Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190098A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, and welcome once again to 3ABN Today, 01:13 the mending broken people network, 01:14 and we thank you so much for your support, 01:18 your love, your prayers, 01:19 and your financial support of 3ABN. 01:22 I'm Shelley Quinn. I'm JD Quinn. 01:24 And we're glad that you are joining us today. 01:26 We have an incredible testimony. 01:28 Amen. 01:30 We've got two pastor's kids 01:33 on the set with us. 01:35 But we're gonna double that before the end. 01:37 Let me read to you a real quick scripture 01:40 and this has a lot to do with today, 01:43 Proverbs 16:6 says... 01:48 Excuse me, Proverbs 22:6 says, 01:53 "Train up a child in the way he should go, 01:57 and when he is old he will not depart from it." 02:00 We are going to see 02:02 how two people were trained up in Christian homes 02:06 and how now they're training up their children 02:08 because this is a mission oriented family. 02:13 Let me introduce our special guest. 02:15 First, papa's son. 02:17 I know that you are not for most of 3ABN viewers, 02:22 anybody that has children, your face is very familiar 02:26 because Pastor Christian Martin, 02:29 you are with the Living Hope 02:30 Seventh-day Adventist community church 02:33 in Haymarket, Virginia. 02:34 That's right. That's right. 02:36 But you are also the host of Bible Buzz. 02:38 Bible Buzz. 02:40 That's right, B-I-B-L-E. Yeah. 02:43 On the 3ABN Kids Camp. Yes. 02:47 We had such fun, didn't we? Oh, we had a blast. 02:49 It was incredible. 02:51 We want to thank you for that. Thank you. 02:53 And then your lovely wife Heidi is with you. 02:56 Heidi, you are a licensed social worker, correct? 03:00 Yes, I am. And I'm so happy to be here. 03:02 Oh, we're happy to have you here. 03:04 We're going to kind of postpone the music 03:06 that we normally show at the front, 03:09 end of the program 03:10 because we're gonna bring their children on 03:12 in just a moment that will, 03:14 while the music's going, we can get them miked up, 03:17 but let's just kind of jump in. 03:19 Christian, tell us about growing up as a PK, 03:25 a pastor's kid. 03:27 Sure. 03:28 Well, Shelley, JD, 03:29 I'm a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist, 03:32 fifth generation. 03:34 In fact, going back five generations, 03:39 my family were among the first 03:42 converts to Adventism 03:44 in the continent of South America. 03:46 Wow. So it's a rich family history. 03:50 Yeah. 03:51 But as a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist, 03:54 I did come to a place where I realized, 03:58 you know, I had to take ownership 04:00 of my faith. 04:01 It wasn't... 04:03 In other words you can be 04:04 a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist 04:06 and not be a Christian. 04:07 Yes, yes. 04:09 You've got to have that one on one. 04:10 You know, it's my dad's faith, it's my grandpa's faith, 04:12 it's my family's faith. 04:15 But, the reason I'm saying this 04:17 is because it's such a key point to emphasize 04:22 because, you know, 04:24 when I was a student 04:26 at Southern Adventist University, 04:28 that's when I had my "conversion experience." 04:32 I cried out to heaven, and I said, "God convict me." 04:37 Because I began to ask myself, who am I 04:40 and why do I believe what I believe. 04:42 Right. And God answered my prayers. 04:45 So that was the beginning of my journey. 04:47 And, but yes, I do come from a rich background. 04:51 My dad was a pastor for 30 some years 04:55 all my life growing up at home... 04:57 And this was Argentina? 04:58 I was born in Argentina. Okay. 05:01 And my dad began his pastoral ministry 05:04 at a young age. 05:06 I was born into a pastor's home. 05:09 But when I was eight months old, 05:11 my parents took a call to the mission field. 05:16 So they went to Central America. 05:18 And they were in El Salvador and Honduras 05:21 for about five years, five years. 05:24 And so my upbringing at an early age 05:27 was in a mission context, mission field. 05:32 And then we moved to Texas, the country of taxes. 05:36 Amen. 05:38 Right, JD? Exactly. 05:39 Very well put. 05:42 But I was about six years old and we actually fled, 05:49 literally fled to Central America 05:51 'cause of the Civil War during that time. 05:53 Yes. 05:54 It was dangerous to continue living there. 05:56 And so my parents moved us to Texas 05:59 and my dad continued as a pastor, 06:01 and I continued as a PK or a pastor's kid. 06:05 So that was my upbringing. 06:07 So my question is when you were in Andrews, 06:10 were you already studying religion? 06:13 I mean, so basically, you went through the motions. 06:18 You had the culture around you. 06:21 Shelley, you're precisely right. 06:23 Okay. 06:25 'Cause get this. 06:26 I actually sensed, 06:28 God works in mysterious ways, doesn't He? 06:30 Yes, He does. 06:31 God, I sensed a calling to ministry, okay, 06:34 when I was in high school. 06:36 So prior to going to Southern, I actually sensed the calling. 06:41 I wanted to go into pastoral ministry. 06:43 Yes. 06:45 But yet when I arrived on campus, 06:48 the circumstances were so that it led me to question, 06:54 you know, do I... 06:56 Have I taken ownership of my faith? 06:58 I was still under my parents' identity, 07:02 you know? 07:03 Yes, yes. 07:04 And I believe it was God's doing 07:06 because in order to, you know, He called me, okay, 07:09 but He shaped me and molded me 07:12 and refined me, 07:15 and took me through that experience 07:17 to be able to be fully prepared, 07:20 you know, to enter into ministry. 07:23 You know, the thought that just occurred to me 07:25 is how He called Saul. 07:27 And here Saul is, I mean, 07:29 anything but a born again Christian. 