Latest / Mission SONlight CHATT / Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 22 Raquel Richards - Interlink

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Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 22 Raquel Richards - Interlink · Mission SONlight CHATT

0:08
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media
0:11
Missionaries of Network 7. We are at the General
0:13
Conference Session Exhibit Hall and things are
0:16
hopping. It is the last evening of the General
0:19
Conference Exhibit Hall. We are the last event
0:22
happening this Exhibit Hall gathering. Thousands,
0:25
literally, maybe even I should say tens of thousands
0:28
on this particular evening of interested folks
0:31
coming to the Exhibit Hall. There are hundreds
0:35
of ministries and businesses and institutions
0:37
sharing what Jesus is doing around the globe.
0:40
And we are excited to have one of those ministries
0:43
with us. Raquel. Yes. From Interlink. Yes. Raquel,
0:48
you just told me your last name and it has gone
0:50
out of my mind. Richards. Raquel Richards, double
0:53
R. Yes. All right. I did get that. Raquel, speak
0:57
loudly so we can be heard over this bevy of noise,
1:01
good noise, of course, as people are sharing
1:03
and learning what God is doing around the world.
1:06
Amen? Absolutely. Raquel Richards, Interlink.
1:09
Now that is a young adult, young professional
1:12
ministry. Yes. I think you said 18 to 35? Absolutely.
1:16
Yeah. So I want to learn more about that in our
1:19
second segment. Before we get into that, I want
1:21
to hear about your own journey with Jesus. Your
1:24
youth, your childhood, your family growing up.
1:25
And before we do that, before we do anything
1:27
else, let's invite Jesus to be in our conversation.
1:30
Absolutely. Dear precious and loving Father,
1:33
thank you so much for allowing us to be here,
1:36
to come together, to strategize, to network for
1:39
your kingdom. We're so excited about what you
1:42
have and the plans that you have for us. And
1:45
we can't wait to see how you use us to build
1:47
your kingdom. We pray and ask all these things
1:49
in your precious and holy name. Amen. Amen. Raquel,
1:53
thank you for that prayer. So, take us back to
1:55
your early days and your journey with Jesus.
1:57
Sure. So I grew up in a Christian home. I was
2:00
privileged enough to grow up in a Christian home.
2:02
Both parents were Christian, raised us in the
2:04
Word of God. And so I really had that kind of
2:07
comfort or maybe crutch of having Christian parents
2:10
growing up in a specifically Adventist home.
2:14
And that was great. I had great experiences.
2:16
It really wasn't until I got to college where
2:20
I was on my own, no parents, and kind of having
2:22
to figure out life. for my own, and that includes
2:25
my faith. And so I think in those first moments
2:28
of deciding, do I sink, do I swim, do I go with
2:31
the crowd and do everything that comes along
2:33
with college, or do I kind of take my faith on
2:37
as my own for the first time? And I think with
2:40
God's help, by God's grace, I was able to do
2:42
that. And I think that's when I really felt like
2:44
I was coming into my own spiritually. I started
2:46
learning basic principles of biblical womanhood,
2:50
biblical manhood, and just kind of allowing the
2:52
Lord to kind of educate me on what it means to
2:55
be a Christian by his word and not by culture.
2:57
So you had a defining moment there in your Christian
3:01
home you grew up in. Your parents' faith was
3:05
their faith. You had to kind of figure out, okay,
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this is mine. This is who I am. Tell me a little
3:09
bit about your family makeup. Mom, dad, siblings?
3:12
So my mother and father... They're in the home.
3:14
Pretty much a nuclear family and one sibling.
3:18
So pretty tight -knit. My parents are from...
3:20
Boy, girl, sibling? Sorry, one brother. Okay.
3:22
A year younger than me. Both young adults at
3:25
this point. My parents are also from Jamaica.
3:27
They're from the Caribbean. So I think growing
3:29
up in a... Not a significant accent, I'm noticing.
3:31
I was born here in the States. Okay. But my parents
3:34
are from Jamaica. What part of the U .S.? Fort
3:37
Lauderdale. Okay. But raised in Metro Atlanta.
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I moved to Metro Atlanta when I was five and
3:41
been there ever since. Okay. So... I'm a southerner,
3:44
too, if that's okay to say. A Floridian by birth.
