I want to spend my life 00:00:04.63\00:00:09.87 mending broken people. 00:00:10.34\00:00:14.81 I want to spend my life 00:00:15.44\00:00:20.32 removing pain. 00:00:21.35\00:00:25.65 Lord, let my words 00:00:26.25\00:00:31.16 heal a heart that hurts. 00:00:31.66\00:00:36.26 I want to spend my life 00:00:36.67\00:00:41.84 mending broken people... 00:00:42.44\00:00:46.21 I want to spend my life 00:00:47.08\00:00:52.38 mending broken people. 00:00:53.05\00:00:57.39 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 00:01:07.30\00:01:10.10 We're so glad that you have joined us today! 00:01:10.30\00:01:12.40 You know, we're so thankful that you're part of the 3ABN 00:01:12.60\00:01:15.10 family, and thank you so very much for your prayers 00:01:15.30\00:01:17.97 and financial support for the ministry of 3ABN. 00:01:18.17\00:01:20.98 Ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ is Captain of the ship, 00:01:21.38\00:01:24.48 but He's using you as a vessel 00:01:24.68\00:01:27.42 to pour through this ministry - um-hmm - to impact 00:01:27.62\00:01:30.65 the entire world. Wow! What a thought, right? 00:01:30.85\00:01:34.32 So we just thank you for being a part of the family. 00:01:34.52\00:01:36.32 We look forward to spending this one hour with you 00:01:36.52\00:01:38.66 each and every day. Thank you for inviting us 00:01:38.86\00:01:41.20 into your living room or maybe you're... as I mentioned 00:01:41.40\00:01:43.57 driving in your car and listening to 3ABN Radio. 00:01:43.77\00:01:46.27 We're just so glad that you're part of the 3ABN family. 00:01:46.53\00:01:48.84 Jill, today there's a testimony program and I love testimonies. 00:01:49.24\00:01:53.54 And I love the testimony programs because it testifies 00:01:53.74\00:01:57.08 to the goodness of God. Amen. 00:01:57.28\00:01:59.91 And it testifies also that God cares about you. 00:02:00.12\00:02:05.05 Never forget that. 00:02:05.45\00:02:06.79 You can hear a testimony - this is a powerful testimony - 00:02:06.82\00:02:08.99 but remember that God has a tes- timony... you have a testimony 00:02:09.19\00:02:12.49 to share about what God is doing in YOUR life. 00:02:12.69\00:02:14.73 Never forget that. But this program today 00:02:14.93\00:02:17.03 means something special to me because... And why does it mean 00:02:17.23\00:02:19.90 mean something special? Yes... great question. 00:02:20.10\00:02:21.84 Comes from my old stomping grounds. 00:02:22.24\00:02:24.34 Don't know if you've ever heard those words before. 00:02:24.54\00:02:26.68 So home, of course, has been in Illinois for like 23 years 00:02:27.91\00:02:30.61 or so, but my growing-up years were what we call the tristate 00:02:30.81\00:02:34.25 area which is West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and Ohio. 00:02:34.45\00:02:38.82 So this testimony comes from West Virginia 00:02:39.02\00:02:41.42 and so it's near and dear to me. Absolutely! 00:02:41.62\00:02:43.79 And I think your parents had something to do with this 00:02:43.99\00:02:46.90 testimony as well which is exciting. We might hear 00:02:47.10\00:02:49.06 a little bit about that. But I love testimonies - me too - 00:02:49.26\00:02:52.10 because today we're going to meet an incredible couple 00:02:52.30\00:02:54.54 and we're going to see where God brought them from, 00:02:54.74\00:02:58.61 where God is using them now, 00:02:58.81\00:03:01.44 and what God is going to do in their lives. 00:03:01.64\00:03:03.41 We look forward with EAGER EXPECTATION - that's right - 00:03:03.61\00:03:06.31 to what He's going to do in their lives in the future. 00:03:06.51\00:03:08.98 So it's a testimony of grace. 00:03:09.18\00:03:10.99 It's a testimony of God's love. 00:03:11.19\00:03:13.52 And I can't wait to introduce them to you. 00:03:13.72\00:03:16.32 Pastor D.W. West and his wife Amber. 00:03:16.52\00:03:19.06 And we are delighted to have you here. 00:03:19.26\00:03:22.00 Of course, Pastor D.W. is in the Mountain View Conference 00:03:22.20\00:03:24.77 and we'll hear in a little bit. You're the administrative 00:03:24.97\00:03:26.63 assistant, Amber - yes - for the president there 00:03:26.84\00:03:29.17 in the Mountain View Conference. 00:03:29.37\00:03:30.71 And we'll hear a little bit about what you're doing now 00:03:30.74\00:03:32.51 but let's just jump right into your testimony. Good! 00:03:32.71\00:03:34.94 Go back to the beginning Pastor D.W. 00:03:35.14\00:03:37.45 Tell us what life was like growing up. 00:03:37.85\00:03:40.62 Well, life growing up was very interesting. 00:03:41.45\00:03:45.35 You know, we were young... My family was very different. 00:03:46.35\00:03:50.29 My mom's side of the family was very Pentecostal 00:03:50.49\00:03:53.86 while you had my father's side of the family 00:03:54.06\00:03:56.23 that was separated. You had Catholicism and Baptist. 00:03:56.43\00:04:01.30 So we eventually became United Methodists. 00:04:01.50\00:04:04.71 And very quickly we were given a prophecy seminar 00:04:05.11\00:04:09.01 flyer in the mail, and it was called Prophecy Explosion 00:04:09.21\00:04:12.65 with Dr. Russell Burrow, and boy, I was blessed! 00:04:12.85\00:04:16.15 I didn't even go to the children's programs 00:04:16.35\00:04:18.69 because I really was interested 00:04:18.89\00:04:21.22 in the true Word of God. 00:04:21.42\00:04:22.86 OK... so you were a young man, then, 00:04:23.06\00:04:24.69 is what you are saying then? I was 7. You were 7 years old? 00:04:24.89\00:04:27.30 OK... so your parents... Oh, hold on... hold on. 00:04:27.60\00:04:28.93 Let's read it nine. Nine... sorry. 00:04:28.96\00:04:31.53 I was seven when we joined the United Methodist church. 00:04:31.73\00:04:34.34 OK. Boy time flies, huh? 00:04:34.54\00:04:36.17 You were nine, and you actually went to the adult meetings 00:04:36.40\00:04:39.07 not the children's meetings. Yes, all 26. 00:04:39.27\00:04:40.61 They tried to get me to go to the youth meetings 00:04:40.78\00:04:43.18 but they quickly found out when I was asking Russell Burrow 00:04:43.38\00:04:46.31 and President Randy Murphy thirty questions a night 00:04:46.51\00:04:49.42 that I wasn't going to work in the children's room. 00:04:49.62\00:04:52.35 So this was a nine-year-old asking questions. 00:04:52.75\00:04:54.76 BIG questions. Wow! Praise the Lord. 00:04:55.16\00:04:57.69 Do you remember some of those questions? 00:04:57.89\00:04:59.23 Well I needed to understand why all these other churches 00:04:59.63\00:05:03.60 were worshiping on Sunday. 00:05:03.80\00:05:05.93 That was something I never understood. 00:05:06.13\00:05:08.44 Wow! I mean, this is all Bibli- cal. You read it in the Bible. 00:05:08.64\00:05:11.21 It speaks for itself. 00:05:11.41\00:05:12.97 And I was just confused as to why 00:05:13.17\00:05:15.61 so many people had been deceived by Satan. 00:05:15.81\00:05:18.78 But as I had grown older and as I went through the series 00:05:18.98\00:05:22.42 and we went through spiritual warfare 00:05:22.62\00:05:24.15 I quickly was shown how it happened. 00:05:24.35\00:05:27.26 And it all goes back to church history. 00:05:27.46\00:05:29.29 Um-hmm. You know, that's pretty incredible 'cause I think about 00:05:30.13\00:05:32.86 the journeys of life. 'Cause Jill mentioned 00:05:33.06\00:05:35.40 you're a pastor now which is just incredible how God 00:05:35.60\00:05:38.03 took you to that point, but I think about also 00:05:38.23\00:05:40.47 what you're getting ready to share also because OK, 00:05:40.67\00:05:42.34 your parents are very religious sounds like right? 00:05:42.54\00:05:45.47 But you had questions about the faith. 00:05:45.67\00:05:47.54 Right? And then this flyer comes in the mail. 00:05:47.74\00:05:49.64 And then you're like: "Wow! Maybe this is truth then! " 00:05:49.84\00:05:52.61 This is a young man, right? Yes. 00:05:52.81\00:05:54.45 But then some things happen in your life that kind of sends you 00:05:54.65\00:05:56.75 down a downroad spiral. What happens next? 00:05:56.95\00:06:00.46 Well... before we could really get to that 00:06:00.66\00:06:02.66 you have to understand I went to Parkersburg Junior Academy. 00:06:02.86\00:06:06.19 SDA? Yes, it's a Seventh-day Adventist Academy. 00:06:06.39\00:06:09.06 It's sponsored by Parkersburg SDA Church 00:06:09.26\00:06:11.93 and many other Mt. View Conference churches. 00:06:12.13\00:06:14.60 And if I wouldn't have went there for three years 00:06:14.80\00:06:17.87 there wouldn't have been a foundation. Umm. 00:06:18.07\00:06:19.51 In fact, when I came back to the church 00:06:19.71\00:06:21.88 Kara Mace who went to the school with me 00:06:22.08\00:06:25.61 she reached out to me to invite me to Ten Nights of Prayer. 00:06:25.81\00:06:29.75 And that's how I was invited back into the church. 00:06:29.95\00:06:32.49 So I believe God worked very quickly 00:06:32.69\00:06:35.49 because He had that foundation set in me 00:06:35.69\00:06:38.73 for those three years that I went to the school. 00:06:38.93\00:06:40.76 Now, this is no accident. 