WEBVTT

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Welcome to Real Talk Friday with your hosts,

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Rohan Das and Gus Urban. In this groundbreaking

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podcast segment, we delve deep into the lives

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of individuals whose journey has been profoundly

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transformed by their faith. From the trial of

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adversity to the triumph of redemption, we explore

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real stories, real people whose encounter with

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God has reshaped their existence. Join us as

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we embark on a candid and enlightening journey

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where authenticity meets spirituality every Friday

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on Real Talk Friday. part of Logan City Christian

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Church. Hello and welcome to another episode

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of Real Talk Friday. I'm glad you joined us.

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Today we have a really special guest and we have

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so much stories for you and definitely such great

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testimony, not only his, but other people too,

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that he's going to share some testimonies of

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people. I'll give it to Gus to introduce him

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because Gus knows him better than me. Yeah, yeah.

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Well, welcome everyone. Thanks for joining us

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again. Steve, Steve Swenson, thanks for joining

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us. It's a pleasure to have you on. A friend

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to us, a friend to my parents especially in this

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church. But yeah, it's just an honour to have

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you on representing Open Doors. So yeah, we're

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very excited to hear what you have to say. It's

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a privilege to be here. Actually, a surprise

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to be here. Now that I know there's cameras involved,

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I thought people have told me I've got a good

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head for radio. Very good. So tell us quickly

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what Open Door is all about before we dive into

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your story. Just because I think it's very interesting

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because I got to know about Open Door fairly

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recently and I've thoroughly enjoyed some of

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the videos. We're being played. And we have a

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video for you guys about Helen. And I really

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love that video. So I thought I would just put

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that in our segment. But quickly tell us what

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Open Doors is all about. Okay. Well, the mission

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of Open Doors is to serve the persecuted and

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strengthen the church. By persecuted, I don't

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mean... Like when we go home from church on Sunday

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and our neighbours mow the lawn or hose on the

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lawn and he goes, oh, how was your happy clapper

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service today? People who are facing extreme

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violence and persecution for being followers

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of Jesus Christ around the world. And our role

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is to serve them and strengthen the church in

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those countries, but here in Australia as well.

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And we do that in many ways, but we'll get into

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that a little bit later. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

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So talk us through about this video. going to

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be showed on Spotify and YouTube. If you're watching

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on YouTube, you're definitely going to see this

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beautiful video. And on Spotify, you've got to

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go on YouTube to watch it. But you'll definitely

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hear the sound, but it's a great video to watch.

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So talk us through about this Helen story. What's

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that all about? Well, in some countries, it's

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not illegal to be a Christian, but it's very

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much illegal to share your faith. And Helen lives

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in Eritrea. It's a country where it isn't illegal

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to be a Christian, but very definitely illegal

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to share your faith. But she decided that she

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would sing Christian songs basically on the steps

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of her church. And what that cost her was 32

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months in a shipping container where they tried

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to torture her to renounce her faith and to renounce

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her belief in Jesus Christ with a tool that was

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meant to kill her. But as you'll see... in her

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testimony, just a powerful testimony of God's

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sustaining power and victorious power in her

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life. She made it through, but it was so cold

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that they would freeze at night in the shipping

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container and during the heat of the day it would

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burn their skin. This is the type of persecution

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that Open Doors, we work with those beautiful

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people on the ground to strengthen them in the

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face of that. But that's the story of Helen.

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I told it very poorly. The video tells it a whole

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lot better. And yeah, she's an absolute hero

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of faith. Absolutely. Well, let's watch the video

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now of Helen. Hi, it's Helen. I'm safe now. Who

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can preach the gospel? The answer is simple.

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Anyone who is not afraid to die. I was in that

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shipping container for 32 months. In the heat

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of desert day, the walls would burn our skin.

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In the night, we shook from the cold. I remember

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the story of Paul and Silas. Like them, I began

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to sing. The guards tried to stop me, but I kept

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singing and kept preaching the good news to anyone

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who would listen. They tried everything. They

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tortured me with a tool meant to kill. Their

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goal was for me to deny my faith. Stop saying

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Jesus. All I could answer was, I cannot. I accept

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him unto death. But your prayers carried me through.

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I would tell the other prisoners. People are

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praying for us. I can feel it. The name of Jesus

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is medicine. And the world desperately need it.

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Our brothers and sisters are still in prison.

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When we eat, they have no food. When we are free,

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they are in chains. We can do more. Keep on praying.

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Keep on supporting. Keep on singing. Your sister

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in Christ, Helen. That's an amazing video, wasn't

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it? Absolutely. I thoroughly, I love watching

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this. It doesn't get old for me. No, I feel convicted.

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But thank you for showing us that video through

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Open Doors. So we want to now get to know who

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you are and what's your position at Open Doors,

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if you don't mind me asking. Yeah, I'm a church

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relationship manager. So my role is to spend

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time with church leaders and churches just to

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Tell the stories and the great things that God

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is doing in the lives of persecuted believers.

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I want to make sure that I tell it the way I

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believe they would want us to. Oftentimes we

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can tell a story and it becomes very negative

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and, you know, woe is us. The thing that I found

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even in a recent visit to a Southeast Asian country

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was... They want us to pray for them. They want

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us to remember them and they want us to tell

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their story. But they very much believe in the

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power of God in the midst of their trial. So,

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yes, our hearts need to be moved with the urgency

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of the need. to support and strengthen these

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believers, but also to see God's power working

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in and through their lives and even through their

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death in some cases. Yeah, yeah, that's unbelievable.

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Yeah, so my role is to go around and visit churches

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and pastors to tell them the story, to garner

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prayer support and also financial resource to

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send to support our workers in the field. We

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work in over 70 countries around the world right

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now. And there's 8 billion people on planet Earth

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right now. 2 billion of those, approximately,

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are Christians. 365 million of those face extreme,

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violent persecution and pressure every single

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day for being followers of Jesus Christ. Wind

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that down a little bit further, that's 1 in 7

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Christians. on the face of the earth today are

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facing that sort of pressure. That's a huge number.

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It is. You know, if you were to get your church

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on Sunday to stand every seventh person up and

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identify this is what a picture of what persecution

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is like for followers of Jesus Christ in the

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world. Yeah. And so our role is to work with

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the church in the West to pray. and to raise

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finance to support these people as they stand

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for Jesus in these countries. I see. Yeah. Oh,

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wow. Well, talking about stories, I'm sure you

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have a story of your own and a testimony that

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has brought you so far to do what you're doing

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right now. Let's talk about your early childhood

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days. Did you grow up in a Christian family or

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how were you introduced to this Christian faith?

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Yeah, so my parents were pastors. My biological

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dad, you'll understand why I called him that

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in a moment. My biological dad, my mum went through

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Bible college and followed the call of Jesus.

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They're from Queensland here, but followed the

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call of God to pastor a church in South Australia.

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They did that for a few years and then felt the

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call of God to plant churches and so went to

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country Victoria to plant a church. While working

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there, my dad, who was a panel beater by trade,

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because they couldn't afford to pay them while

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they did that, he would do up cars. And my mum

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and myself and my older sister were in Queensland

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on a holiday with my mum's family. My dad stayed

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back to look after the church and he was doing

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up a car. He was working under a car and the

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jacks gave way and he was welding at the time

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and he was crushed and burnt to death. I was

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two and a half years old. So, you know, grew

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up in Christian family. You know, some people

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would say, well, where was God in all of that?

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Again, there's some questions we will never know

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this side of eternity. That's right. But my mum

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packed up, moved back to Queensland with her

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family and started a home. You know, a lot of

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people would withdraw and just get on with life.

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Yeah. She was also carrying a baby at the time,

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which died. I had a little brother who died in

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that process. Um... But there's an amazing testimony

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in that we don't have time to go into today.

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But God sustained my mum through that, and she

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wanted to just sow her life back into serving

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others. So she started a home for Teen Challenge,

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a discipleship home for women. Wow. Who were

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coming out of either abusive situations, alcohol

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and drug dependency, or prostitution. And she

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would work with Teen Challenge workers in our

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home. And so I was about four or five at the

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time, and I was the man of the house. And we

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had sometimes up to 12 of us living in a home.

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I remember one house we were living in, we only

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had one bath, no shower. And one of the rules

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was living in our house that everybody had to

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go to church on Sunday. And so getting all these

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people ready for church with a bath. But during

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that time, my mum met a guy who was volunteering

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in a man's facility around the corner. same sort

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of home. And that happened to be a guy named

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Gary Swenson. And there must have been a Barry

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White record playing at the time and they saw

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each other across a room. And he chose to ask

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my mum to marry him. And that was a big deal

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because he was, and he wouldn't mind me saying

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this, he was nine years younger than my mum.

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Yeah, wow. He was only 19 at the time, she was

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28. Really? A widow with two children. Yeah.

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He was taking on a five -year -old boy and a

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seven -year -old daughter. Yeah. And they got

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married. Oh, wow. And out of that, they continued

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to run the girls' home for a while and then took

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on a church and pastored a church over on the

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north side of Brisbane, an Assemblies of God

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church, and did that for the next 19 and a half

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years. And that's how I grew up as a pastor's

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kid. Two dads, both pastors. And I don't call

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my dad my stepdad only to explain who he is.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I recently was able to

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share on Father's Day about both of my dads,

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my biological dad and the DNA that I've received

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from him and the spiritual DNA I received from

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him. But then also honour my dad now, Gary, because

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he didn't only choose my mum. He chose us. That's

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right. And it's a bit of a picture of what Christ's

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done for us. He says, you didn't choose me, I

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chose you. So that's my upbringing and my Christian

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faith. Even though I was made to go to church,

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I wasn't interested until I was probably about

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15. I used to sit there and get the look from

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my mum. I knew I was in trouble when I got home.

