Stay tuned to meet a couple
that dared to dream their way
00:00:01.06\00:00:03.80
out of the inner city
and into a powerful ministry
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for Christ. My
name is Yvonne Lewis
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guests today are
Pastor John and Angela Lomacang.
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Welcome to Urban
Report John and Angie.
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Good to be
here... good to see you.
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We're so glad to be
here with my friend Yvonne.
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Our friend. You know what?
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You know, when
you go to a new place
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you need to feel
like you have family there
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and people that
you know and love.
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And we didn't know
each other well in New York
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but John was my dad's student.
My dad was his principal.
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Right, right. May I call you
John 'cause you're Pastor John?
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Sure... That's
fine... get comfortable.
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My dad's student at
Bethel Elementary School.
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And so coming here...
And of course, I knew Ken.
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Yes, she knew my brother
Ken and his wife Jackie, yeah.
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So it's like
having a family here.
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It's even though we
didn't grow up together
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because I'm
considerably older...
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Let's just say I'm just older.
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Not the adjective
considerably... adverb.
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My dad was a
stickler for grammar.
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Let's not say that
but let's just say older.
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We have connections - right
- through our family members,
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and so coming here
and being with you guys
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has been such a
blessing. Praise the Lord.
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Many of our viewers
already know you because
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you are both on 3ABN regularly.
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Pastor John, you
host A Sharper Focus
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and House Calls - um-hmm -
and now you're the new host
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for our new series
Foundation of Our Faith
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on Dare to Dream.
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Of course Angie is a production
assistant for 3ABN Radio.
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So they know you but
they might not know the story
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that you have. And
our viewers love stories.
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So tell us a bit
about how you grew up
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and what happened in your life.
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How did you get
from point A to point B?
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You want to begin,
honey? Should I begin?
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OK... ladies
first. Yeah... go ahead.
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Well, I was raised in Brooklyn.
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New York, and my parents
were of Jamaican descent.
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They're Jamaican but
I was born in England.
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And after my father
died we migrated to Brooklyn.
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It was a family
of eight - Wow! -
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and so I'm the youngest of 8.
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You have seven siblings? Yes.
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Five brothers and two
sisters so eight of us.
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And after my father
passed away in England
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we all came to America -
to Brooklyn. As they say:
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"to the hood. " Did
you move to the "hood? "
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Did you live in "the hood?
" Oh yeah... wow... oh yeah.
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Right now it's not the
hood... it's downtown Brooklyn.
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It's a very classy area
now but when we lived there
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it was "the hood... " It
was right on St. James Place
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and Fulton Street
not far from Bethel.
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Yeah... and back
then it was a "hood. "
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So it must have
been hard for your mom
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to bring eight
children from England
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to the United States. Very hard.
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How did she do that?
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Well after my father
passed away we came up
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in sections. My two
oldest came up to America
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to Brooklyn. They came first.
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And my aunt came to England
and took them to New York
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with her. And then
about four years later -
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three or four years
later - we came to New York.
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My mom, my brother
Cliff, and my sister Lecia.
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We... the three
youngest ones came and then
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three years later
the other three came.
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So it was all in
sections. So your mom had
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everybody come
in shifts kind of.
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Exactly. We could
never afford... yeah.
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So once you were over
here what was your mom doing?
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How was she
caring for your family?
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Oh it was hard... it
was VERY hard because she...
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Well, she worked a
little outside of the home
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but she was always mom at home.
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She was
"mom-in-chief" if I could say.
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She was an excellent mom.
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So my mother came to New York
and she took care of people's
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homes, the Jewish
neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
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Cleaned their homes,
cooked, did all... She had like
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two and three jobs. She
just didn't have one job.
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It was like one after
the other after the other.
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Worked extremely hard
and never touched welfare
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not once. She was an
extremely hard worker.
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So my mom did that
and we all were in...
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She bought her house.
She was able to buy a house.
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And after she bought the house
we all of us lived in that house
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in Brooklyn - Monroe
Street and Throop and Tompkins -
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so we were in
Bedford-Stuyvesant. Wow!
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In the "hood" officially again.
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Now was your mom an
Adventist when she came
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to this country? Or was
that? Yes, she was an Adventist
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all her life, and so we
all... She made sure we...
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Well, we couldn't afford church
school so we went public school.
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One brother, Ken... he
went to Northeastern Academy.
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And so that was nice. He
was the only one that went
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to an academy. But my
mom was a hard worker.
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We all went to school.
She always pushed education.
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She didn't have much of an
education, but she pushed it
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on us to get your education.
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So we all worked
hard to study hard.
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And she always made
sure when you come home
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you do your homework.
You get something to eat
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but you do your homework. Yes.
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And she always had a
nice warm meal for us.
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Every time we came home
there was a nice meal for us.
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She was always a good mom.
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A great example of a mom.
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That's what I was going
to say: look at the example
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your mom set.
She worked so hard.
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She brought you over. She
brought you here in a godly
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home so that you
could know the Lord.
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She taught you the
value of education.
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And she taught you how
to be a great homemaker
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because, Ang... you are.
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You're the hostess
with the mostest, girl.
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I've got to tell you, Angie
is hostess with the mostest.
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She cooks up a storm...
