Soul Food
Soul Food
The Fast of Daniel: Becoming the Body of Christ (Day 21)
Can a life transformed by faith inspire an entire community? Join us on the latest Soul Food podcast episode where Bishop Joshua unveils the Universal Beyond Bars (UBB) prison ministry's expansive outreach. The Children's Biblical Center (CBC) charms us by teaching Bible principles to children via crafts and interactive activities, including a moving story about helping a child overcome bullying through prayer. Then, the Teen Power Group (TPG), focused on adolescents aged 11 to 14, impressing upon them the character of God. Caps off this segment by discussing the Youth Power Group (YPG) for young adults, navigating the turbulent waters of social media and peer pressure while emphasizing the significance of a Christian lifestyle.
Witness powerful testimonies of overcoming addiction and resistance to guidance, evolving into roles of mentorship and support. We also spotlight the Caleb group, dedicated to senior members, promoting health, activity, and companionship. Church assistants play crucial roles, offering visits, spiritual guidance, and creating a welcoming environment for all. This final episode of the Fast of Daniel series concludes with an introduction to the Universal Church Prison Ministry, showcasing the unwavering dedication of its members to saving souls, including those in prison, and a heartfelt prayer blessing all the groups and their noble efforts. Join us and be inspired by the passion and commitment that drive these incredible individuals.
Now streaming on all major podcast platforms, edifying your mind, body and soul. We welcome you to listen now to Soul Food with your main host, bishop Joshua. Here we are always ready to share a word of faith. Unpack powerful testimonies and divinely inspired music to enhance your faith. Walk, feed your faith wherever you go.
Speaker 3:Quench your spiritual hunger, give the food that lasts forever. Here on the soul food podcast. © BF-WATCH TV 2021. ¶¶. Hi there, may the God of the Bible bless your life.
Speaker 3:The Holy Spirit comes for a person to serve the Lord, for a person to be able to be God's servant. I have the servant of God here. They are all serving the Lord, are all serving the Lord. They are not serving an institution or serving the church, but they are serving the living God, the one who saved their lives, the one who gave to them the Holy Spirit. The scripture says Jesus said go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Once a person receives the Holy Spirit, the next step is to give, because the Holy Spirit is a giver. I am here representing the UBB. That stands for Universal Beyond Bars. It's the prison ministry, but this ministry has many other activities and many other groups that we cover, all AIDS. Let me start here by talking to Erica. She is the responsible for the CBC, the group of the children. So, erica, hi there, tell us what CBC stands for.
Speaker 4:CBC stands for Children's Biblical Center. We receive the children from ages 18 months to 10 years old, and when they come to the CBC, we're introducing them to God. Some of them are so small, um so, and we do that by uh, having classes with them. We craft tools with them so they can understand the bible in at their level you said understanding the bible at their level.
Speaker 3:Yes, how do you cheat the? How do you cheat the bible to the kids?
Speaker 4:so we have, we, we make our craft tools for them and we do go with the Bible verses and we break down each and every Bible verse. For instance, last week we learned about not keeping things in your heart and we actually drew our bishop, a big heart with Jesus name on it, and we posted things on the heart such as cellular phones, media and stuff like that things that kids are susceptible to keeping inside of their heart maybe a gift that they got from their parents to be able to clean their heart, to be able to make space for Jesus.
Speaker 5:I am Jesus Christ. I was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. I am the Son of God, I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life. No one gets to the Father except through me.
Speaker 5:Are you a hero I am a hero because I came as a baby, lived a perfect, sinless life. I died on the cross for your sins and rose again three days later so that you might have eternal life with me in heaven, and that is the good news so you are teaching them, uh, how to have jesus inside of their hearts?
Speaker 3:yes, taking care of the children, the bible school. Tell me about one of the situations or problems that you faced with a little one um, so we've had um.
Speaker 4:Sometimes the children um come and we have a moment at the bible school where we're telling the children to speak to god and ask god to help them. Um, and some of them do say that, um, they have problems at school. We had a child one time that was facing a bullying problem at school. Um and you, we spoke to him about it and he did when we did the prayer. He did ask God to help him and he believed that God would help him.
