Pablo Yoder's Dying Words

Good morning, Pablo. Good morning, Zach. It is September 15th, 2022, and it's great to be here with you. Great to have you around. I would love to have a conversation with you about some recent happenings in your life. And just to open up the conversation, can you tell me a little bit about the last month or so in your life and what's been happening?

Yeah, it was August 15, one month ago exactly today, that we got the astounding news that I had terminal cancer.

Grade four. The tumors have invaded my lungs and my liver and my kidneys. So this has been a tremendous blow for the family. It's been a tough one. At the same time, we have found the Lord faithful. And right, I asked for anointing with oil, and God chose not to heal me immediately. He might still heal me. But meanwhile, we are, as a family, they have released me to die. And I look forward to that very, very, very much.

So yeah, that's like today, in this interview, I don't feel like I'm quite myself. I feel a little dizzy. I get tired quickly. And I don't have pain. That's a blessing the Lord has given me. For this first month, at least, a lot of discomfort, but no pain.

So the family came, we rallied together, and we've had some beautiful times together, so. And tell me where we're seated right now, just for everyone to know where we are and what this place means to you. Yes, we have this little house up here on the hill, surrounded by nature, pines, my orchid collection.

And we're sitting here in the living room right now.

We've lived here two years now and really, really, really enjoy this place. I always say that we got a little closer to God because we're up on the hill.

Well, I wanted to just start off by asking you about your life story. And I ask this question to people sometimes, and I try to just say, "Hey, if we were riding in a really long elevator to the top of a building and you were trying to communicate your story to someone in 5 to 15 minutes, how would you share your story with someone in that elevator?"

Yeah, well, one of the main things that is part of my life was my rebellious years. Raised in a Christian home, minister's home with the best of training, and there was love at home. But for some, well, natural reason, Satan and I was the outgoing type of fella, kind of a natural leader. And we got a gang together. And oh my, and I think of those years of rebellion. I just really appreciate what the Lord has done for me because he saved me out of that.

And as hard as I went after sin, the conversion was dramatic. The church was concerned. There were five of us boys in bad shape. But the Lord saved us. And ever since, I just can't get over the love of Jesus for me.

That would be one core issue in my life that I know marked out the path then for the future. But that was something I can never forget, how the Lord forgave us young rebels and gave us new life in Christ. How old were you? Around how old when you came out of that? Started really strange. I was 12 when we started.

But it was two bad years. 14, ran away from home, got police hauled me back and forced me to behave. And so I think I was baptized around 15. Baptized at 15. And then what happened after that? Well, life just changed. And that same drive I had for sin, I dedicated to serving God.

And my desire to witness, to reach out to people, just that's a natural response of a genuine conversion.

And that would have been the rest of my life. I dedicated to God and to his service, whatever he would want me to do.

And so at some point, you were born in the US. Yes. And at some point, you've met some ladies and you've made some moves. You've learned some languages. Tell me about the trajectory of sort of where you've lived and maybe including how you met your wife and these kinds of things.

At first, we lived at a place called Arenal in Costa Rica, kind of a remote area. And there's where the rebellion was. And then there's where I was converted. And yes, there I met this charming young lady. The first time I saw her, she was 9 and I was 10.

Yeah, that's just when we moved down from the States. And I just said under my breath, "Wow, that's the prettiest girl I've ever seen." But not only that, her qualities, all through the time of my rebellion, she was very dedicated to God and just my opposite.

And I admired her very, very much. And she probably did me too, even though I was a wild guy. Anyway, time went on. We moved to a place called La Merced. And we thought that, uni thought at least, that probably never anything would come out of our friendship because we've moved to another area in Costa Rica. Well, then later their family moved to another area close to where we lived.

So yeah, I just always admired her conscientiousness, her love for God, her working habits and abilities. And of course, as a young man praying for my future, I would think a lot about her. And time went on. And sure enough, we were able to learn to know each other and had a little bit of a rough dating experience.

