BraveMen S3E77: John Smithwick - A Movement of Miracles & Missions

We titled the podcast for Christmas Network Brave Men, not just to say, hey, here's a man who's a brave man, but also to enlarge our own lives that would become men like this. But what seems to be happening, as we've done this podcast over the last 18 months or so, is that we meet more and more men like the man today, John Smithwick, who are brave men, who are doing things that change the future of the world, one person at a time. Hey, thank you for listening to Brave Men, and also for being a subscriber. Make sure you click the button that says subscribe, and also on YouTube, we've got a number of shows there that we put on our YouTube on the Christmas Network channel, and that's Christmas Network All One Word, or you can go on Monday Night Men. Monday Night Men, we're going through the Power of Potential, which has been amazing. On this season, we've got Chris Shields, who's our producer for Brave Men, who's with me, and you've been around John Smithwick. I have. Yeah, I think I just stood. He's amazing. Yeah. And the biggest thing I love about him is he is a man that is strong on the outside, but he's also strong on the inside. There is no question mark when you hang out with him. Does he have Jesus in him? Because he's going to tell you about it, and you're going to be able to see the radiance of God in his life. Yeah, you see it all over the guy. Yes. Yeah, and he's a manly man. He is. You know what I mean? You're going to play no games. Now what the deal is, sometimes we think of guys who get fully consumed with being missionaries, going overseas, doing different things, and we think of guys and I don't know. We think of guys in white suits and stuff, and or I don't know, man, sometimes we just get a wrong image of who those people are. And this guy is a man who really portrays biblical masculinity with his family, the way he treats his wife, the way he treats people who work with him and form. And what's great is he leads these huge groups of short-term missions, people all over the world. And we'll hear some stories today about him going into some dangerous places. Did you know he's done 2,400 short-term missions? Get out of here. In 25 different countries around the world. Really? Yes. You know, that's a lot of work, because you're taking people, and people, it's that, remember that Super Bowl commercial about the guys and the cowboys and stuff, and they're all sweating everything. And it turns out they're hurting cats. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Like, this is impossible. And I think that's what we are with people. Yeah. So, you know, God bless John. So, not only is he a man of great strength and moral fiber and vibrancy of his word and people are getting healed, but he also must be a man of patience. He's, yes, I was going to say that, capital P, capital P, you know, he, it's amazing. Global Ventures, you know, and he leads that so well, because, you know, even with getting him on, you know, I knew him prior to getting him on the show, but even working with his team, like the reverence, the honor, the respect they have for him, even for him. Well, they beat him up if they don't, you know, if there's no honor, he's hit him. I don't believe that. You know, thanks. I don't think so. He might love him extra harder. Love them harder. I was talking with Johnny Mortis going to be on one of our podcasts coming up and I was talking to him about Jerry Falwell and first time I met Jerry Falwell, who's like a legend. The guy in our company that I owned at the time, we were doing a project for him. He hit me in the arm so hard, man. The only person I've ever seen do that since is Rob Carmen. Yes. And Falwell comes up, hits me in the arm and I realized he's just a suburban driving country boy. We're in a three-piece suit. And so anyway, so Smithwick doesn't do that. That's what you're saying. He loves it. He loves it. He loves it. The honor comes out of just, he's just a good guy. Yeah. You don't think he, you don't think there's a kind of intimidation? What is he? Six, six. He's pretty tall. 240. I don't think he's that tall. I don't think he's that tall. There might be, but I don't think he leaves me. Well, when I interview, you know, I would've been around him. Yes. Anyway. I don't think he would be that way. Thank you for being with us. And make sure you tell somebody about this podcast because it is an inspirational podcast for men who desire to be brave men, larger men, strong men in their environment. Good dads. We've got all kinds of, the content we've had is the type of content that's going to enlarge your life and inspire you. And so today, from the minister called Global Ventures, man has been around the world. You're in here some amazing stories. Here's John Smithwick today on Brave Men. It's Brave Men with Paul Lewis Cole. Wisdom and courage for the journey. Talking to John Smithwick and John Smithwick, travels the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. John, you are an missionary and the truest sense of the word is seen over two million people except Christ. You've got a ministry that Global Ventures, it takes people into, you know, like on the street around the world. And man, it's great to talk to somebody who's a radical for Christ, bro. Thank you. So great to be on with