Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY210001A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for today's special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello. Welcome to our Today. 01:17 We are going to connect kids with their Jesus, their Savior, 01:22 and I am so delighted to co-host with Shelley Quinn, 01:26 who is a God-fearing wonderful person 01:29 that loves Jesus, don't you? 01:30 Oh, I do and you also. 01:32 I guess I should call you Aunt Francine on this program. 01:36 Yes. 01:37 And we're so delighted that we have our guest today 01:40 and it's Rich Aguilera, 01:42 and he's also known as the mud guy. 01:45 And, I think you might be telling us 01:47 a little bit more about that? 01:49 Sounds like a plan. Rich. 01:50 I'll tell you what, 01:52 I know you had a difficult time getting here 01:53 because you had some car trouble, 01:56 but you look wide awake and I love your hat. 01:59 Everybody will recognize the hat because... 02:00 I'm ready for any adventure now. 02:02 3ABN Kids Network, you are the Bible treasure guy. 02:06 Yep. I just love it. 02:08 And you know what? 02:09 We actually have a third co-host, 02:13 Rich is our guest. 02:15 But we have a third co-host and she's sleeping on the job, 02:20 Ms. Ginger over here. 02:22 We're glad that Ginger is, 02:25 I think she is sound asleep. 02:26 Yeah, this is her nap time. Yeah. 02:29 And she likes resting, 02:30 but we are so delighted 02:32 that you took time to come over here 02:34 and telling us a little bit more 02:35 about what you are doing in your ministry 02:37 to share Jesus? 02:38 Absolutely, my pleasure to be here with you guys. 02:40 Well, before we begin, 02:42 we know that our audience loves music. 02:46 We know you love music, 02:48 and we have a song by one of my favorite people, 02:51 Stephanie Dawn. 02:52 I love her delivery 02:55 and she is going to sing where... 02:59 I'll go where You want me to go. 03:02 And there's a reason we chose this song. 03:04 You'll find out, stay with us. 03:24 It may not be on the mountain height 03:32 Or over the stormy sea 03:40 It may not be at the battle's front 03:47 My Lord will have need of me 03:55 But if by a still, small voice He calls 04:03 To paths I do not know 04:11 I'll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Thine 04:18 I'll go where You want me to go 04:26 I'll go where You want me to go, dear Lord 04:33 O'er mountain or plain or sea 04:41 I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord 04:48 I'll be what You want me to be 04:57 Perhaps today there are loving words 05:04 That Jesus would have me speak 05:12 There may be now, in the paths of sin 05:19 Some wand'rer whom I should seek 05:27 O Savior, if Thou wilt be my Guide 05:34 Tho dark and rugged the way 05:42 My voice shall echo the message sweet 05:49 I'll say what You want me to say. 05:57 I'll go where You want me to go, dear Lord 06:04 O'er mountain or plain or sea 06:12 I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord 06:20 I'll be what You want me to be 06:39 There's surely somewhere a lowly place 06:46 In earth's harvest fields so wide 06:53 Where I may labor thru life's short day 07:01 For Jesus the Crucified 07:08 So, trusting my all unto Thy care 07:15 I know Thou lovest me 07:23 I'll do Thy will with a heart sincere 07:31 I'll be what You want me to be 07:38 I'll go where You want me to go, dear Lord 07:46 O'er mountain or plain or sea 07:54 I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord 08:04 I'll be what You want me to be 08:29 Thank you, Stephanie Dawn. 08:30 I remember a time 08:32 when you might have been on some earlier programs 08:35 as a little child 08:36 and you know, Shelley did mention something 08:38 about how it, 08:41 how we all have a reason of where God wants us to be. 08:46 Where do you want to be today? 08:47 And I know that 08:49 sometimes we have plans laid out 08:50 and sometimes God shifts them around 08:52 and says, nope, 08:53 this is the path that I need you to take. 08:55 And I think Rich Aguilera, 08:57 you had something like that happened to you. 08:59 What did you study? 09:01 Well, I went to university to study architecture, 09:04 but, and it lasted for 15 years, 09:06 but it, you know, 09:08 I was kind of frustrated with it from the beginning. 09:09 I got into it because 09:11 I wanted to do something very creative 09:13 and I'm thinking architecture, 09:15 you know, I could design buildings 09:16 and create all these amazing structures. 09:18 And then I went into it and I found out that, 09:20 really architecture was the business 09:22 of building buildings. 09:24 And there was a lot of fighting with officials and inspectors 09:27 and banks and contractors. 09:28 And I was like, this is not. 09:30 Getting permits. 09:31 Yeah, getting permits. 09:32 So it's kind of funny 09:34 because then I ended up getting my creative thrills 09:36 at church, serving at church. 09:37 Wow! 09:39 At church? At church. 09:40 But I still, I did architecture for 15 years, 09:42 16 years, I think. 09:43 Wow! 09:44 So you were getting involved with children? 09:46 Yeah. I started off with the youth. 09:48 Were your kids already young at that age or what? 09:50 I didn't even have kids. 09:51 You didn't even have kids? No, no. 09:52 And you decided to do youth ministries 09:54 in your church? 09:56 Yes. And where was this at? 09:57 This is at Berrien Springs, Michigan. 09:58 Ah-aha. I know that place very well. 10:00 Yeah. 10:01 So I served kind of as a youth director 10:03 at our church for probably five or six years, 10:06 just got excited about working with youth kind of in 10:08 out of the box typesetting, 10:10 'cause we would do all sorts of really cool creative things 10:12 and, you know, Berrien Springs having so many youth, 10:15 it's interesting because our youth program 10:16 would actually get more attendance 10:18 than the main worship service on Sabbath morning. 10:21 Wow! 10:22 We really want to do 10:23 something special for the youth. 10:25 And then what happens is, 10:26 I started having nieces and nephews first 10:29 and we're like, 10:30 our shift kind of went towards children. 10:32 And then, of course, I had my own children 10:33 and then really it was just from there, 10:35 it was all children. 10:37 So tell us more about that? 10:39 Well, you know, 10:40 as I was looking for my creative thrills, 10:42 I always wanted to pour as much creative energy 10:44 into everything I did. 10:46 And one of the first things that happened was 10:49 I shifted from being the youth director 10:50 to helping out 10:52 with the children's ministry director. 