I’m Eric Whitfield, and I don’t really know how to start blog entries, especially special guest blog entries. I know how to finish them though, and I’m even pretty good in the middle. At any rate, I’ve been a few different personalities while working on TV One Life. While all of them are super-fun, there is one personality that I’ve played that is especially dear to me, the Ninja. The Ninja is special to me for a couple of reasons. First, it’s my camp nickname. Over the years more than a thousand kids have cheered “Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!” whenever I would walk near where they were. But the reason I got the nickname, and coincidentally the second reason why the Ninja is special to me, is that I have actually been studying martial arts since I was four years old. It has been an incredible journey.

I remember being in elementary school, and I would play with my friends, and no less than twice a week we would have Karate Class, which naturally I would run, and we would hone our skills. I did this with several different groups of friends and some family members, so maybe I was a bit obsessive. I had found this whole martial arts world, and to me it was like the greatest thing I had ever encountered, and I just wanted to share it with everyone. Well many years later when I was in high school, a friend of mine introduced me to two new arts, Aikido and Ju-Jitsu. I started going to his dojo to practice, and once again I was in love with the arts. During my time there I noticed a t-shirt that the dojo sold, and on it were just four words, “Each One, Teach One”. See it’s important in martial arts that the art is passed down as a gift through all of the generations. The shirts were a reminder not to keep the precious knowledge to ourselves.

Later in my life I would come to have a real relationship with Jesus. I had always known who he was and what he did for me, but it was always a mental thing, and never really worked its way to my heart. Well the most amazing thing happened. The same feeling that I had for martial arts came back, but I wasn’t having the feeling because of martial arts anymore. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was the new greatest thing that I had ever encountered, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. But then what? “Each One Teach One.” According to the Bible, we are all beggars. Some of us just know where to find the bread. Of course in this analogy, when I say beggar, I mean sinner, and when I say bread, I mean Jesus. I’ve been blessed to be a part of a ministry that is pointing other beggars to where the bread is. I thought that martial arts were something that would change everyone’s lives for the better, and so I did everything I could to give them that gift. I know now that there is no greater gift that I can deliver to someone than the love of Jesus. God knows that, which is why we were commanded to share His word with the world. The world needs Jesus more than ever, so for those who know him, keep the t-shirt’s words in mind. “Each One Teach One”. Until next time…