Your Giftings Are Important To God, Marie Umidi's Story

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I love a good story, especially when it's a God's story.

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I love to hear how God takes ordinary women and does extraordinary things in, for, and

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through them.

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Friends, I'm your host Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America and International,

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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I encourage you to take a moment to like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming

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platform so you won't miss the stories of any of my amazing guests.

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Today I'm talking with Marie Umiddi.

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If you know anything about the early days of Christian music, you'll be interested

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to know that Marie sang with the Imperials and Russ Taft.

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In addition to pastoring a church with her husband Joe for 13 years, Marie wrote a fabulous

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play, The Man Called Jesus, that has been performed in countries around the world and been seen

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by tens of thousands of people.

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She loves serving the Lord through the gift of hospitality and is the proud mother of

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an adult son and grandmother of three.

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Welcome Marie.

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Thank you, Jodie.

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Marie, you were born and raised in Michigan and were drawn to the arts and performing

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at a young age.

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Tell us a little about those years and how your big voice drew a handsome man who is

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now your husband of 50 years into your life.

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When I was four or five years old, my parents lived out in the countryside and there weren't

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many kids to play with and I was the last of five children, so I was alone a lot because

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all my other siblings were much older than me.

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So I would use my imagination and pretend that I would set up a stage out in the backyard

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and I talked my mom into giving me some old sheets and I would string them up in between

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the trees and then I would pay the friends that lived in town that I knew and then the

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ones out in the country that I knew to come and see my productions.

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You'd pay them.

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I would pay them each a penny if they would come and see because I wanted to have an audience.

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And I don't even remember what kind of plays I put on.

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I just knew that there was something in me that I wanted to give to others and I knew

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it had to do with the arts.

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So that's how the dream of the production started, but I've always been a singer and

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so that's one of the things I did in my little backyard stage was sing songs to them.

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That's great.

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And so you continued doing that on into high school and college and eventually that attracted

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your husband to be.

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I studied music in college and was involved in a lot of what we would call summer stock

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theater in my area and always loved musical theater.

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My husband and I met while we were both still in university and I had come through an extremely

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troubled relationship before I met him.

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In fact, it was married before and divorced and I was on that cusp of a horrible marriage

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when I met him and so I had a lot of baggage with me.

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Neither of us were born again believers, but I was working in a small theater and he saw

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me performing.

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We were doing a wonderful production and so we just kind of hit it off and bouncing from

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a divorce and horrible marriage.

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It was not easy to let myself fall into love again and to trust.

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I eventually allowed myself to trust again and he was an amazingly gracious man so it

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wasn't really hard.

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It was all my issues.

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But then after we got married, it's interesting because we were only married for six months

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and we were on a vacation trip like a honeymoon trip to Canada.

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And while we were traveling on a ferry boat on our way to Canada, this minister came up

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to us and he shared the gospel with us and he said, I have a feeling that the two of

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you are hungry for something spiritual.

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And we were.

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We had been on a soul safari, soul searching safari and we had been studying Eastern religion

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and Zen Buddhism and Hinduism.

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That was during the time when the Beatles were recording and they were into Hare Krishna,

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all that crazy stuff from India.

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So we were just exploring all that and he led us both to the Lord.

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Wow, just right there on the ferry.

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Well actually we had so much to talk about when the ferry docked in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

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He said, well, we're not finished are we?

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And we said, no.

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We were both in tears and so he invited us to come sit in his car and about two hours

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later we both prayed the sinner's prayer, accepted Jesus and my son was four at the

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time from that other marriage.

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And so it was a wonderful way to begin a new marriage and raising a son who had been traumatized

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as well as I had been from the former relationship.

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So as you started growing in Christ together, what were some of the changes that you started

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experiencing in your life and in your marriage?

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Well the first change, major change was that when I met my husband, we were coming out

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of the hippie lifestyle and we were both into like mother earth.

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How can I explain it?

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I don't know because I'm talking to a whole generation that probably knows nothing about

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this.

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So one of our dreams was to build our own home and live off the land and this was in

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the 60s and we had, no 70s, excuse me.

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We had a lot of problems with what today has become big pharma and big agriculture.

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We wanted to have pure food, clean food and so our goal was, you know, we're going to

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raise our own chickens, we're going to raise our own vegetables, we're going to da da da

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da da.

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Well as soon as we got saved, my husband turned around and said, honey, I'm going into the

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ministry and that was all new to me because I wanted to live on the farm and be a farm

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girl.

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So that was difficult and he wanted to go into the ministry but the man who led us to

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the Lord said, son, don't go into the ministry until you've had a really good education and

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even then he said you want to practice many, many years until you feel like you're ready.

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So he really coached us through those early years of Divinity School and we pastored small

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churches in Canada at the beginning and that's where the writing of the production play,

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of the production, The Man Called Jesus started.

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While we were in Canada during those 12 years as well, I recorded lots of music and original

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albums but my great love and my deep love was the theater and the musical theater.

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Because I was a music major in the churches that we were pastoring at that time, I did

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all the choir directing.

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At one point I had five choirs.

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This is the Baptist Church, you know, and every front, you have a choir, you have choir

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membership from the time you're in the cradle to the grave.

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So I had all these different aged choirs and I wanted my senior choir to do something that

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would incorporate all the different ages of the people of the other choirs.

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And so I came upon an idea of doing a play about the life of Jesus.

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It was Easter and I didn't like any of the cantatas that were being produced and advertised

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back then.

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So I thought, well, Lord, I think I can write my own.

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I mean, it's just putting together the gospel story, right?

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What's difficult about that?

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It's already written.

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So I put together a real simple elementary production that last year that we pastored

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in Canada.

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And then when we moved to Virginia, and this is the reason we came to Virginia, and stop

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me if I'm talking too much.

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I want to go back and just talk a little bit about, I mean, here you were, you wanted to

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be a farm girl, and all of a sudden you find yourself a pastor's wife.

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And you know, being a pastor's wife, a pastor and a pastor's wife can be challenging because

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the expectations that congregations place on ministers can be very unrealistic.

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Very unrealistic.

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And yeah, just share some of that.

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I know that it's obviously a growing experience too when you're put in a fish bowl, but just

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share a little bit about what God did in and through you and during that season.

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Yeah, the initial challenge that I faced while he was still in divinity school, and we were

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kind of like helping out at the local church.

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We weren't really senior pastors, but the initial challenge that I faced was because

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I had had such a troubled and difficult marriage.

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It felt like a stain, and it felt like something that I didn't really want to talk about because

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it was still very raw and painful.

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And I never felt like I would be worthy to be a pastor's wife because I carried, I had

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all this baggage with me.

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And he didn't have any of that.

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So it was a real growing experience for me just to learn to accept myself and my path,

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which was so different from his.

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Yeah, oftentimes accepting God's forgiveness for ourselves is harder than even forgiving

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other people, isn't it?

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Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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Because we have these old soundtracks that just keep rolling and playing in our mind

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about what we are and what we aren't.

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Yeah, I know for myself, sometimes my brain will go off on tangents that I know are not

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of the Lord, and I'll have to just stop right there and say, I'm taking this spot captive

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to the obedience of Christ Jesus, and I'm tearing down everything that sets itself up

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against the knowledge of God in my life.

