Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200488A
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00:27 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:29 This is your program designed to bring you up to speed 00:32 and involve you in some of the events, 00:35 developments, and underlying issues 00:37 relating to religious liberty. 00:39 Of course, in United States, but around the world also. 00:43 My name is Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty Magazine, 00:47 and my guest on this program, Pati Lawrence. 00:50 You're a, what I would characterize 00:52 as an advocate for religious liberty 00:55 and even an activist. 00:57 Yes. 00:58 You're a Seventh-day Adventist lay person, lay woman. 01:01 And you've taken the challenge and God has rewarded 01:06 you mightily with some incredible stories. 01:09 And that's really what I want to get out of you. 01:11 And the best way to lead 01:13 into this is something that's current, 01:15 not quite knowing when this will be broadcast, 01:17 but of recent days, 01:19 the United States was quite shocked 01:21 when Justice Ginsburg, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 01:27 I was trying to think of her initials. 01:29 A legendary figure. 01:31 In fact, in one of my other programs, 01:33 I mentioned on a plane to Australia, 01:34 watching the movie made of her life story. 01:37 Very dramatic. 01:38 And at the same time, there was a full documentary, 01:40 all within months of her passing. 01:43 She was a woman of some accomplishments. 01:48 And a few months ago, or about a year ago, 01:53 we decided that we wanted to get through to her 01:55 and hope that she could respond 01:57 to an invitation to speak at our Liberty dinner. 02:01 Now it turns out that she was going through 02:03 another bout of illness and so on, 02:04 but you've filled an incredible role 02:08 in making a contact with her office. 02:09 Didn't you? Tell me how that worked? 02:11 And again, God is good. 02:13 It's God opening the doors. 02:15 After you and I spoke about inviting her. 02:18 I contacted my contacts and I love to say this, 02:21 my contacts at a congressional, at a Congresswoman's office. 02:25 And I said to him, I told him what we wanted and he says, 02:28 "Sure, I can help you out. 02:30 We can reach out directly." 02:31 This was the Congresswoman's district director. 02:34 He says, "Do you have a letter?" 02:35 I remember contacting you, do we have an official letter? 02:37 You sent it right over, sent it to him. 02:40 He made phone calls to her office 02:42 and he provided me with an address. 02:45 And he said, this will get directly to her. 02:47 I mean, there's addresses you can find 02:49 to write are Supreme Court 02:51 and a lot of people online, 02:52 but this was a different address. 02:54 This is an address that led directly to, 02:56 she would receive this in her hands. 02:57 Yeah. Of course, her staff. 02:59 I remember I tried to hand deliver it 03:00 and got into a lot of trouble. 03:02 The security's tight. 03:03 And I had to hand it to a security officer 03:06 and I was worried, but he says, "It will get to her. 03:08 Don't you worry." 03:10 Yes. 03:11 And it was a letter from the Congresswoman. 03:13 Yes. So I was excited about it. 03:17 We made that contact. 03:18 I believe I sent one out priority overnight 03:22 and then prayed. 03:23 And I remember you contacted me and you said, 03:26 "You did receive a reply back." 03:28 Yes. You did. So that was exciting. 03:30 I mean, it wasn't the success, but the success here. 03:32 I mean, we didn't get her, 03:34 but the success was there's a mechanism 03:36 and the contacts were working. 03:38 They were working. 03:39 And this is after the same Congresswoman, 03:42 her district director called me one day 03:44 and he's asking me for favor. 03:45 So it kind of goes back and forth. 03:47 It really does in. 03:49 When you have that relationship, 03:50 it's comfortable to call up and say, 03:52 "Hey, hello, I need this." 03:54 It becomes that comfortable. 03:55 It really does, informal emails back and forth, phone calls. 03:59 Or I just, now I get to the point 04:01 where many of the, and this is members of Congress 04:04 that I have developed relationships 04:05 with throughout Southern California, 04:08 because they're busy also. 04:09 And they know I'm gonna show up every Wednesday. 04:10 They say, "Pati, you don't have to call for us, 04:12 just come on it." 04:13 If we're there, you can come back say hello, 04:15 drop off because they know 04:16 I'm going to give them something. 04:18 So it gets to the point 04:19 where I can just walk in to their offices. 04:23 So he called me, the district director 04:24 for this particular Congresswoman. 