Would you dedicate your
wedding gifts to ministry?
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Well stay tuned to meet a couple
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who did just that.
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My name is Jason Bradley,
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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 Michael Edwards
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The 7th Scroll President
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and his wife
Joanna-Marie Edwards,
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The 7th Scroll Secretary.
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Welcome to Urban Report, guys.
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Thank you for having us, Jason.
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It's great to have you.
I think I can reach you.
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It's great to have you here.
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You know, I've
had the opportunity
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and privilege of
sitting down with you
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on a 3ABN Today program
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and just hearing a
little bit about your journey
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and The 7th Scroll ministry.
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And I really want
to introduce you guys
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to our Dare to Dream viewers.
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So we'll start with you.
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And just tell us a little
bit about your background?
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I was raised in the church,
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has been an
Adventist my entire life.
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And I got to a point in my life
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where I was just
finishing up college
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and really
looking for some guidance,
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not just
professionally but spiritually.
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And that's where I met Joe.
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I met Joe... Okay.
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We met on Facebook.
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I wouldn't
recommend it to be a site
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where you should look
for a prospective mate.
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But it just so
happened that God allowed us
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to cross paths on Facebook.
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And it was a great time.
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Just because we
were both looking
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for that guidance spiritually.
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And both of us being
raised in the church,
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it was a perfect
opportunity for us
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to tap back into
our roots together.
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Nice. Nice.
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And so how did you
guys met on Facebook?
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How did that take place?
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We have different versions.
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But my version is that I,
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we don't know
how we became friends
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on Facebook.
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I would like to
think he friended me and...
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And I accepted.
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And I just like
the status of his
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and then he perused
all of my pictures and...
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Okay, I have to
be on the lookout
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for somebody likes my status
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is what you're
saying on Facebook
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is that how it works?
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I mean, I guess that's
probably how it's gonna work.
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Okay, okay.
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And tell me a little
bit about your background?
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Well, I was born in Trinidad
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and I came up here
when I was pretty young,
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about two years old.
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And I've also been in the church
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but you don't
take God as serious,
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especially when you're younger.
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And so when I met Mike,
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we had our own issues
going on in our lives.
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And, you know, we really
said, "Let's get serious.
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Let's start
reading our Bible more.
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Let's start praying more."
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And that's what we did.
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Nice. Nice.
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And here you are married today.
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Yes.
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Amen.
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So tell me about
The 7th Scroll Ministry.
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What is it all about?
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And how did it get started?
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All right, well,
so it got started.
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Kind of when Joe and I met,
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we weren't
officially an organization
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or even a ministry
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but as Joe was saying,
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we were looking for
that spiritual guidance.
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And as we began
praying and reading more,
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God began giving me dreams.
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And in these dreams,
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He speaking to me and
kind of draw me closer to Him
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until one day
couple months later,
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I audibly heard His voice.
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I'm at worship,
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and at the worship
table, and I'm reading my Bible
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and I can hear God's
voice literally telling me,
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"I want you to
start a bus ministry."
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Wow!
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And I had no idea how
to start a bus ministry,
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what that would look like.
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So I called Joe.
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And I said, "Joe,
you'll never believe it.
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I heard a voice tell
me start a bus ministry."
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So Joe was all in.
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And she thought the
idea was a little crazy.
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I think any normal person would.
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Yeah, right.
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But we asked God
for some real help.
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And Proverbs tells us in
a multitude of counselors
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there's safety.
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And so at church,
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God put us around a beautiful
support group of people
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who when we
shared this vision of God
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audibly telling me this,
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they were all on board
and ready to support it.
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And that's a huge blessing
right there because, you know,
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a lot of times
you can have a vision,
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but you don't have very
much support in that vision.
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So that's a huge
blessing right there.
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They were key.
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And so we formed as a
nonprofit organization,
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and our charitable service
would be the bus ministry.
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And we in sharing this,
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in this charitable
service of this bus ministry
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we'll be sharing
the everlasting gospel.
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And also our personal testimony
on how we got to this point.
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Now we have several pictures
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where we're gonna show
what the bus looks like.
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This is a nice bus.
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Right.
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And then we also have,
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you know, pictures
with people on the bus
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and everything and...
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So we dedicated
the bus, July 27, 2013,
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our pastor then Pastor Penn
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and our elder
then Elder Cox pivotal
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along with our church family
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and kind of moving this forward.
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And we are first day
on the road was July 27.
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Okay. Oh, 29 sorry, 2013...
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Okay.
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And it was a great day.
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I was crying the whole time
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because I couldn't believe
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that something that God told
me in private became so real.
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And it was a blessing just...
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You were seeing His will
carried out in your life,
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His plan that He had
for you was being fulfilled.
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You took that step out on faith.
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Faith, it was a huge faith leap.
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And it was amazing.
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But before we were able to
even get the bus on to the road,
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God was impressing
Joe and I to get married.
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And we couldn't quite
understand the correlation
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between getting married
and getting a bus on the road.
