WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.360 I always say this, if every person did what God called them to do in this world, this world 2 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.320 will look very different. We wouldn't see the starvation that we see, which is still pretty 3 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:15.040 regular in Ethiopia. And I don't think that there's any reason to ever say to someone, 4 00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:19.600 no, you don't need, if they say I'm hungry, no, I can't feed you. I don't think Jesus would have 5 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.200 ever done that when he was walking with us on earth, which he's with us now through us. 6 00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:26.160 Amen. 7 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:31.920 Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's word 8 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:37.280 and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight 9 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:44.000 Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. 10 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:50.480 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working 11 00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:56.000 in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply 12 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:02.480 loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 13 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:10.560 And so today we have Marcy Erickson from the Grace Center. Because of our heart for souls, 14 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:17.200 we have various missionary endeavors and missionaries and missionary groups that we support and 15 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:24.080 sponsor have been doing that from 2009. We're in Guatemala. For the last 15 years now, 16 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:29.920 helped build over 40 churches in the mind-mounts of Nibbaga, Guatemala. Then we were in Montenegro, 17 00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:37.280 and Montenegro branched out over into Serbia. But since 2009, we have sponsored the Grace Center 18 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:42.880 in Bahia, Dari Ethiopia, and the founder of the Grace Center is here with us today. Won't you 19 00:01:42.880 --> 00:01:53.600 give her a big clap and honor her, Marcy Erickson of the Grace Center. Hallelujah. 20 00:01:55.520 --> 00:02:00.960 We're so glad to have her with us. And so because some of you have been with us for many, 21 00:02:00.960 --> 00:02:06.320 many years, others are fairly new. Those of you who are new, you may have seen us show a clip here 22 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:12.080 and there of the Grace Center. But really, it's very hard to describe all that happens there 23 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:18.880 in just a 30-second video clip. So, Marcy, would you just share with us what really is the Grace Center, 24 00:02:18.880 --> 00:02:22.720 because I keep referring to it as an orphanage, but it's really so much more. It's kind of, I feel like 25 00:02:22.720 --> 00:02:29.680 you've grown like this octopus of ministry with various arms and tentacles and legs. What is the 26 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:34.560 Grace Center? Of course. First of all, it's so wonderful to be with you. It's such an honor and 27 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.680 a blessing and a privilege. And, you know, City Light has partnered with us for so many years, 28 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:44.240 and I was just thinking back to the first time that I came to City Light to speak. And I was 29 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:49.280 about eight months pregnant with my daughter, and that's on it, who's out that door right now. She's 30 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:55.120 15 now. So, it's 15 years ago, and it has been such a blessing. Over those 15 years, you all have 31 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.440 given over $100,000 that has gone to serving the poor in Ethiopia and helping the orphans. 32 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:10.800 So, Grace Center is, yes, definitely more than an orphanage. What we seek to do at Grace Center is 33 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:16.960 we receive each individual as an individual, and we say, what is God calling this person to do 34 00:03:17.760 --> 00:03:22.880 in their life? And how can we help that person to live out God's call in his or her life? 35 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:29.040 And so, then the programs at Grace Center develop from that. So, we have many different things that 36 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:35.040 we do, but it all stems from that individual and what do they need to get off their feet, 37 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:40.160 to, or to get back on their feet, and to receive all of the assistance and the love, and to 38 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:46.480 know Jesus as their Savior. And so, we have a school. We help people with housing, clothing, 39 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:54.000 feeding. We have the orphanage, the children's home as well, which is also quite unique for our 40 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.400 area, because one of the first things we do when we receive these abandoned babies, and we do 41 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:05.040 often receive abandoned babies, is we try to find relatives or family members of the child. 42 00:04:05.040 --> 00:04:09.840 We have people that are like detectives that go to where the child was found, and ask lots of 43 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:15.280 questions, and try to figure it out, because, you know, we can see that baby's soul saved and 44 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:21.600 life saved by raising them, but we could also see all of the family brought together, and the 45 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:26.400 whole family saved, and knowing that there is opportunities, and there is hope, and that Jesus 46 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:31.360 loves them and cares about them. So, we do everything that it takes to get to that point. 47 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.640 Are you all catching that, because she listed a lot of things. So, it's not just an orphanage, 48 00:04:36.640 --> 00:04:44.800 help me hear Marcy. It's also a school. There's a medical arm of it. There's an orphan prevention 49 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:51.920 arm of it. Yes, actually, I wanted to say something about that. About a few years ago, 50 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:57.760 I was in the U.S. I was driving south on the interstate, and I saw this billboard sign that said, 51 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:03.280 don't abandon your baby, call this number, and immediately I thought, why have we never done 52 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:08.480 this in Ethiopia? So, I started thinking, we're going to put up billboard signs in Ethiopia saying, 53 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:14.240 don't abandon your baby, and God literally interrupted me in the middle of my thought, and said, 54 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:20.240 no, you're going to send out text messages. And so, we started a few years back by sending a text 55 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:25.200 message out to five million phones in our area, saying, don't abandon your baby, please call 56 00:05:25.200 --> 00:05:30.880 this number. Within a few days, we had over 500 phone calls. We've seen thousands of babies 57 00:05:30.880 --> 00:05:35.760 that have been saved through this, and moms, as well, because the moms realize there's hope. 58 00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:42.960 That is awesome. So, praise God. The best way to run an orphanage is to ensure there isn't 59 00:05:42.960 --> 00:05:47.760 too many future clients. Right. I know. We would be happy if that didn't happen. And then the, 60 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:54.880 you feed this, I have this distinct memory of waking up one morning, I visited Marcy in Christmas of 61 00:05:54.880 --> 00:06:07.680 2009. Excuse me. Yeah, it was 2009 or 10. That was 10. 