Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 875 | Phil Is Floored by an Ethiopian Guest’s Faith Journey & Jep Asks for Help

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Phil is amazed by the incredible story of Amanuel, an Ethiopian Christian who faced intense persecution for his faith early in life, and Jep asks for help to care for the hundreds of thousands of homeless orphan children in Ethiopia by checking out https://allgodschildren.org/sponsor. Jase comes in second to Jep in at least one thing, and Al beams over Jep’s growth and hard work for orphaned children all over the world. -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashame. We're still not in our normal environs. We're in the duck car room, Jay. Does that make you nervous to not be in? You know, what's crazy is today, I realize this will be aired a few days from now. But today is the day that everyone's excited. Because, and I am too, we have an eclipse happening. That's right. Today's the day of the experience. Literally at this moment. That's right.

While we're inside, it's getting dark out. So for the first time in our 975, 974, 875. 875, 875, 970, whatever. 875 episodes of Unashamed, we had the lights, literally go out. Ironically, on the day when the sun is going to be covered. In the moment that if

you could have aired the tape, which you couldn't, because once the lights went out, even though we kept talking in the dark, which I thought was kind of funny. We never stopped. We never stopped. We kept talking, and it was pitchback dark. I was in the process

of saying in a story about Gawin that the lights had gone out, And the lights went out as I said that. You spoke it. Which was really crazy for the first time in our history of the podcast. All the lights went out, Jeff. And we brought Jeff in.

Yep. Welcome back to my show. When I think of eclipses, I always think of apocalyptic. I remember when that eclipse happened. I forgot about that. Yeah, saved his life. That's one of my all-time favorite. Me too.

That's definitely a top ten. This is so weird and bizarre a world because I was, Missy and I was, we were. were somewhere with a couple and I'm trying to think who the couple was I can't remember but I brought up that movie and I said you haven't seen that movie you must watch that movie and missy said don't listen to him she said I fell asleep during that movie well I fell asleep it was like the most exciting movie ever it was the most adrenaline did you see that movie no no dad dad you saw it with uh it was mom and dad Mac and Mary Owen and Lisa and I we drove to Rustin. They just opened up the theater and

Rustin. We drove down there and we saw Apocalyptico together at the movie theater. Well, here's what I missed, though. Not a single word of English in the movie. And there's no cuss words or whatever and there's no sex scenes, but it's rated R for violence and that's what Missy

said, no. She's like, I don't want to see blood splattering on the cameras and it is a very violent movie. But you know what's funny is I just thought about this. You know, movies like come around all the time. You watch them rerun on stuff.

But I never see that movie rerun. Have you seen it? I've seen it. You're making Missy's point. She said, there's a reason that you're not seeing that anymore. I'm telling it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's awesome.

It's about the Mayans. It tells their story. Of course, Mel Gibson is the one who directed it. But it was fascinating. And for a movie with subtitles, other than I guess the Passion of the Christ, it was so intense. from start to finish.

I mean, I couldn't have slept. When that was over, I was like exhausted. I felt like I had. So this caveat, I think it's a guy movie. So, you know, take that for what it's worth. Because Missy, she didn't like that movie. Well, it's kind of a love story. Mary's like his wife was pregnant.

I tried to make that argument. And she said, I never made it that far. Well, she should have. It was a good idea. So Jeff makes a good point because Lisa and I were talking about the clips this morning before I left the house. And she was asking me about it, because the Bible even talks about sometimes celestial, you know, things that happen will have an earmark for what's happening. You know, they'll mark things by that.

And the whole thing with the Mayans, that was a big deal. So they took it as a sign, which a lot of ancients did, that this was something going on. And so I guess, Chase, if we brought that to the future, then the sign today was something about the lights going out, you know, in your story. Maybe your sermon was just lights out. Well, Missy had the news on today, so I heard about, she's like, oh, the eclipse. I mean, look, they had people stationed all over the corridor where this is going to happen, people with goggles. And, I mean, I thought, man, they're getting stirred up about that.

Yesterday afternoon, Alex, my youngest daughter, loaded up my three grandkids, and drove six hours west to be in the prime watching position. Here we go. to watch it. Well, I heard. Where is that? It's like in Granbury, Texas. Yeah, Dallas, Texas.

Yeah, just south of Dallas. In that area. But what I found fascinating is one of the commentators said, I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We're going to have to wait 300 years before we see it the next time. And I thought, that's, they need a cricket button. Just think about what you just said. We're going to have to wait another 300 years before we see that.

