Participants: CA Murray (Host), Anthony Pouesi, jesus bravo, Steven Steenmeyer
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017035A
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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 3ABN Today. 01:09 My name is CA Murray. 01:10 And allow me once again to thank you for sharing 01:12 just a little of your day with us, 01:15 to thank you as always for your prayers, 01:17 your love, your support 01:18 of Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 01:20 I'm very excited today 01:22 because we're gonna talk about a subject 01:23 that is close to my heart 01:25 as we have a prison ministry here at 3ABN 01:28 and prison ministry program Free Indeed 01:31 as we cooperate 01:33 with Lemuel Vega and Christmas Behind Bars. 01:35 So we're gonna talk about prison ministry 01:38 and we're gonna meet some people 01:40 who are involved in prison ministries. 01:42 We're going to meet some people 01:44 who are a product of prison ministry at its best 01:49 and we're gonna take a little journeys today 01:51 because this prison ministry's story 01:54 comes to us all the way from Anchorage, Alaska. 01:58 And so this fine, good looking handsome gentleman 02:00 have made the trip from Anchorage 02:01 to the lower 48 to be with us, 02:04 gotten in on our last evening 02:05 and they've got a lot to talk to us about. 02:08 So that's the burden for this day, 02:09 Prison Ministry in Anchorage, Alaska. 02:12 I wanna start Steven Steenmeyer. 02:14 Yes. 02:15 Got it right, Steven, good to have you here, man. 02:17 Good to be here. Good to be here. 02:18 The ministry is called Greater Works Ministry 02:21 and Steven is the president. 02:23 I'm gonna ask you little bit 02:24 where that name greater works comes from? 02:27 I have an idea 02:28 but I want to hear it from your own lips. 02:30 In the middle, Jesus Bravo, 02:31 Jesus, good to have you here, man. 02:33 Thank you, good to be here. 02:34 Praise the Lord, good to have you here. 02:35 I want you to drop your shoulders and relax, 02:37 it's all good, everything is okay, 02:40 Lord is good, you got to lot to say. 02:42 And at the end, Tony Pouesi, 02:44 Tony, you're long way down but good to have you here, man. 02:47 Thanks. Praise the Lord. 02:48 And the punch line is Jesus 02:52 and Tony, have both spent time in, 02:54 now they're giving back to the community. 02:56 They're members 02:58 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 02:59 so I'll give you the punchline up front. 03:00 Now we need to find out 03:02 how that road brought them to where they are today. 03:04 And before we go to our music, just want to get little, 03:09 cursory background on you all. 03:12 Steven, are you a native of Alaska? 03:14 Since '72 I worked there. 03:16 Since '72, okay, 03:17 so you didn't start out there you, you came up. 03:18 No, but I came up. 03:20 You lived up long time now yeah, yeah, 03:21 so you kind of close to a native. 03:22 Yeah. From where originally? 03:24 Washington State. 03:25 Washington State. West coast, yeah. 03:27 Okay, okay, okay. 03:28 Did you grow up in Adventist home? 03:29 No. 03:31 Was that a Christian home at all? 03:32 Yes. 03:33 Yeah, I was, I didn't know that at the time, 03:37 wouldn't have but basically I came from a Derby Home, 03:41 John Derby. 03:43 And so that was the doctrinal system 03:45 that I came from. 03:46 Yeah, you may need to explain that in a quick thing 03:48 because a lot of people wouldn't know. 03:49 Well, every tragic heretical doctrine 03:54 that flows through the world with Christianity 03:56 would've been in my home. 03:59 Okay, okay. 04:00 But I, of course, believed it was all true. 04:03 You know, we were the truth. 04:04 Okay, so you had a lot of stuff to way through in growing up. 04:09 Brothers and sisters? Yeah, three brothers. 04:12 Okay, okay. 04:14 One brother died. 04:16 He was a pastor I have a brother still living 04:19 who is a pastor. 04:20 Another brother living as well. I see. 04:22 My father came into the ministry 04:26 and so I had a lot... 04:27 Yeah... 04:29 I've never been able to teach them a thing. 04:34 What took you up to Alaska initially? 04:36 My father was a painting contractor 04:38 on military bases and so I started at the age 04:41 of 12 working for him every summer. 04:43 And then I continued going up there through college 04:46 and ended up settling there. 04:48 Okay, okay. 04:50 Want to get into your conversion story 04:51 just a little bit, how you met your wife 04:53 and all that good stuff in just a little bit. 04:55 But I want to go to, Jesus, you're not a native Alaskan. 04:59 No, sir. 05:00 Yeah, from where originally? 05:02 Tijuana, Mexico. Tijuana, Mexico. 05:04 How did you get up to the Anchorage? 05:07 My father he used to build ships 05:08 in Mexico and he was, 05:12 you know, there's a lot of fishing industry 05:14 up there in Alaska. 05:15 He also didn't want his kids raising, 05:17 just in that all that violence, 05:19 it's just more, it's just more abundant 05:21 and where there's more population 05:22 of human beings, you know. 05:24 And but, yeah, that's how we ended up there 05:28 at an early age. 05:30 I was 5-years-old and, yeah, 05:34 ended up in Kenai Peninsula, 05:37 which is beautiful, you know, that country's beautiful. 05:40 Is there a large Hispanic Community in Alaska? 05:43 Now, yeah, I would say, 05:46 I don't know it's pretty big, lot more than before, yeah. 05:50 Did you grow up in a Christian home? 05:53 The Bible was there. Yeah. 05:54 Love of Christ, no. 05:56 In my mom I could see, 05:59 I could see long-suffering of the Lord 06:01 and yeah she walked in the spirit 06:03 but I didn't notice it at the time. 06:05 Yes, there was, there was a Bible in home. 06:08 Yeah, yeah, 'cause Bible in the home 06:11 and Christ in the home 06:12 are not necessarily the same thing. 06:13 No, sir. 06:15 'Cause a lot of times Bibles are collecting dust 06:16 on the table. 06:17 Yeah. Yeah, that kind of thing. 06:19 Tony? Yes, sir. 06:20 I know, you're not a native Alaskan. 06:21 No, no, no, no, I've been in Alaska 06:23 about three years, 06:25 but I'm originally from Washington, small town. 06:30 Little sense of your background, 06:32 Christian home growing up? 06:33 I didn't have a religious background. 06:36 So, you know, me finding Jesus now 06:38 I appreciate the gospel so much more. 06:41 And, no, I never read the Bible, 06:44 never went to church, never really prayed. 06:48 But all that changed pretty recently. 06:50 Praise the Lord. 06:51 Did you have brothers and sisters? 06:53 Or do you have brothers and sisters? 