Hey what’s up what is up everybody hello all of our amazing Hill City Family listen on Facebook on YouTube how y’all doing I feel like I feel like I haven’t been up here in a while okay I miss y’all it’s your girl Emma J from the story tellers drama ministry right here
At Hill City Church I hope y’all are doing well y’all tonight is going to be an amazing night if you haven’t known if you ain’t seen the emails if you ain’t seen the social post it is our story night number three because y’all been asking for it okay and I cannot wait for
You all to hear these Amazing Stories and I can’t wait to share with y’all but y’all know who else is in the building okay y’all know I got Marcus in the building y’all know I got leavon in the building y’all know I gotta bring up all the amazing leaders for the
Storytellers Ministry hey y’all hey hey what’s going on Emma how are y doing oh this is a little cute little situation we like this we like this it it’s going well I’m so excited I can’t believe that we’re almost at the end of the year where did
The listen I was just telling my mom yeah it’s like we’ve been busy we’ve been doing stuff like girl Leana where where the time go um that’s what I’m saying I’m I’m just trying to keep up with everything okay but yeah we blessed we blessed and you know moving forward
Uh moving forward believe it or not so Thanksgiving is right around the corner so you know we felt like with this story night what better time to be maybe the first to kind of Usher everybody into that Spirit of thankfulness which really should be a year round
Thing it really and I think maybe after you hear the stories tonight uh they’re G to stick with you so strong that this thankfulness thing you’ll be reminded that it’s not just something that we need to think about once a year but these stories and these thoughts and
Sentiments we we hope you’ll grab on to something and be able to carry it all year long because that is our theme tonight thankfulness and the way that it came to us was uh stories from the other side of a trial I listen you can’t I’m thankful
I’m thankful to be on the other side y’all you can’t always um you can’t always know like and see it and be aware of it while you’re in the midst of it but you know thank God like on the other side you can look back and see where God
Brought you from what he did see his hand in it maybe you know okay so I think tonight is going to be a very like reflective night so get your tissues okay um get your tea get your hot chocolate it’s GNA be you guys specifically didn’t put on eyeliner
Because I’m like oh you know I can cry in a minute yeah and it was amazing if you have never seen one of our story nights uh this is something the storytellers Ministry does about twice a year and we pick a theme uh we did it
Before last one was about love that was great and who knows what the next one will be but it is an opportunity for those watching and please share share share you know this is going to be something for everyone tonight we’ve got our first uh young Storyteller today so
You know the young people will want to see that and um Emma aren’t you you you got a story tonight too right listen y’all know I I didn’t pop out last time but y’all I got a story to tell this evening and I can’t wait for y’all to
Hear it so before we even get started this is an invitation to everybody watching from the north to south the East and the West this is one of our events that you can be a part of you don’t have to be here with us in Southern California you can tap in from
Wherever you are so are we ready let’s get it ready um I think we actually got some virtual you know uh members that are actually joining with us yes well you know we usually do this event live and we stream it live this one’s all virtual but we felt like we
Still want to kind of bring in a virtual story Lounge you know so we can get the snaps going even if it’s virtually so um why don’t we bring in our special just guests that are just watching today and then we’ll bring the storytellers in as
We get up to their story how does that sound yes let’s go I’m about to bring up a couple of our uh you know Snappers here hey hey sister Angela yes I’m about to bring up Sister Ali hey ready to St and then our sister Vicky hey hey hey we appreciate you being here um you know we’re going to just let you guys uh enjoy the stories and then you know know they I’ve seen all the stories
I know all the stories but that’s why I wanted just the fresh eyes will get the in the moment reactions and um you should we get started yeah how you guys doing I’m ready I’m ready for the first story are y’all ready yeah we’re ready um let’s bring I think who is
It I do believe we about to play the clip and we’re gonna see well no let’s let are we gonna introduce her after oh oh wait wait wait what we doing what we doing what you want to do Mar let’s bring Carla to the stage hey Carla girl hey Hill City
Storytellers how are y’all doing well you’re you’re a first up so let’s introduce her yes y’all so we have amazing K of BR in the building her story is called coming out of the woods in 2006 Carla you want to share anything before I press
Play um I just it I’m thankful just to be alive uh and this story is going to tell you why and uh at the end I’ll tell you one little last tidbit and that’s it there we go y’all Carla brick coming out of the woods in 20
Hello my name is Carla Brit and I am thankful to be alive I was on my way from a singing competition called Nashville star on the way to share all the good news with my co-workers and bring them back souvenirs from the competition so I was happy and
On cloud n and suddenly a lady ran the stop light and hit me on the the driver’s side and the front of the car on the driver’s side busting my windshield busting my driver’s side of my car and then slamming the car into the median which was a yield sign in
Front of the Sonic hamburger place so you know it was a lot of traffic from then on my airbags did not uh work they deflated going down to the ground and I had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life so you know that means my car was
Total and so my co-workers were alerted and half the office came to the scene including my favorite managers and my VP so from then on I had to be put on a gurnie when the ambulance came without a cushion they said that I couldn’t be on
A cushion so the ride was going to be uncomfortable because with everything that was broken which at the time they said that they weren’t sure if I had any major internal injuries so I had to be strapped down and be still with no cushion or nothing comfortable just
In case they didn’t want to injure it more than what might have been so once I got to the hospital there was no room for me so they had to actually kick someone out to have more non-emergency illness once I was placed in the hospital room shortly after my family