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And it's amazing when we declare the Word of God in our life, how immediate our victory

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is in Christ.

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That doesn't mean it's over forever.

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That's right.

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We have to do it again and again.

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So all of this time, you're also writing music and recording music and singing, performing.

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I mean, this is the early days of really Christian pop music.

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Exactly.

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It was.

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In fact, some of your listeners, depending on their age, they may remember Chuck Gerard.

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They may remember Keith Green.

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They were a couple of our heroes.

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I mean, it was the early, early days.

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It was the beginning of the Jesus movement in California, and we were riding the cusp

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of that.

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And so, yeah, I started writing my own and just had so much that I wanted to express

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and to say because our salvation was truly remarkable.

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I mean, it turned both of our lives around completely.

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Sometimes, you know, you get into your Christian walk slowly, but we were boom, we were right

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there.

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And so we had, we had a lot of stuff to process.

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Yeah.

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It sounds like the Lord really brought a man of God there who walks you through that.

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And how important that is when a new believer accepts Christ, that they've got someone who's

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there to love them and lead them and disciple them.

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I mean, we actually went through eight years of school together.

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We went through the first four years of his undergrad at a Baptist college, and then we

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went through the next four years of studying for his doctoral degree in ministry.

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And so during those eight years, there was all this processing going on until we finally

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took a church as for, you know, our first church as a senior leader, senior pastors,

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and that's where the rubber hit the road.

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Yeah.

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And so I kept myself very busy and so did he.

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We just learned so much during that time.

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And I'm thankful because we were just born again, young Christians, and the churches

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that we were called to pastor in the Eastern part of Canada at the time where we were,

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not just pastor, but give spiritual leadership to, were mostly made up of older folks.

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And so it was like, I never appreciated until recently the fact that they welcomed us as

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brand new 20 something year old Christians to lead them.

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These are people who had been in the church all their lives, you know?

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Yeah.

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I'm sure you brought a breath of fresh air and your gifts.

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I mean, your amazing gifts, musical and artistic gifts, probably just really enlivened their

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faith as well.

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And helped to grow the church back, helped because we were younger, we drew a lot of

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young people in.

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Yeah.

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And we had a lot of young families that would come in with their young children and it really

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revived the church.

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In fact, by the time we left the first two churches that we were kind of like in apprenticeship

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under the senior pastor, my gosh, I think that church grew like to over 150 people.

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We're talking a one room church in Canada.

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Wow.

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And so very small beginnings, but the Lord had plans.

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Then you brought in a play.

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I mean, you wrote this play.

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What was that process like for you?

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I mean, you had been singing and writing songs, so I guess it wasn't totally new, the whole

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creative process, but that's a daunting thing, a play.

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You're having to visualize where you want everyone to be and what you want everyone

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to say and all the music behind it and the staging.

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It's quite a big task.

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I started very small.

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I had a small choir.

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I think there was only 24 people in my choir at that time, but when the Lord does something,

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he doesn't have to start it big.

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It usually starts with a thought or maybe he'll give you just maybe a small picture

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or vision of what you want to accomplish.

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And then it's just a matter of being faithful and prayerfully seeking his will.

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And when I wrote the first, like what I would call the outline of the play, it was, you

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know, it was just bones.

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There was no meat on it hardly at all.

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It was just kind of a bare skeletal thing.

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And I fasted for three days because I really wanted to hear from the Lord as to what that

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skeleton would look like, because I knew that that would grow and put on sinew and meat

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and flesh and that would just become something much bigger.

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I knew that instinctively at the beginning, but we started small and the Lord really led

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us in that first presentation many years ago.

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It was 1984.

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And there was a young man from South Africa who was in my choir.

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And actually he was not from South Africa.

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He was from Nigeria.

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And he was studying at the local Baptist Bible College in our town.

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So he was fresh out of Africa, fresh out of Nigeria.

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And this young man was so spirit filled.

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I mean, our little congregation of very polite, quiet Canadian older people didn't quite know

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what to make of him either.

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And he had been moving in the gifts of spirit and he had a lot of prophetic things that

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had happened to him when he was saved in Nigeria.

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So he came in, the first night that I presented this idea, this whole idea for the Passion

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Play, he's sitting in the back row and I'll never forget this, his hand shot up and he

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said, Mrs. Umiddi, Mrs. Umiddi, God showed me about this play before I left Nigeria.

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And he showed me that you were going to be writing it and that I was going to be singing

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in it.

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And he showed me that you were going to ask me to play Simon from Cyrene.

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And of course I did.

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And then he said something that shocked me in a way, but it didn't shock me because I

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knew in my spirit that God had bigger plans than what I could imagine.

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He said, Mrs. Umiddi, one day hundreds of thousands of people all over the world will

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see this production.

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That was his prophecy over it.

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And it was stunning.

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It was really stunning because I knew in my spirit that that's what I wanted God to do

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something big because he did such an amazing job in my life in saving me and rescuing me.

248
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I just wanted to do something for his glory.

249
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So you had this little production and then God called you away from Canada to Virginia.

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He did.

251
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He called my husband to Virginia first before I realized that we were going to be moving.

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And our son at this point was he's ready to go into his junior year of high school because

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he was American just like we were.

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We wanted him to graduate from an American high school so that he could go to American

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college.

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So we decided that we would look around and God truly, truly led us to Virginia.

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I mean, it was like he opened up the map and said here.

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It was that clear.

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We came down here and within three days we had found a place to rent.

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We found a school to put our son in and my husband actually got a job offer in a local

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church.

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And so we knew that this was his leading.

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And then it was that was in December of 1984 and in December, I mean, Easter of 1985, we

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presented the man called Jesus for the first time in Virginia at Kempsville Presbyterian

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Church where you were a member.

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Where I was a member.

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Yeah.

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And I remember seeing it was it was actually a musical.

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It was done very well.

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And I was captivated by it.

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I was actually a graduate student at the time doing a minor in that.

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And I feel it soon was our pastor.

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So I was I couldn't get involved that first year.

274
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But shortly after that, I did.

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In fact, I was a part of the play for five years.

276
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Played Mary, the mother of Jesus.

277
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I played Mary Magdalene one year.

278
00:18:44,620 --> 00:18:47,880
And then for several years, I played Mary of Mary and Martha.

279
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And they were it was an amazing time to see the body of Christ come together because it

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wasn't just one church.

281
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It wasn't just one church putting it on.

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It was people from all over the region that came in to.

283
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:07,360
Well, when it when it started out, it was actually one church and then it grew to two

284
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churches.

285
00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,240
And then the word got out, like you said, and people wanted to come.

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So they came from several different churches, and that's probably about eight years, eight

287
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or maybe it was more like 10 years into the ministry.

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We realized that this was not just a church project.

289
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It was a community project.

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It was a Christian community project.

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And we started thinking in terms of forming a nonprofit and and being able to broaden

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our audiences.

293
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,800
It got to be a really good production, but, you know, it took 30 years to get there.

294
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,560
Yeah, well, every year you did.

295
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You added things, you changed things and the Lord really I mean, you moved it around.

296
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I remember one year that I think you probably did it more than one year.