2010. And just about to go into 11, 62 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:15.920 because it was then six months later that I met Emily, truly met Emily. But that's, you see, 63 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:20.560 I'm just make everything about me and her. Forgive me. Let me bring it back to, let me bring 64 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.680 it back to the Grace Center. I remember waking up, and there was all these people, I was just 65 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.480 under the impression that it was an orphanage. There were all these people coming early in the 66 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:35.280 morning, and these giant pots, almost giant cauldrons, cooking food, and then you had told me that 67 00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:42.960 the Grace Center feeds 700 people every day. How many does it feed now? Thousands. Every day. 68 00:06:42.960 --> 00:06:50.320 Every day. Yes. Are you hearing that church? Yeah. You're a part of that. Amen. Yes, you all have 69 00:06:50.320 --> 00:06:56.800 made this happen. You and God. You know, and that's the thing is we, we can't do it if every, I always 70 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:02.080 say this, if every person did what God called them to do in this world, this world, world will look 71 00:07:02.080 --> 00:07:09.200 very different. Yeah. Absolutely. Amen. We wouldn't see the starvation that we see, which is still 72 00:07:09.280 --> 00:07:14.160 pretty regular in Ethiopia. And I don't think that there's any reason to ever say to someone, 73 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.800 no, you don't need, if they say I'm hungry, no, I can't feed you. I don't think Jesus would have 74 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:24.880 ever done that when he was walking with us on earth, which he's with us now through us. Amen. 75 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:34.000 Amen. Well, you have a unique story. You received the call of God in your teen years. You shared in 76 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.120 the first service, it was even earlier than what I thought, but by 18, you went out into the world 77 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.680 to fulfill the call of God on your life. And I believe we have many people, really, all Christians 78 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.400 should be, if you don't know your destiny in Christ, should be seeking him to fulfill your 79 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:53.680 purpose. I mean, you all know your purpose isn't to wake up, go to work, come home, watch Netflix, 80 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:59.440 fall asleep, then do it all over again. You have a higher purpose. God wants your life to make an 81 00:07:59.440 --> 00:08:06.560 eternal impact. You know, Steve Jobs, his motto, he said he wanted to put a dent in the universe. 82 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:12.080 If some unsafe person could want to leave this earth and say, I want to quote, put a dent in 83 00:08:12.080 --> 00:08:15.680 the universe. In other words, he said, I want my life to matter. I wanted to count for something. I 84 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:21.360 want to leave the world different than how I found it. How much more the born again child of God 85 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:26.960 with the Holy Spirit inside of them should want to make an impact that it has an eternal value. 86 00:08:27.760 --> 00:08:34.720 Amen. And so just share about that because you come from all places, Naples, Florida, 87 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:40.320 an affluent community in Florida, not the mean streets of anywhere, but just like the center 88 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:45.680 of suburbia of comfortable. I guess that's why I'm saying all that. I mean, you came from the center 89 00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:50.720 of comfort. What did the Lord do in your life to cause you to fly over the Atlantic and the continent 90 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:57.840 of Africa? So I tell as much as I can try to encourage people to pray, what is God calling you 91 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:04.320 to do in your life? And when I was about 15 years old, I was always raised in the church, but I 92 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:09.520 actually opened the Bible on my own for the first time. And I pointed to a verse and it said, 93 00:09:09.520 --> 00:09:13.920 a religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to care for the orphans and 94 00:09:13.920 --> 00:09:19.120 widows in their affliction. And I said, okay, God, that's what you owe me to do with my life. 95 00:09:19.680 --> 00:09:25.200 And when I was a senior in high school, everyone was deciding which colleges they were going to go to. 96 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.880 And I said, God, what do you want me to do? And I heard God say I want you to be a missionary. 97 00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:34.720 And to me in my mind that meant Africa, I actually started out in Guatemala. I was in Guatemala 98 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:40.960 for the first year. And then so at 1890, I went over to Ethiopia for the first year. And 99 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:47.680 you know, it was in the middle of a five year famine. It was a very, very difficult situation 100 00:09:47.680 --> 00:09:51.920 there every day. There were people that were coming that were starving to death. 101 00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:59.120 And it was a very hard situation. And we also had many babies that were abandoned outside the 102 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.840 doors. They didn't operate an orphanage. They had a school. And I was teaching at the school. 103 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:08.240 And at night, we go to lock up the doors of the school and there'd be a baby laying on the ground. 104 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:15.200 And so at that point in my life, after some discernment, I felt like God was calling me to foster 105 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:21.680 and adopt as many children as I could personally take on. And so that was where I ended up going to 106 00:10:21.680 --> 00:10:29.520 other countries. I was in Uganda, and Rwanda, and Congo, Tanzania. How old are you at this point? 107 00:10:29.520 --> 00:10:32.640 You're going through a certain time. I was about 24. Okay. 108 00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:36.880 During that time, that was over about a year and a half. So I guess I wasn't 24 for a year and a half. 109 00:10:36.880 --> 00:10:44.160 But, you know, somewhere around there. And you know, God made it very clear that He wanted me 110 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:50.480 in Ethiopia. And I began by opening my home and saying, okay, Lord, let me just ask, what's the 111 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:55.280 number one way that you felt God made it clear to you? He wanted you in Ethiopia? That's a good 112 00:10:55.280 --> 00:11:00.880 question. I pray very specific prayers. Yeah. I don't. And a whole sermon on the importance of 113 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:08.880 specificity. So when I was traveling different places, a few things would come to me like are the 114 00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:14.800 laws in line for me to be able to receive children? Are there children in need? You know, praise God 115 00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:19.760 if there's not children abandoned. That's wonderful. You know, but is that is that a need? And 116 00:11:21.280 --> 00:11:26.400 when specifically when I came back to Ethiopia, I had been gone for about five years from the first 117 00:11:26.400 --> 00:11:32.800 time I was there. And I came back and I didn't know exactly where the Lord wanted me. But someone 118 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:39.120 suggested I go and visit this town called Bajardar. So I went to Bajardar and I said two prayers. 119 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:47.520 Okay. One of them was, Lord, if you want me to live here, then I want to meet someone who is 120 00:11:48.560 --> 00:11:54.560 a nurse. I said, preferably Americans that I can relate to them very easily. And I want them to 121 00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:59.600 be able to specialize in treating malaria. Because that was the first thing that I had seen the most 122 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:05.440 deaths from in my first year in Ethiopia was malaria. I mean, the kids, the kids would go home and 123 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:11.280 they wouldn't come back the next day. It was just the most tragic thing. And so that was my first 124 00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:19.120 prayer. My second prayer was that I would meet someone who knows both cultures equally as well. 125 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:27.280 And so I said an Ethiopian born US citizen that's now back in Ethiopia. Okay. A little bit specific. 