Podcast Sunday with Edna Stevens

Join us as we have a conversation with Edna Stevens. A vibrant women of faith with overflowing joy. Take a listen to her powerful testimony about how she started in Dance and now travels the globe using her gifts to win many to the Kingdom of God. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Yo, welcome and thank you for tuning in to Mercy Old Podcast Sunday. Mercy Golf is all about connecting with God and connecting with others. Our goal is to provide students with community and stories and testimonies that they can identify with. In hope that these testimonies will resonate with us. We believe that sharing our personal stories of faith is a powerful way to present the gospel, encouraging self-reflection, and a sense of shared faith. We'll tune in this week as we talk to Edna Stevens about her testimony. Edna, thank you so much for being here. Oh my pleasure. I just want to say since the moment we met, like the Holy Spirit has imparted something on you. And I just see joy. Every time I see you and experience your ministry, I see joy. Amen. And it's just such a beautiful expression. And you bring the energy, okay? You bring it. So today's podcast is based on Psalms 149, 3 and 4. And it says this let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tremble and with heart, for the Lord takes delight in his people. And when I read that passage, I thought about your years of experience, your travels, your exposure, like everything. And one thing about you is that you display humility. And you have a powerful ministry. And I believe the Lord puts you in places to uh to bring people together through dance. Uh, but in your humility, you you allow, and I hear testimonies of you preaching the gospel to people who've never been exposed to the gospel through the doors of opening up in dance. Yes. And so I just want to say thank you for being an inspiration to all of us. Oh, praise God. And saying yes to the gifts that God has given you and using those things to build his kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Amen. Thank you so much, Lord. Glory to God.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Yes, yes. God is good.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

God is good. God is good.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

So we're gonna get right into it, okay? And before we get into it, I want to also let you know kind of how we go. Okay. So we're gonna I'm gonna ask you a series of questions. Okay. Right? And then after I'm done with my series of questions, the students are gonna ask you some follow-up questions. Okay. Y'all, you guys ready for follow-up questions? Make sure you're paying attention so we can get some good follow-up questions for Edna for the podcast. So, Edna, your journey began in Liberia, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Can you tell me how your cultural background has shaped the way that you express your faith and through the joy that you have in dance?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Amen. Well, um, first of all, I want to say thank you to my brother. He is that this is one of my best friends here. And I didn't get the questions in advance, so that's kind of cool. Because I was like, Holy Spirit, you know, just fill me up and let me share whatever you want me to share. Yeah. So my story is really an interesting one. I don't even know if my best friend knows this story.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

But when I was born, I um it took a long time for me to walk. Like they thought I was, you know, disabled, to be honest. This is a true story. When I was a little girl in Liberia, they told my dad and mom, because I I became two, I became three, I still was not walking. Wow. So the neighbors told my mom, just give up. My mom and dad said, look, just accept that she's going to be disabled. Okay. And back in those days, they would use the word crippled. So that was even like more harsh.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

And my mom was starting to give up, but my dad, and I will never forget my dad, he's past now. But there's something beautiful when someone believes in you.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

When you have somebody that believes in you, you can go far. Come on. Just from their faith. Yes. So I was a little girl, probably was like three and a half, going on four, and he was eating candy. Okay. So let's say he was like over here and I'm over there.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

And I was like, Daddy, can I have the candy? I'm talking. Like I can talk and not walk. And my dad said, You know what? You want this candy? Get up.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Get up off your butt and come and get it. Okay, dad. Okay. I started holding on to tables, chairs, anything I could find in the house.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

And just holding on and, you know, kept holding on, kept holding on. But I had to let go at one point to get to him.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

And I let go and I went and got and got to my father. And as an adult now, when I look back at that, not only the Lord blessed my legs.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

You know, but it reminds me of how God is with us. A lot of times we want to do something or God wants us to do something. And we like, I can't do it. I just can't. But look, you know, I'm born this way. This is impossible. But the Bible says there is nothing impossible with God.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

So come on. That is how I started walking. You know, the Lord blessed my feet to not just walk, but He gave it some type of gift.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