297
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But one year we performed in a big tent on the grounds of the Christian Broadcasting

298
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Network and the live animals and everything.

299
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We were running around the tent outside and praying it wouldn't rain and and and thousands,

300
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thousands and thousands of people.

301
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,320
I mean, it wasn't just it wasn't just a one night production.

302
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:17,760
It was, you know, a couple of weeks long that year that we did at that particular Easter.

303
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,840
We saw over twenty thousand people come through that tent.

304
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Wow.

305
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Even in the midst of the rain.

306
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And then from there, we went to the the local amphitheater, which could hold big audience

307
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as well.

308
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And the same thing happened.

309
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Twenty, twenty one thousand.

310
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It was hard to keep track because when you're in such a large facility, you know, and we

311
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did and we chose not to sell all of our tickets.

312
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,640
We gave thousands of them away because we had thousands of seats to fill.

313
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,720
And so the pastors would give them to the people who who they knew couldn't afford

314
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,200
ten dollars for a ticket, which back then was considered really expensive for a ticket.

315
00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:58,200
Yeah.

316
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:03,400
Well, just I know the Lord had did many, many miracles behind the stage as well as in the

317
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:09,100
audience share some of the things that you saw the Lord do in putting all of this together

318
00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:10,800
in miracles.

319
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:11,800
So many miracles.

320
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:17,020
Well, since we're talking about the amphitheater that night, the night that we were opening

321
00:21:17,020 --> 00:21:24,200
at at this outdoor amphitheater, a huge I mean, a perfect storm was coming our way.

322
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:33,800
It it was supposed to be high velocity winds, tornadoes, hail, you name it, thunder, lightning.

323
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:38,680
And we just decided, you know, Lord, you just you let us this far.

324
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It's not time to stop.

325
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,040
So we just kept going.

326
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:47,160
And at one point during the production, the producers up in the in the amphitheater booth

327
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,720
said, you know, this is too dangerous.

328
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,680
We have to shut this down because the storm is coming right at us.

329
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,560
And they were talking about a very, very dangerous storm.

330
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:03,120
So we shut down everything, all the powered lights and everything for about ten minutes.

331
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:05,360
And he was watching the storm.

332
00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,960
They were all watching the storm in the production booth on the radar.

333
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,560
And he said, I don't know what your people out there are doing, but we had all of our

334
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,840
intercessors gathered out outside on the parking lot.

335
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,640
And he said, they're doing what they do.

336
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:19,640
And I don't know what it is.

337
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:20,640
Well, they were praying.

338
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:21,640
They were in a seating.

339
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:22,640
They were praising.

340
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:23,640
They were singing.

341
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:24,640
They were blowing shofars.

342
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They were waving banners.

343
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:31,300
And he said, Marie, we literally watched that storm.

344
00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:36,760
The closer that it got to the amphitheater, we literally watched it separate on our radar

345
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,680
stream.

346
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,880
It separated before it hit us.

347
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,400
And part of it went north.

348
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,460
The other part went south or whatever, east, west.

349
00:22:46,460 --> 00:22:49,280
But he said, we watched it happen on the screen.

350
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,320
And he said, how did your people do that?

351
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:58,520
So that was a miracle to these people because these were all, you know, they were rock and

352
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:05,040
roll people, you know, theater, not theater people even just.

353
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,080
But that was that was a really beautiful miracle.

354
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,520
And then, of course, the miracles of people's lives changing.

355
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,160
In fact, I was reading through this morning, I just happened to come across a newsletter

356
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,560
that we put out.

357
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:25,280
And it was all the testimonies of how this changed the lives of their children, their

358
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:31,680
husbands, the actors who were in it, their family members got saved, their neighbors

359
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,120
got saved.

360
00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:38,880
So so many people were led to the Lord, so many.

361
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:44,540
And it made an impression, strong impression, because the reality was that none of us were

362
00:23:44,540 --> 00:23:45,540
professionals, really.

363
00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:52,160
I mean, I had some experience, but everybody we were we were just volunteers.

364
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:58,800
We were church people, but the spirit of God was so strong in everybody.

365
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,040
And that's what made it powerful.

366
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:06,000
We were doing it because of our faith, not because we were getting paid to do it.

367
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,000
And it was beautiful.

368
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:12,320
Yeah, I know for me, every time we got to those scenes, particularly of Jesus on the

369
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:21,920
cross, it really reminded me of the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of the resurrection.

370
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:27,640
I think we can get in our Christian life so easily going along and become accustomed to

371
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,400
the story.

372
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:30,480
And we need that.

373
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:31,480
We need that fresh.

374
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:37,680
You know, we need to have that that revelation refreshed every, you know, every year or more

375
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:43,480
even more often than that, because that's the power of the gospel and the power of our

376
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:44,480
salvation.

377
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:49,840
Well, I'm sure most of your listeners and of course, you are familiar with The Chosen,

378
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,640
the new production that's out.

379
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,680
Well, you know, we're talking 30 years ago, there was no such thing out there.

380
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:04,880
But my my main passion was I want people to see Jesus in the flesh and realize that he

381
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,520
was no different from us as a man.

382
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:08,520
He was God.

383
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,120
But as a man, he had the same issues that we had.

384
00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:17,720
You know, he cried, he mourned, he laughed, he danced, he ate, he drank wine with his

385
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:25,760
disciples, and I wanted people to realize the humanness of this Jesus and, you know,

386
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,600
apply that kind of reality to their lives instead of just thinking of Jesus as, oh,

387
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:36,480
God is up there and, you know, he'll never he can't communicate with me and I wanted

388
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,720
to bring the reality of Jesus as a person.

389
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,820
That's what Robert Klein, who played the role, he did such an amazing job.

390
00:25:44,820 --> 00:25:47,360
He did an amazing job.

391
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:48,800
It's not just the gospel.

392
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,240
You want Jesus to be real.

393
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,240
You want you want people to say, oh, I love that man.

394
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,440
I love Jesus.

395
00:25:58,440 --> 00:25:59,440
He was so good.

396
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:08,940
Yeah, and approachable and caring and all the things that make him both God and man.

397
00:26:08,940 --> 00:26:16,240
So at some point, you realized that the Lord wanted you to start taking this play around

398
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:21,120
the globe, and at that point, it had become a massive production.

399
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:22,840
I mean, you had your nonprofits.

400
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,560
So how did God lead you in that?

401
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,520
I mean, you can't take, you know, 50 people on the road with a big production unless you've

402
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:30,740
got quite a budget.

403
00:26:30,740 --> 00:26:32,280
So what did you do?

404
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:33,280
I'll never forget it.

405
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:39,800
It was 1995 and I had the privilege of attending a missions conference where Dr. Howard Foltz,

406
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:44,280
who was with Regent University at the time, brought in some of the major mission leaders

407
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:49,980
around the world, including Lauren Cunningham, who started YWAM and gosh, so many others

408
00:26:49,980 --> 00:26:53,440
that that were just like heroes in the faith to me.

409
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:58,680
And I had never heard of this before, but they outlined for us what we call the 1040

410
00:26:58,680 --> 00:26:59,680
window.

411
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,920
And that is the region of the world that is it.

