1 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:15,640 What's up guys? My name's Alexis, your host of 2 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,040 Praises in the Pod, and I am so excited to be here with Rosa 3 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,600 Bryant. We work together at Southside 4 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,160 and I have just got to become friends with her and learn more 5 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,560 about her, but I want to dive more into her testimony and what 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,680 God's done in her life. So what better place to do it 7 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,240 than in the pod? OK, so we're going to start off 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:36,920 in prayer and then we're going to jump right in. 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,560 So here we go. Lord, Heavenly Father, thank you 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,960 for today and all of your many blessings. 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,440 Dear God, we just thank you for this place where we can come and 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,800 talk about your goodness and your faithfulness. 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,400 Dear God, we're just so thankful for provision, your hand that 14 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,320 has led and guided us to get us to where we are today. 15 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,560 Lord God, we pray that you speak to us and through US today. 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,239 We pray that this glorifies you and all that we do and we just 17 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:06,640 pray that this pushes someone closer to you. 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:08,280 Thank you for all that you're doing. 19 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,360 In Jesus name I pray. Amen, Amen, Amen. 20 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,080 All right, let's get it Poppin girl. 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,840 Let's get it poppin. So start out a little bit in 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,640 your childhood and let's work our way up from there. 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,560 All right, so I was born and raised in Iquitos, Peru. 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,040 That's in South America, for those that don't know. 25 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:34,200 Hang on before we go, OK, This is one thing like it is 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,600 sometimes it's hard to understand, right? 27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,760 Because you do. This is your second language, 28 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,400 yes. So y'all are going to have to be 29 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,000 locked in. OK, You have to be locked in. 30 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,960 Attention. Yes, because sometimes she gets 31 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,840 excited too and she'll start talking real fast and you got to 32 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:48,560 lock in. True. 33 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,680 So like earlier when we were talking, I'm like, OK, yeah, 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:54,920 yeah. And then, you know, I'm 35 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,000 following along. But anyway, yeah, I just wanted 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,280 to go ahead and give a heads up. Thanks for either way. 37 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,440 Either way, it's going to be a great story. 38 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,560 Just stay locked in, OK? So you didn't grow up here, You 39 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:06,360 grew up in Peru. Go. 40 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,080 Ahead So I was born actually a place of it's called Bethlehem. 41 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,120 It's Berlin. Bethlehem, OK. 42 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,440 We always like Jesus. My kids are like, oh, like Jesus 43 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,040 in Bethlehem. So not really, but it's a 44 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,680 different place. So the place where I grew up is 45 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,240 considered one of the poorest place of the whole country in 46 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,200 Peru. And there is a lot of you will 47 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,880 see a lot of kids working lots of things that you will not 48 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,120 normally see here in America. So that was just kind of my 49 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,040 environment, lots of violence, all kinds of things, lots of 50 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,160 music, very loud. There's always kids in the 51 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,120 street. And so, yeah, that was the place 52 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:52,360 God placed me to be born. And my dad at that time when. 53 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,680 So my dad was became a doctor later home, but he started as a 54 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,920 nurse and he went to college later on and kind of did all the 55 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:06,880 studies to become a doctor. And that's when they, my mom and 56 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,200 my dad met. My mom is a nurse as well. 57 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,240 And so they just kind of came together and they weren't 58 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,120 letting all the Lord. They just hang out. 59 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,120 And that's when I got my mom got pregnant with me and definitely 60 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,160 not planning. My mom didn't even know he had 61 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,480 older kids. And it was a whole every a lot 62 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:28,720 of surprises for her as well. And my dad at that time, because 63 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,120 he didn't know the Lord, he was doing his job at the hospital, 64 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,280 but at the same time he was doing other things, which is 65 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,080 abortions. I there is, it's a big thing 66 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,200 there. It's not legal to do that. 67 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,960 But he wanted to make more extra money because he has so many 68 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,280 kids to raise. I mean the that was number. 69 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,000 Eight. Yeah, I was going to say there 70 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,840 was 8. Kids Yeah, 8 can. 71 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,040 You also have a younger sister too, so. 72 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,960 I have another that makes 9 kids my mom. 73 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,520 So when they met together and he found out that she was pregnant, 74 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,120 first of all he didn't believe that oh that's not my kid and 75 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,560 blah blah blah. He was just trying to avoid 76 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:07,560 everything together. Like I don't want to have more 77 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,400 kids I'm done. So when they got together, my 78 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,720 mom didn't know that he had problems with alcohol. 79 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,240 So when they start they got together, she was pregnant and 80 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,040 that's when the things got serious. 81 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,120 Like this is not the person I met and he was completely very 82 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,040 violent when he was drunk and and like he were really hit my 83 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,880 mom badly. There was a one point that a lot 84 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,400 of people try to convince him to go to police say you need to 85 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:35,920 tell us that he's going to kill you. 86 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,960 He's going to kill you. And so during the pregnancy, she 87 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,880 did not had a good pregnancy, obviously, because it was always 88 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,320 the beating and all of that. But she was, I was told you're 89 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,840 my hero because I don't know if I would have been able to, to 90 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,440 stay in that. It's it's just crazy, like the 91 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,600 things you tell me and how you fight for me. 92 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:58,760 And and that's just the love of a mom. 93 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,920 And, and she knew that that was not what she wanted on her life 94 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,960 at that moment because she was still in the school and but she 95 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,920 knew that she did not want to lose me and. 96 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:16,160 Now, I know that your dad was, you know, being a doctor in that 97 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,240 sense of, you know, being assisting with abortions. 98 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,320 And so did him and your mom try to have an abortion when she was 99 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:24,800 pregnant with you or not your mom? 100 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:26,200 They did. They did. 101 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,120 My mom, the, the whole time they, she said no to it, even 102 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:31,920 though she was there. She knew what it looked like. 103 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,480 She knew all the processes and everything because they work 104 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,120 together. She just knew on her heart that 105 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,400 that's not, I don't feel that I don't have the strength to do 106 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:42,480 that. I can do it. 107 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,240 And by my dad on the opposite, he was like, no, you're going, I 108 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,520 don't want to have another kid. I want you to. 109 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,400 And because she was against that, that she will. 110 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,680 It got worse and he got more, more violent with him, with her. 111 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,760 And so, yeah, the whole privacy was awful. 112 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,280 It was awful. She'd lost so much weight. 113 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:06,840 And and so finally when the time came, he didn't get what he 114 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:08,920 wanted. The Lord was like, no, that's 115 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,840 what you want to do. But I have all the plans for 116 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,800 you. So when I finally came hit my 117 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,160 dad deliver me in that house and everything looked like he was 118 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,040 fine again. When he was not drunk, he was 119 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:22,560 great. He was super sweet. 120 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:27,280 But it was always that the the the opposite when he was when he 121 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:31,200 was drunk. So after I was born, a few days 122 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,640 when I was in the house, I got sick very, very sick. 123 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,280 I don't know where we didn't know what it was. 124 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,680 Went to the hospital. That's when we found out I had 125 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,880 tetanus. Tetanus. 126 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:43,240 Tetanus. Is that how you say it? 127 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,120 I guess you. Say it. 128 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:46,320 We're going to think that is that. 129 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,080 But I think they have vaccination for it now. 130 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,200 But I mean, you're in the jungle. 131 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,880 Like there was no way for them. They tried to do different 132 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,160 things in the hospital, but they couldn't. 133 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,360 I had had so much medicine as a baby. 134 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,480 Like I lost all my titties when I got older. 135 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,080 Like horrible because of a lot of antibiotics that they put 136 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,320 them on my body. And but that day, the few days 137 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:16,400 after that, it got so bad that I wasn't crying, I wasn't eating. 138 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:19,000 It was like I was just a piece of little body there that 139 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,000 doesn't have any emotions, anything. 140 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,160 So they discharged me from the hospital saying, you know what, 141 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,000 we, there's nothing we can do with your baby. 142 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,840 You need to go home and just kind of venture to wait for her 143 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:33,640 to die. When my dad heard those words, I 144 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,880 think that the really put something on him, on his heart 145 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,240 and his mind, because it's like, there's no way I'm not going to 146 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,840 just let my child die. And so again, it went from like, 147 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,080 I'm about to kill you to like, I want to save you so badly. 