Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), Glenn Farinola, Toshia Cartman
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY015010A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 01:09 Thank you, for joining us as you do each and everyday. 01:12 Thank you, for your love and your prayers 01:14 and financial support of 3ABN, 01:16 as we endeavor to take this great gospel 01:18 of the kingdom into all the world. 01:20 One of the things that I love doing is hearing testimonies 01:24 of what God is doing. 01:25 We serve a God that's alive and well. 01:27 He's on the throne. 01:28 He's ever inner seating for you and me 01:30 at the very right hand of the Father. 01:32 That's an amazing thing 01:33 that the Creator God can love us enough 01:36 that He literally made a plan of redemption, 01:39 a plan of salvation to save a lost in dying world. 01:42 Praise God for the plan of salvation. 01:45 And when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our life, 01:49 He says, go ye into all the world. 01:51 So I'm thankful, the scripture write in Matthew 28:18-20. 01:55 The first one says, 01:56 "All power is given me in heaven and earth." 01:58 Jesus is saying that once you accept me as Lord and Savior, 02:02 all that power that I have I'm gonna give that to you. 02:06 And now you're gonna be able to go literally 02:08 into all the world to be a witness to all nations, 02:11 teaching them who deserve 02:12 whatever things I have commanded you. 02:14 Today I have some people here that they love Jesus 02:18 with all their heart, soul and mind. 02:20 Well, now I'm gonna start with the pastor 02:21 and Pastor Glenn Farinola from New Orleans, right? 02:25 Yes, that's correct. 02:26 What's the church there? Which church? 02:28 New Orleans First. 02:29 First church, all right. 02:30 Praise the Lord you're here today 02:32 and you brought a guest today. 02:34 Yes, I did. Toshia, right, Cartman? 02:35 Yes, Toshia Cartman. 02:36 Toshia, how are you? 02:38 I'm doing great. How are you? 02:39 All right. I love that smile on you. 02:41 Thank you. 02:42 Something tells me you love Jesus. 02:43 I do very much. 02:44 All right. 02:45 So we're gonna hear testimonies today about work 02:49 that you've been doing, not only here in America 02:51 but around the world, huh? 02:53 I guess that's right. 02:54 All right, you look like pretty young gal, 02:56 but we may find out she's older than she looks, I don't know. 02:59 But at least with women 03:00 you always want to stay on the underside, right? 03:02 Amen. 03:03 I've been around long enough to know that. 03:05 But before we get into the testimony 03:07 I know that you'll love music here 03:09 and we have some special music today 03:11 and we have Todd Parrish 03:13 and he's gonna be singing "To Be Like Jesus." 03:33 A little boy is crying for affection 03:40 A little girl needs a hand to hold 03:48 And oh, how He loves those little children 03:56 How He longs to be a friend to young and old 04:04 His tender spirit welcomes all who seek Him 04:11 His giving heart asks little in return 04:18 And I have found His promises faithful 04:26 I seek to live my life that I may learn 04:32 To be like Jesus, 04:40 to be like Jesus 04:48 To be the one I was created to be 04:56 To be like Jesus, 05:05 to be like Jesus 05:14 May all who see my life, 05:19 find Him in me 05:33 When I received His supreme salvation 05:40 His heavenly love filled my earthly soul 05:46 And I became His new creation 05:53 My brokenness He made completely whole 05:59 And through the darkness of this world 06:02 I've been commissioned 06:05 To be a light that shines for Him alone 06:12 Surrounded by His infinite mercy 06:20 May my life always be known 06:27 To be like Jesus, 06:35 to be like Jesus 06:42 To be the one I was created to be 06:55 To be like Jesus, 07:00 to be like Jesus 07:10 Oh, my only earthly goals fulfilled 07:17 When I'm centered in His will 07:25 May all who see my heart 07:30 find Him in me 08:02 Amen. Thank you, Todd. 08:04 And that's the goal of all of us to be like Jesus. 08:06 Again I have Toshia here, Pastor Glenn from New Orleans. 08:11 And you're down I guess of course during the Katrina? 08:15 Yes. 08:16 We were there, some 3ABN went and helped too. 08:19 What did that do to your church basically and your membership? 08:22 How did that affect you? 08:23 You know when Katrina hit, 08:26 we actually lost half of our membership 08:29 that relocated and never returned. 08:32 And so we're still building up from that experience, 08:37 building up our membership. 08:39 We had rebuilt our church after Katrina. 08:44 One year later we had a church dedication. 08:47 I think we had a, have a slide of that 08:49 with Pastor Dwight Nelson from Pioneer Memorial Church. 08:54 He came down and had a rededication of our church 08:57 and we were quite blessed 09:00 and the Lord worked everything out. 09:02 But you know, Danny, it was a, 09:05 it was a really a good experience 09:07 for the church in some ways. 09:11 You know we never do 09:14 what it was like to just lose everything. 09:17 And our membership, you know, our members, 09:20 many of those people lost everything they had, 09:23 all their valuables, all their possessions, 09:25 all their, their pictures of their loved ones. 09:28 Some places in New Orleans were 20 feet under water. 09:32 And many of our members suffered through that. 09:35 And, but it helped the church to, 09:40 to understand how quickly you can have something 09:45 and it could be taken away. 09:46 Yes. 09:47 And that made a tremendous spiritual impact 09:50 in our lives of many of our members. 09:53 Yeah, absolutely. 09:54 I know we were there, people were devastated, 09:57 but we saw God in the midst. 09:59 We saw a lot of people come 10:00 to the Lord through devastation. 10:02 And sometimes that's what it takes. 10:04 Absolutely. 10:05 Today, we're here again with-- 10:06 Toshia, I want to go over to you. 10:08 Now, where are you from? 10:09 I'm originally from Chicago, Illinois. 10:11 Okay. Well, that's only about 300 miles north of here. 10:13 That's right it is. It is. 10:14 All right. 10:15 You still have relatives up there? 10:16 Most of my family is there, 10:18 my sisters, my brothers, my mom, my dad-- 10:19 Is that right? 10:20 Most of them are there. 