00:06:40.96\00:06:42.30 When I came back to the church 00:06:42.36\00:06:44.27 and started working for the school 00:06:44.43\00:06:46.13 guess what happened? I began working 00:06:46.33\00:06:48.30 with a person named Darlene Molina... Mrs. Molina... 00:06:48.50\00:06:51.67 formerly Miss Whiteman... 00:06:52.07\00:06:54.84 who was my art teacher when I went to school there. 00:06:55.04\00:06:58.31 Oh wow! Now you know that God has things "providenced" out. 00:06:58.51\00:07:01.92 And it was very clear to me that God was calling me back 00:07:02.12\00:07:04.85 into the ministry. Wow! So let's go back 00:07:05.05\00:07:07.82 just for a moment to when you were nine 00:07:08.02\00:07:09.66 and you attended the prophecy series 00:07:09.86\00:07:12.86 and you learned about all these truths, these answers 00:07:13.06\00:07:15.83 to these questions that you had. 00:07:16.03\00:07:17.37 And then you and your family were baptized at that point? 00:07:17.67\00:07:20.10 We came in by profession of faith. 00:07:20.50\00:07:22.67 We were just recently baptized into the United Methodist church 00:07:22.87\00:07:26.27 OK - but they don't like to talk about prophecy. 00:07:26.47\00:07:28.81 They don't like to talk about Revelation. 00:07:29.01\00:07:30.75 So that was kind of difficult for us 00:07:30.95\00:07:33.15 and we wanted to be fed by the true... 00:07:33.35\00:07:35.55 we wanted to be rooted in the Biblical truth of God 00:07:35.75\00:07:39.35 from His Bible and His Word. 00:07:39.55\00:07:41.52 And I think we have a video. Let's see if we can play 00:07:41.72\00:07:44.29 just a clip. This is you when you were nine years old 00:07:44.49\00:07:46.59 coming into the church then, right? That's right. OK. 00:07:46.80\00:07:49.16 And you'll hear them talk about Russell Burrow and President 00:07:49.36\00:07:52.33 Randy Murphy as well. 00:07:52.53\00:07:53.87 Let's take a look at that video right now. 00:07:54.04\00:07:55.77 We know that D.W. will not only lead his parents 00:07:57.31\00:08:00.61 to the Lord. We feel that God will use him 00:08:00.81\00:08:03.55 in a mighty way to lead many others to the Lord, too. 00:08:03.75\00:08:06.51 Amen! 00:08:06.72\00:08:08.38 You know, I think what's amazing about that video 00:08:11.25\00:08:13.39 D.W. is that here you are, a young man. You're 9 years old. 00:08:13.59\00:08:17.43 You're standing up there on the platform with your parents. 00:08:17.63\00:08:20.56 That's your parents right there in that video as well, 00:08:20.76\00:08:22.36 going back to the mid 90's you said? 1995! 00:08:22.56\00:08:25.60 1995. That's why the quality is the way it is. 00:08:25.80\00:08:28.90 But I just again... which we're going to touch on again... 00:08:29.10\00:08:31.27 this is an incredible testimony. 00:08:31.47\00:08:33.01 But again how they said you had an impact on your 00:08:33.21\00:08:35.81 parents' life but then they said - almost like a prophecy - 00:08:36.01\00:08:38.41 may I say that and say "You're going to have an impact 00:08:38.61\00:08:41.38 in many other lives for eternity. " 00:08:41.58\00:08:43.79 And look at God! Look what God has done. 00:08:43.99\00:08:46.62 We're going to get more into that. Hallelujah! Amen! 00:08:46.82\00:08:49.06 In very little time! Yes... Amen. 00:08:49.26\00:08:51.63 Amber, let's go to you. Yes. So tell us about your growing up. 00:08:51.83\00:08:54.36 Did you grow up in a Christian family? Parents love the Lord? 00:08:54.56\00:08:57.83 Well yes, my grandmother was very religious 00:08:58.03\00:09:00.64 and she attended the Methodist church in my community 00:09:00.84\00:09:03.20 and my mother as well. 00:09:03.61\00:09:04.94 In West Virginia? In West Virginia. OK. 00:09:04.97\00:09:06.57 We would go to church every Sunday and Wednesday's. 00:09:06.78\00:09:08.94 And yeah, I was rooted in Christianity. 00:09:09.14\00:09:12.35 You know, I had God in my heart when I was very young. 00:09:12.55\00:09:17.55 Um-hmm. So yeah, I was in the Methodist church 00:09:17.75\00:09:22.19 until my teenage years. 00:09:22.39\00:09:23.89 And you know at that time my youth pastor left my church 00:09:24.09\00:09:28.43 and a lot of different things were happening in my life. 00:09:28.63\00:09:32.23 My mother and my father got divorced. 00:09:32.63\00:09:35.67 Ah... My mother moved out. 00:09:35.87\00:09:37.64 Did that make you question God or? It did. 00:09:37.84\00:09:40.38 How did it impact? It was embarrassing... 00:09:40.58\00:09:42.01 more so at that time because none of my friends parents 00:09:42.21\00:09:45.38 were divorced. How old were you? I was 00:09:45.58\00:09:48.08 going into high school so I think I... Yeah. 00:09:49.22\00:09:52.65 I was a teenager 00:09:52.85\00:09:54.19 and it was right before I was going into high school. 00:09:54.36\00:09:57.59 So a lot of changes were happening in my life. 00:09:57.79\00:10:00.00 Yeah. So yeah, that happened and I stopped going to church 00:10:00.20\00:10:04.30 and I questioned my faith. 00:10:04.70\00:10:08.57 And I started searching for a different way 00:10:08.77\00:10:13.34 of what I believed. 00:10:14.64\00:10:16.51 And so I was out of the church for many years. 00:10:16.71\00:10:20.52 And right after I graduated high school 00:10:21.38\00:10:27.39 my father passed in his sleep. 00:10:27.59\00:10:29.39 Oh... And I was a Daddy's girl 00:10:29.59\00:10:31.63 so that really affected me. 00:10:31.83\00:10:33.63 And that made me hate God 00:10:33.83\00:10:37.10 and I didn't believe in Him at all at that point. 00:10:37.77\00:10:41.70 Did you think that God had caused your father to die? 00:10:41.90\00:10:44.97 Or that He had allowed him to die? Or? 00:10:45.17\00:10:48.34 Um, yeah, I think I believed that God 00:10:49.04\00:10:52.31 didn't care about me, you know. 00:10:54.22\00:10:57.22 Allowed... took him out of my life 00:10:57.42\00:10:59.45 so I felt abandoned. Yes. 00:10:59.65\00:11:01.66 And at that point, I rebelled. 00:11:01.96\00:11:07.86 Let's just say that. 00:11:08.06\00:11:09.40 So through high school I was rebellious 00:11:09.53\00:11:12.53 and I did what I wanted. 00:11:12.73\00:11:14.60 And for many years I was lost 00:11:14.80\00:11:18.74 and sinning and doing things you shouldn't do. 00:11:19.67\00:11:24.21 And I just... it took many years 00:11:24.61\00:11:30.19 really for me to come back to God. 00:11:30.39\00:11:32.35 MANY years. 00:11:32.55\00:11:33.89 And the way I came back was actually D.W. 00:11:34.12\00:11:37.73 invited me to church... to his SDA church. 00:11:37.93\00:11:41.36 Wow! And I didn't really want to go. 00:11:41.56\00:11:45.17 But why did I invite you? 00:11:45.37\00:11:46.94 Why did you invite me? 00:11:47.14\00:11:48.77 We were going to get married. 00:11:51.17\00:11:52.71 Yes. So let's put a pause on that for just a second. 00:11:52.91\00:11:56.54 Let's leave you where you're say wandering: 00:11:56.75\00:11:59.31 you know, as far as mad at God, upset. 00:11:59.51\00:12:02.48 We'll pause you coming back to church 00:12:02.88\00:12:04.45 and let's go to your years of wandering, D.W. 00:12:04.65\00:12:07.36 You came in by profession of faith at 9 years old. 00:12:07.56\00:12:10.86 Went to Parkersburg Junior Academy 00:12:11.06\00:12:12.79 and then what happened? Did your walk with God 00:12:12.99\00:12:15.40 stay consistent or what happened? 00:12:15.60\00:12:17.37 It stayed consistent for a very long time. 00:12:17.77\00:12:20.04 I became a junior deacon, was very heavily involved 00:12:20.24\00:12:22.80 with the church with my father and my mother. 00:12:23.00\00:12:25.07 However, unfortunately, Parkersburg Junior Academy 00:12:25.84\00:12:29.54 didn't have a choral music program. 00:12:29.74\00:12:31.71 So you loved music then? 00:12:31.91\00:12:33.25 I did! And in fact in sixth grade I was... 00:12:33.35\00:12:36.08 Judy Hinson helped me with the University of Illinois. 00:12:37.25\00:12:41.82 I will save you from having to hear the alma mater. 00:12:42.02\00:12:46.39 OK. But anyway... what was neat 00:12:46.59\00:12:49.90 was that they wanted me to go to that school 00:12:50.10\00:12:52.43 so they were going to give me a scholarship. 00:12:52.63\00:12:54.54 It was a blessing, but I turned it down 00:12:54.74\00:12:57.37 because as I got older - and we can get into that 00:12:57.57\00:13:00.68 later if you want - but my mom went to the... 00:13:00.88\00:13:03.01 to prison. She was imprisoned in the state of West Virginia 00:13:03.21\00:13:06.15 at the very same time that Martha Stewart was in prison. 00:13:06.55\00:13:09.78 So that was really hard on me... especially in high school. 00:13:09.98\00:13:12.92 So as my dad kept... He fell back into the world 00:13:13.12\00:13:17.89 and was drinking and smoking 00:13:18.09\00:13:19.66 and had DUI's and he was on home confinement. 00:13:19.86\00:13:22.33 And here was my mom in prison and I'm really all alone 00:13:22.53\00:13:25.83 to figure everything out on my own. 00:13:26.03\00:13:27.80 There's no choral music program at Parkersburg Junior Academy. 00:13:28.20\00:13:31.27 So then I go to the junior high and then I go to the high school 00:13:31.47\00:13:35.71 and it just keeps getting worse and worse. 