Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I don't need nobody.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
To tell me how.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
You Reading's adoration family. This is your host, Max.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I'm doing something that I haven't done for quite some time,
which is to have a chat and chew. This is
the opportunity that I'm presented with from time to time
to be able to bring on people that I care about,
that I admire, that I respect, and that have an
(00:59):
integrity for the ministry that is beyond reproach. And tonight
is no different as I'm presenting two people that are
not only dynamic in their ministry, but they just happen
to be good people that I'm personal friends with Me
(01:20):
and Myra, and they've traveled with us to Rwanda. I'm
sure that somewhere in the future we'll travel together again
and do ministry work. But tonight I've been charged to
help them share about a special ministry that has been
(01:42):
birthed through God's vision through them, and we're going to
present that to you tonight. So without further ado, I
want to introduce everyone to Pastor key for Bent and
his wife Martha, and they when they're not doing the
(02:03):
ministry work that we're going to talk about tonight, uh
pastor keeper overseas everything at Berwin Baptist Church in College Park, Maryland.
Go out and see him and see the family, and
see the great work that not only is he doing
(02:25):
in the house of worship, but the outreach that the
whole family does that extends beyond the church walls into
the community. So again, welcome, and we're going to be
really nonchalant guys, so we're going to put all our
titles away.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So welcome Keifer, and welcome Martha. It's so good to
have you here.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Thank you, Thank you, Mack here good to be here.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
First of all, I would be not, you know, showing
good manners if I didn't first of all, say how
much I love you guys, how much I appreciate the
time that we've had to spend together, to appreciate what
you guys do on the mission field, and even the
(03:18):
way that you've carried yourselves in your own marriage. It's
just an inspiration for me and Myra, and I know
it's also an inspiration for the communities that you serve.
And so it's my honor to hang out with you
for a little while. And as I told you in prep,
(03:39):
just be loose, be free. We're going to have a
good time. This is literally a chat and chew. I
would imagine that if we didn't have the cameras rolling,
we would probably be breaking bread together and just acting
crazy like we always do, and so tonight is no different.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So be free. The audience knows.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Who who we are, and you know, sometimes we have
to bring a little levity to the ministry experience to
let folk know that, yeah, ministry can be challenging, but
it can also be really fun and we can also
have a sense of humor and enjoy one another in it.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So I'm going to actually act like a.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Professional, and just to create an icebreaker question, I want
to implore on both of you all to just share
for a moment about your Christian experience. And when I
say Christian experience, I'm just talking about how you came
(04:46):
to have.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
A relationship with Jesus Christ. And I'm going to actually
dictate the order on how this runs. So ladies first, Martha, Yeah, so.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
You know, I really I'm thankful for godly parents. I
then grew up in the home god fearing parents who
love the Lord, and they impressed that upon their children,
and their nine children and when I was twelve, I
really did absolutely believe in Jesus Christ as my lord
(05:20):
and savior. I eventually moved to South Carolina, and really
and truly I was in my early thirties. That's really
when Jesus became my lord and savior of my life
and I wanted to after I repented and completely turned
(05:41):
to him, I wanted to commit my life to him.
And I had the wonderful opportunity actually around the same
time I met this guy here.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
My husband, that.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
I wanted to like just learn more about the Bible.
I was studying it a lot. I was just so
hungry for the Word of God. I just could not
get enough. I was like, you know, seven days a week,
I mean, I just need more. And he was like,
I need to show you this place, and so he
took me.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
To Columbia International.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Bible College or seminary, and I enrolled there, became a student,
and began to really study the Bible follow Christ. It
was a missional school, and loved it and just wanted
more and more and more. And so that's I really
that's kind of how that's the short story. But really,
(06:41):
once I knew that I belonged to the Lord. I
just wanted to follow Jesus everywhere and and then obviously
you know, the rest is history. But that's the short story.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
That's that's a wonderful testimony.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
And I'm so glad that you were open enough to
share that with us, because here at Adoration, chat and Chew,
it's all about getting to know the person behind the ministry.
