Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201525A
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00:00 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY
00:04 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:09 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:15 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:20 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:25 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:30 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:36 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 00:42 IIW-2015-25 TAKE THE RISK - THE JOURNEY 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:34 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world 01:44 It Is Written 01:45 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 01:58 CHRIS: Friends, welcome to It Is Written. You know, It Is Written is a program all about the Bible 02:05 and how God is leading people all around the world, how he's led people in the past, leading 02:12 people today, and will lead people in the future. Today, I have with me a special guest who 02:20 has a story that is truly amazing. I want to welcome to the show Pastor Manuel Donoso. 02:28 Pastor Donoso, so glad to have you here today. PASTOR DONOSO: It's a pleasure to be 02:31 here. CHRIS: Very good. Now, Pastor, you are the pastor of the Nepean Church in Ottawa. 02:37 You've been there for fourteen years. You've pastored for twenty-five years. PASTOR 02:43 DONOSO: Yes. CHRIS: Now, Pastor Donoso has written a book called A Risk Taker's Journey. It is an 02:52 autobiography where he shares his life story. In the next few shows, we're going to get a 02:58 little snippet of that story, but make sure you stay tuned in, because at the end of the show, 03:04 we will tell you how you can get a copy of this book. So Pastor Donoso, you are a pastor of a 03:11 Seventh-day Adventist Church, of a Christian church. Have you been a Christian all your life? 03:15 PASTOR DONOSO: Yes, I believe I was, right from the very early age. CHRIS: Very good. Now, talk 03:23 to me a little bit about, Pastor, where did you grow up? Where are you from? Give me a 03:27 little bit of your history as a youth. PASTOR DONOSO: I was born in Chile in the countryside in 03:33 the central valley of Chile. My father was an administrator of a large farm in Chile, so that's 03:42 where I was born. And basically, my early childhood was in the farm. CHRIS: Okay. Now, Pastor 03:54 Donoso, did you have any brothers and sisters growing up? PASTOR DONOSO: We were three. I 03:59 have a sister that is the older one, and my brother that was three years older than I, died 04:04 at the age of 26. So it's only the two of us right now, my sister and I. CHRIS: All right. 04:10 Now, your book A Risk Taker's Journey is really a fascinating journey on your life story, and 04:15 so we're going to just talk a little bit about that. But Pastor Donoso - and I'm asking 04:21 you a broad question, because there are a number of pivotal moments in your story - but 04:25 let's go right to your youth, right to your childhood. Talk to me about those first steps of 04:30 your journey. And one of the things I think that's very important is that God was 04:35 leading you on a journey. You may not have known it at the time, and that's how it is for 04:40 many of us. I know it was for my own story. We didn't sense that God was the One leading us; but 04:47 now, being able to look back on our history, we know that it was God leading us. But talk to me 04:52 about some of those pivotal moments. Tell me. talk to me about kind of the first pivotal 04:56 moment in your life story, this journey that you took. PASTOR DONOSO: I think one of the first 05:02 traumatic experiences in my life was when, at the age of five - I didn't understand exactly at the 05:11 moment - but my father, as I said earlier, was the administrator of a large farm. 05:16 And he had an affair with a lady in the farm. And the owners of the farm became aware of it, my 05:25 mother as well. And my father was demoted for a short period of time. That was the idea; they 05:31 communicated this to my mother, that they would be demoting him for a short time, and then will 05:38 be reinstated to his former position. But he couldn't take that. And he actually resigned. 