07:32 So the calling came first, 07:33 but then God reached your heart, 07:37 and you actually became a Christian. 07:38 And I just want to say this at home, 07:40 when we go out, we travel all over, 07:44 we've met people who've been in the church 07:46 30 years, 40 years, 07:49 and they never really 07:51 yielded control of their life to the Lord. 07:54 They never understood 07:56 what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit 07:59 and they've been never been born again. 08:01 So that's something that we all need 08:03 to make sure that we're not. 08:06 It's not just a cultural thing that you go to church. 08:10 Yeah. 08:11 So now, Heidi, your father was an evangelist. 08:15 Tell us about growing up 08:17 in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian home? 08:20 Well, it was such a privilege for me 08:22 to be raised as a Seventh-day Adventist. 08:24 And I'm so blessed to have had that experience as well. 08:29 And just learning to have 08:31 a personal relationship with God 08:33 for me is so crucial 08:35 to it not being your parent's religion, 08:38 to it not being someone else's thing. 08:40 It becomes personal when Jesus becomes yours. 08:43 Amen. 08:44 And so a couple of things 08:46 that really made an impact in my life 08:48 growing up as a pastor's kid, 08:50 one when I was 12 years old, 08:53 I had the privilege to start going door-to-door canvassing. 08:58 And the neat thing is that I continued doing that 09:00 all the way till I was almost 20 years old. 09:02 So every summer, I spent knocking on doors 09:06 and what a blessing it was 09:08 to be able to reach people's hearts. 09:11 But in the end, you know, it really reaches your heart. 09:13 Yes. 09:15 When you're out there battling, you know, praying... 09:18 Because you have to be very dependent 09:19 upon the Lord, huh. 09:21 Yeah. 09:22 And then another thing that was very crucial for me 09:25 was being able to go to Romania for the first time 09:28 when I was 16. 09:30 And to experience another part of the world, 09:34 doing evangelism, 09:36 working with people 09:38 in a country very different from my own, 09:41 and then being able to go there again 09:43 when I was 18 and do the same thing. 09:49 Your experience with God grows, your faith increases 09:53 when you are out beyond your comfort zone. 09:56 And those things really did that for me. 09:59 So how old were you when you, 10:02 when Christ became real to you and became your Savior? 10:05 I would say that through those experiences 10:08 I was growing. 10:09 Okay. 10:11 But then we had a Bible study group at Andrews 10:12 that really kind of cemented everything for me. 10:16 When I was about 19 years old, 10:19 things just really 10:20 went to a whole new level for me with Jesus. 10:25 Now were you all in the Andrews at the same time? 10:29 I was at Andrews for master's program 10:33 at the seminary, theological seminary. 10:36 It was during that time that I met Heidi 10:39 'cause I took a call to the Michigan Conference 10:42 as Seventh-day Adventist, 10:44 as a pastor when I graduated from Southern. 10:46 So I did meet Heidi in Michigan. 10:49 And when I met her, 10:51 she was involved in ministry at Andrews. 10:55 Benton Harbor Street Ministries was 10:58 and is a ministry that till this very day 11:01 is one of the strongest, 11:03 most active ministries on campus at Andrews. 11:06 And by the grace of God, 11:08 Heidi was very instrumental 11:12 in founding that ministry. 11:16 Back in 1995 when I went to Andrews, 11:19 Sabbath afternoons were just, 11:21 I couldn't figure out what people were doing. 11:23 There was nobody doing anything. 11:25 Yeah. Lot of lay ministries... 11:26 It seemed like everyone was sleeping. 11:28 And, you know, it was one Sabbath, 11:32 Pastor Dwight preached a sermon 11:33 and he said, "We must come to the place 11:35 where what breaks the heart of God, 11:37 breaks our hearts too." 11:38 And then he started talking about Benton Harbor. 11:41 And a friend and I were listening 11:43 and we looked at each other and said, 11:44 "We got to go down there. 11:46 We got to get down there." And so we wrapped. 11:48 So it was kind of a dark county, 11:49 the church wasn't there? 11:51 It was... 11:52 There were churches, but it was the... 11:53 Low income. 11:55 Low income, poor area of Benton Harbor. 11:58 And we grabbed four other friends, 12:01 jumped in our car, 12:03 and started driving down there, praying at every corner. 12:07 And we landed up on a street, Broadway 12:11 had a lot of boarded up houses, 12:13 very poverty stricken, 12:15 and we just broke up into groups of two. 12:17 And we started knocking on the doors 12:19 and saying, "Is there anything we can pray with you for?" 12:22 And these people were just like, 12:24 "You came to pray with me?" 12:27 And they just started opening up their hearts 12:29 and telling us, 12:30 "Please, please, we need, we need help." 12:33 And the next Sabbath, 12:35 Pastor Dwight found out about it. 12:36 There were 12 people, 12:38 the week after that there were 60. 12:39 Praise the Lord. That gave me chills. 12:41 And then it just grew, grew, grew, 12:43 and when I was there at Andrews, 12:45 I had the privilege of leading that ministry. 12:46 For a year we had different leadership teams every year, 12:49 but when I was leading it, 12:50 we had two buses full of kids going down. 12:52 There were 200 people 12:54 that were showing up down there. 12:55 We were doing health ministry, we were doing Bible studies, 12:58 we were doing kids ministry, we had just, I mean, 13:02 it was the Sabbath afternoon 13:04 there was huge things happening. 