1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,240 Welcome to Real Talk Friday with your hosts Rohan Das and Gus Urban. 2 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,400 In this groundbreaking podcast segment, we delve deep into the lives of individuals whose 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,680 journey has been profoundly transformed by their faith. 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,200 From the trial of adversity to the triumph of redemption, we explore real stories, real 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,400 people whose encounter with God has reshaped their existence. 6 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:35,120 Join us as we embark on a candid and enlightening journey where authenticity meets spirituality 7 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:42,360 every Friday on Real Talk Friday, part of Logan City Christian Church. 8 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,640 Hello and welcome to another episode of Real Talk Friday. 9 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:50,240 I'm glad you guys are joining us and today is a special episode, Gus. 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,160 No, it definitely is. 11 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:57,680 It's been a long time coming, but yeah, we're very, very excited for this special guest 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:58,680 to be on our show. 13 00:00:58,680 --> 00:00:59,680 Yeah. 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:06,720 It's amazing because we've been always wanting this special guest to come on our show. 15 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:11,560 We've never had that opportunity and today was the day. 16 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,640 So I'll let you introduce our special guest, Gus, because I think he's also special to 17 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:17,640 you. 18 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:18,640 Yeah. 19 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,640 Well, today we have Pastor Rob, AKA Dad. 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,960 So Dad, I bumped it. 21 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,360 Dad, welcome to the show. 22 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:26,360 Thanks, guys. 23 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,320 Yeah, so like we said, it's been a long time coming. 24 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:34,000 There's been a lot happening and we've been very busy, all of us. 25 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:42,120 So to try and make two calendars, find a date for it to work is trickier than usual, but 26 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:43,680 it's very, very good to have you on. 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:44,680 Yeah, that's good. 28 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,720 I mean, I had to sacrifice my golf and fishing, but we're here. 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:49,900 That's great. 30 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:58,120 So Pastor Rob, I've known you for quite a while, not as much as you, Gus, but it's truly 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:05,440 been a blessing to have you in my life, ministering to me in many ways and of course you too, 32 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,440 Gus. 33 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:07,440 Yeah, definitely. 34 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,760 And I feel like there's such a big ministry calling that you have and of course the church, 35 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:14,000 Logan City Christian Church. 36 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,280 You're the senior pastor here and you're doing such an amazing job. 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:25,640 A lot of people who I bring to church tell me that they relate to so many of your message 38 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:33,020 and they feel like God's actually planted you at the right place and that's undoubtedly 39 00:02:33,020 --> 00:02:36,400 planted you at the right place and they're so blessed by your message. 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,600 What do you have to say to that? 41 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,640 That's a tough question. 42 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:52,160 Well, I think it's encouraging because you always want to be effective as much as possible 43 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:59,960 and I guess bringing across a message that is relative to where we're at, but not only 44 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:07,080 that, that so many people go through so many different situations in life and it varies 45 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,920 from one person to the next. 46 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:15,240 I guess it's only the Holy Spirit who can give you the right message for the day and 47 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,600 you just got to trust that and run with it. 48 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,720 But it is, it's very encouraging. 49 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,120 Yeah, amen to that. 50 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,160 But it was not always like this. 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,560 Because I know a little bit about your story and that's what we want to talk about. 52 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,800 We want to see God's blessing in your life and how God brought you from place A to place 53 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:36,800 B. 54 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:42,880 And we're really keen to hear your story and I'm sure our viewers are too because of 55 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:49,160 you, your ministry and what you're doing, this podcast is available to all our viewers 56 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:54,080 and we're able to do this podcast because of your calling, your blessing towards this 57 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,000 church too. 58 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,300 We are here, me, Gus and many other people who contribute towards this podcast is because 59 00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:03,360 of you and we're so grateful. 60 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:08,720 So we want to really, like this is the best interview I feel that we've ever done in 61 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:09,720 Real Talk Friday. 62 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,520 Oh good, no pressure. 63 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:19,480 Because I feel like we have Real Talk Friday because of you and we want to hear your story 64 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,120 and we're all ears now. 65 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:29,360 Yeah, well I've been avoiding this for as long as I could obviously. 66 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:35,400 It's really interesting when God calls you, you look back when you're surrendered to the 67 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:40,520 call you look back and you're, you know what, God was calling a long time before I ever 68 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:47,920 really realised it and you know that's one thing that I look back at and I guess it's 69 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:54,080 another thing that you know God's not a respecter of persons and so what it is is that for me 70 00:04:54,080 --> 00:05:01,920 how I see it, what he did with me he does with everybody and so I know out there all 71 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,720 the viewers is that you know you may not feel a call of God on your life but there is definitely 72 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,760 a call there and the amount of people that will be blessed on the other side of your 73 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,920 obedience and surrendering to it will just be amazing. 74 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:20,640 It'll be amazing but we all don't have like that perfect start to life and well I had 75 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:26,880 a pretty good one really but you know some of us had really big challenges and you know 76 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:31,360 starting in life and then thinking that you know some of your friends they find out oh 77 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,800 you're a Christian now and oh and you're pastoring now, oh you do missions now, you? 78 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:37,800 You're doing that? 79 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:38,800 Yeah, yeah. 80 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:39,800 You know it's quite funny. 81 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,160 They remember who you used to be. 82 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:43,160 That's right. 83 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:44,160 Yeah, yeah. 84 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,880 Yeah, yeah the carpenter's son so you know but just good. 85 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:49,880 Yeah. 86 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:50,880 Amen to that. 87 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:56,960 So tell us a little about your childhood, your upbringing and how was it in a Christian 88 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:04,360 environment or and how did you meet Christ you know or how did he meet you where you 89 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:05,360 were? 90 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:06,360 Okay. 91 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,400 Yeah well yeah I'm one of six siblings. 92 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,440 Mum and Dad have always been really good parents. 93 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:21,160 Always been very close with my dad that you know he taught me a trade and was a mechanic 94 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,720 and a lot of people used to call me little John however my dad would stand I'd stand 95 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:32,680 the same and you know when I was younger driving down the road you know dad would spit out 96 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:38,440 the window so I'd do it too and he used to say certain things to women drivers and I'd 97 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:44,400 do the same and but it would all be very challenging when I'd be in the car with my mother so I 98 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:50,720 would do the same things but yeah I really had a good upbringing with my parents you 99 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:56,160 know we moved around a little bit from time to time which got really challenging because 100 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:03,560 when you go to a new school or a new suburb there's always the especially one suburb we 101 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:13,000 moved to it was the rough part of town and as soon as you're there the boys in on the 102 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:20,080 block want to challenge the new kid and you know it's not always easy but you know I look 103 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:25,680 back at that and I see that God was already starting to develop things in me back then 104 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:32,400 and so you know I always say that I'm really grateful that I'm a black belt in Middle 105 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:39,160 Eastern karate and that's called I ran I learned to run very fast but there were some 106 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:46,640 times you just couldn't run and you had to you know face up and unfortunately I developed 107 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:53,480 a bit of an anger problem now that's not quite accurate I developed a really bad anger problem 108 00:07:53,480 --> 00:08:01,640 and you kind of like lean on your anger to get you through things and unfortunately I 109 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:08,880 carried that into the first few years of Christianity and even in the first couple of years of 110 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:16,840 ministry and I learnt very quickly it doesn't work it's so counterproductive to the way 111 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:22,920 God operates so there were a lot of challenges along the way but no I had a I would say I 112 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:30,360 had a very good childhood there were many challenges in the midst of it but yeah. 113 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:36,240 Yeah now that's really good because you know when I look at you right now I would have 114 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:43,880 never ever thought you are a person that have anger issue because you're just so calm and 115 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:49,360 no matter the turmoil that's going around you just so calm I think that's only something 116 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,760 the Holy Spirit can work on you to do. 117 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:52,760 That's right. 118 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:59,640 So talk more about that like I want to I'm really keen to you know hear how God met you 119 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:06,960 where you were at you know how God changed that anger into something calmness you know 120 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:12,160 that you have right now I want to hear that because I always find it fascinating that 121 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:19,960 how God can change from a person A to a person that B and just be like no I cannot imagine 122 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:24,680 you being this person at all like you know it's just you completely transformed. 