Rededicate 250 | Ep. 04: Ben & Paul Bergquam

Summary

Jonathan Shuttlesworth Podcast

Episode: Rededicate 250 | Ep. 04: Ben & Paul Bergquam
Date: May 22, 2026
Guests: Ben Bergquam (Evangelist, journalist) & Paul Bergquam (Missionary, Ben's father)
Host: Jonathan Shuttlesworth

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jonathan Shuttlesworth is joined by evangelist/journalist Ben Bergquam and his father, veteran missionary Paul Bergquam, for a candid and lively conversation spanning faith, personal transformation, missionary adventures, media engagement, family history, and the intersection of courage and calling. Through humorous banter and powerful testimony, the Bergquams share stories of deliverance, the challenges of mission work in Africa and Asia, family perseverance, and the importance of authentic Christian witness in today’s world.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Authenticity on Air: Ben’s Journey to Broadcasting

• Ben's Entry into Broadcasting
  • Ben attributes the start of his media journey to a period of brokenness, addiction, and an encounter with God.
  • "One of the best. Crack addiction. And then God turned my life around..." (01:04)
  • Began by creating videos confronting local policies in California (e.g., plastic bag bans at Walmart), which resonated online and opened wider opportunities including confronting politicians and activist groups like Antifa.
  • "I started doing Facebook Live videos...then I started confronting politicians in California..." (04:44)
  • He moved from local activism to national reporting, eventually leading the Real America’s Voice “Law & Border” show.
  • "And then God just called me back into this. And so I filled the void I saw where no one's talking about this thing that's really important." (06:27)
  • Emphasis on reporting stories ignored or misrepresented by mainstream media, particularly surrounding the US border.

2. Personal Testimony & Deliverance

• Addiction and Freedom:
  • Ben shares his deep struggles with crack addiction, living a “double life” as a married man and father.
  • Describes the turning point: confessing his addiction to his wife and God using that moment for breakthrough.
    • "The night I came clean to her, I heard the Lord say, 'You kept praying that she wouldn't know when. She's the only one that needs to. You're set free.'" (04:12)
    • "It was that night 10 years ago in October and I was set free and step back on this journey." (04:32)
  • The power of confession, honoring one's spouse, and the deep restoration that followed.
  • "Within three weeks, God had redeemed our marriage, had brought her back to me. I could have lost her forever." (11:19)

3. Family Legacy: Mission Work Across Generations

• Paul Bergquam’s Testimony:
  • Formerly Lutheran, saved in the Nazarene church, called to missions following the persistent prayers of his older brother.
  • "My older brother...just kept praying for me...I knew if I died, I was going to hell...I went back to that pastor back in 1970...surrendered my life to Christ." (12:09–13:19)
  • Called into missions via a Campus Crusade event; spent years in Niger, Burkina Faso (notoriously difficult mission fields).
    • "So I was there for six months, and a construction team built a hangar out at the airport...Bible school buildings, we built those." (14:09)
    • Faced danger, disease (malaria), and “snake capital” postings, showing remarkable resilience.
      • "I was praying...I need a wife who's a nurse..." (14:31)
      • "It's been known as the snake capital of West Africa." (15:30)
  • Worked among the Fulani people, learned languages, attempted Bible translation work.
    • "I worked two years on the language and then...studied Hebrew because they hadn't have an Old Testament, so I was going to do that." (16:56)

4. The Miracle of Providence & Sustenance

• Living by Faith:
  • Ben and his wife experienced two years with no income following his deliverance and the call to step into media ministry.
    • "Within three weeks, God had redeemed our marriage...Then a couple months later, I say, babe, I'm quitting my job. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know God's calling me..." (11:19)
    • "Every single month along the way, God provided and in ways that...supernatural. It was all supernatural." (11:28)

5. Courage, Calling, and Culture

• Confronting the Status Quo:
  • Ben’s activism often put him at physical risk—e.g., injured during Antifa protests—but felt compelled by his calling and responsibility as a husband and father.
    • "If I'm going to be attacked simply for wearing a MAGA hat...what are my daughters going to grow up into?...If you don't do it as the leader of your household...it's going to be your daughters that have to do it." (05:46–05:57)
  • Shift to border reporting stemmed from a realization that the integrity of national borders is foundational.
    • "If we don't have borders, we don't have a country. Correct. And that was where the pivot shifted to the border." (07:02)