3:47
I was born on the other side of the state from
3:49
Fort Lauderdale in a little city called Clearwater,
3:53
St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, that area. I
3:58
guess technically it was in St. Petersburg, but
4:00
that Clearwater area is where I spent a first
4:03
couple of years. I was adopted and then moved
4:05
up to Panama City. So I'm kind of a Floridian
4:09
through and through. Nice, nice, nice. Awesome.
4:11
I spent plenty of time hanging out in Atlanta.
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That was one of the places we escaped to. You've
4:17
never heard of Underground Atlanta? Yes. I actually
4:20
know someone right now that's hoping to revitalize
4:21
that whole area. Yeah, it's kind of... Gone ghost
4:24
town, silent, but it is coming back. Yeah, that's
4:27
cool. It was kind of cool as a youth just to
4:29
go there. I bet. To do something in a big city.
4:32
Atlanta was our big city. And Orlando. Yes, yes,
4:35
yes, yes. Okay, so hanging out in Orlando or
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hanging out in Atlanta, I know a little bit about.
4:39
So very cool. You are a southerner like me, so
4:43
I can relate a little bit. Yes. What took you
4:45
to Atlanta from Fort Lauderdale? Well, actually,
4:48
my mom got a job to teach nursing at a university
4:51
that was actually in Gainesville, which is really
4:53
nice. north of Atlanta. Gainesville, Georgia,
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not Florida. Yes, Georgia. So we lived there
4:59
for about a year, and then we moved down south
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to metro Atlanta, which is really northeast Atlanta.
5:04
Okay. Yeah. Had good times growing up there?
5:08
Good times. It was a safe neighborhood, safe
5:10
community in Gwinnett County, for those that
5:12
know Metro Atlanta. Pretty safe, great school
5:14
system. So just grew up in a middle class, nuclear
5:18
family. Everything was copacetic. Everything
5:20
was pretty great. I had a good childhood, a good
5:23
framework. So thank God, nothing tragic, nothing
5:26
horrible happened. I had a pretty great, safe...
5:30
caribbean christian family but like i said it
5:32
wasn't until i got to college that i really had
5:35
to figure out am i gonna sink or swim am i gonna
5:37
go with the crowd or am i gonna really take this
5:40
faith on as my own because i didn't have anyone
5:41
telling me otherwise amen so when you had that
5:45
experience you described How did it impact you
5:49
for your next steps? Absolutely. So I think what
5:52
it showed me is the path of what it is to be
5:55
a young adult in the church, right? Are you going
5:57
to grow up and take on your faith, or are you
5:59
going to kind of go with the crowd? And I saw
6:02
how others walked differently, right? How they
6:05
were presented with the same situation, circumstances,
6:07
peer pressure, and how they made other decisions
6:10
and other choices. And so I realized what that
6:12
kind of created in the church, which was kind
6:13
of a void. And that's where God put a burden
6:17
on my heart to do something about it. Is that
6:20
where Interlink was born? Absolutely. I was actually
6:23
in grad school at this time. Fast forward, I
6:26
was actually in grad school in Orlando. And during
6:29
that time, I had an epiphany, I guess. A friend
6:32
of mine that I'd grown up with in Atlanta, in
6:34
the church world, they were actually, for those
6:37
that are familiar, adventurers, pathfinders.
6:40
which are Adventist youth programs, essentially.
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And they fell in hard times. They got disillusioned,
6:45
fell off and away from Christ, and fell into
6:48
hard times in the really rough parts of Atlanta.
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And unfortunately fell into male prostitution
6:52
and contracted HIV. And that turned into full
6:56
-blown AIDS. And when I saw that, it really put
6:59
a burden on my heart that, you know, we don't
7:01
have an account for our young people. We don't
7:03
have an account for our young adults. They've,
7:05
you know, gone by the wayside. Some more dramatic
7:07
stories than others, of course. Eventually, there's
7:10
this level of, for lack of a better word, apostasy,
7:13
right? Where they've kind of fallen away and
7:14
lost their way with the Lord. And we had no account
7:18
for them. But we have a huge void in this demographic.
