Stay tuned to meet a woman
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whose life has
been radically changed
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by her relationship with Jesus.
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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 guest today
is Michele Mendoza
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a woman who knows what
it's like to be lost and found.
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Hi Michele,
welcome to Urban Report.
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Thank you for having me.
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You know, I met you at
the General Conference Session
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and I heard a little
bit about your testimony
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and it was so compelling,
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I felt that this
would be really good
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for our Viewers because
our Urban Report Viewers
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love to hear the
journey of folks who have been
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caught up in something
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and yet God has
delivered and redeemed them.
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So, I thank you so
much for being here
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and being willing
to share your journey.
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Thank you for having me.
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So, let's talk a bit
about your upbringing,
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where were you born and raised?
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Santa Barbara, California,
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Okay, okay... and were you
born into an intact family,
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with a mom and dad
together in the family?
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Yes, ma'am, I
have a sister as well.
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All right and so...
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as you were growing up
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when you were a
child, let's start there,
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what happened to you
that changed your life?
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Well,
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I was sexually abused
as a child from my cousin
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who was a Satanist,
who was in the Occult,
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and that pretty much
distorted my childhood,
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but it didn't
robbed me from my life.
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Praise the Lord for that,
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so, when you were a child
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and you were about... how
old. what grade were you in?
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Must have been anywhere
from like first... second...
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I kind of blocked it out.
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And how long did it go on?
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It was just one time but
there were other things of
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trauma that was building
up and leading up to that...
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you know... those things,
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but, praise God, it was
only once, praise God...
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Yes, oh yes, well,
all it takes is once
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to traumatize you.
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I mean, yeah, that's
so... it had to be horrific,
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so, after that... well,
let's go back a second...
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was he living in the home?
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At that time, he was
staying with my grandparents,
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his own family was
being torn apart by divorce
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and,
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you know, when your
foundation is crumbling
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and you don't have anything
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you're going to go for whatever
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Satan gives you temptations of
or lust of the world or whatever
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and he didn't have
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the parents that I had
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for a strong
foundation for Biblical parents
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but he had parents
who were very attentive
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and cared for him and
loved him, they were...
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his father was just
chasing after other things
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and somehow the coke, drugs and
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a promiscuous
life came up for him
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and it just spun
him out of control.
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And how did that episode
in your life affect your life?
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It changed me.
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How?
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My whole...
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everything about
my whole character
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from my
understanding from my family
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I became more... just
reclusive and everything
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it just... it
shattered me, you know,
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and it was very hard for me
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because I was a
child, I was a kid,
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and everything...
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my father had said
that I'd lost my confidence,
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my sister and
even one of my aunts
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recently... I showed
them a picture of myself
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and my sister and my aunt
had said the same exact thing
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at different times,
basically saying that,
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seeing me now, is like seeing me
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when I was earlier in
life the smile came back
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and so I heard
my sister say that
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and then hearing the
confirmation of my aunt
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a year later, just,
within the last couple of months
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wow, I...
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I was shocked, you know.
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You have your joy back now.
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That's what they say.
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But it took a long
journey to get to this point.
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Oh! by far...
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So, that happened to you
in the first or second grade
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or something like that,
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where did your life
take you in your teen years,
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what were you
doing in your teen years?
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I think I was holding
on to so much, you know,
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praise God it was only...
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that's why I was
saying, "Amen" earlier,
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it was only once, the
anger, the resentment,
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he also had committed suicide,
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and it was because of
what he had done to me
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when you are a kid... and
he even had told me one time
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"What do you think about
me killing myself... dying?"
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I was just a kid,
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I remember my
last words to him was,
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"You are so stupid"
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I remember saying to him,
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"You are so
stupid in regards to...
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you're stupid to
want to kill yourself"
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and so, after that,
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he disappeared and
he committed suicide
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and when you're young,
you remember certain things
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certain things we block out
and certain things we remember
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my whole life,
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I felt I was
responsible for his death.
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Oh... so you felt
not only were you feeling
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that you were
victimized by what he did,
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but then, emotionally,
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you were held
captive by his death.
