I'm going to try to hand it over to Marty Basinger as soon as I can. UC Baptist Church Planners, that is a group, I think they're based out of Ohio, but we have supported Baptist Church Planners in the past. I will let him tell you about that ministry, but we know him. In part, when Rachel went to Community Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina area, every once in a while, the bass singers would give her a ride to church. Then when I went there, the bass singers transitioned out. However, all the way through school, I went to music classes for church music with their son. So, we do have a connection. We've been to the same places, same schools. same churches for a time and there are even more connections beyond that that I won't bore you with but it's just a wonderful thing to cross paths with them and just so thankful that he and his wife can be here with us and it's good for all of you to be here to be able to hear the ministry. I'll ask one more thing, Jared, are we up and running online? Great. I would say this for the online folks, if you do have a question that you want to ask Marty or his wife, just put that in the comments and Jared will make sure that that comes forward, okay? So just let us know online. Marty, would you come and share the ministry? Good evening, everybody. It is good to see you and it's good to be here and Some of you heard that we were missionaries, and so sometimes when you think missionaries are coming, there's going to be stories about wild animals and all kinds of things like that. Well, I didn't bring any of those stories. Ours is a unique ministry, very unique ministry. It's a very needed ministry, and it is a new wing of Baptist Church planters. And it's called the ITM, Intentional Transition Ministries. And a church goes into transition when the pastor departs. And so our ministry comes in in that area right there of transition. It's a vital time in the life of that ministry. Ministries can be destroyed during a transition, they can prosper during a transition, but we are more or less specialized in going in to those churches. You have to have at least about 15 years at least of pastoral experience and be at least 50 years of age. Okay, I qualified. to be an ITM. I'm over 50, and that's all I'm going to tell you, all right? We've been in the ministry a long time, and I'll be sharing that with you tonight. The first part of the presentation concerns who we are with, Baptist Church planters. You may not be familiar with them, or you may be familiar with them. I'm going to make you familiar with them. in the first part of the presentation, and then we're gonna transition to our ministry, the ITM, Intentional Transition Ministries, and hopefully by the end of the presentation, you're gonna have a good idea of it, enough to ask questions, okay? All right, and so we are with Baptist Church Planners, and the Missionary Service Center is located in Grafton, Ohio, which is just out of Cleveland. And President John Jenks and his wife Jennifer live in the area. And it is here, and by the way, that building is deceptive. There's another floor below that which has 10-foot ceilings. It is a very spacious place. It's a two-story building. It's just the first floor is underneath it. But this is where the president and his staff facilitate ministry to local churches. Now, BCP's emphasis on the local church is intentional. It is embedded in the purpose statement on the mission website, facilitating the process for churches and their sent missionaries to plant or revitalize churches in North America. Our ministry is primarily concerned and focused on North America, all right? And also this emphasis on the local church is evident in the makeup of Baptist church planters governing council. You'll notice there, there are nine pastors on this council, all elected by local churches. There are eight missionary church planters on the council, all elected by their peers. And there's four laymen that come from different churches who are elected by the council. The council meets twice a year. And listen to this, this is going to be different. They review the work of the president and the administration. The president of the mission gives a report to the council of his work. All of the directors in their various ministries give a report twice a year to this council. There's accountability here on twice a year. The council also gives guidance, they make recommendations, and they set policy. But this local church, BCP's local church emphasis can especially be seen in the way BCP approaches its missionary task, all right? You'll see at least three different approaches here. And the third one represents BCP's approach. But let's look at the other two for just a moment. The agency-driven approach. That approach is driven, or everything that the mission agency does is driven by the needs and the desires of the agency. In other words, the philosophy is that the mission agency is the engine of world missions, and we completely reject that approach. The second approach is the missionary-driven approach. where everything the mission agency does is driven by the needs and the desires of the missionary. Now, this one has merit because missionaries definitely have needs and desires. My wife and I served for 11 and a half years as missionaries. We were in Japan as foreign missionaries. And I can tell you from firsthand experience, missionaries have needs and desires. But Jesus did not say, I will build my mission family. He said, I