7:22
What are we doing? And so, obviously, at that
7:24
time, I was in law school, out of the state,
7:26
totally knee -deep in legal studying. And I said,
7:32
I can't do this. I can't do both. I prayed about
7:35
the vision God gave me, put it away, finished
7:37
my studies, came home. in the fall of December
7:39
2017, and that's when I reached out to church
7:42
leadership and said, hey, I have this idea for
7:44
young adult ministry. What say you? And it kind
7:46
of went from there. Wow. Yeah. I was going to
7:50
ask you about grad school, but you kind of answered
7:51
that question. So are you a lawyer? I am an attorney,
7:55
yes. Yes. Okay. I have a few of those. Okay.
7:59
Okay, good. In another life, I have a few other
8:02
things that require attorneys, and I am grateful
8:04
for their involvement in the work that they do
8:07
to keep business flowing. Thank you. Not everybody
8:10
says nice things about lawyers, do they? Yes,
8:12
that's why I'm saying. Oh, wait, can I move a
8:14
little bit away now? No, no, please, please.
8:16
We're your advocates. We're here for you. Amen.
8:19
Many good lawyers that I have had experiences
8:21
to work with, and I've had a few that I would
8:25
say weren't good experiences. I'll just leave
8:26
it at that. But that's humanity. That's not lawyers.
8:30
That's just the reality of living. So you had
8:33
this burden. God put it on your heart, and did
8:37
you go through the process of a 501c3? Sure,
8:41
we did. We went through that process, got our
8:43
certification, got that title, and so we began
8:46
to do the work. But I will say, at that time,
8:48
I really wasn't familiar with the ways in which
8:51
to send up your entities, even though my background
8:53
is in law. As it pertains to ministry, I wasn't
8:55
putting two and two together between the work
8:57
of Christ and getting solidified as a legal entity.
9:01
So long story short, we really just started.
9:04
And so I would recommend to any future leaders,
9:05
you really want to start as soon as you can with
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a 501c3 if that's what you're doing. So we really
9:10
just started for years just doing the work of
9:12
the Lord with little to no support, funding,
9:14
you know, and we just started putting events
9:17
together. And I believe that if you plan something,
9:19
they will come. I think that's one of the biggest
9:21
issues. If we don't have programming for that
9:24
demographic, then they will not be there. I think
9:27
it requires intentionality with that plan. It
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requires... I don't want to say focus groups
9:35
because that sounds too formal, but you better
9:37
do some research. Absolutely. Better talk to
9:39
some people. Absolutely. I want to learn more
9:40
about Interlink in just a moment. But hang on,
9:44
Raquel. We'll be back with more. Thanks to our
9:47
listeners and viewers who are with us today.
9:49
Connect with us at missionsunlight .org. You
9:52
can text us at 1 -423 -855 -4877 or email hello
9:57
at missionsunlight .org. We're glad to have you
9:59
along. We are at the General Conference Session
10:02
Exhibit Hall here in St. Louis, Missouri in the
10:04
United States. Wherever you are listening or
10:06
watching today, know that we are thankful to
10:09
have you here, and we appreciate your prayers.
10:11
Know that we are praying for you. We will be
10:13
back in a moment with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
10:24
Being a media missionary can mean many different
10:27
things. It means the love of a home at the heart
10:31
of the planet. The intrepid spirit of a village
10:34
and the vibe of a great metropolis. It means
10:37
camera one and camera two. It means transforming
10:42
a school, orphanage, or hospital. It means fire,
10:46
rain, ice, and snow. It means gifts by the dollar
10:50
and by the check. It means donations that roll
10:54
and donations that fly. It's a movement on a
11:00
trail or down a motorway. It means family. All
11:06
of us together. And individually. It's who you
11:10
are or who you are becoming. And to her, it's
11:14
a simple gesture that means hope. Whatever it
11:18
means to you, being a media missionary. means
11:21
more than you might think. Welcome back to the
11:32
General Conference Session Exhibit Hall. We are
11:34
Mission Sunlight Chat and it is busy all around
11:38
us. People talking. and walking and visiting
11:41
and a lot of background noise. If you're listening
11:44
today, you can see on the camera the folks filling
11:46
up the aisles, and it's just a blessing to have
11:49
that going on because it means Jesus is afoot
11:51
and at work around the world. Right, Raquel?
