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Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC202212S
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00:35 ♪♪ 00:43 >> Welcome to It Is Written 00:44 Canada. 00:45 Thank you for joining us. 00:47 Our special guest is Ernst 00:48 Breitkreuz who called me one 00:51 day and shared his story of how 00:54 he saw God lead him through 00:56 many happy years from childhood 00:59 to his married life with 01:01 children and grandchildren. 01:03 But then he faced an inner pain 01:06 and a depth of grief that he 01:08 could never have imagined. 01:11 >> Ernst will share with us 01:13 today how he managed to face 01:15 those trials. 01:17 Ernst, welcome to It Is Written 01:20 Canada. 01:21 >> Thank you so much, Mike and 01:23 René, for having me. 01:25 I've been looking forward to 01:26 this day and, by the way, just 01:28 call me Ernie. 01:30 >> So, Ernie, you are from 01:32 Sicamous, BC, beautiful place, 01:34 but you weren't always there. 01:36 Tell us of where you come from 01:38 and about your family. 01:40 >> Oh, certainly. 01:42 We're an immigrant family. 01:43 We came from Germany in 1949 01:46 after the Second World War, my 01:49 older siblings were all born in 01:50 Germany and I was born three 01:53 years later. 01:54 Somewhat in the middle of the 01:56 pack I have five older siblings 01:58 and four younger and it was a 02:02 bit of a struggle growing up at 02:04 times, getting into the English 02:06 language, but we worked at it 02:10 and progressed in it and after 02:14 a number of years we became 02:16 fluent and efficient and it 02:18 worked well for us. 02:19 And I grew up very much a 02:22 Canadian, but in a German 02:24 culture, so to say, because we 02:27 spoke German at home, we ate 02:29 German, we dressed German, and 02:31 we had German haircuts. 02:33 But it was great, we did learn 02:35 to fit in. 02:37 It was good. 02:38 >> So tell us about meeting 02:40 your wife, Darcy. 02:43 >> I kind of always knew about 02:45 her because of her coming back 02:47 forth to Saskatchewan and her 02:48 family, but I specifically 02:50 recall this one summer she was 02:54 back and she was 16 and we were 02:56 at a youth function at the 02:57 church and I was reintroduced 02:59 to her and I remember thinking, 03:01 "Hey, hey, hey!" 03:03 But we just spent time together 03:08 and just hung out and just 03:12 enjoyed each other's company. 03:14 And then after high school, she 03:17 decided to go to Bible college 03:18 in Saskatchewan for a couple of 03:20 years and during her time at 03:22 Bible college, I would go and 03:23 visit her on the weekends that 03:25 I could and we fell in love 03:26 when she was in Bible college 03:28 and we knew that we wanted to 03:29 spend our time together. 03:31 And so after she finished Bible 03:33 college, she wanted to go back 03:35 to BC to do her nurses training 03:38 and she did, so that was a 03:40 corporate decision we made that 03:42 we would do a long-distance 03:44 relationship. 03:45 After that, we were married in 03:47 1975 in a little place called 03:49 Springside, Saskatchewan and 03:52 she made me the happiest man on 03:54 earth at that time. 03:56 And together we have three 03:59 children, a daughter and two 04:02 sons and right now I have five 04:05 grandchildren, three boys and 04:08 an adorable little girl. 04:11 [MIKE] That is so wonderful. 04:13 Now those were happy years, the 04:15 last six and a half haven't 04:16 been the happiest years 04:18 for you. 04:20 >> Oh, that's so true, Mike, 04:22 yeah, the last-- it's coming on 04:24 to just about seven years now, 04:25 but yeah, it's been a difficult 04:28 journey, a difficult season 04:30 for me. 04:31 In the summer of 2013, my wife 04:35 became ill and that would start 04:38 a circuit of medical things 04:40 from doctors, from clinics to-- 04:43 we started out in Salmon Arm 04:45 and Vernon and Kelowna and 04:46 Vancouver and that was a very 04:49 difficult time and all to no 04:51 avail. 