- Man, wow, thank you, band. Thank you Brittany and Mary
and Jake and Zach and Steve. Would you just praise the Lord
for such gifted musicians. You may have a seat. I was just sitting there
worshiping the Lord and I was just thinking about His faithfulness
to every generation. as I look at this crowd
tonight, I see just a broad demographic of ages
represented and I love that because it shows the faithfulness
to our God that it isn't just about a single generation. It's about that passing on
of truth and that's what this Virtue ministry desires
to do for all of us. And I look at Mary and
Brittany who are both extremely active in the Virtue Bible study. I've sat in small group
with them as we've studied the word of God and they've
shared form their hearts and the wisdom that comes
out of their mouths. It is not just about older
women teaching younger women. It's a mutual supporting of
one another because the Bible tells us that. God has equipped and given
gifts to the body of Christ and that goes both ways. It goes up and it goes down and
it goes up and it goes down. And it's so wonderful
to watch this happen. I mean, Zach and Jake, I know
Steve's been here forever, but I know the four of
them, the younger ones on this platform have
been raised in this church and God is so faithful and
we have seen this raising up of another generation. It's just awesome. But speaking of another generation, I posted this on my Instagram today. I said, what does the Blitz
that happened in London in World War II have in common
with C.S. Lewis, Cambridge University, the Beatles
and Liverpool in the 1960s and a woman named Jill Briscoe? I mean, this woman has lived
a life that is so fascinating and that's just one little snippet. She's going to tell us more
about her testimony and about the journey that God has
taken her on, but how she has stayed the course and how at
times when it's been difficult, God has equipped her and
given her the strength and the courage to do what
He's called her to do, even up to her 80s. She's 83 years old. And we are so blessed to have
a message from Jill tonight, but I have to tell you that I
was inspired to invite Jill. Jill has impacted my life from
the time I was a young girl in my 20s. I think I heard about Jill
Briscoe from Kay Smith who poured into us pastor's
wives and pointed us to other women of God
from another generation. People like Jill and Elisabeth
Elliot and Ruth Graham and reading biographies of Amy Carmichael and I think so much of
that is lost sometimes in our desire to hear what's
the latest and what's the most entertaining and who's the
youngest person out there preaching and there's gifts
coming up as I say but there are still those who are from
this other generation that have such a wealth
of wisdom and experience and I wanna learn from them. I wanna hear them and see them in person before they're in Heaven. And I am so... I'm happy and I'm sad at the
same time because I have to tell you last week, actually
early on Monday morning, we got a call and Jill has her
daughter, Rae, who we've been in communication with and
we got a call from Rae and she told us that Jill was very sick. And she was so sick that there
was a slight chance that she might not make it to speak to
us at Girl Talk this summer and I was like, no, no,
Lord, this isn't gonna happen because I heard Jill speak at
the IF Gathering and I heard her give a message and I
said to the Lord, and I told Tiffany, I said, we've
gotta get Jill out here and I want her to do that same message. And I was praying and I was
saying, Lord, I really hope that this message isn't
gonna be any different than what she said at that conference. And we got this call and we
started to pray and we thought we better get a backup plan. And I sat down and I talked
to Tiffany and I talked to my daughter-in-law, Brittany,
and most importantly I talked to Greg about it and I
said, Greg, there's a chance that Jill might not make it. And Greg says, "Well, you better get
working on that message." (laughs) And I said, I need more
time than one or two days to prepare. And I said, and not only that,
Greg, this message that she gave that I heard on this video
was so powerful, that's what I feel like the Lord wants us to hear. And he said, "No, Cathe,
you don't wanna start "your conference with a video." And I was like (sighs). So we actually had a backup
speaker, a wonderful author, we've had her before, she's
amazing and she was willing to step in and we just took
a step back and just thought, okay, let's pray about
this and here's what we felt the Lord wanted us to do. And we showed the video from
the IF Gathering last night in Orange County and I am
telling you, every single woman in that room was profoundly
