August 1, 2023 • 43 mins
Today's Studio Guest is Steve Dickman, President of Outpost Centers International.
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Music
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Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
We're glad that you have joined us.
We are here in our world headquarters studio located in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States of America.
Wherever you are around the globe listening or watching, we welcome you. We're glad you're with us.
My name is Christopher Beeson and next to me is Steve Dickman.
We'll talk to Steve a little bit more, learn a little bit more about him in just a moment.
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Our Director of Production and Engineering today just down the line is Jordan Wagner.
And Jordan will be making sure things run smoothly and he'll jump in as he chooses in there with his microphone.
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As we begin the program, Stephen, we want to learn a little bit more about you.
But before we do, would you have a prayer for us?
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Absolutely. Father in heaven, we come to you today as the giver of life
and all good things and even our trials and tribulations.
Today, we are grateful for the opportunity to talk together.
May this program be a blessing to someone who is watching today.
In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
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Amen.
So as I said before, Steve Dickman is with us.
Steve, I've known you across many different ministry platforms.
Share with us a little bit about what you're doing now, what you're doing today.
I'm serving as president for Outpost Centers International.
That's one of my primary jobs.
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I'm also serving as president for Harbert Hills Academy in Savannah, Tennessee,
which is kind of my history.
So I'm carrying those two main responsibilities right now.
We'll come to Harbert Hills. I think the connected the full name is the foundation.
Yeah, Rural Life Foundation.
OK, you're responsible for that, which is a pretty broad place.
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We'll talk a bit about that.
A few things are going on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So tell me about your family, your kids.
I know you have some grandkids.
Tell me about your ministry.
Just what things you like to do in life every day.
Just let our audience know a little bit more about you.
Yeah, so I have two children, two daughters, both grown and married
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and on their own in different parts of the world.
Can you say where those are?
Yeah, yeah.
So my oldest daughter, Heather, is married to Jared Ho-Wing
and two children, Steven and Daniel, and they're in the Philippines.
They just launched to serve with PAMAS as an aviation ministry there in the Philippines.
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And Heather's husband, Jared, is a helicopter pilot.
He's flying for them there in the regions of Philippines.
And as we record this, PAMAS has had a challenging year.
I want to remind our viewers to be in prayer for them,
and especially for this new opportunity of ministry and missionary service
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for Heather and Jared.
Daniel was the grandson.
Steven and Daniel, grandsons.
Yeah, I like that one of them's name, Steven, too.
There you go.
My other daughter, Julia, and her husband, Rylan.
Julia is a nurse.
He is a computer technician, computer online specialist that helps people from
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so he can work from home there in Walla Walla, Washington.
She's a nurse there.
Okay. And no grandkids there?
No grandkids there yet.
So two grandkids.
That's what I have, too.
But this year, I'm going to have two more, so I'm going to take you.
My wife, Rebecca, and I are quite excited to be growing that addition in our family.
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They're a lot of fun, aren't they?
They're a lot of fun.
And it's a little challenging when they're halfway around the world,
but God is good.
He's given us communication tools, at least.
I was just going to say, I've seen you with a few of your grandchildren,
or with your grandchildren, a couple of your grandkids.
And I know you enjoy spending time with them.
It's going to be tough to have them way over there.
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You're going to find a reason to visit the Philippines.
I am looking for every reason to visit the Philippines.
And by God's grace, we'll be over there some.
Your wife, Brenda?
Yeah, she is serving as girls dean at Harvard Hills Academy.
And we've been in ministry there for 32 years.
And so she has done a number of years as assistant dean and then dean,
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English teaching, music, a whole variety of things.
As in most ministry settings, you know, there's not just one hat for you to wear.
You wear many hats.
And so, yeah, we're still carrying on the work there at Harvard Hills.
So you said you had two daughters, but as a girls dean,
you have a lot more than two daughters.
I've got 30 of them upstairs.
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Yeah, that's a good life.
Hobbies, I know you stay super busy, so I'm trying to figure out,
does he have any fun?
I enjoy a lot of things in life.
When I was growing up, I learned a lot of skills because I attended a school,
Harvard Hills Academy, where a lot of practical things.
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So I really enjoy working with my hands, building things.
And I enjoy gardening, don't have much time for either of those things at this point in my life,
but I do enjoy them.
And when I have time, it's relaxation to get involved in those things.
What do you like to build?
You have an engineering background.
Yeah, yeah.
We'll talk about that a bit in a minute.
But I like working with wood, for one thing.
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My father was kind of a woodworker kind of person, and he taught me those skills.
So I enjoy that.
Like I said, I don't have a lot of time for it, but when I do, it's always a joy to take a few
minutes and build something, whatever it is.
And yeah, don't I remember there was some history,
maybe they still do this at Harvard Hills where they were making, in the wood shop,
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they were making pins.
Sure.
Do you still do that kind of thing?
Yeah, the woodworking class makes a whole variety of projects during the year, depending on the
year, depending on the students, what their interest is.
And so tell us what they make.
Well, they may make a piece of furniture or they may make something like a pen turning on a lathe.
Of course, they can do usually multiple projects during the year.
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We teach those kind of classes on Friday.
So they have a three and a half hour block where they're dedicated to that each Friday,
whichever class they choose.
And so whether it's woodworking or auto mechanics or medical missionary or radio broadcasting,
whatever it is, they have some intensive time to work on different kinds of projects.
So yeah.
Do you get to teach any of those?
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Well, I used to, but now unfortunately I'm not in the teaching arena anymore just because of my duties.
Okay.
All right.
So you're the president of Outpost Centers International now.
What does that mean?
What do you do?
What do you not do?
Well, we're a small organization.
When I say a small organization, staff wise, we're a small organization, but we cover about 75%
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countries and it'll soon be 280 ministries scattered across about 75 countries.
So it's a lot of work is in the field.
We're doing OCI events around the world this year.
We'll probably have 15 events, different events, different parts of the world.
The goal is to inspire laypeople to do something.
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We believe, in fact, the vision of Outpost Centers International is to do something.
The vision of Outpost Centers International is that there would be a thriving network of lay led ministries
in every country of the world.
So think about that for a minute.
You travel.
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How many countries?
About 235 or so, depending who you ask.
I learned of a new country the other day.
Now, what's that?
By the way, it's within the country of Georgia.
There is another country that exists there and I can't remember the name of it,
but I said, is this another country?
And they said, yeah, it's a different country.
And I said, but it's in Georgia.
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Yeah, but it's in Georgia, but they considered actually themselves to be a different country.
I'm headed to Georgia this fall.
I'll have to look for that.
And I don't mean south of Tennessee.
Right.
And this is the Georgia on the other side of the world.
Although south of here, Georgia is another country, but that's another discussion, another time.
So yeah, but we believe that the laypeople have a vital part to play in helping to get the gospel
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to the world.
Every nation, kindred, tongue, people.
And when we think of nations, the 235 number is an easy number.
And so when I began to think about this and the challenges of trying to accomplish this vision,
began to study this, I realized that 235, well, we just got, you know, maybe Seventh-day
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Adventists have a presence in like 212 countries, but 23, that should be easy.
Let's just make a list of the 23 countries and figure out how to get somebody there and do something.
But then I began to realize that within each country, there are multiple people groups.
And worldwide, they estimate there's probably 16,000 people groups.
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And we as a Seventh-day Adventist church have a presence in less than 1,000 of those 16,000
people groups.
So it takes you to a whole different understanding when you recognize that.
And how do we address that?
We as a church, as a Seventh-day Adventist church have been working on it for a number of years,
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taking the gospel to the world.
