1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:05,040 All right, well, good morning. Can you hear me right on. 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:09,800 I am so excited to be here. I'm excited because I'm in 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,280 Virginia. I'm I'm from here. 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,520 Like, like he said, the reason why we probably didn't know each 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,400 other is because I was the kid that when, when I would 6 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,600 misbehave, you know, they always sent the bad kids to the back 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,960 row. So I was probably in the back 8 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,720 row while he was still remaining in the seat. 9 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,520 And so that was probably why we, we just, we didn't cross paths 10 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:33,840 as much. But anyway, so again, my name is 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,120 Joshua. And with my wife and our three 12 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,880 kids, we serve in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. 13 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,840 And so we're really thrilled that we get to do that. 14 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,880 And I, I'm glad that I get to be here because this is a missional 15 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,160 church. This church has been supporting 16 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,160 us, you know, I, I think a couple years now, but it means 17 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,560 so much to us that, that even I get to come here and I get to 18 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,400 share with you. So my wife and I, as we grew up, 19 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,960 my wife is from Minnesota and she grew up in a small church in 20 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,760 a rural community there. But as I grew up in Lighthouse, 21 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,280 the pastors, these churches, they allowed missionaries to 22 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,320 come and share. They allowed them to come and 23 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,680 talk about what God was doing around the world. 24 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 And the interesting thing that I think about now is while they 25 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,840 were coming, many of them were coming to raise support and they 26 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:23,960 were sharing about the country where they were serving. 27 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,720 But what they didn't know, little did they know that while 28 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,840 they were preaching in the United States, they were 29 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,680 starting something else somewhere else and somewhere 30 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,320 else in the world. Because little did they know 31 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:42,200 that that as I sat in my chair and I listened as my wife, as 32 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,480 she sat in her Pew in in southwest Minnesota, that God 33 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,600 was beginning to stir up the waters of a similar calling that 34 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,280 that God was placing. And that was to go and share the 35 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,200 gospel with the nations. And so today, I'm not here to 36 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,640 convince you of anything, but I am here to do for you what was 37 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,840 done for me 30 years ago. And that is to stir up the 38 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,760 waters of calling that God may be placing on you. 39 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,880 And so I know, and my wife knows that that as we're going around, 40 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,400 it's worth sharing that as we're sharing about what God is doing 41 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,480 in Ecuador, in South America, God is starting something else, 42 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,080 somewhere else. And that'll be done through you. 43 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:24,320 It'll be done through you, through this church. 44 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,720 And so we pray that you would embrace the, the purpose, the 45 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,440 call that God has for you as individuals. 46 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:38,600 So I'm going to pray, Oh Lord, my dear heavenly Father God, 47 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:43,520 today I ask that you open eyes. I ask that you open hearts, that 48 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,440 you open minds that love would abound within each of us. 49 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,240 It would abound in such a way that we would not be able to 50 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,800 stay idle. I pray that as we read your word 51 00:02:55,800 --> 00:03:00,600 today that you would reveal your love for us and how you desire 52 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,880 to use us in that love. Help us to surrender to your 53 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:13,400 will, O Lord, Amen. Well, today's Scripture, all 54 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,720 right. Today I want to share a theme 55 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,040 from Scripture that's very near and dear to our hearts and 56 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,440 ministry. And these are the words of Jesus 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,600 in Luke chapter 10. And it's about loving one's 58 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,960 neighbor. And so my wife is from the 59 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:27,480 Midwest. And I don't know if any of you 60 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,920 know the Midwest, but they, they have all these little things 61 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,240 that are like Midwest is best. And I don't think they're true. 62 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,640 But my wife is from Minnesota and they have this thing called 63 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,440 Minnesota nice. And it's a real thing. 64 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,440 Like the people from there are very nice. 65 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,760 They say things like you betcha. And don't you know, And that's 66 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,360 kind of how my wife is. And so my wife, she is probably 67 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,520 one of the most neighborly people that I know. 68 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,880 And I don't know whether it's just her Minnesota niceness, if 69 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,200 it's a natural gift or she didn't grow up with cable. 70 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,400 She was really salty about that. She she had to watch PBS. 71 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,440 But there was a patron St. of of being neighborly that was on PBS 72 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,280 and his name was Mr. Rogers. And I think maybe because she 73 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,320 meditated on his words, maybe maybe that's how it got there. 74 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,160 But for me, we had cable. So I'm I'm not as neighborly, 75 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,800 but today I want to read this is Luke chapter 10. 76 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:28,120 We're going to start in verse 25, but I'll summarize what's 77 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,400 happening is there's a discussion that's going back and 78 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,000 forth between this religious teacher of the law and Jesus. 79 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:40,320 And here we go, verse 25. One day an expert in religious 80 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,120 law stood up to test Jesus, asking him this question. 81 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,320 Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life? 82 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,120 Jesus replied, What does the law of Moses say? 83 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,920 How do you read it? The man answered, You must love 84 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,840 the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your 85 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:03,320 strength, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, 86 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,280 right? Jesus told him, do this and you 87 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,040 will live. All right, this is interesting. 88 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,360 Look what it says here. It says the man wanting to 89 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,520 justify his actions. He asked this question. 90 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,600 So the man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, and 91 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,320 who is my neighbor? Going on verse 30 it says this. 92 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:32,480 Now Jesus told this story. A Jewish man was travelling from 93 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,400 Jerusalem down to Jericho and he was attacked by bandits. 94 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,280 They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him up. 95 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,400 They left him half dead beside the road. 96 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,040 By chance a priest came along, but when he saw the man lying 97 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:49,360 there, he crossed over to the other side and passed him by. 98 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,960 A temple assistant, a Levite, walked over and looked at him 99 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,280 lying there, and he also passed by on the other side. 100 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:05,440 Then a despised Samaritan came along and when he saw the man he 101 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,920 felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan 102 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,600 soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged to 103 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,440 them. Then he put the man on his own 104 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,080 donkey and took him to an inn where he took care of him. 105 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,120 The next day he handed the innkeeper 2 silver coins, 106 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,120 telling him take care of this man. 107 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,200 If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time 108 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,600 I'm here. Now, which of these three would 109 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,880 you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? 