148 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,160 And so we went home and my dad was trying to do different 149 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,080 things on his and his own power and his own knowledge, but 150 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:56,840 nothing was working. Nothing was working. 151 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,240 It just got worse and worse and worse and worse and, and 152 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,760 finally, eventually they gave up and, and they're like, that's, 153 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,800 that's it. So they started doing 154 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,440 preparations for funeral and everything. 155 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,840 And in that, my grandma's house and that night when they invite 156 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,960 the people like the family and the neighbors over. 157 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,640 So just to kind of give you an idea how funerals work in Peru. 158 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,400 So let's say I died today, they will immediately do all the 159 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,400 preparations to the funeral right away. 160 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,320 And it's a whole night process. Like you're supposed to be with 161 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,240 the person all night until the next day. 162 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,600 And then they take it to the cemetery either after lunch, 163 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,120 it's usually in the afternoon. That's just how they do it. 164 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,240 So you basically have about 24 hours to, you know, that time 165 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,520 frame. So people were in my house, 166 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,960 everybody was there. And people will make comments. 167 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,440 Oh my goodness, made made out my, my dad who said he always 168 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,000 save a lot of people. They were really close to that 169 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,080 how he couldn't save his daughter. 170 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,120 Like he, the people just make comments about it. 171 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,760 And, and so they were there, people were there. 172 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,840 And then my dad, I guess he invites somebody from the 173 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,360 Catholic Church and they came and they did the, what's it 174 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,760 called? Like the rest in peace thing I 175 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,480 love every time I say we always joke about it when we're like 176 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,960 recipes, they throw the holy water on me and every all that 177 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,560 process and like, I can't believe you do all of that. 178 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,080 They didn't know the Lord. They didn't know what they were 179 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:29,240 doing. They were just hopeless. 180 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,600 They just gave up completely. And so they did all of that. 181 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,640 And so it was days of me not having any kind of, it's kind of 182 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,680 it's what do they call when you are in? 183 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:43,840 I don't know what's the term for it. 184 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,440 I know the term in Spanish. I don't know in English. 185 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,840 When you're completely out, you don't cry, you don't nothing 186 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,720 like. Almost unconscious. 187 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,320 Yeah, completely unconscious. So that's, that was the stage I 188 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,040 was in and I was completely like my mom says, I could see your 189 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:57,400 bones. You were so skinny. 190 00:09:57,960 --> 00:09:59,920 Super, super. It's like you didn't look like a 191 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:02,440 baby anymore. It was just like a dead person, 192 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:04,520 like just your I can see your bones. 193 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,280 It was bad. It was so bad. 194 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:12,000 So the next day around lunchtime my mom would not eat. 195 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,000 They were forcing my mom you need to eat Santa. 196 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,960 She was just crying, crying cry and when she was about to eat 197 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:19,520 lunch. This is also really crazy 198 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,760 because I can completely relate as a mom. 199 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,280 When she was about to literally eat her lunch, that's when I 200 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,280 started crying. I don't know where my mom again 201 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,280 when she was about to eat and she stopped eating to say see 202 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,480 that's what kids did to the mom anyway. 203 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,320 So I decided to wake up and I start crying. 204 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,800 My mom run, run. She couldn't have more. 205 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,200 She couldn't go any faster. She run and took me out of 206 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,160 there, took me out of there and then they start doing things and 207 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,800 my dad came and got some IVIIV is out of the warrior. 208 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,600 Put lots of medicine. Like everybody was so confused. 209 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,560 It's like, what is going on? So they he started putting a lot 210 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:00,360 of medicine. Y'all are at the funeral? 211 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,640 Yeah, y'all are about that was. People, they're about to take me 212 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,360 so that I would say maybe a few more hours and they were fixing 213 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,680 take me to the cemetery. So in that moment they're like, 214 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,120 OK, we need to do this, this whole thing. 215 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:14,440 We have to do this papers and stuff. 216 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,240 I didn't even have a name at that time. 217 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,360 It was crazy. It was crazy. 218 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,760 Like my mom said, I wasn't even thinking about it. 219 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:22,840 I mean, you were so sick, you were dying. 220 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,200 You didn't have a name. You didn't have nothing. 221 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:30,040 So one of my I had a my godmother that she came and 222 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,840 that's when they pick my name. I'm I'm named after my grandma 223 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,360 and my mom. My my grandma name is Rosa and 224 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,920 my mom's Lucy. But here's The funny thing. 225 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,440 My my mom. So my they were like trying to 226 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,720 do the pay the decide the name. OK, Rosa Lucy. 227 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,560 All right, that doesn't sound. Let's do Rosa Luce. 228 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,120 That's my name. Rosa Rose and Lucy's light. 229 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,680 Rosa Rose light. So they decided that day and 230 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:01,120 that desperation and all the craziness, that's my name, 231 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,160 right? Three months later, they find 232 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:06,960 out. No, they, they knew this. 233 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,680 My my my dad's ex wife's name is also Rosa Luce. 234 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:12,480 Oh. Yeah. 235 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,240 Oh, your mom didn't know that? Or she, but she was in the mist. 236 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:22,120 They didn't think about it. Okay, okay. 237 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,160 I still had this name, but it's always been the joke. 238 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,560 Like, OK, this is what happens. You pick your child's name in 239 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,200 the funeral or when you're running crazy. 240 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,320 In a moment of despair, they were like, man, I love that 241 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,160 name. And then much later your mouth 242 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,920 like, wait. Wait a minute, like your dad 243 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,160 didn't say anything. Why? 244 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,280 Well, I don't know what happened there, but anyway, we talk about 245 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,200 that all the time. But yeah, that's not the reason 246 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,880 my name came because my grandma and my mom. 247 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,280 So we always thought that, but it's still funny that his ex was 248 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,000 also called the same name. Anyway, moving on. 249 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,400 So that happened. So immediately after she took me 250 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,200 out with they did all the process it. 251 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,600 My mom says it took about six to seven months to completely for 252 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:10,640 me to get back to my that yes, it was a long, long 6-7 months. 253 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,400 But again, just watching my mom says, I think that needed to 254 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:20,000 happen because your dad like he tried to kill you. 255 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,200 I'm I'm just going to say it. I would like it is he did try to 256 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,920 kill me and he didn't want to have you. 257 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,720 And, and, and it was always something that always came to my 258 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,200 mind because when I heard the story and everything, I was 259 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:37,400 like, OK, I see why? And it was just very different. 260 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,120 And, and I always had that thought like, was I supposed to 261 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:41,880 be here? I was questioning that, like 262 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,640 because of the things that I didn't still didn't see any 263 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,120 change in my dad. He was still mean to my mom. 264 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,880 He was fine with me, but he was mean to my mom. 265 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,600 And I didn't like that. I was like, I don't want to be 266 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,240 with somebody that is like that. And I always pray, pray for my 267 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,080 mom, pray for my dad, that he would change. 268 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,120 So when I came, when I came after years later, when my 269 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,040 childhood out, all the singers came out and I started going to 270 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,000 church. I remember my neighbor, she 271 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,160 invited me to go to come to church and I would go on 272 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,400 Sundays. I would go to every single 273 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,120 Sunday. They will let me go. 274 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,480 But I was also the type of kid they would kind of do it 275 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,440 whatever they want. And because they didn't really, 276 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,800 that's just kind of the style. They're like, kids would just go 277 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:28,360 do things. They know how to cross the 278 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,200 street. They know they, I can sense 279 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,680 danger because I grew up in an environment where nobody's right 280 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,400 next to you the whole time protecting you. 281 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,200 And, and even until this day, I still sense when something's 282 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,000 about to happen. And it's because of that, like 283 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,200 we're always just free. Do different things. 284 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,640 I started working at the age of 8 selling flowers and I did all 285 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,000 kinds of things. And in a lot of those places 286 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,280 that I was was dangerous and I later I was like, I don't know 287 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,240 how in the world. None of that craziness has 288 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:00,880 happened. I always been around water. 