We won't be. No one within your earshot will be on the planet. So unless you plan on being in heaven and somehow like the witnesses who are watching us run this race, Hebrews 12, 1, if you're a part of that, maybe you can see it. But I think it's more important if people get that start up about an eclipse. My point in Hebrews 12 about when the heavens and earth will shake at Jesus. Jesus' final coming, that seems like something that should be way more precedent and excited about. I mean, what are we going to do then?

Yeah, that's when you need to be ready. I mean, because an earthquake happens, we all get started up. What about when the heavens and the earthquake? Which, by the way, to the point, there was an earthquake and an eclipse when Jesus was on the cross, remember? It turned dark for three hours, and then also there was an earthquake. So that was the Almighty giving a little bit of something there. You know, that's the first. I just, somebody told me this other day, and I was like, oh, that's really cool.

They were like, who's the first Gentile that ever believed in Christ? It was that centurias. Because that all happened. He said, surely this is the son of God. That's right. Why else would he say that? Like, he believed. He was like, oh.

Look at Jepp. Look at Jeff. That's right. That's right. We made that point recently. So, Jeff, so I don't know when's the last time we've had you on the podcast. But there were two things I wanted to ask you about, and we may have talked about it,

so if we're repeating, it's okay. But one is, since you guys had just wrapped up filming on the series, I want to ask you about the filming with Jace and Murray on the Treasure Show, what that was like. Because I don't know that we've had you. We probably had you on at some point during the early filming, but what was that like, you know, doing that? It was fun.

I mean, it was hard at times. I would say. I mean, the problem is, I think if we, you need more time at these places, like to go for a day, maybe to and find everything that's there, it's like impossible. So it's like you're trying to find as much as you can

in the shortest amount of time. So I would say physically it was pretty hard. But at least when you find something, it's like so much fun to celebrate, you know. Because y'all were kind of condensing down what you would normally do over. a pretty good period of time into just a very short window to film it, right? I mean, that's the other way.

What people didn't see is when we were hunting, it was pretty well 12 hours. And there were a few moments where you found something spectacular. But then when you watch the show, it all looks like we hunted in 10 minutes. Right. And we're finding stuff popping out of the ground. Hours and hours. A lot of new batteries, a lot of following around. Find something.

When are you going to find something good? The camera guys are like, come on, guys. We're like, we're giving her all she's got, Captain. Well, Jep and I kind of bond. When you spend that much time, you know, you either learn how to get along or, you know, the show blows up or whatever. Jay's learned a lot about my stomach troubles. Yeah, traveling with Jep is a whole new experience.

Because Jep's life revolves around when are we going to the bathroom, which I've never been around another human being. I've seen commercials about people like that. I know. I mean, they're like, so guys looking around, like where are the restrooms?

Like, everything is it? Yeah, I'm like that with water. You know, I like having water around all the time. Yep, it's like,

where's the nearest bathroom? It's, and when are we taking a bathroom break? It's a problem. And mom has the same problems. Yeah, that was inherited. That's what I was just said.

I know. That's, uh, I got that from the caraway side, I guess. Might have been handed down. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it did.

You were the last one there. You barely made it. I'm still barely making it. It's a problem. So is that from mom or you, dad, the bowel mischief? I say repeatedly, almost daily, that one's existence on the earth begins to shrink when you get in your, about to hit your 80s. Yeah. I'm one year, a year in a little bit, just this side of 80.

But just, you know, do the math. Might get 90. Might get 100. Might get 100. But in Jesus, you get forever. So, I mean, that starts to weigh bigger. So, Dad, you were, let's see, it was, you were in your early 30s. So, I mean, that would have been over 40, how are you, 44 years ago?

Yeah, it was 25. 48. Forty-five years ago, Jep was the only one of your children that you actually watched come into this world. Yep. He was the only one. It had a profound effect on me.

I didn't go see y'all being born. I said, that's a woman's deal, you know. We got over. Good luck. But after I came to Jesus and looked back at it, I thought to myself, I should have watched all of them. Yep.

It's a brutal thing to come on the earth, come forth from your mother's womb. That's not by accident. Exactly. There's pain involved. We read the verse. Yeah, you read the verse. But they forget the pain because of the joy. That's what Jeff and I, in a serious note, you know, I learned that Jeff and I both have

appreciation, you know, of babies and kids. I mean, his whole ministry. You know, Jeff ended up kind of the, from his mother, drawn closer to her after his birth than any of them, any of y'all. Yeah, I think that's because y'all had mellowed a bit from when we were raised. Yeah, I think so. I mean, it was just basically, because people say, what was your childhood like and always say the same word?

