Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 716 | Jep Sticks His Foot in His Mouth as a Father-in-Law & the Bear in Jase’s Yard

Episode Date: July 13, 2023

Phil’s got some new next-door neighbors, but he has to tread very carefully since they’re newlyweds! Jep, however, doesn’t tread carefully with them and makes a big mistake right off the bat. Jase had an unusual creature encounter in his own back yard and gives updates about the Faith, Family & Freedom day he and Missy recently hosted. Jep’s colleague and guest, Brad Van Stavern of All God’s Children International, joins the guys to talk about the importance of fulfilling Jesus’ call to care for orphans and how his organization makes that happen all over the world.   https://philmerch.com — Get your “Unashamed” mugs, shirts, hats & hoodies! "The Blind" hits theaters Sept. 28. Get your tickets TODAY before theaters start to sell out! https://www.fathomevents.com/theblind — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed podcast. We got O. Jepico in the house. Hello, Jeff. Hello. Yep, I didn't know you were in, Tale. Hey. Cousin' Cellar.

It's a holiday special. And we got Zach in from crisp, cool, North Carolina. Is it nice up there? Is that because we're down in the hot southern area? My AC went out, and so I'm boiling up here at about 85 degrees. Fahrenheit. Boiling. I'm sweating.

You feel sorry? You feel sorry for him, Jeff? No. 85 degrees. That's cool weather. It was 100 here yesterday. Jeff and I were at the end. Phil was there.

Of course, Phil was in the house for most of the time. But he did come out. And so we did. What are we calling that event? It was called Faith, Family, Freedom Day. Faith, Family, and Freedom Day. My lovely wife. had an idea. She said, let's just, Missy's idea. She said, let's invite the country. That was a good

idea. To our house. Well, it was a really good idea if you were looking at it from afar. But no, it was a lot of work and a lot of people showed up. I don't have a number, but Missy's thought it was around a couple thousand. I would say somewhere between one and two thousand. Wow. Yeah, I heard it was called Robertson-Paloosa. That's what, that's what, uh, Beth called it. She was after selling t-shirts. I think the Phil's got on our t-shirt. But she said it was called Robertson-Palooza.

That's what she called it. Well, I don't know what that means. I know the Looza. Ploosa? Is that another famous word from Zach? Let's see. I know what an Apalusa. Well, they used to have a music festival called La Pallusa or La Palluza.

Lala Palluza. Lala Palluza. A la Palluzza. An extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event, an exceptional example or instance. That's it. That's what it was it. We would call it the, instead of the Robertson Palooza, we would call it the gospel

paloosa. Yeah, I think it was more about Jesus than us. Thank you very much. Yeah, get it off of us. Hey, this dude gave me this shirt. Check this out. This guy from Indiana, I said, I'm going to wear that on the podcast. I love it, Jeff.

Somebody says, hey, man, I got a problem. I'm going to say, I can't, but I know a guy. Yeah, that's a good shirt. Hey, Jeff, that line is, I use that line whenever I'm telling dad's story, which was pretty amazing because the scene that I talk about in my speeches is actually in the movie, the blind movie, when dad's in his truck and kind of come into that realization. And the way it was always told to me, it's not necessarily this way in the movie, but the way it was told to me was that my, that dad said, I don't trust anybody because mom was like, you got to talk somebody. And dad's like, I don't trust anybody, Ms. Kay. And she said, yeah, I know you don't, but I know a guy. I know a guy.

And I love that line, which is pretty good. So there is a guy you can trust, Dad, Jesus Christ, right? Well, that same guy he gave Jep, that shirt, I met him. And he had four bags of coconut macaroons. Where were they from? Indiana. Indiana. So he drove from Indiana, and according to him, he stopped.

at every Dollar General looking for the, yeah, it was like, you know how you count, you know, cars or look at license plate? They stopped the Dollar General's looking for coconut macaroons. And he said, we hit the judge. You know your dot in, the Unashamed Nation would you know to bring the coconut macarines to the party? You're dialed in.

Well, here's what's funny. Other people brought coconut macarines from Dollar General, and it made me realize that whoever's making those, they're sitting around in a meeting saying, why can't they keep these on the shell? Because they have no idea. They don't know that Unashamed Nation has now jettisoned the coconut macaroon to the top of the cookie heap. It would be funny to figure out why they think they're having so much success, because I guarantee you they don't know what's happening.

There's an army of people. We've isolated it down. They can't figure out the spread across the country. We don't know what's going on. Oh, we had a... That's funny. In the middle of the line last night that was a line to nowhere that just formed from having this many people. So one of them had never eaten a coconut macaroon, so we had a taste test.

