Interview with Jaiden Green - 2306

SPEAKER A Jesus worthy Revelation twelve, verse eleven. And they overcame him by the blood. SPEAKER B Of the lamb and by the word. SPEAKER A Of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death. Welcome to by the word of their testimony, and here is your host, Kaysie Vokurka. hello and welcome to the program. So glad you've joined us today. And today we have a special guest with us here in the studio, Jaiden Green. It's great to have you with us again, Jaiden. SPEAKER B Hey, thank you so much, Kaysie. It's a real privilege to be back here on such a nice yeah, yeah. SPEAKER A We've been wanting to be able to have this interview with Jaiden for a while and we've finally got the day pinned down. So it's going to be great to talk together and have you share a bit about your experience of what god has done in your. So, first of all, I just wanted to ask you a bit about your have where have you grown up? Are you from locally here around Sydney or something? SPEAKER B Yeah, so I've grown up here in this Lake Macquarie area for my whole life. I was originally born in Wahroonga and I moved up to Lake Macquarie Area when I was about five and I've been here ever since. It's been really awesome. I absolutely love it here. SPEAKER A Nice. You love the area. I was born in Wahroonga too, so that's fantastic. Familiar place. Yeah, it's a beautiful place to live and grow up. SPEAKER B Yeah. Very blessed. SPEAKER A Yeah. And so tell me a little bit about what your family background is. SPEAKER B Sure. Yeah. So I come from a small family of about five of us. Got a mum and dad and a younger brother who's about 21 and a sister at university who's about 18. SPEAKER A Oh, wow. SPEAKER B Yeah, just a small family and we all just live here in Lake Macquarie. SPEAKER A Yeah. And you're Australian by heritage and nationality and everything. Yeah. SPEAKER B Okay. No, really good. SPEAKER A Very nice. So growing up in this kind of environment, obviously beautiful location, were you brought up in a Christian home? SPEAKER B Yes, so I was brought up in a 7th Adventist household and went to Tabitha school from a young age. Went to church, went to Adventist school from a young age. And yeah, it has been a huge blessing. It's been a real blessing. So very happy with all that. Couldn't ask for better. SPEAKER A So how has that kind of background shaped the founding part of your walk with God? Because obviously we all come into the world and we have different exposures and experiences around us and I guess it's our choice how we respond to that. So what did that look like for you? SPEAKER B Yeah. So that was a really solid framework, a biblical framework that's taught me how to view through the world. But only until at one point in these type of environments of upbringing does that faith does that experience have to become your own. So there is a point where it stops being the faith of your parents and it becomes your own faith. And so I reached that faith point around 13, okay? And that's when I could firstly say, this is no longer the religion that I just do because I'm here because my parents have brought me, but now this is my own. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's a really important point you. SPEAKER B Make, making it your own. SPEAKER A It is, isn't it? Because I think there's a saying, which probably you've heard before, and probably others have too, that God doesn't have any grandchildren, he only has children. And it means that it has to be a very personal that's it real connection just between us and God. And obviously, parents sort of fill that gap in our really young period of time as children. But then as you grow, then it has to change and expand. SPEAKER B Well, as you said, parents, they give you the framework, they send you to the right school to take you to the church to give you that biblical framework. But at one point, you do need to make that your own. And I do praise God for having that upbringing and having that basis to start off in life. SPEAKER A Definitely. Yeah, it does give you a good foundation, doesn't it? So tell me then, a little bit about what that journey looked like for you, because I know that it's very different for all different people. So sometimes people can have a real rocky road coming to that point of really getting that one on one connection with God. Other people seem to have it more smooth. So what did it look like for you in those details of how you firstly were starting to reach out for that more close connection with God and making it your own? What did that process actually look like for you? SPEAKER B So the whole journey so far up until that point had been relatively smooth. It was just a very consistent, stable household, no major issues for many years. It was a real blessing to have that consistency and be able to grow in a very safe and stable environment. So from a young age, I believe God has been working on my life from a young age, and it's all praise to God. Nothing of my own credit or anything, but I do remember from about the ages of seven or eight just always being very interested in spiritual things. From a very young age, just being very, very interested and wanting to do my own research. And I remember I was on the train once and I was sharing the Bible with the person next to me and I really had no idea what I even said. And we just had a great chat and that was a real highlight of me. I don't remember what we talked about, I didn't even know what verses to share, but I had my Bible with me and I just had this great chat with this Muslim guy next to me. SPEAKER A Was that when you were young? SPEAKER B Yeah, I was about seven years old. Seriously, that's one of the only the earliest instances I remember. But it highlights that I do really believe God has a plan for me and he wants me to use my life in service for him. There was that. And then from the age of ten, I distinctly remember desiring to one day grow up and be a church pastor. SPEAKER A From that age, you had that vision forming in your mind. SPEAKER B That's it. I really looked up to some of the older spiritual role models in our church and school community and I really looked up to them and I thought, I want to be like that too one day. And over ten years later, here we are. I'm learning to do that myself. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. So you definitely kept with that vision and direction in your overall life trajectory. So were there any, like, you just mentioned how that you looked up to some of these spiritual leaders, obviously not only in your family circle, but in the church as well? Was there any in particular that had a real impact on you? SPEAKER B Absolutely, the school chaplains. This is the real blessing and benefit of being at a Christian school where they invest in the spiritual well being of their kids children there. And I was at Avondale School just in Lake Macquarie here, and we had about three chaplains, I think, at that time, and all of them really invested in me as a person, as a young person. They took the time. We would spend lunch together. They'd do Bible studies with me. And we had that really good connection. And I really owe it to them for their time and commitment and love for me, someone who's just learning in life and trying to figure out that life. They were there to step in and gave me a lot of guidance. And I think I really owe it to them why I'm here today. Really all praise to God for putting those people in my life at the right time. SPEAKER A So they were able to give you, obviously, spiritual support, but even just like, probably emotional mental support just for you at that time of your life, where you have questions you're seeking, you're figuring out yourself, who you're going. To be. And all of these things, they were there for you as kind of mentors. SPEAKER B For you just as a friend, as an older friend. Beautiful to journey with you on that little part of life. And it's such an enormous privilege now because now I'm at a mature age, I'm able to go back to the same school and mentor and be walk alongside some of the next generation who are in the same position I was well over ten years ago. And it's just a real privilege and blessing that God's allowed me to step in and just walk with them for that little bit of time of their critical teenage years. SPEAKER A Yeah. And it is such a critical time where I think every young person needs someone there to support them and just to help guide them, really, because there's so much at stake. It's such a critical formative period of time, isn't it? SPEAKER B It sure is. Yeah. And that's the time when I made my key decision through God's power, he helped me make this key decision to make that faith. Not just the faith of my parents, not just the faith of the church, not just doing the external forms of religion, but having that inward desire to want to follow God for myself. So that happened at the age of 13, actually. SPEAKER A Okay, so you've kind of described how you had these mentors, this chaplain supporting you, and a family dynamic was also really supportive. Were there any key experiences that also came through this time that impacted you about how real God is to you, or that really triggered that pivotal point of decision in your mind? SPEAKER B Sure. I was baptized at the age of twelve, on my twelveTH birthday. SPEAKER A Oh, wow. Birthday present. SPEAKER B Did Bible studies for a few years and then got baptized special day. And then the next year was the first year of grade seven. And that's a rough year for everyone. It really is just a rough year. Everything's changing from you're changing school, like going to the high school, your body's changing, your mind's changing. Everything is just changing. And it's a really rough year for a lot of people. They really struggle. There's all sorts of issues. It's just that really critical time between 12, 13, 14, where yeah, it's just a really critical time. And I really remember this one thing in particular. I was looking at my own life, and I was a little bit discouraged because I honestly didn't believe that God really had much in store for me. Really? I had a look at my life and I thought, well, look, I've lived in the same area my whole life. I've been to church every week. I've been to church school. There's nothing crazy, nothing wild, very consistent and boring. Just an average Adventist childhood experience. And I got really discouraged about that. Obviously, it's my own fault by taking my eyes off Christ and looking inward and not really feeling like you're measuring up to anything. And I read the stories in the Bible about these amazing conversion experiences or hear the testimonies, whether it be school chapels or at church camps, about all these amazing stories where God's taken messed up people and suddenly twisted that mess into a message. And now they can share that message and say, this is what I've done, and here's where I am right now. And quite unfortunately, at age 13, I was looking at myself and I'm like, well, I haven't done anything like that. I don't really have much of a story. What major experiences has happened in my life. Like, nothing to share, absolutely nothing to share. And basically at age 13, just a year after being baptized, I really didn't think God had a testimony in my life worth sharing. SPEAKER A Wow. Yeah. SPEAKER B So basically what happened was I was at a crossroads, my first major crossroad in life, where it's the first year, grade seven, and a lot of changes are happening, and there's a lot of new distractions and new temptations out there. You can imagine all the issues and stuff, and then you've got, well, God's done something in my life so far. Am I going to keep going on this trajectory? And I remember distinctly I was at a crossroads in my life. Part of me wanted to stay in the church and do what's right. But the other part of me is like, well, maybe I need to go out there and experience a bit more of the real world in life before being able to before God can do something great in my life. Yeah. The first year of high school was a huge shock. Many of the friends I grew up with at church had drifted away had drifted away from God. Like just the pull of the even. SPEAKER A That young, even that young, straight, early high school. SPEAKER B Some of the major challenges, as you can imagine in high school would be like, sport and body image, pornography, video games. These are the main issues that are affecting identity. These are the main issues that are affecting our young people. And praise God, he kept me from a large amount of these things. But definitely the temptation was there to I was at this crossroad in my life, and I remember for a number of months, Kaysie, a number of months, I was really bothered by what to do. And I know, looking back now, I can see God was working. And I praise God so much for this day. But I remember for months thinking about, well, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? And I remember at lunchtime, I'd just be by myself for a little bit, just walking around deep in thought, what am I going to do? What should I do? And I remember distinctly one day, I was 13 years old, one of the best days of my life. I remember it just like yesterday. I remember I was standing outside the science room just at school there, and I'd reached my conclusion, and I just looked up to heaven. I said, Lord, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here in your church. I'm putting my trust in you. And I know that You've got a plan for me. And looking back, Kaysie, it was the absolute best decision of my life. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B Best decision of my know it doesn't mean the journey's always been easy and stuff, but praise God. Like, he's kept me from a huge amount of evil, a huge amount of baggage, a huge amount of bad decisions and choices. He's guided me from making that decision. He has guided me for years since that time and has kept me and here I am today and I just give all praise and glory to God for working on my heart to make that decision, to follow Him and not make that detour out in the world. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. So that's an amazing thing that you have experienced because I think there are many people who would be able to relate to your situation because you grow up in a church environment and everything Christian environment and yeah, conversion or what it means to have that relationship with God may not be such thing. That's so an incredible jaw dropping kind of story, do you know what I mean? And many times people do wrestle with those thoughts that you have, which is along the lines of that what do I even have to share? Is it even worth sharing my story when it seems just so mediocre? The fact that I think most of the dramatic stories tend to be from people who have turned away from God and then come back. SPEAKER B Sure. SPEAKER A But it's something that's quite amazing to see someone say, hey, I'm not actually going to do that detour. SPEAKER B Well, all praise to God, but one thing that they don't highlight in some of the big conversion experience stories is they don't really highlight just the amount of baggage that you have to deal with. Yeah. Wow. There's still a lot of baggage if you live a life in drugs and stuff, yes, God can free you, he can free all of us from addiction and sin, but we still have to have the scars. We still carry a lot of those scars with us. And I think that's something that wasn't quite highlighted. But if there's anyone listening out there who is at that particular decision or crossroads or thinking about maybe potentially taking that detour out, I would highly recommend not. It's absolutely not worth it. Really. Looking back from now, from ten years ago when I made that decision. I just give all praise and glory to God that he has kept me from a huge amount of evil. And I pray for my friends who didn't quite actually make that exact same decision, when a lot of them are they're just not happy. Their lives are just unhappy. SPEAKER A They're still dealing with the consequences. SPEAKER B Absolutely. SPEAKER A It really highlights the fact that sin may look innocent, or going and doing things that God has told us not to do may seem harmless the way or at least Satan would like us to see it that way initially, but it highlights that it brings consequences whenever you go astray from God's ideal. SPEAKER B Reminded of the forgotten the reference. But in the book of Proverbs it says there is a way that seemeth right to a man and the end thereof is death. In other words, we can choose our own path that we think might be right. But ultimately, if God's not guiding us and leading us, then the end thereof is a tragic end. SPEAKER A Yeah. So I want to just dig a little deeper with that pivotal moment of yours. What was the kind of reasoning going on in your mind that led you to say, no, I'm going to stick with it, I'm going to stay with God? Were there any sort of things that you had learnt about God or experiences or stories that you had heard of that kind of were key in motivating you to choose one way or the other? SPEAKER B Sure, yeah. There was a few things actually, Kaysie. The first of all was, I think of the words in I think it's John, I think it might be in John, the words where Jesus talks to his disciples and he says, a lot of people were leaving Jesus at this time. A lot of Jesus disciples, they were not happy with his teachings. They thought it was a bit too much. John, chapter six, actually, okay. They thought it was just too much and they left. And Jesus turns to his twelve disciples and says, are you guys also going to leave me? And I think it was Peter, he said, to whom should we go? Where else should we go? Lord, you have the words of eternal life. And so I take that and apply that to my situation back when I was 13, where one part was all these good, wonderful teachings in the Bible and Jesus and all this good things, and the other side was it just didn't really compare, really. It just didn't really compare. Where else would I supposed to go? I could see even without going out and living a wild and extravagant life, I could just see where the trajectory of some of these choices could potentially be going and it just didn't weigh up for me, that ultimately was the one that it just didn't weigh up. Now the Bible says I think it's Mark 836. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? In other words, what does it profit someone? Should they gain all these experiences and do all these things and visit all these places and do all these things if they're not connected with Christ? SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B Once again, I give all praise and glory to God for allowing me to have that connection and for working on my life so that I could choose him at that young age. SPEAKER A That's awesome. So basically what I hear saying is that you were able to look at the two choices and just weigh it up according to what it's worth, and you perceived more value in staying with the truth and with God than with going the other way. And you thought, well, if you go the other way, then as Peter put, where do we go? There's no one else who has the truth, the ultimate thing, the thing that's worth everything in life. That's the most sensible investment. SPEAKER B From an internal perspective, I should have a disclaimer in here that this doesn't necessarily mean that the journey has always been incredibly smooth. Since that decision, there has been a number of times. And for the listeners listening out there, I have to stress the importance of keeping your eyes totally fixed upon Christ, because when we take it off, even for a moment, we immediately begin to sink. And I'd like to say, Kaysie, that from 13 onwards, I had that consistent, full on, Christ focused experience. But there was a number of times during my teenage years where I would take my eyes off Christ and not be as fulfilled as I could have been, should I? But you know what? Every single time I came back to God, I found that he was waiting and willing to accept me with open arms. And that's the power of God's love. It really is. The amount of times we fall and we make a mess of it, he's right there for us. I think of Proverbs 20 416 says, for a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. And I give all praise to God for being that true and faithful friend, that when we depart from what's right, he does his best to will us back to Him. And when we come back to Him, we confess our sins. It says he is faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness, all our self inflicted pain, all our bad decisions. He's there for us. And I really hope the listeners out there can just get that from my story, that he's there and that he's very patient with us. SPEAKER A Yeah. And I guess it highlights the fact that even though you may choose to stay, it's still a journey, isn't it? It's still a journey of growth. It's still a journey of yeah. It has its ups and downs. And the beauty of it all is that God is with us in the midst of it and he's always there for us to turn to as we are learning to have that consistent, close walk with Him all the way through, which is really encouraging. SPEAKER B Looking back over the last ten years of journeying in life, I can highlight where things have gone wrong has been from a lack of faithfully doing prayer and devotions. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B Yeah. So choosing to disconnect yourself from God by just being distracted either with the things of this world or just letting life get in the way of your time with God, it's a sure way to be unfulfilled. SPEAKER A Wow. Yeah. So you're mentioning about prayer and devotions, was that something that you formed a habit of early in life? SPEAKER B It was praise God or praise to God? Absolutely. Yeah. So from when I was about grade six, I was about 1213. I was in the habit of praying for about an hour a day, actually. We had a very close relationship with God and spending a lot of time in His Word. And obviously, as life got a little bit busier, I neglected that a little bit more. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B But definitely from that young age, and it has been really good. SPEAKER A And I'm imagining that in your home, did you have things like family worship and that sort of dynamics happening that would have even as the early years, you're having this principle of devotion to God as part of your everyday life coming on board. SPEAKER B So not so much family worship every single day, but definitely on a Friday night and Sabbath and stuff. We have a reading. SPEAKER A Nice. Yeah. SPEAKER B And my mum was really awesome. She always check in to make sure we're doing all right. And remember a number of times where I wasn't reading my Bible very much at all. Mum would say, hey, you haven't seen you're reading your Bible much, you're doing all right. And it was just that gentle prompt that's like, yeah, I need to get back into this. SPEAKER A Yeah. So it sounds like that. And it's very interesting because the home dynamics are really important and really pivotal in shaping your perspective of God and everything like that. And it sounds like your home situation was very warm and supportive in terms of just not coming down really hard, but just coaxing you and sort of encouraging you in that direction of following God. SPEAKER B We are a very independent family. In other words, we're a family unit, but we do do our own things and stuff, but definitely having that support from Godly parents and most of all, really, from the mentors and stuff at school, talking about Godly. People that you connect with at church and connect with at school, it's those people because that's where you spend most of your time, most of my teenage years. Most of your days spent at school. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B And it's those people there that I. SPEAKER A Really have to owe for the influence that I have in your life. And that's so encouraging because people like in those roles can, I think, sometimes feel like, oh, am I really doing making an impact on people? I mean, I know my husband's a school teacher as well, and so he has often come home and question, he's like, is my influence really worthwhile? How much are you really having an impact on people just in that everyday, I guess, run of the mill workday at school. But the fact that you can testify from your experience that, hey, those role models had a huge impact, they really did. And as you say, you spend so much of your life, it's in that environment, so that's a lot of time to be influenced and yeah, it's very encouraging. SPEAKER B It's a real privilege to be able to just stepping back. I get to go back to the same school now and do Bible studies with some of the kids there. It's such a privilege. I was privileged to share a bit of my testimony, which I just shared with you at my local church there. And I was connecting with some of our young teens afterwards and just saying, hey, did that sense? Did that make sense? Did that relate? And a lot of them shared the exact same sentiment. A lot of these kids had grown up in very similar environments in a very constant Christian household and they hadn't really had much anything happen to them like any major events or this or that. And a lot of them shared with me the same thing. We didn't think we had a testimony, but praise God, we can see that we hold on, that we can hang in there and God works something out. And my actual favorite Bible verse I thought I'd share with you is Philippians one, verse six. It says, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B And I love that Bible verse because that's basically my story. Confidence is not in my own ability. I don't take any credit for anything good that's happened or that I do. It's all. Glory to God. But he started that work from a young age. I just stay faithful to Him and through his strength and his power, stay committed to Him and His Word and he completes my faith and takes us on the journey he'd like us to be on. SPEAKER A Nice. Yeah. I guess for you, you feel like it's an experience that's just steadily moving forward, steadily moving upward, closer and closer to God as you're just going through your life experience and yeah. Holding on to the promise that it's God who's doing the work in us, isn't it? It's not about us. It's all about, as you said many times, that it's about keeping our eyes on Christ absolutely. And on his power at work in us. And I think also just keeping focused on how good God is, isn't it? SPEAKER B Absolutely. That's another big thing that's been a real blessing for me is when I get discouraged and when I get sometimes we all get overwhelmed, right? We all get discouraged or overwhelmed. I remember one few weeks ago, I was feeling very overwhelmed with just everything happening. I remember I was just lying in bed, I was just thinking and I thought, you know what? I'm just going to start listing off as I drift off to sleep, list off all the blessings I can possibly think of, starting with obvious things like house, car, food and just getting more and more specific. And after a few minutes of doing this, I was just so filled with peace and happiness. SPEAKER A That's awesome. SPEAKER B And I was like, what am I stressed about? Look at all these things that. God has blessed us with so much. When you really stop to think about it and actually count your blessings, it's just incredible