Faith Speaks
Washington State
Frank Busbee:
God Gave Me Reasons to Smile
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FAITH SPEAKS
STORIES WITH PURPOSE
APPLAUSE
BROTHER FELIMAUR FLAUTA: Thank you Godfrey. Your story definitely reminds us that although the journey might seem difficult and maybe even filled with uncertainty, God will indeed provide guidance and light as written in Psalm 119, verse 105:
YOUR WORD IS A LAMP TO GUIDE ME AND A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.
[PSALMS 119:105 GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION]
How do you rise from a life of negativity and chaos? Our next speaker found reasons to smile and be thankful after overcoming a troubled past and finding the true Church Of Christ.
Please welcome our last speaker, Frank Busbee.
APPLAUSE
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GOD GAVE ME REASONS TO SMILE
FRANK BUSBEE
1:10
BROTHER FRANK BUSBEE: “Hey Brother Frank, why do you always have that smile on your face every time you walk into the chapel?”
You know, If I got a dollar for every time I heard that, I’d probably be rich.
But seriously. For as long as I’ve been a member in the Church Of Christ, I could always count on the Worship Service to change my mood completely. It could be the worst day…traffic could be really bad… and work could be stressful….
But the moment I walked through those doors, everything just changed.
My shoulders start to relax. I’m surrounded by warmth, and any trace of pain or tiredness just melts away. I was home.
You see, it’s been this way since 2002, when I was a 21-year-old in Jacksonville, Florida.
That was the same year I joined the Church Of Christ. You see, before joining the Church Of Christ, I wasn’t living in the best environment.
2:11
I didn’t have a father figure, so my mother took the role and worked hard in raising me right. She trained me to work and pitch in at the family business. Unfortunately, the family business was not what you would so-call “family-friendly.”
From the time I was 13 years old, I learned to cook inside the kitchen, clean the bar, clean the stage, and worked up towards the front door for entrance fees, and sold liquor through the drive-thru.
See, my mother ran three successful adult entertainment businesses. This was my first work experience, and let me tell you, it was really a big eye-opener.
2:54
Because of the money coming in, there’s always constant threats of our lives. Even the police had labeled us the Filipino mafia. And even a moment where my aunt got shot nine times because they were trying to kill my mom.
As I got older…and older, I mean still in my teens, I tried to find ways to distance myself. I learned ballroom dancing and breakdancing and actually, I was really good at it. I mean, I was shocked too, everyone was.
I even got hired to teach ballroom dancing for $75 dollars an hour. What?! It was an opportunity for me to get out of the family business. But unfortunately things didn’t work out the way I had hoped. I had no choice; I had to go back to my mom and the family business.
3:55
It was tough. Money was everywhere, and so were the problems. We were robbed at gunpoint many times, threatened…sometimes both at the same time…all because of the money we made in the family business. But this is also when my life started to change.
Remember how I said I was good at dancing? Well, dancing wasn’t just giving me an outlet, it also connected me to a whole new set of friends. We would spend hours breakdancing and training for events. I loved it. There were no guns. No fights about money. No threats to our lives. I finally felt my age.
One day, we were having a discussion about one of our friends, (He) kept missing all the competitions, because he had to go to church. There was always something going on at church.
I could tell my friends were frustrated, so I asked them, “Why are we arguing about him doing something that’s more important than what we’re doing? We should show him support. Didn’t he ask us to come with him? Let’s surprise him and all go.”
So we all did. We went.
(pause)
All 16 of us.
5:16
We took up almost two rows of the men’s and the women’s side. I was surprised. I remember seeing that look in his face, the reaction…his cheesy smile. It looked like he was crying too. But I knew I did good, I knew we all did good. It was amazing. Man.
But that wasn’t the biggest surprise that night. See, hearing the Bible verses explained in a very different way than “the mystery” I’ve been taught to accept over in the Catholic faith. Oh, I was changed. I didn’t know what to say. See, I should probably pause here and explain I wasn’t the most religious. My aunt would bring me to Catholic Church, but all I remember was, learning about forgiveness and wondering, What Would Jesus Do? Because I had a bracelet.
6:05
I attended a few more times, and that first Bible study, and after it…partly because there was a girl I thought was cute, and partly out of curiosity. But every time the Church Of Christ talked about something that contradicted what I knew about my Catholic faith, I would get mad and tell the priest at the Catholic church. And over and over, he would tell me, “Stop arguing with them. What they are telling you is the truth.”
6:42
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt lost. So, I stopped attending the Church Of Christ for a while. I also stopped attending the Catholic church also. I just didn’t know what to do.
You know how some mechanics can tell you they can make your car run but it’s a temporary fix? But they know a place you can go to get your car to work like it’s running new. That’s kind of how I felt like with that conversation with the priest.
Well, I decided right then that I didn’t want the bandaid to fix the problem, I needed the cure. I wanted the truth.
