Have you ever met a Corporate Executive Missionary that's on 00:00:01.23\00:00:03.70 fire for God? Well, stay tuned to do just that 00:00:03.73\00:00:07.10 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching Urban Report 00:00:07.14\00:00:10.94 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report... 00:00:32.46\00:00:34.50 My guest today is John Casillas, Senior Vice President of 00:00:34.56\00:00:38.77 HIMSS... listed by Treasury and Risk Magazine as one 00:00:38.80\00:00:42.64 of the top 100 Global Thought Leaders in Finance 00:00:42.67\00:00:46.41 and Fellow for the World Bank. Welcome to Urban Report... John 00:00:46.44\00:00:51.55 Thank you Yvonne, it's great to be here... 00:00:51.58\00:00:53.48 It's so great to have you here, you know, 00:00:53.52\00:00:55.48 in private... we've talked and I've told you, 00:00:55.52\00:00:58.19 You're a "Dare to Dream Walk-in" 00:00:58.22\00:01:00.59 I mean, really, the things that 00:01:00.62\00:01:02.92 God has blessed you to do, have been so incredible... 00:01:02.96\00:01:06.36 tell us a little bit about your background... 00:01:06.39\00:01:09.13 Where do you come from? I hail from Bucks County, 00:01:09.16\00:01:12.33 Pennsylvania... I have eight siblings... family of ten... 00:01:12.37\00:01:18.44 and we lived in Thompsonville, Pennsylvania.. not too far away 00:01:18.47\00:01:22.94 from the Amish country... Ah... OK, OK... 00:01:22.98\00:01:26.31 What was your childhood like? Well, when you have eight kids, 00:01:26.35\00:01:32.45 it's always trying to figure out where to sleep... 00:01:32.49\00:01:36.39 what to eat... So did you come from 00:01:36.42\00:01:39.83 impoverished situation... We actually, we waited in 00:01:39.86\00:01:44.77 Welfare lines... even at that time it was tough 00:01:44.80\00:01:49.70 for a long time for our family, my dad worked all the time, 00:01:49.74\00:01:54.21 my mom worked... even so we had a rough time... 00:01:54.24\00:01:57.48 I remember his take-home pay was like $86 a week at that time, 00:01:57.51\00:02:01.72 my mom would come out with this little budget book and she would 00:02:01.75\00:02:05.95 you know, make sure that we had all the expenses met. 00:02:05.99\00:02:10.79 That has to be so difficult, as you were growing up 00:02:10.83\00:02:15.26 did you know that you were poor or did you feel like you had 00:02:15.30\00:02:19.03 everything that you needed? I had no idea I was poor, 00:02:19.07\00:02:22.80 and I had no idea that I was Puerto Rican... and I was both, 00:02:22.84\00:02:28.04 But I just... it just didn't occur to me 00:02:28.08\00:02:35.32 and, you know, mom was very good at making sure that we had 00:02:35.35\00:02:40.39 everything... and we had a very supportive family structure 00:02:40.42\00:02:45.93 That's great... what was the spiritual environment like 00:02:45.96\00:02:50.67 as you were growing up? Dad was not a member of the 00:02:50.70\00:02:54.87 Church... and he was prone to stay out and do things like that 00:02:54.90\00:03:03.61 mom was our spiritual rock, and she was a praying woman, 00:03:03.65\00:03:11.45 I loved her dearly but she... she prayed a lot and she prayed 00:03:11.49\00:03:20.16 dad into the Church. Wow! after how many years? 00:03:20.20\00:03:23.90 Oh, that was... probably around 20 years of praying... 00:03:23.93\00:03:30.57 Isn't it interesting how... when we have an issue like that 00:03:30.61\00:03:36.78 to pray for, we should pray without ceasing. 