10:21 How did you end up all the way down in New Orleans? 10:24 Louisiana. Yeah. 10:26 It's interesting. 10:27 Actually I had never been there until I moved there. 10:30 Is that right? 10:31 I got scholarship for college 10:34 and it was a full tuition and fees 10:36 and I couldn't pass it up 10:37 and so I thought I want to go for it 10:39 and that's how I ended up in New Orleans, Louisiana. 10:42 Chicago girl, by yourself 10:44 moving to New Orleans, Louisiana. 10:46 I had family there in Slidell, Louisiana. 10:48 I have aunt, uncle and cousins there, 10:50 but I still hadn't been there. 10:51 So that's was my first visit was when I moved there. 10:54 How long you've been there? 10:55 I have been there for 14 years already. 10:58 Wow. So you apparently like it. 11:00 You adjusted there? 11:01 I too like it. I enjoyed the weather. 11:03 The weather is warm-- 11:04 Yeah, boy, especially this time of year it's nice to be down-- 11:07 Yes, exactly, it's beautiful. 11:08 I know, it gets kind of cold here 11:10 and much even colder 200 miles northern Chicago 11:13 than even here in the southern part of Illinois. 11:15 But you got a great testimony. 11:17 Tell me a little bit about your background. 11:18 Our viewers when you come on, we like to hear, 11:21 where people are from and as we say, 11:23 what makes them tick? 11:24 But tell me, you say you're raised in Chicago. 11:26 Where you raised in Christian home? 11:27 I was raised in the Christian home. 11:29 My mom is a Christian lady, 11:31 my favorite person, my best friend. 11:32 All right. 11:33 And my grandma too. 11:35 We went to church with them every week 11:37 and they loved the Lord too and they are the very reason 11:40 why I'm here today is because they love me so much. 11:43 Praise the Lord. What church were you raised in? 11:45 Baptist Church. 11:46 Baptist? 11:47 God has a lot of people in the Baptist Church. 11:49 So many people. 11:50 I have some great friends and people we work with here. 11:52 Of course God has people in all churches. 11:54 And that thing, you know, 11:55 there are some, some denominations. 11:57 Some churches think 11:58 they are the only ones are gonna be saved. 12:00 And you know, so I've come to the conclusion 12:02 a longtime ago, you're not gonna be saved 12:04 by the name over the doorpost of your church. 12:06 Adventist, Baptist, Catholic, whatever. 12:09 But God looks on heart. 12:10 Aren't you glad that He looks on heart of individuals? 12:12 So there gonna be a lot of us-- Adventists that won't be saved 12:16 and a lot of folk with other names 12:18 that will be and wise versa. 12:19 So this is all about, you know, I'm thankful 12:22 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 12:23 I'm thankful for the truth. 12:25 I believe it's God's remnant church 12:27 in the closing moments of world's history 12:29 to take a three angel messages to all the world. 12:32 But God saves all of us, wherever we are, 12:34 and He has more people, 12:36 we're told that not in the church 12:38 than out of denominationally wise. 12:41 So when I see people I love meeting Christian people. 12:44 So we have friends from all denominations. 12:46 And I praise the Lord for our viewers. 12:48 Our viewers support us. 12:50 We get donations from Catholics, 12:51 from Lutherans, from Baptists 12:53 and that's amazing to me, but I'm thankful that 12:56 because they see that our goal is not to promote a religion 12:59 but is to promote Jesus. 13:01 Right. 13:02 So you were raised in a Christian home. 13:05 Yes. 13:06 And so at a college age you decided to go down, 13:09 you get a scholarship down in New Orleans. 13:11 Yeah. All right. 13:12 I actually prayed about that because I, 13:15 I applied for the school because my aunt asked me to, 13:18 because she lived there. 13:19 And it was expensive and I prayed. 13:21 Well, I don't think I'm gonna there 13:23 because it's too expensive so I stay in Illinois. 13:25 And then my counselor in high school, 13:27 she handed me a scholarship application. 13:29 I filled it out, but I didn't think anything of it. 13:32 I didn't think I was gonna get it 13:33 because they were only few and I prayed about it. 13:35 If I get it I'm going to go and I got it and so I went. 13:39 And I didn't like it at first. 13:41 I want to go back home 'cause I missed my mom a lot, 13:43 I missed my sisters, but I got used to the city, 13:46 the friendly people, the warm weather 13:48 and I liked the school, so I stayed. 13:51 And God placed me there. 13:53 I know that now, that He placed me 13:54 in New Orleans at that time. 13:56 And what did you take in college? 13:58 Chemistry. 13:59 My major was chemistry and my minor biology. 14:00 I'm a little intimated right now. 14:02 But don't be. 14:03 Is that one of the chemist here you know. 14:05 So, where do you work now? 14:08 Now I work in agricultural lab. 14:10 Yeah. 14:11 I'm a lab technician and we test DNA. 14:15 Well, it's kind of complicated I don't want to get into it 14:17 because it will be too much. 14:18 We test DNA, 14:19 that what I like to tell people, the way it's just-- 14:20 Yeah, I knew it's too complicated. 14:22 When I first heard about DNA 14:23 I think it was during the O.J. Simpson trial 14:26 and I didn't know much about it. 14:27 They were talking about DNA and I heard him say 14:30 there are billions of DNA cells in your body. 14:32 And I said, billions? 14:33 I didn't know there were billions 14:35 of anything in our body, 14:36 but that's you know, God is great God, isn't He? 14:38 He is amazing. He did that. 14:40 I'm sure as a Christian when you're working with DNA 14:43 and you're working, you're getting to see things 14:45 that most of us don't see, 14:47 is it does have an impact on you? 14:48 It does. It does. 14:49 God is very good. He is awesome, that's true. 14:52 All right. 14:53 But today besides doing, you know, 14:56 what you do in the lab, 14:58 you're doing something else which, 15:00 you know, has nothing to do 15:01 with your education as far as there. 15:04 But I hear you're a Bible worker. 15:05 I am, yes. 15:07 And you've traveled recently to where? 15:09 Where was your last trip? 15:10 My last trip was Africa, Zimbabwe. 15:13 Zimbabwe? 15:14 Yes, that's where I went. 15:15 And... 15:16 Now, now how in the world where did you get Zimbabwe? 