Hello, I'm Shelley
Quinn and welcome again to
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Issues and Answers.
Today we are going to be having
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a testimony from someone
who went from self-medication to
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the Great Physician and I
believe that this is something
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that will move you. Let me share
a scripture from I Peter 2:9,
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one of my favorites and
you will see the application
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in a little bit and it
says, You are a chosen race,
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a royal
priesthood, a dedicated nation,
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God's own purchased
special people, that
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you may set forth the wonderful
deeds and display the virtues
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and perfections of him
who called you out of darkness
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and into his marvelous light.
We have a couple with us today
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who have been called out of
darkness and into the light of
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the Lord. They are very active
in ministry and they are setting
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forty his praise. I am
pleased to introduce you to
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Sherri and Wayne Labins.
Sherri, I'm so glad that y'all
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are back and Wayne. Thank you so
much. The name of your ministry
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is With Jesus' Strength. I love
the story how you came up with
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this name, so please share it.
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Well, With Jesus' Strength
is Wayne and Sherri and that's
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where we have the W and the
S and then Jesus in the middle.
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When Wayne first came to see
me on our very first date, he
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brought three roses. There were
two red ones and one white one
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and the two red ones represented
us and the white one was Jesus
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Christ and so we always
want to keep him in between us.
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Amen, Glory to God! With such
a name as With Jesus' Strength
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I know that I can think of the
perfect scripture that would tie
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into this. Wayne,
what is that scripture?
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Well, it's Philippians 4:13: I
can do all things through Christ
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who strengthens me. And
that's really the emphasis.
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We sometimes think, especially
as men, we can do things by
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ourselves. But it's only
through Christ that you can have
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deliverance from the kinds
of things we're talking about,
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abuse addiction deliverance.
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You were with us in a
previous program and shared your
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testimony, so this is something
that is very special to you.
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Now you go out and you were
a convicted child molester, I
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should say you are a convicted
child molester. The Lord has
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changed your life and you go
out and teach others the same
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principles of
recovery and accountability.
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Absolutely. Recovery
and accountability, both are
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important. Accountability
to God but also accountability
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horizontally to our brothers and
sisters in the church and in our
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family. Accountability does
a lot. It is critical to over
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coming habitual sin.
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Amen, Amen. I'm thrilled at
how God is leading you all but I
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want to particularly thank
you for coming to share such
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delicate testimony. We've heard
Wayne's, but Sherri we're going
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to talk with you today and hear
a little bit about what your
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background was and then how
the Lord joined the two of you
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together. So tell us
about your early childhood.
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Well I was born not a normal
child actually. I had a defect
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in my heart. I had a 40% chance
of reaching my first birthday.
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Back in the 1960s they had
to perform open heart surgery on
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me. That was
pretty rare in the '60s
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Right and so they kind of made
a big deal of it and so they had
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(actually I do have a clip,
I don't know if you want to go
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to that). Sure,
let's look at that picture
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Some kids in the neighborhood
heard about this and they wanted
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to put on a little play for me.
They raised $5.58 or something
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and bought me a little stuffed
animal and for my mom, because
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she was real young at that time.
My parents were together at that
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time when I was two but my
parents got a divorce when I was
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three years old and my mother
actually remarried when I was
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three. Wait, let me go back a
little bit. What I was thinking
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though was here I was a goofy
little three-year-old and these
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people are wanting to put on
a play for me and stuff. But you
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know what? We're not goofy
little kids, because every child
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is precious to God. That's
what he tells us. Let the little
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children come unto me and forbid
them not for of such is the
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kingdom of heaven and he
tells us that in Matthew.
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So now were your
parents Christian?
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My mom hand been when she was
first married to my father she
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was Seventh-day Adventist,
but when she got a divorce she
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went out of the church. Then she
met my stepfather and they were
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not in the church. But when
I was five years old my mom and
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my stepdad both did become
Seventh-day Adventists for which
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I was very thankful that they
both were practicing. My real
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father and stepmother and
my mom and my stepdad were both
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Seventh-day Adventists. So when
I went to either household, like
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every other weekend I went
to visit my dad it was the same
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rules. Nowadays kids have to
go through so much drama with
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their parents, you know. Oh,
we practice this way, we go to
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church on Sunday, your dad goes
to church on Saturday and so
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it's really hard on kids I think
when they have to be put in that
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situation. So now
you're being brought up
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in a Christian home even though
it was a split home and you've
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got Christians on both sides...