110 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,320 Jesus asked. The man replied, the one who 111 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:46,360 showed him mercy, Jesus said, now go and do the same. 112 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,320 All right, So I don't have three points in a poem for you today. 113 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,240 I instead have two introspective questions I want you to ask 114 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,680 yourself. But it's because the Gospel, it 115 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,960 doesn't condemn us. It doesn't put a heavy burden on 116 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,040 us. And so today as I talk about 117 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,520 loving your neighbor, loving one's neighbor, I don't want you 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,080 to look at yourself and say, wow, I'm not measuring up in 119 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,640 this area. I'm not good, but I want you to, 120 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,800 to see in light of the gospel, I want you to ask this question of 121 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,280 yourself, this this thing that your, your pastor told me that 122 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:22,720 he's been talking about surrendering. 123 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,680 Surrender has been a theme that has been here in the church. 124 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,360 And this is this is this idea I want to bring up. 125 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,680 But this question I want us to ask ourselves is Holy Spirit, 126 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,240 where are you working and how can I help? 127 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:37,800 So that's the first question. It's really simple. 128 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:43,000 Where is the Holy Spirit working and how can I help? 129 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,720 So the truth is, if you're sitting here today, it's because 130 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,840 Jesus is head over and heels in love with someone that you know, 131 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,560 and He's asking you to collaborate with Him to capture 132 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,440 them in His love. Do you get that? 133 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,320 If you're sitting here today, it's because God is in love with 134 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,400 someone that you know, he's in love with you, but he wants to 135 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,320 use you to capture them in his love. 136 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,680 So in Luke 10, Jesus, he doesn't give this simple direct answer. 137 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,400 Instead, he tells a story. And the, the, the question was, 138 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,600 who is my neighbor? And So what this religious 139 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,760 expert, what he seems to, to be doing is he wants to put these 140 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,720 groups of people in categories, neighbors, not neighbors, right? 141 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,480 And so he's, he's probably like, OK, here's the group I like. 142 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,320 This is a group of people that are like me in religion. 143 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:43,919 They they look like me. They eat like me. 144 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:45,920 They have a similar value system. 145 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,160 You know, maybe they, they know etiquette for text conversations 146 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,360 with groups. They don't send 100 emojis all 147 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:57,880 in separate messages, right? They roll their toilet paper the 148 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,760 same way. These are the people I should be 149 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,280 a neighbor to like these. This is my group, but then the 150 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,400 other group, the non neighbors over there, these are the people 151 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,920 I don't have to be neighbors to. This is what he wants to to come 152 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:17,240 to, thanking God that he doesn't have to be their neighbor. 153 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,840 They probably don't have the same religion, they don't have 154 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,640 the same political views. They eat weird food, and if he 155 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,080 invited them over, what would he even say? 156 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,160 They would probably change his toilet paper around the other 157 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:33,920 way. Monsters so here are the people 158 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,960 I deem worthy and these are the people who are not and so he 159 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:39,480 asked this question who is my neighbor? 160 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:45,400 He wants a very simple answer, but instead Jesus asked him out 161 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,400 of the three, who was the neighbor? 162 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:54,480 OK, now this man, when he asked his question or when Jesus asked 163 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,720 who was the neighbor, he now has to re evaluate his perspective 164 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,800 as he's hearing this story because he was identifying 165 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,840 probably with this, this priest, right? 166 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,080 This was the person that was probably most closely related to 167 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,560 him and mindsets. This was a religious leader, a 168 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:16,040 teacher of the law. And yet as he sees himself now 169 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,760 as the victim, it was the person that was like him that abandoned 170 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,080 him. It was the person that, you 171 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,600 know, he had respect for that kept going and walked by. 172 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,320 The other person that was a Levite, you know, a person that 173 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,640 would have also worked in this religious arena where he was 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,040 probably working, was yet again the other person that passed him 175 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,160 by. And then what does the verse 176 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,040 say? It says then a despised 177 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,600 Samaritan came along. All right. 178 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:44,960 Do you know why they were despised? 179 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,960 It's because they were from a completely different culture. 180 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:52,880 They had adopted false gods. They had been, they, they ate 181 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:54,840 food that was completely different things that were not 182 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,640 holy. And so this man, he saw himself. 183 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,240 He saw the Samaritan as something depraved, something he 184 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:04,880 didn't want to be associated with. 185 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,920 But then instead Jesus said out of the three, who was the 186 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,640 neighbor? The man had to acknowledge the 187 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:20,840 one who showed mercy, because showing mercy is an outward sign 188 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,000 of being a good neighbor. This is a hallmark of 189 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000 Christianity. Christ shares this story, I 190 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,760 believe is a mandate for us. I think about my friend who is 191 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,960 he's Muslim. And when he was growing up, he 192 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,720 was never around Christians. He didn't have any context of 193 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,160 Christians other than than what his parents had told him. 194 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,560 But when he moved away to university to go to College in 195 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:45,360 another country, his parents gave them this advice and they 196 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,280 said eat with Jews and live with Christians. 197 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,920 And he went on to explain that, you know, the the Jews have very 198 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,760 similar eating habits. There are things that they 199 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,960 they've refrained from eating and it's equal with the Muslims. 200 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,240 So because of that, his parents said it's OK eat with Jews. 201 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,480 But they said live with Christians. 202 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,880 And that was because Christians were known for being people of 203 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,840 moral character. They were known for being 204 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:15,720 neighborly. They were known for being people 205 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,480 that would accept you for whoever you were, that they were 206 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,200 kind and loving and compassionate. 