And his words were, that's the greatest thing I've ever eaten. Yeah. Because I just thought, man, have you been here? you know, probably half the time that you might can be here and exist and you've, you've never tried one. So, no, it was fun. Do you want to talk about it? Yeah, because I got some pictures yesterday, started early.

The initial pictures I got is about 9 a.m. And so Dad's class, which is the, it's called the Unashamed Bible study, I guess these are people that had come early, had come to DFR. And the only way I can describe it is, I mean, they were. Literally, they were standing everywhere against the walls. They were people looking in the windows. I mean, I've never seen a classroom quite so full of that as your initial group. So I guess that was the beginning of the whole day.

Well, you had a couple thousand people coming. I'm sure all the hotels were full and traffic was, I mean, there's a lot of people. I've never seen that much fervor over the gospel of Jesus Christ since I've been on the earth. Is that thing yesterday? I'm just looking at them. Yeah, it was good. They were as hungry for Jesus and dying to sin and be buried and raised from the dead. I mean, they were into it.

It did have a revival. It did. It did. And, you know, the building, the church building was packed, you know, yesterday. I'm sure if people didn't know exactly what was going on, they're like, where'd all these people come from? But then the event started at our house at four. And so we had a back porch gospel presentation.

This was all designed by Missy, so I'm just, I wasn't sure, you know, what my role was going to be. But I took one of those sessions for an hour. But so the whole time we were there from four to eight, you know, there was someone presenting the gospel on the back porch. And they had, what was the, I never got to the other side of my yard. I tried. What was going on on that side? Missy read a book. I know to like kids.

Oh, like her kids' book, which is really good. Those people are awesome, though. And they also introduced the treasure box, which is our wives, they started, what is it,

like an antique store? Yeah, yeah, it's like an antique store. And it has some duck family treasure stuff in there, which they, people really liked, which was good.

Yeah. So we had that going on. Then they just had stuff, you know, fun for the kids. I'm not sure what, people did until we started then we had a worship time and uh then i spoke i gave a 15 minute dissertation i guess i'm not sure how long i talked missy said 10 minutes i was supposed to go but i

probably went 15 but i did a kind of a hybrid i picked the positive things out uh you know we're celebrating independence as a nation i read some very interesting historical documentation about the birth of our nation. And my first line was, because Jeff and I just got back from Baltimore, Maryland, and I found a King George III half penny in a guy's yard. And what's crazy is an hour later, I found another one. So I asked if anyone was familiar with King George III.

I asked the mass of people and zero hands went up. So it was interesting because I read, let me see if I can find what I read if y'all. I think this is very interesting. I read this that this is concerning the Declaration of Independence. It says, I got this out of the encyclopedia, but it said the founding father delegates of the Congress declared that the 13 colonies were no longer subject.

to the monarch of Britain, King George the 3rd, and we're now united, free, and independent states. The Congress voted to approve independence by passing the Lee Resolution on July 2nd and adopted the Declaration of Independence two days later on July 4th. So it was actually July 2nd when we did this event. So I was like, well, happy July 2nd because that's really where the resolution to have the Declaration of Independence got passed.

So that's why we found two King George, the third, have pennies, because at one time this country was occupied and controlled by Great Britain, which is what led to us having the Declaration of Independence. How interesting is that? but then I read a letter from John Adams to his wife, and this is how I made the transition to the kingdom of God, but he wrote, the second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epic

in the history of America. So actually he was off by two days, because he was putting it on. Look, we got the resolution. It's just a matter of time before we pass it. And what's interesting, Jay, says it could have, they could have decided to do it on the second or the fourth. They probably just decided later, well, let's do it when we signed it. You know, it's kind of interesting.

It could have been July 2nd, just as easy. Well, you'll find this interesting. Then he wrote, it's not very long, but it says, I am apt to believe, now this is to his wife, that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. Now, remember, he wrote this 247 years. ago. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts out of devotion to God Almighty.

Well, I love that line. It ought to be with pomp and parade with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations. From one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. I saw a glimpse of it myself personally yesterday. Yeah. I saw a glimpse of that of how people came together. Jesus number one, people were being baptized.

Little food was being eaten that they ate together with glad and sincere hearts. I just looked around and I said, tears, a lot of them just. Yeah, it was a lot. It feels right. It was more tranquil. It was like a family reunion, I thought. It was kind of like a family reunion that revolved around Christ, which, I mean, shoot. That's really what it was.

