Participants:
Series Code: LTBW
Program Code: LTBW190046S
|
00:35 Hi, I'm Dr. Kim Logan-Nowlin,
00:38 and welcome to Live To Be Well. 00:41 What is live to be well? 00:42 Mind, body and soul. 00:44 But without God, we will be nothing. 00:47 I am so happy today 00:48 to be talking about the value of education. 00:51 I am so thankful 00:53 that my parents sacrificed for my siblings and I 00:57 to be educated, to be able to grow 00:59 and to be here today 01:01 on the 3ABN Dare to Dream Network. 01:03 I want to welcome my special guest and friend, 01:07 Mr. Michael Terrell. 01:08 Hi, Mike. Hey. 01:09 How you doing? I'm fine. 01:11 And thank you so much 01:12 for allowing me to be part of this. 01:13 Oh, God is good. 01:15 You know, we used to call you, 01:16 Arthur and I had a little name for you, 01:18 The Golden Boy. 01:19 Oh, wow. 01:21 Oh, this man has an amazing voice. 01:22 God has blessed you. 01:23 But today we're here to talk about the value of education. 01:26 Let's talk about your journey, and why you became an educator? 01:31 It seems like a long time ago, 01:34 but I was on path to go into the trades. 01:40 And I had an uncle that told me, 01:42 you know, don't do that. 01:43 Go to school and teach it. 01:45 But I want to be a doctor. 01:46 You know, I was, I was a little conflictual. 01:49 But I went off to Andrews University. 01:53 And because I was having trouble, 01:55 some of the local schools going to a classes and things, 01:58 scheduling. 02:00 So went to Andrews, and I was started, 02:02 I got a job working 02:04 at the Berrien County Juvenile Center. 02:07 And I thought to myself working with these young men. 02:10 What if I could really catch them at school, 02:13 if I could work with them there, 02:15 it's cemented the desire within my heart. 02:18 What my uncle said really made sense to me, 02:20 because I was battling with psychology, education. 02:24 And I've always been good in the sciences. 02:26 Yes. 02:27 And it settled me, helped me to focus 02:29 just on education. 02:30 And Dr. Benjamin Reeves called me one day. 02:33 Yes. 02:34 He said because everybody was always telling me, 02:35 Mike, you're running from the Lord. 02:37 You're supposed to be a preacher. 02:38 I was, when I was at Adelphian Academy, 02:41 I was a preacher of 17 different organizations 02:43 on campus. 02:45 What? Seventeen. 02:47 Everybody was, Mike, you're a good speaker 02:49 and you love the Lord. 02:51 You should be a preacher. 02:53 Dr. Benjamin Reeves grabbed me one day. 02:55 Because I was set on talking with Wintley Phipps. 02:57 Yes. 02:58 And people say, man, you can sing 03:00 and you can preach. 03:01 You know, you could be, maybe be another Wintley Phipps. 03:02 Oh, he grabbed me to come to my office. 03:04 He did. He sat me down. 03:06 He said one of the most remarkable experiences 03:09 he'd ever had 03:10 is when he was, he had to leave the ministry 03:14 to finish his PhD in Chicago. 03:16 Yes. 03:17 And he taught elementary school. 03:19 And he told me that was the most remarkable experience 03:23 he had ever had in terms of witnessing, 03:25 working with these little children. 03:26 He said, "Mike, you don't have to serve the Lord. 03:28 You don't have to be a pastor." 03:30 "Okay. 03:31 There's a mission field out there 03:32 in the school system 03:34 that you can be a part of." 03:35 He said focus on that. 03:36 I said thank and so ever since, ever since, 03:40 and between that and working with the young boys 03:42 at the Berrien County Juvenile Center, 03:44 and developing relationships with them, 03:47 and seeing their struggles. 03:48 Yes. 03:49 And I could relate to a lot of them. 03:51 What's funny, when I got there, 03:52 they gave me an assignment to work with a group of boys 03:55 who are the children of alcoholics. 03:58 I am the adult child of an alcoholic. 04:00 It's that right. 