You know what it is? Survival. I thought you were going to say volatile. So I met a guy at the church where I spoke at yesterday, and he used to always say the same thing. I'd say, how are you doing? And he'd say, I'm just trying to survive. And I was like, that sums up my childhood. Oh, catfish.

So that brings up the second question I had for you, Jeff. Let's take it back. I don't think we've talked to you since the movie came out, which was really interesting because Jason and I, have a lot of memories of dad pre-Christian, I guess me the most. But you were totally raising a Christian home. Mom and Dad had totally turned their life around. You weren't even born until they were like three years into their new birth and their lifestyle.

So what was it like for you to watch the movie? I was curious because like we have, I mean, obviously we've all told our story and all that. But you kind of, I've always thought you kind of had a different perspective of mom and dad. So I wondered what it was like, like watching that. and then kind of what your how your thought process was i mean it was hard or maybe for me because i never um yeah experienced any any other bad stuff really so um you got off track that one time when you were about teenage 18 or so so your family moved in to have a little meeting and your your question was when you saw us coming you were not ready for

it we were all there to straighten you straighten your trip out intervention and your question was what took you all so long yeah which is one of the great questions of all time well yeah i mean but it's so i mean it's such a awesome story and it's funny because when y'all hear from emmanuel he's his dad is a lot like you very similar story really so which is cool and i think that's kind of how we bond Yeah, well, that's what I was going to say while ago. We, you know, I learned about Jeff from spending the last two years of almost every moment of the day with him that, you know, he has a heart for kids and kids that are suffering and has been all over the world in what you do with, what's the name of it? All God's children. All God's children.

It was on the tip of my tongue. Which, just think of that name. Yeah. Are we not all God's children? Yeah. And unfortunately, there's just a lot of bad things going on on our earth where the most vulnerable of us are in terrible situations. And so even, you know, the last two years of my life, I've had this little kid that came my way through a difficult situation, which is vastly improving every day. But even this past weekend, I was doing all this prep for the sermon.

But we had this kid, you know, staying with us. Well, having a kid's a full-time job, especially when they're two years old. And so I took him fishing for the first time where I thought he could understand what has actually happened. I mean, we had him as a baby a couple times while I was catching fish, but it wasn't noticeable. So I was like, I think it's time. You want to go fishing? So I took him down there. Well, the first thing he does when we walk up to the pond is I stop and I'm getting the bait off the end of the rod.

and I look up at him as he's just continuing to walk. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he started walking in the pond, which just shows you how vulnerable they are. We don't have the concept of you walk on land. You don't walk on water unless you're Jesus. And so, and of course, with a kid, everything needs to happen quick. So I flipped the, I had a little jig on in Willie's Pond. So this is a secret.

Don't tell him I did this. And as soon as that jig hit, I had a cork on it. Cork went down, which he's, I start reeling. I'm like, help me reel. And so the fight is on. It took a couple minutes. We get the fish there out. And what I would describe is what I was doing my lesson on in Hebrews 12.

It says, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. and so worship God with reverence and all. In that moment, I saw in his mind reverence, because he just tried to go at the fish, but he's got all his fins out, you know, and I'm like, whoa, whoa, he'll hurt you. But it was all. His mouth was open, and it was like,

what is this real creature that you have gotten out of the water? And when you're a kid, everything looks bigger and it's exciting. And I actually took a picture in that moment, and his mouth is wide open. But it just made me think of all the things we have in Jesus from us being sons and daughters of God, you know, just being in awe in a respectful way because there are dangers to this. And I don't know, I just melted in that moment. But I really appreciate Jeff having a heart for that.

And he's brought a guest today. I'm sure that you met along the way in trying to help kids. Yep. Well, and then I would say that, Jeff. I feel like because of the home you grew up in, I've always thought you carried the best of mom and dad, you know, of all of us, you know, because, you know, we had a little bit of baggage we had to deal with from those early years, but you didn't have that. It doesn't mean you're, like we said, you were a prodigal like me. You had some struggles. But I see that now in your parenting, your kids, now you're gaining son-in-law, so you're becoming the patriarch of your family.

And so that's the blessing when you get to watch that. because you know, it's 14 years difference between me and you. So you were almost like mine and Lisa's little boy. You know, you come to our house. We go do stuff together because you were only like four years old when I got married. So I get sort of that pride like mom and dad of watching you grow into that man. And so to get to do what you're doing with all God's children is a huge blessing because I think it taps into the best of your abilities and what you got from your raising and from the Lord. And I see that as a husband and a dad too.