6. Global Perspective: Missions & Modern Frontiers

• International Missions:
  • Paul’s ongoing involvement with “Frontier Laborers for Christ”: medical and biblical work with ethnic minorities on the Burma/Thailand border, adapting to modern challenges.
    • "I'm on a...organization called Frontier Laborers for Christ...we got what's called the barefoot doctors...come to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for...three years. January, February, January, February, January, February...we do a...week of Bible training..." (20:04–21:12)
  • Comments on worldwide persecution, especially among Karen Christians in Myanmar/Burma.
    • "And they're killing the Karen Christians there...burning villages and stuff." (20:31–20:34)

7. Family & Humor—Bridging Generations

• Shared Experiences:
  • Laughter and honesty around parenting (homeschooling, family backgrounds, humor about household chores, etc).
    • "I leave a couple plates in the sack, my wife is threatening to leave. It's insane. I wish I was joking." (11:45)
    • "My wife's from Puerto Rico. But after two years, my daughter just knew how to do fighting and hotwire a car. So we had to...put her in school." (19:15)
    • "Homeschool as long as they're not being taught in public schools, you start with a prayer and a pledge." (19:26)
  • Celebration of legacy and faith running through the family, including prayers for the next generation.
    • "God's got his hand on Hunter. So..." (22:17)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Healing and Confession:

  • “The night I came clean to her, I heard the Lord say, 'You kept praying that she wouldn't know when. She's the only one that needs to. You're set free.’” —Ben Bergquam (04:12)

• On Authentic Missions:

  • “To deny God is the most idiotic thing you can do in this universe. Everything points to God.” —Ben Bergquam (10:19)
  • “You were a real missionary. You don’t meet a lot of guys like you anymore that did, like, act, you know. You didn’t paint a house in the Dominican Republic for two weeks.” —Jonathan Shuttlesworth (15:46)

• On Courage and Calling:

  • “If you don't do it as the leader of your household...who's going to do it? It's going to be your daughters that have to do it.” —Ben Bergquam (05:57)

• On Legacy:

  • “That’s where you get your boldness. Your dad was a lunatic for Christ, going out to closed countries. A real missionary.” —Jonathan Shuttlesworth (19:50)

• On Family and Joy:

  • “She stuck with you through crack addiction. I leave a couple plates in the sack, my wife is threatening to leave.” —Jonathan Shuttlesworth (11:45)
  • “You can work on the Christian part, you can’t work on the happy part. It’s better to get somebody that’s happy and lead them to Christ.” —Jonathan Shuttlesworth (18:41)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:01 | Ben begins sharing about his background and call to broadcasting | | 04:12 | Turning point: confessing addiction and claiming freedom | | 05:35 | Confrontations with Antifa and the cost of courage | | 06:27 | Move into border reporting and founding of media ministry | | 07:43 | Divine appointments—connections leading to real America’s voice | | 11:19 | The marital restoration and stepping into full faith dependence | | 12:09 | Paul’s testimony: call to missions, conversion, Africa story | | 14:31 | Divine provision: meeting his wife, the ‘nurse’ for a missionary | | 16:56 | Bible translation ambitions, language learning for the Fulani | | 18:06 | Cross-cultural family legacy: Ben's wife, faith journey | | 20:04 | Paul’s ongoing missions with “Frontier Laborers for Christ” | | 22:06 | Prayer and hope for the next generation (Hunter) |

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Tone, Style, & Authenticity

The episode is marked by the host's signature humor and warmth, a transparent and vulnerable storytelling style from both guests, and a faith-filled yet down-to-earth approach to difficult topics and extraordinary journeys. The conversation swings between the deeply serious (redemption, loss, physical danger) and the lighthearted (family mishaps, missionary adventures, and inside jokes), maintaining a sense of hope, resilience, and purpose throughout.

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode captures the power of generational faith, the miracles that follow radical obedience, and the necessity of courage in confronting cultural and spiritual challenges. Ben and Paul Bergquam’s testimonies provide evidence that authentic Christianity involves risk, sacrifice, and miraculous provision—and that God’s call can transition from the mission field in Africa to the digital mission field in America.

Their stories invite listeners to reflect on their own legacy, the need for authenticity in witness, the nature of Christian boldness, and the joy that comes from persevering families anchored in faith.