And I'll tell you, I always start these things with
(07:23):
getting an understanding of how we got here in the
first place. And I'll say this one thing before I
turn it over to Keeper, is that you and I
are very similar because I was twenty nine when Jesus
became really real to me.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And I can tell our audience.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
That from that moment to today, it has been the best,
absolutely best decision that I've ever made. And if I
hadn't made it, guess what, we wouldn't be here tonight
doing this chat and chew.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
With you beautiful people. So there you go.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That shows that God is sovereign at all times.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So yeah, yeah, so Keeper, it's your turn.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
Well, unlike Martha, I I was raised in a home
that was not a Christian home.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
You could probably say we were.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Religious people in one sense, but not necessarily Christian, So
my parents would send me to church and my siblings
but not necessarily attend themselves. So church was kind of
an odd place for us. When we do turn up
together people that look very nervous, like there's never been
given before, all look stiff and all that, But true.
(08:42):
Over that course, I got saved during Sunday school. So
I came to Cress a lot more earlier than you
guys did back like, you know, eighteen or nineteen yearbow
and I became a Christian, And for me it was
kind of clear already, like, you know, why would you
do this unless you are going to be committed to it,
you know, because that was kind of my feel about,
(09:05):
if you're not going to be committed, why bother even
you know, doing this? So once I did that, I
remember asking myself in the while I'm sitting there after baptism,
saying where do I go from here? I know I
couldn't sing, so that would be out. I couldn't do
any creative dancing. I know I can't do that either.
I had no interest in the deacons or the treasure
(09:29):
the treasurer's position, so eventually my next obvious step was
someone recommended that they would show me a Bible college,
and that was the first time I saw that that creature.
I didn't know that creature existed, saved. I went there
for four years. From there to seminary in Columbia and
(09:50):
South Carolina, and things kind of spired along that way,
kind of pushing me towards.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
The trajectory off.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Gospel men, history, sharing Christ, taking an interest in other
people who would need to know Christ and come to
know him as not just in terms of knowledge, but
in terms of experience as well. So that became very
very clear to me at a very early age, very strong,
you know, once I started to read the Scripture as well,
(10:21):
because my first task when I became a Christian was that.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
I need to read through this book. You know, it
was in my house.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
We saw it about the place, but nobody actually ever
picked it up and read it. Necessarily. My mother would
read a few Psalm fifty one. That was her thing,
you know, I think that was her thing. But beyond that,
nobody actually read the book in that sense. So that
was kind of a new thing in my home, to
be like a Christian.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
And so.
Speaker 6 (10:51):
One thing led to another, and mission became a very
strong attraction for me as.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Well, Beautiful, So I've got to piggyback and I've got
to go back to your mom right now. I just
fell in love with her, and I want to tell
you why, because if there's any passage of the Bible
that I would want people to fall in love with,
Psalm fifty one is the one for me because that
(11:18):
was also the passage of scripture that brought me to
the faith literally.
Speaker 7 (11:26):
So.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
That has a special place in my heart, and I
thank you for sharing that, because again, it's so important
for our audience to understand the diverse pathways that we
might take. You know, me and Martha were on a
slower track than you, but we all get to that
(11:51):
place where we realize that Jesus's Savior and Lord, and
then it's what we do do we understand that fact
that makes all the difference in the world.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Which is a beautiful segue.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Into the next thing that I want to talk about
for a moment, which is now that.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Martha and Keifer are together.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
In holy matrimony and also in ministry, what is the
purpose for why the two of you all exist to
share the word of God? However you want to answer
that oh.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Wow, why do we exist?
Speaker 6 (12:44):
Well, during my college years, as I said, the gospel
became very clear to me. Well, the first thing I
needed to find I was what exactly is the gospel?
How I believe that it was garbled for me coming
to Christ. But somehow the people with shipped with me
was clear enough. Eventually got it out and I became
a Christian. But my first thing was like, Okay, this
(13:08):
thing needs to be very clear so people know what
they're making a decision on as well.
Speaker 7 (13:13):
And so I was pushed in that direction by the Lord.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
You know, we have to make this clear, but not
only that, but have a burden for those who have
not made that decision yet. Now along that path, as
I was going in came Martha that I met, and
so it seems like a good thing to join forces,
you know, you know, to come at this problem from
(13:38):
three three angles, you know, you know, from her and Christ.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay, you know, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
My husband, actually, I'm excited to say he really did
disciple me because I met him around the time that
the Lord really showed me that I belonged to him,
and so he discipled me a lot and actually took
me on my very first mission trip, and so that
(14:12):
was extraordinary to go on my first mission trip with
him and really really see what as he said, what
is this thing that God has us doing together? That
was an exciting time as well for me, very exciting.