06:54 Yeah, I have three sisters and two brothers, 06:59 one I'm really close with. 07:02 Praise the Lord. 07:04 I think we'll go to our music, 07:06 then I really want to launch out 07:07 because each of you have such unique stories. 07:10 And I want to use max time 07:11 to try to unearth those stories and then get into the ministry. 07:14 Our music for this particular program 07:16 is coming from someone 07:18 that I have the privilege of baptizing 07:19 all about 30 years ago, 07:22 who now works at 3ABN 07:24 as our Dare to Dream General Manager, 07:26 that is my good friend, Yvonne Lewis. 07:29 She's going to be singing, "Solid Rock". 07:55 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand 08:02 All other ground is sinking sand 08:08 All other ground 08:11 Is sinking sand 08:21 My hope is built on nothing less 08:26 Than Jesus' blood 08:28 And righteousness 08:33 I dare not trust the sweetest frame 08:38 But wholly lean on Jesus' name 08:43 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand 08:47 All other ground is sinking sand 08:53 All other ground is sinking sand 09:05 When darkness veils his lovely face 09:09 I rest on His 09:11 Unchanging grace 09:17 In every high and stormy gale 09:21 My anchor holds within the veil 09:26 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand 09:31 All other ground is sinking sand 09:36 All other ground is sinking sand 09:48 His blood 09:52 He gives me 09:55 Even is all my heart 09:57 And sing 10:03 When He shall come with trumpet sound 10:09 Oh, may I then, 10:12 In Him be found 10:15 Dressed in His righteousness alone 10:21 Faultless to stand 10:23 Before His throne 10:30 All other ground is sinking sand 10:36 All other ground is sinking sand 10:42 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand 10:46 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand 10:51 All other ground is sinking sand 10:57 On Christ, the solid rock, 11:01 I stand 11:18 Amen, well done, thank you, Yvonne, 11:19 "On Christ the Solid Rock". 11:22 My guest, Steven Steenmeyer, 11:23 Jesus Bravo, Anthony or Tony Pouesi, 11:26 guys, good to have you here 11:27 all the way from Anchorage, Alaska. 11:29 Steven, I want to start with you, 11:31 when you came to Alaska you were not Adventist. 11:34 No, no, I've been an Adventist just 8 years now. 11:37 Walk me through. 11:38 Give me the thumbnail sketch, kind of Reader's Digest Version 11:41 of how you came into the Adventist Church? 11:43 I have been a business owner most of my life, 11:45 one time I owned ten businesses at the time 11:47 though I would own one business it was Horse Trek in Alaska 11:51 and I was doing trail rides and sleigh rides 11:53 and taking hunters into the mountains 11:55 and working my horses seven days a week. 11:57 Wow. 11:58 And my wife had gone 12:00 to some storefront ministries in Anchorage 12:02 looking for the true church and every time she found one, 12:05 I thought it was kind of whacked and, 12:07 and then she started, 12:10 she found the Sabbath 12:11 and the Bible started practicing 12:12 the Sabbath at home, 12:14 again, I thought she was whacked, 12:15 and then she asked 12:16 the Lord to lead her to God's true people 12:18 and so just two miles up 12:19 the road was her Seventh-day Adventist Church. 12:21 So she walked herself 12:23 into the Sabbath church, did it herself? 12:24 Absolutely, and took over. 12:27 She started offering to do everything. 12:28 Yeah, yeah. 12:30 And they took advantage over and as she was, 12:31 they didn't really trust her to begin with, 12:34 I mean, when somebody just kind of blows in says, 12:36 I'll do it, I'll do it. 12:37 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 12:38 But so that's where she was, 12:40 she got involved in ministry with the pastor 12:41 she ended up becoming a Bible worker 12:43 in short order there. 12:45 And so now my day 12:47 was after I put the horses to bed at night, 12:49 I had a jug of vodka in the freezer 12:52 and the rest of my evening 12:54 was going to be in front of the tube 12:56 until I went to bed and got up the next morning, 12:59 I wasn't that drunk 13:00 but I was an alcoholic for sure. 13:02 Yeah, yeah. 13:03 And so I went to, 13:04 my wife had asked me at one point, 13:08 "Could I have Bible studies in the home 13:09 and we had a big home?" 13:11 And I said, "Yeah, knock yourself out." 13:12 And so this one evening I went to the freezer 13:14 to get the jug and she says, "What are you doing?" 13:16 and I said, "Well, I'm doing what I do." 13:18 And she said, "Tonight's the first Bible study." 13:21 And I said, 13:22 "Go for it I'll be in there, in the TV room." 13:25 She says, "You're the head of the house, 13:26 how is it gonna look?" 13:28 And so I put it back. 13:29 And, you know, the great gratification 13:32 then I sat in on my first Bible study 13:34 and I grew up in the church, 13:36 I had worked for the largest evangelical church 13:39 in Anchorage, but I started hearing things 13:41 that just blew my mind, 13:42 state of the dead and all of it came really, 13:44 I assimilated it really well 13:46 because I'm looking in the Bible and said, 13:47 "Son of a..." 13:49 It is, yeah, yeah. 13:50 You know, and so I had no trouble with, 13:52 but the biggest problem I knew that was gonna happen 13:55 was the Sabbath. 13:56 Seven days a week and Saturday is the busiest day of my week, 14:00 double any other day of the week, 14:02 in terms of revenue 14:03 $2,000 a day or whatever it would be. 14:05 And so I studied the Bible to prove 14:10 that the Sabbath was not critical, 14:12 you know, I was ready to give my life to the Lord 14:14 but that was it. 14:15 And every time I thought I had it, 14:17 it will disappear as you know. 14:18 And you've tried, yeah, it will fail. 14:20 It goes away 14:21 and so finally I had a talk with the Lord and I said, 14:25 "You want me to do this, it's your business, 14:28 you take care of it." 14:30 And I just stepped out on faith that was in March of 2009, 14:33 and that was the first year that the depression, 14:38 the economic depression 14:39 in the United States hit Alaska. 14:41 Yeah. So tourism is way down. 14:43 Oh, yeah, yeah, 14:44 And I'm a tourist oriented business 14:46 in the summer 14:47 and I mean, all in the headlines 14:48 and newspaper tourism, 14:50 I mean, everyone's complaining and moaning 14:52 and because the business is going under. 14:54 Yeah. 14:55 And that year my business increased 14:58 in revenue 25%. 14:59 Praise the Lord. 15:01 The next year it increased another 25% on top, 15:04 the next year is another 35%, 15:07 the next year 50% 15:09 by that time I'm involved in ministry and I retired. 