05:47 And the experience that I wanted to share was the fact that suddenly, we had a beautiful 05:52 home, and suddenly, we are moving. CHRIS: Okay. PASTOR DONOSO: We are moving into 05:56 another area. And it was very traumatic for the whole family because we were uprooted, and 06:05 the place where I was going to now, they had no school. And the irony of it all was that we move 06:15 into this school, the former school, that was the teacher's home plus the classroom. But I 06:21 have to go away to school because there was no school any longer in that particular area. 06:28 CHRIS: So you're five years old, you're uprooted from your situation. You go to this new 06:35 farm. Now, did your father begin as an administrator again at this farm? PASTOR DONOSO: As a 06:40 foreman. Eventually, he rose to - again, once again - to a high position. And the most 06:49 difficult aspect of going away from home is that I have to travel to take the bus in the 06:58 weekends that was 12 kilometres away from our home. And dirt roads, countryside. And to me, 07:10 as a six-year-old, I was kind of afraid making that trip every week. You know, Friday coming 07:19 back, and on Sunday going back to the city, where my family was paying for room and board with a 07:27 wonderful family that looked after me. CHRIS: So now, I want to make sure that people don't 07:34 miss this. So at the age of six, you're actually sent from your home to a boarding school. 07:39 During the week, you're attending school in the home of these folks. PASTOR 07:45 DONOSO: Yeah, I was living with someone, with a family, and from there, I would go to school. 07:49 CHRIS: Okay. I can understand that as a six-year-old, I'm sure that that was kind of a 07:54 frightening ordeal. Now, when this was happening, talk to me about how was that beginning to 08:00 form and bring some formulation to who you would eventually become. PASTOR DONOSO: I think 08:07 one of the things that influenced the way it affected me, I became a very independent 08:13 type of person, and perhaps a risk-taker, because I was forced to make those decisions at such 08:22 an early age. So even though the family that I was staying with was very, very nice, they looked 08:32 after me, I really missed home. My mother was dear to me, and not being able. especially when 08:42 I got sick with a flu or something like that, it was very, very hard on me. 08:47 CHRIS: I'm sure it was, I'm sure it was. Now, so you were six years old. How long did you have 08:54 this journey where you were in this boarding situation going to school? PASTOR DONOSO: Well, one 09:01 other thing that I want to highlight is the fact that - seeing as how I am 09:07 talking as well about religion - that when I was walking to the bus every week, 09:14 and from the bus home, I used to talk to God. CHRIS: Okay. PASTOR DONOSO: And I think it was kind 09:21 of out of fear that I was. I guess I was sensing that there was a being that was aware where 09:31 I was. And in my own little mind at the time, I was able to communicate with this God. And 09:40 so I learned from that very early age that this God is an amazing being, even though I was 09:46 not totally connected with him, to be aware of His presence. CHRIS: Yes. PASTOR DONOSO: And 09:54 so, the years went by, but I was extremely rebellious. Extremely rebellious. I went to the same 10:01 school, a private school, that they have from kinder - all the way to high school. So that's 10:10 the school that I went to. But I was extremely rebellious and I had a very hot temper. I used to 10:21 take temper tantrums often while at home. And one day, one of my aunts came from Santiago, the 10:30 capital, to visit us in the summertime. And I took some of those temper tantrums. And my 10:36 aunt said that the solution for this was for my mother to pull my pants down, sit me in a big 10:42 drum of cold water. And I remember that my mother paid heed to the counsel, but it made 10:52 me even more rebellious than before. CHRIS: So you find yourself as a youth. You're 10:59 becoming more independent because you're in this boarding situation, but you're beginning 11:03 a life of - kind of congruently - a life of prayer, so to speak. You're talking to 11:10 God. Maybe not understand who He was, but at least having a conversation with Him. But at 11:16 the same time, you're going through this journey where you're rebelling. And now, let's 11:22 talk a little bit about that. When you are having this time of rebellion, are you rebelling 11:26 against God, are you rebelling against your parents, are you rebelling against everything? 11:30 What's happening there? PASTOR DONOSO: It was mainly rebelling against my father that. because 11:36 I began to understand the consequences of his actions that had affected the whole family. 