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“Everything points to God...It was all supernatural.”
—Ben Bergquam

“You can't take all these stories with you to heaven.”
—Jonathan Shuttlesworth

Transcript

[Jonathan Shuttlesworth]

Welcome to the Jonathan Shuttlesworth Podcast. To stay connected, go to revival today.com. and now, here is evangelist Jonathan.

[Podcast Host]

Who's this?

[Podcast Crew Member]

Oh, yeah. Come on. Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Jump in.

[Podcast Crew Member]

Sit down.

[Podcast Host]

You were on this morning.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah. How are you?

[Podcast Host]

How'd it go?

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, great. I was wearing a painter mobile hat all day. Yes. What I wear most of the time,

[Podcast Host]

that'll clear the streets.

[Guest Evangelist]

I ride with ice all over the country.

[Podcast Crew Member]

That's fantastic. Look at you, huh?

[Podcast Host]

That's great. I bet the line shortens at Starbucks when you walk in.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah. That's for you.

[Podcast Crew Member]

That's for you. That's blessing for you. There you go.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, that's a lit.

[Podcast Crew Member]

That's for you.

[Podcast Host]

I can't believe people came to this thing to network.

[Podcast Crew Member]

I've gotten several cards.

[Podcast Host]

Really?

[Guest Evangelist]

It's always like that. Yeah.

[Podcast Crew Member]

Pretty cool.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, I. Well, the problem is I have stacks of them at home, and I'm like,

[Podcast Crew Member]

how do you keep track of it all?

[Guest Evangelist]

I don't.

[Podcast Host]

Tell me how you got into broadcasting, man.

[Guest Evangelist]

One of the best. Crack addiction. And then God turned my life around, and it was.

[Podcast Host]

I was ready for you at starter crack addiction. Because usually it's how it end.

[Guest Evangelist]

I know. No, it actually started when I was young. Are we on? Are we just on? We're on right now.

[Podcast Crew Member]

Jeez.

[Guest Evangelist]

We're just. I thought we were just talking.

[Podcast Host]

No, that's how unprofessional we are.

[Guest Evangelist]

No, I love it.

[Podcast Host]

You can't tell.

[Guest Evangelist]

It's authentic. So I started. You know, God called me early in my life. My. My dad, who's actually here with us right now, he was a. They were missionaries in Africa and pastors West Africa, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger. My sister was born in Joust, Nigeria.

[Podcast Host]

They were missionaries to Niger.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

They're like real missionaries.

[Guest Evangelist]

Oh, like legit.

[Podcast Host]

Half of Nigerians are walking the park. But Niger.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah. No, no joke.

[Podcast Host]

Is high difficulty.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah. It's up there. I mean, it's a commitment. And so they actually. We came back on furlough, and they were there, too. Yeah. When I was a kid. How old? We came back when I was five, so I can't still count. Oh, yeah.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah.

[Guest Evangelist]

Well, it's one of those things when you hear people talk about oppression or. Or poverty in America, I'm like, you guys, come on. You don't even know what you're talking about.

[Podcast Host]

No, you don't.

[Guest Evangelist]

If you haven't been to a third world country and seen how people have to live and what they take, what we take for granted, you know, it's it's one of the. It was a great foundation and then we moved back to America. Supposed to be three weeks. Ended up being 30 years in California. My dad became a pastor out there and Central Valley. We were in the Sierra Nevada outside of Fresno. So it was. Tell me about his church, Oak View Baptist, Southern Baptist. And they ended up retiring as a conservative Presbyterian in Sanger, California.

[Podcast Host]

So I know Sangers. That's one of the only places I've preached in California.

[Guest's Father]

Really?

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, that's right. We sold our house in Sanger. We moved to Arkansas about five years ago.

[Podcast Host]

So were you in Arkansas? You know, I was giving your sprint. Oh, good pick.

[Guest Evangelist]

I know, I know. It's awesome. It's awesome. So, but, but all of that, preacher's kid, going the right way. God's call on my life. When I was 10, 11 years old, he. He put a vision on my heart. I was going to be leading his armies.

[Podcast Host]

And where were you when you got the vision?

[Guest Evangelist]

In California.

[Podcast Host]

But I mean, like, like church service. Bedroom.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, I know. Church service and then, and then in school is this kind of ongoing vision. And it was one of those things I ran away from for a long time and got into drugs and alcohol, got turned my life around after college.