123 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:30,960 I recently watched a movie it's called The Forge which is I think in cinemas right now 124 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:37,760 and it talks about mentoring someone and how a person who didn't have a greatest relationship 125 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:45,480 with the father the single mother who you know was there in his life and he had a lot 126 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:50,800 of problems in his life he was angry with God who is angry with himself and there was 127 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,840 this mentor who came into his life and completely transformed him and when he got baptized in 128 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:02,720 the spirit he was like a different person and it's a story it's a beautiful story and 129 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:07,960 recommend everybody to watch it but that is what I see in you like that's what I'm imagining 130 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,640 because I don't know how you were before but I can see you now and I cannot imagine you 131 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,760 were a person like that. 132 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:22,160 Well I guess a short answer to that is I was aware that there was a problem there was no 133 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:30,540 question about that but I had no idea in regards to the severity of it and how it can affect 134 00:10:30,540 --> 00:10:36,960 a family and also a ministry and I was at a conference one day and a minister there 135 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:43,680 who I knew quite well he pulled me aside he said Rob when are you going to deal with this? 136 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:46,120 And I said what are you talking about? 137 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:52,400 And he said this anger problem and I said I don't have an anger problem you know it's 138 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:58,480 just sometimes it's so obvious we don't see it and so he said to me why don't we meet 139 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:04,600 and we'll talk so we did made an appointment after the conference and we sat down and he 140 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,760 prayed for me and discovered that there were some things that some inner turmoil that was 141 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:19,160 still there from my younger years and a lot of discouragement and times where bullying 142 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:26,240 was a big thing and I was not a very good product of that and I guess that's where a 143 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:32,040 lot of it came from and when we began to move around a lot that seemed to follow me it just 144 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:37,760 seemed to like I had a big target painted on me. 145 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:44,560 And so you know you tend to lean on what you can do and are good at but it's not always 146 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:51,960 right and so he sat with me in about a three hour session and prayed for me and I began 147 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:56,480 to forgive people over the years and because he said to me he said you know we're going 148 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:00,560 to forgive all those people that hurt you and I said well how long do you have? 149 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:06,320 You know this is a you know for me at that time a whole life of you know this sort of 150 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:13,480 thing happening and so what happened was he said well he said the Holy Spirit will just 151 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,120 reveal it to you as you go and he did. 152 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:20,680 I was surprised the amount of people that I hadn't thought of in years that were coming 153 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:24,800 back and you know let me tell you that when I thought of them well that thought came back 154 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:32,320 oh I just felt like yeah but then he led me through a prayer of forgiveness and releasing 155 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:38,920 these people and then at the end he prayed for me and he said do you have appointments 156 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:39,920 after this meeting? 157 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,800 And I said yeah I do he said cancel them. 158 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:43,800 I said why is that? 159 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,400 He said because you're going to get very tired after this. 160 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:52,440 I thought oh yeah so I walked out and I felt really good I walked out and driving home 161 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:59,000 I started getting so tired I went home and I slept from about I don't know it was mid 162 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:04,280 to late afternoon right through the night till the next morning I think Shanto must 163 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:10,960 have checked my pulse to see if I was still alive but and I rang him up and I said what 164 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:11,960 was that? 165 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:13,500 The tiredness? 166 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:18,680 He said all your life you've been like a guitar string that's wound up so tight and he said 167 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:20,840 the slightest thing triggers you. 168 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,320 He said now you've been wound back to the right tension and he said and your body's 169 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,520 going to start relaxing with it. 170 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:33,040 And that was an incredible thing it was an incredible experience. 171 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:34,040 Very much so. 172 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:40,320 I guess one of the things you said earlier about how when he addressed an anger issue 173 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,600 and you're like well what anger issue? 174 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,840 You think of being saved of how much and we'll get into that your salvation experience because 175 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,800 it's really good. 176 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:55,600 When you get born again and you know the old is gone you as come you feel different you 177 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:01,520 see things different there's such a big change I guess sometimes we can feel like well I'm 178 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,600 good now. 179 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,060 I guess maybe sometimes on that journey and this is the important thing with discipleship 180 00:14:09,060 --> 00:14:17,320 is when someone's born again and they feel renewed they possibly might think that everything's 181 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:23,520 okay now whereas this is where great men and women of God need to be in a church to step 182 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,520 in or other ministries. 183 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:26,520 That's right. 184 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:27,520 And really help with discipleship. 185 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:28,520 Yeah. 186 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:33,160 So to help us in the little things that may was it the little foxes? 187 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:34,160 Spoil the vine. 188 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:35,160 Spoil the vine. 189 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:36,160 Yeah. 190 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,720 And so we can have this massive transformation but sometimes it can be a lot of little things 191 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:45,920 that may stop a person moving in the fullness of the call of God. 192 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:46,920 Absolutely. 193 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,720 So I just found that really interesting when you were saying that that's what come to me. 194 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,280 Yeah it is and discipleship is everything. 195 00:14:54,280 --> 00:15:00,320 You know we're born again and we've been justified as if we'd never ever sinned once in our life. 196 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:01,800 What a great thing. 197 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:07,440 But you know there's something in between justification and our glorification when we 198 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:14,680 go home to be with Jesus and that's sanctification and that's now that we are saved now we go 199 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,680 through a process of being cleansed. 200 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:18,680 Yeah. 201 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:24,160 And you know that anger thing was a big one for me and I look back at that and I see how 202 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:30,960 much actually hinges on that because it does it can affect every area of your life. 203 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:31,960 Absolutely. 204 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:38,120 And the thing that I noticed that once when I had that when I was set free from it that 205 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,200 I this peace that it's just everything's going to just chill man you know. 206 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:43,200 Yeah. 207 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,640 It was just like oh is this what life's like. 208 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:51,640 You know it was just and my prayer life went deeper you know the relationship with God 209 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,760 went deeper and everything. 210 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:55,360 Everything just went deeper. 211 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:56,360 Yeah. 212 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:57,360 You know. 213 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,680 I guess the other thing is when some people are born again we've heard different people's 214 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:08,280 stories some of their issues in life get fixed straight away like there was a guy talking 215 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:15,200 to he had a massive drug problem and he said the day he got saved it just went. 216 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:21,160 Whereas other people I've heard where that had the same problem it was like a process. 217 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:27,720 One guy it was him and his wife are both on drugs they got saved at the same time hers 218 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:33,720 went straight away and his was such a thing like a it was like a working that took time 219 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:35,120 in his life. 220 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:40,640 And so I guess there are things that drop straight away that we've got we've lost the 221 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:48,560 appetite for and there are other things where yeah we just get set free from and yeah I 222 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:49,560 don't know. 223 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,400 What have you noticed in that sort of. 224 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:59,640 Well I experienced some really incredible things. 225 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:04,280 One of them you know smoking weed and things like that. 226 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:12,760 It was I wasn't like over the top with it but it was part of my life and that went very 227 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:13,760 quickly. 228 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:14,760 Yeah. 229 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,840 It was I just didn't miss it. 230 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:24,360 But the alcohol just seemed to you know after I got saved like I'm speaking within the first 231 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:25,360 three months. 232 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:26,360 Yeah. 233 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:34,000 Being born again and I remember this one day I prayed one of my first prayers I said Lord 234 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:39,400 from today whenever I drink I want you to make me sick. 235 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:46,560 And that night I had a fair bit and which normally would not have affected me. 236 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,120 I was sick as a dog the next morning and I thought it must have been something I ate 237 00:17:51,120 --> 00:18:00,560 or you know it's and anyway the next few days I had probably only about a six pack of beer 238 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,920 full strength you know and I felt as sick as a dog because I used to sometimes drink 239 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:09,240 a carton of beer a day and I just don't understand how you can do that. 240 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:14,040 I mean no normal person does that you know. 241 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:22,760 So one night I only had two light beers and I was sick as a dog the next day and I went 242 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:27,360 outside and I said Lord we need to talk. 243 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,440 That prayer that I prayed we cancelled that out. 244 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:37,000 I wasn't real and that one there because the alcohol just seemed to have something in me 245 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:43,200 and but a prayer like that but yes some people do and I think sometimes we can be emotionally 246 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:49,400 attached to an addiction and I think for me what I've seen in the ministry sometimes we 247 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:55,440 focus so much on a person's addiction to alcohol or drugs whatever it might be or even pornography 248 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,360 with some people. 