August 29, 2025 • 30 mins
"What happens when personal tragedy and transformation become the foundation for authentic ministry? James and Melissa Pinto's story answers this question with raw honesty and profound hope."
James and Melissa Pinto, of Trinity Tabernacle of Gravesend, Brooklyn, share their powerful testimonies of finding faith through personal tragedy and transformation. Their journey from congregants to church leaders reveals how God uses our darkest moments to prepare us for ministry and outreach.
• Melissa found faith at age 13 after losing her mother to illness, learning that "ultimate healing is heaven"
• James was saved in 1995 after witnessing his father's dramatic transformation from drug addiction through Christ
• The Pintos balance ministry and family life with eight children at home, emphasizing family as their primary ministry
• They prioritize rest and self-care through implementing lessons from the Thrive Leadership Foundation Retreat for Pastors
• Trinity Tabernacle celebrates 100 years of ministry, beginning as the first Italian Pentecostal church in Brooklyn
• Current focus includes community outreach and potential church planting in neighboring communities
Please pray for Trinity Tabernacle's upcoming outreach on September 6th at Lady Moody Triangle and their vision to plant a new church in a neighboring community.
Trinity Tabernacle of Gravesend Website: http://www.trinitytab.com/
Trinity's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrinityTabernacleOfGravesend/
Trinity's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@trinitytabernacle7584
Scripture Bakery (Melissa's Bakery! - Check her out online/ DM to order): https://www.instagram.com/scripture_bakery/?igsh=YXRtOW5mZ2h2ZHpm#
'PETE' @ Trinity 08/15/25: https://www.youtube.com/live/CQwiEmzsEKs?t=969s
In Ministry full time and need some restoration? Contact Thrive Leadership Foundation: https://thrivelead.org/about/
Attend a Retreat: https://thrivelead.org/attend-a-retreat/
To find out more about our program and access additional resources, visit our website at https://playsonword.org/calendar.html. Check back often for our new website design coming soon! To support this and upcoming tours financially, please visit: https://playsonword.networkforgood
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Email us: team@playsonword.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Okay, got it Alright.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
If you don't need video, brother Fred, then it's
fine, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You don't need video, right?
No, I don't have to have it,okay, cause it's.
That's not the part that'sgoing on the podcast, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So Melissa and I are here going on the podcast, yes,
so.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
um.
So, melissa and I are here.
Oh, y'all are awesome.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Awesome, awesome, okay, hi there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm here too, how you doing Good.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Can you guys see us?
Okay, I see it.
Fine, all right, cool, that'sawesome.
Okay, all right.
So today we have, uh, james andmelissa pinto from the.
(01:01):
Let's see, I want to make sureI uh make sure I get this
correct.
The Trinity Tabernacle inGravesend Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Trinity Tabernacle of Gravesend.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah and uh.
Well, welcome to Plays on WordRadio.
Uh, this has been a long timeIn the making.
You guys Were part of our Ourrecent Northeast tour that we
went on and we had A terrifictime Visiting with you guys.
(01:40):
And Did you guys have anythoughts About the play, the?
The experience did.
Uh, I'll let you use your ownwords rather than putting words
in your mouth.
What, what were your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I thought it was uh, very well put together.
Uh, the acting, of course, wasexcellent.
Um, of course was excellent theworship and the singing.
I did get some of the people inthe church had spoke to that
how they really enjoyed yourvoice and your singing and also,
(02:18):
of course, just the play itself, going through the entire
gospel, the life of Peter, howyou brought it to life.
Also, some of the humor that'stied into the show was really
good also and we really enjoyedit.
The people enjoyed it, even,unfortunately, the cell phones
(02:40):
ringing in the background, whichI couldn't believe.
Like, after one cell phone, asecond one.
You would say let me check myphone.
One phone rang so long.
I thought it was part of youract at one moment.
But yeah, but uh, even the wayyou handled that was uh well,
you know I forgot about that'sright.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, I think I worked that into the play
somehow way of working thingsinto the performance.
Yeah I, I think I said so, Ithink it was, I think it was
ringing or something like that,and I said uh, something like
yeah, they, they, we don't getgood cell service in galilee, or
something like yes I was gonnasay this in the sense that, um,
(03:20):
I like that you interacted withthe crowd, so even with the
sneezing, oh, you dropped out.
I heard you say interacted andthen you dropped out.
What happened?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Sorry, that's okay.
I was saying how you interactwith the crowd, even with the.
I mean, besides the cell phone,there was some sneezing.
Even with Andrew the cell phone, there was some sneezing, um,
there was even with anu, um, andthings like though it's, I
(03:54):
think it keeps them on theirtoes.
And then, of course, the I hadto say something.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So yeah, yeah, amen, amen, that's uh, that's
fantastic.
So you guys, some, you got somepositive feedback, that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Oh, definitely yeah, People enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
We hope to make our way back towards you guys.
Maybe we'll bring our GenesisJoe to you, or maybe even our
Dan play, if we get thatfinished, or even the Christmas
one we were talking about beforeyou guys left oh, that's right.
Yes, yes, christmas, joe, yeah,so, uh, yeah, it's a possibility
(04:30):
.
We'll see if we can uh see ifwe can make that.
I'm just I'm, I'm really gladto hear um feedback and I'm glad
for the audience here becausewe have many of our supporters
actually listen to this podcast,so it's good for them to hear
the, the feedback.
We, you know one of the bestthings about when we did Trinity
(04:53):
, I do give an invitation toreceive the Lord and to make it
official with him, and I thinkwe had like six, six or eight
hands went up in the back.
Nice, which was you know thatwas a real blessing, man.
You know that was a, that was ablessing.
I know that heaven was.
(05:13):
Heaven was happy about that amenuh, and you know it's, we're
partially an outreach andprimarily a encouragement to the
body of christ.
So that's our prime directiveis to the body of Christ.
So that's our prime directiveis to the body of Christ.
But we also have anevangelistic aspect.
We do the work of evangelism inthe play.
(05:36):
So I also gave an opportunityfor anybody that wanted to just
double down in faith and wantedto maybe rededicate to the Lord,
or maybe they've been gettingbeat up or something, and
usually a lot of hands go upduring that time because people,
(05:56):
you know, they come in onSunday mornings and they give
you a smile, but a lot of timespeople are hurting and they
really need, they need the powerof the Lord.
Right, what do?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
you think Amen.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, any thoughts on that, guys?
No.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Well, you're speaking to an evangelist here.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Amen, amen.
That's fantastic, and the crazything is we were actually at
that church five years ago.
There was an event thathappened outside and our dear
brother Angelo and some of theguys from Horizon, I think, put
(06:42):
together I think it was Horizonit put together some kind of
get-together.
