As you're well aware,
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we're living in
unprecedented times.
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Join us now for
today's special program.
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Removing pain
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Lord, let my words
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Heal a heart that hurts
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people
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I want to spend my life
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Mending broken people.
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Hello and welcome
from your 3ABN family.
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Thank you for
joining us for this program.
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It is one hour long.
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My name is John Dinzey.
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And it's a pleasure
for me to be with you.
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And it is a joy
also to say, God is good.
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God is good.
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And I am joined today
by members of God's family
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that we would like
to introduce to you.
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I'm going to
start here on my left.
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We have Gerry Wagoner, welcome.
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Thank you,
John. Good to be here.
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Thank you.
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You've been here before,
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also participated
in 3ABN camp meetings.
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Tell us a little bit about that?
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We were close friends
with Jim Gilley's daughter
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and son-in-law,
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Kirk and Mary Anne Krueger.
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And they asked us
in 2010 to come here
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and laid out in
the youth department
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during camp
meeting and once we did it,
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we enjoyed it so much,
we did the next seven years.
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So had many good
memories from 3ABN camp meeting.
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Amen.
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Welcome back, Gerry,
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and also now on my
right, Andy Weaver.
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Welcome again.
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Thank you. Thank
you for having us.
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You have been here
before, this is your...
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Third time. Third time.
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Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
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And you are joined once again.
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Your wife Naomi, welcome again.
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Thank you.
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It's a blessing to be here.
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Amen.
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And this time,
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we only have one
of your children.
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How many children
do you have, Naomi?
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We have eight. Eight children?
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It's five girls and three boys.
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Five boys.
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Five girls...
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And three boys. And three boys.
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And we have one of the boys here
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and what is your name?
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Henry. Henry.
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Very good.
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So you're Henry the VIII?
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No. No?
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He's Henry the I.
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Henry the I.
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Praise the Lord.
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Welcome also,
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and we praise the Lord
for all that He has done,
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and we want to go ahead
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and start this
program with prayer.
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And so let us go
to the Lord in prayer.
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Our loving Heavenly
Father, we thank You, Lord,
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for Your kindness and mercy.
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We thank You, Lord,
that we have this opportunity
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to be together as a family
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to share of the
great and wonderful things
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You have done.
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We ask that you will guide us
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and bless us
during this program.
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We ask for Your Holy Spirit
to guide our conversation.
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And we also ask you, Lord,
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to bless all of
the prayer requests
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that have come in.
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We have many
requests that have come
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from different
parts of the world.
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And we ask that You
will consider each one
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and that You will
minister in each case,
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in each individual's life.
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And there are some
asking for blessing financially,
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marriage troubles
and children that are,
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have separated themselves
from the way of salvation
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and we also pray
for those that are sick.
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We pray that You will
have compassion and minister
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to each and every situation,
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each and every person.
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And we ask that in all things
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Your name may be
honored and glorified.
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And we ask you for these
things in Jesus' name, amen.
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Amen.
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And so, I would like
to start with a scripture.
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And I'm going to ask Henry,
I'm going to dare to ask Henry,
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which one of the Bible
verses you like the most,
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which one would it be?
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Um, it'd be John 3:16.
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John 3:16.
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I had that scripture in my mind.
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And it says,
"For God so loved...
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"The world that He
gave His only begotten Son,
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that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish,
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but have everlasting life."
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Amen. Amen.
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Now, that is a
scripture that's worth
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dedicating time to prayer,
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and seeking to
understand this marvelous verse.
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He loves the whole world.
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All the whosoevers.
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All the whosoevers
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and everyone that is
hearing us is a whosoever.
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Amen.
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Okay, Praise the Lord.
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Praise the Lord.
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And tell us about what
that means to you, Andy?
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To me that means
that God is not partial,
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He is not a
respecter of persons,
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that He died for
all the whosoevers.
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And so when I see people,
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whether they have Christ
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or whether they
don't have Christ,
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God, Jesus still died for them.
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He loves them just like,
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I mean, I believe He loves
me and I look at other people,
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and I think God
loves everybody the same.
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Amen.
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Praise the Lord.
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And I know you all have a
story to tell concerning that.
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But I'm going to
ask Sister Naomi,
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if you tell us about
how the love of Christ
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has helped you in your life?
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Well, it has
helped me to understand,
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the more I
understand how He loves me,
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it helps me to understand
how to love other people
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and to love my own family.
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And it's just, it
is a blessing to know
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that even though my
immediate family is not,
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has not accepted the truth
yet, there's still hope there.
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He loves them and
He cares about them.
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Now some of our
listeners and viewers
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may recognize your
voice or your faces,
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because you have
been here before,
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but they see you and they say,
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well, they are dressing a
little different than we do.
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Tell us about your background
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because you have
an Amish background
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and you are
Seventh-day Adventist.
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Tell us in a capsule,
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what happened in your life
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and how you became
Seventh-day Adventist?
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Yeah, so we were born and raised
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Swartzentruber Amish which,
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if you look for those
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that are familiar
with Amish people,
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you'll, it won't take
long until you figure out
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that there are different,
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kind of
different levels of Amish.
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Some are a lot more progressive,
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some of are lot more primitive.
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We were extremely primitive.
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And...
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When you say primitive,
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you mean that you live
more with more basic things.
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That's right.
No indoor plumbing.
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No indoor plumbing.
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Yes, no power tools
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and we lived very
close to the earth.
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Okay. Yeah.
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We grew a lot of our own food.
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We ate our pets
in the wintertime
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and grew our
gardens in the summertime,
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that kind of thing.
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Yeah.
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And so we grew,
kind of grew up together,
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went to school
together, Naomi and I.
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And...
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Did she lived far away, or
you only saw her at school?
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Oh, she did not live far away.
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She was within about a
mile as the crow flies.
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Yeah. Okay, very good.
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So you met her in school? Yes.
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I met her in school.
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And never thought
I would marry her.
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Not that we were not friends.
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But you know, she's
actually my second cousin.
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And this might help explain
a little bit how that works.
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I have...
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I think I have almost
exactly 300 first cousins.
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Three hundred cousins? Yes.
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Okay.
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Yeah, so my mother was
part of a family of 17.
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And my dad was
part of a family of 14.
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Hmm.
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And so that makes about
exactly 300 first cousins.
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So I have a lot
of second cousins.
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And my dad never
wanted his children
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to marry second cousins.
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Well, you can imagine
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that I have a gazillion of them.
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And so, when I
put my eyes on her,
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I thought, I wonder how
dad is going to take that.
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But he liked her and
he never said anything.
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Oh, praise the Lord. Yes.
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Praise the Lord.
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And so... Everything's good.
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Everything's good.
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And, you know,
he said something.
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I never thought
I would marry her.
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But what were your
thoughts concerning him?
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Well, he, yeah,
we met in school.
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And...
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You didn't pay much
attention to him at all.
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No, we were just kids in school
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but after we, well,
we went to eighth grade
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and then we were
done with school,
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and somehow
somewhere along the line,
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I think God put
that spark in my heart
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that maybe that would be the guy
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and so this is where we're at,
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we met and we didn't
regret it ever since.
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Praise the Lord.
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I could tell, it was a
little awkward at first
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when we started courting.
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Oh, it was.
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Because we were
almost like siblings,
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you know, because we did
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a lot of things
together as neighbors
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and at first it
was pretty awkward.
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But we loved each
other. Praise the Lord.
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Now when you know when
those that are listening
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and imagining you
live in a community,
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in the Amish community
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and is basic, living in basic,
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like you mentioned primitive,
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but you're talking about
the different way of living.
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And when you say
that you were courting
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and things like that.
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People think in these
days, so we went to do this,
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we went to do that,
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we went to the mall
together walking around,
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your life together was different
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getting to know each other.
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That's correct.
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And so, but tell us
about the Amish community
00:10:01.10\00:10:03.57
in the sense of spirituality.
00:10:03.60\00:10:06.10
How strong is that belief?
00:10:06.13\00:10:07.80
Is this just a
community of people
00:10:07.84\00:10:09.67
that are just together living?
00:10:09.70\00:10:11.94
Let's say without
the indoor plumbing
00:10:11.97\00:10:13.94
without the electricity,
00:10:13.98\00:10:15.41
or is religion a
backbone of the Amish community?
00:10:15.44\00:10:19.58
I think it's a combination
of religion and tradition,
00:10:19.61\00:10:24.92
a strong community combination.
00:10:24.95\00:10:26.42
They are very religious,
00:10:26.45\00:10:28.16
but not in the way
we think as religious.
00:10:28.19\00:10:31.26
Now, they're not
spiritual people so much,
00:10:31.29\00:10:32.96
but they're very...
00:10:32.99\00:10:35.06
Yeah, I think it's a combination
00:10:35.10\00:10:37.37
between religion and tradition.
00:10:37.40\00:10:39.13
And the church I grew up in,
00:10:39.17\00:10:42.30
they didn't apologize
that tradition comes first.
00:10:42.34\00:10:44.91
I mean, they didn't mince words.
00:10:44.94\00:10:46.37
If there is a clash
00:10:46.41\00:10:47.74
between the Bible and tradition,
00:10:47.78\00:10:49.54
you go with tradition.
00:10:49.58\00:10:50.91
Oh, okay.
00:10:50.95\00:10:52.28
And people accepted
tradition over the Bible then?
00:10:52.31\00:10:55.22
Oh, yes.
00:10:55.25\00:10:57.22
And that is based
off of I think we talked
00:10:57.25\00:10:59.15
about a little
bit here in the past,
00:10:59.19\00:11:02.32
that's based on 2
Timothy 3:14, I believe,
00:11:02.36\00:11:06.63
maybe 16, no, it's 3:14.
00:11:06.66\00:11:08.23
Okay.
00:11:08.26\00:11:09.60
You might just
want to read that.
00:11:09.63\00:11:10.97
And you can understand
if you are a traditionalist,
00:11:11.00\00:11:14.47
you can take that.
00:11:14.50\00:11:16.20
And because the way I grew up,
00:11:16.24\00:11:19.14
we didn't understand
how to read the Bible,
00:11:19.17\00:11:20.98
we didn't understand
how to interpret the Bible.
00:11:21.01\00:11:24.55
And so we would
read verse by verse,
00:11:24.58\00:11:28.65
and make it personal and
not understand the context.
00:11:28.68\00:11:31.99
And so, 2 Timothy 3
starts out by saying
00:11:32.02\00:11:34.92
that in the latter days
00:11:34.96\00:11:36.62
there'll be perilous times, etc.
00:11:36.66\00:11:37.99
Yes. That's right.
00:11:38.03\00:11:39.36
And the Amish are
experiencing that,
00:11:39.39\00:11:41.40
a lot of the young
people are running away.
00:11:41.43\00:11:44.10
And then it seems to
kind of culminate in verse 14,
00:11:44.13\00:11:49.57
you might want to
read that and they say,
00:11:49.60\00:11:50.94
well, this is the answer,
00:11:50.97\00:11:52.31
to stop all of
this, this is the end.
00:11:52.34\00:11:53.68
Okay.
00:11:53.71\00:11:55.04
2 Timothy 3:14,
00:11:55.08\00:11:56.64
"But you must
continue in the things
00:11:56.68\00:11:59.18
which you have
learned and been assured of,
00:11:59.21\00:12:01.65
knowing from whom
you have learned them."