will build my what? He said, I'll build my church. That's why BCP's stated purpose is to meet the needs and the desires of local churches because healthy local churches meet the needs and the desires of their missionaries. BCP's goal is to help the church be successful. Why? Because missionaries come out of local churches. In other words, the local church is the engine of world missions. BCP helps local churches succeed in their Great Commission task by facilitating church planting, church revitalization, leadership training under the IDM, that's Intentional Discipleship Ministries, which is a phenomenal 24-week leadership course, a separate course for men and women, short-term missions, the building ministry under church care, youth ministries, Hispanic ministries, ministry coaching, and transitional ministries, ITM. That's us. Intentional transition ministries is missiological. It is related to missions. Think about this. If a church fails in transition, then missions fails. the local and global outreach of that ministry is either diminished or it ceases altogether. And so this is a very vital ministry. As a matter of fact, intentional transitional ministries exist to help churches get back on mission. That's what we do. A church goes into transition when the pastor exits. And when a pastor exits the church, the church in transition has a number of needs. For instance, they need closure to the past, whatever that past looks like. That door to the past needs to be closed before that church moves forward. Otherwise, the door is wide open and what's in the past comes to haunt the future or in the present. They need, oh, possibly conflict resolution. They definitely need intentional messages. They need to change the church culture if it's toxic. That's a question you can ask later on. What is a toxic culture? And they need a pastor who is a fit. Now, there are, I told you, there are no animals, I don't have any lions or tigers like that, but I trust that this is going to be a tremendous blessing to you as I explain it. There are three types of pastoral exits. The first one is called a smooth exit, where the pastor takes another ministry assignment or retires, but he leaves on good terms with the church. Now, the congregation is going to grieve that pastor's departure, particularly if that pastor and wife have served that congregation for a good number of years. The second type of pastoral exit is a rough exit. And the pastor departs suddenly and under difficult circumstances, resulting in relationship and ministry damage. And so there's not only grieving, there's going to be hurt. A lot of times there's confusion and so forth that needs to be addressed before this congregation is ready to move forward and embrace that next pastor. The third type of pastoral exit is called a crisis exit. The pastor dies suddenly and unexpectedly. The pastor experiences a financial failure as far as mismanagement. The pastor experiences possibly a moral failure. A pastor, for instance, makes an extreme shift in doctrinal belief. We've had that happen, shifting to universalism and things like that and so forth. That creates a church that is grieving, a church that is hurt, conflict, all kinds of things. That's a church in crisis. But regardless of why a pastor exits, the church body, the congregation needs the time to have closure to the past before they turn the page and begin a new chapter in the life of that ministry. Now, I know those people. The pretty one's on the left there. That's my wife, Susan. Right there she is. We've been married for 40 years. We've been serving the Lord together for 40 years. And we have three sons and all married. And we have nine grandchildren. That's bragging rights right there, isn't it? Nine grandchildren. As of three weeks ago, we had a new boy come into the world. And so we're grateful for that. But in addition to bringing 40 years of pastoral experience or ministry experience into the role of ITM, Intentional Transition Ministries, I've also gained additional training in conflict coaching and mediation from the Institute of Christian Conciliation, formerly known as Peacemakers. You may have heard of them in California. And my wife and I have also gained training from IPM, Interim Pastoral Ministries, which is the largest conservative evangelical interim pastoral group in America. And we went to Phoenix, Arizona, and there we gained training in the steps necessary for a church to experience a profitable transition. Our sending church is Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Smithville, Ohio, and our pastor is Pastor Stephen Olson, and that church provides support and direction for our ministry, and also Baptist Church Planners connects us with churches in transition. Now, there are a number of scriptures that point to the value an intentional transition ministry for instance Philippians chapter 2 the Apostle Paul is speaking to the church at Philippi about why he's sending Timothy to them watch this but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I also may be encouraged when I know your state for I have no one like minded who would sincerely care for your state in Titus chapter 1 verse 5 The Apostle Paul is telling Titus why he is leaving him at the church in Crete. Watch that, that you should set in order the things that are lacking. And in Numbers chapter 27, Moses, the leader of the congregation of Israel, is about to exit. He's about to go up in the mountain and die. and he's concerned about the