeknownst to me,
00:10:45.21\00:10:47.64
a rescue mission
have been going on,
00:10:47.68\00:10:50.81
a rescue mission that
God have been partaking
00:10:50.85\00:10:54.88
very long
before I was even born,
00:10:54.92\00:10:58.65
and now with that introduction
of that moment in 1981,
00:10:58.69\00:11:03.89
when the world
was in competition,
00:11:03.93\00:11:06.39
the Soviets and the
West each wanted to prove
00:11:06.43\00:11:09.70
their ascendancy
and their superiority.
00:11:09.73\00:11:13.77
And I was like all
the children of my class
00:11:13.80\00:11:18.67
stuck in that
world of competition
00:11:18.71\00:11:21.54
to show the world that
we were better, faster,
00:11:21.58\00:11:25.08
smarter than the
decadent and corrupt West.
00:11:25.11\00:11:30.52
But before all of
this had occurred,
00:11:30.55\00:11:34.56
the Lord had began to lay
the groundwork for my rescue.
00:11:34.59\00:11:40.86
And so I will take you
back in time into history
00:11:40.90\00:11:45.57
and into a particular
family called the Carraleros.
00:11:45.60\00:11:49.90
And what God began to
do for the Carraleros.
00:11:49.94\00:11:54.91
In the earlier 20th century,
00:11:54.94\00:11:57.95
there was several
members of the Adventist church
00:11:57.98\00:12:00.45
that felt the call to convert
and establish communities
00:12:00.48\00:12:06.19
and spread the
Word of God in Cuba.
00:12:06.22\00:12:08.66
And so, in the 1920s,
00:12:08.69\00:12:11.26
several
missionaries began to travel
00:12:11.29\00:12:14.26
in the
countryside and in the cities.
00:12:14.30\00:12:16.30
And one of this
gentleman was Emmanuel Pupo,
00:12:16.33\00:12:20.60
and Emmanuel Pupo began to go
to the oriental regions of Cuba
00:12:20.64\00:12:26.34
and began to go
from farm to farm to farm
00:12:26.37\00:12:29.74
sharing the Word of God
and the Adventist message.
00:12:29.78\00:12:34.88
Now this was a difficult
task in a very Catholic Cuba,
00:12:34.92\00:12:40.29
where Protestants were
still seen with suspicion
00:12:40.32\00:12:45.49
but he did not stop
00:12:45.53\00:12:48.66
from his calling and persevered.
00:12:48.70\00:12:52.60
And one evening he arrived
00:12:52.63\00:12:54.27
at a farm of the
Carralero family.
00:12:54.30\00:12:58.17
Now, he gathered
there with the workers
00:12:58.21\00:13:01.58
and began to
share the Word of God.
00:13:01.61\00:13:04.35
And one of the
sons of the farm owner
00:13:04.38\00:13:09.42
went to listen to the meeting
00:13:09.45\00:13:11.02
and he was very moved,
00:13:11.05\00:13:13.52
and he went back to his father,
00:13:13.56\00:13:15.16
whose name is Emiliano
00:13:15.19\00:13:17.03
and he said, "Dad, this man
is sharing this amazing message
00:13:17.06\00:13:21.20
and I want to keep on
going to his meetings."
00:13:21.23\00:13:24.20
But his dad didn't want to
have anything to do with it,
00:13:24.23\00:13:27.44
so the young man
continued to go to the meetings.
00:13:27.47\00:13:32.64
Now, his father
was the son of a man
00:13:32.67\00:13:36.75
whose name is Locadio Carralero.
00:13:36.78\00:13:39.05
And this man in the early
decades of the 20th century
00:13:39.08\00:13:43.99
had 28 children,
00:13:44.02\00:13:47.29
and out of this 28 branches,
00:13:47.32\00:13:50.79
there are 100's
of descendants today.
00:13:50.83\00:13:54.36
And this one
branch, the Emiliano branch
00:13:54.40\00:13:58.43
was the one that this
young man belonged to.
00:13:58.47\00:14:01.90
And so he began to
go to all the meetings
00:14:01.94\00:14:04.44
night by night,
00:14:04.47\00:14:06.37
and he was
convinced that this message
00:14:06.41\00:14:09.61
was what he needed in his life.
00:14:09.64\00:14:11.95
So he decided to be baptized,
00:14:11.98\00:14:14.28
but his family wanted to
have nothing to do with it.
00:14:14.32\00:14:17.65
He had a prayer and his prayer
was that for the second coming,
00:14:17.69\00:14:23.36
he wanted all of his
family to be there with him.
00:14:23.39\00:14:28.50
And so he began to pray
for his father and his mother,
00:14:28.53\00:14:32.73
and as the months progressed
a miracle began to occur.
00:14:32.77\00:14:37.67
The practice of the
beliefs that he had learned
00:14:37.71\00:14:41.91
has so changed this young man
00:14:41.94\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\00:14:55.19
had become
Seventh-day Adventists.
00:14:55.22\00:14:58.53
He was very
young, a late teenager
00:14:58.56\00:15:02.06
and he had fallen in
love with a young lady
00:15:02.10\00:15:04.53
and decided to marry.
00:15:04.57\00:15:06.70
And so the family gathered
for this beautiful wedding,
00:15:06.74\00:15:09.07
the bride with
her white satin dress
00:15:09.10\00:15:11.87
and they were
living their fairytale.
00:15:11.91\00:15:16.31
His wife quickly became pregnant
00:15:16.34\00:15:18.88
and a year later a
little girl was born to them.
00:15:18.91\00:15:24.22
But three months
after she was born,
00:15:24.25\00:15:27.62
he felt ill and laid dying.