Her father was not too excited about me because we were from just a little bit more liberal church. So I ended up asking her three times and waiting four years. But at the end, it worked out very beautifully.

Her father accepted our relationship, our friendship. Well, after the third time I asked her, he approved that we would date. So then she and I both felt strongly that our marriage should not be selfish, but we should reach out to people around us. And that's the only way we would be married if it would be to further that.

And then on our marriage day, we probably did something different that no other couple did. We walked out on a song that seems like it has nothing to do with wedding.

Let me see if I can remember the title.

"So Send I You" talks about suffering and going out and just wherever God sends us. The words are very profound. And we were offering ourselves to his service.

And little did we know that God was looking down and took that song seriously, our offer to give our hearts in his service. He took it seriously.

And then that's where later West Lala came involved and all that. So you moved from Costa Rica to West Lala, Nicaragua.

Yes. The church called us to go to Nicaragua as a permanent move, sell out everything. So we did. Tim Sharks and us. And that has been our last 27 years in West Lala, which has been a totally different life than what we lived before.

But we have loved it and thrown our hearts into the work here, and it's been a blessing. You were telling me a little bit about what West Lala was like 27 years ago and how it wasn't your run-of-the-mill place to move, so to speak, especially for a gringuito like you.

Tell me about your decision to go into a hard place and. Well, the Lord kind of kept it a secret. We came up, my wife and I, once in an evangelistic team. And then later I came by with others. She didn't come along.

But we didn't realize until we'd already bought land and lived here that it was one of the most dangerous places in Nicaragua. So we knew it's dangerous. We knew it's tough. It's pioneering. But never dreamed the reality of a Western city where there's no law and a lot of violence, a lot of stealing.

But we just say the Lord has been faithful through the whole journey.

Amen. And you're an author and you have countless stories. In my perspective, you're an amazing storyteller. Some of my favorite stories of yours involve the way that Christ transformed other people in the community. Is there a certain story that you would just or a set of stories that you look upon and you say, "That decision to come here was worth it"? And just thinking back about the risk-reward to the decision to come here and you're looking back upon it now, was it worth it? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It's a hard decision. Yeah, there's so many stories.

Each one of the brethren in our churches here, they have a story on how God got a hold of them. And we were able to minister to their needs. And now that I have cancer, they just flock around thanking me and saying that I've been their spiritual father.

So that's a blessing to know that we've been able to bless the people here. I told them the other day we were together and they were expressing themselves again. And then I said, "I want to tell you that it's not just one way.

You have been such a blessing for me. I've learned so much from you, brethren." Life has been it's give and take. And I just really appreciate the brethren now, the way they support me and release me to die, prepare to take my place. I have released all my responsibilities to younger shoulders. And so many things have changed this last month.

And those shoulders, just so I know who those are, those are local people that were brought into the church who will now bear the mantle of the church.

Buenos días, Pablo. Buenos días, mi hermano. We live to talk another day. That's right. So I thought we could just start off again by, I think we should talk about Goliath because I feel like it wouldn't be fair. You have a boxer dog named Goliath. Yeah. And we were walking about yesterday and a stranger was wearing his boots. Tell us about the spiritual lesson you learned yesterday. Yeah. Kenny came in here telling me how when he went on a walk with you guys and we had loaned you boots and you were coming past Goliath's spot there by his house.

And he ran over to Clark and just started smelling Clark's boots. And I can just see him wagging his little knobby tail and just desperate smelling and smelling these boots. And Kenny said, "Look, I had to pull him away. We couldn't get through." He was just desperate with those boots. So then Kenny pulled him back, I guess, until you could get through. And that was the story. But later when he came in here telling me about it, all of a sudden it just struck me. I said, "Clark was wearing my boots."

And since I've been laid up here and haven't gone out to say hi to Goliath for probably two weeks, that guy was just desperate to have some contact with me and to be close to me and smell me. And then just like that, it struck me. I want to be like that for Jesus.

I want to have that longing, that desperation, that yearning for closeness with my master. And then Kenny and I both broke down and cried. It was just too beautiful.