15:13 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 15:15 So the Lord proved Himself to you right away. 15:16 Oh, it was yeah, yeah. 15:18 And what people here you know, in, in my jail class, 15:21 I'm talking whenever on the subject of the Sabbath 15:23 and people say "Well, what about if I had a job", 15:26 and I gave my testimony removes every excuse 15:29 that anyone could have because I was not making money, 15:33 until I committed my business to the Lord 15:36 and I took His day off. 15:38 So yeah, I'm sold. 15:40 Praise the Lord. 15:41 So did your wife sort of just kind of lay back 15:42 and left you discover these things for yourself, 15:44 did she nudge you along, 15:46 how does, how does she sort of play that? 15:47 Because obviously she was sold out, 15:49 you're kind of dragging your feet, 15:50 how does she sort of interface with you during that time? 15:53 Because it's hard to push somebody into the church. 15:54 And she didn't push me. 15:56 I didn't know that my church was praying for me 15:59 every Wednesday night and probably other times too. 16:01 Yeah. 16:02 Now she, she knew 16:04 because we have gone to church before 16:06 and she knew when I worked for the evangelical church and, 16:09 and so she knew all of my background 16:12 but I was probably prayed into it, 16:16 you know, under, beneath the scene. 16:19 But another thing did happen and, 16:21 and that really brought my attention 16:25 to the deeper things of life, my daughter committed suicide. 16:30 And... 16:31 Was this in that same timeframe? 16:32 Yeah, was roughly a year 16:34 or so before I really started studying 16:37 what Adventist had to talk about, 16:38 but that kind of opened up my mind 16:40 where I said, you know, 16:41 "If I would have had something to share with her 16:44 that could have caught her attention", 16:46 she was 22 when it happened. 16:49 What could have that made a difference 16:51 and along the way I got captivated by, you know. 16:54 Yeah, yeah, no signs, nothing, 16:56 it's just kind of out of the blue kind of thing 16:57 as far as you think? 16:59 Well, she was on, I don't know 17:00 what they call them psychotropic 17:02 but those, you know, 17:03 those depressant drugs and stuff that... 17:05 Yeah, which are strong. 17:06 And they advertised them as causing suicide 17:09 but who paid attention to that she as on those. 17:13 The note said, "Forgive me. 17:16 Something has got a hold of me." 17:18 And she was having demonic nightmares 17:21 and that's all we know. 17:22 But other than that she was a very happy girl, 17:24 good set of friends. 17:26 And was coming based on my wife inviting her to church 17:30 was coming towards the relationship with the Lord, 17:32 so we pray that happened. 17:34 That had happened yeah, yeah. 17:35 And you never can tell, 17:37 now there are two ways to respond to that, 17:38 there's God, why with your fist ball 17:40 or there is God, let me come towards You 17:42 because I need some answers for my life 17:44 and you took obviously the latter, the latter track. 17:48 I did, I've never dwelled on anything, loss, 17:54 I don't like hospitals, I don't like funerals, 17:57 and I don't dwell on things like that, 17:58 I've always kind of moved on. 18:00 In fact the day after she died and some, 18:02 lot of people are going to be critical of me on this. 18:04 I had to go get a hunter 18:06 out of the mountains and I went. 18:09 And I rationalized that by saying 18:12 it's the best place I could be. 18:13 Yeah, yeah. 18:15 I don't know if there's a manual, 18:17 Steven, of how to respond to loss 18:19 or tragedy or divorce, 18:21 people heal in different ways, 18:22 some throw themselves into the work, 18:24 some shake their fists and their finger at God, 18:26 some are pushed in the arms of God, 18:29 and I don't know if there is a way to say 18:31 this is how you recover from that kind of thing. 18:32 Yeah, yeah. 18:34 You know, it's very, very individualistic, 18:35 but if in the, 18:36 in retrospect you are moved in the direction of the Lord 18:41 then it is, it is a positive outcome to a tragic. 18:43 And without a doubt that was an outgrowth of it. 18:46 Yeah, yeah, now when you came to the church, 18:48 did you come in to sit and look around 18:50 or where you one of those kind of guys who said. 18:51 "I got to do stuff?" 18:52 No, no, no, no I got excited, I was really excited, 18:54 in fact my pastor at that time and I did it 18:58 Sabbath Afternoon Seminar on Daniel, 19:00 I got so captivated by Daniel 2:7-8. 19:03 So and, and so he said, "You're being called." 19:10 Well, you say that to a brand new person, 19:11 you know, "What, what does that mean?" 19:14 But before long I was and much too soon 19:18 I was an elder of the church 19:21 but in that three year period 19:23 which roughly I started learning 19:26 how unsanctified I was. 19:29 You know, and I also learned I didn't want anything to do 19:31 with church politics ever again after that elder, 19:34 you're elder and I was a worship coordinator 19:37 for the church and boy, 19:39 when you come into a church and you're the new guy 19:41 and you try to, my background is theater. 19:43 So they, so I started producing the show 19:46 if you will with elders that are engrained in whatever, 19:49 yeah, it was a mess. 19:51 So three years I was kind of, 19:53 whenever a call was put out for ministry 19:55 particularly prison ministry, 19:57 you know, I was that's not mine, 19:59 that's not mine. 20:00 Yeah. That's not my ministry. 20:02 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm called but not there. 20:03 Give us some sense of prison ministry 20:06 as you found it because in my notes 20:08 there's prison ministry pre 2012, 20:10 so you, you had, see, 20:11 everybody doesn't need to come in 20:13 and get right into the thick of church stuff, 20:14 people have different levels, 20:16 different skill sets and those skill sets really determine 20:19 where they should be, everybody needn't be an elder, 20:21 everybody needn't be a deacon, 20:23 everybody does need to do something, 20:24 but that something ought to be commensurate with the talents 20:27 that God has given you. 20:28 And the elder thing was not your thing, 20:30 but there was something for you to do. 20:32 Yeah, I think my business background in life 20:35 is what came to the surface. 20:37 So prison ministry was active in my church, 20:40 the pastor had brought it in, 20:43 in order to get elders and leaders in the church 20:45 on their feet to give them a ministry outreach. 20:46 Yeah. 20:47 And he was very good at putting elders 20:49 in front of the congregation and stuff like that, 20:52 so they were coming up. 20:55 And so there were about eight regular volunteers 20:57 going into two jails 20:59 and a few halfway houses in Anchorage. 