challenged and blessed by that message. I'm confident that we
made the right choice. We got on the phone,
we called Jennie Allen from the IF Gathering. We said, Jennie, we've seen
this video, we would love to show it, do you have an
even higher quality version than the one we saw that we
could play to our ladies? And she was so gracious. She gave us permission and
that is what you're going to see tonight. Be careful what you pray for
because I really want her to do the exact message that
I heard at the IF Gathering and you are going to hear the
exact message that she gave because you're going to hear her. I'm glad you're applauding because we know the word of God does
not return void and I am always amazed at letters that come
to our ministry over people who heard recordings of
either Greg or other speakers, myself even on Virtue on the
website that say that word was exactly what I needed at that moment and I'm convinced that this
message that Jill's going to bring is that exact
word that we need to hear. I want you to hear from this woman. And as we watched it,
you're gonna crack up in the first opening statements. It's as if without her knowing, the Holy Spirit knew she
was going to be speaking to all of us and you're gonna chuckle when you hear her opening words. Greg said, don't show the
video and I made him sit down and watch the video and
after he watched the video, he said, show the video. He said, that was so good. So I'm confident and I know
the Lord has a word for each and every one of us and I wish
with all my heart, I can say let's welcome Jill
Briscoe to this platform, but she's not here, but we
will hear from her nonetheless and I promise you when she
recovers from her illness, we're gonna get her and her
husband, Stuart, out here to Harvest for all of
you to hear in person and that we'll be praying
about and looking forward to at a later date. But in the meantime, would
you prepare your hearts and I encourage you if you
have something to write with, there are so many words of
wisdom that she's gonna give you if you can just jot down even
a few of them to take home and ponder. Open your heart to what the Holy Spirit is going to be saying to us tonight. And with that, let's turn
our attention to the screen. - Pray with me. Give my words wings, Lord. May they fly high enough
to touch the mighty, low enough to breathe the
breath of sweet encouragement upon the downcast soul. Give my words wings, Lord. May they fly swift and far,
winning the race with the words of the worldly wise to the hearts of men. Give my words wings, Lord. See them nesting down at your feet, silenced into ecstasy. Home at last. Give my words wings, Amen. Amen. Greetings, my name is Jill Briscoe. I don't know what yours
is, I can't even see you which I don't like.
(audience laughing) But that's how it is in this day and age. I know you're out there somewhere. (audience laughing) Count this a great privilege
to have been asked to share just a moment or two with
you from the Word of God. What else is there? Let me introduce myself to you. I have an outline and being
like my husband and British, everything begins with letter
C, which doesn't matter. It's nothing to do with anything. (audience laughing) Begins with carnage. I'm a little six year old
in an air raid shelter in Liverpool, UK. It's wartime, the bombs are falling. Every night before my
dad went off to the War, to the Air Force for six years, he built a little underground hole, a little air raid shelter because it was everybody that had a little bit
of land and a house did that instead of us running
out and trying to find an air raid shelter out there. And my mother, my sister
and I spent all the time I can remember in Liverpool
where I lived in that hole. I can't remember ever
sleeping in my little bedroom. And unchurched, my parents were
believers but not belongers so they never went to church. Then the war came and a country that to a man, woman
and child went to church before the Second World War,
in case you were wondering, the second not the first. (audience laughing) Before that event, England
went to church apparently. I read in my history books in my country. After the war, those that
came back minus a million didn't go back and our family
was caught in that hole. And so I don't know if my
dad ever went to church. All I remember of that part
of the war was sitting huddled with my mother and sister crying
as we heard the bombs fall and not to see it, not to see
the flash is very frightening, to be in the dark and just hear it, that whine and then the
silence just before it hits. And there was one particular
night that I lost it and I began to scream,
"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" My mum got hold of me and
