The Bryce Crawford Podcast - He Escaped the World Trade Center on 9/11

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

He Escaped the World Trade Center on 9/11

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Would you pray for me? Here there's an incredible explosion. And everything shook like so violently. It was definitely an impact of something hitting us. I'm never going to see my wife. I'm never going to see the child she's carrying. She sees people jumping out of the building. Bodies landing around her.

She sees the second plane crashed into her tower right in front of her. eyes. This was a South Tower imploding and going down. God, you gave me this opportunity to come down 81 floors, but death has finally got a hold of me. I'm being buried in Sudan ash, and I feel all this stuff all on me. And I even said this crazy prayer. I said, God, I hope something soft hits me. I hope I don't die a violent or a painful death. 25 years since 9-11, do you think America's let their guard down? No, absolutely. We are very vulnerable. Think of churches. Like in every city, there are churches. We don't have metal detectors in churches. You could do anything where Christians gather. So you think that something like 9-11 could happen again? It could happen in great.

Hey, before we dive in, if these videos have meant anything to you, if they've helped your faith or brought you closer to God in any way, make sure you're actually subscribed. A lot of people watch every single week and still haven't hit that button. It only takes two seconds and it helps us reach more people with the gospel. Also, I have an announcement I've been waiting to make and I'm really excited about this one. Open Heaven. Our biggest live podcast event to date is happening November 8th at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. Right outside of Dallas, it's going to be a powerful live podcast experience centered around faith, purpose, real conversations, and connection alongside live worship throughout the night. And I'm pumped to share who's going to be leading worship with us. It's Aaron Tedeschi, an upper room worship. This night is going to be a night that I'm not going to forget and you're not going to forget either. Tickets are on safe. right now at Brycecroffer.org slash tour or click the link in the description below to grab your seats. And please, the only way to buy us through this official site, I recommend not trusting any random resellers. I genuinely believe that this is going to be a night. People care with them for

a long time and I'd love to see you there. All right, let's get into this episode. What's going on guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce and today. I'm with a very special guest today. We have Sue Joe John on the podcast. Thanks for coming on. What an honor to be with you, Bryce. I'm so pumped that you're here, man. So just to kind of open us, everywhere you go, people ask you one question. What is that question? That question is, why are you here?

Because of what I went through on 9-11. Yeah. Is that one question people ask me, why you and why not the rest? That's a question that pops up often. You know, I think like in a different context, sometimes when I was 17, God took away my anxiety and depression and God doesn't do that for everyone else. So sometimes in a generation that anxiety and depression is so prominent, people are always saying, well, why do you take yours away and not mine and blah, blah, and you know, I was going to tell you this earlier, but I had to hold myself, I am so glad

that you were on here sharing your story about what happened to you on 9-11 because I was born after 9-11. And so when I would hear like teachers and stuff like this growing up talking about 9-11 and educating us. They would say, oh yeah, I remember where I was at. I was like watching it on the TV. And like for me being born after 9-11, it's not that it's not important. It just, it doesn't hit as hard because I wasn't alive for it. I didn't witness it. I don't know anything about it other than what history tells us. And so just to not only be talking to someone that was not even just alive, but was, yeah, I'm going to let you explain it when we get there, but you have genuinely such a crazy story. So thank you.

Thank you for joining us today. Thank you. You know, it's a first for me to be interviewed by someone who was not born when 9-11 happened. So it's a first for me. I have three kids, Jeremy, Jaden, Sophie, and I've done some media stuff over the 25 years. But they were the most excited when they found out that I was going to be with you.

And so before I start, I want to tell you, Bryce, that I, you know, I'm 51, so I'm like your father's age. I am so excited and thrilled about how God has raised you. you're someone that's speaking to my kids. And that's as a dad that means so much to me. And that means more than anything else. And I know there's millions of kids in America around the world that God is using you to speak in their life. And so one of the reasons I said yes to coming and being on your show was to meet someone that God is using.

So when I started, I was 26 and I remember there were people, kind of my age that came alongside me and said, God's anointing is on your life. How can we help you? We're going to pray for you. And now I see how God works. In every generation, he's raising up someone. And Bryce, I just see God has raised you up.

I've looked you up since the request came to be on your show. And I couldn't be much prouder to see. Imagine if I'm so proud to see God use you, how proud your family might be. And more importantly, how proud heaven is that you've said yes to God. Man, thank you for the encouragement. Seriously, thank you. And thank you again for your time.

And I'm just, yeah, I'm so, I'm excited to dive into your story because I'm so encouraged. And so pretty much since 9-11, everywhere you go, people are just asking you why you're alive. And is that people that have been affected, like they've had family members that were lost and stuff like that, that just asked that question? No, just generally, like you said, it was for older people, it was a defining moment. everybody remembers where they were or what are some of their thoughts that went through their mind or for younger generation,

it's been taught in school, it's part of your history. And then the fact that how much the world has changed because of 9-11, the way you bought a flight on a plane has changed, the two wars that's happened in America since 9-11,

the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq. So someone's had, someone listening to us, your dad, your mom, your older brother, sister, someone in your family, you know, went to the war,

never came back. So this whole war against radical Islam, the awareness of Islam, a lot of it came after 9-11. So a post-9-11 world is very different for every American because America was attacked. This was an attack that was inflicted on America because of what America stands for. And so because of that, people connect with my story, young and old because they have something also connected to 9-11, even though they were not there when that happened. How many people did you watch die the day of the attack?

So I personally didn't watch people die. My wife did. I saw a lot of dead people. And I'm in a way glad I didn't see people die around me. I saw people that were dead. And so, I mean, that means two different things, right? Because that day felt like the world was coming to an end. You know, destruction to the scale that I could never have to think of before.

And even, you know, when we were going through the events of their day, it felt like it was a movie. Yeah. You know, like people running down the building. I thought about the Titanic, you know, people trying to get out of the ship. So people trying to get out of the building. And so everything's happening so fast. And yet, in a very strange way, everything's happening so slow. Yeah.

It feels like the day is not ending. And yet things around you are happening and evolving so fast. So it was a crazy day. It was a day where even God took me back in time to my life experiences, thinking about your family, your loved ones. The fact, you know, so I was young when it happened, kind of young, I was 26. So when you're young, you don't think about death.

But I'm forced to think about death, facing death. I'm forced to think about my mortality. So it taught me that, you know, a day could appear as a very normal day. And then you get arrested and you get hit with the greatest question that could ever hit you. If you are going to die here, where you're going to go? Yeah. Yeah. Now, I saw a video clip the other day.

And it was, so apparently there was like a pilot that was booked on the flight. he was going to be the co-pilot on the flight that one of the planes that crashed into the towers. And something changed where like he ended up not going on the flight. And just thinking that like from a pilot's perspective, not even a, like someone that was working or that was just there or that was in the tower. I'm talking like the pilot, the guilt that that guy probably must feel where he's like,

well, what if I was there? What if I could have done something to stop it? What if I could have? And so I just, I remember watching that. And I think that there is something powerful about hearing your story and kind of connect them with your story a little bit. And a lot of people are going to be watching this. A lot of people just like me that are watching this aren't going to have been born yet.

And I know you were talking about that. What does that mean to you that there's going to be people listening to this that haven't been born, that weren't born on 9-11 that are now hearing your story. Like, why is that important? It's important because firstly, as Americans, it was one of the biggest things that happened. We don't need to forget what happened 9-11 because history always repeats itself. So there are lessons to be learned from 9-11. So as a country, we need to be safeguarding ourselves. I believe it's also a spiritual door that kind of got opened. And the whole agenda that radical

Islam has was revealed that day, or at least people start paying more attention to it post-9-11. And so there's a significance behind that. There's also the probably the biggest thing is they were close to 3,000 innocent people that went to work and not to war that died. They shouldn't have died the debt that they died. They had families and loved ones to come back to that night and they didn't make it. Also, the first responders, firemen and policemen, the real heroes of this country, it's important to reflect on their lives. And as we reflect on their lives, we reminded that there are men like that in our communities. If that were to happen in our cities, they would be the first one to rush into those buildings. And it also points a picture about

Jesus, the greatest rescuer who rescues, right? The first responder who truly is Jesus. So many reasons why we should talk about 9-11. But you know, Romans 828 talks about how God uses all things for good. And so I've learned from my life story that the worst thing in our life, you know, after a Friday, there's always a Sunday. After the death, there's a resurrection. So God can use the right thing that was meant for evil for his glory, the story of Joseph.

You know, so many stories through our scripture where God can turn things around. So good always comes out of evil. But when we're going through that storm in our life, it's hard to fathom that any good can come out. So when I went through 9-11 and the days after that, I did go through that. Why was I spared?

I remember living in the northeast around New York. You stayed in New York. No, we lived in northern New Jersey, just four miles south city. Yeah, okay, okay. So hearing church bells go up and these church bells were all for funerals. there were people in our

so many in our towns died and so all of when I hear all that I would feel this uneasiness like why was I spared but then deep within me was also

I felt like a responsibility I have to live a life better than what I lived because this is something that God gave me this opportunity so my next version of myself has to be something better I have I lived a selfish life

for myself I knew the Lord but now it has to have eternal significance So I always tell people my mission is to leave the world better than I found it. All that means is how do you take more people with you to heaven? Yeah. Because everything you're going to leave behind.

And the only thing you can take with you is faith and people that are going to spend eternity with you. Life, as you know, on Earth is so short in the light of eternity. Yeah. Take me back to that week before 9-11. What was going on between you and God? That's a great question, Bryce. That's one thing I get excited talking about. Because before anything significant really happens.

in our life, if we pay attention, God's always trying to get your attention. God is a God who speaks through everything and anything in our life. And it's just that we get so worked up and so caught up and so busy that we don't hear that voice. It's not like, you know, Moses heard a big thunderous voice. But in the stillness of the moment, God's speaking to you. I got to back up a little bit and tell you that I had just moved to America from Calcutta, India in February of 2001, like six months before 9-11.