21:02 And I went to a couple, 21:04 my wife coaxed me to join a brother of mine 21:06 by the name of Layne, go to a halfway house 21:09 and I went there and I thought, 21:10 well, this is pretty good for, you know, 21:12 because the more you teach you learn, 21:15 you know, that's way, way I was in. 21:18 And so I thought this is good 21:20 but I'm not seeing any fruit out of this ministry, 21:24 I never saw anyone come out of the ministry 21:26 become an Adventist walk into our church 21:29 or whatever and, and so I actually started, 21:31 you know, maybe not too politic way, 21:35 criticizing, pointing out to them, 21:37 you're not doing something right, 21:39 something's not right. 21:41 This amount of effort should be producing, 21:44 God will be blessing this but we're not seeing it, 21:47 so what's wrong. 21:48 I started analyzing it from a business point of view. 21:50 Yeah, from a business perspective you put in A, 21:53 you got to get something on the B side. 21:54 Yeah, my slogan in business was always no matter what, 21:57 "Began with the end in mind." 21:59 Yeah. 22:01 And I can equate that to the Lord, 22:02 did the Lord have the end in mind? 22:03 Yes, always did. 22:05 Absolutely, before the foundation of the world, 22:06 you know. 22:07 And so, yeah, I was being critical 22:10 and Layne got tired of me being critical, 22:12 and so he said to the church, 22:13 well, Steve seems to know something about this, 22:16 so they said, "Would lead out in prison ministry?" 22:19 And I said, "Only if," 22:21 by that time Alaska had done a project 22:23 with Voice of Prophecy 22:25 discover Bible school lessons, 22:26 to every mailbox in the state. 22:28 My wife had been hired 22:30 to coordinate that for the conference. 22:33 And keep the churches involved in all the, 22:36 all the coordination. 22:38 And so I had looked at that and I thought prison ministry, 22:42 correspondence ministry, 22:45 and putting all the elements together 22:47 we want a relationship with these guys, 22:49 so then when they get out they're drawn, you know, 22:52 they don't care how much you know, 22:53 they care how much you care, 22:55 they're drawn to come to your church, 22:58 instead of returning to their old neighborhood church 23:00 if they even had one or the old and so I said, 23:04 "The only way I'll do it is 23:05 if we incorporate discover Bible school." 23:07 And so I joined up with Layne in jail ministry, 23:10 I love the frontline, the jail. 23:12 We follow him all the way through the prison system, 23:14 all the rest of the halfway house, 23:17 but I get him on the front end and so, yeah, 23:20 we started signing people up on an act of faith 23:22 and the first night we signed up 23:24 at least ten and every week, 23:26 that was in August of 2012, every week since then, CA, 23:32 we've signed up no less than ten new students 23:35 in the prison system every week. 23:36 I praise God. 23:38 And it's gone beyond the borders of Alaska 23:39 to federal institutions, 23:41 they take up with them and introduce other people 23:45 in their system to them. 23:46 And so yeah, it's just... 23:48 That's wonderful, and the good thing is that 23:49 you began to see fruit to your ministry 23:53 and results to your labor which is a good thing. 23:56 Now, on the results side, let me go down to Tony. 24:01 What brought you to Alaska initially? 24:04 Commercial fishing, it was job opportunity, 24:08 my family's been doing it for a while 24:09 and I just decided to come to Alaska and give it a try. 24:14 Okay, now to sort of move you through, 24:18 you got into a little hot water there 24:21 and did some prison time. 24:23 Walk me through that, those days in your life? 24:26 Well, I didn't grow up with a religious background. 24:31 You know, I never read the Bible, never prayed, 24:34 never went to church, but I had a good mother, 24:37 loving mother, good grandparents, 24:40 you know, raised me with good morals and values. 24:43 But I always made mistakes, you know, 24:45 like anybody else down the road, but... 24:50 So I had opportunity to come to Alaska 24:53 and be a commercial fisherman, I started doing that, 24:56 and one year I got in trouble, 24:59 and it really changed my whole life. 25:03 I was, I landed in jail 25:05 and I was looking at 11 to 17 years in prison. 25:07 That's a good stretch. 25:09 Yeah, it really woke me up, and... 25:12 So, you know, I was desperate, I needed help, I was scared, 25:16 I was frightened. 25:19 I was afraid I was going lose my family and... 25:22 So I reached out to God, I said, 25:26 "If there's a God I need to know if He is real 25:27 because He's the only one that can help me." 25:29 Praise God. 25:30 And so I picked up a Bible, started in Genesis 25:33 and just started reading and God... 25:35 Just cold, you hadn't read about it before, huh? 25:37 No. 25:39 It's amazing, it's amazing when we look at it, 25:40 a long bit will do to your motivation 25:42 to pick up the Word of God. 25:44 Yeah. 25:45 But you did it sincerely because you wanted some help, 25:46 you wanted some answers. 25:48 You know when, before I picked it up, 25:49 I prayed to God, I said, 25:50 "Lord," I said, you know, "if you're real, 25:52 you know, show me." 25:54 I said, "I had a humble heart, I had nothing to lose, 25:56 everything to gain." 25:57 Yeah. 25:59 And so, yeah, He revealed it so much to me in those times. 26:04 Yeah, praise God, praise God. 26:06 That is one prayer I would say to you, Tony, 26:07 that the Lord never fails to answer. 26:09 If you're sincere, "Lord, I need You to show me 26:12 who You are because I'm in trouble. 26:13 I'm ready to follow You, but I just need to know." 26:15 He's gonna answer that prayer, 26:16 He's on, He's on, He's on record, 26:18 He's going to answer the prayer. 26:19 So He did that for you. 26:20 Yeah, you know, I started experiencing joy and peace 26:25 when I started reading the Bible, 26:27 I don't know it just started transforming me. 26:30 You know, not only did I realize that, 26:33 I needed deliverance from my situation, 26:36 but I realized that I needed to change as a person. 26:40 And so I actually started reading 26:44 and then in the library 26:47 I stumbled upon a Discover Bible school enrolment card. 26:50 And I filled it out, I said, "Hey, I got time, you know, 26:53 let me try it out." 26:55 And I turned it in that day 26:56 and I started receiving lessons back. 26:59 And, you know, a lot of people 27:02 are kind of, what's the word? 27:06 The Bible is hard for them because lot of big words and, 27:11 you know, but these discover Bible school lessons 27:15 really helped me understand, 27:18 on like a third grade education 27:20 just really simple and I understood them. 27:23 And that's where I just, I started changing 27:26 and getting that joy and that peace. 