10:53 First as a helper 10:55 and we would sit around at these tables 10:56 and we're like, what are we gonna do? 10:58 What exciting, awesome thing could we do? 10:59 'Cause we had been doing this youth ministry 11:03 and now we wanted to do something equally grand 11:05 and exciting for the kids 11:07 and we're thinking, okay, really needs to be exciting 11:09 and interesting and engaging. 11:12 So we started dreaming up ideas. 11:13 And the task 11:15 that we had been given for that office at church 11:18 was VBS. 11:20 And so, at first year or two, I think, 11:23 I mean, we just kinda went really overboard on our VBS 11:26 we just, huge sets and costumes and the whole thing. 11:30 And then I remember the first year 11:32 after we finished 11:33 and we had like 120 kids come out. 11:36 They had this amazing week 11:38 and then it finished 11:42 and we're like, see you next year. 11:45 Oh, that's great. That's awesome. 11:46 And we're like, wait a second, this doesn't sound right. 11:49 We didn't commit to that. Yeah. 11:50 I'm like, we just got these kids 11:52 super excited about Jesus. 11:53 We had this awesome encounter and engagement 11:55 for the whole week. 11:57 And then basically, 11:58 and we didn't tell the kids see you next year, 11:59 but we were telling ourselves, 12:01 we just did this amazing, 12:03 awesome encounter with Jesus and it ends then. 12:05 They want more. 12:06 Don't they want more? Can't we continue this? 12:09 So that's where the idea was born 12:10 of doing a children's church ministry. 12:13 And so we basically continued the theme of the VBS. 12:17 We kept our props 12:18 and our costumes and everything. 12:20 And we started doing 12:21 a Sabbath afternoon children's church every month. 12:23 Wow! How exciting. 12:24 And that's kind of how we really got kind of rolling 12:26 with expanding, kind of, our vision and view 12:28 of all the different ways 12:30 that you can really reach children, 12:31 but consistently. 12:33 Consistently. 12:34 'Cause doing it for a couple of days in the summer. 12:35 That was just not enough. 12:37 Wow! 12:38 I think you brought a real with you 12:39 about your children's church. 12:41 And I have to tell you, 12:42 I did children's church many years ago as well. 12:44 I've put together a whole children's church 12:46 and it's such an exciting idea to teach children, 12:53 not just, I mean, you're kind of teaching them 12:55 about church as well. 12:57 So let's look at that real right now. 14:08 That last one was you. That was me. 14:10 Wasn't it, Rich? 14:11 I was dressed up as a pharaoh. 14:12 How precious is that? 14:14 But I mean, the kids must love it. 14:15 How long, you went from VBS into children's church. 14:19 How long, what year was that? 14:22 Yeah, I'm trying to remember what year it was, 14:23 in the early 2000s 14:25 that we started doing the children's church. 14:26 And, of course, when the pandemic started, 14:29 we had to take a break. 14:30 You mean it's still going? It's still going. 14:32 Oh, praise the Lord, how much fun. 14:34 Now I know that you've also used puppets 14:39 in your children's ministry. 14:40 Now, there are a couple of people, 14:43 I've only met two 14:44 that didn't think puppets were right 14:46 and nobody else has said anything about it. 14:49 What's your experience been with puppets and children? 14:51 Puppets for us have been extremely powerful 14:54 and I'll use the word extremely 14:56 because we've seen it in action now 14:57 for almost 20 years. 14:59 We've had these two characters 15:00 that started off right at the beginning 15:02 with children's church called Dusty and Feather 15:04 and the kids, they adore them 15:07 because they almost grew up with these puppets. 15:08 But it was interesting because 15:10 my philosophy on puppets 15:11 has always been a little different 15:13 than maybe other people, 15:14 'cause for me, I wanted to choose puppet characters 15:17 that were a little strange 15:19 because when you're working with children, 15:21 you have to kind of think outside the box. 15:24 So I've always resisted having people puppets 15:27 'cause oftentimes when you see people do puppets, 15:30 it's two people talking to each other 15:32 and it's like normal. 15:34 So we created these characters 15:35 that are extra silly, extra goofy, 15:38 but they always bring a point home. 15:41 And for me, the puppets was basically 15:43 a way to connect with the kids 15:45 because we often just kind of talk at the kids 15:48 when we're doing children's ministries. 15:49 But the first thing that we have to establish 15:51 is a connection with them. 15:52 Yes. 15:53 So we have to figure out how can we connect with them? 15:55 And kids have grown up, 15:56 you know, whether it's watching Sesame Street or whatever, 15:58 they love puppets. 15:59 There's just something engaging about puppets. 16:00 Mr. Rogers. Exactly. 16:02 And if you can make them silly and funny 16:04 and, you know, crack jokes and whatever, 16:06 but they always come back to the center, 16:09 which is the point that you're trying to make, 16:10 the spiritual lesson. 16:12 We've found that the puppets were a great vehicle 16:15 for just getting an engagement moment 16:17 with the kids. 16:18 Once you got their attention, then you feed them the lesson. 16:21 And often they'll remember 16:23 what the puppet story was about for years. 16:25 I've had kids come up to me years later 16:27 and they're like telling me 16:28 one of their favorite Dusty and Feather moments. 16:30 Yeah. 16:31 So it is a powerful, 16:32 we've seen it to be a very powerful tool 16:34 for working with children. 16:35 Definitely. And I definitely see that. 16:37 So I believe something happened in 2008 16:41 that really shifted something that ties into our song. 16:44 Yeah. 16:45 Tell me a little bit about that? 16:47 Well, it's interesting. 16:48 I mean, I carried on my architecture career 16:50 because I figured that's what I prepared for. 16:51 So I have to keep doing this, 16:52 but I was getting my creative thrills 16:55 doing a children's church and the VBS 16:57 and different ministries. 16:59 And it's interesting because, 17:00 you know, by then, now 17:02 we've been doing children's church 17:03 for five, six years or something like that. 17:05 And a lot of people were starting to come up to me 17:06 and saying, hey, Rich, you know, wow, 17:07 these are just amazing things. 17:09 We don't see anyone anywhere else 17:10 doing these amazing programs for kids 17:12 and doing, you know, all this year-round, 17:15 you know, reaching children. 17:17 And they started kind of poking me spiritually. 