00:12:01.68\00:12:04.59
And this is a New King James,
00:12:04.62\00:12:05.95
perhaps you may remember
that King James Version.
00:12:05.99\00:12:07.32
Yeah.
00:12:07.36\00:12:08.69
And so that's, to them this,
00:12:08.72\00:12:10.59
that verse is the foundation
of the Amish religion,
00:12:10.63\00:12:13.29
where I grew up.
00:12:13.33\00:12:14.66
Now, it's hard to just,
00:12:14.70\00:12:16.20
you know, speak for everybody
00:12:16.23\00:12:17.57
because
different Amish communities
00:12:17.60\00:12:18.93
are different.
00:12:18.97\00:12:20.30
Some of them are actually
very spiritual these days.
00:12:20.34\00:12:22.30
God is working in everywhere,
00:12:22.34\00:12:23.91
including the
Amish community, so.
00:12:23.94\00:12:25.94
And you have it in your heart
to reach the Amish community,
00:12:25.97\00:12:30.05
you're a
Seventh-day Adventist now.
00:12:30.08\00:12:31.51
Give us in a
capsule how you transition,
00:12:31.55\00:12:34.58
how you decided to
go from being an Amish
00:12:34.62\00:12:37.72
to being a
Seventh-day Adventist?
00:12:37.75\00:12:39.09
Sure.
00:12:39.12\00:12:40.46
Yeah, that's a good question.
00:12:40.49\00:12:41.82
So I think it was about 2010.
00:12:41.86\00:12:43.93
I was starting to really seek
because I would have died to.
00:12:43.96\00:12:48.66
I would have fought a war
over, you know, my church...
00:12:48.70\00:12:51.83
Changing the
tradition. Oh, yes, absolutely.
00:12:51.87\00:12:53.74
And then I
started reading a book.
00:12:53.77\00:12:55.40
It's called the Martyrs Mirror.
00:12:55.44\00:12:57.57
And it's a compilation
of stories and testimonies
00:12:57.61\00:13:00.58
that were written
00:13:00.61\00:13:01.94
about the early
Anabaptist people
00:13:01.98\00:13:03.58
that die for their faith.
00:13:03.61\00:13:05.21
And it really stirred my
heart because I always want to,
00:13:05.25\00:13:08.68
I want to be part of something
that is worth dying for.
00:13:08.72\00:13:11.19
I always wanted that.
00:13:11.22\00:13:12.89
But I wasn't sure what it was,
I thought it was being Amish,
00:13:12.92\00:13:15.19
but didn't feel right.
00:13:15.22\00:13:16.56
You know, it's like,
00:13:16.59\00:13:17.93
you know, you die
for the hat you wear,
00:13:17.96\00:13:20.50
you know what I mean?
00:13:20.53\00:13:21.86
And literally, if
I wore the wrong hat,
00:13:21.90\00:13:23.70
I would have been shot.
00:13:23.73\00:13:25.13
And so it just as I
got older, it seemed,
00:13:25.17\00:13:27.97
you know, just seemed,
00:13:28.00\00:13:29.57
maybe some of these
things are irrelevant.
00:13:29.60\00:13:31.57
That really stirred my
heart and I started seeking
00:13:31.61\00:13:33.58
and at first, I
was buying literature,
00:13:33.61\00:13:36.75
because I just was looking for.
00:13:36.78\00:13:39.65
I wanted to see
my church reform.
00:13:39.68\00:13:41.92
I had no intentions of
leaving, never wanted to leave.
00:13:41.95\00:13:45.69
But I wanted to see reformed
to where we come to church
00:13:45.72\00:13:48.72
and we're
excited about the Bible,
00:13:48.76\00:13:51.79
because we just come to church
and everything was formal,
00:13:51.83\00:13:53.90
and you could fill
your pocket with cigars,
00:13:53.93\00:13:56.70
and come to church,
00:13:56.73\00:13:58.07
but you couldn't
bring your Bibles
00:13:58.10\00:13:59.43
and I thought,
that's just wrong,
00:13:59.47\00:14:00.80
you know, we should
be spiritual people.
00:14:00.84\00:14:02.80
And so, yeah, my
heart was stirred
00:14:02.84\00:14:06.24
and I started reading
more and more and like I said,
00:14:06.27\00:14:09.58
I started buying literature,
it wasn't Adventist literature.
00:14:09.61\00:14:12.45
And I was, you know, it
helped me in some areas,
00:14:12.48\00:14:14.98
I was
disappointed in other areas.
00:14:15.02\00:14:17.89
I didn't believe that the
idea of once saved always saved.
00:14:17.92\00:14:21.19
I did believe that we can have
assurance of salvation but...
00:14:21.22\00:14:26.36
Now is this idea of once saved
00:14:26.39\00:14:28.16
always saved part of a
traditional Amish belief?
00:14:28.20\00:14:31.87
Yes, no, actually,
00:14:31.90\00:14:34.10
one of the beliefs was that
00:14:34.14\00:14:35.57
once saved
always saved is a lie.
00:14:35.60\00:14:37.47
Okay.
00:14:37.51\00:14:38.84
However, they also
believe that you cannot have
00:14:38.87\00:14:41.18
assurance of
salvation and they celebrate,
00:14:41.21\00:14:43.45
people never really know.
00:14:43.48\00:14:45.21
Yeah, they're
actually very Catholic,
00:14:45.25\00:14:47.48
you know, in their mindset.
00:14:47.52\00:14:48.85
Okay.
00:14:48.88\00:14:50.22
The mindset is mainly Catholic?
00:14:50.25\00:14:51.59
Yeah. Very Catholic. Okay.
00:14:51.62\00:14:52.95
So you started searching,
00:14:52.99\00:14:54.32
you started
looking for something
00:14:54.36\00:14:56.99
because you are not
completely satisfied.
00:14:57.03\00:14:58.96
That's correct.
00:14:58.99\00:15:00.33
And at this time you
were still not married,
00:15:00.36\00:15:02.86
or were you already married?
00:15:02.90\00:15:05.13
And did you tell
Naomi about that?
00:15:05.17\00:15:07.47
I'm looking for something else?
00:15:07.50\00:15:09.10
Yeah, well...
00:15:09.14\00:15:10.47
Yeah, I was not really
looking for something else,
00:15:10.51\00:15:11.84
I was looking for more.
00:15:11.87\00:15:13.21
More? Yes.
00:15:13.24\00:15:14.58
I just wanted to
enrich my experience.
00:15:14.61\00:15:17.21
And yeah, I shared it with
her and she was good with that.
00:15:17.25\00:15:20.02
She was having
some health issues.
00:15:20.05\00:15:21.52
And so we were seeking
00:15:21.55\00:15:22.98
and we didn't
even know like we were,
00:15:23.02\00:15:24.89
we look back and it's like,
00:15:24.92\00:15:26.25
you know, we were
really seeking for help
00:15:26.29\00:15:28.49
with her health and everything.
00:15:28.52\00:15:29.86
Okay.
00:15:29.89\00:15:31.23
And then
Seventh-day Adventist family
00:15:31.26\00:15:32.59
crossed our path,
00:15:32.63\00:15:33.96
and that's where
everything changed.
00:15:34.00\00:15:35.33
Okay.
00:15:35.36\00:15:36.70
So did they come
by your community
00:15:36.73\00:15:38.07
or you found
yourself in some place
00:15:38.10\00:15:39.43
as you were traveling?
00:15:39.47\00:15:40.80
They moved into the community.
00:15:40.84\00:15:42.17
They moved into the community?
00:15:42.20\00:15:43.54
Onto a farm that I worked
a lot and so we connected in.
00:15:43.57\00:15:45.97
Yeah, they were able to
answer a lot of questions.
00:15:46.01\00:15:48.24
I was so intrigued.
00:15:48.28\00:15:50.81
My brother told
me, we met him first.
00:15:50.85\00:15:52.31
And he told me he said, Andy,
you got to meet these people.
00:15:52.35\00:15:54.68
He said, these
are not lawless people
00:15:54.72\00:15:56.28
like we looked at most,
00:15:56.32\00:15:58.25
almost all
outsiders as lawless people,
00:15:58.29\00:16:00.36
like we were strongly taught
00:16:00.39\00:16:01.72
that the Ten
Commandments are binding.
00:16:01.76\00:16:03.09
Okay.
00:16:03.12\00:16:04.46
Oh, yes, and the law
of God is still binding,
00:16:04.49\00:16:05.99
although we were
inconsistent in that,
00:16:06.03\00:16:08.10
but we believed,
you know, in the idea
00:16:08.13\00:16:10.83
that the law is still binding.
00:16:10.87\00:16:12.63
And he said, these
people are not lawless.
00:16:12.67\00:16:14.27
They actually believe
00:16:14.30\00:16:15.64
that God expects us to obey Him.
00:16:15.67\00:16:17.64
And he said,
00:16:17.67\00:16:19.01
these people also
believe in communion
00:16:19.04\00:16:21.04
and foot washing like we do,
00:16:21.08\00:16:22.41
which we did.
00:16:22.44\00:16:23.78
Okay.
00:16:23.81\00:16:25.15
And so, I can't
wait to meet them.
00:16:25.18\00:16:27.28
And everything just
kind of spiraled from there.
00:16:27.32\00:16:29.42
They gave me a
Great Controversy,
00:16:29.45\00:16:30.85
and I was not looking
00:16:30.89\00:16:32.65
for any more
controversy at the time.
00:16:32.69\00:16:35.76
Okay, so they gave you the book,
00:16:35.79\00:16:37.86
the Great Controversy,
00:16:37.89\00:16:39.83
which is a book
00:16:39.86\00:16:41.20
that Seventh-day
Adventists have written,
00:16:41.23\00:16:45.77
and it's a book that talks
about the great controversy
00:16:45.80\00:16:48.44
between good and evil.
00:16:48.47\00:16:49.80
And it was a blessing to you?
00:16:49.84\00:16:51.17
It was...
00:16:51.21\00:16:52.54
You recommend
this book to people?
00:16:52.57\00:16:53.91
I recommend it all day long.
00:16:53.94\00:16:55.28
I probably read it,
I don't know, 20 times.
00:16:55.31\00:16:57.15
Twenty times?
00:16:57.18\00:16:58.51
Yeah, 'cause it
helps me understand
00:16:58.55\00:17:00.22
why they're suffering, etc.
00:17:00.25\00:17:02.28
And I, you know, I
used to be upset with God,
00:17:02.32\00:17:04.49
I never wanted to
be angry with God,
00:17:04.52\00:17:05.85
but sometimes you can't help it.
00:17:05.89\00:17:08.16
If somebody is suffering
and you don't understand why,
00:17:08.19\00:17:11.06
and you see all the
wickedness and you wonder,
00:17:11.09\00:17:12.59
why doesn't God
just kill the devil?
00:17:12.63\00:17:14.53
You know, He could do it.
00:17:14.56\00:17:16.16
And it's upsetting.
00:17:16.20\00:17:17.77
It's just, that is what it is.
00:17:17.80\00:17:19.13
And so, it helped me understand
00:17:19.17\00:17:21.64
that this is
the great experiment
00:17:21.67\00:17:23.24
with sin.
00:17:23.27\00:17:24.77
And, yeah, so it was a blessing,
00:17:24.81\00:17:27.11
but the rubber met the
road when I read Desire of Ages.
00:17:27.14\00:17:30.65
That's what I need.