27:28 Praise the Lord. 27:30 The things that you are discovering, 27:31 where they disturbing to you? 27:33 Where you settling into them? 27:34 How you're responding to the new truths 27:36 that you were faced with these lessons? 27:39 I was accepting it. 27:41 I was accepting it, I mean, like, you know, 27:44 starting from Genesis so, about, you know, 27:46 'cause those are some of the questions we have, 27:48 where do we come from? 27:49 Correct. What's our purpose? 27:51 And God revealed all that to me 27:53 just within 2 Kings I started reading on, 27:56 and I started praying, 27:59 three times a day like Daniel, faithfully, I was like, 28:03 "Lord, help me", you know and wow, 28:07 the Lord has done so much to me in those times and... 28:10 Now, praise the Lord. 28:12 You know, you're still facing a good bit of time. 28:15 Yeah, I was. Yeah. 28:17 And you know, I was praying 28:19 and He started performing miracles, 28:21 my lawyer came and she said, "Tony, I have good news." 28:24 She said, "You're only looking at two to four years." 28:27 And I said, "Praise the Lord," I said, "Praise God." 28:28 Okay, now that's it, hit the pause button there. 28:30 Yeah. 28:31 Because while you were studying, 28:34 you began to reach out to the people 28:37 that these lessons were coming from. 28:38 Yes, I did, I wrote a letter to the sister 28:42 that was correcting my lessons. 28:45 Who happened to be...? 28:46 His wife. Amen, yeah. 28:48 Yeah. Okay. Yeah. 28:49 So that's how this connection was made. 28:51 Yeah. 28:53 He was not in the jail that I was working in, 28:55 he was in the other building, pre-trial, 28:58 and so I didn't have met him in my class sort of thing. 29:01 But my understanding is 29:02 your wife is kind of nudging you, 29:04 you need to go make contact with this guy. 29:05 Oh, she said, adamantly twice. 29:08 First time I ignored but, you know... 29:15 She said, "You need to go see this young man." 29:18 You know, I had asked her a few questions 29:19 and then I kind of always just wait 29:21 and see if she's going to say something again. 29:24 And see if the Lord is putting other messages. 29:26 I've had like for example, I've had somebody, 29:29 my wife say to me, 29:31 the same weekend there's another person says to me, 29:33 "Go see this young man." 29:35 And so that's why I went to visit Tony. 29:37 So you went to visit him? Mm-hmm. 29:38 What did you find? 29:40 I found a guy just, just like a sponge. 29:43 And pleasant young man, he was just unbelievable 29:49 because most people are carrying so much baggage 29:52 that you're meeting, 29:53 you know, if I don't advertise 29:55 generally out there I do private visits every Sunday, 29:58 I do my four to five private visits in the system. 30:02 But, so I found a very refreshing situation 30:05 with Tony. 30:07 And like a sponge like I said. 30:08 Okay, Tony, other than this, 30:10 this particular infraction, 30:13 your life is pretty clean as far as jail time 30:15 and that kind of thing first time for you. 30:16 Yeah, yeah. 30:17 So you're not like a career guy or... 30:19 No, I don't have 30:20 an extensive long criminal history, 30:22 I had a good family, good friends. 30:24 Just an unfortunate accident 30:26 and I thank the Lord that He found me, 30:30 you know, that I found Him. 30:31 Okay, praise God. 30:33 So your final sentencing had not come up yet. 30:37 No, no. 30:38 Okay, but meanwhile you've found the Lord. 30:41 Were you impressed with that when you saw, 30:43 when you saw Him, Steven? 30:44 When you met him first? 30:45 Yeah, so much so that, 30:47 you know, I had another guy 30:48 who was going federal that means leaving the state, 30:52 and I was on the day of his sentencing trial 30:55 I had promised this guy 30:56 that I would go to his sentencing trial. 30:58 So I asked my wife, 30:59 "Would you go 31:01 to Tony's sentencing trial for me?" 31:03 She had never really done that before 31:05 and she always told me when I did go, 31:07 don't say anything 31:09 because we have a code of ethics in the prison system, 31:11 don't get involved in the cases, you know. 31:12 Yeah, right. 31:13 So she goes to Tony's 31:15 and she didn't say anything 31:19 until after she had left the room, 31:23 the courtroom because 31:24 there was such an atmosphere of animosity 31:27 between the prosecutor, the family of the victim, 31:32 Tony's mom's fear she had come up for the... 31:35 I mean, there was just animosity 31:37 and she had actually left, she was getting in her car, 31:41 put the key in the ignition and the Holy Spirit 31:42 said to her "Go back." 31:45 And she went back. 31:47 She went back inside? 31:48 And she said something... 31:49 All right. That she doesn't recall. 31:52 But the entire atmosphere of the room, 31:56 I'm told changed, 31:57 Tony would agree with that. 31:58 Tony, you remember, you remember those days? 32:00 Yeah, yeah, I do. 32:01 That was probably one of the hardest times 32:03 in my life was going to the courtroom 32:05 and facing the trial and everything 32:07 and yeah, Tina, I didn't know her, 32:11 you know, but only through the, 32:13 through the little, 32:15 minimal contact we had through the letter 32:17 I had and stuff, 32:19 but, yeah, she spoke and the whole tension 32:22 just decapitated, and there was a calmness. 32:25 Amen. 32:27 And I think that, that's one of the reasons 32:28 why I got time served 32:30 and I ended up doing nine months. 32:32 Okay, so walk us through that. 32:33 You that, that long 17 year thing was out, 32:37 two to three was out, 32:38 and they gave you... 32:40 Well, and then they dropped it down again 32:42 to one to three open sentencing. 32:44 So we were going to go to the judge 32:48 and present the evidence and they were, 32:50 I could get arrange from one to three years, 32:53 I ended up getting one already did eight months... 32:57 Good time. 32:58 Good time, it's about, about and I was released 33:02 but they gave me three years probation 33:06 and like I said, 33:08 I would fish in Alaska then I fly back home. 33:11 Well, they gave me three years probation 33:13 and I didn't know one street name, 33:15 I didn't know anybody in Alaska. 33:16 But you cannot leave Alaska. I can't leave Alaska. 33:18 You had to stay there from that point on. 33:20 How did you feel at the end of that, 33:21 I mean, your time served, you can go? 33:24 Well, you know, I was like, 33:28 okay, Lord, this is another obstacle we got to, 33:31 you know, get through. 