So, and I mean, because look, it's the day after. So if you tell me, was it a success, you know, after the fireworks display, the illuminations, as John Adams referred to. They'll be talking about that. Read the list again, Jason, the stuff. I love the list. Shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one evening. I'm glad there was no guns, even though I like that. The illuminations were there because I jumped by that far off the ground as I left

from the fireworks. I was fixed to say. I reached from my gun, I thought, well. They were almost guns. So Missy gets somebody to do these fireworks that lasted 25 minutes, and I would equate that to very spectacular, and it seemed very dangerous. They'll be talking about that for years, and I can't wait to see the bill. that Missy and I will get over that.

Because that, and I thought, fortunately, you know, everyone survived. There were no calls to 911, which I'm actually surprised at. But John Adams didn't say illuminations were cheap. I'm not great, man. I just say, I said, babe, next, well, actually, Mia, my daughter said this. She said, Mom, I think next year maybe you should get the 10-minute version. She said, Missy said,

you don't pay by the minute. I just hired you. So it was, it was the greatest fireworks display that I've ever seen. I mean, three or four hundred pounds

of gunpowder. I mean, dude, look, there was smoke for miles. I'm sure there were multiple calls to the authorities

saying something is exploding. Because it wasn't July 4th. It was July 2nd. They thought there's either a gang fight broken out.

Or we're being invaded. I mean, it was unbelievable. I like it, Jay. Let's take our first break. I like it, Jay's that you can always say now from now going forward, we actually first recognize the decision of independence, which is July 2nd, which I think is pretty cool. Well, that's why, Al, I was trying to be clever since we were doing it on July 2nd. And then so when I was looking it up, I saw that.

And I saw that letter. And I was like, oh, that's what I'm doing. So, but right there, when he. He said forward forevermore. I made a transition, and I wrote this line, the only way to celebrate anything or anyone forever is to experience true deliverance from the king of kings. And so then I went into this.

There's two kinds of kingdoms, the one that Jesus is the king of, that's eternal, that we're a part of as believers, and every other kingdom. I mean, that's the dividing line. So I went, there's two countries. There's every other country, and then there's the heavenly country that we're a part of. I read the Philippians 3, 20 and 21.

But I did pick out some positives about our country. I singled out our veterans, the current military, our firefighters, police officers, and first responders and health care professionals. Because, and I did that, and everybody clapped at every one. There was a lot of people there that were firefighters, policemen. I met a ton of. of them. Yeah. And so everybody applauded. And I said, you know why we, we, what makes this country great is these kinds of people, because they do, really what they do is, is a direct correlation with

the definition of sacrificial love. And I made an illustration about a firefighter when he goes into a building, he doesn't say, well, who lives here and, you know, what they do last night and where they front? I mean, he risked his life to save other lives without an agenda. And so I quoted the 1 Corinthians 13 definition of love. I was like, that's why they're the, you know, the best that we, that we have to offer. Then I made another, you know, transition back to the king of kings and that we have the best weapon for our country and for the world, which is an introduction to Jesus. Because being a part of the heavenly kingdom is way more appealing than whatever, you know,

country you're from. So, so then I went through that. of closed it with God coming to us on a cross my invitation. And then I asked a question, which I wanted to get y'all's comments. I asked a question for thought, and I was like, why was the stone rolled away? Because obviously I want to preach the gospel, because that is the introduction to the kingdom. That's why you want to surrender to the king. So I asked, why was the stone rolled away?

And I let everybody think about that. And I made the point that Jesus didn't have to have that stone rolled away to come back from the dead or to get out of that cave. Because later on, post-resurrection, he was walking through walls. He was appearing and disappearing. He was levitated. So why was it rolled away? Do you all want to comment for I give you the point that I said? I would just think this is done.

How do we think of this? It's complete. Yeah, which it was. Yeah, I think it's representative of now an opportunity for all people to come out of the ground, is what I would say. It's why it was left open. Well, I made the point it was to let us in because the followers of Jesus, who he had predicted that he was going to die and be buried and resurrected,

but everybody turned away. And even the people that were there, they weren't there because he was alive. They were there because he was dead. They were putting the spices on his body, and they were more like any other funeral. So I don't think there's any other explanation. And I think it goes along with what we've been studying is that, you know, when Jesus told his disciples in John 15, you didn't choose me, but I chose you. And in 1 John 4 when he says, this is love, not that you love me, but that I love you.

And I just, I think it has to be more than a coincidence that the first person who saw Jesus, who walked into that tomb, was Mary Magdalene from the wrong town, had a terrible life in a culture where women were not respected in any way. And she actually was a church of one in that moment because she put the clues together and had an experience with the King of Kings. The reason he's the King of Kings is because he was dead and he's alive. So she went in. I mean, I know the others did. You remember Peter and John, but it says they saw and believed. Well, it wasn't what they saw.

It's what they didn't see. Yeah. They just saw the folded up close. Why go through all this? And I think it really allows us to have the ability to believe. Because people, even though those people should have trusted him and should have believed. And we all said, well, why would they? I mean, he told him any time.