Good Christian values...
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so were you
baptized at an early age?
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Right. We lived in Arkansas and
I went through I think a series
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of meetings, a baptismal class
and I was baptized at 12 years
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old. Then I came out to
California to visit my father
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and when I came back home
I remember I looked in the
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refrigerator and there was some
beer in the refrigerator and I
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was like why is there
beer in our refrigerator?
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Let me make sure I understand.
You got baptized in California
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with your father. No,
with my parents here in
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Arkansas. Harrison, Arkansas
where we lived. I went to church
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school. It was a little class
room, 5th through 8th were in
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one room. We worked half
day, went to school half day.
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I mean we had a soy bean field.
I mean I was very Christian
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educated, oriented, everything.
Well my parents were going to
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church and everything at that
time, but this month that I'm
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gone to California out to visit
my dad I came home not realizing
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that probably... because one
of the things my mom and stepdad
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did, if they ever had an
argument or a fight they never
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did it in front of us.
They never argued; it was always
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behind closed doors and stuff
like that, which I'm thankful
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for, too, in a way. But also
I didn't know that there were
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problems. Well when I
came back there was beer in our
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refrigerator. So I asked my mom,
I'm like, Why is there beer in
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our refrigerator? And their like
Well that we your Uncle Jeff.
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You know they had come out
to visit and they left it here.
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And I'm like, Well why is it
still here? Well then come to
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find out my parents
had left the church.
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Now you're recently baptized,
now you find out your parents
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have left the church.
Right. How did that affect you?
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I was really hurt and so at
first I would still go to church
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but then I would get
grounded from going to church in
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different situations. Well
we ended up leaving Arkansas and
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moving back to California within
a year. I continued going to the
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Bakersfield Academy there
in Bakersfield, but my parents
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didn't go to church and a lot
of the people were like, What,
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we heard your parents aren't
in the church anymore. We don't
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want our kids hanging out
with you and they disassociated
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unfortunately with my parents
and it was very sad that they
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were not welcomed back. People
who were their old friends who
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they thought would love them and
embrace them still as friends
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did not. So my parents even more
especially my stepfather, those
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hypocrites, you know. So he
wanted nothing to do with the
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church. So I basically wasted
my grandmother's money that she
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paid for me to go school my
ninth grade year, because I was
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cutting and just doing stuff
after awhile. So my sophomore
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I went ahead to go to public
school for the first time.
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That was just scary; it was huge
and big and I did not like it at
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all and I didn't appreciate the
teachings because I was used to
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Christian education. But the
next year I went to alternative
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school that I chose to go
to with a lot of kids that were
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like delinquents, kind of like
the kids that were here with
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Sherri. I could really relate to
those kids because they were all
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like in a troubled group
and they were all going to that
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school. And you chose to go
there? But I chose to go there
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because it was smaller and I was
used to that setting, so I chose
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to go there and I started
getting good grades because I
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started paying attention. Then
I started getting into drugs and
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alcohol. So now just a minute.
You go to the alternative school
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because it's smaller and
your grades improved but the
00:10:03.42\00:10:07.54
influence of some of the people
around you started taking you
00:10:07.58\00:10:12.18
down the wrong path.
Right. Definitely. But I quit
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getting high at school which I
thought was a good thing because
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I respected the teachers because
they were showing me respect so
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I'm like, Well I'll be
respectful and not be high at
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school. Because when I was going
to the other school, the big
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public school, we would all just
kind of pool our money and get
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high and do whatever we could
put our money together and get.
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Well, I ended up getting
angry at my mom my senior year.
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She was kind of going through
her own battles because she had
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gotten a divorce from my
stepfather when I was 16 then
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and that was after I'd gone to
alternative school. So I called
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my friend and said, Hey you
want to move to L.A. tomorrow?
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She had already taken her GED.