Oh, so you were like fresh to America? Wait, what was the culture shock moving? Oh, it was crazy. Because when I came here, landed at JFK Airport right in the middle of a blizzard, never seen snow. And so I was the time I'm seeing snow. Were you in like shorts in a T-shirt or something? No, but I had very little warm clothing. I didn't have much.

I had a little jacket on, but it was freezing. And then everything was different. You know, the way you drive here, it's on the other side of the road in India. And then, you know, you don't get to eat beef in India. The car was worshipped in India. So food experience was different. But then the thing that really struck me was God America so blessed

Even the homeless people in the subways in New York City They wear Nike shoes You know so coming from India It was just fascinating But it also made me question Why is America blessed And I found the answer The America was blessed

Because the foundation is on God And God blesses anything that's founded on him So I came with nothing But God opens his job for me And I was successful I kind of knew where my life was taking me At a business plan to start a business a data center.

And in the midst of all of that, I'll never forget the Sunday morning before 9-11. In my home church, there was a missionary that came by and they took up an offering

for his work in Africa. I wrote the biggest check I'd ever given to the Lord's work. And as I'm dropping that check, I hear a voice speak to me. I don't need your money. I need your heart. So hold on.

So you move in February of 2001, six months before 9-11. you get a job successful, hardworking, which, by the way, one of the things that I've always admired growing up about any people that immigrate to our country is the work ethic that they have. So just, I like admire that, respect that a ton.

In six months, you're successful, making money, and then you write the biggest check you've ever written to a missionary that's visiting your church this Sunday before, and then God species says, I don't need your money? Yes. Does that not feel... Does that not, like... Does that not feel like a little while where you're like, God, I'm writing this big check?

And then he's just like, I don't need your money. Why do you think he said that? It's not about the stuff. God owns it all. We're just called to be stewards. More than the money, he just wants my heart. He wants my devotion. He wants my life.

My first love had to be that. You know, in America, when you come as an immigrant or when you just get started in life, it's so easy to get sucked and seduced by the bright clads of a city. because you see yourself going this way in life. And, you know, America's country where you add value, you're going to make something out of your life. And I just, I would often tell people, America is a place where dreams and dreamers collide.

So I came with a dream. I knew if I can apply myself, something good's going to happen. But then I'm a product of missions. It was an American missionary that led me to the Lord growing up in India. So you had, you had grown up, met like you learn about Jesus through missionary. You were following Jesus. So you kind of had an idea about, because I was going to ask,

you were already in church within six months of being in America. I'm like, I feel like that maybe not be, wouldn't be common, you know. I mean, the hustle, the grind, you just immigrated to America. Like, you got a lot on your plate going to church on Sunday. And writing a big check to this missionary. What about the missionary made you want to write the check, you know? Because, you know, I love being generous, right? And I know you're a Christian.

I can tell you love being generous. But, you know, so many missionaries and so many projects and so many Christian things are raising money and this, this and that. What about that missionary drew you to like sow in the seed? The stories of Africa. And then the, in Proverbs, that's one of the verses that I've always loved. I think it's Proverbs 323. We told not good to them it's due when it's in the power of your hands to do so. that says that if there's a need

and if you see the world with the eyes of Jesus, you meet that need because you're called to be a steward. So the story of, I think it was about kids in Africa, there was a school that he was trying to build. And see, the thing is,

it's an honor, as you know, Bryce, to partner with God in his work. Absolutely. The fact that God would, God can do it without you. The fact that he's giving you an opportunity, which is incredible. So that drew me in.

But then what was interesting was from that moment on, I think that was God's way of preparing me for what happened on 9-11. So the conversations between me and God, these heart check moments, like, is my heart right with God? What's missing in my life? So I'm having these conversations with Jesus leading up to 9-11. And before that, I want to talk about something very crazy that happened between me and my wife. I went to play tennis on September 10th evening. I didn't

even finish a set. I turned to my friend. I said, I got to go home and talk to my wife. And he said, is everything okay? I said, I got to talk to her about something that we've never talked about. And so I got home. She's, she's fallen asleep. I try to wake her up. And she's like, why are you waking up? Well, I need to talk to you about something. And she's like, what is it that you want to talk to me?

I said, it's called death. And she turned to me and says, what, death? I said, yes, we're young. There's a baby on the way. My wife was four months pregnant at that time. And I said, life is so short, I signed up a life insurance policy today. And so if something would have happened to me, this is who you need to call. This is the paperwork.

We'll never talk about this again. So that was crazy that I was thinking. about death one day before 9-11. So that's the real conversation, the last conversation I had with my wife before that day. The fact that we talked about death next day in 9-11, typically we would go to work together, but she would sleep longer after she was pregnant.

Oh my gosh. And then when I got to the towers, the first thing I did was write an email to someone in my home church saying, Tom, something's happening to me this morning. I know there's a call of God upon my life. I've been in America for about six months. I'm chasing stuff.

I need to chase after God. Would you pray for me? So I send that email at 8.05 in the morning from the towers. And 40 minutes after that, the plane struck the towers. Oh, my gosh. Okay, hold on. We got to back up because there's a lot going on. I just am like, yeah, that's insane.

So take me, have you ever, before we get to your and your wife, September 10th, have you ever disclosed what that financial amount was that you wrote that check? I don't even remember. It was probably a couple of thousand dollars. Yeah, it was a big amount of money. Yeah, yeah. But at the time, it's like it's a big deal. We're renting, we're starting our lives for us.

Yeah. Yeah. And so then September 10th comes, you're playing tennis and you get, was it like a feeling that overwhelmed you? Like something bad was about to happen? I don't think it was that. It was just the fact that this is the right thing to do,

you know, when you have a wife and a kid and stuff could happen anytime. You get a part of... part of being a man, you know, being providing for you. That's one of the things that God's called meant to do, right? And so I probably was that. I probably didn't have any kind of idea that something was going to happen. If something would have happened, I would get on in every megaphone and talk about it

and go to work that day. But it's, you know, rejoice for the steps of a righteous man are ordered of God. That's a beautiful worse. When you walk with Jesus, sometimes the Spirit of God will allow you to do some things and have some experience in your life and it happens the way that he wants you to be happened. Maybe I was supposed to die and then that money would have taken care of my wife

and the unborn child then. Or maybe it was like God was showing me how close is life and death that I could come so close to dying and yet be here. We don't understand all of that. But on the other side of eternity, you will get to know why these things happen. So, you know, even in, that's why I said,

earlier, God is always speaking to us, even in the quietness of the day, even in tragedy, even in the storm. If you pay attention, God is trying to speak to you. So that's so crazy because I'm recently married and like a month or two ago, we got life insurance. You know what I mean? So we're just saying, I'm like, yeah, it's like the young married thing you do. You get married and you're like, I'm going to provide for my wife and I get the thing. It just blows my mind that the night before, and we're going to get to the day up, but the night before you stop what you're doing. For me, it's pickleball.

I'm not that big of a tennis guy, all right? But I could run you up for some pickleball, all right? And I can't imagine stopping like a hobby that you enjoy. Maybe, you know, it's a stress relief from, you know, the pressure and, you know, things. And it's just a way that you're able to honor God with your body or whatever. And you stop it. And you go, I got to go home and talk to my wife. Now, when you told your wife, she didn't know that you had gotten.

life insurance, you just went and got it. And then you came home and you were like, hey, I got life insurance, I could case anything. And I'm assuming she's probably like half awake. She's from like, okay, whatever. But you know, when someone talks about death, suddenly struggles with a conversation like that. I think that gets your awareness going.

Yeah, yeah. Why talk about it? I don't think till that moment, me and my wife had ever talked about death. Just because of like young ambition, move to America. You think about, so there's a baby on the way. You think about things that you want to do with your future.

You think about, you know, maybe past experience. that you've had probably your own personal experiences or family experiences. But when you newly married, you tend on to talk about horrible things. You think about things that's going to be great or how you want your life to call out for you. Now, you know, even comparing like the life insurance thing and God speaking to you, God's like, I don't want your money. I want your heart, right? Like, it's great.

I love doing things. You know, if I'm able to partner with what God's doing in a financial way, it's great. That's one of the beauties about being. generous, right? But God's, hey, I don't need your money. I need your heart. And then the next morning, you go and get life insurance or like money. Do you think God was like kind of laughing at you? Like, I just had this conversation with you. That's funny, Bryce. I've never thought about that way. But it was just a casual conversation out with someone who wanted to be my financial planner. And that was a relationship with this girl who was going to start that. And she said, let me first get you started with a life insurance.

And because I was new to America, I didn't know how much about it. American financial system. So I remember she's saying, this is all you need to have. This let's get started with this basic stuff. But, but yeah, the hindsight, what you said makes sense. God was like, hey, I just told you not to worry about, you know, money. But you did. But I think even in that, there was a God thing.

But that poor girl who signed me out for a life insurance policy, her story is she went in every hospital, every morgue looking for me. Because she couldn't believe the fact that right after that this had happened. Oh my gosh. We got to get there. We got what we will we will get there. I'm like, dude, you were dropping a bomb. You're like, yeah. Then this. I'm like, oh my gosh. Like I got to like I got to unpack this right now. So you get the life insurance. Your wife's like, okay, death, great. Looking back before we get to the morning of 9-11, looking back, do you feel like God was warning you? No. No heads up from God. Just, you know. It's just a normal day. It was a beautiful, clear day. maybe trying to get my attention about my heart for sure, but not about the events of that day. And was that like happening because, I mean, I get it like we're human.

Some things, you know, things wrestle with sitting on the throne of a heart. And sometimes it can change over time. Maybe it's the family. Maybe it's the money, whatever. But at that time, do you think it was money because of you, you guys were newly in America, new environment? I'm assuming you guys moved here with no family, right? So you're hustling in a new city?