you, Paul. It's all about making the world a place that's more like heaven. And that's what we have spent on bringing heaven's culture here. That's exactly it. So many guys get caught up and let's get out of here, you know, Maranatha Lord come right now. And I'm like, no, Maranatha, hang on a second. There's not enough people to know Jesus yet. That's right. Right? That's right. Some of our neighbors and some of them were responsible for there in other countries. How do you start Global Ventures and going around the world speaking like you're doing it's incredible what you're doing, man. You know it, it became, thank you. It became an early childhood, I say childhood early teens, a dream was age 12 and listening to actually my dad on a family ski trip when Christmas said, I want you boys to listen to this guy. A man full of adventure. He popped in life of faith and destiny. The legacy series by Dr. Lester Summerall and man, hearing these stories of him casting out demons and playing to be in the wave of the Philippines and adventures, you know, by mule back here and sharing the gospel when it sold to miracles. I just was hooked, especially when he shared that vision of Paul of seeing the whole world walk the road of life. And at that time, he was a teenage boy, he had never been out of the US and them falling off the cliff into hell, beautiful people of the nations of the earth. And he was like instantly, whoa, hell's real and God said, well, they're your responsibility. They're blunt on your hands. They've looked down, he saw the blood of the nations running through his fingers. At first, he said, well, no, I've never been out of the US and God said, no, quoted out of Ezekiel 3 said, if you don't want one, the heathen of his ungodly deeds, his blood will be required at your hands. I was just a 12 year old boy when I heard that, but man in my heart's eye, my mind's eye, I saw those people and that vision seared itself on my spirit, it stamped itself on my heart. I knew that's what God had created me for. I thank God for a strong, just like you, a strong father in the Lord, my dad that exposed me to things like that. So it was a teen dream. And then after that, it reminds me of how David Livingston got his dream when was a Robert Moffitt is speaking and he's talking about, I've seen from the mountain tops a thousand, the smoke from a thousand villages, villages, you don't know Jesus. That's right. And David Livingston hears that, catches that dream, it actually ends up marrying his daughter, didn't he? And goes to Africa, I mean, the things that they overcame. That's amazing. When we tell stories, when we as older men, of course, you know, when you're my age, but when we as maturing men tell the stories of victories, of things we've seen, of places would bend, that's what stirs a hearts of young men. And it was Bill Bride who said that, you know, small dreams don't stir the hearts of large men. And if we're going to stir the next generation, it takes a John Smith week to stand up and say, Hey, here's what I saw. Here's what I've heard and here's what's happening. So, so you went, I mean, that in private, man, it did. I started preaching at nursing homes in my teen years anywhere I could get it by my senior year. I took a rural youth pastor position and just was going forward. And then I went to Robert's University and while they are signed up for my first mission trip, age 20 went in undercover to people's Republic of China teaching marketing and was able to lead one young man to the Lord. It was very touch and go that had to be very careful, but was permitted by my team leader to give him a Chinese Bible, real sense of adventure, the undercover aspects of being there. And then upon graduation from O.R.U. heard about Ron Lewis and Teen Mania back in the day, used to facilitate so many teenagers. So I signed up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Went to Venice, Wayla, led my first team down there in conjunction with them. And then 1998, I met Robert Baragher, he'd come in to film some stuff. I'd worked in a ministry called Impact Productions that made all these syndicated commercials for churches and ministries. Right. And I was planning on moving to Peru. I'd led teams there with Teen Mania and another guy that had done a lot of work down there Jim Andrews had given a challenge during my Bible school years. He said, give me a hundred of you to be traveling missionary evangelists. We'll take all of Peru with a gospel. And I wound up saying, sign me up. And he said I was the only one that went. He jokes. As I got one, but he did the work of a hundred during the time, you know, real compliment there. But a year I live with a Peruvian family traveled all over Robert Baragher, gave the tent that he had for me to be able to do crusades all over Greater Lima and then facilitated teams and an out. And since that time, that was 1998. The word dealt with me, you only be here a year and prove. And I'm going to springboard you to the nations and that's what he did. So then all over the place and places like India and Nepal and Thailand and North of Nigeria, Niger, Africa, preach it. Real dicey areas at times when you talk about radicals and oppositions. Yeah. When you first went and let me mention this, talking to John Smithwick and you're listening to Brave Men podcast, we're talking about