00:15:27.66\00:15:30.73
And in the 1940s,
00:15:30.76\00:15:33.33
there was still in
those regions of Cuba
00:15:33.36\00:15:36.73
not the same capacities that
we have today around the world
00:15:36.77\00:15:41.57
and they couldn't figure out
00:15:41.60\00:15:42.94
precisely what
was wrong with him.
00:15:42.97\00:15:44.97
And feeling himself to
be close to death door,
00:15:45.01\00:15:48.54
he gathered his very
numerous family around him
00:15:48.58\00:15:53.52
and he made them,
00:15:53.55\00:15:56.08
each one of them
promise him something,
00:15:56.12\00:15:59.22
'cause he wanted only one thing,
00:15:59.25\00:16:01.32
that was his dying wish,
00:16:01.36\00:16:03.56
and his dying wish was,
00:16:03.59\00:16:05.56
that since he was going to die,
00:16:05.59\00:16:08.23
he wanted to have the great joy
00:16:08.26\00:16:10.47
on the day of resurrection
of seeing his daughter
00:16:10.50\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
vowed to
educate this little girl
00:16:21.18\00:16:24.38
and the precepts of
the Adventist church
00:16:24.41\00:16:27.78
and to prepare her so
that, when her father someday
00:16:27.82\00:16:32.72
would be resurrected
for the second coming,
00:16:32.75\00:16:37.76
she also would be there
and share with the same joy.
00:16:37.79\00:16:42.36
And secure in
that promise, he died.
00:16:42.40\00:16:48.34
So the little girl grew up,
00:16:48.37\00:16:50.94
going from home
to home in her family
00:16:50.97\00:16:54.44
and being educated with
a different family members
00:16:54.48\00:16:57.85
until she grew up
00:16:57.88\00:16:59.75
and it was time for
her to go to academy.
00:16:59.78\00:17:04.09
And in Cuba, there was
a very prestigious academy
00:17:04.12\00:17:08.06
called the
College of the Antilles,
00:17:08.09\00:17:12.09
which still exists
today in Puerto Rico.
00:17:12.13\00:17:15.73
And so she went to the
college of the Antilles
00:17:15.76\00:17:18.87
and began to study and prepare.
00:17:18.90\00:17:23.67
And something interesting
was happening at the same time.
00:17:23.71\00:17:27.31
There was another family,
00:17:27.34\00:17:28.68
that her family
knew, the Castros.
00:17:28.71\00:17:32.08
And one of the
sons in that family
00:17:32.11\00:17:34.62
Fidel Castro was beginning
to rile up the whole country
00:17:34.65\00:17:39.45
because he had the
answer to an ancient problem
00:17:39.49\00:17:43.69
that we have
been trying to solve
00:17:43.73\00:17:45.76
since the beginning of time,
00:17:45.79\00:17:48.00
the ancient problem of
inequality and poverty.
00:17:48.03\00:17:53.13
And so he began to
rouse society and say,
00:17:53.17\00:17:56.14
"You know, we have so
much missing in education,
00:17:56.17\00:18:01.54
so much missing in health care,
00:18:01.58\00:18:04.15
so much missing with the
difference in the classes
00:18:04.18\00:18:08.28
but we have the answer to this
00:18:08.32\00:18:11.22
and the answer is to
overthrow the dictatorship
00:18:11.25\00:18:15.12
of Fulgencio Batista.
00:18:15.16\00:18:18.19
And he resonated
00:18:18.23\00:18:21.36
with a great
deal of Cuban society,
00:18:21.40\00:18:24.53
even the Cuban upper
classes began to help him.
00:18:24.57\00:18:29.87
Now we are in the glamorous 50s,
00:18:29.90\00:18:33.58
the age of Christian Dior
and Harry Winston, and Cuba,
00:18:33.61\00:18:39.68
and its glamorous society
were all cut up in the balls
00:18:39.71\00:18:43.85
and the ball
gowns and the fancy cars
00:18:43.89\00:18:47.56
and extravagant living
00:18:47.59\00:18:50.86
and Castro is saying the
whole time, "This is not fair.
00:18:50.89\00:18:57.20
We have to fix this gap.
00:18:57.23\00:18:59.53
We have to fix our society."
00:18:59.57\00:19:02.60
And so young people
began to catch up to that,
00:19:02.64\00:19:06.91
and they wanted to
re-establish the Cuban republic
00:19:06.94\00:19:10.38
before the dictatorship
of Fulgencio Batista.
00:19:10.41\00:19:14.05
And so Cuba, which was
very prosperous at the time,
00:19:14.08\00:19:18.05
began to wield
its muscle and say,
00:19:18.09\00:19:21.82
"Once we have Castro,
00:19:21.86\00:19:23.63
the republic will
be re-established,
00:19:23.66\00:19:26.06
democracy will
truly be working once more
00:19:26.09\00:19:30.23
and we will begin to address
some of this social evils
00:19:30.27\00:19:34.34
that we have had.
00:19:34.37\00:19:37.01
And so civil war breaks out,
00:19:37.04\00:19:42.04
and many of the Carraleros
went to fight for Castro side,
00:19:42.08\00:19:48.65
and to support him
with arms and money
00:19:48.68\00:19:51.89
and with their
contacts in society,
00:19:51.92\00:19:57.03
and soon enough the revolution
caught up the winds of change.
00:19:57.06\00:20:02.56
And in 1959, Fidel
Castro with his rebels
00:20:02.60\00:20:07.34
triumphantly entered Havana.
00:20:07.37\00:20:11.41
But quickly after
he entered Havana,
00:20:11.44\00:20:13.91
his rhythm changed.
00:20:13.94\00:20:17.18
And while they were coming down
from the mountains as rebels,
00:20:17.21\00:20:21.48
they had crucifixes
00:20:21.52\00:20:23.28
and said that the revolution
00:20:23.32\00:20:24.65
was as green as our palm trees,
00:20:24.69\00:20:27.89
something began to
emerge in the revolution,
00:20:27.92\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.
