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[pensive piano music playing]
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>> Welcome to It Is Written
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Canada.
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Thank you for joining us.
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>> Ines Telis came home to an
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empty house, her children gone,
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and there was nothing but a note
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that said, "We are sorry, but we
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went to live with Dad."
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She was completely crushed.
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She lost all her strength
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knowing she had lost her reason
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to go on.
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>> Her son, Joel, later admitted
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that he and his twin sister were
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under the delusion that their
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mother's rules were too strict.
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"We convinced ourselves," he
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said, "that we were living under
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a tyrannical oppression.
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Our father, on the other hand,
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had no rules.
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He let his children watch and do
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whatever they wanted."
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>> No longer in the Christian
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environment they had grown up
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in, they started smoking and
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drinking and hanging out with
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their new friends.
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And as the years passed, they
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lost touch with God and didn't
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even know where their
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Bibles were.
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>> Ines Telis felt like the
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devil had robbed her of her
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children and her only hope was
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to cling to Jesus, her Saviour
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and Lord.
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>> Daily, hourly,
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she poured out her heart to God
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in prayer, and He supplied her
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with the strength and hope
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to go on.
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>> Today, our special guests are
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Ines and Joel Telis who have
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agreed to share their story
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with us.
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And to begin with, we will be
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speaking to Joel.
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>> Joel, thank you for joining
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us on It Is Written Canada.
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>> Thank you so much for
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having me.
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It's a privilege.
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[MIKE] Joel, you are a twin.
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You have a twin sister.
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[JOEL] I am a twin, yeah, yeah.
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And we don't look anything alike
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if you've seen her.
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Not identical at all.
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It's funny people will ask.
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We, yeah, our parents were born
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in Montevideo, Uruguay in South
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America, you know, and I think
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in '89 they immigrated to Canada
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in Toronto where my sister and I
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were born in 1991 at Branson
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Hospital in North York, Ontario,
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which was Adventist owned
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at the time.
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[MIKE] So you lived in an area
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that wasn't exactly safe.
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[JOEL] Yeah, Scarborough was
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rough at the time in the
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nineties and-- but my mother
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eventually at one point, about
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seven years old, she found
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bullet casings on our driveway
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and she decided it was probably
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time to get out of there.
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At the same time, they realized,
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my mother realized the
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importance of an Adventist
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Christian education.
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So they collectively, with my
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father, made the decision that
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we would move up to Oshawa,
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where we could attend College
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Park Elementary School with my
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sister and I, and we could
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attain that Christian education.
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>> What did you think of this
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new school, this new church, new
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environment?
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>> I mean, for us, it was
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quite normal.
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I mean, we'd grown up in the
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church, you know, we'd had a big
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Spanish community as Adventists
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in Toronto.
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And then so just moving here was
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pretty seamless, to be honest.
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We really enjoyed it.
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We enjoyed having the--
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I enjoyed, I enjoyed the
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community and having the
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friendships and being on campus
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and that Adventist feel,
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you know?
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>> So Joel, it sounds like you
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really enjoyed your childhood
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and things were going very well
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with your family.
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You were happy in your new
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environment among like-minded
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people.
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So everything was going well for
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you and it was hunky-dory.
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>> Well, yeah, it sure seemed
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from my perspective, you know,
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it seemed like it was going
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pretty good.
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Unfortunately, at nine years
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old, my parents had been
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fighting quite a bit and arguing
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and my father ended up leaving
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the home.
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They separated, and then a
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couple of years later they got
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divorced.
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It definitely put a strain on my
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sister and I, you know,
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especially me, I'm not sure what
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it is, maybe, about being a boy,
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but I felt that responsibility
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for my mother and my sister,
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you know?
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Especially my twin sister, you
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know, she was everything to me,
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you know, I just made sure that
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she was gonna be okay all the
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time and...
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But yeah, it definitely got,
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it got hard.
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We had to move houses and...
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I do have a very
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significant story.
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I remember one time and I was
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crying in my bedroom...
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...as I often did at the time.
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And I had an image pop into my
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mind, I feel like it was the
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impression of the Holy Spirit
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now, had an image of a cartoon
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Bible story that we used to watc
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when we were kids and it was--
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this one in particular was the
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story of Solomon and when he
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took over the throne of
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King David, you know, his father
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He realized the responsibility
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he had, you know, to rule the
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nation, to judge the nation.
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With that image in my mind, you
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know, I remember he had asked
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for wisdom from God.
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I knelt down in my room
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and I prayed for the wisdom of
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Solomon, that I would be able to
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know what was going on and find
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a way to help.
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>> Joel, how do you think that
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that specific prayer had an
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effect on you?
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>> I had one experience later on
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in my life after we-- I
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graduated from elementary, the
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elementary school, I went to
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attend Kingsway College and
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as I enrolled there.
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One Friday night vespers, the
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preacher, the chaplain had made
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an altar call after speaking and
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he had asked for any young
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people in the crowd that felt
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the call to ministry.
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You know, not many of us went
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up, just a few.
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And after he had done praying
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with us, he made us write a note
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in our Bibles of the commitment
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we had made to God that night.
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And I still have that Bible and
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the image.
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>> So Joel, your mother at this
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stage now, being a single mom
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with you and Debora at home,
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she must have been so pleased in
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the direction that your life was
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going at this stage as a
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teenager.
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>> She was very proud, she was
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very happy at the way my life
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was headed.
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And of course, the Devil doesn't
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like that.
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At the age of 16 years old,
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my sister and I, we had felt we
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were old enough to make our own
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decisions.
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We'd felt like we were-- we'd
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been living, you know, under
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kind of repression, you know?
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And we called--
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we packed some bags.
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We called a taxi that took us to
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the Go Train, the Go Train that
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took us down to Toronto Union
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Station, where we hopped on a
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Greyhound bus that took us to
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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where
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our father and his wife at the
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time would pick us up to go live
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with them in Alberta.