That's what I was looking.
00:17:30.68\00:17:32.01
I want peace between me and God.
00:17:32.05\00:17:33.38
That's one of my favorite books,
00:17:33.42\00:17:34.75
Desire of Ages.
00:17:34.78\00:17:36.12
Oh, yes.
00:17:36.15\00:17:37.49
It's the life of Christ.
00:17:37.52\00:17:38.85
Amen.
00:17:38.89\00:17:40.22
And it's taken from the Bible,
00:17:40.26\00:17:41.59
but it shows Christ in
a way that's attracting.
00:17:41.62\00:17:46.83
You want to know more.
00:17:46.86\00:17:48.20
Yes.
00:17:48.23\00:17:49.56
Oh, yes, Desire
of Ages Chapter 1.
00:17:49.60\00:17:50.93
I got nearly memorized that.
00:17:50.97\00:17:52.30
I listened to it and
read it so many times.
00:17:52.33\00:17:54.74
It's just, it's wonderful. Amen.
00:17:54.77\00:17:56.47
So those two books
helped you along with the Bible.
00:17:56.50\00:17:58.54
And it did.
00:17:58.57\00:17:59.94
You see yourself
wanting to read the Bible more?
00:17:59.97\00:18:02.24
Oh, yes.
00:18:02.28\00:18:03.61
Well, it really prompted me
to dig into the Word of God.
00:18:03.65\00:18:05.71
Now I was like, I
would read the story of Jesus
00:18:05.75\00:18:09.08
like in Matthew 26 and
27 and it became my life.
00:18:09.12\00:18:11.45
Amen.
00:18:11.49\00:18:12.82
Like before, it
was just a story.
00:18:12.85\00:18:14.19
I couldn't relate,
like, I would be upset like,
00:18:14.22\00:18:16.29
why when Jesus is
standing before Herod,
00:18:16.32\00:18:18.69
why wouldn't He talk?
00:18:18.73\00:18:20.10
I mean, come on,
00:18:20.13\00:18:21.46
you know, and
that's the way we think.
00:18:21.50\00:18:22.83
Like I was
always very opinionated
00:18:22.86\00:18:24.43
and really quick
to defend myself.
00:18:24.47\00:18:26.67
And I thought
that's just so strange.
00:18:26.70\00:18:29.24
But reading Desire of
Ages I understood why.
00:18:29.27\00:18:31.47
Amen. Amen. It's just wonderful.
00:18:31.51\00:18:33.51
Did you read any of the books
00:18:33.54\00:18:36.98
or any portions of
the book to your family?
00:18:37.01\00:18:39.51
Oh, yes.
00:18:39.55\00:18:40.88
Desire of Ages, especially
and the Great Controversy,
00:18:40.92\00:18:42.62
especially the last
chapter of Great Controversy,
00:18:42.65\00:18:44.15
we still read it today.
00:18:44.19\00:18:45.52
So you saw
yourself making changes.
00:18:45.55\00:18:46.89
Naomi, how did you
react to all of this?
00:18:46.92\00:18:49.46
Did you say,
00:18:49.49\00:18:51.33
I don't think I
want to be part of that?
00:18:51.36\00:18:52.69
Or did you say
okay, I want to know
00:18:52.73\00:18:54.20
what is really
touching your heart?
00:18:54.23\00:18:56.93
Yeah, I think at first I did,
00:18:56.97\00:18:59.37
it really did
made me uncomfortable
00:18:59.40\00:19:02.17
because what he
shared, I believed it.
00:19:02.20\00:19:06.57
I saw and I believed it,
00:19:06.61\00:19:08.68
but I'm one of these persons
that doesn't like changes.
00:19:08.71\00:19:13.15
And the first thing
that came to my mind is well,
00:19:13.18\00:19:17.45
what are the
people going to think?
00:19:17.49\00:19:19.05
My mom, my siblings,
00:19:19.09\00:19:20.72
and this is going to be
way more than we can handle
00:19:20.76\00:19:23.93
but was enough,
00:19:23.96\00:19:27.43
listening to him
he kept sharing and I,
00:19:27.46\00:19:30.23
we read together and in
our prayer that we just.
00:19:30.27\00:19:35.27
I finally said,
00:19:35.30\00:19:36.71
"Well, God, this is,
this is in Your hands.
00:19:36.74\00:19:39.31
I can't do it, You
will have to do it."
00:19:39.34\00:19:41.18
And from there
things went much better.
00:19:41.21\00:19:44.38
Once I gave
myself into His hands
00:19:44.41\00:19:47.45
and just gave up, He took it.
00:19:47.48\00:19:50.89
So you also saw your heart
being touched by the things
00:19:50.92\00:19:53.49
you were hearing?
00:19:53.52\00:19:54.86
Yeah, it did.
00:19:54.89\00:19:56.22
It really made a change.
00:19:56.26\00:19:57.59
So you became
Seventh-day Adventist.
00:19:57.63\00:19:58.96
How many years would you say
00:19:58.99\00:20:00.33
you're
Seventh-Day Adventist now?
00:20:00.36\00:20:01.70
It was 2014.
00:20:01.73\00:20:03.06
Okay, Praise the Lord. Yeah.
00:20:03.10\00:20:04.43
And you're happy about this?
00:20:04.47\00:20:05.80
Ah, we enjoyed every bit of it.
00:20:05.83\00:20:07.20
I'll do it all over again.
00:20:07.24\00:20:08.57
Amen.
00:20:08.60\00:20:09.94
Amen. We love being Christians.
00:20:09.97\00:20:11.31
It's wonderful. Amen.
00:20:11.34\00:20:12.67
And so we have Henry as
one of the representatives
00:20:12.71\00:20:15.54
of the other eight
of the seven children,
00:20:15.58\00:20:18.21
eight together.
00:20:18.25\00:20:19.71
Tell us about
your love for Jesus?
00:20:19.75\00:20:22.75
Well, we started
coming to Adventist Church.
00:20:22.78\00:20:26.05
I didn't really recognize well,
00:20:26.09\00:20:29.36
they didn't really
tell us that much about it.
00:20:29.39\00:20:31.16
He was pretty young at the time.
00:20:31.19\00:20:32.53
Pretty young.
00:20:32.56\00:20:33.90
So it was afterward
when it was all changed up.
00:20:33.93\00:20:37.03
Yeah, we didn't,
00:20:37.07\00:20:38.90
like I didn't really
know anything about it till,
00:20:38.93\00:20:41.50
like after it was
like pretty much over.
00:20:41.54\00:20:44.14
I started
learning, knowing more of it.
00:20:44.17\00:20:46.88
And I understand
you play an instrument,
00:20:46.91\00:20:49.38
which one and
it's which one, I hear,
00:20:49.41\00:20:51.38
I think did you say guitar.
00:20:51.41\00:20:52.85
Yes, I do a little
bit, just learning.
00:20:52.88\00:20:54.92
Just learning, oh
wonderful. Praise the Lord.
00:20:54.95\00:20:56.65
And you'd like to
sing songs to the Lord?
00:20:56.69\00:20:58.59
Yeah. Good. Good.
00:20:58.62\00:20:59.95
Perhaps someday you
may come with the guitar
00:20:59.99\00:21:02.16
and play a song for us.
00:21:02.19\00:21:03.53
Maybe.
00:21:03.56\00:21:04.89
Maybe, okay,
we'll keep that in mind.
00:21:04.93\00:21:07.73
So the Lord led
you through a path
00:21:07.76\00:21:12.83
and now you want
to share this joy
00:21:12.87\00:21:14.34
with the Amish people.
00:21:14.37\00:21:15.70
Want to hear more about that.
00:21:15.74\00:21:17.07
And we know you have some
pictures to share with us.
00:21:17.11\00:21:19.24
Let's talk to Gerry a little bit
00:21:19.27\00:21:20.61
because you've
also had a journey.
00:21:20.64\00:21:23.18
You give us your background
00:21:23.21\00:21:25.45
and how you became a
Seventh-day Adventist?
00:21:25.48\00:21:27.88
Yeah, John, I was raised,
old German Baptist Brethren.
00:21:27.92\00:21:33.15
A lot of people
don't know what that is
00:21:33.19\00:21:35.42
or have heard of them,
00:21:35.46\00:21:36.79
but they're an Anabaptist group.
00:21:36.83\00:21:39.19
I'm 25% Amish
00:21:39.23\00:21:40.80
because my
grandfather was old order Amish.
00:21:40.83\00:21:44.10
I don't know which 25%
maybe from the knees down.
00:21:44.13\00:21:47.57
Okay.
00:21:47.60\00:21:48.94
Wonderful man.
00:21:48.97\00:21:50.31
But I came from
eight generations
00:21:50.34\00:21:52.54
of old German Baptist Brethren.
00:21:52.57\00:21:54.34
I was very happy there.
00:21:54.38\00:21:56.34
Wasn't looking
for anything else.
00:21:56.38\00:21:57.88
I met my wife at church,
00:21:57.91\00:21:59.75
our first date was at church
00:21:59.78\00:22:01.32
and baptizing which
was kind of fitting.
00:22:01.35\00:22:04.45
Wasn't looking for anything else
00:22:04.49\00:22:06.55
until a brochure
came in the mail in 1986
00:22:06.59\00:22:11.69
advertising a Daniel
and Revelation seminar.
00:22:11.73\00:22:15.90
Friend of mine,
00:22:15.93\00:22:17.27
and I passed it
around the table that night
00:22:17.30\00:22:18.83
as we were eating a
meal together and said,
00:22:18.87\00:22:20.57
"Well, it looks
kind of interesting.
00:22:20.60\00:22:21.94
Maybe we should
just kind of sneak out."
00:22:21.97\00:22:24.71
Now, in that
Anabaptist's environment,
00:22:24.74\00:22:27.94
you don't dare be too different.
00:22:27.98\00:22:29.34
You probably
shouldn't do things like that,
00:22:29.38\00:22:31.55
but we thought we
could pull it off.
00:22:31.58\00:22:34.22
Give us a little
background about Anabaptists,
00:22:34.25\00:22:37.72
how that's
different from Baptists
00:22:37.75\00:22:39.82
or Seventh-day Adventist even?
00:22:39.85\00:22:42.56
I look at the
Anabaptist as a tree
00:22:42.59\00:22:44.83
growing by the Reformation River
00:22:44.86\00:22:47.16
to use an allegory.
00:22:47.20\00:22:49.13
And there are many
branches on that tree.
00:22:49.16\00:22:50.97
There are the
Mennonites, German Baptists,
00:22:51.00\00:22:52.77
Dunkard Brethren, Amish,
00:22:52.80\00:22:55.07
different flavors of Mennonites.
00:22:55.10\00:22:57.14
How they differ
is that these people,
00:22:57.17\00:22:59.71
after the Reformation happened,
00:22:59.74\00:23:03.95
the Roman Church recoiled
away from the reformers said,
00:23:03.98\00:23:06.88
"No, no, this is too
far, we can't have this."
00:23:06.92\00:23:09.92
But the
Reformation wasn't complete.
00:23:09.95\00:23:12.92
A group of people
began studying their Bibles
00:23:12.95\00:23:15.39
and they say, you know,
00:23:15.42\00:23:16.99
you can't be baptized as a child
00:23:17.03\00:23:18.73
and have it mean anything.