17:20 They're like, do you think 17:21 maybe you've been kind of called to do this, 17:23 you know, ministry a little bit more full-time 17:26 or pour more of your energy to do this, 17:29 you know, all those kinds of nods and pushes. 17:32 So I finally kinda, 17:33 I think it was in 2006, I started praying. 17:35 I'm like, God, you know, 17:36 a lot of people just saying this all of a sudden, 17:38 if this is really something You want me to do, 17:40 you know, the deal that I made with God. 17:42 And I think I've mentioned it on the show before is 17:45 if You open the door, I'll walk through it. 17:48 And that's exactly what happened. 17:51 That's a whole long story all there, 17:53 but, God created an opportunity for me 17:55 to put my architecture career on the side 18:01 and start working full time in 2008, 18:05 doing this ministry work for children and the goal, 18:07 which is, you know, 18:09 our program today is about connecting kids with Jesus, 18:12 especially in today's world 18:13 where there's so much distractions, 18:14 so much noise, so much other things going on. 18:17 It only makes the job even harder, 18:18 which means we have to work extra harder 18:21 to be able to connect with them 18:22 and get creative and try new things 18:23 and experiment. 18:25 And so that's kinda what we've ended up 18:27 focusing on with our ministry. 18:28 And I love the title of your ministry. 18:32 It's One Mustard Seed. 18:35 And if you want to get in touch with Rich 18:38 or connect with his ministry, 18:40 you can go to OneMustardSeed.com. 18:45 How'd you come up with that name? 18:47 Well, It's interesting because, 18:50 the idea of starting a ministry 18:51 was basically a massive leap of faith 18:54 'cause it was leaving a stable architecture career 18:57 to start a ministry, serving God, 18:59 working with, for children, 19:01 without having any idea what you're doing 19:03 or where to go or where to start. 19:05 Or how you're gonna support your family? 19:07 Or how are you going to support your family, exactly. 19:08 That's a big one. Exactly. 19:10 And you know when we started the ministry, 19:11 I'm like, all right, it'd be great 19:12 if we can get a name that reflects 19:14 this massive leap of faith 19:15 that we're gonna take to serve God. 19:18 And so, you know, 19:19 I thought of the mustard seed story 19:21 in the Bible, 19:22 and I thought to really punctuate it, 19:24 it's one mustard seed. 19:25 You're going to get a massive tree, a mustard tree, 19:28 and you only need one of those tiny little seeds 19:31 to get that tree. 19:32 Just a little step of faith. 19:33 One mustard seed 19:35 is all you need to get this tree 19:36 and that's kinda working. 19:38 You've been planting seeds for the Lord for a long time. 19:40 Definitely. 19:42 So, tell us a little bit about your early ministry 19:46 when you got started? 19:47 What was that like? 19:49 Yeah, so, it's interesting because we kind of started off 19:53 by going to an ASI Convention. 19:56 The one that was in Tampa that year, I think it was 2008. 19:59 And, it's kind of neat because 20:01 while I was in the chow line that first day, 20:05 I went there and it's interesting 20:06 'cause I went to set up a booth there 20:08 having no idea what I was doing. 20:09 I didn't have a product, 20:11 I didn't have a resource 20:12 we just, we were launching our ministry blind, 20:15 but it's interesting because right in line 20:17 I had Randy Fishel 20:19 who used to be the editor of Guide magazine 20:22 standing right behind me in line. 20:23 And I don't know what the deal was, 20:24 but the lines took like 45 minutes 20:26 to get to the food. 20:28 And we spent the whole 45 minutes talking 20:29 and brainstorming and dreaming. 20:31 And I shared with him what I was doing. 20:32 And he shared with me, you know, what? 20:34 We're looking for a Guide magazine nature columnist. 20:38 We want you to be that person. 20:39 Oh, praise God. Wow. 20:40 Right there in line, we got our start. 20:42 I got my start writing a column for Guide magazine. 20:45 That was a divine appointment. 20:47 Yes. Definitely. 20:48 So that's kind of how we got started. 20:50 And then one thing, 20:51 and then we started doing more writing projects. 20:54 We started trying to do video type projects and events. 20:57 So it just kinda kept going God works in mysterious ways. 21:01 And He opens the doors 21:02 and our job is just to walk through them. 21:04 And what I noticed though also is that 21:06 it takes your whole family to support it. 21:09 Like for me, I know with Amanda, 21:11 she has to almost buy into it 21:13 and I'm sure your sons had to participate too 21:16 and just buy into it and be supportive. 21:17 Absolutely. 21:19 Having the full support of the family, 21:20 my wife and the boys, 21:21 you know, having us all be invested in 21:23 because going forward, 21:25 a lot of the things that we did was a team of four 21:28 to get it done, whether it was traveling 21:30 or, you know, the kids got involved 21:31 in children's church and they still are. 21:34 We taught them how to run the puppets. 21:36 So part of our goal with the children's church 21:38 was to put a lot of the kids to work. 21:40 And it was a really amazing ministry and still is 21:42 because we're serving 21:44 sometimes up to 150 children in the month, 21:47 but we employ, we call them our junior staff. 21:51 So we have maybe 25 21:52 of what I'd say is our juniors and early teens. 21:55 And then the actual children's church program 21:57 is run by about 40 or 50 high school students. 22:00 I know you've written a number of books, 22:01 but I just have to tell you or ask you, 22:04 have you ever written down 22:06 the kind of like the blueprint, Mr. Architect, 22:11 for how to do children's church? 22:13 Not really. 22:15 You need to 'cause this is an idea 22:18 that should go from church to church. 22:20 You're getting young people, the youth involved 22:24 that gives them a purpose. 22:26 You're training up little, I mean the little children. 22:29 You need to write a book for adults. 22:31 I know you've written five or six books. 22:33 Put it on the list. 22:36 We're getting closer though. 22:37 I see a lot of his planning going on for sure. 22:40 Yeah. 22:41 But yeah, those were amazing years for sure. 22:44 And I know that 22:46 you were planning something else 22:48 before the pandemic hit. 22:50 What was that? 22:51 What was something that you were dreaming up? 22:53 Because you're always coming up with new ideas. 