33:32 But I really, you know, what is it, 33:35 Deuteronomy 31:6, 33:39 talks about be strong and of good courage, 33:41 do not fear, 33:42 nor be afraid of them, you know. 33:43 He's always with us, you know, 33:45 and I really clung on to that verse and... 33:47 That's in Joshua 19:2 by the way. 33:49 Amen, amen. Yeah, yeah. 33:51 Yeah. Yeah. 33:52 So, yeah, I didn't have nowhere to go 33:54 and he showed me the house. 33:56 And I've been staying there now for... 33:59 All right, so now, we got a lot of things 34:00 to take away because Joshua, 34:02 the Lord did something for you right then right there. 34:04 Amen. 34:05 You saw the hand of God moving from max of 17 to time serve, 34:10 bye, bye you can go. 34:11 Now you got to have someplace to go 34:12 because you're accustomed 34:14 to fishing in the summer heading down 34:15 in the winter, now you can't go 34:17 because you got to stay in the state 34:18 because you're on probation. 34:19 Right. 34:21 So where does he go and then we come back to you. 34:23 And, Jesus, you actually do get to talk, 34:24 I'm coming to you. It's okay. 34:26 I'm all right. All right, okay. 34:27 In 2014, we opened 34:30 Greater Works Christian Living Center, 34:32 specifically as a home 34:34 for previously incarcerated guys, 34:37 that had studied with us through discover Bible school, 34:40 through visitation were sincere Bible students 34:44 as a safe haven because one winter a guy 34:48 had gotten out of the system, 34:51 he'd started with us in jail discovered Bible school 34:54 all the way through the halfway house, 34:55 Layne visited with him, he's very sincere Christian, 34:58 he stayed in his winter in his car, 35:01 all winter in Anchorage, Alaska 35:03 just to avoid going back to his neighborhood 35:05 or back to his former life that would drag him back. 35:08 Draw him back, sure, sure, sure. 35:09 You know? Yeah. 35:11 And when we heard that we, 35:12 we I mean, unbeknownst the Holy Spirit 35:15 been speaking to me, 35:16 to Layne and to my wife separately, 35:19 saying we got to go take this, 35:21 you know, begin with the end in mind 35:23 and we haven't accomplished the end yet. 35:25 And so it was a series of miracles 35:29 much too long to bring up in this show 35:32 that led us by September of 2014 35:35 to open Greater Works Christian Living Center... 35:38 Now, did you buy a house, 35:40 did you build the building, you bought a... 35:41 We leased at a very good price of 6,000 square foot home. 35:45 Oh, wow, it's huge. 35:46 And so, yeah, yeah, it's a huge home but it's, 35:49 it had its problems so we got it at a good price 35:53 and God just led us to it 35:56 and it's right behind the building that I live in. 35:59 So it was just, I mean, 36:00 there's so many things including the resident manager 36:03 at that time which Jesus is now 36:04 but this guy had met prisoners 36:09 when our Alaskan prisoners were down 36:11 in Colorado, right? 36:15 And he had visited with them, he calls up and he says, 36:19 "Hey, I'm going to take a motorcycle trip to Alaska 36:21 to visit these guys 36:23 who have been transferred back to Alaska." 36:24 And he says, "By the way, 36:26 if you know anything regarding any chaplaincy positions." 36:32 And we're, you know, and the Holy Spirit is just 36:35 and he went home after his motorcycle trip, 36:39 we told him what we were doing in prison ministry, 36:41 he says, he prayed moving to Alaska 36:43 in September 1st, he walked in and stayed the first night 36:47 in Greater Works Christian Living Centre. 36:50 And but as it relates to Tony to go back to that, 36:53 we just said to him, 36:55 "Don't worry, brother, we've got you back." 36:56 Yeah, praise the Lord. 36:58 And his mom was probably the most relieved, 36:59 she's all worried and turmoil about 37:01 what her son is going to... 37:02 You're gonna have to ask about my mom 37:03 before the interview is over. 37:05 Okay, well, let's do it right now 37:06 because I get to Jesus so I want to stay 37:08 with him for a minute. 37:09 Okay. 37:10 Give me some culture of that experience? 37:12 My mom. Yeah. 37:13 Okay, so when I got out of jail, 37:15 you know, I was, when I was in jail 37:17 I'm always talking to my mom, 37:18 I said, "Mom, have you ever read the Bible?" 37:20 Because we're if, what's in this book is real, 37:23 just the most amazing thing on the earth. 37:25 Amen. 37:26 And so I started praying with my mom, 37:28 I started talking to her over the phone. 37:30 And she doesn't have really a background, 37:32 Bible background, Christian background either. 37:35 So I told, I said, "Mom, there's only one thing 37:38 that I want to ask you in this life again 37:41 and I won't ask you for money, 37:43 and I'm not going to ask you for more favors, 37:45 but I will ask you 37:47 if you would complete 37:48 these discover Bible School lessons for me." 37:51 And you know what she said, she said, "Yes." 37:53 Amen. 37:54 And you know what happened after she completed them, 37:59 she quit smoking cigarettes. 38:01 All right. She lost 30 pounds. 38:02 She's been keeping the Sabbath for over a year now. 38:04 Amen. 38:06 And God has just, 38:08 and you know how long that took? 38:10 Two months. Wow. 38:11 Two months. Wow, yeah. 38:13 I just want to connect with that. 38:14 We knew that what we were missing 38:16 by not developing relationships with inmates was not seen 38:21 the end in mind come to their families. 38:22 Precisely. 38:24 You know, that's so powerful when you see that happen. 38:25 Yeah, yeah, when you follow 38:26 through that's the kind of thing 38:28 that happens, just a studying kind of lead, 38:29 is kind of defeating the purpose 38:31 so you follow all the way through. 38:32 Like I said, Jesus, you actually get to talk, 38:35 we're coming to you. 38:39 Now you, Tijuana, Mexico, how do you get to Alaska? 38:43 My dad he moved us, he moved us there, 38:46 yeah, early age and also 38:48 so we can become citizens, 38:49 you know, more opportunities and all that. 38:55 Yeah, just like I said, 38:57 he wanted us to have a better shot at life, 39:00 you know, where we grew up, 39:02 you know, there's, there was a lot of, 39:05 just a lot of, you know, 39:06 gangs and stuff and other things. 39:08 Yeah, I know Tijuana. 39:09 Tijuana is not... 39:11 You know, and just, 39:13 yeah, everything that comes with it 39:15 but unfortunately you can't remove 39:16 the human heart and the human condition 39:17 from a man, right? 39:19 Very true. 39:20 Doesn't matter where you move 39:21 but, yeah, that's how we ended up there and... 39:23 You have brothers and sisters? 39:24 I do. 39:26 Two of them are in the grave resting 39:29 and one of my youngest brother, he's in Anchorage. 39:34 And other sisters and brothers from other marriages. 