The Eric Metaxas Show - Todd Blyleven

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Todd Blyleven, former pro baseball player and Las Vegas mass shooting survivor, shares his true empowering story of triumph over trauma.  

Welcome to the Eric Metaxas show. I shouldn't tell you this, but Eric hired someone who sounds just like him to host today's show. But since I'm the announcer, they told me, so I'm telling you, don't be fooled. The real Eric's in jail. Hey there, folks. You may remember in 2017, the shooting in Las Vegas, one of the most insane episodes in American history, You don't hear about it much. My guest right now was there.

He's got an outrageous story to tell. Todd Blyleven, welcome to the program. Thank you, sir. It's an honor to be on your show and be able to shed some light on what happened on October 1st, not just the bad, but obviously the inspirational where faith really came down and helped a lot of people keep their boots moving forward to help others in a time of complete chaos. Remind me.

Now, first of all, did I mangle your name? Is it Blyleaven? It's Blyleven, Y, B-L-E-V-E-N, Todd B-L-E-E-N, Todd Blylele-L-E-N. Okay. So, yeah, what is your story? I mean, and you've got to remind my audience, because a lot of people, myself included, don't only remember. This is now, you know, suddenly quite a few years ago, 2017, October, this horrible shooting. So remind my audience of the details of the shooting first.

Yeah, so the 22,000 people in a country concert, three-day country fest in Las Vegas across the street from Mandalay Bay and other casinos. And in the final act on the last day on Sunday, Jason Aldeen was on stage and a madman from the 30s. second floor across the way at Manila Bay, decided to open fire on 22,000 people with machine guns. And the end result, 58 people lost their lives and over 500 were injured. Okay, now right there. Yeah. How many people lost their lives? Fifty-eight. I mean, this is inconceivable. This is inconceivable. 58 people killed, 500 injured. I mean, I'm sure many them severely injured. And again, we just moved on, like, no big deal. I still don't know what was his motive. Did they ever figure it out? Did they ever figure out anything about this guy?

You know, that's one area that I have not really wanted to learn more about this individual. To me, he's a dark figure of evil that, that, you know, really set everybody's lives that was involved from first responders to family, to friends, to those listening on a different path of of really understanding what safety is all about. So I was there with 18 of my family, friends, young kids. I call them kids. They were in their early 20s, my wife, and we were in an area that really got hit around the first and second time in that barrage of automatic gunfire. We had been to the concert multiple times. It was always a very safe menu. Law enforcement did a great job. The city of Vegas did a great job and trying to secure everybody's safety. It was, air was filled with love.

It was just an amazing, amazing time, great music, great fun. And, you know, I was dancing with my niece at the time, and all of a sudden, you know, at the end of one song, you hear a bunch of popping sounds. you go on a sense of heightened alert, and you realize there's officers off to the right still that are kind of mingling, so there's maybe not anything to be too worried about. And then you heard the first round of machine gun fire, which we had lived in Southern California at the time, not saying that we ever saw drive-bys or anything else, but, you know, it's pretty prevalent in Los Angeles. So you think, okay, maybe it's a drive-by on the Las Vegas Boulevard. there's a big retainer wall, so we're okay, I think.

Officers now are starting to move, and then you start to hear the screams. At that point, everybody starts to drop the second round of machine gunfire hits. Jason Aldeen runs off the stage, the lights go out, and now you know you're in the middle of a war zone, and the gunfire is now coming towards you and your family. I was down on one knee. I happened to look up towards Mandalay Bay and saw the muzzle flash from the shooter. I realized we were sitting ducks in an open environment, and so I told everybody to get up and run. And that's exactly what we did. We ran as fast as we could away from the danger. I wanted to get away from the bullets, separate from the distance.

And as I'm running, I'm keeping my wife in front of me, hoping to God that if a bullet does come that way, it's going to strike me and not her so I can get her back to my kids. And we were able to get out pretty quick. I got out to the east side of the venue on a street called Gile Street, where there were cop cars there, probably there for parking control after the concert. And we made it. We made it out. We were ready to go.