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What an incredible heritage. and privilege that

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I've had to be raised in the church. Yeah, what

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an incredible story. I think to look at the choice

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your mother made, do I give up on life or everything,

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which is a very common choice. But yeah, to actually

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go on with the things of God and some people

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want to blame someone. What an incredible woman.

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Yeah. She is actually my hero of faith. Yeah,

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I could totally understand. People say, oh, who's

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your faith hero? And they expect you to say somebody

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out of the Bible. Yeah. It's my mum. Yeah, totally.

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You know, because the baby that she was carrying

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when my dad died, the thing that she was so upset

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about at the time was that he would never get

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to see this child. Yeah. And it was born a boy.

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My dad's name was David, so she named him David,

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even though he was stillborn. Yeah. And she had

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a dream. some will say a vision, dream, whatever,

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from God when they had a bit of a memorial service

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for him, but because of everything she'd been

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through, the doctors basically sedated her and

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said, you know, you probably shouldn't go, but

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while this was happening, she had this dream

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of her standing one side of the cross with this

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baby in her arms. Jesus standing at the foot

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of the cross and her husband, my dad, David,

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standing the other side of the cross. And Jesus

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says to her in this dream, he will raise, my

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dad will raise his namesake. Now, I don't even

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know if that's theologically sound. But she handed

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little David to Jesus. He walked to the foot

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of the cross and handed him to my dad. And he

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held him the other side of the cross. That just

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gave her a peace in the midst of that to keep

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going. There were times, no doubt, that she felt

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like, and she's told us, that there were times

00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:37.389
she thought, oh, it'd just be easier to end it

00:15:37.389 --> 00:15:39.649
all. But she said, I can't do that because of

00:15:39.649 --> 00:15:41.590
God's call on my life and because of the children

00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:43.370
that I have here to raise. That's unbelievable.

00:15:43.850 --> 00:15:46.990
And so, you know, and you don't know, I mean,

00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.519
for all of us. Three of us sitting here, the

00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.379
people that are listening today, we don't know

00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:53.919
the power of even a text message we send to somebody

00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.539
to encourage them. True. Or telling one part

00:15:57.539 --> 00:15:59.759
of our story that to us might even seem a story

00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:03.059
of brokenness, but we're still going. Yeah. My

00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:05.559
mum's story is one of brokenness, that God's

00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:07.620
power has been made perfect in her weakness.

00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:11.779
Exactly right. There's been lives transformed

00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:14.240
through that testimony. Yeah, I could imagine.

00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:17.960
Yeah, so she's my hero of faith. Yeah. And, you

00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:22.940
know, I hope that I can be that strong in the

00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:26.000
adversity that I have faced and will face. Yeah.

00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.779
Because, you know, the Bible doesn't promise

00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:31.159
we won't. No, no, that's right. Yeah, exactly

00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:35.240
right. And the more I drill down into the persecution

00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.259
that Christians face. I realise there's a whole

00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:40.580
side of the gospel that often is overlooked.

00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:47.340
Our prayer life often is more about... You know,

00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:51.419
rubbing the lamp. God, I'm rubbing the lamp.

00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:55.480
Give me three wishes. And if he somehow does

00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:57.940
what we ask, then our faith is strong. Yeah,

00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.600
yeah, yeah, no. But, you know, I guess we'd call

00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:02.620
that not rubbing the lamp faith, but we'd call

00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:05.099
that mountain moving faith. Yeah. But then there's

00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:06.880
this whole other end of faith, which is called

00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.299
enduring faith, when we don't yet see what we

00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:11.880
believe, but we still believe. Exactly. And,

00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:16.390
you know, my mum... believes in a God who heals

00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:19.430
and protects and all these things. Yet in the

00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:22.750
midst of that, my dad passed away. But she still

00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:26.109
believes in a God who heals, protects, has a

00:17:26.109 --> 00:17:32.009
destiny for our life. And so do I. Yeah, amazing.

00:17:32.230 --> 00:17:34.210
And I may not see what I believe sometimes, but

00:17:34.210 --> 00:17:35.930
I still believe because what's the other option?

00:17:36.269 --> 00:17:38.630
Well, that's right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly right.

00:17:39.369 --> 00:17:42.089
For myself growing up in church, to go on to

00:17:42.089 --> 00:17:46.470
our next part, I grew up in church just like

00:17:46.470 --> 00:17:49.390
yourself. I had parents that made the choice

00:17:49.390 --> 00:17:52.430
to follow Christ. And what a blessing that is

00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:55.109
for me. I've shared it from the pulpit and on

00:17:55.109 --> 00:17:58.089
other podcasts as well. So I reap the benefits

00:17:58.089 --> 00:18:01.789
of their choices, just like you've experienced

00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:05.990
yourself. In saying that, growing up in church,

00:18:05.990 --> 00:18:09.170
you don't always appreciate church. Maybe it's

00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:11.849
not so much appreciation, but maybe you're...

00:18:12.349 --> 00:18:14.670
Maybe don't fully understand. I guess as a child

00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:18.829
and a teenager, it's, you know, you're a bit

00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:20.789
silly or whatever it might be. That was definitely,

00:18:20.869 --> 00:18:23.609
for me, I just couldn't understand it. But I

00:18:23.609 --> 00:18:26.670
remember at 17 or 13 years of age, I experienced

00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:29.930
God when I really felt to give my life to Christ.

00:18:30.750 --> 00:18:33.609
Didn't really follow on from that. But when I

00:18:33.609 --> 00:18:36.670
was 17, there was sort of something cemented

00:18:36.670 --> 00:18:38.609
in my life where I'm like, I'm not turning back

00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:42.329
from this. Did you ever have any of those experiences

00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:46.529
in your life? Do you remember that point where...

00:18:46.529 --> 00:18:50.670
Yeah, I think I had multiple times. God's very

00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:55.650
gracious. He comes and reveals himself to us.

00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:57.809
We're so moved, we'll never be the same again.

00:18:57.990 --> 00:18:59.829
And then we're the same again in two weeks' time.

00:18:59.990 --> 00:19:01.730
Yeah, see, that's what happens. But for me, I

00:19:01.730 --> 00:19:03.670
guess the best way I could put it was being a

00:19:03.670 --> 00:19:06.960
pastor's kid, I had religion. For me, it was

00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.140
a set of rules I had to follow because mum and

00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:12.660
dad told me to. And I hadn't yet experienced

00:19:12.660 --> 00:19:15.619
this real relationship with God myself. So one

00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:19.779
thing I never wanted to do was be a pastor. I

00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:22.200
grew up in the church thinking, well, yeah, dad's

00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:23.559
a pastor. I don't want to be that. I want to

00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:30.859
be a millionaire. But I think there were multiple

00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:34.480
times, again, where God... showed himself real

00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.559
to me. I think the first time I ever responded

00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:40.400
to an appeal to give your heart to Jesus, the

00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:42.160
best way I could explain it at that time was

00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.079
probably five at a kids' camp. I remember it

00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:45.519
because I remember going in the front and crying.

00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:47.980
Something very real I felt I didn't understand.

00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.740
And then, you know, having been in church and

00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:55.299
having pastors come and preach and I probably

00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:57.900
responded at different times in services, but

00:19:57.900 --> 00:19:59.559
I was about the same age, mate, probably about

00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:03.589
17. where I decided this has got to be more than

00:20:03.589 --> 00:20:06.109
just a religious habit for me. There's something

00:20:06.109 --> 00:20:09.329
my parents have modelled to me that is more than

00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:13.549
just coming to church on a Sunday. And I think

00:20:13.549 --> 00:20:18.930
it was when I realised that becoming a Christian

00:20:18.930 --> 00:20:20.849
is more than just getting a ticket to heaven,

00:20:20.970 --> 00:20:26.170
making sure I don't go to hell. It's understanding

00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:29.609
that the verse where it says, if you confess

00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:33.259
with your mouth, the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe

00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.019
in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:37.660
you'll be saved. So I had the belief that God

00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:40.160
raised him from the dead, but I hadn't made him

00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.759
the Lord Jesus Christ, which is making him the

00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:46.519
boss. I was happy to have him as my saviour,

00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:50.119
but not my boss. Save me, but don't tell me what

00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:53.599
to do. And when I finally got it at about 17,

00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:56.259
that hey, if I submit my life to Christ, that's

00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:59.779
real rubber meets the road relationship with

00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:04.500
him. that's real Christianity. Absolutely. And

00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:06.960
that's where I think the power comes to living.