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That was the most... not
so much of what he did to me
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I never really looked on
myself as being like... "abused"
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you know, so much more than
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held like you said... "captive"
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of my... like I
was to blame for him
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and the testimony
that the Lord God gave me
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to forgive him... was powerful,
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just powerful to go
back to where they found him
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where he jumped off over a
bridge in Santa Barbara County
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to go back and just say,
"I forgive you, I forgive you"
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just...
everything was just released
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so for all my years
of... teenage years,
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anger, resentment,
yeah, I'm sure my parents...
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guilt by far... oh by far...
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so even in high school
and early college years,
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suicide...
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when some of my friends
would want to commit suicide
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man, I took it...
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I took it
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to A to Z and back again.
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I know there were
sometimes for myself
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for I too then
wanted to commit suicide
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so a lot of my years of...
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teenage years were
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anger, bitter,
resent... it was resentment
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questioning God, hating God,
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but yet still finding faith
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to keep going on...
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don't ask me how that
happens when you hate Him.
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A lot of contradictory...
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Absolutely a lot, you know,
and then I remember like...
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getting into "gang
life" and that being...
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my friends being like a
"second family" to you...
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and you're still loving
Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith,
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when you still are
also loving Snoop Dogg and
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Dr. Dre and everybody else,
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so, yeah, there was just
a lot of anger, resentment
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and that was just festered in me
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where it was
such a deep part of me
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where I just acted out on
my feelings or whatever it was,
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it just... this rage
was... you know, yeah.
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You know, it's
interesting Michelle because
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one of the things that
happens, I think, is...
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when you're
carrying all of this,
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then you're reinforcing it
with hip hop and stuff like that
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music that kind of
lends itself to anger,
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Oh Absolutely. so then you...
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you're reinforcing all of
those feelings through the media
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Oh, absolutely. Music
and movies and all that.
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Oh yeah, Scarface,
Godfather, man... that was it,
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and that's why I
appreciate Pastor Ivor Myers...
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his messages so much
because he hits it, he hits it.
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He does, he does, we
have him on Dare to Dream too
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on Battles of
Faith, he and Atonte
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but he played a very important
role in your conversion
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and we'll come back to
that so you had this episode
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in childhood and then
your cousin committed suicide
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which then left you
with all of this guilt,
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all of this anger,
all this resentment,
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all of this pain...
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Yeah, I couldn't save him,
I felt I couldn't save him.
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So, you also, were you...
had you begun to experiment
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with same-sex attraction,
when did the behavior manifest?
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I always knew that I was
"gay" I guess you can say,
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my mother remembers
me at the age of five
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saying, "I'm
going to marry a woman"
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and she'll always say,
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"No, Michelle, little
girls don't marry women,
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they marry little boys"
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and so, she remembers me
saying that at the age of five,
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five or six,
and so as I grew up,
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it was just something
as the hurt, the anger...
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as that was
deeply embedded in me,
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so was that, so was that...
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and so, I remember
having certain feelings
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from a very,
very, very early age on,
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it was just
second-handed in nature
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as my left arm
is... you have a right arm
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and it was just... it
was just always a part of me.
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At what point did you realize
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that it
shouldn't be a part of you?
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When the Lord convicted me
February for Valentine's Day
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in 2013 in the ARME
Bible Camp, I was engaged,
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ironically...
Engaged to a woman?
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yes ma'am, had a
family, three children,
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um... yeah... and
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two ARME Bible
Camps that I went to
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one in December and
then Valentine Day's weekend
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ironically,
those are the two times
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the same days that the
ARME Bible Camps were going on,
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were the same dates
that we were to be married.
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You were steeped
in this lifestyle,
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we have some
pictures of you from that time
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that we should let our audience
see just where you were.
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Yeah, it's easy to see,
the picture just paints a story
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that is me actually
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really when I began
seeing all of the attraction
00:12:10.63\00:12:17.10
that the world's
females were giving me,
00:12:17.13\00:12:20.57
I was just going through
the motions there of life,
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didn't even care there,
you can see it in my changes
00:12:25.87\00:12:30.38
of my appearance...
those even changed...