nothing worked and they thought well I have to pray but
I didn't know to who. Now, I was English and as today,
the Bible had to be taught by law in our schools, in our
public schools, not applied but taught accurately from
Genesis all the way through to Revelation. And I am so grateful to
God there was no separation of church and state for me. Where would a little British
schoolgirl like me have ever heard of Jesus if it was not
in my formal prayer every day? It did make my six year old
mind reel when our headmistress would say things like, I'm
an atheist, I don't believe in God, but we need to say
the Apostles' Creed together. (audience laughing) Six, I'm thinking,
there's something wrong. Yes, but I knew it. It was the only prayer. It didn't sound like a prayer
but it was a prayer we said. And that night in total panic,
not knowing how to pray, I began to pray through the
Apostles' Creed and I prayed to everyone I could find. I prayed to God the Father
and I prayed to God the Son and I prayed to God the Spirit and we called him the
Holy Ghost in those days. I prayed to the Holy Ghost
and my little mind stopped and I thought who is the
Holy Ghost, how do I know. And I looked at my mum, did
she believe, did my sister believe and a bomb fell and
I prayed to the Holy Ghost. (audience laughing) And I prayed to the Holy Catholic Church, everyone I could find
in the Apostles' Creed and I came back again to the Holy Ghost. And prayer was very simple,
stop the bombs, stop the bombs, stop them falling all over
my mummy's sewing machine and my sister's doll. Stop it, stop it, stop it. And into my hall came the Holy Ghost. I can only explain it
physically as to say my heart calmed down and I literally,
it was so physical, I looked around. Just my sister and mum. But I thought and I totally misread that. I thought the peace that passed
understanding which it was meant He'd heard and answered my prayer. I mean, wouldn't you? Oh, good, it was going to
be alright, that's why... I don't know who the Holy
Ghost was but He said, it's alright, I've heard your prayer, I've heard your prayer. So I just relaxed and then
in the morning couldn't wait to get out and when I got
out and looked at my house, a bomb hadn't taken but it had harmed, marks the back of our house. The windows were broken, etc. And at six years of age, I
remember looking up and saying who are you? Why would you tease me like that? You just told me, yes, yes, it's alright, it's alright, little girl. And then you let that happen. Are you saying, ha-ha? And I began a search for
God at six years of age in wartime Britain. I couldn't find anyone
to answer my questions but this scream, this
cry started in my heart. If only someone would
tell me, if only somebody would tell me, if only
somebody would tell me. I get to Cambridge not because
I deserved it, but I went to a very expensive school. They took one student every
year and I was the only one that applied. (audience laughing)
So I got to Cambridge. And I began an education
not what to teach but learning skills which was
my seminary and preparation for work God's done with my life. Who's in front of me, how do
they learn, my job to teach how they learn. Wonderful missionary training
for a woman that has been on every continent. Who are they? Are they illiterate? How do they learn story? How do they learn art,
how do they learn drama? Incidentally, I did learning
skills and art and drama which God knew I would use
for the rest of my life. Everything that has made you
you, your color of your skin, your skills, whether discovered
and used and honed or raw, everything that you when
you get to my age in my 80s, you'll look back on your
life and say God has used every single one of them if, of course, you've
given Him permission. How can that be? If you've said yes. Just say yes. I mean, yes to everything
He asks you, everything. Everything. So, I'm at Cambridge, I'm
asking people questions, God questions, nobody can
answer me, I get sick. Now, I have to add here that C.S. Lewis had just got saved at Oxford
and he came to take the chair, we say, the Department of Medieval History at Cambridge at that point. So for two years, he was on
the BBC trying to explain to a very puzzled
Britain who was listening to the History Channel which
he was on, what does he mean? He's been telling us he's an
atheist, there isn't a God. Then he told us he couldn't
be an atheist because to say there is no God means
you've gotta know everything to say there isn't one. And I don't know everything
so I must be an agnostic which means I don't know
if there's a God and now I'm an agnostic and he put it
into his lectures and Britain began to listen. This brilliant marvelous