207 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,560 And this was something his his Muslim parents told him. 208 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:29,760 This was what predated his experience with actually meeting 209 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,640 a real Christian. And so our highest calling is 210 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,960 Christians is first to love God. That's what was referenced 211 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,920 there. And then to love who your 212 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,960 neighbor. And so Jesus, he sets his 213 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,480 followers apart. This is in Matthew chapter 5. 214 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,680 Matthew chapter 5 verse 46 and 47. 215 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:00,840 It says if you only love those who love you, what reward is 216 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,080 there in that? Even corrupt tax collectors do 217 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:09,280 that much. If you are kind only to your 218 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,480 friends, how are you different from anyone else? 219 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,760 Even pagans do that. Interesting. 220 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:24,200 I'll go to Romans 12 next, but Romans, Romans 12, verse 9, the 221 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,800 book of Romans was written by Paul and this was a letter that 222 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,600 he sent to the Roman church for instruction. 223 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,320 And I saw an animation that was funny. 224 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,000 He's talking about these epistles. 225 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,040 These are letters sent by Paul to the different churches. 226 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,360 And this animation was the guy reading the epistle and it was 227 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:41,920 Paul's hands slapping him in the face. 228 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,920 And that's that's kind of what we feel like happens in some of 229 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,400 these things because Paul is giving instruction and he's very 230 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,360 direct. But this is what he's saying to 231 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,520 the Roman church. This is Romans chapter 12, verse 232 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,520 9. He says don't just pretend to 233 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:02,560 love others, really love them. Hate what is wrong, Hold tightly 234 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:06,560 to what is good, love each other with genuine affection. 235 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,760 Skipping ahead to verse 13, it says when God's people are in 236 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:17,680 need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice 237 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:19,880 hospitality. Wow. 238 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,080 So repeat this. I'm not a Roman Christian. 239 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,560 I'm not a Roman Christian. I'm you fill in the blank. 240 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:30,160 I'm, I'm a, I'm an American Christian. 241 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:32,520 I'm an American Christian. What does that mean? 242 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:34,960 What would the letter be written to us? 243 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:39,160 What would that be about? Think about that now. 244 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,280 I love this idea again of surrender. 245 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,240 And those of you, many of you, you don't know me and I'll, I'll 246 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,760 tell you a little bit about our, our first term when we moved on 247 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,080 to the field, we left to be missionaries in 2018 and we had 248 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,160 to go to Costa Rica for language training. 249 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,440 And while we were there, my, my wife got pregnant and this would 250 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:03,200 have been our second child. And shortly after the pregnancy 251 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,640 occurred, we found ourselves in a hospital because she was 252 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,720 having a miscarriage. And so the language was, was new 253 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,360 to us. I remember like everything being 254 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,560 in Spanish and being in the hospital and the doctors like 255 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,560 telling us what's happening and what's going on. 256 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,120 And just this feeling of saying, God, where are you at in this 257 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:20,840 moment? I don't understand. 258 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,000 You know, I, when I was before we left, I had all these these 259 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,240 people say to us, you know, the safest place you can be is in 260 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,960 the right will of God. And little did I know that that 261 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,520 was a total lie. But I remember being in the 262 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,120 hospital and just this thought of saying, God, why are we here? 263 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,880 Well, we gave up our lives. We left the states. 264 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:45,960 We we left everything like, why am I here in this situation? 265 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,920 And for, for my wife, her hearing like this, this strong 266 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,960 voice of should we go? And it was the enemy saying, you 267 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:55,680 should leave, you should, you should just quit. 268 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:02,680 And we, we faced many obstacles. And I remember it was time, time 269 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:04,840 we we completed our language training. 270 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,480 Kerry became pregnant again. We were really excited when we 271 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,600 finally arrived to Ecuador. But we were living in a, a 272 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,360 jungle community. That's where we arrived. 273 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,360 And there was no housing available for us originally. 274 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,520 So we lived in where we're renting a room that just had a 275 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,200 bathroom. And it was just one room and 276 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,000 three beds. And we were there for a month 277 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,000 and a half. And it was above this little 278 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,080 place. It was like a hostel. 279 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,840 And it was called the Hotel Romanza, which means romantic. 280 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,640 And I think that's a joke because if there was, there was 281 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,840 nothing romantic about it, you know, no air conditioning, wife 282 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,400 being seven months pregnant, there's no romance happening in 283 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,080 the Hotel Romanza. It's, it was, it was hard, but 284 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,560 we gave this thing and I was like, God, why am I here? 285 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:50,360 Like, why are we in this situation? 286 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,120 And, and just are we supposed to stay now? 287 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,480 So then after a month and a half, we moved into a home. 288 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,520 And it's actually our second night in our home that we had a 289 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,760 gas explosion. I was burned really badly. 290 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,640 The the hardware store sold me a broken regulator for our oven. 291 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,960 And so I was left with second and third degree burns covering 292 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,920 my legs. And we were, we were six hours 293 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,240 from a real hospital, from a city that had a real hospital. 294 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,040 So I was taken to a jungle clinic. 295 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,119 And as I was in this, this jungle clinic, I woke up with 296 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,920 cockroaches on me in my hospital bed. 297 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:32,120 And I remember just this feeling of saying, God, why am I here? 298 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,320 And I'll say that the voice of the Lord was very, very quiet, 299 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,840 but the voice of the enemy was really, really loud saying you 300 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,920 should just go. You're not cut out for this. 301 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,680 And it took me quite some time to recover. 302 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,560 I couldn't walk for, for a month without pain. 303 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,320 But, and shortly after that, after my recovery, we had a, a 304 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,040 group of men come into our home and they robbed us. 305 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,200 They took our money, they took our belongings. 306 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,000 And the, the morning, the next morning, as, as Carrie and I, we 307 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,720 sat on the bed together. I, I cried as a grown man. 308 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:07,800 I, I did the, the ugly cry thing. 309 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,480 And I remember us saying, Lord, we know that you call us to this 310 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,920 country. We know that you call us here, 311 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:18,680 but why are we here in this moment? 