00:20:34.50\00:20:40.34
And after he had
managed to sit himself in power,
00:20:40.37\00:20:45.17
he changed
everything he had said
00:20:45.21\00:20:48.34
and said, "We are communists,
we don't believe in God,
00:20:48.38\00:20:53.05
God is a fable
00:20:53.08\00:20:54.92
and the Christian churches have
been supporting and abetting
00:20:54.95\00:20:59.32
the aristocrats
and the bourgeoisies
00:20:59.35\00:21:02.02
and since that
class must be destroyed,
00:21:02.06\00:21:05.66
so must the churches.
00:21:05.69\00:21:08.76
And in the midst
of this revolution,
00:21:08.80\00:21:12.00
all these glamorous world
00:21:12.03\00:21:14.00
that they had collided
right into the revolution
00:21:14.04\00:21:17.54
began to evaporate
right before their eyes.
00:21:17.57\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\00:21:29.52
For at an age of
unprecedented persecution
00:21:29.55\00:21:34.56
and violence exploded in Cuba.
00:21:34.59\00:21:38.39
And much of the violence
00:21:38.43\00:21:40.53
was aimed at the
Christian churches.
00:21:40.56\00:21:44.07
And there was absolutely no
consequence of who you were,
00:21:44.10\00:21:49.37
what your connections were,
how much power you had had.
00:21:49.40\00:21:53.91
Everybody was going
to suffer the same fate.
00:21:53.94\00:21:59.45
Soon enough the
communist soldiers
00:21:59.48\00:22:01.18
began to go house by house
00:22:01.22\00:22:03.18
to ransack every library
with a list of black books,
00:22:03.22\00:22:07.59
just like the Nazis had done,
00:22:07.62\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\00:22:13.60
were all the
works of Ellen G. White,
00:22:13.63\00:22:15.86
the Bible
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
00:22:15.90\00:22:19.73
And all of these works
were entrusted to the flames.
00:22:19.77\00:22:24.61
Then began the
UMAP concentration camps
00:22:24.64\00:22:28.58
and countless of Adventists
00:22:28.61\00:22:30.75
were sent to this
concentration camps
00:22:30.78\00:22:33.65
in order to silence
00:22:33.68\00:22:35.28
and close up our reach in Cuba.
00:22:35.32\00:22:41.32
Yet, Emiliano Carralero,
the father of the young man
00:22:41.36\00:22:46.53
who had passed away,
would gather his family
00:22:46.56\00:22:51.50
and they were seeing how their
pastors were being sent off,
00:22:51.53\00:22:56.84
how their laymen
were being sent off,
00:22:56.87\00:22:59.34
how their houses
were being invaded
00:22:59.37\00:23:02.54
without any
excuse and ransacked.
00:23:02.58\00:23:05.81
How their relatives
were in fear of their lives
00:23:05.85\00:23:08.38
and everybody was
trying to escape to any country
00:23:08.42\00:23:12.15
that would provide them a visa.
00:23:12.19\00:23:14.26
And soon enough he began
to see how his numerous family
00:23:14.29\00:23:17.43
began to spread
across the globe,
00:23:17.46\00:23:20.06
some to
Australia, others to Spain,
00:23:20.10\00:23:23.23
others to France,
the United States,
00:23:23.26\00:23:25.73
Mexico, Argentina
00:23:25.77\00:23:28.17
anywhere with just
their clothes on their backs.
00:23:28.20\00:23:31.67
For every house was inventoried,
00:23:31.71\00:23:33.41
and before you
left, they went to check
00:23:33.44\00:23:36.11
if you had taken even a spoon.
00:23:36.14\00:23:38.81
And if you had taken a spoon,
you are not allowed to leave.
00:23:38.85\00:23:43.05
But he will gather his family
00:23:43.08\00:23:45.15
and read them many times
00:23:45.19\00:23:46.69
from the Bible
to encourage them.
00:23:46.72\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,
00:23:54.43\00:23:59.07
"Be strong and
of a good courage,
00:23:59.10\00:24:01.97
fear not, nor be afraid of them:
00:24:02.00\00:24:05.21
for the Lord thy God, he
is that doth go with thee;
00:24:05.24\00:24:09.54
he will not fail
thee, nor forsake thee."
00:24:09.58\00:24:12.58
This little girl had grown
up to be a beautiful woman.
00:24:16.22\00:24:20.26
But she was
watching with this man,
00:24:20.29\00:24:22.29
how her world was
being completely destroyed.
00:24:22.32\00:24:26.73
But there was a
strength of her grandfather
00:24:26.76\00:24:29.30
who had raised her.
00:24:29.33\00:24:31.03
This pillar of
certainty and faith
00:24:31.07\00:24:35.37
until he got sick and he
got cancer and liver cirrhosis
00:24:35.40\00:24:42.01
and one night he lay dying.
00:24:42.04\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\00:24:50.15
"Daughter, don't forget
who is the God of your fathers.
00:24:50.19\00:24:55.02
Don't forsake that God.
00:24:55.06\00:24:57.63
Though the world may be shaken
and fall away, stay true."
00:24:57.66\00:25:04.03
And he died in her arms
00:25:04.07\00:25:08.50
and she was absolutely
devastated by his death.
00:25:08.54\00:25:12.37
And she vowed that if such a God
00:25:12.41\00:25:15.61
that could permit
00:25:15.64\00:25:17.38
the destruction
of an entire society
00:25:17.41\00:25:20.62
and take away the
only strength that she had,
00:25:20.65\00:25:24.12
if such a God existed,
00:25:24.15\00:25:26.35
she wanted to have
nothing to do with that God.