professor on the BBC, what's he talking about. And then, no, I'm a deist now. A deist says I do believe in
God but you can't know him. He's a noble. And then one glorious
day, guys, C.S. Lewis who changed my generation for God said I am now a convinced Christian. And everybody began to listen. At Harvard and Yale, they began to listen. Yes, they did. At every university post-war, Lewis began to explain
as only C.S. Lewis can, who God is. And people listened, wrote
it down on a little piece of paper and in my case, I was
playing up in the lunch line and I don't know what I was
doing, just making a noise and fuss and I went like this
and somebody put in my hand a piece of paper with a Lewis quote on. To this day, guys, I
cannot remember a face. I don't know, was it an angel? I didn't know any
Christians, I can assure you. And there it was and it
was his quote actually... This is difficult in your 80s. If you bend down, you can't get up again. (audience laughing) It's from Weight of Glory, one of his first sermons actually. And it's about glory and
describing it, but it's about getting into Heaven and the
quote, very famous quote is, "There is a door opened in the
pitiless walls of the world and one day we should get in." And I read it, I left the
lunch line, I went to my little Cambridge room, my 17th Century
room, nobody there but me and I read it again and again. What is this door, who will
get in, is it God's door, is it God's front door, does
He ever come out and sit on the steps? No wonder that one of my
devotional books is called The Steps of My Soul. Two weeks later, I got
sick, rushed into hospital, Cambridge Edinburgh's
Hospital, put in a bed next to the first Christian,
actually, she was a nurse who was sick in that
hospital, Janet Smith. Thank you, Janny. Incredibly ill, she ignored it. All she did was look at
this pathetic, desperate, frightened out of my mind very sick woman, nobody could find out what was wrong and she'd taken a class. She was six months old in
Jesus on leading someone to Christ and I was the guinea pig. (audience laughing) So she goes very gently and
says, "You know you could die." (audience laughing) Gee, thanks. And got my attention
because I could've done. They couldn't figure it out. And she quoted Revelation 3:20 out of context, but it worked. (audience laughing) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. It's a picture actually in
Revelation of Jesus outside a dead church trying to
wake him up and get back in. But she applied it, my
heart and Jesus was knocking which is fine. (audience laughing) And she quoted it and I said, hey, we're both flat on our
backs, I know about the door. How do you know about the door? I mean, God's door. Do you mean God's front door? How do you know about God's front door? And I said there is a door
opened in the pitiless walls of the world and one day
we shall get in, right? Where'd you hear that? I don't know, Lewis. "Oh," she said, smiling
a little secret smile. (audience laughing) Yes, she took a risk. That door and I said can you
take me through the door, I mean to meet God, can
you, can you, can you? And she said, oh yes. She did, she did, she did. I was 18 years of age. I'm 82 and I want to tell
you something, it's all true. It's all true. (audience cheering and applauding) It's all true. Okay, now then, let me fast forward. Carnage, Cambridge, conversion. She was also in my seminary. I've never had that opportunity. She said, "Now, I'm praying
you won't get better quickly." (audience laughing) Why? I've got a lot to tell you and I know what you're
going back to at college. I've seen your friends. (audience laughing) I thank God He answered that prayer. They could never figure
out for another two weeks what was wrong and then
suddenly I got better. So He obviously took
me in to get me saved. So, one thing she said is from now on, the orbit of your life, the
place between your own two feet at any given time that's
your mission field. I said, what? She said, who's the head nurse? Tell her what we just did two days ago. I said... Tell her. I did everything she told me. The woman rushed away, true
story, and got the psychiatrist. (audience laughing) He sat on my bed. "I hear you're having religious thoughts." (audience laughing) Is that what I'm having, Janny? Yes, tell him yes. He rushed away, I never saw him again. (audience laughing) Seven nurses the first day
and each time I didn't know I was a living example
of a verse in the Bible. It says, if we confess
our lips the Lord Jesus, if we believe in our hearts
He raised him from the dead, we'll know, right? And each time, what did I know? Just share the little you know. You do not need to know more than you know if you know Jesus. If you know Jesus, obviously, let me clarify that.