I'm telling you. And that's how you know it's evidence of the Holy Spirit, right? When God brings healing to a space, not only does the healing take place, but there is a complete, like 180 in a lot of cases. Where you go from not walking to dancing.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

To dancing. Right?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

And not just dancing at home, but dancing around the world. That's how you know God's fingerprint has been on your life since the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Yes. So amen. So amen. So I went to a school called Bright Functional. It was a private school in Liberia.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

And they would do pageants. They actually did pageants in this elementary school.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

So I told my mom, you know, I'm like, I want to be in a pageant, you know, and we all know in pageants you have to have a talent. So my parents didn't really know. They didn't know I could dance. I didn't, I mean, it really is God. Yes, it is. So my mom made me a dress because she sewed at the time. And I told them, I'm like, I want to dance. And but they've never seen me dance. I never took dance classes. So when it was my turn to do the talent, I mean, I saw my mom and dad face go like their mouth dropped. So they've never seen you rehearse. They've never seen me anything. It really is God. I'm telling you. The music hit me, it went in my soul a different way. And other dancers can probably relate.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

You know, when you have a certain gift, and I'm all of us, I believe, have a gift.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

We do.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Because when when that gift, I feel and hear music differently in my soul.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

You know, I can see the steps. And I just started dancing, and I won.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

That's so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

I won the pageant for my school. Wow. And that was right before I left to come to the United States of America. This is when I was a little girl. You know, this is at seven.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

You know, and a lot of us, especially as we kind of go grow through adolescence, a lot of us have this desiring question where it's like, God, what is my what is my purpose for being here? What is your plan for my life? What is the the overall thing? And some of us miss it because we're not looking or paying attention to the gifts that He's placed inside of us. So when you were younger, of course, leaving Liberia after this win, did you automatically know, like, Lord, this is my mission field. This is what you have for me, and I'm gonna continue working on this craft until you get the glory out of it. Right, right. Is that something that was already implanted in you?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

So, I mean, my family already knew by now. So when I got to the US at age seven, I we lived in New York, you know. Shout out to New York. Shout out. Okay, NY Brooklyn. So I got to New York, and again, my dad, my I I just really say it again when you have a parent or or even anyone or mom or grandma or aunt that just believes in you. Yeah, it there's nothing you cannot do. You have God, but God really put him there as that figure to really believe in me. So he put me in dance classes. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Because he's like, she's already gifted. We saw what she did, you know, at the pageant. Let her get some training. My mom wanted me to be a nurse.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Really?

SPEAKER_01 8:08

My mom wanted because in my family, there's lots of people in healthcare.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

And nurses and doctors. And I do, I am a healthcare as well. I am in that. So I give mom, you know, some credit.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Some grace. Okay, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

So my other field is healthcare, and now, you know, we could talk a little bit about that later. But um, so yeah, so I came to the US at age seven, and again, the United States, I mean, we had to sing the the um the national. Yeah, we had to sing that. So I started, you know, like, oh, okay, I got a little bit of a voice here. Yeah. And then they also would do talent shows, okay, you know, in the schools. And I went to Fashion Institute. Um, yeah, I went to the high school. So there's the high school fashion industries, and then there's the college fashion institute. So um, I was like, I gotta be in the talent show. You know, I gotta, I gotta be in the talent show. But I remember there was a guy that did a performance to Rob Bass. It takes two to make a thing go around.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

I saw him performing and I was like, wow, this guy. Because all of us have somebody that we look up to in our field, you know, that we emulate. Like even with the Bible, you know, Paul, he, you know, and Timothy, Timothy looked up to Paul. That's right. And I looked up to that guy, I was like, I gotta get in this talent show and I and I gotta do this. And then I'm in New York. So there was access to talent because MTV was walking distance from my school.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Oh, so you're right in the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

I'm right in the neighborhood in Manhattan. I love it. You know, so that's when I decided I'm gonna audition for MTV.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

That's powerful. So, as we as I've seen your ministry, you're known for vibrant energy, even in your conversations, just energy. Um where does the source of your joy come from, especially when you're dealing with challenging situations, right? Because life isn't all roses and rose petals every time. Yes, that's so true. Where does your joy come from? From the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