00:25:26.39\00:25:30.66
And so she decided
that she would never again
00:25:30.69\00:25:35.13
go into Seventh-day
Adventist church in her life.
00:25:35.16\00:25:39.00
She turned her heart cold
00:25:39.03\00:25:41.57
and she left the few
members of her family
00:25:41.60\00:25:46.94
that were in
Cuba, went to Havana,
00:25:46.98\00:25:48.31
and turned herself
into a brand new person.
00:25:48.34\00:25:53.72
Many years later, she met
a colonel of the armed forces
00:25:53.75\00:25:59.05
and they began to court.
00:25:59.09\00:26:01.62
And he was besotted and in love,
00:26:01.66\00:26:04.83
and so asked the government
00:26:04.86\00:26:07.13
to give its
blessing to their union.
00:26:07.16\00:26:11.50
And the government ran
00:26:11.53\00:26:13.10
an investigation
of her background.
00:26:13.13\00:26:16.97
And then presented
him with a thick folio
00:26:17.01\00:26:20.18
and said, "You
know, that your fiancee,
00:26:20.21\00:26:24.61
she has within
her something evil.
00:26:24.65\00:26:28.28
She has the
evil seed of religion
00:26:28.32\00:26:32.69
because she comes
from a bourgeoisie family
00:26:32.72\00:26:35.92
and her family
helped to spread the gospel
00:26:35.96\00:26:39.36
and to build institutions
of the Christian faith."
00:26:39.39\00:26:44.10
And so because this
is part of her character,
00:26:44.13\00:26:47.64
although she may be a
member of the communists party,
00:26:47.67\00:26:52.21
that dark seed
within her will come out.
00:26:52.24\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,
00:27:00.72\00:27:04.19
"I am going to and I'm
willing to take that risk."
00:27:04.22\00:27:06.86
And so he married her.
00:27:06.89\00:27:10.06
And I was born some years later.
00:27:10.09\00:27:14.13
But there was an understanding
00:27:14.16\00:27:16.30
that I was never to
know who my mother was
00:27:16.33\00:27:21.54
and who her family had been.
00:27:21.57\00:27:24.87
There was only a handful
00:27:24.91\00:27:26.78
of members of
her family in Cuba.
00:27:26.81\00:27:30.08
And those
people were instructed,
00:27:30.11\00:27:32.98
never ever to reveal the secret.
00:27:33.01\00:27:38.25
And so I grew up
completely ignorant
00:27:38.29\00:27:41.99
as to what was happening.
00:27:42.02\00:27:45.06
But God has a
rescue mission working.
00:27:45.09\00:27:48.86
And the rescue mission was
undergoing this whole time.
00:27:48.90\00:27:53.44
There was a Bible worker,
her name is Bethsaida Hidalgo,
00:27:53.47\00:27:57.74
who through the persecution
stayed true to her faith.
00:27:57.77\00:28:02.31
She went to visit people in
the jails and the hospitals,
00:28:02.34\00:28:05.68
outreach without fear.
00:28:05.71\00:28:07.98
And her story really is a
story of incredible courage.
00:28:08.02\00:28:13.09
And every year,
Bethsaida Hidalgo
00:28:13.12\00:28:16.42
would go and visit my mother
00:28:16.46\00:28:19.76
and remind her who the
God of her father's was.
00:28:19.79\00:28:23.97
And this was an incredible
risk because the military class
00:28:24.00\00:28:28.04
was under special set of laws
00:28:28.07\00:28:30.97
called the laws
against diversion of ideology
00:28:31.01\00:28:36.01
which prohibited
them from having contact
00:28:36.04\00:28:38.58
with any religious institution
00:28:38.61\00:28:40.75
or with people that had contact
with religious institutions.
00:28:40.78\00:28:44.89
So if Bethsaida was
discovered to be doing that,
00:28:44.92\00:28:48.62
she would be sent off
to a working camp or worse
00:28:48.66\00:28:54.00
for a period of
five to more years.
00:28:54.03\00:28:57.07
Some people had
gone to these camps
00:28:57.10\00:28:59.53
for 15 to 20 years.
00:28:59.57\00:29:03.10
But she took that risk.
00:29:03.14\00:29:05.17
And one night
when my father was away
00:29:05.21\00:29:08.08
and went to have
diplomatic trips,
00:29:08.11\00:29:11.31
I met Bethsaida.
00:29:11.35\00:29:13.11
And she quickly
didn't lose any time,
00:29:13.15\00:29:15.85
begin to tell me
everything about God.
00:29:15.88\00:29:19.15
And I would notice
that late at night,
00:29:19.19\00:29:22.56
my mother would sit
00:29:22.59\00:29:26.19
and she would
begin to sing a song
00:29:26.23\00:29:30.50
and the words of the song is,
00:29:30.53\00:29:32.27
"I would lift up my
eyes on to the hills
00:29:32.30\00:29:34.04
from whence cometh my help.
00:29:34.07\00:29:36.47
My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth."
00:29:36.50\00:29:41.71
She was literally sitting
inside of the lion's mouth.
00:29:41.74\00:29:46.82
But she was lifting her eyes,
00:29:46.85\00:29:49.28
asking God for some
sort of escape route.
00:29:49.32\00:29:54.19
And so after I
learned about God,
00:29:54.22\00:29:56.99
I became extremely curious.
00:29:57.03\00:29:59.19
My dad returned from Europe
00:29:59.23\00:30:03.83
right as the Soviet Union
was beginning to dissembled.
00:30:03.87\00:30:08.50
And there was a
wind of hope in Cuba
00:30:08.54\00:30:12.07
that may be that great change
00:30:12.11\00:30:14.08
that had shaken the world
in Europe would come to us.
00:30:14.11\00:30:19.05
But the communist
party closed up ranks
00:30:19.08\00:30:22.05
and cracked
down on every freedom
00:30:22.08\00:30:24.85
that could possibly spring up.