04:26 And he says, normally they scout for venues 04:29 when they're going to have a town hall or a big event 04:31 or, they scout. 04:33 But he says to me, "Pati, 04:34 Congresswoman wants to use one of your churches, 04:37 wants to use one of our churches." 04:39 So I reach out to Dennis 04:41 and to our vice president of our Southern Conference 04:44 who jumped on it right away, 04:46 recommended the church, contacted the pastor. 04:49 We're good. Yes, we will do this. 04:50 And I said, "Well, Congresswoman is thinking big. 04:53 She wants a venue. 04:54 One of our churches 04:56 that would hold 200, 300 people. 04:57 Okay. No problem. 04:58 But they gave me a church that held occupancy of 1,000 people. 05:02 Okay. But that'll work. 05:04 A day of the... 05:06 Although I've had enough meetings 05:07 to know that you really want to fill. 05:11 If you've got a 100 people, 05:12 it's better to have a meeting room 05:13 that holds a hundred 05:15 and it looks full than to rattle around, 05:16 a 100 people rattling around. 05:18 It looks like it's a poorly attended meeting. 05:20 But obviously God's hand was in this. 05:21 Yes, I know. 05:23 God's hand, because we had no idea. 05:26 Yeah. 05:27 So the evening of the town hall, 05:30 I pull up, I have so many pictures. 05:32 Every news truck was there. There was ABC. 05:35 This is California, channel seven, 05:37 channel nine, channel two, channel five. 05:39 Even the Spanish news channel 05:41 was out there all around our church. 05:43 It's lit up, and I'm thinking what? 05:45 This is our church. I go in. 05:47 It is quickly filling up. 05:49 I spot the Congresswoman. 05:51 I go, we're at the very front seat. 05:52 She sets up her podium. 05:54 There's also a table because she has city officials, 05:59 city management there from the city. 06:01 And I see the Congresswoman. 06:03 She sees me, we greet each other. 06:05 She says, "Pati, I just want to tell you. 06:06 Thank you for letting us use your church." 06:09 I mentioned to her district director. 06:11 She said, I mentioned to him, 06:13 "You'll find me a neutral place." 06:14 First she says without hesitation. 06:16 He says, "Pati Lawrence, they're neutral." 06:20 And that's important for them to know. 06:22 Not neutral on religious liberty, 06:23 but neutral politically. 06:24 We're not a political action group 06:27 for any party or pressure group. 06:30 No. 06:31 And they know what we stand for 06:33 from the very beginning of our meetings 06:35 that we have with them. 06:37 And she says, "You know, I was thinking big. 06:38 I needed a venue, 200, 300 people." 06:41 And I say, "Congresswoman, 06:43 this venue, this church holds a thousand people and look, 06:46 there's standing room only. 06:47 Her eyes were so big. I reversed my shoes. 06:50 I know, I know, we're looking around. 06:54 It was so exciting 06:55 and these are people from the community. 06:58 Now what better free marketing can we get than... 06:59 Yeah. 07:01 How many times can we have a thousand people 07:02 from the community to come in without us 07:04 sending out one flyer or one bulletin? 07:07 Now tell me, I've heard your story 07:09 of what happened during that meeting. 07:11 There was some interesting exchanges. 07:13 Yes. It was not a happy crowd. 07:18 The issue, it's normally a city issue. 07:22 I think I can mention 07:23 it was about potholes in the city. 07:25 I know, it sounds, it is laughable but... 07:27 Well, not really. But not really. 07:29 Not for this city. 07:30 I guess it's my program, indulge me, 07:32 I've got a book called ''Parkinson's Law." 07:36 It's a humorous book, but with scientific basis 07:39 and one of them is called 07:40 the point of vanishing interest. 07:42 And it says, how this committee meeting 07:44 to discuss the nuclear power plant. 07:47 And it's, you know, 07:49 so many billion dollars and so many cents. 07:51 And it says, nobody asked how come that odd number. 07:54 And it says, nobody on the committee 07:56 knows anything about nuclear power plants. 07:57 So they voted in a moment. 08:00 Then they get down to, you know, 08:02 building some roads in that 08:03 with a bit of discussion because people understand roads 08:05 to some degree voted after 10, 15 minutes. 08:08 Finally, bicycle shared for the employees. 08:10 Everybody knows about it. 08:13 So potholes guaranteed interest. 08:15 Everybody has opinions on potholes. 08:18 So it would be expected that 08:20 it would be a very contentious thing 08:22 where to proportion to the monetary 08:25 and social effect of it. 08:27 Well, in this town in particular, 08:29 I've driven through this town. 08:30 There's, we're not just talking a little bump in the road. 08:33 There are huge potholes everywhere and deep. 08:37 I mean and the reason that the Congresswoman... 