I Have a Dream
Relationships learning how to fly
Dream Love in the Spirit
Inside look: With Dream Artists And some great Dream Ministries
September 2011
Stories of love, marriage, And how God brought Them together.
The amazing story Of an ordinary man That wants to lead his Marriage with the Extraordinary Love Of Christ
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Dream Editor in Chief Steven C. Semones II Publisher New Direction Media Associate Editors Allen Rogers Stephanie Jackson Art Director / Design Steven C. Semones II Assistant Graphic Designer
The heart of the Dream
Editorial Writers Sharon L Washington Jeff Pack Tina Pack Ashley Breece James Cook Janene Leftwitch
Features
Proverbs 18:22
September 2011 Vol. 1, No. 3
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Cover Story:
Learning How to Fly
Sweetie
By: Sharon L Washington
Stories of how relationships without God have nothing but painful outcomes, and gives you everything except love and fulfillness.
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Columns
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Not This Year Battered Women outreach Madden Tournament
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Breece Wedding
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New Dream Ministry— Life Line
By: Steven Semones II
Learning not to listen to all of the critics and voices as you pursue your bride or groom. Don’t try to have a imitation marriage but learn how to fly and remember the sky is the limit.
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www.resonateministriesonline.com
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
Journey through Trials and Miracles
By: Jeff & Tina Pack How two different people through their individual struggles where brought together as one in marriage. Together with God overcome trials and experienced Miracles.
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Praise 4 change 4 The Solution AB Media
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A word from the heart of the editor.
Learning How to fly By: Steven Craig Semones II
he Wright brothers were nothing more than some bicycle makers. Who would have ever thought they would have invented a contraption that could fly. I think many times of the thoughts that others had at this time when they mentioned there idea because it was so out of the traditions and norms of travel of that time. They didn’t let the smart remarks and laughs stop them because they were so busy focused on their dream at hand. Not to make a plane to cause other people to be wrong but because their curiosity and ingenuity was burning deep down inside, to make it work, and to make this flying machine a reality.
T
Marriage is much like the Wright brothers; they had to learn how to fly. It is a will between a man and a woman to make it work no matter what. Not to make it work to prove others wrong but because they want to love one another like they have never known. Like every plane, you can have everything ready to go, but without the right engine you will never make it off the ground. That key engine that you must have is Jesus Christ! One of the remarks I have heard so many times as I have gone through the wedding process is such-
Like every plane, you can have everything ready to go, but without the right engine you will never make it off the ground. That key engine that you must have is Jesus Christ! things as, “Good luck!”, “Better you than me!”, “Run while you can!”, and such things as words I do not care to hear any longer such as that is not tradition or the other famous one you know “That is not etiquette!” Wow, those two things I heard so many times. Honestly the only thing I cared about is wanting to love my wife as God loved and gave his life for the church, and I wanted to be the husband God wanted me to be and to serve and love her all of my life. The one thing Jesus did more than anything else while he was on earth is he served. Marriage is not what you can get, not about marrying for money, and not spending ridiculous amounts of cash to woo people on your wedding day. Then after the wooing wears off
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the debt is left to haunt and cause financial difficulty after it is over. Many times I wonder if people really want to be the help mate of their spouse or are they just looking for anything and everything to fill an empty void that can only be filled not by a man or a woman but only by God. You can only love and give your life for your wife as God gave his for the church if you actually understand the fathers love. This is also the same for the wife and her loving the husband and being his helpmate. Both are so key to the marriage, but without that third fold chord being Jesus Christ there is nothing to hold it together. Because in this life it is easy to fall prey of our own desires if we ever lose our main focus and purpose.
I am speaking over that spirit of oppression and depression and saying that as long as you make God the center and the head of your marriage there is nothing that can destroy your marriage. off. Always remember to make sure that you don’t forget the engine that keeps you a flight, and I know the engine “Jesus Christ” will always hold your marriage tightly as you keep rising to higher heights.