Speaker 7 (14:29):
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And so you know, as I shared and prep I
might go a little bit astray of some of the
things that I said I would bring up, but just
for a moment, if you would share with our audience
some of the places that you ended up going outside
of the United States.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
So yeah, So our first mission trip was actually Jamaica together,
and then after that we went to I guess. After
that was like local missions. Honestly, we were in local
missions in South Carolina together, trying to reach the community
near the church.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
And then we went to.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I guess Antigua, Antica.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Sorry mispronounced that.
Speaker 5 (15:17):
In two thousand and six, Jonathan was just born our son,
She was six months old, and we strapped him to
our body and took him with us six months old
on in the first mission trip, which was extraordinary. We
were there for two weeks, maybe two weeks.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
If you want to see a six year six month
old take at It was.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
So funny, I think. So after that we did more
local missions in uh Maryland and more local missions and
then we ended up partnering with our church and going
to India. After that, we went to India twice. The
(16:04):
first mission tip to India was twenty.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
I went to India and it was in Taiwan, the Philippines.
We spent a lot of time in Asia. He ended
up China, China, and then Africa.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Quart a bit Central Johannesburg and then the Latin America.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
So we have we have.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Tapped around the planet, you know, ourself actually doing and
engaging those that we would want to hear the gospel.
We needed to hear the gospel, because that was the
objective for us. Okay, the location was secondary. The passion
(16:49):
was really to get the gospel.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, praise God, Praise God. And you know, I wanted to.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Get you guys to fly out the different areas of
the world that you've traveled in only to acknowledge to
our audience. Now that is much as they have been
outside of the United States.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Both Keeper and Martha and their son Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Have also done some incredible work right in the Maryland
area and just for a moment talk to our adoration
family about the things that you're doing out and about
in Maryland.
Speaker 7 (17:41):
Well, in Maryland we are.
Speaker 6 (17:45):
We have kind of followed the Axe one eight model,
which College Park would be our little Jerusalem and then
you will move out to the PG County, which.
Speaker 7 (17:58):
We have done in the work in back as well.
I am actually the.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
Mission director for the PG County Baptors Association, so I
have to coordinate and sometimes and go to some sure
and train as well.
Speaker 7 (18:17):
We also do from Jerusalem Judea.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
We have gone to our Samarra, which is a field
to the extra part of Maryland in terms of Ocean City.
That has been a very stable part of our ministry
because we have gone there almost every year for over
five no wow, as long as I can remember being
at Berwick, we have been We've been going there as well.
(18:43):
So we have also mobilized taking teams there so that
they would actually enjoy that as well to be able
to share Christ. It's an open forum, so it's a
little bit of a hot area in terms of sharing Christ.
So that's what we have been doing a lot in
the Maryland An area as well. So we're familiar with
(19:05):
we are familiar by quite a few of people who
actually have seen us known us in that area as well,
and I've actually gone to support us as well.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Amen. Amen.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
So now let's get to the subject that really has
us sitting down here today at least pretending to look professional,
which is Essential Peace Ministries International. Now I've got to
(19:38):
tell you, and I got to tell my audience, when
I first heard that name, I had I'll call it
a righteous jealousy. That what a fabulous name, because I
understood it as soon as you shared it with me.
I understood exactly what it meant, and I was so,
(20:03):
let's just say, upset.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
A little bit with the Lord that I didn't get
that first.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Nevertheless, it's beautiful that we can share in ministry, and
so I'm going to celebrate the fact that if I
couldn't have that name, I gave it to you all.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
But I want you to expound on the vision, what
what brought Essential Peace from the vision stage to the.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Reality stage, and anything.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Else that you want to share concerning that process.
Speaker 6 (20:44):
Do you want to start, Honey well Es, Central Peace
was kind of funny because we were in I was
in Bibocage at that time.
Speaker 7 (20:52):
I think I merely just gave to no.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
Martha, and I was going to do a training at
the church I was attending, and the whole thought about
watching the focus of the training, and we went back
and forth talking. This was way back when we were
using like transparencies and projectors back in again, so this
is the oldest and so we came up with the
(21:18):
thought that we should.