Robert Baragher in Lima, Peru, Roberts on our Board of Directors for Christmas Network. And but when you first got down there then, if you were in 98, you were down there when Shining Path was still blowing up, you know, generators for cities and that kind of stuff. Thankfully it wasn't as bad when I was there. Now, some of my previous trips in they were, yeah, but thankfully it was nipped, but that was a very clear and present danger down there, you're right. It was bad news. Now, where did you grow up, John? You know, Arkansas is my birth state, but Oklahoma, Texas. And then when I was 10 years old, my dad with that again, being a man that wanted to just follow after God and also being, he was a third generation builder and entrepreneur. He had taken over the family business, but he felt a call to Mexico. And after he and mom went to Spanish school, we went for almost my whole fourth grade year down to the very bottom of Mexico, top of Chula Chiapas. So that really marked me. But mainly among those three states, when we didn't do that tour down to Mexico, but that dropped the seeds of the nations and the power of a dad and of a mentor. Yes. No, that's fantastic. And what, you know, you were in northern Nigeria, you, when you say dicey places, you actually mean places where you could end up in prison and nobody would know where you were for three months. Yeah, it can get crazy, yeah, or they blow up churches there. You know, they kill Christians that northern, we were over in knees year. It's just just right across the border. And they told us when we got there, I brought a team and we knew the child's were the full time missionaries, point missionaries we worked with. We had scheduled a big evangelistic crusade. They said, Marotti has never had an outdoor evangelistic crusade ever. I mean, at the time, I think it was like 99% must, they said it was an epicenter for Islam. And so you've got some of those tribes, the Toregs, different ones, the Philonies, one of the Philonies one we know about right now that's kind of alongside Boko Hiram and IS. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very real. And so in the middle of our crusade, rocks began to fly. Why? And I'd do this because they weren't just throwing them and it wasn't most a crowd. We had about maybe 4,000 out on the field, 3, 4,000 that night. We had procured a wrestling. They do sand wrestling there. It's their national sport. So I mean, a man's culture, you know, and you got the Flotties, you got the Toregs there. And rocks began to fly. They were some were slingshotting them at us, my team up on the stage. Right after I prayed the prayer of salvation, over the half the crowd without seeing one miracle, half the crowd raised their hands saying, we want to receive this Jesus. And I want to have told them all of you that met that from the heart and you prayed with us half of the crowd there, you just became children of the living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. And they couldn't understand my English, but they could understand my interpreter. He was a pastor from the area. They could understand his house. And the moment he said that in house, man, Islam, radical Islam, that Islam does not believe God has children. Their version of God, they're all on. So when you turn around, you tell people, well, there's not only one true living God to son Jesus that came to pay the price for all of you. You turn around, tell them, but now you're a children of the living God. You've just been made that through Jesus. They don't like it. I saw a blur, Paul, up out of the crowd, just rock it up. I knew it was a slingshot in rock. It hit my interpreter right between the eyes, blood on the crusade stage. He's out of commission. And another brother, a white brother that I didn't even know was sitting behind me on the stage, jumped up and spoke perfect house up. And it felt like in that setting, at any moment, the crowd was going to get so inside that they were going to just overwhelm us, just overrun the crusade stage. I knew if we didn't have miracles, if we were sunk, if we didn't show a strong man's gospel as John G. Lake used to say, we were sunk, it was going to shut the whole day. In fact, someone had attempted a praise night a few years before thinking, oh, we'll kind of approach it, you know, be real, not nice. Yes, I was a music thing. And the Muslims, the radicals, the Muslims came and they squashed at night one. And I was looking at what the enemy wanted to be our faith in the same way, just shut down this evangelist at crusade before it went. But do you know that brother jumped up? We didn't miss a beat. I said, wait a minute, the same Jesus that I've told you about, not only saves, he heals. And he's going to touch and heal, set a quick prayer call all of a sudden. I believe he was a flawny tribesman, real tall. I mean, just fierce warrior like right down here to my right off the stage, begin to yell out in house. And the white brother now translated looked at me and he said, he's yelling right now. These several years, he's been blind. But this Jesus has now opened his eyes and you can see all of our faces. Man, all of a sudden, whoo, it was like something broke in the atmosphere, that crowd went from being volatile to hanging on every word, one miracle after another after another. The next that we weren't