00:12:30.41\00:12:33.38
not so much that the
age now that I got older
00:12:33.42\00:12:36.52
but I just got deeper
and just wants that gang life
00:12:36.55\00:12:40.49
and the rage and...
00:12:40.52\00:12:42.72
And more looking like a guy
00:12:42.76\00:12:45.13
like from the
first pictures to these,
00:12:45.16\00:12:50.87
you were deeper and
deeper into the lifestyle.
00:12:50.90\00:12:54.77
And it's funny because
I've always wanted to be more...
00:12:54.80\00:12:57.41
the latter
pictures that you have seen,
00:12:57.44\00:12:59.77
that was what I was always
chasing from very early on
00:12:59.84\00:13:03.81
it's kind of crazy how I
never even had a sex-change
00:13:03.85\00:13:06.98
to be honest with
you, it's kind of crazy
00:13:07.02\00:13:08.55
but was that on my agenda list,
it probably was, yeah, yeah.
00:13:08.58\00:13:14.42
We're thankful that you didn't.
00:13:14.46\00:13:15.99
He saved me, He saved me.
00:13:16.02\00:13:17.43
Yes, yes, so, so, you
went through all of that
00:13:17.46\00:13:20.66
and then you were
at ARME Bible Camp
00:13:20.70\00:13:23.13
what did the Lord do,
00:13:23.16\00:13:26.10
how did he reach out to you
00:13:26.13\00:13:28.97
and what were the
circumstances surrounding it?
00:13:29.00\00:13:30.91
I got broken up with Vera.
00:13:30.94\00:13:33.14
Was she at the camp as well?
00:13:33.17\00:13:35.44
No, no ma'am, she was
at home with the kids,
00:13:35.48\00:13:37.31
and got broken up with her,
00:13:37.35\00:13:40.02
I thought the
best day in my life was
00:13:40.05\00:13:43.05
when Amy Grant had told
me, "You're good enough"
00:13:43.08\00:13:45.55
I asked her her
opinion on my music
00:13:45.59\00:13:49.59
and years earlier on,
and I said, "Am I good enough
00:13:49.62\00:13:54.63
to go to Nashville to
chase after my dream?"
00:13:54.66\00:13:56.80
she goes, "Yeah,
you're good enough"
00:13:56.83\00:13:58.17
I thought that was
the best day of my life,
00:13:58.20\00:14:00.14
the best day of my life
was Valentine's Day in 2013
00:14:00.17\00:14:05.77
where I had to sacrifice my
relationship for God's will,
00:14:05.81\00:14:11.11
the best day in my
life was when He spoke to me
00:14:11.18\00:14:14.58
and basically said,
00:14:14.62\00:14:17.39
"This is not...
this is not my desire"
00:14:17.42\00:14:19.92
He didn't say it
like that, but it was...
00:14:19.95\00:14:22.42
He wanted me to step aside
00:14:22.46\00:14:24.93
and so she
basically had said something
00:14:24.99\00:14:27.80
in regards...
"We need to break up,
00:14:27.83\00:14:30.57
we were supposed to be
good friends... best friends,
00:14:30.60\00:14:33.70
but we're not to be together. "
00:14:33.74\00:14:35.40
Now was she having some kind
of Christian experience as well
00:14:35.44\00:14:38.64
or... what led her to
say, we should break up?
00:14:38.67\00:14:43.91
You know, it
wouldn't surprise me
00:14:43.95\00:14:46.01
if there was a
combination of things,
00:14:46.08\00:14:48.12
the children were
00:14:48.15\00:14:49.82
attending the little
Seventh-day Adventist School,
00:14:49.88\00:14:51.99
they were coming to church,
she was coming to church,
00:14:52.05\00:14:54.12
I think that had a
part to play in it.
00:14:54.16\00:14:57.23
So she was really convicted
about the relationship.