15:19 What would cause you to want to go to Zimbabwe? 15:22 I was invited to go by my pastor. 15:25 Oh, the pastor.. Yes, by the pastor. 15:27 I was invited to go there after holding meetings 15:30 in New Orleans at our church. 15:34 And he asked me to go Africa and I thought well, why not? 15:37 You know, it's another opportunity 15:38 to share the gospel with people who want to hear it. 15:41 They want to listen, that's all we want to do is, 15:42 tell people who want to know. 15:44 You know, if you want to know, 15:46 I want to tell you and so I went. 15:48 All right. 15:49 Tell me a little bit how you became-- 15:50 you're a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, right? 15:52 How did you become an Adventist? 15:55 Okay. 15:57 I am-- I always believed in God, always. 16:00 My mom raised me to know that there was a God, you know. 16:03 I never doubted that. 16:05 The Bible I read it here and there you know, 16:09 not that much, 16:10 but I heard all these different views about God, so many. 16:13 Everybody has different things to say about this one God. 16:17 You know, He cannot be this and that, 16:20 if those two things contradict themselves. 16:22 He has to be one thing. 16:24 There's one truth about math, 2+2 is 4 that' it, you know. 16:29 And so I need to know who He is. 16:31 I needed to know who God was, 16:33 not just where He was or you know, how He is? 16:36 I know who my mom is. I know she loves me. 16:38 You know I know my grandma loves me. 16:40 I know who she is. 16:41 Who is this God? 16:42 And things that people would say 16:45 sometimes don't make Him look that good. 16:47 They make sometimes make me afraid. 16:50 And I heard a lot of things from people 16:52 who absolutely do not believe in God at all 16:54 and I respect their views and so I listen to them, 16:57 but I needed to know 16:58 and so I began to study my Bible which is, 17:01 what I grew up believing in. 17:02 And so I studied it like every night 17:05 for a couple of years and I prayed a lot 17:07 and I prayed a lot and I just-- 17:09 This when you're in college? 17:11 Yes, no, I had graduated from college. 17:12 I was working my job. I was about 25. 17:15 Okay. 17:16 And I prayed, and I prayed 17:17 and I just couldn't seem to find the answers 17:21 that I needed to satisfy my longing, 17:24 my desire to know Him. 17:26 And after two weeks of praying 17:27 and I hadn't talked to anybody about it 17:29 because I was just tired of talking and listening, 17:31 so I just stopped talking and just prayed. 17:33 And got a flyer in the mail 17:36 and it was Amazing Facts seminar you know. 17:39 And there was the picture of Emanuel Beck, 17:41 he was the evangelist. 17:42 And I was interested in going, so I went by myself and-- 17:46 Okay, it just showed up in your mailbox? 17:48 It showed up in my mailbox. It was a handbill. 17:50 All right, pastor. There you go, way to go. 17:52 Yes. Thank God for them. 17:53 Yeah. 17:54 And I went and the first day 17:57 they preached Daniel Chapter 2 and I loved it. 18:01 I loved everything I was hearing. 18:02 It showed me that the Bible was the Word of God 18:05 without a doubt that one day and then-- 18:08 Without going into detail, but what it is-- 18:10 for our viewers that don't know 18:12 what is it about Daniel Chapter 2 18:14 that's different than John, John Chapter 3? 18:17 It's a good question. Daniel Chapter 2 is prophetic. 18:19 It tells us what's going to happen before it happens. 18:22 The Bible is prophetic and that is amazing to me. 18:25 When I heard that I couldn't believe it. 18:28 It was like histories blueprint before it had even happened 18:32 and I could trust the Bible. 18:33 So it predicted down the future 18:36 and what kingdoms would be setup and this type of thing 18:39 and it actually turned out to be that way. 18:42 When we study history we found out 18:43 that it was exactly accurate, 18:45 you cannot argue with that and I was happy 18:47 because now I know that my mom is right, 18:49 you know the Bible is real. 18:51 The Bible is the Word of God. 18:52 Okay. 18:53 No more doubts. 18:54 No more doubts. No more doubts. 18:56 So you go to the meetings, 18:57 in the first night you learned about Daniel. 18:59 You're already a Christian. 19:00 You're already believer, but now you're confirmed. 19:03 So what holds you to these meetings? 19:06 What held me to the meetings? 19:08 First the people. 19:09 The people were beautiful. 19:11 They loved-- they were unusually kind 19:13 that's what I like to call them. 19:15 They were so sweet 19:16 and who doesn't like nice people? 19:17 Absolutely. 19:18 They were welcoming and they were kind 19:19 and they were open and so I kept coming back. 19:22 And they would ask me, you know, are you coming back? 19:23 And you know, I sure I'm coming back and I came back. 19:25 And also I wanted to learn more. 19:27 I wanted to learn more about the Bible. 19:29 The evangelists was very young and he was happy 19:31 about what he was sharing and I was happy about hearing 19:34 and the people were happy about supporting it 19:36 and so I kept coming 19:38 and that's what kept me every, every night. 19:40 I missed a few, but not a lot. 19:42 I wished to comeback every night. 19:44 You know, pastor, I'm so amazed that the people-- 19:47 You know, I'm thankful to be living 19:49 in a closing moments of earths history. 19:51 And we're getting to see thanks prophecy fulfilled 19:54 before our very eyes that, 19:56 you know, hundreds of years ago, 19:58 weren't upon them like it is right now. 20:01 But I play basketball with a couple of young guys 20:04 and I say, young because they are. 20:05 They are probably your age range, early 30s or 30s. 20:09 And they are not necessarily Christians that I know off. 20:12 I'm sure they've had some background. 20:14 But a week ago or so we were playing basketball, 20:18 we play on Tuesday nights here. 20:19 They were driving into their home some miles away 20:23 and a drunk driver hit them. 20:25 So I went to St. Louis the other day 20:27 and one had been in critical condition. 20:29 They both have broken bones and broken ribs and hip-- 20:34 I mean fractured neck bones and so doctor says, 20:38 it's gonna be a long time for their recovery. 