00:03:36.81\00:03:40.22 Don't give up because that answer still can come 00:03:40.25\00:03:43.59 after 5 years, 10 years, twenty years, 00:03:43.62\00:03:46.79 so your mom hung in there... and prayed your dad... 00:03:46.82\00:03:51.06 into the Church... It's amazing how, when we talk 00:03:51.09\00:03:55.20 amongst the brothers and sisters how much of our memory 00:03:55.23\00:03:59.83 is locked into watching mom pray Tell us, tell me something 00:03:59.87\00:04:04.41 about that... Well, I mean, she would pray 00:04:04.44\00:04:09.04 a lot and I remember going past their bedroom... which 00:04:09.08\00:04:13.82 we never were permitted really to go into the bedroom, 00:04:13.85\00:04:18.45 but looking through the door and seeing mom pray, 00:04:18.49\00:04:22.79 she also got eight kids ready in the morning 00:04:22.82\00:04:30.97 and the way that she woke us up was that she would put 00:04:31.00\00:04:33.57 the King's Heralds on... in the morning... 00:04:33.60\00:04:37.51 Oh... So keep your eyes upon the 00:04:37.54\00:04:40.28 eastern skies... you know, and we are there listening to 00:04:40.31\00:04:43.21 this stuff, you know, when we were kids... 00:04:43.24\00:04:44.61 and we grew up that way. Every Sabbath morning, we'd hear 00:04:44.65\00:04:49.32 the record play... and we knew that it was time 00:04:49.35\00:04:55.96 to get up and go to Church... and she would drive us for 00:04:55.99\00:04:58.83 45 minutes... sometimes an hour, sometimes longer... 00:04:58.86\00:05:02.13 depending on the traffic... to get to the Bucks County 00:05:02.16\00:05:05.03 Seventh-day Adventist Church. She was very dedicated... 00:05:05.07\00:05:09.37 Was your dad supportive at that time of your religious 00:05:09.40\00:05:13.68 affiliation? Was he supportive even though he wasn't going? 00:05:13.71\00:05:17.55 I would say he was... he didn't really stop it 00:05:17.58\00:05:22.28 he didn't join it but it became a lot easier, of course, 00:05:22.32\00:05:27.32 when dad had his conversion experience. 00:05:27.36\00:05:29.89 Right... He lost his mother and I think 00:05:29.92\00:05:32.39 he began to think a little bit more... seriously about what 00:05:32.43\00:05:37.40 was happening and I remember... 00:05:37.43\00:05:40.60 I remember I broke the news to mom. I said, 00:05:40.64\00:05:43.34 "Mom, did you know that dad was reading the Bible?" 00:05:43.37\00:05:47.21 and she's like, "What?... " You knew before she did. 00:05:47.24\00:05:51.01 Oh yeah... I remember, you know, because I would walk past again 00:05:51.05\00:05:55.55 walking past the bedroom and dad... when he reads in English, 00:05:55.58\00:05:59.95 he lips it, you know, so tip,tip,tip,tip... 00:06:00.06\00:06:02.69 you know, he's doing that... and I was like, 00:06:02.72\00:06:05.29 "Well, that's really cool," and then I just, for some reason 00:06:05.33\00:06:08.23 I thought I'd tell mom about it and she was shocked... 00:06:08.26\00:06:13.10 Look at the example of your Godly mother that won your 00:06:13.13\00:06:17.31 father... not so much necessarily by what she said 00:06:17.34\00:06:21.51 but by what she did... as the Bible tells us... that 00:06:21.54\00:06:25.61 that, you know, converted spouse can actually win the other one. 00:06:25.65\00:06:30.89 Well, as a matter of fact, that's what happened. 00:06:30.92\00:06:37.03 More recently, we had a... it was September of 2009 00:06:37.06\00:06:42.50 and my mom went in for a routine gall bladder operation 00:06:42.53\00:06:47.97 and she never came back out of the hospital. 00:06:48.00\00:06:51.47 There was a surgical error, it's in the medical records, 00:06:51.51\00:06:55.81 as the cause of death, and 00:06:55.84\00:07:00.45 there are a lot of dimensions to that... 00:07:00.48\00:07:04.49 when you lose your mom it's a foundational cornerstone 00:07:04.52\00:07:10.56 and all of a sudden, for me, it was a loss of identity 00:07:10.59\00:07:15.43 and also a crisis of faith. I could not believe that God was 00:07:15.46\00:07:20.84 in that same operating room where the surgeon committed 00:07:20.87\00:07:26.21 that error for a woman who dedicated her life 00:07:26.24\00:07:30.18 so fearlessly towards the cause of God... in our family 00:07:30.21\00:07:34.22 and all over... she was well respected in the community 00:07:34.25\00:07:39.52 in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, so, again, a lot of dimensions 00:07:39.55\00:07:44.76 to that but... to the point... dad goes to church 00:07:44.79\00:07:50.73 as fearlessly as prompted, you know, he's 00:07:50.77\00:07:55.97 he's at that Church all the time and that's where he gains 00:07:56.00\00:08:00.18 his strength and energy and he's totally... 