00:14:57.26\00:15:00.26
I think so in some
regards but then also to
00:15:00.30\00:15:02.86
looking at things now,
00:15:02.90\00:15:05.00
we both had a very
passionate relationship
00:15:05.03\00:15:07.90
then we also had a very
deep, toxic one as well.
00:15:07.94\00:15:12.07
We've both
cheated on each other,
00:15:12.14\00:15:13.78
maybe she could have been
cheating on me at the time
00:15:13.81\00:15:17.41
just to get over
this relationship
00:15:17.45\00:15:19.38
to move to where she's at today,
00:15:19.41\00:15:21.72
I don't know,
but praise the Lord,
00:15:21.75\00:15:23.92
the Lord keeps
giving me things of...
00:15:23.95\00:15:25.69
"All things work
together for good"
00:15:25.72\00:15:27.46
Yes, so she initiated it
00:15:27.49\00:15:30.43
and then the Lord spoke
to your heart and told you
00:15:30.46\00:15:34.46
to step aside.
00:15:34.50\00:15:36.06
He told me, "Step
aside, I come quickly,
00:15:36.10\00:15:38.73
I bring my reward with me,
you cannot serve two masters"
00:15:38.77\00:15:42.14
then He said it again,
"I come quickly, step aside,
00:15:42.17\00:15:45.97
it's for your salvation. "
00:15:46.01\00:15:47.61
I was so angry with Him.
00:15:47.64\00:15:49.18
He said, "It's
for your salvation?"
00:15:49.21\00:15:50.85
No, sorry, for her salvation,
it was for her salvation.
00:15:50.88\00:15:53.11
Yes, and a lot of the times,
00:15:53.15\00:15:56.12
the things He was
sharing was about her,
00:15:56.15\00:15:57.79
Him and her, and I could see now
00:15:57.85\00:16:02.46
why He did that.
00:16:02.49\00:16:04.06
Tell us why you
think He did it for her.
00:16:04.09\00:16:06.36
I think it's
because I loved her so much
00:16:06.39\00:16:08.60
more than any other woman,
I had many other girlfriends
00:16:08.63\00:16:11.80
many of them,
00:16:11.83\00:16:13.17
but nothing quite
like this last one.
00:16:13.20\00:16:15.80
I loved her... like a god...
00:16:15.84\00:16:22.68
Hmmm...
00:16:22.74\00:16:24.35
I loved her more
than I loved myself
00:16:24.38\00:16:26.18
and so if He had to
meet me where I was at
00:16:26.21\00:16:32.69
and that's the beauty of Christ,
He meets us where we're at,
00:16:32.72\00:16:34.86
Yes.
00:16:34.89\00:16:36.22
and He had to do
what He had to do
00:16:36.26\00:16:38.93
and so I just kept
getting these visual pictures
00:16:38.96\00:16:43.70
and I remember seeing...
it was kind of like Abraham
00:16:43.73\00:16:48.40
sacrificing...
about to sacrifice Isaac
00:16:48.44\00:16:51.84
and I knew I had to
sacrifice this relationship
00:16:51.87\00:16:54.81
because He said, "It
was for her salvation"
00:16:54.84\00:16:57.75
and I remember... then
again... I was a gangster,
00:16:57.78\00:17:00.98
I could care less about life,
00:17:01.02\00:17:02.98
I could care less about
your life or anyone else's life,
00:17:03.02\00:17:04.95
I didn't care about anything,
and it was just about vengeance
00:17:05.02\00:17:10.03
that... MPR...