Was it Angelo, or was Angelojust part of that?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Angelo was part of it .
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I think it was Lighthouse Church,
which is the church that meetswithin this church and is also
part of our youth program.
Put together some sort of musicconcert on the lawn.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, worship.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Worship on the lawn.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And Angelo was part of that.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, he was one of the singers.
That was nice.
Yeah, that was my firstexperience there and as we came,
when we pulled up to do thepeep play, I was like wait, why
does this feel?
This feels really familiar.
Katie was like wait a minute.
And then I walked around theback and I said yo man, this is,
this is the place.
(07:30):
I can't believe this.
It's just a.
It's a small world.
I guess brooklyn is uh, is justknit together like that,
because when I think of brooklyn, I think of angelo, I think of
richie can't sell.
I think of now, I think of youguys.
So you know, that's uh.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I love when things like that happen, when you know
God knew um that we were allgoing to come back again
together again five years later.
You know, I just love when,when you notice those little
things yeah, yeah, that was alot of fun.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So tell me something.
Um, I need to hear your story.
I mean, james, I can hear inyour, in your accent, that from
you.
You're from new york, I canhear a new york accent there,
(08:24):
but I the deal with that.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Well, because I'm not from here.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Amen there you go, drop the mic.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I was born in Missouri, raised in Texas, my
family's in Illinois.
Wow, I lived in Connecticut andGermany, and while I was in
Connecticut is when we met andthen moved to Brooklyn after we
got married.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, so I think I have a little bit of everything.
So it's just kind of who knows?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it, james.
What about you, man?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I grew up not far from here, a few miles.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
You hear it in the accent.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
In a part of Brooklyn called Dyka Heights, so like
Bensonhurst.
Okay, it's not far from here.
Okay, yeah, been here my wholelife.
Basically Lived in Florida fora few months, but I don't even
count that it was so short.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So I need to hear your story.
Where does Jesus come into playwith you and with Melissa?
What's going on here?
When did you guys meet that guy?
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Melissa, well, mine's a lot shorter than James, I
think.
Okay, my mom died when I was 13.
And so through the grievingprocess of that, I came to know
the Lord.
It took six to eight years andthen I could say fully on at 10
(10:03):
years that I really was servinghim.
But yeah, my mother grew up ina Christian home.
So when she got sick she cameback to the Lord, but we weren't
raised as Christians.
So I, you know it was a process, but yeah, basically through
that I've never but yeah,basically through that, I've
(10:28):
never cursed.
I don't drink, I don't smoke, Inever did any of that, I don't
really have anything.
It was really through agrieving process that the Lord
just pulled me in.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
So you became aware because of the great comforter,
yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
The Lord being the comforter.
I was very upset and I was verymad at God because my mother
claimed healing to the day shedied and didn't prepare us.
And through that, the Lord,little by little, we were
invited to a youth group andthere's a lot of things that are
entangled with it, but hereally just showed me who he was
(11:16):
and that the ultimate healingis really heaven and, you know,
it's really our perspective onearth, which is not our home,
and all those other great thingsthat I'm still learning, so, um
, but through that, I alwayssaid, if he could get me through
that, um, he could get methrough anything, and since then
I've my faith has never wavered, so, thank God.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Amen to that, that's.
Uh, I'm sorry you had to gothrough that at such a young age
, but uh, I'm also glad that thelord got a hold of you at such
a young age, you know andstarted yeah, it's a good
example of uh refined by thefire yeah, yeah, I know some
(12:05):
folks even now that are angrywith God for allowing loved ones
to pass on, and it is a it's adifficult thing.
You know.
The Lord heals some people andsome people.
Some people.
He says you're going to get thefinal healing, you know, but
(12:25):
not right now.
So it's definitely a challenge,you know.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, how about you, jane?
Really, that's the healing thatI believe that the Bible is
talking about is really oursalvation.
It has healed us, has redeemedus from death and we have an
ultimate healing in the Lord, ifwe can see it that way, that
(12:51):
nothing else is promised to us.
We're not promised a new kneeor a new heart, but we are
promised a new body in Christfor eternity, and when we get
saved, that seals the deal thatwe have been healed from that.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
So anyway, no, no, that's absolutely, you're
absolutely right with that,because you're never going to go
wrong that way.
And, believe it or not, that isour primary, that's our primary
ailment.
The primary ailment of humanityis sin.
And Jesus, you know, hismission was to deal with that.
(13:36):
He came to deal with, he tookaway our sin and by his stripes
we are healed.
So, yeah, you're, you're, you'reabsolutely correct, he can heal
, he still does heal, oh, yeah,and he can, but the, the primary
, the primary aspect of thehealing that was necessary, um
(14:01):
was, was sin.
It's kind of like, if you haveum, you know you, you have, you
somebody who has, like a, abrain tumor, and maybe they also
have a little cut on theirpinky, um, you know, to focus on
the little cut is not the wayto go.
(14:22):
You need to deal with the, thereal problem, the brain tumor,
and that's what Jesus did andwhen, when he came, he dealt
with the, the main problem.
Now, can he?
Can he heal the Nick on thefinger?
Absolutely, and he, he can anddoes, but not always, not always
, yeah, but one, one area healways heals is sin.
(14:44):
If someone comes to him andsays Lord, save me please, I'm a
sinner Save my soul.
Yeah, he's faithful and just toforgive us our sins.
So amen to that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
You brought up an interesting point and I think
this is something that mostpeople that have not been raised
in a Christian home that's whythere's so much trouble is the
fact that you weren't preparedfor it.
You know, and that's why it'sso important to to be exposed to
Christ, to raise your, yourkids, in a Christian atmosphere,
(15:22):
your kids in a Christianatmosphere, because at least I
mean, we're not prepared foreverything that comes at us, but
we know our father is, so atleast we have a place to turn
and thank goodness, as he said,he got a hold of you.
But I think that's the problemwith a lot of people we're just
not prepared for stuff andpeople don't know what direction
(15:43):
to look when something sotragic happens, you know if
they're not in Christ.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
How about you, james, beforeyour phone dies?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
How about you man?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Oh.
So thank God, the Lord saved meback in 1995.
Prior to that I was really in abad state, suicidal thoughts,
just not living a good life.
And what was what was good inthat?
(16:26):
Despite everything that washappening, my father became a
Christian back like in 1989, 87,something like that, and so at
that time he had went into aministry called Victory Outreach
and his life was radicallytransformed.
Because he was a hardcore drugaddict for many years, shooting
(16:51):
heroin, cocaine, like 100milligrams of methadone habit a
day for like 19 years.
Oh and um, when I was desperateI said if god can do it for him,
he can do it.
So I was exposed to the as akid, you know teens.
But I wanted to do my own andthank God, I was able to turn to
(17:17):
the Lord when I needed him andhe was there.