She was 17, she was 11 months
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younger than me. And she's like,
Sure. So we caught a Greyhound
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Bus and went down to my friend's
house and she looked in the
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newspaper and there was somebody
hiring; they needed a secretary
00:11:07.65\00:11:11.82
and it was actually a porno
producer. He made pornographic
00:11:11.85\00:11:17.07
movies. So she got a job as a
secretary assistant or whatever
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for this man. So I looked in the
area for another job. So I went
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to work at a Straw Hat pizza
parlor and another restaurant,
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Victoria's Station as a hostess.
There was always a temptation
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Oh Sherri, you're going to be my
next star. You want to be in one
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of the movies. There were a
couple times that we were extras
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in the movies, but never with
our clothes off or we were never
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there when they were filming
the risqué parts of the movies.
00:11:48.31\00:11:53.03
But now Sherri, you're telling
this amazing transformation here
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of someone who's brought up in
a Christian school. Really, you
00:11:58.44\00:12:02.92
got baptized; you were excited
about the Lord but with all
00:12:02.95\00:12:07.36
these family dynamics things are
changing. Did you just put God
00:12:07.40\00:12:11.35
on a shelf and this great love
you felt for God, did you put it
00:12:11.38\00:12:15.29
on the shelf or how did you
feel when you started getting
00:12:15.33\00:12:17.74
involved in all this?
You know what, I think I did.
00:12:17.78\00:12:19.77
I just kept saying, You know,
I'm going to come back to this.
00:12:19.81\00:12:23.00
I loved God and I always knew
there was like this love that I
00:12:23.04\00:12:27.51
wanted to come back to. But
right now I was living for my
00:12:27.54\00:12:31.68
self and for what I wanted
at that time. But what was
00:12:31.71\00:12:35.78
interesting is actually at that
time in L.A. was the first time
00:12:35.81\00:12:39.36
I was dating this one guy and
he had this poster on his wall.
00:12:39.39\00:12:42.90
I'm like, What is that? And
he goes, Well Sherri, that's
00:12:42.93\00:12:47.00
evolution, that's where we came
from. He goes, see that smudge
00:12:47.03\00:12:50.37
down here and we came up...
and I go, What?! I go I cannot
00:12:50.41\00:12:54.29
believe in evolution. I go, I
believe in God. God created me.
00:12:54.32\00:12:58.06
You know. I go, You don't
believe in God. He goes, Oh no,
00:12:58.09\00:13:02.34
We just evolved; it was a
big bang. You know, we broke up.
00:13:02.37\00:13:08.01
It was like I still had this
underlying value and there were
00:13:08.05\00:13:13.04
like some things I still
couldn't do. I knew that someday
00:13:13.08\00:13:17.75
if I ever get married or
whatever I did, I wanted to have
00:13:17.78\00:13:22.38
this and they were going to have
to measure up: They were going
00:13:22.41\00:13:26.41
have to believe in God. I would
want them to laugh at my jokes
00:13:26.44\00:13:32.17
and think I was kind of cute,
you know, but at that time I was
00:13:32.20\00:13:37.54
in a world of drugs and alcohol
and just getting high at the
00:13:37.57\00:13:42.87
time and going out with whoever.
00:13:42.91\00:13:45.30
Now were you really just
doing this to rebel or was this
00:13:45.34\00:13:49.00
something you were self
medicating for all the pain
00:13:49.04\00:13:51.28
that you were
feeling in your family?
00:13:51.32\00:13:53.21
This is another thing that I
told Wayne, it's really bizarre.
00:13:53.25\00:13:57.95
We have very different back
grounds. It was like after I was
00:13:57.99\00:14:02.72
hurt by the first guy, I was
like, you know what, guys can
00:14:02.75\00:14:07.81
get away with... They can have
as much sex, they can put up
00:14:07.84\00:14:12.83
pictures; you know, you go over
to their house and they have all
00:14:12.86\00:14:15.04
these women on the walls and
stuff like that. I did the same
00:14:15.08\00:14:19.47
thing, except for with men. It's
like I had men on my walls; the
00:14:19.51\00:14:23.87
pictures from the Playgirl
calendar. I dated this one guy
00:14:23.90\00:14:28.31
only for two weeks, but it was
enough to intimidate other men
00:14:28.34\00:14:32.20
because he was the Incredible
Hulk double at Universal Studios
00:14:32.24\00:14:36.80
so I put his picture on the
wall. Guys would say, Oh who's
00:14:36.84\00:14:41.34
that? Oh, that's my ex-boyfriend
You know, but just to intimidate
00:14:41.37\00:14:45.04
this intimidating thing, I think
back on men. You know what?