Came in from Pine BL which was 40 minutes away and they actually checked my brother out of school the first thing my brother discovered was that I had a bone that came out of my elbow which he told me not to look at because I may have gotten depressed so I
Never even got to see the bone that came straight out um so to break it down my injuries were both broken ribs my pinky was broken the elbow was injured Ed with the bone out and both knees were busted and so with all of that I didn’t have to have any
Surgery or be cut open everything was stitched up with what you call dissolvable stitches that means that all the stitches dissolved and looked like your skin when the procedure was over so after I was sent home my co-workers pitched in but one one in particular coworker gave me a
Surprise shopping spree and she bought me a water bed which my doctor encouraged me to have while my ribs were naturally healing because you can’t have surgery on your uh ribs so I took away out of all of this that even though that I didn’t make the Nashville star callback competition
Because I was of course injured and out of work for two months I still have my life and now well and at that time I made sure that even though the light turned green I looked both ways before I proceeded cuz I was so nervous and I even went a
Back way for a whole year and didn’t even go into busy traffic and even though at the time I wore 4 in nails for a long time and so they were all broken off but I still have all of my fingers and so since I’ve been over here
I really don’t get them done as much because I just think about how they got broken off and how painful it is so that that went away too but it still have my fingers so all my scars that I have from the accident just reminds me you came out of it and
So I am thankful to God that I am still here able to walk living breathing have all my limbs and have everything that I had when I was born basically just a little bit of scarring so I thank you Lord for sparing my life and keeping me here and to be able to
Still continue to do your work so I am thankful and have a thankful holiday and a thankful rest of the Year byebye y’all I’m bringing everybody back up Carla oh my goodness girl yes yeah so um one of one of the um the most important important things of it
All was and surprisingly was all the glass from the windshield it was in my hair all over my body and my manager said Carla nothing got on your face no glass got on your face out of all that even the shattered part like boom so she
Said that that means that God is going to use you in the future your face in the future and and I still stick with that that was my favorite M she said God wanted God wanted to save your face from getting any of those stitches and scars
So I’m thankful that that my face was spared oh I I does anybody have anything to say about that it’s just like God did brought you out oh my God yes yes I think so it’s such a um it’s such a relatable thing it’s something
That we all deal with I mean in fact one of the stories coming later I won’t say who is about a car accident and we treat these things like so common but it’s just like amazing to me the way God will use just common everyday things to point
Your attention back to him you know what I’m saying and um you know I I it’s it’s easy to sort of get lost in like oh well it’s just something that happens accidents happen life happens but you know life also ends and you know you never know in one of these moments the
Jaws of life having to cut you out like that that’s something about yes that was scary cuz I was pinned in the car wow yeah they couldn’t even open the door so so if it like caught on fire or something I would have been in trouble if it caught on
Fire so quick question Carla like do you remember anything most people that get in those accidents they say that they don’t remember they just remember waking up in the evening are or something like that so what was the last thing that you remembered oh actually I’ll remember everything because I remember my manager
Was so I was I’m always number one in the company like as far as like making phone calls so he said caller what day is it he asked me what make sure I was conscious and you know still there I said it’s you know it is uh June the 12
2006 he says okay so you you you still have your your memory no but in moment in that moment like oh in that moment yeah I I remember I thought I thought I lost everything like I I was so numb I thought my I was going to be paralyzed I
Remember that I thought I was going to be yeah because that my knees were busted because it just literally like slammed into like the uh headboard I thought I was paralyzed in that moment I was like what am I going to come out having and all I know is blood and
Glass and airbags didn’t flate I I said I’m not going to have my legs out because I could not feel my knees the only thing I felt was the back because it was so uncomfortable but I couldn’t feel my knees at my knees were so numb I remember it like it was
Yesterday well you still here you were still here and it’s good to hear God yes testimonies I’m telling you my cousin has a testimony um when she was around 12 she got well my one cousin passed away in the accident and then she got flown down in the trench and slid down
The side of a tree um the side of her face did get messed up or whatever but God spared her life and she’s a great woman today so it’s just so inspiring hearing what God can do so right yeah and um you guys who are are listening if you relate to these
Stories let us know in the comments like if God has spared you from an accident um drop it in the chat you know we want to praise God for uh your deliverance as well thank you Carla good job thank y’all yes see yeah y’all we a lot of people are in the
Comments they’re saying praise God it’s literally a lot of Praise Gods glory to God and oh listen we here we are here y’all we gonna keep it moving I told y’all get your tissues ready okay I told y’all that our next story is Alexander I think you’re there I think you’re there Alex
The great I think I think he’s here hello oh wait there we go we didn’t hear you hey there you go how you doing I’m good how are you guys I have a question how does it we’re gonna show your story and it’s a very
Moving story but you know um how do you feel about just you know being our first young Storyteller like this this uh to me just um do you feel like kids your age have stories to tell somebody might say yeah you haven’t even lived life yet what’s your perspective on
That so I feel like kids should be able to have the opportunity to speak out on different opportunity I mean different um life things that theyve gone through thing that things that they have experienced um doesn’t matter how old you are if you are able to articulate it
Correctly and you and you remember it then go for it and if and if you find the right opportunity then like share it you never know it could change someone’s life amen Amen well listen we gonna go ahead and play it here we go we have Alexander the Great Getting By the way thankfulness thankfulness to me is the feeling of being grateful for something or having something that makes you feel happy and when I was was about 2 years old my