00:13:35.91\00:13:37.95 But I thought things were going well. 00:13:38.15\00:13:40.02 You know, and I became a musician. 00:13:40.22\00:13:42.82 And we just took off and we became very popular. 00:13:43.02\00:13:46.35 And then I started a recording studio and a record label 00:13:46.55\00:13:49.49 up in Columbus. But my parents became sick 00:13:49.69\00:13:52.79 so I came home. Was your mom still in prison? 00:13:52.99\00:13:55.36 Or she had gotten out? She finally got back out of prison. 00:13:55.56\00:13:57.77 And so we came home... or I came home 00:13:58.17\00:14:01.87 because Amber and I hadn't... 00:14:02.07\00:14:03.41 We knew each other from high school - 00:14:03.61\00:14:05.01 OK - but we weren't really close. 00:14:05.21\00:14:07.28 So we actually didn't get close until I moved back 00:14:07.48\00:14:10.38 from Columbus. You made just an interesting statement here 00:14:10.58\00:14:13.08 just a couple of seconds... minutes ago... 00:14:13.28\00:14:15.02 and that was: "Things were getting worse and worse 00:14:15.22\00:14:17.75 but you thought they were getting better and better. " 00:14:17.95\00:14:19.72 Yeah, that is interesting. So explain that a little bit 00:14:20.12\00:14:22.92 because there could be someone right now saying: "Yeah, my life 00:14:23.12\00:14:24.63 is pretty good" but actually it could be going downhill. 00:14:24.83\00:14:27.00 Well, can I share something with you? Please. 00:14:27.20\00:14:31.13 Yesterday I read this post. I shared it for my birthday 00:14:32.50\00:14:35.34 in 2016 and I thanked everybody for the birthday wishes 00:14:35.54\00:14:39.14 and I said: "I really feel like my life is headed in the right 00:14:39.34\00:14:42.14 direction" and I thought that was great. 00:14:42.34\00:14:44.81 But I wasn't heading in the right direction. In fact, 00:14:45.75\00:14:48.35 my life destructed all the way up until 2019 00:14:48.55\00:14:52.25 when I was invited to that Ten Days of Prayer. 00:14:52.45\00:14:55.22 And I shared that post and I said: "How foolish I was! " 00:14:55.42\00:14:59.49 OK, so explain, though, you talk as far as going down. 00:15:00.20\00:15:03.26 Are you talking like drugs? Alcohol? Oh yes! 00:15:03.47\00:15:06.63 Because life seemed good. In other words, 00:15:06.84\00:15:08.17 you seemed successful by the world's standards? 00:15:08.20\00:15:10.41 I was successful by the world's standards. You see 00:15:10.61\00:15:13.21 I owned a pro wrestling company. 00:15:13.41\00:15:15.24 We worked with TNA Impact wrestling. 00:15:15.44\00:15:18.61 We worked with WWE. 00:15:18.81\00:15:20.15 I'm on the WWE Network. I'm on all these wrestling 00:15:20.22\00:15:23.69 shows. I was a promoter... one of the top promoters 00:15:23.89\00:15:26.32 in the country. Not only that, but my Americana group 00:15:26.52\00:15:29.76 the Thorny Flat Mountain Boys at one point in time, we were 00:15:29.96\00:15:32.96 number one in the nation on the independent charts 00:15:33.16\00:15:35.96 and that's when I'm comin' back into the church. 00:15:36.16\00:15:38.33 And the devil was tryin' to get back to me. 00:15:38.53\00:15:40.94 You see, he will get us any way he can. 00:15:41.30\00:15:44.97 But then when he realizes he can't beat you up that way 00:15:45.37\00:15:49.04 any more he tries to find another sin you know in you 00:15:49.24\00:15:52.25 and he will come at us. BUT we have a God who is greater, 00:15:52.45\00:15:56.12 Amen? And I know that God has truly delivered me 00:15:56.32\00:15:59.69 from this and I know this was "providenced" out. 00:15:59.89\00:16:02.89 And it's not going to stop here. 00:16:03.09\00:16:05.36 I mean, I'm working with people in Uganda. 00:16:05.56\00:16:08.16 I'm working with people in Marietta, Ohio. 00:16:08.36\00:16:10.37 Two groups! Right now currently I work 00:16:10.57\00:16:13.50 with two groups in Uganda. 00:16:13.70\00:16:15.04 Now, I don't want anybody to be confused. 00:16:15.24\00:16:17.67 That's a hobby. We can get into that later. 00:16:17.87\00:16:20.38 But as far as my official duties 00:16:20.78\00:16:24.58 I have Marietta, which is interesting 'cause that's the 00:16:24.78\00:16:27.18 Ohio Conference - that's right - and I'm in the Mt. View Conf. 00:16:27.38\00:16:30.09 as a pastor for the Point Pleasant SDA church. 00:16:30.29\00:16:33.72 We'll talk more about that, too, but I'm not trying to harp 00:16:33.92\00:16:36.76 on this aspect of it but there's a lot of people 00:16:36.96\00:16:39.09 that struggle with addictions. I mean, it's unfortunate. 00:16:39.29\00:16:43.03 Maybe you are struggling with an addiction. 00:16:43.23\00:16:45.07 So maybe both of you want to speak on that 00:16:45.27\00:16:46.60 'cause you talked about also you struggling in high school years 00:16:46.63\00:16:48.57 right? So let's talk about that 00:16:48.77\00:16:51.01 aspect because God has obviously delivered you both. 00:16:51.21\00:16:53.41 Yes. So what is your question? My question is then 00:16:53.61\00:16:56.95 on addiction. So how does one overcome addiction? 00:16:57.15\00:16:59.48 Talk about the addiction part and then how do you actually 00:16:59.68\00:17:01.85 overcome that addiction 'cause this is a powerful aspect 00:17:02.05\00:17:03.79 to your testimony. Do you want to talk on that Amber? 00:17:03.99\00:17:05.59 Yeah, we were in bars every weekend 00:17:05.79\00:17:07.46 and during the week 'cause he played a lot of gigs. 00:17:07.66\00:17:10.19 And I wasn't ever much of a drinker - 00:17:10.39\00:17:13.90 but I would attend to support my husband. 00:17:14.30\00:17:17.83 of course - on his music career. I would always attend. 00:17:18.03\00:17:22.00 I would watch other people being intoxicated 00:17:22.40\00:17:26.94 and... Did you drink as well? 00:17:27.14\00:17:29.94 Occasionally but not much. I wasn't a drinker. 00:17:30.15\00:17:34.18 I wasn't a drinker. 00:17:34.38\00:17:36.89 I didn't really ever like the taste of alcohol. 00:17:37.09\00:17:38.69 So anyway... So my husband... you know, he was playing music 00:17:39.62\00:17:42.82 so I feel like he thought he needed to drink to perform 00:17:43.02\00:17:47.56 and you know just that aspect of it. 00:17:47.76\00:17:50.27 And we had many years of late nights... 00:17:50.47\00:17:55.14 late drunken nights -fights, But it got worse - and what not. 00:17:55.34\00:17:59.74 But yeah, it did get worse. 00:18:00.78\00:18:05.51 It started out mild - OK - 00:18:05.71\00:18:08.98 but as his career and his music career got more intense... 00:18:09.18\00:18:13.62 More successful which is incredible, isn't it? 00:18:14.02\00:18:16.76 Yeah, more successful. From the world's standards 00:18:16.96\00:18:18.73 you looked successful. Yes, uh-huh. 00:18:18.93\00:18:20.66 From that aspect it turned down a dark road. 00:18:21.06\00:18:25.37 And it was hard on our marriage. 00:18:25.57\00:18:28.20 And D.W. hid things from me. 00:18:28.40\00:18:31.97 That was very hard, and, yeah... So D.W. 00:18:32.17\00:18:36.61 would you like to talk? Well... 00:18:36.81\00:18:41.45 I developed a cocaine problem 00:18:42.58\00:18:45.62 because... You know, it's interesting: I hated cocaine. 00:18:45.82\00:18:49.42 I never was one that liked to go "up. " 00:18:49.82\00:18:52.43 I liked to go "down. " 00:18:52.63\00:18:54.03 And she knew that, so it was so weird that I... 00:18:54.23\00:18:57.10 but because in the blue grass industry it's everywhere. 00:18:57.30\00:19:01.67 Even in some of these Christian music industries 00:19:01.87\00:19:04.77 it's everywhere. 00:19:04.97\00:19:06.31 It's really sad. I tried to give it up twice. 00:19:06.44\00:19:10.65 Cocaine? I did. It was rough. 00:19:10.85\00:19:13.11 I mean, I overcame pain killer addiction 00:19:13.31\00:19:16.62 when I was much younger while my mom was in prison. 00:19:16.82\00:19:18.99 That was actually pretty easy. 00:19:19.19\00:19:20.76 Cocaine was hard... I couldn't give it up. 00:19:20.96\00:19:23.83 I tell you... Did Amber know you were struggling with cocaine? 00:19:24.03\00:19:27.33 Oh yeah. That was the things I was hiding from her. 00:19:27.53\00:19:29.63 She'd keep catching me and catching me 00:19:29.83\00:19:31.37 and catching me. It was gettin' worse 00:19:31.57\00:19:33.00 and I don't know if we were going to make it to be honest. 00:19:33.40\00:19:36.20 You know, it was kind of... So here you are. 00:19:36.40\00:19:39.31 You're running some businesses and you're addicted to cocaine. 00:19:39.51\00:19:41.78 That's amazing... yeah. Yeah, I was. 00:19:42.98\00:19:45.31 And because I had to work there wasn't enough hours 00:19:45.51\00:19:48.28 in one day. But you know what? 00:19:48.48\00:19:50.22 There's not enough hours in one day? 00:19:50.42\00:19:52.42 But if we can surrender to Jesus, if we can surrender 00:19:52.62\00:19:55.82 to God and if we do His work and we don't burn ourselves out 00:19:56.02\00:20:00.13 and we ask Him to interrupt our lives 00:20:00.33\00:20:02.66 and to direct our schedules then He will make those 24 hours 00:20:02.86\00:20:06.53 work. Amen to that! 00:20:06.74\00:20:08.07 So let me tell you how I overcame it: I didn't. 00:20:08.27\00:20:11.97 Very good. That's good. You want to know what happened? 