A hundred plus, a thousand, a million. My joy comes from the Lord. Um it's like since I was little, I always felt a voice within me. And it's like, God is so patient and he's such a gentleman. Come on. He really groans us, you know, he groans us as a little girl. Again, I'm gonna go back. I used to ride my bike and I used to talk within my spirit.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

And I would envision like a grandma, but that was God, you know. But I would I would envision, you know, this grandma, and I would just, you know, kind of talk to this grandma.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

And it's also the I th I believe the enemy of God also knows our gifts. You see, we live in a world where there is God, but there's the enemy of God. That's right. You know, we all know that. There is a realism to that. And years later, when I started my dance classes, um, a lot of my dancers was your age.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah. At the time, I still used a lot of young people too, but I had a huge group of young dancers that would do all the, you know, the little like shows, uh, you know, the art fest, yes, the fall off Juneteenth, May Day. We would do those shows. And I kid you not, I was driving one day and with someone with a friend, and he ran right into um like a truck, and I got into this horrific car accident. Oh man. Okay, so let me tell you, because that's like I said, the enemy knew that the Lord would use my feet, because keep in mind, he had blessed my feet when I when I couldn't walk. That's you know, that's a miracle. Absolutely. So when I got into that accident, my ankle broke. My ankle broke, and mind you, at the time I'm performing, I'm teaching, like a hundred percent. That's how I made my income.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

A hundred percent. I wasn't really into healthcare at the time. This is a true story. Yeah, the same person that I envisioned in my heart, I saw at the end of the road. God sent an angel in the form of that old loving lady. Because God knew if it was a guy, I wouldn't have gone. But I I had to hop. I hopped because I had to jump out the car. One of my ankle, I was like, oh my gosh. And her, you know, I'm they say all angels are men, but they can shift, shift to whatever they want to be. So arms was open, and I went in this older, the you know, this woman's arm, and she rocked me and said, Everything is gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

She said, Everything's gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

And then when I looked up, I saw the emergency people, you know, like uh the sheriff all running towards me. And when I looked, it was gone.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

She was gone.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

So God has definitely been talking to me all throughout my my years. Um, after I went to the hospital, of course, they rushed me to the hospital, they gave me a cast. Yeah, and the doctor said, It's gonna take you three months. It's gonna take you three months to heal. Three weeks, I was dancing again.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

My goodness, three weeks. That's how you know that was a miracle from heaven, and that was God. God's way of saying, Edna, I see you, I care about you, yes, I love you, and showed up in a way that you could recognize. Yes, and I believe if we're all open, if we're all open, he will show up like that for all of us. Yes, because the relationship that God wants with all of us is a personal one. Yes, it's not this like relationship that you hear about from someone else or this experience that you hear about from someone else. It is a personal way that he shows up to us, and what a powerful way that he showed up in someone that you can trust. Yes, but then on top of that, show the the evidence of his of his hand on your life with giving you a healing in three weeks' time, I'm telling you, and maximizing that. And I'm sure you didn't lose anything because that was a quick turnaround.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

That was a quick turnaround. I mean, people couldn't believe it. They were like, Yeah, you were just in the cats.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

But that's only something God can do.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Only God. Yep, and just to share too, uh, how God is the all-seeing, all-knowing, yeah, that he even knows our thoughts. That's how he was able to send the angel in that form, looking exactly like the grandmother, the grandmother that I would talk to in my spirit. That blew me away. And honestly, that heightened and tightened my relationship with God. That is why it's so hard for anybody to like pull me from God because I have real life experiences, not only his word, but when when God showed up like that in your life, yeah, that's deep. That there's no turning back.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

I love it. I love it. Can you tell me about when or what was the first time you used dance to inspire people to spread the gospel? And what was that like for you, like to see your call and become clear?

unknown 14:43

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Amen. Yep. So um I am known in the in min, you know, in Minnesota because the dance community is a community where we all know each other. So uh I I specialize in African dance, and at that time, you know, you gotta work your way up, like with like with everywhere. You know, it takes a lot of humility.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

And I remember I didn't have a car at the time, and I would take the bus to go see other performers' shows.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Because um, for me, it was important to again learn from others. Yeah. You know, there's no competition here. I always wanted to just, you know, kind of hune in on other people's work and learn from them. And I remember there was a show at the Walker Theater by this young woman. And mind you, mostly in the dance community, God is not a big thing. I gotta be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

Or the theater too, yeah. Yeah, it's so true.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

So I went and her mom was so threatened that I was there because they saw me coming up. And man, that woman bumped me.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Really?