Dad had a really bad life-threatening surgery which left him in a wheelchair for about a year and took him about 8 months to recover thankfully he was able to recover successfully but to this day he still unfortunately has complications from this surgery and about 3 years ago my grandmother unfortunately passed away
And all I could do was just think about God why’ you take her from us why why why and now I see it as an opportunity to Rejoice her life and be thankful that I had the time that I did with her and I had the time to spend
With her and I’m grateful and thankful that she was in my life cuz most people don’t get the opportunity to meet their grandparents or even you know be able to sit down and have a conversation with them and that’s those are just two of the things that
I’m very grateful for another time is Last year my dad had cancer and he had to go into a surgery which nobody told me about I just all I knew was that he was going to Long hospital stays and doctor’s appointments every week and nobody told me anything I felt left
Out I felt like everybody was keeping a secret from me and when I was finally told that I had he had cancer I broke down I couldn’t stop thinking like why did they keep this from me they shouldn’t have kept it for me they should have told me they should have
Told me but now I see it as I’m grateful that they didn’t I was still dealing with the loss of my grandmother cuz she was one of the most important people in my life she was somebody I knew I could go to and talk to her for hours on end
Without thinking about anything else and when he came home from the surgery all I knew was fear because he had tubes going in and out out of his body and he was on treatments every hour every other hour or he had something to do that to keep him stable and he was just
Weak but after a month he was able to get rid of it take off all the tubes and he was well again and I used to say God why’ you do that to me why’ you do that to our family we could have lost him and
Now I see it has God thank you thank thank you for getting us through this thank you for getting us through everything and I’m just grateful that my dad was here and my mom was with us to keep us together to keep me together cuz I would have broke down every night
If it wasn’t for my mom being there for me to comfort me to talk to me for me to talk to her and I wouldn’t have enough words in the in the dictionary to express how thankful I am for God that have been in
My life and for me to be able to accept God into my life and whenever I think of the word thankfulness I just think of God and how the that word is just a meaning for non non sadness and non- depressing so Happy Thanksgiving everybody and God bless you
All he man am man God bless Alex Oh I want to say um listen does anybody have any questions topics conversations I just think that for being such a young a young kid I’m going to call you a kid um for being so young
And to go through all of that and to be able to um be comforted you know by your mother and be able to articulate kind of what you’re feeling shows a lot of growth it shows a lot of maturity for you and I’m so grateful that you’re able to like
Focus on the good memories um and be an example for other kids your age because you know there’s a lot that you guys go through and you know those secrets to I remember you know my dad had also kept um a diagnosis secret as well and did
Not tell my sisters or I for a long time and you know you do you wonder like why why didn’t you guys reveal it and you understand that it’s because they’re just trying to almost protect you from having to have that worry and and and other you know that doubt and that fear
But praise God because he worked he turns it all around and you absolutely um have an angel on your side so praise God thank you for sharing thank you you know you know it’s a blessing to be so mature at at early age um I think I was sort of like that
Myself because I saw things as they were and I knew that you know this is not going to always be like this it’s temporary so I commend you for that because you got to know what you’re dealing with a lot of people are walking around not even spiritually mature so
Thank God U for your testimony yeah and I thought um you know he’s actually on point with some of the stuff we’ve been talking about in uh with Pastor the idea of Getting By The why you know that was something that Pastor said I can’t remember if it was
The midweek or the Sunday uh service recently so you know that we all sort of um grapple with oh why did you let this happen or why did you let that happen and so to hear you kind of say you know you move I used to question why why why
And get to the point where you’re like I’m just thankful for this that or the other is just uh really amazing thank you Alex testimony thank you for your honesty and being vulnerable and you know what very thanks for giving me this opportunity yes um y’all gotta tune in
He’s uh he’s gonna be featured in our Christmas program so we’re the storytellers Ministry is putting uh Alexander to work [Laughter] thank you thank you for giving me this opportunity yes good job of course sister Shar said beautiful testimony it definitely was thank you so much y’all we actually got a little tree
Okay not only do I have a video but Marcus has a video as well yeah I think you do I think you do do you want to say anything before we play the video I I think you know this story speaks for itself it is um I mean
It’s some years ago but it was a very powerful moment in my life and it’s something that still kind of drives you know the way that I am connected with God and um I’ll just let you listen we’ll talk after he there we go here is our brother
Marcus fulmore the here in after there’s so many things that I could talk about with regards to thankfulness but there’s one particular moment that stands out Above the Rest because it was the one time in my life thus far where I heard the audible voice of God and some 28
Years later it Remains the most transformative experience I’ve ever had it was my senior year at Northwestern University and I had a lot going on I had projects to make as a film major I worked at a local breakfast restaurant I had pledged Kappa Alphas saai a year
Earlier so I had those fraternity responsibilities and I was the artistic director of northwestern’s africanamerican theater Ensemble or a a as it was more commonly known on top of all that I was in my fourth year with nce the Northwestern community Ensemble our student run Gospel Choir I had seen
Them when I visited Northwestern as a prospective student so when I arrived on campus nce was the first extracurricular I joined we rehearsed on Saturday mornings and Midway through rehearsal we take a 20 minute break and for 10 of those 20 minutes one of our student chaplain would speak a word of