00:23:18.76\00:23:20.16
You need to be an
adult, you need to say,
00:23:20.20\00:23:21.76
I want to serve Jesus.
00:23:21.80\00:23:23.57
And so they started
re-baptizing people,
00:23:23.60\00:23:26.30
based on that mature decision.
00:23:26.33\00:23:29.50
And then both
the Catholic Church
00:23:29.54\00:23:31.74
and the reformers
recoiled from them,
00:23:31.77\00:23:34.24
so they didn't
have enough friends.
00:23:34.28\00:23:36.21
Many of them lost their lives
00:23:36.24\00:23:37.61
to bring that
gift of adult baptism
00:23:37.65\00:23:40.28
back into Christianity.
00:23:40.32\00:23:43.82
And so you in this environment,
00:23:43.85\00:23:46.35
somehow, the
brochure that came in
00:23:46.39\00:23:49.22
started your journey
00:23:49.26\00:23:50.59
towards studying
deeper into the Bible?
00:23:50.63\00:23:53.70
It did, I grew
up, believe it or not
00:23:53.73\00:23:55.50
with Arthur
Maxwell's Bible story books.
00:23:55.53\00:23:58.67
I love those
books, read them as a boy.
00:23:58.70\00:24:01.24
Didn't know who they
were from or who put them out.
00:24:01.27\00:24:03.97
So we went to this
Daniel and Revelation seminar
00:24:04.01\00:24:06.27
as two German Baptist men.
00:24:06.31\00:24:07.81
We sat near the back,
00:24:07.84\00:24:09.18
put our black
hats on the coat rack.
00:24:09.21\00:24:12.35
And wow,
00:24:12.38\00:24:14.08
I couldn't believe
what I was hearing.
00:24:14.12\00:24:15.45
It was so powerful.
00:24:15.48\00:24:17.12
It was on 70 weeks
of Daniel that night
00:24:17.15\00:24:19.99
and I just was kind of
leaning forward in my chair.
00:24:20.02\00:24:23.12
On the ride home,
00:24:23.16\00:24:24.49
Eric and I kept
talking to each other,
00:24:24.53\00:24:25.89
man, never seen the
Bible that clearly before.
00:24:25.93\00:24:29.50
So we were pretty excited.
00:24:29.53\00:24:31.30
We went back the next
night, took our wives said,
00:24:31.33\00:24:34.34
"Come on, come on with us."
00:24:34.37\00:24:35.70
We got a seat down
in front that time,
00:24:35.74\00:24:37.94
went through most
of that whole seminar
00:24:37.97\00:24:40.61
and just was riveted
by these beautiful truths.
00:24:40.64\00:24:44.35
Every night the evangelist
00:24:44.38\00:24:47.55
would
figuratively hand us a link,
00:24:47.58\00:24:50.02
a golden link.
00:24:50.05\00:24:51.62
Beautiful, didn't
have a lot of strength.
00:24:51.65\00:24:53.49
It was just one link.
00:24:53.52\00:24:54.99
But every night
00:24:55.02\00:24:56.36
it was putting
those links together
00:24:56.39\00:24:57.73
when it was over as a chain.
00:24:57.76\00:25:00.26
I thought, wow,
00:25:00.30\00:25:01.63
where's this been
for eight generations?
00:25:01.66\00:25:03.50
Wow.
00:25:03.53\00:25:04.87
Describe a little bit.
00:25:04.90\00:25:06.77
Compare the Amish
lifestyle of living
00:25:06.80\00:25:10.07
to your style of
living at that time?
00:25:10.11\00:25:13.14
The German Baptists
very similar to Amish,
00:25:13.17\00:25:15.71
a lot of people confuse
us except we had vehicles,
00:25:15.74\00:25:19.08
John, and electricity.
00:25:19.11\00:25:21.35
No TV, no radio.
00:25:21.38\00:25:23.35
So I grew up without that.
00:25:23.39\00:25:24.72
And I became a good
reader because of it
00:25:24.75\00:25:26.82
and I'm very grateful for that.
00:25:26.86\00:25:28.19
Yes, that's good.
00:25:28.22\00:25:31.46
Very conservative,
00:25:31.49\00:25:32.99
try to abstain
from worldly amusements,
00:25:33.03\00:25:35.83
that kind of thing.
00:25:35.86\00:25:37.33
Although when we,
00:25:37.37\00:25:39.00
most of us young boys
when we became of age,
00:25:39.03\00:25:41.77
we got our first cars and we,
00:25:41.80\00:25:43.94
that was during the
days of the big block engine
00:25:43.97\00:25:46.98
and we kind of overindulged
maybe in that era, okay?
00:25:47.01\00:25:51.75
To make up for everything else
00:25:51.78\00:25:53.11
that we maybe
thought we missed out on.
00:25:53.15\00:25:56.38
So you saw yourself
being drawn to the messages
00:25:56.42\00:26:01.22
you were hearing
and studying more.
00:26:01.26\00:26:04.03
Did anyone come to your home
to continue studies with you?
00:26:04.06\00:26:07.66
Not at first,
00:26:07.70\00:26:09.33
I had to be pretty quiet
about what I was learning
00:26:09.36\00:26:11.83
because it had so intrigued me.
00:26:11.87\00:26:14.64
I saw Jesus in every doctrine
is like walking down a hallway.
00:26:14.67\00:26:18.87
And every in one
of those 27 doctrines,
00:26:18.91\00:26:21.24
there was a
window in that hallway
00:26:21.28\00:26:22.71
and I would pause
and look in that window.
00:26:22.74\00:26:25.11
And I would see Jesus in there
from a peculiar point of view,
00:26:25.15\00:26:28.18
and it was so attractive.
00:26:28.22\00:26:29.55
Amen. Praise the Lord.
00:26:29.58\00:26:30.92
I did confide in my
father that about the Sabbath,
00:26:30.95\00:26:33.66
and, oh, he
wasn't very impressed
00:26:33.69\00:26:36.22
about that.
00:26:36.26\00:26:37.59
He said, Gerry,
you weren't old enough.
00:26:37.63\00:26:39.29
You weren't mature
enough in the faith
00:26:39.33\00:26:40.73
to be going to a
meeting like that.
00:26:40.76\00:26:42.16
And I thought, maybe he's right.
00:26:42.20\00:26:44.70
He's older than I am.
00:26:44.73\00:26:46.53
About how old
were you at that time?
00:26:46.57\00:26:47.90
I was 26.
00:26:47.94\00:26:49.27
Twenty six? Okay.
00:26:49.30\00:26:50.64
And I couldn't get
those truths out of my mind.
00:26:50.67\00:26:52.07
So I went to back in those days,
00:26:52.11\00:26:54.81
they called it odd lots.
00:26:54.84\00:26:56.78
I went to odd lots and
bought a big white Bible,
00:26:56.81\00:26:59.38
cheap, $9,
00:26:59.41\00:27:01.55
read the whole thing
through in three months
00:27:01.58\00:27:03.28
and took notes.
00:27:03.32\00:27:04.95
And I studied for two years
00:27:04.99\00:27:06.55
to try to disprove
the Adventist message.
00:27:06.59\00:27:08.52
It was that powerful.
00:27:08.56\00:27:09.89
It was always
in there in my mind
00:27:09.92\00:27:11.33
when we would go to church,
we'd go to be with friends,
00:27:11.36\00:27:13.56
I was thinking those
truths that I'd learned.
00:27:13.60\00:27:16.06
And I would often
hear things in conversation
00:27:16.10\00:27:18.17
that would disagree
00:27:18.20\00:27:19.53
with what I knew to be
true now from the Bible.
00:27:19.57\00:27:22.17
So I kept studying for two years
00:27:22.20\00:27:23.87
trying to disprove
the Adventist message.
00:27:23.91\00:27:27.08
My wife wasn't real
impressed with all this,
00:27:27.11\00:27:31.08
she was very happy.
00:27:31.11\00:27:32.58
I was too in the
German Baptist Church,
00:27:32.61\00:27:34.52
lots of friends.
00:27:34.55\00:27:35.88
My dad thought I would
maybe be a minister there
00:27:35.92\00:27:38.15
and that was his goal for me.
00:27:38.19\00:27:39.72
That was his goal for you?
00:27:39.75\00:27:41.09
That's right.
00:27:41.12\00:27:42.46
It was that in your mind at all?
00:27:42.49\00:27:43.83
Not really.
00:27:43.86\00:27:45.29
I thought it may happen someday,
00:27:45.33\00:27:47.30
but I left that up to God.
00:27:47.33\00:27:48.66
Okay.
00:27:48.70\00:27:50.03
Wasn't planning for it.
00:27:50.07\00:27:51.70
And at the end
of that two years,
00:27:51.73\00:27:54.87
it all came to a head one night.
00:27:54.90\00:27:57.34
I went to my knees
00:27:57.37\00:27:58.71
because I didn't know
where I belonged anymore.
00:27:58.74\00:28:00.68
I had studied
myself into the message
00:28:00.71\00:28:03.24
and it had me by the throat.
00:28:03.28\00:28:05.11
But I was still a
German Baptist man,
00:28:05.15\00:28:07.45
I still had a family,
two children and a wife
00:28:07.48\00:28:10.32
and we still
attend a church there.
00:28:10.35\00:28:12.75
But I needed to
know where God wanted me
00:28:12.79\00:28:15.02
and I went to
my knees that night
00:28:15.06\00:28:16.39
with that kind of a prayer.
00:28:16.42\00:28:17.76
And I said, "God, I
made a mess out of all this.
00:28:17.79\00:28:20.40
Where do you want me?"
00:28:20.43\00:28:21.76
It's really all that matters.
00:28:21.80\00:28:23.67
And I fell asleep.
00:28:23.70\00:28:25.03
On the strength of
that prayer, 26 years old,
00:28:25.07\00:28:27.24
my wife was gone that
weekend at a baby shower.
00:28:27.27\00:28:29.94
So I had the house to
myself, woke up in the morning.
00:28:29.97\00:28:35.34
It was a Sabbath.
00:28:35.38\00:28:38.18
And from that point on,
00:28:38.21\00:28:39.55
God began to
impress me to follow Him,
00:28:39.58\00:28:44.92
and I was ready to
stay a German Baptist
00:28:44.95\00:28:47.02
or be an
Adventist, whatever He wanted,
00:28:47.06\00:28:48.59
it just didn't matter.
00:28:48.62\00:28:50.13
I wanted to
know what God wanted.
00:28:50.16\00:28:52.83
So you actually, in this
point, as you were praying,
00:28:52.86\00:28:55.86
you're saying, "Lord,
I want You to let me know
00:28:55.90\00:28:58.33
what You want me to do,
00:28:58.37\00:28:59.70
be a German Baptist or
Seventh-day Adventist?"
00:28:59.73\00:29:04.07
How did the Lord help
you through that process?
00:29:04.11\00:29:08.34
I woke up...
00:29:08.38\00:29:09.71
You started with the...
00:29:09.74\00:29:11.08
You say you looked at the...
00:29:11.11\00:29:12.45
You realize it was Saturday,
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:29:12.48\00:29:14.98
That's right.
00:29:15.02\00:29:16.35
I woke up that morning
00:29:16.38\00:29:17.72
with the most peace
I've ever had in my life.
00:29:17.75\00:29:20.29
And I've been turmoil
00:29:20.32\00:29:21.66
for two years up
to that point, John,
00:29:21.69\00:29:23.22
because this
message was haunting me.