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And as we would share
this with our support group,
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who's now our board members,
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they didn't quite
understand it either.
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But they were
under the impression
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that if God is
telling you to get married,
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then we should follow Him.
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Yes.
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And, you know,
1 Samuel tells us,
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"Obedience is always
better than sacrifice."
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So we continued
down the path of marriage
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and we wanted to plan more
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and seek more money for wedding.
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But God was really
impressing us to get married.
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So we invited all
our family and friends.
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And we told them, "Look,
we're not really interested in,
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you know, monetary gifts
or any gifts for that matter.
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Just please just come and
share this moment with us.
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You're just so special."
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But they still
showered us with gifts.
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And again, we're
appreciative for that
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but we found out later on,
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a couple months later
that when we found a bus
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how important it was for us
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to actually get
married at the time that we did
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because all of the
money from that bus.
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I mean, sorry, from the wedding
actually paid for the bus.
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Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
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Okay, okay, so
you took the gifts,
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the money that was
given to you for your wedding
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as wedding presents.
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And you invested that
into ministry for the bus?
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Yeah. Wow.
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Yeah. Wow.
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And it was something
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that we didn't really
have to think twice about.
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Yeah.
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Joe and I was on
the same page about it.
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And we were just so happy
that God gave us an opportunity
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to give back to
Him what He gave to us.
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That says a lot
about your dedication
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to the ministry
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and the calling
that was placed on.
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So what took place on this bus?
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So on the bus,
we will allow people
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to come on and offer free
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and on the bus we would have TVs
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and we will be sharing sermons,
will share heavenly music,
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everything that
was bringing people
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back to a
relationship with Christ.
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We will also have lots
of books, Bibles, DVDs,
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tracts on the bus
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that we'll be giving out
to the riders as they come on.
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Wow!
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And we ran this bus.
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If you know New York
City's extremely busy.
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It is. It is.
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Almost 10 million
residents in New York City.
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And so we'll run it up and down
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the busy routes in
our city of Brooklyn.
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And as people
will come on and off,
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we'll share
God's Word with them.
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And if they were so impressed
they would leave a donation.
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Wow. Wow.
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So you... Wait a minute.
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So I got to wrap
my head around this.
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So you're picking people up,
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you're giving them rides
and everything like that.
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And if they were blessed,
they would leave a donation.
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Now gas prices in New York City.
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Right.
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Well, really gas prices
anywhere now are not cheap.
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But in New York City gas
prices are through the roof.
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They are.
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And, but God saw
you through? He did.
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Tell me more about the bus?
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So we just
really had to trust God
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at every point, every step,
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even down to
maintaining the bus.
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You know,
purchasing tires for the bus
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was extremely expensive.
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Now one tire can
go for over $1,000.
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We had probably about...
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Six. Six to
eight tires on the bus.
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So it would
definitely require us
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to have dependence on God
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that we probably
didn't have before.
00:10:01.93\00:10:03.63
And just having
that connection with Him
00:10:03.67\00:10:06.50
was just such a blessing for us
00:10:06.53\00:10:09.20
not just individually,
but also as a team.
00:10:09.24\00:10:13.84
And so people
will come on and off,
00:10:13.88\00:10:16.08
and we will just share
with people the blessings
00:10:16.11\00:10:18.38
that God has given us.
00:10:18.41\00:10:19.75
Amen.
00:10:19.78\00:10:21.12
Joanna, what did
your day look like?
00:10:21.15\00:10:24.42
So we woke up really
early in the morning.
00:10:24.45\00:10:28.99
We had morning worship,
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and then we will
get on the bus for what?
00:10:32.19\00:10:38.10
Five or six hours
maybe for morning rush hour.
00:10:38.13\00:10:43.44
Mike will be driving
00:10:43.47\00:10:45.14
and I'll be in the
back talking to people.
00:10:45.17\00:10:47.64
We had prayer book,
00:10:47.68\00:10:50.01
and I would in person in
prayer, pray with people.
00:10:50.08\00:10:53.35
And it was a blessing.
00:10:53.38\00:10:56.35
We realize that
in the prayer book,
00:10:56.38\00:10:58.65
a lot of people's issues
00:10:58.69\00:11:00.16
were either
financial or health related.
00:11:00.19\00:11:03.43
And so we really wanted to
help in that aspect as well.
00:11:03.46\00:11:06.46
Got you. So
financial or health related.
00:11:06.49\00:11:09.80
Tell you what, you
have financial problems,
00:11:09.83\00:11:11.93
your health can
definitely be impacted
00:11:11.97\00:11:13.74
because stress, anxiety,
00:11:13.80\00:11:16.34
you know, all kinds of things
that come as a result of that.
00:11:16.37\00:11:20.64
So when you found out,
you know, about these things,
00:11:20.68\00:11:25.31
what did you do?
00:11:25.35\00:11:26.88
You have this information now,
00:11:26.92\00:11:28.98
the finances and
health challenges,
00:11:29.02\00:11:33.72
what did you do about it?