And Ellen White makes this statement.
She says, the noblest aim that any young person can have today.
And I, you know, young is a number, right?
So I consider myself still to be young, even though I probably wouldn't fit in anybody's
chart of age-related youngness.
I consider myself to be young.
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And so the noblest aim that we can have is to take the gospel to the world in this generation.
So when you think of that, it's humanly impossible.
So I say, praise God that it's humanly impossible, because that means that God is going to have
to show up and he's going to have to do some things to us, through us, and for us that
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we have no power to do on our own.
Human beings, when this happens, human beings are not going to get the glory, because it
can't be done humanly speaking.
It's going to have to be a God thing.
And I'm looking forward to being a part of that journey when God shows up and the power
of the Holy Spirit falls and we as a church and as lay people and as God's children recognize
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our calling to take the gospel to the world in this generation.
Amen.
And I think it's important for people to pick up on your comment that we're talking about
everyday lay people.
We're not talking about some theologically ministry-trained lay people.
Anybody can serve Jesus today in various capacities that he can lay on them.
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It's interesting.
If you look at the population of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we have about 22 million
members worldwide.
About 22,000 pastors out of those 22 million members.
So.1 percent, 99.9 percent of our church is lay people.
That's where the power is.
That's where things can happen on a scale that can be dynamic and impacting the world.
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The 22,000 pastors, we love pastors.
They're great people.
They have a function and a role.
But for them to do it by themselves, not logical.
We need all, everyone to engage in whatever God's calling them to do.
Amen.
Amen.
Yeah.
We're going to keep talking with Steve, but we are going to take a break first here for
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just 60 seconds or so.
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We'll be back with more mission sunlight chat.
Our salvation is a day to day matter, isn't it?
The real principle of the Sabbath is reconnecting ourselves with the creator.
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We must learn to abide in Jesus' name.
We move ahead with our mission objectives,
recognizing that we are serving together the most high God.
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Welcome back to mission sunlight chat.
Our guest today, Steve Dickman, president of Outpost Centers International, OCI.
Steve, you talked about what you're doing presently,
a little bit about your family, who you are, things you enjoy.
Tell us how you got here about growing up.
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You mentioned, not only are you president of Harbert Hills,
but you also mentioned a moment ago that you were a student at Harbert Hills.
So that's got to be an interesting story.
Tell us a bit about those influences in your journey.
So both of my parents attended Madison College.
And for those who have any acquaintance with the Madison College that we know,
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in Madison, Tennessee, established by Ellen White in 1904,
and a team of laypeople, Percy McGann and EA Sutherland,
really helped to spark plug the work of Madison.
In the late 40s, my parents came to attend Madison College.
My father came from California.
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My mother came from Knoxville, Tennessee.
And Madison was their education.
And because of what they received there and what Madison was,
Madison was a call to ministry at every level.
Their chapel services, their worship programs, their classes,
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were centered on helping prepare laypeople to go out and do mission,
whether it was teachers or biologists or accountants or whatever it was.
They were teaching people to go out and do mission.
So both of my parents responded to a call to help start a new unit.
They called it a unit of Madison.
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So the units were started by a staff member or some students
that got together and said, let's go start something new.
So they decided to start a new school.
And they decided to start it in a place in Tennessee
where there was no Seventh-day Adventist work or presence.
Savannah, Tennessee, surrounding that area were nine counties,
no Seventh-day Adventist work going on.
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So they said, let's go there.
Let's start something there.
And so they decided to start a school.
The papers were signed in 1951, 72 years ago,
to start the corporation that began the work there.
My parents had volunteered early on as part of the team,
but because of schoolwork and my father spent some time
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in a special duty from the U.S. government in the Army,
not voluntarily, but requested his presence.
And he showed up and spent some time in Korea there.
And but anyway, came back, finished his work at Madison
and took a master's degree at Peabody.
And then came to Harvard Hills in 1956.
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In 1957, I was born there.
So I was born in ministry.
So that's my background.
It wasn't something I decided necessarily, but I was there.
I grew up in this environment.
It was kind of became a part of my DNA.
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I didn't realize that when I left Harvard Hills
as a graduating senior, having attended all 12 grades
of my elementary and academy years there.
I didn't really realize that.
I didn't realize totally the heritage that had been,
was a part of who I was.
And so I took a degree in engineering.
I worked in the engineering field for about 10 and a half years.
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During the last few years of that career,
I just became increasingly aware that God had something to do
for me, something for me to do that was not necessarily aligned
with my current career path.
And so we were seeking for what God would have us do.
And we thought, well, maybe we would be part of the ADRA team
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somewhere in the world and help develop resources
for underserved populations of the world.
But that wasn't God's plan.
So I was called by Harvard Hills and asked
if I would come back as principal.
So an engineer with really not any education experience,
except for I grew up there.
And so I kind of inherited that component
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and became a part of Harvard Hills Academy in 1991
and have served there since then.
That is a great heritage to be able to share.
And you had the opportunity to share that with your parents as well.
Mm-hmm. Yes. Right.
Your father being the, was he president before that?
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Yeah, he was president of the Institute of Education
of the institution, not from the beginning.
The founder, William E. Patterson, was there in the beginning as president.
But early on when my folks came, they asked him to serve
as a leader for the institution.
And he went to Madison and served as principal of the academy there for two years.
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So I lived on the Madison campus for two years,
but it was before I could really remember much.
So I was just young, but I lived there with my parents on the campus
as well. My father was principal of Madison Academy.
And then they recognized that if Harvard Hills was going to continue to thrive,
they needed to have my father back at Harvard Hills.
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So they called him to come back and we stayed there then.
That was kind of our journey for the family.
Any particular experiences that you say have shaped your ministry experience from the past
along your journey?
Yeah, I'd say there's a few that have really been probably instrumental.
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When I was in high school, you know, I made my decision to be a Christian,
to be a Seventh-day Adventist Christian at a pretty young age.
I think I was 10 or 12. I was baptized.
But it comes a time when you have to really think that through as you're growing up.
And I think I was probably 16 or 17 in that neighborhood
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when it became clear to me, look, you can choose some different paths in life if you want to.
I said, you know, the path I want is I want to stay on God's path.
And so I chose that for myself more, I say more completely or permanently at that point
as more of an adult thinking, even though I'm not sure we all think as adults, even now,
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we probably revert sometimes to our childish thoughts.
But, you know, I chose that for myself and said, yes, this is going to be my path
and I'm going to stay on this path.
And so God used that.
Kind of an aha moment.
Yeah, yeah, a moment there.
And probably some influence in that was when I was 16, my brother was 18, almost 18.
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We were very entrepreneurial in nature, had had our own,
earned our own money and kept, you know, kept business going, you might say, on the side,
aside from what we were doing in school.
And we had a lawn mowing business.
And so we were traveling to mow lawns and we had an accident.
My brother was thrown out of the vehicle and ended up paralyzed.
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And so things like that, when they happen to you as a young person, they affect your journey.
And so it was a time when I had to reevaluate a lot of things, say, wow,
this is not the way we plan things.
This is not our thought process.
How will this be used by God?
How will I choose to relate to this?
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Because in this world, we're going to have difficulties.
We're going to have challenges.
That's not the question.
The question is, how do we relate to those things?
How do you respond?
You know, I can choose to respond and say, okay, God, I don't like this,
but I'm responding by saying, I'm going to stay on this journey with you,
even though I don't like my current circumstance.
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And so, yeah, I think things like that.
My father's influence was also very powerful because he lived a life of service to God
and to other people.
When you're in institutional work, for some of you who know that or understand that,
you know that's not easy kind of work.