Many people might have spoken against you , your fiancée or your wife that it will not work and it will never happen. I am speaking over that spirit of oppression and depression and saying that as long as you make God the center and the head of your marriage there is nothing that can destroy your marriage. We must learn how to fly. We can not be scared to launch off of any runway, and never be afraid of crashing. You must do everything you can until your last breath and both live with a mindset we are going to get off of the run way and we are not letting anything hold us back from gaining altitude in our marriage. We must have a perseverant and persistent mindset. Only death can part you, but nothing else. We live in a world full of self seeking desires, sex is looked at as a hookup than something cherished in the marriage bed, and we are always so focused on what everyone else feels about our relationships. We must have not just good but great communication, full or trust, and always growing in love and maturity. For a marriage is not what you can get from the other half but what you can give and add to them. We must not be looking at marriage as a test flight but we are learning how to fly, how to go faster, and how to keep rising. I challenge you to not give up, keep learning how to fly, and you will have take _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Dramatic/Comedy Based on Novella; “The Song of a Nobody Bruised But Not Broken” This is a family oriented play
Where: Columbia, South Carolina When: November 26, 2011 Time: 5pm and 7:30pm Place: The Church of the Harvest Building 508 Evelyn Drive; Columbia, SC
Brought to you by Produced By Wayne C. Grant and Sharon L. Washington To purchase ticket contact: Sharon L. Washington at (843)957-2801 sharonw726@aol.com or Wayne C. Grant at (803) 240-9675 elderwaynegrant@yahoo.com Tickets can also be purchased in packaged deals in advance Seniors $5 discount $15 in advance and $20 at door Children get in free 12 and younger Portion of proceeds to be donated to: “Leading Ladies Mentoring Ministries;” St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
Sweetie I Do, I Did, Lord help me By: Sharon L Washington
I
‘ve tried to envision the simplest way to explain why I
love you But there is no simple way My love for you has no time There is no space Infinity is just too soon And forever has slowly slipped away My love for you has no time Forever is our meeting place I can’t quite put my finger on when I began to love you But today is the most significant day of my life... I knew I did not just love you but I am “in love with you.” Here in the present On this very day I can honestly and openly say, “I have fallen deeply, pas- state Wyoming had the lowest marriage rate. sionately, and madly; Forever in love with you According to the Alternatives to Marriage Project US You have captured my love Census Bureau/American Community Survey 2008; 104 Captivated my heart million Americans over the age of 18 are not married. And soothed my fears This number reflects 45% of the adult population. When I lie down to rest I close my eyes in peace I am certain you guard my dreams and guide my heart. 56 million of American adults -60% of the unmarried population, have always been single. 68% of the diAlways vorced or widowed Americans plan to remain unwed; Gallup 2006. Studies have also revealed that the majorThis is the idea of love that some of us will spend our lifetime ity of persons getting married cohabitate first. With a is search of. A feeling, an emotion that is so surreal that it is positive turn, 75% of these live in partners plan to marry past our realms of thinking. A dream that is so unimaginable each other. that when GOD set the standards he set them so high that he could only leave just enough room for “unconditional.” “Guide to Marriage” by: Jennifer Maughan states that, the average age for women to marry is 26 and 27 for Ephesians 5: 22, 23 (Suggest reading Ephesians Chapter 5:1- men (2005 Survey). 80% will marry once in their life time. 33 & Chapter 6: 1-23) The couples with the same religious and spiritually connection experience marital satisfaction according to 22 –Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as 2004 Survey. The average marriage life span is about unto the Lord. 23 –For the husband is the head of the wife, seven years before help is sought or the marriage ends even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior in divorce. of the body. Another downside to the single parent homes or the According to the National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 58 divorced family; African American children are signifi#25/August 27, 2010; the divorce rate is at 3.4 trend while cantly less likely to be living with their married parents. marriages are at a 5.6 inclination. These stats show that 50% The statistics reveal that only 35% lives with both parents of persons that gets married will end in divorce. The trend while the Asian represents 84% and 76% of the nonalso reveals that there was a decline in marriages in 2009 Hispanic –white reside with both parents (Indash; Child compared to the 7.1 stats in 2008 and the 7-3 stats of 2007. Trends Data Bank 2007). This study also reveals that California had the highest marriages while Florida had the highest rates for divorce. The opposite is true when it came to the Midwestern states; North Dakota had the lowest divorce rate and the neighboring
According to the 2008 Pew Research Report using the Census Bureau 2008 American Community Survey; interracial marriages is on the rise. However African American males marriages result in divorce while the
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When it comes to the evolution of love the once dominant same race marriage is no longer an issue for some but for others fear was dominant when it involved change. Interracial love turned into president cases. In 1958; Loving vs. the State of Virginia, they were both found guilty for interracial marriage and sentenced to one year in jail. 25 year suspended sentence if they would leave Virginia.
SLW; “What have you learned from this marriage?” RH; “You have to be respectful to each other and to communicate in a healthy manner, and have a sense of humor surely helps.”
Now back to reality. I did a marital survey of my own. My subjects are people that I’ve known for less than a year up to 13 years. I have a selection of never married to widower. Age 30 and up.
Then I converse with one of my Dearest friends; Joann Grissett, who has never been married. In a roller coaster relationship with her children’s father she cohabitated for more than twenty-seven years. When I asked; “Do you want to ever get married?”
Then I sit with Edward and Henrietta Boyd. An African American couple married for more than 30 years. I asked Mr. Boyd this question; “Did you think that your In Arizona 1921; Kirby vs. Kirby, Mr. Kirby wanted an annul- marriage was strong enough to overcome the hard ment on the grounds that his marriage wasn’t valid because times?” his wife was a Negro (mixed race). EB; “I knew that she was the right person for me when Pace vs. Alabama (1883); a couple was convicted of interra- she had once considered moving to cial sex. It was deemed a felony and adultery/fornication Florida. I realized then how much I loved her and (extramarital sex) was a misdemeanor. This law remained in knew we were going to make it through challenge up until the 1920’s. anything.” SLW; “Mrs. Boyd, do you have any regrets?” Later, the Supreme Court concluded that anti- HB; “No, we would not change anything about our miscegenation laws were racist and had been enacted to marriage we would just be a little more wiser perpetuate white supremacy. Despite this ruling although with our choices. But we learnt to always keep unenforceable it wasn’t until 2000 when Alabama; the last GOD first.” state, to repeal this law against mixed marriage. My next conversation was with a widower; Garnelle Then I am taken back to my Jr. /Sr. Prom when I had my first Robinson. She and her husband had been married for dance with a white male. Clay; is his name. It was like a long fourteen years. I asked; “What married things have ago and faded dream. We had this contest and whomever you learnt from your marriage?” you rotated with at the end of the current song that would be your partner for the next slow song. I remember feeling GR; “Trust GOD for everything and never go to bed nervous because even in the late 70’s and early 80’s in my angry.” town there was still racial tension. Well, I went to put my SLW; “Will you ever marry again?” purse down and to collect my thoughts because I did not GR; “I have no regrets about my last marriage bethink he would dance with me. I guess he felt the same. Be- cause we said; “I love you, we laughed we were pascause when I walked away he dropped his head and went sionate and we continuously prayed together. So, yes to stand in the corner. I walked back near him and mo- I would marry again, I like tioned and we danced... that security.”