When I asked you, "What questions do you love to be asked?" what you said was, "I love to talk about Jesus Christ and I love to talk about nature." And so I'd love to ask you about, I feel like this story sort of springs into your love for nature.

Tell me about your love for nature and how you interact with it and just your experience with nature. Ever since I was little, there was a passion in me for nature that most people didn't have. I have a brother, my brother Mark from Costa Rica is also one that has been struck by it with that passion.

And we get it from my dad and mom, but they both love nature. But for us, it was just like something that we just really, really got into. And it's always seemed strange because so many people don't notice all these beautiful things that God made for us. But as time went on, the thing that overwhelms me is I've studied nature quite a bit and written a couple of books about it. And what overwhelms me is just the immensity, vast source of beauty and wisdom.

And the Bible says in Romans 1, it shows us his deity, his power. So to me, it's just been part of my life wherever I go at Hall of Binoculars until the government took it away from me.

Which government was that? I was flying in from the States to Nicaragua. And the government here has gotten so careful with what people do that they don't even allow binoculars anymore. So I was really hard on them. I worked a long time legally trying to get it back, but I finally gave up. And then when I got the news about my cancer, then I said, "Oh, okay. Now I understand. I don't need it."

And heaven, I don't think we'll be needing anything to put on our eyes to see better.

So we were interviewing on a second day, so I'm just letting everyone know that we're—I'm sorry, going to do a little bit of backtrack to ask you about your story. Yesterday, we got to a point of your story where you came to West Lala and now you planted a church here named Hermandad Cristiana.

And then now in this season of your life that you've—I'm going to use the term pass the torch to a man in the church. And that sprang off of stories of evangelism that, was it worth your risk to come here and do all this? And so I just want to revisit that moment for people doing church planting work. When you and Tim moved here, can you talk a little bit about what your vision for church planting was? And even for evangelism, how do you view your role as church planner and evangelist? And what advice would you sort of give to people attempting similar work? Well, one of the things that Tim and I both had burning in our hearts was to become the people's friends.

And we didn't expect converts right away, but we became friends. We worked with the people. We were building our houses. Sometimes they'd work for us, the neighbors. And we just started to learn to know the people. And amazingly, the first year, I think maybe we had one robbery.

But after that, the second year was the hard year when the robberies came left and right, and we responded with non-resistance. And of course, this was new to the neighborhood. But after the robberies came, the converts came. Meanwhile, we're preaching.

We're giving out literature. But we didn't have a big program of evangelism. It's just we were there and they were learning to know us and gaining confidence. And then when they saw how we responded to the robbers, they're just like, "Man, this can't be because they're not used to it. Nobody does that here. None of the churches practices non-resistance." So I think what happened in their hearts, they started saying, "You know what?

That's got to be God. There's no other way that you can turn around and feed your robber and give him coffee." One night, I served a group coffee three times. And every time they wanted a little bit stronger because they knew I had a long way to go after they left. So that would have been, I say, our main thrust was friendship.

And then they started coming and started converting and repenting from their sins. And that was a beautiful time. I think I told you that before, Zach, that after several years, my son came to me one day. I kept a register of the members. And I also kept a register of the robberies. And he said, "Dad, have you noticed?" He said, "We've had 25 robberies and we're 25 members."

Wow.

A robbery per soul. That's not bad. And then some years later, when we moved out here, my son came again and said, "Dad, I can't believe this. We've had 40 robberies. We have 40 members."

So yes, it was worth it. Absolutely. Although looking back, my wife, especially, she trembles with what all happened. But she was also involved in discipling the ladies. And she was excited about the people that were being baptized and joining the church. So she would say it was worth it, although it was hard.

So what advice would you give to people who go through a hard spell in church efforts? We like to say it's not if the bump in the road will come, but it's when. It's when. Do you have any words of encouragement for people facing similar situations?

Every situation is different. But one of the things that blessed us so much was as a family clinging to the word.