And by the way, I throw Jason on the bus all the time. I'm proud of him too because his sermon yesterday was fantastic. I didn't say that in the last podcast, Jason, but it was really, really good. But he's more proud of me. Your seconds. He's so proud of that. I've learned to live these kind of discussions. And thank you for doing that because I didn't want to get too soapy and too savvy with the whole thing.

All right, so we're going to take a break. And when we come back from this break, we've got a special guest. all the way from Africa. We're super excited about, so we're going to add him to the Unashamed podcast. We'll let Jeff introduce him. We'll come back to us. Welcome back.

We got a very special guest, and I have to say, out of the five of us now, that are on this podcast, our guest is the only one whose country is mentioned in the Bible, because ours is not Emmanuel. So, Jeff, introduce your guest.

This is Emmanuel. and it's spelled a little different, so it's spelled how you would spell it in Amaric, right? Yes. Which is their, his native tongue. Amaric? Amaric. I've never heard.

It's cool to listen to. Really? Yep. And Emmanuel speaks, how many languages? Three, right? Yeah, I speak three. So he's three times smarter than everybody else. He was telling me, he was like,

there's places you go in Ethiopia, like from one village to the next, totally different dialect. Yeah. And there's like 50. different ones so what part of africa are we talking about here we're talking about east africa east africa okay ethiopia is in east africa i got to ask something because someone once told me the world's largest bullfrogs were in africa or have you seen any giant bullfrogs uh

i have seen a lot of frogs but i'm not sure if i have seen that hey there is ducks there i saw it When I went, I saw those. So you've been to Ethiopia? Yep. Is that where you met Emmanuel? No. So we actually met later because he's working with the organization now. And we met at a hunt, actually, of all weird things that we do with some other, like, kind of big donors.

And he came and told his story. And immediately I said, you got to come to Western Road, Louisiana and tell that story to my family. Because it was incredible. Awesome. And so can we get a little bit of the language? What is we have? have ducks in, what is it, a mark. A mark. Ducky Island. Ducky Island. I love it. Makes sense. Something like that. I could learn this language.

So duck is ducky. Ducky. Yeah. So, island means we have. So. Yeah. But it sounded like, to me, Duck Island, which is. Ducky Island. So I'm seeing Jays speaking this language by just making stuff. up or an attempt to do that. Well, I just wanted, my buddy of mine wanted to go to Africa and see and catch some of these bullfrogs because they're one of the greatest tasting things on the planet. And so I just thought they may have these frogs here and they just don't know it. Yeah, because they meant, do they eat frogs in Ethiopia? No, dogs.

Yeah, we don't eat frogs in Ethiopia. No, frogs in Ethiopia. Yeah. Some people see that. is not the thing to do, but it's a shame because they're really delicious. You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.

They're the cleanest animal, I think, on the planet. Well, never had one. You know what he does eat? Which I was like, I didn't eat this when I was there. He eats raw beef. So they go to these places where they slaughter these cows and you eat them within 12 hours, right? Something like that?

Yeah, usually fresh. Like really fresh. And he showed me pictures. It's like a chucked. roast. I was like, dang. He just, I like my meat roast raw. I was like, that's impressive. Yeah, roat meat is a big culture. Yeah. It's just you can see a whole butcher places in the city. I'd recommend you maybe saute or fry the fallout. You may want to put those in a little bit of hot grease. He had a shrimp pole boy today for lunch. Yep, I took him, had his first shrimp

pole boy. You liked the shrimp poble? Yeah. It's a Louisiana staple. I had you eaten shrimp before? Oh, I mean, since coming to the U.S. So he's lived in Portland now for four years. So he's... Well, you bring him from Africa and you feed him some shrimp. Well, why not frog legs or crawfish, you know? Well, he wanted a shrimp pole. There was a menu there.

He could have picked anything. That's what he wanted. And there's a lot on that menu. So that's really good. All right. So tell us a little bit about your story. What's the... A little bit about the Emmanuel.

I mean, already I'm impressed Emmanuel. God is with us today, because we know that's what your name means, or at least the biblical version of it. So we're glad you're here. Tell us your story. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Like Jeb has introduced me, my name is Emmanuel Roba.

I am from Ethiopia, and currently I work with all God's children. I'm an associate director of sponsorship, so I help oversee the children that we're sponsoring. We have over 930 kids that we sponsor in Ethiopia, which I am originally from. So, yeah, I mean, just to give you a bit of a context as a question. according to Ulyssife, we have over 4.5 million children that are orphans. And Ethiopia is a big country. It's the second most populous country after Nigeria. So we have about 120 million people.