312 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,560 And Carrie just again feeling like, are we supposed to go? 313 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,720 Are we supposed to stay? And so it was all these things 314 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,160 that lead to a culmination. Our son was getting ready to be 315 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,800 born and we decided we needed to move six hours away to a city 316 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:36,320 where they actually had a hospital. 317 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,960 And it was when we were were in this small city that we began 318 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,640 encountering people from from other countries, including 319 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,600 Middle Eastern countries. They were Muslims that were 320 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,200 there. And we saw this little mosque 321 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,640 and, and my wife said a prayer just as we were passing by 322 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,720 saying, Lord, if you give us the opportunity to share with a 323 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:59,320 Muslim, we'll do it. And so fast forwarding, we've 324 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:04,200 seen over the past five years that our our city has grown in 325 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:09,400 Muslim population, population from people of Palestine, of 326 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,640 Iran, Yemen, many places like this. 327 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,440 And they had one small mosque and now there's three. 328 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,480 And across the country there there's even more Islamic 329 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,360 training centers. But as we were there, we saw 330 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:27,160 that the church who we were working with, many people were 331 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,760 very afraid. They were hesitant to even go 332 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,080 and talk to these people from other countries. 333 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,240 But there was one group that was very zealous. 334 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,800 And this group was used to having doors slammed in their 335 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:40,640 face as they would try and evangelize. 336 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,160 And this was not a Christian group. 337 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,720 It was a faux Christian group that doesn't believe in the 338 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,680 deity of Jesus. But they would stop these Muslim 339 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:53,400 men and women on the path and because they were willing to 340 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,720 talk to him, these men and women that were from other countries 341 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,640 seemed very excited that they would have anyone that they 342 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,000 could engage with, that they could be acknowledged. 343 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,880 And this broke my wife's heart. This broke my heart. 344 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,160 We on our first little prayer card, it said building churches 345 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:12,600 for the unreached and overlooked. 346 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,200 And we didn't know what the unreached and overlooked would 347 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,160 be at that time. But as we found these these 348 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,840 scattered groups from the Middle East, from Yemen, Iran, 349 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,040 Palestine, Syria. That they were waiting in South 350 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,240 America for someone to share the gospel for the first time. 351 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,320 We decided this is this is what we want to do. 352 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,440 So as we were there for the delivery of our son, we're 353 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,480 actually in the hospital and a Muslim couple walks in. 354 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,120 It's a man and a woman. And I see that they are are 355 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:45,800 struggling because they don't know the language. 356 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,840 But because of my time in the hospital, I learned some very 357 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,920 technical things that I was able to translate for them. 358 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,840 And I ended up inviting them over to our home. 359 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,880 And this this man, his name was Muhammad. 360 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,040 And Muhammad as he is at my house, he said, so why are you 361 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,480 here in this country of Ecuador? Are you here for work or 362 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,040 something like that? And I'm thinking, oh, this is a 363 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,840 very lonely question. And I said, well, actually, I'm 364 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,800 a Christian pastor. I'm here as a missionary, and 365 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,640 I'm planning churches because Jesus changed my life. 366 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,320 And I want people to know who Jesus really is. 367 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,280 And then there was this moment of silence, you know, like where 368 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,720 you hear crickets, where I'm like, oh, what is he thinking? 369 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,280 And he said, you're the first Christian I've ever met. 370 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,600 And so I thought about all these moments where I I said, God, why 371 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,520 am I here? I don't understand. 372 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,240 Should we go? Should we stay? 373 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,920 And it was in that moment that the Lord was not quiet. 374 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,320 He was very loud saying, This is why you're here. 375 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:55,360 And answering these questions of This is why you're here, just to 376 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,000 be here. I, I thought about this whole 377 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,080 situation of these difficulties that happened to our family. 378 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:06,200 The hardship that we endured had put us in that hospital for that 379 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,440 specific moment for us to meet this couple. 380 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,080 As he shared about all the things that he had gone through 381 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,560 that, you know, being a refugee and now coming to Ecuador, that 382 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:20,000 God had aligned it for that moment that just being there or 383 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,120 try something like a good neighbor. 384 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:33,400 That's crazy. What what is implied by this? 385 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,920 A neighbor to be a good neighbor, what do you have to be 386 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,400 there, right? So my first question that you'd 387 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,320 ask yourself is Holy Spirit, where are you working and how 388 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,520 can I help? And then the second question is 389 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,880 this, am I there for my neighbor? 390 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,640 Am I there for my neighbor? Sometimes that that looks 391 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,760 difficult. I think about this story the, 392 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,880 the good neighbor in this, he was the one that was willing to 393 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,440 sacrifice. It said that he put the person 394 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,720 on his own donkey. He was the one that surrendered. 395 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,560 I I was cracking up because I was thinking about through 396 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,520 surrender, like what we were talking about that I don't know 397 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,920 how many of you are like old school that you know, hymns and 398 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,720 all that kind of stuff, but you know that song I surrender all. 399 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:30,720 What if it was some to Jesus? I surrender some to him. 400 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:36,520 I'll freely give. I will mostly ever love him and 401 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,240 his presence. Sometimes daily live. 402 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,800 I'll surrender some, I'll surrender some. 403 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:47,760 I'm just, I'm just playing it off of that. 404 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,840 But do you understand, like the commitment that this man made 405 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,440 this, this Samaritan is that he was willing to give up his time. 406 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,120 He was willing to give up his money to take care of a 407 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:04,160 stranger. And so are we there for our 408 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:08,160 neighbors. It can take away your stability. 409 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,160 It can take away your resources on the, the thought of 410 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,080 stability. I think about how Ecuador has 411 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,800 changed a lot in the past few years of volatility through some 412 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,000 of the turbulence of things that have happened with the cartel. 