Why didn't they just say, oh, he did what he? It's just very hard for the human mind to. wrap his mind around that. So he let you in and look around and say, you know what? It's, this is, you're telling me this is possible. So anyway, that was my thought. But I wore my, I could be wrong shirt in case y'all want to disagree. No, I think that's an excellent point.

I think whatever else you could take away from it symbolically, I think you're exactly right. This great, by the way, Jay, this is this great way to study the Bible. In the context of the then and there, what did it mean? and it meant that they could get in to see you wasn't there. So I think that's an excellent point. So before you can use all the symbolism of open grave, open us, all that, it's what did it mean in the moment, which is true.

Yeah. So that was kind of my lesson. Then I urge people to join us. It is the best thing I think we can do for our country is to lift up. Jesus says, Lord, and the godly qualities are going to make every life and every family better. Well, let me just say to Unashamed Nation, we do appreciate you making the trek. Of course, Jason Missy for having the hospitality to open up the lockdown estate. But I think you guys that came, you see now what we're all about.

I mean, you know because you listen to us on here, but that's how we live. That's what we do. I know a lot of people were baptized yesterday, both at the WFR and I'm assuming some out there as well. Oh, yeah. It was a steady stream, which was really. cool. You'd hear applause. You'd hear a splash and hear applause erupt because you

had that gospel presentation going on the whole time. And if you watch Jason Jep's show, then you know the setting. You've seen it before. It's beautiful out there. I mean, this is the oldest place in Washington Parish in terms of a house. I mean, they started building this thing back

back in two centuries ago, which is really cool. So it's just, yeah, it's a really neat setting. The whole thing is. So I'm glad The only negative was it was 95. How many shirts did you get? I asked everybody I met. I was like, and they were from, all over the U.S.

I was like, is it as hot where you live as it's hot here? And they all said, nope, nope, it's hotter here. And I mean, every state you can think of. Nope. It actually made me think one time, but these people really come to Jesus. Are they getting baptized just to cool off? That's good. When you got people just hanging out, when you got people just hanging out in the bathroom,

just waiting for somebody to come get in, that's when we're swimming after that point. Now, it was a really cool idea. And kudos to Missy, please pass along that from us just. Well, look, and we appreciate it. Because she came on the podcast and told us about it. We thought it was a fantastic idea. Now, we had an army of volunteers also. And look, these types of people who are just servants and are never put in the limelight,

it's what makes the kingdom of God the most powerful thing there is because you got people who are just out there sweating, working like dogs, and they get zero credit. And there's no, it's not like they were getting paid, you know, they just volunteered to serve for the kingdom. Because it's hard to host a couple thousand people. We learned that yesterday. It takes a lot of ice and a lot of water and a lot of volunteers. I noticed there had been a malfunction in the baptistry where I baptized the people, and it didn't warm it.

Yeah. It was cold. But being that it was 95 degrees outside, it actually felt great. It was actually an incentive you could have brought up. It was cold when you would step into it. I thought, huh, that's a good day for it, for the heat to go off.

Yeah. It actually was a blessing. That's right. Let's take another break. So, Jeff, it's been a minute since we had you on the podcast. And so since you were last on, we talked about on the podcast, but I want to get your take on it. Your oldest daughter got married. Actually, at the same place where the event was yesterday.

And so I just want to hear your perspective on that, what that was like, you know, how you feel about it, et cetera, et cetera. You know, it was so funny. I never cried. I was not nervous. Everything was a-okay. Until, I mean, I'm telling you, it is like I blacked out and went to a different place. When I started walking her fist and two walk her down there, I was like, oh, no, I can't, this is.

I mean, I lost it. Like I was fissing to like follow my knees and cry. Like I was like, I don't want to do this. Like I don't want to give her away. Like I, she's still my little girl. It was an emotional collapse of sorts where I just was really, I was scared. I was nervous. I was everything you could be.

Like I was all of them at one time. I thought I was going to throw up. I don't know how to explain it. Like, how I got down that aisle, I have no idea. And I remember Lily's arm was shaken, and I thought, just stand up right and just make it down to the front. It was really strange. So that was my experience. Well, once that part was over, did you feel?

Oh, like instant relief? Because you love, Austin's a great kid. I mean, obviously, you could be happier that. Funny story. I got a great story because this ties in. Jason's going to love this. I hadn't told him this yet. So, Jess is like, hey, so this was just like a couple days ago.

She was like, you need to take Gus's baseball camp. I said, okay, well, I didn't know that Josh Pearson, is it Josh? Yeah, Josh Pearson was going to be there. LSU Outfielder. LSU Outfielder. He's from Westmore, Louisiana. Well, he's super nice guy. He's not that big.