126 00:12:27.280 --> 00:12:32.880 But and I love how God just entertains me with this because the very first day I'm in Bajardar, 127 00:12:32.880 --> 00:12:38.000 I'm wandering around this very rural area and I come across this couple that they're obviously 128 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:45.520 foreigners and I said, oh, what do you do here? And the wife said, well, I'm a nurse. My husband's 129 00:12:45.520 --> 00:12:53.440 an agriculturalist and we specialize in growing a plant that's used to treat malaria. And where are 130 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:02.640 you from? We're from Florida. Okay, God. Okay. Okay. And then the next day I met Gush Asifa who 131 00:13:03.280 --> 00:13:11.120 had lived in Ethiopia, went to the US to study, spent 26 years working as a social worker in the US, 132 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:16.160 then moved back to Ethiopia just to be able to help his people and it would take kids off the street, 133 00:13:16.160 --> 00:13:21.520 teach them how to farm and send them to school. So that was the second day in this location. I said, 134 00:13:21.520 --> 00:13:27.840 okay, God. And he actually was the one that introduced me to my husband some years later. He's my 135 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:34.400 husband's uncle. Oh, wow. So that was how I knew. That is awesome. You could clap at that. 136 00:13:38.800 --> 00:13:46.400 I just want to point out that that's the kind of level of guidance and answers to prayer. I believe 137 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.320 and I've witnessed you can only receive when you've already made the decision to go. If she if she 138 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.960 was laying on her couch in April's Florida going, God, you know, I'll really believe it's you 139 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:02.160 if you XYZ, she would have heard nothing. But because she was already out there, she was in a place 140 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:07.040 of desperation. She was yearning for the will of God. He provided this very, very specific answer 141 00:14:07.040 --> 00:14:15.760 to prayer. That's very true. Good. Yeah, I was just going to say so. So then I ended up settling in 142 00:14:15.760 --> 00:14:22.240 Bardari, Ethiopia. And I received my first four children through adoption. Praise God. My first 143 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:27.440 child came to me when he was two years and nine months old. Three weeks later, my son James came to 144 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:33.360 me at three weeks old, sorry, 13 days old. Three weeks later, my other son came to me at three 145 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.880 months old. And then a year later, I adopt my daughter, Tigis, when she was five. And a year later, 146 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:47.200 I was married. And now we have 12 beautiful children. My oldest is 22. So all the way down to our 147 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:52.640 youngest is five months. How about that? And so that means like within the first year you had 148 00:14:52.640 --> 00:14:57.840 Insta family. Yes. Yes. She had the Brady bunch within one year. Yes. And my husband married 149 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:05.040 into Insta family. Yeah. Not only just four kids, but all of Grace Center, you know, hundreds of 150 00:15:05.040 --> 00:15:10.960 kids at Grace Center. So there are there are babies too. So awesome. I want to talk a little bit 151 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:17.360 about culture because every place and every country has its own unique culture. One distinct memory 152 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:22.800 I have was that fella outside the Grace Center who as he was talking to me, he was just like stroking 153 00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:28.640 my arm back and forth over and over again. And he's just looking at me. So I'm looking back at him 154 00:15:28.640 --> 00:15:34.560 and he just won't stop. Just stroking my arm. And I wanted to be a good missionary. So I let that 155 00:15:34.560 --> 00:15:43.760 go on for a few minutes. And he didn't set off any any alarms in me. You know, I can just tell. 156 00:15:43.760 --> 00:15:48.720 He was just innocently stroking my arm. And then you know, I'd come back to you and you had said, 157 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:55.440 hey, that's not abnormal here. Like, like, like, this is so hard maybe for people in NYC in 2020, 158 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:00.640 even get like it's not uncomfortable for a man to like grab me and put his arm around me and just 159 00:16:00.640 --> 00:16:09.280 lead me somewhere. And yeah, no, totally straight, totally legit, totally legal. And just to show affection, 160 00:16:09.280 --> 00:16:14.080 just just showing, showing, stroking, stroking my arm. See, there's some cynics here. They're like, 161 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:25.200 no way way brotherly brotherly love. That's it. Yeah. I have a great photo of two military guys just 162 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:32.000 walking holding hands. Nothing there. Just friends. Yeah. It's like that's how, you know, and that 163 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:37.840 they can't believe what we're dealing with here more. You know, the people there have a pretty 164 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:43.920 maybe maybe some dudes just held hands for a little bit. We'd have less of the other stuff in America, 165 00:16:43.920 --> 00:16:51.520 you know. I don't know. This is how Pastor Mo and I how we keep our relationship strong. We just 166 00:16:51.520 --> 00:16:54.800 sometimes we'll just hold hands and tell each other we love each other. 167 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:02.800 But here's the point. Culture can be completely different from place to place. 168 00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:08.880 How does the Ethiopian culture influence the way that you share Jesus? 169 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:14.640 So Ethiopia has a very unique culture out of all the countries I've been in in Africa. It's 170 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:24.000 just very different. And so I realized after having that moment of your your arm being 171 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:30.800 pet and he was standing in front of a group of people preaching, you know, it dawned on me that 172 00:17:30.800 --> 00:17:37.360 we have to deal with people one-on-one. That is the most effective way that we find an Ethiopia 173 00:17:37.360 --> 00:17:45.120 to share who Jesus is. And I can say 99% of the time they're very happy to accept Christ. They're 174 00:17:45.120 --> 00:17:53.360 very happy to pray. There's one time a woman came to me and said, no, I would prefer to be a Satanist. 175 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:02.080 And I said, okay, can I tell you the story of Jesus still? And she said sure. And by the end of it, 176 00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:09.600 she still was happy to pray. And that was someone who was a committed Satanist. So, you know, 177 00:18:09.600 --> 00:18:17.520 this is, we see people they're so eager to know Jesus. And it seems to be that one-on-one just 178 00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:25.760 really, really touches them. And culturally being aware of the different backgrounds and where 179 00:18:25.760 --> 00:18:34.000 they're coming from. And Ethiopia, they tend to be more reserved, not as far as touching the arm. 180 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:42.240 But more reserved in the way that they share emotion and very proud of their culture. It's a 181 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:47.920 beautiful country. You know, most people don't know much about Ethiopia except that there's people 182 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:53.520 that are hungry. You know, and so they like to show people their culture and it's beautiful. And so 183 00:18:53.520 --> 00:18:59.440 we do, we minister through that. And I spend probably, when I'm there, I spend the majority of my 184 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:07.120 time praying with people one-on-one and seeing many miraculous healing of the people there, physically, 185 00:19:07.120 --> 00:19:11.280 emotionally and spiritually. And it's really amazing in such an honor. 