00:30:24.89\00:30:28.22
And so as this is happening,
00:30:28.26\00:30:32.29
my mother and I
began to visit the church,
00:30:32.33\00:30:36.03
which was a very risky endeavor
00:30:36.06\00:30:38.03
and because I'm
pressed for time,
00:30:38.07\00:30:40.17
I cannot tell
you the adventures,
00:30:40.20\00:30:42.70
that truly
Sherlock Holmes adventures
00:30:42.74\00:30:45.54
that we had to
do to go to church
00:30:45.57\00:30:48.31
and to study the Bible.
00:30:48.34\00:30:50.61
But my mother knew that
it was a cat and mouse game,
00:30:50.65\00:30:53.38
it was only a matter of time
00:30:53.42\00:30:55.18
before we would be
reported to the government.
00:30:55.22\00:30:58.55
And because of the laws
of diversion of ideology,
00:30:58.59\00:31:01.96
I would be taken away
from my parents at that point.
00:31:01.99\00:31:06.93
So it was a race for knowledge.
00:31:06.96\00:31:11.57
I began to read Bibles
that have been handwritten
00:31:11.60\00:31:14.37
by children and compiled
00:31:14.40\00:31:18.54
because the Bible
was a very rare book,
00:31:18.57\00:31:20.61
very few people have them
00:31:20.64\00:31:22.88
and so the Adventist children,
00:31:22.91\00:31:24.88
many of them
had given themselves
00:31:24.91\00:31:26.88
the task to be
the scribes to save
00:31:26.92\00:31:29.02
all this works for
the next generation
00:31:29.05\00:31:31.49
and for the
generation that I was living.
00:31:31.52\00:31:35.19
And so I began to
read as a small child
00:31:35.22\00:31:39.19
underneath my bed with my last
Soviet batteries, the Bible.
00:31:39.23\00:31:44.70
And I was enthralled
00:31:44.73\00:31:47.34
by everything
that I was reading.
00:31:47.37\00:31:49.04
And I knew in the
library of my home
00:31:49.07\00:31:50.77
there was a copy of the
Bible that my father read.
00:31:50.81\00:31:53.94
And he read it because he
had a degree in engine history
00:31:53.98\00:31:56.34
and read it as just
another book of fables
00:31:56.38\00:32:00.48
like the Iliad and the Odyssey.
00:32:00.52\00:32:02.88
But he would not
permit me to read the Bible.
00:32:02.92\00:32:06.92
Why was the Bible so dangerous
00:32:06.96\00:32:08.66
when the Odyssey
and the Iliad were not?
00:32:08.69\00:32:12.76
And so my father returned,
00:32:12.79\00:32:16.83
and at that time we had
been visiting the church,
00:32:16.87\00:32:20.54
and one night I decided
00:32:20.57\00:32:22.44
that I was going to be baptized.
00:32:22.47\00:32:26.04
And I told my mother,
00:32:26.07\00:32:28.04
"Mom, tomorrow I'm
going to tell my dad
00:32:28.08\00:32:32.35
that I've been visiting
00:32:32.38\00:32:33.72
the Seventh-day Adventist church
00:32:33.75\00:32:35.65
and that I want to be baptized."
00:32:35.68\00:32:38.42
My mother was thunderstruck,
"Do you know what that means?
00:32:38.45\00:32:45.23
Do you know that your
father will divorce me
00:32:45.26\00:32:47.56
and you will be
taken away to a camp
00:32:47.60\00:32:51.37
where you be reeducated?
00:32:51.40\00:32:53.77
And then the most
communist member of the family
00:32:53.80\00:32:57.11
will be given to your care
00:32:57.14\00:33:01.08
when you're 21 years old?
00:33:01.11\00:33:04.88
But I had read
this story of Esther
00:33:04.91\00:33:07.95
and those words of,
"If I perish, I perish"
00:33:07.98\00:33:12.62
resonated deeply within me.
00:33:12.65\00:33:15.92
So that night we prepared,
00:33:15.96\00:33:17.99
we prepared for what was
going to happen the next day.
00:33:18.03\00:33:22.00
And I tried to
memorize my mother's face
00:33:22.03\00:33:24.53
because I knew that perhaps
I would never see her again.
00:33:24.57\00:33:28.54
And so that night my
parents, both came to my room
00:33:28.57\00:33:31.17
and my dad said,
"Alexis, I will be going to meet
00:33:31.21\00:33:36.75
the prime minister of
Nigeria tomorrow morning
00:33:36.78\00:33:39.21
and your mother
has to go to a trial
00:33:39.25\00:33:41.38
that has to do with her work.
00:33:41.42\00:33:42.75
So you are going
to be by yourself
00:33:42.78\00:33:45.95
and we will be out of
home later on in the morning,
00:33:45.99\00:33:48.62
so don't worry."
00:33:48.66\00:33:50.56
So the next day I woke up,
00:33:50.59\00:33:53.83
and I was waiting for my parents
00:33:53.86\00:33:57.93
and it was
getting later and later
00:33:57.97\00:34:00.34
and I decided that I
was going to cook breakfast.
00:34:00.37\00:34:04.67
So I went to the furnace room,
00:34:04.71\00:34:06.74
I grabbed a
container of kerosene,
00:34:06.78\00:34:11.15
and I went to a kitchen
in the back of the house
00:34:11.18\00:34:15.65
and began to try to cook.
00:34:15.68\00:34:19.22
What I didn't
realize is that the match
00:34:19.25\00:34:21.89
that I had snuffed
out, I threw on the floor
00:34:21.92\00:34:26.56
and that match went right
into the very small receptacle
00:34:26.59\00:34:32.70
entrance of this container.