412
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:08,520
It actually is to the degrees on the on the world map.

413
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,000
It's 10 degrees one way and 40 degrees the other.

414
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,960
And it represents the poorest of the poor, the most unreached people on the face of the

415
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:22,220
earth and the least of and well, obviously the least evangelized.

416
00:27:22,220 --> 00:27:27,640
And so the focus was if we can reach those nations and there were several nations that

417
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:33,200
it kind of stretched from northern Africa all the way across all of the Middle East,

418
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,680
all the way across China and Asia.

419
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,720
And so we just I I just made a decision.

420
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:44,320
I want to do my part, I want to reach those people who are totally unreached.

421
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,920
And we set some pretty high goals.

422
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,320
And the first trip that we made internationally was Turkey.

423
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,720
And we did take 50 people with us in the cast.

424
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,800
We did actually it was 51 company.

425
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:01,080
And we got we got into the New York City airport.

426
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,880
And the people that were working for us in Istanbul, I don't even remember if we had

427
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:11,000
cell phones back then, but somehow they got the word to us that there was a huge crackdown

428
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:19,400
on Christian activity in in the city and that people from their team, which I think they

429
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:25,120
were Y Whammers stationed there, had been arrested just for putting the posters up about

430
00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:26,160
us coming.

431
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:27,160
We all prayed.

432
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:28,160
We got in a big circle and we prayed.

433
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:29,800
I said, hey, guys, this is it.

434
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:30,800
This is what's happening.

435
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:31,800
What do we do?

436
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:32,960
What does God want us to do?

437
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:37,600
And everybody to the last person said, we're going, you know, God didn't bring us this

438
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:38,600
far to stop.

439
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,000
They had raised all their own money.

440
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,200
And plus, I had some corporate gifts to help with the shipping of all the equipment and

441
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,040
everything, because we had scads of equipment to stuff the ship.

442
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:54,000
But when we got into the airport, lo and behold, it was the weekend of an international jazz

443
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,160
festival in the city of Istanbul.

444
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,600
So there were these performers coming in from all over the world with all their cases of

445
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,120
instruments, music, sound systems.

446
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,240
I mean, the airport was filled.

447
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:15,280
And I said to my 51 people, my 50 people, I said, get your stuff, get all your bags

448
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,720
that you're responsible for and get behind one of those people.

449
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:20,880
Get in line.

450
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,160
Get in line with all of these people.

451
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,840
Instead of us being questioned, why are you here?

452
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:27,720
What are you doing here?

453
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:34,040
And they waved us all through and they said, welcome to the jazz festival.

454
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,000
And they say, you're coming to perform for us, right?

455
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,760
And we said, yes, we're coming to perform for you.

456
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,920
And oh my gosh, there's so many things that God did.

457
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:44,920
That was 1995.

458
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:53,760
And then we went back in 1996 and we trained a team to do the production in 1996 or 97.

459
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:59,400
The man who played Jesus was eventually martyred for his faith because he insisted that he

460
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,360
would not let anybody stop him from sharing the gospel.

461
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,800
And he and two other guys that were in the production with him, I think they were two

462
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,360
disciples, they were all martyred.

463
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:15,480
Gosh, it was during that time when there was so many persecutions in Turkey, I can't remember

464
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:21,800
quite the year, but it was just heart rendering to hear that they had paid the price, the

465
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,480
ultimate price for their faith.

466
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:24,480
Wow.

467
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:30,400
You started training, Turkey was the first place you trained the local Christian church

468
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,640
to put on their own performances, but you took it to a lot of other places too.

469
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:41,800
Some had the capacity to do performances full force and then others that you had to use

470
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,600
a little more creative means to perform the play with smaller troops.

471
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:52,440
So when we started with the international work, we would look for churches or like what

472
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:56,880
we had associations of churches that were willing to work together and pull all their

473
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,520
people together for evangelistic outreach.

474
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:01,520
We found them.

475
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:08,960
We went to Russia, we went to Siberia, we went to Ukraine, we went to Romania, Nepal,

476
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:15,520
Turkey, and all those places we were able to train full teams to do the full production.

477
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:19,200
Actually, it wasn't the full two and a half hour production like we did it here, but it

478
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:26,160
was a one and a half hour version that used film, a combination of film and narration,

479
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:32,880
but it had full stages of 50 to 70 to 80 people performing and dancing and worshiping.

480
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:37,440
We would raise the money to give them all the costumes and bring them the makeup that

481
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:42,680
they needed because they couldn't find the kind of stage makeup that we use.

482
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,800
They couldn't find it anywhere.

483
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:48,560
These were very poor communities, but still it was in the 1040 window and that was our

484
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:53,440
commitment that we would go to the hardest of the hard places where there was the least

485
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,240
amount of this type of production happening for outreach.

486
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,120
What did you hear coming back from those when they started performing?

487
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,760
What are some of the stories?

488
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,520
We have video of this one performance.

489
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:11,920
I think it was in Siberia where it was in one of the halls.

490
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:12,920
They always rented.

491
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:17,200
If they didn't have a big enough church, they would go together and rent a hall somewhere

492
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,360
in the city.

493
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,640
We have a picture of a hall that was as full as you could get it.

494
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,680
I think it might have seated around 500 people, 600 people at the most.

495
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,280
They had to close this metal gate to keep people from coming.

496
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:35,240
Mothers were on the other side of the gate handing their babies over, their children

497
00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:39,720
over so that their children could have a chance to see and hear the gospel.

498
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,600
It was always phenomenal results.

499
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:44,840
Phenomenal.

500
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,160
People coming to the Lord.

501
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,920
I can't tell you all the stories.

502
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:50,720
They just go on and on.

503
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:55,320
Most of those churches continued to perform it after we left because we donated all the

504
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,720
costumes and everything that they needed to perform it.

505
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,080
We donated it to them so that they could continue.

506
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,600
Many of them... There are some that are still doing it, Jody.

507
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:15,360
In fact, last Easter we had a live performance in Siberia, Yurkut, Siberia with Sasha who

508
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:20,160
played Jesus and now he's become the director and he's found a younger Jesus.

509
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:26,000
An interesting thing today, two things happened today that I think it's really remarkable

510
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,400
and fits in with this interview.

511
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,360
You asked me what were the effects, what happened?

512
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,940
The first thing that happened today was I got all of these pictures sent to me through

513
00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:40,360
messenger from Kathmandu, Nepal.

514
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:47,020
We trained a team there and the leader of that team that we assigned, her name was Karmu,

515
00:33:47,020 --> 00:33:50,160
she became a full-time missionary.

516
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:56,760
She's been working as a team director of the production since 2000.

517
00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:02,760
It's weird, it's 22 years later and she's still doing it and she's done it in different

518
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:03,760
cities.

519
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:04,760
She said, we want to be missionaries.

520
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:10,160
So they moved to North India from Kathmandu to North India so they could reach the people

521
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:16,180
in the gargling tea gardens where there's so much human trafficking and horrific things

522
00:34:16,180 --> 00:34:21,360
going on with parents selling their children just enough money to buy food.

523
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,680
Terrible things and so they have been missionaries.