Wow. And yeah, it is a big, yeah, like a large country and a large population. And out of that, 4.5 million are orphans and about 600,000 leave in the streets. And I'm sure Jeb has. When I went there, that's what I was shocked. more than anything. Otis Ababa is like the capital. You just walk, you just get off the plane, go to the capital city. There's tens of thousands lit like toddlers coming up grabbing your leg. I mean, just like, I mean, I'm just thinking about it. Just think if you went to Dallas and there was

50,000 orphan kids walking around. I mean, you'd be like, we got to do something. There's a problem. You know what I'm saying? Like there's a, there's a need. Yeah, absolutely. And it's very evident, especially in the capital you see just everywhere in every part of the corner of the city that you get to observe that and we help work on that end. I grew up in a small town in the south or east part of Ethiopia, and my family kind of went through a lot of hard time, and one of the thing was we were one of the few Christians that was in my hometown, and there has been a lot of persecution that has happened just growing up for being Christian, especially like for like, yes, there are certain other type of Christianity,

but I was like our belief was we were like, you know, Christ, we're saved through Christ and that's it. And that's the way. And just for saying that you could be, yeah, like facing a lot of things. And is it because, is there, is it a strong, is it Muslim or is there, what's the, what's the cause of the persecution? Do people are unbelievers or do they believe in something else? the people that aren't Christians? I mean, most Ethiopians are believers. So, you know, the state 98 are like in believers in 30 things. So there is not atheism that, like, eti-stor, like anything like that.

But, I mean, if you consider Ethiopia is one of the first Christian nation from the 4th century on, but there has been a lot of the Orthodox Christianity, or part of the Coptic Christianity, that has been, you know, in the country for a long while. But, you know, but I wouldn't say it's like, the pure gospel of like Christ, but it's just a lot of tradition that's added in there. And it's just like a lot of practices that are, I would say, is just not according to the Bible. And not like, it's just like how the gospel is. And because of, yeah, because of that, there is that.

And I mean, still the majority of the population is just like our culture. But I mean, we have one third of the population that are Muslim as well. So yes, we have a whole mixture of that. And in a town that I grew up, who is this? I mean, I would say it was mostly a Muslim-dominated area, like back in the day as well. So it was just like what my dad was, is that he grew up. So how he heard about the Christ was it was from the missionaries and American missionaries back in the day in a very roller-roller area from like, it's just you can't drive anymore.

But like for hours, you have to take horses and donkeys or like some other kind of transposal walk for miles. but, you know, there was this missionaries that were helping the people, and it's just like medicating some people that are sick in, like, an open market that was singing and, you know, sharing some scripture. So he had that seed planted, like, in him growing up. And that was, like, back in the 1960s or like late 60s, early 70s. And with that is that he came to the hometown that I was born in. And at 16, we had a regime change. So Ethiopia was like it was like an emperor, like a king system throughout our history, like until the 1960s.

And until that time. So it was like when that happens, there was just, we had this communist that, you know, like going on, government going on. And it was just like, hey, no believing, no Christian, like any kind of God just don't mention that kind of. So he was, yeah, he had to join the military at the age of 16 from school. just like be part of like become a soldier in there. And after that, he fought for a while. And he, he came back to my hometown. Like, they were like after what, seven or some of the years of fighting,

then he was able to, you know, survive that battle and come back home. And, you know, he was just known to be, like, drunk, feeding up people. He just just make other people pay. Just knowing for, like, for all the wrong reasons in the hometown. So it kind of became like an enforcer because of his train and all that stuff. Yeah. And that and I think they were also in the year, I was born in 1991 and right before I was born, he was like also like ask it to be deployed again in another war that was happening. And at that time, he, yeah.

So he was, he encountered like some other like believers in there. And I mean, there is a plan that was, you know, put in a scene. that was planted in his life at the age, young age, but this time he was able to read a New Testament, somebody gave him that, and other, like, friends, they were just at least discussing the gospel, and just he started to be curious in, like, to know more about Christ and just that journey in that. And he, unfortunately, he got hit, so he went to, like, a refugee camp, and there's also, like, while he was fighting at the end of it, you know, there is another regime change. And he got shot, like, six or seven times.