04:01 My father was a... 04:03 was what we call a functional alcoholic, 04:04 went to work, good provider, 04:06 kept us in home, had his own business, 04:08 worked in Chrysler's during the day, 04:10 went to barber school in evening, 04:12 bought an old gutted outbuilding 04:14 on 12th street in Detroit 04:15 and turned it into a barber shop 04:17 with his own little hands. 04:18 The wiring, the plumbing, the painting, 04:20 you name it, he did it. 04:22 We were proud of daddy. But daddy was an alcoholic. 04:24 Wow. You know. 04:26 So here, I'm assigned to these children. 04:28 These young boys. Yes. 04:30 I learned as much about myself as, 04:34 they helped me as much as I helped them. 04:35 Yes. 04:36 It really made me want to get into education. 04:39 Yes. 04:40 So... And that's where it started. 04:41 That's where it really started. 04:43 Let me go back and just let you know, 04:45 Andrews University 04:47 is one of our Seventh-day Adventist higher education, 04:50 undergraduate studies and also higher ed 04:53 is located in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 04:56 Adelphian Academy, 04:57 where Mike and I both attended is, 04:59 well, it's closed now 05:01 was a boarding school, 05:03 and we will come home once a month. 05:04 Yeah. 05:05 And we lived in the campus 05:07 and it prepared you for college. 05:09 And that was located in Holly, Michigan. 05:11 Holly, Michigan. 05:12 And so, these are the two schools 05:14 where Mike was at, one of the two schools 05:16 where he was educated. 05:18 So what happened after Andrews University? 05:21 Well, you know, I went to Western Michigan, 05:25 and I graduated from there 05:26 because the tuition at Andrews was just 05:28 become a bit of a deterrent. 05:31 And I finished at Western. 05:33 And after I graduated, 05:34 I got really good reviews 05:37 and letters of recommendation from my teachers. 05:39 Yes. 05:40 You know, in terms of my ability to teach, 05:41 and I was actually offered a teaching job in Kalamazoo, 05:45 at Loy Norrix High School. 05:47 I did my student teaching there. 05:48 Okay. 05:49 And when I finished, they offered me a job, 05:51 offered me a job. 05:52 Praise the lord. Yes. 05:54 But I came home, came home to Detroit. 05:56 Came back. Came back. 05:58 And because this is home. 05:59 Came back to give back. Came back to give back. 06:01 And my mission field was going to be the public schools. 06:06 And my focus was high school, 06:08 even though I'm certified to teach K through 12. 06:11 Yes. 06:12 I thought my niche is high school. 06:13 Yes. 06:15 And I wound up in infamous Cooley High School. 06:17 Cooley High School. 06:18 Rough, rough, rough. 06:21 Rough, you didn't even drive down the street 06:23 if you didn't have to. 06:25 I can remember while I was there. 06:27 One of the security guards had to shoot a student 06:30 because she was trying to run him over with a car. 06:33 You know, I had kids come at me to attack. 06:35 It was funny when they gave me my assignment. 06:40 I walked into a classroom was like watching a movie. 06:43 Kids were standing on top of desks, 06:44 throwing books, spit balls, laying on the floor. 06:48 You know, you name it. 06:50 Dennis, so here's your room. 06:51 These are your students. 06:52 Walked out, closed the door. 06:54 That was it. That was it. 06:55 Go for it, man. 06:57 And I picked up a paddle. 07:00 And I banged on the desk, just to get attention. 07:02 Yes. 07:03 I said, I'm here to teach you something. 07:04 If you want to learn, sit down. 07:06 Give me five minutes to prove to you 07:07 I've got something I can teach you. 07:10 Architecture class. 07:13 My focus was designed. 07:14 Is that right? 07:16 All right. 07:17 And they said, I said, 07:18 "Yeah, man, we'll give you a minute. 07:20 We'll give you a minute." 