So that was back in 1995.
And got saved, was with achurch for five years.
Then from that church I cameover here and just was a
congregant for years.
Then from that church I cameover here and just was a
congregant for years.
(17:37):
Then I got into youth, then gotinvolved speaking, became an
assistant pastor on the twopastors and then eventually I
became the pastor here.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Wow, that's awesome.
I love it.
That's that's awesome.
I love it.
I love the story of uh justgoing there for to worship on
sunday and you know, 25 yearslater or whatever, it is 30
years later.
It's more longer than thatactually.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, yeah and then uh now.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Now you are like the head shepherd.
Um, that is just, that'sawesome.
Tell us a little bit about now.
You guys have a bunch of kids.
You have a full household.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Tell us about the challenges of ministry life and
being, you know, full-time momand dad there.
What is that like?
I'm sorry, finish that I wasgoing to say.
What is that, like I'm justasking, just give me a little.
Give us a dose of that.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, no, it's actually very busy.
You got to learn how to juggleyour time responsibilities, but
we've always established fromthe beginning that the family is
always going to be our mostimportant job.
You know, as far as theministry, of course, our
marriage first, our childrennext, and then you know the
(19:04):
ministry is, I believe, the waythe Lord wants it.
Because you know we have a dearfriend that said to us once the
only thing you can take toheaven with you are your
children.
And you know, if you reallythink about that and you know as
parents, I mean as otherspeople could do other things.
So I went to Christ.
(19:27):
But that most important one isour first ministry, the
conversion.
See how kids our first ministry, the conversion, see how kids
say following the Lord.
So we pour a lot of time intothat.
And then ministry, you know,keeps us very busy, but thank
(19:52):
God we were able to what I feeldo it.
We have a lot of help, goodhelp around us in the church One
brother's on staff, others thatare volunteer staff.
So obviously it's not a one-manjob, a good wife, we're a team
and somehow at the end of theday it all works out.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Amen, I'll tell you something that was impressed
upon me, and I'm sure you know,just like all kids, your kids
aren't perfect.
However, I loved how they'revery polite, very courteous, and
I loved how respectful of oneanother they were.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Just in conversation afterwards, when we were all
kind of sitting around sharing ameal.
That's an attribute to you guys, of course.
Thank.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
God.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Melissa does a good job with the kids.
She's a homeschooler.
They're around pretty much allday long.
Of course they have a littleinteraction, but she pours a lot
of time into them and, thankGod, we see good results.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
There was an unusual amount of courtesy between the
siblings.
I was quite surprised by that.
It was amazing.
I was like wow.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
It's the being raised with the southern hospitality
party amen amen that was one ofthe things I noticed, very
different between my speech andthe speech of people in here in
brooklyn.
They're not meant to be mean,but that's kind of how it comes
out to be so harsh and uh, youknow, I said where's the pleases
(21:31):
, where's the thank yous?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
like there's no uh, but uh that I noticed that when
we moved to north carolina,people were there was a, just a
southern, um kindness, yeah,there's a southern kindness.
That that was.
I was like wait a minute, youknow, I'm walking into the, into
the home depot, and and thislady's like bless you, bless you
(21:57):
, god, bless you, and all.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I'm like wow, oh, hey , now okay well yeah, as you
know, here in brooklyn, peoplewalk right by each other.
They don't even say hello,nothing, nothing.
It's awkward not all the time,but a large part of the time,
unless you say something youknow and then they wonder what
you want what's the matter withyou?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
you never know, like in the kingdom eventually, like
how even one smile or one, youknow, extension of courtesy can
really help someone, ifsomeone's like having an awful
day, or maybe they're at the endof their rope and they just
needed to be acknowledged andvalidated, like I'm here, you
know.
So that's why, like you said,melissa, the please and thank
(22:44):
yous and the little thingsreally add up.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
And get noticed.
Exactly.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Because the world speaks differently to each other
.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
And we shouldn't be surprised.
We're in this world, not of it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
That's right yeah that's true, wow.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So I think we originally met you guys at
America's Keswick at a pastor'sconference, like three years ago
, I think.
I don't remember when we firstwent.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
About three, four years ago.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah, and then we also didn't we run into you guys
at the Thrive Thrive, at Thrive, with Scott, our dear brother
and sister, scott and Lynn, yes,with Scott, our dear brother
and sister, scott and Lynn, yes,and so you guys are the first
people.
I think that we haveinterviewed that have been to
(23:44):
that.
Oh really, yeah, as far as thatwe've interviewed and you know I
talk about it until I'm blue inthe face, but what were your
thoughts of that?
If you could tell anotherpastor or another couple that's
in ministry, what would you sayto them about that?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
The Thrive Retreat oh yeah, I mean, it was a place to
get yourself back in order.
You know time of rest, get yourpriorities in order.
You know, especially as pastors, you could be pulled here and
there.
You're running all over theplace and they give you a basis,
(24:23):
a foundation, where you have to.
You're not being selfish, butyou have to pull back the moment
and and look at everythingthat's going around around you
and make time for yourself.
So I think it definitely it'sstuff that we know, but it
brings you back to the centerlike hey, are you doing this,
(24:45):
are you taking that time, areyou having that rest, or you
know?
And of course, I tried toimplement it when I got back.
I will.
I will be honest, you dodeviate.
Now that you're saying it, Igotta remind myself to get back
to it but, I do take my time, Igo fishing and have my my
(25:06):
leisure time and get away fromthe phone and and try not to
take calls on certain day, acertain day, once a week, if I
don't have to.
And um, I try my best tocontinue doing it.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, yeah, I knew when I went, I, I, uh, it wasn't
until day, what was it?
Day two, what is it?
How long is the retreat?
I forget day two.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
What is it how?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
long is the retreat?
I forget, is it monday tothursday or monday?
Three days, right, three days,I think it's three, something
like that.
I, it was like this until I was, I was not.
I couldn't relax till thesecond day uh-huh like day one I
was.
You know the walls are up andI'm just like, uh, it, it.
But then day I started to relaxa little bit.
(25:54):
I'm like, okay, wait a second,and I've tried to implement a
lot of the stuff that we learned, that we got there.
And the best thing is it's notlike a seminar where you're
being force fed a ton ofinformation.
It's really just a place tookay, to okay, get away, relax
and just focus on a few keythings.
(26:17):
Yeah, that can keep you fromgoing off the rails and uh, with
.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
that being said, I like that.
It was intimate.
There was only, you know, nomore than eight to 10 couples, I
think they said, and I thinkwith us it was only eight
couples.
Yes, and that made it even more, you know, enjoyable, I guess,
because you're getting to beable to talk to one another and
actually be encouraged by oneanother, minister to one another
(26:46):
and so forth.