20:40 But as friends they have been coming out 20:42 playing here at our 3ABN, you know, 20:45 our little school gym and with us for sometime. 20:48 So they called me and I found out about him, 20:51 but they had reached out 20:52 and said would you come and see us. 20:54 So I drove up to St. Louis and I saw them in the rooms 20:57 and one got out of the ICU. 21:00 They said, we've been wanting to know 21:02 and one have been talking to me about coming to church 21:04 and said, we been wanting to know more about God 21:07 and now we want you to help us. 21:09 But one of them said to me is very interesting. 21:12 You know, I don't really go to church. 21:14 I've been asking a lot of people questions. 21:16 I read the Bible sometimes, 21:18 but I keep asking and nobody can give me the answers. 21:21 I said, well, what kind? 21:22 He said, well, one reason-- One thing I asked him is, 21:25 why you people go to church on Sunday 21:27 because the Bible says, we go on the seventh day? 21:31 And then he said to me which I thought is very, 21:34 you know, amazing to me. 21:35 He said, because when I-- 21:37 they say well you don't need to, 21:38 and he said-- I say to them, well, 21:40 why does this, the fourth commandment say remember? 21:44 And I said, that's very astute from someone who's not a Bible, 21:47 you know, student of the word. 21:49 But he said, then I found out you guys were Adventists 21:52 so I really want to learn. 21:54 So my brother went up and took him some literature 21:56 and we're getting them the apps 21:58 and you're gonna get that app on your phone too. 22:00 That's your right. 22:01 For those of you that have telephones, your Smartphone, 22:04 you can download whether it's android 22:06 or whether it's the iPhone, the 3ABN app, 22:09 you can get all six networks 24/7 around the clock. 22:14 So you come to the meetings, Amazing Facts meetings 22:16 and how long they last, two or three weeks? 22:18 It was actually more then that. Was it six weeks or? 22:22 Well-- 22:23 Five or six. Five or six weeks? 22:24 Okay. 22:25 And thank you that you have a church that says, 22:28 you know, we're not just gonna sit here, 22:29 but we're gonna reach the community around us. 22:33 So at the end of the six weeks what happens? 22:35 I was ready to commit. 22:36 I was ready to commit because everything, 22:39 it was a answer to my prayers. 22:41 After praying and wanted to know something solid. 22:43 I wanted to be sure and wanting to know who God was. 22:46 God loved me and I was learning that that yes, 22:50 there is a God and He created this entire universe 22:52 and He's huge and He's awesome, but He loves me 22:55 and that made me want to commit myself to Him. 22:59 And so I made that decision rather quickly 23:02 and I know to some people it was strange, 23:03 you know, you just spend six weeks 23:05 and you wanted to care these things, 23:07 but I heard them, I know it was true. 23:08 It was me that was sitting there. 23:10 It was me who God was speaking to and I made my decision 23:14 and I was baptized, November 20th, 2010. 23:17 Wow, that-- 23:18 Danny, excuse me. 23:19 I think they have a couple of slides of her baptism. 23:21 Oh, good, good. Just look at them. 23:23 They can show those. 23:25 Yes, this is when Toshia is being baptized. 23:29 And then we have a couple of that, 23:32 show her being welcomed into the church 23:36 with Emanuel Beck from Amazing Facts 23:38 and you can see her smile as usual 23:42 And like we've one other giving her some diploma 23:47 or something for a graduation from the seminar 23:52 that we've been thrill to have her. 23:54 Absolutely. Those are wonderful. 23:56 So you go to the meetings-- Now let me ask you this. 24:00 You're in a place it's not, it's becoming your home, 24:03 but it's not where most of your family. 24:05 You have some relatives or any of your coworkers 24:08 are they Adventists or were they Adventist? 24:11 Yeah, well. 24:13 At the time when you-- 24:15 At that time? How that-- 24:16 Yeah, when you started going to the Adventist Church, 24:19 did you know any other Adventist? 24:21 Not really. No, I did not. 24:23 Actually no, I didn't. 24:24 So you got a strong personality because now you're gonna go, 24:28 you don't even know any Adventists to go. 24:30 You just see to get this on the mail and you say, 24:32 I'm just gonna go and then you end up after six weeks. 24:35 And you know what? 24:36 I think this is true, this is for me. 24:38 So my point is, you're not just going to get 24:41 into some kind of group or some workers meetings 24:45 with other people because they are. 24:47 You decide this totally on your own, 24:49 you and the Holy Spirit? 24:50 Yes, exactly. 24:51 So regardless of what other people thing or say, 24:54 you decided I'm gonna be baptized 24:56 at Seventh-day Adventist? 24:57 I did and I'm so happy I made that decision. 25:00 And why did you just-- How did that changed your life? 25:03 It changed my life instantly. 25:05 I provided with instantly because that, 25:09 the day I was baptized I knew I was committing 25:12 to something that was different, you know. 25:14 It was different than what I had. 25:16 You know, it was more. 25:17 I like to think it was deeper than what I had learned. 25:20 And it was different than most people. 25:23 And I knew that I had to stay close to God 25:26 after that moment and I did it. 25:28 And He was close to me. 25:30 He was so close to me and I knew everyday 25:33 more and more that He loved 25:35 and I never wanted to leave Him, 25:37 you know, 'cause He's a good God. 25:39 That's beautiful pasture. 25:41 What did you see in her? 25:43 She came and she kind of like just stand out to you? 25:46 Did you-- That smile, 25:47 I know you said stood out. 25:49 Yes. 25:50 You know after she was there for maybe a couple of weeks, 25:53 I went up to her and introduced to myself to her 25:58 as a host of the Amazing Facts series. 26:01 And after how she was enjoying the meetings and she said, 26:04 she really enjoyed the meetings. 26:07 And I asked her, you have any questions about anything 26:11 that you have heard? 26:13 And she says, no, I really don't. 26:16 As long as this in the Bible I believe it. 26:19 Oh, wow. 26:20 And I knew at that time that she would become 26:23 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. 