00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.839
It's an upside -down faith. Yes. It's just, you

00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:13.960
know, I mean, I still struggle with being a Christian,

00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.880
I'm honest. Like, when I say not the belief side

00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:19.900
of things, the practice. Yeah. When someone does

00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:23.339
me wrong, I'm supposed to bless them. And I want

00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:26.119
to bless them sometimes with a brick. You know,

00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:29.380
I still struggle with those flesh things, you

00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:31.210
know. Yeah, yeah. But then I hear the stories

00:21:31.210 --> 00:21:33.390
of persecuted people who have gone through absolute

00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:36.089
hell on earth. Yeah. I met some here in Logan

00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:38.369
Home recently, and I'm not going to say where

00:21:38.369 --> 00:21:40.430
because I don't want to identify them, but they

00:21:40.430 --> 00:21:44.730
went through absolute hell on earth where a family

00:21:44.730 --> 00:21:48.450
member was macheted to death and they were beaten

00:21:48.450 --> 00:21:50.309
and abused themselves before they made their

00:21:50.309 --> 00:21:52.910
way to Australia. And their heart's desire is

00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:55.910
to become whole so they can go back to the country

00:21:55.910 --> 00:22:00.519
that they were. so badly persecuted in to share

00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.519
the love of Jesus with the people who persecuted

00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:04.460
them. That's unreal. I've had some bad things

00:22:04.460 --> 00:22:06.519
happen to me in the last five years in my own

00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:09.579
city. I see those people now. And, you know,

00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:11.359
I know this is being recorded, but I don't mind

00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.599
saying I'd love to go and sometimes take revenge.

00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:19.480
Yeah. I have to fight those feelings. That's

00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:22.160
what Christianity is really, you know, the practice

00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:25.769
of it. This upside down faith. Yeah. To become

00:22:25.769 --> 00:22:29.690
rich, you must give. Yeah. You know, to be forgiven,

00:22:29.769 --> 00:22:31.970
you must first forgive. Yeah. And so, you know,

00:22:32.009 --> 00:22:34.750
that's probably 17, I started to realise that

00:22:34.750 --> 00:22:38.390
and work out how to live that out every day.

00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:44.410
I mean, we look at the life of Christ. We sort

00:22:44.410 --> 00:22:47.670
of want to be like Jesus, walk around miracles,

00:22:48.269 --> 00:22:52.420
preach amazing sermons. and all this sort of

00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:57.440
stuff. But we quite often fail to see of how

00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.380
surrendered he was to the will of God. I mean,

00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.519
he was in the garden saying, Lord, basically,

00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.039
I don't want to do this, right? Basically, yet

00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:11.420
he still did it. And so I think if everyone's

00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:15.440
open and honest about their Christian walk, there's

00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.799
always going to be something we're trying to

00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:20.599
overcome. Always. Until the day we die, there

00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:23.180
will always be something that we will try and

00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:27.180
overcome. My wife was heavily persecuted at her

00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:31.680
workplace. And one thing, it doesn't make sense.

00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:34.519
We're like, why? This does not make sense. It

00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:38.599
hasn't done anything wrong. Why is someone after

00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:43.079
her so bad? And yeah, there was... An absence

00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:45.920
of love, I can tell you that much. And then it's

00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:47.440
like, okay, well, this is where I'm really at

00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.480
right now. It's such a real thing. And to try

00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:54.039
and even think of speaking well of that person,

00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:58.099
it's like, nah, I don't want to. It's a real

00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:01.680
thing. But there's such freedom in surrender.

00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:05.119
We talk about grace. If we want to experience

00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:08.539
grace, well, that comes down to, Lord, all right,

00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:12.380
this isn't about me. or how I feel. This is about

00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:14.559
your will, your word, what your word says for

00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:19.319
my life. And we saw a miracle take place with

00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:23.420
a work situation. But I really believe it first

00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:26.480
came to us just being able to... all right, well,

00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:28.259
we're not going to live in the flesh in this

00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:30.740
situation. Lord, if you're going to fix it, we

00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:32.980
at least have to be obedient to a few things

00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:36.500
you want us to do. But upside down faith. You

00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:38.680
know what I mean? Like, oh, it's hard sometimes.

00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.920
Yeah, and I think, you know, we do everything

00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.299
because we're so trained transactionally. If

00:24:44.299 --> 00:24:48.160
I do this, you'll do this. Yeah, true. God's

00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.920
transaction with us, if we want to make it sound

00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:54.160
really bad as a transaction, but he's not transactional.

00:24:54.460 --> 00:24:57.559
He's relational. Yeah. So he gave his son that

00:24:57.559 --> 00:24:59.299
whoever would believe in him would have everlasting

00:24:59.299 --> 00:25:02.240
life, right? But he did it even if we didn't

00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:05.980
respond. Yeah. It wasn't, I'll do this for you

00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:09.859
as long as you do this for me. Yeah. And if we

00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:13.220
can love people, even if they never love us back,

00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.579
I often think to myself, and I used to meet with

00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:19.019
pastors a lot in my role in council and even

00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:21.440
when I was running the church not far from here,

00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:26.990
and... Often our focus was how do we reach people

00:25:26.990 --> 00:25:30.589
in our community and would we love them even

00:25:30.589 --> 00:25:33.670
if they didn't come to our church? Would we serve

00:25:33.670 --> 00:25:36.029
them even if they didn't come to our church?

00:25:36.309 --> 00:25:38.890
Because to me, that's what Jesus did. He loved

00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:42.690
and served people. God loved and served us by

00:25:42.690 --> 00:25:47.849
giving his son, even though he knew we're not

00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:49.880
even going to take up our side of it. That's

00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:52.960
right. And I think that's the power of even the

00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.759
message of a lot of the persecuted believers

00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:57.019
that I hear their stories. They're loving people

00:25:57.019 --> 00:26:00.619
that may never find faith in Christ, but they're

00:26:00.619 --> 00:26:02.920
prepared to do that. Yeah. And even if it costs

00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.220
them their life, they're prepared to do that,

00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:08.619
which is a picture of who Jesus is. He willingly

00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:14.140
went to the cross. He was never guaranteed of

00:26:14.140 --> 00:26:18.440
any of us. No. No, that's wrong. Receiving that

00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:21.140
gift from him. Yeah, while we were still sinners,

00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:23.680
Christ died for us. He didn't wait for us to

00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:25.900
go, yeah, okay, I'm ready now. And then, yeah,

00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.119
unbelievable. Yeah, so, yeah. So, you know, back

00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:31.720
to your original question, I know I've wavered

00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:33.319
from it. No, it's all good. I'm the wrong person

00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:37.940
to stay on track. I'm chasing possible. You don't

00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:41.019
happen to be a preacher, eh? Yeah, but I mean,

00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:42.589
for me, I was the same as you, mate. Probably

00:26:42.589 --> 00:26:45.009
17 until I really got on board. And then by 19

00:26:45.009 --> 00:26:48.349
years of age, I was a youth pastor at our church

00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:50.549
and worked for the next 20 -something years in

00:26:50.549 --> 00:26:53.069
the church. Yeah, wow. Incredible. And I take

00:26:53.069 --> 00:26:55.309
it you've seen a lot of great things, a lot of

00:26:55.309 --> 00:26:57.410
hardships. I mean, hardships and great things

00:26:57.410 --> 00:27:00.990
run side by side in church. Like we've experienced

00:27:00.990 --> 00:27:03.750
when we've gone through hardships, whether it

00:27:03.750 --> 00:27:07.069
be in a personal situation or in a church situation,

00:27:07.529 --> 00:27:10.460
God's always on the other side. making something

00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:13.339
better like i just find that incredible it's

00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:16.259
it's just amazing how that works sometimes it

00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:18.880
might be like all right there's a hard time and

00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:21.500
then there's a season of blessing but a lot of

00:27:21.500 --> 00:27:23.720
the time we've seen them go at the same time

00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.500
sure and it's just unbelievable like yeah sometimes

00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:30.059
i've realized well i actually never noticed it

00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:33.589
until i've gone through the season and then come

00:27:33.589 --> 00:27:35.869
out of it and go, well, actually, we've actually

00:27:35.869 --> 00:27:39.210
prospered in this area. God's really prospered

00:27:39.210 --> 00:27:42.869
us or built this up or we've gained financial

00:27:42.869 --> 00:27:45.970
strength or support or grown in numbers or whatever

00:27:45.970 --> 00:27:50.230
it might be. But sometimes it wasn't until a

00:27:50.230 --> 00:27:52.789
year after and you actually go, oh, wow, we actually

00:27:52.789 --> 00:27:55.410
grew in this area. Like, God, thank you. That's

00:27:55.410 --> 00:27:58.049
a great point, Gus. I think, too, like when they

00:27:58.049 --> 00:28:00.799
run side by side. we're not naturally drawn to

00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.279
look at the positive. True. Our mind is always

00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:05.200
taken and distracted by the negative that's going

00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:06.839
on. Yeah. And even though there's good things

00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:08.619
happening side by side, we don't see it. Yeah.

00:28:08.660 --> 00:28:11.099
So I think, you know, the lesson I'm taking away

00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:12.799
from what you've dropped into my spirit right

00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.279
now is, even in the midst of some of the things

00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:18.539
I'm facing in this moment, I just need to shift

00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:21.680
my focus off the negative because there are things

00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:24.200
running side by side with that. That'll preach,

00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:28.170
mate. Yeah. No, that's such an amazing... I've

00:28:28.170 --> 00:28:31.309
just been listening to you guys because it's

00:28:31.309 --> 00:28:33.829
a lot of wisdom being talked here. And I'm just

00:28:33.829 --> 00:28:37.349
trying to reflect in my life because for me,

00:28:37.349 --> 00:28:42.269
for a long time, my vocabulary was, I will do

00:28:42.269 --> 00:28:46.470
this if God does this. And that changed quickly

00:28:46.470 --> 00:28:49.210
to, I will do this because God has done this.

00:28:49.349 --> 00:28:51.460
Yeah, true. So that's... That's good. It's a

00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:53.819
big change in my life that has happened. And

00:28:53.819 --> 00:28:57.400
I see that, like how God works. And I see that

00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:00.259
change in vocabulary. Of course, when you receive

00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:03.140
the Holy Spirit, everything changes. But I can

00:29:03.140 --> 00:29:05.240
see that in many other people that are persecuted.