So that was nice too, yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, I like that part too, and you brought up a
good point too, james.
You know, every now and then Itry to keep some of the
materials and things and a bookI got from that that weekend and
I just try to go back throughit again, because you get so
caught back up into your dailyroutine, you know.
(27:10):
So it's good to refresh andrenew and kind of look over that
stuff again, you know.
You know, just kind of like theBible, we don't read it once,
you know, and put it down, we'reback to it and and when I've
done that, I'm reminded of someof the things that maybe kind of
, you know, went away or left mymind for a minute, because it's
(27:32):
so, you know, clouded withdaily stuff, you know, and um,
that was, that was a big partfor us to be able to sit back,
refresh, renew, relax, and Ithink that's something we both
have a hard time doing sometimes, you know, and I'm sure with
the what nine kids you guys haveyeah what does that mean?
(27:55):
relax what?
Speaker 1 (27:56):
is that it's, it's, it's, is it, is it?
Nine kids, nine, nine rightnine uh officially nine
officially.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
We lost the sun years back.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Oh yeah, so there's eight here.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So there's eight here , but one in eternity.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Amen, wow, eight is enough.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Remember that show, I watched that show.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Eight is enough.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Wow, that's amazing.
Well, we're really glad that wewere finally able to meet up
with you and bring a play to you.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You know, we're just grateful to meet everybody out
there.
What were you going to say?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
No, I just was going to ask about and you probably
were going to ask this next, butjust about the future of their
ministry.
I mean, I know they have, youknow, church and all that stuff.
If there's anything that youguys are really focused on, is
there something you have a heartfor?
What can we be praying for?
You know that kind of directionwith what you guys are doing
(29:05):
outreach.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Our, our thing is outreach.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
We're always in the community, so yeah, we, we try
and outreach the community quiteoften.
We're doing an event onseptember 6th outside worship um
, a lady moody triangle.
That's a place here a fewblocks away from the church, so
we'll be doing an outreach outthere all day.
Then we've been reaching out toanother community about four
(29:31):
miles from here.
We had an outreach there aboutsix weeks ago, so we're trying
to get into that community, sowe're just trying to minister to
the community and the greatercommunity around us.
That's something you candefinitely keep in prayer.
We'd like to see a church startup in one of those communities
not far from us, which I reallythink would be great and
(29:57):
something we would hope to seehappen.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Amen, amen.
We can pray.
Anybody listening right now.
If you don't know what to prayfor, if you're like I don't know
what to pray for, you're like Idon't know what to pray for,
well, you can pray for Trinityup in Brooklyn and pray for the
outreaches and the Lord of theDoors, and for you know, there's
(30:19):
a prayer request right therefor you, amen.
Speaking of Trinity, our dearbrother Paul Mazzu.
When I told him we were playingthere, he was all excited and
he starts telling me oh, myfamily, my family, and then Phil
Sinclair brother, phil basswith us and Paul plays drums,
(30:43):
and Phil plays bass, plays drums, and phil plays bass.
And um they, phil, told me thatthat church trinity, was the
the first protestant italianchurch in new york city or
brooklyn, or something like thatprobably brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So right now we're celebrating 100 years this year.
Wow.
The church started three blocksaway by a brother named
Giovanni Greco yeah, greco, andhe came here from North Brooklyn
(31:22):
, okay, and there's a lot to gointo the story, but anyway, he
got off the bus, heard music andthere's a Boy Scout troop there
and he told them what he wantedto do.
He started a storefront churchand from there they built a
church.
Nice, a hundred years ago 1925,they built a church by hand and
they were there and they werethere and then we got this
(31:45):
church here from the Dutchreform, from his son, emmanuel
Greco, in 1979, like aroundthere.
So we've been here in thiscurrent building since then, but
that church is still standing.
It's a Korean Presbyterianchurch now, but up on top of the
(32:12):
building almost by the roof ifyou were were to look it says
corny island pentecostal church.
I love it, yeah, so it's uh.
Yeah, you know, because theitalians, obviously primarily,
are roman catholics, so this waslike one of the first Italian
Pentecostal churches, and thenafter that, I mean, there was a
(32:36):
number of them at the time, butin all Italian areas throughout
the country, so we actuallystarted off as an Italian
Pentecostal denomination.
Wow, now we're multicultural.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah, nice, wow, yeah , that's fantastic man.
I love the history, I lovehearing the history of the
church and I like to think aboutthe old saints praying and you
know us being part of thefulfillment or the answers of
prayers.
That happened, you know, ahundred years ago.
(33:03):
Yeah it's amazing that type ofthing.
It's like wow, wow, man, thisis, this is great.
That building you're in issweet too.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
That's fantastic beautiful yeah didn't you find a
?
Um?
Wasn't there a picture of paulwhen he was a little kid?
Speaker 1 (33:15):
yeah, that you guys have like, um, some kind of
photo albums of of churchmembers and, yes, so we found a
baby picture of pa with hisbrother and him His brother
passed two years ago I think,and was it last year, recently,
yeah, the last year or the yearbefore.
(33:36):
But him and yeah, like youngkids, like maybe two years old
or something like that Paulie.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
It was just great.
It was really cool to see thatI think our brother Angelo, I
think his mom was.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Esther.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, she was going there.
We love her.
We haven't spoken to her in awhile.
We need to reach out to her.
But yeah, we did.
What did we do?
We did christmas joe at umhorizon in brooklyn and esther
(34:20):
came out and and she brought theflags and everything.
Yes, yeah, and, and I was.
I was playing to keep the piano, looking down, and all of a
sudden I look up and in myperipheral I see flags going by
and I'm like, oh, ok, all right,ok, and she was, you know,
worshiping the Lord with thebanners.
(34:41):
I was like, ok, all right.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
She brought them out to our last street meeting.
We did a Lady Moody triangle.
Yeah, he brought them out toour last street meeting.
We did a Lady Moody triangle.
Yeah, he brought out thebanners.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I love it, man.
I love praising Godenthusiastically.
Yeah, that's awesome, okay,well, yeah, that's it.
We just wanted to touch basewith you.
Thank you for letting us comebe fools for Christ.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
We enjoyed it.
We'd like to have you back forChristmas.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah, we'll see if we can, god willing.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
We'll be looking at that schedule over the next week
or two and I'll definitelyreach out.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Terrific, yeah, so God bless you guys, james and
Melissa, and if anybody, there'sgoing to be a link to their
YouTube channel and theirwebsite on the show notes, so go
check it out.
You can actually even see thePete play on their YouTube
channel, which is cool.
(35:42):
You guys did a fantastic job ofrecording it.
Really, it looks and soundsgood.
I sent it to quite a few peopleand they were blessed.
