For the Kingdom | Emaniel Brifil

Hi, this is Bernie Dake. You're listening to The Salvation Army's Words of Life.

Welcome back to Words of Life. I'm Bernie Dake. And I'm Cheryl Gillum. Cheryl, this is an exciting week, because we're starting a new series with our friend, Emmanuel Briffle, or EB as we know him. And so, to learn more about the heart of this series, EB is joining us right now.

Welcome to the show. Hey, EB. Hey, guys.

How's it going? It's so good to be with you guys today. Good to be with you, too.

Hey, man, I consider you a brother from another mother. Literally, I appreciate the fellowship that we share, and it's a privilege to be on this show with you today. And I would say that that feeling is definitely mutual. You're a huge impact. You and Major Cheryl are a huge impact in my life. And it's so good to just be able to be here with you guys.

Thanks, EB. Where are you joining us from today? I am currently in the beautiful Sunshine State in the city of Tampa. Sunshine State is Florida, of course, for those of you that may not be familiar with some of the things that we say here in the United States. But EB, send some sunshine up our way, man.

It's a little cool in Atlanta today. Tell us a little bit about this show, man. Who are the people that you're bringing to our attention? So the four individuals that I had the opportunity to just have a conversation with is individuals who've made an impact on my life and, I would say, have made an impact on their community and the Kingdom of God. And throughout this series, you'll hear conversations with Lena Marlo, with Nia Speller, Natalie Runyon, and Dr. Adley Charles, and just the way that they live their life in a sense of loving God and loving others definitely influences me to do the same thing. And I was just like, the impact that they make on my life, it will be helpful for them to just share a glimpse of their story with the world part of this show. So that's why I decided to have those individuals to just share a glimpse of what they're doing for the Kingdom of God.

That's amazing. And you know, EB, as I look at all four of these individuals, they're very different from each other, right? And this just speaks to the fact of how important it is that we have different role models within our lives, not all the same, right, that have all the same background, all the same kind of story. But these four individuals are very different and very different stages of their own walk in life, right?

That is correct. And that was part of the, I guess you could say, the point of like emphasis for me of saying, who can I have a conversation with that maybe someone, especially within our listeners within the show, or somebody who is a listener in the show, share this with somebody who's at one of these stages in their life and say, this would definitely be an encouragement for this individual who may be struggling in their walk or who may be trying to figure out where they're at, but just at different stages on their journey with their walk with God. You know, I love this format because you know, my life verse comes from Proverbs 27, 17, just as iron sharpens iron. So one man, so one human being sharpens another human being. And when we can learn from other people's experience, that gives us strength for our own journey so that we can avoid obstacles so that we can overcome challenges. And I'm encouraged by that.

I'm grateful that you're doing this kind of thing for us. Now I don't know everybody on the list, but there are two people that I have some have had some interaction with in particular, but give us a glimpse into what the listeners can look forward to in the weeks to come. Tell us a little bit about each person. Let's start with Lena. Who is she? Where is she from?

What's she doing? So Lena is a college student at Asbury University. And throughout the show, you might hear just a few different things that she has the opportunity to do on that college campus. But my first interaction with Lena was she decided to work at our summer camp. So the Salvation Army has a host of camps throughout the world, essentially.

But here in the state of Florida, it's a camp called Camp Keystone. And she was one of our conservatory counselors. So that's a group of young people who are part of our music and arts program. And from there, as she led worship throughout the summer and help individuals in a sense to grow their gifts, I was just like, this is a special young lady and what God is doing in her life. And unless you're living under a rock or maybe you're a first time listener to this show, you would know that Asbury had something amazing happen through this encounter with God where people from all over the world in a sense found themselves descending on this small city of Wilmore. And Lena was part of just this gospel choir who led worship on that morning of that first chapel. And it was just interesting to know somebody who is there and in the Salvation Army, we have a lot of our young college students who attend Asbury University who had the same experience. And I was just like, this was, in a sense, a pivotal person who God used to bring people to their knees and connect with him. So I was like, Lena, just share a little bit about what God is doing in your life and a little bit about what has happened during this time at Asbury for you. So that's one of the reasons why I decided to have the conversation with Lena. That's so good because I really do feel like God is using our young adults to speak into us as adults in the time that we're in right now. So can't wait to hear that.

It's great equipping them to lead the way. Yes, absolutely. So now you interviewed Naya, who I only know a little bit of because Naya comes from a part of the country that I used to call home. She she's from New York. And during the last couple of years, she had been doing some videos with friends that she would have around a cup of tea. Tell us what you learned about Naya and answer the question, did you have a cup of tea? So I did not have a cup of tea with Naya.

Though Naya, this is one of those weird ones, right? So Naya, I did not know was a salvationist. And so salvationists are people who are part of the Salvation Army Church in some way, shape or form.

I like to look at salvationists as anybody who helps the Salvation Army fulfill its mission to, in a sense, preach the gospel and to meet human needs in the name of Jesus Christ. And so I was just browsing YouTube as I normally do. And I was like, oh, the Bible Tea talk show. And I see this person and I'm following them and I'm watching a few episodes. I'm like, this individual is just solid.