39:38 Okay, now you're from what's Steven said, 39:41 managing the... 39:42 Christian Living Center. 39:44 Okay, give me some, some background you spent 39:46 some time also incarcerated? 39:49 Yes, sir, too much in and out of jail 39:51 a lot of my life. 39:54 Yeah, I started, you know, at an early age, 39:58 brother died when I was really young 39:59 and, you know, heart break fix everybody. 40:01 Oh, yeah. 40:02 And yeah, it just started there, 40:05 started racking up different things with the cops 40:08 and in the courts in and out too much, 40:14 got better a little bit later down the road but, 40:18 you know, that, you still carry things around. 40:21 It still lead you to certain things, 40:23 you get into, 40:24 try to cover them up with different things, 40:26 mine was alcohol at that time, later grew to smoking weed, 40:30 and then cocaine, you know, you just, 40:33 it becomes easier to say yes. 40:35 Oh, yeah, yeah. 40:36 So you went into some hardcore stuff. 40:37 Yeah, more, you know, 40:39 and then just didn't care was suicidal in a way that, 40:43 you know, staring down the barrel of gun, 40:46 but more dangerous was I didn't care 40:49 death was just a word to me. 40:53 It was situations I was, I was hurting people 40:56 and I was foolish, you know, 40:58 there was blood on my hands, sir, 40:59 and, and yeah, different things. 41:05 But praise God that's behind me. 41:08 Now was your connection through discover Bible also? 41:11 It was through prison ministry, 41:14 finally so too much jail time in and out of jail, divorce, 41:19 you know, the love with my life, 41:21 four children, 41:23 things that really kept me at bay those were gone. 41:27 And then I just let loose and, you know, really heartbroken, 41:31 tailspin into dark, dark parts, you know, 41:37 picked up a weapon again. 41:40 And I said, "Okay, that's it, I'm going all out but God said, 41:43 "You know what, your mom's been praying for you." 41:45 Yeah, these praying moms, I tell you... 41:47 Yeah, and, you know, so I end up in jail and, 41:51 and then I had to still go through a little bit more 41:53 be really broken, you know, two years later finally it's, 42:00 take it all Lord, I made a mess in my life. 42:03 I said, you know what, I'm tired of living lies, 42:07 I just want Your truth and nothing, 42:09 I just, I'm tired of lies, Father, just take it all. 42:13 So this happened in jail? 42:14 Yeah, in jail, in a halfway house Cordova 42:16 and, yeah, I was sitting there and it's like just take it. 42:21 Yeah, yeah. 42:22 I've been, I'm tired of the lies 42:24 and He was faithful. 42:25 Amen, He's always faithful. Boom. 42:27 Steven, how did you meet, how did you meet Jesus? 42:29 Yeah. 42:31 Layne came to church and he said, 42:33 one of the guys had been meeting with him 42:34 in the halfway house. 42:36 He was doing private meetings with him, 42:38 he's coming to church today. 42:41 And, didn't know Jesus but two guys walked in 42:45 and it's evident that they know each other 42:47 and I was telling you earlier that's like a high Sabbath 42:50 when you see inmates walk into the church, 42:52 the Sabbath school, right? 42:54 And so the other guy 42:57 that was a buddy of his within the halfway house, 43:00 he actually went a separate direction 43:03 but Jesus just kept coming. 43:05 Yeah, yeah. 43:07 And he just wants to talk about Jesus all the time. 43:08 Amen, Jesus, did this whole Sabbath thing 43:11 which obviously was a new deal for you? 43:12 Did that throw you or was that kind of scary to you 43:15 or did you kind of settle into it? 43:16 You know, I learned about that, few years prior to that. 43:22 The question came to mind when is the real Sabbath? 43:25 And I didn't learn about it till, 43:28 till later I started observing it 43:29 not through the church but through the Bible. 43:32 I didn't, of course, I wasn't observing it, 43:35 you know, I wasn't keeping it holy 43:37 and whatnot but as you grow, 43:40 but that's how I learned about it. 43:43 You know, it's just, 43:45 until I gave my life to the Lord 43:48 then everything started happening 43:50 and how it should be, you know, 43:52 I got baptized some years ago trying to get clean 43:56 and start a new, but that doesn't work. 43:59 First I accept, then I accepted Jesus, 44:01 and everything else just falls in line. 44:02 There you go. 44:04 The first Sabbath you spent in an Adventist Church. 44:07 What was that like for you? 44:10 You know, I just wanted to know 44:11 where does this guy go to church, 44:13 because, you know, Layne... 44:14 Layne, Layne, yeah. 44:16 And I went in for the study I said, 44:17 because I knew that he was, he was pursuing Christ 44:20 and His truth, and I was like, 44:22 I want to know where this guy goes to church. 44:24 And, yeah, and he had that countenance and disposition 44:28 that only the truth can do in you. 44:31 The sanctifying of the heart, the cleansing of the soul and, 44:36 and so yeah, that's where I ended up 44:38 and ever since then I mean, everything that you learned, 44:41 if it's in the Bible just it's like it's, 44:43 it's here that's, 44:45 I'm good with that, you know? 44:46 Good with that, yeah, yeah, yeah. 44:47 So another person who is, who is stronger for the word, 44:49 you were ready to go I mean, you wanted to accept Christ, 44:52 you just need to know what to do, how to do it, 44:54 but you are ready, you were surrendered already. 44:56 Yeah, when I came into the church actually, 44:58 sir, you came and did a prophecy seminar in Kenai 45:02 with Amazing Facts some time ago, 45:04 this was years ago. 45:06 And somebody invited me to it 45:07 that started the chain reaction, 45:10 it was on the 2300 days. 45:13 And it consummated in 1844 and I said, 45:17 and the Holy Spirit said, "Hey, you're out of time. 45:19 Human kind is out of time, this is the last call." 45:23 And that started everything 45:25 and from then on is the rest that we spoke about 45:28 but, at that moment so the power of the word 45:32 and His prophetic word you just can't deny, 45:34 you can't, you can't, you can't deny it. 45:36 But yeah, when you're ready, when your heart is surrendered, 45:39 everything... 45:40 Everything is ready to go. Everything is ready to go. 45:42 So, Steve, you, you saw this guy, he's on fire, 45:44 he's obviously ready to go. 45:45 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 45:47 Praise the Lord. 45:49 You know, things from 2012 when we started the center, 45:55 that fall November we're having baptisms at our church. 46:00 But all of them are relative to prison ministry. 