And, you know, do you think maybe that's why God's like, hey, I care more about your heart than the money because of the hustle? Exactly. Okay. Because it's so easy to get lost in that rat race in America. And because, like I said earlier, if you apply yourself, you get stuff back. But the Bible said, what shall profit a man if he gains a whole one and loses soul? So the most important thing is guarding and protecting your soul. So in the pursuit, not that stuff is bad.

Not that wealth is bad. Yeah. You know, if you're wealthy, you can do so much good in our world for the cost. of the kingdom, but it's about will you be consumed? It's the love of money that gets you into trouble, right? It's not money itself. Even Jesus needed money, right, for his work. And his disciples and women around him had a way to get money to fund his ministry.

Money is an important part. But it's like, God, where is your affection going to be? Because if your affection is going to be all about money and then you don't pay attention to why you need that money for, obviously if good and right causes, then I think it's easy to get sidetracked and just to mess up your life. life and in the process lose it all. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, stewardship's not a bad thing. Like, it's not bad that you got life insurance and I got life insurance. I just thought it was so ironic that God's like, hey, I care more about your heart than your money than the next morning

you're going and get life insurance. I just think that's so funny. Did they, this is such a random side note. They did just did this for us. They had to take our blood. Did they, did they do that back in the day? No, they didn't. Okay, they just, you just signed up and it was cool. Hey, pause for a second. Be honest. How many times have you told yourself, you're going to really dig into scripture this time, and then a week later, you're back to skimming a verse and moving on. It's not that you don't care. It's that going deeper usually feels like it takes tools that you don't actually have. That's exactly what our sponsor Logos gives you. If you've never heard of it, it's a full study library, commentaries, original languages, and faithful Bible

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Links in the description. That's logos.com slash Bryce. All right, back to the episode. Okay, interesting. So let's talk about the morning of 9-11. I know you briefly kind of ran through it, but what exactly was your job and which tower were you in? Advertising on Spotify with audio and display ads helps brands turn attention into results. Download the 2026 performance playbook and discover why Spotify belongs in your media plan. Okay. So I was working in the North Tower,

which is often called Tower One or the North Tower. On the 81st floor with a telecommunications broadband company called Network Plus. And I was a marketing executive for this company. So we did with data products and stuff like that. So I was supposed to see clients and sell our products and do marketing and stuff like that. But that's interestingly, the tech world was kind of

of opening up in India, that was a business I liked because that's the business I wanted to start. So I was working. It's kind of like a dream job. Yes, I was working, but also learning how that world operates to eventually start something on my own. And actually, one of my appointments, I had actually met a VC guy from Canada and he was going to put in money into my business plan.

So all this was too good to be true how the very business that I like, the industry that was really exploding back in the day in early 2000 telecommunications, you know. You're talking about a time where you had flip phones, you didn't have smartphones, you didn't have cameras on your phones. But the phone revolution was about to happen. Telecommunications was changing the world as we know it now. And so, yeah, I was kind of excited about that. So that was kind of my job.

My wife also worked there. So my wife married the same tower. The other tower. Okay. She worked on the south tower on the 71st floor of the south tower. or Tower 2 with this company called Morgan Stanley and she was a mutual fund accountant. So that was kind of interesting

because we both got to work together. We got to have lunch if we were free run lunch out together. Guys went to work like drove together. Yeah, stuff like that. And how many floors were there? 110 floors in both those buildings. So you were really close to the top. And she was fairly close.

71st for her, Tower 2. Your Tower 1, 80, 81st. And so I can't, and how long had you been working there? Just a few months. I just started working there and I believe it was in April. I came in February, early April.

So April through September 11th. And same with her kind of around the same time. She had found work a little before I had found work. So that was one of the draws where, you know, when I came to America, I was looking for jobs and she had found work. And there was a job fair at the World Trade Center. And that job fair, there was a company that said, you know, our offices are here.

Would you want to come in for an interview? And when I went up, I remember this girl pulled down the blinds of the conference room and I see the statue of liberty. And for an immigrant, when you see that, you're like, wow, I was like, obviously I need a paycheck, but I could even work here for this view. So, you know, so there was something about the World Trade Center in New York City. You know, I'm a city guy. I love New York City and the energy there.

The world came to do business. So it was very inspirational for me to work there, knowing that, you know, if this is a city that is very, it draws you in, that you can make something out of your life. They don't care where you come from, your pedigree, your last name means nothing. So much energy. Like one of the first trips I took back then, I don't know if you can still do. I went to the stock exchange.

And I remember watching the trading floor there. And you see it's like a nuclear reactor. Papers thrown everywhere. People training. It's before digital trade. People traded like yelling out the stock. And so seeing all that saying, wow, truly this is where the world comes into business,

the epicenter, the financial capital of the world. So it has a good thing. But also, like I said earlier, in an environment like that, it could also be all about that. Right. Instead of forgetting who you are and whose you are. Yep.

I think that's even the heart check out here, you know, in L.A. It's so fast-paced here. And if you wake up around 11 o'clock, half the day is gone because the sun sets around five. You know what I mean? Even if you don't work, like literally half your day is gone. So the heart check out here could be, wow, fast-paced environment. A lot of people are hustling. Same in New York.

I've only been to New York a handful of times. It grows on me every time. I'm still not used to the steam coming from the like sidewalk. I think that's like a little intimidating. But, uh, the first thing when I saw in New York, I didn't know what it that was. It's like,

what gas is that coming out of the ground? Like, it's crazy, you know? So I, I, every time we go to New York, I admire it. And I've actually been to, man, the 9-11 museum. There's an unreal memorial. And I, I got the chance.

to go in the eighth grade with my family. And man, what a joy it was to go there. And I can't even imagine you guys have been working there for a handful of months, daily routine. I love that you emphasized that earlier. It was like, yeah, it was a normal day. Me and my wife drive together to work. We drive home together from work. We eat lunch together. I'm in Tower One. She's in Tower Two and I'm on the 81st and she's on 71st. It's no one could have predicted that chaos was about to erupt and shake the entire country and your lives together. What time? So you had to clock in at what, 8 o'clock?

Yeah, I had to get in there close to 8. But that morning I went around 7.30. Okay. I got there a little early that day. And then my wife actually said she was sleep longer, which in a way preserved her life. She said she's sleep longer and then joined me in the towers. So I went alone to work.

And then I got there 7.30. And then we were just having these casual conversations. one by one people are trickling in and we were just talking about stuff and so everything looked absolutely normal. It was a clear cloudless day in New York City but there was a lot of things going on in the city that day

the primary elections were going on. We had a mayor back then Rudy Giuliani. He was term limited so there was going to be elections for the new mayor so there was a lot of hustle and bustle. I think it was also first day of school for a lot of young kids in New York. So there

was a lot of things going on, but then that day would turn out to be the darkest day in America's history. Yeah. And so you, I'm imagining you, you know, having a couple side conversations here, maybe 8 o'clock rolls around. Okay, that's typical clock in for you. You sit down at the desk, what, five minutes goes by, and then you send this email to someone from your church, you said? So my church, yeah. So 805, you send this email. What exactly prompted you to send this email? What did you say in the email? It was a guy that I just met in church that Sunday morning. And it was I don't know if he wrote to me and I was replying or I wanted to write to him. But I think it was just that condition of my heart where God was. It's almost like I was going to link in with this guy

as a prayer partner. So basically it was basically asking him to pray for my life where I felt like it's somewhat fragile in a way because where am I going with this? Like is this all about chasing money and success or is there far bigger where I know there's a call on my life. I just knew right in my heart from when I got safe that the purpose of life is not just stuff. The purpose of our everyday living is how can you bring glory in honor to God? And so that was always there in back of my mind. And so there was also this fear. Am I going to miss the plot?

Am I going to go run after stuff that's not on God's heart? So that was my way of telling him this, you know, God spoke to me on Sunday morning. would you pray for me? I had very few friends in America, you know, so this guy just connected in church. But I look back and I'm so glad that God was preparing me for that day. Maybe it was a way of God preparing my heart and tuning my heart to his heart.

And that's sometimes so important. You could be a believer, but the busyness of life and the circumstances where we find ourselves, we get caught up, that we forget to tune ourselves to God. But God, like I said, is getting, attention saying just talent, live in, you'll catch my frequency. And that's a sweet place to be living in every day. Yeah. Not that you're not going to make a mistake. I mess up. I'm not a perfect person. I'm here by just by his grace. But the moments where even when you fall off,

you know how to tune back in and get back in that right space with God. And that's the most beautiful thing about the walk with Jesus. And what exactly did you email this guy? Saying there's a call of God upon my life. I want to be used to God, would you pray for me? Yeah. I feel something happening to me this morning. I feel something happening to me this morning. And I bet you sure as heck could not have predicted what was about to come.

So you send that email and then what? You just go to work at the desk. Yeah. So I'm on a, I remember I was on a phone call on a phone and also on a fax machine talking to a coworker friend of mine from my office in our Philadelphia office. We had gone to training together in Boston. So I was talking to him and he said he wanted some paperwork from me. So I was actually sending a fax over to him and he was on the phone.

I'm telling him, hey, it's on the way. Did you get it? Back then, fax was real. Your generation, I don't even know if you know what a fax machine is. I actually do. I actually do. I used to have to fax stuff. I was actually the principal's assistant in middle school.

So I had to learn, was I good at the fax? No, but did I know how to use it a little bit? You know. So I was telling him, did you get it? It's on its way. So normal day. And then we hear this incredible explosion. And everything shook like so violently.

We knew in that moment it was a plane because what else could hit you? It was definitely an impact of something hitting us. But we thought it was a small commuter plane. The major impact was on the 92nd, 90 third and above. But the way the plane went in, jet fuel had come. down and then everything was catching fire. Walls were collapsing around us in our office. The building was swaying.

And as I look up, there's a picture of twisted steel and cable. There's 28 of us in that office. A faces on that carpet. And I'm lying there saying, God, if this building is going to go down, I'm never going to see my wife. I'm never going to see the child she's carrying. I'm never going to see my parents. And so it was a sense of just fear that overwhelms all of us in the office.