07:21 Like they're in charge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 07:23 They were at the time. At the time. 07:25 And I went to the board, and I said, now listen to me, 07:27 I began to talk, put some things on the board. 07:28 They said, 07:30 "Hey, wow, that's interesting." 07:31 You know, hey, you sit down, 07:33 let's give the dude some more time. 07:35 They said, "Keep talking man." 07:37 Kept talking. 07:39 Within that same week, 07:41 my department head came running in my classroom. 07:43 He said, 07:45 "I was concerned because it's so quiet in here. 07:46 I thought something was wrong, because it's quiet." 07:48 It's quiet. 07:50 And he said, I thought you maybe 07:51 you were tied up in the corner. 07:53 But he says, you're really doing a good job here. 07:55 And the kids started to praise me 07:58 because of what I was doing. 08:00 And he said, 08:01 "This dude cares about us. 08:02 He's teaching us to be something." 08:04 Something. 08:05 Then it took off from me 08:06 then I was and I was a sub at the time. 08:08 They offered me a contract. 08:09 And I wound up in Mumford High School. 08:10 Mumford, another one. 08:14 Doctor Robert Onu was the principal at that time. 08:16 I remember Dr. Onu, yes. 08:19 But you know, I was impressed 08:20 when I got to Mumford for my interview. 08:22 When the bell rang, 08:24 the students were rushing to get to class. 08:27 You know, I went by the violins room, 08:31 you know, the music teacher was there with the choir. 08:34 And then they showed me my classroom. 08:35 Here again, they took me up to a room, 08:37 it looked like a warehouse. 08:38 They said, "Here's your room." 08:39 Oh, my goodness. 08:41 Desks had to be assembled. 08:42 The room needed to be painted. 08:43 It was a mess. 08:45 I said, "How am I going to teach architecture in here?" 08:46 He said, 08:48 "You know, you figure out something. 08:49 You're smart guy." 08:50 Oh, my. 08:52 So that was it? That was it. 08:53 So every day I assembled desks, 08:55 I stole paint 08:57 from another department in school, 08:58 I painted my classroom. 08:59 And the kids saw me open this ladder 09:01 during my lunch break. 09:02 And after school, they said, "Hey, why are you doing?" 09:04 I said, "This is for you. 09:05 This is for you. 09:07 This classroom's got to be special for you." 09:09 Some of them would come and help me. 09:10 And they will come and help you. 09:12 And I got that room painted. 09:13 And next thing you know, we're moving along. 09:16 And I got the inspiration from Dr. Harry Robinson III 09:21 from Harvard University. 09:23 I was gone to DC to visit some family. 09:26 And I want, I never been to Harvard. 09:29 And since I taught architecture, 09:30 I asked could I go to the school of architecture. 09:32 And I told him what I was trying to do 09:34 in Detroit. 09:35 And he said, 09:37 "You know, know what you're talking about is college level. 09:38 That's not high school stuff." 09:40 He said, "Let me help you." 09:41 And he started gave me some textbooks. 09:43 We interviewed for while, talked for a while. 09:45 He would have his graduate students at Harvard 09:47 send me information. 09:48 Oh, that's a blessing. 09:50 Because I had an Afrocentric approach 09:51 to the teaching of architecture. 09:53 Yes, yes. 09:54 Then in '97, I got the idea, the Lord gave me the idea. 09:58 Take these kids to Africa. 10:00 And I started raising funds. 10:02 I got a lot of support from different people, 10:05 all different walks of life. 10:07 And we actually were able to go over our spring break. 10:09 We were two and a half weeks. 10:11 We flew into Madrid, Spain. 10:14 We took a cruise ship 10:15 after we towards the lower Spain. 10:17 Yes, yes. 10:19 Southern Spain, cruise ship over to Morocco. 10:22 We met at the docks from a professor 10:24 from the University of Tangier. 