[SINGING]
EZEKIEL: Oh my soul is for the Lord!
VASCONCELLAS SMITH: You can tell when you meet him that you're in the presence of a
very special person.
EZEKIEL: He is the alpha and the omega.
The beginning and the end.
And he's my best friend.
HEZEKIAH STODDARD: He quote a scripture like it's the back of his hand.
EZEKIEL: Hallelujah!
C'mon let's give God some praise!
Hallelujah!
I wanna see ya stomp your feet and clap your hands.
REV.
DR.
FLEMING: He can speak on levels that the young can associate with as well as the old.
- He's not afraid.
EZEKIEL: As long as we've got God, we not not worry!
EZEKIEL: My name is Minister Ezekiel Stoddard.
I'm 11 years old and I'm a servant for God.
[SINGING]
PASTOR SMITH: Minister Ezekiel, the service is about to start.
Are you ready to come out?
EZEKIEL: Yes.
EZEKIEL: When I was about 7 years old, God spoke to me.
[SINGING}
He was saying, son, I want you to do my will.
I want you to preach the Gospel.
I can't describe what the voice sounded like, but it was the voice from God because when
does man come by and tell you write a sermon—an 8-page sermon—I'll give you everything.
EZEKIEL: Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this day.
EZEKIEL: It brings you a good feeling when God steps in.
It's like a brighter day.
The sun in shining, kids are playing, having a bicycle race.
It's like a different atmosphere changed when God stepped into my life.
PASTOR SMITH: He'll take a Bible, a Bible dictionary, a commentary, and he will sit
down and study and connect.
REV.
DR.
FLEMING: I think the biggest thing that impressed me the most was that his knowledge of the
Word.
Which is really a critical statement when it comes to preaching as far as I'm concerned.
EZEKIEL: I came to tell you about Jesus.
A child is now born.
A child chosen by God is born to save His people for He sent not His son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved, speaking about Jesus.
Now let me take this a little deeper.
When this child was born, it shifted the atmosphere.
It started a new beginning.
C'mon, let's say Amen!
Amen!
REV.
JONES: When I see Ezekiel expounding in the pulpit he has a different demeanor and he's
firm and he's assured about what he's doing.
To be able to expound on the word take knowledge and it takes God's spirit dwelling within
that person.
EZEKIEL: And when I prepare my sermons, I like to keep it quiet so I can hear God speaking
to me because a lot of times Satan really tries to y'know make noise and cause things
to happen to take my mind off God.
What I would do is I would pray and I would meditate and listen to the voice of God and
what He tells me, He gives me a certain scripture, He gives me a certain title, and He gives
me things to write down in between.
Everything that God says, you just gotta keep on writing.
Don't stop.
Just keep on writing until God takes a break.
SR.
PASTOR SMITH: If I may ask everyone to come to the altar real quick.
REV.
JONES: Ezekiel—his witness, his testimony, is very inspiring.
I would have him come preach whenever he's available.
SR.
PASTOR SMITH: How many 11-year-old preachers are ordained?
First of all, ordained means to be set apart, that means you're called out from the ministry
and you're even called out from among other ministers that have not been ordained.
I know men my age that have been in the ministry for 10, 15 years and they haven't gotten ordination
yet.
They haven't been ordained.
SR.
PASTOR SMITH: You feel like praying for some people?
PASTOR SMITH: Even at the age of 6 Minister Ezekiel wanted to pray, he had a heart for
the people, to pray for the people.
SR.
PASTOR SMITH: He has such a tender heart.
EZEKIEL: Pray for her right now.
You have a reason for this woman to still be here today, hallelujah.
God, speak healing right now in the name of Jesus.
God, pour into her like you've never done before, hallelujah.
Use her right now in the name of Jesus.
Lord, heal her right now in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
SR.
PASTOR SMITH: If I didn't know Ezekiel, I would be skeptical.
I think it was Nightline that showed a list of young preachers that started out like this,
even younger, and they investigated and found that those children were being used by their
parents to make money.
So you understand the skepticism, so I had a long talk with Ezekiel.
I said, do not be offended because someone is skeptical.
They have a right to be.
Some people are just concerned.
EZEKIEL: My first strong role model in my life was my stepfather Pastor Vasconcellas
Smith.
When a strong male steps in and really takes time to say, son, I want you to come over
here and we're gonna talk about some thing.
I appreciate what he has done in our lives.
I really thank God for him because without him and God, we wouldn't have made it this
far.
[SINGING]
PASTOR SMITH: I did not want my children to hurt like I have hurt.
I, as a young girl, had been raped and I've had my entire family turn their back on me
at a very young age.
[SINGING]
PASTOR SMITH: At the age of 14, I was homeless.
And my church, they helped me.
They gave me the backbone that I could make it.
It was the grounding of the word of God that helped me get this in my life and I found
salvation.
I found Jesus Christ and I wanted my children to be saved.
And so the music that we're singing—some of the music I've held for over 20 years.
Upon having children, I shared those songs with our children and from that point on,
our children began singing the same songs.
[SINGING]
EZEKIEL: I really love my mom.
I would die for her, right now if somebody would threaten her.
I've had an altercation before when somebody had talked about my mom.
A lot of children today are missing God in their lives.
Sometimes kids pick on my of my belief and faith in Christ Jesus, but it hasn't changed
my mind about anything, as you can see.
I'm still preaching the Word because I want every child to know who God is.
I want every child to prosper, so what I'm saying to everyone now, what I'm saying to
the parents is that you need to get your child involved in Christ.
That's what I want to say.
EZEKIEL [preaching]: I want you to stand to your feet and say Jesus, I love you.
Jesus, I need you.
Hallelujah.
Jesus, I want you.
I can't go no further without you, hallelujah.
I can't go on without you.
I couldn't go nowhere without you.
Hallelujah.
Because the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want.
He leads me out of still waters, He restored my soul—
EZEKIEL: You go into a different gear when the presence of God comes over you.
I can't control it.
It's just the spirit of God coming on me.
EZEKIEL: And I shall not want!
The Lord is my light!
And my salvation.
He shall me from all of my enemies.
Ha!
Love your enemies!
Love them.
They prosecute you, hallelujah.
C'mon and give the Lord some praise.
REV.
JONES: I believe that Ezekiel was called to make a great impact and hopeful win some souls.
EZEKIEL: Y'know, Jesus, he never stood in one place.
I'd really like to be an evangelist, to travel all around the world.
That's what I want my future to be like.
I see myself at a podium preaching to a lot of people, a couple of million, and I can
see myself telling them what Peter said.
Repent ye and believe the Gospel.
My hands stretched out wide, reaching out, reaching up to the sky.
Sometimes I have dreams about it and when I dream about it, it's amazing, because when
I wake up, sometimes I feel like I'm at that time right now.
But then sometimes I realize, I'm still 11.
I think in my dream I'm like 20 or 30 and it gives me that feeling that I can push forward.
My name is Minister Ezekiel Stoddard and
you're watchin' Prodigies.
[BEAT BOXING]