Inspiration a devotional of sorts honestly I didn’t do much praying or reading of the word on my own back then and so that time honestly represented the core of my spirituality so devastated doesn’t even begin to convey how I felt when after a whole quarter of preparation I was
Informed at one of those breaks no less that I along with a few others would not be permitted to sing at the fall concert the following day the rule was that if you missed three rehearsals you couldn’t sing but by my count I ADM one when a a had a Saturday afternoon
Show at the same time as rehearsal and I missed another when I flew to DC to go to the historic Million Man March with my brother that was two that’s when I learned that the last minute rehearsal that they had added for the night before was made mandatory so missing that made
Number three but that rehearsal wasn’t even scheduled until 2 days prior how can you make something m mandatory with such short notice I argued the fraternity I mentioned we had had a step show that Friday night which like the choir we’d been preparing for for months
Was I supposed to just leave my brothers high and dry I felt it was unfair I felt it was personal perhaps at a different moment in life this exclusion wouldn’t have hit me so hard but this blow came after a particularly trying season in my
Life the rock bottom of it all being me somehow losing my backpack somewhere on campus now as a college student my whole life was in that bag the modern equivalent of losing that backpack would be losing your cell phone without having anything backed up on the cloud there
Was no backup for that notebook where I had handwritten a worth 40% of my grade writing assignment that was now due within days on top of that I was broke yeah yeah I had that job but I also had a habit of collecting my paychecks in the backpack’s front pocket and not
Cashing them until I really needed the money well now I really needed the money and the bag was gone and the checks along with it so coming into nce rehearsal that day I was desperate for some encouragement but instead I was hit with another another disappointment I don’t quite remember
What lit the match but there was something different in the atmosphere that day during devotional we started with corporate prayer as we usually did but the spirit just took over before I knew it we were all crying out to God in a way we’d never done no longer a choir
Rehearsal this was a worship service I found a prayer corner and just forgot about everyone else and just let the tears flow I asked the Lord why why it seemed like everything was going wrong how could he allow me just to go down like this and that’s when I heard it I
Heard the Lord say I brought you here so that you would know that I was with you all along I didn’t know what it meant but hearing his voice took my breath away I felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and immediately stopped crying only to start crying again moments later but
This time tears of joy that God had counted me worthy to speak to in that way eventually we all calmed down and we were able to finish rehearsal the next day I toyed with the idea not even going to the concert and protest but I went I watched someone else sing what should
Have been my solo but somehow found peace with it but the true power of what God had spoken would not be unlocked to me until the days after that concert a week I’ve come to call my Miracle week I was walking on campus that Tuesday when someone whose name I did not know
Stopped me and asked Marcus did you get your backpack apparently they knew my name and that my backpack was in the lost and found at the Student Center center now mind you I I’ve been there looking for it twice and now it had just shown up
And by the grace of God everything was still inside it except for those checks the bag’s front pouch was unzipped and empty still no matter I was just happy I didn’t have to redo that writing assignment but God wasn’t through blessing me sitting in that dining hall
The next day a friend walked up to me and hands me one of my checks where did you get this I asked he explained he was walking near the library and just noticed it stuck up in some bushes over 8,000 students on this campus and the
Person that happens to pick it up just happens to know me it doesn’t end there on that Friday I went to the black student affairs building where a a had an office and there waiting for me in our mailbox were the two other missing checks now I never learned who found
Them or where or how they knew to drop them in that mailbox but I tell you everything that I lost had been restored it was then that I understood what those words meant when God said I brought you here he wasn’t talking about that rehearsal room he was talking about
That place of Brokenness and pain and loss and when he said so you would know I was with you he already knew he was about to restore everything in such a miraculous way that it would leave no doubt that it was his hand at work you know the other thing that this
Season taught me was to never again allow my connection with God to be tied up in some outside entity cuz a church it can reject you a pastor or Prophet May disappoint you and yes a choir can sit you down but I learned that when you get to know the father personally you’ll
Never find yourself on the sidelines I’ve learned he’s with me all along and for that I am thankful we gotta hear the snaps y’all we gotta get a snaps I wna jump in and say the bushes beautiful the bushes I made a comment myself this a
Nothing okay I had to went on I went on Facebook myself okay it was it was just really so amazing and I I um I’m thankful for the opportunity to tell this story because it really when I really just meditate on it I it just like hearing God like that it’s
Something that will just keep you going and become sort of the foundation of uh belief and I just you know I I hear the internal voice of God but not like I heard it there it was the audible voice of God and you know to see the
Turnaround just was like I still get uh you know just like heartbeats faster when I think about it but yeah this is this is uh I it was kind of this was November I think by then when we had the fall concert right before Thanksgiving so you know uh we’re right at the
Anniversary so it was not only in the bushes it was like in the bushes after a snow so it was like little snow and the checks were purple so maybe that’s how they were able to see you know but that somebody walked up to me and the just
Like handed me this check and I don’t know God is good all the time is yes sister Vicki do you have any any questions comments about Marcus’s story it’s amazing story oh my God you know God will restore won’t he do it yeah it a great story
Great and I think you know I I talk about that I stuck it in there on the end but it may be the more important piece of the story just the fact that I really was I mean that was my church you know this Choir in that time was