13:07 Now there's a thriving church. And now there's a church. Yeah. 13:10 That is amazing. 13:12 Now, let me ask you because just as Christian knew 13:17 that the call of the Lord was on his heart for ministry, 13:21 when did you know that 13:23 God was calling you to minister? 13:25 I don't know if I can pinpoint a specific moment. 13:29 I just knew that I wanted to be involved in ministry. 13:31 I knew that I loved ministry. I loved working with people. 13:35 I started out thinking 13:36 I was going to be a religion major. 13:37 But then I thought, no, 13:39 I don't really want to be a pastor. 13:40 I don't want to be a teacher, 13:41 but I want to be involved with ministry, 13:43 I want to be involved with helping people. 13:44 And that's where I believe the Lord opened up the door 13:46 for me to go into social work. 13:48 And I'm a licensed clinical social worker today. 13:50 And it's such a beautiful ministry 13:54 to be able to pull all of that into helping people 13:57 and being part of people's lives. 14:00 And so I can't specifically say when, 14:02 but all these different ministry opportunities grew me 14:06 from starting when I was very young 14:09 and all the way through 14:11 the privilege of being able to be involved in the church 14:14 at a young age, 14:16 knowing that there was a place for me. 14:19 Amen. I think that's huge. 14:21 Amen. Amen. 14:22 Yeah. 14:23 You know, and I love to see the big picture 14:27 that God had in mind, you know, 14:31 as Heidi was sensing a call to ministry, 14:34 here I was a college student about to graduate from Southern 14:38 and I get a call to Michigan. 14:40 Yes. 14:41 And when I went up to Michigan, I was a single guy. 14:45 You know, I was unmarried and, you know, 14:49 and I see the big picture, you know, 14:51 and I see God just beginning to... 14:54 He was weaving in that time. 14:55 Yes, He is starting to do something special. 14:58 So he's bringing or she's down to Argentina, 15:01 your home, birth of your place, 15:05 birth of your place, place of your birth. 15:07 Yeah. 15:08 So now you all show up at the same event 15:11 and somebody is telling you, 15:13 "Hey, this young pastor that's where he was born." 15:15 He is from Argentina, you should meet him. 15:17 And they are telling you, 15:18 "Hey, this gal just got back from Argentina." 15:21 Tell us about how God brought you together? 15:24 Well, it was at Campus Apple, it's a summer camp in Michigan. 15:29 And I was at a pastor's retreat. 15:33 And Heidi was the program director 15:35 for the summer camp. 15:37 And so it was our summer retreat. 15:39 And while at Campus Apple, 15:43 you know, people spoke to me about this girl 15:47 and, you know, 15:48 people spoke to Heidi about this guy 15:50 and so we eventually just found ourselves 15:55 having conversation, 15:57 which would continue, continue, continue, continue, 16:00 and continue. 16:02 In fact, I was a youth pastor in Battle Creek at that time 16:06 and Heidi was living at Andrews. 16:08 Yeah. 16:09 And I found every reason 16:11 to take my youth group to Andrews. 16:14 Come on, youth, we got a project at Andrews. 16:17 We got something going to do at outreach at Andrews. 16:20 We were doing a full evangelistic series 16:23 in the theater in downtown Benton Harbor. 16:25 Praise the Lord. 16:27 And Christian says, "Hey, I got a drama team. 16:30 Would you guys need a drama?" 16:32 I said, "Well, yeah, why not?" 16:34 You know, I was finding every... 16:35 He brought the team. 16:37 Opportunity to just come alongside Heidi 16:40 and find ourselves in action, 16:42 you know, in ministry and that happened quite a bit. 16:45 And the more it happened, 16:47 the more we fell in love with each other. 16:49 Amen. 16:50 And, you know, and what's unique, 16:53 Shelley and JD, is that, 16:55 here is a pastor's kid myself, here's a pastor's kid. 17:00 Okay, and we find one another, okay? 17:04 Both with the sense of calling to pastoral ministry. 17:07 Yeah, that's amazing. 17:09 And I wish I could do a world global survey 17:11 of how many PKs 17:13 which because the sad fact is that 17:15 many of them check out. 17:17 You know, when, you know, 17:18 when you grew up in a pastor's home, 17:20 unfortunately, oftentimes, 17:23 you know, there is... 17:25 Well, you are under a microscope. 17:27 You have people in the church who are being very judgmental. 17:30 For sure. 17:31 They hold you to a higher standard. 17:33 I mean, I've seen it happen. 17:34 The challenge is real and, but by the grace of God, 17:38 here we have both of us coming together. 17:41 And if that wasn't enough, 17:43 we both now sense a calling into pastoral ministry 17:47 as two PKs together as one 17:49 now going into pastoral ministry. 17:51 But one thing I want to add to that is that I think 17:54 when pastoral families do ministry together 17:59 it makes a huge difference for their children. 18:03 They're part of the family ministry, 18:05 they're not just in a side. 18:07 Can I... I'm gonna add to yours. 18:09 You've added to his, let me add another here 18:11 is I believe with all of my heart 18:13 it's when every family ministers together 18:16 because we often tell people 18:18 if you're having trouble with your teenager, 18:21 take them on a missionary trip. 18:23 Get them, you know, 18:24 it's, our focus is in this day and age, 18:28 it seems like kids are me, me, me and... 18:31 Yeah, yeah. 18:32 You know, iPad, iPhone, 18:35 but you get them where they... 18:38 If we involve children in ministry, 18:40 we'll keep them in the church. 18:41 Yeah. 18:42 You know, and I can be so thankful, so thankful 18:46 that described my dad's relationship with me 18:49 as a pastor, you know, 18:51 he was a pastor but my dad, you know. 18:53 Yeah. 18:54 And what he did was, 18:56 just to give you a couple examples. 