Tawana Lesene; mixed race, married two years, When asked; “Why did you get married?” She stated, “For the JG; “I don’t know but what I do know is that he has to wrong reasons. It was an experience I wanted to have.” be GOD sent and for the first time I do sit and I think about it.” SLW; “What have you learned from this experience?” TL; “You have to respect each other and pray together.” Then I think about my marriage. I remember never wanting to be married. I not only said it to my Mother Then I sat with JD and Rose Hall. They are a White couple but I said it in every conversation that it became a married for 45 plus years; both second marriages, “How did topic of. Every marriage or relationship that I wityou know you were with the right person?” nessed in my family as a young child turned out disasRH; “I didn’t know.” trous. I’ve seen breaking and entry, knives cut, gun SLW; “Have you any regrets?” shots, stabbings, abandonment, runaways, secret renRH; “No, but I would have waited.” dezvous discovered, family secrets and all of the likes. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Although I did not want to be married, I was not strong enough to fight guilt or thoughts of betrayal or disrespect. I said yes to appease a lot of people. Then reality set in on the night before my wedding it was a torturous time. The morning of the wedding was almost unbearable. I told my mother and my future spouse that I did not want to be married. I told a close friend that I did not want to be married. I even told my espoused brother in-law that I did not want to marry. What they all said were, “It is wedding jitters; butterflies.”
In the end it became a love poem created that later helped me to connect with love unconditional.
I arrived to the church about two hours late and his sister’s who were my bridesmaids were three hours late and then a horrible thunderstorm set camp out over the church. The rain pounded on the roof, the thunder silenced the words of vows as the lightning flashed fierce precision strikes and “I Did...” I did get everything I asked for; I got the lies, drugs, alcohol, and women. I had to compete with a memory; the spirit of his first wife. I had to live with children who did not want me around changing the things that their deceased mom created. What seemed to be a financially secure home revealed and unequally yoked household. I was raised to be independent and to seek education. He wanted me to stop working and drop out of college and to seek the things of Governmental assistance. He preferred to borrow money to pay the bills and to buy grocery. I was nearly force fed the concubine from his first marriage that he wanted to keep in our marriage; his second marriage. I’d already seen enough to know where this was heading and I was not going to allow no one to abuse me or threaten the abuse of my children. I was not going to live with the negativity of a divided home. Trying to take away my independence by replacing it with abusive dependence he decides that he wanted to lay hands and smoke drugs to control me; that was the last straw. “Fifteen years since, I have been grocery shopping...” What I learnt from marriage is that it is not something you can go into lightly. It is being secure within yourself and knowing yourself enough to trust what you truly feel. It requires the one thing that so few of us have; patience. It is the one unconditional of love that we can never seem to grasp hold of; “That every person is entitled to feel whatever they feel and it is because of the love of another that these feelings should be expressed, without judgment or condemnation.” In the creation of the poem “Sweetie,” it was a love poem constructed in a moment of an epiphany; learning how to love one’s self.
I said yes to appease a lot of people. Then reality set in on the night before my wedding it was a torturous time. –JG
References: Alternatives to Marriage Project http://www.unmarried.org Powered by Joomla! Generated: 16 June, 2011, 10:18 - U.S. Census Bureau. “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2007.” U.S. Census Bureau. “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2008.” Chart 2: Median Age at First Marriage Chart 2 sources: Age data from the U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports (2000), "Estimated Age at First Marriage") 2008 Pew Research Center Report using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey 2010 US Census: "Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for All Ages and for 18 Years and Over, for the United States: 2000 and 2010" "Race of Wife by Race of Husband". U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1994-07-05. http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/interractab1.txt. Retrieved 2008-07-15
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The Journey through trials and miracles By: Jeff & Tina Pack
eff Pack is Senior Pastor at LSPH Church in manning, SC. He is the husband of Tina Pack and the father of two sons, Christopher and Joshua and One daughter, Abigail. Rev. Pack has been a minister with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church for over 15 years. Prior to becoming a minister with the IPHC he travelled the United States with a youth evangelistic team. He is a dynamic preacher of God’s Word with a heart to see the Kingdom of God enhanced through fellowship with the body of Christ and breaking down the walls between churches and denominations.
J
Our Journey Begins in April of 1991 and this is our Story.