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You know, obviously, I get
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pretty emotional thinking about
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the time, you know, my mother
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coming home, with nothing but a
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note that said that we had gone
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to go live with our father.
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I'm sure she felt like the Devil
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was winning at this point.
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>> When I saw the note on the
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table, the dining room table, my
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heart was, you know, sinking
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because I said, "Where are
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these kids?"
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It was a tremendous, I mean, I
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cannot describe, you know, the
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pain and the anguish because in
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one moment you have a flash that
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what can happen to them by
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themselves in this world, right?
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I think it's a nightmare for any
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parent, you know, to come home
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to an empty home.
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Just knowing that your kids run
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away and you feel all these
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feelings come together, you
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know, you are angry and you are
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scared and you are betrayed.
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And so many things at once that
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you experience.
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So-- and the same time,
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emptiness and later loneliness.
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I had the kids with me on that
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Sunday because they left on a
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Monday and we-- they went in my
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bedroom, we prayed together.
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And the next day I didn't have
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them, you know?
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So circumstances can change very
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fast in your life.
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So if you don't have the Lord,
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where do you go?
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Where do you go? Right?
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So God really is the only one
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that sustained me and hold me
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together, you know, because it
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was very hard.
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My friends were afraid to leave
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me by myself.
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They take turns to come home and
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stay with me during the night.
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But I was-- even though it was
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terrible times, I never thought
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about anything crazy.
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But yes, you do ask yourself,
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what's the purpose?
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You know?
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I came to this country with my
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husband.
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He left.
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Now I had two kids with him.
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The kids are left, so what is
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the purpose?
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What I am doing here?
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What I should do?
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But the Lord, like I said, He is
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faithful and He sustained me all
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these years through His
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promises, through fasting,
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through prayer.
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I cannot tell you how many
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nights I spent the whole night
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in prayer.
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Tremendous-- only a mother that
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goes through something like this
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will understand my heart.
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And any parents that experience
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this, the only ones who can
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understand how hard this is.
00:10:11.44\00:10:13.31
And you start reciting, like,
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Nehemiah 8:10...
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And also Psalms 30, verse 5.
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All those promises hold me
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together.
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>> Joel, that seems so drastic.
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It was almost-- it didn't just
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happen overnight.
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Obviously, you and Debora
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must've planned it and thought
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it through because you packed,
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you called the taxi, you went
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to the Go Train, went to
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Saskatchewan, your dad picked
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you up there and he came
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from Alberta.
00:10:54.35\00:10:55.02
So it must have all have been
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planned, like...
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Why? Like, why did you do that?
00:10:59.55\00:11:01.62
>> Yeah, it definitely had been
00:11:01.96\00:11:02.89
planned.
00:11:02.89\00:11:03.56
You know, I feel, you know, my
00:11:03.56\00:11:05.96
father had been gone for some
00:11:05.96\00:11:06.93
time now and it seemed, you
00:11:06.93\00:11:08.90
know, he had to keep looking for
00:11:08.90\00:11:09.80
work and so you have to keep
00:11:09.80\00:11:10.87
moving further and further away.
00:11:10.87\00:11:11.90
Eventually moved all the way to
00:11:11.90\00:11:12.77
Alberta, so it's quite a ways
00:11:12.77\00:11:13.70
from Ontario, and he couldn't
00:11:13.70\00:11:15.74
always come visit us so we
00:11:15.74\00:11:16.74
weren't seeing him that much.
00:11:16.74\00:11:17.84
I think we were missing that
00:11:17.84\00:11:20.48
connection with him, you know?
00:11:20.48\00:11:21.68
We hadn't seen him in so long
00:11:21.68\00:11:24.15
and we really longed for that
00:11:24.15\00:11:25.95
connection.
00:11:25.95\00:11:26.85
And at the same time, at home,
00:11:27.85\00:11:29.45
it seemed like, you know, my mom
00:11:29.45\00:11:31.62
had a lot of rules and, you
00:11:31.62\00:11:32.65
know, a lot of things that we
00:11:32.65\00:11:33.62
couldn't do and, it seemed that
00:11:33.62\00:11:35.29
way in any case, right?
00:11:35.29\00:11:36.73
So we, yeah, we just decided we
00:11:37.59\00:11:39.23
were gonna go live with
00:11:39.23\00:11:40.36
our father.
00:11:40.36\00:11:41.00
We thought, you know, we were
00:11:41.00\00:11:42.46
kind of-- wanted a change.
00:11:42.46\00:11:44.37
When we got there, you know,
00:11:46.57\00:11:48.67
things were much, much different
00:11:48.67\00:11:50.61
than from here.
00:11:50.61\00:11:52.47
You know, my father was really
00:11:54.21\00:11:55.88
busy with his work and with the
00:11:55.88\00:11:57.65
construction business that he
00:11:57.65\00:11:58.85
had at the time and all these
00:11:58.85\00:12:00.45
things and it just seemed like
00:12:00.45\00:12:01.48
we were kind of left to our own
00:12:01.48\00:12:02.68
devices.
00:12:02.68\00:12:03.69
You know, the first thing we did
00:12:04.35\00:12:05.29
was spend the entire summer on
00:12:05.29\00:12:06.82
the couch just watching movies
00:12:06.82\00:12:08.69
and shows and stuff that we had
00:12:08.69\00:12:10.23
been, you know, I say deprived
00:12:10.23\00:12:12.09
of as children, but let alone
00:12:12.09\00:12:14.46
Christians, you know?
00:12:14.46\00:12:15.70
We started attending the public
00:12:16.67\00:12:18.00
high school down the road in the
00:12:18.00\00:12:19.83
fall and we were far from the
00:12:19.83\00:12:22.57
Christian environment that we
00:12:22.57\00:12:23.61
had grown up in at this point.