04:53 And in June of 2014, June 29, 04:57 to be exact, in 2014, my wife 05:00 passed away. 05:03 That was tough. 05:04 We would have been married 39 05:06 years that August. 05:08 And after she passed, I just 05:12 had a very difficult time, even 05:14 with my faith. 05:16 And I can't say that, today, I 05:18 don't know if I would say that 05:19 I was angry with God, but I was 05:22 certainly frustrated and 05:23 disappointed and had a lot of 05:25 questions and I started the 05:29 next three years after that, I 05:31 just started doing a lot of arm 05:33 wrestling with God about the-- 05:35 what went wrong. 05:37 What did I do wrong, what did 05:38 she do wrong, what did we do 05:40 wrong together, what could we 05:42 have done differently? 05:44 And so I'd ask God a lot of 05:45 questions. 05:46 It probably took me eight 05:48 months before I could really 05:50 even pick up my Bible again and 05:52 get back into 05:54 Bible-reading and-- 05:55 [MIKE] Very painful time. 05:57 [ERNIE] It was a very, very 05:58 difficult season for us, for me. 06:02 Very hard journey to go 06:04 through. 06:05 But, just allow me to say this, 06:08 my children were amazing to me 06:11 through that time, helping me, 06:13 and I gotta just say, my 06:17 children, I am so blessed, they 06:19 are-- I have three children, I 06:21 mentioned earlier, they're all 06:22 walking with the Lord, they 06:24 have wonderful, Godly partners, 06:26 and they were beside me, 06:28 walking through that journey 06:29 with me. 06:31 >> That's really encouraging 06:32 because I could only imagine 06:35 how painful and how lonely you 06:38 must have been without Darcy 06:40 because you obviously loved her 06:42 dearly and-- but at least you 06:45 had-- you were blessed with 06:47 three children and those 06:49 children were able to carry you 06:50 through that painful time and 06:53 so they were probably a reason 06:55 why you could still move 06:56 forward even if it was very 06:58 painful. 07:00 >> Oh, absolutely, yeah, it's-- 07:03 I mean, I could go into story 07:05 after story about how my 07:07 children-- and I always felt 07:09 that I was-- I ran my own 07:10 business, I was a leader, I 07:12 was-- I pushed forward and all 07:14 of a sudden one day, I was 07:18 leaning on my children. 07:20 And I remember the incident, 07:22 the day after my wife passed 07:24 and we were driving to Salmon 07:26 Arm and we had to make some 07:27 arrangements at the funeral 07:29 home and my son was driving. 07:30 I looked over to him and I 07:32 said, "Ross," I said, "Did Mom 07:33 pass away? Did Mom die?" 07:36 And he looked at me, he says, 07:37 "She did, Dad." 07:39 And it was-- just there's so 07:42 much surreal stuff that you 07:44 can't hardly wrap your mind 07:45 around all of those things. 07:46 [MIKE] Hard to believe. 07:49 And so that was the most 07:52 painful thing for you and then 07:56 four years later, you had 07:58 another tragedy that happened 08:00 in your life. 08:02 >> Oh, this one just about-- 08:04 yeah. 08:05 It was a very difficult time, 08:06 just about put me over the 08:08 edge. 08:09 I've got some toys, I've got 08:10 these things called a 08:11 side-by-side, it's a recreation 08:13 vehicle and we take it up the 08:14 mountain. 08:15 Anyways, my grandson, Joshua, 08:18 who came with me and we had 08:20 decided that we were gonna take 08:22 this machine up the mountain 08:23 for the last time of the 08:25 season, it was just to the end 08:26 of September to beginning of 08:27 October, and so we put it on 08:28 the trailer and we trailered to 08:30 the foot of the mountain which 08:31 is probably only six minutes 08:32 from the house. 