We met in January 1991 at a gospel singing in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Tina was a successful lead vocalist with a gospel group out of Richmond, VA. I was there visiting with some of my friends that were performing that night. When I saw her walk into the room, I knew that she was the one I would spend the rest of my life with. We were married in April of 1991. We were young and did not have any realization of the calling God had on our lives. We were content with life as usual. But God had completely different plans for Tina Pack is Co-pastor of LSPH Church, our lives. Manning SC. She is the wife of Rev. Jeff Tina was a Preacher’s Kid, and had no Pack and the mother of two sons, Christopher intentions of being a preacher’s wife. and Joshua and One daughter, Abigail. Tina is Tina’s Father (Rev. Clifford McGraw) a dynamic preacher of God’s word, as well as had been a preacher all of her life and her mother (Brenda McGraw) was a very ina motivational speaker, teacher, minister of volved preacher’s wife. Tina and her music, and a successful business owner. brother Dwayne had lived in a parsonage Through her faith and ministry she has been the majority of their lives and although there were many wonderful times and able to break through walls of ethnicity and memories, they experienced first had the race, to see women of every background pitfalls of ministry and all the stress and break through to their full potential in the obstacles that go along with it. Kingdom of God and ultimately their destiny! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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On the other hand, I came from a very different background. I was born in Beckley WV and was raised in Virginia. I was one of 5 Children and spent the early part of my life in a non-Christian home. My biological father walked out on us when I was 6 years old and my Mother was left alone to raise the kids. My mom re-married a wonderful man who took us in as his own. My mother got saved and later my father gave his heart to the Lord as well and we joined the Church Of God.
He is truly a blessing from God. In September of 1995, God blessed us again with another son. Joshua was born with no complications at 7lbs. 16 oz. He has grown into a wonderful young man with a heart for God. He is a gifted musician with the abilities to play the guitar, drums and keyboard. He also is an anointed song writer and writes praise and worship music for churches.
The Call
In February 1995 God called me to preach the gospel. It took a lot of convincing Tina, but although she did not want to admit it, she felt the call as well. We took our first pastorate making $35.00 a week in 1996 at Faith Pentecostal Holiness church in Petersburg, VA. We took the church with the understanding that they only had a hand full of people left and they were going to close the doors if a turnaround did not take place. We began to pray and work to grow the church. God blessed and within 6 months we became In October of 1992, our son Christopher full time pastors at the church and began (4lbs. 5 oz.) was born with a medical com- planning to build a new facility that would plication that tested our faith and trust in accommodate the growth we had experiGod. We were told that he had 12 hours to enced. live or die. Although we had given our hearts to the Lord, we were not living in Even though we were experiencing success the perfect will of God. We began to pray in our first pastorate, we did not realize that and trust God for Christopher, and before the hours we were devoting to the church morning his health began to turn around. and the stress that came along with the poHe is currently almost 19 years old and is a sition was causing us to neglect our margifted musician that plays the drums and riage. We put others before ourselves and piano. He serves the Lord dynamically. did not realize the consequences of that. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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In 1996 we felt God moving us in a different direction. A move that relocated us to Pensacola, FL. We took an interim pastor’s position at a small P.H. church and continued to work vigorously to see it grow. During this time Tina began to feel the strain of being a pastor’s wife. She became extremely oppressed, and was at the lowest point of her life. She did not have a desire to live and felt like she was trapped in a situation that she could not get out of. We realized very quickly that we had been going about it all wrong. We were putting the church and church work ahead of ourselves and we had to realize that we do have a calling on our lives, but we have a calling to each other that is much greater. We re-prioritized our lives and home. God 1st, Family 2nd, and Church 3rd. We began to spend more time with each other and our 2 boys. We got away once a month and stayed overnight, just the two of us, even if it was just 15 minutes away. We began to see a complete turnaround in our lives, home and our marriage. Life was GOOD!!! Since then, we have pastored several churches and have been very successful in the business world. God has promoted us in every position we have held. In 2007 I accepted a VP of operations position in Richmond, VA. I was making more money than I had ever made in my life and I was
enjoying the break from pastoring. We had built our dream home and things were going great. We were attending a local Church Of God. One Sunday morning, the Lord spoke to me and instructed me to plant an I.P.H. Church in the area. It took God several weeks to convince me, but I headed to the calling. We began Genesis Christian Church in our living room and soon our living room was no longer big enough. We moved to the Eastern Virginia Conference Center and used the facilities there until we out grew them as well. We found a building in the area and did a complete remodel of the facility to meet the needs of our growing congregation. Little did we know, during this time, Tina became pregnant with our 3rd child. Tina had been praying for 12 years for a daughter. In October 2009 we found out that we were having a little girl. Within 15 minutes of finding out she was a girl, the Doctor came in and told us that he had found some things on the ultra sound and that the baby would probably not live an hour after birth. We were completely devastated. We did not understand how God could give us a daughter and take her away from us so suddenly. We left in despair and went home to pray and seek the Lord for our unborn daughters healing. During the next few hours, God spoke to Tina and told her that He
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was going to heal our little baby girl. We grabbed hold of that Word from God; it was the only thing we had to trust in for one month until our next ultra sound. We arrived at our next Dr. appointment the day before Thanksgiving 2009. They performed the ultra sound and we could hardly breathe from the anticipation as we waited on the specialist to come in and talk to us. The Doctor walked in and said “I must have been mistaken last time, because everything that we found on the ultrasound last month is gone”. You could hear us shout down the hall as we began to praise the Lord for his miracle of healing. Abigail Renee Pack (4lbs. 13 oz) was born on February 24, 2010 with no complications. She is now a vibrant 18 month old little girl that has brought so much joy into our lives. She is truly our “Little Miracle”.
