WEBVTT 00:00:05.969 --> 00:00:08.650 Happy October. Welcome to the Heights Unedited 00:00:08.650 --> 00:00:11.070 podcast. Podcast about real life, real conversations 00:00:11.070 --> 00:00:14.550 about the Heights Church family. I'm on this 00:00:14.550 --> 00:00:16.890 side of the table today because we have a special 00:00:16.890 --> 00:00:20.170 guest sitting across from us. We do. It's weird 00:00:20.170 --> 00:00:21.629 being on the same side of the table. I know. 00:00:21.750 --> 00:00:23.910 So who's our special guest? Our special guest 00:00:23.910 --> 00:00:26.489 is Nelson, one of our global partners. Nelson, 00:00:26.550 --> 00:00:28.690 welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you. 00:00:28.730 --> 00:00:33.090 Very excited to have you here. How is it? I think 00:00:33.090 --> 00:00:35.829 we should start at the beginning with some of 00:00:35.829 --> 00:00:38.109 the beginning. Yeah. Just, I think we should 00:00:38.109 --> 00:00:41.969 start with your intro. You, what about my intro? 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:46.390 It sounded very, very like professional and rehearsed. 00:00:46.390 --> 00:00:48.950 It sounded like you were ready. I think, I think 00:00:48.950 --> 00:00:52.509 Nelson, you being here has raised the bar. I'll 00:00:52.509 --> 00:00:54.969 be honest. I'm on my best behavior right now. 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:59.070 He's like, I gotta be honest today. Yeah. Well, 00:00:59.170 --> 00:01:00.810 we were having a conversation earlier about baseball. 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:03.329 Okay. Well, let's do this first. Yeah. Let's 00:01:03.329 --> 00:01:08.000 do this first. So sometimes at this table, it 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.019 begins with a nickname. Okay. So what would be 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:15.079 from your students? Do you have a nickname that 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.859 they would associate with you or from your kids? 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:23.299 Well, they all call me leader. It's just maybe 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:25.299 not a nickname. It's just the way they call me. 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.799 Instead of saying Nelson or pastor, they call 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:29.959 me leader. And then I know they're talking to 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:32.359 me. In English? It's the same pronunciation. 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:35.459 Okay. Yeah, leader in Spanish. So that would 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:39.159 be my nickname among the students of Casa Misionera. 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:43.200 Super cool. Leader is way cooler than anything 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.060 we've come up with. Way cooler. Yeah, way better. 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:47.640 I'm the baby. Best nickname at the table. You 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.500 got it. You won. Easily. Well, tell us the funny 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:53.540 story. Yeah, when I was a kid in my primary level, 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:56.739 and I tell this to my children all the time, 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:59.650 and they crack a laugh about it. The nickname 00:01:59.650 --> 00:02:03.069 that my friends gave me was Power. Really? So 00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:05.769 when I tell my family and people, hey, you know 00:02:05.769 --> 00:02:07.709 what my nickname was when I was a kid? It's Power. 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:12.629 They all laugh like, oh, that's all you had about 00:02:12.629 --> 00:02:15.710 it, just a nickname. Oh, I love it. There was 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:17.590 nothing to back it up on. Nothing to back it 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:22.389 up, just a nickname. So good. Super good. Nelson, 00:02:22.449 --> 00:02:25.409 you are representing Casa Missaneria. Correct. 00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:29.319 You've been a global partner now for? I mean, 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.599 I actually don't know how long it's been. We 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.939 met 17 years ago, I believe. 17 or 18. Probably 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:37.979 17, somewhere around there. So it's been a journey. 00:02:38.419 --> 00:02:43.379 We've been around for a while. You are obviously 00:02:43.379 --> 00:02:47.360 here from the Dominican. And I was just informed, 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:49.379 because this is just shocking to me. I think 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:51.419 of anything outside the States, soccer is the 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:55.719 main thing. It is not. It is not at all. The 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:57.990 Dominican is baseball. We're going to make some 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:00.150 people really happy right now talking baseball. 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:04.689 Yes. Is that something you grew up playing or 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:07.349 is that something you watched growing up? What 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:10.250 was that like for you? For the Dominican Republic, 00:03:10.490 --> 00:03:12.969 baseball is like our last name. Everybody knows 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:15.469 baseball. Everybody knows how to play. Everybody 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:20.729 knows the rules. we are fan of one team or the 00:03:20.729 --> 00:03:23.270 other, or families are, you know, in competition. 00:03:23.669 --> 00:03:26.729 Are you watching the MLB or is this local teams? 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:30.509 Local teams are powerful. Okay. We are, because 00:03:30.509 --> 00:03:33.009 we have so many Dominican playing in the United 00:03:33.009 --> 00:03:34.810 States too. In fact, I don't know if you know 00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:37.990 this, that about 25 % of the players in the major 00:03:37.990 --> 00:03:40.430 leagues are from the Dominican. Wow. Whoa. So 00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.430 we follow a lot of the games because of the Dominican 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:46.349 playing and the fans, but the Dominican teams 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:50.759 are, Like, we know these people. We have the 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:54.539 walls of our house are painted according to the 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:58.919 team and the way the hat that we wear or the 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:02.319 car decoration, all of that is there. So how 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:08.990 many, I don't know, what size town would have 00:04:08.990 --> 00:04:12.919 a team? Yeah, well, the Dominican is 9 million 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:16.970 people. But we have... four to five big cities, 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:20.769 like over half a million people. Okay. They all 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:22.689 have a team. Santo Domingo, the main city, has 00:04:22.689 --> 00:04:25.579 two. Okay. And we have others that are close. 00:04:25.579 --> 00:04:27.699 Are they rivals, those two? Oh, yeah, pretty 00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:30.040 much. But one of them is a lot better, if you 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.540 ask me. I'll tell you which one. But the biggest 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:37.740 competition happens between the one team in Santo 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:40.920 Domingo and one team in the north. Okay. Those 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:44.240 are the two that are always like, okay. The other 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.500 one's kind of like, okay, we'll do the best that 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:48.660 we can. It's kind of like the Steelers and the 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:52.800 Browns. Is it, though? It could be. It could 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:57.120 be. No, I was asking because in England, it's 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:00.279 kind of like every town has a team, but like 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:02.420 only so many are good enough to be in the top 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:05.879 tier. But then, yeah, if you get two in the same, 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:09.639 then it's a rival. There's no love lost. No. 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:14.529 Yeah, no, no. Okay, so English culture, if your 00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:18.220 home team loses. They're in depression for the 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:20.220 rest of the week until they play again. Is that 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:23.459 similar or no? Man, it's the same. Yeah. It's 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:25.639 the same. People are sad. They don't want to 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:30.300 go to work. They forget their homework. Depression. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.120 Sadness. They don't want to eat. They can't sleep. 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:36.980 A few days later, something happens and we go 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.300 back to whatever happens in life. It sounds like 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:42.050 living in Wisconsin. It sounds like everywhere 00:05:42.050 --> 00:05:44.329 in the States when their team loses. Well, kind 00:05:44.329 --> 00:05:47.050 of, kind of. I mean, LA, they don't care. You 00:05:47.050 --> 00:05:49.050 don't think so? No. LA teams lose. They don't 00:05:49.050 --> 00:05:51.930 even know they played, but in, in Wisconsin. 00:05:52.750 --> 00:05:56.370 So this is hard for me knowing this. Well, it's 00:05:56.370 --> 00:05:59.730 true. I wish it wasn't, but it is, uh, in Wisconsin 00:05:59.730 --> 00:06:02.649 where we lived. So we were probably a couple 00:06:02.649 --> 00:06:06.009 of hours away from green Bay stadium, but Packer 00:06:06.009 --> 00:06:08.800 fans are. Probably the closest to soccer fans 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:13.399 I've found. So there was one house painted green 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.180 and yellow. Okay. And you knew if the team had 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:18.220 won or not because the flag was at half -mast. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.399 Oh. But Green Bay was the same way. It was like 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.420 you knew going to the grocery store if they'd 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:29.160 won or lost by people's demeanor. And I know 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:31.139 in America, there's a ton of sports options. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.800 Is youth baseball like a big thing down there? 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:36.579 Like, is there a lot of kids playing baseball? 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.000 Like that's all they want to do is be their heroes. 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.339 We do have other sports like basketball and volleyball 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:44.800 and tennis and things like that. But when you 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:48.060 talk about nationally. Yes. Awareness baseball. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.459 And yes, everywhere you go. You drive or you 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:53.860 walk for a few minutes. There's some kind of 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:56.100 baseball field. It doesn't have to be a professional. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:00.379 It just may be an open field, a lot that is not 00:07:00.379 --> 00:07:02.959 being built yet. And people just begin to play 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.899 on it. And then you see the line. You see the 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:11.819 home plate. Oh, this is what it is. And they 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:14.079 build little fences around it so the ball don't 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.259 go out to the street. But it's everywhere. How 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:19.879 do they get equipment? What does that look like? 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:22.339 Well, there's a lot of funny stories about that 00:07:22.339 --> 00:07:25.819 because not always it's possible. Okay. So even 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:30.420 myself growing up as a kid, you see those milk 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:36.579 boxes that you get? Yeah. So those could be turned 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:40.660 into a glove very easy. Really? Yes. And sometimes 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:45.879 a broomstick could be the bat. Okay. Maybe a 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.720 sock full of stuff can be the ball. So it's not 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.180 always a regular equipment, but they find their 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:56.160 ways. Nowadays, you know, with some access and 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.459 more resources, there's usually at least something 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:04.240 that is officially baseball equipment. You don't 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.060 have many choices in all the cases. Now, some 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:11.600 academies that we have are more organized and 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.220 you can find everything and you have it all. 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.699 But typically on those, improvised feels. You 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:19.540 know, you have two or three bats and four or 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:22.819 five gloves and two balls and you can tell they've 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:25.980 been on for a long time. It's awesome. That's 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:30.180 super cool. Nelson, I think for our church family 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:33.419 who maybe doesn't know, which would be shocking, 00:08:33.539 --> 00:08:35.500 but maybe for our church family that isn't in 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:38.240 the know about what Casa is doing, can you give 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.840 us just a rundown of what you guys are doing 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:43.460 in the Dominican right now? Well, thank you. 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.960 We are training the Christian leaders of tomorrow. 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:52.629 So we are focused in a young generation that 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:55.490 leaders who are today leading the country in 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:58.470 churches, in Christian institutions, orphanages, 00:08:58.649 --> 00:09:01.889 Christian schools, they believe those people 00:09:01.889 --> 00:09:06.049 are going to be leaders tomorrow. So we are trying 00:09:06.049 --> 00:09:09.590 to identify who are those young leaders in their 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:12.409 college age, you know, 18 years old or older. 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:16.529 And providing an opportunity for them to keep 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:19.690 that fire in the Lord that those leaders believe 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:22.529 they have. Now, in my country, usually when you 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:24.889 have a young person, a man or a woman in the 00:09:24.889 --> 00:09:28.230 church that is maybe helping in the worship team, 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:30.210 or is the guy that opens the door, is the guy 00:09:30.210 --> 00:09:33.129 that is always there, typically the pastors would 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:35.789 be like, hey, you know, you might want to... 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:38.289 explore the possibility of going to seminary 00:09:38.289 --> 00:09:40.049 and become a pastor. Because there's something 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:42.370 in you. I can feel it. There's something in you 00:09:42.370 --> 00:09:46.750 that you belong here. And so when a pastor or 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:49.570 a leader see that in discernment, that they can 00:09:49.570 --> 00:09:52.730 see there's something there, sometimes the seminary 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:55.889 is not a choice. It's not a possibility financially 00:09:55.889 --> 00:09:59.529 or time -wise or something like that. So in Casa 00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:03.129 Missionera, we want to find those great leaders 00:10:03.129 --> 00:10:05.960 in potential. and offer them another opportunity 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.059 that is not as strict as a seminary. It's more 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:12.679 of a leadership, discipleship program that lasts 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.149 four years, as they can go to college at the 00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:19.149 same time. But then with us, we keep the fire 00:10:19.149 --> 00:10:22.870 going. We keep that desire of serving, the desire 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:25.470 of seeking what is my talent, what is my gift, 00:10:25.570 --> 00:10:28.370 what are my possibilities of serving, what are 00:10:28.370 --> 00:10:31.019 the things that God gave me. And then who can 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:33.879 I join? Who else has the same interests? And 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:37.200 so family develops, community develops, relationships. 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:40.360 And hopefully, by the time we finish with them 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:43.620 for years, they can be the person that that pastor 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:48.100 believes they are. So that's a very reduced, 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.860 short version of it. But it's training the leaders 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:55.019 of tomorrow. What would be, out of curiosity, 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.539 what would be some characteristics of what they 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:00.960 are seeing in them? that you would be looking 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:05.740 for in somebody who's going to come into the 00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:09.279 leadership training? Yeah, well, I'm going to 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:10.700 give you a little bit of a long answer there, 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:12.799 okay? That's okay. Go for it. That's why we're 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.879 here. So when we begin this idea of Casa Misionera, 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.720 and I talked to my friends in the Dominican because 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:22.379 I didn't know who the leaders were going to be. 00:11:22.419 --> 00:11:24.539 I just went to my friends, pastors, and leaders. 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.820 I said, do you have anybody around you that will 00:11:26.820 --> 00:11:29.809 be you? in 10 years or somebody who might be 00:11:29.809 --> 00:11:32.929 in your team. And I was amazed at the amount 00:11:32.929 --> 00:11:35.470 of people that were proposed. I was like, I didn't 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:38.230 know there were so many interested or people 00:11:38.230 --> 00:11:41.110 that believe those are potential leaders. So 00:11:41.110 --> 00:11:44.090 in my prayer time and talking to my pastor, I 00:11:44.090 --> 00:11:46.610 was like, there's so many people. How can I know 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:50.269 really who will be a good candidate? And as I'm 00:11:50.269 --> 00:11:52.649 meditating and I'm praying that, the Lord brought 00:11:52.649 --> 00:11:55.970 me to the story of David. And David, when he 00:11:55.970 --> 00:12:01.070 was... invited to play for King Saul. What happened 00:12:01.070 --> 00:12:04.389 prior to him entering that door was King Saul 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:06.870 needed somebody to know how to play the instrument. 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:10.049 So there's a conversation happening in the corner 00:12:10.049 --> 00:12:12.590 of the palace about, hey, King, you need somebody 00:12:12.590 --> 00:12:14.909 that knows how to play. Maybe if that person 00:12:14.909 --> 00:12:17.110 comes and plays the instrument, your spirit is 00:12:17.110 --> 00:12:19.129 going to decrease intensity. You're going to 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.789 be okay. But somebody's in the corner listening 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:24.350 to that conversation and interrupts and says, 00:12:24.389 --> 00:12:29.210 hey, I have seen. A young man that knows how 00:12:29.210 --> 00:12:32.570 to play. Yeah. That's in 1 Samuel 18. Right. 