SPEAKER_01 15:45

I'm telling you, I've never had anything like that happen.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

She like bumps you off stage?

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Yeah, no, just bump. What like what are you doing here? Kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

And I guess she was threatened by my talent and my gift. And that's one of the hardest things, too, when you have a gift like this. Sometimes you will face that. True. We can't help our gift, the artistic gift. And singers will tell you, you know, dance, singing, that's in you, is embedded in your soul. Amen. So there was a little bit of that envy and jealousy. And I I was, I remember leaving that day crying. Crying. I cried at the bus stop and I said, God, there gotta be more. Because at the time I was, you know, trying to come up. I started Universal Dance Destiny, but it was still, you know. And then as I started people hearing my name, I started getting bookings. That's awesome. You know, the Walker Theater, the very theater where she bumped me, booked me. God bless you, right there, right there. To perform. Actually, there's not a theater here I probably have not performed at. Really? I've performed at the Walker Theater, the Red Eye Theater, and the biggest yes, the Ordway. The Ordway did a huge uh um presentation. They had someone come from another country for me to perform with. Wow. And but the biggest is the Guthrie.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

The Guthrie Theater. I did the French Festival. My show ended up being that I produced one of the top. So out of hundreds of shows, they picked three to perform it at the Guthrie.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

That's powerful.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

And when I was walking that day to go perform, I saw my picture in the glass on the Guthrie. I couldn't believe it. Because they don't tell you who they're gonna pick. Yeah. And I was like, oh man, and back in this day, it's not too long, but we didn't have, we didn't use cell phones.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

I was just telling some students earlier today, like, hey, there was no internet and Wi-Fi and cell phones all the time. Like, you guys are privy to this information now. But at the time, that had to be a complete shock. A complete shock. But also, it's like God will do things in your life and in your journey where you're like, Lord, I know this is you because in my strength or my ability, it's I could not have done this. Yes. And so those moments, I'm sure, define so much for you.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Oh, it was it was when I knew, I'm like, I I think I made it. Like, because where can you go above the country in the Ordway? Like, yeah, and the beautiful thing about it, I had like 40 performers with me. Yeah, I took as many people, a lot of young people. Yeah, my son, you know, who's been dancing with me since he was young, yeah, we all got to perform at the guffey. So this was a huge thing for even all the other dancers, you know. They were able to put it on their resume. And then shortly after that, because this was about I would say 12 years ago, that's when I heard God said, You gotta start that ministry. I love it. You got to start that ministry. So on my website, with the minute you go on my website, it's like you're gonna see it right there on the top. It says, This company and ministry is for the glory of God. And I would tell you, I got pushback a little bit for that too. But my God is bigger than anything. If you don't preach, my God is bigger than anything. I had a company who hired me and said, uh, don't come and don't talk about God though.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

We're gonna hire you, but we saw that on your website.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

And you know what's what's awesome too, though, Edna, is sometimes you can go into a space and not talk about God. But he's right there with you. You can bring peace into that space because God is with you. You can bring joy into that space because God is with you, and you can tear down the hatred and the negativity and all those things because the Spirit of God is walking in those spaces with you.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Yes, give him a hand for saying that because honestly, that's exactly what this my my brother in the Lord just said is exactly what happened. Though they told me don't talk about God, you already know how God works through me. I had the whole place was dancing. Yes, the whole entire people that never danced before, people that, even the people that are like, you know, I'm too good to dance, they were there tapping their feet. And I'm like, this is a gift. This is a gift to be able to get non-dancers. You know, I got Gary dancing. This is a man who never danced in the lights, you know. So that I knew that. And then people who loved me would say the same thing. You do you know you have a gift?