11:53
Amen, amen. Yeah, and he's also afoot and at
11:56
work in Interlink. One of our board members at
11:59
Network 7, the governing body of Mission Sunlight
12:02
Chat, is Lindsay Esterline, and she attends church
12:06
in Atlanta, Metro Atlanta as well. And Interlink
12:10
has connected with her church, and that's how
12:12
we connected with you. Absolutely. Tell us about
12:14
what Interlink is doing maybe in her church and
12:16
just in the greater Atlanta area and beyond.
12:19
Sure. ministry being a network, right? That means
12:22
we connect with local groups, organizations,
12:23
and churches. And so Lindsay's church has been
12:26
awesome. We had a global youth day that our church
12:29
had really worldwide. And so between our young
12:32
adult ministry and our team and her team at her
12:35
church, we connected to do young adult programming
12:38
for global youth day. This was an awesome, awesome
12:41
program that we put together. Lindsay and her
12:43
team were just such... awesome hosts and they
12:47
actively work with our team to bring about this
12:49
huge effort. Essentially what we did was we purpose
12:52
that day to serve the community to make an impact
12:54
and so we had over a hundred and thirty young
12:56
adults sign up to come and actually participate
13:00
in this Global Youth Day. We basically held and
13:02
led two church services at the church that Lindsay
13:04
attends. And then we also had a luncheon. And
13:07
then after that, we gathered over 100 young adults,
13:10
100 plus, maybe 113 altogether, that came together,
13:13
and we actually participated in five different
13:15
outreach projects. So we went to a local refugee
13:18
Muslim camp. We provided donations, services.
13:22
No, wait a second. I've got to back up on that.
13:24
You just sped through that. Sorry. You went to
13:25
a local resident Muslim refugee camp in Atlanta.
13:30
Yes. So there's a local Muslim refugee camp right
13:34
in the Clarkston area. And these are a group
13:36
of people who are refugees, and they are also
13:40
of the Muslim faith, and they are in desperate
13:42
need of support, donations, services. So what
13:46
you're doing is you're connecting with people
13:48
with their real felt needs. Absolutely. Regardless
13:50
of their faith. Absolutely. Absolutely. No judgment.
13:53
Absolutely. No criticism. No. How can we help
13:56
you in the human race? Absolutely. have many
14:00
of these donations, many of these projects that
14:02
we do throughout the year. And if you want to
14:04
connect with us, we're actually on Instagram.
14:06
A lot of times we put all of our meetings, our
14:08
events, and ways that you can donate if you choose
14:11
to on our Instagram. And of course, that will
14:13
take you to our links. So if you have Instagram
14:15
and or Facebook, you can go to at Interlink Young
14:18
Adult Ministry. And at Interlink Young Adult
14:21
Ministry on either Facebook or Instagram, you'll
14:24
be able to find the links, the information for
14:26
donations, where they're going. how they'll be
14:28
used and what communities will be affected by
14:30
it most. Of course, our refugee Muslim camp is
14:34
something we love to do, but we also work with
14:36
homeless youth that might be coming through the
14:39
foster care system or might be in a foster care
14:41
home. We work with people really just from all
14:44
backgrounds, mostly vulnerable communities. But
14:46
like you said, we don't judge. We show up. We
14:48
hope. We do what God asks us to do. No questions
14:51
asked. Wow, that's a mouthful. So this is one
14:56
area that you were working in that community.
14:58
How else are you putting youth to work in their
15:01
community? Absolutely. Excuse me, I said youth,
15:04
but it's young adults and young professionals.
15:06
We also do things, of course, I just described
15:08
a couple of the ways that we help locally with
15:10
outreach, but we also do things globally. There's
15:12
so many missions across the world. For instance,
15:14
there's a particular school. that was being built
15:17
at a local Christian university. It happened
15:19
to be Adventist, but it was a Christian university.
15:21
And we were basically helping them to raise money
15:23
to build a local church on their university campus.
15:26
Can you say what country? Jamaica. So it was
15:30
actually in the country of Jamaica. And so even
15:32
though... They had a university. They were still
15:34
in need. Jamaica is still a third world country.