[Podcast Host]

You got into the kind of drugs that. If I was going to get into drugs, I would. Because I. I don't understand. Like heroin. Because it makes you tired.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, I'm already tired. Yeah, it.

[Podcast Host]

Well, the crack, I understand.

[Guest Evangelist]

When I got into it, I had mono for years.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Guest Evangelist]

And it was like, wake me up, get me. You know something.

[Podcast Host]

You're talking my language.

[Guest Evangelist]

And then it was. And then it was just. The devil just started taking me down. And at one point I was either. And I was married at the time and I had a young daughter and a daughter on the way. My wife. We were 10 years married. We just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.

[Podcast Host]

And you're saying now you celebrated your 21st.

[Guest Evangelist]

21st. This last year.

[Podcast Host]

She stayed with me.

[Guest Evangelist]

She stayed with all of it through all of us.

[Podcast Host]

She's a keeper.

[Guest Evangelist]

She's amazing.

[Podcast Host]

Not like these other preachers, rather just falling off with a drop of a hat.

[Guest Evangelist]

She's amazing. I mean, we. The lowest of lows. I was either going to end up in present prison or dad cracks bad and she didn't know.

[Podcast Host]

Nobody has like a casual crack.

[Guest Evangelist]

I was living a double life. Nobody knew. And I just. And, and it was, you know, it's. It was one of the things that just get worse and worse and worse. And I'm like, I kept praying, God, take this away from me, but don't let my wife find out. This was a prayer over and over and over. And the night I came clean to her, I heard the Lord say, you kept praying that she wouldn't know when. She's the only one that needs to. You're set free. And there's a verse in Peter, husband, honor your wives, lest your prayers be hindered.

[Podcast Host]

That's pretty powerful.

[Guest Evangelist]

And it was that night 10 years ago in October and I was set free and step back on this journey. And that was where you said, how many years ago? 10 years in October. So it's been nine years.

[Podcast Host]

That's amazing. Yeah, you made a major turnaround quick.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah. And it was just not long. Literally, it was overnight. And, and God, within a week, God put me back on this trajectory. We started doing Facebook Live videos. It started with a in California at Walmart showing how the ridiculousness of the, the plastic bag bands. And I showed how you could get around it by going to the produce section. And it was this stupid little video that kind of unlocked this door. And it was like, oh, wow, this resonates with people. And then I started confronting politicians in California going up against this. Fun to watch. You are brilliant.

[Podcast Host]

You seen it?

[Podcast Crew Member]

We actually played some at Check the news quite often.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, and then I went up against Antifa and it was one of those things where it's like, okay, God set me free. I was either going to be in prison or dead. Now I have life again. Yeah, let's go, let's go. And so it was Antifa. And I got stitches in Berkeley and attacked over and over and over.

[Podcast Host]

When somebody hits you from behind.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah. Sticks over there.

[Podcast Host]

I knew one of those guys wouldn't have done it face up.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, no, no, they're cowards. They're only.

[Podcast Host]

They have the bone density of a 91 year old woman. You'd have laid them out.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah. But that was, that was the, the call in my life was like, all right, if, if, if I'm going to be attacked simply for wearing a maga hat. Right. In our country, what are my daughters going to grow up into?

[Podcast Host]

Right?

[Guest Evangelist]

So. And I actually prayed about it when I went home because I, you know, I ended up getting 13 stitches. My 6 year old had to see what, what I looked like. And, and I'm like, all right, God, is this worth it? And it was really clear if you don't do it as the leader of your household, as a Husband and the father of your household, who's going to do it? It's going to be your daughters that have to do it. And so then it was all right, we're. We're doing it. And it went from there to go. And no one was covering the border. I met angel moms and like, how are American citizens being murdered by illegals? Right. Nobody knows about it. The mainstream media is lying to them. And so I just started reporting. So getting back to the beginning of your question, I was never trained as a journalist. I got my undergrad degree in kinesiology, exercise science or fitness. I got my mba, and then God just called me back into this. And so I filled the void I saw where no one's talking about this thing that's really important. It was originally God, family, and country. Exposing the godless woke churches out there in California, where we live.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, you were doing that?

[Guest Evangelist]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, where. Where they're, you know, we're out fighting for Prop 8 against, you know, gay marriage and the rest of it. And. And I saw that encroachment, really, that's why we're here. It's. The church has been compromised for so long.

[Guest's Father]

Yes.