08:34 We started up the mountain and 08:36 we got to probably about the 26 08:37 kilometre range and we 08:40 decided-- it was starting to 08:42 get later in the afternoon and 08:44 I said, "We need to get back 08:45 before it gets dark," and so we 08:47 started turning around in the 08:48 middle of the road and he was 08:50 driving and he took a sharp 08:53 turn and over-accelerated and 08:55 the machine came around, and as 08:57 the back end of the machine 08:59 came around, it caught a rut 09:00 and it started flipping toward 09:02 my side and I had a split 09:06 second decision to make: either 09:08 I will jump from the machine or 09:11 I will stay with the machine 09:12 and perhaps have it roll over 09:14 top of me and crush me. 09:15 So I jumped and I cleared the 09:18 machine, but my right foot 09:21 stayed behind and it-- the 09:23 machine landed on my right leg, 09:25 came to rest on my right foot. 09:28 >> What about Joshua? 09:30 Like, you were able to jump 09:32 out, but you mentioned your 09:34 right foot got stuck, so what 09:36 hap-- what was Josh's reaction? 09:39 >> Well, the blessing of it 09:42 was, for him, he was driving 09:44 and he had a belt on and he was 09:46 buckled in, and the blessing 09:48 for me was that I wasn't 09:50 buckled in. 09:51 Had I been buckled in, the 09:53 machine would have landed on 09:54 top of me, but I wasn't and 09:57 that allowed me to clear the 10:00 machine when it started 10:02 rolling over. 10:03 >> So you look down and you see 10:05 that your leg is pinned 10:07 underneath this machine. 10:09 What were your thoughts? 10:13 >> Yeah, that was hard when the 10:18 machine came to rest and I 10:20 noticed, well I knew it had 10:23 landed on my foot because the 10:24 pain was so excruciating. 10:26 I felt like I was gonna faint, 10:28 but I'd gotten myself together 10:30 and then I noticed that-- I saw 10:34 the stream of blood coming out 10:35 from underneath the machine 10:37 'cause I was bleeding so bad 10:38 and I thought, "OK, I'm in 10:39 serious trouble here." 10:41 >> So Joshua, what did he do? 10:42 He saw this happen, 10:44 but he was safe. 10:45 [ERNIE] Josh was fine, nothing 10:46 happened to him, but he went 10:48 hysterical, he started 10:50 screaming and turning circles 10:52 and apologizing, "Opa, I'm 10:54 sorry," and then he said he was 10:56 gonna run down the road to get 10:58 help and we were 26 kilometres 11:00 up the mountain and I thought, 11:01 "Oh my goodness, if he runs 11:03 away on me, I will not make it 11:06 down this mountain alive 11:08 today," so I screamed is all I 11:10 had, finally got his attention 11:12 to bring it back and he came 11:13 back and then he was able to 11:15 take instructions. 11:17 And I said, "Josh, you need to 11:19 lift this machine to get my 11:20 foot out from underneath of it 11:22 so I can see," and so he was 11:25 able to lift it and I got my 11:27 leg out from underneath the 11:29 machine and I could see that I 11:30 was in serious trouble. 11:32 And I said to Josh, I says, 11:34 "Josh, somehow, we need to be 11:37 able to get this machine 11:38 upright because if we don't, 11:40 Opa's gonna die on this 11:41 mountain today." 11:43 So he started lifting it and I 11:45 can't tell you folks, I didn't 11:47 see any angels, but there's no 11:49 possible way that he could have 11:50 lifted that machine. 11:52 He started lifting and I slid 11:53 myself closer to the machine 11:55 and I was pushing on the side 11:56 of the machine, he was lifting, 11:57 and we got that machine 11:59 uprighted and it was just, it 12:01 was a miracle that we even got 12:02 that thing uprighted. 12:04 >> And then you got it going? 12:06 >> We did, yeah, we did. 12:08 And that was another thing to 12:10 get that thing started. 12:12 That was my next concern and I 12:14 was bleeding quite bad. 12:17 But I had taken industrial 12:19 first-aid course many years 12:20 before that and when the 12:22 accident happened, it'd be 12:23 surprising how quickly some of 12:25 that came back and I knew what 12:27 to do and I said to Josh, I 12:28 says, "Josh, you need to help 12:30 me into this vehicle." 