10:26 And he took us through all of the Morocco 10:28 and study different things, was fascinating, 10:30 then we ended up in Portugal. 10:34 Because a lot of the sub-Saharians 10:36 from the University of Timbuktu. 10:38 You know, Timbuktu was the size of Michigan State University 10:42 back in the day, way back in the day. 10:44 And during the crusades 10:47 when the knights from the round, 10:49 you know, shouldn't say roundtable, 10:50 but the Catholics decided 10:52 they were going to convert the Africans, 10:54 okay, to Catholicism, 10:56 and Timbuktu had a university. 11:01 Military science was part of the... 11:03 And they came, they fought in the crusades. 11:05 Okay, turn the tide of the war. 11:08 And all this stuff was presented to the kids. 11:11 Yes, yes, yes. 11:12 From perspective of you have much to be to be proud of. 11:15 Your heritage is great. Yes. 11:17 And it was just a fascinating experience. 11:19 And we came back, we were rock stars all of us. 11:22 You know, the kids loved it the attention they got. 11:24 But the tears I saw in their eyes 11:27 while we were in Africa, 11:29 and they learned about their heritage 11:32 from people who were there, 11:33 people who look like them. 11:34 And people who didn't look like them. 11:36 Yes. 11:37 They were acknowledging what happened there. 11:39 It was a wonderful experience. 11:40 That's a blessing. 11:41 You know, and it just reinforced 11:43 what I felt like, yes, the Lord put me here. 11:46 This is what I need to do. 11:47 This is my mission field. 11:48 Going back to that conversation with Dr. Reeves. 11:51 And just seeing God work. 11:54 You are a Seventh-day Adventist, 11:56 born and raised? 11:57 Yes. 11:59 How did your faith come into play 12:03 and engage with the students? 12:05 Because you saw so much in the school system 12:09 and it wasn't comfortable. 12:10 No. 12:12 And how were you able to hold on to your faith 12:15 in all of that, 12:16 because we deal with stress, anxiety, 12:20 you see the depression, 12:21 children coming to school hungry, 12:23 holes in their shoes, 12:25 wearing the same clothes for four days. 12:28 Maybe you have an odor, 12:30 you know, don't have toothpaste and toothbrush. 12:33 So how did you allow your faith 12:36 to be an example for the Lord? 12:38 And how did you maintain your peace? 12:42 First thing, 12:44 I would run to work off my stress. 12:47 In the evenings, when I get off, I would jog. 12:50 You would jog. Help me keep my stress down. 12:52 All right. 12:53 Because if everything else is falling apart around me, 12:55 I have to keep myself together. 12:57 Yes. I'm in control. 12:59 And I realize that 13:00 I am a point of focus for the students. 13:02 Yes. 13:03 Another thing that I did, 13:04 my mother, bless her heart, 13:06 Christian woman helped me to believe in myself 13:11 when I didn't believe in myself. 13:12 Yes. 13:14 I am the adult child of an alcoholic. 13:16 Yes. 13:17 My father was a good man. 13:18 But he was an alcoholic. Yes. 13:20 It affected me as a child. Yes. 13:22 Especially when it came to the point 13:23 we were no longer a middle class family. 13:26 We were struggling to keep our homes and our home. 13:30 And my mother had to go back to work full-time 13:32 because for a while my mother didn't have to work. 13:34 She had degree in nursing 13:35 from Pacific Union College you know. 13:38 I know Pacific Union College. 13:39 Yeah, UC, she was a graduate from way back 13:41 when mama had to become the breadwinner. 13:44 Daddy lost his barber shop. 13:46 My father had a barber shop. 13:48 And things were very difficult. 13:50 I was that child that sometimes came to school 13:53 with clothes that weren't quite what you would want them to be. 13:58 I can remember a girl walked up to me one day, 14:00 I had a hole in my pants 14:01 and she stuck her finger and started to laugh. 