00:34:32.73\00:34:36.00
I closed it without realizing it
00:34:36.04\00:34:38.91
and I put it underneath my arm
00:34:38.94\00:34:40.81
to return it to
the furnace room.
00:34:40.84\00:34:43.51
And as I was
walking to the furnace room,
00:34:43.55\00:34:48.45
this container exploded.
00:34:48.48\00:34:52.82
I had caused, I had
created a bomb really
00:34:52.85\00:34:57.73
because half the
container was full of air
00:34:57.76\00:35:00.00
and half of fuel.
00:35:00.03\00:35:03.10
And this, the wave of
expansion that it created
00:35:03.13\00:35:06.50
was felt for a kilometer radius.
00:35:06.53\00:35:09.80
It severed my right arm
00:35:09.84\00:35:12.04
and left it hanging
from the tendons in my back.
00:35:12.07\00:35:16.68
And it began to
burn me from inside out.
00:35:16.71\00:35:20.98
This was a rare
chemical reaction that happens
00:35:21.02\00:35:25.19
when a room is
completely enclosed
00:35:25.22\00:35:27.46
and until that wave
did not have an escape,
00:35:27.49\00:35:32.23
I got burnt from inside out.
00:35:32.26\00:35:35.66
And so I
decimated all of my airways.
00:35:35.70\00:35:40.70
I didn't realize
what was happening
00:35:40.74\00:35:43.24
and I thought that my house
had been bombed by the junkies
00:35:43.27\00:35:48.14
because as a child, of
course, you're brainwashed
00:35:48.18\00:35:52.75
that the junkies
are going to invade
00:35:52.78\00:35:54.45
and of course, whose
house would they bomb first,
00:35:54.48\00:35:57.62
but the military's.
00:35:57.65\00:35:59.19
So I thought,
"Well, here the junkies
00:35:59.22\00:36:01.12
have finally invaded."
00:36:01.16\00:36:03.06
So I knelt down
to roll on the ground
00:36:03.09\00:36:06.39
and then I noticed
this wind in my hair.
00:36:06.43\00:36:10.30
I had long straight
hair that I miss very much.
00:36:10.33\00:36:15.34
And I felt like something
had caught up in my hair
00:36:15.37\00:36:20.64
and so I lifted my arms
00:36:20.68\00:36:23.45
and that's when I noticed
that I didn't have my right arm.
00:36:23.48\00:36:27.12
And when I felt it was
that I was being encircled
00:36:27.15\00:36:31.29
by the flames
over and over again.
00:36:31.32\00:36:35.22
And I had a moment
of incredible clarity.
00:36:35.26\00:36:39.06
I knew that this
was no coincidence
00:36:39.09\00:36:41.50
and it was no accident.
00:36:41.53\00:36:44.13
I knew that Satan
was going to do something
00:36:44.17\00:36:47.84
to stop the courageous
step that we're about to make.
00:36:47.87\00:36:53.34
And to turn once and for all
00:36:53.38\00:36:55.24
my mother's
heart cold towards God.
00:36:55.28\00:36:58.28
And I began to
pray, "Lord, if I die,
00:36:58.31\00:37:02.68
please help my mother
to continue on the path
00:37:02.72\00:37:05.12
that we've chosen.
00:37:05.15\00:37:06.99
But if I live, I only
want to live to praise You."
00:37:07.02\00:37:12.26
And that's why I'm here tonight.
00:37:12.29\00:37:13.93
Amen.
00:37:13.96\00:37:15.96
When I opened my eyes,
00:37:16.00\00:37:17.33
I was standing in
front of the bathroom
00:37:17.37\00:37:19.60
which was at the
other end of the house.
00:37:19.63\00:37:22.54
And the bathroom door was
open, and in the large mirror,
00:37:22.57\00:37:26.71
I could see the
flames encircling me.
00:37:26.74\00:37:30.28
To this day no one knows
00:37:30.31\00:37:32.21
how I got from the
kitchen to the bathroom,
00:37:32.25\00:37:37.02
for there was a pool
of blood in the kitchen
00:37:37.05\00:37:40.29
where I had
laid during my prayer
00:37:40.32\00:37:42.76
but no tracing of blood
all the way to the bathroom.
00:37:42.79\00:37:48.43
When I got
inside of the bathroom,
00:37:48.46\00:37:50.83
the faucets of water
were already turned on.
00:37:50.87\00:37:54.14
So I thought that I
must have gone unconscious
00:37:54.17\00:37:57.81
and that somebody must have
come in the house to help me,
00:37:57.84\00:38:01.31
and I turned, still burning,
and started screaming for help.
00:38:01.34\00:38:05.45
But there was no
one in the house.
00:38:05.48\00:38:08.72
At that moment
when I saw the water on,
00:38:08.75\00:38:10.79
I remember a story,
00:38:10.82\00:38:12.65
a story that
saved my arm in part.
00:38:12.69\00:38:15.62
My father had told me a story
of a friend of his in Siberia
00:38:15.66\00:38:18.19
who had lost a finger
00:38:18.23\00:38:20.20
and due to frostbite and part
00:38:20.23\00:38:23.77
and they had
grabbed the towel with water
00:38:23.80\00:38:26.17
and kept the circulation going
00:38:26.20\00:38:28.80
until they were
able to reattach it.
00:38:28.84\00:38:31.37
So I took the water, I
put on the water the towel
00:38:31.41\00:38:35.48
and with my
left arm and my teeth
00:38:35.51\00:38:38.15
I was able to wrap this towel
00:38:38.18\00:38:39.98
around those left of my shoulder
00:38:40.02\00:38:42.22
and to press my arm
against that gaping hole.
00:38:42.25\00:38:48.12
And then I began to
run out to scream for help.
00:38:48.16\00:38:54.33
From that point forward,
00:38:54.36\00:38:56.63
it was miracle after miracle,
after miracle, after miracle.