186 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:17.440 Yeah. Yeah. A lot of people, all they know of Ethiopia is like the 1980s. Is it Sally Struthers? 187 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:21.840 Was that her name? You know, for the price of a cup of coffee. And they show the one hut. 188 00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:26.720 But while I was there, I saw some of the most beautiful churches. I believe some of the oldest 189 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.040 churches, definitely the oldest churches in Africa and some of the oldest churches in the world 190 00:19:31.120 --> 00:19:37.680 are in Ethiopia. We just quickly gloss over that part in Acts where it was the Ethiopian 191 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:43.280 Unic who got radically saved and then went on proclaiming the gospel where you can see churches 192 00:19:43.280 --> 00:19:49.600 that are over a thousand years old in Ethiopia. Really beautiful. Yeah, even in our area, our city has 193 00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:58.320 them. Yeah. So can you talk about a time or two where God provided for you guys supernaturally 194 00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:04.800 or protected you supernaturally? There's so many. There's so many. I never know where to start. 195 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:12.400 So for many years, I didn't ever ask for funding. I would just pray and God would provide 196 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:18.000 what we needed. And so there was about two years where the government of Ethiopia decided they 197 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.920 were no longer going to import baby formula. And we had, we have usually between anywhere between 198 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:32.400 25 to 40 infants that are abandoned that need to be fed and nourished. And one day in particular, 199 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:38.160 every morning in our center, we always get together and we pray. We always start every morning with prayer. 200 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:42.480 And one day in particular, we were praying, okay, Lord, in about an hour or two, we're going to run 201 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:50.240 out a baby formula. And we know you want these children to be fed and well. And just after we finished 202 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:55.520 praying, we got a knock on our gate. And there was a woman that had been traveling from Spain and 203 00:20:55.520 --> 00:21:03.280 she was a friend of a friend that had been told this organization needs baby formula. And so she 204 00:21:03.280 --> 00:21:10.080 provided our baby formula for the next two days. And we did that for two years. And so God just 205 00:21:10.080 --> 00:21:16.720 steps in miraculous ways. And now I know that there is, it is possible to ask people to partner 206 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:23.440 with us in funding as well because it allows us to help many, many more people. But I saw those 207 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:31.520 provisions and we still continue to see it. We've been gifted land to have grace center help more 208 00:21:31.520 --> 00:21:38.080 and more people. Even in our area, the city mayor said he wants to give us land in every neighborhood 209 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:44.160 to start daycares. That's so awesome. Because we started the first infant daycare in Ethiopia. 210 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:48.880 And most of these infants would have been abandoned on the street if we didn't have daycare for them. 211 00:21:49.520 --> 00:21:54.240 They just never thought about starting a daycare. So we started and now they want to give us land 212 00:21:54.240 --> 00:22:00.640 in different places. We're actually almost finished acquiring land in three places. And then we went 213 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.320 to another town because we always knew that grace center is about Jesus. It's about people. It's not 214 00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:12.880 about one location. So we went to another town with four of our leaders, my husband being one. 215 00:22:13.520 --> 00:22:19.680 And immediately upon arriving in this town, they went into the main office. The city administrator came, 216 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:25.040 the mayor came. Everyone came and had a meeting and said, what are you doing in Bahrdar? We want this 217 00:22:25.040 --> 00:22:31.040 here. And within six months, we were given land, which in Ethiopia usually takes years to get land. 218 00:22:31.040 --> 00:22:35.840 So they gave us land. We're building now to be able to expand this ministry and reach more people. 219 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:44.480 Come on. When you're in God's will, there will be provision. There will be protection. 220 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:51.280 Part of the reason why I asked Marcy to come out here, she hasn't been with us since 2017. 221 00:22:51.280 --> 00:22:55.920 And it was only one other time she visited us before that. Part of the reason why I had her come out, 222 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:02.800 I want you to catch this spirit. That's on her. There was a spirit of faith, a 15-year-old teenage girl 223 00:23:02.800 --> 00:23:07.840 in Naples, Florida, gets the call of God, says yes. By the time she's 18, she's going through 224 00:23:07.840 --> 00:23:12.720 Eastern Africa, still beating the bushes, trying to figure out God's perfect will for her, lands in 225 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.280 Bahrir Dar Ethiopia. And I wish all of you could just go there. You've seen the footage. 226 00:23:17.280 --> 00:23:23.600 This giant complex. Look, right now, actually, buildings upon buildings doing so much good. It's 227 00:23:23.600 --> 00:23:28.960 like a bunch of busy ants there, just in an ant colony, just constantly working and just churning 228 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:35.760 out and doing good every single day. I wanted that to get on you because you may not even know yet 229 00:23:36.320 --> 00:23:42.080 what the Lord has up his sleeve for you. Every single one of you, you carry the power of God in you 230 00:23:42.080 --> 00:23:51.200 and you carry eternity in your heart. Hallelujah. Can you share some stories about how your work has 231 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:59.360 impacted specifically the local communities there? Yes. It's been really amazing to see how God 232 00:23:59.360 --> 00:24:07.200 just takes these little mustard seeds of faith and it just grows and expands. And our staff 233 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:11.840 are just amazing and wonderful people. We have over 200 staff members in Ethiopia. 234 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:19.360 They love working at Grace Center because we're not about seeing someone saying, 235 00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:24.560 no, I'm sorry, I can't help you. We're full, which I can tell you from working in Africa, 236 00:24:24.560 --> 00:24:30.400 that's 99% of the ministries say to people, we're full. We can't feed anyone else. We can't house 237 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:36.400 anyone else. We can't. Our job is to say, okay, God, you brought us this person for a reason. 238 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:41.360 What are you calling us to do for this person? And our staff are able to go out into the community 239 00:24:41.360 --> 00:24:46.560 and help even more because they bring us people. They see people laying on the road and they say, 240 00:24:46.560 --> 00:24:49.520 what about this person? We say, let's go to them. Let's pick them up. 241 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:54.240 And one of the things that we've been able to do in the community, I don't know if you, 242 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:03.200 if you're aware of how bad the water situation is in Ethiopia, but 99% of the time the water 243 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:08.480 in our city is shut off. And there's some neighborhoods that haven't had running water in over a year. 244 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:14.880 If that's what you meant by the water situation, I was aware. I took a shower in one little stream 245 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:20.240 of water. We take about a couple of minutes to just collect in my hand. That was day one. 246 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.680 And then I said, you know what? I'm going to believe God and not shower for no, I'm kidding. 