18:58 He was a pastor evangelist, you know, in the church. 19:01 And so he did full message, 19:04 you know, 20 some night, 19:05 you know, series often. 19:08 And as a 9, 10, 11, 12-year-old, 19:11 I have this memory, vivid memory 19:14 where I was the one 19:16 who controlled the carousel projector. 19:20 That was the equipment that was, 19:23 you know, prime, you know, 19:25 and but the way we did it was 19:27 he would preach and night after night. 19:30 And as he preached, he would snap his finger, 19:33 you know, and that snap was my cue 19:36 behind that projector 19:37 to advance to the next slide. 19:39 Yeah. 19:40 You know, and can you imagine as a young kid, 19:43 what a privilege. 19:45 But not just a privilege but I was all in, 19:48 I was fully engaged in what was happening. 19:52 And I must have gone through dozens of evangelistic series, 19:57 you know, paying full attention because, you know, 20:00 I'm the one in charge of advancing the slide. 20:02 So no doubt that made an impact in my life. 20:05 And we would go on visitations. 20:08 My dad would visit homes, take me with him. 20:11 He would be with the parents in the living room 20:14 and I was out with, 20:16 you know, the kids in the yard or playing in the room. 20:20 And on our way home, 20:22 my dad would have a conversation with me 20:24 and says, "Oh, tell me how the boys doing 20:26 or how the kids doing?" 20:29 And he brought me 20:31 into a context of caring for people 20:36 and connecting with people at an early age. 20:39 But like you said, Shelley, 20:40 he definitely involved us firsthand, 20:43 you know, into his pastoral ministry. 20:46 So were you the only child or...? 20:48 I have a sister. 20:49 Her name's Melissa, 20:51 and school teacher, school counselor. 20:54 And also, you know, involved in ministry 20:58 with her kids and her husband. 21:00 Amen. Praise God. 21:01 So how long did it take for the two of you 21:04 to know this is it, 21:05 this is God's will for our lives? 21:08 I think that was pretty fast. 21:10 We dated about three months. 21:13 Oh, my goodness. 21:14 We got engaged within five months 21:16 and we were married. 21:18 A full year, about a year. Just about a year, yeah. 21:20 So we married a year later. 21:21 Well. Yeah. 21:23 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 21:24 Obviously, it was right. 21:25 We were 24 when we got married. 21:27 Yeah, May 27, 2001. 21:31 And it's been, we're gonna celebrate, 21:33 you know, 19 years come May. 21:35 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 21:37 So now talk to us. 21:40 We're gonna bring the children out 21:42 in just a few minutes, 21:43 but talk to us about 21:49 how you, what was modeled for you 21:52 is what you're doing in your family, 21:53 because you believe very strongly 21:56 that children need to be brought up 21:59 and introduced to ministry early on. 22:01 And as I said, and I know I've said this, 22:04 I don't mean to say it ad nauseam, 22:05 but we were on our way back from GYC. 22:09 And we had a young lady in the back seat 22:11 that she had expect her 22:13 why I didn't show up at the airport. 22:15 So she's literally stuffed in on top of luggage in the bag 22:19 'cause the car was full. 22:21 But I asked her, I looked over my shoulder 22:23 and I just said, 22:25 "How do we keep young people in the church?" 22:27 She was maybe 19. 22:28 And, boy, she just said it like this no blink, 22:32 no, didn't take a breath. 22:33 She just said, "Give us a challenge. 22:36 Give us something to do. 22:37 That will keep us in the church." 22:39 And I think sometimes 22:41 we have this tendency to put kids, 22:44 you know, kind of over on the shelf 22:46 or you sit here and be sweet, and be good, 22:49 and we don't realize 22:50 that we're making church boring for them. 22:52 So how did God help you 22:56 what you saw modeled, 22:58 you are putting into practice in your family? 23:01 Well, you know, before it's demonstrated 23:05 or before there's evidence of that in the church 23:09 it has to begin in the home. 23:12 If it's not happening in the home... 23:14 That's good. 23:16 You're not gonna see it at the church. 23:17 However, if it's not happening in the home 23:21 because of the nature of being a pastor's family, 23:26 you got to put up a front, 23:27 you got to look good, you got to look, 23:29 like you have it all together, you see. 23:32 But that's the reason why there's so many challenges 23:35 in pastoral families because, you know, 23:38 it's not happening in the home as it should. 23:41 And then when we arrive to church, 23:42 we have to look our best. 23:44 And so that level of some degree of hypocrisy 23:48 is what causes a lot of the problems 23:51 and challenges. 23:53 So again, my point is that it needs to happen in the home. 23:57 Whether you're pastor's family or you're not? 23:59 Absolutely. 24:00 That's my context, 24:01 but it applies to every context. 24:03 Amen. 24:04 And so, Heidi and I are committed as parents 24:08 to prioritize time with Jesus, 24:13 and not only as a family, 24:15 but as individual, personal, you know personal devotions. 24:19 Heidi, maybe you can talk about 24:22 how we, you know, encourage Elijah, Moriah 24:24 to develop that personal relationship. 24:26 Well, we've been... 24:28 From a very young age, 24:30 even when they were two, three, 24:34 you know, kids wake up early, 24:35 you might be trying to have your devotional 24:37 and there they're distracting you playing, 24:40 trying to get your attention. 