08:39 I've read articles, these potholes 08:40 that have swallowed cars up. 08:42 Yes. 08:43 This is bad, almost on every block. 08:45 The reason Congress on being federal 08:49 took a stand now for this 08:50 is because she's also on a health committee. 08:54 And when 9/11 is called, 08:56 when paramedics are needed out in an emergency, 08:59 they're delayed, they have to slow down. 09:01 They have to take different routes. 09:03 They're going around the block. 09:04 Now this person's health is in jeopardy. 09:06 They need to be there immediately 09:08 and it's taking them minutes longer to get there. 09:12 So now she stepped up 09:13 and she's an amazing Congresswoman. 09:15 She stepped up. 09:16 So this is going on 09:18 and it's not a friendly conversation 09:19 you can imagine. 09:21 The audience, they're tired of years 09:23 and years and years of promises. 09:25 They're tired of hearing money's been allocated, 09:27 but nothing's been done. 09:29 That's why city management was there. 09:30 I believe even the mayor of the city 09:32 was there in the front view. 09:33 I was towards the front. 09:37 A gentleman gets up. 09:39 I have the picture also. 09:40 I wish I could have shared some pictures. 09:42 Very tall, angry, loud gentlemen. 09:46 Now Congresswoman is at the podium 09:48 and I don't see her bodyguard anywhere around. 09:52 Her secret service 09:53 or security person anywhere around. 09:55 Maybe he had stepped away to restroom, I don't know. 09:57 He starts inciting the crowd to a riot. 10:00 He starts saying, "Come on, are we going to stand for this? 10:03 We're not going to stand for this." 10:04 He was going. 10:06 Now the crowd starts angrily yelling. 10:08 A thousand people in the sanctuary 10:11 and it wasn't praising. 10:12 I mean, they are yelling and screaming. 10:15 Congresswoman becomes silent. 10:17 She doesn't know what to say. 10:18 There's moments of just silence. 10:19 And this man now starts approaching the podium, 10:22 big over six foot tall, big man, loud. 10:25 And the crowd, you can imagine the scene. 10:29 Our pastor of the church steps forward, 10:34 shields her, she steps behind him. 10:37 Now our pastor is 10:38 at the member of Congress podium. 10:41 Now on our pulpit, 10:44 here is our pastor behind the podium. 10:47 He shields her. 10:49 This was amazing. Now the crowd is still yelling. 10:51 He's trying to yell over them to say, 10:53 "Can I have your attention?" 10:54 Can I have, he's trying everything he can. 10:57 They're not quieting down. 10:59 And I'm getting where I'm thinking... 11:00 This was an interesting mob scene that developed, isn't it? 11:03 It just seems so surreal 11:04 because I'm thinking, is a riot going to break out. 11:07 Really, this man is still trying. 11:09 Now, this man is getting closer to the pulpit 11:11 and he's a big man. 11:13 Suddenly the pastor starts, 11:15 he started saying something like, 11:16 you know, you're here because we care. 11:18 We opened our church because we care. 11:21 This is a house of faith. 11:23 As he's yelling that the crowd starts to quiet down. 11:26 Now, if this isn't the Spirit of God, 11:28 I'm telling, if you're not a believer, 11:30 you're going to be a believer after that night. 11:31 A good reminder to those people, 11:32 that the Adventist Church, that it's a holy place, 11:36 and not a place for mayhem. 11:40 No. 11:41 And he starts, they start to listen to him 11:43 because then he started, when he started saying, 11:46 "This is a house of faith". 11:49 Then they started to quiet down. 11:51 And then he says, again, 11:53 "You are here because we care about you." 11:55 We opened up and his, 11:58 you could just hear it in his voice, 11:59 the caring and the upset, 12:02 because this is a house of faith. 12:04 And he says, "If this were your house of faith, 12:06 how would you be? 12:07 We would respect your house of faith. 12:09 Please respect our house of faith." 12:11 So he's also including in there that this is us, 12:14 but you know, if it were your house of faith, 12:16 we respect all of our houses of faith. 12:18 And it worked. People started quieting down. 12:23 Amazing. 12:24 They started quieting and the Congresswoman 12:26 is still just standing behind him. 12:27 He pretty much took over. 12:29 And then he says, you know, we care. 12:31 And then he says, 12:32 so I asked for respect for your Congresswoman. 12:35 You give your Congresswoman 12:36 and your city officials respect, 12:38 people started applauding. 12:40 So this proves that the Lord is in what you're doing. 12:41 And that faith 12:43 is not a coincidental matter to all of this. 12:44 No. 12:46 We'll take a break and be back shortly, 12:47 stay with us. |
Revised 2021-01-27