money, power, respect
00:17:10.06\00:17:12.93
that's all it
was, and when He spoke,
00:17:12.96\00:17:15.80
I remember getting up and
just getting angry with Him
00:17:15.83\00:17:19.23
and punching the
air with my fist,
00:17:19.27\00:17:21.80
and saying, "I love
her, I love her more,"
00:17:21.84\00:17:24.84
and He said very
clearly, "You know, I love her,
00:17:24.87\00:17:29.51
I love her more,
she is my daughter,"
00:17:29.54\00:17:32.71
and when He said,
"more" I remember just "more"
00:17:32.75\00:17:36.58
and "mine," He's a jealous God,
00:17:36.65\00:17:39.65
it's His, all that is... is His,
everything in the world is His
00:17:39.72\00:17:44.89
He knows it, it's His,
00:17:44.93\00:17:46.26
but there is a
surrender that we have to have
00:17:46.29\00:17:49.06
I look at it now,
00:17:49.10\00:17:51.33
He got me where
He got me because
00:17:51.37\00:17:54.34
I was willing
to be made willing,
00:17:54.40\00:17:57.31
I didn't know where
it was going to lead,
00:17:57.34\00:17:59.34
I knew that I
had a purpose in life
00:17:59.37\00:18:03.45
I just didn't know
what, never in a million years
00:18:03.51\00:18:06.01
would I ever think
it's regarding the Bible,
00:18:06.05\00:18:09.15
would I ever think of
a conversion like this,
00:18:09.18\00:18:11.22
never, ever.
00:18:11.25\00:18:13.05
Isn't it interesting, Michele,
how God spoke to you about
00:18:13.09\00:18:17.79
her salvation because He
knew where you placed her,
00:18:17.83\00:18:21.76
Yes, that was it.
00:18:21.80\00:18:23.13
you placed her above "you"
00:18:23.16\00:18:25.00
so he was
showing you "she is mine"
00:18:25.03\00:18:28.50
and then I'm sure later
He revealed... you are His,
00:18:28.54\00:18:32.67
but He came... God is
so... He is so awesome
00:18:32.71\00:18:36.51
the way He does things,
the way He handles things,
00:18:36.54\00:18:40.22
the way... He is
just beyond description
00:18:40.25\00:18:44.05
And what He said
is so true by far,
00:18:44.09\00:18:46.89
powerful, almighty,
sovereign, everlasting,
00:18:46.96\00:18:50.13
He did say to me,
00:18:50.16\00:18:52.16
"There are ways that I can
love you in ways that she cannot
00:18:52.19\00:18:56.56
and there are ways
that I can love her
00:18:56.60\00:19:00.54
in ways that you cannot"
00:19:00.60\00:19:01.97
He had to get me where I was at
00:19:02.00\00:19:04.44
to teach me...
where I am at today
00:19:04.47\00:19:07.51
but speak to me
00:19:07.54\00:19:09.38
where I needed to
get it at. That's right.
00:19:09.41\00:19:12.61
And then it progressed,
00:19:12.65\00:19:14.62
ARME... powerful,
powerful Bible Camp,
00:19:14.65\00:19:20.46
everything that they say,
00:19:20.52\00:19:22.06
how the Presenters are preaching
and teaching the Bible,
00:19:22.09\00:19:24.83
it's Biblical, it's Scriptural,
00:19:24.86\00:19:28.73
it's factual,
00:19:28.76\00:19:30.10
everything that
they've ever taught any of us
00:19:30.13\00:19:34.24
who have ever attended,
it's in here and then...
00:19:34.27\00:19:38.27
Do they teach you how to
study, how to study the Bible?
00:19:38.31\00:19:41.11
Oh yes! oh yes! Ivor
does a great job of it
00:19:41.14\00:19:42.98
bringing things out and
kind of getting your mind
00:19:43.01\00:19:45.61
to look at this, look at that,
00:19:45.65\00:19:47.15
getting outside of the
box, I guess, if you can say,
00:19:47.18\00:19:49.75
to looking into the
box, and then from there
00:19:49.78\00:19:54.26
them helping me,
the Lord leading me,
00:19:54.29\00:19:57.13
the Lord specifically telling
me to call Amazing Facts,
00:19:57.19\00:20:02.03
to go to AFCO, one, it was just,
00:20:02.06\00:20:05.97
He used ARME, then
He used Amazing Facts
00:20:06.03\00:20:08.70
and He used Secrets Unsealed,
and He used GC from me with you,
00:20:08.74\00:20:13.91
and other people, it's just...