00:12:32.929 --> 00:12:35.990 16. I've seen somebody that knows how to play. 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:38.440 That could be the end of the competition because 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.179 King Saul needed somebody that knows how to play. 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.799 But this man keeps talking. He said, and that 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:48.720 young man, he's prudent in his words. He's a 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.679 warrior. He speaks well. He dresses well. He 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.669 looks well. And the Lord is with him. He said 00:12:56.669 --> 00:12:58.309 a few more things. I just don't know the English 00:12:58.309 --> 00:13:03.370 words. But he began to elaborate on who is this 00:13:03.370 --> 00:13:06.570 guy that he's trying to get to be invited. And 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:08.710 the response from King Saul was, bring him to 00:13:08.710 --> 00:13:12.629 me. And so that was kind of like the mirror that 00:13:12.629 --> 00:13:14.149 the Lord put in front of me. He said, look for 00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:17.669 those people that when people are talking about 00:13:17.669 --> 00:13:22.049 them, they can elaborate more than just simply. 00:13:22.649 --> 00:13:26.169 He's a good worship leader. He's a good guy in 00:13:26.169 --> 00:13:29.509 church. Or I know him since he was a child. But 00:13:29.509 --> 00:13:33.970 what else can you tell me about it? So one thing 00:13:33.970 --> 00:13:37.049 that always gets me is when I see people in worship, 00:13:37.169 --> 00:13:39.649 like somebody who's already surrendered, somebody 00:13:39.649 --> 00:13:41.669 that understands that connection is interesting 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:45.090 for me to see, but that's not the only one. It's 00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:48.309 more of that reference and conversation from 00:13:48.309 --> 00:13:51.409 the leader about why do you believe? That person 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:54.409 will take your place tomorrow. That's so good. 00:13:54.549 --> 00:13:58.750 That's fascinating. Yeah. So what's a story then? 00:13:59.330 --> 00:14:04.120 Because how many years? Six years now. Six years. 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.220 Last week was our sixth anniversary, October 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:09.179 1st. And you graduate every two years? Every 00:14:09.179 --> 00:14:12.000 two years now. So you've had two graduations? 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:14.740 We have one two years ago because it's four years. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:16.799 Oh, and the one's coming up. The one coming up. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:21.450 That's right. December. Yeah, so what is the 00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:26.570 story of someone you've seen come in and maybe 00:14:26.570 --> 00:14:29.610 just kind of their journey of, because I think 00:14:29.610 --> 00:14:32.490 a lot of times the people that are whispered 00:14:32.490 --> 00:14:35.490 about in the corner, right, they don't believe 00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:39.190 that in themselves. So they're not on stage. 00:14:40.250 --> 00:14:42.549 They're not the one going, man, I'm the best 00:14:42.549 --> 00:14:45.549 worship leader around. They're the ones that 00:14:45.549 --> 00:14:48.870 are serving that nobody's seeing except for. 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:51.230 The person in the corner goes, I got somebody. 00:14:51.429 --> 00:14:54.629 I got somebody. So yeah, just a story or two 00:14:54.629 --> 00:14:57.590 or people that you could celebrate that you've 00:14:57.590 --> 00:15:00.090 seen that journey of growth. It's the joy of 00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:02.909 my life to see that because it's like the dream 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:06.629 coming true. Somebody refers this young person, 00:15:06.730 --> 00:15:08.850 like just like you said, maybe they have no idea 00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:12.509 why I was chosen. And then. Boom, something happens. 00:15:12.529 --> 00:15:14.830 Something explodes in the middle of the training, 00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:16.429 in the middle of an experience, in the middle 00:15:16.429 --> 00:15:18.889 of a moment. And they're like, wow, now I see 00:15:18.889 --> 00:15:21.009 a little bit of that. But you still have three 00:15:21.009 --> 00:15:23.809 more years or four more years to really learn 00:15:23.809 --> 00:15:26.429 about it. And then you see them thriving in that 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:30.389 role. Yesterday at church, we had a young lady. 00:15:30.470 --> 00:15:34.990 Her name is Chris Bell. So with her church, we 00:15:34.990 --> 00:15:38.509 had six people invited by his local pastor. Because 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:41.190 he has like four churches that he oversees. He 00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:43.549 sent me all these young people to the program. 00:15:43.610 --> 00:15:47.090 But she was only 17 years old. Wow. Super shy, 00:15:47.269 --> 00:15:50.870 but he believed there was something in her that 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:54.149 will explode eventually. Okay, so she's going 00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:58.110 to college to learn English. It's learning about 00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:01.409 languages to hopefully maybe one day become a 00:16:01.409 --> 00:16:04.309 teacher. Yeah, okay. So she comes to our program. 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:06.659 This is still the pandemic. This is the beginning 00:16:06.659 --> 00:16:10.019 of the program in 2021. So we can't meet very 00:16:10.019 --> 00:16:12.600 often in person. But we have a very small mission 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.820 team in October of 2021. So it's like a year 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:19.679 almost since we started the program. And I asked 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.379 Chris Bell, can you help me? Can you help? Translate 00:16:23.379 --> 00:16:24.960 for this team. I know you speak a little bit 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:27.440 of English. You'll be fine. I never translated 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.139 in my life. I don't know what it is. Well, I'll 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:33.080 be right there. If you need any help, I can help 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:37.090 you. But just try it. Well, she translated for, 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:39.590 it was like five people on the team. And then 00:16:39.590 --> 00:16:42.330 we were in an orphanage. She translated for about 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:44.110 an hour. Everybody was like, where's Crispo? 00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:45.850 Where's Crispo? Everybody wanted her to be their 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:49.230 translator. Because she not only... translate 00:16:49.230 --> 00:16:52.409 word by word, but she communicated all of the 00:16:52.409 --> 00:16:56.230 sentiments of the conversation. She cried. She 00:16:56.230 --> 00:16:58.970 raised her hands. She put her hands down. It 00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:01.870 was like she was impersonating whatever happens. 00:17:02.009 --> 00:17:05.650 She was able to communicate it so dramatically. 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:08.069 It was special for a translator. Special. So 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:10.410 special. And she didn't know. Nobody knew about 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:13.829 this young lady. Well, now she knows. She's like, 00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:16.710 wow, this is amazing. She goes back to her hometown. 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:19.089 And she talked to another mission organization 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:21.890 that is sending mission teams to her town. She 00:17:21.890 --> 00:17:23.390 said, you know what? I just learned that I can 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:26.190 translate for mission teams. If you need a volunteer, 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:28.890 I'm available. Oh, yeah? Okay, so come help us. 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:31.869 Boom, again, like, where were you hiding all 00:17:31.869 --> 00:17:35.089 these many years? Where were you? And then they 00:17:35.089 --> 00:17:37.809 said, you know, we take teams to Colombia and 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:40.410 other countries. If you want, you can join us. 00:17:40.569 --> 00:17:44.069 And so in about a year, we see this 17 -year 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:47.660 -old girl who had no idea. But her pastor believed 00:17:47.660 --> 00:17:50.599 there was something in her, exposed to the mission 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:52.900 field, translating for a little orphanage team, 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.200 now nationally, and then about five months later, 00:17:56.259 --> 00:17:58.920 she's now in Colombia, translating from another 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:02.900 group. And now that same lady is in charge, in 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:05.920 Casa Misionera, of our short -term mission team's 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:07.660 logistics. So she's in charge of all of that 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:10.200 communication with the mission teams and all 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:13.980 of that, and she's thriving. So, so good. It's 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.680 amazing. And connection for anyone listening. 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:20.640 If you saw the weekend, she was on stage with 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.819 you sharing what she does, which is just so, 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:26.180 so fun to see. Cause I feel like we've got to 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:30.259 watch some of that growth in her from when, if 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:32.460 I'm remembering right, you know, early trips 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:35.460 wouldn't really talk to anybody unless she was 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:38.200 talked to. And now, I mean, she's just thriving. 