congregation, and he says this to the Lord. Then Moses spoke to the Lord saying, let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation who may go out before them and may go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd. Now, when a church is without a shepherd, Attendance and giving tend to drop. The leadership, usually it's on the deacons at that point, get stretched and stressed out as they attempt to fill the pulpit with quality preaching, weekend and week out, and possibly for months on end, while at the same time having oversight of the administration of the church, while at the same time dealing with a congregation that is grieving. possibly hurt, possibly in conflict, or even worse, in crisis. And it's awfully easy at that point for the focus simply to become find and fill the vacancy. possibly causing that next pastor and his family to be an unintentional interim. This is the primary reason that so many churches find themselves in transition every two to five years. Our first minister assignment was to a church in Colorado. It was a church in crisis due to the sudden and tragic departure of their pastor of 26 years. He had been arrested for sexual misconduct, and within two weeks he took his own life. My wife and I went there and began our ministry there on May 1st of last year, and we faced some enormous challenges. including zero trust. Zero trust. This was a congregation that had pulled into itself. They'd been hurt and they were pulled into itself. And so there was zero trust. But with patience and gentleness, Christ-like love, and good counsel, we gradually overcame the challenges and trust began to be built. You know, the fact is people process grief differently. I don't process grief the same way you process grief and so forth. Everyone needed the time to grieve and have closure to the past so the entire congregation could move forward together rather than piecemeal. It's like I grew up on a farm. I'm from the north, by the way. North Alabama. And I grew up on a farm, and my dad, many years ago, farmed with two horses. They weren't horses, really. They were more or less donkeys, all right? And it was important that they pull together, that they move forward together. It was important that this congregation be able to move forward together. In order to do that, each person had to have the time to grieve, have closure to the past, so everyone could move forward together. And my preaching was intentionally tailored to take them through the process of grieving, closure to the past. while at the same time giving them that sense of hope, that sense of joy in the present and hope for the future. I worked with the deacons and eventually the pulpit committee in helping them to identify their core values and their ministry values so that they could know what kind of man would be a good fit for that particular church. During our eight months there, attendance stayed up, giving stayed up. Remember, this was a tragedy that was broadcast all over Colorado on TV. Everyone knew about it. The community knew about it. And yet, during the entire eight months, attendance stayed up, giving stayed up, and visitors continued to come. There was that same voice in the pulpit every week, my voice every week in that pulpit. My presence there was a calming presence to the congregation that everything was going to be okay. And it also was a calming influence on the community. I was there every day. I was there every Sunday and Wednesday and so forth, weekend, week out, month in, month out. I was there. And that brings a sense of peace and calm to people. After eight months of ministry to the church, God prepared and brought the next pastor. Up in the corner there, right corner, that smiling young man is Pastor John, his wife Anna, and their three little girls. It was my pleasure to be back there three weeks ago and preach there and it was like coming home because there was that kind of bonding and pray for John and Anna as they minister there. They started in January and guess what hit them right in the face. COVID came. And so they're just settling in still. Pray for Kathy, the pastor's wife. She's there, still serving the Lord, but as you can imagine, the grief is very deep. So pray for Kathy if you would. God's desire for this church in every church in transition is to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That became the reality for this church and can become the reality for every gospel preaching church in transition. Thank you for your prayerful consideration of becoming a ministry partner with the Basingers. All right, that is the introduction to this unique ministry. We're much more than a typical interim, and you've heard All of us have heard of a typical interim ministry, but this has an I at the beginning. It's intentional, which means that any church that we go to has to sign an agreement. There's a threefold agreement between the church, between our mission, and between me, the ITM, and each has their responsibility. They have to agree to allow me to come in and I pastor them, but at the same time, I'm taking them through the steps that will eventually lead to closure to the past, to conflict resolution if necessary, and then instruction and coaching through the pulpit committee, and finally, the call of a pastor who is a fit in that ministry. It's a vital ministry. If a church fails in transition, then missions fails. That local and global outreach of that ministry is either diminished or it stops altogether. All