247 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:24.720 For the snitcher. 248 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:29.680 No clenches. He does it for all of us. I can say, I can attest to it. 249 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:33.680 Very little water. You know, the rest of Africa, they say that you open the tap and you hear this, 250 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:40.240 and Ethiopia, you don't even hear that noise. That's the sound of the air coming in. That's long gone. 251 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:46.480 I mean, there's just nothing. It's empty. So what we did was, you know, we were told for years, 252 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:52.160 not to even bother digging a well on our land. You're not going to hit water. The rocks too hard. 253 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:56.160 And we just stepped out in faith. We said, there's no water. And these people need water. And we're 254 00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:00.640 in the same position. We've got all these babies. We have to provide water for all these people 255 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:05.280 that we're feeding. And we just stepped out in faith and said, we're going to dig a well. 256 00:26:05.280 --> 00:26:12.960 And we dug a deep well, 300 feet deep, and the water was overflowing miraculously. 257 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:18.400 It was actually, we get 35 gallons of water per second out of this well. 258 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:23.040 This is amusement park. What in the world levels of water? 259 00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:27.040 There's the kids like water. Look at that. You know what that's like in a place that's dry? 260 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.800 That's them playing in the water for the first time. And I mean, imagine most of those kids have never 261 00:26:32.800 --> 00:26:38.880 even played in water their whole lives. And so we realized that another memory I have in the 262 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:43.360 morning, there was this adorable kid. And I heard this clanging outside my room. And every morning, 263 00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:48.720 he would come. I have pictures of it. They were hanging up in our seventh street location for years. 264 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:55.360 He would get a cleaned out tomato can full of now water. And he would wash every morning. He 265 00:26:55.360 --> 00:27:01.200 would just wash his whole face with the one can of water that I don't know where he got from. 266 00:27:01.600 --> 00:27:07.680 Yeah, probably. We hear in the States, we just like, oh, it's a cold day. Let me first run the hot 267 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.840 water for five minutes while I go and do something else over here to just heat up the room. 268 00:27:11.840 --> 00:27:17.600 And we know we take for granted what we have here. Water on command. We live better than kings 269 00:27:17.600 --> 00:27:25.680 did for millennia. That's true. That's very true. And so we did, you know, we realized after 270 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:31.920 our well was overflowing, that we had enough water for the entire city, over 500,000 people. 271 00:27:32.560 --> 00:27:38.240 And so we did what we always do. We opened it completely to the public for free. And so we have 272 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:43.600 over a thousand people that come every day to receive water at our ministry. And you know, 273 00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:48.560 it's amazing because we're able to minister then one on one with those people that come to the 274 00:27:48.560 --> 00:27:53.360 well. We see them coming back. And, you know, just like Jesus transformed the life of the 275 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:58.080 Samaritan woman, we're transforming the lives of these women that are coming to our well. 276 00:27:58.080 --> 00:28:02.960 We bring them inside. We ask them their story. And we're able to pray with them and see healing 277 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:11.120 in their life. So wonderful. Hallelujah. Where was this well? Was it on your land? Yes, it's right 278 00:28:11.120 --> 00:28:15.760 in the middle. You know, I mean, there's a lot of testimonies coming out right now. God, 279 00:28:15.840 --> 00:28:24.240 God wants you to have land. God will bless your land. And your land will produce. Amen. 280 00:28:25.120 --> 00:28:28.160 It's just awesome. How that was actually bought on your land. 281 00:28:28.800 --> 00:28:34.160 Yeah. And you can see here in this video, you can see this is Bahradar. And you'll see the 282 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:41.760 Grace Center from the aerial view. And then down south is where we're starting our new location 283 00:28:41.840 --> 00:28:48.320 in Debra Marcos. It's about four-hour drive south. And we actually realized that there's 284 00:28:48.320 --> 00:28:55.200 no water in Debra Marcos either. So we said, well, this is might be a wonderful opportunity because 285 00:28:55.200 --> 00:29:01.520 we see everything as an opportunity for the Lord that will dig the well first. And then people 286 00:29:01.520 --> 00:29:06.080 who are coming to the well, we can minister to them. This will bring all of our employees, 287 00:29:06.080 --> 00:29:12.640 all the people that need any assistance. And we're excited about that. That's been very recent. 288 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:20.640 There isn't water now, but there will be. What are the biggest challenges that you face? 289 00:29:22.320 --> 00:29:31.360 Oh, so many, many challenges, you know, right now, many of you might not be aware, but Ethiopia, 290 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:37.840 our area specifically is in a very bad war. Last August, you know, how many of you knew Ethiopia 291 00:29:37.840 --> 00:29:44.480 was in a bad war? No, it's not. I didn't know that. Well, Marcy told me several months ago, she'd 292 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.000 called me up and asked our whole staff to pray they were going through something, but I didn't know 293 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:54.240 until she told me that. And the reason we don't know is because nobody told us to care yet, 294 00:29:54.880 --> 00:30:00.480 there was not a need for us to be programmed with a particular kind of attitude towards that war. 295 00:30:01.360 --> 00:30:07.920 I don't know if all of you caught that. Hey, man, how many people have died in that war so far? 296 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:14.880 We have no way of knowing. You mentioned in the first service, the first day they came into 297 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:20.800 our area and within our surrounding neighborhood where Grace Center is over 2,000 people were killed 298 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:26.960 on that first day. And to put it in perspective, she said. Yeah, to put it in context, there were about 299 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:33.280 1,300 that were murdered in Gaza in October on that one day. And September 11, about 3,000. 300 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:40.480 And 2,000 in Ethiopia, no one even knows. And that was just the first couple days or the first 301 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:46.480 48 hours, I believe. It's been very, very horrific situation for the people there on the ground. 