A Special Thanks
Pastor Gene Howell from Resurrection Cathedral For Christ Church in NC
​I have known Gene Howell since the days of my bodybuilding career going back around 30 years. He lived in NC, owned his own gym and was a Natural Bodybuilder. We met in Florida at a mutual bodybuilding exposition in the early 90's. I saw something very different in him that stood out. He weighed his food, carried it around with him and seemed to really know what he was doing when it came to diet and exercise. We ended up rooming together and that's where we got to know each other very well. I benefited greatly from all that he shared. Gene became my coach & mentor through out my bodybuilding career & helped me to win many competitions. We became good friends and stayed in touch over the years.
When I gave my life to the Lord in 1999 he was one of the first people I called to tell about my radical experience with the Lord and he told me that he had been praying for me through the years! Turns out that my Spiritual birthday was also Genes actual Birthday. It was no accident that we met all those years ago. Who would have thought that God intertwined our friendship from bodybuilding to Spiritual building. Gene became a pastor during that time and has been a Spiritual mentor to me and my wife. He has been a prophetic voice in our lives as well as a voice of confirmation. Every time I call him about something he would tell me that he just preached on that at his church. He always has the right thing to say and knows exactly what is going on and gives just the right guidance for us. Gene and his wife even made themselves available to pray for us and give Godly council on certain things while we were living in the Philippines.
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I am extremely Thankful for having Gene, a Godly man of character as a mentor all these years. It has been very crucial for my walk with the Lord and I'm better for it. We continue to stay in touch and I consider Gene and his wife Barbara to be great pillars in the Kingdom that have effected my life in a tremendous way!​
Steve Jamison Global Pastor of Eastridge Church Issaquah, WA
​Honoring Pastor Steve and the Beginning of My Journey
In 1999, my life changed forever: I gave my heart to the Lord and began a journey that has transformed everything about me. Within the first week of getting saved, my family and I started attending Eastridge Church. At the time, it just felt like the right decision. My oldest son was already enrolled in their preschool, Little Miracles, so we were familiar with the place. But I know it was more than convenience, it was the Lord orchestrating our steps.
Pastor Steve was the first local pastor I ever had. We connected right away & his leadership, warmth, and heart for Evangelism played a huge role in shaping who I've become today. As a new believer, I needed guidance, encouragement, and truth and Pastor Steve consistently brought all of that with grace & humility. He invested a lot of time in me during the three years I was there showing me what true discipleship looks like. Pastor Steve took me and another guy to Portland, OR to be part of a Luis Palau Leadership/Evangelism conference. That event was a turning point for me. It was there that I felt one of my callings truly come into focus: reaching out to the lost.
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In 2000, Pastor Steve took a huge risk on me (my words not his) by asking me to share my Testimony at their upcoming Evangelism Event 'Jammin Against The Darkness' in NYC along with many NBA players. My only experience of being on a big stage at that time was to flex my muscles which didn't require me to talk! He challenged me to step out of my comfort zone because he saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself. It was an amazing event, the Holy Spirit came upon me and spoke through me while sharing my testimony and even my wife Liz was shocked in what she saw & heard! It birthed a new level in me to walk by faith and not by sight, to trust in the Lord to do the impossible. I truly lived out the verse:
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2 Corinthians 12:9: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
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The list goes on and on about all the great things that came from Pastor Steve's leadership, character and commitment to discipling some one like me but one thing is for sure; God is faithful to put the right leaders in your path that you need for each season of your life as you walk out the journey of your God-given purpose.
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Even though I lived in several places through the years, we have remained in contact and seen each other on multiple occasions.
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What began as a simple step, attending a church where our child went to preschool, turned into the first chapter of a life-changing journey. And for that, I give thanks to God and am extremely grateful for the role Pastor Steve played in helping me establish my roots in Christ.​
My Brother-In-Law Zoro
It wasn't long after I met my wife Liz in Seattle that I met one of her brother's named Zoro on one of his visits from CA to see the family. He was a Born Again Believer in Christ although that lifestyle wasn't even on my radar at that time. We had many get togethers over the years with the family and naturally formed a good relationship with him. Fast forward from 1989 to 1999 when I had the encounter of a lifetime with the Lord, Zoro was there. I was in CA supporting some friends that were competing in a bodybuilding contest when my world was turned upside down, similar to Paul when the Lord threw him off his Donkey.
I was living the bodybuilding life, hanging around the wrong influences and ended up in the Santa Monica Hospital while back at home my wife was expecting me to be on that flight coming back to Seattle with the friends I went to CA with. When I didn't come home Liz started calling our friends and they told her that I didn't get on the flight and that something really strange was happening to me because they said I chose not to go through airport security. That was all they knew because they had to get on the flight themselves. Liz was able to call the airport and was told by a ticket agent that security called the paramedics on me and that they took me to the Santa Monica Hospital! Liz booked a flight to come and get me but it was for the next day and she had to make arrangements for our boys that were 5 & 4 at the time.
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My brother-in-law Zoro is a drummer that lived in CA, San Fernando Valley and was on tour with someone but Liz decided to call him anyway to see if by some chance he was back and if he could pick me up from the hospital. Little did I know that the Lord was already orchestrating our steps and it turned out that Zoro just got back in town the night before. He picked me up from the hospital & took me to stay at his place while his wife and new born stayed at her parents place nearby. Zoro didn't really have any idea at the time what was going on with me, how I ended up in the hospital or how God was doing a deep work within me but it would be clear later. He decided to pray for me and encouraged me to surrender my life to the Lord and that's just what I did. Zoro talked to his father-in-law that was a pastor and shared with him what was going on with me. He gave me some cassette tapes with some great sermons that he preached about faith & other subjects that helped me on the start of my journey.
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The Lord knows just the right people to put in your life for just the right situation. He's looking for people that are willing to be used because you never know the effect it will have years later. I'm thankful that Zoro was one of those that said yes even when he didn't have any immediate answers to what was happening in that moment.
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"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice"
1 Samuel 15:22: ​​​