00:20:12.17\00:20:14.44 I was invited to that Ten Nights of Prayer. 00:20:14.64\00:20:16.75 Pastor Daniel was there; Valerie was there. 00:20:16.95\00:20:19.48 We did the Ten Nights of Prayer. Kara invited me. 00:20:19.68\00:20:22.48 I walked in... I'm not going to lie to you: 00:20:23.49\00:20:25.15 I had a bag of cocaine. I did a line downstairs. 00:20:25.35\00:20:27.72 Won't even lie... right in the bathroom. 00:20:27.92\00:20:29.66 Wow! Sad, isn't it? Mercy! 00:20:29.86\00:20:31.89 This is the Parkersburg church where you had been when you were 00:20:32.09\00:20:34.10 a young person? Yeah. So we go upstairs; 00:20:34.30\00:20:36.60 we do the Ten Nights of Prayer. 00:20:36.80\00:20:38.37 I'm crying like a baby I'm so convicted. 00:20:38.57\00:20:41.54 And then I go back downstairs 00:20:41.74\00:20:44.54 and I poured all that cocaine into the toilet 00:20:44.74\00:20:48.51 and I flushed it and I have not touched it since. 00:20:48.71\00:20:51.38 Wow! Praise the Lord! 00:20:51.58\00:20:53.11 In January of 2019 and I will never touch it again. 00:20:53.31\00:20:57.62 You see, I will only rely on the Lord 00:20:57.82\00:21:00.72 and the Lord only. God will direct our steps. 00:21:00.92\00:21:04.13 "Thy Word is a lamp unto our feet & a light unto our path. " 00:21:04.33\00:21:07.30 You see, if this room was completely dark 00:21:07.50\00:21:10.10 and we set up 40 chairs from that doorway 00:21:10.30\00:21:14.40 to the doorway back there and we couldn't see 00:21:14.60\00:21:17.54 but we got our little cell- phones and our flashlight out 00:21:17.74\00:21:20.04 we could make it each chair by chair 00:21:20.24\00:21:22.54 but you wouldn't be able to like skip 6 chairs. Right. 00:21:22.74\00:21:25.05 You see, we can't see 5 or 10 yrs. down the road. 00:21:25.25\00:21:27.85 That's good. But the Holy Spirit will lead us. 00:21:28.05\00:21:30.52 And that's why every day in order to overcome addiction 00:21:30.72\00:21:34.76 you have to give it to Jesus. 00:21:34.96\00:21:37.09 And I know that sounds cliché 00:21:37.29\00:21:38.76 and maybe I sound like a broken record... 00:21:38.96\00:21:41.36 Oh I did it... Maybe I sound like a broken record 00:21:41.56\00:21:44.53 but the fact of the matter is 00:21:44.73\00:21:46.13 is we have to surrender these problems to Jesus. 00:21:46.33\00:21:49.54 That's right. Because I tried twice 00:21:49.74\00:21:52.07 and then I went back to cocaine, right? 00:21:52.27\00:21:54.91 But the moment I surrendered it to Jesus 00:21:55.11\00:21:57.95 I gave it up for good. 00:21:58.15\00:21:59.55 Now you know who taught me that? 00:21:59.75\00:22:01.88 My father. My father was able to overcome alcohol 00:22:02.08\00:22:07.02 and cigarettes. By the blood of Jesus Christ 00:22:07.22\00:22:10.26 he would claim it, and he could quit cold turkey 00:22:10.46\00:22:12.93 and have no detoxing or anything. 00:22:13.13\00:22:16.33 Wow! That's incredible. You know: the Lord is powerful. 00:22:16.53\00:22:18.30 He is! God is good. 00:22:18.50\00:22:19.90 You know, it's the surrender aspect. And talking about 00:22:20.10\00:22:22.20 Pastor Daniel and Valerie, and of course, that's my folks. 00:22:22.40\00:22:24.41 And I remember my dad and mom mentioning: "Wow! 00:22:24.67\00:22:27.21 There's an incredible young man and young woman 00:22:27.41\00:22:30.38 that are attending the church and are so excited 00:22:30.58\00:22:33.42 and so passionate. " And little did any of us know 00:22:33.62\00:22:36.42 right? where God was going to be leading you all. 00:22:36.62\00:22:37.95 And here you are working at the conference office. 00:22:38.12\00:22:39.49 The Lord has given you some churches. One that was closed 00:22:39.69\00:22:41.92 which we'll talk about in just a minute and it's open 00:22:42.16\00:22:43.73 now, but I just go back to hope. 00:22:43.93\00:22:46.70 There's someone right now that's in despair. 00:22:47.43\00:22:49.00 There's someone that's goin' to the bars every night 00:22:49.20\00:22:51.43 or their alcohol, cigarettes, drugs. 00:22:51.63\00:22:54.17 Maybe just flipped the channel right now; just came across this 00:22:54.37\00:22:57.07 like: "There's no hope for me... God's done with me. " 00:22:57.27\00:22:59.81 But there IS hope! There is hope. 00:23:00.01\00:23:01.34 Let's speak on that and then we'll move on 00:23:01.44\00:23:03.01 to your testimony. You want to speak to that 00:23:03.21\00:23:04.55 then about the hope? That you don't give up? 00:23:04.58\00:23:06.48 Yes. So actually I attended a women's retreat 00:23:06.68\00:23:09.82 for the Mountain View Conference office. OK. 00:23:10.02\00:23:12.25 And I was hesitant about it, you know. 00:23:12.45\00:23:14.26 Why were you? Why was I hesitant? 00:23:15.56\00:23:17.63 Because I didn't pray. I didn't read the Bible. 00:23:17.83\00:23:23.13 I, you know... Were you still mad at God? 00:23:23.33\00:23:26.07 Oh yes! Your father passed? My father passing, yes. 00:23:26.27\00:23:29.27 Very mad. So I go to this women's retreat 00:23:29.47\00:23:31.94 and I meet lovely women. 00:23:32.14\00:23:34.64 And I find out that the speaker 00:23:34.84\00:23:40.22 she was very... a wonderful speaker. 00:23:40.42\00:23:43.32 And she came and I think she's in 3ABN. 00:23:43.52\00:23:46.22 OK? Was it Linda? 00:23:47.36\00:23:49.22 Linda, yes! Linda Johnson. Linda Johnson. 00:23:49.42\00:23:51.63 We LOVE Linda. Yes! So she spoke about her father. 00:23:51.83\00:23:54.33 She had recently lost her father. 00:23:54.53\00:23:56.93 That's correct. And that touched me. 00:23:57.13\00:24:00.34 When I went there I was very... I was "Ah, 00:24:00.74\00:24:05.41 I'm going to this retreat. I don't even... Yeah. " 00:24:05.61\00:24:08.68 I was not feeling it. We're probably gonna be reading 00:24:09.08\00:24:11.95 the Bible. Yes! They're gonna be praying and all this stuff. 00:24:12.15\00:24:14.58 Yes. I was uncomfortable, but I went out of my comfort zone. 00:24:14.78\00:24:17.55 Good for you! And the second night 00:24:17.75\00:24:21.06 I asked... I talked to God. I sat in my chair 00:24:21.26\00:24:24.19 and I forgave him. 00:24:24.39\00:24:27.43 I said: "OK, well... nothing's working. 00:24:28.33\00:24:32.90 You know, nothing that I'm doing is working. 00:24:34.17\00:24:36.20 so I guess maybe I'm wrong? " 00:24:37.31\00:24:40.08 And yeah, I left there 00:24:40.58\00:24:45.08 and a few weeks later I had a dream. 00:24:45.28\00:24:50.45 And it was at the Parkersburg church. And I woke up 00:24:50.65\00:24:54.76 from the dream, and from the dream I got 00:24:54.96\00:24:58.23 this man at the front of the... by the piano 00:24:58.43\00:25:03.20 at the front of the church he had his arms wide open. 00:25:03.40\00:25:05.67 And I ran and I hugged him. 00:25:06.07\00:25:10.31 And it felt like my father. 00:25:10.51\00:25:11.97 You know, when you hug your parents 00:25:12.17\00:25:17.31 you know that love... I could feel it. 00:25:17.51\00:25:19.41 And when I woke up I was like: "Wow! 00:25:19.61\00:25:22.35 that wasn't my dad. " But it felt like my dad. 00:25:24.49\00:25:27.82 And I realized, though, my father was gone 00:25:28.22\00:25:31.29 and that he was sleeping. 00:25:31.49\00:25:33.16 That my heavenly Father had been with me the entire time - Amen - 00:25:33.36\00:25:38.83 that I was struggling. Yeah... yes. 00:25:39.03\00:25:41.77 See that's powerful 'cause we're talking about hope. 00:25:41.97\00:25:43.71 That's hope. So in the midst of your struggles 00:25:43.91\00:25:46.61 God's right there. You may not always feel Him 00:25:47.01\00:25:49.38 and know that He's there but He is, right? 00:25:49.58\00:25:51.28 That's what you're saying. Um-hmm... yep. 00:25:51.48\00:25:52.81 Through the pain 'cause you were in many years of pain. 00:25:52.85\00:25:54.85 Many. Trying to find God. Yes. 00:25:55.05\00:25:56.82 He was right there all along as part of that journey. 00:25:57.02\00:25:59.35 So I want to encourage you today too. If you're discouraged 00:25:59.55\00:26:01.99 or like: "This is it... there's nothing left" 00:26:02.19\00:26:04.63 yes there is. God is right there beside you. 00:26:04.83\00:26:07.00 Trust Him, surrender, and talk to Him. 00:26:07.20\00:26:09.20 You know, I think that's the thing too. 'Cause a lot of times 00:26:09.40\00:26:10.87 in our pain and in our discouragement 00:26:11.07\00:26:13.64 we won't talk. Hun-huh, right? We need to talk 00:26:13.84\00:26:16.27 and I think we need to be straight out with God. 00:26:16.47\00:26:17.97 Amen! "You know, God, I'm mad at You. " 00:26:18.17\00:26:19.51 "I'm mad at You. " It took me 10, 15 years to do that. 00:26:19.61\00:26:24.75 Wow! That's powerful. 00:26:24.95\00:26:26.82 And you were baptized. I think we have a picture of that. 00:26:27.02\00:26:31.35 And who baptized you? 00:26:31.55\00:26:33.22 Actually my husband did. 00:26:33.42\00:26:34.82 There is a picture. What a beautiful picture! 