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:43.240 It raises an interesting, Maybe question conversation 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:49.859 around, I don't necessarily know how to ask the 00:18:49.859 --> 00:18:53.210 question, and maybe in youth world this relates 00:18:53.210 --> 00:19:01.500 to what you're doing, but what advice or help 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:07.599 could you give to people who are in a role where 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:11.160 they're raising, they're in a role that God's 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:15.029 entrusted to them to empower a younger generation 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:18.279 and that's because i think it's so crucial what 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.660 you just said somebody noticed in her yeah so 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:23.779 somebody was connected enough to even be involved 00:19:23.779 --> 00:19:27.079 in her life but then to see something that god 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:29.039 i think pastor bob's got a gift at this like 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.640 he he sees in other people what they don't even 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.740 see in themselves yeah um and and he empowers 00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:38.319 it so well And at times, I mean, I've been around 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.500 Bob long enough to know some of those didn't 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:43.819 go well. But it doesn't stop him. And I think 00:19:43.819 --> 00:19:47.160 it is a gift. But just that journey, what would 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:52.079 you encourage maybe, whether it's youth leaders 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.839 that are listening or maybe it's parents raising 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.420 their kids, but just calling that out and calling 00:19:57.420 --> 00:20:01.900 it forward. Any advice or encouragement on that 00:20:01.900 --> 00:20:07.190 side? Well, I think just having... good one -on 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:11.849 -one experience making sure that you invest some 00:20:11.849 --> 00:20:15.130 time to listen the dreams and the desire and 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:19.130 and learning from what is really a desire in 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:21.349 their heart of that person or something that 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:25.150 is probably you can see some gifted in them and 00:20:25.150 --> 00:20:27.609 asking the right question like if you see somebody 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:30.130 that maybe plays a little bit of piano or play 00:20:30.130 --> 00:20:32.210 some instrument it's like do you really you really 00:20:32.210 --> 00:20:34.269 want to invest a little bit more time and learn 00:20:34.269 --> 00:20:38.200 more about it and Just not let it go like, oh, 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:41.099 this is probably nothing. But just try to invest 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:43.779 a little bit more in developing that person, 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:46.660 in finding what else can be there. And like we 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:49.200 said, sometimes it's nothing, but sometimes it 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.039 could be the beginning of something really great. 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:55.079 So it takes a personal desire and investment 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:59.740 in somebody else to help that person come out 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:02.279 of the box, if you can say. Well, and I think 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:05.730 it's so... What you're doing now is such a crucial 00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:07.970 thing because the noticing and the listening 00:21:07.970 --> 00:21:10.809 piece like that is just those virtues are not 00:21:10.809 --> 00:21:13.210 very common these days. Everybody's got something 00:21:13.210 --> 00:21:16.009 to say. Right. We go to social media. And so 00:21:16.009 --> 00:21:21.130 to empower people to listen, to notice like that's 00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:24.369 that's strong stuff. What in your story, what 00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:27.710 was how did God kind of change your direction 00:21:27.710 --> 00:21:30.690 to focus on raising up these young people? What 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:33.220 was that process like for you? That's another 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:36.380 long answer. We're here for it. We like the long 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:41.119 answers. Well, I'm just humbled and blessed that 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.640 the Lord spared my life since I was a kid to 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:46.960 be raised in my Christian community. My mother, 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:49.500 my father also became a believer when I was a 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:52.099 kid, but my mother was more like the one responsible 00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:55.880 to raise us as a church. And I was a very young 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.569 kid, 11 -year -old. When I was so eager to serve 00:21:59.569 --> 00:22:01.730 in my church and get baptized, I wanted to do 00:22:01.730 --> 00:22:04.690 something. And the Lord, I guess, He planted 00:22:04.690 --> 00:22:06.869 that desire to be in some kind of leadership, 00:22:07.089 --> 00:22:09.349 some kind of work in the church at a very young 00:22:09.349 --> 00:22:11.789 age. I mean, with nicknames like Power and Lead. 00:22:11.910 --> 00:22:16.809 Yeah, I mean, this is kind of destiny. And so 00:22:16.809 --> 00:22:19.609 I was given an amazing opportunity when I was 00:22:19.609 --> 00:22:22.569 20 years old. To join a Christian organization 00:22:22.569 --> 00:22:25.789 and just to be, you know, when we have mission 00:22:25.789 --> 00:22:27.630 teams, there's always somebody that takes care 00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:29.529 of the ice and the water and the peanut butter 00:22:29.529 --> 00:22:32.029 and jelly and all of that. I was that guy. How 00:22:32.029 --> 00:22:35.250 did that come about? Well, somebody in the church 00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:37.970 that I attended already was running that organization. 00:22:38.349 --> 00:22:41.730 And he saw me in the group. He knew I spoke a 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:43.549 little bit of English. I could drive a car. He 00:22:43.549 --> 00:22:45.809 said, do you want to be on my team? I need somebody 00:22:45.809 --> 00:22:49.720 to help me with. It's beautiful. Actually, I 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:51.579 was working for something else, and I was like, 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:54.200 the Lord is probably calling me into ministry 00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:57.980 to do something like this. I was pursuing a college 00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:00.700 degree in computer science, but I already had 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:05.740 a moment with God in 1996 when everybody around 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:08.599 me was like, Nelson, it looks like you are going 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:11.440 to be in ministry. You might want to find that. 00:23:11.890 --> 00:23:14.650 And so when he invites me to be part of his ministry, 00:23:14.750 --> 00:23:17.190 I was like, maybe this is it. I don't know. Let's 00:23:17.190 --> 00:23:21.809 try this. Sorry. I love that. I think it's worth 00:23:21.809 --> 00:23:23.950 pointing out that God was already having a conversation 00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:28.589 with you. Yeah. And in the midst of that, somebody 00:23:28.589 --> 00:23:31.150 was just being faithful to invite. Yeah. We just 00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:32.869 never know the conversations that are happening 00:23:32.869 --> 00:23:36.809 between the Lord and somebody. Yeah. That he's 00:23:36.809 --> 00:23:39.549 already been doing. The work and having those, 00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:42.089 that's beautiful. Yeah. Sorry. And a similar 00:23:42.089 --> 00:23:44.609 situation, because I was in that ministry serving 00:23:44.609 --> 00:23:46.710 the mission teams and serving in the office, 00:23:46.750 --> 00:23:48.670 a little bit of this, that I was still going 00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:51.630 to my college and going into all the church activities. 00:23:52.230 --> 00:23:54.650 And then one day a missionary is like, Nelson, 00:23:54.829 --> 00:23:58.220 you want to have a cup of coffee? Just like we're 00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:00.160 having cup of coffees right now. But I tell you 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:01.900 a joke in between this, you know, in Dominican, 00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:04.119 when you invite somebody to a cup of coffee. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:07.680 Yeah. It's conversation. Let's talk about family. 00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:10.740 Let's have fun. Sometimes I believe Americans, 00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:12.519 when they ask me for a cup of coffee, it's like, 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:15.500 let's talk about business. Let's sign this contract. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:19.900 So it makes me nervous about this guy. You show 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:23.160 up for fun and talk about family and get past 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.460 the piece of paper. Sign here. And I was like, 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:27.579 what do you want to talk to me about? I got a 00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:29.880 little curious. His name is Ernie Taylor. And 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:31.440 then when he's conversing, he's like, Nelson, 00:24:31.539 --> 00:24:35.829 I need to hire somebody full time. for my ministry. 00:24:36.029 --> 00:24:38.130 And I've been talking to a few friends of mine, 00:24:38.210 --> 00:24:39.950 and they all tell me, you're the guy I need to 00:24:39.950 --> 00:24:43.049 hire. So just like you were saying, God is beginning 00:24:43.049 --> 00:24:45.450 the conversation. And I had no idea. I said, 00:24:45.490 --> 00:24:47.930 I don't know that I can take your offer because 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:50.829 I have this job right now, and I don't know how 00:24:50.829 --> 00:24:52.930 much time they need me. And then he pulled his 00:24:52.930 --> 00:24:55.970 briefcase, and he opens the paper. Again, you 00:24:55.970 --> 00:24:58.990 know, it's a cup of coffee. He said, look, look 00:24:58.990 --> 00:25:01.029 who's the board chairman of this new organization 00:25:01.029 --> 00:25:03.849 I created. He's my current boss. So he already 00:25:03.849 --> 00:25:07.150 has signs saying, if you can get Nelson to approve, 00:25:07.369 --> 00:25:09.829 I'm going to be the board chairman. So my boss 00:25:09.829 --> 00:25:12.650 becomes my president of the board. And my pastor 00:25:12.650 --> 00:25:14.609 is the secretary of the board. So everybody's 00:25:14.609 --> 00:25:17.470 like, this community is together to make it happen. 