In August of 2010 God led us to be full time pastors of LSPH Church in Manning, SC. It was not easy leaving the church that we loved and had birthed from nothing, and also the positions that we held in the business world. It was truly a culture shock. *Since we have been at LSPH we have diligently worked to break down the walls of denomination and race that have kept the region captive for so many years. We have also experienced tremendous growth in all areas of the church. On March 29, 2011 we took in 39 new members into the LSPH church family. As we continue our Journey and experience God’s blessings on our ministry, we will never forget the lessons that we have learned, the memories we have made, but most important the calling we have to each other and our children. God 1st, Family 2nd, Church 3rd.
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One in four women (25%) has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.
Powered By
NOT THIS YEAR Madden 12 Xbox Tournament like never before Tournament Location to be announced
Saturday Nov 5th
Dream Bowl for two lucky Winners
Broadway 16 Theaters in a Stadium Seating Theater
Saturday Nov 12th.
Lets take a stand against Domestic Violence On the
Gridiron
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Breece Wedding By: Ashley Breece
Marriage and W hat it Means to Us Marriage is sacred. It is not just for this life, but for eternity. It is a bond that we created with God, our families and friends present. We believe marriage means not having to go through anything alone. It is a commitment to one another to grow and cherish forever. It means learning to put another person before yourself. It is having that soul mate to spend the rest of our lives with, someone to laugh with, to cry with and to grow old with. Marriage is about being selfless, understanding and loving. Marriage is the choice to fall in love over and over again each day. We can’t wait to see what precious memories we can build in this life together.
This was such a beautiful wedding and I was so honored to be able to be apart and conduct the ceremony for this wonderful couple. It will be a wedding I will always remember because not only was it a beautiful day right off the beach in the back yard of a beach house in Myrtle Beach, but it was a day that I knew in my heart there where two people Willis and Ashley taking vows that I knew they meant, and they truly wanted God to be the core of their marriage. Here is a prayer from my heart to yours. May you always love, and serve one another daily. Remembering it isn’t what you get but what you give. Never take anything for granted, and remember that when everything might seem tuff or to hard to bear that all you have to do is not let go of Jesus. Hold on, and always choose to fly. Love you - Steven Semones II
Marriage is sacred. It is not just for this life, but for eternity.—Ashley Breece
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Praise 4 Change By: Steven Semones II Praise 4 Change was awesome. We had a great benefit concert. The music was great, and the fellowship was full of so much love and support. I really thank a lot of Wayne Powell and SC Teen Challenge. I know they have great things ahead of them, and I always want Dream and Dream supporters to always help give and bless this awesome ministry that is reaching the lost and addicted. Everyone deserves a chance, and this is a place that if you are serious I know you will find healing, restoration, and you will find a deep relationship with Christ. Thank you for attending, and being apart. God Bless!
New Dream Ministry By: James cook Life-Line Outreach is a evangelistic outreach working through Dream, designed to reach out into our community. Our purpose in doing so is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Myrtle Beach area and those areas surrounding. Through worship and preaching and teaching of Gods Word. Our intent is to allow people the opportunity to really experience the manifest power of God through the
working of the Holy Spirit with signs following. We are
set on seeing the true Body of Christ stand up and be noticed as bright lights in a world that's only growing darker, by coming together in unity with one another in the Body to build the Kingdom of God and not our own.
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Led Me To Love By: Steven Semones II
From the beginning of my life I have been in pursuit of the girl I could and would spend the rest of my life with. I know most guys go through that stage where they don’t like girls, but I can remember liking girls from as far back as I can remember. It probably doesn't help that when I was little my Uncle Robert would take me with him to the boulevard and he taught me how to say my first flirting words, “hubba hubba!” I went through most of my young, teenage, and early adult years feeling that to be someone or to be known as attractive you had to have a girlfriend. I tried to fill this emptiness with anything I could find. I settled many times, I allowed some to pull me away from church because they had so called better things to do. But I was so miserable the whole time, I didn’t really have someone that loved me for me and many girls I had dated was just fine with going to church on Sunday morning making a appearance. But I had a calling down deep inside and that didn’t satisfy. I knew with God it was all or nothing and not just at my convenience. I will fast-forward through many heartaches, relationships, and I found myself in a place where I was so lonely. I was talking to my cousin Stephanie Jackson on the phone one night and she dared me that I couldn’t stay single for 3 months. I was like well can I still go out as friends, and she said yes but no relationships. What started as just to prove her wrong turned into the best 8 months of my life. I realized there is a difference about knowing about Jesus and truthfully having a relationship with him. I rededicated my life and told God I would never put another girl before him again. He showed me that he made me in his image, and if he made me the only way to understand who I was and to love who he made me to be is to know him personally. He showed me you have to truly love yourself before others can truly love you.