14:04 You talk about embarrassing, 14:05 and I ironed those pants 14:06 and washed them and ironed them out 14:08 and pressed off, so nobody see that little hole 14:09 when you know. 14:11 She saw... 14:12 She saw the hole, walked up and stuck a finger in it. 14:14 So I was one of those kids, 14:15 you know, sure, had a bath and all that kind of stuff. 14:18 We got go to school. 14:19 You know, I didn't stink, 14:21 but I was the least of these in some situations. 14:25 But my mother taught me to believe in myself. 14:30 She told me every day what potential I had, 14:34 and how the Lord was going to use me 14:36 to do special things one day. 14:38 As a matter of fact, 14:39 they wanted to keep me back in eighth grade. 14:41 Yes. 14:42 So I should repeat eighth grade. 14:43 My mother said no. 14:45 My child is not repeating eighth grade. 14:46 And she sent me off to Adelphian Academy 14:49 and she convinced the principal there that give my... 14:54 Grades don't look so good because emotionally, I was... 14:57 Been through a lot. Been through a lot. 14:59 You know, I'm a child that, 15:01 I hate to say this, violence in my home. 15:04 I had to get between my mother and my dad. 15:08 Violence, you know, it affected me. 15:11 She took me up and said, 15:13 "Give him a chance. Watch what he'll do." 15:15 End of my first freshman year 15:17 I was voted the most valuable person 15:19 in the freshman class. 15:21 They gave me a check. 15:22 She said, "Watch what he'll do." 15:24 Yes. And it just took off. 15:26 Yes. It would just took off. 15:28 When I got to Andrews, I was very busy. 15:30 Yes. Active in different things. 15:31 Very involved. Very involved. 15:34 The Lord helped me to see the gifts I had. 15:36 Yes. 15:37 I had two teachers, actually more than two. 15:39 One told me, Mike, of all my freshman composition. 15:42 He said of all the students 15:44 I remember his name to this day. 15:46 But he told me 15:47 at the end of the semester of all the students I've had, 15:50 in the things that they've written, 15:51 your work should be published. 15:53 You should be a writer. 15:54 Had a sociology teacher 15:56 come to me after he caught me in the hallway, told me, 15:59 "I expect to see you doing great things. 16:02 You just, there's something about you young man." 16:04 Yes. 16:05 And I got these from 16:07 people that would come after, come to me and pray with me. 16:09 Yes. 16:10 I had a teacher at Andrews. 16:14 Because I was working 40 hours a week 16:15 and taking 12 hours. 16:17 My Goodness, full load. 16:18 Full load. 16:19 I worked 40 hours a week, afternoons or midnights. 16:21 Yes. 16:23 And when I was working midnight shift, 16:26 one of the teachers, 16:27 he was in my first hour class at Andrews. 16:29 He knew that I worked midnights. 16:31 Yes. 16:33 And if I... 16:34 One day, I didn't show up for class, 16:35 he excused himself from the classroom, 16:37 went into his office and called my apartment 16:39 to wake me up. 16:40 He said, "I knew you were asleep. 16:42 I know you'd fall asleep. 16:43 Because you always here in class." 16:44 He said, "I wanted to help you." 16:46 Yes. Called me in my apartment. 16:47 Yes. 16:49 So I could get to class. Oh, my. 16:50 You know, people like that, that cared about me. 16:53 They saw something in me 16:55 that made them want to reach out to me. 16:57 So I in turn I realize that 16:59 and I need to reach out to these kids. 17:01 Yes. So confidence. 17:03 I realized as a teacher, 17:04 every day, 17:06 I had to build confidence in these kids. 17:07 I had helped them to believe in themselves 17:09 when they did not. 17:10 Could you talk about, I know state and church. 17:14 Could you, did they ever asked you, 17:16 you know, Mr. Terrell, 17:17 where does your faith come from? 17:19 Why are you so nice? 17:21 Why are you so giving? Did they ask you? 17:22 You know how they started. 17:24 We have a lunch. 