00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:10.000
And that change of heart that, you know, as you

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.880
say, they go to so many extent to do things for

00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:17.819
God and they don't care. Like I've personally

00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:20.420
experienced that. from stories my parents have

00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:23.339
told me about people who are persecuted in india

00:29:23.339 --> 00:29:27.299
and i'm like they've gone to you know to to a

00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:29.519
place where they don't care about their life

00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:32.700
but they care about what matters and that's the

00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:35.140
word of god and and it's just truly amazing how

00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:39.859
that kind of um attitude changes everyone children

00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:43.079
shows people love and shows that you know jesus

00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:46.430
is real so yeah This is a great conversation.

00:29:46.769 --> 00:29:49.609
I'm enjoying this, but we'll have to come back

00:29:49.609 --> 00:29:54.710
to the interview now. So you're working with

00:29:54.710 --> 00:29:58.009
Open Doors now. But how did you get into this

00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:02.269
position? Was it like a journey or did you always

00:30:02.269 --> 00:30:05.890
want to do these kind of roles with Open Doors,

00:30:05.890 --> 00:30:10.119
work with persecuted churches? No. I'd be lying

00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.740
if I said yes. It would be a lot more romantic

00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:14.980
to say, oh, yes, this has always been the desire

00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:17.099
of my heart. But I think, you know, the thing

00:30:17.099 --> 00:30:21.759
that I'm committed to in my life is the word

00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:24.839
of God. And one of the things that I know is

00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:26.579
the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:29.740
Yeah. I'm not saying I'm a good man, but I'm

00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.180
a man who tries to be good. Yeah. And God orders

00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:34.319
your steps and he knows what we need at certain

00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:37.920
times. I've always had a heart as a Christian

00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.980
leader. to motivate believers to look outside

00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:45.259
themselves. When I was pastoring a church, I

00:30:45.259 --> 00:30:49.220
think the greatest frustration for me was, even

00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:52.680
in my own self, I would become so navel -gazing

00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:55.940
at times, you know. We became so Sunday -centric

00:30:55.940 --> 00:31:00.920
in our worship practices, our Christian faith.

00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:04.390
And so for me... I was always pushing myself

00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:06.710
and the church to be looking outside the four

00:31:06.710 --> 00:31:08.890
walls of the church to understand that our Sunday

00:31:08.890 --> 00:31:12.029
expression is just one part of our Christian

00:31:12.029 --> 00:31:15.369
walk. Yeah. That led me to a different career

00:31:15.369 --> 00:31:22.170
path and things, but I think this role found

00:31:22.170 --> 00:31:25.690
me more than I found it. Yeah, wow. I'd been

00:31:25.690 --> 00:31:28.410
through a season of injustice myself, which we

00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:30.990
don't have time to talk about today. That would

00:31:30.990 --> 00:31:33.890
be a 25 -part series for you if I was to go into

00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:39.829
detail. I'm not joking. But some very real injustice

00:31:39.829 --> 00:31:45.410
happened in our own family and it's been a five,

00:31:45.470 --> 00:31:46.970
six -year journey where we still haven't found

00:31:46.970 --> 00:31:53.109
the end of that yet. But that injustice gave

00:31:53.109 --> 00:31:56.170
me an experience that... gave me empathy with

00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:59.309
people who were going through injustice. Yeah,

00:31:59.329 --> 00:32:02.809
wow. And so this job really found me at a time

00:32:02.809 --> 00:32:08.170
where I needed the provision of God, both financially

00:32:08.170 --> 00:32:13.549
and for a job. And it came when I wasn't, I had

00:32:13.549 --> 00:32:18.589
another role, but this just came up at the right

00:32:18.589 --> 00:32:21.910
time and gave me the opportunity to motivate

00:32:21.910 --> 00:32:24.940
believers here in Australia. to look outside

00:32:24.940 --> 00:32:28.980
themselves, and it's discipled me and helped

00:32:28.980 --> 00:32:34.220
me put some understanding and meaning to perhaps

00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:36.940
the injustice and persecution that I've been

00:32:36.940 --> 00:32:39.259
through myself in the last season of my life.

00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:41.619
Yeah, totally. Not saying that I face what our

00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:46.220
persecuted brothers and sisters have, but it's

00:32:46.220 --> 00:32:47.799
given me a little bit of understanding of what

00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:50.380
they go through, and it's helped clarify some

00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:53.140
things in my own head about my faith around Christians

00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:55.990
and suffering. So it's just a beautiful opportunity.

00:32:56.430 --> 00:33:00.950
Yeah, wow. That's incredible. I think I sort

00:33:00.950 --> 00:33:04.930
of feel like you're saying how it's hit the family.

00:33:05.069 --> 00:33:07.190
I sort of feel like I could go through a lot

00:33:07.190 --> 00:33:10.130
if it was just me, like if I didn't have a wife

00:33:10.130 --> 00:33:14.190
and kids. But the moment that like a persecution

00:33:14.190 --> 00:33:17.670
starts hitting home, I think that's where I would

00:33:17.670 --> 00:33:21.210
really, really struggle. I don't think, yeah.

00:33:21.950 --> 00:33:24.109
I don't think I'd be able to handle it, but I

00:33:24.109 --> 00:33:26.430
mean, by God's grace, we can go through a lot

00:33:26.430 --> 00:33:30.869
more than we can ever. But I think the greatest

00:33:30.869 --> 00:33:35.230
thing for especially a husband, a father, when

00:33:35.230 --> 00:33:39.690
Satan really wants to hit home, that's heavy.

00:33:39.930 --> 00:33:43.609
And looking at some of the people that you've

00:33:43.609 --> 00:33:48.470
met or heard stories from open doors, these are

00:33:48.470 --> 00:33:50.960
people that have... wives and kids and everything

00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:53.480
like that that don't see them anymore that are

00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:58.039
locked in jail indefinitely and it that's that's

00:33:58.039 --> 00:33:59.960
faith on a whole new level for me personally

00:33:59.960 --> 00:34:02.380
totally yeah yeah yeah i don't know how i'd go

00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:04.720
with that but yeah yeah and i hope we never have

00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:06.799
to experience it yeah but i'm also committed

00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:10.380
to the belief that you know when when the word

00:34:10.380 --> 00:34:12.699
says god's grace is sufficient for you and his

00:34:12.699 --> 00:34:15.599
power is made perfect in our weakness we can't

00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:19.550
understand right now no And hope we never have

00:34:19.550 --> 00:34:21.590
to find out. But in the midst of those times,

00:34:21.730 --> 00:34:23.809
I believe he gives us a gift of grace for that

00:34:23.809 --> 00:34:26.469
moment. So we can look at people and go, you

00:34:26.469 --> 00:34:28.710
know, like that video we watched of Helen. Yeah.

00:34:28.949 --> 00:34:33.309
How? Yeah. But he gave her a gift of grace in

00:34:33.309 --> 00:34:35.550
the midst of that to not only survive, but to

00:34:35.550 --> 00:34:38.130
continue to say the name of Jesus. Wow. Continue

00:34:38.130 --> 00:34:40.769
to share his love with the people that were torturing

00:34:40.769 --> 00:34:44.110
her. Unbelievable. I'd be like, I'd be looking

00:34:44.110 --> 00:34:47.800
around the room for a sharp implement. I think

00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:49.820
I've watched too many Mission Impossible things.

00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:53.420
But I'd be looking for a sharp implement and

00:34:53.420 --> 00:34:57.119
show them grace of Steve. But his grace is sufficient

00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:59.239
for us and he gives us that gift in the midst

00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:03.460
of it. And if it comes and touches our family,

00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:04.940
then in the midst of that, he would give that

00:35:04.940 --> 00:35:09.400
to them as well and us. But it's tough. Yeah,

00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:16.550
absolutely. So I like how you... How God put

00:35:16.550 --> 00:35:19.809
you in this position because you got persecuted

00:35:19.809 --> 00:35:22.969
in some way and you got into an organization

00:35:22.969 --> 00:35:26.909
that helps persecution. So I'm sure you have

00:35:26.909 --> 00:35:29.710
a lot of stories from Open Doors that you yourself

00:35:29.710 --> 00:35:33.309
have experienced. And I would like you to share

00:35:33.309 --> 00:35:36.449
with us some of the stories of others who've

00:35:36.449 --> 00:35:38.489
gone through persecution. Of course, we'll be

00:35:38.489 --> 00:35:40.369
very careful about the names and everything.

00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:43.940
We totally understand that. But, you know, for

00:35:43.940 --> 00:35:47.420
a lot of viewers, we just want a bit of perspective

00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:51.420
on what goes on in the world. Because to me,

00:35:51.420 --> 00:35:55.039
staying here and, you know, I hear about persecution,

00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:59.000
but I don't hear... to what extent people go

00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:02.300
through these persecutions. And I know deep down

00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:05.159
in my heart that we're blessed to be in a country

00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:07.500
like Australia. Yeah, definitely. But it's not

00:36:07.500 --> 00:36:09.679
the same in other countries. No, that's right.