So thank you guys, beencouraged.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Thank you, we love you guys, thank you, we'll see
you soon.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yes, amen.
God bless you now.
Hold on, hold on.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yep, I got it.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It didn't die yet I was afraid to play the video.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
example and now it froze froze now it froze, hello
there it is okay, you froze.
For a second there I heard youafraid to play the video and
then all of a sudden, boom, itfroze oh, it's good to see your
faces.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Hey, you know what j?
What, james, you should pray usout.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Pray you out.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yep, pray us out All right.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Lord, we thank you for this time.
We thank you for your grace,your mercy, we thank you for
your hand upon us.
We ask you, lord, to justcontinue to move in the
ministries.
Lord, god, we thank you, lord,for my God, the callings and the
just different giftings, lord,that you've given to the church,
and we thank you, lord, god,for praise our word, and we just
(36:55):
pray, lord, that continue to beused for your glory and honor
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
Amen.
Well, it's good to see you too.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Amen, god bless you All.
Right, we'll be reaching out.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
God bless.
Okay, got it Alright.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
If you don't need video, brother Fred, then it's
fine, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You don't need video, right?
No, I don't have to have it,okay, cause it's.
That's not the part that'sgoing on the podcast, yes, so.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So Melissa and I are here going on the podcast, yes,
so.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
um.
So, melissa and I are here.
Oh, y'all are awesome.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Awesome, awesome, okay, hi there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm here too, how you doing Good.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Can you guys see us?
Okay, I see it.
Fine, all right, cool, that'sawesome.
Okay, all right.
So today we have, uh, james andmelissa pinto from the.
(01:01):
Let's see, I want to make sureI uh make sure I get this
correct.
The Trinity Tabernacle inGravesend Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Trinity Tabernacle of Gravesend.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah and uh.
Well, welcome to Plays on WordRadio.
Uh, this has been a long timeIn the making.
You guys Were part of our Ourrecent Northeast tour that we
went on and we had A terrifictime Visiting with you guys.
(01:40):
And Did you guys have anythoughts About the play, the?
The experience did.
Uh, I'll let you use your ownwords rather than putting words
in your mouth.
What, what were your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I thought it was uh, very well put together.
Uh, the acting, of course, wasexcellent.
Um, of course was excellent theworship and the singing.
I did get some of the people inthe church had spoke to that
how they really enjoyed yourvoice and your singing and also,
(02:18):
of course, just the play itself, going through the entire
gospel, the life of Peter, howyou brought it to life.
Also, some of the humor that'stied into the show was really
good also and we really enjoyedit.
The people enjoyed it, even,unfortunately, the cell phones
(02:40):
ringing in the background, whichI couldn't believe.
Like, after one cell phone, asecond one.
You would say let me check myphone.
One phone rang so long.
I thought it was part of youract at one moment.
But yeah, but uh, even the wayyou handled that was uh well,
you know I forgot about that'sright.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, I think I worked that into the play
somehow way of working thingsinto the performance.
Yeah I, I think I said so, Ithink it was, I think it was
ringing or something like that,and I said uh, something like
yeah, they, they, we don't getgood cell service in galilee, or
something like yes I was gonnasay this in the sense that, um,
(03:20):
I like that you interacted withthe crowd, so even with the
sneezing, oh, you dropped out.
I heard you say interacted andthen you dropped out.
What happened?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Sorry, that's okay.
I was saying how you interactwith the crowd, even with the.
I mean, besides the cell phone,there was some sneezing.
Even with Andrew the cell phone, there was some sneezing, um,
there was even with anu, um, andthings like though it's, I
(03:54):
think it keeps them on theirtoes.
And then, of course, the I hadto say something.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So yeah, yeah, amen, amen, that's uh, that's
fantastic.
So you guys, some, you got somepositive feedback, that's good.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Oh, definitely yeah, People enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
We hope to make our way back towards you guys.
Maybe we'll bring our GenesisJoe to you, or maybe even our
Dan play, if we get thatfinished, or even the Christmas
one we were talking about beforeyou guys left oh, that's right.
Yes, yes, christmas, joe, yeah,so, uh, yeah, it's a possibility
(04:30):
.
We'll see if we can uh see ifwe can make that.
I'm just I'm, I'm really gladto hear um feedback and I'm glad
for the audience here becausewe have many of our supporters
actually listen to this podcast,so it's good for them to hear
the, the feedback.
We, you know one of the bestthings about when we did Trinity
(04:53):
, I do give an invitation toreceive the Lord and to make it
official with him, and I thinkwe had like six, six or eight
hands went up in the back.
Nice, which was you know thatwas a real blessing, man.
You know that was a, that was ablessing.
I know that heaven was.
(05:13):
Heaven was happy about that amenuh, and you know it's, we're
partially an outreach andprimarily a encouragement to the
body of christ.
So that's our prime directiveis to the body of Christ.
So that's our prime directiveis to the body of Christ.
But we also have anevangelistic aspect.
We do the work of evangelism inthe play.
(05:36):
So I also gave an opportunityfor anybody that wanted to just
double down in faith and wantedto maybe rededicate to the Lord,
or maybe they've been gettingbeat up or something, and
usually a lot of hands go upduring that time because people,
(05:56):
you know, they come in onSunday mornings and they give
you a smile, but a lot of timespeople are hurting and they
really need, they need the powerof the Lord.
Right, what do?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
you think Amen.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, any thoughts on that, guys?
No.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Well, you're speaking to an evangelist here.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Amen, amen.
That's fantastic, and the crazything is we were actually at
that church five years ago.
There was an event thathappened outside and our dear
brother Angelo and some of theguys from Horizon, I think, put
(06:42):
together I think it was Horizonit put together some kind of
get-together.
Was it Angelo, or was Angelojust part of that?
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Angelo was part of it .
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I think it was Lighthouse Church,
which is the church that meetswithin this church and is also
part of our youth program.
Put together some sort of musicconcert on the lawn.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, worship.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Worship on the lawn.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And Angelo was part of that.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yeah, he was one of the singers.
That was nice.
Yeah, that was my firstexperience there and as we came,
when we pulled up to do thepeep play, I was like wait, why
does this feel?
This feels really familiar.
Katie was like wait a minute.
And then I walked around theback and I said yo man, this is,
this is the place.
(07:30):
I can't believe this.
It's just a.
It's a small world.
I guess brooklyn is uh, is justknit together like that,
because when I think of brooklyn, I think of angelo, I think of
richie can't sell.
I think of now, I think of youguys.
So you know, that's uh.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I love when things like that happen, when you know
God knew um that we were allgoing to come back again
together again five years later.
You know, I just love when,when you notice those little
things yeah, yeah, that was alot of fun.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
So tell me something.
Um, I need to hear your story.