And so I wanted to run north towards Tropic Canada to get further away. And a man came running out with a girl that had been shot. I helped him lay her down. and she was gone. And at that moment, everything went from, of course, you're scared, it's real to, I have to do something. There was going to be more people injured. When we started to run, there were two people that fell. So everything from where we left, I knew there were going to be people that needed help.

So I ran to my wife. I kissed her goodbye, told her to keep running. And they ran north, and I ran back in. I was probably going against the grain in the beginning. You know, I'm going to fast forward this and keep it PG-rated. But, you know, it was one inspirational sighting after another. So I ran in quickly, grabbed a woman that had been shot, carried her out. I figured that was going to be my job, my purpose in that chaos was I was strong.

I could run. I had my legs and my arms under me. So I'm just going to go in as many times as I can until I either fall. or until this thing's over. And I grabbed a woman, ran her out to the police car, set her down. As soon as I turn around and run back in, a group of 20 people start coming out.

A blonde-haired little nurse says, I'm a trauma nurse. What can I do to help? She grabbed me by my shoulder. I said, ma'am, there's three women down and an officer or a security guard that's injured. Please help them. And now I had a team.

So I ran back in, and that's kind of the way it went back and forth. You know, there were moments where after the event was over, and I'll go into that in a second, where you don't really remember a lot. Your mind goes through a lot. Combat vets, you know, it's this, you can train all you want, but when you're in that experience, your mind can process little things as it allows you to process. Otherwise, it keeps it stuck in the back of your brain.

And that's what causes all the headaches and the pounding and the irritability and the aggressiveness and everything that we suffer from PTSD. But in that moment, I had some memory loss. And so the recounting of where my boots took me from people seeing me do these actions, come in, check bodies, grab a woman, throw her over my shoulder, run out while the other two friends are following me, and I throw her under the back of a truck as the truck drives off to take this woman to safety. I carried probably over 30 people out over my shoulder and my arms that night, was shot at multiple times,

and ended up being an eight-hour endeavor where we all thought we were under attack. 22,000 people, 500 injured running in multiple directions into multiple casinos, bomb threats, shooting threats all over Vegas, so police were scattered everywhere. And it was an incredibly terrifying. experience, but one that I knew I wasn't alone that night. I knew that there was something there that kept inspiring me every time I'd bring someone out. I lost a woman in my arms that night. And as she passed, it was extremely difficult, but it was also peaceful at the same time. And I just prayed that I was providing that love, that guidance for her knowing that she wasn't dying

alone. And you stand back up, you take a drink of water. You see something inspiring, a woman and a man carrying another woman out, and it re-energizes you. And you know that, okay, I'm going to be okay. And so you just run back in. And all you're trying to do is help people in that given time when people are screaming and crying. I remember running out, I had a woman in my arms, and she was gripping me so tight. She had my right hand because I had her underneath my legs, or I had my arm underneath her legs, and she's grabbing me.

And as I'm running, yeah. Hang on one second. We'll go into a break. We'll be right back. So you're putting money away, saving for the future, for retirement, for your family. You're doing what you're supposed to do, right? Well, what if I told you that your 401K IRA and other investments

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And together, let's show Wall Street what investing with biblical principles can do. InspireAdvisors, biblically responsible investing, visit inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. Hey, folks, listeners to my show know I'm passionate about the work of Christian Solidarity International because they protect and free those who are being persecuted and enslaved for their faith. Thanks to you to date, CSI has freed more than 100,000 people from slavery in Sudan. but the work is not done yet. It's estimated that there are still tens of thousands more

still in bondage, and CSI is preparing right now for their final slave liberation of this year. I'm hoping you'll join me and help them liberate another 300 women and children. Your gift of just $250 will free a woman in Sudan who has been enslaved for years and provide her with food and other supplies necessary to start her new life.

Call 888-253-3522. 888-253-2522. Christian Solidarity International, freeing and healing captives in Jesus' name. Go to metaxisstalk.com. Metaxistalk.com. Click on the Christian Solidarity banner. Metaxistock.com or 888-253522. God bless you.

Folks, welcome back. I have the privilege of having as my guest today, Todd Lylevin, who's telling us the story of the October 2017 massacre. the murder of 58 people, 500 wounded, injured. And Todd, you were right in the middle of it. You were just sharing something as we went to the break. Finish what you were saying there. I remember carrying a woman out, you know, one of them. And as I was running, I could feel her squeezing my hand and squeezing my back.