So just I needed it every week to go there and you know plug in and it sort of gave me lowkey permission to not worry about God the rest of the week you know I’m doing my thing but I plugged in and had that so it was very devastating
To feel and and I didn’t really elaborate on there was this sort of lowkey um you know being a fraternity member with these church churchy choir members who didn’t really see uh black Greek life as anointed and sort of so you know the and I I actually years later confirmed this because I’m
Still friends with one a person who was in the inside at the time and we hung out he came to town he was like the co- president or the musical director and he was like yeah they didn’t like you and and I found out I felt like it
Was targeted like because there was just a couple of us there was like I’m a Kappa there was like one uh uh Sigma and there was one that was it but you know thank God for um you know for for just a personal relationship Yes Y’all we are so
Amazing yeah oh what happened no I said his face was t but he never gave up hope he always kept the faith no matter what he kept it no amen that’s right yes they get some more snaps God these stories have been so amazing tonight listen I
You know I had to get in on the good on the story on the thankfulness story so we’re gonna go ahead and play a story by me and it is called back on the go hey what’s up y’all I’m I’m Emma J and this is my thankfulness story woo
Child ever since the world has gotten back to normal after the pandemic I am always on the go I mean the phrase we outside was definitely made for me okay from producing events and dinners to shooting commercials to seeing my family in the Carolinas and my friends in
Atlanta oh shout out to hotlanta I have been going nonstop for the remain of this year being that I have always loved being on the go my car is very special to me I mean it is a place that I’m able to change clothing okay y’all I get a
Good outfit change and I can get into it and go wherever I want I got a new car in 2021 and boy oh boy I’ve had no accidents in it ever since this past summer okay it seemed like my favorite mode of transportation was on its way to being my least favorite okay
Here we go during a trip back to Atlanta I was coming around I20 and suddenly a tire came from underneath the car in front of me and boom y’all I heard a loud thump slow my car over to the far right lane I was able to pull off about
A mile down the road and found out that my entire bottom of my car was scraping on the ground okay it took a whole month to fix I was able to get a rental car that I didn’t really like because the tire pressure light kept coming on like
What is wrong with these tires I missed my car so much but I had to be thankful that I was safe and that my car was not total okay on the day I picked up my car which I was very excited about I was headed to North Carolina for a family
Event I told y’all I was on the go now about halfway into the trip I ran over something else that’s right this time I actually saw the object that fell off seemed what like a workers’s truck but there were items in both lanes they seem
To both be able to mess up my car so I stayed in my Lane to avoid swerving in another Lane and ran over the item I was able to drive off the exit and found that my tire busted and my left Fender was bent the one that I just got fixed a
Family stopped to see if I was okay because they got hit as well and then I received help from a city trucker who cleans up the highways in accidents along the way I was so thankful that he was just in time because y’all know how long triple Lake take after those backto
Back incidents for a while driving seemed not fun anymore I made sure to lower my music pay attention to any and everything on the road and I slow down my driving I mean you supposed to do all of this so make sure y’all do it I just
Had a fear that I would get into another accident but eventually I had to realize that anything can happen at any time and I can’t be afraid to drive I was still here and I am still okay I’m so thankful for the little things like car insurance
To rent a car cell phone a call tripa no matter how long they take strangers to pick me up and just to check on me and God to protect me these days I’m still on the go but I’m opting for planes and trains now no sense of putting my car
Through any more possible scarce this year oh y oh child let me tell you Emma well I can relate okay it’s like wait a minute that sound almost like my story I didn’t really realize I remember an accident but back to back oh my God
But God girl back to back the devil be mad the devil be mad when we come through it okay but God sustained us and made all of it possible to rent a car just you still been able to do your thing so oh my goodness but God is good
Yes he is that was a trying month I uh with this group like that car you you had a car Leana had cars coming at her uh left and right one rolled on you didn’t it didn’t it uh well oh my God okay I almost died I made it out of that
And then 30 minutes later some guy hit me on the freeway see the devil was mad he didn’t kill me so he like okay okay I made it out of that that situation it took a long time uh oh see uh oh she didn’t went out
See the devil do it again he don’t want her to tell the story stories but um literally wow see y’all that’s why we gotta say pray it up man stuff just trying to trying to take us out hurt us and our motive and this it’s crazy thing bringing it back to drama
Ministry Leana we didn’t hear you but I was Say drama Ministry we got to go to our audition the strike is over we back we gota we got to get to the auditions okay the Lord keep us protected Leana you dropped out on us we heard about the
Last car that um can you hear me now yeah okay well anyway I made it through it so yeah it was a lot it was uh I was discouraged but you know I had people praying for me uplifting me and I’m made it through I’m here so I say praise God
Yeah now we are all here for sure um like you were saying like you know um as an actor I’m on the road a lot and you you you will make that uh car an office sometimes like a I say a green room sometimes because you know you’re
Waiting to go do whatever you know guys during the pandemic I actually because full disclosure for me like I don’t have a good time writing at home right it’s very difficult for me so my my custom was to write in a coffee shop so pandemic hits coffee shops were
Closed and then when they were open you couldn’t go inside you just had to go to the door they would give you your little coffee so I I ended up I ended up going outside I would drive my truck to a local Starbucks that had pretty strong
Internet so I could park outside there was a little shady spot I would sit in the back of my truck I had this little piece of wood that I could put on my lap and it made it made come on off for M I
Had my uh sear in the back seat the uh little divider has a nice little cup holder in it it’s very comfortable to fit your arm right there and that was my office I if I could park up there open the windows little air flow coming through and I was just