302 00:30:48.080 --> 00:30:54.960 Our assistant director, Woku, who's in that picture right there, he, you know, I asked him how he's, 303 00:30:54.960 --> 00:31:01.120 if he feels safe coming to work. And he said, you know, many times there's guns lined up, 304 00:31:01.120 --> 00:31:07.040 ready to shoot him. And he walks to work because he said he knows he's doing God's will. 305 00:31:07.040 --> 00:31:14.240 And it's better to do God's will than to stay home. And, you know, he's this amazing man that has 306 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:20.480 just been called to lead at this time. And we're so blessed by that. And we're so blessed to have 307 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:31.200 the staff. And so we've seen miracles in this time of just complete horror. I mean, two weeks ago, 308 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:37.040 there was a grenade thrown at the back wall of Grace Center, not at Grace Center, but the building 309 00:31:37.040 --> 00:31:43.040 behind us. And that was one thing I had mentioned to you before was there's a three-story building 310 00:31:43.040 --> 00:31:48.800 right behind Grace Center's area. We have about two and a half acres where we're at. And it was 311 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:56.400 taken over to be used as a place to shoot from. And, um, work who our assistant director was able 312 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.480 to get a hold of someone in the building, like the top person in that building and say, please 313 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:04.880 don't shoot down. Because if you shoot directly down, you're killing women and children, 314 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:10.080 because we have 30 infants there. We have all of our staff there, people coming and going all the 315 00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:15.920 time. And they said, we'll honor that. And we've never had a bullet come into our compound. 316 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:20.560 And when we pray, we pray for protection over all of our staff, all of the people we serve, 317 00:32:20.560 --> 00:32:24.720 all their family and friends, all their loved ones, all the people that are innocent of this, 318 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:29.120 we pray for a head to protection around them. And we've seen amazing miracles. So I'd ask for 319 00:32:29.120 --> 00:32:34.880 your prayers for that as well. Amen. We need to keep Grace Center in our prayers. 320 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:40.480 You ask some other missionary, you know, what are the greatest challenges? And they're like, well, 321 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:45.760 air conditioning broke down. And here you ask, what are the greatest challenges? Well, 322 00:32:45.760 --> 00:32:50.560 a grenade landed near the back wall. And we're in the middle of, is it a civil war? 323 00:32:51.600 --> 00:32:59.280 Basically, basically, it's, um, more like a genocide. But, yeah, so please pray and, um, 324 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:05.120 every day I just pray today, I'll be the day because it can, it, things there change just as quickly 325 00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:10.320 as it happened. And this is what I think about the Lord, how he heals. You know, just as quickly as 326 00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:14.880 this illness came on, just as quickly it can go. You know, just as quickly as you realized, you 327 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:20.400 had something wrong, God can heal just as quickly. And the same thing happens with these situations 328 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:26.480 with war. And I've really been amazed in the past seeing the fighting and then knowing how much 329 00:33:27.120 --> 00:33:32.720 God just turns it around like instantly. And these people are hugging each other. I mean, 330 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:36.560 the people that killed their family members, they're hugging each other, they're embracing each 331 00:33:36.560 --> 00:33:41.600 other, they're forgiving each other. It's just like it's mind-boggling and outside of Christ, 332 00:33:41.600 --> 00:33:48.800 you can't do it. Amen. Amen. Let me talk to you about some of the faith practices of the Ethiopians. 333 00:33:49.280 --> 00:33:54.240 How do Ethiopian Christians practice their faith differently from other cultures? 334 00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:03.760 So one of the most common, in Ethiopia, it's about half Muslim and half Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, 335 00:34:03.760 --> 00:34:10.000 which is an ancient Christian religion. And when I first went to Ethiopia, it was about 15% Muslim. 336 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.960 That was a year 2000 and now it's over 50%. So we, again, go back to always working with people 337 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:23.360 one on one. But these people tend to be, the Orthodox Christians tend to be very devout. And if we 338 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:30.240 can just explain to them who Jesus is, how much He loves them, how much He wants a relationship 339 00:34:30.240 --> 00:34:36.800 with them, they're always very, very happy to just accept and have Christ in them completely. 340 00:34:37.600 --> 00:34:46.240 We have one young woman that we found her. She was living with her elderly aunt and she had never 341 00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:51.680 gone to school. We started sending her to school. She was scoring higher than everyone. She skipped 342 00:34:51.680 --> 00:34:57.440 grades, skipped grades, skipped grades, smartest person. I call her the smartest girl in all of Ethiopia. 343 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:02.480 When it came to her standardized test, she scored above the top 1% of the country. 344 00:35:03.600 --> 00:35:07.680 Now in Ethiopia, you don't get to choose what you're going to study. The government tells you what 345 00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:13.840 you're going to study. But because she was so smart and on the top, she was able to choose. So she said, 346 00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:18.880 I want to study. I want to become a doctor. And she was able to go through medical school. And one of 347 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:25.040 the things she said to me, one of the things was she said, I got 1B. I said, you're okay. It's okay. 348 00:35:26.080 --> 00:35:31.600 You're going to live. You got 1B. You're okay. But the other thing she said is she goes to the church 349 00:35:31.600 --> 00:35:38.160 every day and praises and thanks God for her life, for her opportunity, for her ability to study, 350 00:35:38.160 --> 00:35:43.840 and for her intelligence, her brain. She said, I never missed a day going to church. 351 00:35:44.640 --> 00:35:48.560 That is so awesome. I mean, how much can we learn from that, right? And now she's a doctor. 352 00:35:49.520 --> 00:35:51.360 She's a medical doctor. Yep. 353 00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:04.240 Let me just ask this, what kind of support and resources do you need the most from partner churches? 354 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:11.680 I think definitely prayer. You know, I'm someone that believes very strongly in prayer that prayer 355 00:36:11.680 --> 00:36:16.640 works. We're not just throwing words into that atmosphere and they're bouncing off a ceiling. 356 00:36:16.640 --> 00:36:23.280 God is hearing. God is listening. God is changing things. And he answers our prayers. So please, please 357 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:31.520 pray for protection. Pray for peace. Healing for the people there that are suffering. And also 358 00:36:31.520 --> 00:36:39.840 consider partnering with us financially as well. You know, last year we were able to raise before 359 00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:46.240 let me just let me just say this. It's just so funny still even to this day when you when you ask 360 00:36:46.240 --> 00:36:52.160 for people to consider partnering with you, I can tell you just don't like it. And you're not 361 00:36:52.160 --> 00:37:00.880 you're not comfortable with it. Are you better? Okay. I pray through it. Because you know, 362 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:05.840 in the beginning, Marcy was in the miracle like the miracle miracle zone because she just didn't 363 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:13.280 ask for money. I mean, she didn't ask us for money. I actually was told. Yeah, we found you. 364 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:17.520 That was a whole other story. Just a bizarre way. We found you were like, hey, we like what you're 365 00:37:17.520 --> 00:37:24.400 doing. Can we partner with you? But I was blown away by what all is happening at the gray center. 