289 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,200 I still don't know how to swim to this day. 290 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,640 Until this day. Yeah, I still don't. 291 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,760 That's what I'm saying dangerous always kind of a the thing that 292 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,400 it was around me. But the only the Lord will 293 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:19,520 protect you and but the place when I at the age of eight, that 294 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,960 same age age, I remember when it was getting closer to Christmas, 295 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,400 that's when they would do a list of all we're going to do our 296 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,760 Christmas program. We need to make a list of the 297 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,480 kids that are regular attenders so we can have like a special 298 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,200 Christmas event and we're going to have gifts and stuff. 299 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,920 I don't remember ever having a gift for even for my birthday. 300 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,720 So didn't it didn't catch my attention. 301 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,920 I didn't expect it. I didn't grow up expecting a 302 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,080 gift. So when they put my name on that 303 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,560 list, I was like, Oh my goodness, my name is on the 304 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,560 list. I got so excited. 305 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,680 I was like, OK, how is that going to look like? 306 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,480 So finally the day came and there was a lot of kids. 307 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,880 I remember at the church, our church was very small. 308 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,760 I was about maybe 50 to 60 people. 309 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,360 But there was a lot of kids, lots of kids every Sunday. 310 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:15,160 And so that day, I remember coming to the church super 311 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:21,880 excited and, and they started calling people by name and, and 312 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,320 there was boxes in the, in the, where the, the stages. 313 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:26,920 I was like, what those boxes are for? 314 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,880 I said, what is that? I was so confused and like very 315 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,480 like curious, what is all of that? 316 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,760 I had no idea what it was. So they were just kind of 317 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,320 explaining, OK, we're going to call. 318 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,480 It was an alphabetic order. We're going to call by names 319 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:43,720 and, and, and they will open our our boxes all at the same time. 320 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,040 And one of the thing, it was like a happy and sad day. 321 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:56,520 It was happy because I felt like, OK, somebody care for me. 322 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,600 My name is on this list. And but there's also a lot of 323 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,280 kids outside the church that it couldn't come inside. 324 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,640 And that just broke my heart. I was, I want all of them to be 325 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,480 here and be receiving these gifts too. 326 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:11,960 And I still didn't know what it was inside. 327 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,280 I was just thinking in my head how special that was. 328 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,240 And but yeah, but maybe they didn't go to church as as much 329 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:20,760 like I did. So I was just trying to tell 330 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,319 what what can I do about it? And and then the time came and 331 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:26,920 then they start calling the names and everything. 332 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:31,320 So we're open the gifts. And it was very special. 333 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:36,360 I remember opening this box and there was there was a lot of few 334 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,760 toys in there. There was like a, a coloring 335 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,880 book. There was a little Bible, like a 336 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,720 new, you know, those New Testaments that we usually give 337 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,360 away. There was the New Testament 338 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,480 pencils and, and, and I remember there was a toiletry like they 339 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,240 had like a shampoo, a lotion. And there was something else. 340 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,200 I can't remember what it was, but it was all in English. 341 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:58,880 I knew it was coming from United States. 342 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,720 And inside that, that was also a leather the, the person that 343 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,960 made the boss for me, her name is Rachel. 344 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:07,880 I still don't know who she is, where she is. 345 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,640 I just know she lives in the States, but that's all. 346 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,280 That's all I know. And I remember the people that 347 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,840 have letters in their boxes. We had somebody that would read 348 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,520 for us, translate it, translate it for us. 349 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:23,560 And it was, it was very profound. 350 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,200 I was like, OK, they're going to read these, these letters for 351 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,680 us. And I happen to have one, that's 352 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,440 what I, how I find out that the lady, the girl that made the box 353 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,920 for me was her name was Rachel. So when they read the, the 354 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:43,640 letter, that was the first time that I have heard somebody say 355 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,280 that they love me. They didn't know my name, 356 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:52,240 obviously, but God had that special price for me. 357 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,640 That was the first encounter that, oh, this is how this guy 358 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,920 is showing me that he loved me, that he cares for me. 359 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,920 And I remember being so excited about this shampoo. 360 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:03,680 I was sorry. I want shampoo. 361 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,240 I'd never had shampoo before. We always just use just a cheap 362 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,200 soap to wash our hair. My hair has always been long. 363 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,880 I mean, it's long right now, but it was longer than this, longer 364 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,840 than this. I always had my hair long. 365 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,360 And as a little girl, you know, a year old, I always wanted to 366 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,720 have a shampoo with my own. What's it called? 367 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,320 My own brush, my hair brush and stuff. 368 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,640 So that was not something that I had. 369 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,240 So it was just kind of like, OK, I wash my hair and go. 370 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,880 So when I had the shampoo, for whatever reason, that was the 371 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,520 thing that caught my attention, caught my attention. 372 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,840 But then also reading the letter saying how much that person 373 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:40,400 loved me, how much they care for me. 374 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,560 And and then at the end, I remember, if we don't ever get 375 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,840 to meet in earth, me with me in heaven. 376 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:55,520 And how about Jesus loves me? And I was like, is that the 377 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,160 Jesus that we talk about here at the church? 378 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,640 Because I was going there because church was my safe 379 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,520 place. Going home was not because there 380 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,800 was always fighting. There's a lot of hitting, 381 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,440 screaming that I will leave my house, go to my neighbors so I 382 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,440 can hide from it. So church was my safe place and, 383 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,960 and I and I always will be and I always tell my kids church was 384 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,960 my safe place. And as a mom now I have 4 kids, 385 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,240 I tried to create an environment where they feel safe, but 386 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:33,240 there's, it's a place that is the God is centered because I 387 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,680 didn't have that growing up. I tried to escape my house. 388 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,960 I I was more in the streets that I was in my house because of 389 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,880 that and I knew that I didn't want that for me, for my future, 390 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:45,680 for my kids. And that's when I wasn't even 391 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,000 thinking about family because I was a child. 392 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,920 But but that was the first encounter that I have with God 393 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,000 that he was telling me, Hey, I do care for you. 394 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,640 I love you and completely strange. 395 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,240 It wasn't my dad, it wasn't my mom. 396 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,840 It was a complete stranger that I still don't know who she is. 397 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,720 What? If she's listening right now, 398 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:12,680 Rachel, hang on, let's take a little break right there because 399 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,960 this isn't like an Operation Christmas child like plug. 400 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,440 We're not like trying to promote them, but honestly, like that's 401 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,680 a life changing moment. That is where you get to 402 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,640 experience the love of God right? 403 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,120 Like this is where you've been going to church. 404 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,960 But you're going to escape reality like and, and honestly, 405 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:37,040 what a like testimony in itself too, because like most people 406 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,560 when they have that type of reality, they're running to 407 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,840 other places, they're running to drugs and alcohol and, and then 408 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,040 and, or women or, you know, like all this stuff, you're escaping 409 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,360 in other ways for you, you're like, I'm going to escape to the 410 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,640 church. Don't even know what y'all got 411 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,000 going on, but it's a safe place here, you know, And then to hear 412 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,280 from God in such a big way, an operation Christmas job, 'cause 413 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,040 I want to add, like you said, you had never received a gift. 414 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,400 And there's so many times that, like me personally, OK, this is 415 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,320 just how I felt when I've done Operation Christmas Child 416 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:11,880 before. And it's like, I feel like 417 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,520 sometimes I just put in like stuff that's so cheap. 418 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,520 And so, you know, like little and stuff these like you, you 419 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,440 just received some shampoo and was over. 420 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,640 The moon. It was the best. 421 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,720 Like over the moon. And so like just putting that in 422 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:32,280 retrospect of like though, the kids in these places that we're 423 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:35,720 sending these boxes to, they don't have anything like they 424 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,040 don't have the opportunity to just shampoo their hair with 425 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,720 shampoo, you know, or have this nice soap or coloring pencils 426 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,320 and books. Like wow. 427 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:51,400 I just like, it's just so nice to hear that that's the impact 428 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,080 that the one of these boxes can have on someone's life. 429 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,280 You just never know. I know, like you're saying, you 430 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,560 know, when you do these boxes, you're just thinking, OK, I just 431 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,240 want to help somebody, but it's beyond it goes beyond that. 432 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,800 And the most important thing is that you're sharing the gospel 433 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:10,360 because I was able to hear the gospel that day and just 434 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,520 knowing, sharing that God loves everyone is that he loves, no 435 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,880 matter your background, where you live, where you grow up, 436 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,040 anything, he loves everyone. And, and just to get being a 437 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,640 part of that little piece, it's, it's, it's a, it's an honor. 