249 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:03,520 The problem we can do sometimes is address the problem like the addiction. 250 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:04,520 The fruit. 251 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,200 Well yeah what we should be doing is what's the emotional attachment. 252 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:08,200 Yeah wow. 253 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:10,680 What are you going through in your life? 254 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:16,360 You know and deal with that you know like with pornography the statistics are really 255 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:21,560 very clear that if a person's going through depression or hopelessness or whatever it's 256 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,800 a quick fix for them to get bring them up on a higher. 257 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:25,800 Alcohol is the same. 258 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:31,800 I mean it's all interrelated in many ways so an emotional attachment is usually a big 259 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:33,240 part of the deal. 260 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:34,240 Yeah wow. 261 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,800 So deal with the emotion. 262 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:37,920 Bring healing in the life there. 263 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:42,040 You don't need the substance to make you feel good. 264 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,040 Yep. 265 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:44,040 Yep. 266 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:45,040 No that's very good. 267 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:50,040 That's a very important point that you've brought because you know I think the devil 268 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:56,120 really uses that to put a hold on you like take hold on you and it says Jesus is all 269 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:57,120 about freedom. 270 00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:58,120 God's all about freedom. 271 00:19:58,120 --> 00:19:59,120 Yeah. 272 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:04,160 He wants to give you that freedom you know that authority over your life and the answer 273 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,040 is through him you are set free. 274 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:08,040 Yeah. 275 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:09,120 And I love that. 276 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:13,560 I love because what you've addressed is a real world situation real world issue that 277 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:19,400 everybody faces to some extent in their life might not be pornography or might not be alcohol 278 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:24,360 but it might be many other things you know like social media is now a big addiction too. 279 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:26,040 Yeah that's right. 280 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:32,800 It's even saying looking at some medical papers that talk about how there's some areas or 281 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:38,400 parts of your brain that light up while you're so addicted to social media that are similar 282 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:46,440 to someone who are consuming drugs or alcohol like the same kind of addiction which is crazy 283 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:47,440 to think about. 284 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:48,440 Yeah. 285 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,840 And these are just certain things now the devil uses to put hold but you know we're 286 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,960 called to be free or given that freedom. 287 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:55,960 Yeah. 288 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,400 Well talking about that it's sort of like a legal drug of social media. 289 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:01,400 Yeah. 290 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:09,720 And kids are spending so much time on every day could you imagine if it has similar effects 291 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:14,400 yeah like there's kids that are addicted that are in bondage. 292 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:15,400 Yeah. 293 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,600 So this is actual bondage we're talking about. 294 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:18,600 No yeah true. 295 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:24,400 Yeah they have no say well when I say they have no say they are there's an impulse for 296 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,640 them to do certain things. 297 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:34,280 So yeah when we have a next generation that's addicted to something from their childhood 298 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:40,600 upwards that's a lot different to my childhood and I guess yours where we were out on push 299 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:46,040 bikes hanging out with friends you know doing all these different things there was no addiction 300 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:47,040 out there at all. 301 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,040 There wasn't I mean I didn't even know to calculate it we had an abacus I think. 302 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,640 I don't know if you can get addicted to one of them but. 303 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:55,640 High tech. 304 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:57,800 High tech weeds. 305 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:06,400 No but that's that's very good and so yeah like coming back to this church you know it's 306 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,840 the ministry that you're currently doing and it's so amazing I see UWM which is United 307 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:17,680 World Ministry which is also part of this church a lot of mission projects and you're 308 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,120 a very visionary man and I really adore that. 309 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:28,920 I see the projects that you're leading in South America in Africa in many other countries 310 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:36,360 Asia and especially Kenya because I dear to my heart Kenya is dear to my heart and so 311 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,120 is Kenya dear to your heart. 312 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:39,120 Yes. 313 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:43,680 And the projects that you're doing in Kenya is just amazing and you know God's given you 314 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:52,040 such a great wisdom to do such amazing work there that you know with the current projects 315 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:59,200 you're doing and you know you've come up with a great kind of plan of how you want to empower 316 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:06,360 the youth there to do such amazing job for Christ and not only that just go further into 317 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:10,680 education in Kenya which is amazing. 318 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,040 I don't want to talk more about it I'll let you talk more about it because that's your 319 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:20,440 project that's what God gave you that vision but before we talk about that let's talk about 320 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:27,360 this church I want to know the early part of this church how did it start and you know 321 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:33,200 how did God put that in your heart like you need to go and start Logan City Christian 322 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,960 Church in Logan. 323 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:37,960 Talk about that. 324 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:46,720 Okay it's been a real journey it's been exciting I mean every journey has its mountains and 325 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:54,480 it has its valleys and it has its storms and it has its sunny days as well and but I think 326 00:23:54,480 --> 00:24:01,240 probably I'd need to go back to what Gus you asked me about the salvation experience because 327 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:07,520 some of that there are keys in that that led to where we are now and I just find it quite 328 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:17,520 amazing because we really didn't grow up in my family with my parents and siblings we 329 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:24,240 weren't what you would call a religious family we didn't really even do the Easter and Christmas 330 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:33,200 church thing so anyway so religion was not a part of our existence if you like but it 331 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:38,160 seemed to be wherever we moved to wherever we lived there were Christians either neighbors 332 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:44,160 or one house up somewhere there and when I went to a new school for some reason I'd always 333 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:51,660 sit next to a Christian and I started developing a resentment toward them because I could see 334 00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:56,840 that they had I just knew they had something that I didn't have I didn't know what it 335 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:07,680 was and it was always this thing I really wondered what it was and as you know got older 336 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:15,640 some of my friends that I went to school with and friends that I made after school were 337 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:26,800 not your average law abiding citizens very well and I mean I had this thing in me probably 338 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:36,320 because of how my dad raised me there was a limit and I had like a limiter that I'd 339 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:41,480 go no that's going too crazy if you and some of the guys ended up in jail I would have 340 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:46,120 no doubt joined them if I followed them but there was just that part of me that would 341 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:52,800 say no that's going too far yeah that's that's that's that's not right you know we had a 342 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:57,840 lot of fun there's a lot of times that I bailed out or things that were going to do like robbing 343 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:03,320 a bank was one of them that they were going to do and they had all the weapons organized 344 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:07,800 and I walked in there one day with a carton of beer on my shoulder and I said so what's 345 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:14,560 on the weekend today boys are we gonna rob a bank and go what wow and so I said no you 346 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,520 can do that on your own and you know as an old saying that says show me your friends 347 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,640 I'll show you your future yeah and you know that's our responsibility we've got to really 348 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:32,720 choose who we hang around and the influences and so what happened was one particular time 349 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:42,280 I was in a place where they did something that was very illegal dangerous and I was 350 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:50,760 oh by association I was implicated if you like and it was soon discovered very quickly 351 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:57,120 with the police that I had nothing to do with it but it really scared me and that was a 352 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:03,040 turning point in my life that I realized I just can't keep messing around with this you 353 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:10,920 know because if you hang around a creek one day you're going to slip and fall in and so 354 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:17,440 I knew that I needed to make a clean break from this and so I got home this particular 355 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:22,080 night and I was still living with my parents and I went down the back paddock and I looked 356 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:28,120 up into the sky I said God if you're real I had no intention of doing that I said God 357 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:36,040 if you're real I want you to show me yourself reveal yourself to me now what we didn't know 358 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:46,560 what I didn't know at the time my mum worked at a Shell petrol station as a console operator 359 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:54,840 but there was a mechanic there that was my dad's friend Henry I knew him very well because 360 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,560 my dad's workshop I used to bring cars for wheel alignments and so when he would do a 361 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,080 wheel alignment I'd sit there and talk with him and just you know hang around and wait 362 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:11,800 and we got to become very good friends a Belgian guy with a French accent yeah and he used 363 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:17,120 to smoke his white ox tobacco I mean it would kill a horse this stuff but let's still smoke 364 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:26,000 it because I liked him and anyway this one particular day we were standing in the workshop 365 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:33,160 and I noticed this girl walking past with a school bag over a shoulder and I said to 366 