right? Have you thought of some questions? Did you see the word toxic? Yes, sir. Thank you. See, he caught it. He caught it, didn't he? A toxic culture. Well, then you ask the question, what's a healthy culture? What's a healthy church culture? Because toxic is the opposite of healthy. And so let's define what a healthy church culture is, and that way we'll know what a toxic culture is, okay? And you know what the word toxic means, right? Does toxic smell good? Would you eat it? No, you wouldn't eat it. No, it doesn't smell good at all. All right? So let's talk about what a healthy church culture is. And by the way, I was just with a church in transition north of you, as a matter of fact, spent two hours there Tuesday meeting with the chairman of the deacons, profitable to our conversation concerning what a healthy church is. And because this is a church that's grieving and it's hurt. And so this is the way I explained it to that chairman of the deacons. And the best way to describe a healthy church is to not ask you or me, all right? Because if I ask you, you could share your feelings with me, right? But it would be better for us to ask Jesus, right? What is a healthy church according to Jesus? Well, the great command, Matthew 22. Remember the great command? Love God, love your neighbor. And under loving God, you can put in parentheses worship, because many times our corporate worship is a display, an example of how we love God, and out of the love of God flows love for one another, right? And so we can start looking at defining a healthy church by saying, well, the great command is definitely a part of that, loving God, loving one another. And then we add to that the great commission, which is evangelism and discipleship, right? And then we add one more to that, and it's Ephesians 4, verses 11 and 12, and that is equipping the saint. The pastor is equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. Who does the work of the ministry? The saints do the work of the ministry. The pastor equips the saints to do the work of the ministry. Now, a church fulfilling or attempting to fulfill the great command, the great commission and equipping of the saints is a very healthy church. Now, you start taking away from those and the health goes down. For instance, take the Great Commission away. The church is not evangelizing or discipleship. It's still not a toxic church, but it's not as healthy as a toxic church. As you take each one of those away, it gets less healthy. A toxic church is a church that is not loving God, not loving one another, not evangelizing, not discipling, and not equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. That's a toxic ministry. It doesn't smell good. The opposite of that is a healthy ministry. And so, when a church is pointed toward health, it's just going to get healthier. But a church pointed toward toxicity is just going to smell worse and worse, right? And so, we definitely want churches that smell healthier and healthier and healthier. And so, as they attempt to fulfill the Jesus words, and what is a healthy church, then they get healthier, all right? And so that basically defines what a toxic church is and what a healthy church is. Healthy church, to some degree, is attempting to fulfill the great command, great commission, and equipping, and a toxic church is not, all right? How's that? Okay, great. Okay, another question? Yes. A very good question. I'll use the church that I visited this week because with a dear brother I sat with, he couldn't define what a healthy church is. And I wasn't blaming him. Many people can't define what a healthy church is because they're going to base it on their feelings. Well, I feel this and I feel that. But when we ask Jesus, Jesus, what is a healthy church? He tells us, doesn't He? Here's what a healthy church is." And so, I went over these very same three things with this dear brother, and I had him at the top of his paper write, healthy, and I covered the three areas. And then below that, I had him write the word, reality. I said, based upon Jesus' words of what a healthy church is, what is your reality? A hesitation, he said, we are unhealthy. He knew it, just like that, we are unhealthy. But I said, are you toxic? I said, look at this and tell me what this church is doing good. And he looked and he said, we're loving God and loving one another. They're a grieving, hurt congregation, but he said, we're doing that. And I said, then you're not a toxic church. You might be unhealthy, but you're not toxic. And now you just need to go in the direction of health. We left that meeting, he was so encouraged, so encouraged. primarily from God's Word about how that church could reach health. And so they're praying about using BCP's ITM ministry to get them back on mission, okay? And so I think I answered your question there, didn't I? All right. Somebody else? Yes, it's interesting that...and we are getting a lot of calls. As a matter of fact, in this region, there are several churches that have contacted us that are in transition. And we have churches that are going through the steps right now in Minnesota, Iowa, and different places. And so, it's becoming aware that we exist. I can tell you that. A pastor in another state in the south has...in that city, there's a university, there's a a mission agency that's been there for many years. The president of the mission goes to this church. Many of the administrators go to this church. But I've gotten to know this pastor, and