Yeah, he got, and he still. And he survived that. Yeah. So that was a big part of his faith journey. It was kind of like he lived through getting shot that. He probably should have died. Right. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. He absolutely should have died. And that was just God's protection. And I mean, even after being treated, he was told those like, hey, in a few years, like, there are some of the bullets that if we take it out, you would die now. Or I was like, if it stays, like at least you have a couple years or a few more years to live. But through that time, it's just, you know, he had that phase and that phase kept him going. And at some point, so when he was released and, you know, like felt better from that, he

just built a passion. I was like, I have to go back and just reach people, like, and reach people on the gospel and just bring people to the kingdom of God. And when he came back to my hometown at that time, there was only about 15 Christians. And it was an underground church. And it was just somebody's house where they sing very quietly. Because if other people, like, hear you, then. And, you know, just you could be beaten up. Very much first century, yes. Yeah, let's take another. So coming back, he saw that, but he started fellowshiping with this people.

But at the same time, he knows if they come public, then that's just a danger to his life, to the family's life. And I was, and it's why actually I was named Emmanuel was when he came back, I was born. And he said, like, God is with us. And God is with this family. So that's how I got named like Emmanuel. And he decided, I was like, okay, this is time for us to, you know, like to go and like, you know, just tell this truth. And we can't just be hiding in the house and just like saying and just save our life.

But, you know, there are a lot of thousand people that are around the town and the village that, you know, need to hear about the gospel of Christ. So it is like he went out and started speaking in public. was like in the middle of just the crowd in the market. And just people would be throwing eggs in this face and tomatoes and other things. It was just different things. It was just different things that were there being selling. But he was just a still like witness. And he didn't have any other like teachers or any pastor to guide them through,

but it was him and the Holy Spirit is just revealing his word. And just that something that was steering in his heart just to be able to just witness Christ for this people. And he continued to do that. And, you know, now of the people are aware he is like that. But they were still actually, even though they're trying to attack the other questions, they were scared of him because of his previous behavior. And like I was like, hey. He was a guy's a soldier.

Yeah. I got you. I think, yeah, there are times like, hey, like, yeah, they might be afraid of that. But still, we like, growing up, I remember, like our roofs would be just like throw, like stones, like little rocks would be thrown in our roof. And it was a teen roof. And it was, it's loud. Through that, he continued.

But there was just some people that were coming to Christ. And it was like here and there, he would find people that were just coming into that coast. And at some point, as a couple of years later, like a younger child that was born after me, a few months later, the child passed away. And so there, so when you're a Christian at that time is that. you're isolated from anything. Even if you have relatives, it was like you are excluded from weddings and other social affairs.

And it's just, there isn't a lot of things that you could be part of. And the other thing is, one thing that would scare is like, oh, you will never have a burial ground if you are like a Christian. So it's like, if you die, there's not going to be, you know.

And they didn't have a property or they didn't have any land. So because of this, I think the many past, Sepality gave them like this piece of land in the town, so they just buried it and that the Christians. And he just went ahead and just witnessing the gospel for others and sharing that. And a few days later, some of this mob came, dag out the body of the child and just put a display. This is just like in order to, you know, give a warning for others if you become a Christian.

And if you are coming in the face that this is going to happen to you and this is a warning. So it was a tough time, both for my family, especially from my mom. And not. But that did not stop the gospel. And that just gave him a courage that, you know, we're, this is what the Bible says. And, you know, sometimes you're going to, you know, like a pay certain things. And it's like if this is for the gospel and if this brings, like continues to. to bring people to the kingdom.

It's like we're gonna continue. And I think, but with that, some other people seeing that, you know, that was just an encouraging for others to be able to join the phase. And now the number started to going, okay, from 15 to 50, like then to 100, like in a few years' time. And within that land that they took for a funeral, then they started putting like a mud house

for people to come and worship. And there was just, just a lot of people that were just coming into the kingdom. And there's a lot of witchcraft and other things that was, you know, like being practiced in there, but God is just working. And there was just people being freed from that kind of like bondage and just some people like receiving healing through that and just the whole spirit working in all different ways. And that happened. And when that grows happened and they continue to see that one time, they said, hey, like,

Like, these people are poisoning our community, poisoning our phase. Like, we have to, you know, like, finish them off. And one time, and at that time, we were a young age. And just a group of mob came into, in front of our house. And just saying that, like, just naming different Christians, different names and other things. They were armed. They had, like, shettys. They were ready to kill his family.

Yeah, sticks. Just, I was like, this is the day that we're going to, you know, like kill everybody and every Christian. And they were just saying a lot of things. And my family has, you know, parents have locked to the home. And I think at that time we were about three or four kids. And one of the seven siblings, the other were born after that. And my dad said, you know, this might be the last thing.

You know, this would be our last day. He was preparing you. Yeah, just preparing. And we are like really, really young at that time. And you say it was like, they might, you might see them, like, you know, just, you know, slaughtering me or anything. But in there was like a few minutes, we're going to see Jesus. Wow.