[Guest Evangelist]

That was my focus. And then God said, well, if we don't have borders, we don't have a country. Correct. And that was where the pivot shifted to the border. Ten years later, you know, we're. We're. We're doing our six season of Law and Border on Real America's Voice News. I met Rob Sig in a bathroom at cpac. We bumped into each other. We prayed with each other. A week later, his. One of the former producers at the network, Mark Leonard, said, hey, we need a border guy. And Rob said, Or, excuse me, vice versa. Rob said, we need a border guy. Mark said, hey, check this guy out. He's like, hey, that's the guy prayed with @CPAC. Get him on the phone. Wow. Literally, it was three weeks later. I was working for Rural American Boys. That's seven years ago. And it's just been God's. God's hand in every step of the journey.

[Podcast Host]

So Rob does ambush prayers a lot. He won't even, like, ask you, can I pray for you? Just, like, starts praying mid sentence. I feel kind of violated. I've never consented to this prayer.

[Guest Evangelist]

We love you, Ross. But. But it's. Yeah, it's been. It's been an amazing journey. Working on a first book right now called Step Into Fear. Yes. About the fear that used to help hold me in bondage that's held me in the crack addiction to the fear. We've been in shootouts in the jungle down in Panama, where God's just, you know, every step of the way. It's either the thing that holds you that back or. Or the thing that launches you. And so that's shootouts in Panama. Yeah, all kinds of.

[Podcast Crew Member]

That was just recently.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, about four years ago. Derek Biden. Yeah, Biden. So it was just wild, man, but. And I. Look at this. You're going down there. My dad's here now. We flew in. We're actually on vacation right now. If you can't tell.

[Podcast Host]

Your dad's here?

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, he's here. Paul. Have anyone seen my dad? If you look out.

[Podcast Host]

Hey, does it have a medical alert?

[Guest Evangelist]

Brace David, can you go find my dad? I know.

[Guest's Father]

Blue shirt. All right.

[Guest Evangelist]

He's looking for him, but. So we're on vacation. We go down to Florida every year to celebrate my daughter's birthday.

[Podcast Host]

What do you like in Florida?

[Guest Evangelist]

Panhandle. I like all over, but we live in Arkansas, so closest direct is Panhandle.

[Guest's Father]

Yep.

[Guest Evangelist]

So we go down there outside of Panama City. And so we got. You know, we had this planned. Or we're not coming to the. Or we're going to that. And then Rob calls me up. It's like, hey, can you be there for the rededication? Like, you have to be here this day to stand there with Chris Tomlin singing. Your name is the highest in the city that reshaped the world because of the founding fathers 250 years ago, saying, we're going to make a nation, one nation under God, the first nation under God in world's history, and to be able to have that opportunity as a guy who's seen all over the world, who's been pulled out of the pit of addiction, and to see that hope and then to see the battles that we deal with, these crazies in the streets that really. They're just empty, and they need the Lord, and. And unfortunately, here's my dad. Unfortunately. You know, it's just. They've. We've been compromised. And so it's. It's. What a powerful day. What an incredibly powerful day.

[Podcast Host]

You seem like you've had, like, a pretty dramatic encounter with God since the addiction.

[Guest Evangelist]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Or like, when you got. Tell me.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Tell me what happened.

[Guest Evangelist]

Dad.

[Podcast Crew Member]

Dad's here.

[Guest Evangelist]

You know. You wanna. You want a chair, dad?

[Podcast Crew Member]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

No, they go, no, no, no, no, no, it's cool. We're here. No, no, no. You Stay.

[Guest Evangelist]

You stay. Okay. Yes, this is my dad, Paul. It was. And we got to get you a mic. Dad, where's your mic? Well, I'll share my mic, but it was.

[Guest's Father]

It's.

[Guest Evangelist]

It's been. It's been a journey on it, you know, God's. God's hand in all of it. From the beginning. I mean, even early on, you know, to. To deny God is the most idiotic thing that you can do in this universe. That everything points to God. That's right now doctrine, the. Where you stand on that, obviously, that's a journey for everyone. You have to encounter Christ. You have to encounter God personally. But what I saw in my journey, get back to my wife, to have the chains broke in that moment, and then to go through. We went through two years of no income. And it was so. Imagine this. So I just come out of addiction. Three years of a double life that she doesn't know about. Within three weeks, God had redeemed our marriage, had brought her back to me. I could have lost her forever. And then a couple months later, I say, babe, I'm quitting my job. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know God's calling me to do this, and we have to trust him. Nine months. We went for two years with no income. The first nine months, it was her just saying, you gotta get a job. You gotta get a job, you gotta do something. We gotta make money. And every single month along the way, God provided and in ways that you just supernatural. It was all supernatural. And so to be standing here, I mean, it's just story after story after story of encounter that I've witnessed, I've experienced personally.