00:11:33.76\00:11:35.86
So we remember the
Ministry of Healing,
00:11:35.89\00:11:38.03
Jesus outlines for us
His method of success.
00:11:38.06\00:11:41.56
So He would
mingle with the people,
00:11:41.60\00:11:44.30
understand their needs
and then bade them follow Him.
00:11:44.33\00:11:47.57
We noticed that
Christ's ministry
00:11:47.60\00:11:49.04
was a very practical one,
00:11:49.07\00:11:50.84
preaching,
teaching, and healing.
00:11:50.87\00:11:52.81
And so, if He was going
to be of help to the people,
00:11:52.84\00:11:56.14
He wouldn't just
give them a theory
00:11:56.18\00:11:58.11
or some sort of abstract idea,
00:11:58.15\00:12:01.58
He would really
make it practical.
00:12:01.62\00:12:03.62
And so we prayed and said,
00:12:03.69\00:12:05.02
"Lord, how can we meet
the needs of the people
00:12:05.05\00:12:07.06
through health?"
00:12:07.09\00:12:08.42
You know, the bus was great
in terms of helping them get
00:12:08.46\00:12:11.43
from point A to point B.
00:12:11.46\00:12:13.26
But if you're still
dealing with a health challenge,
00:12:13.29\00:12:15.46
how much more
impactful could the gospel be
00:12:15.50\00:12:18.20
if we can meet that
health challenge for you?
00:12:18.23\00:12:21.34
So we began coming
00:12:21.37\00:12:22.70
to one of our favorite
books Ministry of Healing.
00:12:22.74\00:12:25.04
And the idea of a
cooking school came up.
00:12:25.07\00:12:28.38
So we were thinking.
00:12:28.41\00:12:30.61
Now, so okay, so you got
the idea of a cooking school.
00:12:30.65\00:12:33.68
But I recall when I
was talking to you on
00:12:33.72\00:12:37.45
or interviewing you
guys on the today program
00:12:37.49\00:12:41.99
that you said
something took place
00:12:42.02\00:12:45.36
that kind of steered
you in that direction.
00:12:45.39\00:12:48.70
What happened?
00:12:48.73\00:12:50.10
So as we saw the cooking school
00:12:50.13\00:12:53.47
being a viable option,
00:12:53.50\00:12:56.64
we also saw that people
needed food on the spot.
00:12:56.67\00:13:00.88
So we started
giving out food on the bus.
00:13:00.91\00:13:04.68
And then it segued
into a cooking school.
00:13:04.71\00:13:08.12
But as we had the
cooking school going,
00:13:08.15\00:13:10.79
we had our Bible
studies going every week,
00:13:10.82\00:13:13.19
we had the bus
running full-time.
00:13:13.22\00:13:15.99
And we getting even deeper,
00:13:16.02\00:13:17.36
we're trying to get help people
with their lifestyle issues.
00:13:17.43\00:13:20.60
We noticed how
overwhelmed we started to feel.
00:13:20.63\00:13:23.16
And as a result,
00:13:23.20\00:13:25.50
we were praying
about it, Lord help us.
00:13:25.53\00:13:27.20
We know that, you know,
the harvest is plentiful,
00:13:27.24\00:13:30.57
but the laborers are few.
00:13:30.61\00:13:32.67
So, Lord, please
help us some way.
00:13:32.71\00:13:35.58
And so as we were coming back
from dropping some friends off,
00:13:35.61\00:13:38.85
we pulled into a
gas station to refuel.
00:13:38.88\00:13:42.62
And we're right
next to a gas pump,
00:13:42.65\00:13:45.45
literally ready to refuel.
00:13:45.49\00:13:49.12
And as we stopped the
bus, we turned off the engine.
00:13:49.16\00:13:53.09
We could smell smoke.
00:13:53.13\00:13:55.50
Now it's snowing outside...
00:13:55.53\00:13:57.10
And we actually
have before you continue,
00:13:57.13\00:13:58.97
we have a video
that we're gonna put up
00:13:59.00\00:14:01.40
and describe that.
00:14:01.44\00:14:03.74
Yeah.
00:14:03.81\00:14:06.24
So we get out.
00:14:06.27\00:14:07.61
Well, before we get
out, we smell the smoke.
00:14:07.64\00:14:10.25
Now how the bus was constructed,
00:14:10.28\00:14:11.91
the engine was
inside of the bus.
00:14:11.95\00:14:14.22
So we lifted the
hood to the engine
00:14:14.25\00:14:16.89
and a huge waft
of smoke came out.
00:14:16.92\00:14:19.79
So Joe and I
looked at each other,
00:14:19.82\00:14:21.52
we grabbed our coats, and
we just darted off the bus,
00:14:21.56\00:14:27.30
just enough time
before the bus caught a flame
00:14:27.40\00:14:31.57
and we alerted the attendant
00:14:31.60\00:14:34.27
to kind of shut
off the gas valve.
00:14:34.30\00:14:35.94
Yeah.