But right then when we were lying there thinking, what's going to happen next. No one knew what's going. I remember someone rallying us and it was this incredible hero, friend of mine, my boss, Mike Bonfante, he rallies us and he says, guys, we've got to beat this fire. Get up, let's get going. I remember a couple of our guys,

they started yelling out, is anyone in the restrooms? So two of them said, let's go to the women's restroom. They actually kicked in the door because they couldn't open their door and there was actually a girl sitting there. Wow.

Pull her out. And so having made sure that there was none of us left behind, we started fighting our way out and looking for a way out of the burning building. So how quickly did things catch on fire on y'all's floor? Very quickly, you know, it's jet fuel. And so... Like within like two minutes maybe? Probably, yeah.

Oh my gosh. Everything catching fire and everything shaking. But we didn't think that building was going to go down. We thought at that moment something terrible has happened about us. So we felt sorry for those that were in the planes or people above that we didn't think that that building was going to collapse or that we were in some kind of a big danger. While if we were able to get out, then maybe there's a way out of the building. I mean, 81 floors above. You're in Tower 1. Correct me if I'm wrong.

That's the second tower that was hit? It was the first. It was the first. So that hits, I'm assuming, I mean, people in the second tower had to have watched that, right? so then they're going down. Was your wife already in the second tower or because she had slept late, she wasn't in there yet?

No, the first part, did people watch it in the tower? No, they didn't watch it in the second tower. Most of them didn't know what was going on because everything happened so fast. A lot of people started evacuating right away from the second tower. Unfortunately, there was also some announcements

I've heard that went on in the system, in the PA system, and the second tower that everything might be okay so you may go back. So a lot of people that were started evacuating from the south tower, sadly many of them went back. No way.

Yeah, and then they didn't get out. Because it did hit, the second plane hit later. Hit later. Yeah. So there was a little window for them to get out and sadly, some of them went back. But I know people who follow the gut in their heart, they said, no, we got to get out.

My wife's story is really fascinating. She was late to work by a couple of minutes. So she did come into New York City. She gets off probably the last. train that it made its way to the World Trade Center. But then the North Towers hit. So the train didn't go into the World Trade Center. You know the trains would go to the basement of the building.

Oh, no way. So the plane had already hit your tower. Correct. Correct. And so the train stopped like a stop before. A stop before. But you're still in front of the towers. And when she gets there, she sees a sight that no one should see. She sees the building up in flames, my building.

She sees people jumping out of the building. bodies landing around her. She sees the second plane crashed into her tower right in front of her eyes. People on the street level getting hit by debris and she's thinking

I could be one of those people jumping out. And I think she was reminded of that conversation that she had with me the night before about death. And so it's a sad, tragic thing what she witnessed. No one knew what was going on

even on the street level. It's pure chaos. It's pure chaos. chaos for anyone. Even those watching on television sets, like, when have you ever heard a story of two planes hijacked? Usually when a plane's hijacked, the terrorists will take those planes to some city, some country, and they will have a certain set of demands, right? You release so-and-so person or you give us money or do this, we'll let them go. But this was a suicide mission and thousands of lives. They hoped was to kill thousands of people. They say at any given point of time in the World

Trade Center, there were some, they would do. be some 50 to 60,000 people that would work there. Not counting the people that traveled in and through the world trades. So they probably their goal was to murder as many people as possible. Thank God the debt toll wasn't as big. But even 3,000 is, like I said, a lot of people that didn't have to die dead that they died that day. So 846, your tower gets hit, jet fuel, everything's on fire.

and then as everything's catching on fire, you guys are on your face, your boss comes in, he's like, guys, we got to get out, we got to beat the fire, we're going to like not let this thing beat us. So kick down the door, they find the lady in the women's restroom, everyone's together. Then you guys have to conquer what, 81 flights of stairs, right? And are y'all like, is anyone injured in your office?

Is anyone, you know, too scared where people like didn't want to leave? Like, what was happening? That's a great question, Bryce, because on the stairwell, I'm meeting thousands of people, all of them getting out of their flows, joining us. One thing in common, the fear of death. There was fear. I could see that palpable fear on everyone's face because no one knew what was going on. There were people that were hurt, and so they were being helped.

The women, I remember clearly, many of them had taken up their high heels as they were running down these flights. But for me, I did something kind of a little crazy. I actually, so I borrowed cell phones of people running down this table with me because my phone wasn't working. But none of the cell phones were working. The networks were all jammed because I was trying to reach my wife. And so now that cell phones aren't working, I thought of myself, what if the landlines in the building are still working?

So I look for a reentry back in the building and I found a reentry. I went back on the 53rd floor. I think it was the 53rd floor. I went back into the building. It was an Asian bank. There was nobody there. I grabbed a landline there. And I started making phone calls.

I couldn't reach my wife. I called up people. I could only call people in New York for whatever reason. I called up my cousin. His wife picked up. And she's like, hey, how are you? She started a normal call. And I'm like, I don't have time here for a long call.

Turn on the television and put your husband, my cousin on the line. And she turns out on the television and she's screaming. I left voicemails for a lot of people and all I was trying to tell them was I'm trying to get down this building I'm going to try to call again later try to call my wife

and tell her that I'm going to get out but I want to know where she is and that's when I was wasting my time sitting there when a firefighter comes by that office by the door and you know God can use anything he was cursing F's and B's and he says this building is on fire get out get out get out

I think one of my co-worker friends would have alerted in and told him that I went back. Yeah. He probably came looking for me. Yeah. And so you had gone down almost 30 flights of stairs and you left the group to start calling family members and your wife. I'm not going to lie. I would want to get a hold of my wife. I don't think I would have gone back into the building.

You probably would have done the same thing, Bryce, because in that moment when you go through this, you know, it's something. that takes over, your adrenaline picks up. Yes, there's fear, but also there's not fear. You just want to do what's right. See, that's exactly, forget my story. What I was going to talk about was, we ran into these five-minute policemen, each of them going up.

They were walking up to their death as we were walking down. And we high-five them, seeing you guys are the real heroes. God be with you guys. Y'all were high-fiving them as they were going up. And even for us, we didn't know that would be the last time

we'd be seeing those men. So the story of 9-11 is truly their story. Story of brave men that they face evil willing to lay down their lives so that people like us are around to be sharing our stories. They lived out what's said in the Bible, greater love has no man than he who lays down his life or his friend. So, you know, me stopping, these men racing up, you're going to do what is right.

You're going to do what you feel that you need to do. And without hesitation, I mean, those guys jumping in, immediately going, trying to get to the top floor, trying to get everyone out. I mean, it's genuinely, we don't give our first responders enough credit. Even today for all the amazing work that they do. I mean, it's genuinely. Absolutely, right. So if that would happen in any of our towns,

there would be men and women that would do exactly the same thing. Yeah. That's why they sign up for this. And that's what they're hard trying. That's what America's made up of that there are these men and women that are so willing to do this. And so this anniversary, I hope, you know, people that are listening to us, if you see a fireman, policeman, or a first responder, just stop your car and just say hello or take your kids or go and go to a fire station next to your home. You know, take some cookies or drop some flowers. Just write a note.

Just tell them thank you because they are truly the heroes of the America. Yeah, seriously, thank you to all of our first responders out there. We're so grateful for all the work that you do. quick pause. Every time you fill up, you're handing over money and getting nothing back. That always kind of bugged me. So now I earn cashback at the pump, at the store, and when I grab food, all through the upside app. And this part of the video is sponsored by Upside, but I'm not just reading an ad. I use this thing. Opening it before I fuel has become automatic for me. It's about as easy as it gets. The free Upside app gets you cash back on gas, groceries, and dining. Open it, claim an offer,

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I mean, how long would you say that you were in on the 53rd floor making phone calls? Probably five, six minutes, not more than that. That doesn't seem long, but in that moment, five to six minutes is a lot of time. It made, yeah. Making phone calls and stuff. I mean, I mean, you're talking about building that you guys don't really know the true damage. Something's happened on the 90 something floor up there. It's on fire.

Everyone's evacuating. First responders running up. You guys run it down and you're like, I'll catch up to you guys. I'm calling my family members. Fireman runs by. He says, hey, dropping F's and B's, get out. This place on fire. So you, what, probably hang up and keep going, right?

Correct. It's just the way he was very animated and he was very loud. That got my attention. Freaked me out a little bit and joined those people back. And again, thousands of people still in that stairwell going down. And when we saw these firemen, we felt a little bit more at peace, Bryce, because we felt like there has to be a way out of this building. These men have made their way into the building from the outside. So that gave us hope.

Oh, so you thought that you were going to make it out? Yeah, because these guys came into the building from the outside. So we just had to follow what they were doing. Every step of the way, they would give us instructions. On some, even lower floors, there would be fires. And there was glass and stuff. So they would direct us how to go through different hallways and, and, There were four sets of stables in the building.

So they would direct us every step of the way they wanted to make sure that nobody gets hurt. Yeah. And they were helping people. So I saw the best of people come out that day. Like even those strangers of that were, nobody cared where you came from, what skin color. Everyone was helping people out.

The best of Americans and America was coming out. The people were there for each other because it was hard for some people that were a little big, big and for them to come down. And I could see some of them helping them. I was in a very kind of a crazy world. One side, I'm thinking of my wife

and all that. And the other side, I'm seeing reality around me. So I mean, two worlds at the same moment. But I remember very vividly people just helping people through all that chaos. Wow. It didn't even matter at that point. Whatever, you know,

belief system, if someone had bitterness towards someone, Holy smokes, we got to get out of here. Tell me about the last 60 seconds. You make it down 81 flights of stairs. You make it outside. What happens? So I come down 81 floors.