12:32 So he got me into the 12:33 vehicle and I was able to tie 12:36 it off to some degree and then 12:38 I took my elbow and I brought 12:40 my knee up into my elbow and I 12:42 just pulled it into my chest 12:44 and then with my dangling foot, 12:47 with my left hand, I held my 12:49 dangling foot and I said to 12:51 Josh, I says, "Josh, throw all 12:53 the supplies on the back," so 12:55 he threw the supplies on the 12:56 back of the vehicle and then I 12:58 remember saying, "Lord, if 12:59 there's ever an angel moment, 13:01 let this be one," because if 13:04 that machine didn't start, I'm 13:05 still in trouble. 13:07 And he turned that key and I 13:08 think that thing turned over 13:09 twice and it was running and I 13:11 really thought for the first 13:13 time, I thought, "You know 13:14 what, I just might make it down 13:16 this hill alive today." 13:19 >> And so then, so now you got 13:21 the machine started and you're 13:22 starting to go down, so did 13:25 you-- were you able to get 13:27 help? 13:27 Like, how did you get help? 13:29 How did you call 911, like... 13:32 >> We were out of cell range, 13:33 there was no cell service and 13:35 so I said to Josh at the time, 13:37 I said, "Josh, on the straight 13:39 stretch, you've gotta put this 13:41 thing to the floor because 13:43 Opa's in trouble and slow down 13:45 on the corners, otherwise if we 13:46 roll this thing again, 13:48 that's it." 13:49 So we got down to about the 16 13:50 kilometre range and we finally 13:52 got cell service and we stopped 13:54 and called 911 and explained to 13:57 them what had happened and that 14:00 I would need help because I was 14:02 losing a lot of blood and that 14:04 we needed an ambulance at the 14:05 foot of the mountain. 14:07 And I remember as I was talking 14:08 to them, I was starting to feel 14:09 faint and I thought, "Oh no, 14:11 here I go." 14:12 And so I quickly summoned Josh, 14:13 I said, "Josh, get some water 14:14 quickly," so he grabbed me a 14:16 bottle of water and I took a 14:17 couple sips, I poured the rest 14:18 over my head and on myself and 14:20 it actually rallied me enough 14:22 that we were able to make it 14:24 down. 14:25 And as we got to the foot of 14:26 the mountain, sure enough the 14:28 ambulance was waiting for me 14:29 and the attendants, they-- 14:32 and by the time I got there, I 14:33 was trembling, I went-- I had 14:35 gone into shock and the 14:37 paramedics, those people are 14:40 fabulous, and they threw some 14:42 blankets on me and they 14:43 stabilized my leg and I didn't 14:45 know at the time, but the 14:46 paramedic helicopter was 14:48 waiting on the ball diamond 14:49 because it couldn't land, it 14:50 was too many trees there, and 14:52 so they got me off to the 14:53 helicopter and got me into 14:54 Kamloops. 14:55 [MIKE] So you got to Kamloops 14:57 and when you finally came to, 15:00 what was the news? 15:02 >> Well, I don't remember, I 15:03 don't recall any of the trip 15:05 going to Kamloops, I don't 15:06 recall any of that, I don't 15:07 recall getting out of the-- the 15:09 only thing I remember is being 15:11 woken up in the hospital at 15:13 Kamloops and the paramedic was 15:15 standing over me and he said, 15:17 "Just wanna let you know, 15:18 you're in Kamloops, you're in 15:19 the hospital, you'll be fine, 15:21 we had to give you some blood 15:22 products in flight because your 15:26 vital signs had started to go 15:28 down," 'cause I'd lost so much 15:29 blood, and then the doctor was 15:31 standing there and he said, 15:33 "I've already had a look at 15:35 your foot and we should 15:36 probably amputate your foot." 15:38 And I said, "Oh, Doc, 15:40 please..." 