He's not, not. So I meet him, and he's super cool. And he said, hey, I went to school with your daughter. I said, with Lily? I said, really? Because she went to school in Texas. He said, well, Drew, a little elementary school. And I was like, oh, well, cool, man.

He said, how is she? I said, well, she just got married. He was like, oh, too bad. But, you know, I'm happy for it. I'm kind of like too bad. Like, hey, I was like, hey. So when I get back to my house, Lily and Austin are there. And I'm like, Lily, guess who I just met?

And he gave me a signed picture for Gus. You know, I said, Lily, you could have married a national champion. This style. And Austin was sitting right there. Austin's face went eight sheets of red. I was like, also, I know you play baseball,

but this guy is a national champion. He was so embarrassed. Yeah, let me get some. Don't do that again. I know. I apologize later. I mean,

she didn't die. She's alive and, you know, a married woman, you know. I know. But it was funny. It was really funny. That's funny, Jeff. I like that.

So he, So they're spending some time in their early marriage years, which I love this because this is what Lisa and I did. Now, ours was not by choice, but they're doing it by choice. They're spending a couple of months with living next door to mom and dad to sort of soak up some of their sage wisdom, I think, and be around them in their early married months, which I think is a really cool idea. I wish more couples had the opportunity to do that. Lisa and I did the same thing. with my grandparents, but we just didn't have a place to live. We first got married, so that was why we did it.

But I wouldn't trade that for anything. I mean, Lisa learned a lot about cooking. It was just a really, really cool time. So I don't know. Dad, you've been teaching them some of your wisdom? Well, I teach them some wisdom, but newlyweds, I mean, like within days, I think the better play was for them to come over to see us, not me over a bumping knocking on the doors saying that.

I think I'm, you understand what I'm saying without saying it. We got it. I'm not hanging around over there. Jeff needs to tell. My wisdom says get away from there for a while. Jeff needs to tell Austin and Lily that protocol, you know,

they need to do the ones knocking. I think that's a good idea for it. If you're going to marry and you're going to be within a stone store of my, my house. but where you're going. I'm not going to be hanging around. Trust me. So any wisdom,

they had to come over there and fight my dogs to come in. And then we had some wisdom teaching, you know. Dad, we all have to do that. It's just something we have to do to get to your house. Well, that's pretty cool. And anything about the new season, Jeff? Of course, you know, we're talking to Jason all the time

about the show, but we don't get an opportunity to talk to you that much. What's your thoughts on the family treasure, or Dunk Family Treasure. I've really enjoyed what we've done lately. I mean, it gets hard at times. It's like, especially in the summer when you're out there. It's like, it's brutal and it's hard work, you know, just physically to get out there. And I mean, I'm glad I lost a few pounds.

That's helped. But I think we went to some cool, I mean, without giving too much away, I think we've eaten really well. That's been really fun to like go to some places that I don't normally. go and like eat some good food that's local, which is always one of my... Yeah, there's kind of a living off the land aspect to it because we go to these remote places, and we don't do well in restaurants for a lot of reasons. So that's, that has emerged in the show. It's like, what is this place famous for?

Oh, well, let's go eat it, you know. And I think some of the people we've met, like we were in Maryland, that dude was really cool and his grandkids and it's like and I got I keep in touch with these people like I get to know them and like a lot of the places we've been I talk to the landowners and and just keep up with them because they're good people and I think they you know they really love us and love what we're doing and they love that we give them all the stuff back and say hey put this up and you know tell stories about it and yeah which was hard at first but now it's just it means so much to them you're making last.

in relationship. So one episode that has been newly released, there's a character on there that, and I mean character, not that we got him out of thin. He just happened to invite us, but his name is Captain Caviar. And we didn't make this up. That makes me laugh just here in the name.

Captain Cabo. I said, I'm Jayce, and he said, I'm Captain Caviar, and he's from South Louisiana. Because he made, I guess we can say, I mean, he made a lot of money from selling granule eggs, which they call them, what do they call them, tooth picks or something? So they call them something else down there. Yeah. But unedible fish, in my opinion, unless, evidently, the eggs are really good caviar.

Oh, they're what are that? They're chew picks. Chew picks. Chew picks. Yeah. Chew picks. Chew picks. It's in the pick.

Thousands of pounds, but I never ate their eggs. No, no. Well, who would try that besides a Cajun? Yeah. You know what I mean? Yep. So I salute them for. Oh.

So speaking of, did you meet the guy last night? He was actually a police officer. Yes, that's from down there and was like, he said, man, y'all talked about, oh, can I, yeah, it's out, right? Yeah, it's out. He said, y'all talked about Panthers. And, you know, we're the home of the Panthers. I said, yes, well, I went by your thing. And he said, check this out.