And before we went to the lowest level, we were one level above what's called the plaza level. And there's a picture of destruction there. There's debris from the plane. there's bodies and body parts people were breaking down seeing that and we were told avoid the scene of death go down one more level

and get to the concourse level and get out so kind of an orderly way people were being let out and on that concourse level there's seven buildings the World Trade Center complex I see these signs that said

the South Tower so I'm thinking to myself if my wife has not gone up then she could be somewhere there looking for me so I knew they were not probably allowing people to come towards the north. So I thought, what if I try to go somewhere near her?

So I'm walking towards the South Tower. And in a way, Bryce, that's where my story really begins. The ground starts shaking. And I think I was right in the middle of a revolving door leading up, literally in front of the South Tower. And the ground starts shaking. There's this incredible vacuum. I feel like I've been sucked into some kind of a vacuum. The glass is shattering.

I thought it was a bomb. but it was not a bomb. This was a South Tower imploding and going down. People screaming and this incredible implosion. And that's when I said, God, you gave me this opportunity to come down 81 floors. But death has finally got a hold of me. You know, when death comes knocking at our door, it would not matter that moment where you grew up,

where you grew up in a rich home or a poor home, what you do with your life, how much money you have your bank account, through all of humanity. I strongly feel and I truly believe that no matter what background you come from or even religious persuasion, in that window,

there's going to be that realization that this body came from dust and to dust or rash, this body will return. But that there's something in me and there's something in Bryce Crawford will never die. My soul will never die. Your soul will never die. That soul is going somewhere.

So I had that realization in that moment that my soul is going somewhere. so I'm God, where am I going to go? God takes me back in time, age 15, Calcutta, India, when I asked Jesus to come to my life and I felt the Lord saying, if you die here, you're going to make it to heaven.

And that's the most glorious peace I had about heaven. Like I said earlier, it felt like eternity and yet it felt everything was happening so fast. And I looked around 15, 20 people with me and we huddled together. I'm on top of men and women and there are men and women on top of me. And till then, I was a closet Christian.

What's my version of a closet Christian? My version of a closet Christian is someone that comes out on a Sunday and goes to church and then goes back to his way of life, Monday to Saturday. That was kind of me. I was bashful, scared to talk about faith in the public space and, you know, corporate America.

You don't talk about Jesus. I would limit my Jesus conversations to only a couple of people in my office that I knew were believers. Yeah. But that was my moment of, I felt God speak to me saying, where are these people going without me? And a boldness comes upon me.

I feel that I have that to that moment, but it started at that moment. I feel, you know, in a strange way, it's going to sound sound very strange. I feel often that God anointed me in that moment for ministry. A boldness comes upon me and I start crying out Jesus. And I ask those 15, 20 people to call upon the name of the Lord. I think what I told them was call upon the name of the Lord

and you shall be saved. And I said, Jesus, Jesus. And these people started crying out Jesus. And Bryce, they didn't call upon any other God. They didn't try to question or argue with me. Because it all goes back to what I just said earlier. In that finality of life, for every human being, regardless of how young you are, how old you are.

You and I know, you don't have to be really old to think about that. death could come, even sudden and quickly, even, you know, when you're supposed to go, you go. And so in that moment, if you have a window, it's going to hit all of us, create an image of God, that that soul within you is going to live on. And so I had that opportunity to tell these people to call upon Jesus, and they did. And then we scattered from that huddle. I'm lying there with my face flound the ground. I'm being buried in soot and ash.

And I feel all this stuff all on me. and I even said this crazy prayer I said God I hope something soft hits me I hope I don't die a violent or a painful death and as I'm burning all of that stuff about two three feet of soot and ash

covered with ash and glass cannot breathe I was wearing a jacket I tried to pull my jacket over was pointless just thinking that I just have seconds to live or moments to minutes to live I feel someone grabbed my arm

and he begins to pull me. And I began to pull him and we got close to each other. I couldn't even see him covered with sun and ash, smoke, soot ash, thick cloud of all of that. And he says he's with the FBI. So I asked him,

do you know Jesus? He said he did. And we both Bryce locked our hands and we started praying our last prayer. Saying God, we're going to die. We're surrendering a life to you. And just when we thought would be our last moment,

and something miraculous happens. I see a red light flashing through all that soot and smoke. And I turned to that guy saying that's the street level. He says, are you sure? I said, I'm absolutely sure. So we start crawling away,

looking for that light. And interestingly, this flashing light was coming out of an ambulance. The ambulance was crushed. Most of that ambulance was crushed. But the front part and that light were spared that light was flashing. So the light leads us out

and when we began to see a little clearer but this man says I got to go back and get more people he runs back into the north tower the ground shakes again the north tower goes down we talked earlier

the north was the first building to go down it was the second building to collapse this brave American hero died that day he's actually the only active FBI agent to have died I work with the FBI on his story after 9-11 a man and again an incredible American hero

who went looking for more people. And this season of, as we reflect of 25 years of 9-11, I just hope that all of us we reflect on these lives more than the 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists that caused this upon America, that these men were truly the heroes of that day who ran back to get more people. So, I mean, you're buried in ash, rubble, debris, glass,

and you and this FBI agent get out because you, I mean, so much symbolism with Jesus being let out by a light. I mean, that's beautiful. And after he, he has this shared near-death experience with you, verbatim. It's like, I got to run in and help more people. I'm blown away by that act of sacrifice

and absolute servitude and, Gosh, so you get out. He runs and he goes into the other tower. What about those other people that were huddled up together? Did they survive that crumbling? So I don't know for sure. I think most of them did not make it. They might have been a guy who made it out because I've heard people talk about,

there was this guy on a PBS show about 9-11, talk about a guy who prayed with people at the basement of the building. so this guy probably talking about me that prayed with them in a huddle so he might have survived they could have been but I feel like they didn't but I know where they are

they are with Jesus and that was the moment where when I talk about the stories yes you feel bad for the families of those that died that moment with me

but think of those very people in that one moment they got right with God and they're in his presence living on forever. They just won eternity. Yeah. And that's what life is all about. A short journey on earth.

Opportunities to connect with God so we can have eternity or life forever with him. And so, yeah, when we think about death, we think of, we put life and we bracketed with years, right? We say 10, 20, 50, 80 years. Yeah. But, I mean, that doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter. So you were a closet Christian and you had hidden your faith

your whole adult life. What about that moment? The boldness, like I said, like it was just a moment of freedom because even in the corporate world where they think it's not cool to talk about Jesus that's not a place where you talk about that in a boardroom you don't talk about Jesus,

your faith, that's your personal stuff. But what about when you're facing death? Like even in those moments those people were open. And that's the reality of our world. We think people are not ready, but people are ready. So Bryce, I just shared with you about a building collapsing. Yeah.

There are people around us that live among us. They all have something that's collapsing in their life. It could be a disease and their body is crumbling down. It could be marriage. Could be finances. It could be emotionally. Something has died in their life. A relationship died.

A dream died. And so as people do life, there are the, collapses in their lives. So we think they're not ready. Yeah. But they might be so ready for someone to just tell people that there is hope for you, that there is a way out of this. And sometimes it could even be death.

I know in a lot of circles in the Christian world, that's not a popular message. But I talk about it, you know, even if it could be death and suffering, the early followers of Jesus, they were, some of them, you know, they were crucified upside down, thrown in boiling pots of oil. Did they survive? God could have rescued them. Shadrach Meshagabed-Nago abandoned so close to getting burned. And so it could be life, it could be death, but does it matter?

All that matters is, did you get your heart right with God? This journey of life, however short or long it may be, was there that moment in your life where you lay down your battle with God? And people watching us, they could have some beef with God about something in their lives that didn't go right or some wrongs that's happened to them. I have empathy for them. I understand them.

Life on earth is not that easy. We go through these trials and we go through these collapses in our life where we just want to go and throw in the towel and give up. But if you will not give up, just like that light you talked about earlier, there is that light looking for you.

And that light will take you from that day of where you want to end your life, anxiety and depression, I watched your testimony, that experience that you had in Waffle House, and before that, why you want to end your life. There are people watching us right now, and as I talk about death,

it could be someone, I just feel in my spirit. There's some people that are thinking about their own death. They probably want to take their life. And I want to tell them, your time is not now. There's a better way. Reach out to God and watch how God will come into your life and rewrite your life story. One of the beautiful verses in the Bible,

I think in Psalm 18, when I opened the book of my heart to him, God rewrote the text of my life. And from that, I paraphrase it. And I always say, God rewrites life stories. And God can rewrite our story. Yeah.

So good. And you get out of this rubble. The guy runs in. I mean, how did you get out of there? I mean, what was next? I mean, you emerge from the ashes. FBI agent runs back in. Pure chaos.

I mean, more people are dying around. you, what's the next move? How did you get out of that situation? So what happened was after we got out, so those of us on the street level, we didn't know what was going on again. And it's kind of an interesting thing. You know, when you see an accident on the highway, you see firemen and police officers, they know what's happened. And if you ask them, they might tell you what's happened. Everything's going to cool. Everything's going to be okay. But in this scenario, even law enforcement, they don't know what's going on. So you see that on their faces too. There's that sense of

hopelessness and fear about what could happen next. For those of on the street level, the F-16 fighter jets were flying over us. And I thought, and a lot of people around me thought there were, those planes were dropping bombs and all the tall skyscrapers in Manhattan. I think there's some footage

that came out. I think I sent it to your team so they could show it in this podcast of me. After I got out and some of the ash and suit was cleaned up. I remember being in running into a building because people next to me said there could be another explosion and we ran into a building and we were there for a while for a few minutes and then someone said no this building could get attacked too because

this is a tall building so it was just a sense of chaos um you're too young for this but there were these you know left behind series movies back oh i know about the left behind you know and there was a song you know are you ready i think a song like that you talk about you know the world is coming to an end and all it's almost like that it was just it was so real it's like a movie like nobody knows what's going on. And so on the street level, there was chaos. And at that time, did you even know if your wife was alive? Because I know you had made the decision to go towards that tower because she were like, well, my wife could be looking for me. I couldn't get a hold of her. You know, I mean, so you didn't even know if your wife was alive. So I kind of by then,

Bryce, given up hope about her. I was like, there's no way she's going to make it. Because both the towers in May, then, you know, both the towers were collapse. Yeah. Smoke ash rising out of ground zero. I'm somewhere near Canal Street for those who are familiar with New York City. I'm on the streets of Manhattan, angry, confused, bitter, saying, God, why did you spare me? For sure, my wife is dead. The child she's carrying is gone. The same question people ask you to date, you were asking yourself, while chaos is erupting. Correct. Oh, my gosh. So you're jumping building to building, everyone's like, I mean, I can tell that no one knows what's going on. Let's go in here and hide. Wait, let's not go in here. Something else bad could happen. Let's go over here.