22:54 Yeah. 22:56 I love, I enjoy seeing what you come up with next. 22:58 And it's always, of course, exciting working with you guys 23:01 because you guys are ready to try interesting things 23:03 and working with the kids. 23:04 And before the pandemic, 23:06 we were dreaming up about a show 23:07 that we were gonna work on together 23:09 right here at 3ABN. 23:10 And, again, trying to think outside the box, 23:12 what would be exciting, what would be unique? 23:15 And I came up with this idea that we were about to launch, 23:18 didn't have a name yet. 23:19 I don't think we even had a working title yet, 23:21 but the idea was to take a group of families, 23:25 eight, ten different families 23:26 on this week, long adventure 23:29 to some exotic international place. 23:32 And we had planned this first one to be in Costa Rica. 23:35 And we were gonna go there. 23:36 And basically with these families, 23:38 we're gonna spend a week there 23:39 and every day would be an adventure. 23:41 And we'd be zealous. 23:43 I was excited because I wanted to go too. 23:45 We were gonna be zip-lining and caving and, 23:48 you know, whitewater rafting. 23:50 Spelunking. And spelunking. 23:51 And, that would be kind of a little morning activity. 23:54 And then in the afternoon, 23:55 the families would have time 23:56 to just kind of be on their own and do some family stuff. 23:59 And then we would also work in the production 24:02 of a reality TV show 24:04 featuring these eight or ten families, 24:06 lightly scripted. 24:08 So the kids would say a line, 24:09 and then we tied all together with the B roll. 24:11 And it was just the kind of this exciting, 24:13 all outdoors, all surrounded by God's nature, 24:15 you know, kids and families, 24:17 parents all interacting together. 24:18 And, so we're, we still have that on the table 24:21 with Francine 24:23 and we're hoping to, you know, be able to get back on that. 24:25 I would like to see that happening 24:27 because that would be such a wonderful adventure 24:30 to have that come alive again and again, 24:32 not scripted having it, just a lot of fun for the kids. 24:36 Now, I think we have another roll in for that one, 24:38 don't we? 24:39 Not for that one, I don't think. 24:42 It would be something. 24:44 The dinosaur one? 24:45 Oh, the dinosaur one will be coming soon. 24:47 So tell us about that? 24:49 So that was more about 24:50 the events part of our ministry. 24:51 So after we had been doing the children's church 24:54 after I started writing for Guide magazine. 24:57 We were trying to figure out 24:58 how else can we connect with people, 25:00 especially with the kids. 25:02 By then, I had been doing a lot of TV and production work 25:05 and, okay, you can reach people across the world 25:09 by watching something, 25:11 but it occurred to me that 25:12 the next exciting way to connect with kids 25:15 would be to do it directly in person. 25:18 And I thought, okay, well, how do we do that? 25:20 'Cause we were doing that with children's church 25:22 just in our little community. 25:24 How do we take that out? 25:25 And so, that kind of ushered in a part of, 25:29 or a timeline of our ministry, 25:31 where we started doing events 25:33 and I started getting invitations 25:34 to speak at a lot of churches and come for a weekend. 25:37 And that kind of eventually 25:38 evolved into the idea of producing a touring event. 25:43 And that's where this dinosaur, program kinda came in. 25:47 I toured a dinosaur show, for four years 25:50 we did over 100 cities in four or five countries. 25:55 We were just cruising. 25:57 We were continuing to do that, 25:59 but I saw such an interesting opportunity 26:02 to reach kids with this topic 26:04 because a lot of people think, 26:05 dinosaurs, everyone loves dinosaurs. 26:07 But for me, this was really an opportunity 26:09 to touch on the creation topic. 26:12 Amen. Absolutely. 26:14 'Cause it automatically rolls into that 26:15 because dinosaurs almost represent this conflict 26:17 between the creation and evolution concepts. 26:21 So if we use dinosaurs as our hook 26:23 to get the kids excited, engaged, 26:25 and they come and then they get to learn 26:27 how these creatures fit into the biblical worldview. 26:30 And it turns out that, 26:31 you know, the hunch was right 26:33 and we did this 26:34 a hundred cities for four years. 26:35 And at the end of that, 26:37 I was thinking this really needs to be bigger. 26:40 This really could do a lot more. 26:42 We could really reach out into the community 26:44 instead of just kind of serving the members 26:46 and, you know, clubs and stuff like that. 26:49 This would be an exciting show for outreach, for evangelism, 26:52 you know, come out and learn what the Bible says, 26:55 you know, and just have fun 26:56 and be this big colorful program. 26:58 So that's where we came to this idea of launching 27:02 a new tour called Dinosaur Encounter. 27:05 And we were about to launch when the pandemic hit. 27:11 Rich, one thing I so admire about you, 27:12 and I have to say this, 27:14 is your commitment 27:15 to the creation story of the Bible. 27:18 Here in schools, we have kids who are being taught evolution, 27:24 and you on the other hand 27:26 are teaching them the truth about God's seven day week, 27:33 His six day creation and the Sabbath. 27:36 I so appreciate that. 27:37 And what we wanna do right now is 27:40 let's look at that short clip on the Dino project. 28:06 Join me, Rich Aguilera, 28:08 as we explore evidence from science, 28:10 nature history, and the Bible. 28:13 What happened to the dinosaurs? 28:15 When did they live? 28:17 Did they really evolve over millions of years? 28:20 What does the Bible say? 28:28 I'd like to invite you and your family 28:30 to join me for this Bible based Dinosaur Encounter. 28:34 As we ask questions and search for the truth. 28:38 Oh, and everyone gets 3D glasses. 28:41 I hope to see you soon. 28:46 I want to be there and wear those 3D glasses 28:49 because that just sounds exciting. 28:50 It does. 28:52 Even those dinosaurs jumping out at you 28:54 and, oh, I would, it will be just phenomenal just the end, 28:57 the kids are just so engaged and so excited. 28:59 What a fun way to kind of make the show 29:01 just jump out right into the audience for them. 29:03 Which leads me into something else 29:04 that I think you were hoping to tackle as well. 29:07 You've tackled that 29:09 brought in a new dimension for your ministry. 29:11 What is that? 29:13 Was that talking about film making possibly? 29:17 And really, how did you decide to get into that? 29:19 So several years ago, 29:21 when I was trying to think of new areas 29:23 to connect with kids, 29:25 I started thinking and praying 29:26 about the concept of filmmaking or movies. 