I love to go eat her food.
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So, you know, your mom
gave you these wonderful lessons
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in how to be... Even
though she was no longer a wife
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she taught you
really the basics I think -
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she did - of
being a good wife. Yes.
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Yes she did. That's wonderful.
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Yeah, she's
always in the kitchen.
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My mom lived...
right John? That's right.
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She's always in the kitchen;
that's her favorite place
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in the house. The
comfort zone. Exactly.
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And so that's where I get
that from... my mom being in the
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kitchen all the
time and cooking.
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And I remember on Sabbaths when
they would have a block party
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outside. Some people
may not know what that is.
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Tell us what that is
for those that don't know.
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It's a party for the
block that you live on.
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It's a party - a big
party - where they have music
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and food and everybody in
the neighborhood would come.
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Everybody comes out of their
apartments or homes - yes -
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and just has a
big party. Yes, and so
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on Sabbath... they usually have
those block parties on Sabbath.
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And we were to not go.
We'd hear all the music
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and stuff, and my mom would
make sure we will have worship
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and things just to keep
our minds off of the music.
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But it was really
hard... it wasn't easy.
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The music was thumping.
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You could feel the
bass on the windows, right?
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Oh yeah! After sunset
we'd go out... go outside
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and see our friends and stuff.
But it was a great childhood.
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And being a single
mom, every Friday night
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she would gather us for worship.
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That was always a big
thing in my house which I always
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remember. She would
say: "Come on everybody...
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sunset. " And dinner...
the house smelled so good.
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We ate dinner and
then we'd have worship.
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We'd be playing our Jim Reeves
music or Heritage Singers.
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That's right. And so it was
a home. My mom made it a home.
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We didn't have a father
but I had five brothers.
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They were like five fathers.
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That's the
truth... I'll tell you that.
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I'm sure... I'm sure. Yeah.
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So you had a
wonderful legacy. Yes, yes, yes.
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And that is really good for
our viewers to know as well:
00:09:04.39\00:09:07.12
that you don't have to
have a lot of money to create
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a legacy. That's right.
You can be very poor even
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and yet teach your children the
values that they need to have
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to be successful in life.
So we praise the Lord for...
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And I also remember
my mom going to school.
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She became a nurse's
aide and worked at Brooklyn
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Jewish Hospital. And she
was always doing something.
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She always
wanted to go to school.
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Next thing you know, she
was trying to be a hairdresser.
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She was in
school. Then a masseuse.
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She was always going to
Manhattan working at night
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and going to school in the day.
She was always doing something
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to keep herself
active and her mind active.
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And so I really
appreciate that about her.
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She was a strong mom... very
strong. And she would always
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protect her little
girls - yes - always.
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Which is really important.
Yes, always talked to us about
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keeping our
virginity and things like that
00:10:01.60\00:10:03.81
and going out with
boys. She was very protective.
00:10:04.01\00:10:06.94
And I really
appreciate that about her.
00:10:07.14\00:10:10.04
Amen. That's
truly important. Yes.
00:10:10.14\00:10:12.26
What about you, Pastor John?
Tell us about your upbringing.
00:10:12.39\00:10:15.48
You know, when I think about it
there's a text that came to my
00:10:15.88\00:10:19.94
mind. I think it's in
Genesis 41:15 where Pharaoh said
00:10:20.04\00:10:22.80
to Joseph: "I have had a dream
but there is no one to interpret
00:10:22.90\00:10:26.17
it. " And I think my
life was kind of that way.
00:10:26.27\00:10:29.40
I believe that my dream
started... and I'm using that
00:10:29.70\00:10:32.75
in context with this
program... my dream started
00:10:32.86\00:10:35.69
before I was born. I think
the Lord... I'm convinced the
00:10:35.89\00:10:39.24
Lord had a dream for me
00:10:39.34\00:10:41.00
that had to take me through
channels of disappointment
00:10:41.30\00:10:44.36
to make that dream a reality.
00:10:44.67\00:10:46.78
I was born in Manhattan:
00:10:46.88\00:10:50.62
72nd Street...
Central Park West.
00:10:50.82\00:10:52.59
I lived there for 3
months before I decided to move.
00:10:52.89\00:10:55.34
Actually my mom and
dad were never married.
00:10:57.20\00:10:59.59
My mom was a young
Filipino-French girl from
00:10:59.89\00:11:03.47
the Virgin Islands
that came to New York with
00:11:03.57\00:11:06.78
big hopes and dreams... I
think that's a phrase I like
00:11:07.08\00:11:09.63
to use... and met a musician.
00:11:09.73\00:11:11.54
Johnny Parker... he
was a famous jazz musician.
00:11:11.64\00:11:14.15
Put that name on YouTube
you'll find out more about him.
00:11:14.36\00:11:16.20
Maybe more than I know.
00:11:16.40\00:11:17.51
And they met long enough
to conceive me, and they went
00:11:17.81\00:11:20.23
their separate
ways. And out of that
00:11:20.33\00:11:22.73
my mom would take me
to a babysitter every day.
00:11:22.93\00:11:25.15
A lady by the name of
Carmen Haynes from Trinidad
00:11:25.45\00:11:27.74
and her husband George
from Barbados. And they were the
00:11:27.94\00:11:31.04
babysitters. And at 3 months
old my mom decided to leave
00:11:31.14\00:11:34.96
my sister and I
at the babysitters.