how much God has blessed us with things that even 100 years ago, people didn't have half the stuff we have now, and we're so blessed and so comfortable. That's what I like to do when I get overwhelmed or discouraged. Just take a minute off. Just list off some specific blessings. SPEAKER A And that helps you to shape a new perspective, isn't it? SPEAKER B It puts it in perspective. Okay. Is your problem as big as you think it is? No, it's not. Come on, you've got this. Just take heart, focus on Christ and keep going. SPEAKER A Yeah. There's so much to do with what we focus on, isn't know. Our whole feeling of our mindset is so easily shaped, just depending on where you put your focus. SPEAKER B I think of the story in I think it's Matthew, where Peter was walking on the water. He's walking on the water. As he was coming out to Jesus, jesus called him out onto the water to come walk to Him. And as he's walking along the water, the text says that he noticed the winds and the waves, and he just diverted his eyes a little bit, and he started to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me. The text says, immediately, Jesus reached down and grabbed him by the hand. It's like, wow, he just diverted his eyes. And the big lesson for us is to keep our focus grounded upon the cross. SPEAKER A Absolutely. Yeah. No, that's so true. And that's a lesson that you kind of have to be reminded of many times, don't you? Different life circumstances seem to push us in different ways, and then you have to say, oh, okay, I have to learn how to focus in this situation. Now. It's a constant journey, isn't it? But praise God for his goodness to us in leading us all along the way there. Yeah. So how did it go for you? Obviously, we've talked all about this key point where you've made the decision, and certainly that's shaped your trajectory since then. You've stayed on that same path, you've stayed on the same vision to a large extent. Yeah. Obviously, little ups and downs along the way, but you've stayed pretty much on track. So what would you say is I guess any other key things that have happened since then that may have encouraged you or reinforced to you in your direction, especially in terms of your ministry? Because you've headed in the direction of being training to be a pastor and you're very passionate about any kind of work that is helping people to have that close walk with God. Yeah. So what kind of things have shaped that along the way? And has there been anything that has made you question, do I really want to do this, or have you really just been encouraged more and more in that path. SPEAKER B One of the big things was still in high school. In grade eleven and twelve, my best friend became a Christian, baptized Christian through, I believe, just as God put someone in my life at that young age, god was able to use me through his alter, his glory, to walk alongside who's now my best friend, to become a Christian. We were at our local church together and we're still hanging out even seven or eight years later. SPEAKER A That's a blessing after all that. SPEAKER B And I think that really was a real blessing. Just I can't describe it, really. Like our friendships on another level now because we're united as brothers now through Christ, we've got that in common with us and he's now witnessing a light to his friends and his family. So that was a huge blessing. SPEAKER A So that kind of solidified in your mind, the fact that being in this kind of ministry where you're serving God and helping others to get to know Him, that is so rewarding for you to be in that path. SPEAKER B It truly is. It is so rewarding. And it really just affirms that this is exactly what I want to do. Basically. It comes down to that verse again. What does a profit a man if he gains the whole world? Like all these other career paths out there, and I respect all of them. It's just for me, I feel God has put on my heart to serve Him in full time ministry and to walk alongside people. That's what I want to do. I want to walk alongside people even if even if they don't have a life changing experience through my efforts or anything. But if I can just be there as that supportive person, just like someone was when I was 13, I'm happy day is complete. SPEAKER A Good day. SPEAKER B Good day. SPEAKER A Yeah. And it seems like God has been, I guess, shaping your life experiences or bringing you into these different experiences that are supporting you in that direction, in that you've felt different aspects of the ministry. You felt like, what it means to be supported by someone ministering. You like the chaplains at school. You've felt what it means to be just witnessing to someone casually on the train as a seven year old. And you've experienced also a friend giving their heart to the Lord. And that closeness that you now feel like all of these are different elements that you would be experiencing as part of your role in someone being a minister full time. SPEAKER B This year actually has I was doing some thinking a few days ago, this year has actually been the best year of my life. SPEAKER A Is that right? SPEAKER B Really? SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B And one of the best reasons for that is I'm very, very blessed by God to be employed by my local church to help out a lot in the church, but also to walk alongside a lot of people. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B So I can do Bible studies with some of our young teens at that critical age, connecting with people in the community, running a Friday night Bible study group specifically for non Christians. Yes, that's it. And it's just been a huge blessing, just walking alongside people and connecting with them and doing life. And I think that's one of the biggest things that it was a real growth experience from being in a very sheltered, consistent household to suddenly a lot more out in the community and meeting people who are from totally different walks of life. That was a big shock. But I give all praise and glory to God. This year has just been incredible, just seeing what God can do in our local community. And we often hear all these stories about what God's doing overseas and all this and all this, but there's stuff happening right here in our Lake Macquarie Community and I just give all praise to God for the lives that are in the process of being changed, including my own life. I don't pretend for a minute that I've got it all under control. God's working on my life at the same time as he's using me to influence other people and to be a blessing. SPEAKER A Yeah. And isn't it amazing how that God, he enlists us into his service and then as we are serving, he is still molding us. SPEAKER B Exactly. We can never, ever think for a minute that we've got it all perfect. We're not perfect. We have to allow God to work with us as we work with other people as well. SPEAKER A And