29:30 And I started reflecting on, 29:31 you know, okay, first of all, 29:33 how did Jesus connect with people? 29:35 And I think it's fair to say that 29:37 one of His favorite teaching tools 29:39 was storytelling. 29:41 And when I thought of 29:43 what would be the equivalent of that concept 29:46 in today times 29:49 I concluded that, you know, movies are extremely popular. 29:54 I'm trying to remember the statistic, 29:55 but last time I checked, 29:57 it was like 3 billion tickets are sold 29:59 for people in North America alone 30:01 to go see movies every single year. 30:03 People are drawn to movies. They love the story concept. 30:06 And Jesus, you know, 30:08 used that idea of telling a story 30:09 to teach a point. 30:11 And I was reflecting and thinking, you know, 30:13 church doesn't do a whole lot of that kind of project. 30:16 Would it be possible for me 30:18 to kind of try to nudge the church in that direction 30:20 by tackling that kind of a project? 30:22 Fortunately, I got some support. 30:24 I worked with the North American division 30:25 stewardship department 30:26 and we started this project. 30:29 It was a small indie film, 30:31 but we wanted to at least come out and try something. 30:34 And we produced, I wrote and directed, 30:36 and produced a movie called The Mysterious Note, 30:38 which teaches kids stewardship principles 30:41 from the point of view of being faithful to God 30:44 in every single thing. 30:46 'Cause oftentimes 30:47 we think of stewardship as just, 30:48 you know, tithes and offerings, 30:50 but it's so much more 30:51 and we wanted the kids to understand 30:52 the stewardship principle is huge in everything you do, 30:55 trusting God, having faith in God 30:57 with your time, with your money, 30:58 with your talents, with your family, 30:59 with your resources, with everything, 31:01 it's a way of life. 31:03 It's not just this thing that you do once in a while. 31:05 And that was what the movie set out to do. 31:07 And it's been a really fun project. 31:10 It's been fun, kind of seeing it 31:11 over the last couple of years come out. 31:12 It's, I think closing in on 2 million views now, 31:16 which is exciting to see. 31:18 That's only the trackable ones? 31:19 Right, exactly. That's just the trackable one. 31:21 So it was a neat project 31:23 and always, thinking and wondering 31:26 if I'll be able to do another project like that, 31:28 it's been on my mind. 31:30 So just kind of waiting to right opportunity 31:32 to see if that happen. 31:33 So you already thinking about making something else. 31:34 Absolutely. I have a story idea. 31:36 He never stops thinking. 31:38 Yeah, he is always dreaming. It's a problem. 31:39 He is always dreaming something up. 31:41 Yeah, no. 31:42 So I have a story idea, you know, just... 31:44 We so appreciate what you do with 3ABN Kids Network 31:50 and your Bible Treasures program 31:52 is a lot of fun for adults as well as for the kids. 31:56 But I'm an author. 31:59 People always told me 32:00 I should write a book all my life 32:01 and I always said, 32:03 "I will never write a book 32:04 unless I write it for the Lord's glory." 32:07 And then, one day 32:10 God called me here to do a series. 32:12 And they said we want a book to go along with it. 32:14 And that's when I wrote my first book. 32:16 I know that 32:17 the first couple of books you wrote are called for, 32:23 one was with Guide magazine. 32:24 It's called Mud. 32:26 That's why they call you the Mud guy, right? 32:28 That's right, yep. 32:30 The Off-Road Discoveries, 32:32 and then Passport to Adventures. 32:35 Both of these books are available at Pacific Press. 32:40 Do you also have them on your? 32:42 I have them on my store. 32:43 So are, or you can go to OneMustardSeed.com 32:49 and these are terrific books. 32:51 That's why the kids all know you as the mud guy. 32:53 And the Passport one is in Spanish as well. 32:56 That's wonderful. 32:57 That's The Passport to Adventure? 33:00 Yep. There they are. Okay. 33:01 Tell, tell me, because I know that when, 33:04 when it was time to write, God just said, write, 33:08 how did you transition into writing? 33:10 Yeah, that was tricky. 33:12 So when we were doing the children's church 33:14 kind of time of our ministry, 33:16 that would require a considerable amount of writing 33:18 'cause when we first started, 33:20 we looked around for curriculum 33:21 to see if anything was available, 33:23 that we could just buy and produce. 33:26 There was nothing. 33:27 So we're like, okay, 33:29 I guess we're gonna have to just write this ourselves. 33:30 So I partnered with my brother-in-law 33:32 and who is also just super passionate 33:34 and creative and loves children. 33:37 And we just started writing these, 33:39 you know, I'm trying to remember 33:40 it was 16-page scripts, 33:42 every single time we'd produce these programs 33:44 word for word. 33:46 And so we just kind of developed 33:47 this passion for writing. 33:49 So, creative writing to me wasn't, 33:50 I didn't think of it as writing. 33:52 It was just a matter of getting ideas down 33:54 so that they could become real. 33:56 So that's kind of where it started. 33:58 And then when I was asked to write for Guide magazine 33:59 for their column every month, 34:01 that just kind of took it to the next step. 34:04 And then, for some reason, 34:05 I don't know where it came from, 34:06 I just suddenly loved to write. 34:08 But let me ask you, 34:11 have you always, I mean the mud guy or mud, 34:15 this is all about nature 34:17 and some of the coolest thoughts. 34:20 Has nature always just, 34:22 God's creation just always really spoken to you? 34:25 Absolutely. 34:27 I was that kid that never wanted to be inside. 34:29 Okay. 34:30 I was, if it's snowing, raining, lightning, thunder, 34:32 I just want to be outside. I wanna be on a tree. 34:34 I wanna be exploring, 34:36 you know, when I grew up, I, 34:37 you know, bought the hat. 34:39 It was in a character that I created. 34:40 This is just who I am, 34:41 you know, driving a jeep forever. 34:43 You know, I just wanted to be engaged 34:45 and connected with nature. 34:47 And, of course, as I grew older 34:48 and I realized that, 34:50 wow, this is a great way to connect with God 34:52 because nature is His artwork. 34:54 Amen. 34:56 It's His second book. 34:57 So I found it as a really close spiritual connection 35:00 being connected with nature. 35:01 So my goal with the writing for Guide 35:03 with the Passport to Adventure with the Mud book 35:06 is about connecting kids 35:08 with something from God that's literally tangible. 