366 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:28.720 And what God has done through Marcy back when I visited in Christmas time of 2010. And that's 367 00:37:28.720 --> 00:37:34.160 when it hit me. I thought, but she doesn't even have like marketing videos. She's not even on social 368 00:37:34.160 --> 00:37:39.920 media like showing off what she's doing. I've met the guys that have all that and they're not doing 369 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:45.440 one one hundredth of what she's doing because 95% of their labor and their time is going into 370 00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:51.200 producing videos and trying to get money from people. And I'm just teasing you. You have gotten 371 00:37:51.200 --> 00:37:59.040 better. But you have, but I can just tell that's just like not your primary thing. I would say 372 00:37:59.040 --> 00:38:04.000 some people you give a microphone tell them to ask for money and they will squeeze every wall 373 00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:11.920 out until George Washington is crying on the dollar bill. But number one, just to reiterate 374 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:17.840 because enter number one prayer. And I want to I want to just say this when you pray, there's 375 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:23.200 different ways you can pray. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will lead you to pray for 15, 20 minutes 376 00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:27.760 for somebody. Many of you can't do that every day, but Paul said this. He said of some people 377 00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:35.440 that I make mention of you in my prayers. Don't knock that. You can just mention. You can just be 378 00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:39.600 and Lord Jesus thank you for grace enter your hand is upon them that you'll be with them. You 379 00:38:39.600 --> 00:38:47.120 may mention of them, but you do that daily at compounds. And the root of that word mention is 380 00:38:47.120 --> 00:38:53.200 actually to build a memorial. Some of you look, I pray for you guys all the time, but I have to confess. 381 00:38:53.200 --> 00:38:57.680 I'm not going through like the church roll index and spending 20 minutes on every single one of you. 382 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:02.640 I'm mentioning you. I'm mentioning you. I'm bringing you up before the Lord and that that 383 00:39:02.640 --> 00:39:08.560 compounds and you build a memorial over time. So number one was pray. I want to put right 384 00:39:08.560 --> 00:39:15.760 alongside number one partner with grace center. Amen. Amen. Appreciate that. You know, before before 385 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:24.560 COVID and before this war, we were helping about 3,000 people annually. And now we're serving 386 00:39:24.560 --> 00:39:32.320 over 50,000 individuals. And we've now this last year, we raised 1.2 million dollars 387 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:39.840 to help these people. And the thing about Ethiopia is that when you give, it goes very far. 388 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:44.480 This is what we were discussing before was how much does it cost for a family to go out to eat 389 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:49.280 in New York City? Right. I think you were saying about $200. Those were what my wife said. 390 00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:55.600 Because she likes the lobster. But I would put it out for at 120, 130. 391 00:39:55.600 --> 00:40:00.640 But you know, for that, I mean, you can cover the cost of two families eating for a month. 392 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:07.360 So it just goes so much further. You just have to imagine the water, for example. Now that the 393 00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:14.560 water is built, it's free. It's there for the people. And so it's just amazing to have these 394 00:40:14.560 --> 00:40:20.080 relationships with you. You know, people that stepped in even before I would even ask, you know, 395 00:40:20.080 --> 00:40:26.320 how God's just going before us. But every amount is valuable. Every amount matters. You know, 396 00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:32.960 some people give 500 a month. Some people give 50 a month. Some people give one time an amount. 397 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:37.680 You know, so it's different for every person, but know how valuable it is and how grateful 398 00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:43.920 we are and how it's just making a world of difference. Life and death difference for these 399 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:49.120 people, not just for now, but for eternity. And I truly believe that when we get to heaven, 400 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:54.000 you know, you all sitting here who might not have met all those people there are going to see 401 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:59.280 each other and you're going to know each other, they're going to say, my life was because you chose 402 00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:11.200 to step out and do what God called you to do. This isn't like a fairy tale theology that you 403 00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:16.880 tell your kids to inspire them to do well. This is scripture. Paul said, when you give to his 404 00:41:16.880 --> 00:41:23.680 ministry, it is fruit to your account. And then we have this precedent, David said it. It actually 405 00:41:23.680 --> 00:41:30.240 says it's an ordinance forever in Israel. When the soldiers went out to fight in the Battle of 406 00:41:30.240 --> 00:41:34.960 Ziklag, there were some soldiers that they didn't go out to fight. They just, the Bible says, 407 00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:40.320 stayed by the stuff. They're stayed by guarding the stuff. They didn't have to get their hands dirty, 408 00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:45.920 didn't sweat, didn't fight. Their lives weren't in danger. When they came back with the spoils of war, 409 00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:49.520 the ones who did all the fighting said, hey, we're not sharing with them. And David said, no, 410 00:41:49.520 --> 00:41:53.680 no, no, that is not right. And the economy of God is different. He said, everything will be 411 00:41:53.680 --> 00:41:59.360 divvied up equally and this will be an ordinance forever in Israel. What David was doing was 412 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:06.080 reflecting the heart of God. Every time we support a missionary, every time we give, it's fruit to our 413 00:42:06.080 --> 00:42:16.720 account and it goes on our account and it goes on your record and you can reap a harvest from that. 414 00:42:16.720 --> 00:42:21.280 And this is why when I give, I give everywhere because I want to reap a harvest from all these 415 00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:25.680 other people. That's why CityLight has partnered. I really believe, you know, I'll never forget when 416 00:42:25.680 --> 00:42:34.240 we went through the Great Recession in 08, 09 and went into 10. Part of the reason why we partnered 417 00:42:34.240 --> 00:42:40.080 with you quickly was we wanted to make ourselves invaluable to the Lord and to the kingdom. I said, 418 00:42:40.080 --> 00:42:44.640 Lord, we're going to partner with people who need more help than us and this way we'll never be 419 00:42:44.640 --> 00:42:54.160 taken down. In Corinthians, it says God is not willing to abandon or do without a prompt to do 420 00:42:54.160 --> 00:43:04.960 with joyous giver whose heart is in his giving. Amen. Hallelujah. It's amazing to bring up that point 421 00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:13.440 is that, you know, in the US, I would often speak at different youth groups and Naples, as you 422 00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:19.200 mentioned, is not a poor area. It's quite, you know, quite affluent as far as the percentage goes 423 00:43:19.200 --> 00:43:25.200 down there. But right next to that is a city called a mockley, which is the migrant farm workers, 424 00:43:25.200 --> 00:43:29.840 which is probably one of the poorest places in the US. And I would go speak at the youth group in 425 00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:35.760 a mockley and they would respond more than the people and Naples. And I think because they could 426 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:41.760 relate to it. And they said, wow, these people are worse than we are. You know, we're living in these 427 00:43:41.760 --> 00:43:46.400 really small houses with a lot of family members. These people don't even have a house. They don't 428 00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:52.720 even have food. You know, so it was just really amazing to see people step out. And I encourage every 429 00:43:52.720 --> 00:43:59.360 person has the ability to give. And you can't out give God. Yeah. I know you said that. You really 430 00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:06.960 can't. And I've done it myself. It's like it's amazing. Amen. Yeah. What are some, I want them to 431 00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:11.600 catch from your experience in your history? What are some valuable lessons