26:25 Wow. Okay. 26:26 So strong personality 'cause you know 26:29 and Jim Gilley talks about this. 26:31 You've known Jim for a long time you told me, pastor. 26:34 But he said, it takes kind of a different personality 26:38 sometimes to be an Adventist because a lot of people 26:40 don't like to go against the flow. 26:42 So even when you hear certain things 26:44 and then some people just don't know, 26:46 but you're the personality, 26:47 if I hear truth I'm gonna accept it and you did. 26:51 So what did you decide to do after that? 26:53 You went to work, You said, it changed your life. 26:55 It did. 26:56 So I'm sure you probably shared some 26:58 with the people around you then? 27:00 Of course, that's the first thing you want to do. 27:01 When you find something beautiful and good 27:03 and it changes your life, 27:05 you want to share with other people. 27:06 If it was a candy bar, you know, 27:08 you share with somebody else 27:09 and so that's what I wanted to do. 27:10 So I arranged it so my friends will come over 27:13 and we would have Bible studies. 27:14 Okay. 27:15 And I was gonna share with them the things 27:17 that I had learned and sure enough they came, you know. 27:18 So you're new into this, but you decide 27:20 to have Bible studies that you have? 27:22 Yes, I wanted to. All right. 27:24 How did it go? How did it go? 27:25 It went well. It went well. 27:26 They were my friends 27:27 and even my sister when she will come in town. 27:29 She came to and she was learning things 27:31 and I loved it. 27:33 I love sharing with them and they love to hear it 27:35 and I was happy about the turnout. 27:37 Love it. No complaint. 27:39 So now, now what happened from there? 27:41 You're getting this-- 27:42 I don't want to say the word bug, 27:44 but you're getting this thing well, I'm loving to share, 27:47 it's kind of getting in your system 27:50 and you're not gonna be happy just going back 27:52 to work everyday 'cause you want to share Jesus. 27:55 Exactly. 27:56 So I know that you ended up going on some trips, 27:59 but tell me how that happened 28:00 and how you became a Bible worker? 28:02 Danny, before that I like to mention 28:04 that even during the meetings 28:06 Toshia was inviting her friends to come 28:09 and they would come with her occasionally to the meetings. 28:12 And after she was baptized, 28:14 she would invite her friends to come to church. 28:17 And you know she's had several people 28:21 that came to visit the church and was interested and, 28:24 and I thought well, why not, 28:27 why not Toshia just have a series of meetings? 28:31 And that's what we decided to do. 28:33 What? 28:34 I asked Toshia would you, would you be willing to hold 28:36 some meetings here at the church? 28:38 And how long was this after she's baptized? 28:40 Just about four months 28:41 I believe after she was baptized. 28:43 And you had confidence in here to have her hold some meetings? 28:48 I did, you know, I saw something in her 28:50 and she had a tremendous love for the Lord. 28:52 And I said yeah. 28:55 And I asked her and her usual replied is, who, me? 29:00 I said, yes, you. 29:01 Why not? 29:03 And she did. 29:04 We had a series of meetings. 29:05 I think we have a picture of it 29:08 where she's holding meetings in the church. 29:10 And many her friends and people have come out to, 29:14 to watch her and listen to her preach. 29:18 And first time Toshia ever preached in her life 29:22 and never knew she could. 29:25 But never had any training, 29:27 formal training or anything but, 29:29 but delivery was, was excellent and, 29:33 but people could see in her a love for Jesus 29:37 and her sincerity and I think 29:39 that's what attracted people to the message. 29:41 That's the most important. 29:42 But I have to tell you, I've been in this a long time, 29:45 that's pretty amazing that somebody, four months, 29:48 you're in a totally different environment, 29:50 you're in a brand new church, you're with people 29:53 who been maybe Adventist Christians for 30 years, 29:56 40 years and some of those maybe coming to hear you, 29:59 you know, I mean that looked like 30:01 that be nerve-wracking in a sense. 30:04 It was. I'm a very shy person. 30:07 Really? 30:08 I would have loved to have come into the church and just 30:10 sat in the back and learned 30:12 and share it with my friends one on one. 30:14 You know that's fine and I can do that, 30:15 those are my friends. 30:16 But when I was asked to hold the meetings-- 30:19 yes, I was surprised. 30:21 When I went home I asked myself, 30:22 why would he ask me that? 30:24 Why would he ask me? 30:25 I don't like public speaking, you know, 30:28 I'm shy, I'm kind of quiet, 30:30 but I prayed about it as I usually do and I asked God 30:33 if this is something You're going to do through me. 30:36 You're gonna have to do this 30:37 because there's no way I can do that. 30:39 I know I couldn't 'cause I know me. 30:42 And, and I went for it 30:43 because one of the elders at the church, 30:45 when he asked, she heard and she said, 30:48 well, I tell you what, you just-- 30:49 the Holy Spirit is gonna take over 30:51 and you're gonna be good, 30:52 you're gonna be able to do this and I listened to her. 30:54 And when I got home I thought, 30:56 if this is true 30:58 then He should be able to use me too. 31:00 So I'm gonna do it. 31:01 And then I came back and I accepted and God like she said. 31:06 He does it. You know He could use me. 31:09 I know He does love me, but He will use me 31:13 and you know that, that's big, 31:16 that's just something to me, it's so important. 31:18 So what did you decide to-- for sermons? 31:21 What did you use material? 31:23 ShareHim. The ShareHim series which was wonderful. 31:26 And tell me a little bit about, for our viewers about ShareHim. 31:29 Who is ShareHim group? 31:30 ShareHim is a group where they share. 31:33 I'm sorry. 31:34 They present everything that you need 31:36 from Daniel Chapter 2 the gospel in slideshows 31:40 and they even give you a list of things in the order 31:44 that you should say them. 31:45 And everything is prepared for you. 31:47 All you have to do is, be willing to share Him, 31:50 because everything is right there. 