524
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:29,780
She emailed me the beginning of this year and she said, Marie, I want to take this production

525
00:34:29,780 --> 00:34:31,840
to the village where I was raised.

526
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,880
Now she was raised in a Buddhist village and her father was the Buddhist priest of this

527
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,960
village way up in the Himalayas.

528
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:44,000
He was also a Sherpa, which is the Sherpa guides that take the teams to climb Everest.

529
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,480
He was a Sherpa guide, but he was a Buddhist priest.

530
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:52,640
And so when she accepted the Lord, it wasn't because of us, it was some other evangelistic

531
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:54,600
team, she accepted the Lord.

532
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,200
They kicked her out of the village.

533
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,760
They refused to have anything to do with her.

534
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,640
This was 23 years ago.

535
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,900
This morning she sent me pictures of their team.

536
00:35:03,900 --> 00:35:10,560
They're training a brand new team in her village in Kathmandu where she was kicked out of to

537
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:11,800
perform the production.

538
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:12,800
Wow.

539
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,200
So people there are willing to actually do the production now.

540
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:17,200
Yeah.

541
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:18,200
Yeah.

542
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,600
You know, it's like God is just putting the spirit of boldness and you know, it's, you

543
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,400
cannot stop the gospel being spread.

544
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,960
You just cannot stop it.

545
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,960
In fact, persecution actually speeds it up.

546
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:30,960
Yeah.

547
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,320
So she's in Karmouz, she's now got a teenage daughter and she's married and she's directing

548
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:36,320
this team.

549
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,280
And then the second thing that happened was, do you remember Nancy and Bill Brown?

550
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:45,280
Bill was the Dean of the School of Communications at Regent and Nancy was in the production.

551
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,360
Well, Nancy was the adulterous woman in the production.

552
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:54,160
She had two teenage daughters that started their roles in the play.

553
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:55,240
Actually they weren't any teens yet.

554
00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:56,960
I think they were preteens.

555
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:01,940
So these two daughters were in the production as young children along with their mother.

556
00:36:01,940 --> 00:36:06,600
Both of them are in full time ministry still, but one of the daughters is now in a church

557
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:17,240
in Wisconsin and she and her husband are reproducing the original stage production of the play in

558
00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:18,400
Wisconsin.

559
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:25,800
So today we sent a huge trailer full of all of the props that we have left over from when

560
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,400
we did it in Tidewater.

561
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,560
Costumes, props, set pieces.

562
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:36,240
We shoved everything in and we sent it to her because she is now writing her original

563
00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:42,400
version of The Man Called Jesus, which is going to be featured this coming Easter.

564
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,080
So that's a second generation.

565
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:48,720
So we have second generation here in the United States, second and third generations in the

566
00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:50,560
world in the 1040 window.

567
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:51,560
Wow.

568
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:52,560
And it's just-

569
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,440
You just never know what God is going to do when you're just obedient.

570
00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:01,200
He gave you this little vision of writing a play for your church, your small church in

571
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:07,120
Canada and in obedience, God just breathed on it and took it everywhere.

572
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,400
And then there was the prophetic word of the man from Nigeria, Nihimahalabi.

573
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:16,480
He said that one day people from thousands, you say hundreds of thousands of people all

574
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,000
over the world will see this.

575
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:22,360
That was almost too good to believe, but you know, it's the greatest story on earth.

576
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:28,680
It's the best story that's ever been told and so many people, especially even now in

577
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:29,880
our own country.

578
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:34,640
I was talking to somebody today who works in the Chesapeake school system in Virginia

579
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:35,640
here.

580
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:41,600
She said she was not permitted to take an activity set into her classroom because it

581
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:47,400
violated the law of the land to bring an activity set.

582
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:52,640
And so she had to take it home and she said half of her class had never heard of Jesus

583
00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:57,560
before, had never seen an activity set, didn't even know what it was.

584
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:58,560
Wow.

585
00:37:58,560 --> 00:37:59,560
That's right here in Virginia.

586
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:00,560
Yeah.

587
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,360
And we're a little bit in the Bible belt.

588
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:03,360
Yep.

589
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,200
Home to the Christian Broadcasting Network and right here in Chesapeake.

590
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,640
And that's why we see so much despair in our young people.

591
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:15,220
I mean, you know, our young people are suicidal and they're searching for identity and they

592
00:38:15,220 --> 00:38:20,120
need to meet the one who created them and gave them a purpose in life.

593
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:24,720
So during COVID, live performances just about everywhere were canceled.

594
00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:29,120
How did that impact you personally, the production?

595
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:33,720
Well it impacted all of our teams around the world, obviously, because it was a pandemic.

596
00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:37,380
But yeah, everybody had to shut down and be very, very careful.

597
00:38:37,380 --> 00:38:38,760
So everybody hunkered down.

598
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:47,120
The teams that were in the most difficult areas where supplies were not getting through.

599
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,440
And I mean, it was just really tragic.

600
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:51,900
It was really tragic.

601
00:38:51,900 --> 00:39:00,160
And we had already stopped holding the major Easter production here in Virginia because

602
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:04,580
the man who played Jesus for 23 years turned 64.

603
00:39:04,580 --> 00:39:09,160
And he said, Marie, I would give my heart to do this for the rest of my life.

604
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,200
But he said, I cannot do it anymore.

605
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,600
And it was hard to find the Jesus to replace him.

606
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:21,240
So at that point, we just shut down the local production and we focused on our teams that

607
00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:23,200
were international.

608
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,360
So but obviously, we couldn't do much of anything.

609
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:31,120
We raised as much money as we could to help the teams that were in the hardest reach places.

610
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:32,840
It was a difficult time for everybody.

611
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:40,800
It was a difficult time, just lots of prayer, lots of seeking the Lord as to how to deal

612
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:41,800
with it all.

613
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,520
Every year that I recall, you actually were able to videotape the production.

614
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:56,000
The last production we did on the big stage here in Virginia was filmed by a crew of four

615
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:57,680
high definition cameras.

616
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:01,260
And we made a film of the stage production.

617
00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:08,480
And we had a partnership with the Christian Broadcasting International Network that if

618
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:14,680
they would help me to put it into the languages that they broadcast in, that I would give

619
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:19,360
them the rights to broadcast it each Christmas and each Easter free of charge.

620
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:20,360
Wow.

621
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:21,840
It's a two and a half hour production.

622
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,720
So that would cost them a lot if they had to pay the rights for that.

623
00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:31,840
But we put it into Arabic, put it into Arabic, Mandarin, gosh, eight languages during COVID

624
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:32,840
years.

625
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:40,720
That was one thing was that it was still being used on various platforms of broadband, broadcasting,

626
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:42,320
and social media.

627
00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:47,360
That was one thing that the Lord had had us put it in film, not knowing anything about

628
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,220
the pandemic coming.

629
00:40:49,220 --> 00:40:50,280
So interesting.

630
00:40:50,280 --> 00:41:00,080
You are ahead of the game again, because the big thing now is for live theater to be broadcast

631
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:01,080
live on TV.

632
00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:06,620
I mean, you've seen The Sound of Music has been done and several other shows.

633
00:41:06,620 --> 00:41:12,420
But the Lord had you do The Man Called Jesus before any of that was happening here.