00:08:00.21\00:08:02.91 So, you know, in the Bible it says, 00:08:02.94\00:08:06.38 "Blessed are those who die in the Spirit... at that time, 00:08:06.41\00:08:10.02 their works follow them," and you see the outworking of 00:08:10.05\00:08:13.36 her life all over... in witnesses, in Puerto Rico, 00:08:13.39\00:08:16.66 in America, in the family, We see it in you... 00:08:16.69\00:08:18.36 We see it in you... and what you are doing 00:08:18.39\00:08:22.06 for the cause of Christ. I want to go back for a second 00:08:22.10\00:08:25.40 because I think that we need to unpack this a little bit more. 00:08:25.43\00:08:30.84 When your mom died on that operating table, 00:08:30.87\00:08:35.74 and it became a crisis of faith for you, 00:08:35.78\00:08:40.58 so many people don't understand, we don't understand 00:08:40.62\00:08:44.25 why things happen, I lost my mom at 19 so I really 00:08:44.29\00:08:47.86 do understand the whole scenario of losing a parent, 00:08:47.89\00:08:52.79 and your mom was your spiritual foundation at that point 00:08:52.83\00:08:57.37 so, to lose her meant to lose some of your identity 00:08:57.40\00:09:02.04 where were you with God after that? 00:09:02.07\00:09:05.11 Because there are some people that are going through that 00:09:05.14\00:09:07.11 right now... where were you with God after you lost your mom? 00:09:07.14\00:09:11.45 This is where the spiritual rubber meets 00:09:11.48\00:09:15.95 the road of experience... in other words, 00:09:15.98\00:09:20.19 I was sorely tested... Hmm, hmm... 00:09:20.22\00:09:28.26 and you come to a point in life where you really... 00:09:28.30\00:09:35.04 you're forced to believe what you really think you believe... 00:09:35.07\00:09:41.28 Ah... OK... OK? You are raised with all 00:09:41.31\00:09:44.35 this information, you are raised with all those beliefs, 00:09:44.38\00:09:47.32 but when, you know, things like that happen, 00:09:47.35\00:09:51.69 it really tests whether or not you believe what you believe 00:09:51.72\00:09:56.66 and in that case, my mom and I were very 00:09:56.69\00:10:00.23 close we were very good friends, she would come up from 00:10:00.26\00:10:03.87 Puerto Rico and stay with me 5 or 6 months at a time, 00:10:03.90\00:10:06.90 and she used to chase me around the house 00:10:06.94\00:10:10.61 and we'd laugh, we went to Church together, 00:10:10.64\00:10:14.28 we did all kinds of things together... and she was a lovely 00:10:14.31\00:10:18.61 person so I had to really internalize 00:10:18.65\00:10:26.29 that notion that God would allow something like that to happen, 00:10:26.32\00:10:31.39 I think, and if I can turn to the Bible, because that's where 00:10:31.43\00:10:36.40 I always turn to... Please... 00:10:36.43\00:10:38.17 I read about John the Baptist, John the Baptist was blessed 00:10:38.20\00:10:43.87 among men, you know, he was considered by Christ, 00:10:43.91\00:10:46.24 he was called one of the greatest men, right? 00:10:46.27\00:10:48.58 Hmm, hmm... ... and he gave everything, 00:10:48.61\00:10:53.42 for the cause of the Lord, I mean, he lived in the desert 00:10:53.45\00:10:57.35 he didn't go into town to get a bite to eat, 00:10:57.39\00:11:00.89 ...he ate locust and honey... all right... 