24:42 So one way that my mom did with my sister and I 24:46 was to just get us each a Bible 24:48 and have us start underlining the word God. 24:52 While she was having her worship, 24:54 then we can each have our own Bible 24:57 and we can start that way. 24:58 Or the name of Jesus in the Gospel. 25:00 Or Jesus. Yeah. 25:01 And so that's how we started with our kids too. 25:04 This is a great idea, you know, 25:06 and Elijah and Moriah started that way. 25:08 And now they have, you know, 25:11 their Sabbath School lesson 25:12 right by their bed with their Bible. 25:15 And we encourage them every morning. 25:17 This is what we do first, before we do anything else, 25:21 the most important thing 25:24 is to start the day with God. 25:26 Matthew 6:33. Yeah. 25:29 "Seek him first, He adds everything He has to." 25:31 That's right. Amen. 25:32 So they have... 25:35 By God's grace and our family isn't perfect, 25:38 but by God's grace we've been developing the habit 25:41 at a very early and young age 25:44 of starting their own personal walk with God. 25:47 Amen. Yeah. 25:49 Because when you have that personal walk with God, 25:53 you know, you're prepared to face any crisis 25:56 that comes unexpectedly at times. 25:59 You know, how life is, you know? 26:01 And as it did in our life, 26:04 you know, living in Oregon, 26:06 there was a crisis that 26:10 that I experienced in my life. 26:13 It was an accident. 26:14 It was actually an injury 26:17 that I had back in 2000... 26:20 2015. 2015. 26:23 Let me share a little bit about that 26:25 because, you know, it comes into play 26:28 when you consider that 26:30 it's a relationship with Jesus that will prepare you 26:32 to face anything that comes to you in life. 26:36 And so I was at home, it was Father's Day, JD, 26:40 it was Father's Day in 2015. 26:44 And in fact, that afternoon we were planning 26:47 to have a Father's Day picnic with the church, 26:51 you know, so we had afternoon plans, 26:53 but that morning 26:54 I decided what to do a manly job. 26:58 Oh, boy. 27:02 I borrowed a tractor, 27:05 you know, a tractor and with a front loader. 27:09 And I was gonna do some yard work, you know. 27:12 And so I went outside early in the day, 27:16 I started moving dirt around in the tractor. 27:20 One point I've loaded, you know, good amount of dirt 27:24 and was trying to move the tractor 27:26 when I decided that I needed to get off 27:30 to grab something in the garage, 27:31 and so I stopped the machine, 27:34 I turned it off pulled out the key, okay, 27:37 and jumped off. 27:38 However, 27:39 I left the front loader high. 27:44 And that's you never do that. 27:47 You don't do that. Yeah. 27:49 So, but, of course, you know, I'm a pastor, you know, 27:53 my comfort zone is the podium, 27:56 you know, it's not the tractor, you know. 27:59 So as I'm going to the garage, 28:00 I hear a sound that I didn't want to hear 28:05 because I turned 28:06 and sure enough the tractor was rolling. 28:09 It was rolling towards a drop off. 28:12 It was like about, 28:13 I would say about 10 feet or so. 28:15 Yeah, it was a ravine. Ravine, it was ravine. 28:16 A borrowed tractor. 28:18 Yeah, a borrowed tractor. It was a borrowed tractor. 28:20 And so I see it rolling slowly towards this ravine. 28:24 First thought in my mind is "Oh, no, I can't let that drop. 28:29 It's borrowed." 28:30 So I ran... So what did I do? 28:32 I decided to run as quickly as I could, 28:35 and I jumped on as it's moving. 28:38 Okay, now it's trying to incline forward 28:41 towards the bottom of this ravine. 28:44 And I'm trying to find a way to stop it but I can't. 28:47 It's like, what in the world there's no brake pedal. 28:50 I was looking for a brake pedal, 28:52 but there wasn't any. 28:53 It was, you know, one of these tractors 28:55 that have its own different ways of operating, 28:57 so I was like, "Oh, no, I can't stop this machine, 29:00 I better get out." 29:02 So I jumped off, but as I did 29:05 and the things are a tilting forward now. 29:07 As I say jump off, 29:08 the gears on my left side of the seat caught my clothes, 29:14 and it literally flipped me 29:16 completely upside down 29:17 head first, head down, legs up. 29:20 And when that happened, 29:22 I landed hard on my head. 29:26 It didn't knock me out. 29:28 I was still conscious as I rolled down 29:30 to the bottom of the ravine. 29:33 Almost at the same time, the tractor falls towards me 29:37 and literally lands 29:38 within an arm's reach of my body. 29:41 And... 29:43 Well, your angel was working overtime? 29:44 But as I was laying there on the ground, Shelley, 29:47 I try to get up, but I can't, I can't, you know. 29:51 Oh, no. 29:52 I figured that it was because of the impact 29:55 but little did I realized 29:56 that I had broken my C2 vertebrae. 30:01 I literally fractured it in two places. 30:04 The EMT showed up on the scene within minutes. 30:08 I have a picture I'd like to share 30:10 of how I was just laying on the ground, 30:13 EMTs were God sent 30:15 because each one of them did a magnificent job 30:19 in stabilizing me, making sure 30:21 that I didn't do unnecessary moves. 30:24 And they took me to the hospital, 30:26 they took x-rays 30:29 and they told me that not only had I broken my wrist, 30:33 and required surgery to repair it, 30:37 but I had fractured my C2 and... 30:41 Ooh, that doesn't look good. 30:42 And there you can see in the picture 30:43 a very, very clear break of my C2. 30:46 I was within millimeters of entering my spinal cord 30:50 but because it was a stable fracture, 30:54 which means that the precise angle 30:56 of the break, okay, 30:58 did not caused the fractured bone 31:01 to tear into my spinal cord, 31:03 which is the very most common cause of paralysis 31:07 with that kind of injury. 