00:14:45.08\00:14:51.70
I think it's a control
thing, that kind of to men.
00:14:51.74\00:14:55.62
It's so interesting, you know.
You're sitting here talking
00:14:55.65\00:14:59.57
about that you can't believe
in evolution, and she won't date
00:14:59.60\00:15:03.49
anybody that believes in
evolution, yet you have stepped
00:15:03.52\00:15:06.70
off first with smoking and you
started on this wrong direction
00:15:06.74\00:15:11.59
and here you are walking down
this path. Now you've smoked,
00:15:11.62\00:15:16.02
you've done drugs, you've even
considered being in porno movies
00:15:16.06\00:15:20.42
Sherri, everything about your
life changed and how did God
00:15:20.46\00:15:25.54
reach out to you again? I
mean did you finally get to that
00:15:25.58\00:15:30.13
point where you're feeling empty
or were you just getting numb
00:15:30.17\00:15:34.68
to what you'd
been brought up in?
00:15:34.72\00:15:38.20
Well, I'd quit doing the meth. I
moved away from Bakersfield over
00:15:38.23\00:15:44.68
to Pismo Beach area and I only
drank, which is still a drug,
00:15:44.71\00:15:49.84
but you know you're thinking
you're doing a better drug type
00:15:49.87\00:15:55.39
thing. But then I moved down to
San Diego and we were living in
00:15:55.42\00:16:00.25
a place called basically Crack
Ally where I could have my dog,
00:16:00.28\00:16:05.07
because I needed to live in
an area where I could afford.
00:16:05.11\00:16:08.79
There were always helicopters
flying over and what not and we
00:16:08.82\00:16:13.30
were burglarized. The person
stole a T-shirt of mine that
00:16:13.33\00:16:17.74
said, GET REAL. I always thought
that was what God was probably
00:16:17.77\00:16:20.83
trying to tell me, Sherri,
Get Real. Later I looked in my
00:16:20.86\00:16:24.72
closet when I was going through
stuff and I found their T-shirt.
00:16:24.75\00:16:28.14
They had taken off their shirt
and put on my shirt and left
00:16:28.17\00:16:32.25
their shirt behind. It was back
when the first desert war was
00:16:32.29\00:16:35.99
going on, the gulf war, and it
said DESERT SHIELD, and it was
00:16:36.02\00:16:38.94
before the Desert Storm which
are the storms we get in our
00:16:38.98\00:16:42.37
life whenever we're not allowing
God to lead. It was DESERT
00:16:42.41\00:16:45.73
SHIELD and thinking back now, I
mean, I can just see God working
00:16:45.77\00:16:49.44
in my life. My mom had called me
and she has just started going
00:16:49.47\00:16:53.11
back to church at our home
church in Bakersfield, which is
00:16:53.15\00:16:56.59
Bakersfield Central Church. She
said, Sherri, you know, I'm just
00:16:56.63\00:17:00.57
not paying attention to what
people say or what they're doing
00:17:00.61\00:17:04.11
I'm just having a relationship
with God. You know, I'm wearing
00:17:04.15\00:17:07.62
my jewelry, I'm wearing my
makeup and I'm loving it and
00:17:07.65\00:17:11.66
people, you know what Sherri,
they're loving me now. I like
00:17:11.69\00:17:15.45
really? She gave me a book
called Living on the Ragged Edge
00:17:15.48\00:17:18.98
which is what I felt like I was
doing at that time. I mean, I
00:17:19.02\00:17:22.07
would pray to God, Let me get
to the liquor store to get some
00:17:22.10\00:17:24.91
beer while the helicopters and
gunfire are going off in Crack
00:17:24.95\00:17:29.68
Ally area, you know, and he
would protect me. Anyway, long
00:17:29.72\00:17:34.39
story short, when we were
burglarized I felt insecure.