And you have to get up early and go to bed late and understand that what you're doing
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is not for your own benefits, for the benefit of others.
And so my father had this saying, he said, real happiness is found in unselfish service
for other people.
When you're doing service for other people without trying to get anything in return,
that's where you find true joy.
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I don't think I fully realized the impact that had on my life till later when I personally
got involved in that kind of service.
You know, when you're working in the engineering field,
and you're getting a paycheck for what you do, and you show up on time, and you leave
on time, and you do your work to the best of your ability, that's one thing.
But when you show up and everything is centered around ministry, and it's in a kind of a
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sacrificial setting, it teaches you some things you may not have really understood before.
And so the joy of serving, again, to me, it's a privilege to be able to serve God and to
be able to be used by God to reach other people.
Amen.
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I want to mention your brother Randall that was injured in the accident.
He's an incredible example to us about perseverance.
Oh, yes.
Because he didn't just say, okay, I'm going to do this.
Yes, yes. Because he didn't just say, okay, I'm,
correct me if I'm wrong, quadriplegic.
Yeah, quad, yeah.
Yeah, he didn't just say, well, I can't do anything.
I have used my arms and legs, oh well.
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He went on to finish his high school education.
He finished a college degree, became a nursing home administrator,
and carried that load for years in a way that was anybody that came in contact with him
would walk away with, wow.
Yeah.
What do I complain about?
That's what I was going to say is he was a wow guy.
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Yeah. This guy gets up in the morning, the rest of us get out of bed and maybe our foot
hurts or something. But when you have that kind of setting and getting up is a whole journey.
And then the wheelchair experience that you have every day where you're confined to a wheelchair
and other people have to serve you, but yet you're serving other people at the same time.
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That's a journey. And to do that with grace and dignity,
you know, yeah, he was example to a lot of people.
I want to jump down to Jordan down there.
Jordan has experienced the Harvard Hills campus and the ASI and OCI experience as well.
Jordan, I just wonder if you have anything you want to toss in with a thought or comment
or a question even for Steve as we've talked here.
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I just, I think it's a, I've enjoyed my time as I've been on the campus and being
around the students and seeing the program that they've done there.
You started a video program recently too, didn't you?
Yes, we have a media program on our campus and you'll have to come over and give us some clues
on this kind of setup. We're not quite to this level yet, but we'd like to be in a studio
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setting. We're working on that for our listeners. They can't see where we are. And our viewers are
probably wondering what in the world we're in a five foot by nine foot space, this small studio
in the basement of our home here. And we're blessed with the best technology to do this.
Right. And so, but anyway, the Lord has blessed us there. We have a radio station on the campus
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where we broadcast 50,000 watts of power across West Tennessee, North Mississippi, North Alabama,
reaching out to individuals to connect them with Christ and to give them a revelation of who Jesus
is. So we, it's all religious programming. We use the Life Talk Stream as our foundation and we add
to that and students get to learn and experience that environment, working in a radio station and
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being taught radio broadcasting. Now we've added a TV station to the campus. We have a television
station there where we broadcast four different channels, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And the students get a class in media if they choose. And we also have a radio station in
and we also broadcast live our chapel services or Vespa programs and Sabbath services are more of
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our standard broadcast there that we go live with. I think the last time Jordan's referencing,
the last time we were visiting, you had this shell of a space, it almost felt like an old barn that
you, it was part of the building, but it just felt like you'd been casting off things and storing
things in it and then you were going to renovate it. Now that's all done. No, it's not all done yet.
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So you can come help us finish that project. Jordan, love to have your input there.
Thanks for bringing it up, Jordan. Yeah, exactly. But we're on this journey to finish that space.
We've got it all cleaned out now and we're ready to start building things in there.
And it will be again a training space for young people. You know, the world today, as you well
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know, is a lot of media happening and to be in that space with something to say that is wholesome,
that is centered on the truth of God's Word is kind of, it's significant to me because in general,
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if you go to these media channels, much of it is not biblically centered and it's not really very
uplifting. A lot of the media of the world. So we have an opportunity to impact that space
and to train young people to impact it. Amen. Steven, I want to ask you some more questions,
but we're going to take a break. We hope that our viewers have been encouraged and blessed by
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listening to the program today. We have more to come, but we need to take a break. So remember,
you can give at missionsunlight.org and you can share this program with anyone right now.
Thanks for doing both or either. We'll be back with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
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Welcome back to Mission Sunlight Chat. Our guest, Steve Dickman from OCI and other ministries far
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and wide around the globe and close by. Truth is, OCI is just maybe what two, three miles here from
our campus. Yeah, it's like a five minute, six minute drive over here. Yeah, just over the mountain
the way the crow flies. We once lost a drone over your property, but that's another story.
Okay. Maybe it's out there helping somebody somewhere somehow. Tell me, where are you going?
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What's next for Steve Dickman? What's next maybe for the ministries or your family? Just tell us
some of your hopes and dreams for the future. Yeah, thank you Christopher for asking about that.
I think it's significant that each one of us have something we're thinking about for the future,
rather than just existing in the current time and taking what comes our way to actually say there
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are goals and dreams beyond maybe where we are right now. And as I think about it on a personal
level, I have had time to reflect some on my life because if you can calculate time correctly,
I just turned 66. And so I think about, well how much longer is this journey? And it could be short
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or it could be longer by God's grace. I'm still alive and in good health and I can go forward
with God's work, I feel like. Okay, but in a personal sense, what does that mean for each of us?
To me, it's about uncovering God's calling and making sure that I stay as best I can in the center
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of His will. There are a lot of challenges we face individually each day, but to get up every
morning and say, Lord what I want to do today is stay in the middle of your will. I want to be where
you want me to be. I want to do what you want me to do. I don't want to be off string somewhere.
And sometimes God gives a corrective course. It was not necessarily my plan to serve in some of
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the roles I've served, but when God calls, sometimes He opens a door for us and we have a choice to
make. We can choose to move forward even though it's a challenging situation. We're not sure about
the future. The present may be comfortable, but God has given me personally a promise.
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I found it in Isaiah chapter 40 and He says, I'm going to give you strength. I'm going to give you
wings like eagles. And this is just kind of my paraphrase. Young men may fall down and get weary,
but those who wait on the Lord are going to renew their strength. And they're going to be able to
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walk and run even when others are weary. So to me, that's a promise that God has given to me
personally. And so when I face challenging situations, I claim that promise. I say, God,
you said you're going to give me strength and you're going to give me what I need to move forward.
And so for me, that's the personal journey I'm on. I want to stay where God wants me to be,
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even if it's a challenging situation and allow Him to do what He can do. Ellen White makes another
very interesting statement. Basically, she says, if we'll set ourselves aside, there's no limit to
what God can do with us. I say, God, I don't know what you can do, but whatever it is, please do it.
And let me be willing to let you do it. So if there's no limit, what does that mean?
(33:15):
It means anything. God can do anything with us poor human beings who I often think of it this way.
Crackpots. When I was born, I didn't have anything. I didn't have clothes on. I came into this world
naked. I'm going out naked, well, so to speak. They'll probably dress me up in a suit maybe
on a good day and put me in a casket, bury me somewhere. But I didn't come in with anything.
(33:41):
I'm not going out with anything. What's my job while I'm here? It's to be a good steward.
If God has given me talents, time, energy, whatever He's given me, I need to use those
things for Him because now is the time. When I die, somebody else will use the stuff I've got.
So I should dedicate it to God's cause now, whether that's strength, time, energy, whatever
it is. Fully dedicated to God's cause is my desire. That's my heart's desire. Now, talk about ministry.