this pastor is so excited about BCP's ITM ministry. And they're voting on the support of our ministry because he said we have needed this kind of ministry. Everyone has heard horror stories. of transitions gone bad. And so, right now in this one city, and it's Chattanooga, Tennessee, by the way, I'm working with two different pastors. One pastor is at a church of 500, the other one is 240, and both are excited. The church of 500 reached out to me and told me his story when he left his church on the coast. He said, that transition has gone horribly. They've went from 140 down to 40. And he said, they needed your ministry. They could have used your ministry. And so, many times, we do by instinct. A pastor leaves and we just get a pulpit committee together and call another man. But what about the congregation? What about their grieving? What about the hurt, depending on how that pastor departed? None of that's dealt with. And so, the new pastor inherits the hurt, inherits the pain. And that's why that church will be back in transition within two to five years. And so we're not just a church consulting firm. We actually go and live there. My wife and I went to Colorado. We lived among those people. I served as their pastor, I loved them, and yet we dealt with a very grieving congregation, and we took them through the process, the steps necessary for them to close that door to the past, and they were ready to embrace that pastor. And so, praise the Lord for that. They've turned the page and began a new chapter in the life of that ministry. Yes, sir. two Baptist churches. Yes, to Baptist churches, but not necessarily. It could have the name community church on it, but the word Baptist has to be somewhere deep in that paperwork somewhere. All right. You know, because you can have a church that's, you know, whatever, whatever Bible, not Bible, but community church, for instance. But in their papers, in their in their constitution and so forth, it states that we are a Baptist church. Well, baptistic, yeah, I think is a very important word, baptistic, and we would certainly help those churches out. It's just that different denominations, we don't go to Presbyterian churches and other churches like that because they have their own ITM-type ministries, and so we're mainly Baptist churches. Okay. Any other questions? You know, let me ask you to turn. Yes. Yes, please. Yes. Remember, BCP is a new wing, and we only began our first assignment. We went with the mission process began in February of 2018. 2018? No, 2019. Yeah, 2019. And we were on our first assignment May 1st, 2019. And so there are two ITMs currently. And so the goal is to grow this ministry. You know, COVID just, you know, it just messed things up really big time, didn't it? And so we came out of our first assignment and we typically need at least two months off because of the intensity of the assignment. And so But a church in Wisconsin was already wanting us to come before we left Colorado. And we had to tell them, no, we can't. We have to take off and see our kids, too, and grandkids, and hold them, and things like that, and be papas and grandmas a little bit. And so we took off. But then the church in Wisconsin, the leadership got in division. It was a church in transition, but then the pulpit committee became divided. We backed out and said, when you get things settled, just let us know. And by that time, COVID hit. And so the process is when the churches reach out to us. We enter into a discussion with them, and for instance, it leads to a visit. In this particular case, I was brought on to the email thread between this particular chairman of the Deacons and my director, because I was going to be here. And so I reached out to him, and we were able to meet together for two hours and discuss basically what the ITM's role is. And I spoke down about the health of the church and so forth, and we talked about things. And then when it comes to the matter of cost, I told him that, you know, we come to live here. I will come and be your pastor for this period of time. but not your permanent pastor, and I will, of course, take you through the steps that lead you to permanent pastor. The process typically takes several months. It's not anything fast. Because the church, first of all, has to learn the value of an ITM over a traditional interim. All they've ever known is, okay, let's get Brother so-and-so, he's a retired preacher, let's have him come in and he'll fill the pulpit with us, and then when he can't, Brother George over here will preach on this particular Sunday, and it's sort of like that's what happens. And the only problem with that is nothing is ever dealt with. Now, the grieving process and so forth is not dealt with. How do they know what kind of pastor is going to be a fit? And so this is a process that takes usually about four months at least, four months from start to agreement, that threefold agreement that I spoke of. OK? Does that help out? Within our mission. Yes, we have one other ITM who has just completed an assignment in Iowa. And this church, by the way, in Iowa, was a staffed church, two staff members. And so we work with large churches, small churches. And so the ITM went in and worked with a church that had two staff members. And that in fact, they are just voting on their pastoral candidate either this week or last week. Yeah, my wife and I began our ministry in missions. We were church planters. I met my wife in college. We're Tennessee Temple University graduates. If