31:08 Yeah. 31:09 I was among 3% of people 31:12 that actually sustained this kind of injury 31:15 that walk away without any paralysis. 31:18 Oh, glory to God. I'm among 3%. 31:23 And for the next several months, 31:29 just the thought of what could have been, 31:33 and just the sense of God's grace 31:36 would overwhelm me with emotion. 31:38 You know, when my wife would come to me 31:41 and hold my hand, just like this, 31:44 I would cry like a baby because I could feel her, 31:48 you know, I was not paralyzed. 31:49 Absolutely. 31:50 When my boy and my girl would kiss me on the cheek 31:52 'cause I had a neck brace 31:54 and a neck brace that I wore for how long? 31:58 Eight weeks. About eight weeks. 32:01 And, but God gave me the ability to just know 32:06 that I was safe and secure in His arms. 32:09 And that gave me a sense of peace 32:11 and comfort to know that I was gonna be okay. 32:14 Amen. 32:15 But that was quite an experience in our life 32:18 because it could have been an absolute game changer. 32:21 I mean it would have dramatically changed our lives. 32:24 Totally. 32:26 But since that day, by the grace of God, 32:29 we had the opportunity 32:32 to go on overseas mission trips. 32:35 Now whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... 32:37 You didn't have to have surgery? 32:39 Oh, yeah. 32:40 I mean, the doctor came to me and he said, 32:44 "After further review, 32:49 we are concluding that 32:51 because of the stable fracture, 32:53 the fracture of the bones 32:55 are actually in position to heal 32:59 with non necessitating neck surgery 33:02 by stabilizing that your neck 33:06 with a neck brace 24/7. 33:07 You can't take it out, 33:09 you're gonna have to let it heal. 33:12 You should be fine. 33:14 And by the God's grace I was. 33:17 And even today 33:19 I can honestly say that there are no... 33:23 I don't have any... 33:24 Residual effects. 33:25 No, none, not at all. 33:27 I've ran a couple of marathons since that injury. 33:29 Praise the Lord. That is amazing. 33:32 So let me just double check this. 33:35 What would your advice be to the viewers 33:39 or those who are listening? 33:40 If they see a tractor rolling down the hill 33:43 should they jump on and try to stop it? 33:45 Let it go. Let it go. 33:50 It's, you know, it's a popular phrase nowadays, 33:53 but I've taken that to very personal now, 33:55 just let it go. 33:57 In fact, get this that tractor 34:01 did not have any anything wrong with it. 34:04 It was pulled out of the ravine and still runs till this day, 34:07 Not even a dent. Not even a dent. 34:10 Is that not amazing? 34:12 How amazing that it missed you too 34:14 an arm's length away. 34:15 So many, so many things could have happened. 34:17 So, you know, you... 34:19 But you were manly there for a few minutes. 34:21 That's right. 34:24 And then thankful the rest of your life. 34:26 That's right. That's right. 34:28 When did you begin, 34:30 when we first heard about Christian, 34:32 I heard we were looking for some host 34:34 for our 3ABN Kids Camp. 34:37 And we knew we wanted to do Bible Buzz 34:40 and I needed somebody energetic. 34:42 And someone said, "Do you know Christian Martin? 34:47 He works with the ASI, 34:49 that's the Adventist Laymen Services, 34:54 whatever it is, the industries Industries. 34:56 And so that you work with the youth there 34:59 and so I checked you out and everybody's going, 35:02 "This is the man." 35:04 So tell us when did you begin working 35:06 with the youth at ASI? 35:08 Yes. 35:10 I've been doing the ASI Junior program, 35:13 doing division program, now for how many years? 35:15 It's been four years. 35:17 It's been four years, four years. 35:18 And it was a privilege 35:20 and an invitation it was given to me. 35:22 But it spoke to my heart 35:26 because I've always had a love 35:29 for youth ministry. 35:30 I started ministry as a youth pastor 35:33 at Battle Creek Tabernacle, in fact. 35:35 And so youth ministry has always been my joy. 35:38 I was a youth pastor 35:39 in Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist Church 35:41 there in Southern Oregon, 35:42 so youth ministry has always been a favorite, 35:45 one of my favorite things. 35:47 So being with ASI has been a joy, 35:49 a privilege to be able to interact with kids 35:52 from across the country and around the world. 35:54 And we've had a great program. 35:58 And we're gonna give you the opportunity 36:00 to stretch it because he's... 36:03 Christian Pastor Martin is going to be doing a program 36:07 for us next year that we hope to record 36:09 and this will be age group we're targeting is 14 to 18. 36:14 It's gonna be high school. 36:16 You know, we tend to develop a lot of good programs, 36:19 very good programs for a younger age. 36:21 Yes. 36:23 But we're sensing the need to address topics, 36:26 subjects that are very relevant 36:29 for the high school mentality, 36:32 high school age, you know, 36:34 and we're excited about the potential for that. 36:37 Now tell us a little of what you are doing 36:40 at the Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Community Church now. 36:44 You work alongside with Mark Finley, 36:48 another well-known name, 36:49 well-known evangelist 36:51 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 36:52 What are you doing there? 36:54 Are you a part of the school, what's going on? 36:57 Okay. 36:58 The Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Community Church 37:01 is a very unique context 37:04 if only because it's both a school of evangelism 37:09 and a local congregation. 37:12 And what... 37:15 It is the school of evangelism is led by Elder Mark Finley 37:20 as well as Elder Chris Holland, 37:23 who serves there as well as his associate 37:25 and together they run this school. 