Speaker 7 (21:19):
Give them what is essential, the essential piece.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
And so we played around with the wording for a bit,
and we played around with the logo for a bit,
and that I remember seeing this picture of a lego,
not a lego, a jigsaw puzzle and there was a
pop it out of it. I said, that should be
the cross. That's the central piece in the world. And
(21:46):
so for that's how that idea kind of the short
form of how that idea came to us, and we
kind of ran with it from there. From a long time,
we didn't really do anything that would be organizing it
towards the Girnment, but we would work with it because
that was the name that we were going by until
(22:06):
we came in contact with your ministry and we said, hey,
you know, we should probably do this in a way
that it would actually garner the support and the level
that we would want it to be at as well.
So the name is actually what over twenty years old,
you know, you know, I guess God gave it to
(22:27):
us and we didn't move on it, and God, being
faithful and very good at giving swift kicks, you know,
kind of.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Move and in the since, we did move on it,
but we were thinking about it in terms of, oh,
this could be a this could be what the Lord
wants us to really do with this, but we were
moving we're moving on it in a sense. So I
would say that we were a little bit And so
I love you know, people often ask what does that?
Speaker 4 (22:58):
What does that mean?
Speaker 5 (22:59):
And I love how you've been talking about it, But
really and truly, you know, like you said, understanding what
is essential? I mean, during COVID, people were saying what
they thought was essential, and you know, we were just
here thinking Christ is essential. You know, the Word of
God is essential, the Gospel is essential. So during COVID,
(23:24):
we couldn't, like, you know, everyone knows what happened during COVID.
It was just things were just so different, and so
we were like, let's, you know, let's go out in
our community and even get to know our community more so,
and we were meeting our neighbors and passing out Bible
tracks as everyone was taking walks, and so this really
(23:45):
we wanted the world and still want the world to
note from our community to our As my husband always says,
we started in our you know, of course, trying to
make a disciple with Jonathan in our home, our community,
literally walking around getting to know our neighbors, still doing that,
spending time to share the gospel to you know, the community,
(24:08):
the city, state, the world. Everyone must know that the
Good News and Christ is essential.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Amen, Well, let me tell you if we were in
a court of law, I would be guilty of plagiarism
because I have taken your theme and I'm not lying
to you. I have used it so far four times.
I've done it on Facebook line. I did it for
(24:41):
a congregation called the Flock in Madison, Virginia.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I went over to.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
East North Avenue in Baltimore to New Life Evangelical Baptist
Church and I shared it there. And just on yesterday,
a mutual house of worship that we both love, Dearly
Colonial Baptist Church. They have a seasoned Saints ministry every
(25:11):
second and fourth Wednesday out of the month, and from
time to time I teach those classes and I was
there yesterday sharing it again. And so you guys have
literally kept me employed over the last month and a half.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
So I thank God and I thank you both.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Sure, the beautiful, beautiful vision of essential peace. Now, let
me ask this, what are you doing with an essential
peace right now?
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Well, so many exciting things are happening. You mean a
ministral wise and sterialise can talk a little.
Speaker 7 (25:54):
Bit about that.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
You want to Well, before we before we jump on
that question, I want to back up and to say
a little bit because essential the burden of essential peace
really is the burden of the church. We wanted to
when people think of mission, we think of megachurches sending
(26:18):
out megabucks and mega people and so forth. And I'm like,
you know, the average church in America is about two
hundred people. Most of them are not that big. They
don't have huge budget. And I wanted to just go
on the record by saying that became our desire, and
that is to target these smaller churches, you know, maybe
(26:40):
have the pastor and one staff member or to these
are the people that we want to target. Trained mobilize
and get the thing going that in that sense, and
so that's the idea of that the drive. Okay, you know,
we're not trying to get the church of two hundred
(27:03):
thousand now, don't get me wrong. We'll jump in there
and do them too. You know, we're not discriminating, but
we want to mobilize the small church because we are.
We can see how they can do it. You're on
a low budget and still be able to take the
gospel and not be afraid to take the gospel. Well,
you know we're insignificant, None of us, no church, no
(27:25):
believer is in significant.