17:25 I was having lunch. 17:27 And some of the kids came to my classroom 17:29 to get extra help 17:31 with their drawings and whatnot. 17:33 And they saw me eating the strange looking food 17:35 that they thought. 17:37 And he said, "Mr. Terrell, what is that?" 17:39 I said, "Well, it's, this is veggie burger, man. 17:41 It's a veggie burger." 17:44 I said, "I'm a vegetarian." 17:45 And he said, "You're what?" 17:47 He said, "Well, you look too healthy to be, 17:48 you know, don't you eat lettuce and carrots all day. 17:50 You can't look healthy when you're eating that." 17:52 I said, "No". 17:53 I said, 17:54 "I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. I'm a Christian." 17:58 And they said really, they said, 18:00 "You know we knew something was different about you." 18:03 And they got so they would ask me, 18:05 because I couldn't bring it up. 18:07 They would ask me to pray for them. 18:08 Right. 18:10 They will come to my room... Yes. 18:11 And asked me to pray for them. 18:14 One day, I organized 18:16 a lot of field trips for my kids. 18:17 Yes. 18:18 And we were on our way someplace. 18:20 I told kids, you know, usually when I travel, 18:22 I pray before I hit the road. 18:23 Yes. But I can't do that for you. 18:25 They said, "Yes you can." 18:26 Set up, we're on the bus now. 18:28 We're on the school bus. Yes. 18:30 We will, Mr. Terrell pray for us. 18:32 Anybody who got a problem with that? 18:33 No, we don't think so. Pray Mr. Terrell. 18:37 We prayed and head out for UFM, 18:40 or large techo, UD, whatever. 18:44 And so it was the thing where they came to me 18:47 for not only just for academics, 18:50 but for support. 18:51 I had one young lady. 18:52 The bell had rung, 18:54 I'm still, this was at South Hill High School. 18:56 Yes. 18:57 She handed me an envelope. 18:59 And she said, read this, Mr. Terrell, 19:01 when you get a chance. 19:02 And she left my classroom. 19:04 I was curious. I opened it up right away. 19:05 Yes. 19:07 It was a suicide letter. 19:10 She was telling me what, 19:12 why she was going to kill herself 19:14 and how and what 19:15 and she appreciated me 19:18 time I spent with her. 19:19 But she was just, she couldn't handle life. 19:23 I dropped that and ran out in the hallway 19:25 trying to where did she go? 19:27 Where she is in? 19:28 I ran down to her council found out 19:29 where next class where she wasn't there. 19:31 And we just, you know, put up the APB you might say 19:36 and we did find her. 19:37 We were able to intervene. 19:39 But kids would come to me with things like that. 19:41 Yes. 19:42 Children, young ladies 19:43 who are pregnant and couldn't tell their parents, 19:46 they will come to my classroom with girls. 19:47 Yes. 19:49 Fellows who have been abused would come to me. 19:52 Yes. 19:53 I thought this is a mission field. 19:55 This is a place. 19:57 And for them to want to come and pray with me. 20:00 Yes. 20:01 That was your pulpit, you know. 20:04 So I heard you mentioned South Hill High, 20:05 so you transitioned Cooley, Mumford... 20:08 From Colley, Mumford to South Hill High. 20:11 There was a little space in between Mumford 20:15 and South Hill High. 20:16 My mother and sister were braving, you know. 20:19 And I moved my mother in with me, 20:22 and then I moved my sister in with me. 20:23 Wow. 20:24 And I was caring for, mean had a bedroom set up, 20:27 hospital beds and whatnot in my home 20:30 and I was having a hard time teaching. 20:34 So ever having to leave school Mumford and run home 20:38 or something's going on. 20:39 And so I took a leave of absence. 20:42 And during that leave of absence, 20:47 there was some confusion downtown 20:49 and they let me go as a teacher, 20:51 it's someone from school center building 20:53 let me go as a teacher. 20:54 And so I got my builder's license 20:57 and I started contracting, 20:58 while I took care of my mom and my sister. 