00:12:23.61\00:12:24.97
You know, everything was
00:12:25.34\00:12:26.14
different, the language was
00:12:26.14\00:12:27.58
different, the kids were
00:12:27.58\00:12:28.94
different, the attitude was
00:12:28.94\00:12:30.15
different, you know, all the
00:12:30.15\00:12:31.85
influences from the
00:12:31.85\00:12:33.38
outside world.
00:12:33.38\00:12:34.85
You know, we were so naive in a
00:12:34.85\00:12:36.58
way, we really had no idea of
00:12:36.58\00:12:38.39
the outside world.
00:12:38.39\00:12:39.39
We weren't prepared at all.
00:12:39.39\00:12:41.19
>> And so you were thrown
00:12:42.56\00:12:43.73
into this.
00:12:43.73\00:12:44.73
It must have been pretty tough.
00:12:44.73\00:12:45.99
>> Yeah, it really was.
00:12:46.46\00:12:48.13
Yeah, for me, you know,
00:12:48.13\00:12:51.03
especially now, you know, not
00:12:51.03\00:12:53.17
being surrounded by that
00:12:53.17\00:12:54.20
Christian influence, we stopped
00:12:54.20\00:12:56.37
you know, reading our Bibles,
00:12:56.37\00:12:57.44
we stopped going to church, we
00:12:57.44\00:12:58.71
weren't, you know, being the
00:12:58.71\00:13:00.28
Christians that we had grown up
00:13:00.28\00:13:02.31
to be, you know, we really
00:13:02.31\00:13:03.98
detached from all these things.
00:13:03.98\00:13:06.05
Unfortunately, my father, a
00:13:06.05\00:13:07.82
couple of years later, lost his
00:13:07.82\00:13:09.25
business and his home.
00:13:09.25\00:13:11.29
We ended up having to move into
00:13:11.29\00:13:13.25
a house with some friends that
00:13:13.25\00:13:14.86
lived in Edmonton in the city.
00:13:14.86\00:13:16.42
My sister unfortunately had made
00:13:17.33\00:13:18.99
some friends that I didn't quite
00:13:18.99\00:13:21.13
like at the time, and as she
00:13:21.13\00:13:23.00
kind of left the home, I kind of
00:13:23.00\00:13:26.37
got lost.
00:13:26.37\00:13:27.57
You know, up until that point, I
00:13:27.57\00:13:28.57
had felt very responsible for
00:13:28.57\00:13:30.41
her, for her life.
00:13:30.41\00:13:32.47
I almost felt like I had been
00:13:32.47\00:13:34.58
the one that had brought her to
00:13:34.58\00:13:36.21
Alberta with me, you know, I
00:13:36.21\00:13:37.21
don't I don't think she would
00:13:37.21\00:13:38.15
have done it on her own.
00:13:38.15\00:13:39.41
And now that she was gone, I
00:13:40.68\00:13:42.38
was kind of empty, you know?
00:13:42.38\00:13:43.82
I remember looking back at
00:13:43.82\00:13:44.65
pictures of the time and I was
00:13:44.65\00:13:45.79
just wearing all black.
00:13:45.79\00:13:46.96
And...
00:13:47.96\00:13:49.16
I didn't-- I don't remember
00:13:49.16\00:13:50.09
making that decision
00:13:50.09\00:13:50.96
consciously, just manifest how
00:13:50.96\00:13:53.46
I guess I was feeling inside.
00:13:53.46\00:13:55.20
I felt very alone.
00:13:55.50\00:13:56.93
I sunk into this, like,
00:13:57.57\00:13:59.53
functional depression,
00:13:59.53\00:14:01.20
you know what I mean?
00:14:01.20\00:14:02.20
It was like I could go to work,
00:14:02.20\00:14:04.97
I could talk to people, I could,
00:14:04.97\00:14:06.91
you know, have regular
00:14:06.91\00:14:08.71
conversations, but when I was at
00:14:08.71\00:14:10.31
home on my own...
00:14:10.31\00:14:11.55
...I felt alone,
00:14:12.71\00:14:13.88
you know?
00:14:13.88\00:14:14.95
I just would try and play video
00:14:14.95\00:14:16.89
games or watch movies and try
00:14:16.89\00:14:18.49
and, you know, distract my mind
00:14:18.49\00:14:20.72
from all the pain that I was
00:14:20.72\00:14:21.62
feeling.
00:14:21.62\00:14:22.59
Eventually, you know, I moved
00:14:23.26\00:14:24.16
into drinking, and after I
00:14:24.16\00:14:25.99
graduated, you know, mentioning
00:14:25.99\00:14:29.36
that it's a really tough story I
00:14:29.36\00:14:31.53
always can't forget.
00:14:31.53\00:14:33.77
You know, they were calling all
00:14:34.90\00:14:35.87
the kids to the school
00:14:35.87\00:14:37.57
gymnasium.
00:14:37.57\00:14:38.57
They'd asked us to sit into our
00:14:40.54\00:14:42.34
alphabetical groups so that we
00:14:42.34\00:14:43.88
could be fitted for our robes
00:14:43.88\00:14:45.08
and our caps.
00:14:45.08\00:14:46.51
I remember sitting there in the
00:14:48.28\00:14:50.15
"T" section for my last name,
00:14:50.15\00:14:51.55
and they were calling the last
00:14:51.55\00:14:52.72
names and...
00:14:52.72\00:14:53.56
...as they finished with the
00:14:53.96\00:14:56.56
T's and moved on and they hadn't
00:14:56.56\00:14:59.53
called my name, I was still
00:14:59.53\00:15:00.63
sitting there, I realized that I
00:15:00.63\00:15:03.00
wasn't gonna have graduation,
00:15:03.00\00:15:06.77
you know, I wasn't gonna have--
00:15:06.77\00:15:08.27
to be able to go up in cap and
00:15:09.94\00:15:11.31
gown and then accept the
00:15:11.31\00:15:12.41
certificate, you know, a
00:15:12.41\00:15:13.98
ceremony.