And if you see that, if you say deny Christ, I was like, do not do that. I was like, they might just kill you or do this to you, but I was like, you'll meet Jesus. Great time. So I was like. Preparing you to be a martyr. Yeah. As a child.

As a child, we were just like age of four, six. Yeah. Like that. So during that time and just all together having a prayer and the mob decided that I was like, actually, we actually, where our house was located was right in the middle of the town. So he said, like, actually, let's start from like the east end and just, you know, friendly to them off and just killing everybody. like every other Christian. So they went ahead. They said, like, we're coming back.

So they just went. And it's just, you know, God working there, that and just protecting us. And they went to this house. And this house, they went to just, they just became Christian. Like, they were a very, like, fresh Christian. They just, and as soon as they went into their home, this family had gone. So they started shooting. So when they started, like, shooting.

Wrong house. Wrong house. And we didn't have anything And my dad have already returned Those things like back And when they started to do that I think it's just the police And the municipality that have heard of that

So they just came and intervened And that day just passed And it's just like some peace came after that And it's just that it was like God's protection in that But that did not just prevent from the gospel like, you know, for continuing to conquer the town and the people and just win hearts. And, yeah, and I think a few years later, my dad was like, we, I mean, what this time, my dad did not

had any other job. So I was like, there are times that he, the only thing that he has is the clothes he was wearing and the Bible that he has been given. And with that is sometimes he would, you know, like, wash his pants clothes like trousers. Then he would just add the river because there's no lounder or anything. Then he would just read his Bible until his pants dry. Then he would just put on and just walk to some village so that he can share the gospel. And it was just, it was tough. And we had a hard time, like, growing up and just for a family, there were days that we never

had, like, meals, like for three or four days. And just going to school was very difficult, especially. And I was like, because you're in a school where your stomach is just like making noise because of you haven't eaten days. And you can hear like not just us also. It was like that was a problem with other communities, like other families as well as that. You can hear who has been like, like stomach is, you know, like loud at that time. And when you can't eat, then you can't focus when you can't focus. It's hard to succeed in.

Even just being able to kind of provide that school supplies and stuff, it was not easy from my family. like to do that. And it was just God's provision and protection that have, you know, like helped us to go like through all that processes. Even now within that, like my dad had a compassion and he would just like even drive. And I mean, there are days, my mom was like sometimes like in a flower that is just not even for people to eat. Sometimes my mom would make us like a little bread and she would just not see us eat it. But I was like, at least I was like, at least they're eating something. Yeah, putting something in your stomach.

Yeah. But you know why I think it's fascinating, Emmanuel, for guys like you to share your story with an American audience especially is because we read about these things in the book of Acts and we read about persecution. We read about difficulty, read about putting your faith out there no matter what. But to be honest, it's hard for us to relate sometimes because we don't have the same things you faced. And so you're a young man and to be able to share a story that's shaped your life is really shows you the power of who God is in his word. And so I like it because it's so relatable

to everything that we study. And it's hard for sometimes for Western culture audiences to really relate to that and what we're reading the Bible. Then we hear your story. And you're one of many folks I've heard stories like this from from Africa and realize there are people living this way every single day, you know, that goes on today, right? And all the, all the orphans you mentioned. Oh, yeah. Do you think some of this overcoming and what you went through and all this has made you feel so compelled to help orphans into, I mean, is it a pay-up forward sort of life that you live now, you think? Absolutely. I mean, yes, just like maybe it is that, that's the way, like, how I even ended up into this is that, like, I have went through all of those processes.

And some of the skits that you see in the streets that are going through is like, I have really went to that. And I mean, it is God. And it's just like people that, you know, like, believed in me that, you know, kind of just shifted the way that I was going. And I mean, also it's like with the generosity that I've seen from my dad. And also it's like the gospel itself is the one that changed in my village, the entire place as well as. And because, I mean, just like, yeah, move forward. I mean, there's been a lot of attacks that has came to me, like personally, to my family, into the Christians around.

And there's a whole other story. And you don't have to tell the whole thing because, you know, we're running out of time. But they tried to poison, Emmanuel. His dad took in a homeless guy and the guy gave him poison to Emmanuel when he was a little kid. And they thought he was going to die. And he barely was, or it wasn't, it was acid. It was acid. Yeah.

And even that, they said he's not going to make it. They told his dad it was like, and he was asleep the all time. And, I mean, that's what I'm saying. They were constant under barrage. But his dad was like, I'm standing on the gospel. Yeah. Like, we're doing it no matter what, which is awesome. Yeah.