My wife, especially, during the robberies, when she was alone, she'd read Psalms 145 through Psalms 150. Those became like a real lifeline for her. And there were many nights that she used that. And we'd write scriptures on the cards and put them on—we had shutter windows. We put them so that nights they were outside.

And we don't know how many times those guys came around and maybe read some of that. And then also the clinging to the brethren. I remember many nights saying to the family, "You know what? We're going to be okay because we have each other. We have Jesus. We have each other. And we have the brethren."

So during that time, I was in Salvador once for meetings, and a lady called me aside, wanted to talk to me. And she said they had a robbery. And it had been two years ago. And she wept and was so embarrassed because she couldn't get over it. She said, "I can't get over it."

And then as I questioned her out, I asked her, "Do you share it with your brethren? Like in prayer meeting, do you pour out to your brethren?" "No, I'm too ashamed that they know that here it's two years and I'm still scared to death."

I said, "Sister, that's your mistake. You have to go. Those people will understand. They know what robberies are." I said, "Pour out to your brethren and receive from them the blessing that comes with the united brotherhood to help support difficult times."

And then so you're getting into some of the mistakes that you've seen people make, even within the church and as church planners. Are there any other sets of mistakes or even victories? You mentioned mistakes in goal setting as church planners that you think that you've meditated on in your life that you could share with others?

Yeah. Well, one of the mistakes that I've seen is when heartaches come, jerk the missionary out and take him home, pamper him, and give him a good time. Now, I'm not saying there never is a time to leave because we did move from Kusulí to West Lala here in town.

And we were much safer in town, but we're still here. We're still working. We're still going out there to the three different churches. At that time, it was three churches. We'd go out there and we were still totally involved. And for a long time, I don't know, we didn't think about that possibility. And at least us men, especially, our decision was not to run.

And even if it meant death. And it was harder for our wives, but they supported us. And I had people write me letters and tell me emails to just get out of there. I mean, you're putting your family in too much danger.

But we'd go to the committee. In Costa Rica, we had two-way radios. And we'd ask, "What's the word?" And then they'd say, "Look, if you can't handle it, if somebody's going to have a nervous breakdown, tell us. We want to make sure that doesn't happen." But we always said, "Look, we can make it. And we can make it." And then they'd come up. I remember one time, it's so beautiful. We had one of our bad robberies.

And my parents were on the way up the next day. And then another time, we had a bad robbery. And her parents, the next couple of days, were coming up here and stayed with us. And my old saintly dad-in-law is Chris Wartsituber. And he punched a little old man. And he said, "Pablo, I want to be in a robbery. If the robbers come, call me. I want to tell them about Jesus." That was so beautiful. That little old man, he just really wanted to be in a robbery. Then it didn't happen, of course. But that spirit, that support was such a blessing. So yeah, I'm sure there are other mistakes too.

And I'm sure we made mistakes. We were the kind that had to talk about it. Tim Schrock and his wife, they were just wanting to be quiet and just kind of—that's the way we're different. But they were very patient because, "Oh, we'd talk about that robbery for about a week."

That helped us get it out of our system.

But yeah, it was a journey. Wow. So I'd love to ask you, just earlier this morning, we were talking about some of your daily routines and a typical day in your life. Could you share a little bit about some of the routines you've used over the course of your life? And even some of the specific details about when you wake up and what you eat and your meditations and things like that? Yeah. It makes me weep because those days are gone.

Right now, it's really hard for me to concentrate to pray or read the Bible. That's to be understood, I'm sure. But yeah, ever since I was a youngster, we'd milk. We had a dairy. And our time to get up was 3:30.

And I did that for years. And it became a habit.

Then when I was ordained at the little church in Pital, I kept that routine. I'd get up at 3:30 and make me a cup of coffee. And then between 4:00 and 5:00 was my hour for prayer. Now, here in West Lala, this house, especially, that's connected with this little balcony up here.