00:29:23.26\00:29:25.96
It was so powerful,
I couldn't get rid of,
00:29:25.99\00:29:27.56
I couldn't shake it,
00:29:27.60\00:29:28.93
I couldn't
erase it from my mind.
00:29:28.96\00:29:30.30
So I thought, well,
I'll just disprove it,
00:29:30.33\00:29:31.67
and then I'll be all right.
00:29:31.70\00:29:33.03
Now, I've failed. I'm a failure.
00:29:33.07\00:29:34.94
You're a failure in
disproving the truth.
00:29:34.97\00:29:36.50
That's right.
00:29:36.54\00:29:37.87
Praise God for that.
00:29:37.91\00:29:40.28
I had the notion that
morning to go to a local church,
00:29:40.31\00:29:43.35
an Adventist Church,
00:29:43.38\00:29:45.71
didn't know a
whole lot about them.
00:29:45.75\00:29:47.08
I thought their name was funny,
but Seventh-day Adventist,
00:29:47.12\00:29:50.29
and I had no room to talk
00:29:50.32\00:29:51.65
because I was old
German Baptist Brethren.
00:29:51.69\00:29:54.42
I took a chance,
00:29:54.46\00:29:55.79
I thought maybe
they'll start about 10 o'clock.
00:29:55.82\00:29:57.29
So I drove there
and I met the pastor
00:29:57.33\00:30:00.13
and He remembered me
from the seminar somehow,
00:30:00.16\00:30:02.80
he came up said,
"How have you been?"
00:30:02.83\00:30:04.30
I said, "Terrible."
00:30:04.33\00:30:06.27
He said, "Oh dear."
00:30:06.30\00:30:07.64
But this is two years
later you're talking to him.
00:30:07.67\00:30:09.00
That's right.
00:30:09.04\00:30:10.37
Oh, he
remembered you, very good.
00:30:10.41\00:30:11.74
I was very kind, polite
00:30:11.77\00:30:13.61
wherein I told
him I'd been studying,
00:30:13.64\00:30:15.38
was, had a lot of
turmoil over the years
00:30:15.41\00:30:17.75
and I also bought a
book during these two years
00:30:17.78\00:30:20.92
how to avoid the scenario
of Seventh-day Adventists,
00:30:20.95\00:30:23.08
written by a
Southern Baptist theologian,
00:30:23.12\00:30:25.85
David MacLeod.
00:30:25.89\00:30:27.62
And that book was no good
00:30:27.66\00:30:30.63
because I had
that odd lots Bible
00:30:30.66\00:30:32.09
that I was reading through,
00:30:32.13\00:30:33.46
and it took me
closer to the message.
00:30:33.50\00:30:35.56
I stayed there for the potluck.
00:30:35.60\00:30:38.07
He said, "We're having
a potluck of vegetarian."
00:30:38.10\00:30:40.17
I thought, "Well, why not?"
00:30:40.20\00:30:41.90
You know, I was
raised on meat and potatoes,
00:30:41.94\00:30:43.54
but I thought get some potatoes.
00:30:43.57\00:30:48.08
I enjoyed it.
00:30:48.11\00:30:49.44
And then he said,
00:30:49.48\00:30:50.81
"Would you like me
to come to your house?"
00:30:50.85\00:30:53.08
I said, "Yeah, I
have a lot of questions."
00:30:53.11\00:30:57.39
I said, "But not to my house.
00:30:57.42\00:30:58.75
My wife isn't real
thrilled with all this.
00:30:58.79\00:31:01.69
How about if I meet
you somewhere neutral?"
00:31:01.72\00:31:03.22
He said, "Sure.
00:31:03.26\00:31:04.59
You come on up here to
the church Thursday night."
00:31:04.63\00:31:06.70
Okay.
00:31:06.73\00:31:08.06
I ate supper, told Nancy,
00:31:08.10\00:31:09.43
I'm going to go out
for a drive and I did.
00:31:09.46\00:31:11.87
But I drove to the church.
00:31:11.90\00:31:14.60
He stood me up.
00:31:14.64\00:31:17.51
In 27 years of ministry,
00:31:17.54\00:31:19.37
he has never ever stood
someone up for a Bible study.
00:31:19.41\00:31:24.05
Oh, he forgot.
00:31:24.08\00:31:25.41
He forgot. He forgot.
00:31:25.45\00:31:26.78
Yeah.
00:31:26.82\00:31:28.65
There was a young man in there
00:31:28.68\00:31:30.02
who was the
teacher at that school.
00:31:30.05\00:31:32.02
And I was kind of embarrassed
walking around aimlessly
00:31:32.05\00:31:34.72
waiting on these
40 minutes now waiting
00:31:34.76\00:31:37.53
and so I got to
talking to this fellow.
00:31:37.56\00:31:40.23
And we became best friends
00:31:40.26\00:31:41.76
and we're still
good friends today.
00:31:41.80\00:31:43.37
And he shared
with me his testimony,
00:31:43.40\00:31:45.13
and I shared with him my story.
00:31:45.17\00:31:47.54
But he asked me,
"Do you want to pray?"
00:31:47.57\00:31:49.67
I said, "You mean out loud?"
00:31:49.70\00:31:52.17
He said, "Well,
yeah, it's okay."
00:31:52.21\00:31:53.91
It was foreign to me.
00:31:53.94\00:31:56.08
So I prayed a
very simple prayer.
00:31:56.11\00:31:57.58
God, thank You for
what You've done for me in
00:31:57.61\00:32:01.55
and instead of
giving me strength Jesus,
00:32:01.58\00:32:03.59
just be my strength.
00:32:03.62\00:32:04.99
That'll be good enough.
00:32:05.02\00:32:06.35
Amen.
00:32:06.39\00:32:07.92
That's those sincere
prayer are always heard by God.
00:32:07.96\00:32:14.03
Yes.
00:32:14.06\00:32:15.60
So what happened next?
00:32:15.63\00:32:19.03
Well, he gave me
a Great Controversy.
00:32:19.07\00:32:22.27
I took it home and
read it and I put it on my,
00:32:22.30\00:32:25.41
you know, how you
get a really good book
00:32:25.44\00:32:27.34
that God wants you to read.
00:32:27.38\00:32:28.71
You ought to
read it and it gets,
00:32:28.74\00:32:30.08
it becomes
invisible for a while.
00:32:30.11\00:32:32.28
I set it somewhere in the room
00:32:32.31\00:32:33.92
and I finally
one day I looked up,
00:32:33.95\00:32:36.25
Nancy and I like
to read a little bit
00:32:36.28\00:32:37.62
before we turn
the lights out in bed.
00:32:37.65\00:32:39.02
So I saw that
corner of the book,
00:32:39.05\00:32:40.39
I reached up, pulled
it down, opened it up,
00:32:40.42\00:32:42.82
if thou even thou had known
in this day of thy visitation,
00:32:42.86\00:32:46.03
and I was just hooked.
00:32:46.06\00:32:47.43
I thought, well,
00:32:47.46\00:32:48.80
what is this woman
going to say to me?
00:32:48.83\00:32:51.90
I had no idea
what she would be like,
00:32:51.93\00:32:54.64
you know, I knew
about Mary Baker Eddy
00:32:54.67\00:32:56.37
from some of the false churches
00:32:56.40\00:32:58.94
and this one was
not what I expected.
00:32:58.97\00:33:01.21
This was incredible.
00:33:01.24\00:33:02.58
And I kept tapping
Nancy and say, "Listen,
00:33:02.61\00:33:04.71
I got to read her
little portions of this."
00:33:04.75\00:33:06.55
And finally she
said it too late,
00:33:06.58\00:33:07.92
you know, let's go to sleep.
00:33:07.95\00:33:09.98
So I read that whole book.
00:33:10.02\00:33:11.35
You read the whole book?
00:33:11.39\00:33:13.29
Not that night, but
in the coming weeks.
00:33:13.32\00:33:16.39
Fascinating is,
00:33:16.42\00:33:18.46
and I realized I had to
join the Advent movement,
00:33:18.49\00:33:21.26
there was, there would
be no peace without it.
00:33:21.30\00:33:24.03
And Nancy was thinking about it,
00:33:24.07\00:33:25.77
and then she got scared.
00:33:25.80\00:33:28.84
The cost would be too
high, we would lose friends.
00:33:28.87\00:33:33.21
And I understand that.
00:33:33.24\00:33:34.58
And so I joined the
Adventist Church in 1989,
00:33:34.61\00:33:37.78
January 7, without my wife.
00:33:37.81\00:33:41.12
It was a difficult...
00:33:41.15\00:33:42.48
It was a process for her.
00:33:42.52\00:33:43.85
Yes. Yeah.
00:33:43.89\00:33:45.22
And looking back on it, John,
it was the right thing to do.
00:33:45.25\00:33:47.76
Because I've come to
understand the Advent messages,
00:33:47.79\00:33:52.23
being like Elijah's mantle,
00:33:52.26\00:33:53.83
it fell from heaven
when he went to heaven
00:33:53.86\00:33:55.70
and you have to pick it up.
00:33:55.73\00:33:57.37
You have to make it sure,
00:33:57.40\00:33:58.73
as a parent you can't
put it around your shoulders
00:33:58.77\00:34:00.64
and say this is who you are.
00:34:00.67\00:34:02.37
You have to pick it
up and say this is mine.
00:34:02.40\00:34:05.07
For Nancy, it took
about eight months.
00:34:05.11\00:34:06.94
And she picked it up.
00:34:06.98\00:34:08.31
She came up to me
one day in church said,
00:34:08.34\00:34:10.75
"Would it be okay
if I was baptized?"
00:34:10.78\00:34:12.95
And I said, "Yes,"
00:34:12.98\00:34:14.58
without hitting my
head on the ceiling.
00:34:14.62\00:34:15.95
Praise the Lord. Amen.
00:34:15.98\00:34:17.32
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:34:17.35\00:34:18.95
Well, the Lord has
brought you two together,
00:34:18.99\00:34:21.62
your family and Andy,
we were in his family.
00:34:21.66\00:34:25.76
There's a ministry
00:34:25.79\00:34:27.13
and it's called
the West Salem Mission.
00:34:27.16\00:34:31.90
Andy, you're the co-founder.
00:34:31.93\00:34:33.50
And, Gerry,
you're a board member.
00:34:33.54\00:34:35.60
Tell us about this mission,
Salem, West Salem Mission.
00:34:35.64\00:34:38.84
What is it
00:34:38.87\00:34:40.21
and what do you
dedicate yourself to?
00:34:40.24\00:34:41.71
Sure. So it was founded in 2015.
00:34:41.74\00:34:45.85
And, you know,
00:34:45.88\00:34:47.35
we kind of have a
similar testimony.
00:34:47.38\00:34:48.95
And you know, when
you find truths like this,
00:34:48.98\00:34:50.75
you get all excited
and you want to share it
00:34:50.79\00:34:52.25
with other people.
00:34:52.29\00:34:53.62
And as we were
learning a lot of these things,
00:34:53.66\00:34:55.69
we thought, this is a message
00:34:55.72\00:34:57.43
that would be a
blessing to everyone.
00:34:57.46\00:35:00.06
It's not a threat to
the Amish way of life.
00:35:00.10\00:35:02.40
But it's got end-time message,
especially Revelation 14,
00:35:02.43\00:35:05.23
this is so relevant.