I mean, james, I can hear inyour, in your accent, that from
you.
You're from new york, I canhear a new york accent there,
(08:24):
but I the deal with that.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Well, because I'm not from here.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Amen there you go, drop the mic.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
I was born in Missouri, raised in Texas, my
family's in Illinois.
Wow, I lived in Connecticut andGermany, and while I was in
Connecticut is when we met andthen moved to Brooklyn after we
got married.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, so I think I have a little bit of everything.
So it's just kind of who knows?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it, james.
What about you, man?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I grew up not far from here, a few miles.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
You hear it in the accent.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
In a part of Brooklyn called Dyka Heights, so like
Bensonhurst.
Okay, it's not far from here.
Okay, yeah, been here my wholelife.
Basically Lived in Florida fora few months, but I don't even
count that it was so short.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So I need to hear your story.
Where does Jesus come into playwith you and with Melissa?
What's going on here?
When did you guys meet that guy?
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Melissa, well, mine's a lot shorter than James, I
think.
Okay, my mom died when I was 13.
And so through the grievingprocess of that, I came to know
the Lord.
It took six to eight years andthen I could say fully on at 10
(10:03):
years that I really was servinghim.
But yeah, my mother grew up ina Christian home.
So when she got sick she cameback to the Lord, but we weren't
raised as Christians.
So I, you know it was a process, but yeah, basically through
that I've never but yeah,basically through that, I've
(10:28):
never cursed.
I don't drink, I don't smoke, Inever did any of that, I don't
really have anything.
It was really through agrieving process that the Lord
just pulled me in.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
So you became aware because of the great comforter,
yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
The Lord being the comforter.
I was very upset and I was verymad at God because my mother
claimed healing to the day shedied and didn't prepare us.
And through that, the Lord,little by little, we were
invited to a youth group andthere's a lot of things that are
entangled with it, but hereally just showed me who he was
(11:16):
and that the ultimate healingis really heaven and, you know,
it's really our perspective onearth, which is not our home,
and all those other great thingsthat I'm still learning, so, um
, but through that, I alwayssaid, if he could get me through
that, um, he could get methrough anything, and since then
I've my faith has never wavered, so, thank God.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Amen to that, that's.
Uh, I'm sorry you had to gothrough that at such a young age
, but uh, I'm also glad that thelord got a hold of you at such
a young age, you know andstarted yeah, it's a good
example of uh refined by thefire yeah, yeah, I know some
(12:05):
folks even now that are angrywith God for allowing loved ones
to pass on, and it is a it's adifficult thing.
You know.
The Lord heals some people andsome people.
Some people.
He says you're going to get thefinal healing, you know, but
(12:25):
not right now.
So it's definitely a challenge,you know.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, how about you, jane?
Really, that's the healing thatI believe that the Bible is
talking about is really oursalvation.
It has healed us, has redeemedus from death and we have an
ultimate healing in the Lord, ifwe can see it that way, that
(12:51):
nothing else is promised to us.
We're not promised a new kneeor a new heart, but we are
promised a new body in Christfor eternity, and when we get
saved, that seals the deal thatwe have been healed from that.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
So anyway, no, no, that's absolutely, you're
absolutely right with that,because you're never going to go
wrong that way.
And, believe it or not, that isour primary, that's our primary
ailment.
The primary ailment of humanityis sin.
And Jesus, you know, hismission was to deal with that.
(13:36):
He came to deal with, he tookaway our sin and by his stripes
we are healed.
So, yeah, you're, you're, you'reabsolutely correct, he can heal
, he still does heal, oh, yeah,and he can, but the, the primary
, the primary aspect of thehealing that was necessary, um
(14:01):
was, was sin.
It's kind of like, if you haveum, you know you, you have, you
somebody who has, like a, abrain tumor, and maybe they also
have a little cut on theirpinky, um, you know, to focus on
the little cut is not the wayto go.
(14:22):
You need to deal with the, thereal problem, the brain tumor,
and that's what Jesus did andwhen, when he came, he dealt
with the, the main problem.
Now, can he?
Can he heal the Nick on thefinger?
Absolutely, and he, he can anddoes, but not always, not always
, yeah, but one, one area healways heals is sin.
(14:44):
If someone comes to him andsays Lord, save me please, I'm a
sinner Save my soul.
Yeah, he's faithful and just toforgive us our sins.
So amen to that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
You brought up an interesting point and I think
this is something that mostpeople that have not been raised
in a Christian home that's whythere's so much trouble is the
fact that you weren't preparedfor it.
You know, and that's why it'sso important to to be exposed to
Christ, to raise your, yourkids, in a Christian atmosphere,
(15:22):
your kids in a Christianatmosphere, because at least I
mean, we're not prepared foreverything that comes at us, but
we know our father is, so atleast we have a place to turn
and thank goodness, as he said,he got a hold of you.
But I think that's the problemwith a lot of people we're just
not prepared for stuff andpeople don't know what direction
(15:43):
to look when something sotragic happens, you know if
they're not in Christ.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
How about you, james, beforeyour phone dies?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
How about you man?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Oh.
So thank God, the Lord saved meback in 1995.
Prior to that I was really in abad state, suicidal thoughts,
just not living a good life.
And what was what was good inthat?
(16:26):
Despite everything that washappening, my father became a
Christian back like in 1989, 87,something like that, and so at
that time he had went into aministry called Victory Outreach
and his life was radicallytransformed.
Because he was a hardcore drugaddict for many years, shooting
(16:51):
heroin, cocaine, like 100milligrams of methadone habit a
day for like 19 years.
Oh and um, when I was desperateI said if god can do it for him,
he can do it.
So I was exposed to the as akid, you know teens.
But I wanted to do my own andthank God, I was able to turn to
(17:17):
the Lord when I needed him andhe was there.
So that was back in 1995.
And got saved, was with achurch for five years.
Then from that church I cameover here and just was a
congregant for years.
Then from that church I cameover here and just was a
congregant for years.
(17:37):
Then I got into youth, then gotinvolved speaking, became an
assistant pastor on the twopastors and then eventually I
became the pastor here.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Wow, that's awesome.
I love it.
That's that's awesome.
I love it.
I love the story of uh justgoing there for to worship on
sunday and you know, 25 yearslater or whatever, it is 30
years later.
It's more longer than thatactually.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, yeah and then uh now.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Now you are like the head shepherd.
Um, that is just, that'sawesome.
Tell us a little bit about now.
You guys have a bunch of kids.
You have a full household.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Tell us about the challenges of ministry life and
being, you know, full-time momand dad there.
What is that like?
I'm sorry, finish that I wasgoing to say.
What is that, like I'm justasking, just give me a little.
Give us a dose of that.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, no, it's actually very busy.