you've heard of Tennessee Temple University, Dr. Lee Roberson, we met there and we were missionaries in Japan. We started off our ministry there as church planters and we planted, of course, first term learning how to speak that foreign language. and write it and speak it and so forth at the very same time. And so I planted the church out of Tokyo. You have Tokyo, you have the harbor there, Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka. And we were on the peninsula of Yokosuka, and this is where we planted our church in our second term. And we were able to turn it over. God was gracious. We preached the gospel. God gave us believers. and we were able to turn that church over to a national pastor, but because of health problems, I had to leave the field. And so, after taking off for a year, then we began, continued our ministry of church planting, and then eventually going on staff of a college as well, and spent a couple of years on staff at a Bible college in the Midwest, and then back in the pastorate again, and so, It was from the pastorate that the Lord led me into this ministry without even knowing about BCP. I was pastoring. We lived in Gainesville, Florida for 13 years, and I pastored there. And when I turned that certain age, 60, all right, when I turned 60, my heart began to be stirred about being a mentor. to other churches and pastors. And so I contacted a friend of mine with, are you familiar with Baptist Midmissions here? Baptist Midmissions, a good friend of mine that I had worked with, I worked with 12 years with the candidating secretary at Baptist Mid on candidates. And so I called him and I said, Steve, here's what's in my heart, I want to mentor help churches and he said, you want to do it independently or do you want to be with an organization? I said, I want to be with an organization. He said, OK, then I know who to contact. And he contacted BCP and gave the recommendation. And within two weeks, I was contacted by the director. Scott Owen, and it was amazing how God brought us together. This was a new ministry, and I became the second ITM to be a part of that ministry. Scott Owen was the first, and he's coming in as an instructor in conflict coaching and mediation. He's a trainer, even with the Institute of Christian Conciliation. He was on a large staff church in Iowa, and so he came on board as the director of this ministry. And so we're a little bit different than a traditional interim ministry. We are intentional. But this is how churches get back on mission. Okay, hopefully that helps. And if you would, look at Psalm 78, if you would, in closing. Psalm 78, and I want to just point something out here. Psalm 78. Could someone read verse 72? In this text, let me explain what's happening here. God has given the reason why He's choosing David to shepherd the congregation of Israel, okay? This is what's going on here. Now, could somebody read verse 72? Anybody? All right, there's too many of you wanting to read a verse. Slow down. Okay. Was there a hand up over here? Thank you. Read verse 72. Okay, that was important. You see the first line there? With uprightness of heart, he shepherded them. But notice the second line, you said, what was the second part of verse 72? She closed her Bible, that's all right. He guided them with the skillfulness of his hands. The first part of the text, he shepherded them with integrity. A traditional interim man who goes into a church is going to have a pastor's heart. He's going to shepherd those people as a pastor, and he's going to bring integrity to that role. of shepherding that church in transition. The difference between the traditional interim and the ITM is the second part of that verse. He guided them with skillfulness of his hands. We bring in the skill necessary for that church to experience healing and having the door closed to the past before they're ready to move forward, all right? And so you can see the difference here of why God chose David, He shepherded them with integrity and He guided them with skillfulness. And this sort of shows the difference between a traditional interim and an ITM. We both bring integrity of heart, we both bring pastoral experience, but what we bring is skill as well, okay? And hopefully that gives you a little idea at least from the Bible perspective, okay? And how are we doing on time? I gave my phone to my wife, I don't even know what time it is. About 7.25 and we started at 6.30, right? I can't bring a five-minute message. I just can't do that. You know, I'll tell you this story, and then we'll end, but my wife and I, of course, were missionaries overseas in Japan, and we went on to our first meeting. Remember, I'm in my last semester of college, and we have been accepted by a mission agency, and I've got my first meeting, and it's in Ohio. As a matter of fact, it's in Miami, Ohio, wasn't it? See, she remembers. Germantown, Ohio. And I had my little clippity-clop, you know, little projector thing. And I had written down my notes on every slide. I had the notes written. But my problem was they turned the lights off when the projection began, and so I'm I'm trying to read my notes, pressing them up against that little light at the back and not watching the blurriness of the picture. And so it was a horrible presentation. And then I had five minutes left and I had no idea what to do. So I got up and I preached a message to them. And then the speaker, special speaker for the conference, got up and he said, brother, you just preached