438 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:29,480 And, and I, I happened to be privileged to receive that. 439 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:31,880 And God had a plan. He had a purpose. 440 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,400 It started from that box. And so kind of moving from 441 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,200 there. So at that moment, that was the 442 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,280 time I had. And I remember going home super 443 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,880 happy sharing that with my, my mom and my dad. 444 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,920 My dad was kind of like, he didn't have a lot of emotions at 445 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:48,560 the moment. It was like kind of whatever. 446 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:54,040 And because he didn't care for church, but I knew that day 447 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,160 because of the kids I that I watch they're, they wanted to 448 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,440 come here as I, you know what? I want to do something about it. 449 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,880 And I remember with my mom, we decided, you know what, why 450 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,560 don't I say we need to come to church with me. 451 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:06,720 You need to come to church with me. 452 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,600 And then she started coming. We would try to kind of almost 453 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,040 hiding from my dad to go like when he was in the hospital 454 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,240 because he wore different shifts, weird ships and, and the 455 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,680 times when he was working and it was time for us to go to church. 456 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,560 We'll go to church. And she was a completely jealous 457 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,440 person. He will always say, oh, my mom 458 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:24,840 goes to church to see the pastor. 459 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:26,760 I'm like, why are you talking now? 460 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,080 I mean, he would try to find any excuse for us not to go. 461 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:36,600 And we pray for my dad. I remember so many times getting 462 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,600 our knees with my mom and praying for him because we knew 463 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,120 that there was hope and and we didn't see it happen soon and we 464 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:45,680 wanted to happen this fast as we could. 465 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,080 But again, it's not in our control and we just have to rely 466 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,200 on him and let him do his job as we are continuing to pray and 467 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,040 surrender lives to him and serving him. 468 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,360 So my mom and I, we created this kind of club on Saturdays where 469 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:04,200 we will have our, the kids from our, my neighborhood that will 470 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,120 come to our house and we, we will do like a little service. 471 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,800 We will tell like a Bible story and then we will feed them. 472 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,320 So we will feed them because food brings everybody and, and 473 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,040 people love to eat. I love to eat. 474 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,760 So let's do that. So we started that we were, I 475 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,440 remember we're doing Saturdays. So every Saturday that was, that 476 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,960 had nothing to do with church. So it was just something that I 477 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,080 wanted to do because of I have received, I wanted to give that 478 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,080 in return. It's good because I was like, 479 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,160 OK, God has blessed me with this and my dad and his, his alcohol 480 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,800 problem and stuff. It was bad. 481 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:46,160 But financially later on we, it became better and I knew I was 482 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,120 working and all my money that I have, I would use it for, to 483 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:53,440 help somebody to do something. It wasn't so much about me. 484 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,360 And I remember paying for my light, for my electricity, for 485 00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:59,920 my water, helping my house and my, my parents didn't ask me to 486 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:01,440 do that. It was just something that I, I 487 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,120 wanted to do because I don't know, I just wanted to, to be a 488 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,320 part of that. And they were blessing me with 489 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,840 food already. And that was just my way of 490 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,760 giving back to them. So I always was that way. 491 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,440 And so my mom was like, OK, we're going to do this service 492 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,600 and stuff. So my dad was watching that like 493 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,000 us do these things and like, and then he eventually he's like, 494 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,240 OK, I guess I can go to church too. 495 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:31,360 So he started coming to church with us and again, he he comes 496 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:34,320 kind of was listening to things, but he will still go back and 497 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,240 get drunk. So if this is back and forth, 498 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,000 it's a constant fight. It's a battle that you struggle 499 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:40,560 with, especially when you have addictions. 500 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,240 And I remember my pastor, his name is Lenny. 501 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,000 When he finally came close to my dad, he becomes friends with him 502 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:53,760 and when he was in the process of living alcohol life, he was 503 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,240 very consistent. I remember I've never seen that 504 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,600 somebody's been so consistent with him and how he, I say him 505 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,680 like he was my spiritual dad at that moment because he helped me 506 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,120 so much. A lot of times when my dad was 507 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:09,240 drunk, he will come, come and clean him. 508 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,200 Like literally come put him in the shower, clean him up, talk 509 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,080 to him, pray for him. And I will never forget that. 510 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:22,000 And I always think about him because he was so violent. 511 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,840 We as girls, we couldn't do much because if we tried something, 512 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,360 he would just hit somebody and and I don't know, he just had a 513 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:32,840 way to get to him And it was just the Lord. 514 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:38,360 He I think he used him and that way and watching him was like 515 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:43,520 this is how Jesus he's using his like Jesus and him so coming and 516 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:48,040 help my dad and there will be times I remember when he be 517 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,400 finally became a he accept cries. 518 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,440 He said he will change and do all these things and then we 519 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,680 will get back to gang. You know, it was just constant. 520 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,960 I remember one time I was I will follow my dad everywhere because 521 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,480 I was so scared that he would get drunk, somebody would hit 522 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:09,040 him or kill him and do something crazy and he will I remember one 523 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,960 time he was like holding. He was like drinking. 524 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,520 He had his Bible. I was like, what is going on 525 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,560 here? I was like, OK, you can do both 526 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,560 things. It is like crazy how he was 527 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,120 acting and eventually just got better and better. 528 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:28,160 We just continue to pray and pray is such a powerful thing. 529 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,840 Never stop praying. My mom and I, we pray for my dad 530 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,680 for a long time. And if there's a lot of 531 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,280 suffering, lots of crying, lots of, we lost so many things. 532 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,760 And one of the things that I didn't share too was I lost my 533 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,960 sister when I was 3. This was from my mom's, my mom's 534 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,840 first marriage. My mom went like I married when 535 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,480 she was 16. It was an arranged marriage. 536 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,760 It was not something that she wanted. 537 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,080 It was one of those things like if you don't get married with 538 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,040 this guy, you can stay in the jungle forever. 539 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,880 And she didn't want that. She wanted to leave the jungle, 540 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,680 go to the city, go to school. And she, she agreed to married 541 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,080 to this person, not because she loved that person. 542 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,280 And but she got pregnant. She didn't know anything about 543 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,120 taking care of yourself, like none of that stuff. 544 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,200 So she was very clueless. And, and so she got pregnant 545 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,440 with my sister. She was older than me for five 546 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,360 years, about 5 to 6 years. And so, yeah, she had her, her 547 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,680 thing and, and my, my sister died in a very tragic accident 548 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,200 that I, I was able to, to get out of that. 549 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,720 And she was there was this place close to the house where they 550 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,440 have like a like lots of sand, lots of sand. 551 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:42,960 And they create kind of like a tunnel. 552 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,840 And we kids are always industry. We just go play any place we 553 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:48,400 want. So they were playing in there 554 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:53,000 and we got inside the whole and the whole thing the same 555 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,440 collapse on the kids. It took three days for them to 556 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,800 find them where they were because the place was so big. 557 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:05,960 My mom, my mom went through so much when my dad, well, with me 558 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:11,200 being pregnant, my dad's addiction, losing her child 559 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:17,760 tragically and watching my mom do that, that was really hard 560 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,600 for me. That was really, really hard. 561 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,680 So we lost her. It was 3 kids that died. 562 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,720 It was twins and my sister, and that was from my mom's first 563 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,760 marriage. And the first person the people 564 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,400 thought had something to do with my dad, they're like, oh, 565 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,600 probably, he probably did something to her 'cause he 566 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,560 wanted his daughter. And he always went to prison for 567 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,320 it, that there was a whole process. 