Got out his phone. He shoveled. And a dude had a. you would have liked to see this he had a i think it was a mountain line well it wasn't right but it was a yeah it looked like a large cat where do you take that picture south louisiana uh yeah what town is that morgan city panther it's panther islands what they call it now i have to admit it did look like a cougar but it was a cougar you know it could have been it could have been some kind of trick photography with a house cat close up or something, you know, but

Big cat. It's just But it wasn't a black panther, which is the argument that I have with Si. I mean, I saw a black panther down in a zoo down in Mexico. Those things aren't running around. I mean, that thing come running up there. Oh, oh, oh.

You wouldn't think, oh, I think I saw. This thing was huge. So, no, negative. Which, by the way, yesterday. Well, you saw a cat of some sort driving down to here one time. time. No, that was me. No, I did too.

I did too. Let me tell my story. Let's take another break. So I was coming out. It's probably been 20 years ago. I mean, my kids were little, probably 25. And he was sitting up on the side of the road. He was sitting up on his haunches, so he was straight up. So when I come around the corner, I thought it was like a giant bird, like a big

eagrid or something. But he dropped down, he slinked down onto all fours to go off in the woods. That's when I saw the long tail come up behind it. But it was definitely mountain line cougar or something of the long tail big cap. I would say it was probably a bobcat. But no, long tail. I know. If you Google, if you Google Louisiana Panthers, the first article that pops up is by Greg Hilbern, believe it or not.

We know Greg Gilbert. We know Greg. And the debate is over whether Black Panthers exist in Louisiana. and they say it is a complete hoax. They do not. Although sightings of a large tan cat like cougars or mountain lines sometimes do stray into Louisiana. That's what that's my position. That's what I sell.

But, well, yesterday, Jeff, this is right in front of our house. So, yeah. What do you think that is? Oh, I'll tell you what it is. I mean, it's a big dog, I think, than big ears. No, no. See, this is why pictures can be. misleading. That was a black bear that was in our yard yesterday.

Not a great picture if you saw it. It's not. No, it is. It was the bear. At the log cabin? No. At my house up in town. Where we live. Where we live? Al, this was, I would say, 300 yards from where you were living? Yeah, it was close to my house. Yeah, exactly. I saw pictures of it yesterday. That happened. And so one of the girls that were staying at our house with one of Mia's friends, when she was leaving to go to church we'd already left. She's like called us and said, a black bear just crossed the road and is headed toward y'all's house.

And so I was like, well, it'll be fine. But she actually went back and locked my two little dogs. It's funny because Zach and all his crew are like, who care, black bear, every time we turn around, there's one digging in your garbage can, right? Oh, man. Yeah, I got probably six that live within a 20-foot radius of my house. I'm not sure where they live, but there's about six right here, and they come out every night. Yeah, they're more of a nuisance up there, but we just don't have that much in the, in neighborhoods, but it's beginning to encroats.

And they smell bad, and they smell horrible. You can smell them for a mile away. Yeah, not good. So, Jeff, I want to talk a little bit about all God's children, which are still doing a great ministry work with that. But I think you've got a guest there. So let's take a break. And we come back from our break. Well, I'll let you introduce who you got.

with you there. So let's take a break. So welcome back. Jeff, tell us who we have here with us on our unashamed set. This is Brad Van Stavern. He's Dutch royalty. No, he's really not, but I thought maybe he was with that name sounds something. But we met, God, maybe five years ago, I went to AGCI's gala. I may have told this story before I'll tell a short version of it. And I cried the whole time. It was amazing. And Bradd had spoke some, so I knew he was really involved in. I went to him afterwards. I was like, man, it was so awesome. And he was like, well, let's get together and meet and talk about it. And I said, yeah, so we went and we were having coffee. And I was just like, dude, man, I love what you guys are doing. There was a girl who since went to law school and stuff,

and she made it out of like a terrible situation. And we were talking about that and stuff. And he's like, I said, look, and then we're talking about kind of what they do more in detail. And I said, I want to do what you're doing. And he was like, yeah, yeah, I get it. You know, and I'm glad you like what we're doing. I was like, no, I want to do what you're doing right now with me. I also want to do that with other people. Like, I want to work with you guys.

He's like, oh, okay. So we ended up meeting with Holland, which is our president, and five years later, this is where we are. But he's awesome. I love him. And it was funny because he said, do you play golf? And I was like, oh, do I play golf? I might whip your tail because most people don't think we're very good. Yeah.