00:25:17.630 --> 00:25:24.630 So this is 2001. 19 years later, I'm in a, you 00:25:24.630 --> 00:25:26.470 know, many things, so many things happened. That's 00:25:26.470 --> 00:25:31.569 how I met high staff and people. amazing stories 00:25:31.569 --> 00:25:36.630 of ministry development. But we are in 2019 planning 00:25:37.049 --> 00:25:40.630 the next year and maybe the next 10 years. Like 00:25:40.630 --> 00:25:43.410 you Americans like to plan 10 years. We do love 00:25:43.410 --> 00:25:45.750 to plan. And so I'm in a meeting in Colorado 00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:47.970 Springs and talking about what's happening next. 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:50.670 And the ministry that I worked for 20 years is 00:25:50.670 --> 00:25:53.630 called Vision Trust. And so vision, you know, 00:25:53.670 --> 00:25:56.450 the spelling vision in 2020, it's like we're 00:25:56.450 --> 00:25:59.980 trying to use that. This moment to make it big, 00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:02.440 like we're going to grow in 2020 and vision. 00:26:02.819 --> 00:26:06.539 And as this is going is when the Lord talked 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:09.259 to me in that table. It was like, Nelson, wait 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:12.039 a minute. They're talking. I want to talk to 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:15.779 you. You remember when you were 20 years old 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:19.319 and you got that opportunity to work in that 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:22.859 Christian ministry. You were 20 years old. You've 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:25.779 been in this ministry for 20 years. And there 00:26:25.779 --> 00:26:28.240 were kids. And when you started, they were three. 00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:32.900 They're now 23, 22. Where are those people? Does 00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:37.240 any of them want to be like you now? Go and find 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.259 that young person and provide that opportunity 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:42.759 that you received when you were 20 so they could 00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:46.720 be in ministry again. So that's the beginning 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.000 of that moment. I mean, the competition was going 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:53.170 and I was having this. Fire burning inside me. 00:26:54.049 --> 00:26:57.549 I began to write ideas about how to get a young 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:00.470 person excited to dedicate their life to ministry. 00:27:00.730 --> 00:27:03.289 And writing, writing. I left the meeting. I went 00:27:03.289 --> 00:27:05.230 home, back to the Dominican. I kept writing. 00:27:05.890 --> 00:27:09.430 Weeks later, I have 68 pages of a document. Could 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:11.369 not stop writing. My wife thought I was going 00:27:11.369 --> 00:27:16.250 to get crazy. We were driving places. I had to 00:27:16.250 --> 00:27:17.750 stop the car. Wait, wait, wait. I have to record 00:27:17.750 --> 00:27:20.269 myself. I have to take this note before I forget. 00:27:20.750 --> 00:27:25.029 So this is all the Lord planted a seed in my 00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:28.430 heart to find the next generation to do it. It's 00:27:28.430 --> 00:27:31.650 all His. He's doing it. He's bringing the right 00:27:31.650 --> 00:27:34.869 people around us. And so to the point that it 00:27:34.869 --> 00:27:38.049 was so intense that I call it like if I was pregnant. 00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:41.069 That's the way I say it. I'm feeling like my 00:27:41.069 --> 00:27:44.170 belly is growing. And I feel like I need to do 00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:46.250 something about it. I can't just hide it anymore. 00:27:46.430 --> 00:27:49.950 I need to move on. And even COVID hit in March, 00:27:49.990 --> 00:27:52.809 just like five months later after this happened, 00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:56.670 I felt like I had no choice other than moving 00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:58.930 on in this direction. And even when I talked 00:27:58.930 --> 00:28:02.529 to my pastor, who is one of my very special spiritual 00:28:02.529 --> 00:28:05.369 leaders, and I explained the whole thing to him, 00:28:05.390 --> 00:28:06.990 and I said, Pastor Jesus, this is happening. 00:28:07.089 --> 00:28:09.609 I've been praying about this. This is a vision. 00:28:10.009 --> 00:28:13.529 And he said, Nelson, you have no choice. That's 00:28:13.529 --> 00:28:15.690 a wise word. You have no choice. You have to 00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:17.869 follow God, and you have to be obedient. COVID, 00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:19.849 no COVID, who cares? You have to be obedient. 00:28:20.329 --> 00:28:22.809 And so that's when I presented my resignation 00:28:22.809 --> 00:28:27.190 in May to this 20 -year ministry so I can have 00:28:27.190 --> 00:28:31.250 the time to start Casa Misionera in October 1st 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:35.119 of 2020. So we are just six years old. That's 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:38.829 incredible. What risks were involved? All of 00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:41.809 them. Yeah. All of them. In fact, I was laughing. 00:28:41.809 --> 00:28:46.319 And then the question is asked out of, You make 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.960 it sound very easy. Not very easy, but like, 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.220 yeah, we just, we're doing this. We did this. 00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:55.140 God said do it. But I can only imagine all of 00:28:55.140 --> 00:29:00.279 the, I mean, 20 years of, and I mean, when I 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:04.480 met you, it was Vision Trust and building, like 00:29:04.609 --> 00:29:07.430 you weren't leaving something in the Dominican 00:29:07.430 --> 00:29:12.589 that was struggling or that didn't have vision. 00:29:12.710 --> 00:29:15.589 No. You were leaving something that. It had a 00:29:15.589 --> 00:29:18.150 lot of momentum. It was established. Yeah, it 00:29:18.150 --> 00:29:21.589 was established. And established, your life had 00:29:21.589 --> 00:29:25.150 been a major part of that. And I think for people 00:29:25.150 --> 00:29:28.710 listening, there will be some that go, man, the 00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:32.269 Lord's talking to me about something. And yet, 00:29:32.269 --> 00:29:36.049 understanding that there were risks. There was 00:29:36.049 --> 00:29:39.960 a grieving, a leaving behind. So, yeah, what 00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:42.579 were some of those? Well, there were many things 00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:45.160 in the process of my pregnancy, if we can call 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:47.720 it that. Because that was kind of like the way 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:50.940 I began to feel I could explain it. So, okay, 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:54.829 I know this is a place I love. I know this is 00:29:54.829 --> 00:29:57.210 a ministry that I care. These are people that 00:29:57.210 --> 00:30:00.869 I'm like a father to so many of them. And they 00:30:00.869 --> 00:30:03.309 love me. I love them too. But this is growing 00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:06.230 inside me. I need to move in this direction. 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:09.089 And, you know, if you have babies, some of you 00:30:09.089 --> 00:30:12.670 know about being pregnant, it also happens that 00:30:12.670 --> 00:30:16.450 sensitivity changes. You know, smells are different. 00:30:16.569 --> 00:30:19.009 And sometimes you're like mad at things that 00:30:19.009 --> 00:30:21.910 you never were mad about. And so that also was 00:30:21.910 --> 00:30:23.849 part of the component. I felt sometimes like, 00:30:23.930 --> 00:30:27.029 hey, I don't really belong anymore. Although 00:30:27.029 --> 00:30:30.769 I love it, there's something I need to do to 00:30:30.769 --> 00:30:32.769 move forward. So I think the Lord brought all 00:30:32.769 --> 00:30:36.269 of those together. The sensitivity of things 00:30:36.269 --> 00:30:38.650 were changing. I was changing. Things were coming 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:41.410 new. And although there were many risks and many 00:30:41.410 --> 00:30:44.369 things that we have to consider. In 2001, when 00:30:44.369 --> 00:30:46.730 I was hired, I was single. I have no kids. I 00:30:46.730 --> 00:30:50.549 have very little commitments in life. But now 00:30:50.549 --> 00:30:53.789 I was married, three kids in school. And some 00:30:53.789 --> 00:30:57.349 of them I have financial commitments to do. And 00:30:57.349 --> 00:31:02.190 a very nice job and very nice situation in my 00:31:02.190 --> 00:31:05.279 family. In fact, I had to confess that some of 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:07.220 my family got very sick when they heard about 00:31:07.220 --> 00:31:09.460 it. Really? Like, they needed to go to the hospital 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:11.539 just because they were nervous about it. Wow. 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:14.059 And I said, no, this is something the Lord is 00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:16.779 calling us to do, and He will take care of us. 00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:19.680 Yeah. And they're like, okay, I know, I believe, 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:22.319 but how are you going to support the families? 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:24.740 I don't know. I guess the Lord will take care 00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:26.599 of it. He's calling us, and He's been faithful. 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:29.619 And my wife plays a very strong role in this, 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:32.599 because even from the beginning, Before we were 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:35.880 married and I took that role full time, I consulted 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.579 her. I said, you know, you are going to marry 00:31:37.579 --> 00:31:41.099 somebody who's going to be in mission. You can 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:44.119 walk away right now. This is your opportunity. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:47.059 This is your opportunity to say no. And she was 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:49.900 just my fiance. And she said, you know, wherever 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:52.819 the Lord leads you, that's where I want you to 00:31:52.819 --> 00:31:55.720 go. And I want to be there with you. Wow. So 00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:59.079 I tell her right now, she was a keeper. And so 00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:01.619 20 years later, when I'm telling her, you know, 00:32:01.660 --> 00:32:03.579 this is what the Lord is leading us. This is 00:32:03.579 --> 00:32:05.920 what I believe I should do. And she said, we 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:08.279 have nothing to worry about. He's been faithful, 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:10.940 and He will be faithful again now. If He's calling 00:32:10.940 --> 00:32:13.059 you to do it, we just have to do it. So good. 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:15.940 So she knew the risk. She knew that. And even 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:18.180 last night, I had a meeting in one of the houses, 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:20.720 and I said, you know, guys, between God and you, 00:32:20.779 --> 00:32:23.740 I can tell you right now, October 1st, I have 00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:27.349 no idea how we were going to do this. financially, 00:32:27.529 --> 00:32:29.190 who's going to be the team, who's going to come. 00:32:29.789 --> 00:32:32.829 But we knew we have to be obedient. And so the 00:32:32.829 --> 00:32:36.950 Lord took care of that. But it was a cliff. A 00:32:36.950 --> 00:32:40.750 cliff hanging or a cliff jumping. Faith's step, 00:32:40.890 --> 00:32:45.829 but the Lord is good. That's amazing. And you're 00:32:45.829 --> 00:32:49.269 six years into this now. If you were to go back, 00:32:49.349 --> 00:32:52.170 knowing what you know now, What advice would 00:32:52.170 --> 00:32:55.250 you give to 2020 Nelson? Don't get pregnant. 00:32:55.329 --> 00:33:02.029 Yeah, I know, seriously. I have so many reflections 00:33:02.029 --> 00:33:08.130 about that. I love to see what it is today. I 00:33:08.130 --> 00:33:11.109 would say to the younger Nelson, just do it quick. 00:33:12.630 --> 00:33:16.309 Yeah, don't hesitate. Just go do it. It's going 00:33:16.309 --> 00:33:19.700 to be okay. Because even, you know, We're all 00:33:19.700 --> 00:33:23.059 human. We all have a moment of doubt, a moment 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:25.779 of wondering, and what is it, and trying to secure 00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:30.599 something. But as much as I try to secure different 00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:34.720 things, I was encouraged and surprised to see 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:36.359 that people, even people that I thought were 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:38.660 going to be there right there the next day, they 00:33:38.660 --> 00:33:40.799 were not necessarily there right the first day. 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:42.920 But the Lord brought people that I didn't know, 00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:45.960 and others that were new, and others that... 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:47.740 Confirm their commitment. They're like, wow, 00:33:47.859 --> 00:33:50.579 this is incredible. This is amazing. So just 00:33:50.579 --> 00:33:52.619 move forward. And that amazing fact, it reminds 00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:57.619 me of the earlier conversation of we think it's 00:33:57.619 --> 00:34:01.440 going to be these people. And the Lord is having 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:03.400 conversations with somebody totally different 00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:05.859 that you didn't know the role they would play. 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:10.300 And that's been fun even just. Obviously hearing 00:34:10.300 --> 00:34:13.199 it's happening with you and the ministry there, 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:15.139 but I would say also the same for the church. 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:19.659 You look at people that are here that had no 00:34:19.659 --> 00:34:23.719 clue what was going on, and they're here because 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:26.619 the Lord told them. Exactly. And we didn't know 00:34:26.619 --> 00:34:28.639 that conversation was happening. And so it's 00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:31.760 beautiful to see God weaving together who he 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:35.880 needs for what seasons. At least for me, how 00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:38.360 short -sighted I am that, oh, it'll be that person. 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:43.039 It's not that person. Talking about risk, one 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:45.409 of the areas, of course, is how are you going 00:34:45.409 --> 00:34:47.070 to run this ministry financially? Who's going 00:34:47.070 --> 00:34:49.929 to support you? And that was a question I asked 00:34:49.929 --> 00:34:52.929 myself maybe a hundred times in that nine months 00:34:52.929 --> 00:34:54.829 of pregnancy. How are you going to get this word 00:34:54.829 --> 00:34:55.909 out? How are you going to get people involved? 00:34:56.150 --> 00:35:00.630 Which as a dad, first and foremost, just humanizing 00:35:00.630 --> 00:35:03.750 that, that's a lot of weight. Let alone then 00:35:03.750 --> 00:35:07.869 a whole organized yes. Yes. But let me share 00:35:07.869 --> 00:35:12.260 this one story that is a praise. It's like amazing. 00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:16.579 So this is October 1st, the birthday of Casa 00:35:16.579 --> 00:35:19.820 Misionera. I had a few conversations with a few 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:22.239 people already about what is happening, the change 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.199 and all of that. But I don't have any serious 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:27.059 commitment yet of anybody. It's just two days, 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:30.070 you know, that this is happening. I have no emails 00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:34.469 to reply. I'm just trying to get a plan to go 00:35:34.469 --> 00:35:37.449 visit some people and talk about it. Well, and 00:35:37.449 --> 00:35:39.769 then I got a text on my phone from this man, 00:35:39.969 --> 00:35:42.110 same as Brian. There's somebody Brian in America, 00:35:42.110 --> 00:35:45.800 so I said, Brian, Nelson, you don't know who 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:49.380 I am, but you know my wife and you know my daughter. 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:53.199 And you've met with them in Guatemala a couple 00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:56.420 of years ago. And since the way that you treat 00:35:56.420 --> 00:36:00.210 them, It was very special. We always follow you 00:36:00.210 --> 00:36:01.909 on Facebook. We know what you're doing. We pray 00:36:01.909 --> 00:36:05.750 for you. And just so you know, we are aware that 00:36:05.750 --> 00:36:08.110 there's a change in your ministry. And I want 00:36:08.110 --> 00:36:10.110 you to know something. Two years ago, or maybe 00:36:10.110 --> 00:36:12.949 later, Mike, like four years ago, the government 00:36:12.949 --> 00:36:16.710 bought some land from us in my property. And 00:36:16.710 --> 00:36:19.489 they gave us a check. When we got the money, 00:36:19.789 --> 00:36:22.909 the Lord told us not to spend that money. He 00:36:22.909 --> 00:36:25.590 will tell us later where to give it to. Wow. 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:28.619 And this morning, we were having our devotions, 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:31.800 and we felt convinced the Lord told us to give 00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:36.989 you the money. Wow. Two days. Wow. People that 00:36:36.989 --> 00:36:40.730 I have no relation to that level with, out of 00:36:40.730 --> 00:36:43.699 the blue, gave us the donation that will make 00:36:43.699 --> 00:36:48.269 it happen for the next three months. Wow. Just 00:36:48.269 --> 00:36:51.070 the same conversation. God is doing something. 00:36:51.309 --> 00:36:54.929 And it was... For me, it was amazing. This is 00:36:54.929 --> 00:36:57.730 happening in my living room. I'm crying already. 00:36:57.969 --> 00:37:00.389 And my nephew who's living with me, his name 00:37:00.389 --> 00:37:02.809 is Jordan. He lives in New Jersey now, but he's 00:37:02.809 --> 00:37:06.880 praying in the bathroom. Lord, give my uncle 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:09.820 a miracle today. Oh, my goodness. Because the 00:37:09.820 --> 00:37:11.539 pressure in the home is like, we were talking 00:37:11.539 --> 00:37:12.960 about it. Like, what's going to happen? We're 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.380 talking about this. So he's praying in the bathroom. 00:37:15.460 --> 00:37:18.800 He comes out. He says, I was just, and he's crying. 00:37:19.219 --> 00:37:21.739 He said, what happened? And I show him the text 00:37:21.739 --> 00:37:25.760 and say, I was just praying. I was just praying 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.900 that something really crazy happened today. Look 00:37:27.900 --> 00:37:31.719 at this. Wow. Things like that just continue 00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:36.280 to amaze us. And so if I were to talk to somebody 00:37:36.280 --> 00:37:41.880 who's being called, being asked or motivated 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:46.159 to take a leap of faith, pray about it, find 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:49.059 good pastoral counseling, make sure you're not 00:37:49.059 --> 00:37:51.369 doing this on your own. Make sure you have a 00:37:51.369 --> 00:37:54.010 team that can hear what you're talking about 00:37:54.010 --> 00:37:57.110 and give you spiritual guidance. But just do 00:37:57.110 --> 00:37:59.929 it. Be obedient and follow the Lord. He got you. 00:38:00.769 --> 00:38:06.489 It's amazing. How are we doing on time? How many 00:38:06.489 --> 00:38:14.510 of your 68 pages have come to fruition? Or, you 00:38:14.710 --> 00:38:20.349 know, God gave you 68 and you're at 30. Well, 00:38:20.349 --> 00:38:23.329 I read this document very often. Last time, maybe 00:38:23.329 --> 00:38:25.010 about a couple of months ago, I was going through 00:38:25.010 --> 00:38:29.570 it again. And in fact, if I tell you, we were 00:38:29.570 --> 00:38:32.269 having our preparation for graduation like two 00:38:32.269 --> 00:38:34.690 years ago. And I was looking at some of those 00:38:34.690 --> 00:38:38.170 pages and I had to really go down on my knees 00:38:38.170 --> 00:38:40.809 just to see, wow, this is amazing that some of 00:38:40.809 --> 00:38:43.110 these ideas that were just glimpse of something 00:38:43.110 --> 00:38:45.880 that would happen already has happened. And I 00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:48.559 was going back into time and said, this is amazing 00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:51.179 that the Lord knew that we were going to have 00:38:51.179 --> 00:38:54.280 a training about how to run your personal finances. 