And at that point, after a long time, I started processing this whole feeling of togetherness. And I realized that she was holding me up as I was running her out, and I was holding her trying to get her to safety. And it was this amazing bond that happens when you're going in to help somebody in need. They put their life, their trust, everything into your hands and pray that every step. that you take, you're able to possibly save her life or save their life. At the end of the night.

Yeah. I'm just curious, you know, because it's so extraordinary, the event is itself extraordinary, hard to process that this happened. And everything you're describing is itself hard to process what you did that day.

What is your background? What do you do for a living? I mean, you're a guy at a concert with your family. where do you live and what do you do for living typically? So I grew up in a baseball house. My dad was a professional baseball player. He's in the MLB Hall of Fame.

And so I grew up on a baseball field. On my mom's side, I grew up in the military. My grandfather was a Marine gunny for 25 years. My other grandfather built naval weapons for our Navy. I grew up as a devil pup wearing fatigues around. was on the baseball field, hitting a ball. I played professional baseball. I was a majorly baseball scout.

I work in the sports world. I always thought if I wasn't in baseball or sports, I would have been a first responder. That's what I wanted to do. Probably join the Marine Corps first. But yeah, I'm in the sports world now, and I get out and I speak. So you, in 2017, how are you making a living in 2017 as a scout? I was working in the corporate sports world for an event company. Yeah, just a normal, you know, nine to five, basically, trying to help athletes,

you know, take their step to the next level and get recruited for college play or professional baseball. And you said your dad is in the Hall of Fame? Yeah, my dad, Bert Blyleven, got into Hall of Fame in 2011. And so he played for 23 years at the professional level. What's the main team that he played for? So he played for the Minnesota Twins, the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, won the World Series. I was the Bat Boy that year. I got a chance to pal around with Willie Stardrell and Dave Parkin.

Wow. Yeah. That is so amazing. So that's your background. And you, I mean, the day that you are at this Vegas event and this starts to happen, I think to me what makes these kinds of things tough to process is they're so, well, it's unprecedented.

It's not like you're in a war and this is a battle in the war where people are getting killed and that you have the context of like, I'm in a war. You're at a concert in Las Vegas and suddenly this starts going down. So the mind reels to process what is happening.

happening? What is happening? Is this a terrorist attack? Who is shooting? Did it turn out to be just this one shooter? It was, yes. It was one shooter, had multiple weapons up in, up in that room, and they were all positioned so he can go from one weapon to another pretty seamlessly, and the fire just didn't stop. And so I don't remember. Was he killed, captured? He was killed? Yeah, I guess there's speculation on how. that happened, but law enforcement did, was able to breach I think it was 12 minutes, 15

minutes or so after the shooting had started and that person is no longer with us. And we don't have any idea. I mean, look, we know this is demonic. We know this is evil. But you know, when people kill randomly like that, you know, there's no motive

in the traditional sense. It's just you want to kill people. So we know it's demonic at its heart. but we don't do we have any any sense of where this sick person was coming from well from what i understand he had chosen multiple locations and uh Vegas just happened to be the target that he chose and it worked out for him uh in that night for him to but we don't know why he wanted to murder people no we still don't know no i think it's just uh yeah there was a You know, and this is the part that I think people need to be a little bit more conscious of.

Years before this happened, there was a letter that was sent to a friend of his stating that he would want to go do something horrific. And that friend never mentioned anything, never contacted law enforcement, never reached out. And so I think that's a big sign too. And sometimes these people will get on social media or the Internet or even just, talking in public about doing something like this. It just needs to be told. Now, your story, your involvement in this, I know you've given TED talks about this.

What is your angle? I mean, if you give a TED talk, what do you say? Do you just recount what you recounted on this program? Or, you know, is it? That's where it went. Originally, when I got done and I got home, obviously, because of my last name, and I played professionally and my dad and notoriety of everything

and what I had done to help people, everybody wanted to know the story of where my boots took me that night. At the end of the night, I wrestled a man with a knife. Two SWAT officers came up to me at the very end and put their hand on my shoulder and said, sir, you can stand down. And at that moment, you collapse and you're lost. And you can't imagine what you just went through and what you witnessed.