(34:07):
Wow, what an opportunity. I work for an organization that's scattered around the world with 75 countries
and 280 ministries now almost. And what do you do with that idea? How do you say you're going to do
something in that context? So I have to kind of confine my energy sometimes. Because you become
aware of all kinds of needs. I was just visiting a country last week that is one of those closed
(34:32):
countries of the world. And it's a very difficult country to get into. It's a very difficult country
to live in. It's a very difficult country to do ministry in. In fact, almost impossible to do
ministry there. What do you do with that? When God sets before you that information, that opportunity
(34:53):
to go there and learn about that, can you come home and be the same person? Yeah, I haven't found
that possible. So I travel, I go these places, I learn about needs, and I come home. And it seems
like God says, okay, I want you to do something with this. So what do I do with it then? So I take
that and say, okay, how can we start something here? And I can't start things all over the world,
(35:16):
but there are people, in fact, Christopher, there may be somebody watching today who says, you know,
God's working on my heart. And I feel like he's calling me to do something, but I really don't
know what. I would say to that person, keep praying because God will show you. God will open a door,
he will show you. But you have to be willing to move into it, step forward into some of those
(35:38):
challenges. So from a ministry setting, the vision that Outpost Centers International has
is to have a thriving network of lay ministries in every country of the world.
I doubt that I can accomplish that. I know I can't accomplish it. In my lifetime, in my service time
(36:01):
to this organization, I would be amazed if we could see that, but probably not. But to say there's
something bigger than me is a good thing. It's not something I can do. It's not something, okay,
we got two countries on the list and we're going to go do those and mark it down that we did
something. No, we've got every country in the world on our list. And as God provides and opens
(36:23):
doors there, we want to inspire work to be done in those countries. Okay. You've almost answered
my next question with these things you've just shared, but maybe you'd like to
galvanize it down to just a few simple thoughts. What would you just say to someone who's just
going through everyday struggles or perhaps someone who's struggling with an answer to the call?
(36:49):
I would say read your Bible, but read it in a personal sense. You know, it's easy to read
the Bible. I mean, we can open up, we've got it on our phone, we've got it in our bookcases,
we've got it in our briefcases, we've got our Bibles everywhere, right? And we can access those
in different ways. And you know, I get the verse of the day on my phone, I get the devotional on my
(37:10):
phone. But sit down with God's Word and have a conversation with Him, a real conversation,
and read His Word. Allow Him to speak to you through His Word. I think of text like Isaiah
chapter 6 and verse 8, where Isaiah was struggling with this. God was giving a call and He was saying,
(37:32):
who can we find to go? And His answer was, here am I, send me. So Jeremiah, I mean Isaiah's answer,
Isaiah's answer to this call was, here am I, send me. Well, what is my answer? Personally,
I was recently, in the last few months, I was in the country of Israel. And I didn't ever expect
(37:56):
to go there, but I went there to do some things for OCI. And while I was there, we went down by the
Sea of Galilee, and I was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And what I was imagining
in my mind is, what would this have looked like 2,000 years ago? And what would it have looked like
2,000 years ago? And what if I was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus came by and said,
(38:24):
leave it all behind? You know, Peter and his friend said what? They didn't say, well, let us
go sell the boat. It says they got up and followed Jesus. They left it behind. I was able to go in
the city of Capernaum. Matthew, imagine Matthew sitting at his text booth there. He's collecting
(38:49):
taxes, and Jesus comes by and says, follow me. He gets up, he leaves it behind, and he goes forward.
So God calls in interesting ways. If we're struggling sometimes with a decision,
I personally have found it to be, many times I'm worried about things that I can't solve anyway.
(39:10):
We're thinking about our future and our life, and well, what if I do this, or what if I take this
step? Listen, God's got all this in control. And if we follow His plan, we're going to be happier
in the end anyway. So friends, if you're facing a challenge, and God may be working on your heart,
He may be calling you and saying, I need you. I need you in my service. You've got some talents
(39:34):
that I want to see used for spreading the gospel around the world. I would invite you to step into
that. Instead of hesitating, step into it. Read God's word, claim His promises. Allow Him to speak
to you personally. Put your name in those promises. They are powerful. I mean, just think of this.
I will never leave you or forsake you. I mean, that's amazing, right? He's always with us. In our
(39:59):
difficulties of life, to be able to say, I have a God who is here. He's not next door. He's not in
some other universe. He's here. He says, I will never leave you or forsake you. To me, it's
powerful. I mean, we've all had our challenges in life, right? Difficulties and things that are
tough, and we're weeping, and we're crying, and we're crying out to God, change this situation,
(40:23):
deliver me from it. God says, I'm with you. I'm never leaving you. I'm not forsaking you. I'm
forsaking you. I'm not going to forsake you. I'm still here. Let's keep this journey going together.
So by God's grace, friends, let's keep the journey going together. Allow God to use us,
and to speak to us, and to guide us step by step, because He has a plan. Amen. And we may not
(40:47):
understand it, but He has a plan. Steve, thank you. Thanks for sharing your time and your
experience and your testimony today. God is indeed good, isn't He? Amen. Well, that is today's
program. We're going to have a word of prayer and then just some closing thoughts. Let's pray
together. Father, as we have shared and heard this testimony, Lord, I want to pray for those who are
(41:10):
watching and listening right now, wherever they are on planet Earth.
They're hearing encouragement and they're maybe relating,
or maybe they don't hear anything, but for some reason they've been drawn to this
podcast and they're seeking whatever it is you want to teach them. Lord, I just pray that the
(41:32):
Holy Spirit will enter in, encourage them, and help them to find their journey with Jesus.
Yes. Amen. Thank you for the time with Steve and for his incredible busyness. His focus remains
on serving you. So I just ask that you will strengthen him and Brenda and his family and his
colleagues and whatever aspect of ministry you place him in. Thank you for hearing our prayer.
(41:58):
Please continue to be with Jordan and I and our team with Network 7 Media Center and the production
of this podcast, Mission Sunlight Chat, that it was a pleasure to be with you.
And I just ask that you continue to be with us, Mission Sunlight Chat, that it will be to your
honor and glory and yours alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Once again, thank you for
(42:20):
listening. This has been Mission Sunlight Chat, our guest, Steve Dickman. I'm Christopher Beeson,
your host, and today's engineer, our director of production, Director Jordan Wagner. We thank you
for joining us and we thank you for sharing our show with your friends via text, email, and on
the internet. We also thank you for your gifts and most of all we thank you for your prayers,
especially your prayers. That's all today from our studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
(42:43):
This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
(43:13):
Thank you.
Music
(00:23):
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
We're glad that you have joined us.
We are here in our world headquarters studio located in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States of America.
Wherever you are around the globe listening or watching, we welcome you. We're glad you're with us.
My name is Christopher Beeson and next to me is Steve Dickman.
We'll talk to Steve a little bit more, learn a little bit more about him in just a moment.
(00:47):
Our Director of Production and Engineering today just down the line is Jordan Wagner.
And Jordan will be making sure things run smoothly and he'll jump in as he chooses in there with his microphone.
Mission Sunlight Chat is a non-profit Christian media production.
So if you'd like to know more, visit us at missionsunlight.org or if you want to give, you can click donate there.
(01:10):
Thank you in advance for whatever you're led to give.
Prayers, money or any combination of these things, we're truly grateful for you.
We appreciate whatever you would like to do for this work.
Just one more thing before we get into today's program. We need to grow.
We want to touch more lives for Jesus. We want to share the story of Jesus.
