ASI 2021: Into All the World

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Young Professionals

Jason Bradley

K'dee Elsen Crews

Denzil McNeilus

Process of Progress

Rochelle Mekowulu

Purpose Discovery

Stephen Lee

Goal Setting and Time Management

Ruben Dias

Monet St. Juste

Jared Thurmon

Branding and Marketing

Felecia Lee

Mentorship

Eric Camarillo

Starting a Nonprofit

Curtis Letniak

Starting a Business

Dustin Pestlin

Starting a YouTube Ministry

So this morning, our first speaking segment is called Process of Progress.

Behind every individual who finds success in business or ministry or career.

Often we see the results, we see, wow, look at what they're doing.

But how did they get to where they're at?

Today you'll actually hear the intersection of 3 unique, very distinct, highly successful, deeply spiritual leaders in our Adventist church.

A little sneak peek into how God has led each of their journeys.

So what do a banker, a program manager, a psychologist, what do these have in common?

I hope today you will see that golden thread of faith that intersects these journeys, the burden of the gospel that ties each 1 together.

Our first speaker this morning is a face that I'm sure all of you recognize.

He is no stranger to ASI, Denzel McNeilis.

Both him and his wife have served as past ASI presidents and he serves on the ASI Mission Incorporated.

Also owner of Sterling Bank in Hills from Minnesota.

Denzel we are so happy to have you here and just even I just love hearing you come on stage and sharing your stories even just like last night the stories of evangelism and what God is doing.

You know, it's an honor and privilege to be able to be here this morning to talk to you.

But I just want you to know that whatever I say, I want to make sure that all honor, glory, and praise goes to our Heavenly Father.

Because if you think about it, our earthly endeavors of what we do is really insignificant when you look at what he has done for us.

You know, I was trying to decide what I was going to speak about today.

You know, I grew up with the Seventh-day Adventist.

We got married when I was 20 years old, and We just celebrated our 40-year anniversary.

So, that tells you I've been working for more than 40 years.

I started working in our family business when I was 8 years old.

As I tried to try to figure out what I was going to talk to you about today, I was trying to figure out what area would be the most important to highlight.

I thought maybe I'd talk about how my wife and I, when we grew up, we grew up very poor.

I mean, literally, it took us 1 full year to save up enough money, because we didn't want to borrow money, to buy a microwave.

We believed we should work half days, 12 hours a day.

And it took a lot of time and effort in what we did.

There were 9 manufacturers when I started in the family business.

There were 9 mixer manufacturers and when we sold the business, we were the world's largest mixer manufacturer in the world.

I became a president of our company when I was 26 years old.

You know, the mixer business, I could talk to you about how we did our marketing, how we did our distribution systems, how we put up our systems for our sales and our management, our factory operations, how we did our production, how we set up our factory.

I could talk to you about that when we did sell our mixer business, that there were registered or registered mixer trucks in the United States that were actually on the street was just under 69, 000 mixers, trucks in the United States.

Just under 69, 000 registered mixer trucks in the United States on the street, and 62, 000 of them had our name on them.

We are the world's largest in the mixer business.

I could talk to you about how that we decided to go into the garbage truck business.

And in 8 years, we came from starting in the business to be the second largest mixer or garbage truck business in the world.

I could tell you we were the largest concrete plant manufacturing business.

And we started in that, became the largest of that in the world.

We became the largest leaser of mixer trucks in the United States.

But then we always had all our people flying back and forth because they couldn't work on Sabbath.

So we had all these trucks we were delivering all over the United States.

So we had to buy airplane tickets and of course we started buying a lot of airplane tickets.

And I said, well, how do I get a discount to buy more airplane tickets?

We need, became a travel agent and then I bought travel agencies and I became the second largest travel agency owner in Minnesota.

But then I decided I wanted to diversify and so I actually bought a little bank.

And we started with that bank and that bank when I bought it was 28 million in assets.

I work with my son Justin and Tyler Coleman, my son-in-law.

And we're a bank now of 450 million in assets.

But the Lord really blessed us through all these efforts.

But that's not what I want to talk to you about.

I have 3 things I want to talk to you about.

I want 3 things that I'd like you to listen, learn that I wish I would have known when I was your age.

The first thing is the most important thing, make God your partner.

If you make God your partner and you're doing what he wants you to do, you'll be successful.

Elder Rizzi, I don't know, does anyone know Elder Rizzi?

Elder Rizzi had a saying that I really appreciate.

He said, the secret of wisdom is knowing the direction the Lord wants you to go and following it.

But I also, the other thing I wanted to tell you was when I started in business, I Wanted to be the first Adventist billionaire.

I know you think about billionaires today.

But you 40 years ago, billion a billion dollars a lot of money.

Today is not as much as it was back then.

But back then it was I want to be the first Adventist billionaire.

I'm a talk about that a little bit later as I finish up when they tell me I only have a few more minutes.

But the thing I want to tell you that I want is so important.

Most people will tell you, never let a crisis go to waste.

And I want to tell you what I want to spend a little bit of time on today is, through crises we were able to grow.

Every time there was a downturn, every time there was an issue that came up to place, we looked at it as an opportunity to grow.

And so I want to urge you today that as you get a crisis, as you have a problem, it's an opportunity to expand and to improve your business or your professional life.

Like the first crisis that came into our family was my grandmother had open heart surgery.

Matter of fact, they tell me she was the first 1 in the Mayo Clinic to have open heart surgery in 1955.

And they were there around and she was there for a long time recovering.

My dad was walking by and they're digging a hole and he yelled down the hole, you need help.

Why he was sitting there and it was to build a concrete plant.

That's where he learned the ready mix business.

Then that grew, he, why I say grew, He bought 1.

He said in the newspaper that he hoped to employ 3 people.

He didn't tell the newspaper that 1 was him and 1 was my mom of the 3.

And when he started in the ready mix business, it was very tough.

Back to Menu

Series

Young Professionals

Process of Progress

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

Process of Progress

49m

Purpose Discovery

1h 8m

Goal Setting and Time Management

42m

Branding and Marketing

36m

Mentorship

24m

Starting a Nonprofit

31m

Starting a Business

35m

Starting a YouTube Ministry

40m

Sound Doctrine