35:11 Now, Passport to Adventure 35:12 is a daily devotional for a year. 35:14 It is a daily devotional. 35:15 Is that a lot of, 35:18 a lot of nature in here as well? 35:20 Because the focus of the book is the travel adventures 35:23 that I've experienced. 35:25 So I've, as of this writing, I've been to 82 countries 35:28 which a lot of that travel was my fascination for 35:33 not just historical places and cities, 35:35 but a lot of the nature places that you can visit. 35:38 So a lot of the adventures 35:40 that I talk about in there are visits to very unique places, 35:44 formations, canyons, 35:46 you know, dinosaur digs, 35:48 so it's all kind of wrapped into their, 35:49 every day is a new adventure. 35:51 That's cool. 35:52 I liked some of them 35:54 because I could relate to some of them 35:55 near Switzerland and France. 35:56 And I was like, I like those. 35:58 It's funny too 35:59 because I get a lot of people that are like, 36:00 I was there and all that, 36:02 that story was really special to me 36:03 because we went there last year with my family. 36:05 So it's kinda cool 'cause it's, it's real things 36:06 and a lot of people connect. 36:07 Making connections. Yep. 36:09 Absolutely. 36:10 So I believe 36:11 recently you've done some other books, 36:14 publishing some other books. 36:15 Yes. Now that's pretty brave of you. 36:17 And I really liked this one. 36:19 As a teacher, I really value this one 36:22 because I had to spend some time 36:23 reading this one. 36:25 It says 21 tools to teach kids about Jesus. 36:28 And you can find this, 36:29 even at our call center here at 3ABN. 36:32 So you can even reach us here at 3ABN 36:34 by calling (618) 627-4651. 36:37 I'm still learning how to memorize that. 36:39 But this is a powerful book. 36:41 And he talks about some different things 36:43 about what, I don't know what stands out to you 36:47 of these 21 tools. 36:49 But the one that steps out to me 36:51 is memorable. 36:52 And you talk about how you with those dinosaurs, 36:55 for example, you make that come alive. 36:57 And I know in teaching for me, 37:00 it was always what can you do to impress the kids 37:03 that they are going to remember it 37:04 and tie that into that lesson. 37:06 So tell us a little bit more about this book? 37:08 Yeah, so as a creative person, 37:10 I discovered that creativity was an amazing tool 37:13 to connect with kids 37:14 because with creativity, you can make things memorable. 37:17 You can keep the kids guessing, 37:18 they don't know what's going to happen next. 37:20 And these are all basic concepts 37:21 of children's ministries 37:23 that can be used to help kids understand a lesson. 37:25 And to remember it, 37:27 cause if it's something that they just hear and forget, 37:29 then what's the point of that. 37:30 So, during our whole children's church 37:33 and the Guide magazine and the traveling, 37:35 and then all that, 37:36 I've been able to obviously learn a lot 37:38 about working with children. 37:40 And I finally kind of came to that point 37:41 where, you know, like, 37:43 it'd be great to share these ideas with a lot of, 37:46 'cause I keep running into teachers and parents 37:48 and leaders and children's ministries 37:49 and directors from conferences and unions. 37:52 And they're looking for inspiration 37:54 and looking for ideas or looking for energy, 37:56 you know, they're trying to produce some resources. 37:58 But at the end of the day, what I noticed is 38:00 that there is just an army of people 38:02 that had the passion and the drive. 38:05 They just didn't know what to do. 38:07 Or how to make it happen? Or to make it happen. 38:09 So that's kind of the need 38:10 I was trying to fill with that book 38:12 is just to create some inspiration. 38:13 And then these 21 tools 38:14 are just kind of ideas and how to do it. 38:17 And you mentioned on memorable, 38:18 so memorable is one of the tools. 38:20 And, of course, I, you know, 38:22 write on about how 38:24 and different ways that you can make programs 38:26 just be really sticky 38:27 and the way that they remember, 38:29 and I give illustrations of, 38:30 you know, things that we did 38:32 and kids are coming up to me five years later. 38:33 And they're like, 38:34 I remember when you did this thing 38:36 and it was awesome, like, I've never forgotten that. 38:39 It takes a commitment because when I make things memorable, 38:42 it takes time and extra effort to do it, 38:45 because it takes a lot more planning 38:46 and a lot more hours to do that. 38:48 So I really appreciate that 38:49 you are willing to make that sacrifice 38:51 and making it memorable. 38:52 And a lot of people think that you can just kind of wing it, 38:54 but really if you want it to be very memorable 38:56 and really high quality, 38:57 it has to be planned out and thought out very well. 39:00 So I believe you've written some other books 39:02 that we will also have 39:04 and they can find them at One Mustard Seed 39:06 or at our 3ABN. 39:07 And one of them is Fire Walkers. 39:09 Tell us about that one a little bit? 39:10 Yeah. 39:12 So Fire Walkers is a new series that we just started. 39:13 It's called Bible Time Adventures. 39:15 And, I've kind of penciled out 39:16 already about 20, 25 different stories 39:19 that I'd like to write. 39:20 And the basic concept of that 39:21 is to teach and tell a Bible story. 39:24 But the difference is 39:26 usually children hear a Bible story 39:28 from the perspective of the Bible 39:30 or from the adult telling the story. 39:32 The idea that I had here was to tell the Bible story 39:35 from the perspective of kids. 39:38 So what I've done is I've created. 39:40 Fictional kid characters that were there 39:44 at the Bible story, 39:45 and they saw the entire thing unfold. 39:47 That's wonderful. 39:49 So I have a couple of fictional characters 39:50 that are the main characters, 39:51 but they're, they're step-by-step 39:53 in this Bible story. 39:54 Of course, Fire Walkers is a story 39:56 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 39:58 And so, the kids are basically siblings of Meshach. 40:02 And so they're drawn into this entire story 40:05 from the moment they're captured 40:07 in Israel, Judea 40:09 all the way till the fiery furnace. 40:12 I love it. 40:13 And so these kids are there seeing the whole thing. 40:14 And that was the idea is that just kind of 40:17 make the story a little bit more exciting 40:19 because it's, these kids are experiencing it. 40:21 And so that was the idea with that series. 