00:35:05.27\00:35:06.77
And so we had a
burden to reach out
00:35:06.80\00:35:10.01
to the Amish community
or if that doesn't work,
00:35:10.04\00:35:12.17
which a lot of times it doesn't,
00:35:12.21\00:35:13.71
just help those
that do come out.
00:35:13.74\00:35:15.21
Yes.
00:35:15.24\00:35:16.58
And that's kind of direction
it has gone like we just,
00:35:16.61\00:35:19.55
we, you know, we
do mass mail-outs
00:35:19.58\00:35:21.25
and that kind of thing.
00:35:21.28\00:35:22.62
But, yeah, we've
been busy just taking care
00:35:22.65\00:35:25.55
of what the Lord brings us.
00:35:25.59\00:35:27.56
And so the Lord is
really working their hearts.
00:35:27.59\00:35:29.26
So that's kind of
00:35:29.29\00:35:30.93
what West Salem
Mission stands for.
00:35:30.96\00:35:32.29
You know, we're out there
00:35:32.33\00:35:33.66
to help plain
people that struggle
00:35:33.70\00:35:35.43
when they come out,
00:35:35.46\00:35:36.80
because a lot of
them that come out,
00:35:36.83\00:35:38.93
there's two groups
that come out of the Amish,
00:35:38.97\00:35:40.44
the plain communities.
00:35:40.47\00:35:41.80
You have the group
that just wants to leave,
00:35:41.84\00:35:44.07
they want the world,
00:35:44.11\00:35:45.44
then you have a
group that they want to,
00:35:45.47\00:35:48.68
they want to serve God.
00:35:48.71\00:35:50.68
And so a lot of times
what happens is they come out,
00:35:50.71\00:35:54.68
and they're not ready
to go to an English church
00:35:54.72\00:35:58.62
as we refer in outside
00:35:58.65\00:36:00.19
like Seventh-day
Adventist Church and,
00:36:00.22\00:36:02.19
and so some of them,
00:36:02.22\00:36:04.46
quite a number of them
have just kind of turned around
00:36:04.49\00:36:06.49
went back to the Amish church
00:36:06.53\00:36:07.86
because they
were not comfortable
00:36:07.90\00:36:09.73
with that.
00:36:09.76\00:36:11.10
And so we're trying to provide
that soft landing for them.
00:36:11.13\00:36:14.40
Let me ask you
this question about,
00:36:14.44\00:36:17.54
because the Amish
community is a community
00:36:17.57\00:36:19.94
that pretty much separates,
00:36:19.97\00:36:22.14
they separate themselves
from the rest of the world
00:36:22.18\00:36:25.01
and they study the Bible.
00:36:25.05\00:36:27.72
They go to church together,
00:36:27.75\00:36:29.65
how do they see
reaching the world?
00:36:29.68\00:36:33.46
I mean, is there such a desire
00:36:33.49\00:36:36.83
to reach others to become Amish
00:36:36.86\00:36:38.93
or is that only
the, we are together?
00:36:38.96\00:36:42.23
We are going to stay
and our community grows?
00:36:42.26\00:36:45.53
Or how do they view
00:36:45.57\00:36:46.90
the rest of the
world in that sense?
00:36:46.94\00:36:48.27
Yeah.
00:36:48.30\00:36:49.64
Generally the Amish
don't believe in evangelism.
00:36:49.67\00:36:51.97
It's more of a
maintenance church.
00:36:52.01\00:36:53.38
I mean, they have a
very high retention rate,
00:36:53.41\00:36:56.75
and that's commendable.
00:36:56.78\00:36:58.38
And so they focus
more on the inside.
00:36:58.41\00:36:59.75
On the inside?
00:36:59.78\00:37:01.12
Okay. Yes.
00:37:01.15\00:37:02.48
And, you know, Jesus said that,
00:37:02.52\00:37:03.85
you know, He
talked to the Pharisees,
00:37:03.89\00:37:05.22
I think in Matthew 23,
00:37:05.25\00:37:06.79
about standing in the synagogues
00:37:06.82\00:37:09.62
or in a corner of the
street just to be seen.
00:37:09.66\00:37:12.59
So they interpret that as,
00:37:12.63\00:37:14.46
you know, Jesus is saying
00:37:14.50\00:37:15.83
that you shouldn't evangelize
which is misapplication.
00:37:15.86\00:37:19.47
But they're not.
00:37:19.50\00:37:20.84
They don't
believe in evangelism.
00:37:20.87\00:37:22.20
So they believe if you
grew up Seventh-day Adventist,
00:37:22.24\00:37:24.91
you should stay there
and you can be saved there.
00:37:24.94\00:37:26.74
If you grew up Amish,
you should stay there.
00:37:26.78\00:37:29.44
So they have no burden...
00:37:29.48\00:37:30.91
To reach others.
00:37:30.95\00:37:32.28
No, to reach
others, not usually.
00:37:32.31\00:37:34.92
But they don't,
00:37:34.95\00:37:36.28
they don't
believe you're condemned
00:37:36.32\00:37:37.82
just because you're not Amish,
00:37:37.85\00:37:39.19
because, yeah,
00:37:39.22\00:37:40.56
they're
traditionalist, you know.
00:37:40.59\00:37:42.22
You go back to 2 Timothy 3:14,
00:37:42.26\00:37:45.03
you must stay the
way you were taught.
00:37:45.06\00:37:47.26
That's what they believe.
00:37:47.30\00:37:48.63
So the Amish community
00:37:48.66\00:37:50.00
is basically
one religious group,
00:37:50.03\00:37:52.07
is it considered
a religious group?
00:37:52.10\00:37:53.60
You don't have
many denominations
00:37:53.64\00:37:54.97
among the Amish?
00:37:55.00\00:37:56.34
Actually, you do have many,
you have many denominations,
00:37:56.37\00:37:58.47
but they all work together.
00:37:58.51\00:38:00.21
Like if, if they,
like, you have the old order
00:38:00.24\00:38:03.48
that they will look at
the Swartzentruber Amish,
00:38:03.51\00:38:06.05
where I grew up, the
people I grew up with,
00:38:06.08\00:38:08.62
and they really frown on them,
like we have actually some,
00:38:08.65\00:38:12.15
some members that are
from the old order church.
00:38:12.19\00:38:14.66
And they had a struggle
to worship with us at first
00:38:14.69\00:38:16.73
because it was
a real downgrading
00:38:16.76\00:38:19.19
and they're might like,
you worship with those people.
00:38:19.23\00:38:21.40
And so they
really looked down to us
00:38:21.43\00:38:22.76
because they were a
lot more progressive
00:38:22.80\00:38:24.30
and well-kept
and things like that.
00:38:24.33\00:38:26.57
But it's amazing
00:38:26.60\00:38:27.94
when one person
leaves the church,
00:38:27.97\00:38:29.30
they all help each
other shun that person,
00:38:29.34\00:38:30.91
you know what I mean?
00:38:30.94\00:38:32.27
Even though they
have their differences,
00:38:32.31\00:38:33.64
their prejudice,
they work together in,
00:38:33.68\00:38:36.78
you know, they don't
believe in evangelism.
00:38:36.81\00:38:38.31
So everybody stays, the
sheep stay in their pens.
00:38:38.35\00:38:41.05
They'll help each other do that,
00:38:41.08\00:38:42.58
generally speaking.
00:38:42.62\00:38:43.95
Well, very interesting,
there's a lot to learn.
00:38:43.99\00:38:46.45
Now you have some pictures,
00:38:46.49\00:38:48.16
and we want to
talk about some projects
00:38:48.19\00:38:50.89
that you have had
00:38:50.93\00:38:52.26
and where the
Lord has brought you.
00:38:52.29\00:38:53.90
Let's go ahead
and start. Yep, start.
00:38:53.93\00:38:56.13
Okay, here's the first picture.
00:38:56.16\00:38:57.57
What is this
that we're looking at?
00:38:57.60\00:38:58.93
So this is a
multipurpose building,
00:38:58.97\00:39:00.77
many of our viewers
will recognize this.
00:39:00.80\00:39:03.71
This is where we...
00:39:03.74\00:39:05.07
This is going to
be a training center
00:39:05.11\00:39:06.44
for our missionaries.
00:39:06.47\00:39:08.88
And also we have
church services in this place.
00:39:08.91\00:39:10.65
Okay.
00:39:10.68\00:39:12.01
And so, yeah,
00:39:12.05\00:39:13.38
that most of our
viewers will notice that,
00:39:13.42\00:39:16.69
recognize that.
00:39:16.72\00:39:18.55
We moved into it in...
00:39:18.59\00:39:19.92
Beautiful
building. Yeah, thank you.
00:39:19.95\00:39:21.49
It came out great.
00:39:21.52\00:39:22.86
When we first started,
00:39:22.89\00:39:24.23
I didn't envision
it being beautiful.
00:39:24.26\00:39:26.06
We just wanted
something that works.
00:39:26.09\00:39:27.43
Something practical.
00:39:27.46\00:39:28.80
Yes. And...
00:39:28.83\00:39:30.17
So we see the wagon
wheels on the ceiling.
00:39:30.20\00:39:31.97
Yes.
00:39:32.00\00:39:33.34
Yeah, my brother made
those and he doesn't know it.
00:39:33.37\00:39:35.34
He doesn't know
they're in our sanctuary.
00:39:35.37\00:39:37.77
Someday,
hopefully he'll come out
00:39:37.81\00:39:39.77
and he'll recognize them
00:39:39.81\00:39:41.78
and we're gonna have a
good chuckle over that one.
00:39:41.81\00:39:44.05
Yep.
00:39:44.08\00:39:45.41
So this is a sanctuary.
00:39:45.45\00:39:46.78
How many people at this time
00:39:46.82\00:39:48.15
do you have
coming to the services?
00:39:48.18\00:39:50.09
So I think at most
Sabbath it's around 50 or 60.
00:39:50.12\00:39:53.25
Our membership is
around 35, I'm thinking.
00:39:53.29\00:39:56.12
Okay. Yeah.
00:39:56.16\00:39:58.33
We still have quite a few people
00:39:58.36\00:39:59.69
that are not members
00:39:59.73\00:40:01.06
and I think we have
like 40 guests under 18.
00:40:01.10\00:40:04.07
How did you raise the funds?
00:40:04.10\00:40:05.43
Here we have a choir of children
00:40:05.47\00:40:06.80
or, well, no, not just children.
00:40:06.84\00:40:08.17
Yes.
00:40:08.20\00:40:09.54
So basically we got
on to 3ABN for one thing
00:40:09.57\00:40:13.17
and we just said
this is what we're doing
00:40:13.21\00:40:14.74
and people got behind us.
00:40:14.78\00:40:16.44
And we're very
grateful for that.
00:40:16.48\00:40:18.31
Beautiful
picture of the children.
00:40:18.35\00:40:19.71
Yeah, that was Sabbath school.
00:40:19.75\00:40:21.08
This is kitchen.
00:40:21.12\00:40:22.45
A little bit of dining area.
00:40:22.48\00:40:25.22
And here's the big
thank you, thank you signs.
00:40:25.25\00:40:27.36
Yes.
00:40:27.39\00:40:28.72
So this is when we
moved in in November,
00:40:28.76\00:40:30.19
we've got these made and
we were just very excited,
00:40:30.23\00:40:33.40
we went from a
crowded little building
00:40:33.43\00:40:35.13
into a spacious building,
so that was very special.