We want to spread the truth as it is in Jesus.
So please, if you can't give your time, you can't give your prayers, you can't give monies.
(01:37):
Would you please, please share the link to today's program with a friend or even an enemy.
Post it on your social media, text it to a friend right now, even snail mail it if you want.
Share Mission Sunlight Chat today. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
As we begin the program, Stephen, we want to learn a little bit more about you.
But before we do, would you have a prayer for us?
(01:59):
Absolutely. Father in heaven, we come to you today as the giver of life
and all good things and even our trials and tribulations.
Today, we are grateful for the opportunity to talk together.
May this program be a blessing to someone who is watching today.
In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
(02:19):
Amen.
So as I said before, Steve Dickman is with us.
Steve, I've known you across many different ministry platforms.
Share with us a little bit about what you're doing now, what you're doing today.
I'm serving as president for Outpost Centers International.
That's one of my primary jobs.
(02:42):
I'm also serving as president for Harbert Hills Academy in Savannah, Tennessee,
which is kind of my history.
So I'm carrying those two main responsibilities right now.
We'll come to Harbert Hills. I think the connected the full name is the foundation.
Yeah, Rural Life Foundation.
OK, you're responsible for that, which is a pretty broad place.
(03:05):
We'll talk a bit about that.
A few things are going on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So tell me about your family, your kids.
I know you have some grandkids.
Tell me about your ministry.
Just what things you like to do in life every day.
Just let our audience know a little bit more about you.
Yeah, so I have two children, two daughters, both grown and married
(03:26):
and on their own in different parts of the world.
Can you say where those are?
Yeah, yeah.
So my oldest daughter, Heather, is married to Jared Ho-Wing
and two children, Steven and Daniel, and they're in the Philippines.
They just launched to serve with PAMAS as an aviation ministry there in the Philippines.
(03:48):
And Heather's husband, Jared, is a helicopter pilot.
He's flying for them there in the regions of Philippines.
And as we record this, PAMAS has had a challenging year.
I want to remind our viewers to be in prayer for them,
and especially for this new opportunity of ministry and missionary service
(04:10):
for Heather and Jared.
Daniel was the grandson.
Steven and Daniel, grandsons.
Yeah, I like that one of them's name, Steven, too.
There you go.
My other daughter, Julia, and her husband, Rylan.
Julia is a nurse.
He is a computer technician, computer online specialist that helps people from
(04:31):
so he can work from home there in Walla Walla, Washington.
She's a nurse there.
Okay. And no grandkids there?
No grandkids there yet.
So two grandkids.
That's what I have, too.
But this year, I'm going to have two more, so I'm going to take you.
My wife, Rebecca, and I are quite excited to be growing that addition in our family.
(04:54):
They're a lot of fun, aren't they?
They're a lot of fun.
And it's a little challenging when they're halfway around the world,
but God is good.
He's given us communication tools, at least.
I was just going to say, I've seen you with a few of your grandchildren,
or with your grandchildren, a couple of your grandkids.
And I know you enjoy spending time with them.
It's going to be tough to have them way over there.
(05:15):
You're going to find a reason to visit the Philippines.
I am looking for every reason to visit the Philippines.
And by God's grace, we'll be over there some.
Your wife, Brenda?
Yeah, she is serving as girls dean at Harvard Hills Academy.
And we've been in ministry there for 32 years.
And so she has done a number of years as assistant dean and then dean,
(05:39):
English teaching, music, a whole variety of things.
As in most ministry settings, you know, there's not just one hat for you to wear.
You wear many hats.
And so, yeah, we're still carrying on the work there at Harvard Hills.
So you said you had two daughters, but as a girls dean,
you have a lot more than two daughters.
I've got 30 of them upstairs.
(06:00):
Yeah, that's a good life.
Hobbies, I know you stay super busy, so I'm trying to figure out,
does he have any fun?
I enjoy a lot of things in life.
When I was growing up, I learned a lot of skills because I attended a school,
Harvard Hills Academy, where a lot of practical things.
(06:22):
So I really enjoy working with my hands, building things.
And I enjoy gardening, don't have much time for either of those things at this point in my life,
but I do enjoy them.
And when I have time, it's relaxation to get involved in those things.
What do you like to build?
You have an engineering background.
Yeah, yeah.
We'll talk about that a bit in a minute.
But I like working with wood, for one thing.
(06:45):
My father was kind of a woodworker kind of person, and he taught me those skills.
So I enjoy that.
Like I said, I don't have a lot of time for it, but when I do, it's always a joy to take a few
minutes and build something, whatever it is.
And yeah, don't I remember there was some history,
maybe they still do this at Harvard Hills where they were making, in the wood shop,
(07:09):
they were making pins.
Sure.
Do you still do that kind of thing?
Yeah, the woodworking class makes a whole variety of projects during the year, depending on the
year, depending on the students, what their interest is.
And so tell us what they make.
Well, they may make a piece of furniture or they may make something like a pen turning on a lathe.
Of course, they can do usually multiple projects during the year.
(07:34):
We teach those kind of classes on Friday.
So they have a three and a half hour block where they're dedicated to that each Friday,
whichever class they choose.
And so whether it's woodworking or auto mechanics or medical missionary or radio broadcasting,
whatever it is, they have some intensive time to work on different kinds of projects.
So yeah.
Do you get to teach any of those?
(07:55):
Well, I used to, but now unfortunately I'm not in the teaching arena anymore just because of my duties.
Okay.
All right.
So you're the president of Outpost Centers International now.
What does that mean?
What do you do?
What do you not do?
Well, we're a small organization.
When I say a small organization, staff wise, we're a small organization, but we cover about 75%
(08:21):
countries and it'll soon be 280 ministries scattered across about 75 countries.
So it's a lot of work is in the field.
We're doing OCI events around the world this year.
We'll probably have 15 events, different events, different parts of the world.
The goal is to inspire laypeople to do something.
(08:43):
We believe, in fact, the vision of Outpost Centers International is to do something.
The vision of Outpost Centers International is that there would be a thriving network of lay led ministries
in every country of the world.
So think about that for a minute.
You travel.
(09:03):
How many countries?
About 235 or so, depending who you ask.
I learned of a new country the other day.
Now, what's that?
By the way, it's within the country of Georgia.
There is another country that exists there and I can't remember the name of it,
but I said, is this another country?
And they said, yeah, it's a different country.
And I said, but it's in Georgia.
(09:24):
Yeah, but it's in Georgia, but they considered actually themselves to be a different country.
I'm headed to Georgia this fall.
I'll have to look for that.
And I don't mean south of Tennessee.
Right.
And this is the Georgia on the other side of the world.
Although south of here, Georgia is another country, but that's another discussion, another time.
So yeah, but we believe that the laypeople have a vital part to play in helping to get the gospel
(09:47):
to the world.
Every nation, kindred, tongue, people.
And when we think of nations, the 235 number is an easy number.
And so when I began to think about this and the challenges of trying to accomplish this vision,
began to study this, I realized that 235, well, we just got, you know, maybe Seventh-day
(10:11):
Adventists have a presence in like 212 countries, but 23, that should be easy.
Let's just make a list of the 23 countries and figure out how to get somebody there and do something.
But then I began to realize that within each country, there are multiple people groups.
And worldwide, they estimate there's probably 16,000 people groups.
(10:33):
And we as a Seventh-day Adventist church have a presence in less than 1,000 of those 16,000
people groups.
So it takes you to a whole different understanding when you recognize that.
And how do we address that?
We as a church, as a Seventh-day Adventist church have been working on it for a number of years,
(10:55):
taking the gospel to the world.