37:28 The school is to train not only pastors 37:32 and pastors do come 37:33 from various conferences for one of the courses 37:36 that's held throughout the year, 37:39 but also lay people come to be trained 37:41 on how to do evangelism, 37:42 how to develop an evangelistic mindset 37:47 and culture in the local congregation. 37:49 Very, very wonderful courses and sessions 37:53 and, but we're also a congregation. 37:56 And so I have the privilege of being the lead pastor 37:59 of the Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church. 38:02 But what that means is that as a school 38:04 and as a church, we partner together. 38:08 While the school teaches, you know, the principles 38:12 and concepts of evangelism, 38:14 we as a church seek to implement those principles 38:19 and put them to practice. 38:20 Wonderful. 38:22 And, of course, we have a wonderful working partnership 38:26 as the school provides, 38:28 allowed the training not only to our congregation, 38:32 but to churches, you know, all over the place. 38:36 And so what we do is 38:39 we have embraced the concept 38:43 of having a cycle of evangelism. 38:45 Evangelism cycle operating within the church. 38:49 Praise God. 38:50 Evangelism is not just some event 38:52 that's gonna happen this fall or next spring, 38:53 but it's a way of life, 38:56 which includes preparing the soil, 38:59 you know, planting the seed, 39:02 cultivating, harvesting, and preserving. 39:05 Amen. 39:07 It's a five cycles of evangelism 39:10 and it's exciting for me as a pastor to be able to, 39:15 one of my joys in ministry 39:17 is to motivate congregations, 39:22 families, individuals 39:24 to see themselves 39:26 as evangelists, ministers 39:29 that have a calling to finish the work 39:31 that God has given us to do. 39:33 And so that's exciting 39:36 and it's happening in our local church. 39:37 Amen. 39:38 What we probably need to do 39:40 since we want to get the kids out here, 39:42 why don't we go and have a special music 39:44 by Tammy Chance. 39:45 Yes. 39:47 And it is "Because Of Who You Are." 39:49 You know, we love Sister Tammy. 39:50 She has such a beautiful voice. Amen. 40:03 You spoke the words 40:05 And all the worlds Came into order 40:10 You raised Your hands 40:12 And planets filled The empty skies 40:17 You placed the woman And the man 40:21 Inside the garden 40:24 And though they fell 40:26 They found compassion In Your eyes 40:31 Oh, Lord I stand amazed 40:36 at the wonder of it all 40:39 Yet a greater wonder brings me To my knees 40:45 Lord, I praise You Because of who You are 40:52 Not for all the mighty deeds 40:55 That You have done 40:59 Lord, I worship You 41:02 Because of who You are 41:06 It's all the reason That I need to voice my praise 41:12 Because of who You are 41:20 One holy night 41:22 You sent Your promise From a virgin 41:27 And promise grew 41:29 till He revealed to us Your heart 41:34 Enduring love displayed Throughout Your Crucifixion 41:41 And through Your death You tore the darken grave apart 41:48 Oh, Lord I stand amazed 41:52 At the wonder of it all 41:56 Yet a greater wonder Brings me To my knees 42:02 Lord, I praise You 42:05 Because of who You are 42:09 Not for all the mighty deeds That You have done 42:16 Lord, I worship you 42:19 Because of who You are 42:23 You're all the reason That I need to voice my praise 42:30 Lord, I praise You 42:33 Because of who You are 42:36 Not for all the mighty deeds 42:40 That You have done 42:43 Lord, I worship You 42:47 Because of who You are 42:50 You're all the reason That I need to voice my praise 42:56 Because of who You are 43:03 Because of who You are 43:10 Because of who You are 43:30 We absolutely love Tammy Chance. 43:32 Bless her heart. She's got such a pure voice. 43:35 And a pure heart. She is precious. 43:37 Well, we've gone from two PKs, 43:40 preacher's kids to four PKs on the set with us 43:44 because we have Moriah and Elijah Martin, 43:48 who have joined us. 43:50 Papa, why don't you kind of introduce your babies 43:53 and tell us about them? 43:55 Absolutely. 43:56 Well, our firstborn son, his name is Elijah. 43:59 Amen. 44:00 And he recently turned 12, 44:03 and his younger sister Moriah is 9. 44:07 She's gonna soon be 10. 44:08 And so we have our two young ones 44:12 and they are the greatest joy in our life right now. 44:15 Praise God. 44:17 Praise God. We're glad. 44:18 Did you get to watch the rest of the program 44:21 that mommy and daddy were on? 44:22 Yeah? Yeah. 44:23 Okay, so are you nervous about being on TV? 44:26 No. Good. 44:28 I know you are not, Elijah, 44:29 'cause you are on all the 3ABN Kids Camp. 44:33 So you practice what you preach. 44:36 I mean, when you're sitting here talking about the family 44:38 that ministers together, stays together. 44:41 You guys started very young, 44:44 taking the children along on mission trips. 44:46 Tell us about it? Yes. 44:48 Well, in 2016 as one of our best examples, 44:52 I was given the invitation, the privilege to speak 44:56 at a youth event in South Africa. 44:59 Oh, boy. 45:00 In Dundee, South Africa, it's an annual youth event 45:04 that happens in December is called Youth Fest 45:08 and is produced by the Abundant Life Ministry. 45:11 And... 45:13 December there is their hot time. 45:14 Oh, it's warm, it's beautiful. 45:19 And so I was invited 45:22 and, of course, I got super excited about, 45:25 you know, going to South Africa, you know? 45:27 And... 45:28 And then I heard about it and I said, 45:30 "You are not going alone." 45:31 Amen. Amen. 45:32 And my first response was, "I don't want to, let's do it. 45:37 Let's go as a family." 