00:20:13.94\00:20:16.28
He had to get me
from where I was at
00:20:16.31\00:20:19.41
to grow me to where I am today
00:20:19.45\00:20:21.52
I don't really know much, I
learn more and more everyday
00:20:21.55\00:20:25.95
but what I read
and the testimonies
00:20:25.99\00:20:29.26
that come out of
where He leads me to,
00:20:29.29\00:20:32.49
I know He loves me
so much more greater
00:20:32.53\00:20:35.20
than I can love myself
00:20:35.23\00:20:36.56
far greater than
you can love yourself,
00:20:36.60\00:20:38.33
I think of you with your son,
00:20:38.37\00:20:40.47
you would think you
would love your son,
00:20:40.50\00:20:45.41
or people out
there in the world,
00:20:45.44\00:20:47.81
no one loves my
child more than me,
00:20:47.84\00:20:51.05
Him... That's
right, that's right.
00:20:51.08\00:20:53.62
And I love it when you had
said, earlier you had said about
00:20:53.65\00:20:59.45
the Lord... "dad"
you call Him "dad"
00:20:59.49\00:21:02.66
Yes. I love that because
00:21:02.69\00:21:05.33
you're making it a
personal relationship
00:21:05.36\00:21:08.80
and... And it is personal.
00:21:08.83\00:21:12.63
Oh! by far... and that's what's
going to get us to heaven.
00:21:12.67\00:21:14.57
Absolutely.
00:21:14.60\00:21:15.94
It's not just
Daniel and Revelation
00:21:15.97\00:21:17.77
it's not just saying,
00:21:17.81\00:21:19.14
"Oh, I'm a
Seventh-day Adventist"
00:21:19.17\00:21:20.51
it's not like, "I'm...
I believe in the Sabbath"
00:21:20.54\00:21:22.34
it's your faith and
your walk with Jesus Christ.
00:21:22.38\00:21:24.38
Absolutely, the
demons know the Bible.
00:21:24.41\00:21:26.95
Yes. It's not about knowing
00:21:27.02\00:21:29.18
about Jesus, it's knowing Jesus.
00:21:29.25\00:21:32.32
Amen, it changes everything.
00:21:32.35\00:21:33.96
And Him knowing you
because you know when
00:21:33.99\00:21:37.39
after the judgment when He says,
00:21:37.43\00:21:40.63
"Depart from me,
I never knew you"
00:21:40.66\00:21:43.67
so there was not
that relationship
00:21:43.73\00:21:46.67
and that's what
you're talking about,
00:21:46.70\00:21:48.20
you entered into...
00:21:48.24\00:21:49.90
He had to break
that other relationship
00:21:49.94\00:21:53.81
to then have a
relationship with you.
00:21:53.84\00:21:57.65
Absolutely, by far, by far,
00:21:57.68\00:21:59.61
and there were things where
00:21:59.65\00:22:01.55
I'd always say this,
00:22:01.58\00:22:05.72
"I was just
growing along the process,
00:22:05.75\00:22:08.99
I was testing God,"
00:22:09.02\00:22:10.36
telling the Lord,
"Father, if my life was so wrong
00:22:10.39\00:22:17.17
you got to prove
to me, keep showing me
00:22:17.20\00:22:21.00
this is your
way," it was not easy,
00:22:21.04\00:22:24.77
you look at homosexuality,
it's quite different than...
00:22:24.81\00:22:32.08
it's the same...
sin is sin is sin,
00:22:32.11\00:22:33.82
it's the same as
smoking, doing drugs,
00:22:33.85\00:22:35.55
even the Bible
says about gossiping,
00:22:35.58\00:22:37.19
how many times now
00:22:37.25\00:22:39.59
do we not even
call off the gossiper,
00:22:39.62\00:22:41.59
maybe not calling
them out directly but
00:22:41.62\00:22:43.53
that's not even going to
get you into heaven, you know,
00:22:43.56\00:22:47.10
and you see a lot of
people basically saying like...
00:22:47.13\00:22:50.67
"Well, homosexuality,
it's like a worse sin"
00:22:50.70\00:22:53.00
and what not, you know,
00:22:53.03\00:22:54.37
we don't even look
at the gossiping as much
00:22:54.40\00:22:57.44
but I guess, my point being is
00:22:57.47\00:22:58.81
you're going to kill
me, I just lost my point.