Speaker 7 (27:27):
All of them can do that as well. So I
just want to get that in there to say that.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
So with that, interesting enough, Keeper, because I know that
when you were describing your pursuit in ministry, you brought
up Acts one A, and this seems to be just
a continuation of the church that I identify with in
(27:59):
the Book of Acts in the way that you guys
are focusing. And so that makes this whole endeavor even
more exciting for me.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
And again, when.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
You're talking about essential peace, I've got to tell our
audience this.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
The logo does everything to explain.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
The essential reason why we need to connect with the
essential piece, and then to learn how to recognize who
the essential piece is and what he uses to bring
us into this essential experience that we all shared together
(28:55):
in ministry. And so I'm totally totally excited about what
you guys have already started and how you'll, you know,
address things going forward and what that will mean from
expansion point of view. But the word on the street
(29:21):
is that there is an event coming up, and I
want to say that this event is pretty soon, but
I don't want to spoil the news, so I'm going
to let you guys announce what's going on with Essential Peace.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Well, Matc, I want to say just one thing quickly
about you know what you were talking about earlier. You
know a research that we heard which is I think
supernal research, But about ninety percent of people are not
sharing their faith.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
That's that's the data.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
I don't know if you know how old that is exactly,
but that is that breaks our heart. There's so many
ways to share your faith. You can share your faith
in the grocery store, at the park, at the gas station,
in Costco parking lot. We just go all over our neighborhood.
There's so many ways to share your faith. And so
(30:25):
that's the other motivation is that you know, that is
when you have the good news, you want everyone to know.
And so knowing that we were recently at a church
and just sharing about essential peace, and someone told us that,
you know, we're good at, you know, inviting people in
people come to their church. They have a Biber church.
(30:47):
But he says, you know, we're not always good at
really sharing the gospel. And so we have the opportunity
to go back and and to spend time with them
actually again this month, and so we want, we want
to be able to help people understand that everyone can
share your faith. And so that's red's really sad, but
(31:09):
you know that's why we're we're needed.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
It's urgent. The gospel's urgent.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
So amen, Amen, Amen.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
It December the seventh, its seventh, from nine to twelve
o'clock at the MAC Church mid Atlantic Community Church in Gambreles,
and so we want everyone to come. If you are
interested in coming, please let us know. We'll get the
(31:38):
information to you so that you can understand how to
get there. But this is our second annual breakfast. We're
really excited, just to kind of get a report, tell
everyone what has been going on with the Central peace
and to get everybody excited. The theme is a call
to the mission, right, a call to the mission. So
(32:02):
we want everyone to understand that everyone who loves the
Lord Jesus can do the mission. They can share Christ,
they can be on mission, even if it's in their community.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:17):
They the gospels. You just talked about us making disciples,
and part of that, I see is another way of
saying that it's mobilization. You have to mobilize your community
around you. And so a Central's piece to arm is
one is to mobilize, but also to take that mobilization
(32:40):
to the field as well. And so mobilization is a
big thing. The breakfast is where we try to showcase
what we have done, what can be done, and the
possibility of what can be there so Christ doing in
the world. And so to get people to be aware
you can actually do this. I mean people we take
(33:00):
sometime they're like, oh, I'll never actually share my faith
in anyone before I said, well, this is an opportunity,
you know, just and we put we do it in
such a way that people sometimes just come to you
I mean people when I say that to people, like
people come to you and say yeah, They'll just walk
up to you and ask, you know, how do I
go to heaven? And I said that that's what it is.
(33:23):
And so we do that quite a bit because we
have We've had not bragging or anything, but we have
a little bit of an experience in doing that. Andy
slip into that, and I think we are kind of
like a guide to guide people into that moment where
they can get the chance to share Christ, share their
faith with confidence, with no fear.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
Right after twenty eight eighteen through twenty is truly, you know,
our motivation. We want to obey Christ. We want to
obey his command to take the Great Commission. And so
that scripture, you know, the logos is there like Christ,
(34:06):
it's all about Christ. But truly, Matthew twenty eighteen to
twenty that's what we're following, is the Great Commission.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
So I'll make a commitment to the both of you
that I'll make sure that our audience is given all
the information for the upcoming event.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
And as one who partook.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
In the first one and I had a great time,
so I know that the second time around will be
even better than the first.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
So I'm excited for you, guys and just for my audience.
Got to be accountable, guys. By the time this breakfast
takes place, yours truly will be in Guatemala. I didn't
give the bents the memo about scheduling this thing around
my schedule, so I'm going to miss out this time around.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
But I'm going to try to make the third one.