That balcony, to me, is just such a precious spot where I would meet the Lord and spend my time in worship. Then at 5:00, when I was well, I would make a round on the farm. I have about a 35-acre farm.

And I'd make the round with the machete in. I had to do some reforestation. And I'd do my exercises by macheteing and, of course, watching nature and seeing the birds and always carrying that little binoculars on my throat.

And so yeah, that was a very enjoyable 40 minutes. And then I'd come back and read the Bible. That would be my next. Spend some time with the Word while Unie made breakfast.

And then we'd have our breakfast together. And then our family devotions is sit around here and sing three songs and read a portion of scripture and pray. That was a daily pattern of my life. Then after devotions, if I didn't have some church work coming up or things that I need to get done, business-wise or whatever, then most mornings at 8:30, more or less, I'd go to my little corner over there and write.

And then I'd fill my day with writing and other errands and things that needed to be done. Then evenings, especially lately, well, I think I'm going to bed. Especially the last two years, I've felt very tired. And just 7:30, "Oh, grandpa's gone."

And sometimes my family would say, "But hey, come on. Stay around a little bit longer. We can do something." And I said, "You do something. That's fine." Because they're night coons. They stay up half the night and having a good time. It doesn't bother me. But I go and I hit that sack. Ooh, enjoyed that. Just the last meditations in my heart for God as I lay there going to sleep. Go ahead.

And I know last time I was here, I noticed that singing is definitely part of your family culture. And I was recently at an event where a speaker shared that singing can be a tool in the middle of hard times. Oh, yes. Things like that. Oh, yes. Can you tell me about the role that singing played in your life? And I'll do that.

Both of our families, her family and my family, were singing families. And so that's why it became from both sides. And singing has been a tremendous part of our spiritual experience. And then we use it as an evangelistic tool when there's a watch, when we visit neighbors.

I mean, everybody knows that they're going to get some songs. It's interesting. The other day, we went down to see a lady that had been widowed. It was before I knew I had cancer. We just went down to visit and minister to their needs. She was still pretty lonely.

And one of the girls said, "Are you going to sing?" Of course, we were. We said, "Yes. I want you to sing that song." And then she couldn't. But she finally figured out enough words that we knew what it was. And it was one of our family favorites. And she remembered it from other occasions.

"Jesus loves me. He really cares."

There it slipped. But the chorus says, "Jesus loves me." Oh, my. My brain's not working. But anyway, it just was remarkable to see that she knew one of our songs from the many different times we had sang for them. And is there a song that I sometimes ask, "Do you have a heart song that just sort of is the instant song you think of or one of your?" There's so many. I know. It's a hard question. In Spanish and English, there's so many.

The other day when we were at Selva Negra, they had this structure up front like a platform. And I said, "This is symbolic." But Kenneth and Jacinto picked me up and laid me on that altar. I said, "I want you to sing Conque Pagaremos," which would be one of my favorite Spanish ones.

And then there's so many others.

When we get together, like my wife and I in Selva Negra, want to sing something. Oh, my. There's just so many songs that are ministered to us, especially during the robberies. And that's something that I would really encourage people going through hard times, sing.

Even if you don't have a voice that's so beautiful, but sing.

And then you mentioned—I know this—you mentioned you have a time of writing in your daily routine and you're an author. How do you choose what to write about? And tell me about sort of your role as an author in your life here.

It all started when I was young. I started writing diary. And I would fill a notebook every three months. And as time went on, I got into writing for some publishers' articles and then eventually some books. But when it really started was after we lived here.

After the first three years, a man called Philip Cohen, which is not with the plain church anymore, but he came and wanted to write a book, basically taking my letters. Oh, I was writing what we called prayer support letters back then.

So that was my first book. He and I compiled Angels Over West Lala.

Then later, a couple more years down the road, then Christy Wadsworth co-authored the second book, which was Angels in the Night.

And then from there on, I went on my own and wrote The Long Road Home, which was my life story when I was young. And ever since, I've worked with two publishers, COP and CAM. And they know that I'm available. And then if I have an idea, I go to them and we work out a contract. And so it's been a book a year now that I was writing for a long time.