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:40,240 Henry I said who's that and he looked at me he said that's my daughter yeah that was very 367 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:47,640 good and anyway what happened was is that Henry and my mum because they worked in the 368 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:53,440 same place he told her and they had a good laugh about it and they organised a family 369 00:28:53,440 --> 00:29:03,480 barbecue oh wow yeah so the two families the two families yeah so I see that it was not 370 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:09,240 wasn't a pre-arranged marriage but it was pretty close to it but I see it was done in 371 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:16,320 God because I asked the Lord if you're real show me who you are and you know all this 372 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:20,840 because being next to Christians growing up all your life you hear a lot of things but 373 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:26,080 I wasn't feeling it I wasn't getting it yeah and I wanted to know how to get it yeah you 374 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:33,200 know so so short story of that is is that we ended up going out and we got married and 375 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:39,640 you know here we are today but Chantelle was a Christian and I thought my goodness we went 376 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:46,800 to a church service there one time big big church it was Garden City Christian Church 377 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:52,800 after Reg Climinoch was preaching and yeah and so anyway it was a big experience for 378 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:59,800 me and so when we went home I dropped Chantelle off I went home and I said I thought to myself 379 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:04,440 I'm just gonna have to tell her look you can have your Christianity but you won't get me 380 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,520 it's I'm not into that and that sort of thing and the next morning she rang me up and she 381 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:15,600 said because I had this spiel already worked out you know forget it it's over I want you 382 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:21,400 I don't want your church you know she rings me up next morning and she said how you going 383 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:29,080 I said yeah good she said did you like church I went yeah yeah she would you like to go 384 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:40,400 again tonight yeah yeah so we did and and then anyway I just fell away from it so what 385 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:47,040 happened was I meant to say that when we got married the pastor they wouldn't marry us 386 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:54,760 unless we were equally yoked and I'm trying to think of his name now he was excellent 387 00:30:54,760 --> 00:31:04,120 man of God pastor Jim anyway so he led me to the Lord then but I kind of like refuted 388 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:11,400 it as I was saying it I was like you know and I realized later that after nine years 389 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:16,720 later that when I really did get born again I just thought I missed out on all these years 390 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:23,400 of you know all this junk that happened in the middle but yeah you know I do remember 391 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:30,240 when when I was really starting to really ask the Lord myself in my heart because Chantelle 392 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:42,320 we were married a couple of kids Gus and Emily were born I really wanted to ask Chantelle 393 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:47,720 but I was too proud to ask if you know what I mean she'd been praying for me for nine 394 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:55,560 years for my salvation and then this one particular night I said to her I said look because we 395 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,360 had a really good chat and I said look if you if this if I still feel the same way in 396 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:05,760 the morning I want to give my life to Jesus and she said oh great you know she was really 397 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:14,480 excited and that night I had a demonic encounter and this creature you know I wasn't fully 398 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:20,120 asleep I thought I was dreaming but you kind of like in that state where you're nodding 399 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:27,460 off and you're not quite there and and this creature it was a horrible thing most horrible 400 00:32:27,460 --> 00:32:35,240 thing that you could ever ever imagine and it had a an odor to it it really stunk and 401 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:41,160 the the body of it the torso was like off a man but it had like hands like of a lion 402 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:49,400 a club hand sort of thing and and it was like it was freshly skinned it was very unusual 403 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:54,720 looking thing but I tell you this thing had some power because when it grabbed me in my 404 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:59,960 bed and it was threatening me that if I was to receive Jesus this is what I'm going to 405 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:07,240 get so it was trying to trick me and so I didn't want anything to do with Jesus obviously 406 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:14,720 you know so close and oh yeah yeah so this this went on for quite some time kids Chantelle 407 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,280 was like thinking what turned you off and I didn't want to tell her because I thought 408 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:24,920 I was going nuts yeah so during this time I hadn't smoked anything I hadn't had much 409 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:30,080 to drink at all I thought I was hallucinating and and this thing kept coming back and for 410 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:35,880 the next six months or so it might have been longer this thing would visit me just without 411 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:42,920 warning and I would sense it that it was coming yeah and the crazy thing was that sometimes 412 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:47,560 I'd be wriggling around in my bed and this thing would have been every time you struggle 413 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:53,720 its power would increase in multiples it was just supernatural it's the strength and so 414 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:59,240 it really dominated me and then I told and Chantelle would reach over and she just touched 415 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:04,280 me and this thing would go yeah wow and I'm just thinking man that that's that's very 416 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:10,520 humiliating for a guy you know anyway I told her what would had been happening and she 417 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,960 says oh that's the devil doing that she said that's easy fixed and and she said you really 418 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,920 need to give your life to Jesus and I said I'll think about it so it would have been 419 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:28,360 a short time later I had this really serious attack it was really bad it almost that I 420 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:35,040 remember dragging me trying to drag me out of the bed it was so forceful and it was a 421 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:40,760 really bad night and Chantelle woke up she now she didn't see it but she saw the state 422 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:47,320 I was in and it was that night I think it was 2 a.m. in the morning that I surrendered 423 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:56,600 and gave my life to Jesus I just remember this little well Chantelle's not little lady 424 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:02,800 but you know what I mean this smallish lady with such power she just said if that thing 425 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:08,600 ever comes back now that you have Jesus in you you have the authority to rebuke it in 426 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:12,800 Jesus it has to go and I just thought man she seems like she really knows what she's 427 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:18,960 talking about so I thought okay but the next morning after I got saved that was the night 428 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:24,440 I got saved and I walked outside we had a palm farm selling palm trees and that sort 429 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:30,600 of thing and and I walked outside it's just like wow the trees are actually green and 430 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:35,000 everything's so nice and I watched a spider spin a web I just thought how long has this 431 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:42,880 been here yeah it's just totally new anyway so two weeks later I said to Chantelle so 432 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,800 this is amazing this thing's never come back you know it's just should have done this years 433 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:54,520 ago that night I was laying in bed and I knew it was coming you could feel it and she dozed 434 00:35:54,520 --> 00:36:01,160 off she was asleep and it came and it was furious and I remember sitting up like where 435 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:07,760 the bedhead is and I'm pointing at it and I'm saying Jesus there it is get him get him 436 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:12,720 Jesus get him and this thing was just coming for me and I just knew some for some reason 437 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:19,880 it was not going to be good and then I remembered what Chantelle was saying you have the authority 438 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:25,960 now you have the power in the name of Jesus to rebuke this thing and sitting there as 439 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:34,120 a two week old Christian I just said oh I like sheepishly almost I rebuke you in the 440 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:40,800 name of Jesus this thing just stopped I thought hey this does work and then I said it again 441 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:47,240 and the last time I said it it was like yeah let's do this yeah and this thing it kind 442 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:56,120 of like exploded into billions of particles like a dust and there was an inverted like 443 00:36:56,120 --> 00:37:02,400 a tornado you know it's the thin part at the bottom this was the other way around and it 444 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:08,680 went up and it disappeared and Chantelle woke up at this time and the curtains there was 445 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:14,040 a wind in our room and the curtains were being blown and papers being blown off a wardrobe 446 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:20,880 and it settled and there was a piece so I had a really early introduction into the demonic 447 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:28,240 realm which was preparing me for the missions and for ministry and that sort of thing and 448 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:32,800 to know at a young age in Christ the authority we really do have and to see it with your 449 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:38,440 own eyes the fear the transference of fear from that thing to me it actually went back 450 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:47,440 to it it was like the fear on this creatures this demon was just it's just a perfect picture 451 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:54,640 that's cool of the power of Christ you know and so it was it was amazing that since that 452 00:37:54,640 --> 00:38:00,440 day we'd be going out you know in the shops or whatever and walking down the mall or wherever 453 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:06,840 and someone would walk past and I'd feel that same sensation I look around and the person 454 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:11,680 would look around back at me and snarl or something and so that kind of like has stayed 455 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:17,600 with me throughout my entire ministry this discernment whether there's demons or demonic 456 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:26,440 activity and so yeah that was an incredible incredible thing because in in my teens probably 457 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:34,400 13 to 15 I would say there was a period in church every Sunday night we had people coming 458 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:42,760 in that were demon possessed and there'd be so much deliverance going on it was it was 459 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:49,440 normal to see demonic deliverance yeah and yeah like like what you said having that early 460 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:56,440 encounter prepared you for a lot was going to take place in this church but also on the 461 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:02,920 mission field as well absolutely and yeah it's incredible like how it says how God will 462 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:11,280 work everything for good and so that was that would have been such a not tragic but such 463 00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:18,000 a traumatic experience but then God was able to turn it around and he's like now I'm going 464 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:25,280 to use it yeah in you against darkness for many other people so true it's just incredible 465 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:32,920 it is love how God works yeah so we're in training in life yeah for ministry it's it's 466 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:39,640 it's what what we can see and extract from it and use for usefulness in his kingdom but 467 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:47,000 you I believe life is a big training ground