00:11:35.06\00:11:36.95
My sister was 3 years
old, I was 3 months old.
00:11:37.05\00:11:39.66
They abandoned us
and left us there.
00:11:39.86\00:11:41.61
I've had the privilege of
putting that story in a book...
00:11:42.82\00:11:45.72
about us also in a book
called Abandoned But Not Alone
00:11:45.92\00:11:49.26
by Pacific Press.
It's still available.
00:11:49.46\00:11:51.17
An excellent book, by the way.
00:11:51.47\00:11:53.72
It's a page turner... I mean
you just want to keep reading
00:11:53.82\00:11:56.88
'cause it's so interesting.
Wow! That's a praise the Lord.
00:11:57.19\00:12:00.65
And so knowing at the
early stages of my life
00:12:01.66\00:12:06.68
the Lord allowed me to
get connected with the church
00:12:06.88\00:12:08.55
through Momma
Haynes... everybody called her.
00:12:08.65\00:12:10.47
Didn't have any
of her own children.
00:12:10.67\00:12:11.86
Raised one son they
brought from Trinidad.
00:12:12.06\00:12:13.89
But my foundation
was the most important.
00:12:14.09\00:12:16.67
Church every
Sabbath. We'd get there before
00:12:16.87\00:12:18.26
Sabbath School began and
the deacons would have to
00:12:18.36\00:12:20.42
put us out on Saturday night.
00:12:20.52\00:12:21.89
I mean: "Sr. Haynes,
we're closing up now. "
00:12:22.66\00:12:26.27
Bethel was a big
church - 1,200 members.
00:12:26.47\00:12:28.24
Oh yes. We spent
all day at church.
00:12:28.44\00:12:29.85
And so even to this very day
wherever my wife and I travel
00:12:29.88\00:12:32.33
or across the state...
even when we traveled with the
00:12:32.63\00:12:36.05
Heritage Singers, it would be
a small church or a big church.
00:12:36.15\00:12:38.54
Church on Sabbath
is just church for us
00:12:38.74\00:12:40.85
because it's an
appointment with God...
00:12:41.15\00:12:43.46
not so much just to fellowship.
00:12:43.96\00:12:45.61
But at the age of 12
the lady that raised me
00:12:45.91\00:12:50.82
took sick, and by the
time I was 13 she passed away.
00:12:51.02\00:12:53.86
But before she passed away...
00:12:54.92\00:12:56.44
Angie made a point
that I'd like to build on...
00:12:56.84\00:12:58.71
I went to public
school all my life, too.
00:12:59.62\00:13:01.35
But just before Momma passed
away she put me in Bethel.
00:13:01.55\00:13:04.60
That's where I met
your dad as my principal.
00:13:04.80\00:13:07.59
I was in Bethel for two years.
00:13:07.79\00:13:09.35
That was important because
I was going down the road...
00:13:11.34\00:13:13.55
I was in schools in Brooklyn.
00:13:13.95\00:13:16.07
I was in one of the worst
high schools: 258, which was
00:13:16.28\00:13:19.28
known to be... every other day
there's something like a fire
00:13:19.38\00:13:21.90
or the police or the teachers
are fighting with the students
00:13:22.10\00:13:25.31
or just such a
terrible school to be in.
00:13:25.51\00:13:29.46
Something worse than
sometimes you see on television.
00:13:29.76\00:13:32.01
And I was afraid to go
to school, so I was absent
00:13:32.31\00:13:33.85
42 days from school, so
rightfully I should have been
00:13:34.05\00:13:37.06
left back. But the
Lord had a plan for me...
00:13:37.16\00:13:39.68
a dream that He was
bringing to fruition.
00:13:39.88\00:13:41.94
Put me in Bethel, and
I was there for 2 years
00:13:41.97\00:13:45.19
and started high
school. And we met.
00:13:45.23\00:13:48.04
I'm kind of giving
the condensed version.
00:13:48.24\00:13:49.95
Well before you go there
let me just ask you something:
00:13:50.15\00:13:52.02
let's go back to your
mom, because once she left you
00:13:52.32\00:13:55.95
and your sister did you
have any more contact with her
00:13:56.06\00:13:59.24
over the years? Did
you know where she was?
00:13:59.44\00:14:01.21
Well you were 3 months -
right - three months old -
00:14:01.42\00:14:03.49
so you couldn't... I mean
that was a moot point. But...
00:14:03.69\00:14:07.21
What?
00:14:07.93\00:14:09.11
How did that shape
your perception of family?
00:14:09.32\00:14:13.90
Well it took a long time
for my sister to convince me
00:14:14.24\00:14:16.77
that the people raising
us were not our parents.
00:14:16.97\00:14:18.68
You know, it's kind of
like that commercial years ago:
00:14:19.08\00:14:21.26
look at me, look
at him, look at me.
00:14:21.46\00:14:23.12
And she would say:
"Look at them; look at us.
00:14:23.32\00:14:25.71
You can tell they don't
look anything like us. "
00:14:25.91\00:14:27.76
Until one day I went to school
- I was in the second grade -
00:14:27.96\00:14:30.29
and they told me to:
"Give this note to your parents
00:14:30.49\00:14:33.22
when you go home. " And I
was using the name John Haynes.