15:36
Beautiful country, but it's still a third world
15:38
country. And so they needed efforts. They needed
15:40
support. And so essentially they held a telethon,
15:43
which was global. And so we held the satellite
15:45
that was actually in Atlanta while they had global
15:48
satellites all throughout the world. And we helped
15:50
to raise money and sit on the phones during a
15:52
telethon to raise efforts and support for that
15:56
particular effort. So we do things globally and
15:58
also locally. And one quick follow -up. to that.
16:01
We also participated in a cruise with a mission
16:03
program. Okay. I don't know if you're familiar,
16:06
but Andrews University has CYE and a part of
16:08
their CYE program, which is Center for Youth
16:11
Evangelism. And this is open to anyone that wants
16:13
to participate. A lot of these organizations,
16:15
you know, they might be ran by Adventists, but
16:17
they're open to anyone that wants to serve the
16:19
Lord. Amen. And so this particular organization
16:22
is called Cruise with a Mission. Essentially,
16:24
it's for young adults who get on a cruise. And
16:27
yes, you get the pleasure of being on a cruise,
16:29
but at every stop, You don't just do fun recreational
16:32
things, right? You serve the Lord. And so they
16:35
have mission projects on each and every stop.
16:37
So we had the pleasure of partnering with Andrew's
16:40
Cruise with a Mission program. And as we went
16:42
to the countries of Bahamas and Cayman Islands
16:44
and Jamaica and Mexico, we got to serve people.
16:48
In Mexico, there was a home of people who were
16:51
actually going through drug addiction. These
16:53
are people in third world countries going through
16:55
drug addiction. through drug addiction and if
16:57
anyone knows what that's like that's disease
16:59
right these are people who are not desiring to
17:02
be addicted to drugs once they might take that
17:05
drug knowingly in that moment once they get addicted
17:07
it's something very different and so we were
17:09
there to meet that need and this is a home that
17:12
wasn't already set up this was an initiative
17:13
we didn't plan for we found this drug house.
17:17
There were locals that saw us giving to others
17:20
and let us know that, hey, there's a place here
17:22
for people who are struggling with drug addiction.
17:24
Would you be willing to give donations? Of course,
17:26
we turned back around and got donations and got
17:28
supplies. These people, food, clothes. anything
17:31
that they need, immediate things that we take
17:34
for granted. And we collected them and gave them
17:36
to this house that was being used for people
17:39
addicted to drugs. We also did a plethora of
17:43
other things, whether it was helping local churches
17:45
with caring for their properties, whether it
17:49
was people that were other people in need. We
17:52
were just a vessel. So when you say caring for
17:54
their properties, you mean something like community
17:56
service, just out there mowing, cleaning, washing,
17:59
painting? We were painting. We were mowing. We
18:01
were helping with children playground centers.
18:03
We were helping rebuild churches on the outside.
18:06
So it's just a lot of different projects. There's
18:08
just so many ways to get involved. That is key.
18:11
There are so many ways to get involved. I say
18:14
to people, and this is slightly off subject,
18:17
but I think you'll understand. I say to people,
18:18
there is always a way to serve. And with the
18:21
internet, you have the ability to stay remote.
18:23
You can be at home. You can send a Bible study.
18:26
You can email an encouraging word. You can research
18:30
information and share. There are so many ways
18:33
you can connect with people. We shouldn't be
18:35
isolated. We shouldn't be lonely. There are ways
18:37
to get out without getting out if you're not
18:39
able to get out. And I just wanted to add to
18:41
that. A lot of the way that started was really
18:43
friends, friend evangelism, making friends with
18:46
people. I don't care who they are, what their
18:48
background is, what their identity is, what their...
18:50
Just make friends. Love people well. And I've
18:53
learned that in my own journey of you start a
18:56
ministry and think you're going to help people.
18:57
And we have, by God's grace. But it's really
18:59
helped me. It's allowed me to open up and have
19:02
insight and just understand that we might have
19:04
plans that the Lord will use. But just loving
19:06
on people well and making friends with people
19:08
is how our network grew. I realized that there
19:11
were lots of young adults in different churches,
19:13
and none of us knew each other. There was only
19:15
so many young adults in each church. If you had
19:18
five, that was a lot. So as I realized that being
19:20
raised in one area, I knew quite a bit of people
19:23
in different places, and so we just started making...