00:17:34.42\00:17:38.53
I mean, you feel unsafe and you
were already violated. Yes you
00:17:38.56\00:17:42.92
felt very violated and you're in
this bad area anyway. So I moved
00:17:42.95\00:17:47.57
back to Bakersfield and I'm like
all right, you say this church
00:17:47.61\00:17:51.41
has changed. I already know how
they treated you when we moved
00:17:51.45\00:17:55.53
back from Arkansas. They did
not accept you and Dad. Well I'm
00:17:55.56\00:17:59.75
wearing my heavy eye makeup, I'm
wearing my bright pink lipstick,
00:17:59.78\00:18:03.93
I've got my cigarettes in my
purse and I'm coming to church
00:18:03.97\00:18:07.12
and I had a hangover every week.
You know what? That church loved
00:18:07.15\00:18:11.50
me to death. I'm telling you,
they were so awesome. They did
00:18:11.54\00:18:16.18
not judge me. They loved me
and you know what? Nobody said
00:18:16.22\00:18:21.02
anything. All they did was
love me and in a year I was
00:18:21.05\00:18:25.78
rebaptized. Then I started going
with them once a month to feed
00:18:25.81\00:18:31.82
the homeless and they would
go sing at the old folks' home.
00:18:31.85\00:18:36.46
and do stuff. So the more you
got involved the more your life
00:18:36.50\00:18:41.24
grows. One of the things at
first was, Man I want to get as
00:18:41.28\00:18:45.52
this one girl, Denise. She was
really on fire for God and I'm
00:18:45.55\00:18:49.76
like why can't I be as excited
as her, look at her fire.
00:18:49.79\00:18:53.88
I remember one time I went
to her Bible study and there had
00:18:53.91\00:18:58.10
been a crime where a man had
really violated an older woman
00:18:58.14\00:19:02.68
and a child. I thought,
that mean person, he was just so
00:19:02.71\00:19:07.55
horrible. She said, Sherri,
we need to tell that man about
00:19:07.58\00:19:12.35
Jesus and I said, What, tell him
about Jesus? Then I said, you're
00:19:12.38\00:19:18.52
right. But it hadn't crossed my
mind that we needed to tell the
00:19:18.55\00:19:24.65
person, the perpetrator,
and then that was probably the
00:19:24.69\00:19:27.05
beginning of my wanting prison
ministries. I had taken a class
00:19:27.09\00:19:31.91
at Central for prison ministry
but I never utilized it. Then
00:19:31.94\00:19:35.73
over here at the coast we've
gotten into prison ministry.
00:19:35.77\00:19:40.68
Well I put an ad in the news
paper, the Adventist singles
00:19:40.71\00:19:46.80
newspaper, an Adventist news
paper and I had an ad to meet
00:19:46.84\00:19:52.86
somebody and I met Wayne, that's
where Wayne comes into the scene
00:19:52.89\00:19:58.30
and that I wanted to meet
somebody and he wrote me a
00:19:58.33\00:20:02.86
four page letter, he's an
engineer. Most of the guys do
00:20:02.90\00:20:07.39
not do anything like
that. They'd all been kind of
00:20:07.43\00:20:09.89
scribbled and whatever. Well
I got a four page letter from
00:20:09.92\00:20:13.61
Wayne and I told my mom, I go,
Mom, look at this. What do you
00:20:13.65\00:20:17.28
think about this letter. And she
says, Wow, he seems like a nice
00:20:17.31\00:20:20.91
guy. Well, I called him and
then we exchanged pictures and
00:20:20.94\00:20:26.43
decided we wanted to meet each
other. I went over to the coast
00:20:26.47\00:20:31.92
where he lived over in Paso
Robles and that first weekend
00:20:31.95\00:20:36.98
that we met Wayne told me
that... Well, I came over on a
00:20:37.01\00:20:41.96
a Thursday or Friday, Thursday
evening and then Friday we went
00:20:42.00\00:20:46.88
and did some stuff on the beach
and what not racket ball and
00:20:46.92\00:20:51.76
stuff and then Sabbath we sent
to church and when we were at
00:20:51.80\00:20:57.42
church he had told people, I
want you to pray for us because
00:20:57.46\00:21:00.16
I'm going to tell
Sherri my testimony tonight.