Just from looking at you. And we're not, but we're better than most. And unbeknownst to me, Brad is super good. And he with me like a dog. I was like, dang, dude, you real good. So welcome, Brad. We're glad to have you on Unashamed. Thank you.

So other than beating Jepp at golf, which we've all done, what other, what could you say about working with old Jeff and with all guys' children? Oh, it's been fantastic. We went to Ethiopia together, and we both found out that we just are moved by kids in need. And we can laugh, we can cry, and we are about bringing hope and healing to kids. So it's an honor to be here. And honor to be on the Caleb award-winning podcast impact. Congratulations.

That was impressive. Thank you. Thank you, Brad, because normally I have to bring up that we are an award-winning podcast. He said he wasn't coming unless this was an award-winning podcast. It is that. It's good to be here. I was waiting to you guys got that award, and then I was going to step in. Thanks for having me.

That's awesome, man. Well, I want to get your take on, we were talking about earlier in the podcast. I do want to talk about August's children in the last segment, but I wanted to get your take on what you saw at the Faith Family Freedom Day, because, you know, we're all kind of in the middle of things like that. I mean, not that we've never done that particular event before, but it's sometimes hard for us to see it from a perspective coming in. So what did you think about the event you were at last night with everybody?

Yeah, it was great. I'm in Austin, Texas, so we have a little bit of diversity in Austin. And so it was really encouraging to have so many people come together to try and be about Jesus and be about good news that needs to be out amongst all the news that we're having to fight against. And I was telling you before we went on air, you know, we did. do a lot of work with kids that have been abandoned, abused, neglected. We want to bring them the hope of Jesus. We want to help them heal. And I was talking to a young 17-year-old yesterday. He was up here for church camp. He went to sportsman camp. And we kind of started talking about

life, and he started sharing his story. And it was unbelievable. His dad committed suicide when he was born. So he took that to believe that his dad didn't want him. And I said, I don't believe that. I think your dad wasn't in a good state. And he said, then when he was, he said his mom was a drug addict and would have different guys over at their house

who had abused him. At age six, she was so strung out. She had a gun to his head and would not let him go, had the trigger pulled, and the authorities had to kill his mom. Right in front of him.

Right in front of him. He was there. Wow. And I just, I felt like God just needed me to hear that because we do that work. We do the work internationally and we get to have events and we get to go. But on the day-to-day basis of just like, you know, we tell about stories and then just to meet this young man right there at the event yesterday. And he was able to move in with his aunt and uncle, found out that he had a younger brother. And they seem to be doing really well.

So, yeah. I mean, it's crazy. That's the exact work. doing, you know, in Ethiopia and Columbia and all these places. And then we meet a kid from here, from, where was he from? He's from Arkansas, but you're going to camp. I mean, to meet a kid that it, that's what we're trying to help as kids that have a lot of similar backgrounds like that where it's like they don't really have anybody and

they don't know Jesus. And then we're trying to pull them out of that, give them a start, you know. There was a lot of kids there who I noticed were adopted and which, look, that stood out missing I was talking late last night because that's you know that thing that party didn't end until late but uh just heard so many stories I mean so many stories about people coming to Jesus but rescuing kids also and it's just a day of that really warms the soul and uh you probably notice we were trying to purposefully be positive you know if you're just all the time looking at the negative especially you know things that go on in our country it's easy to find

but we have the greatest weapon, and it's not the weapon, you know, most people think of, and the Bible says that. But having Jesus and having a place to start over and having people wanting to really love their neighbor. And, you know, Matthew 18, when we had our little one in, and just for a transition phase, you know, to try to help the mom, you know, get sober and get right and be responsible, and then help this little one. it just makes you appreciate that we're all created in the image of God. I mean, what a blessing.

I've told this story many times, but I think when you're young and you get married, you have a kid and you try to do everything right on the first one, then you have another one, and it can be overwhelming. You're trying to make a living, and everybody gets busy. So Missy and I are at a stage of our life when this little baby came into our life, it was more appreciation just for life itself. just realizing that they are dependent on other people and the innocent nature of that. So we protected him as strong and as vigorous and tried to do what's best for him at each step in the way,

just to give him a chance at life. And I really think that Matthew 18, because I've read that hundreds of times in the last year and a half, because of that responsibility. Because I do think it is, especially of members of God's kingdom, It is our responsibility to look out for the innocent and try to help it any way possible. Well, I've said this before, that, you know, the Bible is pretty clear about saying that we're the most like God. Religious was the word James used when we take care of widows and we take care of orphans. And so I don't know that there's a more noble task.

And also, when we talk about the pro-life movement, saving babies at the outset is great. And many of us, including Lisa and I are involved on the front line of that. But it's important for that life at every stage going forward, right? I mean, the pro-life movement is bigger than just abortion. It's living, it's homes, is taking care of them. So speak to that a little bit, Brad. Just kind of what you guys are doing, all-God's children and what you're trying to do around the world.