00:14:33.32\00:14:36.70
They said the note was
having to use his real name
00:14:36.90\00:14:40.54
so I went back to school
with the name John Lomacang.
00:14:40.64\00:14:43.24
I thought it was an assignment.
It didn't make much difference
00:14:43.54\00:14:45.98
to me but then my sister
said: "See, I told you! "
00:14:46.18\00:14:48.08
But there was some anxiety
to know who my parents were.
00:14:48.83\00:14:54.73
Who my mom was. I
just had heard a name.
00:14:54.93\00:14:57.49
Some people used to say:
"Well I think her name is Kim. "
00:14:57.69\00:15:00.04
And I saw a picture of her once.
00:15:00.35\00:15:02.75
And that picture disappeared.
I never knew what happened
00:15:02.95\00:15:04.53
to that picture. And I
knew that at least her face...
00:15:04.63\00:15:09.90
saw her face. But I
grew up through life
00:15:10.10\00:15:12.62
with a pretty balanced home,
00:15:12.82\00:15:14.52
so I didn't have
that separation anxiety.
00:15:14.72\00:15:16.87
Who am I? What's going on?
Where's my mom? Where's my dad?
00:15:17.07\00:15:19.46
'Cause God allowed me
to be put in the situation
00:15:19.76\00:15:21.85
from young that
gave me the stability.
00:15:22.05\00:15:24.56
Mom and dad.
So... three months old.
00:15:24.77\00:15:26.51
I don't know
anybody else. Right.
00:15:26.71\00:15:28.18
So by the time I start kicking
into reality and knowing what's
00:15:28.28\00:15:31.27
going on around me
I had a balanced home
00:15:31.37\00:15:33.82
for the most part.
We compared Christmases.
00:15:34.02\00:15:36.76
Sometimes... Her mom had
8 so it's hard to provide
00:15:36.96\00:15:39.62
for 8 children. You know,
we had pretty good Christmases.
00:15:39.82\00:15:42.45
We had wonderful birthdays.
00:15:42.65\00:15:45.36
It was just a house
filled with activity.
00:15:45.56\00:15:47.65
Really didn't have
the need of anything.
00:15:47.85\00:15:49.31
Did they other children of
their own? Just one little boy
00:15:49.51\00:15:52.03
that wasn't their own naturally.
It was a boy that they
00:15:52.24\00:15:54.27
adopted in
Trinidad and brought home.
00:15:54.47\00:15:56.48
Brought over to
America with them.
00:15:56.68\00:15:59.04
But the critical
point in my life was at 13
00:15:59.14\00:16:02.45
when Momma passed away.
00:16:02.65\00:16:04.30
I left the church a year later
00:16:04.50\00:16:05.90
and went out into the
world. I lost my anchor.
00:16:06.10\00:16:08.12
Were you angry with God?
Well you know, at that point
00:16:08.42\00:16:10.71
I began to ask the question:
"Why is this happening to me? "
00:16:11.01\00:16:15.50
And then I started
asking the question:
00:16:15.70\00:16:16.97
"Well where is my
mom? Where's my dad? "
00:16:17.07\00:16:19.60
I met my dad at 13
years old for the first time.
00:16:19.83\00:16:22.31
Tell us about
that. My biological dad.
00:16:22.61\00:16:25.79
Just one Sunday evening when the
house was filled with calypso
00:16:25.99\00:16:29.94
which in the culture
of Trinidad and Barbados
00:16:30.14\00:16:33.03
Sunday nights or Saturday nights
was calypso time in our home.
00:16:33.33\00:16:36.19
Papa would bring all this
cousins over. They would play
00:16:36.50\00:16:38.09
the guitars and drink
and smoke and play calypso.
00:16:38.19\00:16:40.92
I had had my fill of it
that night, so I went to the
00:16:41.22\00:16:43.35
neighbor's house.
And on my way there
00:16:43.45\00:16:45.11
I met a man who had just
pulled up in front of the house
00:16:45.42\00:16:47.86
in a four-door,
black Fleetwood Cadillac.
00:16:48.06\00:16:50.27
Ummm. And he
started asking me questions
00:16:50.47\00:16:52.40
as he was coming out of the car.
00:16:52.60\00:16:53.96
And said: "Is your name John? "
00:16:54.26\00:16:56.05
He said: "Your name is
probably John, isn't it? "
00:16:56.35\00:16:57.78
"Yes. " "And your sister's
name is Vivian. " "Yes. "
00:16:57.98\00:16:59.68
"And you're 13. " "Yes.
" "And she's 16. " "Yes. "
00:16:59.88\00:17:01.83
And I'm: "Well
how do you know? "
00:17:02.08\00:17:04.22
"He said: "Well I'm your dad. "
00:17:04.52\00:17:05.82
And I said: "No you're
not; my dad's in the house. "
00:17:06.02\00:17:07.77
And I ran in the house,
and he had told me his name.