Like yes I we have to be Innovative and I love it I love it we might need to do like Flashback Friday pandemic stories right even even after the pandemic it was a while I was like why would I leave my car office it’s just better this is working for me okay
Yes oh y’all but we G to keep it moving we actually have one last story thank y’all so much for sticking around with us it has been an amazing amazing storytellers drama Ministry story night night number three we’re talking about being thankful for everything and for
Some reason we got a lot of car accidents okay Lord y’all keep us in prayer when we in our mode of transportation amen we have a amazing Leana coming up girl do you want to say anything before we get into your story which is actually our last story of the
Evening uh let’s just roll it let’s roll it y’all keep the comments rolling we’re about to get into Lana’s story Saturday August 14th 2021 now Uber had become my full-time job because the year before the pandemic it took my professional career in theater now anything with live interaction in person
It was out of there it was gone but Uber was considered essential and and I was I was grateful because you know it was all I had right then at the time and God had blessed me through the Uber platform in numerous ways I was ministered to through some of my writers
I ministered to writers I even brought life into this world Yes you heard me right I delivered a baby of one of my passengers in the back seat of my vehicle now I know you want to hear the story but I’mma have to save this story for another story night on this
Particular night I did something that I never do ever I accepted a trip that was over 15 minutes away like longer than 15 minutes to go pick the writer up it took me all the way from downtown Long Beach to Carson just to pick somebody up and
So as I got to Carson I pulled up on the street in front of the building I didn’t even know like what it was but the pickup address was 305 West torren Boulevard and two gentlemen walked down and they were very pleasant they introduced themselves and the guy that
Sat opposite of me in the back seat introduced himself as Pastor guy Reeves immediately as we were driving off Pastor guy Reeves said do you have a church home and I was like no you know but I have been looking for a church home and I’m interested and finding one
Because I had really been longing for that fellowship and just finding a place to belong and so he was like um are you familiar with his City Church and I was like no I’m not familiar and he was like well do you know dietr hat and I was
Like I love dietr haton and he giggled and uh he might even said well I love him too I don’t remember but um he was like it’s his church and he was like their church has been around around for 6 years and before the pandemic they had been moving from location to location
And now they’re finally in the sanctuary that they’re going to be at until they decide they don’t want to be there no more and he was like but I want to invite you to church so I was telling him how I love dietr Pastor dietrich’s music and that I used to watch preachers
Ever but I knew and I didn’t want to like say it in a way to be like rude but I knew that I was not going to visit Hill City Church and I was serious about it and it was because I never want to go to a church
Based on who the person is or someone’s celebrity status now don’t get me wrong on preachers of LA Pastor Dietrich was my favorite so much so that when people used to come for him I’d be like oh no that I mean I would be like in the TV
Like you get them okay so no Pastor dri was my favorite it’s just that you know you going to church to have a personal relationship with God to get closer to God and fellowship and learn more so I begin to tell pastor guy um this story U
About some years ago and one of my friends used to try to get me to come to his church all the time he like well you didn’t visit a couple of churches before you should come to my church you know but his church was Antioch in Long Beach
Which is under um pastor Wayne Cheney Jr who was also on preachers of LA so when preachers of LA was out my friend was like oh you know he’s an actor too and he was like oh you want to come you should come you know they might be
Filming and and I was just like um it made me question why I was even friends with this person to even think that I would come to your church because they filming maybe possibly filming like no uh sir I will not be coming to your church I didn’t call him sir but I’m
Just saying like um I don’t even think I talk to that dude no more but anyway I was kind of like telling Pastor guy this story kind of like in a nice way of being like well and he was like um well don’t worry about that he was like well
I’m inviting you I’m inviting you he said but that’s good I like the fact that you want to go to church to to earnestly seek the Lord you know and I I was still like trying to like make excuses like well I got to work you know
I was like because actually this was really going to be my last weekend out working because theater was back my job was back my career was back and I was like you know I’m an actress and he was like oh you an actress so uh I was like but yeah like you know
I I’m just kind of go be out tonight making money and and then you know next week I gotta go I’mma hit it you know we going into a month-long production so and he was like you know nice about it he was like okay okay you know he was
Like but the invitation is still open so if you want to come just you know tell them Pastor guy reev sent you but I’ll be there we talked a little bit I dropped them off at their hotel and I went about my way and I’m working and it
Was like maybe it was shortly after I don’t even think it was like 30 minutes after I had dropped them off God spoke to me and God said go home now I knew that it was God but I I kind of was sitting there like I didn’t like it like I
Didn’t say nothing like I didn’t know but I knew because I was in awe because I was just couldn’t believe that God was speaking to me because God had not spoke to me in years okay God used to speak to me all the time but because of my
Disobedience and all the stuff that I had done God just stopped talking to me and even when I would be like God I don’t hear from you no more I always knew God was there but God had really completely just stopped speaking and this time he said Lavana go home and prepare for
Church and I obeyed and then the next day on that special day which would be August 15th Sunday 2021 I was in the house of the Lord 305 West Torrance Boulevard in Carson the first day that the doors had opened since the pandemic and uh the glory of God God was
In the sanctuary and I left that service that day not knowing that I was going to join that I was going to become a member like that was not even my goal but it was just like just a overwhelming power that had just came over me and I knew