that you've learned 432 00:44:11.600 --> 00:44:17.200 from your experiences? Either about God or the provision of God, the character and nature of God? 433 00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:25.200 Yeah, there's so many amazing, amazing lessons. It's just been a lifetime of just truly an honor and a joy. 434 00:44:27.040 --> 00:44:36.240 I think that, well, I know that spiritual warfare is real, that there's an enemy that seeks to kill 435 00:44:36.240 --> 00:44:43.040 steel and destroy. And if you're not a threat to the enemy, he won't seek to kill steel and destroy 436 00:44:43.040 --> 00:44:49.840 you. But the minute you become a threat, which means you're after getting souls to Christ, you will be 437 00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:56.320 have to pray through that. You'll have to pray protection. You'll have to command things to 438 00:44:56.320 --> 00:45:03.920 go and use names. So I've come to realize that the power is, is that the enemy is there, that God 439 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:10.720 is stronger. And through that, we've seen just miraculous, amazing healing. In Ethiopia, 440 00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:16.400 there are a lot of witch doctors. And maybe people think, oh, that's not a big deal. 441 00:45:17.200 --> 00:45:22.640 It's a very big deal. There's people that have died at the hands of these witch doctors. 442 00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:30.240 And during my last time in Ethiopia, I was praying and fasting that these witch doctors would no 443 00:45:30.240 --> 00:45:34.960 longer be able to practice than they would turn to the Lord. They make a lot of money from what 444 00:45:34.960 --> 00:45:40.000 they do. So the first thing I did was I announced to our, all of our moms and everyone we knew, 445 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:45.200 there's no reason for you guys to go to the witch doctors. God has everything. You need to pray. 446 00:45:45.200 --> 00:45:50.400 You need to turn to Him. And we were able to break that culturally. Well, within a week, you better 447 00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:55.680 believe I was feeling the curses from the witch doctors over me and my family, my kids vomiting 448 00:45:55.680 --> 00:46:01.200 everywhere, just sickness, cursing at commanding it to go in Jesus' name. When I came back to the 449 00:46:01.200 --> 00:46:05.920 United States some months later, the Holy Spirit woke me up really early one morning and said, 450 00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:11.280 the witch doctors have been thwarted in your neighborhood. There were three of them. And so basically, 451 00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:17.520 those three had stopped practicing from what the Holy Spirit told me. So this is what our job is 452 00:46:18.240 --> 00:46:22.240 in prayer. Of all that, this is fair. Yeah, give her a hand and the Lord. 453 00:46:25.600 --> 00:46:30.000 I know you asked somebody who's given their lives to the Lord in ministry for a few decades. 454 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:35.200 What are some lessons you've learned? And you know, you could write a book, but it's just 455 00:46:35.200 --> 00:46:41.760 interesting to me that you mentioned that one. And this is why it's so important to know who you are 456 00:46:41.760 --> 00:46:49.840 in Christ and to understand the believers' authority. There's a lot of believers who are getting 457 00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:56.240 their butts kicked by the enemy unnecessarily. All because they don't know who they are in Christ 458 00:46:56.240 --> 00:47:02.000 and they don't know the authority that Jesus has given them, that they now, because of Jesus' 459 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:09.440 victory on the cross, have authority. Jesus said, behold, I give unto you power, authority, 460 00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:17.280 to tread on serpents and on scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any 461 00:47:17.280 --> 00:47:24.000 means harm you. And so, you know, you may not be able to relate to this to which to three 462 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:27.840 witch doctors gathering around you and your children vomiting. But have you ever noticed how when 463 00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:33.440 you start coming up against the next level and it's time for you to get promoted or move jobs 464 00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:38.480 or into a new relationship, all of a sudden the confusion comes, the self-doubt comes, the anxiety 465 00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:43.680 comes, it's like a swarm of bees buzzing around your head. What do you think that is? That's the 466 00:47:43.680 --> 00:47:50.560 enemy trying to thwart you and keep you from going into the next place that God has for you. And so 467 00:47:51.360 --> 00:47:57.520 it's a wonderful lesson that you've learned. There has to be not where you mumble or you say a prayer 468 00:47:57.520 --> 00:48:07.520 and the inside where you out loud declare devil, I break your power. I cancel your plans over my life 469 00:48:07.520 --> 00:48:14.400 in Jesus name. You cannot come near me. The blood of Jesus is against you this far and no further 470 00:48:15.200 --> 00:48:30.960 in Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You are, Mercy, you have a, even my wife was saying, 471 00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:37.280 a very unique, your whole family, it's on your whole family, unique spirit. 472 00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:46.800 You can see the fingerprints of God on them and Mercy is Catholic and so everything she's learned 473 00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:52.880 from the Lord, I didn't even tell you that she's Catholic because you notice she sounds just like one 474 00:48:52.880 --> 00:49:03.680 of us. Have you noticed that? And she is. And because, well, she went through the school of 475 00:49:03.680 --> 00:49:09.200 the Holy Spirit and I was shocked. I knew she was Catholic. I had my own prejudices, even though 476 00:49:09.200 --> 00:49:15.440 my kids now go to Catholic, my own prejudices, when I met her in 2010 and I realized, oh my gosh, 477 00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:21.280 she's like, we were completely on the same page about everything. There was not one theological 478 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:26.480 point or one doctrinal point that I ever disagreed with her on it because she went through the school 479 00:49:26.480 --> 00:49:33.280 of the Lord. She knows how to eat the hay, spit out the sticks. She reads her Bible. That's always 480 00:49:33.280 --> 00:49:40.000 a positive. She clings to the Bible and thank you for being with us because there is this amazing 481 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:45.440 touch of heaven that's on you and on your family. Let's stretch our hands towards Mercy and we're 482 00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:51.680 going to pray for her for her family in the Grace Center. Father, that you would protect 483 00:49:52.960 --> 00:50:00.400 Mercy, that you would surround the whole family with your love, with your presence, that they 484 00:50:00.400 --> 00:50:07.120 be protected, that all of the children would be on fire and serve the Lord, that all of the children 485 00:50:07.120 --> 00:50:19.040 devil, you can't have them, not a single one. In Jesus name, all the children, I just see like all 486 00:50:19.040 --> 00:50:25.440 these little birds, all the children in the nest. If not physically, then with their hearts in the nest, 487 00:50:26.160 --> 00:50:32.240 along with Mama and Papa, hallelujah. And Father, we pray for the Grace Center that it would continue 488 00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:38.880 to multiply as it has for the last two decades, that it would multiply and multiply and that you 489 00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:49.440 provide the funds from all over the world in Jesus name. Amen. This is the City Light Church podcast. 490 00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:53.920 If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor 491 00:50:54.160 --> 00:51:02.320 Boy on Jansk and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. 492 00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:07.440 Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime, we would love to connect with you. 493 00:51:08.160 --> 00:51:13.760 We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, 494 00:51:13.760 --> 00:51:19.360 and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to 495 00:51:19.360 --> 00:51:26.960 City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.