413 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,760 And we've had many of our Ecuadorian friends come to us 414 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:29,440 and say, are you going to leave? Why would you stay if you can go 415 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,920 back to the States? And I, I just remember one time 416 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,040 saying, you know, the question that we asked ourselves is will, 417 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,040 are we willing to go? God told us that we were 418 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,360 supposed to go. But then the question that came 419 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,640 to is, will you remain? Will you stay? 420 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,560 And so maybe that's a question that you have to ask yourself. 421 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,000 If some of you, if you've faced some hard things, you know, 422 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,120 you're in the thick of it. There are relationships around 423 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,040 you that are difficult. Are you there? 424 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,240 Are you there for your neighbor? There was a pastor, he once 425 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,680 wrote about this, this parable of the Good Samaritan. 426 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,720 It wasn't that the priest and the Levite didn't feel bad for 427 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,120 this man. It wasn't that they didn't feel 428 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:13,200 pity for him. But the question they asked was 429 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,520 what will happen to me? What will happen to me if I help 430 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,080 this man? You know, maybe this priest, he 431 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,760 had, he was wearing his ceremonial robes or whatever 432 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,040 that he, he couldn't get dirty. He thought, he thought, what 433 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:32,920 will happen to me. But the Samaritan, he didn't 434 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,760 merely just pity the man. He acted. 435 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,400 He said, what will happen to this man if I leave him? 436 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,640 Acts of mercy are what we have to have. 437 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,160 This might mean going, it might mean again staying. 438 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:55,160 And so I'll be honest, it, it's been my experience that some of 439 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,360 the, the things that we've encountered, whether it be the, 440 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,360 the smells or the filth of things that we've encountered. 441 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:04,400 I, I just started volunteering at in a prison facility there in 442 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:10,400 Ecuador and it's ministry there can be very unappealing. 443 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,160 It's to say it's filthy is an understatement. 444 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,600 But being there for these young men, they're an incarceration 445 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,760 who've been spiritually dead, who've been abandoned. 446 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,440 They're worth it. Their souls are worth it. 447 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,640 I again, I still do frequent trips to the jungle and the 448 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,040 jungle you've probably seen shows it's not really 449 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,040 comfortable. You know, people struggle to 450 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,280 survive in the jungle with the bugs and all these things. 451 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,040 There's there's something that when we arrive, they, they'll 452 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,400 give us to drink and it is yuca root that they have boiled and 453 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,640 chewed up and then they spit into like a a bucket and they 454 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,400 allow it to to cure. And this is how they purify 455 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,360 their water. But it's, it's a lot of spit in 456 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,320 it. And when you after walking eight 457 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,120 hours hiking to this jungle village, this is the welcome 458 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:02,520 that they give you to the village. 459 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:10,920 Thank you. And the ramifications of like 460 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,720 what that does to my digestive system that goes on for weeks 461 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:18,160 probably. And so I say that there's a 462 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,560 certain level of discomfort. But when I got to take a group 463 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,920 of Ecuadorian pastors on their first missions trip from the 464 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,160 mountains where they live into the jungle where they got to 465 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,080 share to their fellow countrymen and women about how to be a good 466 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,920 father, how to care for others, what it looks like to have a 467 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:45,240 safe and secure family. That made all the comfort, all 468 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:50,720 the stomach issues worth it. And so will you surrender in 469 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,800 that there's a woman, her name was, her name is Rosaria 470 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:56,600 Butterfield. And she's a Christian writer. 471 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,120 And she was radically saved out of a life of sin. 472 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,320 She was a part of that LGBT community. 473 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,080 And she was saved because the faithful hospitality of her 474 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:11,280 Christian neighbors. And it was that the the wife 475 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:15,400 always had a pot of soup on the stove, like always had a pot of 476 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,560 soup on the stove so that whenever someone came over, they 477 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,720 had a meal, there was conversation. 478 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,160 And she shares about just them being kind, just them showing 479 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,880 the love of Christ, how that changed her life. 480 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:32,680 In her book she says this God has placed us in our 481 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,200 neighborhoods for a reason. God never gets the address 482 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,840 wrong. He has given you a specific or 483 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,640 given you specific neighbors that you are the bridge to the 484 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,720 Lord for those neighbors. I love that. 485 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,240 Yeah, five years ago when I I shared and and he was there, I 486 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,560 asked this question. The sermon was what is in your 487 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,920 hand? And it was this idea that that 488 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,320 Moses, he had led the people out of Egypt with just the staff, 489 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,360 but that staff had this history of him being a shepherd with it 490 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,920 and all, all these things like the the drama that had come from 491 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,560 his life. And I think with all of us, we 492 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:13,320 have things that are hand that God has given us. 493 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,720 We all have experiences that God can use. 494 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,640 And for me, I think about some of the jobs, the, the, the 495 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,280 things that I grew up here in the area. 496 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,280 My, my dad, he has an apple orchard in Gloucester. 497 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,880 And he, he decided that, that we would plant this orchard and he 498 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,840 could have bought an auger or rented equipment, but he didn't. 499 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,480 He instead he gave me a shovel and said, you know, plant these 500 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,440 trees. So we planted over 1000 apple 501 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,520 trees. And by the time it was all said 502 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:44,920 and done, I was really good at digging. 503 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,200 And but during that time, you know, I was 1516 years old. 504 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,640 I was hating life. But fast forwarding, I was on a 505 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,920 short term trip. And this is like a trip where I 506 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,960 felt like God was calling me to Ecuador. 507 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,520 I was in the jungle and there there was this village where 508 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,320 many kids were dying from parasites from the water. 509 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,640 And so we had to dig a well and we didn't have equipment, but we 510 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,360 had a shovel. And so we dug a well by hand and 511 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,800 it took five days. And as I was digging that well, 512 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:23,240 I was thinking about man, God was preparing me back then for 513 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:28,520 this moment, right now, in a moment where I was unhappy, in a 514 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,520 moment where I was frustrated, God was preparing me for 515 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,280 something for his purpose. Another job that I had that was 516 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,440 that was not good was I was working with electricians. 