(audience laughing) If the Holy Spirit has
come into your heart and you've no right staying
where you just know. You've gotta grow and we all know that. So, what happened after that? Conversion, well, then I learned about the story of the
acts of the apostles. Verse one, where after the
resurrection, He did not take the first plane home,
which he'd wanted to do. How long must I stay in this
earth, He said at one point in His ministry. Father, I wanna come home. And he hung around 40 days
after the resurrection, chapter one. Why'd he hang around 40 days? Because he wanted to give the
disciples infallible proofs that He'd risen from the dead, okay. And they got it. He walked through a door to talk to them. They got it, He'd risen from the dead. But 40 days He took before the ascension. And then there came a
time when they watched him go into Heaven and angels
appeared and it says they were staring after
Heaven when He'd said to them, go into all the world, start
at Jerusalem and then Judea and then Samaria and then the
uttermost parts of the earth. You know that wonderful
passage in chapter one. And so they're gazing at
him, don't go, don't go. An angel said, quit looking up
in Heaven and get on with it. And I want to say something. Do you think I don't wait
for the coming of Christ? But I hear, get on with it because
it isn't finished yet. You have not taken Matthew 28 seriously. Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature and there
are parts of this world and I'll tell you because
I go around it once a year and they're waiting and God
is giving visions and dreams and saying, Jesus walked, they accept. Most religions accept Jesus
as a prophet or a good man or a guru. And He's the one coming to the
lost world saying I am Jesus, this is my book, someone
will come and tell you nobody's going. Nobody's going and they're
saying, well, who's gonna come and what's the book and
Jesus and they're waiting and they're waiting. At the moment, they're getting
slaughtered in those places that they're waiting and
saying but we had a dream. We said somebody would come, etc., etc. And what we've got to do is go
where we're sent, stay where we're put, unpack as if
you're never gonna leave and give what you've got
and He might move you on and you say it again. Maybe circumstances will move
you on, but until you are moved on to whatever, you
give everything you have between your own two feet,
whether you're in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or the
uttermost parts of the world. Now, I'm privileged to
have been taught that in the first year of my conversion. So if the mission field's
between my own two feet, you're talking about calling Jill. I was in the seminary in
Ukraine about a month ago and one of the students
asked me, Ms. Briscoe, where did you get your
call to mission work, where did you get your call to ministry? And I said, I got saved. (audience applauding)
Okay. I am not one who's had the
clouds part and I call you to go to Africa. No, all of us, all of us, if you are
saved, that's your calling. What is the calling? Matthew 28, go into all the
world and make disciples and teach them to make disciples and teach them to make disciples. That's what we're supposed to be doing between our own two feet now. Don't worry about Judea and Samaria, guys. Where are you now? You start in Jerusalem. And so, my story is very simple. I've gone where I was sent. I stayed where I was put
until He said move on. And it has led me
literally around the world and it's not a glamour trip. Well, you know that because He said take your cross with you,
you're gonna need it. You're going to have to die
to yourself, you're going to have to die to your
choices, whether I get married, whether I don't. You're going to have to die
to your prejudice little mind. You're going to have to die
to what you'd like to do whether you're going to
be single or married. Really? Really. Read I Corinthians 7 where Paul says because of the present
crisis, those that are married should live as those that are not. Have you ever heard a preach on that? Well, you will if you've been around me. (audience laughing) And those that are single
have the advantage. He was talking about the
persecution of being thrown to the lions at that point
that was coming from Rome to Corinth, to the new Christians. And he said, this time of
crisis, if you're single, you have the advantage because
you won't see your children chewed up or you won't see them beheaded. And if you're single, you
can attend upon the Lord with devotion and tell them about me. So, I happened to be single
at that point, ended up in the back end of Liverpool teaching. Around the corner, the
Beatles were playing. They were 17, nobody knew
they were the Beatles. (audience cheering and laughing) I didn't but their friends
were in my classroom. And they were the best thing going because the drugs and everything
were not in the cavern. I'm high born, small Downton Abbey, small, very small for those of you who