Speaker 3:Amen. So as the children grows up, graduate which group?
Speaker 4:So when the children graduate from CBC they go over to the TPG group TPG TPG. Yes. Okay for the TPG group TPG TPG yes.
Speaker 3:Okay for the TPG we have here today. Ashley With the TPG. Hi, ashley.
Speaker 7:Hi. So the TPG group standing for the Teen Power Group. As Ms Erica said, once they hit 11, they come into our group, starting from 11 to 14. And basically the purpose of our group is to teach adolescents not only the word of god, but for them to be born of the word of god so they can have the character of god in them and not the character of the world all right from tpd they go to they go to YPG.
Speaker 3:YPG. And for the YPG, I have here Pastor David. That is our youth pastor.
Speaker 8:Yes, sir, how are you? I'm well sir.
Speaker 3:Well, yes, sir, but you are not that young to be the youth pastor. Oh, my God. So you are the youth pastor? Yes, sir, when we spoke about CBC, you have been there.
Speaker 8:Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:When we spoke about preteen. You have been there. Yes, sir, Now you are the youth pastor, but you have been to these phases.
Speaker 8:Yes, that is correct, sir. I've been through the CBC phase. I've been through the cb, the cbc phase, I've been through the tpg phase and now I'm teaching those who are young adults, those who are now facing much more mature um situations, you know, like the ones that we, we, we have. We have those who are trying to figure out how they divide themselves from the world. We're trying to teach those who may have issues with friends and leading them.
Speaker 3:What are the problems that the youth nowadays because of this technology, internet, social media? What are the problems?
Speaker 8:that you have encountered, facing with the youth. A lot of them, sir, a lot of them. We get a lot of problems such as, you know, oh, I want to listen to worldly music, I want to listen to this person, that person, but I cannot find any type of music that's also Christian. Or, you know, I want to take this type of picture, that type of picture like my friends take, but it shows like half bodies, it shows skins. So we, we get a lot of those things and, you know, we, we have to teach them that they can still, you know, be themselves, but they can do it in a godly manner. They could do it still by showing off the things that God gave them and giving value to themselves.
Speaker 3:So did the lessons, the teachings from CBC and the preachings help you.
Speaker 8:It helped me a lot. You know, even I myself I had my rebellious phase, you know you don't look like a rebellious You're always smiling.
Speaker 3:Really, oh my God.
Speaker 8:Oh boy, yes, you know, I did have my rebellious phase. I did have a moment where, you know, I didn't want to listen to my brothers and sisters. When I was in CBC. You know, when I was running around I ate as much candy I didn't know how to balance myself.
Speaker 3:So your problem was eating candies.
Speaker 8:In CBC, in CBC. So you got hooked to candies.
Speaker 3:Yes, you were addicted to candies.
Speaker 8:Just want to stress that I was in CBC, in TPG, you know, disobeying my mom sometimes when she would say something as simple as turn off the TV. You know, get away from the computer. You know I did have those moments where, in all honesty, I just wouldn't listen, I would just want to go about it myself. And then the young adult phases where I was still trying to figure out myself, you know, if doing the things for God was really for me, for me, or if I could do the things of the world.
Speaker 3:Now you are the youth pastor, helping the youth. Correct, sir, I have good news for you. You like good news? Yes, sir, Okay you, my friend, from CBC to TPD, to youth group, and you are going to Caleb. Since you are going to be in phase. Your next step is Caleb group. That is correct. So, Pastor Waldo is the pastor of the group of Caleb. Yes, sir, what group of Caleb stands for?
Speaker 9:The Caleb group is the group for the seniors, Bishop, for those who are in the great age. It's the group that we aim to help those who reach 50 years old to get through these steps of life that they are going through now as they got older. So we have programs with them to take care of their health, to teach them to take care of their health, to avoid being deceived or fall for scams. We help them with activities. Many of them they've been so lonely at home or they don't have a family support. They don't have anyone to talk to, anyone to spend time with. That comes the Caleb group, where we have programs for them to do arts and crafts we do teachings about. We have officers that comes to give classes to them, not just to entertain them but to help them to get through the days.