00:26:35.32\00:26:36.99 And this was just? When was this? 00:26:37.39\00:26:40.16 What year was that when you were? 00:26:40.36\00:26:41.70 It was 2020? A few years ago. 00:26:41.73\00:26:44.97 Wow! Yeah... what a special day. 00:26:45.17\00:26:47.47 Amen! I think about what you said about hope. 00:26:48.44\00:26:52.14 You know we all go through struggles. 00:26:52.34\00:26:54.18 You know, my dad had open-heart surgery. 00:26:54.38\00:26:56.21 Three back surgeries as I was a kid. 00:26:56.41\00:26:58.75 My parents were going to get a divorce. 00:26:58.95\00:27:01.05 He kept getting these DUIs and being put on home confinement. 00:27:01.25\00:27:05.72 And then eventually he became a drug and alcohol counselor. 00:27:05.92\00:27:09.39 Then my mom was arrested for embezzling all this money 00:27:09.69\00:27:12.16 from the state of West Virginia. 00:27:12.36\00:27:13.70 You know, then I went through all of the struggles 00:27:13.83\00:27:15.83 of addiction and being out in the world 00:27:16.03\00:27:18.37 and really working for the great Deceiver. 00:27:18.57\00:27:20.34 SO THERE IS HOPE! 00:27:20.54\00:27:22.24 You can't give up. You've gotta give it to Jesus. 00:27:22.44\00:27:25.21 We all need Jesus Christ. 00:27:25.41\00:27:27.01 We need Jesus... He is our only hope. 00:27:27.21\00:27:30.28 And if we can surrender these problems to Jesus Christ, 00:27:30.48\00:27:34.15 He will deliver each and every one of us 00:27:34.35\00:27:37.09 from those problems. But if we can't learn 00:27:37.29\00:27:39.59 to surrender to Him - and I'm going, to be honest with you - 00:27:39.79\00:27:42.72 we have to get up early in the morning. 00:27:42.92\00:27:46.16 We have to pray to God for the Holy Spirit, 00:27:46.36\00:27:48.86 and we have to be led into His Word according to His will. 00:27:49.06\00:27:52.67 Wow! And we have to be inviting people to church. 00:27:52.87\00:27:55.14 And I'll say something that's tough: 00:27:55.34\00:27:57.11 if you're inviting somebody to church and they're not coming, 00:27:57.31\00:27:59.71 they may not trust you yet. 00:27:59.91\00:28:01.68 So you need to work on friendship evangelism. 00:28:01.88\00:28:04.18 That's very important. 00:28:04.38\00:28:05.71 The more you gain that trust and that influence 00:28:05.81\00:28:08.22 the more they are going to be willing to come to your church. 00:28:08.42\00:28:11.75 So there is hope for people who are struggling. 00:28:11.95\00:28:14.89 And if God can use me... if God can cry out 00:28:15.09\00:28:18.49 through the rocks and God can use donkeys 00:28:18.69\00:28:21.13 He can use anyone and folks, He can use you! 00:28:21.33\00:28:24.63 Amen! Friends, He can use you. 00:28:24.83\00:28:26.60 Hope is here. Jesus wins in the end. 00:28:26.80\00:28:29.60 We don't have to worry about anything. No, we don't. 00:28:29.80\00:28:31.77 Exodus 14:14 says that the Lord will fight your battles for you. 00:28:31.97\00:28:36.04 That's right. "And you shall hold your peace. " Amen? Amen! 00:28:36.24\00:28:39.15 I love that; that's incredible! 00:28:39.35\00:28:41.38 Thank you both for sharing that. 00:28:41.58\00:28:43.02 I think it gives such encourage- ment to us here - It does! 00:28:43.22\00:28:46.55 and to you at home as well. I love that! 00:28:46.76\00:28:48.26 So let's talk about your marriage was recovering 00:28:48.46\00:28:51.43 and healing. You were baptized there in the church. 00:28:51.63\00:28:55.43 And tell us the journey. Obviously, you're a pastor now. 00:28:55.63\00:28:59.03 So how do you come from just coming back into the church 00:28:59.23\00:29:03.04 and attending those Ten Days of Prayer 00:29:03.24\00:29:05.64 and you know leaving that old life behind? 00:29:05.84\00:29:07.74 Those businesses and all of that stuff? 00:29:07.94\00:29:09.68 The cocaine addiction... all of that stuff "put to bed? " 00:29:09.88\00:29:12.68 So how do you go from there to being a pastor? 00:29:12.88\00:29:15.35 Walk us through that journey. 00:29:15.55\00:29:16.89 So I had some savings and I began to volunteer. 00:29:16.92\00:29:20.76 So I wasn't making any money for a couple years. 00:29:20.96\00:29:23.29 But I felt the call to do that. 00:29:23.49\00:29:25.96 And then I went to the Summer Camp and I worked there. 00:29:26.16\00:29:29.53 And you weren't paid much but it's a mission. 00:29:29.73\00:29:33.54 It's very important. If you've never done Summer Camp 00:29:33.74\00:29:36.30 it's very important that you do Summer Camp. 00:29:36.50\00:29:38.67 It is a huge mission. It will transform you. 00:29:38.87\00:29:42.31 It will change your heart. As you do more Christian service 00:29:42.51\00:29:45.31 God will mold you 00:29:45.51\00:29:47.68 and you become more like the character of Christ you see. 00:29:47.88\00:29:51.02 So I went there and it began to humble me. 00:29:51.22\00:29:53.56 And I thought maybe I was just called back into the church 00:29:53.76\00:29:56.29 to be this musician. 00:29:56.49\00:29:57.83 Well quickly God said: "No, no, no, no, no, no! " 00:29:57.86\00:30:00.00 So we go to GYC 00:30:00.20\00:30:02.00 and I watch Dean Cullinane speaking. Yes! 00:30:02.20\00:30:05.30 I talked with him, and we were having struggles too. 00:30:05.50\00:30:07.94 And before I knew it 00:30:08.14\00:30:10.77 Pastor Daniel saw the call. Elder Mike Hewitt saw the call. 00:30:10.97\00:30:14.88 You know, there were some others that didn't see the call. 00:30:15.28\00:30:18.55 And that was a struggle. 00:30:19.88\00:30:21.52 But you know what? It's not about man... it's about God. 00:30:22.05\00:30:25.29 You know, and God saw the call for me to still be a minister. 00:30:25.69\00:30:28.86 And He called me down to Point Pleasant. 00:30:29.06\00:30:31.23 And if He didn't want me there, 00:30:31.43\00:30:32.76 He would have never grown that church. 00:30:32.86\00:30:34.83 The same as if He didn't want me in Marietta 00:30:35.03\00:30:36.97 He would have never grown that church. 00:30:37.17\00:30:38.53 If He didn't want my hobby in Uganda to happen, 00:30:38.73\00:30:41.84 He wouldn't grow this Tigera Baptist Church 00:30:42.04\00:30:44.67 who follow SDA doctrine from 100 people to 700 people. 00:30:44.87\00:30:49.91 So you see: God is doing amazing things. 00:30:50.11\00:30:53.72 And it has nothing to do with us. 00:30:53.92\00:30:56.08 He can do it with you out there, folks! 00:30:56.28\00:30:58.85 You just have to be trained, empowered, 00:30:59.05\00:31:02.76 and you just need the Holy Spirit. 00:31:02.96\00:31:05.06 And if you have the Holy Spirit and you truly surrender... 00:31:05.26\00:31:08.83 I mean, it's one to profess Christ with your lips 00:31:09.03\00:31:11.37 but it's another thing to go out and do it. 00:31:11.57\00:31:14.64 We can be hearers but it's much better to be doers. 00:31:14.84\00:31:17.91 Amen. It's a really good question you asked him 00:31:18.11\00:31:21.01 and great response to that. I want to go back to just 00:31:21.21\00:31:23.35 I want to touch back. We've got a few more minutes 00:31:23.55\00:31:25.05 and we do want to talk about your churches like we mentioned. 00:31:25.25\00:31:26.95 But I want to go back to you. You flushed the cocaine. 00:31:27.15\00:31:29.28 I mean these are all really... there's so many aspects 00:31:29.48\00:31:32.32 to your testimony. I mean it's incredible. 00:31:32.52\00:31:33.89 You might have to do 4 parts. Might have to! 00:31:34.09\00:31:35.72 'Cause there's so many things in all of our journeys. 00:31:35.92\00:31:39.23 And so you attend these Ten Days of Prayer. 00:31:39.43\00:31:42.20 And what I like is that you attended. 00:31:42.40\00:31:44.10 It wasn't like: "OK, I've gotta be perfect; do everything right. 00:31:44.30\00:31:46.37 Not on drugs anymore... everything. " 00:31:46.57\00:31:47.94 I think sometimes we feel like we've gotta come to the Lord 00:31:48.14\00:31:49.80 and be just right and perfect. That's not how God wants us. 00:31:50.04\00:31:52.37 That's right! He wants us to come just as we are. 00:31:52.57\00:31:55.24 That's right, exactly Amber. So you flushed the cocaine? 00:31:55.44\00:31:57.21 Without one plea. Exactly. 00:31:57.41\00:31:58.75 Like the song says. So you flushed the cocaine 00:31:58.81\00:32:00.45 down the toilet and you're right there, too. 00:32:00.65\00:32:03.22 Right? You're like: "Hey, yeah, I support you. This is good! " 00:32:03.42\00:32:04.85 Is that right Amber? 'Cause he just made his decision. 00:32:05.05\00:32:07.69 No. At that point I wasn't in the church. 00:32:07.89\00:32:11.19 I would come on occasion but I saw God working in his life. 00:32:11.39\00:32:15.03 OK. You know, we were a little distant 00:32:15.43\00:32:17.87 but I watched him change. 00:32:18.07\00:32:19.87 And then I realized: "Well, I've supported him 00:32:20.07\00:32:24.67 through his music career. 00:32:24.87\00:32:26.47 I've supported him through professional wrestling 00:32:26.88\00:32:29.41 so maybe I need to support him with this. " 00:32:30.18\00:32:33.72 With the religion aspect? With, you know, him serving. 00:32:33.92\00:32:38.35 OK. And so I just... I decided to 00:32:38.55\00:32:43.86 start attending church with him. 00:32:44.06\00:32:45.79 And we started reading the Bible together. 