And I mean, the gospel had, like, prevailed in that town. We have over 15,000 Christians at the moment. And my dad in that town, including the surrounding area, was able to over 100. Is it better now? Oh, absolutely. It's better now because now we have Christians that are making a difference and changes. And like, yeah, there are a lot of churches, over 140 churches that is around. Now we have Christians that are in government places, that are in places. And not just from that, and it was people like him, him, himself, and also like other Christians that have really fought and went through all those. And now we have

over 30 million believers in Christ just in the country and that is a huge number. Amen to that. 20 years ago that was less than five million. So there's that gospel is just prevailing. And so and you see that not just changing like people's, yes, the eternal life that is the biggest thing that this people and, you know, our preparation could get at the same time was like, people's life is changing. The way government operates is changing. The economy is changing because I was like, and it's like, yes. There is, because with your believing is there's some things that comes.

And, you know, God blesses the nation, the people and are in the government. And that is, and I'm also the example of that, just going through that and all that is like, now just gave me a reason. I was like, yes, I have went through that and I want to be able to continue serving this kids and this people. And we're not just fulfilling material, but at the same time, we're working on that spiritual part and just winning souls for Christ, you know, for Christ as well. Well, somebody told me a long time ago that you'll know that we've reached critical masses in our culture when God begins to send us missionaries from other parts of the world.

And you mentioned about you being in Portland now, which is an American when I hear Portland, I immediately think one of the most godless places in our culture. And here you are with a story like this and with the capacity for the gospel. Well, who's to say that's not exactly what God has done has brought you here, not only just to help people back home in your country and orphans, but also to help our country. We need all the voices we can get. Because you know, you travel in America, you're here in Louisiana now. You travel other places. You think, well, there's Christians.

Everywhere there's churches on every corner, and that's true. But there are places in America that are very godless, especially in big cities, and people that don't know what you and I both know about Jesus. And so who's to say that's not exactly one of the reasons he's brought you. What's cool is there is church in Portland where he made his wife, who's weirdly enough also Ethiopian, but she was adopted by a family in Portland. And he met her through his dad,

which is kind of cool. His dad spoke at the church. But it's an Ethiopian church because there's a big population. Ethiopians in Portland and Dallas. I think he was telling me in some other places. But it's really cool. He was showing me like how, I mean, it's very authentic to how it is.

Ethiopia, but they're doing it in Portland, which I thought was kind of cool. Yeah. And I mean, my church, yeah, does a lot of outreach as far as the gospel, in the town, and the city as well is, and we reach people. And I mean, whoever we're coming across and all the people that we're meeting and I come across through, you know, personal life, work and all that. And I just get to continue to witness. You are, you are deserve homage. You're doing, you're doing well. Well, and I see what you were saying, And you have shared similar experience where you see a bold father who comes out of a life into the life of Christ and how that changes not only his destiny but his family's destiny.

And then ultimately can change a whole culture and a whole country, which is sort of what God is doing in your life. Absolutely. Which is fantastic. Absolutely. And it's what a privilege to be part of, you know, now being able to go back and, you know, be able to reach the skits. And I mean, we still have some, you know, different issues that is going on in the country.

We just came out of like a big conflict. And I just came back from Ethiopia about 10 days ago where we head back to the north. Jeb has been there in Tigray. And we just had a conflict. And it was sad to see some of where the conditions of like that war has left. And, you know, schools are still not being able to operate and a lot of people in the shelters and the kids. So yes, there is a change. But at the same time, there is.

that huge need that we are in and we continue to advocate for this children. And I think one of the great thing that AGCI is currently doing is just helping those children, like, you know, just supporting and in sponsorship as well. What the sponsorship helps is we do family preservation. So like we have a lot of kids that we have saved that are in the streets. So our hope is for the family, that family preservation, keeping families together before even those children end up in those streets where they're faced with a lot of, like, views and addictions and all of that.

And that's our work. And I think we have, you know, about more. So our charge for the audience is, y'all have been so awesome to us. And last time I asked for 100, this time we're asking for 150 sponsorships. You can go to all god's children.org. And we need your help now more than ever. Yeah. Well, we've said this before.

There's nothing more like Christ than to look out. for those who can't look out for themselves. I mean, the Bible says that over and over. Jesus said it himself, you know, except for these little ones that come to me. So you guys are doing God's work. Emmanuel's great to have you on our podcast. Thank you for your story.

It's amazing. God obviously shepherded you through to do great things. So we wish God's blessed, I know. Thank you for being here. Absolutely. Thank you for having me here. Oh, bless you guys.

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