know what I'm talking about. (audience laughing) Only God can take a snob like me and put me in a classroom
in the red light district of Liverpool and break
my heart for my kids. And the headmaster would say to all of us that tried to resign every
week, no, you cannot resign. Because I am English, I didn't. I thought, why wasn't I American? What do you mean I can't resign? (audience laughing) I'm resigned. No, I was taught to respect
authority and do what I was told and so all of us teachers,
(audience laughing) all of us teachers were trying to resign but it wasn't working. No, we've got to find something. I remember my atheist
headmaster in that place. We've got to find something. He was nearly in tears. We need a community center. There wasn't a community
center of any sort. We need an alternate
instead of the drug places. But if any of you teachers
find something that transforms, I will give you anything you
ask me and my ears were attuned and I went home and I got
on my knees and I knew what transformed only Jesus
and I got back on the bus. I didn't tell my parents where
I was going and I went down and I found or begin to
find my kids and I began to hang out. First, they were suspicious. What are you here for, miss,
are you come to tell people where we are? No, just want to see what you do. I'm paying for coffee, anybody want one? That's the way in. (audience laughing) And that's the way to look for me. Are you coming tomorrow night, miss? Yes, I'll buy you coffee tomorrow night. I think it took three
months, three times a night, two in the morning and
Trevor the leader of the gang in my classroom looked
over his shoulder and said, "Are you coming tomorrow night, miss?" and I said, thank you Lord. I came, his face was all bashed
up, he'd been in a fight. I said, who did that to your face? He said, my dad. I heard myself saying, could
I come and talk to your dad and I prayed, let him say no. (audience laughing) He said, you'd come and talk to me dad? I said, come on. Well, both of us got thrown
out which didn't matter because Trevor looked at me, tough kid,
chains on his back, there's broken bottles in his pockets
he puts in people's face and he said, nobody's ever
come to talk to me dad, miss. Nobody ever tried to do that. And Trevor began and became
the first convert and there was a little miracle happened
and the headmaster came to me and he said, Jill, what do you want? I said, what do you mean? He said, Trevor, transformation. So I said, I want a Bible for every boy in the school. Now, I'm a new believer. I didn't know there was Bible
societies and I didn't know where to get it, but there
was a Roman Catholic priest as the youth pastor out
there in the streets and the Salvation Army lady. We were the only ones out there,
I assure you, three of us. And my Roman Catholic
friend, this young man said, I know where and my church
down in the slums will pay for 800 Bibles for these kids. And that's what happened. And God began a work not
least in this teacher's heart. Mission field's between your own two feet. Calling, we're all called. Community. God gave me a community where they taught me how to pray. Taught me to have the conversation
on the steps of my soul and the deep place where
nobody goes, right. And that's the key to a
life of serving Jesus. It's the key. To sit on the steps of
your soul and let Him come and sit down there with you
and have the conversation. But this is the problem. I ran to the deep place where nobody goes and I found him waiting there. Where have you been, he asked me. Well, I've been in the shallow
place where everyone lives, I replied. And I knew he knew, he
just wanted me to admit I had been too busy being busy. And I'm running out, I began. Of course, he said. I haven't seen you in a while. And he sat down on the steps
of my soul and smiled at me. An angel sang and a shaft of
light brightened my darkness and I smiled back. I'm such a fool. Shh, he said, putting
his finger on my lips and he touched my hurried
heart and startled it, skidded to a near stop. My spirit nestled into
nearness in the deep place where nobody goes. So my soul spoke then and he answered with words beyond music. Where on earth had I
been while Heaven waited? Such grace. And I was in closed country
not long ago, two years ago in hiding five days, windows blacked out teaching the New Testament. 35 leaders' wives who had
come at great cost for example we prayed that their
children would still be there when they went home if the
religious police found out. And for five days, we
were learning the Bible. One of those young pastor's
wives in the worst part in that country came to
me during the afternoon when we would pray and worship
but always in whispers. Somebody might hear. They could never sing a
hymn out loud, of course. And she came to me and she said
something to my interpreter and my interpreter said, would
you pray that her children be there and I said, oh
my word, yes of course. And then she said something