I don't know. At what point did you just go, did you just end up like, bailing and doing your own thing? Exactly. I was like, you know, I didn't even know. I didn't even have it. I didn't know if I should go to a hospital. Someone told me,

let me take your hospital. I don't want to do that. I don't know what I would have to do. I don't know whether I should go home or I should be in the streets or whatever. And there's some crazy things that happened. I remember we somehow make it to Midtown. And New York City was being evacuated.

People coming out of their offices. They didn't know what was going on Ground Zero, except that they probably saw on television. And I remember like, I had muscle spasms. I couldn't walk. And I remember sitting by a street. And there was a guy and a woman with me trying to help me.

And then I remember that moment surrounded by tourists, taking pictures of me, cover with ash and so interesting, Bryce, back in the day, unless you were with the media or you were a tourist, you didn't have a camera. Because now the phones had cameras. And so they're all tourists. they were taking pictures of me and I just felt kind of angry at that moment but also like don't they know what just happened?

Yeah. And so people didn't know what was going on till they all got home and they saw on their television and they packed and then you had people lining up to give blood. But so I'm there just thinking all is gone but then I felt that I should walk into a store that's right across to me

and I walked into a store and a girl from the store she sees me, she comes out, opens her door, pulls me in and start removing glass from my hair. And I remember she was an Israeli young girl and she said, they're going to do this in my city. She was from Jerusalem.

And I can see television sets and they were showing visuals. By then, I think the plane had, the one plane had crashed in the Pentagon, the other one crashed in Shanksville, United 93. And so she's talking about terrorism and stuff, but again, it's not resonating with me.

But she grabs my cell phone and she's going through the number stored in my phone and my cell phone rings for the first time that day. All day, my phone had not wrong. I couldn't make outgoing calls. And when I said, hello, it's my wife. She, she told, tells, I could, I sense she was alive and she sensed I was alive. We told each other where we could meet and we started heading towards that direction. But that was a moment where from a point where I'd completely given up hope over her, knowing that in God's mercy, God had also spared her life. Wow. And that that was like a random lady in like a corner store or something across the street and she just

brought you in knows nothing about you sees the soot and ash i mean you're probably bleeding maybe i don't know i don't know how what and she just starts taking glass out of your hair and helping and then i mean that that's just it's just crazy to me how sometimes it takes chaos to unite people which is a very sad thing right as believers as christians we're like yeah we love our neighbor I don't care if you're rich, poor, atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, black, white, Asian. It doesn't matter. Like, I'm going to love you, right? And then, you know, for people that are believers, there's hesitation to help, understandable.

It's the human nature. It's like, I care about myself, I care about things. So she helps you, your wife calls, and then you guys plan to meet up. And so where did you guys end up meeting? Jacob Javid Center, 53rd Street, and 11th or 12th Avenue. You know, the ferry was the only way to get out of New York City. That was the greatest evacuation, by the way, that happened by Waterway. Like millions of people, the roads, tunnels, bridges all shut down.

And that's where we meet. And it was an amazing moment of truth as we hugged and cried when we meet each other. But I truly believe she was spared. Yeah. But that moment, there was another layer to it that moment. Because at that place, people saw me covered with Sid and Ash. I'll never forget them coming to me with pictures. of their wife, their husbands,

co-workers, sons, daughters, and they would say, did you see them? Did you see them? As you're with your wife, because they realized I was coming from Ground Zero. That's a moment that I remember to this day and I wonder, like, how many of them were finally able to reunite with the loved ones?

Just like I had experienced such deep fear about my wife, there was so many more people that experienced that pain and loss because they couldn't connect with their loved ones that day. Why do you think? think you survived and other people didn't.

That's a great question. Like I said earlier, I struggled with that early on. Why was I spared? But then this 25 years of my life, the way that God has used my life in small ways, I found purpose. So I feel like God has spared my life to live out the life that I'm living right now. But then I also want to explain something else. The fact that we look at life, like I said earlier,

and we put it in terms of years. But in the light of eternity, life on earth is so short. Some live for seven. I lost my sister to leukemia when she was seven. Some live in earth for seven years. Some for 20, 40, 80. At the end of it all, we will all go. We don't understand why these things happen,

but we know that God is in the midst of that, that God would use that which was meant for evil. God can turn around for his glory. And so I look at my life and I've seen God rewrite my story. And some of the things that I'm able to do, with my life is kind of evident of God's grace upon my life. And the second chance he gave me. Because, you know, I remember once a lot of media was adding my story.

And I remember it was four, five days after 9-11, lying on my bed. And God just breaks me. And I think my family thought that I was going through an emotional thing about 9-11. My life got so busy that I didn't probably have a lot of time to process it. because I was doing a lot of media stuff right away. It was after three or four days, God breaks me. God breaks me because I see a picture of a security guy that worked in those towers.

Oh, wow. And we had started conversations with each other working in the building, but I never shared Jesus with him. I don't think he made it out that day. God brought the picture of that man before my eyes and said, all you're speaking and sharing a story

is not going to bring that man back again. that's a terrible thing for God to do but I'm so glad I experienced that because because I saw God's heart for people that could miss eternity without him every moment like as we're speaking

so many born so many died too so many have slipped into eternity without Jesus and so And so I look at my life hoping that God will continue to bring everyday opportunities into my life where in some way I can have a spiritual conversation

with someone. And it was so cool. Before meeting you, I met two other people in L.A. I got picked up in the airport by your cab driver. And he was a believer, a guy who found Jesus in the underground church in China. And this morning I left my hotel room to get to your studio and there was this lady,

housekeeping lady, singing a Christian song. And I said, which song is this? She says she's a believer. And so, you know, as we do life, we can't find moments to see where they are spiritually.

So for me, it was that moment of facing death that made me realize it's important to, there's only one life. And soon it may pass. And so will you use that life to do things that will matter for eternity?

Yeah, you know, I mean, you even mentioned my story a little bit. Like I, Jesus met me on the day that I thought I was going to die. A little, but totally different context, right? And, you know, I can understand why people get angry in a way. And they go, why did God take away your anxiety, depression, and not mine? Or maybe even people that lost relatives. So why did God spare you and not mine? And, like, I get it and I understand.

hand. And, you know, there's a, you know, the passage where Paul's like, I got the thorn in my side. And I, I just love that passage. Because I think it is the, I think that is the most clear cut answer of, well, it keeps Paul humble and relying on God. And who knew? Where if you didn't go through this experience, you wouldn't be humble and relying on God right now. Absolutely. In fact, you may have climbed the corporate ladder so high, you might have become your own God. you might have been on the 92nd floor or whatever and climbed that and got the nice office view and made the bigger salary and you know what I mean? You never know or me. Like if God never took away my anxiety and depression, he took mine away.

There's a whole lot of other things he didn't take away, you know, that keep me humble and relying on God. And I just think it is so unique and special how like, yeah, rightfully so. Like we think sometimes the answers to our problems are things that God hasn't resolved. But it's so interesting to think how, God is just so intentional in using the things that we think are harmful to us, actually. None of our tears go to waste. And also, you know, this is a question that people deal with. And again, this season, people reflecting on 9-11,

watching stories of people that died and they were being like, where was God in suffering? We don't understand it all. And I get why people ask that question. But I look at the world. And after 9-11, that's something I dealt with. with it too. I was like, why do these things happen, God? I understand that there's evil in our world because of moral,

moral evil and there's also natural evil, right? Tsunamis, earthquakes, moral evil and disobedience. He got created everything and he said it was good. Everything was good. Yeah. And then, you know, he created man and he said, I'm going to make him something unique. Pinnacle of my creation, I'm going to give him the capacity to love.

and to have the capacity to love, I'm going to give him freedom. I'm going to give him an opportunity to make choices. And we know what happened. Adam blew it for all of humanity. And from that comes this brokenness.

You know, when you look at the book of Genesis and you think of, what those early days where I've been like? Adam was only told one thing that he shouldn't do. You could do whatever else was with his mate or wife at that time. There's one thing.

Don't eat up this tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yes, you could do whatever you want to do. And because of that, it is genetically, we are prone to break laws, God's laws, and there's a price. So what does God do? Does he stop, does he program us and make us robots? No. Then we would lose our capacity to love or to have that freedom to make choices. So God, is he aware of evil?

Does God allow evil? Yes, he does. But why does he allow evil? He does evil for a few things I feel or stories like 9-11 A to get people's attention when they're going through that storm through evil

like I talked about I was able to leave people the Lord as a building is collapsing so someone's going through a tough time God's trying to get your attention a tough thing in the Bible is that story I think it was in the story the man by the pool of pedesta

yeah right I think John 5 right John 5 I don't know the exact quotation So basically Jesus hears him and that says, sin no more so that nothing worse could happen to you. If you sin, something worse could happen to you. Well, that means sometimes God, it could be a retribution from God. But that's not the solid rule that suffering happens for God to discipline you. Because there's another story about Jesus with his disciples.

The man, I think, was blind. And they said, why is he blind? Because of his sins, of his forefathers, his fathers, or mother's parents. And Jesus said, no. It's for the work of God and the glory of God to be revealed and through it. So he allows this. But then for us, for those that follow Jesus, the cool part is, God doesn't stop this evil.