15:44 And I begged him, and then he 15:46 said, "OK," he says, "that's 15:48 fine," he said, "We'll do what 15:50 we can." 15:51 I went into surgery and it was 15:54 probably about a three-hour 15:55 surgery and they tried to save 15:57 the leg, they stabilized it and 15:58 they pinned it and clamped it 16:00 and did everything trying to 16:01 save the foot. 16:02 >> And eventually, did you end 16:05 up losing the foot? 16:07 >> I did, yeah. 16:08 They tried desperately over the 16:11 next three days, I had two 16:13 major surgeries, probably spent 16:15 ten hours or more on trying to 16:17 save the foot and after the 16:19 second surgery, the doctors 16:21 came in and we had several 16:23 meetings back and forth, and I 16:25 can't say enough about the 16:27 team of doctors that I had, 16:28 they were fabulous, but after 16:30 the second surgery, and 16:32 probably had spent ten, twelve 16:33 hours on surgeries at the time 16:35 and he came back in and he 16:36 said, "Ernie, you're not gonna 16:38 walk on that anymore. 16:39 That foot, we did what we 16:42 could, but that foot's not 16:44 gonna function for you 16:45 anymore." 16:47 And so we made a collective 16:49 decision that it was the time 16:52 to take the foot and so my boys 16:55 were there and we... 16:59 ...had a cry... 17:02 ...and October the 7th of 2018 I 17:06 went into surgery that morning 17:08 and I had my foot amputated 8 17:10 inches below my knee. 17:14 >> So how did you feel going 17:16 through all of that now? 17:18 >> I started to go down a very, 17:20 very dark path and Satan was 17:24 playing tricks in my mind and 17:26 saying, "Oh, you know that when 17:29 you leave here, you're not 17:31 going to be walking like you 17:32 think you're walking. 17:34 You're gonna need a lot of 17:35 help, you're gonna be dependent 17:36 on your children, you're gonna 17:38 wind up in a home, there's just 17:39 so many things..." 17:41 And at the beginning, I started 17:42 to argue with myself, then 17:43 after a while, I thought, "You 17:45 know, that's right." 17:46 When you're sitting in a 17:47 hospital and you have a limb 17:49 that looks twice as big as a 17:51 normal limb if not more and 17:52 you're in agony, you can't see 17:54 yourself pushing a lawn mower 17:56 anymore. 17:57 And after a while it's, "Well, 17:59 that's right," and then Satan 18:00 starts to say, "Wait, you know 18:02 your best option would be 18:04 probably to commit suicide." 18:08 >> How did you get over that? 18:09 You were suicidal at that 18:10 point, you were thinking 18:13 seriously about it. 18:15 >> That was a difficult time, 18:17 but when you're going down that 18:19 path and you're going down that 18:21 tunnel, I recall the one time, 18:25 and my kids had gone home 18:27 already, Adam had gone back to 18:28 Sicamous, Ross had left, my 18:30 daughter was in Kelowna, and it 18:32 was an evening that I was 18:35 feeling very low and I thought 18:38 to myself, "You know what, I 18:40 know my kids are gone, my chart 18:41 has no visitations on it and 18:44 it's after visiting hours, 18:46 nobody's coming," and I had 18:49 resigned myself to the fact 18:50 that I'm gonna, "Tonight, I'm 18:52 gonna make a concrete plan, 18:54 when I leave is this is how I'm 18:56 gonna carry out my suicide." 18:58 And I was sitting on the edge 19:00 of my bed and I was so deep in 19:03 thought, I was staring at the 19:05 floor and I tell you, I was 19:07 just going down that tunnel. 19:09 And all of a sudden, I noticed, 19:12 like, a shadow coming into the 19:14 room and I looked up and it was 19:16 Pastor Ben, our senior pastor 19:18 from the church in Salmon Arm 19:20 and I looked at him and I says, 19:23 "Ben! How did you get in here?" 19:27 And he said, "Well, I just 19:29 asked for information, they 19:31 told me on the fourth floor and 19:33 I came and they told me what--" 19:34 I said, "Ben, you're not 19:36 supposed to be here." 19:38 And he says, "Well, Ernie, 19:39 don't you want me?" 19:41 I says, "No, no, no, Ben," and 19:43 he had a little bag in his hand 19:45 and I fell apart, I just, I 19:49 couldn't hold back the tears 19:51 and I started weeping and 19:53 apologizing. 