it's so often in that journey of service that we become aware of things that we need to grow in. Isn't that true? SPEAKER B Well, that's it. Yeah. I've been able to even literally probably last night yeah, last night I was doing this, I was writing down some things. I'm like, what can I be doing differently? I'm realizing there's a number of issues or areas in my life that they can be improved, whether that be like, loving people more or being less critical and stuff. There's heaps of things I'm like, wow, Lord, you've shown me that this is some things I can work on. And that's been shown to me through working with people from different backgrounds and with different issues and stuff. It's just been fantastic. SPEAKER A Amazing. Yeah. Wow. So you kind of alluded a little bit before to the fact that you've kind of had quite a growth experience with learning to interact with people who are from all different walks of life. SPEAKER B That's it. SPEAKER A And what kind of things have you really gone through with that? Because as you explained before, you haven't really gone out into taking on board a really worldly lifestyle before. And so how have you gone about the process of learning how to relate to people and meet with people who are coming from very different perspectives to what you've come up with? SPEAKER B I like to look at Christ's method basically, jesus was a very sociable person. He spent a lot of time with people. But before talking about spiritual things or before trying to influence them spiritually, he met their needs first, whether that be companionship or friendship or a lot of the times, physical illnesses. Now, I'm not a professional in a lot of these areas and stuff, but I can be a friend to people. Can be a friend to people. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B And that's been a real blessing to be able to be in that space and to walk alongside people. And I've learned a lot, too. I learn from people just as much as sometimes as they learn from me as well. SPEAKER A Yeah. So I guess you've gone about this whole journey of learning to connect with people simply by having an open mind to trying to understand where they're coming from and where they are at and what their current needs are and finding ways to relate to them. SPEAKER B Yeah, that's it. That's it. My girlfriend and I, we run a small Bible study group on a Friday night, and we'd really like that to be just a little light in our little community. And I've been doing a little bit of door knocking, just inviting people, saying, hey, my name's Jaiden. I'm just letting you know that this is what we offer for the community. We're inviting you to come join our group. And we've got a number of people now from the community that have responded to the call and they've joined our little group and they're loving it. And it's just awesome. It's just awesome just to see people's lives just from a simple act of having a meal together with someone. Whether the Bible study is for them or not, they love the social connection, especially since all the COVID stuff, there's a lot of loneliness, huge amount of loneliness and isolation. And just being able to meet that particular need for certain people has just been such a blessing. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. So you found that point of making, I guess we're feeling a social need, just purely friendship social, having just a real good quality time face to face together. We all know this screen between thing, don't we, now? SPEAKER B Thanks. SPEAKER A The whole COVID experience. But yeah, it highlights that. That's really like a basic need for people, isn't it? To have that social connectedness together where you're just enjoying time with people for the sake of that. SPEAKER B Absolutely. SPEAKER A And yeah, it's amazing how you've been able to tap into purely that aspect and that that is by God's grace. SPEAKER B By God's. Grace only. SPEAKER A Yeah. Bringing some really positive connections in the community and yeah. Just the fact that it sounds like you're being able to form it's almost like just a support group, friendship support group for people that does have spiritual opportunities in there. SPEAKER B Absolutely. SPEAKER A Which is amazing in all of that. Well, we're going to just take a little break now sure. So that we can share with our listeners, how they can get in touch with us if they'd like to know more about the program. So thank you so much for sharing your story thus far and we're going to catch up on where things are coming to in terms of what you're doing now and to some concluding thoughts after the break. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A Thank you for joining us on. By the word of their testimony, if you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact Three ABN Australia Radio by Phoning 024-97-3456, or you can send an email to [email protected] You can also contact us on our three ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you. Hello and welcome back to by the word of their testimony I am your host, Kaysie Vokurka, and we have been talking today with Jaiden Green, who's been sharing his experience with God, which has been wonderful so far. Thank you, Jaiden. SPEAKER B Thanks for having and, you know, before. SPEAKER A Before we had a little break, then we were talking about your direction in wanting to be in the ministry and the kind of experiences that were really reinforcing to you that this was the path that you were to follow. So I just wanted to ask about the training that you've been doing. How's that been going, the highlights of that for you? SPEAKER B Absolutely. I went to theological seminary when I finished high school. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B And I took about five years to finish that. I should graduate this year, actually. SPEAKER A Congratulations. SPEAKER B Yeah, that's an exciting thing. The long journey is almost over. It doesn't mean we don't stop learning, though. SPEAKER A That's true. SPEAKER B We still keep learning. It's just the formal side of it. It's been really good. It's been really good. But I can't emphasize enough what this year has been for me, having being employed by my local church to have that freedom to go connect with people, to walk alongside people and to even find some new be creative and find some new disciples out there. This year has just been the absolute best and it's been the highlight of all my theological training, has been having that real practical element of finding and walking alongside people. And it's like everything you can read about things in a book, but actually doing something is when you learn. SPEAKER A Yeah, it's so true, isn't it? Like theory and practice are very different things and yeah, that's so encouraging. SPEAKER B The important thing is, as I said, got to keep your eyes focused on Jesus because we're talking about