00:15:13.98\00:15:14.61
There wasn't gonna be anybody to
00:15:14.68\00:15:15.51
come and congratulate me.
00:15:15.51\00:15:16.64
Even though I had stuck it out,
00:15:16.64\00:15:17.58
you know, because it wasn't
00:15:17.58\00:15:18.45
something I wanted to do, I was
00:15:18.45\00:15:19.61
so over it.
00:15:19.61\00:15:20.48
You know, the worst part was
00:15:21.08\00:15:22.08
thinking of my friends back at
00:15:22.08\00:15:23.12
Kingsway, you know, all these
00:15:23.12\00:15:24.99
kids that I had grown up with in
00:15:24.99\00:15:25.92
the church schools.
00:15:25.92\00:15:27.06
I thought, you know, they were
00:15:27.62\00:15:29.12
all gonna get to graduate
00:15:29.12\00:15:30.09
together on their own and I
00:15:30.09\00:15:32.33
wouldn't be there...
00:15:32.33\00:15:33.50
...because I had left.
00:15:34.00\00:15:35.40
That was quite devastating.
00:15:37.20\00:15:38.97
I just left the gym, you know,
00:15:38.97\00:15:41.27
I just went across to the mall
00:15:41.27\00:15:42.47
where I usually just hung out
00:15:42.47\00:15:44.01
smoking, you know?
00:15:44.01\00:15:45.34
Just crying, you know?
00:15:46.91\00:15:48.68
Thinking where was my life
00:15:48.68\00:15:49.61
headed, you know?
00:15:49.61\00:15:50.68
After that, I went straight into
00:15:50.68\00:15:52.11
work with construction, with my
00:15:52.11\00:15:53.31
father, you know, I wasn't
00:15:53.31\00:15:54.72
really interested in going to
00:15:54.72\00:15:55.75
any post-secondary education or
00:15:55.75\00:15:56.99
anything, I just wanted to make
00:15:56.99\00:15:57.95
money, I want to get out.
00:15:57.95\00:15:59.12
I did that for a few years.
00:15:59.75\00:16:01.42
I realized I didn't much like
00:16:01.42\00:16:02.46
building houses in Alberta
00:16:02.46\00:16:03.46
winters.
00:16:03.46\00:16:04.43
It gets quite cold out there.
00:16:04.43\00:16:05.99
So I moved back to the city and
00:16:07.23\00:16:09.00
I got a job at Costco.
00:16:09.00\00:16:10.27
>> Joel, can you tell us how you
00:16:11.27\00:16:13.00
met your wife, Nataly?
00:16:13.00\00:16:14.77
[JOEL] Yeah, it?.
00:16:14.77\00:16:15.70
...it's a pretty funny story.
00:16:15.70\00:16:16.84
You know, I had gotten a job at
00:16:16.84\00:16:18.24
Costco there and I'd been
00:16:18.24\00:16:20.48
packing groceries and there was
00:16:20.48\00:16:23.45
a young woman at the till, and
00:16:23.45\00:16:25.61
we had a family of some Hispanic
00:16:25.61\00:16:27.45
couples that came through and
00:16:27.45\00:16:29.15
they were speaking in Spanish.
00:16:29.15\00:16:30.22
And, you know, as my custom is,
00:16:30.22\00:16:31.72
you know, my mom, she talks to
00:16:31.72\00:16:32.95
everybody and especially if she
00:16:32.95\00:16:34.46
knows that they're Spanish.
00:16:34.46\00:16:35.69
And so I started talking to them
00:16:35.69\00:16:36.59
in Spanish, I started saying,
00:16:36.59\00:16:38.06
"Hey, you know, you guys are--
00:16:38.06\00:16:38.99
where are you guys from?" you
00:16:38.99\00:16:39.76
know, and she said, "Oh, yeah,
00:16:39.76\00:16:40.60
we're from Mexico."
00:16:40.60\00:16:41.26
And I said, "Oh, I'm from
00:16:41.26\00:16:42.70
Uruguay," you know, and...
00:16:42.70\00:16:44.43
You know, the cashier, she turns
00:16:45.10\00:16:46.63
to me and she looks and she
00:16:46.63\00:16:47.50
says, "You're from Uruguay?"
00:16:47.50\00:16:49.37
I said, "Yeah," and she said,
00:16:49.37\00:16:50.31
"I'm from Uruguay!"
00:16:50.31\00:16:51.31
And we were both so stunned, we
00:16:51.67\00:16:53.24
just couldn't believe, you know,
00:16:53.24\00:16:54.48
and then the Mexican people,
00:16:54.48\00:16:55.48
they were like, how is it
00:16:55.48\00:16:56.44
possible that you guys have been
00:16:56.44\00:16:57.85
working together for almost
00:16:57.85\00:16:58.78
three months and you had no idea
00:16:58.78\00:17:00.05
you were from the same country?
00:17:00.05\00:17:01.65
You know, and then so ten years
00:17:02.68\00:17:03.65
later, I married her. [laughte]
00:17:03.65\00:17:05.72
[MIKE] So you get your groceries
00:17:06.86\00:17:07.76
at Costco and you get your wife
00:17:07.76\00:17:08.92
at Costco.
00:17:08.92\00:17:09.59
[JOEL] Hey, that's my favourite
00:17:09.59\00:17:10.46
joke, you know, I get everything
00:17:10.46\00:17:11.33
at Costco, even my wife.
00:17:11.33\00:17:12.29
[laughter]
00:17:12.29\00:17:13.46
[JOEL] Yep.
00:17:13.46\00:17:14.20
[RENÉ] So, Joel, can you tell us
00:17:14.60\00:17:16.90
what caused the change
00:17:16.90\00:17:19.03
in your life?
00:17:19.03\00:17:20.10
>> Yeah, I mean, I'll backtrack
00:17:20.77\00:17:21.67
a little bit.