Speaker 3:So just like Caleb in the Bible.
Speaker 9:Yes, sir Caleb, he said, though I am 85 years old now. The same strength that I had when I started is the same strength that I have now. So age doesn't mean that someone that is getting older has to get sick, has to be weak, has to be down, has to be unhappy. Not at all. You can be happy. You can be strong, just as you were in the CBC or TPG or youth the CBC or TPG or youth.
Speaker 3:You can be strong, that's right. You see that we have many groups and also here by me, I have Mrs Wandra and Mr Ernest. They are the helpers, the assistants, the ushers of the universal church. That's the assistants. So, ms Wandra, what's the assistance? So, miss wonder, uh, what's the tasks, or many tasks, of the assistance in the universal church?
Speaker 10:well, bishop. Uh, there are so many, so many tasks in the for assistant, we aid. We aid the youths, we aid the, the souls that come into the church, the new people. We go out, we make visits, we tend to the people inside the church, see to their concerns, their cares, their welfares. We do so many things and we are like a left and a right arm to the pastors and the bishops. We assist them. You know, sometimes you're not able to go out and make a visit, a house visit, but you'll send us in your place to make sure that that person knows that they are part of our family, that we do care for them and that we're there to help them and assist them. And we also assist spiritually to the people. You know, we edify them with God in their life. So this is basically some of the things that we do.
Speaker 3:And always welcome to the church those who I need.
Speaker 10:Always. We don't the universal church. We are different. We are not better than anyone else, but when our doors are open, everybody is welcomed through the doors. We don't care if you're black, you're blue, you're yellow, you're pink. Everyone is welcome through these doors. Come as you are. We truly live by God's word in the Bible. Come as you are and we will welcome you with open arms. We're there to listen to your problems, your cares, your concerns, and we're to help you spiritually to grow, to grow in the presence of God, so that you'll be strong to move forward.
Speaker 3:So the Universal Church is open every single day. Mr Ernest, how long have you been an assistant?
Speaker 11:Bishop, it's been a year and a half now.
Speaker 3:Year and a half.
Speaker 11:Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:So and you are able in the church to help those who are coming, how do we welcome them to the church?
Speaker 11:Yes, I have to what Ms Wander said. I remember myself when I first came to the church I was welcomed. I felt. And if you listen to everybody that came to the church they would say when they first walk in the door they felt welcome. Nobody judged them for who they were or they looked right. They feel welcome. So I extend that gratitude to the newcomers to the church. When they come in in we assist them, because people come into the church with all kind of issues, right, and they need help. They come to get help. So you navigate.
Speaker 3:You have them to navigate around the church to get that assistance well, um, let me share with you the price for this service that they rent. They are going to go. Tell us now how much they charge for all this work that they do. Erica, how much do you charge to take care of the babies, the children?
Speaker 4:I don't charge anything, Bishop.
Speaker 3:You don't charge.
Speaker 4:I don't charge anything. All I want is for the kids to come and to be able to learn and grow in the presence of God.
Speaker 3:Anybody here charge, give me the price of God. Anybody here charge, giving the price a place.
Speaker 4:No, it is free, it's free, it's free, free, absolutely free Free.
Speaker 3:Nobody charge.
Speaker 4:No zero.
Speaker 3:You spoke about that. We send the assistance to do the house visit. When you go to somebody's house, how much is the visit?
Speaker 10:Okay, so when we go to someone's house, it's free, absolutely free. I know you can't believe it, but it's free, and we go because that person is suffering.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry. You say you can't believe. Why don't people believe?
Speaker 10:Because, like I said in the beginning, we are different. We're no better, but we are different and we go out to the. We do what Jesus wants us to do. We go to the highways and the byways to save the souls. So people don't believe that because other places don't do that for the people. We get calls and say I belong to a church, but can you come and make a visit? And we go. Whether it's rain, it's snow, sleet, hell, we are there for the souls.
Speaker 3:We do not charge for Funeral service, for the Lord's Supper, for the work they do for the youth, for the kids, for the preteens. We do not charge for even for the weddings in this church and we do not charge for the water baptism. Talking about the water baptism, miss Melinda is here. She's responsible for the baptism group. Yes, bishop, tell us about your task.