634
00:41:12,420 --> 00:41:15,440
My vision was to start with China.

635
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,900
I had such a burden on my heart to put it into the Mandarin language.

636
00:41:19,900 --> 00:41:24,960
But I couldn't figure out how to do it as a stage production that took place in the

637
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:33,660
United States with all Western actors and have it meaningful to the Asian culture.

638
00:41:33,660 --> 00:41:38,600
But CBN had already agreed that if we could make the film and if we could get it translated

639
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:42,760
into Mandarin, of course, I oversaw all of the translations.

640
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,160
And it wasn't just dubbed.

641
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,760
All the actors were dubbed.

642
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,680
So the man who played Jesus, it was a live voice.

643
00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,480
All the actors had their voices dubbed over.

644
00:41:54,480 --> 00:42:00,000
The thing that the Lord showed me was that, OK, it's an American production, but it's

645
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,440
going to be shown in China.

646
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,880
Have some Asian faces there on the front row.

647
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:12,240
So we invited the Christian outreach group at Old Dominion University that worked with

648
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:17,920
the Chinese foreign students, and they had been bringing them to churches and witnessing

649
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:18,920
to them.

650
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:24,680
So we invited them to bring as many Asian people that they could to that year's production

651
00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:26,320
that we were going to film.

652
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,320
And we sat them on the front row.

653
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:32,040
I said, you know, what we're going to do is we're going to we're going to film them watching

654
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:38,240
it and then we're going to get the testimony of one of them afterwards as to what it was

655
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:46,080
like to be an Asian in America watching a volunteer production on the life of Christ

656
00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:48,880
put on by Western actors.

657
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:55,160
So the woman that we that we were led to do the speaking at the end of the play when the

658
00:42:55,160 --> 00:43:03,400
message was given, Jody, she ran up on the stage and accepted Jesus as her save, completely

659
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:05,960
unscripted.

660
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:10,720
She just ran to the stage and she was weeping.

661
00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:16,280
The actors were all weeping because they knew exactly what our vision was and why we wanted

662
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:17,800
all those Asian actors there.

663
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,640
And they everybody grabbed her and put their arms around her.

664
00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:22,960
And she was crying.

665
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,760
She later, she said, she couldn't talk that night.

666
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:30,640
So she said, give me a couple of weeks to absorb what happened to me tonight.

667
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,600
So later we recorded her for 45 minutes.

668
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:42,640
She spoke nonstop about what it meant for her to see a live production on the life of

669
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:47,520
Christ, this Christ that she didn't even know.

670
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,960
And God, he thoroughly worked through her.

671
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,760
And then we would we would hear her testimony.

672
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:59,480
She spoke nonstop with no notes for 45 minutes on what that night meant to her and how it

673
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,280
changed her life.

674
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:06,920
So we would, you know, we would show her her testimony and then back and forth to the scenes

675
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:08,540
that she was mentioning.

676
00:44:08,540 --> 00:44:11,200
And then we'd show the close ups of her in the audience.

677
00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:17,760
And so that became the B role, if you call it, or the package that went along with the

678
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:19,000
two and a half hour film.

679
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:20,360
It was her testimony.

680
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:23,880
And that was actually broadcast in China.

681
00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:24,880
Yeah.

682
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:27,320
And probably still is being broadcast every year.

683
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:33,880
We don't get the reports like we used to, because what happens when you give away, you

684
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:39,960
give up all the intellectual property of something like that, and you never know where it's going

685
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:40,960
to go.

686
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:48,240
We also gave the rights to all of the stations in every country that we that we broadcasted

687
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:54,000
in to make their copies, to distribute DVDs, to do whatever they wanted with it, because

688
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:55,800
it was all about the gospel getting out.

689
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:59,240
And I held all the copyrights to everything, even the music.

690
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,520
So I didn't have to worry about that.

691
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:02,920
Yeah, you just gave it all away.

692
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:07,840
And you know, when you give to God, God gives back in so many ways.

693
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,240
He showered his goodness on you in many ways.

694
00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:13,480
And one of them actually involves your house.

695
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:15,420
Share how that came about.

696
00:45:15,420 --> 00:45:21,320
When you moved from Canada, you were living in an apartment and you had a dream of a beautiful

697
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:22,320
home.

698
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:28,040
We had a prophetic word before we left Canada from one of the pastors.

699
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:36,960
And he said, I see you and Joseph living in a place where there's water surrounding everything.

700
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:42,200
And I actually see you living on that water.

701
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:45,400
Well, he didn't know anything about where we were going.

702
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:47,800
We weren't even sure if it was going to be Virginia.

703
00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:49,600
We were looking at other states.

704
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:54,440
When we flew into Virginia for the first time, all we could see was water.

705
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:57,880
You know, this is a huge basin, the Chesapeake Bay.

706
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:04,120
I mean, if you're coming into Virginia Beach, especially, you're water everywhere.

707
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:09,560
And I looked at Joe and I said, you know what, I think this is where we're supposed to stay.

708
00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:11,920
But there were other confirmations as well.

709
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:17,920
And then God knew that I always wanted to live on the water, period.

710
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:24,080
And so we had been here for about a year and a half and we had already started with the

711
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,520
play production on that beginning level.

712
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:31,520
A neighbor of mine said, Maria, there's a house for sale in my neighborhood that I think

713
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:33,240
you might be interested in.

714
00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:36,400
So we got permission because it wasn't on the market yet.

715
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:38,360
We got permission to come in and see this house.

716
00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:40,080
It's just a little tiny ranch.

717
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:45,360
I mean, it's not even 1700 square feet, but it was right on the water.

718
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:49,280
It had this huge deck across the back and when I walked down to that deck and saw the

719
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:53,520
beautiful water and had sunset, we had the sunset every night over the water.

720
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,520
And that was another one of my dreams.

721
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:57,520
I love sunsets over water.

722
00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:01,680
I walked down to the back of that deck and I said, Lord, and I actually started crying.

723
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:07,800
I said, Lord, I don't know how in the world we could ever afford this, but I promise you

724
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,560
that if you give us this home to live in, that we will use it to your glory for as long

725
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,080
as we live there.

726
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:16,080
Three of things happened.

727
00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:17,080
It came on the market.

728
00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:18,920
We didn't have the money for it.

729
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:21,200
And then the Lord gave me a prophetic dream about it.

730
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:27,760
And I saw him literally pick up the foundation, the earth underneath the house and lift up

731
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,640
the dirt with the house in it.

732
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:33,600
And he gave it to me in a dream.

733
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,120
And we had done a Jericho march around it.

734
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:40,600
Just we thought, well, we'll do everything that we know to do and let's just believe

735
00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:42,160
for a miracle.

736
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:46,520
In six months, we were moving in and it's all just one God thing after another.

737
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:47,600
And we're still here.

738
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:50,960
You have used that house for his glory.

739
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:55,840
All of our production meetings, my husband has formed an international Christian coaching

740
00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:59,000
organization that goes all over the world as well.

741
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,840
He's got trained coaches in I don't know how many countries.

742
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:05,800
I lost track of that.

743
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,480
But yeah, it's all it's all happened here.