“But I knew no love, and could give no love, until I knew the fathers love for me!” He also showed me for most of my life I had been loving from the outside in and I should have been loving like he always did
from the inside out. See beauty can be ruined by attitude and character on the inside, but if you can love the character of a person the beauty from the inside will radiate through the outside. When I met Brandy, I was not looking for a relationship, but from the beginning something just caught my eye. She was different, and it came to me one day when class was canceled and I was walking to my truck through the parking lot. When all of the sudden I saw her little red Celica rolling up the drive. I stopped her to tell her that class was canceled when I caught a glimpse in my ear of Christian music on her radio, I smelt a beautiful aroma coming out of the car, and also I caught a glimpse of these two beautiful eyes peering back at me and everything in me said get in the car. But I being the male in the situation missed these obvious signals to do so, but instead I said some corny line to make her laugh and told her to have a great night since I am such a southern gentlemen and all. We from that moment talked after class, she would show up early than she had to be there because she knew that I came to school right after work, and a friendship was born. She always said it was more than that and when I look back it was, but for the first time in my life I wanted God to have the reigns and not me. She called me one night and point blank told me, “I like you,” and playing it off I said, “well I like you too.” She says, “ no I like you ,like you.” She has had me ever since. So many other things I would love to share, but I could write a book to fill in the last six years, and all the fun times we have had. I knew she was my kind of girl when she said that she loved McDonalds, dollar general, and one night particularly when I called her house I asked her what she was doing and she said reading her bible. That to me is one of the sexiest things about her. She is all about the fathers will, she loves me passionately, and I love her with everything that is in me. I want to love her for the rest of my days, support her in all of my ways, hold her safe in the storms, and listen to her at the end of every day. We are a team, and she is my help mate. But I knew no love, and could give no love, until I knew the fathers love for me! I want to love her and lead her with that extraordinary love of Christ because she is a gift sent and created by God just for me!
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16 DREAM / October 2011 www.launchageneration.com
4 the Solution By: Janene Leftwich
oger, the child of an alcoholic father, knows firsthand the lasting effects substance abuse has on families and communities. Frequently beaten by his drunken father, Roger learned from a very early age that nobody is immune to addiction and says that “Addiction shatters lives and affects people from all walks of life and all income levels." Roger recognized the signs of teens succumbing to heavy peer pressure and slipping into drug and alcohol use. He felt a strong, urgent need to reach out to these kids with the message of staying away from substance abuse. His passion grew when he discovered a lack of substance abuse prevention programs in Northern Utah. As a result, he rallied several friends who shared his zeal about preventing addiction to form 4 the Solution. 4 The Solution is an unbiased education charity working with schools, companies and children’s' groups to raise awareness of drug and alcohol issues in kids of all ages
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Out of this passion was birthed the Anti- Drug and Alcohol Rally. Currently, Roger is planning the 4th Annual Rally; which is packed full of former addicts telling their story of struggles to triumph. The Mayor of Layton, Davis County Sherriff's Department, Layton Fire Department, Military personnel and many others, share the devastating effects drugs and alcohol have on family members and the community. Drug dog demonstrations keep the audience glued to their seats. Live music, free food, prize drawings and a chance to win a car, donated by Automatic Car Credit, bring in the masses to the Layton Amphitheater. Roger relies on the generosity of local businesses to donate items to make this event possible, but typically ends up covering a large amount of the expenses himself; all while running his Insurance Agency. After the group’s 1st Anti Drug & Alcohol Rally, Roger was approached by a local teacher and asked if he could do a smaller version of the Rally in the local public schools. Now, in 18 public schools, 4 The Solution opens with a hard-hitting, high-energy video showing how easy it is to fall into a life of drug and alcohol abuse, and the devastating consequences. This powerful presentation features students relating their personal journeys with destruction, including candid descriptions about the Facts, Lies and Costs of drug and alcohol use. Among the speakers, there are two teenagers who share with the audience their road to addiction and subsequent recovery, followed by a powerful testimony from a mother who lost her only son to drug and alcohol abuse. The stories are uplifting. Many students come up afterwards crying, telling stories of loved ones that are struggling with addiction and wanting them to stop. They seem to pull strength from hearing the stories of those once addicted; now clean
Testimonial Granite High School, Salt Lake City We started our year out with a couple of serious drug problems, so when we were approached with a free assembly that promised to teach our kids about the risks of drugs we were interested. We took a few minutes with Roger Leftwich from the Stay Sharp program and we were impressed with his preview of the assembly. Our school is a small high school in the inner city of Salt Lake City. We have a very high risk population. Our students need accurate information that is delivered in a straight forward manner. Scare tactics are generally not very effective. The Stay Sharp Assembly was very well done. They bring video clips that give powerful information delivered in a way that kids listen. The most effective parts of the presentation are the people that speak in between the video clips. They are people who have had experiences with drugs themselves. The mother whose son died from drugs was VERY powerful. Our big auditorium was absolutely silent as our students listened to her tell them that their actions and decisions definitely affect more than just themselves. I tell kids all the time stuff like that but never as powerfully as this mother who really hit it home with them. I'd definitely recommend this program to any junior high or high school. Our entire staff agreed that it was well worth our students' time and it gave them a lot to think about. We are hoping to have them come every year! -J Wallace, School Counselor
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17 DREAM / October 2011 www.launchageneration.com
FACTS 
47% of students have tried an illicit drug by the time they finish high school
MONITORING THE FUTURE NATIONAL RESULTS ON ADOLESCENT DRUG USE: Overview of Findings, pg 5 * More than 3 out of 4 students (77%) have consumed alcohol by the end of high school MONITORING THE FUTURE NATIONAL RESULTS ON ADOLESCENT DRUG USE: Overview of Findings, pg 36 * 1 in 5 teens has abused a prescription pain medication Partnership for a Drug-Free America: Teens 2005: Partnership Attitude Tracking Study * 1 in 4 deaths is attributable to alcohol, tobacco Substance Abuse: The Nation's Number One Health Problem, Feb. 2001 (www.gdcada.org)
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18 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
Featured Dream Music Artists Well Ced
is just a common guy from a little town called Georgetown, SC. His birth name is Cedric Lorenzo White and he was born on March 24, 1986. His family became a part of the church when he was approximately 8 years old. Through the process of time, he developed the most important thing a person could develop, a relationship with Jesus Christ. At a young age, he was baptized in Jesus name and received the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38), and continues the process of dying out to himself, daily. His journey through life brought him many doubts. Especially during his years at a liberal arts university that ended up shaking his faith. This new disbelief led him on a study of the essence of God which in turn brought him undeniable and unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. He developed a burden for the youth and began to work with youth ministries more closely. During this time, he discovered that the MAJORITY of young people (even in the church) listen to Hip Hop music. He has been on a quest, ever since, to change this youth killing detriment. This is the birth of Well CED music.