And so I was completely lost. I had to go back home. I had to be a dad. I had to be a worker. How do I do all of that? And have PTSD and have these headaches. My speech was stuttered. So I had a lot of first responder buddies.

Combat vets reach out. Hey, pal, like, I'm with you. This is what I experience. I have a relatable experience. Not like what you went through, but it's somewhat relatable. So I had a lot of people coming to my support from all over the place. But those interviews were all about what I just spoke about, where my boots took me. And what I started to realize, especially after working with first responder community,

and our combat veterans is that they've all experienced that stuff too in a relatable sense. But what the biggest power point is is the aftermath. How did I stand back up for myself? How did I get myself to a point where my faith is so connected and bonded at the hip that I know that one day I'm going to look Jesus and God in the eyes and my wings are going to unfold and I'm going to join that army of angels? How do I get to that point where I know as strong as I am and how I work? was, I'm even stronger today.

And so I get out and I talk now more about the resilience fact, the being approachable and being vulnerable and appreciating every step that we take in this life. Because it's one thing when we go through a traumatic experience and we say, oh, geez, I'm going to be more kind now to people because I just got into a car accident. But it's another to activate on that and make it part of your life and to appreciate just where you are and to be kind. And so a lot of my focus now over the last couple of years has really turned more into being a keynote speaker

that really empowers people to understand that we're not alone in this world. And being a man, I am strong. I know I've done things. I can check off my strength box. And I'm okay to say I'm having a bad day. I'm not feeling well. I need a break.

And just trying to change a culture on that in terms of it being weak to strength. Now, so how can people find you? Is there a website where they can find you? Yeah, so Todd Blyleven.com. I have a speaker site. I'm writing a book right now. There's a script that's being written on where my boots took me,

my life story for a movie, which is really exciting. And I write poetry. I've actually written a couple songs. are being recorded right now, believe it or not. So I leaned into kind of this soft side, the beast meets the piece. And it's just an amazing thing, Eric. Yeah.

Well, listen, it's a privilege that you come on here and tell this story. And I hope people can spell your name and find you and book you to come talk to them. Todd Blyleven. I didn't realize that you realize that you were related to the baseball Hall of Famer. It is just, it's really sobering to hear you tell this story.

There's so much that can be unpacked from it. I think we're going to have to leave it there. But Todd, thanks for coming on this program. And you got to write your book. And when you do that, you got to come back on the program. But in the meantime, God bless you. And thank you very much. Thank you, sir.

God bless you too. And keep doing everything you're doing. It's so powerful and positive. So I really appreciate you. Right back at you. Thank you. Thank you. Folks, I've got to be realistic about my diet in December.

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We are kicking off a new campaign with our dear friends at Christian Solidarity International, that's C-S-I. We do this every year. We're kicking it off right now. this is about freeing slaves, ladies and gentlemen. This is an amazing thing that we get to do. So right now, let me welcome Todd Chapman with CSI. Todd, welcome back.

It's always great to talk to you. And this is always just good news, pure good news, that we get to do this. Eric, we are so thankful for the longstanding partnership we have with you. And so grateful for the difference that your listeners have made across so many years. I was actually looking back at how many slaves were freed in our year-end campaign last year, and it was north of 800 people, freed from slavery out of North Sudan, and returned to their home country of South Sudan, set on a whole new life and equipped to thrive and become self-sustaining for the first time ever.

So thank you, God bless you, and we're hoping for and praying for another big response this year. Well, I think, you know, a lot of people think this is too good to be true. I give $250 or some part of that or some multiple of that. And you're telling me, first of all, I think people have to say, oh, wait a minute, there's slavery in the world. Ladies and gentlemen, yeah, yeah, there is hard for us to fathom. But then the amazing news that I could give money and everybody has some money, everybody has something. And I can do something that's an unmitigated good. It's just extraordinary.