19:25
friends. And as that grew, community grew, and
19:27
as people have relationship, as Christ had relationship
19:30
with people he knew and was in ministry with,
19:32
the network began to grow. So I would say make
19:35
friends with people. Go out to dinner. Go have
19:38
lunch. Do whatever. Form the relationships. Have
19:41
coffee. Have coffee. Have coffee. And then it
19:44
will grow. Friendship evangelism. I worked for
19:48
an old Methodist preacher one time, and he was
19:50
old then. He's passed on. He was in his retirement
19:53
years, but he couldn't stop pastoring, so they
19:55
gave him a church. And he regularly preached
19:58
in his sermons that we need to teach, preach,
20:02
share sidewalk sermons. Absolutely. That's what
20:05
you're talking about. Friendship evangelism is
20:07
sidewalk sermons. It's every day. Sharing the
20:11
gospel, sharing the love of Jesus. I think, you
20:13
know, obviously we have a particular platform
20:15
in this season of my life. I might not always
20:17
be in this space, right? But I think ministry
20:19
isn't where you do it or what platform we're
20:21
entitled. Ministry is every single day. Ministry
20:24
is in your home. Ministry is with your friends.
20:25
Ministry is on the job. Ministry is a lifestyle.
20:28
Like you said, it's a lifestyle. I like what
20:30
you said about you may not always be in this
20:31
space because when you turn 35, you'll age out
20:34
of interlink. Got to have some legacy leaders
20:37
to come along and take over. And I think good
20:40
discipleship and good leadership is training
20:43
those that are coming underneath you that can
20:44
take over and then let the Lord give them a new
20:46
vision. Got the idea. Raquel, we're going to
20:50
come back in a moment and learn what's happening
20:52
next with Interlink. Yes. Thank you for joining
20:55
us, for connecting with us at missionsunlight
20:57
.org, texting us at 1 -423 -855 -4877, or email
21:02
us at hello at missionsunlight .org. We are taking
21:05
a look at the camera across the exhibit hall
21:08
at the general conference session. And folks
21:10
are experiencing the excitement, the energy of
21:14
the Gospel message going into all the world.
21:18
through this exhibit hall. We are delighted to
21:20
be just one of the hundreds of exhibitors and
21:23
sharing with literally tens of thousands of church
21:27
leaders and members and Christians, and I believe,
21:31
Raquel, even some non -Christians who are visiting
21:33
this exhibit hall, learning what God is doing,
21:36
what Jesus is doing in the local region, wherever
21:39
any of these exhibitors and folks are from. We'll
21:42
be back in a moment with more Mission Sunlight
21:44
Chat. Our salvation is a day -to -day matter,
21:55
isn't it? The real principle of the Sabbath is
22:01
reconnecting ourselves with the Creator. We must
22:08
learn to abide in Jesus' name. We move ahead
22:12
with our mission objectives, recognizing that
22:15
we are serving together the Most High God. Welcome
22:30
back to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Exhibit
22:32
Hall of the General Conference Session. And as
22:35
I look at my friend here, Raquel, the hall is
22:38
full, full of people. It's the fullest we've
22:42
seen all week. This is the last session this
22:44
evening, the last activity for the General Conference.
22:47
What a blessing to be here and have so many ministries
22:50
sharing. Your shirt says impact st. Louis now,
22:56
that's not directly interlinked, but there is
22:58
a connection tell us about that absolutely So
23:00
the general conference the youth department right
23:02
now has been doing this impact all week throughout
23:05
the session and essentially They're gathering
23:07
all the young adults to come together and do
23:09
work to be the sermon and to get out. So Interlink
23:12
has come and was invited to come and partner
23:14
with this initiative for the week. And so our
23:16
team is here. We've had about five or six of
23:18
us here partnering with this initiative. So each
23:20
day, each night, we've been worshiping, we've
23:23
been connecting, and also we've been going out
23:25
into the community. And so throughout the whole
23:27
week, we've been going out into the community
23:29
doing local outreach. It's what we do back home.
23:31
We've been working with local community gardens.
23:34
There's one young lady, an older woman, actually.