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Because you're able to get everybody up. Because I will tell you what's behind that. I can feel that God is saying, I created all these people. That's right. I created. These are my creations. Come on. And dance does bring people together. It does, it really does. It's a language, it's a it's a language that doesn't use the lips, but it uses the body. Because again, when we were in Korea at that time when I did that, you know, six-month um study and performance, we were able to meet because there were other countries there, and we all were able to get together and meet, connect, and a lot of those countries they didn't speak English. Wow. But we would dance together. Come on, we would dance together, and one of the drummers fell in love with his wife. She did not speak any English, but they were able to connect through dance.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Testimony right there. Thank you so much for sharing that. And my next question kind of leads into that. So, as the founder of Universal Dance Destiny and Universal Dance Ministry, yes, what about your vision that you carry at the beginning that you see God has evolved over time or has remained the same? What pieces have been?

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Oh, yes, God is an evil evolving God, He really is. I I have a saying never put God in a box. Come on. Never put God in a box because the way he used me, he may not use you that way, but the way he used you, he may not use me that way. That's where there should never be any competition. In fact, the Bible does say in Corinthians that you know, we're all different parts of one body.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

That's what our collaboration is.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Yes. So I have definitely seen that. You know, I wanted to do more ministry. And Peter Wooler, I can never not talk about Peter. Um, he was the first. You know, Peter is uh him and Jessica Wooler are the founders of Source.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

And he was one of the first that kind of gave me that inspiration to pull it more into ministry because he would hire me every me and my group. I'm telling you, a group of young people, every year we would go to perform for the Fallout. And then I found out he was preaching.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

And I'm like, this is awesome. And I told him some of my vision that I felt that God. Giving me, I said, Peter, you know, and I told other people too, I said, I can see myself going to nations, yes, with this, you know, like not like not just here, but everywhere. Yeah, and then that's when the ministry part started really building up. You know, uh, I did a praise dance at his church when he was leading the vineyard church in Minneapolis, yeah. And then I joined the praise team. And then from there, other churches started, you know, because I put that on my website, you know. I I put I did put it there that hey, you know, we are a ministry. If you have uh a program going on at your church, we can come and we can do a praise dance, um, or even produce it from the beginning to the ending of it.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Listen, I experienced it for the first time. We threw the New Year's Eve bash.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Thank you for inviting. And it was the highlight of the night for everybody. Um, we had what 14 Christian hip-hop artists. Right. And we we had you, and it was the perfect highlight. Oh, thank you. Because it was a moment that we were all together and we all danced and praised and worshipped, and then we and everyone still talks about it. Like, wow, that's now that was what, six months ago. Right, you know, and so it was just it was outstanding. Yes, you've traveled, you've seen many cultures, right? You've encountered different people, different traditions, right? How has that influenced your ministry piece of it?

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Like, so um, you know, Pastor Darrell made a point. Dance is also worship. Come on. Before I even, you know, go into that. That's right. Please remember that David in the Bible, in Psalms, danced a lot all the time for the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

He danced a lot for the Lord, even to the point where the person he had married, I'll never forget that because I've had things like that happen to me. Yeah, she started to mock him, put him down, and God punished her. Right. Dance is worship. Amen. Dance is worship. That's right. Um, so God is so good. I mean, I've come from a life of where my parents were so wealthy to having to become an adult and from that life to a complete opposite. So God has pulled me through all those challenges in life and made it possible for me to travel. I've been to 20 countries. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Come on. I have been to 20 and you ain't brought me to one of them. No, I'm fine.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Okay, next trip. And um, a lot of these countries, a lot of them, they they don't do again, Jesus. Right. And one of the countries was the Gambia. So I gotta share about that. Gambia is mainly a Muslim.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Really?