shut down the next night, the crowd doubled and then it kept growing the night after that. God even the translator, the pastor that was injured, superdashly recovered by the final night, think three or so nights later, he was back up on stage interpreting. But night after night, mighty miracles. I mean, one man came, another one of those tribesmen. He said, my son is, he's born deaf mute and Jesus had opened his ears and so many mighty miracles that e-moms got on the radio. And they tried to stop, there's such a surge of Muslims and precious people just coming at area against just so 99% Muslim before. And the e-moms got on the radio and said, allah does not heal, whatever you have, you're faded to have. Well, act too late, allah may not heal, but Jesus, the Jesus living God does. And they couldn't stop the runaway train, you had the right direction, that whole region was impacted with the gospel. Well, dude, that is the gospel and you can't contain it and you can't hold it back because when people experience Jesus, you can argue a man's doctrine of theology, whatever you can't argue as an experience with Christ. Oh, that's right, oh. That's fantastic. So your dad took you to South, I mean, to Mexico. You know, I mean, just imprinted you with things and you come out and argue or Robert University, which is a great school. Thank God for the green family and those who have over the last decade just rebuilt that school, made it one of the top Christian schools in the world, really. So true. You know, the thing is, let me just ask you a question. You know, we get, you know, I'm just trying to reach my neighborhood, let's say. So I'm listening right now. I'm saying, hey, you know, good for you, John, to go do that. But, you know, I can't do all the stuff you do. I don't know if I get ever prayed for a miracle. You know, I'm just trying to get the guy next to me to go to church with me. You know, how do we, basically, how do you explain to a man like me, hey, bro, you need to pick your game up? You know, I remember when Martin and I first married, we were more gone. We had bought a brand new little starter home. And God began to deal with me, though we were gone, you know, 80% of the time in barely home. I had neighbors right on our, our right of our house there that were live ends and young. He worked for FedEx and she was still going through school and God really began to disturb me. Son, I want you to reach him, even though you're hardly here, I want you to reach him right next door. And of course, I'd done that at different times in my life, but it really just was as simple as going over and developing a relationship, just reaching out in a friendly manner and just talking to him about whatever he was in listening, a lot to what he was, what was going on in his life. In that, the keys began to unfold. Those heartstrings and the pain, things they'd been through, things that were going on and really just being, being yourself and being, who and what Jesus has been to you, your testimony. No one can argue, you touched on it just now. No one can argue with what Jesus has done for you or any God watching personally, that's your testimony. That's the most powerful thing in the world. I can argue doctrine and beliefs, but man, when you share how you've been transformed, most powerful thing in the universe. And so just started to develop that relationship, and he'd hear me just share different things of what I'd seen. And next thing you know, we're inviting him to just a Christmas event. There were Willie George used to run a Christmas train down here out at Dragolt USA. And maybe the area of the country, the area of the world that the guys are listening, you're like, man, we don't have anything like that. You just need to, people need to just start where they are. And then look for the point that that man, that person's hurting, and then just began to tell how Jesus has been real to you, that you as an individual, and say he'll do it the same for you. Because right after it was sitting in our car, we found out, you know, Rachel was her name that her back was messed up and in pain. And I just said, let's pray. Let's see what God will do. He's real. And the power of God came in the cab of our car, and she was instantly healed. If we never step out, we'll never see that God's really called us to be water walkers, to do things that are unusual and spectacular, and then through his name and power. Because you and I know Paul, we can't heal and not swing in our own ability. But Jesus and us can and will, and if we'll just step out, he'll do that. Well, it was shortly after that, Brian, my neighbor said, man, we know we haven't been doing what's right. We're not living the way we should, and we're going to get married. And of course, we had prayed the prayer of salvation with him and them. And I focused in and said, you know what, that's just like the Lord, don't worry about your past, you're making things right now. Keep your eyes locked in on the good things he has for you. But yes, that's simple. Just starting with your testimony and God will show and reveal the need. Hey, this is Chris. I want to take a moment right in the middle of this great conversation to let you know the Brave Men podcast is a production of the Christian Men's Network worldwide and the Global Fatherhood Initiative. Christian