00:36:09.900 --> 00:36:13.099
And you guys have 70 countries. Well, yeah, there's

00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:15.300
70 countries that Open Doors are ministering

00:36:15.300 --> 00:36:18.039
to through local church members on the ground

00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:21.750
or... Christian partners and the stories we hear

00:36:21.750 --> 00:36:23.809
back from our field workers are just heartbreaking

00:36:23.809 --> 00:36:26.889
so right now in Nigeria which is a country that

00:36:26.889 --> 00:36:34.489
is 46 % Christian Nigeria is 46 % Christian but

00:36:34.489 --> 00:36:36.989
it's number 6 on the world watch list for the

00:36:36.989 --> 00:36:39.590
most dangerous places on the planet to be a Christian

00:36:39.590 --> 00:36:44.210
in fact The persecution is measured two ways,

00:36:44.289 --> 00:36:46.630
through smash and squeeze. Smash is the violence

00:36:46.630 --> 00:36:49.210
that's perpetrated. Okay. And squeeze is the

00:36:49.210 --> 00:36:51.230
pressure that comes to your life. So like, for

00:36:51.230 --> 00:36:53.610
example, you become a Christian in the north

00:36:53.610 --> 00:36:55.949
of India. You put your hand up to say, I have

00:36:55.949 --> 00:36:58.909
decided to follow Jesus. That doesn't mean...

00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:01.960
that you'll be persecuted just for that decision.

00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:04.460
It means that your wife and your family will

00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:08.320
no longer have access to medical. You'll no longer

00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:10.300
have access to education like everybody else.

00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:13.300
You probably won't get a job. So that's the pressure

00:37:13.300 --> 00:37:17.420
side. The violence side is off the Richter scale

00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:21.179
in Nigeria. More people died in Nigeria for their

00:37:21.179 --> 00:37:24.019
faith in the last 12 -month period that we know

00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:28.949
of than the rest of the world combined. Are you

00:37:28.949 --> 00:37:35.050
kidding me? So it's at the moment, as we speak

00:37:35.050 --> 00:37:39.250
today in November 2024, there are 16 and a half

00:37:39.250 --> 00:37:43.869
million displaced Christians in Nigeria living

00:37:43.869 --> 00:37:47.170
in displacement camps because they've been run

00:37:47.170 --> 00:37:49.269
off their land, their property. They've been

00:37:49.269 --> 00:37:52.690
chased by Islamic militants who want to come

00:37:52.690 --> 00:37:54.710
and take their lives. That's like two thirds

00:37:54.710 --> 00:37:59.300
of Australia. Almost. Wow. And that's 16 .2 million

00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:02.239
Christians. And they live in these displacement

00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:05.239
camps. And a family of five will live in a 1

00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:10.940
.5 by 1 .5 tent in a compound that is reasonably

00:38:10.940 --> 00:38:15.760
safe. But there's no food. So the men generally

00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:18.539
have to go outside of that to try and find work

00:38:18.539 --> 00:38:20.320
and they can do a day's work and not even get

00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:22.280
enough money to feed their family for one day.

00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:25.760
So this is the type of persecution that people

00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.239
are facing in countries that are 46 % Christian.

00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:34.880
It just begs belief to us that you can face that

00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:38.440
just for being a Christian. And they will come

00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:42.739
to the door in some of these... Militant extremist

00:38:42.739 --> 00:38:45.639
groups will actually send lists to communities

00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:50.300
and say, we're coming to kill these people. So

00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:53.059
they either flee and they go to these displacement

00:38:53.059 --> 00:38:56.940
camps or they stay and fight. Or they don't even

00:38:56.940 --> 00:39:01.179
fight sometimes. They just stay and hope that

00:39:01.179 --> 00:39:06.579
it will work out. So that's one part of what's

00:39:06.579 --> 00:39:09.900
going on. That's a very broad statement of something

00:39:09.900 --> 00:39:12.039
that's going on on the ground in Nigeria. Wow.

00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:15.719
North Korea is the most dangerous place. That's

00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:17.940
number one. That's number one. When you combine

00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:20.739
the smash and squeeze together. Yeah. We have

00:39:20.739 --> 00:39:24.239
a story. It's not her real name, but Jiho, a

00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:28.199
video. Her dad was found to have a Bible and

00:39:28.199 --> 00:39:31.119
he's been taken and they've never seen him again.

00:39:33.660 --> 00:39:37.559
There is hard labour camps where Christians are

00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:40.719
taken and they may, some have been released.

00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:44.440
There's another story of a young man who has

00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:47.380
been taken and released on four occasions, but

00:39:47.380 --> 00:39:53.599
he's seen over 50 of his, say, friends and family

00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:57.659
who have lost their lives. And he's a young man.

00:39:57.940 --> 00:40:00.840
So they're the sort of stories that we hear.

00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:04.699
a person in Southeast Asia, communist country,

00:40:04.820 --> 00:40:13.940
was a decorated war veteran, wasn't a believer

00:40:13.940 --> 00:40:17.420
in Christ, but was engaged by the government

00:40:17.420 --> 00:40:23.659
to be essentially a spy to shadow a pastor to

00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:28.340
report back to the authorities what his movements

00:40:28.340 --> 00:40:31.809
were so that they could come and persecute. that

00:40:31.809 --> 00:40:38.730
minister, take him, put him in prison for a ransom

00:40:38.730 --> 00:40:41.929
that the then church congregants would come and

00:40:41.929 --> 00:40:43.710
pay so they could find out who the congregants

00:40:43.710 --> 00:40:47.750
were. It's quite amazing. We see persecution

00:40:47.750 --> 00:40:50.010
through the eyes of what it looks like to us.

00:40:51.869 --> 00:40:55.150
I remember Easter time, our own church had four

00:40:55.150 --> 00:40:57.570
opportunities to go to church to celebrate Easter.

00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:00.599
And we as a family chose the one that suits us

00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:04.099
or the ones that suited us to go. We went to

00:41:04.099 --> 00:41:07.059
three of the four. In a lot of these countries,

00:41:07.139 --> 00:41:09.599
they choose to go to church not knowing if they're

00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:15.000
going to come home. But the great part in all

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.159
of this, if I can even say it that way, is the

00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:21.760
testimonies we hear are not just the testimonies

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.829
of the persecution. but the testimonies of God's

00:41:24.829 --> 00:41:27.130
power being made perfect in their weakness, where

00:41:27.130 --> 00:41:29.190
God shows himself strong, where he brings healing

00:41:29.190 --> 00:41:33.469
and wholeness to people, where they feel like

00:41:33.469 --> 00:41:35.230
they couldn't do it on their own. So another

00:41:35.230 --> 00:41:39.250
young man, and again, it's not his real name,

00:41:39.269 --> 00:41:42.650
but I can share, because it's a public video,

00:41:42.710 --> 00:41:46.690
his name in the video is Ayuba, and his family,

00:41:46.750 --> 00:41:50.110
again, in Nigeria, were a family that had been...

00:41:53.090 --> 00:41:57.130
earmarked to be taken out they came to get them

00:41:57.130 --> 00:41:59.670
one day in the dark of night and so they all

00:41:59.670 --> 00:42:03.809
fled this young man and his siblings but I think

00:42:03.809 --> 00:42:06.829
it was his dad stayed some of the family stayed

00:42:06.829 --> 00:42:09.969
and in the midst of that they took his father's

00:42:09.969 --> 00:42:13.710
life and so this young man came back to his community

00:42:13.710 --> 00:42:18.650
and basically said you know I'm not renouncing

00:42:18.650 --> 00:42:20.929
my faith in Christ but I'm going to take revenge

00:42:20.929 --> 00:42:25.760
on people who did this to him. And through the

00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:29.039
generosity of people like your church and other

00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:31.840
churches that have supported Open Doors, we've

00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:34.679
been able to set up trauma centres. Oh, beautiful.

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:37.000
Because the thing is, you can find healing with

00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.519
your body, but you still have triggers in your

00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:42.039
mind. And so this young man and his siblings

00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:45.230
were given the opportunity to go and... get regular

00:42:45.230 --> 00:42:47.949
treatment at this trauma centre. And his testimony

00:42:47.949 --> 00:42:50.769
is, I came here with the thought that one day

00:42:50.769 --> 00:42:53.570
I will take revenge for my father's death. But

00:42:53.570 --> 00:42:56.190
now I've understood the grace of God and his

00:42:56.190 --> 00:42:58.329
forgiveness in my life. So I've laid down my

00:42:58.329 --> 00:43:02.070
right for revenge. Wow. That's an incredible

00:43:02.070 --> 00:43:03.989
testimony. It's a powerful story. I mean, I still

00:43:03.989 --> 00:43:06.610
get goosebumps when I think about it. I didn't

00:43:06.610 --> 00:43:11.650
tell it very well, but that's the sort of difference

00:43:11.650 --> 00:43:16.000
that we can see. The generosity in prayer and

00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.760
giving of finance is making in the lives of people.

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:20.699
Yeah. I mean, you think about your own life.

00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:22.739
If you walk around with bitterness of something

00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:25.460
that has been unjust in your life, that person

00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:27.760
who has perpetrated that against you is not suffering.

00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:31.659
No, that's right. You are. Yeah. So this young

00:43:31.659 --> 00:43:33.460
man and his siblings have been able to get ongoing

00:43:33.460 --> 00:43:36.940
treatment and support. So Open Doors has the

00:43:36.940 --> 00:43:39.300
ability to do what we've always done, which we

00:43:39.300 --> 00:43:42.860
started in 1955. Our founder, Brother Andrew,

00:43:43.019 --> 00:43:47.500
started smuggling Bibles across the border into

00:43:47.500 --> 00:43:53.829
Eastern Europe in his VW. Packed Bibles in the

00:43:53.829 --> 00:43:55.989
language of the country he was going to and go

00:43:55.989 --> 00:43:57.929
to the border. He'd pray the smuggler's prayer.