31:52 You'll be yourself and you read and you share 31:55 and the pictures are there, everything was so simple, 31:58 you just had to have faith in God and go for it. 32:01 Just we have to go. 32:02 We always say, in fact, this year our theme for 3ABN, 32:06 every year we have a new one is, 32:07 "The Blessing is On the Go." 32:10 And if you think about that, 32:12 that's just simply stepping out in faith. 32:13 When you-- faith to me-- 32:16 your faith doesn't begin till your sight ends. 32:19 And so what you're doing is, you're not sure 32:21 what's gonna happen. 32:22 You don't know, you're sure of what the Bible says 32:25 that happens and looking down the history 32:27 but in your life I'm sure you said, I'm kind of shy. 32:30 I don't know if I can even present this well enough, 32:33 but you finally got to the point, 32:35 said, Lord, I have to trust You. 32:36 Right. 32:37 I'll go forward and You use me in spite of me. 32:39 That's what I always ask God to do. 32:42 So you go, people come to the meetings. 32:44 People come. 32:45 Now, pastor, do you do that very often 32:46 that people come in four months 32:48 and you haven't hold meetings in the church? 32:50 How often you do that? 32:51 Well, not too often, 32:52 but you know I've been on several mission trips 32:55 with ShareHim and every time I go, 32:58 I do invite members of the church to go along. 33:00 Okay. 33:01 And we've invited some people 33:03 that were maybe members of a year to go along. 33:07 And Danny, there's no better way to understand 33:10 what the Bible teaches than to share it with others. 33:13 And when you're studying and to prepare, 33:16 to present it others, you learn so much. 33:20 And I found it to be a wonderful blessing 33:24 to take members of my church with me on, 33:27 on these trips and they comeback changed. 33:31 You know, I think everyone should have the experience 33:34 of leading people to Jesus. 33:36 And, you know, when you go overseas 33:38 as you know, it's so easy. 33:41 You know people over there are starving 33:43 for the Word of God and they come out in a rain, 33:46 they come out and they sit down under cold 33:49 and they are just listening to God's word 33:51 because they love every word of it. 33:53 Wow. 33:54 And they come out by the crowds 'cause they are interested 33:57 and they want to hear about the Lord 33:59 and I've seen it so many times, 34:02 you know, as we travel around the world. 34:04 But still yet for someone like you this is all brand new. 34:09 You're a brand new, 34:10 you're looking at theology totally different, 34:12 you still love the Lord. 34:14 You got His truth 34:15 and it's still takes a lot of courage to say, 34:18 all right Lord, just, I'm gonna go for this 34:20 and it might have been easier 34:22 if you went overseas first to the audience than right here 34:26 when you're talking to all these people 34:28 with all experience 34:29 and been Christians for so long, 34:31 but you went ahead and you did it. 34:33 Now ShareHim is a great organization. 34:35 I worked with Elder Bob Falkenburg 34:37 has been a friend of mine for many, many years. 34:40 And of course kind of his brain child, 34:42 I think along with some others to do this, 34:45 they literally, they go around the world. 34:48 They is-- I think they can hold 34:49 meetings and maybe more. 34:52 There's thousands going on at given time by laypeople, 34:56 most laypeople around the world. 34:58 some of those I've interviewed people here Toshia, 35:03 that weren't even Adventist Christians here 35:05 when they were holding the meetings, 35:07 and one young man, that they encouraged him, 35:10 he wanted to go and someone wasn't, 35:12 he got sick and wasn't there 35:14 and he said you're the only one there would you finish this? 35:17 When he made his baptism appeal, 35:20 at the end he came down. 35:23 He was baptized from his own meetings, 35:25 now how about that? 35:26 Now that's a God thing right there. 35:28 But he said, you know, I took it so seriously 35:30 and then when I did because I just, 35:32 like somebody had to jump into this and do it, 35:35 it changed my whole life. 35:37 So now you do this in your own meetings 35:40 and how did it turn out? 35:43 I thought it turned out well. I was pleased with the turnout. 35:47 And I was, I was happy to see people's faces lighting up 35:51 as I share with them the things that had changed my life. 35:54 And I was happy to hear the people afterwards to say, 35:57 that they understood, that they understood 35:59 what I was saying, you know, that mean a lot. 36:01 And even the people who had known for 30 years, 36:04 they came every night. 36:05 They came every night to support 36:06 because that's what they do. 36:08 You know, they are very loving people 36:09 and they were there each night supporting it 36:12 even though they already knew. 36:14 It was a blessing to me 36:16 because it was a blessing to other people, you know. 36:19 Yeah. Yeah. 36:20 I love it. 36:21 Since she's not saying I liked it 36:23 because they liked me or they commented 36:25 how good I was, she's just saying they learned, 36:27 that's the whole idea, 36:28 you've given God the credit for that. 36:30 So now you take this step, but a bigger step comes, 36:33 another opportunity and that's Africa, right? 36:35 Yes. 36:36 How did that transpire? 36:38 During-- we were preparing 36:39 for the meetings at our church still, 36:41 because every night I would have to prepare 36:43 for the next one because you know, 36:45 there's a lot of them. 36:46 And Pastor Glenn asked me, he said, 36:49 what do you thing about going to Africa? 36:52 And I was like well, let's get through with this first. 36:55 Well, I thought about it and I'm thinking, 36:58 well, how is that gonna happen? 36:59 So we got on a computer and he showed me 37:02 that ShareHim would have certain trips 37:03 during certain types of year and we could go, 37:06 it's possible that, that I could go. 37:08 And I thought, I guess, 37:09 if I can do this than why not in Africa? 37:12 Now you're a world traveler? 37:14 No, that was my first time leaving the country. 37:16 You're first time leaving America. 37:17 My first time leaving America. I had to passport. 37:19 I had to do all these things. That was my first time. 37:21 And what country in Africa? 37:23 Zimbabwe. 37:24 Zimbabwe? 