And it's because you guys at CSI have been there forever. I mean, since what? It's 1977, you know, kind of doing what you do. Yeah. Yeah. So CSI, it stands for Christian Solidarity International, founded in 1977, and really we're a human rights organization. And we work to stop religious oppression and free people that have been imprisoned for their faith

in countries all over the world. We work in Africa, which is where this effort obviously is in Sudan, also work in the Middle East and in India. And Eric, you're right. There are more slaves today in the world than there have been at any other time in human history. And a lot of times we here in America were really kind of shielded from that reality. But the reality is people are enslaved all the time. You see in Pakistan people having to make bricks for slave wages to try to buy themselves out of debt. And, you know, India, the same thing is going on.

in Africa, in Sudan, this slavery, the slaves that you're freeing as you partner with CSI, many of them have been held in captivity since the 1990s. They were taken captive during the Sudanese Civil War, and they were allowed to be taken into North Sudan, and they've been there ever since. Many of these slaves have actually had children in slavery, and so CSI since 1995 has been committed to freeing them, and every year we do what we call slave liberations five times a year. we have slave retrievers that negotiate the release of these slaves and then five times a year we march two or three hundred back down into south sudown and into freedom we've actually got one more

slave liberation coming up between now and the end of the year so i'm really excited to have uh you as an eric metaxis listener give your very best gift right now so that we can finish this year freeing more than 1500 slaves that's our goal you know this brings up uh some big questions um todd and i feel like I want to address this up front. I think there are people probably who ask rightly, how can God allow this? How can God allow people to be literally enslaved, to be raped by masters, not in the distant past now? How can God allow this? And that's a big question. And it's a good question. But then I have to ask the follow-up question. God is allowing everyone who can hear my voice right now to do something about it. And if you don't

do something about it. Let's be honest, you're allowing it. We allow evil to flourish. God gives us free will. So this is just an amazing opportunity. I mean, if somebody tells you about slavery, you know, in 1775 or 1840, there's nothing you can do about it, but advocate politically for its end and obviously pray for its end. But today, we have the ability through CSI actually to do something. And this is something. that I've been talking about for a long time, it's faith in action, folks. God somehow, he allows evil, and then he allows us to participate with him in overturning evil, in undoing evil. Faith is not enough. We've got to put our faith into action. That's God's will.

So I want to say right out of the gate, there's a banner at metaxis talk.com. Metaxistocococon.com. It's all there. You click on the banner, and it leads you through to, you'll see everything there. Metaxistalk.com. There's a banner. There's a phone number 888-253-3522. I'll be repeating it throughout the show. 888-253-3522 and the banner, metaxis talk.com. But we do this to enlist you who are listening to this program to say, please be part of the solution. There's real evil in the world, but God has given us the ability, in this case, to do something about it. And it's It's just a magnificent opportunity. Before we go to our break, I want to say it again, folks. The phone number, and I really hope folks will do this today. We really, when we have an opportunity like this, I mean, every year, it's amazing we get to do this. The phone number is 888-253-3522.

Please write it down. everyone listening to my voice has the ability to do something. You can do something right now, anything, right now. You can give monthly, if that's better, 888-253-3522. This is a glorious opportunity to participate with God in standing against evil, in helping real people who are suffering right now. The website, metaxis talk.com, right at the top of the page, you'll see the banner. Metaxistalk.com.

We'll be right back. I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, but is there because he's a victim of the time. I wear the flag. Hey, folks, the story of My Pillo is a testament to faith and transformation. Mike Lindell, once battling addiction, found a new path when he embraced faith and began following Jesus. In gratitude, Mike is excited to share an exclusive offer with our listeners. Right now, the standard My Pillo is available for just. There's 1488, a savings that's too good to pass up.

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I'm excited we get to participate again with CSI, Christian Solidarity International, in doing something extraordinarily beautiful and good, freeing slaves, literally freeing slaves, and putting them into a life of freedom, setting them up in a life of freedom. So we have our friend Todd Chapman from CSI to kind of give us the details on that. So Todd, what is involved? I mean, we're asking people to give $250. And again, folks, whatever you can give, if you can give $25 a month or many people can

give $10,000, we need everybody to participate at whatever level. But the question is when CSI says, okay, $250 does this. What is this, Todd? Tell us about that. Yeah, so first of all, I want to be really clear because this is a question that comes up every year. Well, are you, you know, buying the freedom of these slaves? Are you using some of the money that I give to, you know, to pay cash to free them? And no, we're not. We have never paid cash for any slaves.