00:17:08.08\00:17:11.04
And I ran in the house and
over the sound of the calypso
00:17:11.24\00:17:13.34
I said: "There's a
man said he's my dad. "
00:17:13.54\00:17:15.80
Said: "What is his name? "
He said: "He told me his name is
00:17:16.00\00:17:18.16
Johnny. " Said:
"That's your dad! "
00:17:18.26\00:17:19.70
And that's how I met my
father. Thirteen years old.
00:17:20.10\00:17:22.20
Did he come in
and visit with you?
00:17:22.50\00:17:23.97
He came in and visited.
Came to find out that night
00:17:24.17\00:17:25.78
I was a junior. You know
Junior's Cheesecake downtown
00:17:25.88\00:17:28.70
Brooklyn? Oh yes. He took
me to Junior's Cheesecake.
00:17:28.80\00:17:30.86
Gave me a $20 bill.
00:17:30.96\00:17:31.99
And from that point till
the time he passed away in 2006
00:17:32.11\00:17:35.56
I didn't really get to
know very much about him.
00:17:35.76\00:17:37.55
Knew him for 30+ years, and
he never allowed me to come in.
00:17:37.75\00:17:40.74
He was the only
child. I was an only child.
00:17:40.94\00:17:42.94
Never got to know
my family on his side.
00:17:43.04\00:17:45.69
It was quite a struggle
to kind of live with that.
00:17:46.09\00:17:48.53
And so during that
identity crisis, we met.
00:17:49.34\00:17:53.19
We met... I won't tell the year.
00:17:53.59\00:17:55.99
OK... we met... Want
me to tell the year? No.
00:17:57.05\00:17:59.52
OK, I won't tell the year.
00:17:59.63\00:18:00.68
But we're going on
31 years of marriage.
00:18:00.88\00:18:02.60
But we met as
teenagers. I was 16. Ooh...
00:18:02.80\00:18:05.11
And we dated off
and on for nine years.
00:18:05.51\00:18:07.46
We were just
kind of little rascals
00:18:07.66\00:18:09.44
and didn't really
know what we wanted.
00:18:09.74\00:18:11.30
But she was very much
in the church and I wasn't.
00:18:11.40\00:18:13.78
I was just coming back.
00:18:13.98\00:18:15.01
And we met, and she gave
me a family to connect to.
00:18:15.31\00:18:18.53
Ummm... So we
became like good friends
00:18:18.83\00:18:21.01
long before we were dating.
00:18:21.31\00:18:23.80
We just hung out with her
brothers. Played basketball
00:18:24.10\00:18:26.53
with her brothers on Sunday.
00:18:26.63\00:18:27.82
Her mom became like my mom.
00:18:28.02\00:18:29.33
When she cooked, she
always put dinner aside for me.
00:18:29.53\00:18:31.51
Right. We were all friends
'cause I was not allowed to have
00:18:31.71\00:18:34.15
a boyfriend at 16.
00:18:34.25\00:18:35.97
And with all those brothers,
too. Oh yeah, that was...
00:18:36.17\00:18:38.14
My brother would always
say: "You want a ride home? "
00:18:38.44\00:18:40.47
They would say to him. I'd
say: "No I have my bicycle. "
00:18:40.67\00:18:43.28
They said: "No,
you need a ride home. "
00:18:43.48\00:18:44.64
You know how brothers are.
00:18:45.80\00:18:46.83
They'd put his bike in
his car and take him home.
00:18:46.93\00:18:48.75
My bike in the trunk. "You're
not sitting in this house
00:18:48.95\00:18:50.94
with my sister. "
And I understand now.
00:18:51.04\00:18:53.27
But you know, this sounds
strange, but I didn't think
00:18:53.57\00:18:56.30
carnal like that back then.
00:18:56.60\00:18:58.46
I didn't think that way.
00:18:58.76\00:18:59.79
So it didn't
really phase me very much.
00:18:59.97\00:19:02.12
It was a different
time. You know, back years ago
00:19:02.32\00:19:07.58
we weren't bombarded
with so much sexual stimuli.
00:19:07.78\00:19:10.66
Now, everything...
so the kids are getting
00:19:10.86\00:19:13.69
involved in all of that so
much earlier and it's a mess.
00:19:13.89\00:19:18.71
So you weren't
even thinking about it.
00:19:18.95\00:19:21.21
Three Stooges was like my max.
00:19:21.41\00:19:22.97
There's no
suggestions there at all.
00:19:24.01\00:19:26.06
And so God brought me to the
place where He awakened in me
00:19:27.78\00:19:33.57
this dream, 'cause she was
not about to date any person
00:19:33.77\00:19:36.18
that wasn't
connected to the Lord.
00:19:36.38\00:19:37.97
So her mission from God -
we talk about that in the book
00:19:38.17\00:19:40.89
in detail - her
mission from God was to get me
00:19:41.00\00:19:43.68
back in the church. And
you know, young ladies could
00:19:43.78\00:19:46.38
get the attention of a young
man faster than the pastor can.
00:19:46.58\00:19:49.29
That's true. And so
she invited me to her house
00:19:49.79\00:19:52.04
for worship, and just
tell briefly that night...
00:19:52.07\00:19:55.24
the changeover. Oh
yeah, I invited him
00:19:55.47\00:19:57.70
for worship, and he came over.
00:19:57.80\00:19:59.73
Said: "John, my mom always
has worship on Friday night.