568 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,280 And so they find out it was an accident and my mom went to the, 569 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,040 like, how do you call the. They weren't Christians at the 570 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,680 time. So they were, she went to the 571 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,160 witch, like trying to figure out where she was. 572 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,920 And because they couldn't find, they were like, missing. 573 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,240 They had, it was they were really close to the house, like 574 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:54,880 a psychic. Yeah. 575 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,160 Like trying to OK. Trying to figure out where she 576 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,960 was because she was desperate. She was very desperate. 577 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:03,360 So my mom trying to recover from that, that was really hard. 578 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,600 But then my my dad came to the lower and they started serving 579 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,400 together and at the age of 11, that's when my mom and my dad 580 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,440 got married. Oh wow, yeah. 581 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,160 'Cause they weren't married. I didn't know that. 582 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,600 OK. They were not married, so 583 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,520 everything was just kind of they just got, she got pregnant and 584 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,120 then just kind of happened. He tried to kill me all of that 585 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,320 and but never, but there was never a comment because my dad 586 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,960 didn't believe in that. So, so he finally, when he had 587 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,760 malaria, he had malaria and he almost that almost killed him. 588 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:42,040 When he recovered from malaria, he got this, this the Lord 589 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:44,400 really caught his attentions that you need to do this. 590 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,560 I know you're safe. But he knew that one of the 591 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,400 things that he need to do, you need to get married because 592 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,280 you're not leaving. And that way you have to get 593 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,400 married. So when he got out of that 594 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:56,520 hospital, that's the first thing he did. 595 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,960 Wow. I remember singing, Oh, my dad's 596 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,960 waiting. Oh, wow, yeah, it was. 597 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:03,560 It was really nice. It was good. 598 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,880 That is, I mean, because sometimes it does take us to get 599 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,080 in those desperate places like getting severely sick or like on 600 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,600 our deathbeds or something like that, to get our. 601 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,760 Attention. You know, I don't want, I like 602 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,720 some people always talk about like these boring testimonies 603 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,160 and I'm like, I don't want people to have to experience 604 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,320 these things to get your attention. 605 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,800 Like boring testimonies is such a like a big thing, like it 606 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,120 really is. So your dad does like, you know, 607 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,000 start walking faithfully with the Lord. 608 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:39,200 Him and your mom are still together to this day. 609 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,760 Like after all of this, like there, it could have been a lot 610 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,400 of different outcomes, but. They served together within so 611 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,800 many trips together. It was so obvious, like people 612 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,040 in the hospital. They were always, I remember 613 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,480 you're not supposed to do this, but he would share the gospel to 614 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,240 the the people in the hospital. And he, I remember one of the 615 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,560 things that he always loved was he would have like Christian 616 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,760 movies. He will give away to people and 617 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,560 they will also do he. We always love music in my house 618 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:10,000 and he was big on music. I love singing and he didn't 619 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:11,840 sing good, but he loved listening. 620 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,800 And so he will always record different like Christian music. 621 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,560 He would share with people in the hospital if they knew they 622 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,160 were really sick or some sometimes people that that they 623 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,720 couldn't do anything in the hospital, like kind of what 624 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,240 happened to me, they will send into my house. 625 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,400 They will come to my house, discharge from the hospital and 626 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,520 my dad will care for them until the very end. 627 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,720 But part of that was amazing because he will, again, it's in 628 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,480 my house. I get to show the gospel. 629 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:39,800 I get there. Lots of people came to Christ 630 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,640 because of what he was done. He was doing. 631 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:44,920 People they weren't, they couldn't afford to go to the 632 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:46,280 hospital. They will go to our house. 633 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,760 My dad knew a lot of people. A lot of people knew him and 634 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,880 because he was such a serving, serving person, he loved helping 635 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:55,560 people. A lot of times people don't even 636 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,560 pay him. He didn't care because I just 637 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,560 want to help people. I want this is my calling and 638 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:05,200 why not use my career and also share the gospel with people 639 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,600 when when they're in this time where they're in need of 640 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,280 physical, they need their health back, but they also need Christ. 641 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,520 And a lot of this, this moments when he had with these people, a 642 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,040 lot of these people came to Christ. 643 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,560 We have people living with us for months and until they got 644 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,120 back to their feet and then go back to their homes and it was 645 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,120 very beautiful. We've seen so many kids being 646 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,400 born in my house, many kids being bored. 647 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,040 That was the most beautiful thing for me to see and I 648 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,440 remember every time every kid was born in my house. 649 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,840 We'll pray for them, pray for their families. 650 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,159 And that was something that that I wanted to do growing up. 651 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,719 I want to, I want to deliver babies when I grow up. 652 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,120 And my dad was so gracious. He will always let me in to the 653 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,120 room. I watched the kids being bored. 654 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,239 It was so fascinating, so fascinating. 655 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:54,760 I don't love that. Kid, I'll be like. 656 00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,080 I will not sleep if I if I had AI had a feeling like a this, 657 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,120 she's probably going to have a baby, maybe I don't know, 1-2. 658 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,240 I kind of have an idea. So I'm not going to sleep. 659 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,040 I would just no sleep and I still don't sleep well at night 660 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,160 because I had that issue. I don't sleep. 661 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,360 That's that's what she got used to. 662 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,240 So you're like. Like I was scared to miss the 663 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:16,880 baby. I want to see the baby. 664 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,080 So it was, it was really special, like watching God 665 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:26,280 transform my dad's life was very beautiful, very beautiful. 666 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:31,200 And see him serve him passionately because he was so 667 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:36,880 passionate about what he's done and seeing reconciliation with 668 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,920 his older kids because he, he didn't really raise his kids. 669 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,800 There were so many, but we're talking about four different 670 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,600 women here. And when he became the Christ, 671 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,360 he, he knew it was important for him to have a good relationship 672 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:51,800 with his kids. And I had a few of them that 673 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,680 came to live with us. My mom was super nice to them 674 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,920 and they went to college and then they went away with their 675 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,000 families and stuff. But every time when we have them 676 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,080 together with us, he will always share the gospel with them. 677 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:08,760 And a lot of times they were very not trustful because of how 678 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,880 he's done things in the past. And, and I, I mean, they had the 679 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:19,160 reasons why, but they also see how much he cared for them, even 680 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,960 though their childhood was not how they wanted to be and how 681 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,200 God has changed them. And, and just starting from 682 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,960 there, you know, and forgiveness was a huge, I learned 683 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:33,840 forgiveness with my dad, seeing him, even though there's a lot 684 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,200 of things that he's done to my mom and me. 685 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,440 I, I got so close to my dad. I think I was the closest to my 686 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,640 dad that I was to my mom. So when he passed away, it was 687 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,000 really, really hard for me. It was so hard, especially when 688 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,840 you were far away and, and not being able to, I miss my dad's 689 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,400 funeral because I just had a baby after he passed. 690 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,160 So it was difficult. But again, but our only hope is 691 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,520 Jesus. And I know one day we will meet 692 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:02,040 again. And and that was that's the best 693 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:05,160 thing it could happen, I think knowing that he's in a good 694 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,840 place and there will be a renowned king, yes, that's 695 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:10,920 that's all I can think of. Absolutely. 696 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:16,920 So, but before he did pass, you know, he did know your husband 697 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:18,520 and and got to meet your husband. 698 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,720 So let's talk a little bit about how you got here, how you and 699 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:25,600 Eric met. And yeah, talk a little bit 700 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,360 about that. So my husband, my lovely 701 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,400 husband, OK, so because of the things that happened in my 702 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,440 childhood and everything, marriage and all that, marriage 703 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:40,480 was not something that I dream of because of, I didn't have a 704 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,960 good example, just the things that I saw and my dad being with 705 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,560 multiple women, having different kids from different places, you 706 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,200 know, it was just, I don't want that. 707 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,160 I don't want that. I would rather be single. 