Exactly. We set up an All-God's Children table last night, and we had kids that were waiting to have their education sponsored, and that plays a big part in preventing families from split. up. So, you know, we certainly, we know that if many of these families, most of the families, are single parent families, and they're struggling not much in the way of money or possessions. And so if they can have just a little help, and for us, it seems like not a lot, but it can be life-changing to these families to keep them together, keep the child in school,

and we know statistically that it works. We know that majority, I think it's 82%, Jeff, is that right, of our kids that are sponsored finish secondary school, which means they go on to get a job and they go on to do all that God has had them to do. And so we do a lot in the way of that. But this week, we've just been really focused on not only given the Unashamed Nation the opportunity, but also everyone that came to the faith and family event yesterday to just make a small difference of bringing, you know, a sponsorship to a child and ultimately keeping them within their family. And we'd like to do our goal to being on here is kind of what we did last time, which was amazing, is to get 100 kids sponsored. And we talked about, so we want that to happen.

So come on, Unashamed Nation. And the first 25, this is not like a gimmicky thing. We just want to do a thank you. We're going to get y'all something signed swag by these guys in here and you, Al. So just saying, hey, thank you all for thinking of us. And another note on that, like, I don't think I've ever mentioned this on here before, but when me and Brad were in Ethiopia, and we were giving money to these families and these kids, I'll never forget, this woman come up, older lady, this girl lived with her grandparents.

And that's who we're giving the money to for her to take care of their granddaughter, who the parents, one of them had died. It was a sad story. And that mama got down, that grandma, and she was kissing my hands and crying and kissing. I mean, and I was thinking, man, and I lost it. And I think I left at some point because I couldn't. It was like, I've never, I've never been that appreciative for anything in my life. And I got this lady, it was just thanking me just for helping this little girl have a chance.

And her, and weirdly enough, I'm trying to do this without crying. The grandpa, they had walked three miles. I didn't know until later. I looked down as she's kissing my hands and crying and kissed my hands, his feet were pointed backwards. Like, I don't know how he walks, but I mean, he can. I guess, you know, it's hard for him. But he had walked all that way with feet pointing the other way just to say thank you.

Because they didn't have to come. We were still going to support, but they wanted to say, thank y'all for thinking of us. Little old family out here in nowhere Ethiopia. We are appreciative. And I was like, that makes me more appreciative for anything that happens to me. Because I was like, yeah, these people, it was really cool. That was incredible. I remember, and we have our local team in Ethiopia with all guys' children.

And if you're like me, I'm a trust, but verify. My sweet wife says the older I get, I'm more verified than trust. And so to all you listeners to know that we've got local team members on the ground, the sponsorship, the way that every month, when we give those distributions to the man and the family that JEP was referencing, they must show us the report card to prove that their kids in school. They also, we set up a savings account for them, so they actually show us their bank statement because we want a portion of that.

We want the majority to go to their tuition and their supplies. A portion of that goes to the family for a, to keep the family together. There's some counseling and some other ways to connect them to the local church. And then also a portion, $5 of the $40, goes to a savings account because we want them to start learning how, like, if disaster strikes, they have a little bit there that they can. can step in an emergency. And so the other cool thing as a sponsor, what we do is you have the ability to correspond with your specific child, and they will actually, once a year, send a personalized video to you from them and kind of update you, thanking you, but also updating you on exactly

how they're doing in school and ultimately graduating and where they are in jobs. Now, I think the amazing thing is for American audiences to recognize and realize is how much a little bit of money from our perspective goes such a long way in other parts of the world. So that's a big bonus and a big plus to help people. So at the end, we're about to run out of time. Jeff, tell us how can folks find you guys to contribute and be a part of this? Because we're going to do 100. Come on, Unashamed Nation.

You can do that. Absolutely. All guys, children.org. And you can find us there. Anything else, Brad, maybe? I think it's all you need. Allgotschchildren.org. Come on, guys. First 25, get some sign swag from some boneless swag. I like it.

So we're going to hold you over, Brad, if you don't mind for our overtime segment. Because you told a story, but I know you have a lot of stories. And I just happened to get a letter, an email within the last couple of weeks of our orphanages that we worked with. It's not associated with you guys. But it just touched my heart so much. So I want to tell a few stories in our overtime segment. Unashamed Nation, if you want to follow us over there and subscribe to Blaze. It's blazedtiv.com slash unashamed to get everything Blaze has to offer and hear a few more tales from all guys' children.

We'll see you there. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to Blaze TV at blazedv.