[Podcast Host]

You can tell it's not. You can tell it's real. Your wife didn't make the trip, did she?

[Guest Evangelist]

No.

[Guest's Father]

I would love.

[Guest Evangelist]

I love you, Vili.

[Podcast Host]

My wife's here. I would love for my wife to meet your wife. She stuck with you through crack addiction. I leave a couple plates in the sack, my wife is threatening to leave. It's insane. I wish I was joking.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Your son said that you were a missionary to Niger, which. You don't hear that too much. That's a country not too many preachers go into. Tell me about how that opened up.

[Guest's Father]

Well, it goes back to an older brother. Just kept praying for me, working with me. I was raised Lutheran, but just went away from the church in high school and was going to the university.

[Podcast Host]

So you ran the evangelical gang. You've been Lutheran, Baptist and Presbyterian. It's like A hatchet?

[Guest's Father]

Well, a few others. I was saved in the Nazarene Church.

[Podcast Host]

So you ran the spec. Good job. So go ahead.

[Guest's Father]

So anyway, the short of the story is my older brother, who's since passed away, but he just kept praying for me. Pablo, used to call me, say, hey, can you come to church with me tonight? Sunday night? I'm kind of busy. Kind of, you know. Okay. Okay. And that's when I really came out of conviction. I knew if I died, I was going to hell. I just knew it. I was. I was lost and I was blind. And so a few things happened, and it was in the next few months, and I just came to the end of myself. I looked good outside, but inside I was a mess. And so I just. I went back to that pastor back in 1970. Yep. In Bellevue, Washington. Went to his office.

[Podcast Host]

I know where that is.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Outside of Seattle. It's like the nice part of Seattle.

[Guest's Father]

It's east of Seattle, on the other side of Lake Washington. Yeah. And, yeah, my dad worked for Boeing. So anyway, I just surrendered my life to Christ that day. And when I walked out of there, I knew something major had changed in my life. And so I ended up back in Escondido, down Southern California, and started going to a church, Emmanuel Faith. And anyway, Bill, they had a missions conference every year for a week. And so Bill Brights found Campus for Savior for Christ. He was there and he did a call. Anybody that might be interested in going, you know, into missions, come forward. The Adelaide's Mission organizations, SIM was one of them that was there. And Sudan Interior Mission is what it used to be. And they. Well, how'd you. How would you like to go to Niger Republic and work on a construction crew? I said, that sounds great.

[Podcast Host]

That's wild. Sometimes it's good to not know everything.

[Guest's Father]

It is. It's much better, actually. So I was there for six months, and a construction team built a hangar out at the airport. They have a hangar. They have the airport in Miami. Bible school buildings, we built those. And. And then right at the end, I ended up going down to pick up some vehicles with another guy. And I got malaria. And so.

[Podcast Host]

Which is very bad.

[Guest's Father]

Well, you get it in three stages. First you think you're going to die. Then you know you're going to die because everything is bad. And then you're afraid you might not die. So then he's telling the truth. So I was praying. I said, okay, God, I'll come over here with these mosquitoes. Love me. So I said, I need a Wife who's a nurse, she can help keep me alive. So I ended up the next summer in Cincinnati and we took inner city kids into northern Kentucky at a really rustic camp. Really wild inner city kids. But she was a camp nurse. My wife was a camp nurse. So I stayed there for a year, we got married and then ended up back in Africa in Burkina Faso, in a very remote village, southeast corner of Burkina Faso, and it's been known as the snake capital of West Africa.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, you gotta be joking.

[Guest's Father]

I got these other snakes. Yeah, my wife does not like snakes. They got these little minute vipers and they call them. It bit in the local language. That's it. It bit and that's it.

[Podcast Host]

You were a real missionary. You don't meet a lot of guys like you anymore that did like, act, you know. You didn't paint a house in the Dominican Republic for two weeks.

[Guest Evangelist]

Well, we did.