Like, this is some good stuff. And she was being vulnerable and transparent about her life story and what God is doing in and through her life and in her community. And because of social media, you start doing a deep dive. And I was like, let me put in Naya Speller on Facebook and on Instagram just to see who this individual is, who she is. And come to find out, she was also a salvationist.

So I go on Facebook and I see the mutual friends. I go on Instagram and I see that she was part of just a mission team within the Salvation Army, a group of young adults who go out and serve in different communities. And I was just like, what a small world. So I was like, this might be an easy way to connect with her. Currently, she serves as a college ministries coordinator in the GNY division, which is the greater New York division.

So that's the Northeast of the United States. And I was just like, that's another person I want to have a conversation with just to hear what God is doing in and through her life, in the lives of young adults and in college ministries. What does that look like for her and what are some of just her challenges and how God is using her to impact the kingdom? Wow.

That is awesome. Again, I'll just highlight another young adult that's an influencer for the kingdom. And you found her in such an unusual way.

I mean, not unusual for you because I know that you're an influencer on social media as well, but man, that is really encouraging. And we look forward to that interview as well. So then we get to Natalie week three for the, for you or interview number three for you is Natalie Runyon. Give us her story. What is she about?

So I love, I love Lena and I love Naya, but Natalie is one that is literally transforming. I would say the world for God day in and day out. And I found her again through social media and all it really is was just these black boxes with words in them. And you hear so many people with just this church hurt or this challenges that they have within the church. And I don't mean the church as in just like this one specific building, but it's either people they've entrusted with their spiritual life or their spiritual walk.

And then something happens. And I think sometimes we forget that we all are humans and we all fall short of the glory of God and things happen. And that's not to dismiss what people have been through, but the same transformation that can happen in us can happen in them. So I just reached out to Natalie because just the words that she put in these black boxes, I think they resonate with so many people who are part of the church right now and some who are not part of the church anymore, but at one point in time was part of the church.

So she just has a simple tagline of race to stay and saying that we are raised to stay in the midst of adversity. We're raised to stay in the church. And that might mean another church down the road, or that might mean, but like just knowing who God is in and through your life and allowing Him to lead you to Him daily. And I think sometimes we get to a place in our walk with God that we think, well, we made it like, I know who He is.

I'm good. And there's no deeper yearning for Him, or there's no reason for me to extend my arm out to my neighbor. And she doesn't see that. And I think many people who really have a committed relationship with Jesus don't see it as that as well, that it is this constant growth of knowing who He is and allowing Him to use you each and every day. Wow. This is a series in itself.

I mean, we could do show upon show. It's not just young adults that have left the church. We're losing pastoral staff in the Salvation Army. Salvation Army officers are getting discouraged.

There are soldiers or members of the Salvation Army. It's happening across the Big C Church worldwide. And I must admit, the first thing that comes to my brain is community. The church is not, there's no magic in a building, right? God inhabits the praises of His people. He inhabits the hearts of His people. He's interested in the soul and the mind of the people.

And that building doesn't mean a thing. We bring God with us into the fellowship in a sense. And when we have community, that develops accountability and then support all the things that really help us make the world a better place. So I'm encouraged to hear that episode in particular, E.B. And now the piece de resistance for me is you brought in the doctor himself, Dr. Adelie Charles. I mean, to know this guy is to love him. I don't want to steal anybody's thunder, but I will say upon the many people that I have come into fellowship with in my lifetime, Adelie's one of the sweetest men and most committed Christian people I have met. So and Major Sherrill can do the same thing. And I know within this show, we've talked about it throughout some of the past series about, but just three big pillars that people try to walk on, especially within the Salvation Army is evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development.

And I literally see these three things in Dr. Charles. And one of the moments where I knew that he was different, I was around 13. I want to say I was 13 or 14 years old.

And because of the Salvation Army is vast, we're currently in 133 countries. But at the time he was leading a group of young people in Miami and I was just a kid growing up in Winter Haven. And he came to visit, their core came to visit our course or their church visited our church for a weekend. And he asked me where my brother was. And I told him my brother was currently locked up and he said, Hey, we're going to leave the church. Let's go to your house. And I was like, but what?

Like the person you just asked for is in jail. So Adelie leaves the church with a few of the young people. He goes to my house. He asked my mom and dad, can he just pray for my brother in his situation? And from that moment I saw that constant, I would say that consistency in his walk. And just, I was like, I want people to see how Dr. Charles lived his life and hopefully he influences others to do the same thing. And because I know the both of you, the cool thing about this story and what you're going to talk about with his influence is that you now are doing the same thing. Like this is true discipleship, right?

You're replicating what you saw him do. And yeah, I'm just extremely excited also to hear what comes out of this particular interview because you are a product of the way he lived his life and you're doing it right now. And I mean that countless individuals that I know of that you are speaking truth and you are being a discipler too.

So I am beyond excited about the opportunities that we have for these people that we're going to meet or welcome into our lives through the vehicle of Emmanuel Briffle. Thank you for doing this brother. And we hope that you will be encouraged.

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