And would you have any words of advice for aspiring authors or even an encouragement to become authors? I know it's an interesting question about becoming authors or. Yeah. Well, one thing, to be an author, you have to be humble.

I started my writing career with Lamp and Light in Spanish doing Sunday school material. And we had a series of 156 Sunday school lessons that I was going to write. And I was over 100 when I got a letter from the publishers.

And they said, "It's not your fault, but we have decided that our approach to working with scripture is faulty." What we would do, what they would do is give me an outline, a title, and whatever little else. And then we would go collect scriptures all over the Bible to support this idea.

That's the way it used to be. Well, they said, "That's really faulty. We need to choose a scripture, a portion of scripture in context, and bounce off of that." So they said, "We want you to start over."

After 100 had been completed. Lessons. But they told me right away that I can use a lot of the same materials, but they want me to choose a scripture and work solidly from a scripture. So what do you do?

You're on lesson 100 and so, and you turn around, and now we start on lesson one. But it ended up being a real challenge because they were right. They really, really improved the credibility of their writing by doing that. So it was a good experience. But that's not easy to have a page come back from your work that's just so much red on it, you can hardly read the rest.

And you generally encourage people to become authors if they have that burden on them. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it takes work. You have to persist. And also, I think a very important thing is to choose your publishers right. And I really recommend both COP and CAM.

They're nice to work with. They're tough if I don't do things right. But yeah, I really encourage writing. I think it's something that's a tool that can be used and could be used more among us. And then I was talking with you about some of your life heroes, either ones that you've met or ones that you've encountered in reading and in things like that. Can you tell me a little bit about your heroes? You particularly mentioned your father, but my father. My father's open question. As far as reaching out and missions and all that was probably my biggest inspiration apart from the Bible and Jesus.

But then there were other men in my life that I was so glad I could remember then later who they were. There was a man called Daniel Bontrager from Indiana that worked in El Salvador for years. And his zeal, his preaching was just gripping. It just made you want to love Jesus and follow him and reach out. Then there was another old man. Well, we had a bishop in Costa Rica for a while from the States, Lester Gingrich from Sarasota, Florida. He was the same way, very dynamic and just inspired me. Always, always was a blessing when he'd come down and do church work and have meetings.

And then there was an old man. He was different, Joe Overholt, twin to John Overholt that wrote the Christian Hymnary, that compiled the Christian Hymnary. He was single. And he went and studied and got some kind of degree.

But when he'd come down, we always set aside a week to have meetings. And he wasn't even a minister. But he'd walk up to that pulpit with a huge stack of books. And he would let loose. He was such a blessing. Lived alone in an old cabin with a bunch of dogs, hound dogs.

But he was another real inspiration in my life. And then did I mention anybody else? You mentioned your dad, Bontrager, and that man, and then some young ministers.

Yeah. So yeah, there's people out there that inspire us to go on and that mark the way ahead. That's a tremendous blessing. And what we know, what we know each of us in our minds and our brains is largely a compilation of wisdom from other people.

And then I'd love to talk a little bit about a harder topic, but a necessary one. Talk a little bit about death, given that this is your anesthesia and kind of staring death in the face, so to speak.

And I asked you what you're thinking about these days, and death came up to the top. Do you have anything to say about death and for those, even for people who are dealing with it, or even for families who will enter into the grieving stage that's associated with death? And I don't know if you have any thoughts on that. Well, I have something to say about what happened to me, but please don't think it's bragging.

But when I got the news, August 15, and I was sitting in the office and the guy was telling us how bad my cancer is, and I was choking to not cry because I was thinking of my wife just out in the lobby.

That was a blow. We had actually been preparing for it. I sensed it. And we had been praying about it and talking about it, my wife and I. But still, reality is reality. Anyway, we got out of that building then and went and gave the news to our spouses, Jacinto and I. Then, of course, immediately there was this confronting death with how is my heart with God?