00:14:35.97\00:14:37.31
And all we could do is
just watch the bus burn.
00:14:37.37\00:14:39.81
Man! And...
00:14:39.84\00:14:41.18
That had to be kind
of painful to watch here,
00:14:41.21\00:14:43.81
you know, at the
beginning the inception,
00:14:43.85\00:14:46.98
you know, getting the bus
tears flowing down your face
00:14:47.02\00:14:50.45
because you're
excited that, you know,
00:14:50.49\00:14:52.12
God's plan has come
into fruition in your life.
00:14:52.15\00:14:55.49
Now you're watching the bus,
you know, in flames, on fire.
00:14:55.52\00:15:01.00
What was going through
your mind at that time?
00:15:01.03\00:15:02.86
Did you have
questions what, I mean?
00:15:02.90\00:15:06.17
And we were just asking
why, like, what happened,
00:15:06.20\00:15:10.61
what did we miss?
00:15:10.64\00:15:13.81
But it was a
blessing nonetheless.
00:15:13.88\00:15:16.64
When the firefighters
actually did take the fire out,
00:15:16.68\00:15:21.45
we went on the bus and
Mike's the driver seat,
00:15:21.48\00:15:25.05
my seat was not burned,
00:15:25.09\00:15:26.76
the passenger
seats weren't burned.
00:15:26.79\00:15:29.49
The Bibles, books,
tracts, nothing was burned.
00:15:29.52\00:15:32.93
It was literally
just the front of the bus.
00:15:32.96\00:15:37.03
And so, you know,
we really had to...
00:15:37.07\00:15:40.10
Thank God.
00:15:40.14\00:15:41.47
Thank God and now
ask Him what to do now.
00:15:41.50\00:15:43.97
Amen.
00:15:44.01\00:15:45.34
You know, in
looking at that scenario,
00:15:45.37\00:15:47.64
that situation, the fact
that you were asking God like,
00:15:47.68\00:15:52.95
"Okay, well, what's next?"
00:15:52.98\00:15:54.52
Like this isn't
the end of ministry.
00:15:54.55\00:15:57.25
And it's
interesting that He didn't let
00:15:57.29\00:15:59.19
any of that other
like the literature,
00:15:59.22\00:16:02.92
you know, the
Bible, all of that stuff,
00:16:02.96\00:16:04.66
none of that burned up.
00:16:04.69\00:16:06.73
So it's not like this
is an end to ministry.
00:16:06.76\00:16:09.30
Right.
00:16:09.33\00:16:10.67
This is, I've got
something else for you to do.
00:16:10.70\00:16:12.77
Exactly.
00:16:12.80\00:16:14.14
And I think that
was the question for us,
00:16:14.17\00:16:15.50
the most pressing question
00:16:15.54\00:16:16.91
over the next couple
of weeks, even months.
00:16:16.94\00:16:19.91
We've received a lot of
support from the community
00:16:19.94\00:16:22.18
and our local church,
00:16:22.21\00:16:23.95
for people who wanted us
00:16:23.98\00:16:25.31
to get right
back out on the bus.
00:16:25.35\00:16:26.92
And as much as we
wanted to, we had to think,
00:16:26.95\00:16:29.98
"Well, Lord, what
would You want us to do?"
00:16:30.02\00:16:32.92
We understood
what we wanted to do
00:16:32.95\00:16:35.89
but we wanna understand
what You want us to do.
00:16:35.92\00:16:38.66
And so that took us
a little bit of time
00:16:38.69\00:16:40.33
to understand
where God was leading us.
00:16:40.40\00:16:43.26
And around that time, Elder
Lance Wilbur from Pulse Cafe.
00:16:43.33\00:16:46.53
Okay.
00:16:46.57\00:16:47.90
He sent us Elder Ted
Wilson's dissertation
00:16:47.94\00:16:51.04
on urban
evangelism in New York City.
00:16:51.07\00:16:53.94
And so we comb
through that dissertation,
00:16:53.98\00:16:56.81
and it was
highlighting the Bible's view
00:16:56.85\00:16:59.75
and the Spirit
of Prophecy's view
00:16:59.78\00:17:01.65
using Jesus
example what He would do.
00:17:01.68\00:17:04.15
And we found
that in New York City
00:17:04.22\00:17:06.49
health evangelism,
00:17:06.52\00:17:07.86
God wants health
evangelism to be paramount.
00:17:07.89\00:17:10.66
And so as we took a step
back and kind of evaluated
00:17:10.69\00:17:13.76
where God was taking
us up until that point,
00:17:13.83\00:17:16.03
we could see that
God was leading us
00:17:16.06\00:17:17.63
in that direction already.
00:17:17.67\00:17:19.00
Yes.
00:17:19.03\00:17:20.37
And so it wasn't the end,
00:17:20.44\00:17:21.77
it was really
just the beginning.
00:17:21.80\00:17:23.14
Nice.