Men's Network has helped pastors and leaders disciple men for over 40 years. You can find all the resources for mentoring and fatherhood at C-A-M-N dot men. That's the Christian Men's Network at C-A-M-N dot men. There is a fresh new study every week called Power of Potential that just started. Monday night men is a new resource for men and pastors. As a pastor, you can follow up the 30-minute study with a digital meetup with your men for prayer, discussion, and teaching. Some churches are using the videos as part of a group meeting. This 13-week study is on YouTube and Facebook. Get your books and materials at C-A-M-N dot men. That's the Christian Men's Network at C-A-M-N dot men. It will help us continue to reach the lives of many men around the world. If you would like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, subscribe to this podcast and share it. That's the Christian Men's Network in Paul Lewis Cole. Now, let's get back to this powerful interview between Paul and John Smithwick. And then God's called us to the nations, right, John? Absolutely. Absolutely. Sometimes, I think that we talk about reaching our neighbors like this, and we're like, okay, we're good. But God's called us as the church, the body of Christ. In particular, I think in nations that are doing well, if you live in a more economically better place of Brazil or Indonesia or United States or UK that are listening right now or Germany, you know, God's called us to go places where they can't, you know, they basically can't, in a sense, the churches are small. They need help. They need us to come in and inject faith, inspire them, lift them up, right? That's right. How does that, you know, help me with that, John, in a sense of, why is it that we should lift up our vision and go to the mission field? Man, that's such a pertinent question for the American or Western church. What you described, those areas of the world that the church has more of a rooting and a footing is because most of the world doesn't have what we have. Most of the world, there's 4 billion on planet art today, Paul, that have never heard the gospel one single time. And most of them, that 4 billion lie in the 1040 window, that swath, if you take the lines of latitude, you make a window of box that sweeps across northern Africa, the Middle East, all the way across Asia to the far east. And inside that box is where most of those billions lie that have never, you know, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, or right there. And then the animist. And I remember the very first time I went through from India, I went to India and Thailand on the same first trip, year 2000. And I was amazed when I stood on a crusade stage and saw Indians that raise their hands out in the villages. I mean, crowd of 50,000 one night. And they said it was the first time they had ever heard this message. And I thought, well, hey, it's not going to be like that among the Buddhists, the Hindus, or one way. But surely the Buddhists over there in Thailand, I went out in the streets with a dear friend of mine that was over a Bible school. He said, let me show you this, and started talking to a little precious Thai man and developed a relationship Thailand's known as land of a thousand smiles or a million smiles. It's just so, they're so embracing. This man was so congenial, so kind. And then my big tall friend, taller than I am, and I'm about six to, you know, 240 or so pounds, he said, let me ask you a question to this little time, and have you ever heard of Jesus? And he didn't want to let on out of politeness, but you could see almost the inhibition, the fear that kind of caught his eye and face for a minute, and he's kind of scrambling looking as precious Asians will do. And finally, he just came clean and said, is he American? Is he tall, a friend of yours tall like you? And the awe and realization that this precious man had never heard who Jesus was one time. And we've gone back to Thailand many times after that doing team trips and crusades going into schools, see whole schools raise their hand right after their Buddhist prayer saying we've never heard about this Jesus. But after hearing, we want to make him savior and lord. And the church is many, many times in these nations, anemic. Thailand's one of the rare places in these frontier areas of the world where you, unless you're down south among the Muslims, among the Buddhists, they're very congenial, very kind. But still the believers and pastors, they view themselves many times as we're the lowest on the social religious totem pole, so to speak. And so when we did that first crusade, I found my pastors that had rallied with me in Chantobari hiding behind the crusade stage at first. I was like, where are they? And then the miracles of Jesus began to happen. The first night, put his hands on his head, he was touched by God. They brought paralytics on stretchers and all of a sudden the paralytics that had strokes and were paralyzed there, began to stand up and there's the miracles began to happen. They took heart these pastors because the average size church in Thailand will be 20, 30, 40 people, real small, but it gave them courage to see a real Jesus, a strong man's gospel. And man, I had some of those pastors coming up the stairway after that saying, we're with him. This is our crusade. We're with the ones