And it was such a blessing that I could not think of anything that I needed to make right.

So then I started praying and soul searching and everything's clear. But it doesn't mean that I'm a perfect saint at all because I figured probably two weeks before I had said sorry to Kenneth and had to say sorry to somebody. It's not that I didn't fail, but everything was washed in the blood. And I can honestly say, as I look at death, I don't have any fear.

But it's just that, and this is what I would say to everybody, guys, we have to live that way because what if my death would have been sudden? What if I had a heart attack? Well, in this case, praise the Lord. I was ready to go.

But how many people push off something they should make right and don't keep their lives in tune with Jesus? That's just my message. Brethren, stay on the way. And we do fail. Of course, we do. I feel so unworthy of Jesus welcoming me home.

But there is grace, and the scripture is very clear in this, that we can keep our lives, our slates clean. We can keep our slates clean.

So to me, that's a tremendous blessing as I face death.

I don't know what's coming yet. Maybe I will be afraid. Maybe I will struggle with having to die. But so far, it's just like my relationship with the Lord is just right there, same.

You mentioned that you were able to give a farewell message to your church, and you've been spending a lot of time with your family. And I've even seen friends come and visit you in these days. And are there any words that you would want to leave with your friends and loved ones and church, maybe recorded, that couldn't come here and see you? Even for them, I'm sure they'll revisit these at some point in time. Any farewell messages beyond what you've already said here?

Yeah. Well, when we found out as a family, we decided to immediately get together and start experiencing the closeness, the love we feel for each other, expressing it. So my children from Costa Rica came up, and the children from Zapotecum came out, and we were together for two weeks.

And that was just awesome. We just spent time singing, and that's what we love to do most. And then reading scripture and then doing things together. They took me to the river. And we stood at the shore of the river and just my children were just wept because all their life long, Daddy would take them to the river and enjoy nature. So those are just some real highlights.

My little grandchildren would come and sit in my lap, and it's just so different. Everything is different now because you never know if it's the last time. So yeah, then the other thing is I have had people tell me that I cannot receive visitors because I can't take it. I get so tired.

I'm talking about neighbors and the brethren that want to stop in. And they're supposed to know that half hour is enough for a sick man, but they don't think of it and they stay here for two hours. And before they left, another group comes.

But then actually, my nurse told me yesterday, she said, "Pablo, I heard you still want to preach one more message in Cuzulí." I said, "Yes, I preach my farewell message in Guatlala, and I did in Jicaral, and I want it one more time." And she says, "I say no.

You're too far gone." I mean, she didn't use those words. Then I said, "God has given me some energy yet. I don't know how long." And I said, "I know it's true. If I go preach to Cuzulí on Sunday, I'll be paying for it for a whole day Monday."

But I said, "I want to give out my energy to the people I love. And I'm glad to take that energy down there to Cuzulí and do what I can and suffer the consequence." I said, "I want to share my time, my love for my family, for my church, and for my friends."

And I've also asked the Lord to give me this ministry to witness to the people that come, not just high and by, but tell them what's happening in my life and witness to them. So that's been a real blessing.

And I'm just thinking, Kenny, that Sunday, I want to start the message with Godly story.

So Pablo, I've sat here talking to you a lot, and I asked you about your travels, and you've traveled to South America and Africa. And it's very interesting to me that when you lit up most about a group of people called the Fulani and an unreached people group, tell me about them. And then also the reason I asked this question is because two weeks ago, I gave a message and shared that you were diagnosed with cancer. I said, "Who will step in?" And it's sort of a motivational question as well as sort of an acknowledgment of people who still need to imitate a type of life that you've lived.

Yes. I went to Africa, Nigeria, to record stories of people who were faithful to death. And some survived and some died. And that was the whole focus, which was with the Nigerian people. But as we travel from place to place doing our interviews with these people that had had some of them had been slaughtered for the gospel, I noticed this group of nomads that were crossing the road often or in the fields beside the road. And I kept asking, "Who are these people?" "Oh, those are the Fulani." It's like a nomad tribe, like a gypsy tribe that they travel all over Africa, and they have no real roots. They travel with the rainy season north and then back south looking for grass for their cattle, sheep, goats.