00:19:59.93\00:20:02.91
Why don't you come
over? " So he came over.
00:20:03.11\00:20:04.36
He said: "Sure. " And
so my mom said to him:
00:20:04.56\00:20:07.35
"Oh, OK John, would
you read this scripture? "
00:20:07.55\00:20:09.93
And he said: "Oh, sure. "
00:20:10.13\00:20:11.47
He took the Bible. I can't
remember what the scripture was.
00:20:11.68\00:20:14.00
For instance: "John 3:16. "
00:20:14.20\00:20:16.13
"For... God... so...
loved... " That's him.
00:20:16.33\00:20:19.58
"Loved... the...
world. " He was just...
00:20:19.78\00:20:21.19
Was he nervous reading it?
00:20:21.39\00:20:23.01
I thought he couldn't read.
00:20:23.11\00:20:24.35
But he could read
but he was just nervous.
00:20:25.67\00:20:27.68
And beads of perspiration
was dripping all over the Bible.
00:20:27.98\00:20:32.00
And I'm like: "Oh...
" What were you thinking
00:20:32.50\00:20:34.94
at that point? Well I
wasn't... He was a partier.
00:20:35.04\00:20:37.84
I was a partier.
I'm thinking: "You know,
00:20:38.14\00:20:39.54
I've got a party to go to.
Hurry up with this worship. "
00:20:39.94\00:20:41.84
I partied from
Thursday to Sunday. OK.
00:20:42.02\00:20:44.95
And I was just very
much involved in gambling
00:20:45.05\00:20:47.49
and pool hustling. Gambling
in the sense of pool tables.
00:20:47.59\00:20:50.52
I didn't do dice and all
that and buy lottery tickets.
00:20:50.72\00:20:53.22
I figured if I'm going to
gamble I'm going to do something
00:20:53.52\00:20:54.99
that I have control over.
00:20:55.09\00:20:56.36
You know, if I'm going to
lose I'm losing on my own terms.
00:20:56.56\00:20:58.62
It's going to be
on my hand that I lost
00:20:59.02\00:21:00.86
or my hand that I won.
00:21:01.16\00:21:02.19
But we studied, studied,
studied... but you have to tell
00:21:02.39\00:21:04.04
the rest of the story.
Yeah, we did study quite a bit.
00:21:04.14\00:21:06.38
And so anyway I
said one Friday night
00:21:06.58\00:21:08.91
'cause he kept coming
over every Friday night...
00:21:09.21\00:21:11.44
He kept coming
over. I kept inviting him.
00:21:11.64\00:21:13.34
Said: "Come on John, come
over to my house for worship. "
00:21:13.54\00:21:15.46
'Cause I knew he was so carnal;
his mind was in the world.
00:21:15.76\00:21:18.58
Yes. And so I kept kind of
inviting him. I prayed for him:
00:21:18.78\00:21:21.23
"Lord, please help him. "
00:21:21.43\00:21:22.72
So anyway, one
particular Friday night
00:21:23.02\00:21:25.00
I said: "John, have you seen
this book Great Controversy? "
00:21:25.30\00:21:28.02
He said: "Oh, yeah,
Momma used to have this
00:21:28.32\00:21:30.28
when she was alive. We
used to have that book. "
00:21:30.38\00:21:32.66
I said: "Come
on, let's read it. "
00:21:32.76\00:21:33.79
So we went toward
the end of the book
00:21:33.86\00:21:35.37
and the promises
of Christ's return.
00:21:35.67\00:21:38.94
And he started
reading it and reading it
00:21:39.14\00:21:41.99
and next thing you know
he just broke down and cried.
00:21:42.19\00:21:44.83
Oh... And he said:
"Angie, I'm wasting my life.
00:21:45.03\00:21:48.24
I'm wasting my life. "
00:21:48.44\00:21:49.99
It really got to his heart.
00:21:50.29\00:21:52.16
The Holy Spirit
worked on you then and there
00:21:52.36\00:21:55.01
and broke you -
right - right there.
00:21:55.21\00:21:58.25
To tell you how
complete the break was
00:21:58.55\00:22:00.25
on that Friday - I
worked at Bank of America -
00:22:00.45\00:22:02.82
I would go to
work with my pool stick
00:22:03.02\00:22:04.81
in my leather
case and my boom box
00:22:05.11\00:22:07.66
so that I could party down
in Battery Park or by the World
00:22:07.96\00:22:10.22
Trade Center in New
York. And so when work was over
00:22:10.32\00:22:12.63
"It's lunch
time... it's party time. "
00:22:12.73\00:22:14.88
That was Friday. On Monday I
went back to work with my Bible
00:22:15.18\00:22:18.59
and The Great Controversy. Amen.
00:22:18.79\00:22:20.15
And I would look for people
on the A Train to talk to about
00:22:20.46\00:22:22.65
the Lord. That's Broolyn...
that's New York! Yeah!
00:22:22.85\00:22:25.24
And so I was: "You
want to have Bible studies?