40:23 I just finished writing the second book, 40:26 which is Fire from the Sky. 40:28 Fire from the Sky. 40:29 For the Bible Time Adventure series. 40:31 Yep. Wow! 40:34 And then there's another book. 40:35 I like this one 40:37 because it says Ridiculously Amazing Nature. 40:39 Okay. 40:40 I had a hard time saying that one, 40:42 but I like how it's lively, it's colorful 40:44 and there are little snippets about nature. 40:46 Amen. 40:47 And it's just wonderfully written. 40:49 So I really appreciate 40:50 what you've done with these books. 40:52 And you've done another ministry. 40:55 Well before you go into that, 40:56 let me make one comment 40:57 because I don't know about you, 40:59 but if you enjoy ministry 41:01 or have a passion for ministering to children, 41:03 that 21 tools for children, 41:07 we want to tell you once again, 41:09 that these books are available at 3ABN. 41:13 You can go on our online at 3abn.tv 41:18 or you can call us at (618) 627-4651, 41:24 or you can go straight to Rich 41:26 at OneMustardSeed.com 41:31 and you actually began a publishing company, 41:35 One Mustard Seed publishing to publish these books. 41:38 That's Right? Yep. 41:39 We figured if writing was going to be a new area, 41:43 it'd be great to just create an entity 41:45 that could do that. 41:46 A lot of times working with publishers, 41:48 there some limits. 41:49 And one of the goals that I've had 41:51 right from the beginning 41:52 when we started this was 41:53 to be able to reach international audiences. 41:56 So we've already actually started translating these books 41:59 into multiple languages, 42:00 21 tools is already out in Spanish as well. 42:02 Wow. 42:04 We recently translated it to Portuguese as well, 42:07 and those will be eBooks, at least for now to start, 42:11 Fire Walkers is already 42:13 also in three or four languages. 42:14 So, you know, being able to be the writer 42:17 and the publisher 42:18 allows you to have a different strategy 42:20 and a different reach, goal. 42:23 So we started One Mustard Seed publishing, 42:25 and that is our goal 42:27 to just keep producing these books 42:29 that give God honor and glory 42:30 and make it exciting for kids to be able to connect with God. 42:34 Praise the Lord. 42:35 And you did something else that is amazing. 42:38 And that was for, to reach our young children 42:41 that couldn't make it to church anymore, 42:42 especially the kindergarten group. 42:45 And I think you call it 42:46 kindergarten Sabbath school review. 42:48 Well, it's actually the primary Sabbath school class. 42:50 Primary. Sorry, okay. 42:51 And I was challenged to, 42:53 you know when the pandemic started 42:54 the realization that a lot of families and kids 42:56 were not able to go to church anymore 42:58 and how to deal and address that problem. 43:01 And it's interesting 'cause obviously a lot of ideas start 43:04 because there's a problem, there's a need 43:06 and how do you solve it? 43:07 And then comes the impression that God gives you is, 43:11 are you in a position to help solve that problem? 43:13 And that's kind of what we did 43:14 with this Sabbath School Review ministry 43:18 that branch that we started. 43:20 Officially, it's called Kid Sabbath School Review. 43:22 We do a weekly review 43:24 of the primary Sabbath school class 43:26 that kids can watch at home. 43:27 There's a website that goes with it 43:29 with all sorts of additional resources 43:31 that help kids just kind of dive into the lesson, 43:34 it's a subscription based idea. 43:38 So when we first started 43:41 right after the pandemic in that April, 43:44 we started by just producing these shows 43:46 and putting them on YouTube and on Facebook. 43:48 And we were just getting 43:49 literally sometimes tens of thousands of views 43:52 of these parents 43:53 that are just trying to figure out 43:55 how to continue to connect their kids to the Bible, 43:57 to the church, to the lesson, 43:59 but from home, which was a huge problem. 44:01 And although there are some churches out there 44:04 that are doing amazing things, producing resources, 44:07 the great majority of them 44:09 did not have the ability or resources 44:11 to be able to do something. 44:12 So we wanted to help those churches. 44:14 And we want to pause right now 44:16 'cause I think you brought a little reel on that. 44:17 I did. 44:18 And we want to show that reel because, 44:21 for those of you at home, we hear this quite often is, 44:24 you know, people are calling and say, 44:26 praise God for 3ABN Kids Network 44:29 because our kids can't go to church now, 44:32 our churches closed, 44:34 but I love this idea of the Sabbath School Review. 44:38 And let's take a look at that reel right now. 44:42 The weekly video 44:44 is the centerpiece for each week. 44:46 Every week, I love having several primary guests 44:48 on the show. 44:50 We start off with a brain teaser 44:52 and our artifact of the week and our Bible verse. 44:55 Next, we dive into the Bible story 44:57 for the lesson that week, 44:58 and I share a personal adventure story 45:00 about the theme. 45:02 One of the most popular parts of the show 45:04 is the Dusty and Feather show. 45:06 Even though they could be a little silly, 45:08 they help us learn about the lesson 45:10 with their knowledge of animals. 45:12 There's the KSSR news and announcements 45:14 and game show time. 45:16 I love to quiz the kids. 45:18 At the end, 45:19 we reveal the answer to the brain teaser 45:21 and we check out the mystery, WhatzIT for the week. 45:24 And I give out the mission project 45:26 to help kids live out 45:28 what they've learned in the lesson that week. 45:30 And it all ties back to our Facebook group page 45:33 where the entire community can interact. 45:36 I even mail out a mission project prize 45:38 every single week. 45:40 We close with more of your kids having prayer. 45:43 And the main part of my goal 45:45 is to have your kids participate 45:47 and take ownership in their spiritual journey. 45:49 After the video, 45:51 kids have fun repeating the lesson points 45:53 on the website. 45:54 Each week, we create brand new online games 45:58 that reinforce the Bible theme that week. 46:00 They can respond to the WhatzIT poll, 46:02 laugh in our funny corner, 46:04 watch the weekly grace link lesson cartoon 46:06 and more. 46:10 I really appreciate all that you're doing. 46:12 And you've been part of 3ABN for several years, 46:14 even before I came. 46:15 Isn't that right? That's right. 46:17 It's been a lot of fun working on various different projects. 