00:11:00.92\00:11:05.89 and he followed the will of God faithfully, 00:11:05.93\00:11:10.77 all the way to prison... and then from the prison 00:11:10.80\00:11:17.67 to some feast where the King said... you know.. 00:11:17.71\00:11:21.48 "OK, you can put his head on a plate. " 00:11:21.51\00:11:24.15 You know, that was his fate... and you know, 00:11:24.18\00:11:29.65 for some people... and I've had that struggle 00:11:29.68\00:11:35.16 with that.. I've said, "Why did God allow that to happen?" 00:11:35.19\00:11:37.99 and I'm a big believer of Christianity... 00:11:38.03\00:11:42.06 and the writings of Ellen G. White... 00:11:42.10\00:11:43.70 I believe that she was a prophetess 00:11:43.73\00:11:45.43 and I read about that in The Desire of Ages, 00:11:45.47\00:11:48.27 and it impacts me even more so, now that I lost my mom 00:11:48.30\00:11:51.41 because for us, she was our John the Baptist. 00:11:51.44\00:11:54.24 hmmmmmmmmm... So how could God allow the 00:11:54.28\00:11:56.98 surgeon to cut her portal vein and have her essentially 00:11:57.01\00:12:00.55 bleed to death? Hmmmmmmm... 00:12:00.58\00:12:02.32 How could that happen to a servant of God? 00:12:02.35\00:12:07.82 and I came, you know, around... and, and, 00:12:07.86\00:12:13.26 I didn't revolt against God or anything like that, 00:12:13.29\00:12:16.50 It just... those questions haunt me... 00:12:16.53\00:12:18.83 and some of those things are still unresolved... 00:12:18.87\00:12:20.80 you know, but I know that with mom... 00:12:20.84\00:12:26.98 everything pointed to God... if mom were alive today... 00:12:27.01\00:12:32.08 if she... if I would have walked away from God, 00:12:32.11\00:12:34.85 that would have been the worst case scenario, 00:12:34.88\00:12:37.59 hmmmm, hmmmmm So that's one thing... 00:12:37.62\00:12:41.12 I want to honor my mom, Yes, yes, yes, yes... 00:12:41.16\00:12:45.36 But secondly, I want to bring honor to my God... 00:12:45.39\00:12:49.50 and if my God had to take my mom then, that's just the way, 00:12:49.53\00:12:57.57 that's just His will... that working of His will... 00:12:57.61\00:13:02.24 and, you know, we can't, we don't see the 00:13:02.28\00:13:09.78 beginning from the end, we just have to have faith, 00:13:09.82\00:13:12.92 and walk it... That is exactly what 00:13:12.95\00:13:17.86 this is about, isn't it? A faith walk... is it not, 00:13:17.89\00:13:22.06 you know, faith is not just believing that everything 00:13:22.10\00:13:26.27 is going to be OK... faith is holding on... 00:13:26.30\00:13:29.70 when things aren't OK... That's, that's... 00:13:29.74\00:13:34.38 Since I've given my life to the Lord, that has been 00:13:34.41\00:13:39.58 the story of my life... hmmm, hmmm, hmmm... 00:13:39.61\00:13:43.22 in fact, it's more so... that... there are times when you are 00:13:43.25\00:13:48.79 spiritually just rejuvenated... and you feel God in everything 00:13:48.82\00:13:54.30 you see Him... you know He's there... 00:13:54.36\00:13:57.03 but there are many times when it's dark... 00:13:57.07\00:13:59.87 and you have nothing to go on, except your belief 00:13:59.90\00:14:04.11 and your faith, and that... 00:14:04.14\00:14:07.24 that was one of those dark moments for me. 00:14:07.28\00:14:09.68 That... you know... I so appreciate your transparency 00:14:09.71\00:14:13.55 here because so many people are dealing with... 00:14:13.58\00:14:16.99 these are basic existential issues... you know, what do I do 00:14:17.02\00:14:22.59 when I am in the midst of my wilderness experience... 00:14:22.62\00:14:26.36 and I can't... I can't reason my way out of it, 00:14:26.39\00:14:30.67 I don't understand it, but I have to trust 00:14:30.70\00:14:35.47 in a sovereign God who did not cause this, 00:14:35.50\00:14:39.87 in His sovereignty, He allowed it to happen, 00:14:39.91\00:14:44.98 but I have to trust Him that whatever happened... 