744
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:10,760
And he of course, he's still with Regent University.

745
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:17,600
But the side ministries that God has given us both have literally been birthed right

746
00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:18,600
here in this in this home.

747
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:21,000
Yeah, it's like an open heaven there for you, huh?

748
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:22,000
Yeah.

749
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:27,240
And we've had so many prayer meetings here, so many worship services, so many, you name

750
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:28,560
it, we've had it here.

751
00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:30,400
You love hospitality too.

752
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:31,680
That's another one of your gifts.

753
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:38,560
And you know, hospitality is such an underrated gift, but it's listed in it's listed in the

754
00:48:38,560 --> 00:48:40,600
Bible as a gift of the spirit.

755
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:41,760
It is.

756
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:43,800
So what have you seen God do through that?

757
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:48,480
I mean, we've talked for a long time about what God's done through the play.

758
00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:53,400
But individually, I'm sure you've seen lives transformed even just through the your gift

759
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:55,560
of hospitality and opening your home.

760
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:58,640
That one's probably a little harder to define.

761
00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:02,400
Because hospitality is just something you do from your heart.

762
00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:05,400
You don't always see results from it.

763
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:11,400
But I know one thing, when people come into my home, I welcome them as if they're the

764
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,040
most important people that could step through my door.

765
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:16,800
I want to feed them the best food.

766
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:18,360
I want to be gracious to them.

767
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,440
I want to give them the best place seating at the table.

768
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:30,600
I want to honor the fact that that they're here because God planned for this to be the

769
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:36,960
house where we would entertain, where we would show our love, where we would share our stories.

770
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:43,080
And we had many fundraising banquets here in this little tiny house when I only had

771
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:48,680
eight chairs to put people around and we would borrow chairs and, you know, we would just

772
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:52,920
feed them the best meal we could share the vision of Christ.

773
00:49:52,920 --> 00:50:01,120
And so that warmth, you know, that human warmth, that letting people know that they are important

774
00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:02,840
to God.

775
00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:06,140
And not everybody has the gift of hospitality.

776
00:50:06,140 --> 00:50:08,560
So not everybody can be comfortable doing that.

777
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:09,960
No, it is a gift.

778
00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:10,960
My mother has it.

779
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:15,360
I mean, you walk into her home and you just feel like you are part of the family.

780
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:18,260
I mean, I am part of her family, but everybody who goes to their home feels like they're

781
00:50:18,260 --> 00:50:19,260
part of the family.

782
00:50:19,260 --> 00:50:23,120
So, you know, we have a huge family of everyone who's ever gone into my parents' house because

783
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:24,120
they do.

784
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:26,560
They just wrap their arms around everyone who comes in.

785
00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:31,740
I remember when we first started pastoring and I wanted to have everybody over for Sunday

786
00:50:31,740 --> 00:50:36,480
lunch after church because I just, I was raised in a big family and that's what we did.

787
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:42,680
We all got together after church on Sunday for lunch, Catholic church.

788
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:45,040
And they were like, what?

789
00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:48,040
We've never been invited to a meal at the pastor's house.

790
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:53,120
And some of them were even afraid to come because it's like, we've never been in the

791
00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:56,400
parsonage for anything.

792
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:58,280
But you know, that was then.

793
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:02,040
And you know, hospitality can be in many forms.

794
00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,760
You don't have to necessarily open up your home.

795
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:12,240
Sometimes you can just show love in very simple ways, like giving somebody a gift, you know,

796
00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:17,400
bringing over a hot pie, bringing over some homemade fudge or some homemade cookies.

797
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:20,560
I'm not particularly a baker, so I don't do much of that.

798
00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:25,360
But you know, there are so many ways that we can love people and show the love of Christ

799
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:27,040
through the simplest things.

800
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:35,840
And since COVID really separated so many of us, that is, I believe, one of the most needed

801
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:41,720
gifts of the Spirit right now to operate, to bring people together, to show them they

802
00:51:41,720 --> 00:51:46,560
are, you know, that God hasn't forgotten them, that they are valued in His eyes.

803
00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:51,600
Well, Marie, do you have any non-negotiables in your life, things that have kept you grounded

804
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:54,120
in your faith and your calling through all the years?

805
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:56,440
I don't know if it's considered a non-negotiable.

806
00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:57,440
I guess it might be.

807
00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:04,160
But I went through a really difficult, difficult time when our granddaughter, Jessica, was

808
00:52:04,160 --> 00:52:10,600
she was diagnosed with a very serious progressive disease and there was no cure for it.

809
00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:16,920
And she was two years old at the time, and by the time she was six, she was in a wheelchair

810
00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:20,400
and could not move her extremities.

811
00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:21,680
She's brilliant.

812
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:30,520
She's brilliant emotionally and intelligence-wise, but her body doesn't work.

813
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:35,200
And I remember questioning God and saying, why God?

814
00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:37,480
You know, like, why?

815
00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:38,980
Why?

816
00:52:38,980 --> 00:52:42,820
Not just why me, not just why my husband, but why?

817
00:52:42,820 --> 00:52:48,400
Why did you allow such pain and suffering in this world?

818
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:51,800
And I really, it really had a hard time with it.

819
00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:59,160
And on top of having that disease and not being able to be at all mobile, she went through

820
00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:06,680
a very serious operation and she suffered a lot in the hospital from pain from that

821
00:53:06,680 --> 00:53:10,640
operation that had nothing to do with the SMA, the disease that she had.

822
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,080
It was completely separate.

823
00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:15,480
So it was another thing on top of the other thing.

824
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:23,400
And I just about went crazy one night because I said, God, I don't know if you still heal.

825
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:29,440
I really don't know if it's your will to heal everybody that we pray for.

826
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:37,800
But I know one thing and that is I will never stop worshiping you because I love you.

827
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:42,200
And whether you heal her or not, I will never stop praising you.

828
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:47,960
I will never stop worshiping you because where else do I turn?

829
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:55,280
But I said, you know, I don't know about this healing stuff, but I know I will never stop

830
00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:57,020
worshiping you.

831
00:53:57,020 --> 00:53:58,020
And that's what I did.

832
00:53:58,020 --> 00:54:02,160
I just painfully worshiped him through it and praised him through it.

833
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:04,480
And she never did get her healing.

834
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:08,080
But you know, Jody, I'm still believing.

835
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:14,320
And she has been the recipient of what the world is calling a miracle drug now that is

836
00:54:14,320 --> 00:54:19,540
actually stopping the progression of this disease.

837
00:54:19,540 --> 00:54:26,120
And it's only been approved by the FDA to be used in America over the last five years.

838
00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:36,480
And she was the first recipient in Virginia to receive the antidote for it.

839
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:43,440
So she's on a regular platform of injections with this miracle drug.

840
00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:47,560
And you know, so sometimes we don't get it the way we ask for it.

841
00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:50,280
Sometimes we don't get it at all.

842
00:54:50,280 --> 00:54:51,480
Sometimes we do get it.

843
00:54:51,480 --> 00:55:00,080
But God is still God and he's still worthy and he's still so worthy of our worship.

844
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:02,760
So that's an I guess that's a non-negotiable for me.

845
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:03,760
Yeah.