00:17:23.17\00:17:24.51
And so we said, "Lord, if
this is just the beginning,
00:17:24.54\00:17:26.98
show us what You want us to do
00:17:27.01\00:17:28.48
and how You want
us to get it done."
00:17:28.51\00:17:30.08
Wow.
00:17:30.15\00:17:31.48
And so, Joanna, and
you were all on board?
00:17:31.51\00:17:33.45
Oh, yeah, I just, you know,
I don't know for some reason,
00:17:33.52\00:17:37.29
I just didn't question anything.
00:17:37.32\00:17:38.65
Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:38.69\00:17:40.02
It was just, you
know, we got to do it.
00:17:40.06\00:17:41.49
Yeah. Amen.
00:17:41.52\00:17:43.29
When God calls you got to go.
00:17:43.32\00:17:45.16
You got to go.
00:17:45.19\00:17:46.53
And so you made the transition
00:17:46.56\00:17:47.86
into the health
and wellness area.
00:17:47.93\00:17:50.47
So now you had cooking classes.
00:17:50.53\00:17:52.73
Cooking classes.
00:17:52.77\00:17:54.27
We began helping people with
00:17:54.30\00:17:56.10
as we look through the
surveys of our cooking school,
00:17:56.14\00:17:59.04
we noticed that a lot people
were having lifestyle diseases,
00:17:59.07\00:18:01.74
diabetes, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol.
00:18:01.78\00:18:04.71
And so while the
food is a great remedy
00:18:04.75\00:18:08.58
to some of these issues,
00:18:08.62\00:18:10.22
people needed even
more direct attention.
00:18:10.25\00:18:12.79
Got you.
00:18:12.82\00:18:14.19
So we began having health
consultations with people,
00:18:14.22\00:18:16.19
private health consultations
00:18:16.22\00:18:17.56
to truly, really
help them on this journey.
00:18:17.59\00:18:19.73
Yes.
00:18:19.76\00:18:21.06
And so, it was a blessing,
00:18:21.10\00:18:23.16
just being able to
work with people one on one.
00:18:23.20\00:18:25.87
Yeah.
00:18:25.90\00:18:27.24
And so that that
hands on type of experience,
00:18:27.27\00:18:31.54
you know, so these
weren't hereditary.
00:18:31.57\00:18:34.54
These were kind of like
00:18:34.58\00:18:35.91
self-inflicted
health problems...
00:18:35.94\00:18:37.45
Most of the time.
00:18:37.48\00:18:38.81
Due to diet and lack of exercise
00:18:38.85\00:18:40.62
and all of that stuff, huh.
00:18:40.65\00:18:42.15
Huh-huh. Yeah.
00:18:42.18\00:18:43.52
Okay, so what, when
they go to the cooking class,
00:18:43.59\00:18:47.46
you know, are they cooking too?
00:18:47.49\00:18:49.32
Or are they just
watching you cook
00:18:49.36\00:18:51.86
or what's going on?
00:18:51.89\00:18:53.23
Oh, they're cooking as well.
00:18:53.26\00:18:55.23
They're cooking, you know,
00:18:55.26\00:18:57.23
if you burn
things we'll work it out.
00:18:57.27\00:18:59.93
But you're cooking.
00:19:00.07\00:19:01.40
You're cooking but
it's also with instruction.
00:19:01.44\00:19:03.74
Got you.
00:19:03.77\00:19:05.11
And so, we think
that being practical
00:19:05.14\00:19:07.11
and hands on helps you
when you get back home.
00:19:07.14\00:19:10.08
And so, you
know how to duplicate
00:19:10.11\00:19:12.08
what you did in
the cooking school.
00:19:12.11\00:19:14.72
Okay.
00:19:14.75\00:19:16.08
So we looked at Jesus'
model, how He was so practical,
00:19:16.12\00:19:18.75
so hands on.
00:19:18.79\00:19:20.12
And our thought process
was, "Well, if Jesus was here,
00:19:20.19\00:19:22.59
how would He do it?"
00:19:22.62\00:19:24.06
And so we brought
it to our ASI family,
00:19:24.09\00:19:27.60
who were really instrumental,
so much support and mentorship
00:19:27.66\00:19:33.07
even really insight
on how this would look
00:19:33.10\00:19:35.10
how we can
practically set this up.
00:19:35.14\00:19:37.11
And we work with
a lot of ministries,
00:19:37.14\00:19:39.17
local ministries
in New York City too
00:19:39.21\00:19:42.38
that are involved
in health evangelism
00:19:42.41\00:19:44.38
to kind of move
this project forward.
00:19:44.41\00:19:46.75
And so we would have
Heidi's Health Kitchen come in,
00:19:46.82\00:19:49.35
had Vegan Nest come in,
00:19:49.38\00:19:51.59
we had friends
from Pulse Cafe come in.
00:19:51.62\00:19:54.06
And we have people all over
00:19:54.09\00:19:55.42
really chipping
into reach the community.