00:14:45.01\00:14:50.39 happened for a reason... and that's where your 00:14:50.42\00:14:54.49 faith comes in and the Bible says, "For without faith, it is 00:14:54.52\00:14:56.69 impossible to please Him... " so, you know, your desire 00:14:56.73\00:15:01.30 to hang in there with God... even in the midst of this 00:15:01.33\00:15:05.87 dark experience... is... it's a blessing... 00:15:05.90\00:15:09.87 it's a blessing for those who are going through that 00:15:09.90\00:15:13.88 same kind of experience right now... 00:15:13.91\00:15:16.58 What would you tell somebody who is... 00:15:16.61\00:15:19.21 look into that camera... this one right here... 00:15:19.25\00:15:22.58 and tell someone who is going through a dark time... 00:15:22.62\00:15:26.89 speak to that person... about what they should do 00:15:26.92\00:15:32.53 during that time... Well, first thing, 00:15:32.56\00:15:37.00 I've been there and I think we all have over here... 00:15:37.03\00:15:45.81 I would tell you this... that life is hard, 00:15:45.84\00:15:53.45 and I'm not telling you anything new... I want to identify with 00:15:53.48\00:16:00.89 what you're going through... life is hard, 00:16:00.92\00:16:04.79 and it's not fair... there are times when you just 00:16:04.83\00:16:12.07 want to give up... I felt that... 00:16:12.10\00:16:15.27 there were times when I just wanted to give up... 00:16:15.30\00:16:21.41 and somehow this God that we always talk about, 00:16:21.44\00:16:27.52 was able to reach me in my darkness and He was able 00:16:27.55\00:16:35.99 to, after 18 years of walking away from Him, 00:16:36.02\00:16:41.03 He was able to reach down and pick me up 00:16:41.06\00:16:44.53 and give me life again... I really... really was a 00:16:44.57\00:16:49.30 walking dead man... before I gave my life 00:16:49.34\00:16:53.31 back to Christ... I had left the Church for 18 years, 00:16:53.34\00:16:56.14 Was this after your mom died? This was before my mom died... 00:16:56.18\00:16:59.88 Okay... I know, 00:16:59.91\00:17:01.08 I'm mixing things a little bit, but, I realize that 00:17:01.12\00:17:09.29 all the things that the world was saying was success, 00:17:09.32\00:17:13.29 simply weren't... that, you know, the nice car, 00:17:13.33\00:17:18.30 the money in the bank, the nice house, 00:17:18.33\00:17:20.44 all those things that the world sort of pulls you towards 00:17:20.47\00:17:25.81 in all of their advertising and the magazines... 00:17:25.84\00:17:28.21 everything... is all geared towards this false reality... 00:17:28.24\00:17:33.92 and you have this "still small voice" 00:17:33.95\00:17:37.52 God saying, "You know, it's not about that" 00:17:37.55\00:17:41.86 it's about Him, it's about Him, it's about Jesus, 00:17:41.89\00:17:48.06 I remember when I realized that, I was lying on my couch, 00:17:48.10\00:17:54.47 and I basically said to the Lord ... at that time... 00:17:54.50\00:18:00.81 and I was not talking to the Lord... at that time, 00:18:00.84\00:18:02.64 actually I was talking to "three gods"... One was real... 00:18:02.68\00:18:07.88 the other two weren't... and I was being induced into 00:18:07.92\00:18:12.99 the spiritual realms... there are a lot... 00:18:13.02\00:18:15.76 there are some stories around that... 00:18:15.79\00:18:18.46 but I basically just said, "Lord, if you want this heap 00:18:18.49\00:18:22.76 of junk lying on this couch... you can have it... " 00:18:22.80\00:18:25.67 That was it... that's how I gave my life 00:18:25.70\00:18:30.14 to the Lord... then, right after I said that, 00:18:30.17\00:18:34.61 I had been having trouble breathing... 00:18:34.64\00:18:36.51 and I had to go to the hospital, but I was ignoring it, 00:18:36.54\00:18:39.78 because I knew it was bad... but I just didn't want to... 00:18:39.81\00:18:44.92 I just didn't care at that time, so, I basically said, 00:18:44.95\00:18:50.03 as an afterthought... but, if you are going to take me 00:18:50.06\00:18:55.03 heal me... and the next day I woke up 00:18:55.06\00:18:59.57 and I could breath... which didn't happen... 