that had done the leg work. And so is such a need for men like you, me, and those that are listening to not just have that attitude, well, I'm only going to win them in my own backyard. Oh, man, God didn't say go to our own backyard. He said, go to the world, for God to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The backyard is just automatic. If we're men worth our salt, man, it should just be a lifestyle. But the other side of the planet, Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Yeah. They're the ones that need it in a way that's hard to even fathom because it's amazing. And I'm talking with John Smithwick with Global Ventures. And John, you and I talked just before we started the actual recording with our dangerous nation's campaign, some of the places you're talking about in terms of Thailand, Nigeria, the Middle East and so forth. We're going to those places, translating maximized manhood into the local languages. And I'm fired up about, you know, I know that we're supposed to reach men in each of our churches, but I don't know anything that has marked my sons in particular, but my daughter also, my children's lives, nothing's marked them more than the times they've gone out on missions trips. Yes. And it's a marking point in their life. You know, they'll never forget the sounds of smells, the, you know, some of the hardships and not all of them are difficult with, I've, you know, I've had some difficult ones. Or as you said, dicey, I've had a knife in my throat, different things like that. And, but, but man, there's nothing that changes our lives like going out and just getting right in the middle of it. I couldn't agree more, Paul, my missions journey early on became one that facilitated actually teenagers early on there with team Mania back in the day. Team Mania went for many, many years and mobilized so many. And then the Lord shifted us into doing mass evangelism projects, but quickly with our background in Martin having a children's mystery forte trained under Willie George's team. We saw, hey, we can combine teams with reaching children because you reach them as kids. They got the whole lot of their whole lives ahead of them. We can facilitate teams and do mass evangelism and be schools, markets, pauses and all that end and a big mass crusade and a mass children's family crusade. And so we buy, you know, just kind of the assignment of the Lord had been able to mobilize and take people from all walks of Western life, North America, Canada, these different countries. Again, we've facilitated over 2500 roughly to the front lines with us. Not to, you know, not to just watch, not to paint buildings, not to do just feeding programs. Nothing wrong with doing all those types of ministry of helps and humanitarian aid. But no, let's do the first thing Jesus said, dude, because everything else comes in line a far second. We've got to get the gospel out first and training people how to do it because man, when a teenager or even an adult sees miracles happen right through their hands, they're the conduit to share the gospel and see that little time man or that Nepali man or somewhere in India. We've done so many teams in India, Nepal, Thailand, some of these areas that again are dicey. Men, it is, it's earth shattering and it is, it is next level life changing when you know you're the one being used and you see those types of things and them go from being a Sikh, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist saying, I see your Jesus is real in the way. Lead me to him. That changes the teenager, that changes an adult. We've had from pastors and their lead teams all the way down to families bringing eight year olds with us. We got our boys started at six and seven coming out of global venture trips, praying, preaching the gospel in settings. That's what our whole trip structure is designed to do is give everyday people this experience because you come back to America or your respective nation with a greater understanding of how and a greater passion because you've done it. You have stretched yourself, you come back bigger. That's right. Talking about John Smithwick and if you look up John Smithwick, you're the only John Smith wick that comes up on Google. Oh, good. Yeah, yeah, you're like number one, man. So it's a John Smithwick, WICK. And you know, I actually just had a cup of coffee with Ron Luce the other day and I've got a new book. He's done these new studies about how the majority of people come to Christ before they're 17. That's right. And he was talking about how the fastest growing church is that he's observed and he did a study on this quite a bit of time. And it just came out that I was just looking for it. I had it on my desk a minute ago. I probably took it downstairs where I was reading and he went through the whole study about the fastest growing churches in the world or the churches that are discipling young people. Not just, and we talked about it, not just the climbing wall, but discipleship. That's right. You can do what you're doing with the global ventures is it's building the local church. And what I appreciate about you is you're committed to the local church. You're not just committed to the photo op. That's right. You know, and I think too many of our short-term missions things have just been photo ops. That's true. It's true. I was at a