So, I went back to the Church Of Christ in Jacksonville, Florida. I was so early to the Church the Head Deacon was still unlocking the door. He asked what local congregation I was from. I said, “No, I’m not a brother in the church. I wanted to learn the truth.” I remember feeling so nervous, and I was shaking. I wasn’t sure what to ask or what to say.
Members of the Church and the choir kept walking in, they began saying, “Hello, Brother.” I kept saying, “No, I’m not a Brother. I’m trying to start learning and I was told to wait here.
The surprised smiles on their faces caught me off guard. And I felt even more nervous. Really. So many greetings by these people I didn’t even know. Then the Head Deacon came back finally, with a warm smile and asked me, “What’s your name?” I said, “My name is Frank Busbee.” He said, “Who invited you?” I said, “Nobody, I came on my own. But I know someone from the church who invited me in the past. But he doesn’t even know I’m here doing this either.”
That was the day I started listening. And I listened and listened until I was baptized on July 27, 2002.
No, this isn’t a story of how, once I was baptized, everything was perfect, far from it. See, my family disowned me after that and kicked me out of my house for being a member. Friends stopped spending time with me, because there was no more money in my pockets. I had no money. I fell deep into debt. I couldn’t pay for my college classes. I didn’t know what to do.
9:14
But despite all of those things… nothing compared to the rush of joy I felt every time I walked into the house of worship in Jacksonville.
And so when my friends in the choir would ask me afterward about that goofy smile on my face, I would tell them that “this was the happiest moment I’d ever been in my life”. My face hurt so much from smiling, I’ve never had cramps in my face. My mind’s at ease and I’m no longer stressed. It’s like everything that’s been bothering me and worrying me has just gone away. My family, problems with my friends, and everything that’s been a problem, burden has no longer stood in front of me. I sleep easy now. It’s (like) all my sadness has gone away.
I was finally in the place I needed to be.
It’s been 22 years since I joined the Church Of Christ. I’ve obviously moved away from Jacksonville, Florida. Right?
I’ve gotten married, I’ve got 3 beautiful kids. They made me a Dad. We have a home. I have a job I like and duties in the Church Of Christ that I love. Life is far from perfect for any of us. But you know what? I’m glad I’m not up here telling you how perfect life is. Because it would take away from the feeling I get every time I walk inside the house of worship… every time I sit down and pray, and every time I feel God’s love surround me.
And that’s something I hope I never forget.
Thank you.
APPLAUSE
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FAITH SPEAKS
STORIES WITH PURPOSE
BROTHER FELIMAUR FLAUTA:
Thank you Frank Busbee for sharing that powerful story for all of us.
Now if any of you in the audience have felt moved, maybe you’ll learn something new or perhaps you have found more reasons to even hope that for all of us, put your hands together for all of our speakers.
APPLAUSE
Thank you all for coming to this live event of Faith Speaks in Washington State. But before we go, Brother Christopher Valdez, a Minister of the Gospel has a few words.
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FAITH SPEAKS
STORIES WITH PURPOSE
BROTHER CHRISTOPHER VALDEZ: Once again, on behalf of the Iglesia Ni Cristo – Church Of Christ, we are truly grateful that you’ve joined us in this Faith Speaks event, here in Washington State. Whether this is your first time you’ve heard about the Iglesia Ni Cristo or the Church Of Christ, or maybe you’ve joined us in past events, what we do hope for is that this will not be the last time that we do see you.
12:34
Again, when it comes with the world we live in, it’s a tough place. We experience anxiety. We experience worries, uncertainty. But again, when it comes to what we experience, we can take to heart the stories that we’ve heard from our brethren. Again, they’re not there just to provide us inspirational stories. Maybe the things that they’ve talked about, it even moved us. But if we were to ask each speaker why they were able to stand before us, why they were able to tell us their stories, think about it, didn’t they also worry? Didn’t they also experience various tests? Again, if you ask them one by one after this event, I guarantee the answer is “yes”.
But because of their faith, because they took to heart this reminder written in the Bible. They were able to overcome all their worries, able to overcome all their tests. They were kept strong.
13:42
Allow me to read to you what is written here, in Jeremiah. The chapter is 17, the verse is 7.
[MOST] BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO BELIEVES IN, TRUSTS IN, AND RELIES ON THE LORD, AND WHOSE HOPE AND CONFIDENCE THE LORD IS.
[JEREMIAH 17:7 AMPLIFIED BIBLE, CLASSIC EDITION]
Again, it was not through theirs or any other person’s capabilities that they depended on. Instead they believed in, they trusted in, they relied on the Lord God. And this is why they were able to have that confidence. This is why they were able to have that hope. What makes us different?
14:33
We all know that as human beings, we are limited. There are moments that we experience weaknesses. But again when God’s servants believe in, when God’s servants trust in, when they rely on the Lord God, we too can be confident. We too can have that hope. And that’s what we want all of you, every single one of you to experience. This is the reason why we invite you to our bible studies inside the Church Of Christ. Join us. Receive the promises of our Almighty God.
And if you want to watch more stories from Faith Speaks, you can stream it on incmedia app or visit incmedia.org/faith-speaks/ .
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