37:25 So you say here I go again another brand new road-- 37:29 Experience, yes. 37:30 Brand new experience, never done it before 37:32 No, never. 37:33 And you didn't have a hard time talking or into, right? 37:36 No, not at all actually. 37:38 You know again she said, who, me? 37:41 And I said, yes, you. 37:43 And I believe that, you know, 37:46 God has worked in her life 37:48 and I believe as to she looks back. 37:50 She can see God's hand surely intervening in her life 37:54 and leading her step by step. 37:56 And she has a very difficult time saying, 38:01 no to God and if she's asked to do 38:04 something she usually steps up and she does it. 38:07 And she's very nervous about it, 38:11 but as she said before, she puts it in God's hands 38:15 and God takes care of it. 38:17 It's just amazing to see how God has intervened 38:21 in her life in such a pronounced way, 38:24 never before stood up in front of people, 38:27 never gave a Bible study before 38:30 and now she's giving several Bible studies 38:33 a week along with her fulltime job, 38:37 preaching on Sabbath to our congregation in my absence. 38:42 So she's very into it, I'm sure. 38:45 All right. 38:46 So you decide to take that long plane ride 38:49 and you take your equipment with you, your Bible 38:53 and your materials and you go all the way to Zimbabwe, 38:57 when you get there, tell us a little bit about the culture, 39:01 the people and your experience. 39:04 Here we got another 10 more minutes. 39:05 Yeah, we have some slides too. 39:07 Oh, good. Maybe you can describe these. 39:09 Sure. 39:10 When I got there it was different of course. 39:13 It was Africa and everybody hears everything about Africa, 39:15 you know, all these beautiful, the beautiful land, 39:18 the beautiful people. 39:19 The people were so happy. 39:21 They were beautiful and kind and happy 39:24 and they wanted to hear what we had to say. 39:25 It was new. 39:26 It was something different, you know. 39:28 And so they will come out each night 39:29 and of course ShareHim gives you the slide show, 39:32 so they love to see that. 39:33 And the people would come out, 39:34 the children would come and they would listen. 39:37 We had a translator of course 39:38 because some of them did not speak English. 39:40 And so I would speak and then I'll have to wait 39:43 and then the translator will speak 39:45 and that gave me some time to look around 39:47 to view the people and to, 39:49 you know, just to be comfortable. 39:51 And as a result of course several people were baptized. 39:54 Oh, praise the Lord. 39:56 That was the thing that really made it worth 39:58 every bit of nervousness, 39:59 every bit of the travel and everything. 40:02 It was a wonderful experience. I have not a single complaint. 40:04 You know, it's a different place 40:06 and different accommodations, but it was perfectly beautiful. 40:10 Wow. 40:12 And the people, when you left-- 40:13 I guess you left part of your heart there, right? 40:15 I did and I left my phone number 40:18 with some of them too and they still keep in contact. 40:21 Yeah. Yes. 40:22 So when you went, you get up for the first time, 40:25 you've never spoken with the translator before. 40:27 No, I have never, that was different. 40:29 That was different, but it was fine. 40:31 Everything went fine. 40:32 When you trust God 40:34 and it can be totally different, 40:35 it can be a brand new experience, 40:37 but God will always see to it that it goes exactly 40:40 how it should. 40:41 We just, I just have to trust Him at every step you know. 40:44 How many nights did you preach? 40:46 We did about, I want to say 18 nights 40:51 and when Sabbaths we would have two. 40:52 Okay. How was the weather? 40:54 Did it with all the perfect weather? 40:55 You know, what I've realized being there-- 40:57 I think we experienced everything 40:58 because it was cold when we first got there, 41:00 then when we're about to leave it had gotten hot 41:02 because it was about to be their summer, 41:04 so and we experienced hale, it just began to hale, 41:06 that we experienced everything in that short period of time, 41:09 but it was beautiful. 41:10 Everything came at you but you still went. 41:12 I've heard people over there, 41:13 they have generators for lights, 41:15 when generators go out they just keep preaching. 41:17 That happened to us. That happened to us often. 41:19 Tell me about it. 41:20 Well, the generator would go out 41:21 and of course I'm not that loud. 41:23 We have microphone and I would have to speak up. 41:25 I'll have to project my voice and when it went out, 41:28 we can't cancel the meetings and the elders there 41:30 they were really, really good at improvising. 41:32 That's what they do. 41:34 So, if something would happened, 41:35 they are used to it, you look at them 41:36 they are right on it, they hook up light 41:38 so you can still see and you just keep going. 41:41 Just keep going. 41:42 Yes. 41:43 I love it. 41:44 So you over there with her, pastor? 41:46 Yes, yes, and several other lay members too. 41:48 You were preaching at a different-- 41:50 tell me about your meetings? 41:53 Well, we really enjoyed it. I love Africa. 41:58 I've held meetings in Philippines, 42:00 but Africa is my favorite. 42:02 And a couple of meetings in Kenya 42:04 and series there in Zimbabwe 42:07 and you know, the wonderful thing about it 42:09 wherever you go, you go to a church 42:14 and they accept you like you been there all your life. 42:17 You know, just one big family, the Adventist family is. 42:20 And it's a great experience for new members 42:24 like Toshia to go and see. 42:26 Wow, we have a-- 42:27 this is a big church that we're in. 42:30 And see how friendly the people are and, and you know, 42:34 see how people there are really starving to hear the word. 42:39 What about somebody like yourself, 42:41 now do you still use the ShareHim guidelines 42:43 'cause I know you got enough experience, 42:45 you could write your own. 42:47 Do you can still go by those too? 42:48 Yes, we try, we've tried to go by that. 42:51 So, you know everyone's on the same page everywhere. 42:54 Okay. 42:55 Usually we're holding simultaneous meetings 42:57 in several locations. 43:00 And we're pretty much on the same-- 43:02 When you were there, how many would you say 43:04 meetings were been held in that area? 43:06 Do you have any idea? 43:08 I think about, oh-- about 20 I believe. 