And Ellen White makes this statement.
She says, the noblest aim that any young person can have today.
And I, you know, young is a number, right?
So I consider myself still to be young, even though I probably wouldn't fit in anybody's
chart of age-related youngness.
I consider myself to be young.
(11:16):
And so the noblest aim that we can have is to take the gospel to the world in this generation.
So when you think of that, it's humanly impossible.
So I say, praise God that it's humanly impossible, because that means that God is going to have
to show up and he's going to have to do some things to us, through us, and for us that
(11:40):
we have no power to do on our own.
Human beings, when this happens, human beings are not going to get the glory, because it
can't be done humanly speaking.
It's going to have to be a God thing.
And I'm looking forward to being a part of that journey when God shows up and the power
of the Holy Spirit falls and we as a church and as lay people and as God's children recognize
(12:01):
our calling to take the gospel to the world in this generation.
Amen.
And I think it's important for people to pick up on your comment that we're talking about
everyday lay people.
We're not talking about some theologically ministry-trained lay people.
Anybody can serve Jesus today in various capacities that he can lay on them.
(12:26):
It's interesting.
If you look at the population of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we have about 22 million
members worldwide.
About 22,000 pastors out of those 22 million members.
So.1 percent, 99.9 percent of our church is lay people.
That's where the power is.
That's where things can happen on a scale that can be dynamic and impacting the world.
(12:54):
The 22,000 pastors, we love pastors.
They're great people.
They have a function and a role.
But for them to do it by themselves, not logical.
We need all, everyone to engage in whatever God's calling them to do.
Amen.
Amen.
Yeah.
We're going to keep talking with Steve, but we are going to take a break first here for
(13:16):
just 60 seconds or so.
Just a reminder, missionsunlight.org is a place where you can learn more.
And you may decide you want to give there too.
Please share the link to today's program or the entire show plan on the website.
The entire show podcast platform with a friend by text, social media, or even by email.
Take a moment right now during the break and share it with someone.
(13:36):
We'll be back with more mission sunlight chat.
Our salvation is a day to day matter, isn't it?
The real principle of the Sabbath is reconnecting ourselves with the creator.
(14:01):
We must learn to abide in Jesus' name.
We move ahead with our mission objectives,
recognizing that we are serving together the most high God.
(14:23):
Welcome back to mission sunlight chat.
Our guest today, Steve Dickman, president of Outpost Centers International, OCI.
Steve, you talked about what you're doing presently,
a little bit about your family, who you are, things you enjoy.
Tell us how you got here about growing up.
(14:44):
You mentioned, not only are you president of Harbert Hills,
but you also mentioned a moment ago that you were a student at Harbert Hills.
So that's got to be an interesting story.
Tell us a bit about those influences in your journey.
So both of my parents attended Madison College.
And for those who have any acquaintance with the Madison College that we know,
(15:07):
in Madison, Tennessee, established by Ellen White in 1904,
and a team of laypeople, Percy McGann and EA Sutherland,
really helped to spark plug the work of Madison.
In the late 40s, my parents came to attend Madison College.
My father came from California.
(15:29):
My mother came from Knoxville, Tennessee.
And Madison was their education.
And because of what they received there and what Madison was,
Madison was a call to ministry at every level.
Their chapel services, their worship programs, their classes,
(15:51):
were centered on helping prepare laypeople to go out and do mission,
whether it was teachers or biologists or accountants or whatever it was.
They were teaching people to go out and do mission.
So both of my parents responded to a call to help start a new unit.
They called it a unit of Madison.
(16:13):
So the units were started by a staff member or some students
that got together and said, let's go start something new.
So they decided to start a new school.
And they decided to start it in a place in Tennessee
where there was no Seventh-day Adventist work or presence.
Savannah, Tennessee, surrounding that area were nine counties,
no Seventh-day Adventist work going on.
(16:35):
So they said, let's go there.
Let's start something there.
And so they decided to start a school.
The papers were signed in 1951, 72 years ago,
to start the corporation that began the work there.
My parents had volunteered early on as part of the team,
but because of schoolwork and my father spent some time
(16:57):
in a special duty from the U.S. government in the Army,
not voluntarily, but requested his presence.
And he showed up and spent some time in Korea there.
And but anyway, came back, finished his work at Madison
and took a master's degree at Peabody.
And then came to Harvard Hills in 1956.
(17:17):
In 1957, I was born there.
So I was born in ministry.
So that's my background.
It wasn't something I decided necessarily, but I was there.
I grew up in this environment.
It was kind of became a part of my DNA.
(17:38):
I didn't realize that when I left Harvard Hills
as a graduating senior, having attended all 12 grades
of my elementary and academy years there.
I didn't really realize that.
I didn't realize totally the heritage that had been,
was a part of who I was.
And so I took a degree in engineering.
I worked in the engineering field for about 10 and a half years.
(18:01):
During the last few years of that career,
I just became increasingly aware that God had something to do
for me, something for me to do that was not necessarily aligned
with my current career path.
And so we were seeking for what God would have us do.
And we thought, well, maybe we would be part of the ADRA team
(18:22):
somewhere in the world and help develop resources
for underserved populations of the world.
But that wasn't God's plan.
So I was called by Harvard Hills and asked
if I would come back as principal.
So an engineer with really not any education experience,
except for I grew up there.
And so I kind of inherited that component
(18:45):
and became a part of Harvard Hills Academy in 1991
and have served there since then.
That is a great heritage to be able to share.
And you had the opportunity to share that with your parents as well.
Mm-hmm. Yes. Right.
Your father being the, was he president before that?
(19:05):
Yeah, he was president of the Institute of Education
of the institution, not from the beginning.
The founder, William E. Patterson, was there in the beginning as president.
But early on when my folks came, they asked him to serve
as a leader for the institution.
And he went to Madison and served as principal of the academy there for two years.
(19:29):
So I lived on the Madison campus for two years,
but it was before I could really remember much.
So I was just young, but I lived there with my parents on the campus
as well. My father was principal of Madison Academy.
And then they recognized that if Harvard Hills was going to continue to thrive,
they needed to have my father back at Harvard Hills.
(19:51):
So they called him to come back and we stayed there then.
That was kind of our journey for the family.
Any particular experiences that you say have shaped your ministry experience from the past
along your journey?
Yeah, I'd say there's a few that have really been probably instrumental.
(20:15):
When I was in high school, you know, I made my decision to be a Christian,
to be a Seventh-day Adventist Christian at a pretty young age.
I think I was 10 or 12. I was baptized.
But it comes a time when you have to really think that through as you're growing up.
And I think I was probably 16 or 17 in that neighborhood
(20:38):
when it became clear to me, look, you can choose some different paths in life if you want to.
I said, you know, the path I want is I want to stay on God's path.
And so I chose that for myself more, I say more completely or permanently at that point
as more of an adult thinking, even though I'm not sure we all think as adults, even now,
(21:02):
we probably revert sometimes to our childish thoughts.
But, you know, I chose that for myself and said, yes, this is going to be my path
and I'm going to stay on this path.
And so God used that.
Kind of an aha moment.
Yeah, yeah, a moment there.
And probably some influence in that was when I was 16, my brother was 18, almost 18.
(21:24):
We were very entrepreneurial in nature, had had our own,
earned our own money and kept, you know, kept business going, you might say, on the side,
aside from what we were doing in school.
And we had a lawn mowing business.
And so we were traveling to mow lawns and we had an accident.
My brother was thrown out of the vehicle and ended up paralyzed.
(21:45):
And so things like that, when they happen to you as a young person, they affect your journey.