00:38:56.67\00:39:02.50
I can sit here for
more than six hours
00:39:02.54\00:39:07.18
and relate each
and every miracle.
00:39:07.21\00:39:11.75
Unfortunately, I don't
have the luxury of the time.
00:39:11.78\00:39:15.72
But God took
this nine year old boy
00:39:15.75\00:39:20.76
who's fragile
and reduced to ashes
00:39:20.79\00:39:25.83
and began to
demonstrate with this child
00:39:25.86\00:39:31.00
that he was present in Cuba
00:39:31.03\00:39:34.47
and that it cannot
be attributed to science
00:39:34.50\00:39:37.74
and it could not
be attributed to men,
00:39:37.77\00:39:40.01
it could only be
attributed to God.
00:39:40.04\00:39:43.61
Amen.
00:39:43.65\00:39:45.31
And so something
incredible happened.
00:39:45.35\00:39:48.98
The story of my accident
00:39:49.02\00:39:53.09
took off through
Havana like wild fire
00:39:53.12\00:39:56.79
and Seventh-day
Adventist churches
00:39:56.83\00:39:59.33
regardless of what was
going to happen to them
00:39:59.36\00:40:01.33
began to go to the hospital
00:40:01.36\00:40:03.10
and began a circle of
prayer outside of the hospital.
00:40:03.13\00:40:08.17
Day and night, day and
night the church prayed.
00:40:08.20\00:40:12.74
And God inside was showing Cuba
00:40:12.77\00:40:17.15
that He had not been exiled.
00:40:17.18\00:40:19.95
He had not been taken
to the concentration camps.
00:40:19.98\00:40:23.95
He was not in jail.
00:40:23.99\00:40:25.82
He was there amongst them.
00:40:25.85\00:40:28.59
He was working with them.
00:40:28.62\00:40:31.99
And so one night the
present dictator of Cuba
00:40:32.03\00:40:37.33
who was at that time
vice president of Cuba
00:40:37.37\00:40:43.57
came to see me.
00:40:43.61\00:40:45.84
And I was
literally pieces of meat
00:40:45.87\00:40:50.51
gathered in a hyperbaric bed.
00:40:50.55\00:40:54.22
And he sat and he was
looking at the medical history.
00:40:54.25\00:40:59.39
And he closed it up
and he looked at me,
00:40:59.42\00:41:02.02
I was intubated but
I was not unconscious.
00:41:02.06\00:41:06.33
And he said, "You know, Alexis,
I don't believe in my shadow
00:41:06.36\00:41:11.67
because it moves too much.
00:41:11.70\00:41:14.34
But your case, your case
shows that there is a God."
00:41:14.37\00:41:18.17
The Lord took
me from that moment
00:41:22.14\00:41:27.28
and used this example
00:41:27.32\00:41:32.62
of vulnerability
00:41:32.65\00:41:35.16
to show Cuba
that He was their God,
00:41:35.19\00:41:40.66
He loved them and
was reaching out to them
00:41:40.70\00:41:42.93
and He is today.
00:41:42.96\00:41:45.87
And so 125 surgeries later,
00:41:45.90\00:41:51.21
you have me.
00:41:51.24\00:41:53.11
Amen.
00:41:53.14\00:41:55.31
I am one of God's
masterpiece Frankensteins.
00:41:55.34\00:42:01.68
And I am here
00:42:01.72\00:42:04.55
an impossibility talking to you.
00:42:04.59\00:42:09.66
I should not be speaking,
and I should not be walking,
00:42:09.69\00:42:13.90
let alone be alive.
00:42:13.93\00:42:16.40
But God has given
me those abilities.
00:42:16.43\00:42:21.97
And it's not because
00:42:22.00\00:42:23.34
there is anything
extraordinary about me,
00:42:23.37\00:42:27.11
it's exactly the opposite,
00:42:27.14\00:42:31.01
it is because I am so ordinary
00:42:31.05\00:42:35.88
and just and everyday
00:42:35.92\00:42:40.99
and just the next
door kind of a person
00:42:41.02\00:42:45.33
that He used it
00:42:45.36\00:42:47.23
because He wanted to show
that no matter who you are,
00:42:47.26\00:42:52.63
how useless you think you are,
00:42:52.67\00:42:55.60
how untalented, how pained,
00:42:55.64\00:42:58.61
how scarred,
00:42:58.64\00:43:01.08
how beaten up
by life you may be,
00:43:01.11\00:43:06.01
He can make
something really extraordinary
00:43:06.05\00:43:08.28
and miraculous out of you.
00:43:08.32\00:43:09.72
I wanted to close
00:43:14.09\00:43:15.66
and I want to close
this evening with a story
00:43:15.69\00:43:21.70
because I think
that in many ways
00:43:21.73\00:43:25.03
we read the story of
the children of Israel
00:43:25.07\00:43:26.84
wandering in the desert.
00:43:26.87\00:43:28.70
And we think how is it
possible that these people
00:43:28.74\00:43:33.07
that saw the
Red Sea spread open,
00:43:33.11\00:43:36.31
that had this cloud above them
00:43:36.34\00:43:39.31
so that they wouldn't
be scorched by the sun
00:43:39.35\00:43:41.52
and had manna raining down,
00:43:41.55\00:43:45.19
how could these
people doubt God?
00:43:45.22\00:43:49.06
And yet here we are,
00:43:52.23\00:43:56.70
blessings raining down
upon us and we doubt God.
00:43:56.73\00:44:02.90
My father had a
very interesting way
00:44:02.94\00:44:05.67
of introducing my scars to me.
00:44:05.71\00:44:09.28
Before I got burnt,
00:44:09.31\00:44:10.65
I had been a child
model for Bohemia magazine
00:44:10.68\00:44:14.32
and I was
somewhat proud of my looks.