00:21:00.19\00:21:03.32
Now hold on just a second
because in your church you have
00:21:03.36\00:21:06.87
been very direct with
your church and anywhere you go
00:21:06.91\00:21:10.36
letting them know your testimony
part of your accountability
00:21:10.39\00:21:14.74
program for the child
molestation. It's almost self
00:21:14.77\00:21:18.06
imposed. You know this is what
works. Now you're going to tell
00:21:18.09\00:21:21.86
her; how do you even approach
telling her. You're obviously
00:21:21.90\00:21:25.57
interested in her. How do
you approach telling Sherri what
00:21:25.61\00:21:29.25
your background is?
00:21:29.29\00:21:30.26
Well what I have found is start
at the beginning and when you
00:21:30.27\00:21:34.24
get to the end stop. You know,
be very clear, be very direct.
00:21:34.27\00:21:38.47
People appreciate honesty. It
seems to be a rare thing these
00:21:38.50\00:21:42.66
days and I think
she responded to that.
00:21:42.69\00:21:45.86
What did you say
to initiate this?
00:21:45.89\00:21:47.89
Well, I told her you know before
you get to know me with your
00:21:47.93\00:21:51.82
heart and get attached to
me emotionally, because we had
00:21:51.86\00:21:54.60
a very good weekend and we had
been communicating on the phone.
00:21:54.64\00:21:58.41
We had a good feeling about this
relationship already. I wanted
00:21:58.44\00:22:02.51
to say you need to know some
things with your head first and
00:22:02.55\00:22:06.82
so I went through the whole
story and I also gave her my
00:22:06.85\00:22:12.21
jail journal to read over.
That was the end of our visit
00:22:12.24\00:22:17.53
together and she had some time
to go think back at her home and
00:22:17.57\00:22:22.63
process this. I
wanted her to really think.
00:22:22.67\00:22:24.62
Now at the same time, Sherri,
he has just told you his whole
00:22:24.66\00:22:30.71
story. We've heard Wayne's story
and he got his restoring hand
00:22:30.74\00:22:35.83
and he's looking for a Christian
wife. Did you share your story
00:22:35.86\00:22:40.91
of your background and some
of the tawdry things you were
00:22:40.95\00:22:44.77
involved with at that same time?
00:22:44.81\00:22:46.62
You know, I don't remember.
Well what was interesting I
00:22:46.66\00:22:51.41
remember when Wayne was first
sharing his story, I thought
00:22:51.45\00:22:55.41
well he's going to tell me
he had an affair. God, you know
00:22:55.45\00:22:59.35
I would really have a hard time
with somebody that had an affair
00:22:59.38\00:23:01.66
because I don't deal well
with cheaters. So whenever it
00:23:01.69\00:23:09.31
finished, I was like wow. This
is like really, really big, you
00:23:09.34\00:23:14.27
know. I don't know that I can
handle this. It was just neat to
00:23:14.30\00:23:19.26
see how God worked with me
and processed it and my biggest
00:23:19.29\00:23:24.41
thing was to watch how they act
and their actions and see how
00:23:24.45\00:23:29.53
they handle themselves in
situations. But, you know, I
00:23:29.57\00:23:34.02
remember that I told Wayne all
of my story. I'm sure I had told
00:23:34.05\00:23:39.67
him some of my story and I think
Wayne still hears some of my
00:23:39.70\00:23:45.29
story. Do you
recall when she first
00:23:45.32\00:23:48.05
told you? I think
it was over the time
00:23:48.09\00:23:50.75
that we were courting together
and there were some things that
00:23:50.79\00:23:54.04
I have never done. I have never
gotten drunk, I have never taken
00:23:54.08\00:23:57.30
drugs, I've never smoked any
thing. Our backgrounds were so
00:23:57.33\00:24:01.53
different from that regard.