And so it was a time when I had to reevaluate a lot of things, say, wow,
this is not the way we plan things.
This is not our thought process.
How will this be used by God?
How will I choose to relate to this?
(22:05):
Because in this world, we're going to have difficulties.
We're going to have challenges.
That's not the question.
The question is, how do we relate to those things?
How do you respond?
You know, I can choose to respond and say, okay, God, I don't like this,
but I'm responding by saying, I'm going to stay on this journey with you,
even though I don't like my current circumstance.
(22:27):
And so, yeah, I think things like that.
My father's influence was also very powerful because he lived a life of service to God
and to other people.
When you're in institutional work, for some of you who know that or understand that,
you know that's not easy kind of work.
And you have to get up early and go to bed late and understand that what you're doing
(22:51):
is not for your own benefits, for the benefit of others.
And so my father had this saying, he said, real happiness is found in unselfish service
for other people.
When you're doing service for other people without trying to get anything in return,
that's where you find true joy.
(23:11):
I don't think I fully realized the impact that had on my life till later when I personally
got involved in that kind of service.
You know, when you're working in the engineering field,
and you're getting a paycheck for what you do, and you show up on time, and you leave
on time, and you do your work to the best of your ability, that's one thing.
But when you show up and everything is centered around ministry, and it's in a kind of a
(23:38):
sacrificial setting, it teaches you some things you may not have really understood before.
And so the joy of serving, again, to me, it's a privilege to be able to serve God and to
be able to be used by God to reach other people.
Amen.
(24:00):
I want to mention your brother Randall that was injured in the accident.
He's an incredible example to us about perseverance.
Oh, yes.
Because he didn't just say, okay, I'm going to do this.
Yes, yes. Because he didn't just say, okay, I'm,
correct me if I'm wrong, quadriplegic.
Yeah, quad, yeah.
Yeah, he didn't just say, well, I can't do anything.
I have used my arms and legs, oh well.
(24:23):
He went on to finish his high school education.
He finished a college degree, became a nursing home administrator,
and carried that load for years in a way that was anybody that came in contact with him
would walk away with, wow.
Yeah.
What do I complain about?
That's what I was going to say is he was a wow guy.
(24:45):
Yeah. This guy gets up in the morning, the rest of us get out of bed and maybe our foot
hurts or something. But when you have that kind of setting and getting up is a whole journey.
And then the wheelchair experience that you have every day where you're confined to a wheelchair
and other people have to serve you, but yet you're serving other people at the same time.
(25:05):
That's a journey. And to do that with grace and dignity,
you know, yeah, he was example to a lot of people.
I want to jump down to Jordan down there.
Jordan has experienced the Harvard Hills campus and the ASI and OCI experience as well.
Jordan, I just wonder if you have anything you want to toss in with a thought or comment
or a question even for Steve as we've talked here.
(25:31):
I just, I think it's a, I've enjoyed my time as I've been on the campus and being
around the students and seeing the program that they've done there.
You started a video program recently too, didn't you?
Yes, we have a media program on our campus and you'll have to come over and give us some clues
on this kind of setup. We're not quite to this level yet, but we'd like to be in a studio
(25:55):
setting. We're working on that for our listeners. They can't see where we are. And our viewers are
probably wondering what in the world we're in a five foot by nine foot space, this small studio
in the basement of our home here. And we're blessed with the best technology to do this.
Right. And so, but anyway, the Lord has blessed us there. We have a radio station on the campus
(26:17):
where we broadcast 50,000 watts of power across West Tennessee, North Mississippi, North Alabama,
reaching out to individuals to connect them with Christ and to give them a revelation of who Jesus
is. So we, it's all religious programming. We use the Life Talk Stream as our foundation and we add
to that and students get to learn and experience that environment, working in a radio station and
(26:42):
being taught radio broadcasting. Now we've added a TV station to the campus. We have a television
station there where we broadcast four different channels, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And the students get a class in media if they choose. And we also have a radio station in
and we also broadcast live our chapel services or Vespa programs and Sabbath services are more of
(27:07):
our standard broadcast there that we go live with. I think the last time Jordan's referencing,
the last time we were visiting, you had this shell of a space, it almost felt like an old barn that
you, it was part of the building, but it just felt like you'd been casting off things and storing
things in it and then you were going to renovate it. Now that's all done. No, it's not all done yet.
(27:28):
So you can come help us finish that project. Jordan, love to have your input there.
Thanks for bringing it up, Jordan. Yeah, exactly. But we're on this journey to finish that space.
We've got it all cleaned out now and we're ready to start building things in there.
And it will be again a training space for young people. You know, the world today, as you well
(27:49):
know, is a lot of media happening and to be in that space with something to say that is wholesome,
that is centered on the truth of God's Word is kind of, it's significant to me because in general,
(28:10):
if you go to these media channels, much of it is not biblically centered and it's not really very
uplifting. A lot of the media of the world. So we have an opportunity to impact that space
and to train young people to impact it. Amen. Steven, I want to ask you some more questions,
but we're going to take a break. We hope that our viewers have been encouraged and blessed by
(28:33):
listening to the program today. We have more to come, but we need to take a break. So remember,
you can give at missionsunlight.org and you can share this program with anyone right now.
Thanks for doing both or either. We'll be back with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
(29:12):
Welcome back to Mission Sunlight Chat. Our guest, Steve Dickman from OCI and other ministries far
(29:40):
and wide around the globe and close by. Truth is, OCI is just maybe what two, three miles here from
our campus. Yeah, it's like a five minute, six minute drive over here. Yeah, just over the mountain
the way the crow flies. We once lost a drone over your property, but that's another story.
Okay. Maybe it's out there helping somebody somewhere somehow. Tell me, where are you going?
(30:05):
What's next for Steve Dickman? What's next maybe for the ministries or your family? Just tell us
some of your hopes and dreams for the future. Yeah, thank you Christopher for asking about that.
I think it's significant that each one of us have something we're thinking about for the future,
rather than just existing in the current time and taking what comes our way to actually say there
(30:29):
are goals and dreams beyond maybe where we are right now. And as I think about it on a personal
level, I have had time to reflect some on my life because if you can calculate time correctly,
I just turned 66. And so I think about, well how much longer is this journey? And it could be short
(30:55):
or it could be longer by God's grace. I'm still alive and in good health and I can go forward
with God's work, I feel like. Okay, but in a personal sense, what does that mean for each of us?
To me, it's about uncovering God's calling and making sure that I stay as best I can in the center
(31:16):
of His will. There are a lot of challenges we face individually each day, but to get up every
morning and say, Lord what I want to do today is stay in the middle of your will. I want to be where
you want me to be. I want to do what you want me to do. I don't want to be off string somewhere.
And sometimes God gives a corrective course. It was not necessarily my plan to serve in some of
(31:43):
the roles I've served, but when God calls, sometimes He opens a door for us and we have a choice to
make. We can choose to move forward even though it's a challenging situation. We're not sure about
the future. The present may be comfortable, but God has given me personally a promise.
(32:05):
I found it in Isaiah chapter 40 and He says, I'm going to give you strength. I'm going to give you
wings like eagles. And this is just kind of my paraphrase. Young men may fall down and get weary,
but those who wait on the Lord are going to renew their strength. And they're going to be able to
(32:26):
walk and run even when others are weary. So to me, that's a promise that God has given to me
personally. And so when I face challenging situations, I claim that promise. I say, God,
you said you're going to give me strength and you're going to give me what I need to move forward.