Speaker 7 (35:12):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Amen. So so.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
What I want to just have you guys share with
our audience for a moment is, Okay, you kind of
talked about what essential Piece is today, but what do
you see a Central Peace doing or essential Piece looking
(35:42):
like in the future.
Speaker 7 (35:45):
Good question.
Speaker 6 (35:49):
One of the part of essential Piece that you're still
trying to work to and that is not just the
motivation I'm taking people and sharing the gospel, but also
that we hope to see people branded with us, partnering
with us. And I said branded, I mean like if
we can't go to Guatemala, then we can send team
members to Guatemala led under the umbrella of Essential Peace.
(36:13):
That's the That's the one of the goals we want
to see in the future. That essential piece is not
just seeing us and the few that are with us now,
but and the board members, but people that are saying, listen, I.
Speaker 7 (36:26):
Want to run with this ministry. I want to be
able to go.
Speaker 6 (36:30):
They can represent a central piece there and that would
be our arm moving in different location, different continents to
get the word out, to get it to as crisis.
Everyone need to hear the gospel, and so that is it.
That's kind of the third arm, you know, going from
(36:51):
the local mobilization, but people taking it to a second level.
Speaker 7 (36:55):
You know what.
Speaker 6 (36:56):
I like this ministry so much. I understand this ministry
so much. I'm okay with the motto, the mission statement.
I want to run with this. I want to take
this as well, you know, and having the budget to
also fund them to do that.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Okay, Amen? Amen?
Speaker 6 (37:15):
After what was the phrase used to use, after we're
old and gray, let not my ability wain in continue
to share price, on and on. In other words, this
is a ministry that will go beyond.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Us, because I feel like I'm at that point now.
You know you say old and gray.
Speaker 6 (37:37):
Uh well, well well they yes, you know, yesterday are difference.
Speaker 7 (37:44):
I went to a conference and the whole point of
the conference.
Speaker 6 (37:47):
Is learning how to pass the battlem Yes, how you
say here in the baton in America, So they is
learning that we want to we want to be able
to ask the baton to many others who will run
the race even when we are unable to keep running
(38:08):
as well. So that's one of one part of the
future we also see in the future where we're actually
and we have already started as well. We have one
project actually getting close to finish, and that is two
materials that will be unique to the Central Piece. One
of the material we're developing is a walk through the
(38:29):
Bible for church, so that as we try to tell
people that said they We did a pilot program of
this one in the Philippines where we try to show
people that the Bible is not just many stories, it's
actually one story. You know, most of the time we
spend time looking at the trees in the forest and
(38:50):
forget that there's actually an entire, one big story that
goes through Genesis, the Revelation. And so one of the
one of the things that the Central Piece is developing,
Mark and I are kind of like working with that
is trying.
Speaker 7 (39:03):
To get people to see.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
The narrative of the Bible because in that narrative, the
gospel becomes center focus of why God is doing what
he's doing and why he's engaged in the way he's engaging,
and so we want to do that. We already scaled
it to do it for adults and for children. So
that's one of the future material. We hope that you'll
(39:26):
be on our website not too far in the future
that people can actually be able to engage with as well,
that you can take it probably go to your church
and show them how to walk to the Bible.
Speaker 5 (39:38):
Yeah, the progress of redemption, if you will, And it's
you see the panoramic view.
Speaker 7 (39:45):
Right, the progress of redemption.
Speaker 6 (39:46):
We looked at the four key blessings in the Bible
that God gave his people, the fourth one.
Speaker 7 (39:53):
Being Christ died on the cross for us.
Speaker 6 (39:55):
And so once you see the panorama of it, people
are like, wow, I did not know there was actually
one story. I thought there was like a whole bunch
of stories, just kind of bringing a pearl together. I said, yes,
maybe different pearls, but it's just one necklace.
Speaker 5 (40:14):
The center and the high point and the essential piece.
We see Christ right there in the center being, you know,
giving his life for us.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Amen. Amen, Jesus at the center of it all.
Speaker 7 (40:34):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Amen, it is, so.
Speaker 7 (40:40):
That's that's the future.