people's lives here. We are talking about and there is a supernatural war out there. We're told in the Book of Ephesians that the main battle of a Christian is not actually with other people on this earth, it's actually with the external forces that be the demonic powers. It's called the great controversy. There's a war going on right now. And so as we enter ministry, as we do this, we're actually really stepping into the thick of this supernatural battle. And so it's so important to have our eyes fixed on Christ. And I do my absolute best to make sure that I do my prayers every single day to ask the Lord to give me the wisdom I need to be tactful and loving and earn the sight of grace that's so important in everything. SPEAKER A The way Jesus ministered to people yeah. Was compassionate, wasn't he? And that really helped him in the heart. SPEAKER B We could do with more love, all of us, even myself. We all need a lot more love. SPEAKER A Yeah. And it's so true because pure love is only from God, isn't it? And so as you keep emphasizing about keep our eyes on God, stay connected with Him, stay connected with the Word, this is so vital, isn't it, for all of that? And are there any promises that you hang on to in this journey of ministering to people? SPEAKER B Plenty of promises. One of my favorite ones, Two Corinthians 517 says, therefore, if anyone being Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And I think of what it means for me when I sign up to Christ every day, because it's a daily thing, becoming a Christian. You accept Christ into your life every single day. He gives you that clean slate where the previous day, whatever you've made a mistake, whatever it may be, it's swept away because you can become a new creature. And that's the power of God and his love for us. That's one of them I love every I recite that one to myself very regularly. The other one is Two Corinthians Twelve, verse nine, that says, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. In other words, it's our weakness that we unite our weakness with God's strength. And it makes a perfection blend where we rely upon Him and he does the work through us. I recite those two verses to myself fairly regularly. It's a great source of comfort to me, actually. SPEAKER A That's wonderful because those verses, obviously, they are meaningful and very much speaking to you with your role and with what you're doing in your ministry, but they're just as relevant for everyone that you're ministering to. You can encourage them that you may be weak, but God is strong. Exactly. You may be broken, but God can make you a new creature. And this is such a powerful thing that you're able to hold on to, which is such a blessing. SPEAKER B Well, it's all in his word. It's all in his word. It's right there in our hand. SPEAKER A Absolutely. SPEAKER B Yeah. SPEAKER A So I had another question I wanted to ask you, and I was just reflecting back to what you were mentioning earlier from your experience about how you realized that looking back on your life journey, that it's critical if you've grown up surrounded by a faith or knowledge of understanding about God. It's critical that you go through a process of making that your own and making your walk with God real to you, that it's not just your parents that's it or what people are doing all around you, but this is actually your journey. And I'm just wondering what kind of things have worked in your life to help you have that experience of making a walk with God real for you? SPEAKER B It's quite simple, actually, Kaysie. It all just comes down to the Bible. I read the Bible and I still have a lot more to understand. But I am beyond convinced that this is not just some ordinary book written by humans, just invented by humans. It is divinely inspired. And it's been that that has been such a blessing to my life, that has really helped me see that it's written as a gift to us from God and it's for our lives personally. And we can hold on to the promises, we can hold on to whatever it teaches us. We can follow it, and we can be kept from a lot of pain and heartache, because God is our faithful friend. He's my best friend and he's not going to let me go. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. I guess you've really listened to and thought about what the Bible is saying to you. And I guess you've listened to that voice of conviction, haven't you? Because I know some people hear the Bible and it means nothing to them. They're not listening. They're not having an open heart to the spirit. SPEAKER B If you approach it like a common book, then it will only be a common book for you. We have to remember that first. Peter says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. That's the thing. We have to understand that this book is given to us by God and we need to approach it in that way or else it would just be a common book. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. So the mindset in which we approach the Word is really important, isn't it? SPEAKER B And recognizing that we just don't know at all. Even if you do a full on doctorate or whatever it is in theology, we still got more to learn and we'll always be learning. This is the unsearchable riches of God. SPEAKER A Yes, I think this is true. And I guess the fact that the author of the book is infinite, it highlights the scope that there is always going to be something more to learn, ultimately. SPEAKER B Kaysie, for anyone even out there listening, it really has to be. Our scriptures are the only safeguard. In other words, if we stray from God and His Word, if we stray from His Word, then we will be straying in life. We really need to keep grounded, follow what it says, ask the Lord to help us to apply the teachings to our life, because there's principles there that cover all aspects of our lives. We have the guidance I know. Psalms 119, verse 105 says, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to our path. In other words, the Bible is a light that guides us home to our guides us home. Praise to God for giving us such a good gift. SPEAKER A Yeah, absolutely. And isn't that it's something that we really do need because it's something that springs stability in our lives when currently there's thoughts of all sorts of issues in all sorts of directions, and how do we know it's true? And to have something that you can put your trust in and know is. SPEAKER B True is all the uncertainty going on as I read the prophecies, especially the prophecies in Daniel, as I'm starting to slowly really understand some of these things. It's taken years. It's years before sometimes it clicks or whatever. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B Understanding these things, it's powerful. It's like, wow, God has got this under control. Just like he's looked after the past, he's guiding our future. I'm convinced that this is no ordinary book. SPEAKER A Wow. Praise God for that. And that's such an important thing for us to be reminded of and to be encouraged to take on board and just to really listen to the word and what it's saying to our individual lives and embracing the hope and comfort that that brings to us. You're talking about the uncertainty of the world. And if the Bible can give us something that's giving us hope for the future and hope for today, that's a huge blessing, isn't? Yeah. So, all right, so I was wanting to see Jaiden. Do you have any thoughts that you would like to share with our listeners from your experience? That would be words that would encourage them and that would be things that you've learned from your experience which you'd like to share to others that might help them if they're in that valley of decision, what am I going to do with my life? What direction am I going to go in? Or even just for general encouragement in people's Christian walk? SPEAKER B I love to. Kaysie. I firstly recognize that my testimony won't reach everyone. Sure, God's given each person a testimony to relate to specific people, so my testimony might not reach everyone. But if there's three points that takeaway points, I firstly like to address our young people, our young people listening. And I want you to really know, friends, that you don't have to go out into the world to get yourself a testimony. You don't need to go out there and do something radical or do something rebellious, whatever it may be, to come back with a story. You don't have to go experience the world and realize all its emptiness before you can come back and experience God and experience his fullness yeah. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B So that's my number one thing for our young people listening. Yeah. Just hang in there. Trust in God and allow Him to work out a testimony at his time. SPEAKER A Yeah. And I guess from your experience, you have highlighted that you can still have a powerful testimony, even if God works in big things. But he works in small things. He does, doesn't he? And the impact that he has had in your life and in your heart, that's big. SPEAKER B Really? SPEAKER A I mean, I'm over the moon to make a new creature out of a sinner, anyone. That's a miracle. SPEAKER B Absolutely. SPEAKER A And that's a testimony to the power of God. SPEAKER B The other thing I would probably encourage anyone to do is to find yourself some godly people to seek counsel from. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B The Bible says, the multitude of counselors, there's wisdom. In other words, we need help in our life, whether it be from God's Word, but also other people who've been in our shoes before us. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B I think it's important for people from all different ages in life to have some godly people. They don't have to necessarily be older, but godly people that you can seek counsel from. And if you don't have any, then ask the Lord to bring some into your life, because they're out there, friends. They are out there. Godly people who they've experienced life before, they've been through the pain, they've been through certain situations, and they can point out some things that they wish they knew at your age. And why learn the hard way when you don't have to? Yeah, that's my theory on it, for sure. Why not get some good advice and counsel? And that's what the body of Christ is for. We're supposed to help each other. The importance of church and that connection is to help each other. We're not supposed to be out there by ourselves. SPEAKER A That's it. Yeah. Well, a cell in your body is not going to survive for too long if it's separated from it, isn't it? You've got to be part of it so all of the life can support each other. SPEAKER B There's one more point. I know Tom's wrapping up. One more point, Kaysie, is that to remember his promises, and that's for everyone, all different ages and backgrounds. Find your favorite Bible verses promises and commit them to memory. Because you don't always have your Bible handy. You don't always have it on you at all times of the day. But the amount of times in my short experience of life where having Scripture in my mind memorized has been coming in handy, it's so worth it. Whether it be resisting a temptation, whether it be dealing with a particular situation, or whether it just be giving encouragement to someone who really needs a hand. Having God's Word in your heart memorizing it is so powerful, and you take it with you for the rest of your life. SPEAKER A Yeah. Wow. SPEAKER B There's three points. Thank you so much for letting me share these points with people listening. SPEAKER A Yeah. And look, I appreciate your last point there because you were mentioning before about how critical the Bible is as part of your experience of experience the reality of God in your life and taking on board and having in your mind those promises is very much a part of that. Sure. Because it's having those tools in the toolkit, so to speak, or the weapons of your warfare on the belt so that when you're navigating this life situations, you have that ready. SPEAKER B Sure. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B Thank you so much. It's been really awesome. Just everyone listening. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ. SPEAKER A Yeah. Amen. SPEAKER B Put your confidence in him. Allow him to work out what he wants. SPEAKER A Yeah, for sure. Thank you so much for sharing today. It's been very encouraging for me listening to your story because I can relate to many of your little twists and turns because of journeys. That's it. And from a similar background of growing up in a church and in a Christian home and just navigating that process of making it real in one's own life. SPEAKER B That's it. SPEAKER A And I had the same experience with thinking about Peter's Words. I had that point in my life where I was like, you could go out, you could stay. And that verse in the mind, Peter's Words, but, Lord, where do we go? You have the words of salvation. You have the words of eternal. So I resonate with that pivotal moment. And I know that others of our listeners will too, which is amazing. And we just trust that people will be really blessed and impacted by story today. So thank you so much for sharing. And to our listeners you've been listening to by the word of their testimony, our special guest has been Jaden Green. And, you know, a person's testimony is evidence that God is real and that he cares about us. So I encourage you, as our listeners, if you have a testimony to share, that you would share that with people around you in your sphere. Because not only will others be blessed, you'll be blessed, too, as you share. So I'm your host, Kaysie Vokurka. And until next time, may the Lord richly bless you. SPEAKER B You’ve been listening to a production of Three ABN, Australia. Radio.