517 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,000 And I even I did some work on Gwynn's Island with these guys 518 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,480 specifically. I remember this, but I would be 519 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,120 the guy that would be underneath the the house in the crawl space 520 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:47,960 pulling wires. And so they would drill holes in 521 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:49,600 the floor and feed the wire through it. 522 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,520 But they would also drill additional holes in the floor so 523 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:57,320 they could pour things on me, things like tobacco juice or 524 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,120 worse. And I remember being underneath 525 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,760 the house like with tobacco juice on me and being very, very 526 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,800 mad and saying, God, why am I here in this situation? 527 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,360 I'm trying to serve you. I feel very angry. 528 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,600 But when I was interning and I was actually working in a home 529 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,720 for young women that had gone through sexual exploitation, I 530 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:20,840 was installing a circuit for a washing machine. 531 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,640 I was thinking about where I learned to be an electrician. 532 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:29,400 It was during a time of difficulty, during a time of of 533 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,120 pressure, where I was unhappy that God was preparing me for 534 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:37,640 something for that moment. And so I believe that these 535 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,480 situations that that many of us have faced in our life, God will 536 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:46,200 use for his purpose. There's a more that we need to 537 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:52,160 offer for our neighbors. And sometimes that's difficult, 538 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,960 but I believe that God is calling more out of each of us. 539 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,040 So with this thought, perhaps, perhaps you've been healed. 540 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,600 Perhaps you've had an encounter with Christ and you think back 541 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,560 about your past and who you were back then. 542 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,720 And it's, it's amazing, it's great, but then you forget about 543 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,080 the, there are still people that are living that same life like 544 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,320 you used to live, but you're not near him anymore. 545 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,920 People that still haven't had that encounter the same way that 546 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:30,040 you have. So what is God calling you to 547 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,200 do? Maybe you find yourself in a in 548 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,880 a similar place where you see the, the problems in our 549 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,960 country, in this world, and it seems very overwhelming. 550 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,040 You know, the, the thought is, again, we've, we've had a huge 551 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,440 level of escalation of crime and drug trafficking in our country. 552 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,520 And like, how do I share with someone that might have 553 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,720 connection to the cartel when I know that pastors that I'm 554 00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:01,400 overseeing have been kidnapped? And so there's uncertainty, but 555 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,640 there are three, there are three groups that we've identified. 556 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:05,560 Now. I want to share about this 557 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,840 really quick. The, the Muslims that we're, 558 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,080 we're working with, the majority of them have never had a 559 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,800 Christian friend. And when we we talk to them and 560 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,600 they talk about having like a physical pain in their body, 561 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:23,440 they're stunned when we ask, can we pray for you that in Jesus 562 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,520 name that you'll be healed and God does things. 563 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:33,920 But they're stunned that we ask. And when they say yes, that's 564 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,000 something even even more amazing in my opinion. 565 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,400 We have again, many people that have come from Muslim background 566 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:42,800 where they've never met a Christian. 567 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,760 And my wife said the sweet thing to me that as she was praying 568 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:51,560 for her friend whose name Miriam, that she realized that 569 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,560 it was probably the first time that Miriam's name had been had 570 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,560 been spoken in the throne room of someone praying for this 571 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:04,760 specific Miriam. And I think about that as who do 572 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,840 you know that doesn't know Christ? 573 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,560 Will you be the first person to say to bring that name, to bring 574 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,080 that person to the throne room of God, ask God to do something 575 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:19,239 in their life? We, we're working with them, but 576 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,960 we're working with men and women in the incarceration and they, 577 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,320 they don't have the physical freedom to leave, but 578 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,480 additionally, they don't even have the spiritual freedom, many 579 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,320 of them. And so I've been very thrilled 580 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,960 and excited as I've had an opportunity to share with them. 581 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,360 And then it was, it was in the video. 582 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,360 I'm just hitting on, on these things is that we, we felt it 583 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,560 very important to, to work with people that have physical 584 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,880 disabilities. There are many people in our, 585 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,080 our city and just in the culture, if you have a child 586 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,040 that has a disability, it's very shaming on your family. 587 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,360 People think bloodline is very, very important. 588 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,360 So if a child has a disability, they're often hidden away. 589 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:00,640 The, the family won't talk about them. 590 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,640 They might send them away, but for this reason, many of them 591 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:08,480 don't come to church and the families don't have the support 592 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,360 system. But what we have tried to do is 593 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:17,520 we tried to communicate that God, he values that person that 594 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,760 he created, that he loves them, we love them. 595 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,680 And so we're, we're doing lots of things to, to create an 596 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,640 environment where the families can come and experience God, 597 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,440 that they can bring their child or their young adult and that 598 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,280 they can experience the true love of Christ. 599 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,840 So I, I mentioned, you know, the, the uncertainty and these 600 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,560 are things that we feel here in the United States. 601 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:38,880 There are things that we feel there. 602 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,640 We, we don't have snow days. Sometimes we have cartel days 603 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,520 where they, they call off school because they say, all right, 604 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:47,800 this is going on. It's virtual today. 605 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,240 And we've, we've had people ask us, how do you raise your kids 606 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:56,280 in that environment? And people ask themselves here, 607 00:35:56,720 --> 00:35:59,600 how do I raise my kids in this environment? 608 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:02,400 You think about the complications of schools here 609 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,720 and here in the United States, things that it's just different. 610 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,760 And the thing that we've come to, to realize, the thing that 611 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:14,000 we've come to share is that our kids need to know that Jesus is 612 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,840 enough. They need to know that Jesus is 613 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:25,080 enough That our kids, they need to see us boldly sharing Jesus 614 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,520 with others, others with different viewpoints. 