[Guest's Father]

We were in last summer. We were in demand after.

[Guest Evangelist]

You did your time.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah, yeah. No, I loved it over there.

[Podcast Host]

Of course you did, because you're. You're cold.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah. So we were working among the Fulani and you did, man, you.

[Podcast Host]

You've written no book.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yes, he's written a book on you.

[Guest's Father]

On this.

[Guest Evangelist]

Not on this part.

[Podcast Host]

Why not?

[Guest's Father]

Just.

[Podcast Host]

Why not? Just do. Just do this. Do like a 20 episode podcast where you tell all your stories and then just have it transcribed and made.

[Guest Evangelist]

That's how I wrote back transcribe you.

[Guest's Father]

You can't leave. I drove across the Sahara.

[Podcast Host]

You can't take all these stories with you to heaven. Please do that.

[Guest's Father]

We'll see. We'll see. I'm working on.

[Podcast Host]

I know you're humble, but people need to read. Read the stories.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah, it's. It was quite a story.

[Podcast Host]

People don't go to those places anymore.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah, there's something over there. I'll tell you. I got some missionary friends that were over there.

[Podcast Host]

They're there now.

[Guest's Father]

They're. Yeah. Well, I don't know about Burkina Faso or Niger right now. Those places, they're closed. Yeah, they've been kind of crazy.

[Podcast Host]

You worked up on the Fulani.

[Guest's Father]

I've never heard. Yeah, yeah, I learned the. I worked two years on the language and then I came back and went to Dallas Seminary for two years. Studied Hebrew because they hadn't have an Old Testament, so I was going to do that. So we went back.

[Podcast Host]

You were going to make. You had such a work on the burden for him. You were going to make them an

[Guest's Father]

Old Testament Wycliffe Bible translation. And I went through that did three semesters. No, it's just now.

[Podcast Host]

Come on, Lose the humility. You've done. You're a great guy.

[Guest's Father]

Step by step.

[Podcast Host]

And your son's doing great.

[Guest's Father]

He's doing well. God. God's good.

[Podcast Host]

God is good.

[Guest's Father]

His wife has been. And his mother's been good, too.

[Podcast Host]

His wife's great. She. Man, I wonder.

[Guest's Father]

I want. She is. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I leave the trash overflowing one night and the cops have to come over.

[Guest Evangelist]

She's here. I'm going to show you a picture. I know they can't see it on the air, just so you see, they're. They're my wife's. Their family were refugees from Laos, and they came across 30 years ago or 40 years ago now, but this is. So we have three girls. Chloe, Olivia and Lily. And sorry about the scratches on the screen. You should see my phone. But it is. It's like just, you know, God's hand in all of it.

[Podcast Host]

That is powerful.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah. And she's. She. What's a crazy story. She wasn't a Christian when I met her. And my dad always said, don't be unequally yoked. And I met this girl, first thought I had was how beautiful our kids would be. I was 19 at the time. And I thought, boy, that's a weird thought to have about this. Our first date was camping. We went to Pismo beach, drove across there. And I'm driving, I'm thinking, I'm going to marry this girl. First date. I just got to figure out how to convince her. And back in my mind is, yeah, he can't be unequally yoked. But I'm like, I see more light shining out of her than I see in most Christians. So she didn't know the Lord, but the Lord knew her. And I knew God's had his hand on him.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Guest Evangelist]

So anyways, it's been. It's been awesome.

[Podcast Host]

You can work on the Christian part, you can't work on the happy part. It's better to get somebody that's happy and lead them to Christ. Because if you meet somebody that's met Christ and they're still miserable, what can you do?

[Guest Evangelist]

What hope do you have?

[Podcast Host]

So that's. Where are you based out of now? Arkansas.

[Guest Evangelist]

Arkansas.

[Podcast Host]

Now, where are you based out of?

[Guest's Father]

Columbus, California. I'm a farmer.

[Podcast Host]

What a great family.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah.

[Guest's Father]

You're not a farmer.

[Guest Evangelist]

Farming souls.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, you do have.

[Guest Evangelist]

I do like the farm we're working on, actually. So I do the show lawn border. We're working on a family road trip. Show Across America. We homeschool the girls now. Life's amazing.

[Podcast Host]

And we were gonna homeschool. My wife's from Puerto Rico. But after two years, my daughter just knew how to do fighting and hotwire a car. So we had to put the Yankee out and put her in school. Hey, hey, hey.