00:17:21.67\00:17:22.34
I know, you know, I'd still had
00:17:22.34\00:17:24.47
all this depression, you know,
00:17:24.47\00:17:25.71
I had been sinking into it.
00:17:25.71\00:17:27.04
You know, I'd been into the
00:17:27.91\00:17:28.71
party lifestyle, you know, with
00:17:28.71\00:17:29.84
our friends and, you know, not
00:17:29.84\00:17:31.81
heavy, but it was still
00:17:31.81\00:17:32.68
something I was doing a lot, you
00:17:32.68\00:17:33.85
know, the drinking and...
00:17:33.85\00:17:34.95
...smoking and other things
00:17:36.58\00:17:38.05
and...
00:17:38.05\00:17:38.72
You know, I remember not wanting
00:17:39.29\00:17:40.62
to speak to my mother at the
00:17:40.62\00:17:41.79
time because it felt like she
00:17:41.79\00:17:43.43
only wanted to talk to me about
00:17:43.43\00:17:44.59
Jesus and, you know, how God
00:17:44.59\00:17:47.00
wanted to save me and how, you
00:17:47.00\00:17:48.03
know, the end was coming and I
00:17:48.03\00:17:49.26
had to get ready and...
00:17:49.26\00:17:50.47
I remember telling her, you
00:17:51.90\00:17:53.00
know, I said, "Don't worry, Mom,
00:17:53.00\00:17:55.57
the Bible says, raise up a child
00:17:55.57\00:17:56.77
in the way he should go and when
00:17:56.77\00:17:58.04
he's old, he should not depart
00:17:58.04\00:17:59.24
from it."
00:17:59.24\00:18:00.31
You know?
00:18:00.31\00:18:00.98
I don't know if it was words
00:18:00.98\00:18:01.74
for her or for me, right?
00:18:01.74\00:18:03.31
You know, and so me and Nataly
00:18:04.21\00:18:05.31
moved in together and, you know,
00:18:05.31\00:18:06.92
it was great at the beginning,
00:18:06.92\00:18:08.12
you know, as it is, you're a
00:18:08.12\00:18:09.05
young couple and it was fun.
00:18:09.05\00:18:10.35
She was going to school
00:18:10.35\00:18:11.39
at the time.
00:18:11.39\00:18:12.22
You know, but as the years went
00:18:13.19\00:18:14.82
by and the struggles of life and
00:18:14.82\00:18:16.83
not having God in our lives
00:18:16.83\00:18:18.09
and...
00:18:18.09\00:18:18.79
You know, the problems started
00:18:20.06\00:18:20.93
piling up and we just
00:18:20.93\00:18:21.70
couldn't...
00:18:21.70\00:18:22.46
...we couldn't figure it out,
00:18:23.37\00:18:24.43
you know, no matter what I tried
00:18:24.43\00:18:26.20
to do to solve them.
00:18:26.20\00:18:27.70
You know, I remember physically
00:18:27.70\00:18:30.01
trying to be a good person.
00:18:30.01\00:18:31.61
I remember telling myself, you
00:18:31.61\00:18:32.61
know, and it would last for a
00:18:32.61\00:18:33.84
few weeks, but I couldn't keep
00:18:33.84\00:18:35.98
it up.
00:18:35.98\00:18:36.75
In in 2019, COVID started
00:18:37.58\00:18:39.75
spreading and, you know, it made
00:18:39.75\00:18:42.25
everybody kind of lock down
00:18:42.25\00:18:43.62
into our homes and so our
00:18:43.62\00:18:44.65
home with Nataly, really, it
00:18:44.65\00:18:47.16
got kind of worse.
00:18:47.16\00:18:47.99
All these problems, we couldn't
00:18:47.99\00:18:48.89
avoid each other anymore,
00:18:48.89\00:18:49.86
you know?
00:18:49.86\00:18:50.69
And as things started to get
00:18:50.69\00:18:53.09
worse in our home, you know, I
00:18:53.09\00:18:55.40
sunk into more depression,
00:18:55.40\00:18:57.33
drinking more alcohol.
00:18:57.33\00:18:59.50
You know, I...
00:18:59.50\00:19:00.47
...even though I never
00:19:01.20\00:19:02.54
considered it, like, alcohol
00:19:02.54\00:19:04.01
abuse, you know, it really was
00:19:04.01\00:19:06.74
part of my coping method.
00:19:06.74\00:19:08.04
I had been doing it every day.
00:19:08.71\00:19:10.21
I'd come home and, you know, I'd
00:19:10.21\00:19:11.68
go straight from coffee in the
00:19:11.68\00:19:13.01
morning to alcohol at night.
00:19:13.01\00:19:14.25
As things got worse, you know,
00:19:16.18\00:19:18.35
we eventually decided that we
00:19:18.35\00:19:20.62
weren't gonna be able to keep
00:19:20.62\00:19:21.79
going on like this.
00:19:21.79\00:19:22.86
We had just purchased a home, so
00:19:23.66\00:19:24.93
we were gonna lose our
00:19:24.93\00:19:26.23
relationship, nine years
00:19:26.23\00:19:27.73
together, our home, our newly
00:19:27.73\00:19:29.20
purchased home, you know, our
00:19:29.20\00:19:30.67
dogs, and we'd have to start all
00:19:30.67\00:19:33.57
over again on our own.
00:19:33.57\00:19:34.90
I really finally hit bottom.
00:19:36.27\00:19:38.34
I had nowhere else to look
00:19:39.57\00:19:40.84
but up.
00:19:40.84\00:19:41.84
You know, I had just turned 30
00:19:42.78\00:19:45.65
and my pastor from my church
00:19:45.65\00:19:47.58
tells me that my frontal lobe
00:19:47.58\00:19:48.98
was fully developed, and he--
00:19:48.98\00:19:52.19
and it was like I wasn't
00:19:52.19\00:19:53.05
thinking about the present
00:19:53.05\00:19:54.82
anymore, I was thinking about
00:19:54.82\00:19:56.46
the future.