00:22:58.84\00:23:01.98
No, that's okay,
well, let me just say
00:23:02.01\00:23:03.91
while you're
getting your point back,
00:23:03.95\00:23:05.75
that sin is sin is sin,
and we set a hierarchy of sins,
00:23:05.78\00:23:10.49
that we don't need to,
00:23:10.55\00:23:12.29
if you are
involved in fornication,
00:23:12.32\00:23:14.79
and heterosexual
fornication, that's sin,
00:23:14.82\00:23:17.99
if you are
involved in homosexuality,
00:23:18.06\00:23:21.16
that's sin, so it's
like, sin is sin is sin,
00:23:21.20\00:23:25.20
God came to save
us from our sins,
00:23:25.23\00:23:31.04
but we first have to
acknowledge that it is sin
00:23:31.07\00:23:34.44
and then from there,
00:23:34.48\00:23:36.41
the behavior is
what's in question
00:23:36.44\00:23:39.58
and I believe that
God... that God will deliver us
00:23:39.61\00:23:46.49
from the
behaviors that are sinful.
00:23:46.52\00:23:49.92
Absolutely, yes, I mean
yeah, and what came to my mind
00:23:49.96\00:23:53.40
which was my point was smoking,
00:23:53.43\00:23:56.23
you have Smoking Clinics,
00:23:56.26\00:23:59.73
drugs, you have
Narcotics Anonymous
00:23:59.77\00:24:03.57
alcohol, you have AA,
00:24:03.61\00:24:06.07
Homosexuality,
00:24:06.11\00:24:07.78
you do have some places
you could go and what not,
00:24:07.81\00:24:12.25
but you know... nah...
00:24:12.28\00:24:13.98
I've heard some
very negative things
00:24:14.02\00:24:16.55
about a lot of those programs.
00:24:16.58\00:24:17.92
That's why I never want
to go, yeah, no, exactly
00:24:17.95\00:24:19.89
and some of those
are just horror stories,
00:24:19.92\00:24:21.52
just horror stories,
00:24:21.56\00:24:23.06
and I felt like I couldn't
go through anything like that,
00:24:23.09\00:24:26.43
and I remember my
pastor telling me one time,
00:24:26.46\00:24:28.76
the one who had baptized me,
00:24:28.80\00:24:31.60
I said, "Pastor, am I
wrong, am I going to die
00:24:31.63\00:24:38.54
because, you know... "
00:24:38.57\00:24:41.64
Now, this was
before your conversion?
00:24:41.68\00:24:44.65
Yes, yeah, absolutely,
00:24:44.68\00:24:46.01
and I'll never forget his
wording to me, telling me,
00:24:46.05\00:24:50.42
and this is one
thing that I do share,
00:24:50.45\00:24:52.35
he had said, "You pray about it,
00:24:52.39\00:24:57.09
you keep praying,
00:24:57.13\00:24:58.79
you keep giving it to
the Lord, He'll lead you. "
00:24:58.83\00:25:01.40
I said, "But I'm in a
relationship already... "
00:25:01.46\00:25:04.00
he said, "You keep praying,"
00:25:04.07\00:25:05.40
that is what changes
everything, prayer...
00:25:05.43\00:25:09.04
and that's another thing
with ARME that I love so much
00:25:09.07\00:25:11.87
is the power of prayer,
00:25:11.91\00:25:13.58
the all-night prayer
that we have, that they have,
00:25:13.61\00:25:16.88
the Prayer Room that they have,
00:25:16.91\00:25:18.71
powerful,
00:25:18.75\00:25:20.08
prayer is such a powerful thing
00:25:20.12\00:25:24.19
that even Ellen G. White,
00:25:24.22\00:25:25.55
I think, shares it
the angels even say that,
00:25:25.59\00:25:27.19
I'm surprised that we
don't even do it as much
00:25:27.26\00:25:31.39
that... I am a firm
believer... my testimony
00:25:31.46\00:25:34.90
I got where I'm at
today was because of those...