Speaker 6 (40:42):
As you talk about the future questions, you know, in
terms of what we see in the future. So those
things are not far into the future. We think they're
very close to us. So we are trying to leave
that will be, as would say, a kind of a
legacy for the ministry that we want to see development
from that place.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Amen. Amen. Well, you know what, here's the thing.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
When you're having a good time in fellowship, all of
a sudden you look at the time and it's like,
have we actually been going this long? And it's amazing
when the conversation is fruitful, and it definitely has been tonight.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
That we could go on and on and.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
On, because you know, the audience doesn't really understand just
how well connected we are.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
So we could talk forever. But I'm going to kind
of bring things at least in the direction of closing.
But I had to ask this question that was not
necessarily in the script. But in your family dynamic, you
do have a son.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
His name is Jonathan, and Jonathan, uh he's been such
a blessing in our lives and uh, I just love it.
He just calls me mister Mack and I'm just like, wow,
you know, it's like but uh, he's also been essential
(42:25):
in what you all have created together. And I just
want to give either one of you or both of
you time to just talk about your son and just
how he's been an active part of the ministry. Like
you said, he was traveling already in six months, so
(42:47):
he's been in it basically his entire life. So we
do want to give him a little bit of a
spotlight before we close things.
Speaker 7 (42:55):
Out, talk about.
Speaker 5 (42:59):
Well, Jonathan was homeschooled for seventeen years by the two
of us, and we thank God for allowing that to
give us the privilege. And honestly, mac I hadn't personally
seen a child discipled before in that manner. But from
(43:20):
the time he was just you know, and my belly,
my husband was reading the Bible to him, and then
once he came out, we were just reading the Bible
to him daily, and then we allowed him and a
lot of parents don't you know, they don't realize and
sometimes they do that you can truly make a disciple
or make disciples from inside your home. So we had
the privilege of you know, reading to him the worder
(43:43):
of God.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
And then when he.
Speaker 5 (43:44):
Was five years old, obviously he was reading early because
we homeschooled, he was reading the Bible himself. So there's
a five to nine year old Bible. He was reading
this Bible all the time, and we were reading it
with him. And you know, he was always on missions
with us. He was doing his schoolwork, you know, sometimes
on the airplane, but he just traveled with us. Became
(44:07):
a big part of the ministry. When we were in India,
he was only I think nine, and he came up
with this idea to he wanted to demonstrate who Christ
was from his Bible. Something he saw the attributes of
the Lord. And he came in our room one day
and he was showing us this in his Bible, you know,
(44:27):
as God is all powerful and God, you know, he
just saw these different attributes in scripture about who got
and so he came we came up with these posters.
And then when we got to India, he we put
all the kids together and he was holding the microphone
and helping them to really talk about who Christ is.
And then as he began to grow, he was just
(44:49):
doing more and more. He was eventually we continued to
my husband train him to be able to, you know,
be able to talk about the Lord. But he trusted Christ.
When he was nine, nine years old, he came to
us and made it very clear, I want to know
Christ for myself. In Jesus, I believe he died for me.
(45:11):
And he was very persistent, and so as he grew
and grew, we were able to really read the Word
of God with him, studied scripture. He graduated last year,
but he had the privilege to be the speaker. He
shared Matthew twenty eight, you know, he shared Matthew six
thirty three. At the Classical Conversation's national commencement last year.
(45:33):
He was one of the speakers. And so the Lord
has been using him. He's still using him in Bible
College as we speak, and so he's really a big
part of the mission work that we've been doing. He's
our tech we affectionately call him our tech person, our
tech guy. But he's just always just willing to do
(45:55):
anything that is needed for the ministry. And so we're
very very thankful for him, and we give God all
the glory. It's nothing we've done, it's all Christ and
his goodness, his righteousness and so to God be the glory.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
Well I can tell you from the outside looking in,
job well done, Job well done. So I know that Martha,
You're going to be the one that I'm going to
have to go to for this next part. So people
are going to want to know how to connect with
Essential Peace. They want to know how they can find
(46:39):
out more about the ministry and how they could support
it and also give to the different things that you
have going on. So could you share that with our
audience now?
Speaker 5 (46:53):
Yeah, So our website, like some nonprofits, is it's there
and they could definitely see www Dot Essential Piece dot org.
I should know this, yes, www Dot Essentilpeace dot org
(47:15):
and you can see a little bit about us and
a little bit about what we've been doing. And then
obviously we would love it and appreciate it and be
ever so grateful for you.