846
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:09,560
Well, Marie, there are so many incredible women of the Bible and their stories.

847
00:55:09,560 --> 00:55:13,080
Is there one that you can relate to more than others and why?

848
00:55:13,080 --> 00:55:14,080
Who is that and why?

849
00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:21,680
I would have to say that it's a toss up between Esther and Mary Magdalene.

850
00:55:21,680 --> 00:55:22,680
Two very different ladies.

851
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:31,600
But I guess it comes down, it would come down to Esther because the fact that she was given

852
00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:38,720
such favor by God at such a time as when she was given it, that she changed the course

853
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:43,320
of history for Israel and for the Jewish people.

854
00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:50,600
And she was born for a particular time, for a particular purpose.

855
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:53,720
And I feel like my life has been like that as well.

856
00:55:53,720 --> 00:56:00,360
I feel like I have been like Esther, like God put me here for a reason and I'm just

857
00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:01,680
not going to accept.

858
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:06,640
No, I'm just going to do as much as I can do as far as I can do it.

859
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:12,380
So she's been a real example to me because it could have cost her her life.

860
00:56:12,380 --> 00:56:17,560
And there were many times when I feared my life and the adventures that we had and the

861
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:19,280
places that we would go.

862
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:26,080
I mean, there were many, many threatening situations that we walked in, but I knew that

863
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:27,700
God had called me to that.

864
00:56:27,700 --> 00:56:29,320
So I think she would be my heroine.

865
00:56:29,320 --> 00:56:30,320
Yeah.

866
00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:34,440
She was a remarkable woman and they still celebrate her today as Purim.

867
00:56:34,440 --> 00:56:35,440
I love it.

868
00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:39,760
I love the celebration of Purim.

869
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:46,560
The gal that I was telling you about who is receiving all of the props and things tomorrow

870
00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:48,440
via the railway.

871
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:53,360
She had her fourth baby girl on Purim and she named her Esther.

872
00:56:53,360 --> 00:56:59,840
Exodus 35 verses 30 through 33 is a really interesting passage to me because it says,

873
00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:05,040
then Moses told the people of Israel, the Lord has specifically chosen Bezalel, son

874
00:57:05,040 --> 00:57:08,520
of Uriah, grandson of her of the tribe of Judah.

875
00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:12,620
The Lord has filled Bezalel with the spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability and

876
00:57:12,620 --> 00:57:15,120
expertise in all kinds of crafts.

877
00:57:15,120 --> 00:57:18,320
He is a master at every craft.

878
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:23,800
You see, God gave Bezalel those skills to build the house of the Lord, the tabernacle.

879
00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:28,240
And we've just heard how God has given Marie expertise in the arts and the love of hospitality

880
00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:33,380
and how she's been using those gifts to build up the house of the Lord as well.

881
00:57:33,380 --> 00:57:39,060
Our God, the maker of heaven and earth has so many facets of creativity and beauty.

882
00:57:39,060 --> 00:57:44,600
There are so many ways to glorify him and build his house, the church, and he's created

883
00:57:44,600 --> 00:57:49,200
and gifted you dear friend with a perfect way to do that too.

884
00:57:49,200 --> 00:57:54,960
Marie, would you take a moment and pray for everyone who listens to this podcast story?

885
00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:55,960
Thank you, Jody.

886
00:57:55,960 --> 00:57:56,960
It would be an honor.

887
00:57:56,960 --> 00:58:00,680
Father, you know who's listening and who is not listening and they may listen to it

888
00:58:00,680 --> 00:58:01,680
tomorrow.

889
00:58:01,680 --> 00:58:03,800
They may listen to it next year.

890
00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:07,640
They may listen to it two years from now.

891
00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:14,480
But your word will always be the same and your word is, fear not for I am with you.

892
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:21,480
Whatever it is that God has put in your heart to do or to say or to be or to how to function

893
00:58:21,480 --> 00:58:28,800
in your spheres of influence, I just can tell you one thing, trust the Lord.

894
00:58:28,800 --> 00:58:34,520
Don't put any excuses before him because he is so much bigger than the excuses that you

895
00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:42,200
could make for serving him in the ways that you know he's molded you and gifted you.

896
00:58:42,200 --> 00:58:45,080
And don't be afraid of small beginnings.

897
00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:46,080
Everything starts small.

898
00:58:46,080 --> 00:58:49,560
Look at the seeds that we plant in our gardens.

899
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:56,600
I'm always amazed that I can put in a tiny, tiny little seed and get a great big collard

900
00:58:56,600 --> 00:58:59,320
plant or spinach plant.

901
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:01,760
It always amazes me.

902
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:05,680
God's seed in you is good seed.

903
00:59:05,680 --> 00:59:14,200
And I encourage you to keep it well watered, to keep it nourished, to feed it in such a

904
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:18,760
way that Holy Spirit can have his way in you.

905
00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:24,440
Whatever age you are, it doesn't really matter because God can use you at any age or stage

906
00:59:24,440 --> 00:59:25,440
of your life.

907
00:59:25,440 --> 00:59:30,000
So I pray for you today that you'll have the courage to be like an Esther among your spheres

908
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:35,680
of influence in your family, in your church, in your community, in your school, in the

909
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:37,320
office where you work.

910
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:45,240
Wherever it is, you have influence because the Lord God is in you and his power is at

911
00:59:45,240 --> 00:59:47,080
work in you.

912
00:59:47,080 --> 00:59:48,560
You don't have to be in a church.

913
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:53,440
You can be in a movie theater selling tickets and have influence over the people that buy

914
00:59:53,440 --> 00:59:59,440
the tickets from you by blessing them, saying, God bless you, God loves you, doing something

915
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:06,560
that makes them feel like a real human being who is loved by somebody else and loved by

916
01:00:06,560 --> 01:00:07,560
God.

917
01:00:07,560 --> 01:00:11,160
So I just encourage you and I bless you.

918
01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:16,200
Even though I've never met you, I know you're a sister in the Lord and I love you.

919
01:00:16,200 --> 01:00:18,520
In Jesus' name, amen.

920
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:19,660
Thank you for tuning in.

921
01:00:19,660 --> 01:00:24,200
In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and other information we talked

922
01:00:24,200 --> 01:00:25,200
about today.

923
01:00:25,200 --> 01:00:30,800
And don't forget to sign up for periodic emails and download a free six-week devotional book

924
01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:31,800
on Women of the Bible.

925
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:33,660
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926
01:00:33,660 --> 01:00:38,460
Or you could purchase a 12-week devotional for just $12 with all the proceeds going to

927
01:00:38,460 --> 01:00:40,580
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928
01:00:40,580 --> 01:00:45,480
And join our growing company of women with a gift today to our Widows and Orphan Fund

929
01:00:45,480 --> 01:00:46,480
at hergodstory.org.

930
01:00:46,480 --> 01:00:50,960
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931
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:58,000
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932
01:00:58,000 --> 01:01:01,960
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933
01:01:01,960 --> 01:01:05,800
And be sure to like or follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

934
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And now, dear friends, I leave you with a blessing from Psalm 90 verse 17.

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May the favor of the Lord our God rest on you, establishing the work of your hands.

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Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.