00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:57.780 And I had no idea who was going to come and teach 00:38:57.780 --> 00:39:00.219 the students about how to run your personal finances. 00:39:00.260 --> 00:39:03.099 It already happened. And this and these other 00:39:03.099 --> 00:39:06.159 things. So I would say probably 50 % of that 00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:09.719 plan is already being seen and happening. Maybe 00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:12.159 a little bit more, 55%. But there's still a few 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.559 things that are pending. And I'm excited for, 00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:18.599 and I can see there will happen too. That's amazing. 00:39:19.219 --> 00:39:22.039 Well, it's just encouraging, right? Because I 00:39:22.039 --> 00:39:25.780 think it happens to anybody, but I think especially 00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:28.980 in ministry, you have those seasons where you 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:30.639 feel like God is just downloading something. 00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:34.679 And you're waking up at four in the morning with 00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:36.789 it. something in your mind that you're like, 00:39:36.829 --> 00:39:38.570 I got to put, write it down or else I won't remember 00:39:38.570 --> 00:39:40.469 what it is. And then you read it in the morning 00:39:40.469 --> 00:39:42.489 and you're like, Oh my goodness, like this, this 00:39:42.489 --> 00:39:46.030 is something special. Um, and so, yeah, just, 00:39:46.130 --> 00:39:49.429 just hearing that. Okay. So currently where you 00:39:49.429 --> 00:39:52.230 are and we never asked about family, we got to 00:39:52.230 --> 00:39:55.550 ask about family before the end. Uh, currently 00:39:55.869 --> 00:40:01.769 where you are, what, um, if you were to encourage 00:40:01.769 --> 00:40:06.889 the church to be a part of, what you're doing 00:40:06.889 --> 00:40:10.630 um so obviously we do trips twice a year or we 00:40:10.630 --> 00:40:16.360 have um twice a year and then um yeah anything 00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:19.480 anything that you go this this would to be a 00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:21.980 part of the ministry here's some ways maybe call 00:40:21.980 --> 00:40:24.300 the church forward right to be involved yeah 00:40:24.300 --> 00:40:27.260 well in every conversation that i had similar 00:40:27.260 --> 00:40:30.219 to that invitation i said we we are looking for 00:40:30.219 --> 00:40:35.610 three t's okay first t is time So we want people 00:40:35.610 --> 00:40:40.329 to come or spend some time from the United States 00:40:40.329 --> 00:40:44.010 in helping us. It could be coming down to the 00:40:44.010 --> 00:40:46.269 Dominican and be part of a mission team, being 00:40:46.269 --> 00:40:49.090 part of some training opportunity, or you can 00:40:49.090 --> 00:40:51.730 provide some resources for us from the United 00:40:51.730 --> 00:40:55.829 States, maybe training materials, books. So give 00:40:55.829 --> 00:40:57.909 us some of your time. I know it's precious, but 00:40:57.909 --> 00:41:00.969 we like to take the blessing of our partnership 00:41:00.969 --> 00:41:04.670 to count on you that you are on our team. And 00:41:04.670 --> 00:41:07.750 it's been that way since I visited the first 00:41:07.750 --> 00:41:10.449 time with, I think it was Colby and Heather. 00:41:10.590 --> 00:41:12.929 I think it was the three of us. I mean, that 00:41:12.929 --> 00:41:18.349 tea has stayed true the whole way. So the next 00:41:18.349 --> 00:41:22.010 one is talent. So we're looking for what are 00:41:22.010 --> 00:41:25.829 those gifts that you have that the Lord is using 00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:31.090 that you can show our students. See, I'm a carpenter. 00:41:32.070 --> 00:41:36.469 And in my career, there's a time in the year 00:41:36.469 --> 00:41:39.570 that I go and fix the house of a widow, for example. 00:41:39.630 --> 00:41:42.550 Okay, well, we like to see that talent that you 00:41:42.550 --> 00:41:45.369 have played out so our students can be inspired 00:41:45.369 --> 00:41:49.050 in using whatever talent they have in you. But 00:41:49.050 --> 00:41:51.349 you can also be a computer science engineer. 00:41:51.409 --> 00:41:53.389 You can be a doctor. You can be whatever talent 00:41:53.389 --> 00:41:56.949 the Lord has given you. We want you to show us 00:41:56.949 --> 00:42:00.960 how the Lord can use your talent. and get our 00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:03.500 students excited about. Because like I said at 00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:05.960 the beginning, sometimes they get only the version, 00:42:06.099 --> 00:42:08.920 you need to be the pastor to be used in ministry. 00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:11.679 We want to show them that that's not necessarily 00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:14.699 correct. You can be the school teacher and be 00:42:14.699 --> 00:42:17.679 in ministry. And so show us your talent, please, 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:21.619 and see how we can get some young people really 00:42:21.619 --> 00:42:24.730 excited about dedicating their life to Christ 00:42:24.730 --> 00:42:28.139 and to the ministry of service. And of course, 00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:32.460 we need treasures. So resources, everything costs 00:42:32.460 --> 00:42:35.219 some money to do this or that. So we're asking 00:42:35.219 --> 00:42:37.920 people to join us financially with however the 00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:41.039 Lord touched in life, either on a regular commitment 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.320 or one time a year or Christmas gift, something 00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:47.840 like that. So time, talent, and treasures. That's 00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:50.730 good. That's good. Yeah, and I would just encourage 00:42:50.730 --> 00:42:55.440 having... seeing what's happened when teams have 00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:59.699 gone and the way people are impacted. Um, I think 00:42:59.699 --> 00:43:02.619 the time one, I don't think any of those are 00:43:02.619 --> 00:43:05.820 wasted, right? Like, like we can easily see the 00:43:05.820 --> 00:43:10.340 resource one and lean that way. Um, and, and 00:43:10.340 --> 00:43:12.780 yet I think all three of those, if you can do 00:43:12.780 --> 00:43:17.130 all three of those, um, the way that. You will 00:43:17.130 --> 00:43:19.309 be a blessing, but also the way you are blessed 00:43:19.309 --> 00:43:22.690 in that will be ways that you never. And I think 00:43:22.690 --> 00:43:25.190 watching that over the years so faithfully happen 00:43:25.190 --> 00:43:29.710 with the partnership. Yeah. And now it really 00:43:29.710 --> 00:43:31.590 does. It feels like family. It is. Like when 00:43:31.590 --> 00:43:33.630 you guys are here, it feels like an extension 00:43:33.630 --> 00:43:39.090 of everybody's excited. Yeah. I can give you 00:43:39.090 --> 00:43:40.429 an example of what happened with the Heights 00:43:40.429 --> 00:43:43.369 team. Yeah, do it. That comes in March, for example. 00:43:43.489 --> 00:43:47.659 Pastor Bob comes down or other people too. We 00:43:47.659 --> 00:43:50.840 have a team doing ministry in the communities. 00:43:51.059 --> 00:43:54.320 So they are coming. There's time that they're 00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:56.780 spending, and they have resources they are bringing 00:43:56.780 --> 00:43:59.079 down to either repair some houses or bring some 00:43:59.079 --> 00:44:02.079 food or different things that they can do. But 00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:05.260 there's a day in that week that Pastor Bob meets 00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:08.340 with our students, and he builds a team among 00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:10.820 the mission team participants who can help him 00:44:10.820 --> 00:44:13.239 train our students. But there's all kinds of 00:44:13.239 --> 00:44:15.639 things that he's been teaching. once a year to 00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:18.699 our students. Talk about humility, about servanthood, 00:44:18.920 --> 00:44:23.960 about finding help, being vulnerable. Pastor 00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:27.579 Todd also has done it in the past. So the component 00:44:27.579 --> 00:44:30.460 on training and teaching and sharing knowledge 00:44:30.460 --> 00:44:33.940 is also amazing to have a church like Heights 00:44:33.940 --> 00:44:36.940 that not only send a team and do a project, but 00:44:36.940 --> 00:44:40.380 we know that we can expect a very profound teaching 00:44:40.380 --> 00:44:43.179 that will happen too in one of the days. That's 00:44:43.179 --> 00:44:45.059 how the family and the community has been developed 00:44:45.059 --> 00:44:47.400 because we are sharing that moment of joy of 00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:49.780 maybe playing baseball, but we know there's also 00:44:49.780 --> 00:44:52.980 this impartation that is going to happen, and 00:44:52.980 --> 00:44:55.679 we are all looking forward to it. Well, and I 00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:57.659 think it goes both ways. There might be some 00:44:57.659 --> 00:45:00.440 sharing happening from us, but I think in many 00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:02.440 ways your students, and even you, Nelson, are 00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:05.119 teaching us what it means to journey in this 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:07.539 world dependent on God's provision. I mean, I 00:45:07.539 --> 00:45:09.820 hear that in your story. Every step of the way, 00:45:09.900 --> 00:45:12.710 God has provided, and you've walked. faithfully 00:45:12.710 --> 00:45:14.989 through the doors that God has opened, even when 00:45:14.989 --> 00:45:18.570 it's scary. And yeah, I mean, it's just incredible. 00:45:18.730 --> 00:45:21.250 Yeah, being willing to walk by faith. Yeah. I 00:45:21.250 --> 00:45:26.909 think that's one of the, coming off a sabbatical 00:45:26.909 --> 00:45:30.969 a year ago, the whole Bible was summed up in 00:45:30.969 --> 00:45:34.489 trust. And I still can't get away from it. I 00:45:34.489 --> 00:45:36.389 was just preparing for a couple of weeks from 00:45:36.389 --> 00:45:39.849 now this morning and just right back to trust. 00:45:40.010 --> 00:45:44.090 And it's today. It's the big things, it's the 00:45:44.090 --> 00:45:46.090 little things, it's everything in between, right? 00:45:46.690 --> 00:45:51.010 Okay, so your family. Let's talk about your family. 