00:19:56.46\00:19:57.46
And I, like, immediately knew
00:19:57.89\00:20:00.10
what to do, you know?
00:20:00.10\00:20:01.26
I describe it like the
00:20:01.26\00:20:02.03
Prodigal Son.
00:20:02.03\00:20:02.86
He was-- I was sitting there
00:20:02.86\00:20:04.67
eating with the pigs and I
00:20:04.67\00:20:06.37
realized, wait, I have a home.
00:20:06.37\00:20:08.97
I have somewhere to go to.
00:20:10.11\00:20:11.61
And I immediately called my mom
00:20:12.71\00:20:14.48
and for what I'm sure was a
00:20:14.48\00:20:15.98
miraculous turn of events for
00:20:15.98\00:20:17.18
her, I asked her if she had any
00:20:17.18\00:20:19.81
connections to any good churches
00:20:19.81\00:20:20.98
out in Alberta where I was.
00:20:20.98\00:20:22.82
You know, I had gone to a
00:20:23.25\00:20:24.69
couple, but I said, you know,
00:20:24.69\00:20:26.69
"I need to hear the truth,
00:20:26.69\00:20:28.06
the whole truth, nothing but
00:20:28.06\00:20:29.02
the truth."
00:20:29.02\00:20:29.69
I said, "I'm willing to drive.
00:20:29.69\00:20:31.63
I need to go somewhere where...
00:20:32.39\00:20:33.90
Enough's enough of this life."
00:20:34.96\00:20:36.67
You know?
00:20:37.47\00:20:38.30
[MIKE] And that's when your mom
00:20:38.30\00:20:39.50
called me and she asked me,
00:20:39.50\00:20:42.50
"Tell me a good pastor because I
00:20:42.50\00:20:44.54
trust you."
00:20:44.54\00:20:45.27
And so I gave her Pastor
00:20:45.27\00:20:47.41
Darrell's number and you
00:20:47.41\00:20:49.51
contacted Pastor Darrell and you
00:20:49.51\00:20:50.85
went to church there.
00:20:50.85\00:20:52.18
>> Yeah, I called him on a
00:20:52.18\00:20:53.31
Wednesday, I said, "Hey, Pastor,
00:20:53.31\00:20:54.42
like, you know, I haven't been
00:20:54.42\00:20:55.75
in church a long time," I says,
00:20:55.75\00:20:56.85
"I wanna come back," you know,
00:20:56.85\00:20:58.15
and he says, "Praise God!"
00:20:58.15\00:20:59.29
And he says, "Yeah, we're open,"
00:20:59.29\00:21:00.32
you know, "Fort Saskatchewan
00:21:00.32\00:21:01.32
Church in Alberta."
00:21:01.32\00:21:02.96
And after 15 years, I stepped
00:21:04.43\00:21:06.46
back into a Seventh-day
00:21:06.46\00:21:07.30
Adventist church.
00:21:07.30\00:21:08.36
[NATALY] The changes were huge
00:21:10.37\00:21:12.53
when they first started
00:21:12.53\00:21:13.47
happening.
00:21:13.47\00:21:14.37
I mean, he used to come home
00:21:14.37\00:21:17.01
straight to play video games and
00:21:17.01\00:21:19.47
drinking beer, and all of a
00:21:19.47\00:21:21.54
sudden he pushed that
00:21:21.54\00:21:22.94
all away.
00:21:22.94\00:21:24.18
I saw a peace in him that I had
00:21:24.18\00:21:26.82
never seen before, that I knew
00:21:26.82\00:21:28.82
that he was looking for for a
00:21:28.82\00:21:30.42
long time.
00:21:30.42\00:21:31.39
And it was amazing.
00:21:32.52\00:21:33.76
It it changed our relationship.
00:21:33.76\00:21:35.99
It made us stronger.
00:21:36.62\00:21:37.76
Our life now compared to before
00:21:38.09\00:21:40.46
is very different.
00:21:40.46\00:21:41.60
You know, we don't have the
00:21:42.53\00:21:44.23
video games in our home anymore.
00:21:44.23\00:21:46.30
We just have a different routine
00:21:46.97\00:21:49.20
and starting to experience new
00:21:49.20\00:21:51.51
things together and a lot of new
00:21:51.51\00:21:53.71
things for me.
00:21:53.71\00:21:54.84
It's a lot calmer, a lot more
00:21:55.34\00:21:57.45
peaceful and...
00:21:57.45\00:21:58.98
...yeah, it feels a lot better.
00:22:00.18\00:22:01.65
It got us to a place that we
00:22:01.65\00:22:03.52
felt...
00:22:03.52\00:22:04.35
...in the right place to get
00:22:05.25\00:22:07.26
married and start our lives
00:22:07.26\00:22:08.82
differently together.
00:22:08.82\00:22:09.99
I mean, we were together for
00:22:09.99\00:22:11.89
nine years before that and there
00:22:11.89\00:22:13.93
were always things in the way
00:22:13.93\00:22:15.13
that, yeah, they just got in the
00:22:15.13\00:22:17.50
way and it was very difficult.
00:22:17.50\00:22:19.40
And now we're on a completely
00:22:19.40\00:22:22.50
different wavelength, I think,
00:22:22.50\00:22:24.51
of our relationship.
00:22:24.51\00:22:26.54
It feels, yeah, it feels really
00:22:29.31\00:22:31.28
good to know we've come this far
00:22:31.28\00:22:32.58
and these changes that Joel made
00:22:32.58\00:22:35.38
first really did save our
00:22:35.38\00:22:36.99
relationship and got us to this
00:22:36.99\00:22:39.65
much better place now together.
00:22:39.65\00:22:41.49
>> So, Joel, how did it feel
00:22:44.66\00:22:46.19
coming back to church?