else and the interpreter said she wants to hear you pray. I said, why. She said, then she'll know
how well you know God. Now, think about that. If that was you and you
bowed your head to pray, why would your prayer tell her? Well, a Greek philosopher
in my philosophy class at Cambridge, I still remember,
speak the time I see thee not hear thee. Because what comes out of
our mouth tells the person next to you who we are. Think back to your last conversation. Was it I, me, my, mine, huh? Your word betrayeth you
says a Shakespeare character and I realized if she was
listening to how I was talking to God, she would know about
my relationship with Him. And I remember one of the
hardest things I've ever done was to try and block all
that out, sit on the steps of my soul, you can you know,
wherever you are and block everything out and simply
have the conversations I had learned to have in the
deep place where nobody goes. I didn't hardly dare open my eyes. What had that told her about
my relationship with God? And she just went... And I said, what's that. She said, that's what she wants. Now, I want to tell you something. At the end of your life, if
God graces you with enough time to serve him forever it seems, what will happen was
people will judge your life by how well you knew God. I served World Relief for 20
years and traveled worldwide for them. I've been to the killing
fields of Cambodia. I've stood there with the glass
monument with 3,000 skulls in it and talked to my
interpreter who's whole family was in there. I've been to the worst places
on earth for World Relief. And all they want to know is how do I get to know this God. Help me in prayer. Prayer and this, prayer and this. And in your Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or to the uttermost part,
I don't know where you are, but go on knowing it, learning
it, please memorize it because once you get after
a certain age, that's done. (audience laughing) My glasses come in handy, my
hearing aid is fine, my false teeth are just dandy, but
I sure do miss my mind. (audience laughing) Go learn. I think my time is up. Where should I end, Lord? I think I'd like to tell you
that you're looking at a woman who's a very fearful person. I've always been frightened. Maybe it's being bombed
every night and that was it. So, how does somebody like
me get himself in danger and difficulties? Scared, I've gone scared,
I've stayed scared. Well, doesn't God give you
peace in those moments? No, He gives you courage. Well, what is courage, isn't it peace? I remember standing outside
a very wild dance hall when I was learning these lessons. And incidentally, my
first child didn't speak till he was about two. I'm an educator, it should've
worried me, but it didn't. And one day he spoke. I put him in the pram and rushed up. By then, we were in youth
work reaching street kids and stuff in a mission. And I rushed up to him, my
husband was in the office with three ladies that weren't
married, and I rushed in with David and I said,
"He spoke, he spoke!" Of course, everybody knew he didn't speak. I had not noticed actually and Stuart, he's a bank inspector, he always
asks the obvious question, what did he say? And I said, he said, oh dear. (audience laughing) Where had he heard that? We lived at the gatehouse at
this castle, this mission. He only had me. Mr. Oh Dear. Always fearful and I
stood outside this place and I could not for the
life of me get the courage to go inside. I got everybody else doing it. I'm very bossy. I took Bible students
down, you go over there, go in the park, go, go, go. I'll pray. Nice of me. (audience laughing) And I was left outside the
Floral Hall, 1,000 kids in there, Beatles era, screaming, bashing
their heads on the concrete trying to touch their gods, right. I didn't have it. I prayed, I prayed, I went home. I had to go back next night
because if you're beaten, you go back till you get it. And on my own, I stood
there, which was even worse than it had been and I started
to pray for the courage and suddenly sitting
on the steps of my soul in the deep place where nobody
goes and you can anywhere in the world having the conversation. God said to me, Jill, will you go in
without the courage for me? I can do that. You mean, will I go in
frightened out of my mind? Yes. I will. And I left my emotions outside
and I took will by the hand and somehow got myself in and
listen to me, after obedience, the courage was waiting for me, okay. (audience applauding)
Okay. And you are to say, big
bouncer there, who are you. You from the, you know. No, I just want to say
I'm a teacher in the area. I wanted to see what was
happening to my class kids. And then I heard, take me to the manager. I said, Lord, why do I
want to go to the manager? Seemed the thing to say. Well, alright, come on. So I found Alan in this grubby
little office, 1,000 kids, music and screaming at him. He said, who are you and what do you want? I said, what happens when this
din stops on the platform? And I couldn't know where this