00:22:25.48\00:22:27.25
Where do you work? "
Lunch hour. "Let's have
00:22:27.35\00:22:29.07
Bible studies at the
World Trade. " This is Friday,
00:22:29.17\00:22:31.27
Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
00:22:31.57\00:22:33.27
I'm going from
gambling to witnessing for Jesus
00:22:33.47\00:22:36.44
on Monday. And that
started a fire in my life
00:22:36.54\00:22:38.68
which led to
many twists and turns.
00:22:38.98\00:22:41.82
In the interest of time I
want to kind of bring it to
00:22:42.02\00:22:44.51
the condensing
points. We dated together
00:22:44.61\00:22:47.68
and we eventually got
married, but just before that
00:22:47.88\00:22:51.01
one of the brothers...
We had such a relationship
00:22:51.21\00:22:53.37
one of her brothers said:
"They do everything together.
00:22:53.57\00:22:55.49
They planning on
getting married or something? "
00:22:55.59\00:22:56.90
And this is the
funny part of the story:
00:22:57.21\00:22:58.87
after dating her off
and on for nine years
00:22:59.07\00:23:00.68
one of her brothers
- he's deceased now -
00:23:00.88\00:23:02.43
he came to me
one day and he said:
00:23:02.63\00:23:04.26
"You gonna date my sister
forever or you gonna marry her?
00:23:04.46\00:23:06.52
What you gonna do? " Aahhh.
00:23:06.62\00:23:08.51
Here I am 25 years
old and he's asking him...
00:23:08.71\00:23:12.26
He said: "What you gonna do?
" I said: "Yeah, I'm going to
00:23:12.50\00:23:14.30
get married
eventually. " He said: "When? "
00:23:14.40\00:23:16.64
He was very strict.
He put you on the spot!
00:23:16.84\00:23:19.30
I looked in his
eyes and he was serious.
00:23:19.50\00:23:20.54
And I said:
"Uhhh... by next month. "
00:23:20.74\00:23:22.78
And we got
married thirty days later.
00:23:24.02\00:23:26.39
That was 30+ years ago.
00:23:26.59\00:23:28.35
Wow! We planned a
big wedding at Bethel.
00:23:28.65\00:23:31.40
So I told her: "Your brother
proposed and I accepted. "
00:23:31.60\00:23:33.79
And you know,
the Lord has taken us
00:23:36.12\00:23:38.67
from these two little
knucklehead selfish children -
00:23:38.87\00:23:41.76
very selfish - so
much into ourselves.
00:23:41.97\00:23:44.39
We got married and our
lives took off from there.
00:23:44.69\00:23:47.00
We moved down to
Florida after about three months
00:23:47.10\00:23:49.49
living in New York.
Moved to Florida and
00:23:49.69\00:23:52.70
not long after we moved to
Florida we got the invitation
00:23:52.90\00:23:54.91
to join the Heritage
Singers. And her mom...
00:23:55.11\00:23:56.89
When we didn't know what to
do what did your mother say?
00:23:57.09\00:23:58.74
"The blessing is
on the word go. "
00:23:59.14\00:24:02.00
That's right. Wow!
Like Danny says. Yeah.
00:24:02.20\00:24:04.85
He says:
"Opportunity knocks once. Go. "
00:24:05.15\00:24:07.80
And our lives took off.
00:24:08.00\00:24:09.17
You know, we say "Go. "
We've been going ever since.
00:24:09.37\00:24:12.06
Fifty-two countries later...
00:24:12.47\00:24:14.17
But that's because we
gave our heart to the Lord.
00:24:14.27\00:24:16.53
But what I was saying is
00:24:16.73\00:24:18.33
so at 19 we got
baptized together.
00:24:18.54\00:24:21.37
Ohhh... We both recommitted
our lives to the Lord together.
00:24:21.67\00:24:24.86
And through a
series of twists and turns
00:24:25.26\00:24:27.44
when I gave my life to the Lord
and finally got rid of the music
00:24:27.47\00:24:31.36
'cause I had hundreds of albums.
I was a disc jockey also.
00:24:31.56\00:24:34.68
OK. And... oh yeah...
00:24:34.88\00:24:36.60
I said "Ok, Lord, I'm going...
" He was always partying.
00:24:36.81\00:24:39.14
One particular Friday night I
found out where the party was.
00:24:39.34\00:24:45.14
And I'm like: "OK, John's
on the Windows of the World
00:24:45.34\00:24:48.80
at the World Trade Center disc
jockeying"... disc jockeying
00:24:49.00\00:24:52.43
and I went there
and I said: "John... "
00:24:52.57\00:24:55.71
He had his
headsets on just jamming.
00:24:55.81\00:24:57.66
I said: "John,
it's Friday night.
00:24:57.96\00:24:59.73
You should be at
home. It's Sabbath. "
00:24:59.93\00:25:01.47
"Yeah, yeah, Angie... yeah.
I've gotta go; I've gotta go.
00:25:01.77\00:25:04.20
You go home, go home, go home. "
00:25:04.41\00:25:06.12
I said: "John, you shouldn't.
" I had such holy boldness
00:25:06.32\00:25:09.39
it just scares me. I'm
like "What am I doing there? "
00:25:09.59\00:25:11.76
And when I look back
I'm like... But I went there
00:25:12.06\00:25:14.35
and I'm telling him
"You don't belong here. "
00:25:14.45\00:25:16.96
That's right. And eventually
so I said: "OK, Lord, I'm
00:25:17.16\00:25:19.06
giving this up, " after the
conversion story, reading the
00:25:19.16\00:25:21.40
Great Controversy,
but it took a little bit
00:25:21.51\00:25:23.78
to get rid of that
out of my blood. Yeah.