huge yeah it's you know yep no definitely 468 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:54,320 can we go into now the start of missions for you I remember that time that was not long 469 00:39:54,320 --> 00:40:02,480 after that period where there was a lot of demonic deliverance taking at church and then 470 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:08,080 not long after that I believe was it then mission started opening up was that was I 471 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:14,160 can't really remember was that how it worked yeah yeah I'm trying to think of the timeline 472 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:21,480 myself but that was an incredible time and and it's come in waves at times in the church 473 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:30,080 at four different times we've experienced God beginning to move more than more than 474 00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:36,120 the average you know and just moves of God it's just like a wave of it and sometimes 475 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:42,720 it'd be three months once it was about eight months like when it when I say subsided it 476 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:48,400 wasn't like the church was dead I was still very alive yeah but it's it's way over and 477 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:54,440 above the I think that's how it should be and how it God had intended to be like the 478 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:59,560 book of Acts yeah the book of Acts is a story of church and revival yeah it's just how it 479 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:06,960 is you know and and I believe that it's coming again and to churches around the world a move 480 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:14,940 of God without a doubt yeah but yeah what happened was I was at a conference and a lady 481 00:41:14,940 --> 00:41:20,760 from Uganda she had a ministry there with her husband who was a bishop wanted to do 482 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:25,880 a youth conference and so they invited me to go over and I didn't want to go because 483 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:30,600 I don't like traveling I don't I don't like airports and planes I like being at home like 484 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:38,720 being in the local church and and and so anyway I just had this knowing that I had to go and 485 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:43,240 there were a couple in our church that did mission work in Kenya and so we were going 486 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:49,040 to go at the same time so we decided to go together and then that way I would help them 487 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:53,880 and see what they do in Kenya and then they will come with me to Uganda and we do it that 488 00:41:53,880 --> 00:42:02,200 way and that's how the missions started because I met in Kenya pastor Samuel Komodo who's 489 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:07,480 one of our ambassador or the our ambassador in Kenya at the moment for now he's he's just 490 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:13,480 an and will be forever as far as I'm concerned just an incredible man of God yeah but when 491 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:21,920 we got to Uganda we were doing the youth conference and I noticed by the second session that there 492 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:28,560 was something really wrong you know you talk about that demonic presence I felt it in a 493 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:34,760 in a youth conference and I asked the Lord I said what's what's going on here and he 494 00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:40,040 just made it very clear to me that there's so much sexual immorality within this because 495 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:48,400 there was I'm guessing eight nine hundred youth there and and Lord said to me he said 496 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:54,480 you know you shouldn't be doing a conference you should be doing a crusade so I spoke to 497 00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:00,640 the the organizers and they said well that's exactly why you're here that's why we got 498 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:06,440 you here because we don't know what to do with the level of sexual immorality within 499 00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:12,480 the youth groups with leaders and so forth and so I said to them you know I'm going to 500 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:18,320 stay up through the night and pastor Samuel Komodo was with me and we stayed up through 501 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:24,200 the night and just seeking God and yeah we had to do a crusade and so a crusade it's 502 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:29,280 like if you if you're saved and you're in this kind of sin there's going to be some 503 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:35,960 nice strong messages to help you get out of this and if they're not saved well you're 504 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:41,080 going to get saved you know and so that's what happened and it was such an incredible 505 00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:47,520 moment we had I don't know how many hundreds of youth saved it was just amazing the water 506 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:53,800 baptisms in Lake Victoria there were just bus after bus like mini bus lining up and 507 00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:59,120 there was just hundreds of water baptisms and it was such a good time but something 508 00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:07,200 that stands out to me that was just so amazing was at the end the second last session I spoke 509 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:12,160 about the baptism of the Holy Spirit because obviously the power of the Holy Spirit gives 510 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:20,720 us strength you know and you know and so there were hundreds I wouldn't know how many all 511 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:25,960 at the same time received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and no one really got to pray 512 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:30,920 just finished teaching on it and called those out the front who want to receive the baptism 513 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:38,560 of the Holy Spirit and I could see like a cloud in this auditorium if you've ever been 514 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:42,880 in a swimming pool there's a lot of chlorine yeah and your eyes go milky the foggy eyes 515 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:48,280 it was like that it was just but you see it moving and it was incredible and after that 516 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:54,360 we had a deliverance session and it was there was a guy filming it and I asked him to turn 517 00:44:54,360 --> 00:45:00,040 it off because if that was me being filmed and delivered after I wouldn't want me to 518 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:08,240 be shown to anybody yeah and so it was incredible the ministry in Kenya saw incredible miracles 519 00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:14,080 and a lot of deliverances as well and a man in a wheelchair or he wasn't even in a wheelchair 520 00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:20,760 he's brought into a church service in a wheelbarrow yeah and and the Lord got him up and walked 521 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:28,440 and he lived the rest of his life totally healed yeah and so yeah the missions was really 522 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:34,720 amazing because there was a few preachers that came to the first church I was in I was 523 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:42,840 associate there in the end but they would call me out and say an incredible just incredible 524 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:50,680 thing they say God's calling you to the missions but the missions will come to you first I 525 00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:58,120 thought how does that work and the last person that said that was Donna McCallum some people 526 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:04,000 listening will know Donna McCallum and very good ministry and she said the same thing 527 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:08,600 I'll think of me that's three people now said that you'll go to the to the nations like 528 00:46:08,600 --> 00:46:14,080 the missions and nations but the nations will come to you first I thought how is ever that 529 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:19,520 going to work yeah and as you know we were involved with the church in the early days 530 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:28,320 or even not that long ago help settling refugees into Logan and so what happened was with the 531 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:32,120 settlement of that and they ended up coming to church many of them many of them getting 532 00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:39,240 saved and found out that they came from a church that was struggling back in their hometown 533 00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:43,800 and that's where we made the connection and started helping and that's how the international 534 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:50,760 ministry started so the nations came to us then we went to the nations yeah it's just 535 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,480 I mean you can't work that out I mean God God just has it planned from the beginning 536 00:46:55,480 --> 00:47:01,120 yeah you know but it is it's just it's just growing so much in fact that it's growing 537 00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:07,440 so quickly we've had to try and slow it down now that may not sound right but sometimes 538 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:13,080 you can grow growth is good but growth can actually be the thing that causes you to fall 539 00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:19,040 too that's right and it can cause you to what we call donut you know a ministry can donut 540 00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:23,960 and that means you grow out too fast and you leave nothing in the middle and it'll die 541 00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:30,960 out so you know good management and that is is essential but we're at that place now like 542 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:35,840 the the training school in Kenya and those sorts of things that are going on you know 543 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:41,080 at one time before covered we're in 26 nations we're not at the moment because we've had 544 00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:49,080 to manage what we can properly we still keep in touch with the others obviously but yeah 545 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:54,000 so the missions are something that really just took took off but it was God all along 546 00:47:54,000 --> 00:48:00,000 you know the the nations will come to you then you will go to the nations and there 547 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:06,760 was a fulfillment of prophecy incredible wow as you said you don't want to be a donut 548 00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:14,400 and I don't see see UWM as a donut I see it managed so well just recently we saw a video 549 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:22,800 of you know pastor Francisco and him talking about El Salvador mission and what the church 550 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:30,200 that was built there through UWM too and the training you provided to pastor Francisco 551 00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:38,440 before he went into this whole you know to plant the church there that was through UWM 552 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:43,200 and the training you already provide to the pastors that are through you know through 553 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:47,360 UWM the training you already provide to the pastors who are currently in Kenya and many 554 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:54,000 other countries and that's just so incredible to see that happen because I feel like UWM 555 00:48:54,000 --> 00:49:04,480 is that place where people find that foundation to build the churches to get the basis right 556 00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:10,800 of mission because it's not always easy to do mission work you know we might have a heart 557 00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:16,560 for the nations we might want to do so many things but I think there's a period that God 558 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:23,560 needs to work on us and there's lots of sacrifice and a lot of things that we need to actually 559 00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:30,120 understand what missions all about and you know it's it's easier said than done and I 560 00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:38,840 feel like UWM is doing such a great job giving that training and I'm sure like the project 561 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:45,180 that's happening in Kenya is one of the biggest I don't know if that's one of the biggest 562 00:49:45,180 --> 00:49:50,880 projects that are being done by UWM I'd like to talk more about that because I feel it's 563 00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:56,120 it's great that was a very good training center you want to open and and I really want to 564 00:49:56,120 --> 00:50:01,800 talk more about that because and I really want the audience also to know the projects 565 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:07,360 you have in mind because it's such a great when I heard about it I'm like wow this is 566 00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:12,560 so great because there's nothing like that at the moment in Kenya and I think that project 567 00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:18,680 you have is really great and want to talk about that. Thank you Rohan it's I kind of 568 00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:25,280 like look you know back and and see how things were and where they are now and you kind of 569 00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:32,080 like you know that