615 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,360 My friends that are struggling, that are wavering, they need to 616 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,520 see me confidently and boldly sharing the love of Jesus with 617 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,640 others in a kind way, in a loving way. 618 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,400 And so, you know, I, I've referenced those things of that 619 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,200 insecurity that we feel. And I, I'll, I'll wrap up with 620 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,840 this, this story. I'm sad that Carrie's not here 621 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,720 because she's the better speaker, she's the better half, 622 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:56,560 she's the good one. But this is this is something 623 00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:00,440 that's been very key for us is that as we have encountered, 624 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,760 we're not the first missionaries to go in the field, but as we've 625 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,680 encountered hardship, we've said it, other people have, how do we 626 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,320 get through this? And so my wife has really dug 627 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:15,600 into missionary memoirs. And so she she wrote down or 628 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,320 copied the story that I'm going to read to you. 629 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:21,160 But this is about this is in 1950, there was a a missionary 630 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,040 from the she went to the Belgian Congos, what it was at that time 631 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:27,080 and her help name was Helen Rosa Veer. 632 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,240 And she was a doctor and worked there in the Belgian Congo. 633 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,160 And there was one night that there was a mother that was 634 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,320 giving birth to a baby. And despite all their efforts, 635 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:41,120 the mother passed away. This newborn child survived 636 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,680 along with her two year old sister. 637 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:48,040 And so Helen, she says in an interview, the difficulty was 638 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:51,360 keeping and keeping this baby alive said they didn't have an 639 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,800 incubator. It was a premature baby and they 640 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,440 didn't have electricity for an incubator. 641 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:01,280 And so it would be a struggle just to to keep this baby alive. 642 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:05,360 And so she told the nurse, go start, you know, start a fire. 643 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:07,920 Like, we're going to try and keep this baby warm, Fill a hot 644 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,080 water bottle. And then the nurse came back 645 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,200 frantically saying the hot water bottle ruptured. 646 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:20,480 It was the only one we had. And so during that time, we know 647 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,320 that there were there were no drug stores on jungle pathways 648 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,840 in the Congo. While rubber comes from trees, 649 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:27,640 they're not water bottles growing on trees. 650 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,840 And so Helen instructed the nurse to just do everything she 651 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:35,640 could to keep this baby warm. But the following day, next to 652 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,440 the hospital, they had a home for orphans. 653 00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:40,920 And Helen would go and do devotionals and prayer with 654 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,600 these orphans each day. And she gave suggestions to 655 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,720 these these kids of things that they could pray about and talked 656 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:51,440 about this tiny baby, talked about this this 2 year old 657 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,120 sister that had been left behind because the mother had passed 658 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,320 away. And Helen said that there was 659 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:58,200 110 year old girl, her name was Ruth. 660 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:02,280 And she began to pray with the usual bluntness that orphans 661 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:06,680 had. She said, please God, send us a 662 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,680 hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow as the 663 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,400 baby will be dead. So send it this afternoon. 664 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:20,000 And Helen recalls while while she gasped inwardly at the 665 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,360 audacity of this prayer, that this little girl, she added on 666 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:25,560 to her prayer and said, and while you're about it, would you 667 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:29,000 send a little doll for the little girl so she knows that 668 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,320 you love her? And so Helen had this, this 669 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:37,280 thing where this internal conflict of saying, God, I 670 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,280 believe you can do anything, but can you really do anything? 671 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,280 Can you really show up? Are there limits? 672 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,880 And there was only God could answer this particular prayer 673 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,640 and and how would he do it? It would have to be through a 674 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,600 package. She was from England. 675 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,560 Their whole time there in the Congo, she had never received 676 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:01,640 any parcel, any package. But halfway through the 677 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:05,680 afternoon, a message came to Helen that there was a box on 678 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:08,920 her front porch. And then she walked over to it. 679 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:11,080 She said that the tears were prickling her eyes, and there 680 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,880 was already 30 pairs of eyes watching this box of the 681 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,600 children that were around. And so she opened up this box, 682 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,560 and in it, she found some knit shirts. 683 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,800 She found some bandages, some boxes of raisins. 684 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,000 But then as she put her hand in again, she said, I felt what I 685 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,400 couldn't believe. She pulled it out, and it was a 686 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:34,000 brand new hot water bottle. This little girl, Ruth, who's 687 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,280 right front and center, said, well, if God sent the hot water 688 00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,400 bottle, he must have sent the doll, too. 689 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,920 And she starts rifling through the box and pulls out a small, 690 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,120 beautifully dressed doll, just one. 691 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,080 And Ruth said, let's go give it to the girl so that she knows 692 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:56,360 that Jesus really loves her. And so The thing is, is that 693 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:02,440 package had been on its way for five months for five months 694 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:08,960 packed by a former Sunday school classroom that the leader obeyed 695 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:15,240 the Holy Spirit when God said put in a hot water bottle to the 696 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:24,080 Congo where it's hot. OK to put in just one doll in 697 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:28,680 answer to a believing prayer of a 10 year old girl that singing 698 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:33,400 same afternoon. Isaiah 6524 says this. 699 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:39,160 Before they call, I will answer. Before they call, I will answer. 700 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:41,720 And guys, you might not know this. 701 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,160 You didn't know this until today because you just met me. 702 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:51,040 But this church sent a box. It sent a box and it didn't have 703 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:53,520 hot water bottles, it didn't have dolls, but it had our 704 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:58,280 family in it. And we got to be the ones to 705 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,200 share the love of Christ with people in situations that were 706 00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:04,560 desperate. I think about again over the 707 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:08,400 past few months how there was opportunity after opportunity 708 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,600 where we saw that God had aligned us for this, this 709 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:15,760 perfect moment. It was this church and many 710 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:19,720 others that that you sent us to again share. 711 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:25,080 And So what did that look like? You know, for some of it was it 712 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:29,120 was the healing mercy of my, my wife has a very dear friend. 713 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,200 Her name is Steffi. And Steffi, eight months after 714 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,920 her, her daughter was born, she was in a very bad car accident 715 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:41,000 where she was left paralyzed, paralyzed, unable to walk, 716 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:44,200 unable to speak, having to have a trach put in. 717 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,000 And her husband left her because she could no longer take care of 718 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:55,360 him. And so it was in the dark room 719 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:59,560 of of this woman's house that my wife got to pray with her when 720 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:01,360 she was saying, does God even care about me? 721 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:06,400 Does God even love me? Like when she was thinking about 722 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,800 would there be a way that she could lose her life, that she 723 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:15,640 could take her own life, that God sent a box of mercy to meet 724 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:19,280 her in that very moment. And it looked like just 725 00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:29,000 conversation and love. And so again, God uses us, us 726 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:35,600 uses you. We are sent as boxes of people 727 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,440 that need it. We are the answer to prayer. 