You got to learn how to juggleyour time responsibilities, but
we've always established fromthe beginning that the family is
always going to be our mostimportant job.
You know, as far as theministry, of course, our
marriage first, our childrennext, and then you know the
(19:04):
ministry is, I believe, the waythe Lord wants it.
Because you know we have a dearfriend that said to us once the
only thing you can take toheaven with you are your
children.
And you know, if you reallythink about that and you know as
parents, I mean as otherspeople could do other things.
So I went to Christ.
(19:27):
But that most important one isour first ministry, the
conversion.
See how kids our first ministry, the conversion, see how kids
say following the Lord.
So we pour a lot of time intothat.
And then ministry, you know,keeps us very busy, but thank
(19:52):
God we were able to what I feeldo it.
We have a lot of help, goodhelp around us in the church One
brother's on staff, others thatare volunteer staff.
So obviously it's not a one-manjob, a good wife, we're a team
and somehow at the end of theday it all works out.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Amen, I'll tell you something that was impressed
upon me, and I'm sure you know,just like all kids, your kids
aren't perfect.
However, I loved how they'revery polite, very courteous, and
I loved how respectful of oneanother they were.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Just in conversation afterwards, when we were all
kind of sitting around sharing ameal.
That's an attribute to you guys, of course.
Thank.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
God.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Melissa does a good job with the kids.
She's a homeschooler.
They're around pretty much allday long.
Of course they have a littleinteraction, but she pours a lot
of time into them and, thankGod, we see good results.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
There was an unusual amount of courtesy between the
siblings.
I was quite surprised by that.
It was amazing.
I was like wow.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
It's the being raised with the southern hospitality
party amen amen that was one ofthe things I noticed, very
different between my speech andthe speech of people in here in
brooklyn.
They're not meant to be mean,but that's kind of how it comes
out to be so harsh and uh, youknow, I said where's the pleases
(21:31):
, where's the thank yous?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
like there's no uh, but uh that I noticed that when
we moved to north carolina,people were there was a, just a
southern, um kindness, yeah,there's a southern kindness.
That that was.
I was like wait a minute, youknow, I'm walking into the, into
the home depot, and and thislady's like bless you, bless you
(21:57):
, god, bless you, and all.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I'm like wow, oh, hey , now okay well yeah, as you
know, here in brooklyn, peoplewalk right by each other.
They don't even say hello,nothing, nothing.
It's awkward not all the time,but a large part of the time,
unless you say something youknow and then they wonder what
you want what's the matter withyou?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
you never know, like in the kingdom eventually, like
how even one smile or one, youknow, extension of courtesy can
really help someone, ifsomeone's like having an awful
day, or maybe they're at the endof their rope and they just
needed to be acknowledged andvalidated, like I'm here, you
know.
So that's why, like you said,melissa, the please and thank
(22:44):
yous and the little thingsreally add up.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
And get noticed.
Exactly.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Because the world speaks differently to each other
.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
And we shouldn't be surprised.
We're in this world, not of it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
That's right yeah that's true, wow.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So I think we originally met you guys at
America's Keswick at a pastor'sconference, like three years ago
, I think.
I don't remember when we firstwent.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
About three, four years ago.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Yeah, and then we also didn't we run into you guys
at the Thrive Thrive, at Thrive, with Scott, our dear brother
and sister, scott and Lynn, yes,with Scott, our dear brother
and sister, scott and Lynn, yes,and so you guys are the first
people.
I think that we haveinterviewed that have been to
(23:44):
that.
Oh really, yeah, as far as thatwe've interviewed and you know I
talk about it until I'm blue inthe face, but what were your
thoughts of that?
If you could tell anotherpastor or another couple that's
in ministry, what would you sayto them about that?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
The Thrive Retreat oh yeah, I mean, it was a place to
get yourself back in order.
You know time of rest, get yourpriorities in order.
You know, especially as pastors, you could be pulled here and
there.
You're running all over theplace and they give you a basis,
(24:23):
a foundation, where you have to.
You're not being selfish, butyou have to pull back the moment
and and look at everythingthat's going around around you
and make time for yourself.
So I think it definitely it'sstuff that we know, but it
brings you back to the centerlike hey, are you doing this,
(24:45):
are you taking that time, areyou having that rest, or you
know?
And of course, I tried toimplement it when I got back.
I will.
I will be honest, you dodeviate.
Now that you're saying it, Igotta remind myself to get back
to it but, I do take my time, Igo fishing and have my my
(25:06):
leisure time and get away fromthe phone and and try not to
take calls on certain day, acertain day, once a week, if I
don't have to.
And um, I try my best tocontinue doing it.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, yeah, I knew when I went, I, I, uh, it wasn't
until day, what was it?
Day two, what is it?
How long is the retreat?
I forget day two.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
What is it how?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
long is the retreat?
I forget, is it monday tothursday or monday?
Three days, right, three days,I think it's three, something
like that.
I, it was like this until I was, I was not.
I couldn't relax till thesecond day uh-huh like day one I
was.
You know the walls are up andI'm just like, uh, it, it.
But then day I started to relaxa little bit.
(25:54):
I'm like, okay, wait a second,and I've tried to implement a
lot of the stuff that we learned, that we got there.
And the best thing is it's notlike a seminar where you're
being force fed a ton ofinformation.
It's really just a place tookay, to okay, get away, relax
and just focus on a few keythings.
(26:17):
Yeah, that can keep you fromgoing off the rails and uh, with
.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
that being said, I like that.
It was intimate.
There was only, you know, nomore than eight to 10 couples, I
think they said, and I thinkwith us it was only eight
couples.
Yes, and that made it even more, you know, enjoyable, I guess,
because you're getting to beable to talk to one another and
actually be encouraged by oneanother, minister to one another
(26:46):
and so forth.
So that was nice too, yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, I like that part too, and you brought up a
good point too, james.
You know, every now and then Itry to keep some of the
materials and things and a bookI got from that that weekend and
I just try to go back throughit again, because you get so
caught back up into your dailyroutine, you know.
(27:10):
So it's good to refresh andrenew and kind of look over that
stuff again, you know.
You know, just kind of like theBible, we don't read it once,
you know, and put it down, we'reback to it and and when I've
done that, I'm reminded of someof the things that maybe kind of
, you know, went away or left mymind for a minute, because it's
(27:32):
so, you know, clouded withdaily stuff, you know, and um,
that was, that was a big partfor us to be able to sit back,
refresh, renew, relax, and Ithink that's something we both
have a hard time doing sometimes, you know, and I'm sure with
the what nine kids you guys haveyeah what does that mean?
(27:55):
relax what?
Speaker 1 (27:56):
is that it's, it's, it's, is it, is it?