And so for me, that's the personal journey I'm on. I want to stay where God wants me to be,
(32:49):
even if it's a challenging situation and allow Him to do what He can do. Ellen White makes another
very interesting statement. Basically, she says, if we'll set ourselves aside, there's no limit to
what God can do with us. I say, God, I don't know what you can do, but whatever it is, please do it.
And let me be willing to let you do it. So if there's no limit, what does that mean?
(33:15):
It means anything. God can do anything with us poor human beings who I often think of it this way.
Crackpots. When I was born, I didn't have anything. I didn't have clothes on. I came into this world
naked. I'm going out naked, well, so to speak. They'll probably dress me up in a suit maybe
on a good day and put me in a casket, bury me somewhere. But I didn't come in with anything.
(33:41):
I'm not going out with anything. What's my job while I'm here? It's to be a good steward.
If God has given me talents, time, energy, whatever He's given me, I need to use those
things for Him because now is the time. When I die, somebody else will use the stuff I've got.
So I should dedicate it to God's cause now, whether that's strength, time, energy, whatever
it is. Fully dedicated to God's cause is my desire. That's my heart's desire. Now, talk about ministry.
(34:07):
Wow, what an opportunity. I work for an organization that's scattered around the world with 75 countries
and 280 ministries now almost. And what do you do with that idea? How do you say you're going to do
something in that context? So I have to kind of confine my energy sometimes. Because you become
aware of all kinds of needs. I was just visiting a country last week that is one of those closed
(34:32):
countries of the world. And it's a very difficult country to get into. It's a very difficult country
to live in. It's a very difficult country to do ministry in. In fact, almost impossible to do
ministry there. What do you do with that? When God sets before you that information, that opportunity
(34:53):
to go there and learn about that, can you come home and be the same person? Yeah, I haven't found
that possible. So I travel, I go these places, I learn about needs, and I come home. And it seems
like God says, okay, I want you to do something with this. So what do I do with it then? So I take
that and say, okay, how can we start something here? And I can't start things all over the world,
(35:16):
but there are people, in fact, Christopher, there may be somebody watching today who says, you know,
God's working on my heart. And I feel like he's calling me to do something, but I really don't
know what. I would say to that person, keep praying because God will show you. God will open a door,
he will show you. But you have to be willing to move into it, step forward into some of those
(35:38):
challenges. So from a ministry setting, the vision that Outpost Centers International has
is to have a thriving network of lay ministries in every country of the world.
I doubt that I can accomplish that. I know I can't accomplish it. In my lifetime, in my service time
(36:01):
to this organization, I would be amazed if we could see that, but probably not. But to say there's
something bigger than me is a good thing. It's not something I can do. It's not something, okay,
we got two countries on the list and we're going to go do those and mark it down that we did
something. No, we've got every country in the world on our list. And as God provides and opens
(36:23):
doors there, we want to inspire work to be done in those countries. Okay. You've almost answered
my next question with these things you've just shared, but maybe you'd like to
galvanize it down to just a few simple thoughts. What would you just say to someone who's just
going through everyday struggles or perhaps someone who's struggling with an answer to the call?
(36:49):
I would say read your Bible, but read it in a personal sense. You know, it's easy to read
the Bible. I mean, we can open up, we've got it on our phone, we've got it in our bookcases,
we've got it in our briefcases, we've got our Bibles everywhere, right? And we can access those
in different ways. And you know, I get the verse of the day on my phone, I get the devotional on my
(37:10):
phone. But sit down with God's Word and have a conversation with Him, a real conversation,
and read His Word. Allow Him to speak to you through His Word. I think of text like Isaiah
chapter 6 and verse 8, where Isaiah was struggling with this. God was giving a call and He was saying,
(37:32):
who can we find to go? And His answer was, here am I, send me. So Jeremiah, I mean Isaiah's answer,
Isaiah's answer to this call was, here am I, send me. Well, what is my answer? Personally,
I was recently, in the last few months, I was in the country of Israel. And I didn't ever expect
(37:56):
to go there, but I went there to do some things for OCI. And while I was there, we went down by the
Sea of Galilee, and I was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And what I was imagining
in my mind is, what would this have looked like 2,000 years ago? And what would it have looked like
2,000 years ago? And what if I was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus came by and said,
(38:24):
leave it all behind? You know, Peter and his friend said what? They didn't say, well, let us
go sell the boat. It says they got up and followed Jesus. They left it behind. I was able to go in
the city of Capernaum. Matthew, imagine Matthew sitting at his text booth there. He's collecting
(38:49):
taxes, and Jesus comes by and says, follow me. He gets up, he leaves it behind, and he goes forward.
So God calls in interesting ways. If we're struggling sometimes with a decision,
I personally have found it to be, many times I'm worried about things that I can't solve anyway.
(39:10):
We're thinking about our future and our life, and well, what if I do this, or what if I take this
step? Listen, God's got all this in control. And if we follow His plan, we're going to be happier
in the end anyway. So friends, if you're facing a challenge, and God may be working on your heart,
He may be calling you and saying, I need you. I need you in my service. You've got some talents
(39:34):
that I want to see used for spreading the gospel around the world. I would invite you to step into
that. Instead of hesitating, step into it. Read God's word, claim His promises. Allow Him to speak
to you personally. Put your name in those promises. They are powerful. I mean, just think of this.
I will never leave you or forsake you. I mean, that's amazing, right? He's always with us. In our
(39:59):
difficulties of life, to be able to say, I have a God who is here. He's not next door. He's not in
some other universe. He's here. He says, I will never leave you or forsake you. To me, it's
powerful. I mean, we've all had our challenges in life, right? Difficulties and things that are
tough, and we're weeping, and we're crying, and we're crying out to God, change this situation,
(40:23):
deliver me from it. God says, I'm with you. I'm never leaving you. I'm not forsaking you. I'm
forsaking you. I'm not going to forsake you. I'm still here. Let's keep this journey going together.
So by God's grace, friends, let's keep the journey going together. Allow God to use us,
and to speak to us, and to guide us step by step, because He has a plan. Amen. And we may not
(40:47):
understand it, but He has a plan. Steve, thank you. Thanks for sharing your time and your
experience and your testimony today. God is indeed good, isn't He? Amen. Well, that is today's
program. We're going to have a word of prayer and then just some closing thoughts. Let's pray
together. Father, as we have shared and heard this testimony, Lord, I want to pray for those who are
(41:10):
watching and listening right now, wherever they are on planet Earth.
They're hearing encouragement and they're maybe relating,
or maybe they don't hear anything, but for some reason they've been drawn to this
podcast and they're seeking whatever it is you want to teach them. Lord, I just pray that the
(41:32):
Holy Spirit will enter in, encourage them, and help them to find their journey with Jesus.
Yes. Amen. Thank you for the time with Steve and for his incredible busyness. His focus remains
on serving you. So I just ask that you will strengthen him and Brenda and his family and his
colleagues and whatever aspect of ministry you place him in. Thank you for hearing our prayer.
(41:58):
Please continue to be with Jordan and I and our team with Network 7 Media Center and the production
of this podcast, Mission Sunlight Chat, that it was a pleasure to be with you.
And I just ask that you continue to be with us, Mission Sunlight Chat, that it will be to your
honor and glory and yours alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Once again, thank you for
(42:20):
listening. This has been Mission Sunlight Chat, our guest, Steve Dickman. I'm Christopher Beeson,
your host, and today's engineer, our director of production, Director Jordan Wagner. We thank you
for joining us and we thank you for sharing our show with your friends via text, email, and on
the internet. We also thank you for your gifts and most of all we thank you for your prayers,
especially your prayers. That's all today from our studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
(42:43):
This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
(43:13):
Thank you.
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