00:43:58.110 --> 00:44:00.849
God, you've made blind eyes see, now make seeing

00:44:00.849 --> 00:44:03.670
eyes blind. And he took tens of thousands of

00:44:03.670 --> 00:44:06.349
Bibles across the border and gave them to people

00:44:06.349 --> 00:44:11.070
in churches there. So we continue to give Bibles

00:44:11.070 --> 00:44:12.780
into countries where they need them. because

00:44:12.780 --> 00:44:14.619
the Word of God is powerful. Yeah, absolutely.

00:44:14.619 --> 00:44:16.619
And in the hands of believers, it's just such

00:44:16.619 --> 00:44:19.800
a strength to them. And so $20 can put a Bible

00:44:19.800 --> 00:44:21.460
in the hands of a believer in a country in a

00:44:21.460 --> 00:44:24.039
form that they need it. Yeah, wow. So we do that.

00:44:24.099 --> 00:44:28.099
We provide discipleship material, training for

00:44:28.099 --> 00:44:30.440
people to become leaders and pastors in churches.

00:44:30.699 --> 00:44:34.840
We even run programs of persecution preparedness

00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:38.539
training run by people who have written it, who

00:44:38.539 --> 00:44:41.389
have been through it. on the ground so that for

00:44:41.389 --> 00:44:43.150
people who become believers and followers of

00:44:43.150 --> 00:44:44.989
Jesus Christ, this is what you can expect and

00:44:44.989 --> 00:44:47.489
this is how we should respond. Wow, that's awesome.

00:44:47.730 --> 00:44:49.869
Because us here, we think, okay, if someone comes

00:44:49.869 --> 00:44:52.650
in, I'm going to take them out. A lot of stories

00:44:52.650 --> 00:44:54.869
we've heard is when people have been chased by

00:44:54.869 --> 00:44:58.510
their persecutors and they don't respond, they

00:44:58.510 --> 00:45:00.750
don't know what to do. It's almost like they're

00:45:00.750 --> 00:45:04.090
disarmed because they're expecting a fight and

00:45:04.090 --> 00:45:06.050
the believers turn around and they keep saying

00:45:06.050 --> 00:45:09.440
to them, Jesus loves you. speaking the name of

00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:11.980
Jesus like Helen's story. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And

00:45:11.980 --> 00:45:15.880
they let them go. And so persecution preparedness

00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:21.400
training, microloans and the ability to get communities

00:45:21.400 --> 00:45:26.880
back up and going again. Different groups, militant

00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:28.920
groups come in and totally destroy communities

00:45:28.920 --> 00:45:32.119
where Christians live. They'll take them away

00:45:32.119 --> 00:45:35.980
or chase them away, burn everything to the ground.

00:45:36.280 --> 00:45:41.690
We set up... opportunities where people can start

00:45:41.690 --> 00:45:48.190
a business. Incredible. To make money. Because

00:45:48.190 --> 00:45:49.769
some of them, they want to stay and share the

00:45:49.769 --> 00:45:52.090
love of Jesus with people. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:45:52.469 --> 00:45:55.489
It just blows my mind. Do you ever, because you

00:45:55.489 --> 00:45:58.389
obviously know tons and tons of stories, do you

00:45:58.389 --> 00:46:00.349
ever still just stop one day and just think,

00:46:00.769 --> 00:46:04.789
do you struggle to fathom that this happens?

00:46:05.230 --> 00:46:08.019
Yes. Because just hearing these stories now,

00:46:08.179 --> 00:46:11.059
I'm just trying to picture people going through

00:46:11.059 --> 00:46:13.739
this. It's like, this is almost like a movie.

00:46:14.599 --> 00:46:17.420
Obviously, growing up in Australia, we've never

00:46:17.420 --> 00:46:20.599
experienced, but I struggle to fathom that this

00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:24.440
actually takes place. Well, yeah, I do too. But

00:46:24.440 --> 00:46:27.039
I also understand why the governments don't want

00:46:27.039 --> 00:46:30.860
this sort of stuff on the news. Yeah. Because

00:46:30.860 --> 00:46:35.239
people don't respond in the way that... We're

00:46:35.239 --> 00:46:37.440
taught to respond as Christians, not to take

00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:42.059
revenge. But yeah, it blows my mind. Okay, let's

00:46:42.059 --> 00:46:43.780
talk about a hotspot in the world right now.

00:46:45.239 --> 00:46:48.880
What's going on in Israel, right? I'm not going

00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:52.280
to make a political comment on that. But if you

00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:53.820
were to talk to a lot of Christians, they think

00:46:53.820 --> 00:46:56.639
this is the hotspot where everything is just

00:46:56.639 --> 00:47:00.019
blowing, not literally, but it is, blowing up

00:47:00.019 --> 00:47:03.260
in the world, right? They're not even in the

00:47:03.260 --> 00:47:07.349
top 50. Of the world watch list. Yeah. Of persecution

00:47:07.349 --> 00:47:10.449
for Christians. Yeah. They're not even in it.

00:47:10.570 --> 00:47:12.630
Yeah, wow. If you look at what's going on there

00:47:12.630 --> 00:47:16.309
and what's going on on the news and we see the

00:47:16.309 --> 00:47:18.449
devastation that's happening both sides of that.

00:47:18.610 --> 00:47:23.949
Yeah. And then you look at there's at least 50

00:47:23.949 --> 00:47:27.090
other countries that it's more dangerous to be

00:47:27.090 --> 00:47:29.510
a believer and the persecution that's going on,

00:47:29.570 --> 00:47:31.730
that kind of gives us some sort of concept of

00:47:31.730 --> 00:47:35.699
what we don't know. Yes, very true. What we don't

00:47:35.699 --> 00:47:39.719
know. I mean, I heard a story, not a story, his

00:47:39.719 --> 00:47:44.340
story the other day of a persecuted believer

00:47:44.340 --> 00:47:51.380
who was converted from being an imam. Wow. When

00:47:51.380 --> 00:47:53.860
his family found out, they broke his arms, his

00:47:53.860 --> 00:47:56.780
legs and his ribs and left him to die. Unreal.

00:47:57.000 --> 00:48:01.500
He basically lives moving every two months now.

00:48:02.760 --> 00:48:06.940
He's planted 30 churches and he just believes

00:48:06.940 --> 00:48:11.480
that God is with him. And this grace we were

00:48:11.480 --> 00:48:13.960
talking about before is just on his life. And

00:48:13.960 --> 00:48:18.719
he doesn't hate the people that have done this.

00:48:18.820 --> 00:48:21.480
He loves them and he wants them to find what

00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:25.360
he's found. I guess this has been the underlying

00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:28.760
theme through the whole podcast. grace to get

00:48:28.760 --> 00:48:31.480
us through really it just keeps popping up throughout

00:48:31.480 --> 00:48:34.340
the whole thing and yeah i really feel for our

00:48:34.340 --> 00:48:38.420
viewers um regardless of what you're facing god's

00:48:38.420 --> 00:48:42.719
grace is more than enough yeah his grace is more

00:48:42.719 --> 00:48:45.179
than enough to get it yeah sufficient it's it's

00:48:45.940 --> 00:48:48.019
It's there. And that's important, I think, Gus,

00:48:48.099 --> 00:48:49.840
because sometimes we hear this stuff and we think,

00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:51.699
oh, well, I can't complain anymore. God doesn't,

00:48:51.699 --> 00:48:53.760
my stuff right down here. God doesn't measure

00:48:53.760 --> 00:48:55.360
it that way. No, that's true. He cares about

00:48:55.360 --> 00:48:57.340
what you and I are going through just as much

00:48:57.340 --> 00:48:59.059
as he cares about what's going on there. Yes.

00:48:59.320 --> 00:49:02.539
I mean, he takes persecution personally. Yeah.

00:49:02.619 --> 00:49:05.699
If you think about Saul on the road to Damascus,

00:49:05.719 --> 00:49:08.539
where he was riding along and he's knocked off

00:49:08.539 --> 00:49:11.980
his donkey onto his ass. He knocked off his donkey

00:49:11.980 --> 00:49:15.039
onto the ground. And then Jesus appears to him.

00:49:15.320 --> 00:49:19.039
And says, why are you persecuting me? Yeah. He'd

00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:22.059
been persecuting believers, but Jesus takes it

00:49:22.059 --> 00:49:24.360
personally. Exactly. So yes, he takes it personally

00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:26.559
when people are persecuted for being followers

00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:28.679
of Jesus Christ. Yeah. But it doesn't mean he

00:49:28.679 --> 00:49:32.280
cares more about that than the difficulties we

00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:34.059
find ourselves in and your viewers are finding

00:49:34.059 --> 00:49:36.239
themselves in. Yeah, exactly. So that grace that

00:49:36.239 --> 00:49:37.980
we've been talking about today is sufficient

00:49:37.980 --> 00:49:40.079
for them too. Yeah. So they might be sitting

00:49:40.079 --> 00:49:41.719
at home right now listening to this going, well,

00:49:41.719 --> 00:49:44.550
I'm having trouble at home with my family. Well,

00:49:44.550 --> 00:49:46.690
God cares about that too. Absolutely. And if

00:49:46.690 --> 00:49:48.610
you just reach out to him right now, he can give

00:49:48.610 --> 00:49:50.869
you a gift of grace. Yeah. He can do a miracle

00:49:50.869 --> 00:49:53.010
in your situation just like we have been talking

00:49:53.010 --> 00:49:54.929
about for our persecuted brothers and sisters.