46:20 And, of course, the one 46:21 that a lot of people are familiar with right now 46:24 is Bible Treasures, 46:25 which is a fun way to just kind of get kids 46:28 to think outside the box, get creative, get exciting. 46:31 You know, we have it set out on some archeological dig 46:34 and there's artifacts and Bible treasures 46:36 and Bible verses and stories. 46:39 So it's a lot of fun doing that 46:40 and we are hoping to continue to produce those. 46:44 So it's just put it on the list, right? 46:46 Yes. 46:47 We have that on our list for sure. 46:48 And, of course, it's been. 46:50 I know that you guys have been showing the Creation Case 46:51 for some time as well. 46:53 I know that I'll... 46:55 And explain what the Creation Case is? 46:56 So the Creation Case, it was a series 46:58 that I worked with the General Conference 46:59 to produce the children's ministries general conference 47:01 and it was these episodes to help kids and parents 47:06 be able to kind of wrestle 47:07 with the creation-evolution issue 47:10 because as always somebody claims something 47:13 and it seems like 47:14 there was always two different angles, 47:16 the secular view, and the biblical view. 47:18 But as far as I could tell, 47:20 the kids were really only hearing the secular view 47:23 at school and movies and television shows, books. 47:25 They were, it was a one-sided thing. 47:28 So I knew that 47:29 there needed to be some sort of balance there. 47:31 So we produced that, that series for that. 47:33 Wonderful. Yes. 47:35 And, of course, I've worked on, 47:36 I think you guys have shown Bible, 47:38 The Big Three. 47:39 Big Three, everyone's favorite. 47:41 And I was the, for a couple of years there, 47:42 The Nature Time guy on Kids Time. 47:45 So it's been a lot of fun, 47:47 a lot of great projects with you guys. 47:48 And aren't you too cooking up something 47:50 that kind of got postponed by the pandemic, 47:52 but aren't you cooking up a new idea? 47:53 Yep. 47:55 That was that the reality TV idea 47:56 that we hope to pick up again. 47:58 And if you're interested in signing up to be on that, 48:02 hopefully, a future project there in Costa Rica, 48:05 you can go to my website at OneMustardSeed 48:07 and there is a signup place. 48:08 And once we kinda get out the door 48:10 with the pandemic, 48:11 I will be reaching out again to the families 48:13 that have signed up to see 48:15 if they want to join us on that project. 48:17 You know, to me, it's so obvious 48:20 that God's got His hand on your life, 48:23 that He called you. 48:24 You have such a passion for this. 48:26 You studied architecture, 48:29 which is a lot of technical writing. 48:31 Let me tell you, that's the only reason 48:33 I didn't become an architect 48:34 because there's very little time 48:36 to be creative, 48:37 but God gave you that creative side. 48:39 He taught you the structure of things 48:41 because not only do you have creative ideas for this, 48:46 but you are building the infrastructure. 48:48 It's so amazing. 48:49 You're a very productive person. 48:52 Let me ask you, 48:53 how has God changed you 48:57 during these years of full-time ministry? 49:01 Talk about your walk of faith, how important it is, 49:04 and how He's clarified your vision? 49:06 Yeah. 49:07 You know, the One Mustard Seed title 49:09 really hit home, 49:10 especially early on 49:12 because there was a couple of years 49:13 right out the gate that it was scary. 49:16 I'm sure. 49:17 The leap of faith into this ministry was, 49:20 you know, we got to a couple of moments 49:22 where we felt like 49:23 we were financially at the edge of a cliff 49:25 and it's learning then training yourself 49:28 to say, God, this is You. 49:31 This is for You. 49:32 So if you need this to continue, 49:34 or if You need this to fail, whatever happens, 49:36 this is all in Your hands. 49:38 And, you know, we arrived to that cliff 49:41 and some scary stories that I can share, 49:43 but then God pulls us back 49:45 and then creates blessings and opportunities 49:47 and possibilities 49:50 that we never even dreamed of being able to do. 49:52 And it's kind of funny because 49:54 when the pandemic started a lot of people like, 49:55 oh, this is horrible. 49:57 But then you hear other people say, 49:59 this has been, 50:00 if it wasn't for the pandemic starting, 50:02 these other opportunities may not have come out. 50:06 And it's interesting how God works 50:07 because even when people think, 50:08 oh, you know, it's so bad and so horrible, 50:10 new, amazing opportunities to reach even farther develop. 50:14 And, you know, the kids Sabbath School Review 50:17 was kind of something like that 50:18 because we were able to reach way more 50:21 people than we were able to before, 50:24 because the children were stuck at home 50:26 or didn't have content or whatever. 50:28 So just amazing how God works and all along, 50:31 He's just continually done that 50:32 where you think this is gonna happen, 50:34 but then he turns you in this direction. 50:35 And he turns you in this direction 50:37 and that hope, 50:38 God opened the door. I'll walk through it. 50:40 That's been a daily walk. 50:43 And I believe that 50:44 we didn't show the Bible Treasures 50:47 for those of you that haven't seen it. 50:49 You can see this roll 50:51 and a little bit about Bible Treasures. 50:53 First things first, 50:54 let's get this question in our journal. 50:56 Good idea. That's a good idea. 51:01 A problem with pride. 51:04 Hmm. 51:05 Good question. Yeah. 51:07 You know what though? 51:09 I think I have an idea. What? 51:10 But we need an artifact. Oh, yeah. 51:12 Nori, can you get one for us? Yeah, what number? 51:13 I think it's 17D. 51:14 17D. Yeah. 51:16 I think that'll help us. 51:17 I love how we bring our little props along 51:19 and our little treasures along, 51:20 and they help us teach these lessons. 51:22 Found it. Awesome. 51:23 What's that? This is a building. 51:26 Wow. It's called the Burj Khalifa. 51:28 And it's located in a city called Dubai 51:31 in a country called the United Arab Emirates. 51:33 Oh, awesome. 51:35 Is it the tallest building in the world? 51:36 It is the tallest building in the world. 51:38 Yeah! 51:39 Hey, Sam, can you show us on the map where Dubai is? 51:40 Sure. Yeah, I wanna know. 51:42 It's right here. 51:43 There it is. Yep. 51:44 Boy, the kids love Bible Treasures. 51:47 And as I said, 51:49 I know just as many adults who love it as well. 51:51 We are so thankful 51:53 that you're part of our 3ABN Kids Network Ministries. 51:59 You know what we're gonna do. 52:01 We're gonna take a quick break, going to a 3ABN news break, 52:05 but we'll be right back with a closing thought. |
Revised 2021-02-11