00:18:59.60\00:19:04.41 I mean, I had trouble breathing when I woke up in the morning, 00:19:04.44\00:19:07.11 Right... I breathed in deeply... 00:19:07.14\00:19:09.01 This morning was totally different from 00:19:09.04\00:19:11.18 the other mornings... It was completely different... 00:19:11.21\00:19:13.62 and I realized that the Lord heard me and then I 00:19:13.65\00:19:17.95 really got on my knees and I gave my life to God. 00:19:17.99\00:19:22.26 it's the best decision I ever made. 00:19:22.29\00:19:24.09 Absolutely... When was this? How long? 00:19:24.13\00:19:26.23 It was October of 1996. And you've never looked back? 00:19:26.26\00:19:30.30 Never looked back. Never looked back. 00:19:30.33\00:19:32.10 I'll tell you what though... Since that time, 00:19:32.13\00:19:35.87 it hasn't been rosy... I had to deal with things like 00:19:35.90\00:19:40.28 the loss of my sister, the loss of my mom, 00:19:40.31\00:19:43.11 I've had to deal with things like-what do I do for a living? 00:19:43.14\00:19:47.42 How do I make my next rent check? 00:19:47.45\00:19:50.79 you know... or my next mortgage payment... 00:19:50.82\00:19:53.29 all those things, you know. It has not been easy. 00:19:53.32\00:19:57.69 But look at where God has taken you from 00:19:57.73\00:20:01.36 to where you are now, you know, I mean, as one of the 00:20:01.40\00:20:06.33 top 100 Global Thinkers on Finance, you know, as the 00:20:06.37\00:20:11.27 Senior Vice President of HIMSS as a Fellow of the World Bank, 00:20:11.31\00:20:17.85 you know, and yet, what you're telling us is that.. 00:20:17.88\00:20:21.65 your road has not been an easy one and yet God has led you 00:20:21.68\00:20:28.62 all the way... It's amazing... 00:20:28.66\00:20:31.93 How is it juggling your Christianity... 00:20:31.96\00:20:35.66 your Seventh-day Adventist Christianity with your career, 00:20:35.70\00:20:40.50 how do you do that? How do you negotiate that? 00:20:40.54\00:20:43.14 First of all, I am so, 00:20:43.17\00:20:46.81 so thankful, that I am a Seventh-day Adventist 00:20:46.84\00:20:49.44 Come on, come on... You know, I just... 00:20:49.48\00:20:52.38 I love the truths that we hold dear to our hearts... 00:20:52.41\00:20:58.02 I love that we're in the Movement that started in 1844... 00:20:58.05\00:21:02.22 that we are a part of... I love the three angels' messages 00:21:02.26\00:21:06.43 and I love that message... to give to the world... 00:21:06.46\00:21:09.10 I was just in Costa Rica at "It is Written" event... 00:21:09.13\00:21:12.73 I was one of 10 pastors and we had 20 baptisms in our Church 00:21:12.77\00:21:16.34 the Church that I was pastoring, there were about over a hundred 00:21:16.37\00:21:19.14 baptisms all together... So you're pastoring as well? 00:21:19.17\00:21:21.74 Yes... See, you know what? 00:21:21.78\00:21:23.28 I didn't even see that in your bio, I didn't even know, 00:21:23.31\00:21:26.01 I knew that you had attended seminary but I had no idea 00:21:26.05\00:21:28.48 that you were a pastor! So let's just add that to your 00:21:28.52\00:21:30.85 list of many accomplishments! There are "Professional Pastors" 00:21:30.89\00:21:34.16 and there are "Lay Pastors" I fit in the latter category, 00:21:34.19\00:21:36.59 OK... that's still, I mean, that's still awesome... 