http:/www.facebook.comwellcedmusic
Vizion
-(Dell Gaillard) is a young man who has a passion for ministry. Whether through hip hop music, preaching or teaching the word of God. His heart is to convey the truth of God on a level that everyone can understand. Was raised in the church and because of that, he got started in ministry early. Began rapping for the Lord at age 16 and was very zealous for God but lacking a lot of knowledge. Basing his salvation on works instead of faith in Christ, and struggled a lot in his faith. This led to struggling with identity crisis. Wanting to be cool and holy at the same time sometimes caused him to compromise his faith in Jesus. At the age of 18 he learned about true faith in Christ Jesus. Went to bible college in 2006 and matched up his knowledge of God with his zeal for God. Now in his mid 20's he is the youth minister at his local church (CAYABF). He is a father and a husband who is dedicated to serving his family, church, and community. His continuous message to the youth at his church is "you can be immature physically but be mature spiritually." Now that God has reinvigorated his passion for hip hop ministry, he is focused on one task in these last days; to be a trailblazer for Jesus Christ! Vizion started rapping for Christ with the South Carolina holy hip hop group, the Cruzaiders. With the Cruzaiders he performed on the same stage with other holy hip hop artists such as: The Crossmovement, Da Truth, and Irocc. As well as contemporary Christian artists like: Big Daddy Weave, NewSong, Overflow, and Aaron Shust. With the Cruzaiders, Vizion contributed to two released group projects: "No Better Life" (2004) and "Free" (2006). Vizion has just released his long anticipated solo album “Love and Marriage� which is currently available on I tunes, CD Baby and is coming soon to Amazon. and Rhapsody. http://www.reverbnation.com/vizionakathetrailblaza
Nicole White
- is a 26 year old minister of music from the Charleston, SC area. She now lives in Myrtle Beach, SC with her husband, Cedric White (W.e.l.l. CED) and two children, Micah and Abrielle. Nicole is currently the Music Director at the Pentecostals of Georgetown under the pastorialship of Pastor Donel White. Her Influences are the Winans, CeCe Winans, Joann Rosario, Virtue, Natalie Grant, Neal Mellix, Nathan Mellix and above all JESUS CHRIST. The New album is scheduled to be released in the Winter of 2011. This album will include a mixture of gospel/Christian music styles such as jazz, gospel, contemporary Christian and praise and worship, just to name a few. The songs on the upcoming album were all influenced by Nicole's personal testimonies and battles, the testimonies of others and, of course, the goodness of JESUS CHRIST!
http://www.nicmusic.com/ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
Featured Dream Ministries Go Ministries
is a non-profit organization, based out of Conway, SC, whose purpose is to produce an interactive worship experience for communities in which families know that they must seek God first. These worship experiences, called Kid’s Crusades, include dramatic performances, story-telling, puppets, a live band, and other high-energy fun! These productions have been produced in many forms and areas, including the Dominican Republic and England. They can be as elaborate or as conservative as desired. These events, beneficial to communities and churches alike, can be used as a special church event, children’s ministry during special church events, community outreaches, and Vacation Bible schools.