church in Belize that I swear John, he gets repainted about once every two months because they get groups of kids to come down, paint the church, bring them some money. So it's the way this guy was hustling his income. Oh, it's grieving. That's grieving. I mean, they had a little group of kids that would sing and they would all clap and stuff. Yeah. You know, I was, we had to just, I just walked away shaking my hair and I'm like, when I finally saw what his real deal was and what you're talking about is going to actually make him, you know, turn it up the ground, plowing ground, planting seed, growing stuff, growing local churches. That's right. You get me fired up, John. Well, what you're talking about is exactly the way we were wired and what the Lord just revealed to us is the most effective way to do short-term missions. And then we of course have long-term projects with that. But no, when people come in, we're going to be working, we're going to gather as many local churches that exist, even if they're meager, like what I was describing in some of these areas of the world, because locking arms with them in that way, they begin to see the realm of possibility in their nation. And then, you know, we just expanded our 16-week New Believer's Lesson series, our follow-up curriculum, up to 32, because some of these areas of the world, man, you need that length of time, and you start right there in their homes, and you can, uh, many of house church is planted out of that type of scenario. Full-blown churches, uh, we've been able to plant, uh, in through the years, 42, 43, right around that number. Wow. And we, a lot of times, we give them way, just, it's not about global ventures, uh, loads some we govern, some of the ones in Thailand, we still oversee, but with good, strong national leadership on the ground, it's not about any one segment, it's not about just North America or England or what it is about the body uniting. And so, showing pastors and leaders, men how to do this, and women too on the ground, that you can be that extension going into a Buddhist home, a Hindu home, and showing them how then to share the gospel, start that first discipleship message and teaching, and then win the neighbors to Jesus and allow that to become one of those new believers, uh, hub, hub houses, and eventually, as it grows, uh, even a house church, and if it grows beyond that, maybe even a standalone church, but that, no, that's what it's all about. It's not about patty-cake-in, and to me, bless those teenagers' hearts, they were robbed that went down to Belize or wherever it was you were talking about, but maybe they saw a little bit of another culture, but Jesus hasn't called us just to go see a little bit of another culture, he's called us to invade what heavens culture. Salt and Light, whatever it takes. That's it, salt and light. I remember one time I was in Ethiopia and we're having spaghetti, you know, that, you know, this is not bad, we're out in the bush. I made the mistake of walking around the back to see where they were cooking it, and man, it was grody. I'm telling you, it was, yeah. And, you know, I mean, these people are trying to bless us and everything, man. I don't, uh, wish I hadn't seen that because the spaghetti tasted pretty good. I had a friend of mine who, uh, was on a mission, uh, posting, basically, for six months, in pop and beginning, and he came back and they were all talking about their experiences and, and, uh, and his wife said, you know, the only problem for me was when we had toast in the morning, she said, was to sit there and pick out the little weevils out of the bread was always so tedious. And he turned, as after he'd been there six months, he turned and says, what do you mean picking out the weevils? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, yeah, we all did that. Because I just thought it was crunchy bread. I've totally forgot the story. I love it. So the fact is you don't have, in most of your trips, at least you've been there enough that you helped the people, at least you keep them from crunchy bread. We do our best to try to avoid things like that, uh, if it all possible. But we have to get the one possible. Yeah, if we're going to do the deal, we got to do the deal, and so I am like an you and I are going to do some stuff together, particularly in Thailand and some other places, and we invite them to apply to go with us. It has been application. We've got to know that you're in the right place in your own spirit to be able to be a blessing in this thing. But I'm going to tell you no matter where you're at, this will expand you and large you, deep in your commitment. I remember my son Bryce went with team Mania to Chicago. I mean, just from Dallas to Chicago, but it was a two-week project playing basketball with kids in the tougher areas in Chicago. It marked his life. He never forgot those experiences that he had it was a mission trip. These things are important. I thank God for you, John. You and Martin and your team with global ventures and the things you're doing around the world. Churches are planting your heart for the gospel and I pray, man, everything you, your hands touch will prosper. Every place you put your feet will be holy ground and the God will keep you deep within the grip of his grace and favor in Jesus' name. Thank you so much. So