That that I was called to Hill City Church he used the man of God Pastor guy Reeves as a vessel okay God knew God knew that Hill City Church would be a catalyst to to um bring me to have like a closer more personal relationship with him God
Knew that I needed that Fellowship you know God knew when I would be at odds with my family that Hill City Church would be my family God knew that when I put my theater career on on hold for the ministry God knew that the drama Ministry would fill that void you know
God knew that the Youth and Young Adult Ministry me being a teacher that it would heal me from the inside out as I shareed my testimonies with the youth I’m just so thankful that I belong to a church where the pastor and first lady had has balance I’m so thankful
That I finally belong to a church where I can be myself I’m so grateful for the fellowship the true genuine friendship Sisterhood Brotherhood I know this is right right where I’m supposed to be I know and um I’m just going to say it you know 10 toes
Down I’mma ride for the Lord and Hill City Church period you better Ride yeah you can dve for Hill City Church too you know going with the theme of the story oh my goodness Lana that was literally the perfect story to end out on get your thought on me or everybody else L say you give us give us a little a little
Bit then we’ll you know go go on and do a little r i me like can nobody tell me nothing I know for a fact that I was called to Hill City Church and a woman a young lady had prophesied to me like a few weeks before that and basically told
Me like this was going to happen like you going to meet somebody that’s going to introduce you to a place that’s going to change your life and she was just like I know this is not all you do I had picked her up you know she was one of my
Writers and she was like um I just feel like you do something else like what do you do like you’re you’re like arti like you know like a artist I was like I’m an actress she was like oh you know I was tell so she was like oh this is a
Networking job for you she was like you’re gonna do a lot of great things not knowing that a whole bunch of blessings had already occurred so I was like yeah I know it’s where I’m was supposed to be yeah and I wouldn’t have guessed it seems like you’ve been part of this
Ministry for far longer than the time that you’ve been here because you just fit like the glove you know you’re you’re there well hey yep I mean it’s been what a little over two years yep and it’s family I remember uh around that time but I heard
This story from you personally so I’m glad that you’re you know letting everyone know here but I remember when you just started coming and I heard they invited you you you seem kind of sure at first unsure I mean when when I came oh
When I came and you met me I was sure you were you were sure and then you said you had a you know your project or whatever and then you would come back and let me tell you I was always looking for you yeah because it was and I know God
Ordered those steps because this would have been the last weekend that I would would have been able to go because I was already signed for a contract to start rehearsals the following week so I was able to come but soon as that show was over and the first lady called me and
She was like I was just checking to see when you was coming and I was like oh wait I’m actually done with my show and I’m coming this Sunday so it was just like God was just you know strategically placing you know it on people’s heart
For lady to call me and I was like she called me and I’m actually going to church tomorrow tomorrow I was like I’ll be there tomorrow and and I was there and she was like you made it so yeah and I I jumped in five shows in but then
I was like something is missing so I was just like Lord I know this what you want me to do whatever you want me to do I’m a sacrifice and I’m not saying like oh I really did just kind of like say Okay I want to move in a different direction
You know um I will step back from theater to have a closer Rel relationship with you you’ve been blessing me and um so here I am and he’s blessing me now you know getting work so in the direction that I want to go in so I’m just
Thankful Yes Y’all it has been an amazing night but before we wrap I want to hear from our amazing Village of people who are here to watch our virtual story night listen the question is what is something that you are thankful for this season and sister Vicky let’s start with you
What is something that you’re thankful for this season I’m thankful for life I’m thankful for health and strength I’m thankful for going in the right direction um when she was telling her story I can relate because Pastor E was trying to get me to
Go to church for a whole year and he was saying the same thing don’t you know diet C and stuff and I was like uh yeah well I don’t know but it took almost a year and I was going through some things and I said you know I need to go to
Church I need I need prayer and so the church was on Central and I went there and the first day that I went there um they were Whispering something in his ear and saying something to him and so um they called me up and I was like why
Are they calling me up and he said Pastor said so you I heard you sing so you sing he said here sing something he gave me the mic and I started singing um his eyes on the sparrow and um I went back and I sat down and so Pastor was
Saying you know anybody need prayer but he was saying anybody want to join the ministry want to rededicate their life to Christ I didn’t hear that part I all I heard was prayer and I ran I was the first one down there and when I got there he says
Do you accept Jesus Christ as your lord and personal savior I said yes I know the Lord I he’s he’s my savior and he said well this is for people who never accepted Christ and he I said oh I said well I heard you say
Prayer and I came down he said’ do you have a church home and I said’ no I don’t he said would you consider joining Hill City would you let me be um let me be your pastor let me cover you I said well I I guess I said well okay I’ll
I’ll try you know I still did it still didn’t connect dri C it still didn’t connect and I was there for about um about four months almost five months I started singing in the choir the praise team and this young lady named uh what’s her name j Janice
Janice we were learning a song After the Bible study that night and uh we was learning um um I don’t know what you come to do uh watch me Praise Him rather and so I was like um what song is that I was like um who who wrote who who sings
This song So Janice Jan uh Jan Janice you know who I’m talking about um J yeah she said you don’t know who you don’t know who wrote this you don’t know who seen this song and I was like no she said your pastor and I was like oh okay
So I pulled it I pulled it up and it was like uh I learned the song but when I left church and I went home I started looking him up and I was like oh my God this is the man that was on the preachers of LA because I used to