11:44 One other thing as well, at that time, when I was about six or seven, my father used to drink a 11:51 little bit too much. And one day, while having a meeting with the workers on the farm, they 11:58 started drinking. They got into an argument, and he was stabbed in the stomach. And I remember 12:07 him coming home bleeding, and we all thought he was going to die. And it took a couple of hours 12:14 before the ambulance would come in. But my rebellion was, I did not have a good relationship 12:21 with him at all. And he seemed to favour my brother, my older brother, as well. So this 12:29 rebellion led to him asking the army to take me in, because. just a few days before I was to 12:40 report for service - because in Chile, you're supposed to do service for at least one 12:48 year - but it was very easy to get out. And I had all planned to get out, so it was a real 12:53 surprise to me when I arrived at the day which we were supposed to report, and say, "No, you are 13:01 going in." CHRIS: So you're going through this process. And I want to dwell here just for a 13:05 moment, Pastor, because I know we have a number of viewers. you know, we live in a society where 13:11 so many homes are broken and so many challenges that people are facing in their own homes. You 13:19 have this relationship with your father that is a very challenging, a very difficult 13:22 relationship, because as you grow older, you become aware of what your dad did and those 13:30 actions, and you begin to rebel against him because of who he had become. And that rebellion 13:38 doesn't actually mend the relationship; it actually further divided the 13:42 relationship, so much so that your father actually enrolled you in the military. But Pastor 13:49 Donoso, just dwelling there for a moment, as you were learning these things about your father 13:54 and rebelling against your father, talk to me a little bit about how you felt. Talk to me a 13:58 little bit about. you know, because a lot of times when we rebel, we're not. you know, we 14:03 don't conscientiously say, "I'm going to rebel." PASTOR DONOSO: Yeah, exactly. 14:06 CHRIS: Talk to me a little bit about the feelings, emotions that were going on in you as you 14:10 were moving into that time and having this rebellion. PASTOR DONOSO: I think the main reason 14:16 for my rebellion was, I was becoming aware of how it had affected my father's affairs. 14:24 That was only one - not only one, rather, but many. CHRIS: Okay. PASTOR DONOSO: And 14:30 people used to come and tell me that I had a new mother and so on and so forth. So I used to, 14:36 when I was young, I used to come and tell my mother that. And my mother always, without fail, she 14:42 used to say, "He is your father. Don't listen to gossip and you must respect your father." But 14:50 it didn't settle with me, this idea that I needed to respect him because he was my father, 14:58 when in fact, I saw what was happening. So during those years, I guess I demonstrated 15:07 this anger in many ways, you know, by fighting with my brother. That was a real 15:15 difficult time for my mother as well because we. I guess I resented the fact that he was my 15:21 father's favourite. And whenever I came to my father, let's say, ask for money, for instance, to 15:28 go to. when I was a teenager, he will very often say, "No, I don't have any money." But if my 15:35 brother would come. CHRIS: Mmhmm. PASTOR DONOSO: So one of the things, I guess, the 15:39 counsel for any of you that perhaps the children are going through this situation, is not 15:43 to show favouritism because it's deadly for the person that is not being favoured. CHRIS: And I 15:52 appreciate that so much, for parents to understand the importance of treating each 15:59 child, so to speak, equally. And you can treat each child differently, as long as there is 16:05 some equality. So you have this building rebellion. You are slotted for your one year of 16:13 service in the army, as every youth is slotted for, but very easy to get out of, so you had 16:19 yourself a plan, well put together. You show up and what happens? PASTOR DONOSO: Well, 16:26 due to the fact that my father had asked the army to take me in, they were very well into to 16:36 shape me into whatever they wanted me to be. And so it was an extremely hard time for me in 16:46 the army because of the fact that I had been asked to be taken in. And it got to the 16:52 point where I didn't know exactly what to do. The discipline was a little hard for 17:00 me in particular. And so there was. after six months in the army, one day they announced 17:07 that if anyone wanted to leave early, to come forward and speak to the officer. And I remember 17:17 kind of jumping into the. and the lieutenant pushed me back and he said, "Not you. You will 17:22 rot here." And so at eight months, some of the companions left, and my good friends were 17:34 included in that. So I was desperate. And President Eduardo Frei Montalva had just been 17:42 elected president, so I decided to write to him to do something for me. CHRIS: Okay. Now - and 17:49 again, I want to dwell there for a moment, because there are young people that watch this 17:53 show. So you show up at the army. You're expecting fully to get out and go home. And they 18:00 say, "We've got different news." Now, how old were you when this