SPEAKER_01 24:42

A Muslim country. Wow. And there is something about friendships. There is something about friendships. That is why when David fell into sin, God sent his friend. That's right. God sent his friend. That's right. There's something about creating deep connections. I stayed in a in a in a Muslim area, which I was the only Christian.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

But because of that connection, because of those friendships, and then I got invited to teach at the schools.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

At two or three of the schools there. And again, I just saw God in that because God knows that through relationships is how we can disciple people and even bring them to Him. That's it. This is why it's not about religiosity, it's about relationship. And brother, Brother Darrell said that we to have that deep relationship with God.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

And uh I was able to literally share the gospel in a city in the Gambia of all Muslims and nobody beat me up. Nobody beat me up.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

That's a miracle. It's a miracle. It is a miraculous thing. It's a miracle that's to be able to share.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

That's what I've heard of. In a lot of the Muslim or Islam nations, you don't do that.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

And I did it with boldness because God had opened the door. There were too many people that loved me.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

At that, you know. So even if someone came through and didn't like what I was saying, there was no way they could touch me.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

You know, I have seen divine protection from God. I I could go on all day on the type of divine protection that God will give you. The next one is India.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

I gotta share by India.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Yes, let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Believe it or not, I only have two best friends right now. Well, well, three. Pastor Durag.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

I'm included right now.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Right, he's included, you know, which is Gary, my friend, here with me. And um my friend Arushi. Arushi is from India. So when I was going through my hardships in life, I said to myself, why not rent rooms? Why not rent rooms? So she's from India. She came to the US and rented one of my rooms. Mind you, this woman is like a doctor. At the time, she was studying to be a doctor.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

11, 12 years later, she invited me to India.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

And again, she's Hindu.

unknown 26:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

She's Hindu.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

This is this was recent too, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

This was I went twice. Okay. My I went in 2023. Yeah. And then I just recently came back again. But when I went, you know, I mean, me and her had built and became so I just never met anyone like her. Like honestly, the the love that she pours out. I'm I couldn't find a friend like that in the US. You know? So she's in she's in India and we would just keep and she said, you know what? I see you love to travel. Come and let me. And when I say set everything up, yeah, she set it all up. It set from booking flights to where I need to go. That's love right there. I when I went to Punjab, which again, this is a Hindu area. The golden temple is there. Wow. There's no such thing as Jesus.

unknown 27:33

Wow, man.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

There's no such thing as Jesus there. And I went, but I did know not to go in the temple. The the Holy Spirit actually, um, for some reason the temple, because they they worship there right now, there are many gods. That's true. Now with the Taj Mahal, I was okay going inside the Taj Mahal because it's a monument. Yeah, you know, you got the the pearls and the emerald, it's beautiful. If you ever get a chance to go to India, visit the Taj the Taj Mahal, it's it's just gorgeous. I mean, they've they made it with precious stones. But the Golden Temple, I just felt like people are worshiping their gods there right now, so I'm gonna wait outside. Yeah, so she's doing her worship, you know, and I like, I'll wait for you here. Yeah, and then when we went to eat, I said, Father God, just prayed in the bathroom. I said, God, this is a chance for me to uh share Jesus because we gotta remember in those other cultures, they're born into it.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

That's true. They're just born. The minute you come out, yeah, you're in you're in it.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

Your mom and dad is Hindu or Buddhist, that is what you are. Yeah, so she probably had never heard the gospel before. Wow. And I just prayed, I said, God, have your way. And as I started sharing, I just shared about Jesus. I love it. That's all I did. How much I love him and how much he loves me, yeah, and what he's done in my life. And she listened.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

And she listened.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Come on. That's so powerful.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

And we hugged, and tears was coming to my eyes because I was like, oh my gosh, this is probably a seed being planted. Yes. And the first time she's ever heard that. You know, and that's another thing I want to say. That's why our social media platforms, too, people, is important.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

The Bible says, and all you do, do it for God's glory in Colossians. Amen. You know, don't just show your vacation pictures or you know, at the prom pictures. I encourage you, even that little bit of Jesus, you never know. Because all of these people from India follow me. That's so powerful. Biggest following of Indians, and they liking my Jesus post.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Let me tell you this, because you just reminded me of something I learned a long time ago. And that is truth without love is abuse. And love without truth is also abuse.

unknown 29:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

And so when you take away those two elements, right, one without the other, you not having a relationship with your friend.

unknown 29:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

And then exposing her to truth.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Without the proper relationship, the seed can't be planted.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