708 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,960 So, and, and that's probably why I always was trying to do things 709 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,760 on my own since I was little, like I didn't have to depend on 710 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,360 the man. So that was kind of my mentality 711 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:05,560 and just, I'm just going to dedicate my life to Christ and 712 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,360 serve him. And, but I don't even know, I 713 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,560 don't even know, man. I was scared. 714 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,080 I was scared. I was like, I don't, I had trust 715 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:18,120 issues because of the things that I saw. 716 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,880 So I was like, I don't know if I can trust somebody like fully if 717 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:25,320 I get married, that's it. That's the person I have to be 718 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:27,760 forever and I don't know if I can do that. 719 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,200 So trust issues, that's always been issue for me. 720 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:37,720 And about 2008 I was doing my kids ministry already serving 721 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:40,280 the Lord with my mom, doing my club on Saturdays. 722 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,320 I met a friend of Mission and friend Brandon that he would do 723 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:46,880 trips in the river like different places that will bring 724 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,800 people from different places and they will the kids ministry, 725 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,960 students ministry was a little better everything. 726 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,160 So when I met him, I started doing trips. 727 00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,520 It wasn't just I'm going to do this thing on my house. 728 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,440 It was more like, OK, let's go to this this city or let's go to 729 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,160 this place, this community. And so we will go so many 730 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,560 different places. We will do kids many we will do. 731 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,800 How do you call when you don't have like Weld Well is that the 732 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,480 word well water? Well water We would do well 733 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,280 water for places they don't have access to water. 734 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:24,200 So it was a minute to do a little bit of everything. 735 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,800 So in this trips my parents were coming as the medical support. 736 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,880 So when we will have because a lot of the people were Americans 737 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:37,400 and let's say something happened you you get bit by the snake or 738 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,040 you get, I mean, it could happen anything in the jungle. 739 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,760 So we always have somebody that will take care of that. 740 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:47,120 My dad and my mom would do that. So I was doing ministry. 741 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,760 They were doing the medical thing, but also doing, you know, 742 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:55,120 the ministry part of it. So in that summer 2008, my 743 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,560 husband's invited to come to help with this specific mission 744 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,560 and my friend. We talk about this all the time. 745 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,760 He was trying to set us up and he did and he did. 746 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,680 So my husband has never dated anybody. 747 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,520 And because they're friends. So they were like, OK, you're 748 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:14,680 getting older. I guess. 749 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:16,400 I don't know. Maybe they're worried about him. 750 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,640 I don't know. So he's like, I want you to come 751 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:21,800 and I have this girl that it's in the ministry. 752 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:23,200 I would love for you to meet her. 753 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,520 And my husband always, he's like Brandon, I'm not going there to 754 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,440 meet girls. I'm just going to go to help 755 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:30,800 you. We're just doing ministry. 756 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:34,000 So all it started like that. So he still agree, OK, I'm going 757 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:35,560 to come, it's vacation, I'm going to go. 758 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,040 So every vacation that he had when he was not working, he will 759 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,280 always do some mission trip somewhere and. 760 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,440 He didn't go on a normal vacation, no. 761 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:45,880 He would. I'm going to go serve the Lord 762 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:47,760 somewhere. He's but he's been so many 763 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:51,760 places. You can ask him and but yeah, he 764 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:54,840 happens to go there later. He know what was going to happen 765 00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:58,520 there. So before we met in person, I 766 00:40:58,520 --> 00:40:59,800 get this phone call from my friend. 767 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,600 He was in Lima. You have to go to Lima first 768 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,040 before you go anywhere else in Peru. 769 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,320 He's like, hey, Rosa, how are you doing? 770 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,240 Like, hey, why is he calling me? He's like, hey, I have a friend 771 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:12,080 of mine. He's coming to help us out and I 772 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,400 would love for you to meet him. And do you want to talk to him? 773 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,520 I say, what does he speak Spanish? 774 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,360 It's like no. Or that I don't want to talk to 775 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:22,600 him. I don't want to talk to him. 776 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,880 He's in the phone and then he's just kind of laughing, like I 777 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,600 can't hear, kind of giggling and say, well, I think he wants to 778 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,360 talk to you. OK, I'm just going to pass you 779 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,280 the phone to your future husband, he says. 780 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:38,760 That you can't speak English at the time you say Spanish, I 781 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:39,720 said. So mad. 782 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:43,240 I got so mad when he said I pass you the phone to your future 783 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:44,920 husband. I didn't even know his name. 784 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,480 He just said friend and I got mad. 785 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,400 I got on the phone and he tried to say some stuff. 786 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,280 I have no clue what he said. And from then it didn't start 787 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:56,560 good. It didn't start good. 788 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:00,960 So the next day I came off the phone and then the next day he 789 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:06,240 shows up in my house with him. No eye contact, no hello, no 790 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:09,320 nothing. He's like sitting in the 791 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:14,440 mesedora in my living room. And if you ask him, he said he 792 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,400 will tell you. That day when I came to your 793 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,080 house and I saw you, I knew you were the 1. 794 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,640 I had no feelings. I have like you're more 795 00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:25,080 spiritual than I was because I don't feel a thing. 796 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,400 I was just mad. I was just so mad. 797 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:32,280 I'm mad with Brandon and kind of mad with him because he kind of 798 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,680 let him do that. But yeah, it wasn't his fault. 799 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,120 He was just, he was the friend just doing all that. 800 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,040 So that's how it started. So when we started doing our 801 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:45,720 trips, because he knew I was the one he was showing that I was he 802 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,480 was going to get me somehow. It was very obvious like he will 803 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,080 we will do the mission and everything. 804 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:55,000 But he was so, so consist. He was trying to learn Spanish 805 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,840 so fast, which he did. It took it took him a month. 806 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,840 If you think, oh, he will try the hardest. 807 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:05,640 He will learn Spanish. So he will carry his dictionary 808 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:09,040 like this humans book everywhere he will go. 809 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:13,200 It was so embarrassing anyway. And we have a group of people, 810 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,600 they will be like the translators for the missionary 811 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,480 when they share testimony. So we had a group that will come 812 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,600 with a team. And then everybody knew he was 813 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:23,800 in love. Everybody I knew too. 814 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:27,520 But I was just very, yeah, I was just not, no, I'm like. 815 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,680 So because of that, I kind of took advantage of that. 816 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:35,760 But I was just being so mean. And at one point he said that in 817 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:37,040 Spanish. He was trying to say in Spanish 818 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,680 he wants to marry me when we were one of the places. 819 00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,720 And I told him no, I said I don't want to marry you. 820 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,080 Oh, so he went and started crying. 821 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,560 I thought he was crying like joking crying, but he was crying 822 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:53,960 for real in the tree. And one of the trans that people 823 00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:55,880 that translated for us. He comes to be like, what did 824 00:43:55,880 --> 00:44:01,200 you do to to the gringo? He says I didn't do anything. 825 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:03,440 He's crying over there. Why did you do that? 826 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:05,920 I didn't do anything. He was saying that he wants he 827 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:09,200 he wants to marry me and I told him no because I do not want to 828 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:14,120 marry him. And but I guess he was thinking 829 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:16,600 he was serious. I was not serious. 830 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,200 He was very serious, this. Is really like within a 2 month 831 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:22,600 time? Yeah, when in two months it was 832 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:26,120 so early, like there's no way. He told me that he's never dated 833 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:27,680 anybody. I didn't believe him. 834 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,960 I was like, there's no way you're like, how old, 2324? 835 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:32,920 There's no way you're never dated anybody. 836 00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:37,520 Just lying so completely. Just I completely shut it down 837 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:41,320 from the beginning, past the time he was still there, very 838 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,440 consistent, trying to be nice and everything, learning, trying 839 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:49,320 to learn Spanish so badly, so badly, still doing missions, 840 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,360 serving together. And towards the end, there was 841 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:55,600 one more trip that we need to do that I could not go. 842 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:59,840 I happened to go back to the city because I had to go sing 843 00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:02,680 for an event that they had in the city because there's this 844 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,360 big festival that we have in cities. 845 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,600 I had to go and sing for that, so I left. 846 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:12,040 So we had this separation and that same week happens to be his 847 00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:14,520 birthday. That was July 14th, I remember. 