21:00 Wow. 21:01 And one day, I was up on a ladder stringing lights 21:04 in a commercial building. 21:05 My cell phone goes off. 21:07 And was my old teacher from Mumford, 21:09 who's now with South Hall Public Schools. 21:11 She said, 21:12 "We really need someone with your skill set. 21:14 Would you please come over here?" 21:16 I said, "Well, I'm contracting, 21:17 I've got documents, I've got these builders, 21:21 projects I have to complete, I just can't leave." 21:23 She, "Just come over and talk." 21:25 And I went over there, to make a long story short, 21:27 they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. 21:28 All right. The principal got me. 21:30 Well got an interview with the principal, 21:31 he walked left his desk, 21:33 walked through the door stood and she said, 21:34 "You're not leaving here 21:36 till you sign a contract to teach here." 21:37 Praise the Lord. 21:39 We need you and they made me an offer 21:40 I could not refuse. 21:42 And is that when you retired from? 21:43 I retired from South Hill Public Schools. 21:45 Let me ask you, 21:46 we see what's going on in our society today, 21:49 the value of education. 21:51 This education also transitions into the church. 21:55 How are you using your skills now that you're retired? 21:59 Do you use them in the church as a Sabbath School teacher? 22:03 Are you an elder? 22:04 Do you speak for services when the pastors are away? 22:08 You know, how are you taking those skills now 22:11 in maintaining the value of education 22:13 within your church. 22:16 And let me say this because we tend to just go 22:19 and be benchwarmers 22:20 because I've worked. 22:22 I've paid my dues. I'm retired. 22:24 I'm just going to get me a good sermon and go home. 22:27 But some of us and a lot of us still work 22:31 because someone has to keep the church going. 22:34 So tell me about that? 22:36 I've been an elder since I was about 21. 22:40 And very active in my church 22:42 community fellowship SDA Church, 22:44 Lathrup Village, Michigan. 22:45 Okay, don't tell me, da-da. 22:47 Yeah, it's City Temple here. 22:48 All right. 22:50 Wait, and you grew up at City Temple? 22:51 That's the first church, I remember as a little boy. 22:53 So you were baptized at City Temple. 22:55 Home, that was home. 22:56 You know who baptized you? Elder Flack. 22:58 No, no, Elder Flack, 23:00 actually what when we left City Temple, left City Temple, 23:04 and I got baptized in Inkster. 23:07 Elder Rothecker Smith. 23:10 He baptized me out in Inskter. 23:14 Community good people there. 23:15 They're wonderful people. 23:17 But he was a member of City Temple. 23:19 For many, many years. Many years. 23:21 That is still home. That's still home. 23:23 It's still home. 23:24 But very active. 23:26 There's some things my, 23:29 I learned some things 23:32 while I was a South Hill High School, 23:34 the Lord blessed me 23:35 to establish a partnership with NASA. 23:39 Space Administration. 23:41 They work with my date with NASA, 23:43 South Hill High became 23:45 the first high school in the country. 23:46 And I'm bringing this around 23:48 to have a partnership with NASA. 23:50 First high school with the flagship 23:52 for this program. 23:53 And I learned things by working with the government, 23:57 how they did things and what was available. 23:58 It opened my mind to many things. 24:02 I've been able to take that 24:03 and transfer that into my church. 24:06 Right now, 24:08 a couple of times a year 24:09 we work with the women's 24:12 South Oakland shelter for women. 24:14 Yes. 24:15 Which is right around the corner from our church. 24:16 Yes. 24:18 We take food baskets over there. 24:19 Oh, nice. 24:21 We are, as we speak 24:22 installing security cameras in our building. 24:24 So these women can come sleep at our church on occasion. 