Speaker 12:Okay, my task is to, when someone baptized is to leave all life behind and walk with Jesus. So the baptism stands for to leave behind all life behind and then stand up and walk with Jesus.
Speaker 3:Okay, and what do you do? How do you prepare the people for the baptism?
Speaker 12:Okay, when they come, I speak to them and then prepare them, explain to them if you know today, do you want to be baptized? What for you want to be baptized. If you decide to be baptized, so we don't push a universal church, we don't push nobody to do what they don't want to be baptized. If you decide to be baptized, so we don't push and universal church, we don't push nobody to do what they don't want to do. We explain what we going to do. If they decide to do so, we continue to do it.
Speaker 3:So it is free and free will. Free will, no charge, no charge. And the person that wants to be baptized give his life. This baptism happened in prison. When we baptize, we baptize people in the church, but also inside of prison. They made, they heard the word and they decided to give their lives to God. And maybe you say I want to be like these people, I want to serve the Lord. Well, you can come to the Universal Church. Everybody can do something for the Lord. Let me now speak to Ashley. That is helping us also in the group that we call the soul winners, who are the soul winners. So in us, she's going to explain to us and everybody can join us in the Universal Church also to be a soul winners. Hi, ashley hi Bishop.
Speaker 6:so the soul winners I'm a part of the soul winners, but I would say it's the main ingredient of the universal church. It is what the pastors and everyone else, the assistants, they emphasize that we are to save others because we are saved. So we go out on Saturdays especially, we evangelize and we are there and I know, like with me, when I first went out, I wondered what am I going to say to these people? So, typically, what I say I tell them about my testimony. I tell them that everybody here on these streets, they have a testimony to tell about the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for us and so once we have experienced what God has done for us, we're to share it with others. We're not to keep this to ourselves. So that is what soul winning is about. You start here and you also. It goes on. Everyone here at the Universal Church is a soul winner.
Speaker 3:For some people that do not know, as you said, so witness. And you said you go to the streets like the street ministry. What do you do outside on the streets?
Speaker 6:So you give out newspapers, and in the newspapers is really encouraging words of the miracles that you hear about in the Bible. It actually happens here at the Universal Church. So you hear other people's testimonies about the goodness of Jesus.
Speaker 3:So do the pastors pray on the streets. Yes the pastors. I'm sorry, I thought they would pray only in the church, inside of the church, the building.
Speaker 6:No, sir, they actually pray on the street. So anyone that comes, you can actually receive a prayer, and not just a prayer, but you can actually stay continuously in touch with us by adding your name to the prayer list and we call you up, we follow up with you, check on you and you write down actually what you want that prayer for. So is it healing? Is that family issues? If it's finances, and then it just goes from there.
Speaker 3:We stay in contact with you throughout thank you very much so you can be part of this ministry. Maybe you are asking what can I do to be part of this ministry? The UBB is the prison ministry. They have introduced themselves, the groups, what they do. The Universal Church is a non-stop ministry and everybody can also be a part of this work. A part of this work.
Speaker 3:Right now we are going to pray. Go to one universal church, speak to the pastor or those who are in prison. When you leave prison, join us, let us save souls. We are going to pray together right now. Let us just put our hands together. Close your eyes, please.
Speaker 3:Oh God Almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, I pray now for all the groups of the church, from the CBC to TPD, from TPD to the YPD, from YPD to Caleb group assistants and the Caleb group Assistance and the baptism group. I pray for those, your servants, for the soul winners, for those who are Giving their time, their lives, not for money, for a paycheck, but for the passion Of the souls. And also I pray that you may use Dispersa on the other side. You may use dispersa on the other side, lord. Use dispersa also to be your servant, to serve you, to save souls to your kingdom and, yes, we will go into the entire world to save souls and make disciples. In the name of the father, the son, the holy spirit, jesus name, amen, praise god, amen. That is the showdown of faith, a show of less talk and more power. You can also be a servant of God. Thank you very much, folks, for coming here, for helping me to explain more about the Universal Church. God bless you all. Have a good one. The End.