00:19:55.46\00:19:57.76
Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
00:19:57.79\00:19:59.79
Because it wasn't like,
00:19:59.83\00:20:01.13
"Oh, this is, you
know, my ministry."
00:20:01.16\00:20:03.10
This is, no, you're trying
to reach souls for the kingdom.
00:20:03.13\00:20:06.70
That's it.
00:20:06.74\00:20:08.07
And so, you
putting your heads together
00:20:08.10\00:20:09.64
coming together and
driving the mission forward.
00:20:09.67\00:20:13.21
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:13.24\00:20:14.58
So we feel that
there's strength in numbers
00:20:14.61\00:20:16.11
and if we tap into that
we can have great success.
00:20:16.14\00:20:19.25
Yes, yes.
00:20:19.28\00:20:21.05
So okay, so when
somebody comes to you
00:20:21.08\00:20:23.65
what type of
questions do you get
00:20:23.69\00:20:26.22
or what type of issues
do people present to you
00:20:26.25\00:20:29.49
like high blood
pressure, diabetes?
00:20:29.52\00:20:32.66
Yeah.
00:20:32.69\00:20:34.03
High blood pressure,
diabetes, and high cholesterol.
00:20:34.10\00:20:36.00
Those are
probably the top three.
00:20:36.03\00:20:37.40
Top three. Okay.
00:20:37.43\00:20:39.10
And then we do have some
heart issues in there as well.
00:20:39.13\00:20:41.14
Okay.
00:20:41.17\00:20:42.50
And mainly these heart issues
come as a result of stress.
00:20:42.54\00:20:46.91
Diet does play a role but
New York City, high stress.
00:20:46.94\00:20:50.68
Yeah. Yeah, I believe it.
00:20:50.71\00:20:53.01
There's a lot of
hustle and bustle
00:20:53.05\00:20:54.38
and the cost of living is high.
00:20:54.42\00:20:57.02
It's high.
00:20:57.05\00:20:58.39
And so people need
to be able to de-stress.
00:20:58.42\00:21:01.46
And a lot of that comes
00:21:01.49\00:21:02.82
with just having
connection with God.
00:21:02.86\00:21:04.23
Yes.
00:21:04.26\00:21:05.59
And so we in the cooking school
00:21:05.63\00:21:06.96
and in the wellness
consultations that we have,
00:21:07.00\00:21:09.00
we stress to the utmost degree,
00:21:09.03\00:21:12.47
that it's deeper than just food.
00:21:12.50\00:21:14.97
It's deeper than exercise.
00:21:15.00\00:21:17.17
It's deeper than rest.
00:21:17.21\00:21:19.97
It's a connection with God.
00:21:20.04\00:21:21.91
And once people grasp
that concept, it goes far,
00:21:21.94\00:21:25.98
at least in their minds.
00:21:26.01\00:21:27.38
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:27.42\00:21:28.75
And so how do
people spread the word,
00:21:28.78\00:21:31.22
like how has your cooking school
00:21:31.25\00:21:34.46
and all that stuff
cooking classes grown?
00:21:34.49\00:21:38.13
It's grown tremendously.
00:21:38.16\00:21:39.49
I mean, Facebook has been great.
00:21:39.53\00:21:41.50
Any social medias for sure.
00:21:41.53\00:21:44.67
It's pivotal.
00:21:44.70\00:21:46.87
You meet people on social media
that you wouldn't normally be.
00:21:46.90\00:21:50.57
Obviously, we
wouldn't, we wouldn't have met.
00:21:50.64\00:21:54.61
And so that helps a lot.
00:21:54.64\00:21:57.98
Church member's
always so support.
00:21:58.01\00:22:01.92
It's always a blessing,
00:22:01.95\00:22:03.28
not just our own church members,
00:22:03.32\00:22:04.89
but church
members just in Brooklyn
00:22:04.92\00:22:07.46
and maybe the five
boroughs, they come along.
00:22:07.49\00:22:11.63
We also had a student who came,
00:22:11.66\00:22:15.00
and he was sharing
it with his co-workers.
00:22:15.03\00:22:17.23
Okay.
00:22:17.27\00:22:18.60
And he happened
to work at Fox 5.
00:22:18.63\00:22:21.17
And so we weren't too
sure where this would end up.
00:22:21.20\00:22:25.21
So he said, "Do you mind
00:22:25.24\00:22:26.57
if I share this
with my friends?"
00:22:26.64\00:22:28.38
And coming off of an
experience with the bus
00:22:28.41\00:22:30.61
where in a year we will
see at least a million riders.
00:22:30.65\00:22:34.68
So over the span of
the cycle of the bus,
00:22:34.72\00:22:37.79
we saw over three
and a half million people
00:22:37.82\00:22:41.72
coming on this bus.
00:22:41.76\00:22:43.09
Three and half million!
00:22:43.12\00:22:44.46
So we were thinking,
00:22:44.49\00:22:45.83
"Lord, how can we
duplicate this level of reach,
00:22:45.86\00:22:48.03
if we're just
having cooking classes."