43:11 I think it was around 20 meetings. 43:14 Its 20 meetings just like yours. 43:16 The most of these laymen? 43:18 Yes. Children even. 43:20 Children? Yes, some of-- 43:21 How young will that be? 43:23 He was about 12-years-old. 43:24 Oh, and adults come out to listen to him? 43:26 Adults came out to listen to them. 43:28 They stay each night to come back? 43:30 Yeah, they kept coming. 43:31 Isn't it amazing? It is. 43:32 That is God. That's the Holy Spirit. 43:34 He definitely is. Amen. 43:35 Isn't it a privilege to work for the Lord 43:37 in the closing moments of earth's history? 43:38 It really is. 43:40 I mean think about the times in which we're living. 43:42 You can jump on an airplane, go to Africa, 43:44 I mean, that it wouldn't that easy just 100 years ago. 43:47 That's true. 43:48 And so here you are. 43:49 You give your life to the Lord, you learn some truths 43:53 and Jesus says, go ye into all the world. 43:55 So Toshia says, I'm ye, 'cause I want to go. 43:59 He's talking to me. 44:01 So go Toshia, into all the world. 44:04 See, go Pastor Glenn, go Brother Danny, 44:07 into all the world 44:08 and that's what God wants us to do. 44:10 What we're learning here today 44:11 and I hope a lot of you, you're contemplating. 44:15 I want to do something for the Lord. 44:17 I hear this all the time. I'm bashful. 44:20 I can't-- that's not my gift is to speak 44:24 and I've had people in churches come up and say, 44:26 well, you can talk, you know, 44:28 you're a talker and I'm not a talker, 44:31 I'm shy, I can't witness. 44:33 And one day I was at some peoples home after church, 44:36 that a beautiful home 44:38 and they had a brand new car outside, 44:40 beautiful car and they said, the guy said, I'm just-- 44:42 You know I can support people like you, 44:44 but I can't talk, I'm not good, you know witnessing. 44:49 I said, oh, you got a beautiful home here. 44:51 He said, well, thank you the Lord really blessed us. 44:54 I said, who purchased this for you? 44:56 Excuse me? 44:57 I said, who purchased this home for you? 44:59 Did you buy it? 45:00 Oh, yeah, I bought it. 45:02 I said, did you go through a realtor? 45:03 Yeah. 45:04 I said, who negotiated for you? 45:07 Oh, I did that. Got a really good deal. 45:09 I said, oh, so you can talk, right? 45:12 You can communicate. You aren't too bashful. 45:14 You didn't say, you know I'm too bashful. 45:16 I can't go head to head with this realtor. 45:19 Are you in real estate? No. 45:21 I said that you decided, you could go head to head 45:24 with a real estate to get your best buy. 45:27 I said, same thing with that car. 45:28 Did somebody buy that? 45:29 No, I did it. 45:30 You dealt with them? Sure. 45:31 I said, now you can give the gospel to. 45:33 So you people do, what my dad used to say, 45:35 people do what they want to do, right. 45:38 But you decided to do it. 45:40 You go to Africa, how is that change your life? 45:44 Well, it showed me that God could use me. 45:47 That changed my life 45:48 because I have no reason to say no now. 45:51 Oh, yes I am shy. 45:52 Yes I am bashful and soft spoken. 45:55 I'm not a loud person. 45:56 You know, I had a million things in back of my mind 45:58 before I did any of these, but those things have to leave 46:01 because God has shown me that if you trust Me, 46:04 if you love Me, you know, then you will just go for it 46:07 and He will do everything. 46:10 He will and it's hard to understand that 46:12 until you experience it. 46:13 Like, I can tell you over and over again 46:16 that God could use you, God can use you, 46:18 but you will never know what is like 46:19 until you actually allow Him to use you 46:22 and you won't want to stop, you know, just keep going. 46:25 Absolutely. What a beautiful testimony. 46:28 I'm still thankful to have you here today. 46:31 What I'd like to do is, I want to put up an address 46:33 that people would like to contact you for any reason. 46:35 I'm sure there's people need encouragement, 46:38 you know, need something from you 46:41 because I'm so pleased with what you're doing. 46:44 I'm so excited to hear your testimonies 46:46 and you too, pastor, because so many of our pastors 46:49 would just stick with our home church, 46:51 but you have vision enough to say, you know what, 46:53 Jesus said, go ye into all the world, 46:55 here's an opportunity for me 46:57 I think I'll just go into all the world too. 46:59 So what we would like to do, if you like to contact 47:01 Toshia you may do so 47:03 and the pastor at the following address. 47:53 All right. 47:54 Boy, I can't believe how quickly our time flies. 47:57 Time flies when you're having fun. 47:58 But we're gonna have another song right now 48:01 and once again we have Todd and Lisa this time Parrish 48:05 and they are gonna be singing "One More Voice." 48:23 Listen to the singing of the people of the Lord 48:29 Filling all the earth with songs of praise 48:35 For, by many millions now, the Savior is adored 48:42 I have also joined the song they raise 48:53 One More voice to sing of Jesus 48:59 and His boundless Love divine, 49:06 One more voice to join in worship 49:11 One more voice it will be mine 49:18 One more voice to speak His goodness 49:24 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 49:30 Add my song to swell the chorus 49:37 One more voice 49:40 Here's one more voice 49:43 One more voice to praise the Lord 49:56 Maybe just a few will hear the song of praise I sing 50:03 But, my friend, I'll sing it just the same 50:09 Daily and with gratitude I'll worship Christ my King 50:16 Wonderful and precious is His name 50:27 One More voice to sing of Jesus 50:33 and His boundless Love divine, 50:40 One more voice to join in worship 50:45 One more voice it will be mine 50:52 One more voice to speak His goodness 50:58 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 51:05 Add my song to swell the chorus 51:11 One more voice 51:14 Here's one more voice 51:18 One more voice to praise the Lord 51:31 One more voice to speak His goodness 51:38 Tell of His rich gifts outpoured 51:44 Add my song to swell the chorus 51:51 One more voice 51:54 Here's one more voice 51:57 One more voice to praise the Lord |
Revised 2015-07-02