Book Go at your church today! Website: http://gothewebsite.blogspot.com/
Uncommon
is Uncommon Life is a nonprofit organization providing men-
toring programs and events for middle and high school youth in the greater Myrtle Beach area. The program will form partnerships with local churches, schools and outreach organizations. Uncommon Life's goal is to encourage a commitment to young people that will promote Christ driven pro-social friendships, strong interpersonal skills, and reassert a sense of hope in their future. Only through personal relationships with the Holy Spirit can a sense of individual responsibility be reestablished that will give youth the commitment to follow through on a path to adulthood with a sense of pride and accomplishment for God. This summer we will be gathering middle school + high school students every Thursday 6:30-8:30pm Valor Park @ Market Common (in front of Tommy Bahamas) in Myrtle Beach, SC For an uncommon evening.. Where Vibrant Relationships Happen
http://www.facebook.com/UnCommonLife
Common Ground
is people from all walks of life coming together to enjoy worshipping Jesus Christ through music, the arts, and fellowship. We value genuine Christian community and understand the need for “comprehensive Christianity” Which offers an example of how it looks to walk in a relationship with Christ outside the 4 walls of the sanctuary. Thus, we hope to provide a place to engage and invite younger believers to enjoy Christ in a new way! Location: 7951 Hwy 544, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588 Affiliation: Come As You Are Bible Fellowship Email: commonground@cayabf.org Phone: 843-503-1711 or 843-267-5103 Website: http://Cayabf.org
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20 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
The Mordecai Project is a Christian ministry founded by J. Lee Grady, a journalist, ordained minister and author of the groundbreaking book 10 Lies the
Church Tells Women. The purpose of this ministry is to (1) confront the global oppression of women; (2) empower women to discover their God-given spiritual gifts and ministries; and (3) equip Christian men, including church leaders, to recognize, value, protect and train the women in their lives. This mission is accomplished through books, preaching, mentoring, leadership conferences, ministerial retreats and television programs in various languages. Lee is confronting all forms of abuse including domestic violence, female infanticide, denial of education to girls, forced prostitution and sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, mistreatment of widows and honor killings. He also calls for the full participation of trained women in church leadership, and he challenges the global church to reject unbiblical religious traditions that encourage gender discrimination. _____________________________________________________________
Our mission statement is summarized in this way: EMPOWERING WOMEN * CONFRONTING ABUSE * TRANSFORMING NATIONS
www.themordecaiproject.org “Both books are a must read they speak to your soul, into your life and right from the humble heart of Lee Grady!� -Steven C Semones II _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
Featured Dream Businesses
www.maximizedliving.com
NTM Music and Production Neal Melix Engineer/Producer http://www.ntmprod.com/ From our home in the Charleston, SC area, NTM music and productions is a project studio based environment dedicated to the production of Christian music projects in all stages of development. Unlike a typical recording studio environment (where you come in with complete song arrangements, well rehearsed and ready to track), here you can develop your project from concept to polished music production. In addition we also offer services such as: song writing, arranging, demo recording, remixing, and wave editing. NTM music & productions collaborates with a network of qualified and talented Christian musicians, singers and engineers to provide the resources needed to compliment your project. To the independent client we offer services from simple editing to complete music productions. Should an artist be signed to the NTM label, the production can then be independently marketed and distributed. As a gospel singer and electronics technician trained in the communications field, gospel music has been my passion and hobby for many years. Now retired, I devote more of my time and energy to audio and the gospel music I love. We seek anointed, talented, inspired and dedicated Christian artists to be affiliated with our record label that we may fulfill our vision for the glory of God. "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." James 5.20 Our project studio provides forty-eight tracks of pristine world-class audio in a Pro Tools format. We also provide midi recording, with state of the art virtual instruments and great audio plug-ins for processing and editing digital audio and midi. Some of the names include Digidesign, Sony, IK Multimedia, E-MU, Autria, Propellorhead, Celemony, Bomb Factory, and fxpansion to name a few. At the heart of our studio is a Sweetwater Creation station with two bootable drives and removable data storage drives. Drive #1 runs Pro Tools and Digidesign hardware, drive #2 controls the thirty-two in thirty-two out Tascam interface card of the Tascam DM-3200 digital mixing console, (which also provides automation and remote control for Pro Tools and a host of other music software). Our Lucid master clock syncs all digital audio thru the ART voice channel, digital console and computer audio interfaces. We also have a Sony DAT and monitor system by Adam, KRK, AKG and PreSonus. We have condenser microphones by audio-technica, CAD and more. The professional power center is by Monster Power. We have synth action and piano action keyboard controllers and our computers are packed with the tools you need to get the job done. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 DREAM / October 2011 www.Launchageneration.com
I hope you where inspired and challenged in the first issue of Dream Magazine. I am twenty-six years old and I have grown up in Myrtle Beach, SC all of my life. I have a Dream to see people that have lost hope to find hope, that have lost their desire to dream to dream, and for broken hearts to be mended. Life is about choices and outcomes to our choices. I don’t care what someone has told you, what they have said you can’t achieve, but I believe that you can do whatever is deep down in your heart. It will take hard work, some sweat, and tears. Nothing worth achieving is easy, but if you are willing to put the time into achieving it I believe you will do it. I have thought many times even if you never achieve the dream that was put inside of your heart, you die knowing that you never gave up on what was put inside of you. Nothing or no one can ever stop you from reaching your dreams, but only you. We all have things in our lives, we all have felt heartbreak, dealt with loss, had some highs and some lows, but we still must persevere as long as air is in our lungs. Life is short and that is reason enough to ask yourself the question what are you waiting for? As you look around this world you see nothing but negativity and people that are tired of just going through a robot kind of life. We have no choice than to dream because what else do we have without that in our hearts and minds. We not only must dream but we have to believe that it will and can be done!
I HAVE A DREAM... In Dream magazine you find powerful stories of people that have dreams whether it is in there personal life, there ministries, and there businesses. I love to hear the heart of a person and there dreams because you find there passion that seems to flow out of their innermost being. I am a minister that wants to cause people to dream, to find there purpose in life, to lead with encouragement, and to share the freedom I have found in Christ which is the one that will not allow me to drop this dream to be a catalyst of change that is inspired in dreams and is followed by action . I know we live in a world that is tired of hearing words so I want to lead, dream, encourage, and live it with my life. I once read a young boys quote he wrote before he died that simply said , “you don’t know what you would live for unless you know what you would die for. I would die for you.” I live my life and give it so that you can also find the peace and freedom that I know because I know you are worth it! I have a dream that my words will not go void but be something that impacts this world my lifetime and beyond!
Acts 2:17; Proverbs 29:18; 2 Chronicles 7:14 Ecclesiastes 5:3
- Dream Magazine Editor in Chief
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dream-Magazine/147770741950297