19:54 And Ben said, "It's OK, it's 19:55 OK," and he pulled up a chair 19:57 and he sat down in front of me 19:59 and he started visiting and if 20:01 I had to tell you today a 20:04 sentence of what he said, I 20:06 couldn't even begin to tell you. 20:09 But he was there for 45 minutes 20:12 to an hour visiting with me and 20:16 before he left, he opened up 20:18 the bag and he says, "Ernie, 20:20 would it be OK if I had 20:21 communion with you?" 20:23 And I said, "Of course it 20:24 would!" 20:26 So we had a wonderful time of 20:28 communion and sharing and he 20:31 prayed with me and he left. 20:34 And after he left, I pulled 20:36 myself back onto my bed and I 20:38 thought, "What was that all 20:40 about?" like, "What just 20:42 happened?" 20:43 And I pondered the time that he 20:46 prayed and it just brought me 20:50 out of a path that I was going 20:52 down so deeply and, you know, 20:55 there's one thing that I often 20:58 said and then I-- tears came 21:00 down my face again because I'm 21:03 sure you've heard it in your 21:05 time of ministry, "God is never 21:07 late, He's never early, and 21:08 He's always on time." 21:10 And at the very time when I 21:13 needed somebody most and 21:15 against the things that Ben 21:18 wasn't supposed to get, he went 21:20 through two check points, the 21:21 visit, it was past visiting 21:23 hours, and he got up to my room 21:25 and it was just a miracle and I 21:27 realized then that God had sent 21:30 Ben at that exact time that I 21:33 needed him most to pull me out 21:35 of that tunnel that I was going 21:37 down so deeply. 21:39 >> Ernie, now you wanted to go 21:41 forward, God had given you a 21:44 sign that he wanted you to live 21:46 and you were encouraged. 21:48 Then you went into rehab. 21:50 What was that like? 21:52 >> Once I got onto the rehab 21:54 floor, I was there probably 21:56 about two or three days and the 21:58 prosthesis came in and he was 22:00 gonna start to fit me for a leg 22:03 and so they did, they got me in 22:05 and did measurements and they 22:07 started fitting me for a 22:08 prosthetic foot. 22:09 >> Ernie, could we take a look 22:10 at it? 22:12 >> Absolutely, I could show you 22:14 my bionic foot, my bionic leg 22:16 right here. 22:17 That's what it looks like. 22:18 [MIKE] That is amazing! 22:20 [RENÉ] And it fits in your-- so 22:21 your bionic foot fits into the 22:24 shoe. 22:25 [ERNIE] It does. 22:27 It's a bit of a chore to put it 22:28 in because there's no wiggle 22:30 from the toes or the heel, but 22:32 with a shoe horn, everything 22:34 works really quite well. 22:36 >> So tell us now how your life 22:38 changed after you got your 22:40 prosthetic foot. 22:43 >> I gotta tell you, God has 22:45 been good and God has been 22:47 faithful and I have come a long 22:51 ways down the journey of grief 22:53 and the journey with my foot 22:55 and I accomplish things that I 22:58 never thought I would be able 23:00 to accomplish that I have today. 23:02 When you're in the hospital and 23:03 you're missing one foot, you 23:05 don't see yourself being so far 23:07 down the road as where I am 23:09 today and I just thank God for 23:11 that every day. 23:12 And I need to say again, I'm so 23:15 thankful for my family 'cause 23:17 my children have helped me a 23:18 lot through this process as 23:19 well, yep. 23:21 >> So in closing, do you have 23:25 any thoughts for our viewers 23:27 about going through trials? 23:30 Has that helped you in your 23:32 relationship with God? 23:35 >> I-- there's one thing that 23:38 pops out in my mind and I often 23:41 come back to that. 23:43 A year after I had my accident, 23:45 I was in Kelowna and just 23:47 walking through the park with 23:48 my family and there was a group 23:50 of people walking in front of 23:51 us and there was a fellow and I 23:52 don't know what he was 23:54 advertising, but he had this 23:55 shirt, on the back of his 23:57 t-shirt, it said... 24:01 That stopped me in my tracks 24:03 and I thought of that and I 24:05 thought of that and I thought, 24:07 "What can possibly-- a lot." 24:09 My accident probably took two 24:11 and half, two to three seconds 24:13 and it's changed my earthly 24:15 life forever. 