848 00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,040 And for whatever reason I started missing him was like, 849 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,360 what's going on? Why am I feeling this? 850 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:25,280 And it just started clicking on me like what? 851 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,240 Why am I feeling this Lord? Why it's happening with me? 852 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,560 And I knew it was his birthday. So I called to the place. 853 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,440 There's only one phone for this whole community that you have to 854 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:34,480 call. So everybody knew. 855 00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,080 Everybody will know who you're calling, who you can talk to. 856 00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:39,400 So I was like, should I do that or no? 857 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,040 So I was thinking, should I do that or no, OK, I'm going to do 858 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,520 it anyway. So I called just to say happy 859 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:46,840 birthday. And for him, that was the 860 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:51,080 greatest thing in the world. He came back to the city and 861 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:53,000 that's when we officially went on our first day. 862 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:57,320 We went to watch a movie and have dinner. 863 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,440 We're this is so funny. We went to watch. 864 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:04,960 OK, you guys say Kung Fu Panda. I say Kung Fu Panda. 865 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:08,360 Y'all let the guys say Kung Fu Panda. 866 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:10,640 I didn't even, I don't even like movies. 867 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,080 I don't know why we did that anyway. 868 00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:15,800 So we went to watch a movie, then we went to eat dinner and 869 00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,400 then that was it. That was her only day that we 870 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:21,880 had and days after that was time for them to go. 871 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:27,240 So the day when we say goodbye, we we talked for a long time. 872 00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:30,480 We had my friend Brandon come in because we want to make sure he 873 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,720 understands all the day. I want to make sure I understand 874 00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:36,000 what he was saying in visa versa. 875 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:39,160 So one of the things that stood out to me that he told me that 876 00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:44,680 day was I know that I love you. I just can't stop thinking about 877 00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:46,040 you. I know that you're the person 878 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:47,960 for me. I knew the day that I came to 879 00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:49,200 your house, I knew you were the 1. 880 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:52,240 I know you're the one. I want you to pray for your 881 00:46:52,240 --> 00:46:53,600 place. I'm going back home. 882 00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,120 I don't know if I'm coming back. I don't know what God has in 883 00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:59,760 store for me, what God has in store for you, but I want both 884 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:03,480 of us to pray for each other. And when I come back, if I come 885 00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:05,520 back, it's not going to be because of a mission trip. 886 00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:11,640 It's going to be because of you. So that was July, and from July, 887 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,160 January, 6 months later, that's when he comes back. 888 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:17,160 He can't get his. He can't. 889 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:24,080 Get his going, he comes back. That's when we got engaged at 890 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:26,840 the church. He practiced everything I 891 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,240 remember and and when it was time for him to speak, he 892 00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:32,480 forgot. I have a video about it. 893 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:33,920 It's hilarious. I always joke. 894 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:37,120 I said you don't really ask me because you just put yourself 895 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,520 and then you get on your knee, give me the ring. 896 00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:43,880 But you didn't really ask me. So we always joke about it, but 897 00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:47,720 one of the things that was so important to me, it was the that 898 00:47:47,720 --> 00:47:49,320 I had to have the blessing for my parents. 899 00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:52,160 And my dad was always very, was always protective and very 900 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:55,840 jealous person. So at that time, before the 901 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:59,360 engagement happened, one day he asked me questions. 902 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:03,160 He's like, I see that he calls you every day and what's going 903 00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:04,640 on? Like what's, why is he calling 904 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:05,360 you? What is this? 905 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:09,120 And that even though he knew, I think he knew everybody knew, 906 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:13,680 but I think it was for me to say it and make it like formal, yes, 907 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:15,640 but I was scared. I was really scared. 908 00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:18,400 I was like, if I say something, that's going to be it. 909 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,920 He's never going to let me call, call him back. 910 00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,720 So that's going to be it. So I didn't want to, I didn't, I 911 00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:26,360 was trying to protect that. But at the same time, I was not 912 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:28,320 because I was like, I don't want to live like this. 913 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,960 I want my parents to know that this was going on and I went up 914 00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,640 there, agree with it. And when I finally talked to my 915 00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:37,280 dad, he was upset with me. He's like, why you didn't tell 916 00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,200 me this before? I was like, I don't know. 917 00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:42,000 I just thought you were going to be upset and you're not. 918 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,880 And he told me. I remember he said, I think he's 919 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,240 a good guy. And I saw him in the trips when 920 00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:50,000 we went together because I never did a mission trip without my 921 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:51,880 parents. I always go with them. 922 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:54,120 So he they knew everything, all the movements and everything 923 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,880 that was going on. So and they saw something 924 00:48:56,880 --> 00:49:01,800 different on him and, and just the way he treat me and and even 925 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:04,320 though I was mean to him, he would, he didn't care. 926 00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:12,040 He did not care. And again, I'm thinking back and 927 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:15,760 having him in my life. I always tell it I don't deserve 928 00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:17,680 that because I was very mean to you. 929 00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:21,400 I was so mean to you. And he's just the sweetest thing 930 00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:26,040 and super loving and something than I ever thought I would ever 931 00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:31,080 have because of I didn't have a good mainly like godly man 932 00:49:31,080 --> 00:49:34,080 examples in my life. So I never thought I could have 933 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:36,000 that. I never thought that existed. 934 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,840 But it's just God's love, seeing God's love through my husband, 935 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:44,320 the way he treats me and how he cares for me even with my 936 00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:51,040 baggage and choosing me every single day just like Jesus does 937 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,360 for for us. And that's a gift, something I 938 00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:59,200 treasure every single day. I'm not always lovable, but he's 939 00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,800 always there for me. And that's just got showing me 940 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:04,720 and how much he cares. He still cares for me even for 941 00:50:04,720 --> 00:50:08,880 this day. And so I moved here in 2010. 942 00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:10,680 April 12th. Yeah. 943 00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:15,640 No knowing a thing. It's just I just had this piece 944 00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:17,160 and that was the right thing for me to do. 945 00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:20,040 It was difficult to leave everything behind. 946 00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:26,400 My parents coming my wedding was super simple. 947 00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:28,000 I did not want to have a big wedding. 948 00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:32,000 I remember the night before my wedding I had cried so much. 949 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,720 I was like all the tears I could have because that's not have a 950 00:50:34,720 --> 00:50:38,000 picture, but I knew that that was the right thing. 951 00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:40,080 He was the right person and that's all it matter. 952 00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:42,960 I was like, I don't need to have this big wedding because like 953 00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:46,880 girls dreaming all this special and not that I'm saying this is 954 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:50,880 bad, but the most important thing is knowing that the person 955 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:53,920 that you have with you for the rest of your life is the person 956 00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:55,800 that guy have made exactly for you. 957 00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:58,720 That's that's the most important thing. 958 00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:03,120 And, and, and, and I can see that as a result now, because a 959 00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:05,080 wedding is just the wedding. You spend a lot of money. 960 00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:07,800 It's more for the guests than for you. 961 00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:13,200 And, and so we just got married in the backyard in my my in laws 962 00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:15,720 house. We had somebody to translate for 963 00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:19,320 me for, for the little wedding thing that we have. 964 00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,480 We ate burgers and that was it. We didn't know how to have. 965 00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:26,680 Y'all still like you? Like he was learning Spanish 966 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,560 doing pretty well. He will come, He still did. 967 00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:32,040 But you. Learned to learn English. 968 00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:36,240 This is straight up for real. Like 90 days, I'm not going out 969 00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:39,560 this. I did not learn a thing because 970 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:43,160 in my mind I was thinking, OK, maybe I moved there, Maybe I'll 971 00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:45,120 leave there for a few years and I just come back. 972 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:48,120 Yeah, that Lady was like, Nope, you're staying here, girl. 973 00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:51,800 I didn't have a choice. I didn't have a choice. 974 00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:54,800 I had to learn. I did not take, I didn't take 975 00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:57,000 English classes. I didn't learn English the 976 00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:01,120 formal way. I just kind of learn listening, 977 00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:05,680 talking, listening, talking. And you know what, that'll 978 00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:08,160 preach too, because how do we learn about God? 979 00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,280 We get plugged into these communities. 980 00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:12,720 We hear, you know, we read our Bibles. 981 00:52:12,720 --> 00:52:15,360 This stuff that you're saying is how you learned English because 982 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,000 there's so many times that people do say like, I don't know 983 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:20,560 all this stuff about God. Like I don't know what all you 984 00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:24,400 got to get plugged in. You know, and I think also 985 00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:28,560 knowing that if you know this is God's plan, he will work 986 00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:31,760 everything out the details that he will bring the right person 987 00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:33,600 to you. I have had people in my life 988 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:36,640 that have been like, I got my first job within a year. 989 00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:39,680 Wow. And that was a blessing. 990 00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,440 I was like, there's no way I have a job here in America. 