23:36
who was so kind and has a, she started a community
23:39
garden right there in the urban area of her town,
23:42
right here in St. Louis. So we came out and helped
23:44
her to assist in her garden, helped plant some
23:47
produce and helped her clean up her yard. Other
23:51
people are going to other centers and doing similar
23:54
work. And so throughout the week, we've just
23:56
been putting in the physical labor and work to
23:58
help our local community and do outreach the
24:00
same exact way we would do when we were back
24:02
home. Okay. You know, we use this phrase in Friendship
24:06
Evangelism, hands and feet of Jesus. Absolutely.
24:09
And for our listeners who don't see what's going
24:11
on around us, I'm going to apologize. Our neighbors
24:13
are... showing off their sound systems. And it's
24:16
a little bit loud in here, louder than just the
24:19
crowd. But we use this phrase, hands and feet
24:22
of Jesus. That's really what you were doing.
24:24
But explain to me, what does that mean, being
24:26
the hands and feet? I mean, we are literally
24:28
the extension of Christ. That's what we believe.
24:30
So we take our hands and we take our feet to
24:33
do good work, to be the extension, to walk out
24:36
and to actually give out. And so whether it's
24:38
using our hands for labor. and to doing things
24:41
that others need help with, to service, or whether
24:44
it's walking out. Today we did outreach. We walked
24:47
out throughout the city and distributed Christian
24:49
literature. People were very much well -recepting
24:53
of our materials, and they were excited to actually
24:57
be given something by someone in the community,
24:59
letting them know that God loves them and that
25:01
they want them to read something that can edify
25:03
them spiritually. Very good. What's next for
25:06
Interlink? Wow. Well, we've got a lot of events
25:08
coming up. Every year we do our annual waterfall
25:11
hike. And so October 4th, we'll be heading up
25:14
to Vocal State Park, which is a nice park up
25:17
in North Georgia. We gather every year. We had
25:19
over 100 and I want to say 10, 12 young adults.
25:23
And essentially we go, we have this beautiful
25:25
pavilion right on the water. We hike, come back,
25:29
we have a full... live music live set from the
25:32
college area they come down play live music for
25:34
us in the pavilion right on the water we have
25:36
a full -on sermon and church service then we
25:39
have lunch and we have lots of breakout sessions
25:42
and speak and network and connect so it's just
25:44
a beautiful day out in nature with the lord i
25:46
want to come please come come i don't fit into
25:49
the 35 all right Raquel, thank you for being
25:54
a part of our program today. Before we go, I
25:57
want to give you a chance to just look at the
25:59
camera there. Absolutely. Speak directly to the
26:01
mic and let those that are listening and watching
26:03
know what is on your heart from God's Word. Absolutely.
26:06
I think for me, the verse that really stands
26:09
out is Philippians 4, verse 14. I can do all
26:11
things through Christ who strengthens me. And
26:12
I say that because, you know, I always say I
26:15
never in a million years thought I would be a
26:17
leader of ministry. I've always loved to be in
26:20
the background. I was just never a forefront
26:22
kind of person. By God's grace, our database
26:24
has grown to over 1 ,200 young adults within
26:27
our database. Wow, how incredible. And so it's
26:29
all through God's work. And I realize that with
26:32
Christ, we can do anything. So I'd say if God
26:34
puts a burden on your heart, follow that and
26:36
trust that he can use you to do it. It's not
26:39
going to be through your might. It's not going
26:41
to be through your strength, right? But it's
26:43
going to be through his might and through his
26:44
strength. And with him, all things are possible.
26:46
And I think that through my life, I can definitely
26:49
attest to that. And I know I didn't get a chance
26:51
to share this because this is a whole other testimony.
26:53
But I know that God can do things through me
26:56
because I'm actually a heart patient. And this
26:59
is a whole... testimony but essentially when
27:02
I was born the doctors gave me I told my parents
27:05
I wouldn't live past the age of five years old
27:06
and I was born with pulmonary atresia congenital
27:10
heart defect and essentially four parts of my
27:12
heart were shut down at birth And so from birth
27:15
until three years of age, I had five open heart
27:17
surgeries. And in 2021, I had my sixth heart
27:20
surgery to replace a valve I got when I was three.