728 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,520 I again, for me, I'll just, I'll close with this. 729 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:46,000 You can if you want to play some music or something like that. 730 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:53,520 I'll, I'll wrap up with this. But another situation is this 731 00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,040 this church, you guys, you support us. 732 00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:00,440 And it was because of that that that I got to go and start 733 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,080 working in this Correctional Facility. 734 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:06,640 And the last week that we were there, we did a discipleship 735 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:08,840 training is what we we, it was a leadership training. 736 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:13,160 And I had 18 young men that they have come from all walks of life 737 00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:15,640 from some of the most violent crimes as some of them, even 738 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:19,200 some of them has just been sold out by other gang leaders as an 739 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:24,120 escape goat. But as I got to share the gospel 740 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,800 this last day that I was there, 15 of these young men, they 741 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:31,400 said, I want Christ to change my life. 742 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:37,840 I want to serve God. And they wanted their identity 743 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,840 to to come from no longer this this thing that they had done in 744 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:44,080 the past, this thing they were part of, but now identifying as 745 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:50,160 a son of God. And so my question for you guys, 746 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,000 so you sent us, you sent this one box. 747 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,080 Where are you going to send the next one? 748 00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:58,960 Where are you going to send the next one? 749 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:04,680 Where do you do you pray and say, God, what am I to do? 750 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,520 Where am I to go? Where am I supposed to send to 751 00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:09,840 what? What am I supposed to do? 752 00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:17,160 What is my response? Maybe you feel that you're 753 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:18,440 supposed to be the one in the box. 754 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:26,080 Maybe God is sending you. It doesn't have to be across the 755 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,120 world. It can be across culture. 756 00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:38,120 It can be right here. Again, this idea of surrender. 757 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:41,160 Will you be willing to put yourself in the box? 758 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,080 Will you be willing to step out, ask these questions of Holy 759 00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:47,320 Spirit? Where are you working and how 760 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,840 can I help? And am I truly there for my 761 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,120 neighbor? I'm going to give you some real, 762 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,560 so real practical steps. You know, these are big ideas of 763 00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:57,560 like, oh, I want to do something. 764 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:02,560 But what does that mean? Will you invite someone over to 765 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:05,720 your home for dinner and cook a nice meal? 766 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,040 And maybe there's someone of a different culture. 767 00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:16,720 Maybe they're from a different, maybe they have a different 768 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:19,960 political background. Maybe they even have a different 769 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:25,400 sexual identity. Will you show them the love of 770 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,200 God? Will you show them kindness? 771 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:36,240 Will you be a good neighbor? Will you partner with God in 772 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:43,560 this again, Isaiah 64 verse 65 verse 24 says before they call, 773 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:48,040 I will answer. I believe the people in this 774 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:52,120 church are the answer to people's prayers that haven't 775 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:55,160 even called out yet. They're the things that you've 776 00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:59,120 encountered in your life, the experiences that you've that 777 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:02,840 have shaped you that God will use for his purpose. 778 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:09,320 And so I, I'm out of time. I want to end with prayer, but 779 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:10,440 this is what I want everybody to do. 780 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:15,680 I want everyone to to just stand and I'm going to, I'm going to 781 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:19,720 pray for you, but I am, I want you to bow your head and close 782 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:21,920 your eyes and I just want you to think for a moment. 783 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:29,120 I believe that when the Holy Spirit speaks to us, that 784 00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:32,760 requires a response. And I can't tell you what that 785 00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:35,280 response is to be because I don't know he's speaking to you. 786 00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:44,600 But I believe that there are some people in here that maybe 787 00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:52,080 you're saying, God, I, I haven't loved you like I should. 788 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,960 I haven't connected with you. And for you it might be this is 789 00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,240 the moment of you saying, I surrender for the first time. 790 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:05,160 Thank God, I surrender to your will As I, I hear you speaking 791 00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:10,320 to me as I have my eyes closed, as I am just thinking about you, 792 00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:14,720 maybe some of you saying, you know, again, I want to surrender 793 00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:18,440 my life to you. Maybe as I've shared, the Holy 794 00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,720 Spirit has spoken to some of you who say, I want to make a deeper 795 00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:25,960 commitment, not just to God, but to be more outwardly focused, to 796 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:29,280 not think about myself, but to I want to step out. 797 00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:38,080 And maybe it's the third group. If you feel that you're supposed 798 00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:43,160 to go, I'm to surrender my life in, in a way that that looks 799 00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:48,280 very, very different. And so in your heart as, as I 800 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:50,520 get ready to pray, I just want you to think about that thing. 801 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:55,360 And if you want to make that commitment in your heart to 802 00:48:55,360 --> 00:49:01,920 yourself, you can say that's me. God, I surrender. 803 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:05,720 I surrender my life to you. Maybe that's what it is. 804 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:09,840 Maybe that deeper commitment and hourly focus, or maybe I, I 805 00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:11,800 surrender to be fully committed to this call. 806 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:17,520 So I, I'm going to pray for you, Lord, I love you. 807 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:24,720 I thank you for this church. I thank you that you're doing a 808 00:49:24,720 --> 00:49:27,440 mighty work in hearts and lives that are here. 809 00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:31,400 I believe your Holy Spirit has spoken to many and God, I just 810 00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:37,640 ask that you anoint, you deepen the mantle of anointing that 811 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,800 that is on these people that feel a call to to share your 812 00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:44,200 love. For those that feel this desire 813 00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:48,600 or the calling of you pulling them in close, God let them 814 00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:51,360 sense and understand the depth of love that you have for them. 815 00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:56,640 God, let them encounter you for who you really are, a loving, 816 00:49:56,640 --> 00:50:00,840 kind, compassionate God that when they are beat up, you are 817 00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,160 the one that cares for them. God, I thank you. 818 00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:10,320 And so God, I just ask that you use this church, you use these 819 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:16,280 individuals to impart love and truth, not just here in this 820 00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:20,640 county, not just here in the state of Virginia, but far 821 00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:25,880 beyond God, that this church, that these individuals will 822 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:29,280 impact a nation and beyond. God, I thank you. 823 00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:32,880 I ask that you bless them in your precious name, O Lord, 824 00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:33,960 Amen.