00:25:23.98\00:25:26.05
It was a while. One Sunday
- this was the cut-off point -
00:25:26.25\00:25:28.62
we were going to disc
jockey for a wedding reception.
00:25:28.82\00:25:30.66
Had a car accident, and I
said "If we had lost our lives,
00:25:30.86\00:25:33.11
I know we'd of both been lost.
" This small little Honda Civic.
00:25:33.31\00:25:36.73
She broke the windshield;
I twisted the steering wheel.
00:25:36.93\00:25:39.40
I knew if I had lost my
life I'd have been lost.
00:25:39.70\00:25:41.99
And that was the change
in our lives. In a nutshell
00:25:42.29\00:25:44.58
gave our lives to the Lord.
Joined the Heritage Singers.
00:25:44.78\00:25:47.82
After that God opened
the door for us in ministry.
00:25:48.12\00:25:51.40
And the dream...
now we look back on it
00:25:52.66\00:25:55.53
and what's so
amazing about a dream...
00:25:55.63\00:25:57.17
Which we look back and
sometimes we say to ourselves
00:25:57.47\00:25:59.53
"The secret of our
success is not what we do
00:25:59.73\00:26:01.98
but it's being humble. "
Every day we pray for that.
00:26:02.18\00:26:05.66
The story is so beautiful
00:26:06.17\00:26:08.62
because you can see
how God brought both of you
00:26:08.82\00:26:12.41
together - um-hmm - because you
have such a powerful ministry
00:26:12.61\00:26:16.63
together. She is your
companion, your helpmeet.
00:26:16.73\00:26:20.41
I wouldn't be who I am
without a wife like this.
00:26:20.52\00:26:22.20
She is just the consummate
preacher's wife, pastor's wife.
00:26:22.40\00:26:27.69
That's right! She's
wonderful; you're a godly man.
00:26:27.84\00:26:30.29
I mean, it's just
a wonderful pairing.
00:26:30.39\00:26:32.65
What would you tell? In
one minute, what would you
00:26:32.95\00:26:35.38
tell our viewers about
how to keep it together?
00:26:35.48\00:26:38.49
Oh wow! OK, honey.
We worship together.
00:26:38.79\00:26:41.15
Yes. We pray
together. We have fun together.
00:26:41.35\00:26:43.03
We laugh
together... we laugh together.
00:26:43.13\00:26:45.05
Either at each
other or at somebody else.
00:26:45.25\00:26:47.05
No, we do... We're very real.
00:26:48.98\00:26:51.49
We speak our minds
to each other. Yes.
00:26:51.52\00:26:53.23
She has a
voice... I have a voice.
00:26:53.43\00:26:55.11
We don't yell. We are not
the type of people to yell.
00:26:55.41\00:26:59.34
We don't do that.
But if she doesn't like
00:26:59.64\00:27:00.96
something she'll say it.
If I don't like something,
00:27:01.06\00:27:02.57
I'll just say it.
And he will say it!
00:27:02.67\00:27:03.81
We're very real. There are
a lot of people that are stuck
00:27:03.91\00:27:05.50
in one-way relationships
where you know the visibility
00:27:05.60\00:27:09.35
is his or hers. I tell
people: "This is my wife.
00:27:09.46\00:27:12.43
I take here wherever I'm
invited around the world. "
00:27:12.63\00:27:14.69
If I get invited and
they don't want to bring her,
00:27:14.99\00:27:17.96
I say: "Cancel me. "
'Cause God has given both of us
00:27:18.16\00:27:20.32
a dream. And we dared to
dream - yes - and we grasped
00:27:20.42\00:27:24.46
the vision that God had for us.
00:27:24.66\00:27:25.89
And that's why we are
still going forward in Christ.
00:27:26.09\00:27:28.53
Praise the Lord!
And you set boundaries
00:27:28.84\00:27:30.80
around your relationship
and that's wonderful.
00:27:30.90\00:27:33.48
So just unpack
that boundaries issue
00:27:33.68\00:27:36.48
a bit for us if you would.
00:27:36.68\00:27:38.02
You know, we have a parameter
we've set in our own lives
00:27:38.22\00:27:41.36
about each other.
When I'm not with her,
00:27:41.46\00:27:43.97
when she's not with
me, we don't have to worry
00:27:44.17\00:27:45.53
about each other. We
know to whom we belong.
00:27:45.63\00:27:47.75
I belong to
her... she belongs to me.
00:27:47.95\00:27:50.12
And as long as we maintain
that, we know that our blessing
00:27:50.22\00:27:52.49
will continue. That's
part of the great secret
00:27:52.69\00:27:55.31
in our success.
Well thank you so much.
00:27:55.51\00:27:58.10
Thank you for being
here. And thank YOU so much
00:27:58.30\00:28:01.27
for joining us
today. Tune in next time.
00:28:01.47\00:28:04.17
It just wouldn't be
the same without you.
00:28:04.27\00:28:06.17