It's amazing how God brought us
00:24:01.57\00:24:04.95
together and has kept us
together. But what I have seen
00:24:04.98\00:24:08.51
him do is use our respective
experiences to reach a wide
00:24:08.55\00:24:11.91
variety of people caught
up in the world's hurts and
00:24:11.95\00:24:15.84
destructive behaviors. It
occurs to me as I'm listening
00:24:15.87\00:24:19.69
to both of your testimonies, you
were taking a risk. Any time you
00:24:19.72\00:24:24.92
marry someone who has a history
in something, there's a risk of
00:24:24.95\00:24:29.99
this being repeated. But at
the same time you were taking a
00:24:30.03\00:24:34.84
risk because anytime somebody's
been a drug addict or been a
00:24:34.88\00:24:39.18
heavy drinker or alcoholic,
there's always that chance that
00:24:39.21\00:24:43.74
they can fall back into it. But
yet God had set you both on a
00:24:43.78\00:24:48.10
new path. You're both now in
love with the Lord and he has
00:24:48.14\00:24:52.39
put the two of you together and
I'm sure the accountability that
00:24:52.43\00:24:56.63
you bring to one another
has been an incredible source of
00:24:56.66\00:25:00.42
strength. It has.
In fact, we have shared
00:25:00.45\00:25:03.40
some things between us as
husband and wife that we haven't
00:25:03.44\00:25:06.00
shared with anyone else and that
level of accountability here is
00:25:06.03\00:25:10.23
the highest on the planet
between anyone and it really
00:25:10.27\00:25:15.40
helps build trust
instead of tear it down.
00:25:15.43\00:25:18.46
I'm sure that the scripture
that comes to mind for you
00:25:18.49\00:25:25.21
is Proverbs 6:22 or 4:22, 22:6,
I've got that backwards: Train
00:25:25.24\00:25:30.26
up a child in the way he should
go and when he is old or when
00:25:30.30\00:25:35.99
she is old they will not depart
from it. So it was always in
00:25:36.02\00:25:40.82
your heart that you knew you
were going to come back to God.
00:25:40.86\00:25:45.59
Yes, it was, it was always there
and it was kind of like when I'm
00:25:45.63\00:25:50.25
30 I'm going to straighten up
and that was kind of a picture
00:25:50.28\00:25:55.36
that we have of a friend of ours
He was saying that, When I turn
00:25:55.39\00:26:00.44
30 I'm going to straighten up.
00:26:00.47\00:26:02.68
You have that
picture? We'll put it up.
00:26:02.71\00:26:04.23
Jay, right here, a friend
of ours. He left behind a wife
00:26:04.27\00:26:09.46
and three beautiful children.
He died of a drug overdose
00:26:09.49\00:26:15.78
because he did not give it up.
He loved the Lord. They found
00:26:15.81\00:26:21.33
so much information in his house
I mean, he would be high and
00:26:21.36\00:26:26.31
drunk and talking with people
about God but he did not give
00:26:26.34\00:26:30.99
it up. That was him at the Men's
Retreat and it's just so sad.
00:26:31.02\00:26:36.27
We got permission from his wife
to share that picture today.
00:26:36.31\00:26:40.81
The reason we're mentioning
that is because we want people
00:26:40.84\00:26:45.17
to realize you don't have
tomorrow. You need to get help
00:26:45.21\00:26:49.38
today. Right now call someone.
Addiction is so destructive:
00:26:49.41\00:26:53.91
Drugs, abuse, smoking,
sex, food. You know sometimes we
00:26:53.94\00:26:58.46
think, food, what, that's not
a bid deal. If it's destructive,
00:26:58.49\00:27:01.97
it's against God and you
need to get help right away.
00:27:02.00\00:27:04.86
I can't believe how quickly the
time flies when you all are here
00:27:04.89\00:27:08.67
Thank you so much for being
here. I'm glad that you'll be
00:27:08.71\00:27:12.25
coming back. We're going to have
Wayne and Sherri come back and
00:27:12.28\00:27:14.67
they're going to be talking on
recovery and ways that the Lord
00:27:14.71\00:27:20.83
led, particularly in Wayne's
instance, how he recovered from
00:27:20.86\00:27:25.77
the snare that Satan had him in.
But more importantly he's going
00:27:25.80\00:27:30.33
to be sharing the accountability
program that God has helped
00:27:30.37\00:27:34.81
construct around him and how
God has led him because it is so
00:27:34.84\00:27:39.63
important for our churches to
recognize this problem and when
00:27:39.66\00:27:44.72
it has been identified to hold
people accountable even after
00:27:44.75\00:27:49.77
recovery. So join us again.
00:27:49.81\00:27:55.88