00:22:46.19\00:22:47.30
[JOEL] It was wonderful.
00:22:47.83\00:22:48.70
You know, even though I had
00:22:48.70\00:22:50.70
never met these people in my
00:22:50.70\00:22:51.80
life, I felt like I knew them,
00:22:51.80\00:22:54.30
you know?
00:22:54.30\00:22:54.97
I said, "I recognize you, you're
00:22:54.97\00:22:56.81
Adventists," you know, "I grew
00:22:56.81\00:22:58.37
up with you," you know?
00:22:58.37\00:22:59.64
They had the vegan potluck and
00:22:59.64\00:23:02.34
all the church service was so
00:23:02.34\00:23:04.05
nice, you know?
00:23:04.05\00:23:05.78
Although I still, like, I was a
00:23:07.08\00:23:09.65
bit ashamed, you know, after all
00:23:09.65\00:23:11.19
these years of not studying my
00:23:11.19\00:23:12.95
Bible, you know, I didn't know
00:23:12.95\00:23:14.49
where it was.
00:23:14.49\00:23:15.36
I hadn't a clue what to say when
00:23:16.59\00:23:18.23
we were praying.
00:23:18.23\00:23:19.43
You know, I remember they'd
00:23:19.43\00:23:20.93
asked to turn to a scripture
00:23:20.93\00:23:22.10
reading and I couldn't find the
00:23:22.10\00:23:24.30
book, I couldn't find the verse.
00:23:24.30\00:23:25.97
You know, me who had grown up in
00:23:26.53\00:23:27.84
the church school, who had
00:23:27.84\00:23:30.14
memorized the books, it's-- I've
00:23:30.14\00:23:32.37
grown up with them.
00:23:32.37\00:23:33.41
I couldn't-- I'd have to turn to
00:23:34.41\00:23:36.58
the table of contents, you know,
00:23:36.58\00:23:38.35
to try and find where the book
00:23:38.35\00:23:39.71
was, because I couldn't-- I
00:23:39.71\00:23:41.45
didn't know where it was.
00:23:41.45\00:23:42.52
All those years of being away
00:23:42.85\00:23:44.75
from God, I really had
00:23:44.75\00:23:47.09
forgotten...
00:23:47.09\00:23:47.96
...all the things that I'd
00:23:48.86\00:23:49.69
grown up with.
00:23:49.69\00:23:50.73
>> But Joel, this is so
00:23:52.39\00:23:54.86
encouraging to hear your story
00:23:54.86\00:23:57.30
for every parent and grandparent
00:23:57.30\00:24:02.17
who is praying for their
00:24:02.17\00:24:04.61
children and for their
00:24:04.61\00:24:05.94
grandchildren.
00:24:05.94\00:24:07.11
God hears and answers
00:24:07.74\00:24:12.25
a mother's prayers.
00:24:12.25\00:24:14.15
So encouraging.
00:24:14.15\00:24:15.48
>> Yeah, I mean, I don't have,
00:24:15.48\00:24:17.45
you know, when I first share
00:24:17.45\00:24:18.59
this testimony, I don't
00:24:18.59\00:24:19.72
necessarily have a title for it,
00:24:19.72\00:24:21.32
except for the only thing that
00:24:21.32\00:24:23.19
suits it, it's the power of a
00:24:23.19\00:24:24.43
mother's prayer.
00:24:24.43\00:24:25.49
I think, you know, because they
00:24:26.13\00:24:28.20
pray that they would die instead
00:24:28.20\00:24:31.00
of enter the kingdom without
00:24:31.00\00:24:32.10
their children.
00:24:32.10\00:24:33.20
You know?
00:24:33.54\00:24:34.20
And I think imagine if we all
00:24:34.20\00:24:35.60
prayed for people like that.
00:24:35.60\00:24:36.84
>> Joel, thank you for
00:24:38.41\00:24:40.04
sharing your story.
00:24:40.04\00:24:40.94
We've come to the end of our
00:24:40.94\00:24:41.88
time together.
00:24:41.88\00:24:42.91
Your story is really about how
00:24:42.91\00:24:45.41
God never left you.
00:24:45.41\00:24:47.35
He had answered your mother's
00:24:48.15\00:24:50.49
prayers and as I ask you to
00:24:50.49\00:24:53.92
pray, I would like to ask you to
00:24:53.92\00:24:55.09
pray at the end now.
00:24:55.09\00:24:56.83
Pray for those mothers and
00:24:56.83\00:24:58.83
grandmothers and grandparents
00:24:58.83\00:25:01.36
whose whose children may have
00:25:01.36\00:25:02.90
left the faith and pray for
00:25:02.90\00:25:05.10
those who have left the faith,
00:25:05.10\00:25:07.70
that they will know that God has
00:25:07.70\00:25:10.67
never left them, He will never
00:25:10.67\00:25:12.44
forsake them, and that they will
00:25:12.44\00:25:13.74
open their ears to hear
00:25:13.74\00:25:14.98
His voice.
00:25:14.98\00:25:15.74
Even those who have never heard
00:25:15.74\00:25:17.15
His voice before, because He
00:25:17.15\00:25:19.01
loves every single one of us.
00:25:19.01\00:25:20.78
>> Absolutely.
00:25:21.32\00:25:22.02
Yeah, let's bow.
00:25:22.02\00:25:23.02
Dear Lord, Father in Heaven.
00:25:24.55\00:25:26.22
Lord, what a privilege to call
00:25:26.82\00:25:28.02
You, Father.
00:25:28.02\00:25:29.12
Lord, we ask that Your Holy
00:25:30.19\00:25:33.26
Spirit will speak to all our
00:25:33.26\00:25:35.96
hearts, for when we ask that
00:25:35.96\00:25:38.90
this testimony, Lord, this story
00:25:38.90\00:25:41.37
of a man's mistakes may be a
00:25:41.37\00:25:43.87
blessing, Lord, for all that
00:25:43.87\00:25:45.77
hear it.