00:44:14.35\00:44:18.89
So I had not seen
the monster I had become.
00:44:18.92\00:44:23.16
And one day I cut my reflection
00:44:23.19\00:44:26.13
and I told my father,
00:44:26.16\00:44:27.50
"Dad, I want to
see what I look like."
00:44:27.53\00:44:30.93
He said, "Okay, okay.
00:44:30.97\00:44:33.37
I will bring you a mirror
00:44:33.40\00:44:34.74
but you have to wait until
I go home and I come back."
00:44:34.77\00:44:37.54
So he went home, he
dressed up in his color uniform
00:44:37.57\00:44:40.61
and he put all the
medals that he could on.
00:44:40.64\00:44:44.21
And he knew that
I love these medals
00:44:44.25\00:44:47.68
because he had
been around the world,
00:44:47.72\00:44:49.82
had fought in many
wars, had many honors,
00:44:49.85\00:44:52.49
and I was enthralled
00:44:52.52\00:44:53.86
by all this Indiana
Jones kind of stories
00:44:53.89\00:44:56.79
in Africa and
Madagascar and Europe,
00:44:56.83\00:45:00.63
and as he worked as a spy
in infiltrated governments.
00:45:00.66\00:45:04.20
I was just in awe of
this larger than life man.
00:45:04.23\00:45:08.84
And so he went home,
got all his medals on,
00:45:08.87\00:45:12.47
and he went back into
my room with a mirror,
00:45:12.51\00:45:15.34
he said, "Before you look,
00:45:15.38\00:45:18.61
I just want to
tell you something,
00:45:18.65\00:45:20.28
I'm envious of you."
00:45:20.32\00:45:22.88
And I said, "Of me?
00:45:22.92\00:45:27.19
What could you envy of me?
00:45:27.22\00:45:30.03
I have no accomplishments.
00:45:30.06\00:45:32.59
I've done nothing
compared to what you have done."
00:45:32.63\00:45:36.40
He said, "Well, when I
get home after I parade,
00:45:36.43\00:45:40.27
I have to take off my
medals and my uniform.
00:45:40.30\00:45:44.47
But you, Alexis, you are
going to wear your medals
00:45:44.51\00:45:48.44
everyday of your life
for the rest of your life.
00:45:48.48\00:45:53.82
So every time you
look at the mirror,
00:45:53.85\00:45:56.18
you're going to see the evidence
00:45:56.22\00:45:57.65
of this fight against death."
00:45:57.69\00:46:01.99
And so when I
looked at the mirror,
00:46:02.02\00:46:05.09
I saw those medals
00:46:05.13\00:46:08.60
and I've had a love
and hate relationships
00:46:08.63\00:46:10.90
with the scars
that cover my body.
00:46:10.93\00:46:13.94
But every day no matter
how much I may doubt suddenly,
00:46:13.97\00:46:19.27
no matter what that
moment of weakness I may have,
00:46:19.31\00:46:22.48
no matter my failures,
God reminds me in the mirror,
00:46:22.51\00:46:27.48
"I did this for you.
00:46:27.52\00:46:30.75
Your scars are your medals."
00:46:30.79\00:46:34.46
We all have scars.
00:46:34.49\00:46:37.89
We can choose to be
a victim or survivor.
00:46:37.93\00:46:42.90
And God has given us
the tools and the calling.
00:46:42.93\00:46:48.60
Not only to be the survivors
00:46:48.64\00:46:51.64
but to share our
scars with the world
00:46:51.67\00:46:56.14
so that everyone may be
healed by those ultimate scars,
00:46:56.18\00:47:02.35
the scars on the hand of Jesus.
00:47:02.38\00:47:05.25
Amen.
00:47:05.29\00:47:09.12
I would like to close
00:47:09.16\00:47:10.53
by reading Hebrews 11:1-3.
00:47:10.56\00:47:16.80
"Now faith is the summation
00:47:16.83\00:47:20.97
for the evidence
of things not seen.
00:47:21.00\00:47:24.51
For by it the elders
obtained good report.
00:47:24.54\00:47:28.04
Through faith we understand
that the worlds were framed
00:47:28.08\00:47:32.08
by the Word of God,
00:47:32.11\00:47:33.45
so that the
things which are not seen
00:47:33.48\00:47:35.58
were not made of
things which do appear."
00:47:35.62\00:47:41.36
So I leave you with faith
00:47:41.39\00:47:44.09
because in faith there is hope
00:47:44.13\00:47:46.83
and in hope there is love,
00:47:46.86\00:47:49.03
and love is the
ultimate gift of our Lord.
00:47:49.06\00:47:52.60
Amen.
00:47:52.63\00:47:54.24
O love that will not let me go
00:48:20.56\00:48:27.34
I rest my weary soul in Thee
00:48:27.37\00:48:33.58
I give Thee back the life I owe
00:48:33.61\00:48:39.85
That in Thine
ocean depths its flow
00:48:39.88\00:48:44.89
May richer, fuller be
00:48:44.92\00:48:52.59
O light that
foll'west all my way
00:48:52.63\00:48:58.57
I yield my
flickering torch to Thee
00:48:58.60\00:49:04.37
My heart
restores its borrowed ray
00:49:04.41\00:49:10.25
That in Thy
sunshine's blaze its day
00:49:10.28\00:49:14.98
May brighter, fairer be
00:49:15.02\00:49:22.29
O joy that
seekest me through pain
00:49:22.32\00:49:27.86
I cannot close my heart to Thee
00:49:27.90\00:49:33.44
I trace the
rainbow through the rain
00:49:33.47\00:49:39.11
And feel the promise is not vain
00:49:39.14\00:49:43.81
That morn shall tearless be
00:49:43.85\00:49:50.49