00:25:34.93\00:25:38.30
my family always praying for
me, the connection with ARME,
00:25:38.33\00:25:43.14
always, even when ARME
was... the week was over,
00:25:43.17\00:25:46.37
they were there still calling
me calling me all the time,
00:25:46.41\00:25:48.54
"Let me pray for
you, let me pray for you,
00:25:48.58\00:25:50.75
let me pray with you," you know,
00:25:50.78\00:25:52.91
and yeah... and
that was powerful
00:25:52.95\00:25:54.98
because when you
go to ARME Bible Camp,
00:25:55.02\00:25:56.35
I love the way Atonte shares
it, "There is no judgment here,
00:25:56.38\00:26:01.89
there is no
judgment, we love to love,"
00:26:01.92\00:26:05.39
and when you go
to ARME Bible Camp,
00:26:05.43\00:26:08.86
you will see them
being a type of Christ
00:26:08.90\00:26:12.57
as to the way the
church ought to be
00:26:12.63\00:26:16.27
loving thy neighbor as thyself,
00:26:16.30\00:26:18.31
and meeting you from
where you're at today
00:26:18.34\00:26:21.04
and that is the
beauty of Christ,
00:26:21.08\00:26:22.58
he doesn't look at
us where we're at today,
00:26:22.61\00:26:25.08
He looks at where
we're going to be.
00:26:25.11\00:26:26.72
That's right. It
changes everything.
00:26:26.75\00:26:28.28
That's right, praise
the Lord, yes it does
00:26:28.35\00:26:30.55
and we have the picture of
you having gotten baptized,
00:26:30.59\00:26:33.89
let's put that
picture up, who baptized you?
00:26:33.92\00:26:37.06
Pastor Pete Haley and ironically
00:26:37.13\00:26:39.79
the Lord even impressed me
that it was him to baptize me
00:26:39.83\00:26:43.57
he was leaving the
church, that was his last day
00:26:43.63\00:26:46.27
and so, yeah,
God was just amazing
00:26:46.30\00:26:50.97
and that was the
pastor that was telling me,
00:26:51.01\00:26:52.81
"You pray, you pray"
00:26:52.87\00:26:56.44
and it's kind of hard
00:26:56.48\00:26:58.81
it's kind of hard saying
what I'm about to share with you
00:26:58.85\00:27:04.55
is that you have so
many people at church
00:27:04.59\00:27:07.76
who just look...
00:27:07.79\00:27:09.12
and we were
talking about this earlier
00:27:09.16\00:27:11.39
looking at that one
sin, everywhere I go,
00:27:11.43\00:27:13.60
there are people, you know,
that... will make... you know...
00:27:13.63\00:27:17.37
shhh... don't even mention it,
00:27:17.40\00:27:19.13
you do see the
changing of the behavior
00:27:19.20\00:27:22.84
because they
look at that one sin.
00:27:22.90\00:27:25.07
Yeah, and you don't
want to be defined by that.
00:27:25.11\00:27:27.88
No, not at all, my
life is my life but it's
00:27:27.91\00:27:30.65
my history which is "His Story"
00:27:30.68\00:27:32.88
and He does it differently,
like I was talking to your son,
00:27:32.91\00:27:35.35
and, yeah he was
telling me about his life
00:27:35.38\00:27:37.82
and how... where he's
at today, it's amazing.
00:27:37.85\00:27:41.12
Michele, you have
just blessed us so much,
00:27:41.16\00:27:44.39
thank you so much
for being with us,
00:27:44.46\00:27:46.59
and for sharing
this story with us.
00:27:46.66\00:27:48.33
Thank you so much for having me.
00:27:48.36\00:27:49.96
May God continue to
bless you on this journey,
00:27:50.00\00:27:53.00
and may God
continue to bless you too,
00:27:53.03\00:27:55.67
thank you so
much for joining us.
00:27:55.70\00:27:57.77
Join us next time
because you know what?
00:27:57.81\00:28:00.14
It just wouldn't be
the same, without you.
00:28:00.18\00:28:02.48