00:22:48.06\00:22:50.53
And God was trying to get to us
00:22:50.60\00:22:51.93
that it's not so
much about quantity
00:22:51.97\00:22:53.90
as it is about quality
because in the cooking school,
00:22:53.97\00:22:56.67
we have more time to
spend one on one on each person.
00:22:56.74\00:23:00.51
And so he told
his friends at Fox.
00:23:00.58\00:23:02.88
And he said, "Well, do you mind
00:23:02.91\00:23:04.28
if they come with
me to the next class?"
00:23:04.31\00:23:06.01
We said, "Sure.
00:23:06.05\00:23:07.42
We have space, bring them over."
00:23:07.45\00:23:09.15
And so he comes over the
next cooking class that we have.
00:23:09.18\00:23:13.15
And they come
with a crew of cameras,
00:23:13.19\00:23:15.89
and we were just surprised.
00:23:15.92\00:23:18.06
Wow. We couldn't believe it.
00:23:18.09\00:23:19.43
Yeah.
00:23:19.46\00:23:20.80
And so they did...
00:23:20.83\00:23:22.16
They ran a piece on us.
00:23:22.20\00:23:24.77
We got a lot of
responses from that.
00:23:24.80\00:23:27.10
And we just
showed how God can take
00:23:27.14\00:23:29.30
just one
instance and magnify that.
00:23:29.34\00:23:31.81
So that so many more
people can be blessed
00:23:31.84\00:23:33.68
by just hearing His Word.
00:23:33.74\00:23:35.08
Yeah.
00:23:35.11\00:23:36.44
And it's so important
00:23:36.48\00:23:37.81
that you always put
your best foot forward
00:23:37.85\00:23:39.18
especially when
you're working for God.
00:23:39.21\00:23:40.68
And, you know,
putting that best foot for
00:23:40.72\00:23:42.62
you don't know
who's in the audience,
00:23:42.65\00:23:43.99
you don't know
who you're gonna meet.
00:23:44.05\00:23:46.12
This guy worked at Fox.
00:23:46.15\00:23:47.96
We had no idea.
00:23:47.99\00:23:49.52
And then, now I'm sure
00:23:49.56\00:23:51.19
that helped propel
the ministry as well.
00:23:51.23\00:23:54.03
What are some of the challenges
that you faced in ministry?
00:23:54.10\00:23:57.10
And either one of you
can kind of pick this up.
00:23:57.13\00:24:00.84
I think for me,
00:24:00.87\00:24:02.24
for us it's been
initially was time management.
00:24:02.27\00:24:06.68
Just understanding
that God has given us time
00:24:06.71\00:24:08.98
for us to be stewards of.
00:24:09.01\00:24:10.55
And it's how we spend that time
00:24:10.58\00:24:12.18
that gives glory to Him as well.
00:24:12.21\00:24:14.25
I think a lot of the times
we were spending in ministry,
00:24:14.32\00:24:17.19
we weren't as tapped into
God as we could have been.
00:24:17.22\00:24:19.85
Yeah.
00:24:19.89\00:24:21.22
And it doesn't matter how
much service you're doing.
00:24:21.26\00:24:23.83
It doesn't matter
00:24:23.86\00:24:25.19
how many people
you're able to reach.
00:24:25.23\00:24:27.20
If you're
connected with God yourself,
00:24:27.23\00:24:29.60
then you're wasting your time.
00:24:29.63\00:24:30.97
Yeah.
00:24:31.00\00:24:32.33
And so we met
that challenge head on
00:24:32.37\00:24:33.80
by making sure that we separate
from our daily schedule times
00:24:33.84\00:24:38.37
to spend with God,
00:24:38.41\00:24:40.04
personally, as
well as collectively,
00:24:40.08\00:24:42.08
just because we only could
be as effective as the time
00:24:42.11\00:24:45.21
that we spend with God.
00:24:45.25\00:24:46.58
Yeah, I like that because
it is so important to plug in,
00:24:46.61\00:24:50.69
you know, to the source.
00:24:50.75\00:24:52.42
It's like, you know,
you're driving around,
00:24:52.45\00:24:54.66
you're giving
everybody else gas,
00:24:54.69\00:24:56.46
you're putting gas
in everybody else's car.
00:24:56.49\00:24:58.53
You're just driving around,
driving around, driving around,
00:24:58.56\00:25:01.13
you don't take time
to put any gas in yours
00:25:01.16\00:25:03.87
and your tank is on E.
00:25:03.90\00:25:05.87
And you just run out,
00:25:05.90\00:25:07.24
you know, so crucial to plug in.
00:25:07.27\00:25:10.91
I like that.
00:25:10.94\00:25:12.34
Then there'll be people that,
00:25:12.37\00:25:13.71
you know, say, "But, Lord,
I prophesied in your name."
00:25:13.78\00:25:16.85
Yeah, yeah. Depart from me.
00:25:16.88\00:25:18.51
I never knew you, like,
00:25:18.55\00:25:20.12
"Man, I would hate
to hear those words."