So true.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

And so when we have them both, we can plant the seed and allow God to bring their increase.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

So thank you for being an example of that. And I think a lot of us we overcomplicate how we're to share the gospel.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

And we it starts with us loving.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

It starts with us saying, you know what? I want to be your friend.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

I want to know who you are. We may not believe the same thing right now. We may not look the same way. You might come from another country or you might be a different age bracket. But the word tells me that I'm to love my neighbor as myself. So let me start there. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

And then introduce them to Jesus. Yeah, we're a good team here, man. I think we should we should start giving uh an electricity.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

There you go. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

But that is so true. And I think a lot of people, they see my travels and they're like, this girl got money, you know, you know, she's living her best life. But little do they know its ministry.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Little do they know because we are to boast in the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

When I tell you how many Indian friends I made in India that all follow me.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Whether they get the post that I'm sharing about what, but their thing is, you're my friend. Yes. And I appreciate you. Yes. So I'm gonna try to read it. I'm gonna try to listen to it. You know, so it's just amazing how God is the ultimate creator.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

He is the ultimate, he is so creative in the way he does things. And uh I'm I'm just so grateful to him for that.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Amen. Thank you for sharing that. I got a couple more questions for you before I release you to the students here. Um, so dance, as you know, can communicate what words sometimes cannot, right? Right. Can you share a moment when you feel like dance like deeply impacted somebody's life? Like just the moment where you're like you saw them down, or and then you were dancing together, and then they their spirit just yeah, ooh, I can feel the spirit because I've been dancing for a long time, so I've seen a lot.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

I remember when my son Joshua Stevens, and he is, he did take his mom gift. Thank you, Lord. Come on, Joshua. Very talented. You know, he's in California. So when he was younger here, we had that group. Remember, I told you they started growing, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

And um, they featured us in a hip-hop book series. Let's go. Yeah, you can go to Barnes and Nobles, yeah, and um, it's called the Hip Hop Hip Hop Volume Series. I'm gonna check it. Me and my dancers is on it. Yeah, I'll send me the link the link. Okay. So they happened to put, I think me and my son, it's again, God, it was like 10 of us. I brought, it was 10 of us total, 10 to 12 of us. And we were being featured a lot on the cover, so one of the moms got upset. Really? Yeah, one of the moms got upset. Mind you, I didn't pick that. The publishers do. Right, right. We don't have a hand in that. We're just there as talent. Yeah. And she had got really angry, angry to the point she wanted to fight.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

And I'm like, well, I'm from New York, but uh, I didn't give my life to Jesus. Right, I'm saved. You know, that gangster stuff, that's out the door. I know that's true. So I didn't want to fight her. Yeah, she was way bigger than me. Oh, yeah. She wanted to, she started swinging a broom at me and everything. I'm telling you, like when I came to the house, because my son and her son were best friends. Okay. So I needed to be there.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

And she started swinging the broom. I think the broom did hit me. Oh so I called my son, and and I was like, this is what just happened. I don't know what's going on. But this woman is angry that her son he was on the covers, but we were just getting like spots, and she wanted him to be on it more.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Can you imagine the privilege of you already got such an amazing, you know, thing happening here, honor? And now you want more. So we ended up doing a show shortly after that, because I kept my distance for safety.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Before we danced, this isn't the north side. Okay. Okay, this is the north side, which they consider to be a little bit rough.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

And we're at the community center, and I just decided I was I wanted to pray.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Amen. I just said, hey, everybody, I just want to give God the glory and I want to cover this room with the Holy Spirit. I love it. And when I did, she got up. She was there with tears in her eyes.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Come on, Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

Sometimes we don't have to even fight. That's why the Bible says you do not have to fight your battle.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

That woman came as humble as could be, crying. Before I danced, she said, I'm so, so sorry. Because she felt the spirit in that room. She felt the love of God. And of course I hugged her. Of course I hugged her. Because we know the story with Joseph. Right. You know, sometimes people can be cruel to us for things we can't control.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

You know, Joseph gift, it he had the gift. God gave it to him, but his brothers hated it. And in the end, he ended up not only helping his brother, loving his brother, but they needed him.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

And that was that Joseph moment. So yes, I have seen that.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

Hey man.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

And then one more other quick time. Yeah. For my birthday, um, you know, like I said, Gary never danced. So we had a little small thing at my house, you know, a little small. Man, Gary was just, it didn't matter what whether he knew how to dance or not.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

I just saw joy. The joy that overcame Gary's faith. It was like, it just lit up. And he was bopping, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Yeah, he was doing what he could do, but it was like joy.