God doesn't stop our suffering sometimes. But in the end, through his son, Jesus, the cross, because of the cross, the battle is won. So the end of the story is not 9-11. The end of the story is one day, truth and goodness will triumph over even. evil. There will be a judgment of God where every evil will be judged. And so for a Christian, from a Christian perspective, there's such hope that our battle is just momentary. If you've been wronged, there's going to be a day where God's going to, you know, made out justice for you. And there will be that days for all of these things that happen around us. So I think through

the Christian worldview, we have such hope. We just don't have to cave into suffering and evil and say that, hey, God doesn't rescue us. God does. God. God has won the evil for you. He will win the day for you. And that's the hope of God's greatest rescue mission for all of humanity. And then also, if people struggle with suffering, wow, his son suffered too.

Yeah. He allowed his son to know every pain, every weakness to the point of death. But he defeated death so that victory can be won. outside of the Christian faith, it's very hard to understand good and evil. Yeah. Outside of the Christian lens,

it's hard to understand why as humans we even have a conscience. Yeah. Like outside of the Christian faith, it's very hard to understand if there is a God, why does he allow evil and suffering to happen? Yeah.

But when you bring in God, it just makes it very clear and simple. Why do you think America was the target that day? a great question, Bryce. America was a target, I believe, because of America's Judeo-Christian foundation. So you look at America, you know, we just celebrated 250 years. We think of it.

It's such a small space of time in human history. Such a young nation. But what has this nation done in these last 250 years? This nation has founded itself on Judeo-Christian values, established a foundation that's based on God. and God has blessed this country because of that. And then the resources

out of the enterprise and business and creativity that people got, Christians use those resources for the end time purposes the gospel. More Christians from America

have opened hospitals, fed the poor, taking care of the widows and brokenhearted, set sex traffic victims free than people grew of any nation. And then more importantly,

the gospel has been preached because of people going, giving, dying. When you look at that, that's in direct contrast or opposing why the enemy has in store for America. If there is a source that's funding, accelerating all the gospel movement, and if there's a country that's based on this foundation, we need to attack that foundation. And that's the cry from the gates of hell.

And I'm going to say this. I've never said this anywhere. I think I've said this on a television so some people that are not other Christian faith may have a problem with this but I'm going to say it anyway this Christian nation I think it was 1893 and I'll come to the date

there was an event in Chicago it was called the World Parliament of Religions in the year 1893 the date September 11th Vivekananda who was a great teacher a Hindu teacher from from India

came to America in Chicago and gave us keynote speech and he talked about Hinduism pantheism and you know

that's something that we deal with our generation like God and the universe are the same and I'm sure your friends

who say the universe brought you into my life and universe is doing this because I think God is universe and universe is

God and so he talked about the pantheistic way of life and how and what Hinduism is and America got

sucked into a new age from that moment on. So, September 11th of 1893. That's the first time someone of a Hindu faith or New Age faith

proclaimed from this megaphone in America and America welcomed in and they said that was so cool, come on in. And then you know all what happened around the world after that, you know, the Beatles and the New Age and how yoga came into this country.

And I'm not a prophet or any of that, but it's just sense. I look at this date and then I look at September 11th. It's not a coincidence. You see Islam coming and raising his head

and saying we're going to be a force. So I feel personally that when you look at the good that's happened globally with evangelism, there's one front that's standing against the church of Jesus and that's the world of Islam. And that world,

I go to UK called Offen in London, and you see what's done in that culture there in Europe. It's almost like you feel terrible for those countries in France and Spain and Italy and the UK. I think that's coming to America. And I think that 9-11 was that door that they tried to get in. And so I think beyond the geopolitical things of what happened, for us Christians, there's a deep spiritual meaning significance of that day. And in a way good that after that day, more Americans are aware of what Islam is.

and what his agenda is. And I think that's something that every generation has to be mindful of. What would you say to a Muslim watching this right now? I would say God loves you just the way he loves me. And a Muslim would say that Jesus was a prophet. I would say he's a son of God. And I would say, here's the thing that's so interesting about Islam and Christianity. That's so different.

For a Muslim, his salvation is based on his works. Good works and right works. He can never be sure of his salvation. I am absolutely sure of my salvation because his thing hangs in the balance till the end. If your good works are outnumber your bad works, then I'm entering to paradise. And for me, it's not even about any of my works.

It's about the finished work of Jesus did for me. So it's such an amazing opportunity for a Muslim to connect with Jesus and say, truly what we're looking for is fulfilled in him. Because if we look at Islamic faith, there's a division, right? There are things in the Old Testament. There's parts of it that we agree with them. Like the Judeo-Christian faith and the Islamic faith,

they talk about Abraham, Moses, and David, and all that stuff. So we have these things in common. But the revelation of who God should be is in Jesus. And I'm sorry, but there's the truth. Mahmah had a visitation of an angel. And you and I know you've interviewed people of the Muslim faith that I met Jesus. It was a demonic visitation.

that he had. And if you look at the contest of why Islam grew up at that time where it grew up, it's a time where Christianity had a crazy head start. And Christianity was doing so well in the Middle Eastern countries. You look at Northern Africa. You look at Middle East. You look at even countries like Saudi Arabia, where there were large population of Christians. Islam showed up and it spread with the sword.

And they started slaughtering and killing Christians. And so now, if you look countries like Lebanon and all, all these countries or Egypt and all those countries, which were one, citadel's of Christianity. You don't have much Christians left anymore. So I think Islam showed up at that point from the pits of hell to cut down Christianity before Christianity.

For us, it's can't even fathom that. Imagine the Middle East, if Islam did not rise up the way it did at that point, the entire Middle East would have been that beacon of hope for the world. Because Christianity got started there. It's not a Western religion.

It got started in the Middle East. and from there, from Israel, it went into the world. But imagine the job was Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the world. So Samaria and Judea and the ends of the world was the Middle East where it was burning for Jesus. And you have all these stories. I'm sure Bryce, you look up all these stories of even excavations happening in all these Muslim countries like Turkey and others.

What do you, you dig up those countries. What are you find? You find under the earth churches, like early churches. And so that's a, that's a, I thank you for asking that question. You know, God doesn't will for any man to be lost. God's heart is for every man. And I just hope that if somehow a Muslim is tuned in, because it's a story about 9-11 or they might be tracking with you for a while,

I would just say come into an understanding of who Jesus is and his arms are open wide for you. You know, 25 years since 9-11, do you think America's let their guard down? Oh, absolutely. So you think that something like 9-11 could happen again? It could happen any day. Yeah, I agree.

I mean, I think, but I mean, from that day, right, like after 9-11, was there any sort of like spiritual awakening in the country? Oh, there was, Bryce. So what happened for me was I, a lot of media aired our stories, and I was talking about Jesus. Some of the media would cut me off because I talk to Jesus. Right. But to create of some, even New York Times,

ran a one-page story on what I was doing and said, in Pulpins, a Survivor talks about God's deliverance. So back then there was an openness to talk about God in the public square, public space. It was amazing. I would go in small towns, population, 2,000 people, 4,000, 4,500 people would come to hear me speak. So there was a great sense of revival happening. Because at that point, like, no one's 401k or Social Security is going to help them when they die. I mean, I mean, I can sit here and say that as a believer 22 years old.

I mean, if I get Social Security, like, it's not going to help me. But you know what I mean? Like, even those guys know, okay, it doesn't matter how much money's in my savings account. If a tower goes down or if my building gets hit by a plane or if I go unconscious at the wheel or if I die in my sleep, I mean, literally we had a, I do prison ministry at a state prison like north of where I grew up. And we were going to go visit. Our team was going to go visit. And the warden just died in sleep the morning of the 4th of July this year. And it's so sad.

You know, you just never, you just never know. So you were using the media as an outlet for Jesus is the answer. He's the answer. Rightfully so. I mean, he saved your life. And then people were open. There was also a lot of unity in America, Bryce. There was no divide between Republican and Democrat.

People were united. And it was that one moment of togetherness in America. I don't think in 25 years we've had that moment again. America sadly so divided based on political beliefs based on so many social backgrounds of income where you live where you come from

it's sad but back then there was a unity everyone was flying an American flag from cars from every window flags went out of companies that produced flags they couldn't print enough flags and that was the sense of patriarchism and I was new to America there was an openness to its God

and it's sad of our sense as humans, or when, you know, when there's a, when there's a need or even collectively when we go through something, there is that we run back to God.

Like they say, you know, like whenever, you know, when we broaden our knees, we look up, you know, so it's sad.

That shouldn't be how life should be. Yeah. But I'm at least grateful for those moments because in my journey in these 25 years, I have met so many people that have,

they watched it on television, there was no altar call, nothing. People watched it. this on television, what was going on in 9-11, and they got on their knees and got saved. There were, there were so many divorces, couples that were going to file divorces, they pulled back their divorce papers. Wow.

There were so many young men that signed up to serve America in the military. You know, kids having conversation with their dad and moms, they want to do life this way. Suddenly they decide, no, I'm going to go fight for America. So in a lot of ways, life changed. America has changed in such a significant way. but I feel in a lot of ways because it's been 25 years

and a lot of terrorist attacks have been thwarted since then they were going to be a lot more but our brave fire, police, EMT have stepped in a lot of times but then also Secret Service and FBI and CIA stopped in

but then also we are very vulnerable I mean America is such a free country right yeah think of churches like in every city there are churches of so if your target is to kill Christians and or Jews you know we don't have metal detectors in churches You could do anything where Christians gather.

You could do something to our water systems out there. So we are vulnerable. So I think it's important for us to pray for God's cover to always be of one country. And if I could go back to the story of Job, a beautiful story again about suffering, right? What happened? You know the story. God and Satan has this conversation.

Satan comes and says, ah, Job, you've given him everything. And that's why he loves you, right? because of stuff you've given him. All right, you can take everything away from him. But don't kill him. Yeah. Got everything taken his riches, his 10 kids, they all die. And then his wife says, curse God.