Watch the preachers of LA and I used to always say I used to like him you tell them you go get them I was rooting for him and Dominique because of their story it was just such a beautiful story when they got married I cry to have my tissue
You know it was such it was such a beautiful thing you know and I used to always say I want to be under a leadership of a pastor like that and I wasn’t in no church I left church in 2012 and I said until I find a pastor
That I can be under the leadership and I could be myself and I can grow I’m not joining no churches I would go visit churches but I never joined Hill city was the first church that I joined but during the process of being there I didn’t realize who he was until she said
You don’t know who you you don’t know who s this song and I was like similar thing I went home and looked him up I was like oh my God you know so you got to be careful for it because you will get it you know so I’m glad that I didn’t know
I you know God Blocked all that from me so that I wouldn’t know who he was because I needed to get in a church not because of who uh somebody is or their celebrity status I needed a personal relationship with God I needed to get back in touch and I needed to grow
Because I was broken when I came you know even though I smiled I was broken so I’m thankful um for Hill City because since I’ve been there I’ve really grown and Pastor is a phenomenal pastor and I’m so thankful to God that he led me where I’m at today amen
Amen I was just commenting on that common theme like the ability to be yourself I thought was you just said that and that was in Lana’s story so I I think um you know that’s a blessing well yeah I was at you know you you come to church it was like
Oldfashioned you know you wore the dresses below the knees you know that kind of thing we’re at the end of our time so we gotta let let’s get this quick wrap up yes we actually we actually have Alex back with us Alex I’mma bring you up so you can you can
Answer our last question of the today y’all we are coming to the end of our storytellers Ministry our question is please say something that you’re thankful for in this season and keep it nice short and sweet Alex what do you thankful for in this season so something I’m thankful for
This season is just family in general and being great I’m I’m mainly grateful for the opportunity to be able to even say hi or uh morning to my father in the morning to be able to have the chance to hug him and even just just
Be in his presence because I I very well could have lost him several times on several occasions but God kept um kept her in his through in his arms and he kept he got us through it and um now I’m able to say good morning say good night
And just be with my dad every day amen amen amen sister Ali what are you thankful for in this season I am thankful that I did not give up um it was a tough season for me um not only did I get laid off but I found
Out I had a Graves disease in the same month and I’m just grateful to God that he just gives me the stamina that I need to keep going and then to keep on Reinventing myself and going forward so that’s what I’m grateful for yes sister Angela what are you thankful for in this
Season well I am grateful for the blessing in the block because this previous spring I was scheduled to go to Atlanta for a conference and I had booked my ticket and then my return ticket and I was like okay let me tell my friend what time my flight is at and
I couldn’t find a ticket and it turned out that there was an application pending for a a Housing Opportunity and they called me and they were aware I was going to travel but the woman said well unfortunately you know since you’re out of town we do need somebody to we we
Do need you to come here by the end of the week and sign the lease agreement and so I told her I was like well actually something happened I didn’t have my ticket I’m not in Atlanta so turned out I ended up making the trip from the Bay Area relocating to the Los
Angeles area and I finally have my first Christmas tree in a long time because I went through a season of what was of years of being displaced um so I think it’s been like five years since I really kind of have been able to celebrate and feel whole around this season so I’m
Extremely grateful that I can um just you know be with family in this season and you know we are with the family we choose as well and so I’m just grateful for this um this blessing um and the blessing in the block yes I love it thank y’all so much
For being our amazing Storyteller story night audience thank y’all so much listen Marcus LV y’all we had a time this evening okay we had a time we did we did what are something that y’all are thankful for in this season before our story tell this drama Ministry heads on
Out okay well I’m thankful for life for health um I’m thankful that God has restored my family and I’m so grateful for great friends um and great ministry uh the church um yeah uh that’s all I got right now I’m just thankful for everything I I’m gonna say my family it is just
Like that’s um it warrant saying you know we do we can get to a place where we take it for granted I mean my health my strength but everybody every family and friend that speaks um life into me because you know you look around and
There’s a lot of people that do not have that do not have the support network and the che the cheerleading squad that I know I have so I’m thankful for that and I’m G say the same thing family for sure opportunities coming left and right so just thank you for that but oh
Definitely a thankful year okay 2023 try to take us we’re here okay man listen today was great do y’all have any last minute words any any we got any housekeeping rules I mean listen I hear there’s a church plate on the way well yes I hear there a Christmas plate
There’s absolutely that that’ll be Christmas Eve so you know be sure to tune in we’re live gonna live stream our Sunday morning service Christmas Eve you’ll see some of the faces that you’re seeing tonight uh and our Christmas uh play and that’s why I’m going to just
Open up the opportunity if anyone wants to support what we do uh in the Hill City storytellers Ministry um you you’re welcome to donate uh tonight we’ve got our ways that you can give right there there it is and um you know you you can just notate this is for the storytellers
Because we want to see more of that type of programming and we can put it into the Christmas play you could probably use a couple dollars for the Christmas play so we’re just so grateful any support and um just and and grateful for the support of just sharing this you
Know sharing these stories let people know what we’re doing that’s all I’ll say yes well that is all I have to say thank y’all so much and have a great rest of your night from hosting Emma thank you so much thank you all right love you guys bye by night see y’all
source