Speaker 4 (47:26):
To partner with us to give. We will.
Speaker 5 (47:31):
Have more out there on Instagram. We do have an
Instagram account and a newsletter and if you want to subscribe,
please do that on our website. Will be very grateful
and hopefully we'll have more to come. But please pray
for us, Pray for Essential Peace ministries.
Speaker 4 (47:48):
There's much work to be done.
Speaker 5 (47:51):
There's many disciples that the Lord wants us to make,
many people to share the gospel with. So please yes,
look for us online www dot Essentilpiece dot org. And yes,
please feel free to text us or to to go on.
Speaker 4 (48:11):
Our website and find us.
Speaker 5 (48:13):
Please subscribe for our newsletter, and we really look forward
to to hearing from you all from get to getting
to know you.
Speaker 3 (48:23):
Now I'm going to throw in one other way of
contacting you, which is by going to bent E P
m I at gmail dot com. Again, that's bent b
E n T then E P M I at gmail
(48:45):
dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
I know that they'll be excited to hear from you. Guys.
Speaker 3 (48:51):
Look, this has been fabulous and I've had a wonderful time,
but we're getting to this moment where we're going to
have to end it, at least for now. I'm sure
that this won't be the last time that we get
together in this type of forum to talk about other things,
(49:13):
and we'll talk off air about how both adoration and
also thirst no Moral Corporation can also help along with
the things going on with Essential Peace.
Speaker 2 (49:31):
But I want to give you, guys, finally Finally.
Speaker 3 (49:34):
Before we close out, just a final thought, whatever the
Lord has led you to share. Remember, this is ministry
that we're doing right now. We don't know who's going
to listen to what we've shared tonight. We don't know
(49:54):
how it might be just the thing that they needed
in this moment. And so from the passion that you
both have in your heart for Christ for people, please
share with them whatever God has put in your heart.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
Well.
Speaker 6 (50:19):
The challenge that I will leave with your audience, mac
is living living is easy for most people. We get up,
we breathe, we walk. Living well or living a fulfilled life,
I think is takes a little bit more work.
Speaker 7 (50:39):
You know, one man set.
Speaker 6 (50:42):
I think it's not so much that you live, but
it's how you will die. One who legacy will you leave?
I think it was Psalm ninety, verse ten that struck
back to me home where you know the Bible talks
about we get three score and ten years. And I'll
say to your audience, if you have lived lived twenty
years already, then you have fifty years to go. If
(51:06):
you have lived thirty years already, then you have forty
years to go. It's where I'm going with this. The
question is how do you want to spend the remaining
portion of your life. Do you want to spend it
self aggrandizing yourself or do you want to spend that
(51:26):
time pouring it out so that you can serve others.
Get people to the gospel, Get the gospel to people.
It's not so much that we live, but we must
live well. Not so much whop we will die, but
how we will die die well. At the Central Peace Ministry,
we want to live well and we want to leave
(51:47):
that legacy. It says we did all that we could
do to fulfill the great calling that Christ places upon us.
And that's what I would say to your audience is
a challenge. How are you living? What legacy are you living?
What if you're leaving your car or your house? These
(52:07):
are our legacies? Is what done for Christ that endures
beyond the greed?
Speaker 2 (52:15):
Amen? Amen?
Speaker 5 (52:18):
And last but not least, for God soul love the
world that He gave his one and only son. Whoever
believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life
in Christ Jesus. The Gospel is urgent needed. And if
you don't know Jesus as your savior, I pray that
(52:40):
you will repent and turn to him Today. The Bible
says today is the day of salvation.
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (52:51):
Nothing more than I can add to that. Martha, thank you,
Thank you so much. On behalf of the Adoration audience,
this has been awesome tonight. Our prayer for you is
that you continue to press toward the mark for the
(53:13):
prize of the high calling of God, which is in Christ.
Speaker 2 (53:18):
Jesus. Hey, look, I got a little bit in there somewhere.
This is there somewhere.
Speaker 3 (53:27):
But you know, this has been just awesome and and
I think our audience can take away some wonderful nuggets
from just.
Speaker 2 (53:39):
The example that you guys have said.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
So to my audience at Adoration, God bless you, and
God keep you in his perfect peace, with our minds
stayed on Jesus, God bless and good night.
Speaker 7 (54:02):
Thank you, Max Forciate