27:23
So I say all that to say, it didn't look like,
27:25
you know, what God allowed to happen. I wasn't
27:29
supposed to live through that. I wasn't supposed
27:30
to be well and healthy and survive all these
27:32
things and go to law school. It just, it was,
27:34
I wasn't supposed to be alive. And so I give
27:36
God all the glory and all the honor and all of
27:38
this is truly because of him. Raquel, you just
27:42
opened a whole new can of worms if I'd have had
27:45
that 30 minutes ago. Oh, no, I've got to delve
27:48
into this a little bit. I mean, you're a lawyer.
27:50
You're in a high -stress work environment. You're
27:53
out there doing ministry, high -stress. You're
27:58
getting things done for the kingdom. When somebody
28:02
says, God bless your heart, seriously? Yes, quite
28:05
literally, quite literally. I mean, even my,
28:08
I don't know if people can tell, but even my
28:09
speaking voice, I have vocal cord paralysis.
28:12
During all the heart surgeries as an infant,
28:15
scar tissue was damaged. All the things happened
28:17
during those emergency intubations. And so I
28:20
just give God all the glory. It's literally,
28:22
I think if people knew my testimony or more in
28:25
depth of that, they'll know it's quite literally
28:27
not me, right? It's him through me. But hopefully
28:30
we can talk about that another time, I guess.
28:33
Literally. Yes. I can do all things through Christ
28:36
who strengthens me. I take that message to heart.
28:39
No pun intended. That is your testimony indeed.
28:43
Very good. Raquel, let's have a word of prayer.
28:45
Absolutely. We have quite a bit of noise in the
28:48
exhibit hall. I'm going to take one more shot
28:50
around the hall here so folks can see. Thousands,
28:53
thousands of people walking up and down the aisles,
28:56
visiting with various ministries, seeing who
28:58
they want to see because this exhibit hall is
29:01
like one grand camp meeting. And it's only happening
29:04
every five years at the General Conference Session,
29:06
which is the business meeting of the Seventh
29:08
-day Adventist Church. People are excited about
29:10
hearing and seeing from one another and learning
29:13
what God is up to around the globe. As we wrap
29:19
up, I want to just say a word of prayer for us
29:21
as we conclude. Raquel, thank you. You have shared
29:24
in a way that has encouraged and blessed me.
29:27
And I hope the folks at home, wherever they may
29:30
be, have been blessed as well. Let's pray. Our
29:32
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed in holy,
29:34
holy, holy is your name above all the earth.
29:37
We lift you up because you alone are worthy.
29:40
Thank you so much for being near us this week.
29:42
Thank you so much for Raquel's testimony, this
29:45
encouraging word. and how you have held her together
29:49
spiritually and physically and certainly emotionally
29:53
as I hear the joy in her voice as she speaks.
29:56
Thank you that we are able to connect with Interlink.
29:58
And Father, if there are others who want to learn
30:01
more, please help them to click the link that
30:04
we'll put in the bio and be able to learn more.
30:07
be able to take this and see it grow in their
30:10
own churches. Amen. Whatever they see, whatever
30:12
they do, help them to do it with all their might
30:14
because Jesus is helping them do it. Amen. Thank
30:17
you for the encouragement, Lord. We put this
30:19
in your hands. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank
30:23
you so much for being a part of our program.
30:25
You can connect with us, missionsunlight .org.
30:28
Please continue to pray for us. We are praying
30:30
for you. From the General Conference, very loud
30:33
exhibit hall, this is Mission Sunlight Chat.
30:38
This has been a Beeson Brook production in association
30:41
with Network 7 Media Center. Executive Producers
30:45
Christopher and Rebecca Beeson Roddy Scarborough
30:48
Don and Nancy Van Ornum Associate Producers Jordan
30:53
and Ashley Wagner Gary and Dina Bartle Wagner
30:56
Your host today, Christopher Beeson Director
30:59
of Production and Audio Engineer Jordan Wagner
31:02
To suggest guests Topic questions, to pray with
31:05
us or to give, visit missionsunlight .org or
31:08
text us at 423 -855 -4877. You may write to us
31:15
at Network 7 Media Center, Box 25468, Chattanooga,
31:21
Tennessee, 37422. This has been a production
31:25
of Network 7 Media Center.