it's just God that's doing it it's he just needs people to trust in what 570 00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:37,260 he wants to do because we are his hands and feet and his mouth and his wallet and everything 571 00:50:37,260 --> 00:50:45,680 here on earth and if we just simply obey those things and those promptings and those impressions 572 00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:52,360 it leads us to where we are today you know and but you mentioned about El Salvador mission 573 00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:59,840 to me that to me is probably has always been it was the first mission and it's been I guess 574 00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:07,240 the closest one to our heart because what happened there was just supernatural and pastors 575 00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:15,360 Francisco and Celia are just incredible people so I know that God always calls and appoints 576 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:21,360 the right people for it and they're definitely the right people for it 100% and what they 577 00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:27,880 have accomplished there is just incredible you know they left Australia with a few suitcases 578 00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:36,040 and zero in their checkbook and to see what's built now you see that a calling or a vision 579 00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:41,600 already has the finances needed in the vision I mean God's saying if you go I'll provide 580 00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:47,880 you know the the provisions in the going it's not in the sitting and waiting and I remember 581 00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:54,800 I speak helping a different ministry another ministry that he wanted to go he felt called 582 00:51:54,800 --> 00:52:03,680 to go to a nation and he was told by his organization that you need to save up it was over $100,000 583 00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:08,120 and when you do that we'll manage it for you and then we'll measure it out and you can 584 00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:13,520 so five or six years later he's still here and I said what are you still doing here he 585 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:19,920 said well saving up the money I said you don't need to you need to be on your mission field 586 00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:25,320 did God really call you or didn't he I mean if he did call you and he's given you a vision 587 00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:31,080 and the vision was very simple but very effective and I said your finances are going to come 588 00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:36,280 when when you actually are in the doing yeah stepping out stepping out and that's what 589 00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:42,400 I really admire about pastors Francisco and Celia just incredible people of faith and 590 00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:46,740 you know faith is what really has built that there's a calling but there needs to be a 591 00:52:46,740 --> 00:52:52,860 corresponding faith to to go with that and you know God will supply all of our needs 592 00:52:52,860 --> 00:53:01,120 the last time I checked heavens not broke you know that heavens not relying on election 593 00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:06,720 results that who gets in or who's who doesn't get in heaven just the economy of heaven runs 594 00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:11,520 so independently from the economy here of earth and praise God for that because through 595 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:20,240 covert you know God bless this ministry yeah bless united yeah God was just so so good 596 00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:25,960 so and that's not a boast on us that's a boasting God is just you look back and you go how did 597 00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:30,360 you do that yeah yeah how did you do it because he knew that there was more to do in the mission 598 00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:39,120 so so that's what they did and you know they they are really honorable people but the the 599 00:53:39,120 --> 00:53:45,600 plan the mission the training school is for in Kenya that's been Kenya's been used as 600 00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:54,200 the base for the model to be built once the model is built and running then we're going 601 00:53:54,200 --> 00:54:01,560 to use that model and take it from nation to nation to nation yeah as it turns out now 602 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:07,840 this training center is primarily for students that finish form for which I think is great 603 00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:14,320 10 here in Australia yeah I think form for is great 12 great 12 yeah that's the okay 604 00:54:14,320 --> 00:54:21,680 well there's a group under that so I don't understand form one is great nine okay from 605 00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:27,840 two great ten from three great eleven great twelve is for okay so it works right so what 606 00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:37,160 we do we offer opportunities for students to learn a trade that trade is the teachers 607 00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:44,800 trades people obviously they give of their time to teach a very basic understanding of 608 00:54:44,800 --> 00:54:51,640 that trade as an entry level to get into polytech one of the colleges like a type like a type 609 00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:56,960 yeah so what's happened what happens is that we discovered is that there are many many 610 00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:03,360 youth not just in Kenya around the world they are struggling to get that hand up that step 611 00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:10,320 into that process yeah many of them don't have the money they don't have the resources 612 00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:15,680 they don't have the encouragement at home whatever it might be and so what we're doing 613 00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:21,480 is is helping them opening it up that they come in the first thing that'll happen is 614 00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:27,680 they'll sit with a guidance officer or a career officer someone that can help guide their 615 00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:33,000 pathway career pathways and things like that to find out what is really in their heart 616 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:38,160 to do because we can find out what is really in their heart to do then that's where one 617 00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:45,360 step into the process and so then they go through the registration of it all once they've 618 00:55:45,360 --> 00:55:53,520 passed done the registration then they do a compulsory character development course 619 00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:59,880 which I think is essential for every nation yeah character character is a big deal you 620 00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:07,840 know our character is so important you know how how we handle life and how we treat others 621 00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:18,160 and you know we look at ministries you know as a pastor my ministry doesn't would not 622 00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:24,880 fall based on the anointing or any person like a ministry doesn't fail because of the 623 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:33,840 anointing it fails when character is not developed that's right and character is is everything 624 00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:38,280 yes you know we can be born again spirit fills speaking tongues and prophesy all that 625 00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:43,920 but if we got poor character it really undoes so many things and it only lasts so long it 626 00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:48,680 only lasts so long and it hurts a lot of people so that's what we're looking at is character 627 00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:54,000 development it comes back to discipleship again I mean that's come up a few times today 628 00:56:54,000 --> 00:57:00,480 and so once they pass through the character development class then there's another ministry 629 00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:08,880 with pastor sandy richie and I can't remember his last name Larry Larry can I think his 630 00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:15,440 name is they've developed a really really good program youth development as well it's 631 00:57:15,440 --> 00:57:21,680 called lifted lyftd and it's about developing youth as well it's excellent you can go on 632 00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:28,240 their website and check it out so we're working in partnership with them because from them 633 00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:32,880 leaving school or they've left school and are wandering around aimlessly in life not 634 00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:38,520 knowing what to do they can come into this program it's all free of charge they go through 635 00:57:38,520 --> 00:57:46,680 the development they sit with career path you know what do you call them that they're 636 00:57:46,680 --> 00:57:55,040 setting their future for the yeah yeah yeah then they go through you know the secondary 637 00:57:55,040 --> 00:58:01,520 stage of character development so then once they have passed all of that they get they 638 00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:07,040 graduate they have have a graduation at the end of each stage so it's their small steps 639 00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:12,520 achievable steps and it's going to be a great motivator for them as well so they'll graduate 640 00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:17,760 in those two different stages the one of them being the first set of character development 641 00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:23,000 training and the second set through lifted and then what we do is is that by this stage 642 00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:29,880 the guidance officer and career path officer will already have their information and while 643 00:58:29,880 --> 00:58:35,360 they're doing the character development the guidance office already sorting out teachers 644 00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:39,360 to say they want to be mechanic they're getting mechanics coming in they're going to give 645 00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:44,640 their time to give them a basic training like an induction sort of thing and that goes through 646 00:58:44,640 --> 00:58:50,280 all and so we've got many many teachers that are ready because the problem is is what happens 647 00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:55,720 is many that have learned to trade or they've succeeded been through university because 648 00:58:55,720 --> 00:59:01,760 the money is greater overseas they travel overseas and take their trade and their skill 649 00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:06,800 sets with them so the country's no better the country hasn't changed much and so we 650 00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:12,660 had a meeting with the governor I think you know him know of him Rohan when he heard this 651 00:59:12,660 --> 00:59:17,440 he was very excited because he said what you're saying is what we were talking about in government 652 00:59:17,440 --> 00:59:22,400 just recently how are we going to keep the young people here so part of the process is 653 00:59:22,400 --> 00:59:29,320 is that once they qualify and the trades people whatever if we can get them to not force them 654 00:59:29,320 --> 00:59:34,200 but an agreement that for five years a minimum of five years that they will reinvest back 655 00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:41,520 into their nation by replicating reproducing after themselves we believe we'll see it 656 00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:48,860 change and so once they finish the they go through the basic training then the guidance 657 00:59:48,860 --> 00:59:56,200 officers have already got them pre-placed into TAFE so that TAFE I believe costs in 658 00:59:56,200 --> 01:00:03,160 Australian dollars $150 a year so we're already organising sponsorship because sponsors to 659 01:00:03,160 --> 01:00:07,640 sponsor them is a big deal because they don't have a lot of them don't have the money to 660 01:00:07,640 --> 01:00:14,200 do that and so when they heard that there would be sponsorship it's suddenly like I 661 01:00:14,200 --> 01:00:20,920 can do this there are no obstacles all the way to the finish line so it created a real 662 01:00:20,920 --> 01:00:26,880 buzz for them you know and it's so much so the word got out that we had a meeting with 663 01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:31,840 government officials and you know the whole lot was there was very good meeting that there 664 01:00:31,840 --> 01:00:37,720 were youth attending the meeting so I sat with them before the meeting and I said do 665 01:00:37,720 --> 01:00:42,480 you guys know what meeting this is they say we do I said well tell me what is it and they 666 01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:46,680 said this is our opportunity to get ahead in life I said what's going to be taught here 667 01:00:46,680 --> 01:00:51,600 they said oh the training centre I said how do you know about the training centre he said 668 01:00:51,600 --> 01:00:58,600 everyone knows about the training centre yeah so I stole the the meeting because we were 669 01:00:58,600 --> 01:01:04,400 set to start then and I asked Pastor Sam can we wait I just want to sit with these guys 670 01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:09,640 I want to get information for them that I might be able to relay into the meeting and 671 01:01:09,640 --> 01:01:16,160 so I there's one guy that was quite he was the talker he was talking on behalf of the 672 01:01:16,160 --> 01:01:22,480 others and I said to him tell me your story and he said this is my story he said I was 673 01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:29,160 the top student in all my grade at school and he said I was going to go all the way 674 01:01:29,160 --> 01:01:35,280 I said what is it you want to do he said I want to be a professor of mathematics oh god 675 01:01:35,280 --> 01:01:39,520 who would ever want to do that goodness me you got calculators man what