00:49:55.210 --> 00:49:57.690
Yeah. And I know that we have faith here to believe

00:49:57.690 --> 00:50:00.090
for them. Yes. Just as much as we do for the

00:50:00.090 --> 00:50:03.030
persecuted believers. And so, yeah, as much as

00:50:03.030 --> 00:50:05.630
I'm an advocate for our persecuted brothers and

00:50:05.630 --> 00:50:07.789
sisters in the world, I'm also an advocate for

00:50:07.789 --> 00:50:10.090
people that are going through injustice and suffering

00:50:10.090 --> 00:50:13.309
here. Yeah. That God's grace is sufficient for

00:50:13.309 --> 00:50:15.900
you too. And his power can be made perfect in

00:50:15.900 --> 00:50:17.699
your weakness today. And so we speak that over

00:50:17.699 --> 00:50:20.699
their situation now. Amen. In Jesus' name. Yeah,

00:50:20.760 --> 00:50:23.780
amen. That's incredible. That's incredible, yeah.

00:50:24.159 --> 00:50:26.619
Well, thank you for sharing that. I think that

00:50:26.619 --> 00:50:31.059
was very powerful. I mean, ever since we started

00:50:31.059 --> 00:50:34.210
this podcast, you know, we've... seen so many

00:50:34.210 --> 00:50:36.769
like it's just been flowing the holy spirit's

00:50:36.769 --> 00:50:39.690
helped us flow through conversations yeah yeah

00:50:39.690 --> 00:50:42.230
it's been great so i just i i love it i love

00:50:42.230 --> 00:50:45.250
when a podcast is you know just this real conversation

00:50:45.250 --> 00:50:48.409
and talking about you know real situation which

00:50:48.409 --> 00:50:52.469
the persecution is real to some people think

00:50:52.469 --> 00:50:55.469
it's not but i assure you it's a real thing yeah

00:50:55.469 --> 00:50:58.909
yeah but you know we're coming towards the end

00:50:58.909 --> 00:51:02.130
of the show now but um We'll give you an opportunity

00:51:02.130 --> 00:51:05.630
to talk to our viewers and share what's in your

00:51:05.630 --> 00:51:09.750
heart. But where do you see yourself with Open

00:51:09.750 --> 00:51:12.969
Doors going into the future? Well, I'd like to

00:51:12.969 --> 00:51:16.989
think that I could connect more with churches

00:51:16.989 --> 00:51:19.030
around Queensland and Western Australia, which

00:51:19.030 --> 00:51:23.969
is my area of responsibility. And to share the

00:51:23.969 --> 00:51:27.030
stories and the mission of Open Doors and get...

00:51:28.840 --> 00:51:31.500
Or give the opportunity for churches to partner

00:51:31.500 --> 00:51:35.699
with us. I used to feel very awkward about asking

00:51:35.699 --> 00:51:37.800
that question because people say, oh, you're

00:51:37.800 --> 00:51:41.980
just after money. Well, absolutely. I'm unashamed

00:51:41.980 --> 00:51:46.860
that we need more resource to reach the 365 million

00:51:46.860 --> 00:51:48.780
persecuted brothers and sisters in the world

00:51:48.780 --> 00:51:52.079
to strengthen them as they stand for Jesus. And

00:51:52.079 --> 00:51:54.909
giving is a supernatural act. Yeah, definitely.

00:51:55.170 --> 00:51:57.030
Some people think ministry is when you stand

00:51:57.030 --> 00:51:59.409
on a stage with a microphone in your hand. That's

00:51:59.409 --> 00:52:03.289
one aspect. God has given us the ability to create

00:52:03.289 --> 00:52:06.250
wealth. And if you have the wherewithal to give

00:52:06.250 --> 00:52:09.869
and you give as unto the Lord, not because you've

00:52:09.869 --> 00:52:11.510
heard a sad story, but you've listened to the

00:52:11.510 --> 00:52:13.349
voice of the Holy Spirit, you're obedient to

00:52:13.349 --> 00:52:16.929
him. Yes. then he will take care of you and he

00:52:16.929 --> 00:52:19.190
will bless you for it. And so I would like to

00:52:19.190 --> 00:52:20.650
think that there are more churches out there

00:52:20.650 --> 00:52:23.150
that can partner with us. I know that you guys

00:52:23.150 --> 00:52:26.400
as a church have done that. And I'm very thankful

00:52:26.400 --> 00:52:29.000
for that. But just in the perspective of the

00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:31.460
enormity of the need, there's 365 million and

00:52:31.460 --> 00:52:33.780
I believe that we're reaching about eight, somewhere

00:52:33.780 --> 00:52:35.460
between eight and nine million of those people

00:52:35.460 --> 00:52:38.860
right now to strengthen them. And so that means

00:52:38.860 --> 00:52:42.320
that we have a long way to go. But I'm believing

00:52:42.320 --> 00:52:46.860
that God is faithful to his word and that he

00:52:46.860 --> 00:52:51.139
will provide resource for us. But I just believe

00:52:51.139 --> 00:52:52.980
that we will continue to grow as a ministry.

00:52:54.400 --> 00:52:58.260
to get more momentum as we share these stories

00:52:58.260 --> 00:53:00.900
for people to understand what's going on. And

00:53:00.900 --> 00:53:05.460
can I say, finance is the secondary thing. I

00:53:05.460 --> 00:53:07.800
would love to think that more people will just

00:53:07.800 --> 00:53:12.019
take on the heart to pray. Yeah. Our persecuted

00:53:12.019 --> 00:53:14.519
brothers and sisters have said these words in

00:53:14.519 --> 00:53:17.320
almost every field that our team have gone to.

00:53:17.719 --> 00:53:20.280
Please pray for us because when you pray, miracles

00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:23.809
happen. Wow. So when we pray here, we don't see

00:53:23.809 --> 00:53:25.969
what's going on, but there's miracles happening.

00:53:26.349 --> 00:53:30.489
So that's how I want to engage as many people

00:53:30.489 --> 00:53:33.949
as I can, working with Open Doors, whether that's

00:53:33.949 --> 00:53:36.349
the leaders of churches or people who call themselves

00:53:36.349 --> 00:53:41.159
followers of Jesus Christ, to pray. Get onto

00:53:41.159 --> 00:53:43.460
the Open Doors website. Find out the countries

00:53:43.460 --> 00:53:45.599
that we're working in. You've heard me say the

00:53:45.599 --> 00:53:47.760
World Watch List a number of times. Every year

00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:50.059
that's brought out. Go onto the website. Find

00:53:50.059 --> 00:53:52.320
out who those countries are. Sign up for the

00:53:52.320 --> 00:53:54.119
prayer updates. They'll send them to your phone.

00:53:54.619 --> 00:53:57.639
And pray in your own devotional time. You might

00:53:57.639 --> 00:54:00.820
think it's just me, but the prayer of one person.

00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:05.599
can change a city of 100 ,000 when God moves.

00:54:05.920 --> 00:54:08.980
And if we look at it that way, so that's, I mean,

00:54:09.000 --> 00:54:10.800
I'll do this until God moves me somewhere else.

00:54:11.300 --> 00:54:13.420
I'm not looking to go somewhere else, but that's

00:54:13.420 --> 00:54:17.760
how I see us continuing to move forward. And

00:54:17.760 --> 00:54:22.840
yeah, I just think the more times we can have

00:54:22.840 --> 00:54:27.159
the vehicle to tell the story, the more people

00:54:27.159 --> 00:54:29.360
are aware. That's really important. So I'm thankful

00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:31.219
for this opportunity today. Oh, no, that's great.

00:54:31.500 --> 00:54:36.619
So viewers, jump on the Open Doors website, read

00:54:36.619 --> 00:54:39.000
it. Is there a donate area in there as well?

00:54:39.480 --> 00:54:43.079
Donate if the Lord's put it on your heart. Add

00:54:43.079 --> 00:54:47.719
Open Doors to your church prayer meeting. So

00:54:47.719 --> 00:54:51.639
every time you meet up weekly for prayer, make

00:54:51.639 --> 00:54:54.659
sure Open Doors is one of those prayer points.

00:54:55.449 --> 00:54:57.869
As well, there's power when the church comes

00:54:57.869 --> 00:55:01.070
together to pray as well. Absolutely. We had

00:55:01.070 --> 00:55:04.530
900 churches this weekend join together for the

00:55:04.530 --> 00:55:06.329
International Day of Prayer across Australia

00:55:06.329 --> 00:55:08.309
and New Zealand. Isn't that cool? I can't wait

00:55:08.309 --> 00:55:10.210
to hear the testimonies of what's happened. Yes,

00:55:10.269 --> 00:55:13.550
yes. You know, 900 churches said we will stop

00:55:13.550 --> 00:55:15.690
either in our Sunday service or our small groups

00:55:15.690 --> 00:55:17.710
or our prayer meetings this week and pray for

00:55:17.710 --> 00:55:19.829
persecuted brothers and sisters. We were aiming

00:55:19.829 --> 00:55:24.510
for 500. 900 churches across Australia and New

00:55:24.510 --> 00:55:27.510
Zealand. I was at a church yesterday where they

00:55:27.510 --> 00:55:29.949
had a half -hour prayer meeting before the service.

00:55:30.010 --> 00:55:32.750
Over 100 people came out to the prayer meeting,

00:55:32.829 --> 00:55:35.050
and it ended up rolling into the morning service.

00:55:35.110 --> 00:55:39.570
It went for 45 minutes. Wow. So prayer helps.