00:25:20.15\00:25:23.79
I think for us it was also,
00:25:23.82\00:25:26.96
you know, people boxing us
in with just the bus ministry.
00:25:26.99\00:25:30.46
Yes.
00:25:30.53\00:25:31.86
You know, God
blessed us with the bus
00:25:31.89\00:25:33.90
and that was wonderful.
00:25:33.93\00:25:36.06
But as He moved us to
another sector of ministry,
00:25:36.10\00:25:40.74
it was hard to or
hard for a lot of people,
00:25:40.80\00:25:43.97
even ourselves to kind
of let that part of it go.
00:25:44.01\00:25:46.74
Yeah.
00:25:46.78\00:25:48.11
And, you know, God is limitless.
00:25:48.14\00:25:50.11
And so we need to
not give Him limitations
00:25:50.15\00:25:53.98
on our own finite minds.
00:25:54.02\00:25:56.58
Absolutely.
00:25:56.65\00:25:57.99
Absolutely.
00:25:58.02\00:25:59.35
And you said it
right there like,
00:25:59.39\00:26:01.06
you know, people
confined you to one thing,
00:26:01.09\00:26:04.69
but God has many different ways
00:26:04.73\00:26:07.13
that He can reach
people and all of that.
00:26:07.23\00:26:09.00
So, yeah, that's beautiful.
00:26:09.03\00:26:11.37
What are some of your needs?
00:26:11.40\00:26:13.54
We definitely need prayer.
00:26:13.57\00:26:15.37
Okay.
00:26:15.40\00:26:16.74
We need prayer.
We need prayer. Yes.
00:26:16.81\00:26:18.81
We just feel without us
being able to have that support
00:26:18.84\00:26:23.45
when people are
earnestly praying for us
00:26:23.48\00:26:25.45
and praying for
the ministry at large.
00:26:25.48\00:26:29.12
Where we can only go so far.
00:26:29.15\00:26:31.59
And again, like we said,
00:26:31.62\00:26:32.95
we've seen
firsthand strength in numbers.
00:26:32.99\00:26:35.26
Yeah.
00:26:35.29\00:26:36.62
So we definitely need prayer.
00:26:36.66\00:26:39.29
And I know that
you told me before,
00:26:39.33\00:26:41.30
you know, when we
were talking previously,
00:26:41.33\00:26:44.40
you told me, you know, we
need prayer, we need prayer.
00:26:44.43\00:26:47.10
But I'm hoping that,
00:26:47.14\00:26:48.47
you know, some
people will support you
00:26:48.50\00:26:49.84
financially as well
00:26:49.87\00:26:51.21
because it's not
free to have ministry,
00:26:51.24\00:26:54.81
to run a ministry
and all that stuff.
00:26:54.84\00:26:56.38
So I hope that
some of our viewers
00:26:56.41\00:26:58.35
will support you
financially as well.
00:26:58.38\00:27:01.52
I can't believe
we're running low on time.
00:27:01.55\00:27:03.62
I want to put up your
address so that people know
00:27:03.65\00:27:06.65
how to get in touch with you.
00:27:06.69\00:27:08.02
And why don't
you read that for us?
00:27:08.06\00:27:10.76
So our address is 150
South Portland Avenue,
00:27:10.79\00:27:14.76
it's in
Brooklyn, New York 11217.
00:27:14.83\00:27:17.80
You can give us a
call at (347) 779-7628.
00:27:17.83\00:27:22.50
And you can reach
us on our website,
00:27:22.54\00:27:24.37
The7thScroll.org.
00:27:24.41\00:27:26.44
That's a number 7thScroll.org
00:27:26.47\00:27:29.71
or you can email us
at info@The7thScroll.org.
00:27:29.74\00:27:33.18
Wow.
00:27:33.21\00:27:34.55
Yeah, and we definitely
want those prayers ascending.
00:27:34.58\00:27:37.12
Please, please, please.
00:27:37.19\00:27:39.02
Yes, yeah.
00:27:39.05\00:27:40.46
And do you guys ever
look for volunteers or...?
00:27:40.49\00:27:43.12
Yes.
00:27:43.16\00:27:44.49
So that probably the
second most important need,
00:27:44.53\00:27:47.60
workers, people
who are interested
00:27:47.66\00:27:49.63
in reaching
souls for the kingdom.
00:27:49.66\00:27:51.30
Absolutely.
00:27:51.33\00:27:52.67
And who are able
to give up their time.
00:27:52.70\00:27:55.07
Absolutely.
00:27:55.10\00:27:56.60
Thank you so much for
coming on and sharing.
00:27:56.67\00:27:58.61
Thank you so much.
00:27:58.64\00:28:00.04
And thank you.
00:28:00.11\00:28:01.44
Well, we've reached
the end of another program.
00:28:01.48\00:28:03.24
Thanks for tuning
in. Join us next time.
00:28:03.28\00:28:05.58
God bless.
00:28:05.61\00:28:06.95