Nine kids, nine, nine rightnine uh officially nine
officially.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
We lost the sun years back.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Oh yeah, so there's eight here.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So there's eight here , but one in eternity.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Amen, wow, eight is enough.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Remember that show, I watched that show.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Eight is enough.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Wow, that's amazing.
Well, we're really glad that wewere finally able to meet up
with you and bring a play to you.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You know, we're just grateful to meet everybody out
there.
What were you going to say?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
No, I just was going to ask about and you probably
were going to ask this next, butjust about the future of their
ministry.
I mean, I know they have, youknow, church and all that stuff.
If there's anything that youguys are really focused on, is
there something you have a heartfor?
What can we be praying for?
You know that kind of directionwith what you guys are doing
(29:05):
outreach.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Our, our thing is outreach.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
We're always in the community, so yeah, we, we try
and outreach the community quiteoften.
We're doing an event onseptember 6th outside worship um
, a lady moody triangle.
That's a place here a fewblocks away from the church, so
we'll be doing an outreach outthere all day.
Then we've been reaching out toanother community about four
(29:31):
miles from here.
We had an outreach there aboutsix weeks ago, so we're trying
to get into that community, sowe're just trying to minister to
the community and the greatercommunity around us.
That's something you candefinitely keep in prayer.
We'd like to see a church startup in one of those communities
not far from us, which I reallythink would be great and
(29:57):
something we would hope to seehappen.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Amen, amen.
We can pray.
Anybody listening right now.
If you don't know what to prayfor, if you're like I don't know
what to pray for, you're like Idon't know what to pray for,
well, you can pray for Trinityup in Brooklyn and pray for the
outreaches and the Lord of theDoors, and for you know, there's
(30:19):
a prayer request right therefor you, amen.
Speaking of Trinity, our dearbrother Paul Mazzu.
When I told him we were playingthere, he was all excited and
he starts telling me oh, myfamily, my family, and then Phil
Sinclair brother, phil basswith us and Paul plays drums,
(30:43):
and Phil plays bass, plays drums, and phil plays bass.
And um they, phil, told me thatthat church trinity, was the
the first protestant italianchurch in new york city or
brooklyn, or something like thatprobably brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So right now we're celebrating 100 years this year.
Wow.
The church started three blocksaway by a brother named
Giovanni Greco yeah, greco, andhe came here from North Brooklyn
(31:22):
, okay, and there's a lot to gointo the story, but anyway, he
got off the bus, heard music andthere's a Boy Scout troop there
and he told them what he wantedto do.
He started a storefront churchand from there they built a
church.
Nice, a hundred years ago 1925,they built a church by hand and
they were there and they werethere and then we got this
(31:45):
church here from the Dutchreform, from his son, emmanuel
Greco, in 1979, like aroundthere.
So we've been here in thiscurrent building since then, but
that church is still standing.
It's a Korean Presbyterianchurch now, but up on top of the
(32:12):
building almost by the roof ifyou were were to look it says
corny island pentecostal church.
I love it, yeah, so it's uh.
Yeah, you know, because theitalians, obviously primarily,
are roman catholics, so this waslike one of the first Italian
Pentecostal churches, and thenafter that, I mean, there was a
(32:36):
number of them at the time, butin all Italian areas throughout
the country, so we actuallystarted off as an Italian
Pentecostal denomination.
Wow, now we're multicultural.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah, nice, wow, yeah , that's fantastic man.
I love the history, I lovehearing the history of the
church and I like to think aboutthe old saints praying and you
know us being part of thefulfillment or the answers of
prayers.
That happened, you know, ahundred years ago.
(33:03):
Yeah it's amazing that type ofthing.
It's like wow, wow, man, thisis, this is great.
That building you're in issweet too.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
That's fantastic beautiful yeah didn't you find a
?
Um?
Wasn't there a picture of paulwhen he was a little kid?
Speaker 1 (33:15):
yeah, that you guys have like, um, some kind of
photo albums of of churchmembers and, yes, so we found a
baby picture of pa with hisbrother and him His brother
passed two years ago I think,and was it last year, recently,
yeah, the last year or the yearbefore.
(33:36):
But him and yeah, like youngkids, like maybe two years old
or something like that Paulie.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
It was just great.
It was really cool to see thatI think our brother Angelo, I
think his mom was.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Esther.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, she was going there.
We love her.
We haven't spoken to her in awhile.
We need to reach out to her.
But yeah, we did.
What did we do?
We did christmas joe at umhorizon in brooklyn and esther
(34:20):
came out and and she brought theflags and everything.
Yes, yeah, and, and I was.
I was playing to keep the piano, looking down, and all of a
sudden I look up and in myperipheral I see flags going by
and I'm like, oh, ok, all right,ok, and she was, you know,
worshiping the Lord with thebanners.
(34:41):
I was like, ok, all right.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
She brought them out to our last street meeting.
We did a Lady Moody triangle.
Yeah, he brought them out toour last street meeting.
We did a Lady Moody triangle.
Yeah, he brought out thebanners.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I love it, man.
I love praising Godenthusiastically.
Yeah, that's awesome, okay,well, yeah, that's it.
We just wanted to touch basewith you.
Thank you for letting us comebe fools for Christ.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
We enjoyed it.
We'd like to have you back forChristmas.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah, we'll see if we can, god willing.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
We'll be looking at that schedule over the next week
or two and I'll definitelyreach out.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Terrific, yeah, so God bless you guys, james and
Melissa, and if anybody, there'sgoing to be a link to their
YouTube channel and theirwebsite on the show notes, so go
check it out.
You can actually even see thePete play on their YouTube
channel, which is cool.
(35:42):
You guys did a fantastic job ofrecording it.
Really, it looks and soundsgood.
I sent it to quite a few peopleand they were blessed.
So thank you guys, beencouraged.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Thank you, we love you guys, thank you, we'll see
you soon.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yes, amen.
God bless you now.
Hold on, hold on.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yep, I got it.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It didn't die yet I was afraid to play the video.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
example and now it froze froze now it froze, hello
there it is okay, you froze.
For a second there I heard youafraid to play the video and
then all of a sudden, boom, itfroze oh, it's good to see your
faces.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Hey, you know what j?
What, james, you should pray usout.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Pray you out.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yep, pray us out All right.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Lord, we thank you for this time.
We thank you for your grace,your mercy, we thank you for
your hand upon us.
We ask you, lord, to justcontinue to move in the
ministries.
Lord, god, we thank you, lord,for my God, the callings and the
just different giftings, lord,that you've given to the church,
and we thank you, lord, god,for praise our word, and we just
(36:55):
pray, lord, that continue to beused for your glory and honor
In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
Amen.
Well, it's good to see you too.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Amen, god bless you All.
Right, we'll be reaching out.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
God bless.
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