46:03 Six of these guys, 46:05 I was, didn't even include Tony at that time 46:08 and so let me just say 46:11 most of the baptisms in our church 46:13 that have happened in the last four, five years 46:15 are either prison ministry and or prison ministry 46:18 and Discover Bible School. 46:19 I see, yeah, yeah. 46:20 So it's just a method of plowing the fields, 46:25 that's how it works. 46:26 How many prisons is, is your ministry serving 46:30 at this point? 46:31 In South Central Alaska, 46:34 not including Alaska is a huge place 46:36 but South Central Alaska whereby it was, 46:38 where before it was just eight volunteers 46:41 two jails to three halfway houses, 46:44 now it's in eight prisons and jails, 46:47 and three halfway houses, 46:50 and extending now out to five correctional facilities 46:53 and more to happen. 46:54 Three halfway houses? Yeah. 46:56 Wow, praise God, praise God. 46:57 And 30 volunteers now. Yeah. 47:00 Success produces success, right? 47:02 That's where I'm going, yeah. 47:03 So as we started doing Prison Ministry Sabbaths 47:06 and letting people know 47:07 what was happening in this ministry 47:09 and putting out a call for people to get involved 47:11 along the way certain people, lot of them were doing this 47:14 like I was for three years 47:15 but even some of those have now come in. 47:18 You can't find in my opinion, 47:19 I'm sure you can attest to this a more gratifying ministry 47:22 when you really start immersing yourself 47:25 into the spiritual, you know, 47:29 ending for these people. 47:31 So I suspect there's more people correcting lesson 47:33 now then just your wife? 47:35 I'm, mostly the correct, 47:38 we get 80 lessons in and out every week on average. 47:42 You know, we're in rolling ten new students every week. 47:44 We have a 22% graduation rate. Excellent. 47:47 You know, and because some of these guys 47:49 are extended prisoners, 47:51 we run out of lesson 47:52 so after discover or native New Day, 47:55 they go to focus on prophecy 47:57 and then we've developed 47:59 another program called Discipleship 48:02 and just trying to keep up with them 48:04 as long as they're in, 48:05 we want that relationship to stay there 48:07 because we're the first thing 48:09 we want them to think of when they get out. 48:12 Now you, you've told me, watching my time here, 48:14 you're retired. 48:16 Yes. 48:17 So you have a little more time to spend with this. 48:20 I imagine it's a very fulfilling thing. 48:22 Yes. Tony, you're working still? 48:25 Yeah, I'm working, yeah. 48:26 Yeah, now what's your role with Greater Works Ministry? 48:31 I'm a resident there. 48:33 And so when I got out of jail, 48:34 I got to experience 48:37 what the real Christian home feels like. 48:40 Morning devotions, those are my favorite. Vespers. 48:43 Vespers. 48:45 You know, keeping the Sabbath. 48:47 And I got to... 48:49 God, you know, really placed this ministry 48:51 in a very nice community, long time Adventist. 48:55 So a lot of the people that I've been surrounded by, 48:57 has helped me grow as a Christian young man. 49:01 Important thing. 49:02 Yeah, and so I'm really thankful for Greater Works 49:05 and the opportunity for me to feel, 49:07 what a Christian home feels like and... 49:09 Now do you have family? 49:12 What do you mean like a wife? Yeah. 49:14 No, I have no wife, no kids. 49:15 Okay, there's something going, man, good looking guy... 49:16 No, no, no. 49:18 Do I've time to answer 49:19 because he's avoiding something? 49:22 It's like new zealot, you know, it's kind of like I was, 49:25 but he developed his own ministry 49:28 called Alaska Street Ministry, 49:29 and this guy is going out into the toughest parts of town 49:33 reaching out to the people on the street in a way 49:38 that I could never see me doing. 49:40 This guy, the other day 49:42 I get six sign-ups for Discover Bible School 49:45 and I started looking for their prison ID number 49:47 and there aren't any. 49:49 And I see it's Pine Street, Pine Street, Pine Street, 49:52 he's going door to door 49:54 promoting Discover Bible School lessons and the Lord... 49:57 Amen, amen. 49:58 And not only promoting them but bringing in fruit, 50:01 you know, and so as I was, 50:04 we recently did a Prison Ministry Sabbath in my church 50:07 and I was reflecting he did up 50:08 and did a promotion for glow tracks 50:12 which we incorporate into our prison ministry. 50:15 And I was reflecting and I'm thinking 50:17 the guys in this church that are really involved 50:20 in ministry are all prisoners, former prisoners. 50:24 Yeah, yeah. 50:26 How gratifying it must be to see 50:28 the second generation of fruit, 50:30 when I say that you did a work out came two guys 50:36 who are on fire, 50:37 who are now birthing other ministries, 50:40 and having success and moving this thing along, 50:42 that must be very, very gratifying to you 50:44 and the church. 50:45 It fulfils what I studied about discipleship, 50:48 that you know people want to go out and they want, 50:51 what the magic doesn't happen, God's magic doesn't happen 50:54 when I'm preaching the 30 guys in the jail, 50:55 I'm looking for one. 50:57 Yeah. That was Christ's method. 50:59 And so in studying discipleship 51:00 if I find one person per year that I can truly disciple 51:04 to the point that the next year they're discipling 51:06 one person per year, 51:08 then there's four of us, 51:09 in 20 years there's a million 400 51:12 some odd thousand people discipling, 51:16 that's what Christ had in mind. 51:17 That's what He had in mind. 51:18 And so I don't worry about the masses. 51:20 Yeah. I worry about the one. 51:21 And so is this fulfilling? Yeah. 51:23 Absolutely. Very much so, very much so. 51:25 This is a wonderful ministry, 51:27 and before our time just gets away from us, 51:29 I want to go to the contact information. 51:33 Couple of things, you may want to talk 51:35 to Steven or Jesus or Tony 51:37 and get the feel of what they're doing, 51:39 but also this is a ministry 51:41 that you can support with your dollars 51:42 that you can pray about and support 51:44 because they're doing a good work 51:46 and you can see that stuff is happening. 51:50 People are being saved to save, to save others, 51:53 and that's how Christ would have it be done. 51:55 If you would like to support Greater Works Center 51:59 and the Greater Works Mystery, 52:00 here is how you can do precisely that. 52:08 If you would like to learn more about Greater Works Ministry, 52:11 then you can do so by writing to 2421 O'Malley road, 52:15 Anchorage, Alaska 99507. 52:19 That's 2421 O'Malley road, Anchorage, Alaska 99507. 52:25 You can call them at 907-301-4377. 52:30 That's 907-301-4377. 52:33 You can also find them online at John1516.org. 52:39 That's John1516.org. |
Revised 2017-06-05