do you want to 676 01:01:39,520 --> 01:01:48,520 do that for anyway so he said that his mother died and then his father passed away so he 677 01:01:48,520 --> 01:01:55,920 had to cease all kind of schooling and part-time employment to look after his siblings and 678 01:01:55,920 --> 01:02:01,320 then try and find more meaningful employment and he said my whole future has died he said 679 01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:08,440 this is what I believe is going to get me back to where I know I can get to and he said 680 01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:13,880 it with tears you know just it really really got me so that's one thing that I guess in 681 01:02:13,880 --> 01:02:21,760 this project the big area that with a big step of faith is the student sponsorship 682 01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:30,040 because United World Ministries now in Kenya is about to expand quite rapidly with churches 683 01:02:30,040 --> 01:02:36,840 round about in Kenya I think there are about 380 now or 400 somewhere there it's going 684 01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:43,480 to quadruple in this next year and what's happening is the majority of these churches 685 01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:50,600 are going to open up as training centers so we already have I think about 400 students 686 01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:57,840 that are registered to start just in one district and you multiply that by all the districts 687 01:02:57,840 --> 01:03:04,960 that it's going to be thousands of students so student sponsorship is but hey look God 688 01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:11,040 gives the vision God pays for what he orders and we just got to make sure it's what he's 689 01:03:11,040 --> 01:03:16,240 ordered and I know it is and I know who come through yeah amen to that yeah for sure you 690 01:03:16,240 --> 01:03:21,520 know when you were saying $150 a year I was just thinking about my Netflix subscription 691 01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:29,040 it's like $15 a month how many cups of coffee yeah if you think about it's just three cups 692 01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:36,880 of coffee even less sometimes so thinking in that perspective like $15 a month for someone 693 01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:42,880 to sponsor a child it's not much considering what we earn here that's right compared to 694 01:03:42,880 --> 01:03:51,520 Kenya of course yeah it's a very very achievable amount and you know we are so many if 400 695 01:03:51,520 --> 01:03:58,120 of us sponsor one child that's a whole district we're taking care of and that's a future for 696 01:03:58,120 --> 01:04:05,600 so many you know so many people in Kenya like it's it's it's amazing to think that way and 697 01:04:05,600 --> 01:04:11,480 that's a great vision and and yeah that's something I really really yeah because I have 698 01:04:11,480 --> 01:04:19,040 a heart for Kenya and the people of Kenya and I feel like people there they really have 699 01:04:19,040 --> 01:04:25,000 they really want to learn they they want to grow in life and they just you're just waiting 700 01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:30,560 for that opportunity yes and that's what UWM is giving them that opportunity that's right 701 01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:35,000 and once the opportunity is given to them they're going to flourish and I know that 702 01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:42,000 because I know the people of Kenya growing up there I definitely know that what we lack 703 01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:47,040 there is opportunity and the same thing for me you know when I came to Australia I just 704 01:04:47,040 --> 01:04:53,840 needed that opportunity to be where I am in my career and and that's for many of us in 705 01:04:53,840 --> 01:04:58,760 Kenya that's the opportunity we need it's quite funny you know we're saying that how 706 01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:05,560 God prepares you you know in in life what's coming and and equipping us and but the one 707 01:05:05,560 --> 01:05:12,720 thing that caught me totally off guard school was like a prison for me I hated school I 708 01:05:12,720 --> 01:05:21,280 never read a book in my life until I got into ministry and and and here I am a kid that 709 01:05:21,280 --> 01:05:27,800 used to intentionally wag school when the exams were on I mean if you're gonna wag school 710 01:05:27,800 --> 01:05:36,320 that's the time to do it and because I always struggled academically big time and so I'd 711 01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:44,760 be present in class but I you know lights on nobody home and so now I look at God has 712 01:05:44,760 --> 01:05:50,520 given me a mandate to write a curriculum for a training school yeah and just like are you 713 01:05:50,520 --> 01:05:57,440 kidding me yeah so I spoke to a pastor that I said to him I said you reckon this could 714 01:05:57,440 --> 01:06:04,720 be right I reckon if ever God's gonna make a mistake it'll be this one and but it's it's 715 01:06:04,720 --> 01:06:14,400 it's almost done it's almost completed and yeah so it's going to be a great project it's 716 01:06:14,400 --> 01:06:23,080 it's so so amazing the the impact it's already having and it hasn't even started it's just 717 01:06:23,080 --> 01:06:28,880 you know it kind of like balances you out a little bit at times because you you think 718 01:06:28,880 --> 01:06:34,640 there's no there's no room to fail here we cannot not that we would but there's always 719 01:06:34,640 --> 01:06:40,320 that on the back of your mind it's just like back in 2009 because United World Ministries 720 01:06:40,320 --> 01:06:46,000 helps pastors and churches around the world to you know give them a hand up give them 721 01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:51,520 resources friendship you know all the rest of that sort of thing and and it's just dynamic 722 01:06:51,520 --> 01:06:57,920 and this conference I was there Chantelle wife Chantelle was with me and in the middle 723 01:06:57,920 --> 01:07:05,680 of this conference I and I was sowing the vision for United World Ministries just out 724 01:07:05,680 --> 01:07:11,280 of my mouth it came and by this time next year there's going to be a free Bible college 725 01:07:11,280 --> 01:07:19,600 that's going to start in this church and I thought why'd I say that if I could have 726 01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:24,560 sucked your words back in I would have done it gladly yeah and I thought but it's out 727 01:07:24,560 --> 01:07:29,840 there now and they were jumping up and down swinging their coats around and they're really 728 01:07:29,840 --> 01:07:35,320 rejoicing we get back to where we were staying and Chantelle says to me she said where's 729 01:07:35,320 --> 01:07:42,120 this Bible school coming from I went I don't know so all the way home on the plane I'm 730 01:07:42,120 --> 01:07:45,360 sweating because I don't want to let them down no that's right you make a promise you 731 01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:50,560 keep it yeah it's that's just how it is and and I think ministry's built on that that 732 01:07:50,560 --> 01:07:54,440 integrity you know if you're going to do something you say you do it you do it you just don't 733 01:07:54,440 --> 01:07:59,200 make excuses and so anyway I'm thinking well I've made a big mistake so I already had a 734 01:07:59,200 --> 01:08:04,880 speech plan that you know next time I go back I'm sorry blah blah blah but then something 735 01:08:04,880 --> 01:08:09,640 started resonating inside of me no it's going to happen so I rang a pastor by the name of 736 01:08:09,640 --> 01:08:15,240 Barry Follett and he's gone home to be with the Lord now great man of God yeah and very 737 01:08:15,240 --> 01:08:22,120 well connected with ministries around the world and I said told him what I did and I 738 01:08:22,120 --> 01:08:27,920 said I deeply regret it what's the best way to fix this up and he's laughing his head 739 01:08:27,920 --> 01:08:35,440 off he said I'll send you the details of a pastor in Texas in Houston Texas he's got 740 01:08:35,440 --> 01:08:42,600 a free Bible school and he may be able to help you out so I tried ringing but his phone 741 01:08:42,600 --> 01:08:47,120 wasn't it must have been switched off and so I sent an email and I no longer sent the 742 01:08:47,120 --> 01:08:52,280 email and I got a reply from him he goes Rob he said you wouldn't know it I'm actually 743 01:08:52,280 --> 01:08:58,960 in Kenya now oh wow I said you kidding me he said where is it where's the place I gave 744 01:08:58,960 --> 01:09:05,820 him the details the phone number of that and he connected it and so Pastor Mark Brown actually 745 01:09:05,820 --> 01:09:10,560 was there went and saw Pastor Samuel said okay we're going to because he didn't have 746 01:09:10,560 --> 01:09:14,720 any more curriculum there because it was all done on videos and little books and he said 747 01:09:14,720 --> 01:09:19,760 but we're going to post it all to you and you'll have it in about six months and it 748 01:09:19,760 --> 01:09:24,680 took a bit longer for various reasons but do you know a week before that one year was 749 01:09:24,680 --> 01:09:31,800 up when I said by this time next year a week before they had their first class of the Bible 750 01:09:31,800 --> 01:09:38,080 school and they had in six years just a six-year bracket because that's how we broke it up 751 01:09:38,080 --> 01:09:44,320 to just for you know data managing all that sort of thing they had over 1200 senior pastors 752 01:09:44,320 --> 01:09:50,960 go through two years of Bible school and it's transforming churches that's not including 753 01:09:50,960 --> 01:09:57,720 associate pastors and leaders it's it's just dynamic it really is and when I've been gone 754 01:09:57,720 --> 01:10:04,400 back I've noticed the churches that were churches of 40s and 60s they're 200s 300s now and 755 01:10:04,400 --> 01:10:10,040 you know it's just growing and I asked them one day I said to Samuel I said you know all 756 01:10:10,040 --> 01:10:14,640 these churches that have been pastors that have been through how many people do you reckon 757 01:10:14,640 --> 01:10:19,200 have been saved or he said look we'll find out it took him three months he came back 758 01:10:19,200 --> 01:10:24,040 he said we can't give you a figure he said it's as simple as that but he surveyed he 759 01:10:24,040 --> 01:10:29,800 asked the pastors to give their estimates and they added all the data up and collected 760 01:10:29,800 --> 01:10:38,320 it added it up and he said we don't know how many are first-time commitments how many are 761 01:10:38,320 --> 01:10:43,720 recommitments and that but he said he said to me he said you're sitting down and I said 762 01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:52,300 yeah he says in the six years anywhere between 18 and 22 thousand people so when God does 763 01:10:52,300 --> 01:10:58,040 something that's a lot of people yeah and the good thing is that we didn't do it yeah 764 01:10:58,040 --> 01:11:02,840 we gave them resources they use the resources exactly and they did the work and you know 765 01:11:02,840 --> 01:11:09,240 what a motivator that is and so when we go back as much as we can when you get there 766 01:11:09,240 --> 01:11:14,880 we have a good time because the places Christ is transforming and we're not the only ministry 767 01:11:14,880 --> 01:11:19,920 there are heaps that do better than us you know I just meet up with some ministries there 768 01:11:19,920 --> 01:11:25,120 that I look at what they do I think man that is a real step of faith to do that and they're 769 01:11:25,120 --> 01:11:30,920 doing it yeah so there's so many of us out there in the different nations that are doing 770 01:11:30,920 --> 01:11:35,760 things that we could never do in our own and one of them I was speaking to over there he 771 01:11:35,760 --> 01:11:42,120 said we were talking and he said to me he said so what did you do for for crust meaning 772 01:11:42,120 --> 01:11:47,880 what did you do for you know work before so I was a mechanic he is I was a painter and 773 01:11:47,880 --> 01:11:54,120 I said oh yeah and he said did you ever think you'd be doing this I said no and he said 774 01:11:54,120 --> 01:11:59,000 yeah me neither he said I used to be so heavy on drugs and I used to steal this and that 775 01:11:59,000 --> 01:12:05,240 and he said now he said look at us yeah so God can use anybody yeah if you if you if 776 01:12:05,240 --> 01:12:09,440 you're available make yourself available and you're you allow yourself to be mentored and 777 01:12:09,440 --> 01:12:15,320 trained yeah you know I've had some great mentors still do in my life yeah really good 778 01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:22,200 mentors and we all need a mentor we all need to be under authority absolutely and to respect 779 01:12:22,200 --> 01:12:27,120 authority yeah you know that's probably the biggest thing in society that's lacking now 780 01:12:27,120 --> 01:12:33,680 huge yeah huge I'd say that's our biggest problem as a country you see it in schools 781 01:12:33,680 --> 01:12:39,840 everywhere yeah so yeah the one thing that we actually need society's rejecting that's 782 01:12:39,840 --> 01:12:49,960 right yeah but hey UWM is changing the world sorry for my negative yeah but thank you 783 01:12:49,960 --> 01:12:56,240 so much you're welcome and unfortunately we have to come to the end of this interview 784 01:12:56,240 --> 01:13:01,160 but you know we have so much more to talk about because this is just the start of something 785 01:13:01,160 --> 01:13:08,520 and it's just the beginning and I know people our audience who's watching that they would 786 01:13:08,520 --> 01:13:14,000 really want to know more about you know what the projects we're doing and as UWM and also 787 01:13:14,000 --> 01:13:19,920 Logan City Christian Church within the community around here and for sure like if you if you 788 01:13:19,920 --> 01:13:26,800 see your screens you have popping out UWM and the ways you can support us it's all coming 789 01:13:26,800 --> 01:13:33,320 down on the screen and if you would like to give to the UWM and get to know more about 790 01:13:33,320 --> 01:13:38,240 the ministry you can definitely reach out to the email address and everything and love 791 01:13:38,240 --> 01:13:42,480 to hear from you and your thoughts and maybe you can also give us some ideas you know we're 792 01:13:42,480 --> 01:13:47,720 always open to sure yeah people pitching in you know they some people have great ideas 793 01:13:47,720 --> 01:13:55,120 and undoubtedly great support to the ministry too sure thank you again what we like to do 794 01:13:55,120 --> 01:14:02,400 is you can spend some time in prayers but just before that we encourage you to give 795 01:14:02,400 --> 01:14:07,880 a message to the viewers and you being a senior pastor of this church and you know with the 796 