good to be on. We just love the Christian men's network and all you guys are doing to mobilize men and make a difference in the world with the gospel. I have never been a part of a meeting where me as a speaker, I was scared for my life for a second. Where you thought they were going to come beat you up? Beat me up or hit me with an object? I never have ever seen anything like that. Those are great stories. Yes. You know, and you think, okay, John's a big guy, but you know, Goliath was a big guy. Yes. This took one rock. Yes. I mean, I think about these things. They have been in some dangerous places. Now, if you're going on with global ventures and you want to go connect with them and go on one of their missing strips, they're all not like that. Yes. No, they're not. Yes, they're not all. There's levels to it. There's levels. And then also you can go with us with Christian men's network. We're going down with Lakewood Church to Belize in August of 2021. Whenever you're listening to this, we're going to first, I guess the middle of the first week through the middle of the second week, something like that. So it's over a weekend. So if you, if you're in business, you can leave on a Wednesday and be back in your office on a Wednesday. So that'll be great. And we'll go down there. We get some things done to a men's conference and do it in partnership with Lakewood Church with the men's ministry there. But Smithwick, and that's a short term thing with a long hit. And the beauty of John that he and I talked about is a lot of these short term missions things have just been about photographs. Wow. Right. I mean, you take a group down, sinkoon by, get a cool photo and then you can start everybody. But John and I talked about how this, you know, what they do helps build a local church. Yes. Okay. Yes. That's and that's so key. Yeah. And it just makes me think of, you know, past our old ingriffing. And he was talking about what really sparked his church, you know, when he started his church back in the day, you know, the church I'm referring to. Shady Grove. Shady Grove. Yes. When he started that church and he said the key to the growth of his church was short term missions. He said we did not hide the fact that we were about going and doing the great commission. Yeah. You know, building disciples, evangelizing the world. You know, and because of that, the fruit of their labor was growth in their church. Yeah. So that's why I love what John Smithwick does with global virtues. Yeah. It's now speaking of old ingriffing, what's remarkable about that. Now a couple things. One, my in law on my daughter married Niles Holesinger, his dad David was the music director at Shady Grove. For years and years, and now a an esteemed professor of music in a world class writer of band and orchestra music, known all over the world, David Holesinger. Wow. And then a great friend, Robert Morris, his wife, Debbie, they were on staff there. And then they came off there when he traveled. He had been an evangelist. That's when I first met Robert. He had been an evangelist. And Baptist evangelist got radically moved into the charismatic renewal. Met pastor Olin Griffin Olin became a mentor to him. Okay. Along with James Robinson, a couple other men in his life. And then a few years, you know, he was there about a decade, a little bit after that's when they started gateway church. Yeah. In South like Texas, which is now what you'd call an influencer church, I guess. Yeah. Strategic influencer. So Robert and Debbie Morris pastors, they're great friends. But that's where they came from. And it starts with discipleship, the power of God, people being healed. And that's what Smithwick does. Exactly. Stures up local churches, works with pastors that have planted a bunch of churches in Thailand. And we'll actually be working together on a Thailand outreach with the dangerous nations campaigns, which I'm fired up about. It's also dangerous nations campaign is a new thrust of the Christmas network over the next five years to train 50,000 pastors who will disciple five million men in 50 of the most dangerous nations of the world. So we're talking dangerous for human trafficking, dangerous for people, dangerous for Christians, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. We're talking about Thailand, Colombia, still many dangerous areas there because of the cartels. We're going into Iran with just finishing the far seat translations for the nation of Iran. That's pretty fired up about that, man. So dangerous nations campaign, John Smithwick said, Hey, I want to be a part of that with you. The task force headed up by Rob Carman, Walt Landers and Doug Stringer. And we're adding guys to that who are nation-changers. Yeah. They're just large men with a with big vision and the go-nads to go after it. Yeah. And that's why I love the statement of dangerous nations, the motto, if that is what you would say. We believe not one man is beyond the reach of God's grace. Yeah, not one man beyond the reach of God's grace. Reach one man. We can change the nation. Absolutely. You know, and that's why I love what we do. You know, it's powerful. Yeah, we are CNN. We rescue men. Thank you for being with us today on the Brave Men podcast. Remember, go on there somewhere wherever it is. Subscribe. 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