00:32:45.99\00:32:48.43 Wow! And yeah... that was very powerful. 00:32:48.63\00:32:53.64 You know, as we make these decisions for Christ 00:32:54.47\00:32:56.30 Satan's upset, too. Oh yes! 00:32:56.50\00:32:58.57 Um-hmm. Yeah... your vices. 'Cause you were talking about 00:32:58.77\00:33:01.61 OK... you're getting involved in the church, right? 00:33:01.81\00:33:04.05 You thought that God was calling you back to just do music 00:33:04.25\00:33:06.88 ministry but then you realized maybe that wasn't quite 00:33:07.08\00:33:09.25 everything and sometimes we can get discouraged. 00:33:09.45\00:33:10.89 So how do you work through that discouragement? 00:33:11.09\00:33:13.36 Because you accepted Jesus and some people... 00:33:13.56\00:33:15.82 you know we think everything's going to be a bed of roses. 00:33:16.02\00:33:18.19 So how do you work through that 00:33:19.13\00:33:20.46 so one doesn't become dis- couraged again and totally leave 00:33:20.50\00:33:22.36 the church forever? I was discouraged 00:33:22.56\00:33:24.47 after I did join the church be- cause I worked in mental health. 00:33:24.67\00:33:27.77 I worked at an outpatient mental health facility 00:33:27.97\00:33:30.64 and I saw a lot of people struggling with various issues. 00:33:30.84\00:33:35.41 And I wanted to just pray with them 00:33:35.81\00:33:38.51 but at my job I wasn't allowed to. 00:33:38.71\00:33:40.45 I wasn't even allowed to talk about God. 00:33:40.65\00:33:42.15 Oh wow! So I struggled with that 00:33:42.35\00:33:44.25 and I would pray about it daily. 00:33:44.45\00:33:48.72 On my drive to work I'd be talkin' to God. 00:33:48.92\00:33:50.93 And I asked Him several times: "I don't know why I'm here. " 00:33:51.09\00:33:55.60 "I don't know why I'm at this job. I've been there 10 years... 00:33:55.80\00:33:57.93 Why am I here? " 00:33:58.33\00:34:00.50 And I asked Him to guide my life & whatever He wanted me to do 00:34:00.70\00:34:06.57 that I would do it. 00:34:06.78\00:34:08.51 So yeah, I didn't give up 00:34:08.71\00:34:12.18 and I just kept doing this job that I did not like. 00:34:12.38\00:34:15.68 And He opened up a door for me at the Mountain View Conference 00:34:16.08\00:34:20.42 and He showed me: "Hey! Work for Me. " 00:34:20.82\00:34:25.63 Oh! "But use your skills that you have from all those years 00:34:25.83\00:34:30.63 of working with people with mental illness 00:34:30.83\00:34:33.84 to reach people that need to be reached... 00:34:34.04\00:34:36.47 that are broken. " So now it's awesome to be able to 00:34:36.67\00:34:40.88 spread the Word of God and to spread the love that He has 00:34:41.08\00:34:44.95 for us. When you feel like you want to give up 00:34:45.15\00:34:48.88 just pray. Just even talk to Him 00:34:49.08\00:34:51.75 and just ask Him to take over your life... and He will. 00:34:51.95\00:34:55.16 Amen! I love that. Now you can talk about Jesus at your job. 00:34:55.36\00:34:59.03 Oh yes! And you can pray with people! 00:34:59.23\00:35:01.43 And she does... everybody that calls. 00:35:03.20\00:35:05.23 Amen! Yeah, that's great. 00:35:05.43\00:35:06.77 So tell us about your churches 00:35:06.90\00:35:09.07 and the outreach that you're involved in and the people 00:35:09.27\00:35:12.41 coming to know Jesus and some of that. 00:35:12.61\00:35:14.31 Well, praise the Lord! We started in Point Pleasant. 00:35:14.71\00:35:18.75 When we showed up it was really moldy. 00:35:18.95\00:35:20.92 There was so much work to be done. 00:35:21.08\00:35:22.75 Was the church open? No, it was closed. 00:35:22.95\00:35:26.69 It had been closed for about a year to two years. 00:35:26.89\00:35:29.42 I'm not really sure how long. 00:35:29.62\00:35:31.39 Somebody says: "We're going to give the Point Pleasant WV 00:35:31.59\00:35:34.13 Church. " And you go there, open the doors, 00:35:34.33\00:35:36.40 and there's mold because it had been closed. 00:35:36.60\00:35:40.14 It's a beautiful church. I have been there 00:35:40.34\00:35:42.50 when it was open in the past. Well, you can come back. 00:35:42.70\00:35:45.01 Yes sir. Anyway... So we get it cleaned up 00:35:45.21\00:35:48.94 by the grace of God, and here I am actin' like a little kid. 00:35:49.14\00:35:52.18 She's worried about cleaning it up. I'm like: 00:35:52.38\00:35:54.35 "We're a step ahead... we've got a building. " 00:35:54.55\00:35:56.72 You know what I mean? And it's outside of the city limits 00:35:56.92\00:36:00.69 so that makes it tough. 00:36:00.89\00:36:02.22 But I reached out to all the old members 00:36:02.29\00:36:04.43 which were only 32. 00:36:04.63\00:36:06.13 And we dropped it down to 28 'cause some deceased 00:36:06.33\00:36:09.16 or moved away. And now by the grace of God 00:36:09.36\00:36:13.34 we are over 150 members. Praise the Lord! 00:36:13.54\00:36:17.34 And we have anywhere from I don't know 10 to 30 people 00:36:17.54\00:36:20.28 who attend every Sabbath so it's a blessing. 00:36:20.48\00:36:22.51 And we started an outreach mission called Power at the 00:36:22.71\00:36:25.98 Point. In fact, we have a 1-800 number... 00:36:26.18\00:36:28.52 Well, it's a 1-888 number... So it's 1-888-70-POWER 00:36:28.72\00:36:33.86 And if you call that number 00:36:34.36\00:36:35.79 anybody in the world or even here in the United States 00:36:35.99\00:36:39.63 or locally at Point Pleasant if you need help, 00:36:39.83\00:36:42.26 if you need prayer, if there's somebody you need to talk to 00:36:42.46\00:36:45.40 you can call this number. Bible studies... anything 00:36:45.60\00:36:48.37 that you need help with or maybe you don't need anything. 00:36:48.57\00:36:51.47 Maybe you want to help somebody else. 00:36:51.67\00:36:53.41 Maybe you want to join Power at the Point then you can do that. 00:36:53.61\00:36:57.18 Maybe you want to donate or give to Power at the Point 00:36:57.38\00:37:00.35 because you feel that you can't go out and do some of those 00:37:00.55\00:37:03.99 things so you feel this is what God is calling you to do. 00:37:04.19\00:37:07.06 Now Power at the Point is not just a telephone number. 00:37:07.26\00:37:10.36 It is also an outreach mission where we have painting parties. 00:37:10.56\00:37:14.20 Where we have even - you know - sporting parties & youth events. 00:37:14.36\00:37:19.57 We're doing My Little Own Bags of Love 00:37:19.77\00:37:23.30 which is an SDA ministry. And they're selling all these 00:37:23.51\00:37:27.01 blankets. And we're doing Voice of Prophecy 00:37:27.21\00:37:32.41 Bridge events and evangelism with the Three Angels and the 00:37:32.61\00:37:35.68 Apocalypse from Pastor Mike Pethel. 00:37:35.88\00:37:38.02 And we're going to do your program - The True Steps 00:37:38.52\00:37:42.39 Celebration Recovery Program - Cheri Peters - 00:37:42.59\00:37:45.39 Yes! Cheri Peters and you get it from 3ABN books. 00:37:45.59\00:37:49.26 And we are so excited to start that series. 00:37:49.46\00:37:52.40 And they're actually going to let it be an official place 00:37:52.60\00:37:55.60 where people can come and visit. 00:37:55.80\00:37:57.97 And we're really excited about that. 00:37:58.17\00:37:59.77 And I plan to do it in Marietta 00:37:59.97\00:38:01.44 because in Marietta they have a Serenity House 00:38:01.64\00:38:04.25 around the corner and they have meetings at noon every day. 00:38:04.41\00:38:07.88 Praise the Lord! Question: 00:38:08.08\00:38:09.78 So the Point Pleasant church. The doors were closed. 00:38:09.98\00:38:13.29 It was moldy inside 'cause it hadn't been opened in a while. 00:38:14.52\00:38:16.52 And dirty. And dirty. 00:38:16.93\00:38:18.59 And it goes from basically no attendance 00:38:18.79\00:38:21.16 to 150. Like how many decades did that take 00:38:21.36\00:38:24.60 for that to happen? To go from 0 to 150 members? 00:38:24.80\00:38:27.37 Well, not 100... 50 members. Oh, 50... I'm sorry. 00:38:27.57\00:38:29.87 I missed that. That's OK. So it went from 0 to 50 members 00:38:30.07\00:38:33.01 in like how many years? 00:38:33.21\00:38:34.68 Well we didn't really officially open back up 00:38:35.08\00:38:37.95 until January 1, 2021. 00:38:38.15\00:38:41.35 I'm asking that question because this took place 00:38:41.55\00:38:43.59 in a matter of months. Yes. Oh yes! 00:38:43.79\00:38:45.85 What God can do! The power of prayer. Amen! 00:38:46.05\00:38:49.19 That's what we did: we went there and prayed. 00:38:49.39\00:38:50.89 That's my next question. 00:38:51.09\00:38:52.43 what do you attribute the success to? 00:38:52.46\00:38:54.06 Prayer - OK - evangelism, Christian service, 00:38:54.26\00:38:58.13 Bible study, and true worship. 00:38:58.33\00:39:00.34 And I'm not talking about reading your Bible. OK. 00:39:00.54\00:39:03.07 I'm talking about Bible study, reading it verse by verse. 00:39:03.27\00:39:06.21 And you can read Spirt of Prophecy too 00:39:06.41\00:39:08.64 but you have to read your Bibles, folks. 00:39:08.84\00:39:11.35 Amen? We have to read the Word of God. 00:39:11.55\00:39:13.85 And if we don't read the everlasting gospel 00:39:14.05\00:39:16.92 and if we don't want to go out and tell somebody about Jesus... 