00:40:35.16\00:40:38.10
And so why is this picture?
00:40:38.13\00:40:39.87
Why is there a sign
that says thank you?
00:40:39.90\00:40:41.84
Well, we're
thanking all the donors,
00:40:41.87\00:40:43.41
all the people that contributed
to making this happen.
00:40:43.44\00:40:46.11
If I knew how much it
cost to build this building,
00:40:46.14\00:40:48.34
I would have never tried it.
00:40:48.38\00:40:49.84
So you started this
project without any idea
00:40:49.88\00:40:51.78
how much it will cost?
00:40:51.81\00:40:53.15
I thought, you know, I had it...
00:40:53.18\00:40:54.52
You went
forward by faith. I did.
00:40:54.55\00:40:56.58
We spend more on, just HVAC
00:40:56.62\00:41:00.62
than we spent
building an Amish house.
00:41:00.66\00:41:02.99
Oh, yeah, so it was just...
00:41:03.02\00:41:04.99
And the...
00:41:05.03\00:41:06.36
the AC's...
00:41:06.39\00:41:07.80
Air conditioning.
Air conditioning system.
00:41:07.83\00:41:09.56
And so I was getting
introduced to the real world.
00:41:09.60\00:41:12.70
Because we have all the,
you know, we have electricity,
00:41:12.73\00:41:14.90
we have plumbing and everything.
00:41:14.94\00:41:16.81
And, yeah, if I
knew how much it costs,
00:41:16.84\00:41:18.47
I would have never tried it.
00:41:18.51\00:41:19.84
I had a couple,
00:41:19.87\00:41:21.21
almost a couple of heart attacks
00:41:21.24\00:41:22.58
throughout this like,
00:41:22.61\00:41:23.95
so I'm feeling
like, what in the world?
00:41:23.98\00:41:25.31
I'm not buying
property, you know.
00:41:25.35\00:41:27.02
So in your home,
00:41:27.05\00:41:28.38
do you still live
00:41:28.42\00:41:29.75
without
electricity and plumbing?
00:41:29.78\00:41:31.12
No, we don't.
00:41:31.15\00:41:32.49
We just got
electricity and plumbing
00:41:32.52\00:41:33.86
about six months ago.
00:41:33.89\00:41:35.22
Six months ago. Yeah.
00:41:35.26\00:41:36.59
It's just, your life,
it can be a lot cleaner.
00:41:36.62\00:41:38.29
It's something to
get used to. Yeah.
00:41:38.33\00:41:40.00
And we love it. I love.
00:41:40.03\00:41:41.36
We love walking up to a freezer
00:41:41.40\00:41:42.83
and there's
something cold there,
00:41:42.86\00:41:44.30
it's pretty awesome.
00:41:44.33\00:41:45.77
Wonderful.
00:41:45.80\00:41:47.14
So the building is
up, and people are coming.
00:41:47.17\00:41:51.11
What happens next?
00:41:51.14\00:41:52.51
So, so from here on out,
00:41:52.54\00:41:54.88
what we're doing
now is mass mail-outs.
00:41:54.91\00:41:56.75
We're working through
like project Steps to Christ.
00:41:56.78\00:41:59.78
Do mass
mail-out Steps to Christ.
00:41:59.81\00:42:01.75
And like I said, you know,
00:42:01.78\00:42:03.69
we didn't
really see this coming,
00:42:03.72\00:42:05.05
we thought
00:42:05.09\00:42:06.42
we would have to reach out more.
00:42:06.45\00:42:07.79
But it's not
really the way it's going.
00:42:07.82\00:42:09.22
Right now people are
open, people are just amazed.
00:42:09.26\00:42:12.23
It's amazing how many people
00:42:12.26\00:42:13.60
are actually
considering the Sabbath.
00:42:13.63\00:42:15.50
And once they
see a group like us,
00:42:15.53\00:42:17.90
they say, hey,
that, this is an option.
00:42:17.93\00:42:20.17
And so, yeah, we've
been kind of occupied
00:42:20.20\00:42:22.44
taking care of what we have.
00:42:22.47\00:42:23.81
Praise the Lord.
00:42:23.84\00:42:25.17
Yeah. Praise the Lord.
00:42:25.21\00:42:26.54
We got more fish on the
hook, I can tell you that,
00:42:26.57\00:42:28.38
they're not out of the pond yet.
00:42:28.41\00:42:29.74
Praise God.
00:42:29.78\00:42:31.11
Now, this church
is located where?
00:42:31.15\00:42:33.78
I mean the Amish
community is nearby,
00:42:33.82\00:42:35.78
or where is it located?
00:42:35.82\00:42:37.15
It's in the heart
of the Amish community,
00:42:37.19\00:42:38.52
there's about
350 Amish families,
00:42:38.55\00:42:40.39
and this is in the heart of it.
00:42:40.42\00:42:42.22
When you say 350 Amish family,
00:42:42.26\00:42:44.09
you're talking
about how many people
00:42:44.13\00:42:45.46
because you have
eight children in your home
00:42:45.49\00:42:47.60
and I heard something
about 14 in another home.
00:42:47.63\00:42:50.57
Yes, so the average,
00:42:50.60\00:42:51.93
I think the average
family has about nine children.
00:42:51.97\00:42:53.60
So you're looking at,
let's say 10 times 350,
00:42:53.64\00:42:56.44
you look at
3,500 people roughly.
00:42:56.47\00:42:59.34
And we tried so hard for years,
00:42:59.37\00:43:00.84
we tried so hard
to get out of there,
00:43:00.88\00:43:02.98
like for about
three or four years,
00:43:03.01\00:43:04.75
and the Lord
wouldn't open the doors.
00:43:04.78\00:43:06.51
And now we're so
glad we're there.
00:43:06.55\00:43:07.88
We thank God,
00:43:07.92\00:43:09.25
He doesn't always
answer our prayers,
00:43:09.28\00:43:10.62
He's like no, Andy, you
need to stay right there.
00:43:10.65\00:43:11.99
Wow. Praise the Lord.
00:43:12.02\00:43:13.36
Now, Gerry, you
were also involved
00:43:13.39\00:43:14.72
in the board.
00:43:14.76\00:43:16.09
Tell us about
some of the projects
00:43:16.12\00:43:17.46
that the board is considering
and what the future looks like?
00:43:17.49\00:43:21.96
Good question.
00:43:22.00\00:43:23.67
Our first burden
was to be available
00:43:23.70\00:43:26.13
for Anabaptist
people around the country
00:43:26.17\00:43:28.60
and sometimes around the world
00:43:28.64\00:43:30.14
who would be interested in
the great Adventist message
00:43:30.17\00:43:33.38
and just to be
there to encourage them
00:43:33.41\00:43:36.24
and help them,
guide them as needed.
00:43:36.28\00:43:39.68
The building
project was a big project.
00:43:39.71\00:43:42.12
That was kind of job number one.
00:43:42.15\00:43:44.62
We were graciously
granted or given this property,
00:43:44.65\00:43:48.26
about 10 acres,
which was just perfect.
00:43:48.29\00:43:50.53
It was an old fireworks factory,
00:43:50.56\00:43:52.09
believe it or not,
00:43:52.13\00:43:53.46
so we removed a
couple of buildings
00:43:53.50\00:43:55.00
and going to remove a few more
00:43:55.03\00:43:57.37
and add it on to the one we had,
00:43:57.40\00:43:58.97
made a beautiful sanctuary.
00:43:59.00\00:44:01.47
And, like Andy said,
00:44:01.50\00:44:03.84
another one of our burdens
00:44:03.87\00:44:05.21
and it beats in our
hearts all the time.
00:44:05.24\00:44:07.18
I'm thinking of a
precious quote it says,
00:44:07.21\00:44:09.51
no sooner does
someone come to Christ,
00:44:09.54\00:44:12.21
there is born in
their hearts a desire
00:44:12.25\00:44:14.75
to tell others about
a friend you've found.
00:44:14.78\00:44:17.49
Boy, that exemplifies
00:44:17.52\00:44:18.85
the whole West
Salem Mission Board.
00:44:18.89\00:44:20.32
We do, we just care
00:44:20.36\00:44:21.69
about the
wonderful Advent message
00:44:21.72\00:44:23.43
we want to share
with not only Anabaptist,
00:44:23.46\00:44:26.43
but anyone who's available.
00:44:26.46\00:44:29.30
Amen.
00:44:29.33\00:44:30.67
Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord.
00:44:30.70\00:44:32.03
So one of the
things you're doing
00:44:32.07\00:44:33.40
is you're doing mass mail-outs.
00:44:33.44\00:44:36.20
I have a question concerning.
00:44:36.24\00:44:38.54
I mean, you're talking
about the Amish community,
00:44:38.57\00:44:40.91
do you have literature that when
00:44:40.94\00:44:46.28
or are you
planning to make literature,
00:44:46.31\00:44:49.38
prepare literature,
00:44:49.42\00:44:50.75
so that when an
Amish person receives,
00:44:50.79\00:44:52.55
it says, he has
no problem opening it
00:44:52.59\00:44:55.69
and looking into it to read it.
00:44:55.72\00:44:59.59
Is there such a thing for them?
00:44:59.63\00:45:01.96
That's a good question.
00:45:02.00\00:45:03.33
It's amazing you bring that up
because I get calls frequently.
00:45:03.37\00:45:05.53
Andy, do you have any literature
00:45:05.57\00:45:06.90
that is
specifically designed for them?
00:45:06.94\00:45:08.30
We're in the process.
00:45:08.34\00:45:09.67
I'm writing, I love
to write, I'm getting,
00:45:09.70\00:45:11.47
I was asking
Gerry a ton of questions
00:45:11.51\00:45:13.07
in a way down because
he likes to write like,
00:45:13.11\00:45:15.14
I got eighth grade education.
00:45:15.18\00:45:16.95
And even though I love
to read and love to write,
00:45:16.98\00:45:20.45
when it comes to
grammar, I need some help.
00:45:20.48\00:45:22.28
So we were
spending time on that.
00:45:22.32\00:45:23.89
But we are working on that
00:45:23.92\00:45:25.25
to come up with
our own literature,
00:45:25.29\00:45:26.82
because we have,
as Adventists we have
00:45:26.86\00:45:28.52
a tremendous amount
of great literature.
00:45:28.56\00:45:30.56
But so many times
00:45:30.59\00:45:31.93
certain topics
are not addressed.
00:45:31.96\00:45:33.73
Okay.
00:45:33.76\00:45:35.10
And you know,
like 2 Timothy 3:14.
00:45:35.13\00:45:37.17
And so, yeah, what's
relevant for one culture
00:45:37.20\00:45:40.40
is irrelevant for another
one, you know what I'm saying?
00:45:40.44\00:45:42.17
So, we are working on that.
00:45:42.20\00:45:43.87
That's a very good point.
00:45:43.91\00:45:45.24
You know, you
brought out 2 Timothy 3:14,
00:45:45.27\00:45:47.44
and you said that for the Amish,
00:45:47.48\00:45:49.31
there's tradition that
they look that is higher,
00:45:49.34\00:45:52.98
or they would
believe that tradition more
00:45:53.01\00:45:55.48
because they
have been practicing
00:45:55.52\00:45:56.85
for so long,
00:45:56.89\00:45:58.22
instead of the Bible.