01:14:07,880 --> 01:14:13,360 wisdom God's given you what would be something that you would like to share to our viewers 797 01:14:13,360 --> 01:14:18,640 and you can look at us or look at the camera up to you but something that you want to share 798 01:14:18,640 --> 01:14:23,920 to our viewers that's something in your heart and it could be anything something that really 799 01:14:23,920 --> 01:14:35,640 does stand out to me is just to overcome discouragement because when you get given a calling or you 800 01:14:35,640 --> 01:14:42,640 have a calling and God gives you a vision that vision will never go unchallenged and 801 01:14:42,640 --> 01:14:51,600 I look at Joseph you know yeah wow that's the best look what you know and it didn't 802 01:14:51,600 --> 01:14:54,840 did he make a mistake sharing it with his brothers that's always the million dollar 803 01:14:54,840 --> 01:15:00,960 question but look at where it led him and the character development in the process but 804 01:15:00,960 --> 01:15:06,160 discouragement is a big thing that I speak into different missionaries and people in 805 01:15:06,160 --> 01:15:15,960 ministry where they want to just quit because of discouragement you can't quit you know 806 01:15:15,960 --> 01:15:22,880 something I found in ministry there are no exit clauses there are none and usually if 807 01:15:22,880 --> 01:15:27,160 we're feeling like we're wanting to quit is because we haven't got something in right 808 01:15:27,160 --> 01:15:33,360 alignment with the Lord or where you know it could be a number of things but I think 809 01:15:33,360 --> 01:15:40,080 a little story if I got like a couple of minutes just to share an encounter what happened because 810 01:15:40,080 --> 01:15:46,240 this first church that I when I got saved Chantelle and I went to a church and it was 811 01:15:46,240 --> 01:15:51,240 a great little church and I got along with the pastor very well we'd go fishing together 812 01:15:51,240 --> 01:15:58,000 and I needed that sort of thing and but what happened was I shared my testimony back then 813 01:15:58,000 --> 01:16:06,240 and you know in probably too much detail and what happened was that the pastor and his 814 01:16:06,240 --> 01:16:13,480 wife wanted to retire and he ordained me as associate pastor which threw a cat amongst 815 01:16:13,480 --> 01:16:19,040 the canaries because people started saying we don't want a you know a druggy alcoholic 816 01:16:19,040 --> 01:16:26,680 a thief and all that sort of stuff as a pastor and it and it really really affected me and 817 01:16:26,680 --> 01:16:35,280 so I went away from that just thinking well I'll just quit I was so discouraged and I 818 01:16:35,280 --> 01:16:43,040 just thought I'm not that anymore yeah you know what I mean it's so was it the fault 819 01:16:43,040 --> 01:16:48,640 of the people no it was just the devil trying to use something yeah to discourage me because 820 01:16:48,640 --> 01:16:53,000 some of the people that back then today we're great friends yeah you know they they probably 821 01:16:53,000 --> 01:16:57,240 wouldn't even remember saying those things but it really affected me to the point that 822 01:16:57,240 --> 01:17:04,120 I I actually verbally handed in my credentials to the Lord and say I'll quit that said I'm 823 01:17:04,120 --> 01:17:12,640 finished I'm not doing this anymore and then I had this dream and in this dream I was fishing 824 01:17:12,640 --> 01:17:19,120 in a dam that we had on our property and all of a sudden I hooked something and it's almost 825 01:17:19,120 --> 01:17:24,400 trying to pull me into the water it was so strong and it was fighting that long that 826 01:17:24,400 --> 01:17:29,480 I just couldn't I thought I'd just have to let go but I hung on and I could see the shadows 827 01:17:29,480 --> 01:17:34,800 were getting long so you know it was all day it was late afternoon and eventually this 828 01:17:34,800 --> 01:17:41,480 thing began to tire and I pulled it in I pulled it in and I pulled in this horrible looking 829 01:17:41,480 --> 01:17:46,680 thing it was that look like a house brick about that big and it had two eyes on it like 830 01:17:46,680 --> 01:17:51,280 a prawn you know or a lobster sort of thing you know those eyes that stick up and this 831 01:17:51,280 --> 01:17:57,120 thing stunk it was horrible and I'm looking at this and I thought what on earth is that 832 01:17:57,120 --> 01:18:02,920 and how could something so small be so strong so I got a stick and I began to poke it and 833 01:18:02,920 --> 01:18:10,160 all of a sudden it started shaking and the exterior just fell off like this crusty exterior 834 01:18:10,160 --> 01:18:19,040 and this tiny little bird came out and it was all these different colours like a little 835 01:18:19,040 --> 01:18:24,840 finch sort of thing and it had all these colours and it stood in the sun what was left of it 836 01:18:24,840 --> 01:18:29,800 and it was running its beak down its wings trying to dry it and it's shaking in that 837 01:18:29,800 --> 01:18:36,720 and all of a sudden this is to do with discouragement I mean this really fixed me and I remember 838 01:18:36,720 --> 01:18:44,000 this often when I'm discouraged and then this bird picked up some grass and hopped and went 839 01:18:44,000 --> 01:18:49,920 into the dam disappeared under the water and it came back out got some more grass and it 840 01:18:49,920 --> 01:18:54,960 was just doing this more grass and going in and so I leaned over and I looked and I could 841 01:18:54,960 --> 01:19:03,360 see this bird was building this perfectly round nest in the water I thought oh that's 842 01:19:03,360 --> 01:19:13,480 like dumb and anyway I woke up and the next day I thought well what does this dream mean 843 01:19:13,480 --> 01:19:20,560 and the Lord spoke to me he said that thing that you pulled in was you when you came to 844 01:19:20,560 --> 01:19:30,200 Christ there was nothing nice about you it was you know marred with sin and stunk like 845 01:19:30,200 --> 01:19:38,560 it you know what I mean and you poked it with the stick and this beautiful little bird come 846 01:19:38,560 --> 01:19:44,440 out he said that's the new creation he said it's not your fault that people see you as 847 01:19:44,440 --> 01:19:51,440 the old they're failing to see what is the new and he said and I created you that was 848 01:19:51,440 --> 01:19:59,040 that's that new creation and oh man that was just so healing for me in many ways more than 849 01:19:59,040 --> 01:20:07,280 one and I said but what about this bird building a nest in the water he said the Lord said 850 01:20:07,280 --> 01:20:14,800 I've called you to go back to where you come from and plant a church and that's how this 851 01:20:14,800 --> 01:20:22,400 all started through someone throwing out just words of discouragement I really wanted to 852 01:20:22,400 --> 01:20:27,360 quit and there have been times since I've wanted to quit but that one dream I think 853 01:20:27,360 --> 01:20:34,400 about it I know that's who I was yeah that's not who I am yeah I'm a new creation in Christ 854 01:20:34,400 --> 01:20:39,560 old things have passed away yeah be old everything's become you know the devil will try and discourage 855 01:20:39,560 --> 01:20:44,920 you in so many different ways but you need to know who you are in Christ you really need 856 01:20:44,920 --> 01:20:50,220 to have that revelation because if you don't the devil will find out and he'll he'll do 857 01:20:50,220 --> 01:20:56,840 whatever he can to try and stop you but when we can overcome discouragement which we need 858 01:20:56,840 --> 01:21:05,400 to learn to do the I believe we all will travel so far in ministry yeah I really do yeah discouragement 859 01:21:05,400 --> 01:21:12,560 is a horrible thing you know it really is so just hope that that could bring some direction 860 01:21:12,560 --> 01:21:18,960 and hope into some people watching today in their lives don't give up never ever ever 861 01:21:18,960 --> 01:21:25,520 give up we've never been given a vision to quit quitting is not in in your in your vision 862 01:21:25,520 --> 01:21:30,680 it's never it's not in there yeah you know and you just got to keep going you just keep 863 01:21:30,680 --> 01:21:36,360 going the new day will bring fresh manner it always does and you just got to be there 864 01:21:36,360 --> 01:21:42,560 you got to be there you know I think now about the what's happening in ministry in the incredible 865 01:21:42,560 --> 01:21:48,120 people God has placed around Chantelle and I to keep encouraging us as well it's good 866 01:21:48,120 --> 01:21:52,840 to be an encouragement to others but we wouldn't be seeing the fruit of the ministry today 867 01:21:52,840 --> 01:22:01,320 and yet the devil so long ago 25 26 28 years ago tried to knock me out then yeah and we 868 01:22:01,320 --> 01:22:07,240 wouldn't be sitting here talking like we think of the the ministry of Jesus getting right 869 01:22:07,240 --> 01:22:13,860 to the end so where he's almost done wanted to quit in the garden and it was faithful 870 01:22:13,860 --> 01:22:19,400 to the end yeah and the blessing that we have today as believers in Christ being born again 871 01:22:19,400 --> 01:22:27,160 is because he did not quit he didn't give in the blessing that we have in in this church 872 01:22:27,160 --> 01:22:33,920 and I've said this quite a bit but even myself as a person I'm so thankful that you never 873 01:22:33,920 --> 01:22:41,280 quit you and mum never quit you kept on going and it's given me the the platform to be a 874 01:22:41,280 --> 01:22:51,080 good husband father minister like just it's just broken the like broken the ice yeah like 875 01:22:51,080 --> 01:22:55,560 there's a big icebreaker that broke the ice and I'm this little boat that can just sneak 876 01:22:55,560 --> 01:23:02,880 in behind it's just made the way so much easier yeah for me and the blessing like you said 877 01:23:02,880 --> 01:23:10,760 earlier the blessing in obedience it's I personally believe it's more than we'll ever know oh 878 01:23:10,760 --> 01:23:17,640 yeah so yeah yeah it's just great it's really really good no thanks guys that means a lot 879 01:23:17,640 --> 01:23:23,440 the father-son moment I don't want to I don't want to ruin that I don't want to come in 880 01:23:23,440 --> 01:23:29,080 between that but thank you so much for thank you coming coming here to this interview you 881 01:23:29,080 --> 01:23:35,120 know it was not easy getting you there was so much easier people in this season to get 882 01:23:35,120 --> 01:23:39,800 and it was just a phone call away but we like ever since we started real talk Friday we 883 01:23:39,800 --> 01:23:46,040 were like we really want to get pastor Rob in this and that was like we wanted to do 884 01:23:46,040 --> 01:23:53,160 it from the season one yeah first episode but I think it's God's timing there's a reason 885 01:23:53,160 --> 01:23:59,600 God God wants you at this time to be here yeah and yeah I'm not gonna argue to that 886 01:23:59,600 --> 01:24:05,860 I'm just gonna yeah but thank you again for being on this show and all we like always 887 01:24:05,860 --> 01:24:12,280 to do is for you to end with a prayer sure and yeah pray for our ministry pray for okay 888 01:24:12,280 --> 01:24:19,880 this church and yeah and UWM of course yeah and yeah okay thanks Gus and Rohan Lord I 889 01:24:19,880 --> 01:24:27,160 just I'm just so mindful right now of the the importance to acknowledge you in everything 890 01:24:27,160 --> 01:24:36,400 that's been said today because Lord it's because of you you you did all of these things before 891 01:24:36,400 --> 01:24:42,280 us so we could follow just like Gus said and we all need those role models we all need 892 01:24:42,280 --> 01:24:49,720 those people to to pave a way and and you did that for us Lord and so we do acknowledge 893 01:24:49,720 --> 01:24:56,220 you Lord you did say about to go out into all the nations and this is what the churches 894 01:24:56,220 --> 01:25:04,520 of Jesus Christ are doing today here in Australia our own cities overseas but Lord we we we 895 01:25:04,520 --> 01:25:10,480 pray Lord God that for your hand to be so mightily upon all the missions around the 896 01:25:10,480 --> 01:25:15,360 world and the churches around the world and Lord for all the Christians Lord that in different 897 01:25:15,360 --> 01:25:21,880 nations that may be suffering persecution we lift them up to you and Lord just the ones 898 01:25:21,880 --> 01:25:28,200 that are so deeply persecuted father we lift them up to you Lord God and father we thank 899 01:25:28,200 --> 01:25:35,280 you for them we thank you for your hand to be to be upon them but Lord right now I just 900 01:25:35,280 --> 01:25:42,180 ask Lord because I just sense in my spirit there'll be people watching this that have 901 01:25:42,180 --> 01:25:49,320 a sense in their spirit a call to missions a call into the mission fields or a call into 902 01:25:49,320 --> 01:25:56,360 ministry Lord we pray for them Lord that they would respond to the call with great courage 903 01:25:56,360 --> 01:26:03,200 in the name of Jesus father we pray a blessing upon Lord all that you are doing in their 904 01:26:03,200 --> 01:26:09,240 lives as well in the name of Jesus and father we just thank you again we acknowledge you 905 01:26:09,240 --> 01:26:18,240 Jesus for everything that you have done amen amen amen well thank you everyone for joining 906 01:26:18,240 --> 01:26:24,800 us for another episode of Real Talk Friday we're so so glad that you could join us and 907 01:26:24,800 --> 01:26:30,360 we encourage you to reach out to us you know comment on the comments below reach out to 908 01:26:30,360 --> 01:26:35,520 us through email or always you know shoot us a message we really love that we really 909 01:26:35,520 --> 01:26:41,800 love to connect and and there's great great resources available in our church website 910 01:26:41,800 --> 01:26:47,480 and our also previous interviews and a lot of other stuff that are on our channel so 911 01:26:47,480 --> 01:26:52,560 please feel free to check them out but thank you again and I'm sure we'll see you next 912 01:26:52,560 --> 01:27:00,400 time in another episode of Real Talk Friday. 913 01:27:00,400 --> 01:27:05,120 As we conclude our episode of Real Talk Friday we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our 914 01:27:05,120 --> 01:27:08,440 listeners for joining us on this enlightening journey. 915 01:27:08,440 --> 01:27:10,360 But our journey doesn't end here. 916 01:27:10,360 --> 01:27:16,240 Join us every Friday as we continue to uncover the real stories of real people where authenticity 917 01:27:16,240 --> 01:27:19,880 intersects with spirituality in profound ways. 918 01:27:19,880 --> 01:27:24,320 Together we'll navigate the complexities of life, finding inspiration and hope in the 919 01:27:24,320 --> 01:27:28,720 remarkable narratives shared within the walls of Logan City Christian Church. 920 01:27:28,720 --> 01:27:32,640 Thank you for tuning in and until next time may your faith journey be filled with grace, 921 01:27:32,640 --> 01:27:35,560 understanding and the unwavering presence of God. 922 01:27:35,560 --> 01:27:48,720 Stay tuned for more Real Talk every Friday on Real Talk Friday.