00:39:17.12\00:39:20.86 So in our congregations that's our thing: 00:39:21.06\00:39:23.26 If I say "Tell somebody" they say "about Jesus. " 00:39:23.46\00:39:26.03 And if they don't say it with conviction 00:39:26.43\00:39:28.03 we do it till they do. 00:39:28.23\00:39:29.56 You see, we have to be encouraged. 00:39:29.66\00:39:31.93 We were all chosen during these last days. Amen! 00:39:32.13\00:39:34.37 We were chosen to do something huge here 00:39:34.57\00:39:37.37 just like Pastor Matt said a few weeks ago. 00:39:37.57\00:39:39.71 We're going to be excited to ask Noah about all these things 00:39:39.91\00:39:42.84 and Moses, but they're going to be like: "You were there 00:39:43.04\00:39:45.48 during the last days. We want to know what God 00:39:45.68\00:39:48.62 has done with you. Tell us YOUR story. " 00:39:48.82\00:39:51.12 And that is powerful. Each of us has a testimony, 00:39:51.32\00:39:54.26 and we can share that story. 00:39:54.46\00:39:56.22 And if we don't share that story, 00:39:56.42\00:39:58.03 then you don't know whose life it didn't affect. 00:39:58.23\00:40:01.06 If you share that story, you can affect millions of lives. 00:40:01.26\00:40:04.90 And I can see clearly how Jesus will return 00:40:05.30\00:40:08.30 and how the message is going to get out because 00:40:08.50\00:40:10.61 I'm working in Uganda in two different areas 00:40:10.81\00:40:13.61 with thousands of people. 00:40:13.81\00:40:15.48 From West Virginia? From West Virginia! 00:40:15.68\00:40:17.18 So how many other people are doing this all over the world? 00:40:17.38\00:40:20.22 Right? That's technology using like Zoom or other... 00:40:20.42\00:40:23.62 So THIS is how it's going to happen. I see it now. 00:40:23.82\00:40:26.09 God is good. Amber, let's talk about outreach. 00:40:26.29\00:40:28.69 Outreach? 'Cause that's one aspect of what your husband 00:40:28.89\00:40:30.59 mention so far as the success happening there. 00:40:30.79\00:40:32.93 So tell us about the service or the outreach, 00:40:33.13\00:40:34.86 why that's so important for a church to be involved 00:40:35.06\00:40:36.97 and to do outreach. Well, not many people want to come 00:40:37.17\00:40:40.27 to church these days, right? Yep. Afraid of COVID. 00:40:40.47\00:40:43.07 Yes. Yeah, sure. That's not just it. 00:40:43.27\00:40:45.97 Well yeah, AND a lot of people... 00:40:46.17\00:40:49.71 a lot of people want to... they need someone. 00:40:49.91\00:40:54.45 They're home alone. Some people haven't even left their house 00:40:54.65\00:40:57.52 in two years. That's true! 00:40:57.72\00:40:59.12 So you think about that, but the whole outreach 00:40:59.32\00:41:03.59 thing is we're meeting people where they're at. 00:41:03.79\00:41:05.99 Um-hmm. We're not just staying in our church 00:41:06.19\00:41:08.80 singing songs and eating food. 00:41:09.00\00:41:11.77 We're reaching out. We're going to have a cookout; 00:41:11.97\00:41:15.00 we're going to have a bonfire. 00:41:15.20\00:41:16.54 We're doing events that draw people in. 00:41:16.94\00:41:20.08 That's good... not intimidating. 00:41:20.28\00:41:22.68 Yes... it's inviting. We want to be welcoming. 00:41:22.88\00:41:25.61 And we don't want to just start with Scripture. 00:41:25.81\00:41:29.18 We want to start with love, friendship. Um-hmm. 00:41:29.58\00:41:33.05 And we just want to meet them 00:41:33.25\00:41:35.66 and then build a relationship. 00:41:35.86\00:41:38.39 You know what's inspiring about that too 00:41:38.79\00:41:40.40 is I'm thinking about the church members that are attending. 00:41:40.60\00:41:41.93 Obviously, they're excited about it too. Yes. 00:41:42.10\00:41:43.43 You know, it draws in your community 00:41:43.60\00:41:44.93 but you know when you're active in your church 00:41:45.10\00:41:46.63 it's exciting. Oh yeah! 00:41:47.04\00:41:49.27 Total Member Involvement. 00:41:49.47\00:41:50.81 Exactly. And the more we become friends with them 00:41:51.31\00:41:53.94 the more they trust you and then they're willing to... 00:41:54.14\00:41:56.24 to come to that church. 00:41:56.44\00:41:57.81 Do you have some stories? 00:41:58.21\00:42:00.05 Some people who've come to the church 00:42:00.25\00:42:02.35 or some people whose lives have been impacted 00:42:02.55\00:42:04.99 through you all's ministry? 00:42:05.19\00:42:07.39 I could share a miracle with you. Do you want to share 00:42:07.79\00:42:10.06 it with them? Well, we have a lady named Jessica 00:42:10.26\00:42:14.36 and she has started attending the Point Pleasant church. 00:42:14.76\00:42:17.57 She has struggled with her own addictions. 00:42:17.77\00:42:20.27 And she was baptized last year into the church 00:42:20.47\00:42:23.81 but then she took a turn for the worse and she got COVID. 00:42:25.21\00:42:29.34 Oh oh. And she was in the hospital for many weeks. 00:42:29.54\00:42:31.78 She was put on a ventilator 00:42:31.98\00:42:33.38 but they told us she was going to pass 00:42:33.58\00:42:35.45 and I had to go down with the family. 00:42:35.65\00:42:37.42 Well... Then what happened? 00:42:38.45\00:42:40.49 She's... Well, a miracle happened 00:42:40.69\00:42:42.92 because she's alive. Guess what? 00:42:43.12\00:42:44.73 She's home to this day; she's off the ventilator. 00:42:44.93\00:42:47.16 She's walking around. They're talking about taking the 00:42:47.36\00:42:49.96 tracheotomy tube out. I'm not sure if you... 00:42:50.17\00:42:53.74 that's how you say it right but I'm really excited 00:42:53.94\00:42:56.34 about it because it's a miracle. 00:42:56.54\00:42:59.07 It is a miracle! It's a true miracle, and that's 00:42:59.27\00:43:01.04 a testimony that she has now to share with other people. 00:43:01.24\00:43:04.51 Um-hmm. You know, I can see your passion - 00:43:05.28\00:43:07.75 both of you - for evangelism. 00:43:07.95\00:43:09.28 You're so excited to share Jesus. 00:43:09.42\00:43:11.45 You know, that just comes out of you. 00:43:11.65\00:43:13.96 And that comes from your testimony, right? 00:43:14.16\00:43:15.92 What God has done in your life. Yes! 00:43:16.12\00:43:17.79 That's a living experience. Go ahead. 00:43:17.99\00:43:19.33 But sometimes we have unhealthy expectations 00:43:19.36\00:43:21.96 as leaders and pastors. We think we need 1,000 people 00:43:22.16\00:43:26.33 or we need 100 people. 00:43:26.53\00:43:27.87 Well what are 100 or 1,000 lukewarm people going to do? 00:43:28.04\00:43:31.27 Because I'm going to tell you what: 00:43:31.47\00:43:32.81 if we have 20 people who can be discipled on fire, 00:43:33.01\00:43:36.04 in five years we're going to have a church of 200 people. 00:43:36.24\00:43:38.78 And that church with the 1,000 lukewarm people 00:43:39.01\00:43:41.45 that's going to die down 00:43:41.65\00:43:43.18 or they're just going to be doing in-service. 00:43:43.39\00:43:45.65 So really our conference has given us 00:43:45.85\00:43:49.42 many things to equip us with for the evangelism. 00:43:49.62\00:43:53.60 And it's been such a blessing to work with Elder Bailey. 00:43:53.80\00:43:57.20 That's the conference president? 00:43:57.40\00:43:58.73 That's our... yeah, our new conference president. 00:43:58.83\00:44:00.17 And he has an initiative for us. 00:44:00.57\00:44:02.47 Yeah, let me tell you about it. 00:44:02.87\00:44:04.21 In fact, the very first thing is called 00:44:04.24\00:44:05.97 Tell Somebody About Jesus. 00:44:06.17\00:44:07.51 Is that what's on your pins? Yes! 00:44:07.64\00:44:09.34 I see your pins. In fact, since you brought those up, 00:44:09.54\00:44:11.65 I have some gifts for you here from the Mt. View Conference. 00:44:11.85\00:44:15.75 We can't get up so you'll just have to slide them 00:44:15.95\00:44:17.92 across the table. Thank you. So you give these to whoever 00:44:18.12\00:44:20.42 you want and you have to tell somebody about Jesus. 00:44:20.62\00:44:23.09 That's good! OK! And that's... so 00:44:23.29\00:44:26.06 let me tell you about our eight initiatives. All right. 00:44:26.26\00:44:28.73 Number one is prayer which is very important. Yes. 00:44:28.93\00:44:31.73 Number two is tell somebody about Jesus. 00:44:31.93\00:44:34.77 Number three is church planting. 00:44:35.17\00:44:37.47 Number four is regeneration and revival. Amen? 00:44:37.67\00:44:42.21 And then the next one is Adventist education. 00:44:42.41\00:44:45.98 Social media. 00:44:46.38\00:44:48.28 Stewardship 00:44:48.48\00:44:49.82 and youth and young adults. Amen? 00:44:49.92\00:44:52.15 That's great! 00:44:52.35\00:44:53.82 That's incredible! 00:44:54.22\00:44:55.56 Those eight steps... I LOVE that. 00:44:55.59\00:44:57.86 That is our initiative. Yes. 00:44:58.06\00:44:59.93 But we truly have been blessed. 00:45:00.13\00:45:01.46 I've had a partnership with Kurt Johnson 00:45:01.56\00:45:04.10 and Shawn Boonstra with Voice of Prophecy. 00:45:04.30\00:45:05.97 They've really blessed us 00:45:06.17\00:45:07.97 as well as with this group in Uganda working with the 00:45:08.97\00:45:11.87 Ugandan Union president. I mean, I have two churches over there. 