991 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,680 I don't even speak English. How does that possible and what 992 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:50,800 the reason why they hired me, they call me because so the area 993 00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,200 where we live, there's a lot of bilingual people, a lot of 994 00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:56,240 Spanish population. And they knew I have done kids 995 00:52:56,240 --> 00:52:59,360 ministry for a long time. They needed somebody in the 996 00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:01,600 church. They speak Spanish. 997 00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:04,840 Wow. And I just happened to be there 998 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:07,680 at the right time. And I was a missions intern for 999 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:11,680 that church for about 3 years. And then I also started working 1000 00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:14,160 in the nursery because I mean nursery holding babies. 1001 00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:17,440 I don't need to speak English. They're not going to laugh on me 1002 00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:21,320 if I said something wrong. And I love babies, always love 1003 00:53:21,320 --> 00:53:23,720 babies, you know, love the deliveries and all that. 1004 00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:26,200 Just watch. It was beautiful and I also need 1005 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,480 to do something. I will tell you this though, the 1006 00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:33,600 first first year when we got married was very difficult 1007 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:38,720 because of the culture change and I still had insecurities 1008 00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:41,520 even though I knew he was the one. 1009 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:45,640 But it has something to that. I need Serena because I cannot 1010 00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:49,080 always have insecurities and and be jealous. 1011 00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:51,240 I had a lot of jealousy in my first year of marriage. 1012 00:53:51,240 --> 00:53:54,520 Oh my goodness. And he didn't do nothing, but it 1013 00:53:54,520 --> 00:53:56,520 was because of the things that I've seen. 1014 00:53:56,520 --> 00:53:59,800 I was comparing my husband, now husband with people from my 1015 00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:02,320 past. He had nothing to do with and 1016 00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:05,920 sometimes with as women, we do that often and like this is a 1017 00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:08,560 whole new person. Whatever happened before, 1018 00:54:08,560 --> 00:54:11,280 whatever you've seen in different people, that's not it. 1019 00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:14,640 And I was treating him in a different way. 1020 00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:17,520 My I was, I was struggling in my marriage my first year because 1021 00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:19,600 of that had nothing to do with him. 1022 00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:22,760 And I had to ask for forgiveness to my husband, say I'm doing 1023 00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:26,120 this because of the I need to surrender my past to the Lord 1024 00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:31,520 because a lot of times we do this and we've and we can judge 1025 00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:35,400 people based on what we left in the past and and that's not it. 1026 00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:39,640 I mean, my own insecurities, sometimes he doesn't trigger 1027 00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:41,200 anything. It's just me that I need to 1028 00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,760 internally bring it to God. It's between me and God. 1029 00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:47,600 And I say, you know, God, I need to completely move this away so 1030 00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:50,800 I can treat my husband the way you I need to do as a wife. 1031 00:54:51,320 --> 00:54:54,720 And that was really hard for me in my first years, trying to be 1032 00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:56,520 dependent on him. Oh man, that was hard. 1033 00:54:57,280 --> 00:55:00,520 After working your whole life and now knowing like what am I 1034 00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:02,840 going to do now I have to ask him to take me here. 1035 00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,960 I didn't know how to dry. I learned how to dry when I was 1036 00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:10,040 pregnant with my first. So it took me 4 years after 1037 00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:12,640 leaving here. It was hard. 1038 00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:16,240 It was really hard. And once again, he was very 1039 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:19,440 patience and very loud. He's got a lot of patience with 1040 00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:21,240 me. Such a great listener. 1041 00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:23,240 I talk so much. He's such a great listener and 1042 00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:28,200 but he's that's just how that's how he cared for me, how he 1043 00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:31,520 loved me. And now I mean, like I said, we 1044 00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:33,160 didn't our wedding was super simple. 1045 00:55:33,160 --> 00:55:35,720 We did not had a honeymoon. We couldn't afford a honeymoon 1046 00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,160 because we spent so much money in paperwork lawyers and all 1047 00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:42,400 because it's a lot of money for you to move here, especially 1048 00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:44,640 with the when you want to do it the right way. 1049 00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:48,760 It's a lot of money and he did invest a lot in me and 1050 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:52,560 financially for me to come here. So the least I could do is treat 1051 00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:55,400 him well, right? But I was not because of my 1052 00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:59,000 baggage before my before because of my insecurities had to bring 1053 00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:01,720 to the Lord. And when you're good with God, 1054 00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:04,360 everything else will fall in place. 1055 00:56:04,520 --> 00:56:07,960 You got to be able to love your husband the way that he you, you 1056 00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:12,160 should do as a wife like Christ. He was doing that for me, but I 1057 00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:16,120 was not doing that for him. And I was always trying to use 1058 00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:17,920 the skills. Oh, I'm the one that left 1059 00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:20,720 everything, you know, because a lot of times we can try to 1060 00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:23,600 manipulate things and, and, but that's not right. 1061 00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:25,200 You shouldn't treat your husband that way. 1062 00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:31,880 And I had to really change that and fully trust him because he's 1063 00:56:31,880 --> 00:56:35,040 my person. He's the person they had God had 1064 00:56:35,040 --> 00:56:38,840 made for me and the trust needs to always be dead and we need to 1065 00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:41,400 protect our marriage. We need to protect who we are 1066 00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:46,000 why God created and life is a lot better now that it was. 1067 00:56:46,120 --> 00:56:48,560 I know I always hear people oh, the beginning of the marriage is 1068 00:56:48,560 --> 00:56:51,600 beautiful and it's this for us. It's the opposite ours. 1069 00:56:51,600 --> 00:56:54,360 The longer that yes, the longer you are to go, the better. 1070 00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:56,760 Well, I always told that we didn't have honeymoons, but we 1071 00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:59,560 tried as much as we can to travel and do things together. 1072 00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:03,280 But because we can now and we treasure that, we try to teach 1073 00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:06,880 our kids that the importance of having time together as a as a 1074 00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:09,080 couple. And you know, when you become a 1075 00:57:09,080 --> 00:57:11,720 mom, it can be difficult for you to do that. 1076 00:57:11,720 --> 00:57:15,080 But it's all all about being intentional and prioritizing 1077 00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:17,640 where your priorities are. Your kids are watching that too. 1078 00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:20,920 It's not just all I have my kid and it's all around my child 1079 00:57:20,920 --> 00:57:23,120 now. No, you still you still have a 1080 00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:26,120 wife and you need to care for your husband too. 1081 00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:30,080 I'm glad you brought up the kids just because I mean, looking 1082 00:57:30,080 --> 00:57:34,520 back at your childhood, you see the importance and how the 1083 00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:38,720 ripple effect of kids when a kid, a child comes to Christ, 1084 00:57:38,720 --> 00:57:40,320 how it can impact the whole family. 1085 00:57:40,560 --> 00:57:42,720 And that's why you went into kids ministry. 1086 00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:45,200 I mean, that's why you're in that because you can see the 1087 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,160 power of a child's faith. I've said you can transform a 1088 00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:50,640 whole family and generations after that. 1089 00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:53,680 I mean, it's just so beautiful just seeing God in your story 1090 00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:57,000 all throughout. It is absolutely beautiful. 1091 00:57:57,840 --> 00:58:04,120 But as we begin to close, I usually leave one way, OK, I ask 1092 00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:06,080 the person three different questions and you get to pick 1093 00:58:06,080 --> 00:58:07,960 which question you want to end with one. 1094 00:58:08,320 --> 00:58:11,840 Maybe on the way here you wanted to say something more specific 1095 00:58:11,840 --> 00:58:13,280 that I haven't gave you the chance to do. 1096 00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:19,160 So a word of advice to someone that's listening Or what is 1097 00:58:19,160 --> 00:58:22,320 something that God's revealed to you or taught you more recently? 1098 00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:23,960 How would you like to end it today? 1099 00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:32,920 I think I guess the advice, OK, there is, there is a lot of 1100 00:58:32,920 --> 00:58:36,400 things that we as humans, we like. 1101 00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:40,320 I'm a person that likes to plan things, has control of things. 1102 00:58:40,560 --> 00:58:46,560 That's just nature, my nature. But God would always find a way 1103 00:58:46,560 --> 00:58:50,040 to put you in the right place with the right people and 1104 00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:52,680 surrender. That's the biggest thing. 1105 00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:56,640 Like if you, if you're willing to serve God regardless where 1106 00:58:56,640 --> 00:59:01,080 where it is or how that might be, even if you don't know if 1107 00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:04,440 you are feeling cold to do something, say yes to it. 1108 00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:07,760 Even if you don't know the outcome, even if you don't know 1109 00:59:08,520 --> 00:59:11,000 what that will look like, what what you're going to have to go 1110 00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:14,240 through. Because at the end, God will be 1111 00:59:14,240 --> 00:59:18,720 glorified and knowing that you have been used by him because 1112 00:59:18,720 --> 00:59:21,920 you have surrendered to love your your life to him and you 1113 00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:25,760 were willing to do that. It's it's a blessing. 1114 00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:27,800 Eventually you will see you will look back. 1115 00:59:27,800 --> 00:59:31,280 You'll be like, I know what I went through this when you see. 1116 00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:36,000 I have seen kids that I have thought in my in my and my 1117 00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:39,360 clothes, my kids club, they now are serving God, you know, 1118 00:59:39,800 --> 00:59:43,000 seeing the results later on. It's beautiful to see because I 1119 00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:46,200 know what I've done, what I suffered the, the, the nights 1120 00:59:46,200 --> 00:59:49,800 and the days that I cry. There weren't there weren't for 1121 00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:51,120 no reason. There was a reason. 1122 00:59:51,120 --> 00:59:55,600 God had a purpose for it. Every tear, every, every prayer, 1123 00:59:55,600 --> 00:59:58,280 he hears you and he will answer you in the right time. 1124 00:59:58,280 --> 01:00:00,880 It might not be your time. He will do it. 1125 01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:02,840 That's good. That is so good. 1126 01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:06,240 This has been good, Rosa. I love learning more about you. 1127 01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:08,720 I love when I have people from Southside on because like we 1128 01:00:08,720 --> 01:00:11,720 know each other but it's like we don't know. 1129 01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:13,880 Each other. So like, this has just been 1130 01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:15,720 beautiful to see your story and hear it. 1131 01:00:15,720 --> 01:00:17,720 So yes, thank you so much. For having us. 1132 01:00:18,760 --> 01:00:21,520 All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I had. 1133 01:00:21,520 --> 01:00:24,080 Please make sure to rate, comment, share all the good 1134 01:00:24,080 --> 01:00:26,360 stuff. Make sure you stay tuned, stay 1135 01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:27,720 blessed, and we'll see you guys later. 1136 01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:28,400 Bye.