And I just was impressed with them and just looked so much like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob as they traveled around the dry places there.

And I just took interest in them. I went out and talked to the little boys. And they told me later I should be careful because the Fulani are pretty antagonistic. They can be. You don't want to just you want to be careful.

But we went to one of their villages, and I met them many times on the road, and I was just full of questions. But the thing that struck me was the sadness in their eyes. Of course, in the Africans, the Africans are happy, lucky people. You are around the Africans, and you're their friend immediately.

But these people are very timid. They stay in the background. Especially when we met a lady and a girl that were coming out of a river bottom and visiting with them a little bit there, but their eyes were so sad.

And I just said, "They need Jesus." And I started praying for somebody or some group or somebody to reach these people. It's very hard people to reach. And I prayed and prayed. And at that time, there were some things happening here where it almost looked like I could be freer to do something. And no, it was during the time of the Tronches.

We were afraid they'd chase us out. It got to the place where we feel the government was very close in chasing us out. And I told my wife, I said, "Honey, I'm going to pray that if we get chased out of Nicaragua, I want to go to Nigeria, and I want to somehow help reach those people."

Well, time went on, and I didn't pray as much about it. But then I forget who I asked or shared this burden with. They said, "Well, I know of a guy that can give you information. There is a couple training to reach the Fulani." That just blessed my heart. And the man was Bryant.

What's his last name? Bryant Martin. Martin. Bryant Fulani in your phone. Yeah. In my register and WhatsApp, I have him as Bryant Fulani. So I contacted him, and he told me, "Yeah, there is actually a couple that's training and I think learning the language to reach out to them." And I kind of relaxed. I just said, "Oh, praise the Lord," and didn't pursue it, of course, because my job is here.

But I haven't heard now since. But that warms my heart to know that somebody is going to reach those people. So would you have any call to people considering a sold-out life to reach the lost? Yes, absolutely.

That call is there every day, every hour. The question is, who is going to take up that burden and hear the call like Isaiah said, "Hear my eyes, send me?" I would just really challenge people. People say, "Oh, it's too dangerous.

Oh, it's just too it's not something I can do." But try it. Try it. You step out with the Lord and church backing. Make sure you have church backing and make sure your heart's humble and you're not going to go out there to show off. And give your heart to the Lord. And I look back, and I can say it is tremendously rewarding.

I wouldn't have wanted to live any other life than what I've lived. God has given me 64 years, good, happy years. Yeah, we've had our struggles and difficulties, but it has been tremendously a blessing. Amen. Pablo, I have no more questions written down for you, but the last one is, is there anything else that you'd like to say at the end of the interview here?

I guess I just come back to Godly.

And even though for me now it's hard to concentrate to pray, concentrate to read the Bible, but my relationship with Him is just as strong as ever. I just want to love Him more.

If He heals me, I will serve Him more. But at the same time, because of the last two years being so tired, I'm also ready to rest. And I told my family that that's my preference, is to go home to rest and be with Jesus.

But I don't want to be selfish. If God heals me, I am willing to go ahead and serve Him as much as I can. Amen. I'm going to close by reading a passage in scripture that was actually shared on my mom's deathbed, but it's the only passage I know how to share on a near-death experience. It's from 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20. And so Paul is talking to the Thessalonians about his labor for them. And then he says this, "For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? Is it not indeed you and the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." And so when you think about that, he's pointing right at the Thessalonians.

He's pointing at the people he loved. And I feel greatly that you have poured yourself into other people around you, and I am so confident that you'll have much to boast about in front of the Lord Jesus. Boast is a strong word, but you know what I mean. That's a translation. But I just want to thank you for the time and send many amounts of prayer and love your way to you and your family from all over the world. That's right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Gracias, Pablo. Sí, señor. Yeah.