We've been doing this since 1995. And because the concern obviously would be, well, if you're creating a market, you know, by paying, you know, these slave owners cash, there's going to take more slaves. the fact of the matter is they're not taking more slaves. There are fewer Sudanese slaves than there were when we started this work 20, you know, 30 years ago. And every year, the number of them continues to decline because you give. Now, what we do do is we take some of the money that you donate and we procure a cattle vaccine because many of these slave owners are cattle ranchers and they can't get these vaccine that they need to keep their cows alive. And so we barter, you know,

a slave in exchange for the vaccine. So there's that. And so, the majority of your gift actually goes to providing a fresh start for these Sudanese slaves. They're mostly women, but we do have some men as well. And now more and more, we're actually able to negotiate the release of children along with their moms who have been enslaved and slaved for a long time. And so we give them what's called a bag of hope. We march them down into South Sudan, about two, 300 at a time, a few times a year. And we have a camp there. We capture all of their information that we can get from them. We take photographs. We document their story. If they know their name, and many of them don't because they've been held in slavery since they were young children,

but we try to capture that information so that we can ultimately reunite them with our family. That's our goal. But we also have to give them the resources that need to start a new life. So they get a tent, they get some bedding, they get grains, they get a mosquito net. We give them a female goat that they can use for milk and also for breeding and fishing supplies. And so they get a whole new start of life through that bag of hope. And then, of course, all the love and care and attention and counseling led by our pastoral staff in the community right there that we bring them back into. And so, Eric, it's so much more than, you know, just all of that stuff.

It truly is setting them on a path to freedom. And story after story, we hear from these women, they have said, I never thought I would be free. I've never known anything other than captivity my entire life. I was taken as a child or I was actually born into slavery. I never knew what it meant to be free. didn't even know my name. It was taken from me and I was forced to convert to Islam given a different name. And so this is literally a whole rebirth, if you will, into freedom in the name of Jesus that you're providing with your gift of $250 or whatever God lays on your heart.

Well, this is what's amazing to me is that we have the ability to do something. But God doesn't force us. And I say this over and over to people that I think in the American church, people are so focused on faith by faith. It's like it's all about your salvation. It's not all about yourself. That's a myopic anti-Christian view of the Christian faith. We are saved by God and then deputized now to live according to his will and to do his will. We're going to be an army of people sold out to God's purposes. It's not about going to church on Sunday and singing songs.

That's a little piece of it. But then we have to live out our faith in every sphere. And this is a classic example. we just had an election. Well, there's nobody to vote for this month or this, you know, season. What can I do? How can I get involved? God calls us to do many things. This is something that by the grace of God on this program, we get to do. And I want to say, folks, nothing could be a greater Christmas present to somebody than to say, hey, dad, in your name, we all got together and we freed a slave. And here's the information. information on that. Trust me, as a father, nothing would touch me more than getting a gift like that, getting a sweater I don't need or whatever gadget that's going to be in the garage in six months.

Really and truly, this is an opportunity to do something beautiful for God that's meaningful. This is also something we can teach our kids about the meaning of life. Tell your kids, here's what we're going to do. We're going to do for grandpa this year. we're going to all pull together and take part of your balance and we're going to get part of we're going to do beautiful thing. There is nothing more beautifulness. This is meaningful. And it teaches our kids and it teaches us about this is the meaning of life. We get to participate in God's purposes in working against evil.

And God has given us the privilege that we get to do that. We have money. We have freedom. We have this radio program. And we can talk about this. It's not oppressed. It's not suppressed speech. We get to talk about this.

We get to do something. But then God doesn't force us to do it. He gives us the invitation to do it. And so, folks, I think this is just a beautiful, a beautiful opportunity. And I want everybody who's listening to participate somehow and to participate ASAP. This is really just an amazing opportunity. I can't say that enough. What an opportunity that we get to do this.

We hear about this evening. and some fix it. So the phone number is 888 253-3522. 888-253-3522. The website is metaxis talk.com. You see the banner right there, metaxis talk.com. The banner's right at the top, metaxis talk.com. What an opportunity. So, and Todd, do people give monthly as well? Do people sometimes want to do that? Yeah, absolutely. You can give monthly. You can give a one-time gift, obviously. You know, It's $250 per slave that you free. And one of the things I love about your listeners, Eric, is every year, you know, I see some of the names that have given for a number of years now. And we see people coming back and making this a part of their annual giving.