24:16 When those four seconds in your 24:18 lifetime comes, be ready so you 24:22 don't have to be afraid. 24:24 The Bible tells us in 24:25 John 3:16... 24:31 And I knew that that day, I'm a 24:34 believer and I wasn't afraid. 24:37 >> And, you know, it reminds me 24:39 of that Bible text in Romans 8, 24:41 is it Romans 8:28? 24:48 And I can just imagine, you 24:50 mentioned that you have 24:52 grandchildren and so they 24:54 probably think that you are the 24:56 coolest opa out there with your 24:58 bionic foot and so you've 25:00 probably been such an 25:01 inspiration to others, just 25:03 like your story today has been 25:05 so inspirational to us and so 25:09 your grandkids must-- you've 25:11 just been a shining light for 25:12 them, Ernie, and it's so 25:14 wonderful. 25:15 >> I do get that from my kids 25:17 and a lot of times from my 25:20 grandkids, especially, when 25:21 they bring friends over and I 25:23 had that happen just not so 25:25 long ago, one of the younger 25:26 kids, and he brought a friend 25:28 over and he says, "You've gotta 25:29 come and see my opa's leg!" 25:30 So they bring their friends 25:32 over to have-- 25:33 And it's fine, it's not 25:35 embarrassing, I got what I got 25:37 and God has been good and I 25:40 have no problem showing the 25:42 kids and it's an education 25:44 for them. 25:45 >> Ernie, before we end, I 25:46 wonder if you could have a word 25:48 of prayer for us. 25:49 >> I would like that, 25:51 absolutely love to do that for 25:53 you, for sure. 25:54 Father in Heaven, we give You 25:56 thanks again for Your many, 25:57 many blessings and, Lord, thank 25:59 You for this opportunity to 26:01 share and for the ministry with 26:02 Mike and René, and, Father, 26:05 that this ministry would go 26:06 forward and people would hear 26:08 the good news of Jesus Christ 26:10 and, Lord, today, if there's 26:12 anybody that is listening this 26:14 program and if they are in a 26:16 dark spot in their lives, just 26:18 know that God loves you and God 26:20 is there for you. 26:22 And, Father, I just pray that 26:24 You'd continue to reach into 26:25 the lives of the people and 26:27 wherever this ministries goes, 26:28 that Your word would go forward 26:30 and, Lord, I pray today that as 26:32 we walk this earth, that we 26:34 would be a light for You and, 26:36 Father, that we would seize 26:37 every opportunity to share the 26:39 good news of Jesus Christ. 26:41 Thank You again for this 26:42 ministry, amen. 26:44 >> Amen. 26:45 >> Ernie, you have been an 26:47 inspiration and so I thank you 26:50 so much for joining us on It Is 26:53 Written today and for sharing 26:55 your experiences with us. 26:57 >> Thank you so much for having 26:59 me, it was just a pleasure to 27:01 share my story with you folks. 27:06 >> Friends, our free offer 27:08 today is entitled The Only 27:10 Hope, which is filled with true 27:12 stories of everyday people who 27:14 found themselves trapped and 27:17 were set free. 27:19 >> This book is for you if you 27:21 feel locked in a life of fear, 27:24 anguish, or depression. 27:26 You will be inspired by these 27:28 true stories of people who 27:29 fought against temptations, and 27:32 like Ernie, they found hope, 27:35 real hope, the Only Hope. 27:40 [VOICEOVER] To receive today's 27:41 offer, you can simply go to our 27:43 website at iiw.ca and click on 27:46 the "news and offers" tab. 27:48 Again, it's iiw.ca. 27:51 You can also call us at 27:52 1-888-CALL-IIW. 27:58 >> We want you to experience 28:00 the truth found in the words of 28:02 Jesus when He said, "It is 28:04 written, 'Man shall not live by 28:07 bread alone, but by every word 28:10 that proceeds out of the mouth 28:11 of God.'" 28:13 ♪♪ |
Revised 2023-01-19