[Guest Evangelist]

I told my wife when we first did this, I said, I don't care what you teach them as long as they're not being teeped. Taught in public schools, you start with a prayer and a pledge. You could teach them anything else. So that would have been fine. I wouldn't even care. I would not have cared, but. So we're working on that, though. That's the next.

[Guest's Father]

I don't know about the. Stealing cars.

[Podcast Host]

That's wrong. That's a sin in anybody's book.

[Guest's Father]

Lutheran, even in Faso.

[Podcast Host]

Even. That's round the blood. So that's where you get your boldness. Your dad was a lunatic for Christ. Going out to closed countries. A real missionary.

[Guest Evangelist]

No doubt. No doubt.

[Guest's Father]

That's all I wanted to be.

[Guest Evangelist]

That was the foundation.

[Podcast Host]

You. You were. You did it.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah, I'm still. We. Yeah, we just took. Yeah, we take a t. We've taken teams to Thailand. I'm on a. With an organization called Frontier Laborers for Christ. And we.

[Podcast Host]

Thailand. Starting to open up a little bit.

[Guest's Father]

Thailand's open pretty much. But not Burma. Myanmar.

[Guest Evangelist]

No.

[Guest's Father]

Or Laos. We're in that.

[Podcast Host]

I know about that from Rambo 4.

[Guest's Father]

Okay.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My wife's from Laos, so that escaped communism again here. All of that.

[Guest's Father]

So we're.

[Podcast Host]

And they're killing the Karen Christians there.

[Guest's Father]

I know about that. Yeah. Burning villages and stuff. But we got what's called the barefoot doctors. They're not barefoot and they're not doctors, but other than that, the name's perfect.

[Podcast Host]

Sounds like a lawsuit. Wait a minute. You're. Neither thing.

[Guest's Father]

You claim. They're great, though. They're actually from Burma. From. Most of them are from remote villages up in the mountains where they have no medical training or anything. So they come to. They come to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for two months. For three years of January, February. For. For three years. January, February, January, February, January, February. And we do a year of Bible training or not a. A week of Bible training during that for them as well.

[Guest Evangelist]

Feels like a year.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah. No, it's. They're really open and very respectful and they're great to work with. So I was over there. And February and March of this year.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You're still going a little bit. No, that counts.

[Guest's Father]

When I get Rid of the diarrhea. Right. As soon as that's gone, I'm all right. I'm ready to go.

[Podcast Host]

Tell me about it. It's one of the worst things there is. You're not going to get this. You're not going to hear diarrhea on tv. Edit folks.

[Guest Evangelist]

That's right.

[Podcast Host]

Tell you that right now.

[Guest Evangelist]

Hey, it's authentic. It's authentic. That's what people want. They want authentic. The real. Yeah, that's enough.

[Podcast Host]

Thanks for coming on.

[Guest Evangelist]

It's an absolute honor.

[Podcast Host]

Whether you want me to or not, I'm going to stay in touch with you. I really like you and your family. He's done a great work for the Lord.

[Guest Evangelist]

It's just the beginning.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah. God's still working, doing it at all. So. Yeah. Praise the Lord. I got a grandson that's God's really working with him.

[Guest Evangelist]

Shout out to Hunter.

[Guest's Father]

How old? Shout out. 19.

[Guest Evangelist]

Awesome.

[Guest's Father]

19.

[Guest Evangelist]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What kind of vein does he feel called in?

[Guest's Father]

He wants to be a marine biologist.

[Podcast Host]

I've been taking, like, George Costanza.

[Guest's Father]

Yeah, well, but, you know, he's doing a. He's working at a church this summer with a youth pastor, and so we'll see what happens. God's got his hand on Hunter, so,

[Podcast Host]

of course, go bless your whole family. Well, thanks for coming on. I'm glad I got to meet you. Thanks for letting me call you up. I wanted to hear about a real

[Guest's Father]

missionary, a real mission.

[Guest Evangelist]

God bless you guys. What a beautiful day. And we send it out in Jesus name.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. God bless you.

[Jonathan Shuttlesworth]

Thank you for sharing the Jonathan Shuttlesworth podcast. If you're interested in supporting. Supporting our mission to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Generation, please visit RevivalToday.com and click on Give now to become one of our monthly partners. Thank you in advance. We hope to see you soon.