00:25:45.77\00:25:46.68
Lord, may You be with all
00:25:49.31\00:25:50.88
those parents, grandparents,
00:25:50.88\00:25:52.48
Lord, that are praying day and
00:25:52.48\00:25:54.28
night for their children to come
00:25:54.28\00:25:55.52
back to the Lord.
00:25:55.52\00:25:56.75
Lord, encourage them in this
00:25:57.09\00:25:58.72
story, Lord, encourage them to
00:25:58.72\00:26:01.09
never cease praying for those
00:26:01.09\00:26:02.56
children.
00:26:02.56\00:26:03.32
If they don't pray for them,
00:26:03.32\00:26:04.89
nobody else will.
00:26:04.89\00:26:05.99
Lord, we also pray for those
00:26:07.86\00:26:09.33
that have left the church.
00:26:09.33\00:26:10.80
Lord, so many of my friends,
00:26:11.40\00:26:12.80
Lord, that I grew up with, so
00:26:12.80\00:26:15.17
many of other children in other
00:26:15.17\00:26:18.21
places that have left the
00:26:18.21\00:26:20.41
church, Lord, that have not--
00:26:20.41\00:26:21.91
have been distracted by the
00:26:23.04\00:26:25.55
world's deceptions.
00:26:25.55\00:26:27.08
Father, speak to their hearts
00:26:28.35\00:26:30.09
as well.
00:26:30.09\00:26:30.89
Help them to realize that the
00:26:32.12\00:26:33.52
peace and true peace only comes
00:26:33.52\00:26:35.99
within You.
00:26:35.99\00:26:36.99
Lord, help them to never forget,
00:26:39.16\00:26:41.20
all of us, to never forget the
00:26:41.20\00:26:43.30
promise of Matthew 28:20, that
00:26:43.30\00:26:45.40
You are with us always, even
00:26:45.40\00:26:47.20
unto the end of the world.
00:26:47.20\00:26:48.84
Lord, we pray these things, we
00:26:49.70\00:26:51.91
pray them in Jesus Christ, amen.
00:26:51.91\00:26:54.21
[MIKE] Amen.
00:26:54.21\00:26:55.34
[RENÉ] Joel, thank you so much
00:26:56.61\00:26:57.85
for joining us and sharing your
00:26:57.85\00:27:00.05
testimony on It Is Written
00:27:00.05\00:27:01.78
Canada today.
00:27:01.78\00:27:03.22
[JOEL] Thank you.
00:27:03.22\00:27:03.92
It's been a blessing and a
00:27:03.92\00:27:04.65
privilege.
00:27:04.65\00:27:05.49
>> I'm sure from listening to
00:27:07.79\00:27:09.12
Joel's story, you could see the
00:27:09.12\00:27:11.56
power of a mother's prayers.
00:27:11.56\00:27:13.66
>> Joel himself could clearly
00:27:14.30\00:27:16.13
see how God transformed his life
00:27:16.13\00:27:19.27
in answer to his mother's
00:27:19.27\00:27:21.27
prayers.
00:27:21.27\00:27:22.20
>> Friends, our free offer is
00:27:22.20\00:27:23.71
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00:27:23.71\00:27:25.37
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00:27:25.37\00:27:27.81
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00:27:27.81\00:27:29.81
strengthen your faith in God and
00:27:29.81\00:27:31.78
also introduce you to many
00:27:31.78\00:27:34.18
powerful truths found in the
00:27:34.18\00:27:36.62
Bible that can transform your
00:27:36.62\00:27:38.65
prayer life.
00:27:38.65\00:27:39.79
Before you go, we would like to
00:27:41.96\00:27:44.16
thank all of you who have
00:27:44.16\00:27:45.69
supported the Ministry of It Is
00:27:45.69\00:27:47.50
Written Canada with your prayers
00:27:47.50\00:27:49.46
and financial contributions.
00:27:49.46\00:27:51.37
Without your support, this
00:27:51.37\00:27:52.90
television ministry could not
00:27:52.90\00:27:55.24
have reached so many people for
00:27:55.24\00:27:58.07
so many decades.
00:27:58.07\00:27:59.64
>> Yes, thank you so much.
00:27:59.91\00:28:02.31
>> You, too, can experience the
00:28:02.98\00:28:04.35
fullness of life that is found
00:28:04.35\00:28:06.21
in the words of Jesus when He
00:28:06.21\00:28:07.78
said, "It is written, 'Man shall
00:28:07.78\00:28:09.98
not live by bread alone, but by
00:28:09.98\00:28:12.65
every word that proceeds out of
00:28:12.65\00:28:14.92
the mouth of God.'"
00:28:14.92\00:28:16.52
>> The prayer of so many people,
00:28:19.43\00:28:22.33
people that I met during that
00:28:22.33\00:28:24.63
time, too, people that are still
00:28:24.63\00:28:26.63
with me until today that the
00:28:26.63\00:28:28.50
Lord sent my way to pray with
00:28:28.50\00:28:30.41
me, to hold my hands.
00:28:30.41\00:28:31.97
And one of them recently told
00:28:32.87\00:28:34.91
me, "I thought you will never
00:28:34.91\00:28:36.91
make it."
00:28:36.91\00:28:37.91
But I praise the Lord I did
00:28:38.51\00:28:41.12
because I was so devastated.
00:28:41.12\00:28:43.42
But the Lord picked me up and I
00:28:44.22\00:28:46.79
make a deal with Him.
00:28:46.79\00:28:47.99
I said, "Lord, every time I am
00:28:47.99\00:28:49.52
down, You're gonna pick me up."
00:28:49.52\00:28:51.56
And He is faithful.
00:28:52.13\00:28:53.26
God is a faithful Father.
00:28:53.26\00:28:54.93
And He did and He sustained me
00:28:55.53\00:28:57.03
until this day.
00:28:57.03\00:28:58.27