00:21:36.62\00:21:40.40 But I absolutely embrace our message and I love 00:21:40.43\00:21:43.77 to teach it and to preach it wherever I can. 00:21:43.80\00:21:47.17 But, you know, to the people that are out there 00:21:47.20\00:21:53.01 that are struggling, all I can say is, 00:21:53.04\00:21:55.04 those struggles are there for a reason, 00:21:55.08\00:21:58.05 Hmmm, they were there, for reasons, 00:21:58.08\00:22:00.65 that as I look back, and look at how I dealt with those struggles 00:22:00.68\00:22:05.29 I understand that God is working in me to develop love, joy, 00:22:05.32\00:22:10.73 peace, patience, humility, self-control, you know, 00:22:10.76\00:22:16.10 all those things, that really bring value, 00:22:16.13\00:22:19.90 and goodness and gentleness, to life... right? 00:22:19.93\00:22:23.67 hmmm, hmmmm ... all those things... 00:22:23.71\00:22:25.71 that's what God's doing, and what I do, 00:22:25.74\00:22:28.98 is almost irrelevant... you know I know it sounds impressive 00:22:29.01\00:22:37.39 Global Health IT Fellow for the World Bank, 00:22:37.42\00:22:40.02 and Senior, Vice President, HIMSS, 00:22:40.06\00:22:42.92 actually God gave me that, hmmm... 00:22:42.96\00:22:45.79 you know, it's nothing that I did, 00:22:45.83\00:22:47.96 hmmmm, God gave me an idea, 00:22:48.00\00:22:52.07 back in 1996... 00:22:52.10\00:22:55.57 with those ideas that He gives us, there are some 00:22:55.60\00:22:59.47 responsibilities... What was the idea? 00:22:59.51\00:23:01.71 Tell our viewers what the idea was... 00:23:01.74\00:23:03.88 The idea that crystallized in my mind, in my professional life, 00:23:03.91\00:23:10.99 was Medical Banking... What is that? 00:23:11.02\00:23:15.16 What is medical banking? So Medical Banking... and I 00:23:15.19\00:23:18.63 visited with 125 banks' CEOs, not necessarily trying to find 00:23:18.66\00:23:26.84 the idea but that's what happened as a result of it, 00:23:26.87\00:23:31.21 I began to identify much more with how a bank looks 00:23:31.24\00:23:35.08 at the community... and one of the key anchor points 00:23:35.11\00:23:38.95 in any community is the health care... 00:23:38.98\00:23:40.82 the health care side, the hospital... the doctors, 00:23:40.85\00:23:43.55 it is very important... in the community... 00:23:43.59\00:23:46.62 those relationships... and for a banker... 00:23:46.65\00:23:49.22 to finance those relationships... 00:23:49.26\00:23:51.79 it's just very important too... A lot of times you will see a 00:23:51.83\00:23:55.46 banker on the hospital board, you know, and that's why... 00:23:55.50\00:23:59.13 because the bank wants to maintain tight relationships 00:23:59.17\00:24:03.07 and really... to enhance the quality of the community, 00:24:03.10\00:24:06.91 so I started to look at that through the lens of a banker 00:24:06.94\00:24:10.68 and with my healthcare background... I began to see 00:24:10.71\00:24:15.28 how banks can use their resources to take healthcare 00:24:15.32\00:24:20.76 from where it's at today, to leapfrog many problems 00:24:20.79\00:24:26.19 and challenges that we have, for instance, 00:24:26.23\00:24:29.26 we spend between, depending on who you read, 00:24:29.30\00:24:32.27 10 to 30% of healthcare dollars on the paper-chasing healthcare 00:24:32.30\00:24:37.71 the administrative side of healthcare, 00:24:37.74\00:24:39.97 with banks... we are able to save at least 35 billion dollars 00:24:40.01\00:24:44.81 annually using their technology and their resources, 00:24:44.85\00:24:49.78 So, what I did was, I helped to bring together 00:24:49.82\00:24:53.72 the healthcare side and the banking side 00:24:53.76\00:24:56.42 and to bring those technologies together... 00:24:56.46\00:24:59.76 to create a whole new portfolio, 00:24:59.79\00:25:02.76 of medical banking services, that are offered by the largest 00:25:02.80\00:25:05.87 banks in the world today. That's tremendous... 00:25:05.90\00:25:09.27 that is tremendous... that's why... you're one of the 00:25:09.30\00:25:13.91 100 top guys... and globally... that's tremendous... 