happened? PASTOR DONOSO: I was 18:04 eighteen, seventeen, going on eighteen. CHRIS: Okay. So you're seventeen, eighteen years old. 18:11 You show up, you believe you've got a plan, you're going to go home, you're done with this army 18:16 business, and to the shock of yourself, you now have to go into the army. And it is almost 18:24 unbearable for you. PASTOR DONOSO: It was. CHRIS: You try to get out, you can't get out. 18:28 You're. in fact, the lieutenant tells you that you're going to stay here, you're going to stay, 18:32 and you're going to rot here. PASTOR DONOSO: Yeah. CHRIS: Talk to me about how you're feeling 18:38 during all of this. You've got the rebellion situation going on. You're already in a 18:42 fractured relationship with your father. And now you're in the army because of your father and 18:49 his call to the army. What's going on in your mind? How are you feeling? And what's this 18:55 doing for you? PASTOR DONOSO: I felt totally impotent because there was absolutely nothing 19:01 that I could do, and you just need to obey. You know, looking back, though, at that experience 19:11 of the army with discipline, you know, has served me very well over the years, but not at that 19:17 time, because the discipline was very harsh. CHRIS: So you. so it's kind of interesting. We're 19:28 talking about these pivotal moments. And I don't want our viewers to miss these pivotal 19:31 moments. Early on, you're learning about prayer, talking to God. Now, you didn't maybe 19:37 understand all about it, but you're learning about the idea of talking to God. You're 19:41 learning independence, how to take care of yourself, which can be both beneficial and 19:45 detrimental, depending on how that frames in the Christian life. And then in the army, even 19:51 though at the time, you didn't enjoy it, you didn't like it, you're learning about 19:54 discipline. PASTOR DONOSO: Yes. CHRIS: How long are you in the army? What happens during your 19:59 army experience beyond just the nonnjoyment of being there? PASTOR DONOSO: I think one of 20:07 the things that really influenced me in a negative way toward the army was one day when 20:13 we were practicing salute. And there was this fellow in my company that had really looked 20:21 forward all his life to become a soldier, because his uncle was a lieutenant in the army. And I 20:30 remember the day we went in a large field with over 1,000 there doing 20:37 the same, and this young man was ready to salute, so we did, you know, with the right hand and so 20:43 on and so forth. And then we stopped, and now he started again, because the sergeant that 20:56 was at his right hand before, now he moved to his left. And he asked, "Now that you are to my 21:03 left, do I salute you with my right arm or with the left?" And the sergeant said, "With the 21:09 left, of course." And this young man did the very best to go and salute him, and everybody was 21:17 laughing. And before long, he used the bullhorn to call all the regiment to come and watch 21:25 this young man do a fantastic salute. During that, I believe many of us cried, because he was 21:35 not aware, he was trying to do his very best. And I think that that was a pivotal moment in my 21:43 life in the army where I lost all respect that I had through that experience because it 21:51 crushed this young man's spirits, and we never saw him smile again, and he could hardly 21:57 wait to leave the army after his service. CHRIS: And so you have this additional principle that 22:05 comes up. And I'm sure that's affected you throughout your life. And I know I've had 22:10 different experiences in my life where you kind of love the underdog, the person that is 22:13 downtrodden. And I know you personally; you and I have gotten to know each other, and I 22:18 know you're doing a lot to help those that are downtrodden in life. So you're continuing on in 22:25 the army. What else is happening during your stay in the army? PASTOR DONOSO: Well, I think one 22:32 of the things that I was. because most of the fellows that I got along with. well with have 22:40 left, and now, it was just marking the time, not knowing when I was going to leave. And 22:49 this was so frustrating to me, not knowing when I was going to leave. There was no set time 22:57 when I said, "Okay, I will leave at this particular time." CHRIS: Now, Pastor Donoso, 23:04 there's more to your story, because you didn't stay in the army forever. PASTOR 23:07 DONOSO: Yes. CHRIS: But we are all out of time. And so what I'm going to encourage our viewer 23:12 is, we're going to continue this journey with Pastor Donoso. You're not going to want to miss 23:17 what happens in his life and how God continues to move. But Pastor Donoso, we're seeing God 23:24 making movements in your life, pivotal things happening to form you for the rest of your life. 23:31 Let's pray together and pray for that viewer right now who's struggling with some issue in 23:36 their journey. Would you be willing to pray for us? PASTOR DONOSO: Sure. Father in heaven, 23:41 perhaps there is someone out there viewing this program today that is going through something 23:48 similar that I went through. I want to encourage you to put your trust in a loving God, in a 23:54 loving Saviour, that even though you might not be aware, He is leading. And I want you to ask 24:02 Him to reveal Himself to you, because it is worth everything that you can hope for, because 24:09 He is an amazing God and He has a wonderful plan for your life. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. 24:38 BEV: Hi, everyone. I want to show you a really delicious and easy way to use beans. You've 24:44 heard me talk before about how good beans are for you. They're chockull of protein, fibre, 24:49 minerals, phytonutrients, and they're low in fats, cholesterol, and sodium. I think 24:55 most people probably purchase the canned beans because it's more convenient. Just be sure to 25:00 wash them well in a colander under running water to rinse off some of that added sodium. 25:05 Let's look at a really easy way to enjoy chickpeas today. Make sure you've got a pen and paper 25:10 to write this recipe down. First - this is a chickpea sandwich spread - the 25:16 ingredients are: a can of chickpeas, roughly mashed; a stalk of celery, chopped; a 25:22 medium carrot, grated; two stalks of green onion, chopped; some mock chicken seasoning to 25:28 taste; and some soy mayonnaise. So I'm going to add all this. I've got my chickpeas already 25:34 just mashed with a fork, or you can put this in the food processor just to speed things 25:38 up a little bit. I'm adding the green onion and the celery; they're both in here together. 25:43 Adds a nice little hit of colour, plus great flavour sensations. The carrot really 25:49 brightens things up beautifully. And what people tell me is, when they taste this, they actually 25:56 think it's a salmon sandwich, salmon salad sandwich. So a little bit more of the carrot. 26:03 And some of the soy yogurt - not soy yogurt - soy mayo. Putting some of that in to bind it all 26:12 together beautifully. And - I've got some on my finger here - some of this wonderful 26:20 mock chicken seasoning. And make sure you get a nice vegetarian kind for this. Sprinkle some of 26:27 that on there. And then, all you're going to do is mix it together. This is so easy, and 26:33 I'm telling you, it's totally, totally delicious. So just using the soy mayo to bind it all 26:42 together beautifully. And then you can just put this on some crackers or in a pita bread or 26:51 you know, on just regular bread for a sandwich. Today I'm going to put it into a wholegrain 26:57 pita. And you can put some lettuce in there as well, tomato, whatever you want to do, 27:02 to make this your sandwich. But I'm telling you, it is totally, totally delicious. Just fill 27:09 that up. You've got a wonderful, colourful, beautiful pita right there. There's so many ways you 27:18 can enjoy chickpeas. Blend them up as hummus or add them to salads and rice. And the same 27:24 goes for any bean. Make sure to enjoy beans at least several times a week. Consider this. 27:30 One cup of cooked chickpeas contains 14.5 grams of healthy protein. A two-ounce serving of 27:38 chicken has about 15 grams of protein. So you can see that there's practically no 27:43 difference with the protein factor. The bonus comes, though, from the chickpeas, because 27:48 there's no need to worry about saturated fat or cholesterol, both of which you'll find in 27:54 that chicken. And the high-fibre content of beans helps them lower your cholesterol, maintain 28:00 your blood sugar levels evenly, and fill you up so you don't overeat. When it comes to beans, 28:06 however you eat them, enjoy them in good health. I'll see you next time. 28:18 CHRIS: Dear friends, God, moves in a mighty way. Today, I'd like to give you the opportunity to 28:23 have the book A Risk Taker's Journey, Pastor Donoso's autobiography. You can have that 28:31 book for any size donation. In addition to that, I want to offer the book Christ's Object 28:36 Lessons. Here's the information you need for today's offer. 29:31 CHRIS: Pastor Donoso, I want to thank you so much for being with us today on It Is Written. 29:35 PASTOR DONOSO: The pleasure would be mine, Chris, to be here. CHRIS: Dear friend, God 29:40 leads. I want you to join us again next week where we hear the rest of Pastor Donoso's 29:45 story. Until then, remember, it is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 29:52 word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 29:57 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2016-03-23