was going and I was thinking, oh Lord, help me. And, what do you mean, what happens? I said what happens on the platform? Will you give it me just for 10 minutes? What do you want it for? Thought I'd make sure he
wouldn't give it me, I said, I want to tell them there's
a God that's real, a Bible that's true and a way off drugs. He said, no, I won't. I said, can I go home. No, not yet. (audience laughing) Not until, Ms. Briscoe,
you've explained that to me. I run this place, I
could never go to church. I've waited all my life
for someone to explain. If you can explain that to
me, you can have my platform. Took about eight weeks
and Alan came to Christ and he gave our Bible
school that platform. So you go where you're sent. And you stay where you're put. And you give what you've
got until you're done. One last poem. Fast forward all these years
to India three years ago. One of the hardest trips I've ever taken. Orissa was on fire,
Hindus killing Muslims, and of course, the Christians
got in the way, too. Pastor and his wife and
their nine year-old boy on their knees being told to recant. Try that. We were in the Bible
school, 800 gorgeous young 18 to 22 year old women
and men but the women are the evangelists. They won't kill them first. If it's the men that go
into those extreme villages with the gospel, they'll
kill them like that. The women have a chance. Stuart and I have trained
in that particular place for 10 years, every other year. And now there's 800 of them. Their parents are in Orissa. They don't know whether
they're dead or alive or have run into the forest and are safe. Police were brought to keep
us safe and I have had it. I'm done. I knew I was done but I
didn't want God to know. (audience laughing) Stuart finishes. Well, what they did is they
just canceled everything and Stuart and I did a Bible
school for them for seven days while we're in this situation. But this was the last and
tomorrow I was going home, home to the kids and home
to my grandkids and home to a free land. I was done, I mean done. I wouldn't be back to India
and maybe we wouldn't go to some of the other places on our
schedule and Stuart's giving this beautiful thing at
taking up your cross. Yeah, yeah, Lord, look, it's their turn. I've had my share, Lord. I think I've done pretty well. Keep going like this. I bowed my head. I don't get visions, but
I get pictures sometimes in my mind and here it
was and the Lord was there on the steps of my soul and
we began the conversation. Jill, what do you see? I see a wall and a cross against it. Is that your cross? Yes, I'm done. I see that. Jill, who do you expect
to carry it home for you? All the way home, Jill, all the way home. All the way home, Jill, all the way home. Shaken, drained, discouraged,
sickly, tired and troubled and depressed, glad the
time of serving over. Now, I've gotta go home and rest. Hot and humid was the weather. Sad and needy was my crowd. Feeling I had done my duty
and the time of rest allowed. Soon I could return to family,
yes, tomorrow I'd be gone. Sitting in the last hot meeting,
I tuned in to what went on. Listen to my husband's preaching. My, it was a great last talk
all about the call of Jesus, all about our life's faith walk. Stuart opened up the scriptures, talked of Jesus' pain and loss. How he who was our great
sin bearer bore our guilt upon his cross. What a great word for the students. Hoped they had listened
to heal their hearts. They were young, their lives
before him, now their turn to do their part. Time for prayers of dedication. I was tired so late at night. Shut my eyes and wished it
over when a picture sprang to sight. Soar across alone discarded,
lain at rest against a wall. Who'd lain down a such holy symbol? Who'd abandoned life's faith call? Then a voice so dear
familiar asked a question, pierced me through. Who is that that you're expecting
carrying it home for you? How could I lay down that cross beam? How to think that no one saw? Who did I expect to lift it,
carry it to Heaven's door? Jesus, Jesus, please forgive me. Carried thou your cross for me. All the way to Hell to save me. Help me carry mine for thee. I'm no hero special woman,
just a lady old and gray. But my Lord, join me. But my Lord, I will carry home
Lord, home Lord all the way. Spoke his voice so quiet but clearly then. All the way home, Jill. All the way home, all the way home. Don't put it down. Pray with me. You said it, Lord, you said it to Peter. You said it to the first 12. And down the centuries, you
have said it to every simple single normal ordinary person like me, all the way home. Take up your cross and die on it, Jill. Die to your hopes and your dreams. Die to your ambitions. Die to everything else but to me. And Lord I know, though
I know not one women except a few in this place,
that there will be times in their life when they
will put that cross down. If there's one thing you brought
me here to say, it's this. All the way home. All the way home. All the way home. Hear us, Lord. Hear us. Amen.