00:45:58.25\00:45:59.72
So, you have to come
up with some literature
00:45:59.75\00:46:03.83
or some way of
explaining to them,
00:46:03.86\00:46:05.93
you know,
tradition has some good merit
00:46:05.96\00:46:09.70
when it is found on
biblical principles.
00:46:09.73\00:46:14.97
But when it departs
from biblical principles,
00:46:15.00\00:46:17.11
then tradition
has to be set aside.
00:46:17.14\00:46:19.47
And this is a...
00:46:19.51\00:46:20.84
This was a struggle
perhaps for Naomi or you.
00:46:20.88\00:46:24.31
Can you address that in any way?
00:46:24.35\00:46:26.08
Naomi, what would
you say about that?
00:46:26.11\00:46:27.52
You mean you have tradition,
00:46:27.55\00:46:28.88
and then you have these
things you were learning?
00:46:28.92\00:46:30.99
Right. It's a good thought.
00:46:31.02\00:46:33.12
Well, I do remember telling him
00:46:33.15\00:46:35.02
when we first started talking
00:46:35.06\00:46:38.16
or trying to go
towards the Adventist.
00:46:38.19\00:46:42.43
I looked at him
one day and I said,
00:46:42.46\00:46:45.97
this is not possible
that we can keep the Sabbath
00:46:46.00\00:46:50.04
and not break the
fifth commandment,
00:46:50.07\00:46:53.48
because it said, honor
00:46:53.51\00:46:55.44
and honor thy
father and thy mother.
00:46:55.48\00:46:57.55
And I thought that
honor means obeying.
00:46:57.58\00:47:01.22
And I thought...
00:47:01.25\00:47:02.58
Just strictly obeying.
00:47:02.62\00:47:03.95
Yes, you do
whatever they tell you,
00:47:03.99\00:47:05.52
whatever they teach you.
00:47:05.55\00:47:07.42
And I thought by
doing, by keeping the Sabbath,
00:47:07.46\00:47:11.23
we would not be
staying by what we were taught
00:47:11.26\00:47:14.60
according to that verse.
00:47:14.63\00:47:16.53
So I did struggle with that.
00:47:16.56\00:47:18.27
But then he explained
it in a different way to me
00:47:18.30\00:47:21.20
and I was able to see
that we need to follow God,
00:47:21.24\00:47:25.64
according to His Word,
and the rest will be okay.
00:47:25.67\00:47:28.54
Praise God. So there's...
00:47:28.58\00:47:29.91
The Lord used you, Holy
Spirit to make it clear.
00:47:29.94\00:47:33.25
And so this is a process.
00:47:33.28\00:47:36.52
Now you said
that the Amish people,
00:47:36.55\00:47:38.99
they seem to be
looking for something,
00:47:39.02\00:47:43.22
they seem to be,
some are drifting away,
00:47:43.26\00:47:46.93
but there's unrest,
00:47:46.96\00:47:48.76
you used the word
unrest before we got.
00:47:48.80\00:47:50.60
What is this unrest about?
00:47:50.63\00:47:52.43
I think this unrest is
the Spirit of God is moving.
00:47:52.47\00:47:55.57
God is working in
these people's hearts
00:47:55.60\00:47:57.21
and so we have,
00:47:57.24\00:47:59.54
all these people that are,
00:47:59.57\00:48:01.84
yeah, they're feeling
that something different,
00:48:01.88\00:48:04.11
they are
experiencing something missing
00:48:04.15\00:48:05.85
in their lives.
00:48:05.88\00:48:07.22
And so, yeah...
00:48:07.25\00:48:09.45
Retention rate, high 90%.
00:48:09.48\00:48:11.15
That's true,
00:48:11.19\00:48:12.52
so their retention rate
is like 96% or something.
00:48:12.55\00:48:15.76
It used to be higher,
has dropped a little bit.
00:48:15.79\00:48:18.23
But even though there's
still a lot of people leaving,
00:48:18.26\00:48:20.16
you still have a
pretty high retention rate.
00:48:20.20\00:48:22.76
And, yeah, the
Spirit of God is moving.
00:48:22.80\00:48:25.43
And in the Amish church,
00:48:25.47\00:48:26.97
the leaders are
not leaders per Se,
00:48:27.00\00:48:29.07
they are more herders, you
know, they herd the people.
00:48:29.10\00:48:33.38
And so, and the
young generation,
00:48:33.41\00:48:36.14
as they see people leaving like,
00:48:36.18\00:48:38.18
by beholding you
become changed, right?
00:48:38.21\00:48:40.28
And so in the Amish community,
00:48:40.32\00:48:42.12
what's happening is
like my nieces and nephews,
00:48:42.15\00:48:44.32
they're growing up
in a different world.
00:48:44.35\00:48:46.55
They're looking at
me because they love me.
00:48:46.59\00:48:49.32
And they're
like, he can't be lost.
00:48:49.36\00:48:51.59
You know,
00:48:51.63\00:48:52.96
there's
something wrong with this.
00:48:52.99\00:48:54.33
And so, yeah, yeah, it's partly
00:48:54.36\00:48:56.40
because they see
that there's a change
00:48:56.43\00:48:59.40
and so it
prompts people to think.
00:48:59.43\00:49:01.60
As I was growing up, we
didn't think for ourselves,
00:49:01.64\00:49:04.01
you know, we just did
what we were told to do.
00:49:04.04\00:49:06.44
But the young generation
today, not so much that way.
00:49:06.47\00:49:08.98
Not so much that way.
00:49:09.01\00:49:10.35
So, it seems to me
00:49:10.38\00:49:12.35
that God has
blessed you with a ministry
00:49:12.38\00:49:15.55
to be able to
reach the Amish community
00:49:15.58\00:49:18.22
in a way that others cannot.
00:49:18.25\00:49:20.26
I mean, for, like, you say
00:49:20.29\00:49:22.59
the English people
coming to the Amish community,
00:49:22.62\00:49:24.93
they will be
shunned, they will be...
00:49:24.96\00:49:27.93
Basically they don't
want anything to do with them.
00:49:27.96\00:49:30.47
But you know how they live,
you know what they believe in.
00:49:30.50\00:49:34.84
And so, I think we
need to ask our friends,
00:49:34.87\00:49:40.08
our listeners and
viewers to pray for you,
00:49:40.11\00:49:42.58
because this is a
ministry that is vital,
00:49:42.61\00:49:46.38
very important to
reach the Amish community
00:49:46.41\00:49:49.02
to reach the Anabaptist in a way
00:49:49.05\00:49:51.69
that it seems to me
00:49:51.72\00:49:54.22
that it's hard to
reach them some other way.
00:49:54.26\00:49:55.89
It's true.
00:49:55.92\00:49:57.26
I mean, they don't have
radio, for the most part,
00:49:57.29\00:49:59.16
they don't have television.
00:49:59.19\00:50:00.70
So this is face to
face work and literature.
00:50:00.73\00:50:03.26
Amen.
00:50:03.30\00:50:04.63
Absolutely. Yeah.
00:50:04.67\00:50:06.00
And you know, it's
only by God's people
00:50:06.03\00:50:08.37
praying that this
ministry has been sustained
00:50:08.40\00:50:10.94
and their support,
00:50:10.97\00:50:12.31
because it has,
it's been a hard one.
00:50:12.34\00:50:14.44
Believe me, we've learned a lot
00:50:14.48\00:50:15.98
and we've been humbled out,
00:50:16.01\00:50:17.55
you know, plenty of
times and it's been a hard one.
00:50:17.58\00:50:20.15
It's been hard, but it's been,
00:50:20.18\00:50:21.88
it's been
fulfilling and like I said,
00:50:21.92\00:50:23.82
I will do it all over again.
00:50:23.85\00:50:25.19
You will do it
all over again. Okay.
00:50:25.22\00:50:26.55
Tell us what
some of your needs are
00:50:26.59\00:50:27.92
because we want to put
your contact information,
00:50:27.96\00:50:30.63
even if you want people to pray.
00:50:30.66\00:50:32.99
Tell about some of
the needs you still have
00:50:33.03\00:50:35.30
for the West Salem Mission?
00:50:35.33\00:50:36.80
Sure.
00:50:36.83\00:50:38.17
So I think the most
recent need is storage area.
00:50:38.20\00:50:41.70
So I think the... Storage area?
00:50:41.74\00:50:43.07
Okay.
00:50:43.10\00:50:44.44
Yeah, we have a picture of there
00:50:44.47\00:50:45.81
somewhere that shows...
00:50:45.84\00:50:47.18
Yeah, this is it.
00:50:47.21\00:50:48.54
So we're trying to build it
so it has different purposes,
00:50:48.58\00:50:50.51
so we could use it
for breakout sessions
00:50:50.55\00:50:52.11
at our annual camp meetings.
00:50:52.15\00:50:54.28
But it was also, it
will also serve as a garage,
00:50:54.32\00:50:58.32
garage type of building.
00:50:58.35\00:51:00.66
So we're fundraising for that.
00:51:00.69\00:51:02.72
We need a few
more bucks for that.
00:51:02.76\00:51:04.09
We hope to do that this year.
00:51:04.13\00:51:05.59
So that's the
main thing for now.
00:51:05.63\00:51:07.00
And then from there,
we want to go to a school,
00:51:07.03\00:51:09.26
there's a need for local school.
00:51:09.30\00:51:11.77
So we want to
open up our school.
00:51:11.80\00:51:13.27
And so that'll
be the next project.
00:51:13.30\00:51:15.34
You mentioned
something about a teacher?
00:51:15.37\00:51:17.57
Yeah, there's...
00:51:17.61\00:51:18.94
We really need a good teacher,
00:51:18.97\00:51:20.31
and we're not
sure where to look for.
00:51:20.34\00:51:21.68
We need some...
00:51:21.71\00:51:23.04
That's a matter of prayer.
That's a matter of prayer.
00:51:23.08\00:51:24.68
And so if
there's anybody out there
00:51:24.71\00:51:26.21
that is looking to teach school,
00:51:26.25\00:51:29.15
give us a call,
because we have a need for it.
00:51:29.18\00:51:31.25
Wonderful.
00:51:31.29\00:51:32.62
Well, we'd like to
share contact information
00:51:32.65\00:51:35.69
for the West Salem Mission.
00:51:35.72\00:51:37.63
And afterwards,
00:51:37.66\00:51:39.03
we would like to bring
you some news from 3ABN
00:51:39.06\00:51:42.66
that is of great
importance and vital information
00:51:42.70\00:51:45.73
that we'd like
to share with you.
00:51:45.77\00:51:47.10
So we'll be back
after these things.
00:51:47.14\00:51:51.97
To receive more information
about West Salem Mission,
00:51:52.01\00:51:54.98
and how you might
support their efforts,
00:51:55.01\00:51:57.18
please contact
them at (567) 334-1080.
00:51:57.21\00:52:03.42
That's (567)-334-1080.
00:52:03.45\00:52:08.56
Their website is
WestSalemMission.org.
00:52:08.59\00:52:12.79
That's WestSalemMission.org.
00:52:12.83\00:52:16.13
You may write to them
at 14700, Rickel Road,
00:52:16.16\00:52:20.87
West Salem, Ohio 44287.
00:52:20.90\00:52:25.41
That's 14700, Rickel
Road, West Salem, Ohio 44287.
00:52:25.44\00:52:32.01