00:45:12.07\00:45:15.41 We may have 500 to 1,000 baptisms before 00:45:15.61\00:45:18.88 this is all said and done. 00:45:19.08\00:45:20.42 And how did that start? I just want to go back to 00:45:20.52\00:45:21.85 Uganda a moment. How did you even get connected 00:45:21.88\00:45:23.79 with the Uganda Union Conference? 00:45:23.99\00:45:25.32 So I'm on this non- denominational Facebook group 00:45:25.39\00:45:27.49 and I'm one of very few Seventh-day Adventists on it. 00:45:27.69\00:45:30.99 And they wanted prophecy Zoom meetings. 00:45:31.19\00:45:34.90 And I was like: "Well, I'll do 'em with you! " 00:45:35.10\00:45:36.83 So we did one meeting 00:45:37.03\00:45:38.37 then we did a second meeting where their elders all like 00:45:38.47\00:45:40.97 asked me a bunch of questions and they said: 00:45:41.17\00:45:42.97 "He's rooted in the Biblical Word of God! " 00:45:43.17\00:45:45.44 So now I preach to them four days a week 00:45:45.64\00:45:49.21 except today I didn't 'cause we usually do Wednesday morning. 00:45:49.41\00:45:52.11 I do it every morning at 7:00 AM and on Sabbath 00:45:52.31\00:45:55.28 I do 6:30 AM. Then I go preach in Point Pleasant 00:45:55.48\00:45:58.49 and then I go preach in Marietta. 00:45:58.69\00:46:00.02 Wow! Busy schedule! 00:46:00.22\00:46:01.72 Well hey... we've gotta do things for the Lord. 00:46:02.12\00:46:04.63 So where do you see God leading you both next? 00:46:04.83\00:46:07.43 Whew! I don't know. 00:46:07.83\00:46:10.20 You know, it's His will, and I pray that He will continue 00:46:10.40\00:46:15.34 to grow both of these churches. 00:46:15.54\00:46:16.87 I don't know where's next but I know it's up. 00:46:17.07\00:46:20.18 I know that we're going to be in heaven soon 00:46:20.38\00:46:22.41 and I know that Jesus is coming soon. 00:46:22.61\00:46:24.55 But I do know that God is going to work in Amber's life 00:46:24.75\00:46:27.48 and my life in a mighty powerful way. 00:46:27.68\00:46:29.95 And we have to continue to surrender to God. 00:46:30.35\00:46:33.19 We've gotta get up early; we have to be in His Word. 00:46:33.39\00:46:35.86 And just with the Marietta church. He's gonna grow that 00:46:36.06\00:46:39.03 church. That church went from having 3 people attending 00:46:39.23\00:46:42.03 and now our average in 2 months has been 20 people attending. 00:46:42.23\00:46:46.47 So I just want you to know He's going to grow that 00:46:46.67\00:46:48.90 church through evangelism and outreach. 00:46:49.10\00:46:51.07 And I just see God blessing both of those churches 00:46:51.27\00:46:54.41 as well as the Mountain View Conference. 00:46:54.61\00:46:55.98 We had a 3.6% increase in baptisms. 00:46:56.18\00:46:59.11 We had over 100 baptisms. 00:46:59.31\00:47:01.15 I believe that's the high for the last 10 or 15 years. 00:47:01.35\00:47:04.72 So I see God blessing us 00:47:04.92\00:47:07.09 but I don't know where He's going to lead us next. 00:47:07.29\00:47:09.29 But I DO know wherever He does lead us 00:47:09.49\00:47:11.69 He will be in control. 00:47:11.89\00:47:13.36 Amen! That's a walk of faith. 00:47:13.56\00:47:15.10 Go ahead Amber. And the Tell Somebody About Jesus 00:47:15.30\00:47:17.20 thing: I think it's going to go worldwide. 00:47:17.40\00:47:19.63 Even in Uganda we have... they sing a song now 00:47:20.04\00:47:23.37 about Tell Somebody About Jesus. 00:47:23.57\00:47:24.94 I heard him one morning... Wow! 00:47:25.14\00:47:28.44 It's so humbling, and I just feel that 00:47:28.64\00:47:31.68 wherever God calls us we will continue to tell God... 00:47:31.88\00:47:34.95 or tell somebody about Jesus. 00:47:35.15\00:47:37.82 Amen! Why do you love sharing Jesus? 00:47:38.02\00:47:41.39 Why? Yeah, why? 00:47:41.59\00:47:43.22 Because I feel like I'm saved by Jesus. 00:47:43.43\00:47:45.93 And for all those years... like the love that He showed me 00:47:46.13\00:47:50.97 in my dream - yeah - I realized that 00:47:51.17\00:47:54.90 He has a love for everyone. 00:47:55.10\00:47:57.11 And I was so broken and my heart was broken. 00:47:57.31\00:48:02.21 I was struggling daily 00:48:02.41\00:48:04.45 and I just know many people do. 00:48:04.65\00:48:06.92 And I think it's my job here on this earth 00:48:07.12\00:48:10.69 to tell people about the struggles I went through 00:48:10.89\00:48:14.22 and to be there for them and to spread the gospel. 00:48:14.42\00:48:19.49 Amen. It gives you purpose. It gives me purpose. 00:48:19.69\00:48:21.60 Satisfying, isn't it? Yes! Amen! 00:48:21.80\00:48:24.97 So Pastor D.W. 00:48:25.17\00:48:27.30 why do you love sharing Jesus? 00:48:27.50\00:48:28.84 Oh, man! Because my life was a mess! 00:48:29.04\00:48:32.47 You know, and it's still a mess 00:48:32.67\00:48:35.38 but you know with Jesus it's not a mess. 00:48:35.58\00:48:38.15 We are covered in His righteousness. 00:48:38.35\00:48:40.32 So I want to share Jesus Christ with others 00:48:40.52\00:48:43.02 because they think it's so hard. 00:48:43.22\00:48:44.95 But it's really not. That's good. 00:48:45.15\00:48:47.49 We really have a decision. 00:48:47.69\00:48:49.86 We can self-worship and follow the Deceiver 00:48:50.06\00:48:53.33 or we can clearly surrender those problems 00:48:53.53\00:48:56.43 and get over our pride, right? Yeah. 00:48:56.63\00:48:59.53 and give that to Jesus Christ. 00:48:59.73\00:49:01.67 And again, I sound like a broken record. 00:49:01.87\00:49:03.84 But the fact of the matter is 00:49:04.04\00:49:06.41 is if we don't have a per- sonal relationship with Jesus, 00:49:06.61\00:49:09.81 if we don't have connection to the Holy Spirit, 00:49:10.01\00:49:12.21 if you don't have electric here then these lights aren't 00:49:12.41\00:49:15.98 going to work without a generator. 00:49:16.18\00:49:17.59 So if we aren't connected to the source, 00:49:17.99\00:49:20.29 then we have to be connected to that source. 00:49:20.49\00:49:22.99 We have to have friendships, that "brother ship" 00:49:23.19\00:49:26.46 that loving relationship with our Father. 00:49:26.66\00:49:29.26 And we have to have that relationship with Jesus. 00:49:29.46\00:49:32.13 And we cannot do ANYTHING by flesh. 00:49:32.33\00:49:34.97 We can only do it with the Holy Spirit. Amen! 00:49:35.17\00:49:37.57 We're going to go in just a moment to an address 00:49:37.77\00:49:40.54 where you can contact their incredible ministry 00:49:40.74\00:49:43.11 for yourself: Power at the Point, 00:49:43.31\00:49:44.85 and get all their helpful information. 00:49:45.25\00:49:48.95 That's right. I've been so blessed today. 00:49:49.15\00:49:50.69 I'm just thinking about II Corinthians 5:17. 00:49:50.89\00:49:52.89 "If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation. 00:49:53.19\00:49:55.89 Old things have passed away; 00:49:56.09\00:49:57.63 behold all things have become new. " 00:49:57.83\00:50:00.30 And that's what God has done in the lives of both 00:50:00.50\00:50:03.33 Pastor D.W. and Amber. 00:50:03.53\00:50:05.00 Transformed them out of darkness 00:50:05.20\00:50:07.17 into the kingdom of God - Amen - into light. 00:50:07.37\00:50:10.07 And that's what God wants to do in your heart and life. 00:50:10.27\00:50:13.17 He wants to change you by the power of His Holy Spirit. 00:50:13.38\00:50:16.88 So remind us one more time 00:50:17.28\00:50:19.51 what people can find at Power at the Point 00:50:19.71\00:50:22.52 and then we'll go to the address. But remind us 00:50:22.72\00:50:24.05 one more time. People who are seeking; people who want Bible 00:50:24.19\00:50:27.29 studies; people who want answers. 00:50:27.49\00:50:29.02 Or just even help like if it's not even... 00:50:29.22\00:50:32.36 because we've gotta meet people where they're at. 00:50:32.56\00:50:34.70 They don't want to walk into a church, 00:50:34.90\00:50:36.67 so it's much easier for me to have somebody come to 00:50:36.87\00:50:39.87 a Bridge event at a mission outlet. 00:50:40.07\00:50:42.97 It's a neutral location 00:50:43.17\00:50:44.51 and it's much cheaper than renting out ballrooms. 00:50:44.54\00:50:47.28 Absolutely... absolutely. So we have all these different 00:50:47.48\00:50:50.01 programs. We're going to do Adventurers. 00:50:50.21\00:50:51.85 Anything we can do to help people 00:50:52.05\00:50:54.55 and anything that we see a need for. 00:50:54.75\00:50:56.55 One big thing that helped in Point Pleasant 00:50:56.75\00:50:58.42 was transportation ministry. 00:50:58.62\00:51:00.36 I think that's going to be helpful in Marietta 00:51:00.56\00:51:02.59 as we get more young people together as well. 00:51:02.79\00:51:05.19 Amen. So if you've been blessed and inspired, 00:51:05.39\00:51:08.26 if you're seeing for answers, 00:51:08.46\00:51:10.37 if you're lost in addiction, 00:51:10.57\00:51:12.40 if you say "I want to find a way out, " 00:51:12.60\00:51:14.57 contact this ministry. I want to encourage you 00:51:14.77\00:51:17.51 to reach out to them, and they will pray with and for you 00:51:17.67\00:51:20.81 and offer that support. If you would like to financially 00:51:21.01\00:51:23.88 support the work of what God is doing in and through 00:51:24.08\00:51:27.78 the West family here, here is how you can do just that: 00:51:27.98\00:51:32.42