my text. You know, we didn't get support from that church. And I've never forgotten our first meeting. I'm not going to preach to you with five minutes to go, but we're so thankful to be here and we're so thankful for your pastor and your wife. Yes. Yeah, I appreciate that. You know, I grew up in North Alabama on a farm and I was very rebellious, struggled greatly. I didn't want to be at home. I wanted to leave, and so I didn't listen to my parents. My dad was a farmer, and then he also worked in a factory, and they tried to love me the best they could, but I was, you know, I was not listening very well at all. And so at the age of 17, I graduated from high school, and I joined the military. Now remember, I'm 17. I'm tired of being told what to do, when to do, and how to do it. So I joined the military so they could tell me what to do, how to do, and when to do it. That was how much wisdom I had. But God was in this whole process, and in his providence, I was sent overseas to the island of Okinawa. And for three years, 12 days, two hours, I was on that island, and there, someone in my barracks began to hand me Chick tracts to read. How many have ever heard of Chick tracts? Those little cartoon tracts. I was saved reading Chick tracts. You know, here's something. I was baptized when I was 11. I was baptized. I actually went forward in a church, a little country Baptist church. I had no idea what was going on. And I don't think they did either. They just put their hands on me and prayed over me and said, you're saved. And they baptized me in a creek. My life never changed, never changed. I became more rebellious and just wanted to leave home. And so the way God began to stir my heart while overseas was I began to ask myself because I was going downtown to the bars and everything. And it confused me because why am I doing this? Why am I enjoying this when I'm supposed to be saved? That was the prompting of the Holy Spirit. That's how it started. And that really caused me struggles right there when I began to read those Chick tracts because I kept telling myself, but I'm saved. I've been baptized. And for three nights in a row, I put my head on that pillow, and that's when that voice began to debate with me. Are you really saved? Well, yes, I'm saved. And finally, it took three nights, but in December of 1975, at 3 o'clock in the morning, I gave in. And I crawled out of my bunk and got on my knees, and I cried out to God. And he saved me, and he saved me that time. I was so excited. I knew there was a Catholic guy next door that went to Mass, and I wrote a note, meet me for breakfast. I slid it under his door, and I met him for breakfast the next morning. And remember, I've only been saved about three hours, but I'm telling him the story. He said, okay, that's nice. Since then, I've been telling the story of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's my story. And I praise the Lord for my wife, who was saved as a teenager. And you want to, right quick, you want to share your nutshell testimony? Is this all right? Hi. Talk loud. I know the whole time he's been standing there. I'm thinking no one can hear him, and I'm doing the same thing I'm from North Carolina, and I was saved when I was 13 a Girl invited me to church. She wanted to see a boy across the street from the Neighborhood I lived in there was a new church built and she knew a boy from school went there And she just wanted to go to see him I went with her, and I have to say, during the invitation, the young man, we went to see, we sat with him, and he leaned over and asked both of us, did we know Jesus Christ as our Savior? Would we like to be saved? And I said, I sure would. And so I went forward and the pastor's wife took me aside and I asked the Lord to come into my heart and save me. But I want to say this, before then for years I would go to bed, I had a neighbor who went to church all the time. And I always felt bad that I never went to church. And every night I would pray the best I knew how. That when I got older, I wanted to go to church. I was going to go to church every Sunday. And that's the only thing I knew. God, one day I'm going to go to church too, every Sunday. And so when this happened and He asked me that question, Have you been saved and would you like to be? I knew. I knew that's what I needed and I was 13 years old. All right. Thank you so much, Marty and Susan, and thank you for coming tonight. We are going to pray and be dismissed. There is an offering plate in the back if you'd like to put something in for the Basingers. Well, let's pray for them, and let's pray and close the service out, all right? Let's all pray. Father, thank you for the chance that we have tonight to meet and to desire that your program of building your church would go forward and this unique opportunity that the Basingers have to help in that ministry and to help local churches like ours. Father we are Encouraged by this kind of thing and we want this kind of thing to be before our children that they see the importance that you place on the local church and how important it is to know you and to follow you and to identify with other people who know you and follow you and people who love you people who love each other and We ask Lord that you'll help us with that. Sometimes it's very difficult But we ask that you'll help us with that and that you will by your grace change us to be more like your son Jesus Christ We thank you for your help that you do provide in Jesus name. Amen