He says, no. And then Satan comes back and says, oh, you didn't hit him physically. Hidden physically, he's going to curse you. And you know the story. So finally, God triumphs over that story. So what happened in that whole story of all these sufferings that Joe went to?

God allowed. Yeah, to happen. his cover over Job was removed for that season and I think on 9-11 too that cover of protection over America was removed for a short season so we going forward and I hope people do that continue to pray for God's cover and blessing

like when we start our days since 9-11 and I give credit to my wife we do our morning prayers in the car when I'm taking the kids to school and I go to my office and she always leads with Psalm 91. Yeah, yeah, before we pray. Prayer protection.

Yeah. And so I think that's what we can do for us as personally, but also corporately, the God's cover upon America, this country that we so deeply love, the God's cover and protection will upon this country that will be upon our churches, upon us individually, till he chooses when things will go in a different direction.

And every world event, Bryce shows us that time is short. Yeah, for sure. We just have just this one window to live for God so that we could live with him forever. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different.

People thought denim on denim was peak fashion. Inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to West Jetting since 96. Travel back in time with us

and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. I mean, something similar, I would say, you know, one of the most or one of the most tragic political events that have happened since I've been alive was Charlotte Kirk getting assassinated. And no human being, I don't care what you believe politically, was not designed to watch a video of someone getting murdered,

point blank period. But what you did see statistically, church attendance rising, things like that. So why do you think that that spiritual awakening didn't stick post 9-11? It stuck for a very short time because I remember even the whole concept of what happened in 9-11. I remember there was a baseball game between the Yankees and Boston, and then the focus became that. We don't have to dwell in these tragedies, but in a way.

we got busier in this country everyone's worried about their paycheck what are they going to do we get busy we get caught up and then as they felt that their vulnerability was not that high that there were people doing things right to protect us I think people started drifting away just like the story of Israel

like you look at the Old Testament you're like don't you get it God showed up for you in so many ways more than like a real experience yeah they've worshipped like 500 golden calves and like you think they would have learned before you is a pull of cloud and as fire

and all these tangible expressions of God. He's literally providing food for you. Don't even ever to work for it. And yet you rebel. And so I think it's in our human nature where we become, you said something very interesting. If I had not pursued after God,

I would have become like a God. I think that's what we do in our own life. We make gods out of ourselves, out of our passions, and our pursuits. And I think we think that they are more important than anything else, not knowing that everything

is going to be broken, everything's going to be destroyed. Nothing's going to be redeemed. The only thing that's going to be redeemed is a human life. Nothing more worth to heaven than a life that God's going to redeem. Yeah, I mean, there's people out there

that consciously want themselves to be their own God. And then I think a lot of times the human nature subconsciously is like, oh, what's about me? And I actually shouldn't tie at the church on Sunday because I need that money. And oh, I got to do this.

And it's interesting how the same sin that made Satan fall in heaven. Pride is the constant thing. Easiest sin to struggle with, the hardest one to spot in yourself. And so now post 9-11, there was a lot that cost it. But, I mean, for you now,

I mean, what are you doing with your life now? So I've used my story as a tool to talk about Jesus, and I've done that in many ways, speaking across this country. I used to speak in a lot of high school assemblies, church world, different parts of the world. But then I remember an experience I had with all the traveling I did. I was missing like that passion like what I had once before. And in that journey, I felt God's saying what really matters is can you make the gospel scene.

So the invisible became visible and dwelt among man. The infinite became finite. So I felt God saying, if you can make the gospel scene, then in a postmodern, post-Christian culture, they will say, well, we look at history and that's what Jesus looked like. What's what the early disciples did? They served the poor.

They took care of their needs of people in their community. And then in a world where they've never heard of Jesus, yet looking for a savior, they could say, that's what a savior would do. And so I was on a quest, and that quest took me to the role. red light districts of the world. I'll never forget

someone told me to come and see the red light district in New Delhi, India. And I was told that it's a huge red light district that there are 37,000 sex workers back then on the street a mile and a half in length. And I thought

I was going to meet women, so might as well buy roses. So we bought hundreds of roses. I had two interesting teams with me. One was group of women from my church with their teenage daughters from Dallas. And then I had these guys called Team Impact. They do these feats of strength. They rip telephone directories, Ben Steele, stuff like that.

So it's like, oh, it's a safe place to go in a red light district with these men. The world powerlifting champion was with us. The W.W.E. guy was with us. All these guys were with me. And so we go there. And then I see a horror that I'd never seen Bryce. I literally saw women and children kept in cages.

in the Red Light District in India India I saw you talk about Satan's playground like darkness you feel your chest is going to collapse Wait I'm actually just learning about this So when you hear Red Lake District

You think of Amsterdam Like at least that's where my brain goes I don't know why I didn't think that they were everywhere Even Amsterdam is I've been in the brothels of Amsterdam And I've seen what it looks like there Even there

It's just brokenness And the conditions are us Would you say the red light district in India is far worse? Absolutely. Oh, my goodness. So there's women and children in cages, a mile and a half. A mile and a half. And then as I'm handing those rows,

and probably the first time these women have got a rose, a girl grabs me by my arm. And she says, if you really care about me, get me out of here. And that's when I stood that place, like, help us. I was angry at men because men cause this. And then I say women also selling women. And then I feel the Lord saying two things I've done for you I want you to be busy with

which is I have physically rescued you a story and I've spiritually rescued you and the words of the girl that said you can get me out of here and that ministry was birth that name came later on as I thought about it so God started a work called You Can Free Us

and so my life in these last 16 years has been going into these brothels with my teams and pulling these girls and children out and more importantly, you know, giving them freedom but also them meeting Jesus. Yeah. These girls have the most incredible stories of brokenness, how they were sold when they were young, forced to see so many men every single night.

Their bodies were sold for $1.50. Horrible things, physical things have, you know, done to them. And they are there thinking, all this loss, no one's listening for me, no one's, no one's going to come after me, no one's going to look for me. And then we get to go and do this amazing thing

of pulling them out and giving them hope. And then more importantly, you know, when they meet Jesus, broken women have this amazing way of connecting with the Lord. And we also work with children at risk. I'm in some of the most at-risk communities where the biggest thing that happens in that community is trafficking. Everybody is involved in some form of trafficking.

That girls, when they hit puberty, when they hit 13, 14, 15 years of age, they are sold to a older man who has money because a father is drunk and has a debt and alcohol has ruined their life. And that's also slavery. And so I feel, so I still speak, but more than the speaking,

what I truly enjoy is if there's some child or a woman that we can bring freedom because I passionately believe that, that you know, there's a call upon this generation, that there's a call upon the church to fight for people's freedom. and especially America. This is a country

we value freedom so much. You value your freedom, Bryce, I value my freedom. And how much more should we do then for the cause of these people? You know, transatlantic slave trade was horrible.

We don't get why it happened. It was horrible. But then this slave trade is happening all over the world to numbers even bigger than then. Like I say some 50 million people are caught up in slavery right now. And I'm so grateful

that God has birthed so many organizations around the world, not ours, that's fighting for it. That's fighting in Satan's playground for women and children. And I think throughout the gospel narrative and even the Old Testament, you'll see women with that kind of background grafted into God's story. So Rehab, the what? Hallet, right?

That's what the Bible says. It's interesting because in that Eastern culture where reputation meant so much, they didn't blot out her profession. She's found in the genealogy of Jesus to the earthly father. And you see that Mary Magdalene, you see broken women find the identity in Jesus. They love their souls.

So that's kind of my mission to raise an alarm, to raise up people that go fight. Because even you see that story in the book of Hosea. That's my favorite pictures of the Old Testament gospel. Josea Gomer. Beautiful story. See, because Bryce, you and I were in the slave market too, right? we stood in that slave market

and Jesus stepped in and redeemed you and me so powerful where would I be where would you be if Jesus didn't redeem oh gosh I mean there was a price on your soul there was a price on myself and he came and outbid

everything from the gates of hell and with his innocent blood and Josea did that very thing right someone who had wronged him in so many ways and yet says I'm going to win you back and I'm going to restore you And so I see that in the gospel narrative

God's heart for women and God's heart for to truly be the salt and light. So it's one thing to be in church on Sunday morning. I was talking to someone earlier today and I was just saying, isn't it sad? Sometimes church becomes all about us

about how I feel. And a lot of Christian expressions have become that. God, I'm feeling this. I'm feeling that. But I feel like church is aware. And church is also a place to get right with God. I get it, but you can get right with God in your closet, in your car, under your shower.

You can get out with God. I feel church has got to be a place where you've got to be excited about reaching lost people. And then the church equips you to go reach the loss. The work of ministry happens outside the church. We restricted to church. And so, but we are supposed to go back into those dark places and reclaim those.

places so that the kingdoms of this world will become kingdoms of God. That's the final victory. The final victory is not populating our churches and going from one building program to the next one. The final victory is like Reinhard Bonke used to say, plundering the gates of hell to populate heaven. That's what Christian life should all be about. Sujo, I'm incredibly blessed by your story and I'm so grateful that you'd be willing to come

on and share. Before we close, I always like to ask our Christian guests, would you pray for our listeners watching and listening right now? Absolutely. Thank you. Lord, I just want to thank you for the opportunity you've given me to talk with Bryce about my story, but truly about God's story. Lord, we went in and out from our story to your story. And I believe in the last year, our half or so, we talked about if there are people that try to put themselves in my shoes facing death, and they were not sure where they were going to go spend eternity, I pray that God,

today you will make it real, that they will reach out to you and call upon you. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I pray if someone who's questioning, who's struggling, what I want to tell them, it's okay to question, it's okay to struggle. God can deal with your questions and God can deal with your struggles. But today he's asking you to give your life over to him. So Father, we just bless this young generation. I just want to bless Bryce and his amazing team, Dylan and Isaac and all the people that have

have been met that's behind him, his wife and others and those that help him fund his ministry. I pray blessings over this. And everyone watching this, Lord, wherever they are, bless them. Bless them we pray and keep America safe. We plead in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.