45:39 Yeah. 45:41 And then initially we thought, 45:43 well, could Elijah and Moriah come 45:46 and the more we thought about it, 45:47 the more we concluded that they had to come. 45:50 We had to do this as a family. 45:52 Amen. 45:54 And so Elijah and Moriah came with us to South Africa. 45:56 And, but it was not 45:58 their first mission trip though. 46:00 In fact, we went to Nicaragua with the young adult Maranatha 46:04 Mission trip. 46:05 I was the evangelism outreach coordinator 46:07 for this group. 46:09 And we took our kids and they were ages. 46:12 You remember how old you were? 46:13 Two. Elijah? 46:15 Four. Wow! 46:16 Two and four. 46:17 Wow. And... 46:19 So I bet you can tell us all about daddy sermons. 46:23 Elijah, what do you like? 46:24 I know you've been back to South Africa 46:27 now a couple of times. 46:28 What do you like about going on a mission trip? 46:32 I like visiting the people, and like seeing how they live, 46:37 and meeting them just through lifestyle. 46:42 And you like animals too? 46:43 Yeah, and I like seeing the different animals. 46:46 Yeah. Yeah. 46:48 Yeah. And how about you, Moriah? 46:51 We had the privilege to meet other friends 46:55 and to see animals and, yeah. 46:57 Do you stay in touch with any of the kids 47:00 that you meet? 47:01 Have you had an opportunity to be a pen pal with anybody? 47:07 Not yet? Okay, yeah. 47:09 She hasn't done that. 47:11 But I will say that it was really a big joy for them 47:13 to see their friends again 47:15 when we went back this past December, 47:18 what did they do for you? 47:20 Do you remember? 47:22 They had a birthday party for her. 47:23 Oh, how special. 47:25 The day we got there, 47:27 it was Moriah's birthday. 47:28 And they said, "Don't tell Moriah, 47:30 don't tell Moriah." 47:31 And they had a birthday party planned, 47:34 which was so special. 47:36 And so the friendships continued. 47:39 Yes. 47:40 And the good news, 47:41 General Conference is coming up this next year, 47:43 people from all around the world 47:45 is gonna be coming. 47:46 So maybe some of them will come 47:47 and you can see each other there. 47:49 Yes, yes. 47:50 In fact, we saw some of them 47:52 at the Oshkosh Pathfinder Camporee 47:54 this last August, we had a club, 47:57 a group from South Africa. 47:59 And some of our friends were there 48:01 and we were able to see each other. 48:04 We did go back to South Africa in 2018. 48:08 And once again as a family and so we truly believe 48:12 in doing ministry together. 48:15 That's the heart of the matter, together, together. 48:19 The family that, that serves together that, 48:24 you know, works for the Lord together, 48:26 will stay together for eternity. 48:28 And you learn that certainly growing up yourself. 48:31 Yeah. 48:33 Absolutely. Absolutely. 48:35 You know 'cause I know firsthand that wow, 48:38 what my parents did to me 48:41 has changed my life for the better. 48:44 You know, I know that by the grace of God, 48:47 I'm so thankful for my parents. 48:49 Amen. 48:50 And I saw what they did. 48:52 And that it was modeled for you at home so that it wasn't... 48:54 And it was modeled for me. 48:55 It wasn't something that there was no hypocrisy. 48:58 I have talked with pastor's kids 49:00 if they're not involved, 49:02 sometimes they can begin to have a total disconnect. 49:05 And not just pastor's kids, 49:06 but people can have a disconnect 49:09 if God isn't part of their daily life 49:13 and if they're not involved. 49:15 That's right. That's right. 49:16 So, Elijah and Moriah, 49:18 they are not a stranger to the life of the church. 49:24 We involve them in Pathfinders. Praise the Lord. 49:26 They're active in Sabbath School. 49:28 Elijah and Moriah have sang 49:31 for special music together at church. 49:34 They have done scripture reading. 49:37 So we find so many different ways for them 49:40 to be very hard, the very thick, 49:43 you know, ministry. 49:44 Yes. 49:45 Do we have a couple pictures we could run through 49:47 real quick? 49:48 Yes, yes. 49:50 Our experience there was so special. 49:51 Here we have the camp 49:53 where we conducted our youth fest. 49:56 It's a Bush Camp. 49:57 And so it was a very fun location to be at. 50:01 Beautiful setting. 50:03 Of course, being in Africa, we went to safari, 50:07 we went, you know, we went on a safari. 50:09 Yeah. 50:11 A photo with safari and you should say yes. 50:13 And it was so exciting to be able to see, you know, 50:16 the different animals that Elijah 50:17 and Moriah both enjoy so much. 50:19 Yeah. Oh, boy! 50:21 We went to the lions, lion camp. 50:23 And we had... 50:25 Is there no.. There's no barrier there? 50:27 No, that's just us. 50:28 We were able to be right there, 50:30 cuddle with them, wrestle with them and... 50:32 Wow. 50:33 And pose for a picture. Look at that. 50:35 Wow. Praise Him. 50:36 It reminds me of Revelation 50:38 and the lion and the lamb are going to be together. 50:40 Yes, yes. 50:41 Well, that's just wonderful. 50:44 We are going to... 50:45 We've enjoyed this so much just hearing how. 50:49 And, you know, we all fell in love with Elijah 50:52 at the 3ABN Kids Camp and Moriah, 50:55 I hope that when we do our next 3ABN Kids Camp, 50:59 you can come as well because we miss having you. 51:03 But it's wonderful 51:05 to see how involving God 51:09 in your children's lives, you know, 51:11 train up a child in the way they should go. 51:13 You are both trained up, 51:15 not just to know about Jesus, 51:19 but to know Him and to serve Him. 51:21 And the service makes 51:23 all the difference in the world. 51:24 Amen. 51:26 We've got to take a quick break to go to a news break, 51:27 but we're gonna come back in just a minute, 51:31 and we'll have a closing thought 51:33 from the Martin family. |
Revised 2021-02-08