And we love that. And also what we see over time, people tend to give more and more because what you said, you know, when you participate in anything that you do in the name of God, yeah, you're bringing good in the world and you're doing, you know, you're showing God's love and transformative ways. but it also changes you. It changes our heart. That's why Jesus talked about giving and showing love. And so if you want to change the world and also I have God change you in the process, be in part, and it's not just giving to CSI. Give to his work anywhere that you feel led.

But I'm just a big believer and lover of what we do at CSI, freeing human beings in the name of Jesus. I am with you. Freeing human beings, literally, freeing them from slavery. The website, Metaxus talk.com. The banner is right there. The phone number 888. 282533522. Dial it today, call it today, give today 888-2533522, 888-253-3522. And the banner, metaxis talk.com. Do it. God bless you.

You sheltered me from home. Hey there, folks. As promised, I want to get my friend Kevin McCullough back on here to talk about CSI. This is an insane opportunity. I beg you, take advantage of the opportunity. to free a slave. There's nothing more significant. Anyone could do. No better Christmas present. You could give to someone to say that you've done this in their name. You've freed a slave. You go to metaxistocotococ.com.

Metaxistocococon.com, the banner's right there. So my first question for you, Kevin McCullough, you were recently on here talking about the work CSI does. I thought I'd have you back. So you could detail further the impact that is made. So what do you say? Well, the great thing about what CSI is doing, and I love the fact that our shows do this together. We're both in the process of asking people to join the effort. And what's great about doing it at this time of year is that we are just around the corner from another major liberation with Christian Solidarity International.

And what that means is that people are going to be freed and they're going to be allowed to go home. And as you think about the holidays and kind of what this is normally, you know, all about, going home is a big thing for a lot of us at this time of year. But imagine being someone who was kidnapped from your home when you were maybe six, seven, eight years of age. You're a girl. Your parents may have been killed in front of you. Your mom may have been raped in front of you. There may have been things that you've seen repeatedly in how people treated you over and over. over again for dozens of years.

And now as an adult, you have the first opportunity this Christmas to be with people that love you, to be with people that have missed you, to be with people that have wondered if you were even still alive. That's the beauty of CSI at Christmas time. We have a liberation that is just around the corner and we can give them that new life, that return home, that blessing that we all enjoy. when we go home for Christmas, we can give that to these hurting hearts that have not felt it in years and in some instances ever. Kevin, where does the $250 go that it frees the slave?

I mean, there's more. How are those resources specifically utilized? The CSI program is pretty straightforward. There are what we refer to as retrievers that are Sudan Arabs that want to have very straightforward. good relationships with South Sudan Christians. And they have been recruited over time, over the number of years the CSI has been doing this, to go into Sudan and look for slaves that are thought to still be alive, thought to still be there. At one point, there were 185,000 women and children that had been taken as slaves. We believe the number is somewhere around 35,000 now,

after years and years and years of CSI, basically being the lone voice in the wilderness, saying, we got to do something about this. But these retrievers locate them. They alert CSI. They engage in negotiation, and they secure the release of the slave. Now, what the slave master will usually release the slave for in exchange is a very hard-to-get cattle vaccine that helps their cattle withstand the extreme temperatures of what they are going. through. Many of these slave masters are ranchers. Cattle is their only means of material wealth or

income. And so, you know, you can't be having cattle die on you and be successful. So the life of the cow or the bull is more valuable to the slave master than the life of the slave. And CSI is able to effectively say, if you'll release this slave, we will see to it that we get a vaccine for your for your cattle. I know that everybody's in a different place, but everybody can do something. Whatever you can do, please, folks, join us in this beautiful, beautiful thing. Go to metaxis talk.com. You'll see the banner there. You click on it. It'll walk you through everything. And right now, we're going to hour two. I guess I just want to leave the phone number with you. 3522, 888, 253, 3522, or the website metaxis talk.com. Metaxistalkis talk.com. You'll see the banner.

This is the right thing to do. Jump in. God bless you.