00:55:39.690 --> 00:55:42.489
So, yeah, please, jump on. Yeah. Stop praying.

00:55:42.690 --> 00:55:45.409
Excellent. Yeah. Great. Thank you, Steve, for

00:55:45.409 --> 00:55:48.829
being on this show. What we like to do towards

00:55:48.829 --> 00:55:50.809
the end of the show is give you an opportunity

00:55:50.809 --> 00:55:53.650
to say something that's in your heart to our

00:55:53.650 --> 00:55:55.210
viewers. You can look at the camera, you can

00:55:55.210 --> 00:55:58.150
tell us whatever you're comfortable with and

00:55:58.150 --> 00:56:01.730
also pray for our show and, you know, pray for

00:56:01.730 --> 00:56:04.570
the ministry we're doing because God's blessed

00:56:04.570 --> 00:56:08.130
us so much. Yeah. And when we started this podcast,

00:56:08.230 --> 00:56:11.099
just as a... uh background i know some of our

00:56:11.099 --> 00:56:14.800
viewers already know this story we um we came

00:56:14.800 --> 00:56:17.559
up with this idea in one of the fast food chain

00:56:17.559 --> 00:56:21.679
restaurants sitting down and and just saying

00:56:21.679 --> 00:56:26.139
hey i think we need to do something and um it

00:56:26.139 --> 00:56:28.619
was in my heart like both of our hearts to do

00:56:28.619 --> 00:56:33.380
the podcast yeah and um you know we saw a lot

00:56:33.380 --> 00:56:36.389
of like you know satan coming in the midst of

00:56:36.389 --> 00:56:39.550
that trying to stop that from happening and we've

00:56:39.550 --> 00:56:42.909
come so far just by the grace of god again and

00:56:42.909 --> 00:56:48.610
through his calling to do this like um i'm just

00:56:48.610 --> 00:56:53.289
thinking about probably maybe six or seven months

00:56:53.289 --> 00:56:56.730
back we would have never thought we'd be doing

00:56:56.730 --> 00:56:59.550
this right now yeah definitely and and i think

00:56:59.550 --> 00:57:03.170
like God's really taken us to another level when

00:57:03.170 --> 00:57:06.329
it comes to this podcast. We're so grateful to

00:57:06.329 --> 00:57:09.329
share your vision of Open Door through our podcast.

00:57:09.750 --> 00:57:11.789
We know it's going to reach out to many people.

00:57:12.309 --> 00:57:18.030
Pray for us. I will. If there's anything you'd

00:57:18.030 --> 00:57:21.130
like to say to our viewers, anything on your

00:57:21.130 --> 00:57:24.210
heart, just go right ahead. I'll look down the

00:57:24.210 --> 00:57:26.829
barrel. For those of you who are watching today,

00:57:26.989 --> 00:57:30.550
thank you for taking the time to listen. to this

00:57:30.550 --> 00:57:33.389
but i just want to reiterate that god has heard

00:57:33.389 --> 00:57:36.130
every one of your prayers he cares about every

00:57:36.130 --> 00:57:38.550
one of your needs and for those of you who've

00:57:38.550 --> 00:57:41.349
been struggling in faith you've been praying

00:57:41.349 --> 00:57:43.329
and you haven't seen what you're believing for

00:57:43.329 --> 00:57:46.570
yet keep believing your faith is strong sometimes

00:57:46.570 --> 00:57:48.690
we rate our faith on whether god answers our

00:57:48.690 --> 00:57:52.929
prayer or not that's not how it works god is

00:57:52.929 --> 00:57:55.599
hearing everything that you have prayed. He's

00:57:55.599 --> 00:57:57.780
with you. He's closer than your breath. And I

00:57:57.780 --> 00:57:59.599
just want to encourage you to continue on in

00:57:59.599 --> 00:58:03.219
faith. Faith is mountain -moving faith, but it's

00:58:03.219 --> 00:58:05.239
also enduring faith. And both of those please

00:58:05.239 --> 00:58:09.880
God. As you continue to endure, He's with you

00:58:09.880 --> 00:58:12.679
every step of the way. And don't give up, because

00:58:12.679 --> 00:58:17.000
today could be the day for your miracle. I'm

00:58:17.000 --> 00:58:19.019
going to pray with my eyes open for you right

00:58:19.019 --> 00:58:21.980
now. God, I pray for every person that is listening

00:58:21.980 --> 00:58:23.739
to this podcast today, watching this podcast

00:58:23.739 --> 00:58:27.159
today, that you would give them the gift of grace

00:58:27.159 --> 00:58:30.860
in the midst of their trial. You would give them

00:58:30.860 --> 00:58:33.659
the gift of faith in the midst of what they're

00:58:33.659 --> 00:58:36.300
facing right now and that you would do a supernatural

00:58:36.300 --> 00:58:38.219
miracle. For those who need a creative miracle

00:58:38.219 --> 00:58:40.579
in their body, I pray for healing and wholeness

00:58:40.579 --> 00:58:43.380
now in Jesus' name. For those who need a miracle

00:58:43.380 --> 00:58:46.289
of provision. I pray that you would show yourself

00:58:46.289 --> 00:58:49.550
strong as Jehovah Jireh, the God who is more

00:58:49.550 --> 00:58:52.269
than enough. And for those who are believing

00:58:52.269 --> 00:58:55.389
for restoration of a family situation, a relationship,

00:58:55.849 --> 00:58:58.570
God, I pray that you would be with those people.

00:58:59.170 --> 00:59:01.349
God, you care about those loved ones even more

00:59:01.349 --> 00:59:03.929
than they do, which is hard to understand, but

00:59:03.929 --> 00:59:06.369
you do. And so, God, I pray you'd move in those

00:59:06.369 --> 00:59:09.050
situations. And when you do, we'll be very careful

00:59:09.050 --> 00:59:11.429
to give you all the praise and all the glory.

00:59:11.980 --> 00:59:13.960
And God, we also pray for this podcast. What

00:59:13.960 --> 00:59:17.880
an incredible vehicle, an opportunity that you

00:59:17.880 --> 00:59:20.860
have given these two men of God. And so God,

00:59:20.900 --> 00:59:22.360
I pray that you would continue to bless them

00:59:22.360 --> 00:59:25.260
with great favor. You continue to bless this

00:59:25.260 --> 00:59:28.639
podcast with great favor. It would go out to

00:59:28.639 --> 00:59:31.260
people who need it at the right time. Sometimes

00:59:31.260 --> 00:59:34.199
we think prophecy is for that moment, but sometimes

00:59:34.199 --> 00:59:36.579
we can record things that are actually the word

00:59:36.579 --> 00:59:38.820
of God when the person clicks on it and listens

00:59:38.820 --> 00:59:41.559
to it. It's exactly. the word of God they need

00:59:41.559 --> 00:59:45.019
at that time. So I pray for incredible provision

00:59:45.019 --> 00:59:49.760
and opportunity and right connections as well,

00:59:49.800 --> 00:59:52.300
that you'd bring the right people to be on this

00:59:52.300 --> 00:59:56.679
podcast that would share a heart of faith. Lord,

00:59:56.780 --> 00:59:58.559
as you've placed it in the hearts of these two

00:59:58.559 --> 01:00:01.840
men, God, that this would go beyond even their

01:00:01.840 --> 01:00:04.420
wildest prayers and expectation to be a blessing,

01:00:04.500 --> 01:00:08.599
not only to the body of Christ, but to... the

01:00:08.599 --> 01:00:11.280
whole community and perhaps world as we know

01:00:11.280 --> 01:00:16.059
it. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, thank you,

01:00:16.059 --> 01:00:18.579
Steve, for joining us. And thank you all for

01:00:18.579 --> 01:00:22.099
being part of this show. We truly appreciate

01:00:22.099 --> 01:00:25.760
your time, the support you give us, the prayers

01:00:25.760 --> 01:00:28.619
you give us. And please don't fail to reach out

01:00:28.619 --> 01:00:31.739
to us. You can always reach out through our email,

01:00:31.780 --> 01:00:34.519
which definitely will be displayed. down there

01:00:34.519 --> 01:00:37.860
or towards the end of the show but thank you

01:00:37.860 --> 01:00:40.079
again for joining us and we look forward for

01:00:40.079 --> 01:00:42.260
you guys to join us again on the new episode

01:00:42.260 --> 01:00:50.340
of real talk as we conclude our episode of real

01:00:50.340 --> 01:00:52.760
talk friday we extend our heartfelt gratitude

01:00:52.760 --> 01:00:55.599
to all our listeners for joining us on this enlightening

01:00:55.599 --> 01:00:58.559
journey but our journey doesn't end here join

01:00:58.559 --> 01:01:01.039
us every friday as we continue to uncover the

01:01:01.039 --> 01:01:04.000
real stories of real people where authenticity

01:01:04.000 --> 01:01:07.400
intersects with spirituality in profound ways.

01:01:07.699 --> 01:01:10.400
Together we'll navigate the complexities of life,

01:01:10.559 --> 01:01:13.019
finding inspiration and hope in the remarkable

01:01:13.019 --> 01:01:15.840
narrative shared within the walls of Logan City

01:01:15.840 --> 01:01:17.840
Christian Church. Thank you for tuning in and

01:01:17.840 --> 01:01:20.179
until next time, may your faith journey be filled

01:01:20.179 --> 01:01:22.360
with grace, understanding and the unwavering

01:01:22.360 --> 01:01:25.000
presence of God. Stay tuned for more Real Talk

01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:27.039
every Friday on Real Talk Friday.