SPEAKER_01 35:16

The joy.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Come on. I I think I think people don't understand how important that is. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

It's our strength. Yep. And that is my motto.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

It's so important for us as believers to ask the Holy Spirit for that gift.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Because joy is the source that brings us through all of the turmoil, all of the pain, all of the things. Because we're going to go through things, right? Oh, yes. We're going to experience adversity. You're going to experience loss, right? You're going to experience failure. But as long as you have joy, you can experience those things and know that there is a hope beyond this world.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Amen. Right?

SPEAKER_00 35:58

There is a hope beyond what we see or what we experience.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

So true.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

How do you disciple and mentor young dancers who are trying to find both their artistic voice and their identity in Christ? How do you how do you do that?

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Yes. The minute they meet me, they already know I'm a Jesus girl.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

You're already gonna know. I do not hide that anywhere, anywhere I go. Because, like he said, the joy of the Lord is my strength, is my motto.

SPEAKER_02 36:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Um, so I when I work with young people, we pray, we do pray, we pray before we perform, not all the time. Yeah, uh, at when we rehearse, and again, shout out to Source MN, our studio space. They just bless me with that, you know. And um I let them know my foundation is is Jesus Christ. Amen. You know, that that that's just completely important.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

And uh like the young man that performed recently, March 27th, yeah, yeah. Yeah, was someone who didn't really do, you know, much praise dance, but then he did a he did a solo to a praise song. So that's one of the ways I kind of, you know, because you can't hide who you are.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

That's one thing. When you have when you have Jesus, you you cannot hide who you are. And then I don't know if you heard my testimony later, I did give a quick testimony at the at iFest, okay, which is formerly known as the Festival of Nations. Here's my witness right there, again, my best friend. Yeah, a guy was walking through the festival, uh-huh. Okay, yeah, looking for energy. He stopped at my booth and said, Whoa, this is a true story. Just nod your head. It's a true story.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

We believe you, Gary.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Oh my gosh. Yeah, he came over to me. He said, Whatever is in you, come on, Holy Spirit is filling up this space. And how many of you know that have been to the Festival of Nations in the past, or that's a huge venue. It takes up like what the entire block.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

I just heard about it because of you. And later on today, I'm gonna expose them to the interview you had within. Amen. Uh is it Kara Levin?

SPEAKER_01 38:01

It was uh Fox Nine. Fox Nine, yes.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

I got a chance to show them that in a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 38:05

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

That was a huge venue, and that was a huge door that the Holy Spirit allows you to walk through to be able to share the space, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Even spiritually, yes, because he felt it. And I and again, I felt like if this was somebody that didn't know God, right? He didn't know God.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

So as he was walking, he he was just like, whoa! And then and then he said, Can I hug you? Wow. And you know, I did. I did because again, maybe that's the only Jesus that they'll be exposed to that he ever was exposed to. And now, you know, I later on that night I went on TikTok. You know, TikTok got everything. That's true. You know, should you hug a stranger? And people are like, no, never, you never know. They could be no for me. No, I want to hug you. Yeah, I want to hug you because again, he felt something that he never felt before, and it's that joy.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

It's that joy of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

And a seed was planted for sure. Well, Edna, I want to say thank you so much for being part of Podcast Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

And now you're gonna get the hard questions, okay? Okay, you're about to get it. Thank you so much, Edna. Well, you just tuned in to Podcast Sundays presented by Mercy Youth. If you are interested in learning more about Mercy Vineyard Church, please visit our website at www.mercyvineyard.org. That's www.mercyvineyard.org. We look forward to connecting with you again next month for our next episode of Podcast Sunday. MercyYouth. God bless.