00:25:13.94\00:25:18.48 That think tank that was formed in Franklin, Tennessee was 00:25:18.51\00:25:22.18 eventually sold to a global Health-IT Association 00:25:22.22\00:25:26.09 called the HIMSS and the Health Information Management 00:25:26.12\00:25:29.92 System Society or HIMSS, and HIMSS now is... 00:25:29.96\00:25:37.90 when I came in, I was able to broker a relationship with the 00:25:37.93\00:25:42.07 World Bank that is spending money on Health Information 00:25:42.10\00:25:46.17 Technology... Hmmmm,... 00:25:46.21\00:25:47.54 I was thinking more like a banker, so my language... 00:25:47.58\00:25:51.58 they could understand... so I became the first Fellow 00:25:51.61\00:25:55.55 in the World Bank to help them with their policy 00:25:55.58\00:26:00.39 around investment and health information technology... 00:26:00.42\00:26:02.99 in developing countries around the world... 00:26:03.02\00:26:05.13 That's tremendous... and then you see... 00:26:05.16\00:26:07.00 when you go to these developing countries... like I got a couple 00:26:07.03\00:26:10.60 of e-mails from you... like you were over in Vietnam... 00:26:10.63\00:26:13.10 you got to preach or something, it's like you are taking 00:26:13.13\00:26:15.60 the gospel with you... on these trips... 00:26:15.64\00:26:18.17 Well, the coolest thing in the world is... 00:26:18.21\00:26:20.64 is that wherever you go... there's an Adventist Church 00:26:20.68\00:26:22.91 right around the corner... and if you do the 00:26:22.94\00:26:24.91 Sabbath School Quarterly, you don't have to 00:26:24.95\00:26:26.92 worry about going in cold... so... I love it, you know, 00:26:26.95\00:26:31.55 when I travel, I love going to our Churches... 00:26:31.59\00:26:33.99 I love to encourage people... I love praying with them... 00:26:34.02\00:26:36.36 I love our Socials... it's awesome... 00:26:36.39\00:26:39.59 and I do that in New Zealand, I was in New Zealand at a 00:26:39.63\00:26:43.50 Church there... the church in New Zealand is on fire... 00:26:43.53\00:26:47.44 Auckland, New Zealand... I love that place... 00:26:47.47\00:26:50.41 I was in Australia and visited Avondale College... 00:26:50.44\00:26:52.84 they were so kind and gracious to me... 00:26:52.87\00:26:54.61 they gave me a place to sleep, why wouldn't you love 00:26:54.64\00:26:57.91 this Church... I was able to see Sunnyside... 00:26:57.95\00:27:03.08 the Ellen G. White's estate there... 00:27:03.12\00:27:05.92 and then from there... I went to the Philippines... 00:27:05.95\00:27:08.06 I had been supporting a mission there... 00:27:08.09\00:27:11.99 Danny Hanson from Tennessee started a mission 00:27:12.03\00:27:15.10 in the Philippines... so we talked there... 00:27:15.13\00:27:18.17 and from there... I went to Vietnam... 00:27:18.20\00:27:20.64 Now in Vietnam... I just want to share a little story... 00:27:20.67\00:27:23.30 OK... we got 30 seconds... OK... we got 30 seconds... 00:27:23.34\00:27:26.98 So essentially, I went to Vietnam with the World Bank 00:27:27.01\00:27:30.65 to talk and I had a... there was a plenary session... 00:27:30.68\00:27:33.35 which means that everybody... 850 Health Care Executives... 00:27:33.38\00:27:36.28 were there... I gave that talk in 4 minutes... 00:27:36.32\00:27:39.82 I became the number one speaker of that entire event... 00:27:39.85\00:27:44.49 out of all 75 speakers... Wow!... 00:27:44.53\00:27:46.53 ...and I basically told the story of how my mom 00:27:46.56\00:27:48.46 lost her life... Yes... 00:27:48.50\00:27:49.96 I wish we had more time... I can't believe... 00:27:50.00\00:27:52.47 our time has slipped away... Thank you so much John... 00:27:52.50\00:27:55.77 will you come back again? Absolutely... 00:27:55.80\00:27:57.41 Because you are... Dare to Dream... 00:27:57.44\00:27:58.97 Join us next time... It just wouldn't be the same... 00:27:59.01\00:28:02.14 without you... 00:28:02.18\00:28:03.35