24:28 But we have to have security cameras. 24:29 Oh, yes. 24:30 We had to up the security to do that. 24:32 Because some of the ladies, bless their hearts 24:34 you know, they need help. 24:35 So we have to be able to secure things better. 24:36 But these types of things we're trying to do. 24:40 We're looking at setting up because we had it, 24:43 I'm trying to reinstate tutoring program 24:45 after school children program. 24:46 I was going to ask do you have the GED tutoring program? 24:48 We want to get that started again at our church. 24:52 Right now we have the daycare 24:56 that is running our church by Sister Gabriel and Rosita. 25:01 Yes. 25:02 So there are things 25:04 we're looking to establish in our church 25:07 to make it a 24/7 church. 25:09 Really, open 24 hours a day? 25:10 We want, well I shouldn't say 24 hours a day, 25:13 but seven days a week. 25:14 Seven days a week. 25:16 There's something going on at that church to benefit. 25:18 We've put close to $30,000 into our kitchen, 25:22 tried to commercialize this kitchen to get license. 25:24 You have beautiful fellowship hall. 25:25 Because we want to reach out to veterans, 25:28 which we want to be able to serve veterans 25:31 in our community 25:32 to come there eat and have meetings there. 25:34 This is a focus. 25:36 I've been able to get letters of support 25:39 from our state representative 25:41 from our state, United States, 25:44 I shouldn't say United States, 25:45 but our state senators, 25:47 senators to get businesses in the community 25:50 to contribute financially to help us to do these things. 25:54 And we're working with the City Hall 25:57 in Latham village. 25:58 Yes. 25:59 Also partnering with us on different things. 26:01 So I'm trying to use all this information 26:04 and put it into the church. 26:06 As I saw how you can, 26:08 so many resources around us 26:10 that we don't tap into the way we should, 26:12 to help further the Word of God. 26:14 And we need to do that. We need to do that. 26:15 We need to value our education, we need to value our teachers, 26:20 we need to look at that. 26:21 We have a short time left. 26:23 What would you say to someone 26:24 who's thinking about pursuing education as their career? 26:29 Lean on the Lord. 26:30 Let the Lord guide and direct you. 26:31 Okay, believe in yourself. 26:34 Have the passion, 26:35 the same passion that you have to do other things, 26:38 whether it's be riding your bike 26:39 or mountain climbing, 26:41 you have to take that into the classroom. 26:42 Help the kids to believe in themselves. 26:43 If you can do that, 26:45 they'll open up to you 26:46 and you can teach them anything. 26:48 Just help them to believe in themselves. 26:50 You love the Lord. Yes. 26:52 Why you love the Lord? 26:53 Because He loves me. 26:55 He shown me the path that I should walk in. 26:57 Yes. 26:58 He's given me two beautiful children 27:00 that I love so much. 27:02 He's helped me to come from, I was down here. 27:05 And He's put me here. 27:06 Yes, He put me here. 27:08 He put you there. Okay. 27:09 So how can I not love Him? 27:10 How can you not love Him? Okay. 27:12 You know, give my regards to your beautiful wife, 27:15 and your children. 27:17 And I'm just so happy you were able to come. 27:18 It's a privilege. 27:20 I want you to know that 27:21 we value you on the Dare to Dream Network. 27:25 We value education, 27:27 we value the type of programming 27:29 that we can bring to you 27:30 and people like Mike Terrell, educator 27:34 and still educating his congregation. 27:37 We have to maintain relationships. 27:39 And this is something that we've had for years, 27:42 and we have that bond. 27:44 Have a bond with Jesus, 27:46 and God will allow you to value yourself and others. 27:49 I'm Dr. Kim, Live To Be Well. 27:52 God bless. |
Revised 2021-08-20