00:45:51.449 --> 00:45:56.190 How about you just let us know, what would you 00:45:56.190 --> 00:46:00.030 want us to know about your family? Oh, wow. Well, 00:46:00.110 --> 00:46:03.030 a lot to say about my family. So I've been blessed, 00:46:03.269 --> 00:46:06.730 bestly married to my wife, Leonore, for 24 years. 00:46:07.289 --> 00:46:09.710 I cannot believe she put up with me for 24 years. 00:46:09.949 --> 00:46:12.969 Congratulations. She's big. That's amazing. Next 00:46:12.969 --> 00:46:15.949 May will be 25. So she's already planning what's 00:46:15.949 --> 00:46:17.210 going to happen. I was going to say, there's 00:46:17.210 --> 00:46:19.309 got to be a plan. There's got to be a plan. Oh, 00:46:19.710 --> 00:46:21.269 that's one thing I can tell about my family. 00:46:21.349 --> 00:46:25.090 My wife is a planner of events. So she knows 00:46:25.090 --> 00:46:27.449 everybody's birthdays. She's planning those birthday 00:46:27.449 --> 00:46:30.409 weeks, months ago. So we already are talking 00:46:30.409 --> 00:46:34.210 about May next year is going to be 25 years of 00:46:34.210 --> 00:46:36.750 marriage. What's going to happen? What day in 00:46:36.750 --> 00:46:42.820 May? May 4th. And so, yeah, beautiful family, 00:46:43.179 --> 00:46:47.320 blessed family with my wife, 24 years. She's 00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:50.139 a medical doctor working at a public hospital 00:46:50.139 --> 00:46:52.780 in the Dominican. So she's busy in there too, 00:46:52.820 --> 00:46:54.719 but she's also highly committed to the ministry. 00:46:55.139 --> 00:46:57.940 We have a mission house that has all kind of 00:46:57.940 --> 00:47:00.619 things, you know, that we have to prepare for 00:47:00.619 --> 00:47:04.690 the teams. Puts all her beauty touch in everything. 00:47:04.929 --> 00:47:07.090 If you leave me the house for a week, it's going 00:47:07.090 --> 00:47:10.110 to be a mess. But she walks in that house and 00:47:10.110 --> 00:47:13.369 the lamps, the lights, the paint, whatever she. 00:47:13.570 --> 00:47:15.630 It feels like home. Feels like home. And that's 00:47:15.630 --> 00:47:17.670 a gift and talents, right? Yeah, exactly. And 00:47:17.670 --> 00:47:20.610 everybody knows. They call it the doctor. That's 00:47:20.610 --> 00:47:23.329 their nickname, the doctor. Everybody knows the 00:47:23.329 --> 00:47:25.929 doctor walks through that door. If you notice 00:47:25.929 --> 00:47:28.269 there's some dust or some paper in the floor, 00:47:28.429 --> 00:47:31.550 you better pick it up. You're a doctor coming 00:47:31.550 --> 00:47:36.230 through. Yeah, she's in charge. So we have developed 00:47:36.230 --> 00:47:39.530 this special team, kind of like a balance. I 00:47:39.530 --> 00:47:42.030 have a lot of, I believe the Lord has blessed 00:47:42.030 --> 00:47:44.309 me with a pastoral kind of calling. Yeah, absolutely. 00:47:44.329 --> 00:47:47.059 And sometimes that's... little bit of a loving 00:47:47.059 --> 00:47:50.480 tender type of manner so she brings the balance 00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:54.000 of this is what we have to do now yes and so 00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.059 i i appreciate it not every time but i appreciate 00:47:57.059 --> 00:48:00.760 it a lot so we have that dynamic in our family 00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:03.260 where everybody knows if you want to get something 00:48:03.889 --> 00:48:06.130 You talk to Nelson, but if you really want to 00:48:06.130 --> 00:48:08.309 get it done right, you need to make sure the 00:48:08.309 --> 00:48:11.969 doctor agreed to that. So that stuff's universal, 00:48:12.030 --> 00:48:17.969 huh? It's like whatever she said is what's really 00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:21.530 going to happen. And so we were blessed to have 00:48:21.530 --> 00:48:24.929 our very first son, two year and a half in our 00:48:24.929 --> 00:48:28.190 marriage. So he's now 21. His name is Nelson 00:48:28.190 --> 00:48:32.039 Oscar. He's in his last semester. in college 00:48:32.039 --> 00:48:35.119 to get a degree in finances and international 00:48:35.119 --> 00:48:39.800 businesses. But this guy is amazing. He was leading 00:48:39.800 --> 00:48:44.280 worship this weekend. He's been around Heights 00:48:44.280 --> 00:48:46.860 quite a bit. He's pretty incredible. I see my 00:48:46.860 --> 00:48:52.460 son, and it's just a joy of a testimony. I have 00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:55.559 a little bit of a Nelson version of the Bible. 00:48:56.059 --> 00:48:58.820 I don't remember the reference exactly, but it 00:48:58.820 --> 00:49:00.909 says, you know, if you are... If you are not 00:49:00.909 --> 00:49:03.690 faithful who has been given to you, who's going 00:49:03.690 --> 00:49:07.010 to give you that that belongs to you? So my version 00:49:07.010 --> 00:49:10.269 says, if you are faithful who has been given 00:49:10.269 --> 00:49:13.230 to you, the Lord's going to give you that that 00:49:13.230 --> 00:49:17.409 is yours. So for me to see my son, knowing that 00:49:17.409 --> 00:49:20.630 he's also another college -age student who wants 00:49:20.630 --> 00:49:24.219 to serve the Lord, he's been exposed to the mission 00:49:24.219 --> 00:49:26.760 field since he was a kid. I'm like, Lord, I'm 00:49:26.760 --> 00:49:31.079 trying to help your children. To be leaders, 00:49:31.199 --> 00:49:34.300 you're taking care of my own son to be the leader. 00:49:34.320 --> 00:49:37.760 So it's inspirational to see him and exciting 00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:39.719 to see where the Lord is leading him. I'm super 00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:44.360 excited about that. His ministry full time. And 00:49:44.360 --> 00:49:47.239 then I have two other kids. It's kind of an interesting 00:49:47.239 --> 00:49:50.280 story because we had only one son for eight years. 00:49:50.460 --> 00:49:56.019 And then we had a miracle child after eight years. 00:49:56.769 --> 00:50:00.750 Hector Paul, he's now 12, almost 13. And then 00:50:00.750 --> 00:50:04.750 about 11 months after he was born, we had a miracle 00:50:04.750 --> 00:50:10.269 girl, Sonali, who's now 12, 11, I'm sorry. And 00:50:10.269 --> 00:50:13.670 so we have a family of five, which is pretty, 00:50:13.989 --> 00:50:15.550 pretty beautiful, pretty nice. I'm really excited 00:50:15.550 --> 00:50:18.670 to see my family. It's amazing. What are your 00:50:18.670 --> 00:50:22.630 younger kids, what do they enjoy doing? Well, 00:50:22.670 --> 00:50:25.789 Hector Powell likes to be with his friends and 00:50:25.789 --> 00:50:28.130 play some sport a little bit. Not for a long 00:50:28.130 --> 00:50:30.769 time. He likes to play, but he's like, okay, 00:50:30.869 --> 00:50:34.289 two weeks in a row, not anymore. Sonny Lee likes 00:50:34.289 --> 00:50:37.190 dancing. She likes painting. Now she's taking 00:50:37.190 --> 00:50:39.789 this new, I don't know how to call it, we're 00:50:39.789 --> 00:50:43.329 craving up. We put all this yarn and you do all 00:50:43.329 --> 00:50:46.570 these things with yarn. Crochet. Crochet. My 00:50:46.570 --> 00:50:48.289 daughter's been doing that. She's making a... 00:50:48.670 --> 00:50:51.050 Is that a turtle or a whale? One of them. Yeah. 00:50:51.230 --> 00:50:53.650 I think it's a grumpy turtle is what she's making 00:50:53.650 --> 00:50:56.929 right now. So every time she sees there's a yarn 00:50:56.929 --> 00:50:59.590 store, she's like, can we stop for five minutes? 00:50:59.969 --> 00:51:04.769 More? Yeah. She sings pretty well, too. Like 00:51:04.769 --> 00:51:08.329 my older son. Yeah. And yeah, she enjoyed that 00:51:08.329 --> 00:51:11.409 worship, too. It's amazing. Yeah, it was fun 00:51:11.409 --> 00:51:13.590 to have Oscar lead this weekend. He's always 00:51:13.590 --> 00:51:16.590 such a gift. He killed it. He killed it. He's 00:51:16.590 --> 00:51:19.289 so good. Had you met him before or no? I mean, 00:51:19.309 --> 00:51:22.329 we had met in passing last year. Okay. Um, but 00:51:22.329 --> 00:51:24.750 no, I actually got to like sit with him for a 00:51:24.750 --> 00:51:26.690 little bit. Cause Sundays are slow. Sundays are 00:51:26.690 --> 00:51:29.650 slow, which is nice. Get some time together, 00:51:29.730 --> 00:51:32.130 but Austin should have hooked him up with that 00:51:32.130 --> 00:51:34.309 sweatshirt. He was that youth sweatshirt that 00:51:34.309 --> 00:51:37.949 we got. It was, it's pretty legit. And you know, 00:51:37.969 --> 00:51:39.769 I'm excited when anybody thinks our stuff is 00:51:39.769 --> 00:51:44.389 cool. Yeah. In January next year to April, he's 00:51:44.389 --> 00:51:46.570 going to be in Michigan again to finish his career. 00:51:46.809 --> 00:51:49.090 Amazing. And I told him, I said, you know, we 00:51:49.090 --> 00:51:50.909 will talk to whoever we need to talk. So maybe 00:51:50.909 --> 00:51:53.190 you can come to Heights one or two weekends in 00:51:53.190 --> 00:51:57.750 that four months. Please do. So he loved the 00:51:57.750 --> 00:52:01.820 idea. Yeah. Well, Nelson, we're very thankful 00:52:01.820 --> 00:52:05.460 that you joined us today. I know you spent a 00:52:05.460 --> 00:52:07.699 lot of time traveling. I know it's, it can be 00:52:07.699 --> 00:52:10.139 a lot traveling, but. We are grateful. We are 00:52:10.139 --> 00:52:12.840 better because of hearing some of your story. 00:52:13.239 --> 00:52:18.030 I think I'm reminded just of when Israel is wandering 00:52:18.030 --> 00:52:22.969 in the wilderness, I get to see in you that dependence 00:52:22.969 --> 00:52:27.250 on God's provision. And I hope our church family 00:52:27.250 --> 00:52:29.849 as well experience that listening and hearing 00:52:29.849 --> 00:52:32.889 some of your story. And just for everybody here 00:52:32.889 --> 00:52:35.409 at Heights, just a well done. And we are just 00:52:35.409 --> 00:52:38.210 so excited to be partners as we continue to. 00:52:38.889 --> 00:52:42.510 Walk this road together. Heights family, we love 00:52:42.510 --> 00:52:46.710 you. Before you sign off, just because Nelson 00:52:46.710 --> 00:52:52.860 won't say it, anybody who is watching, listening, 00:52:53.099 --> 00:52:56.440 I would just encourage you to, if the Lord is 00:52:56.440 --> 00:52:59.400 tugging, get involved. Get involved. And whether 00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:03.159 that's with your time and you go on a trip, which 00:53:03.159 --> 00:53:06.539 I would highly recommend. Thank you. Which I'm 00:53:06.539 --> 00:53:07.920 still trying to figure out. I'm going to make 00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:10.760 it at some point, I promise. I'm trusting. But 00:53:10.760 --> 00:53:13.440 then also just your talent, that if you're listening 00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:17.119 to this and whatever God has gifted you with 00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:20.659 can be used. Yes. And so just with that, let 00:53:20.659 --> 00:53:22.579 God have a conversation with God and let him 00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:25.300 tug on that. And then you have resources that 00:53:25.300 --> 00:53:29.300 if you go, maybe you sold land years ago and 00:53:29.300 --> 00:53:33.440 whatever the Lord's doing, just quick yes, quick 00:53:33.440 --> 00:53:36.260 obedience today. Amen. Thank you. That is the 00:53:36.260 --> 00:53:38.579 outro. Quick obedience today. Heights family, 00:53:38.639 --> 00:53:40.480 we love you. We will see you soon.