S2S Book Review: "Pablo Yoder Memoir: Reflections on His Life and Last Book" by two brothers

This is Strength to Strength Books, and I welcome you back for a book review of this book called Soul Food by Pablo Yoder. And shortly, I'll have his older brother, Mark, and also a friend and brother-in-law, Dwayne Knisely, join us here to talk about this book and also to talk about Pablo, which, as many of us know, is now the late Pablo.

But before we jump into that, I want to talk a little bit more about Strength to Strength Books. Um, so our mission at Strength to Strength Books is to provide you with resources that will strengthen your obedient love-faith relationship with King Jesus and give you solid footing in a shaky world. And you might ask, what does Strength to Strength Book have to do with, uh, selling books? Well, our mission here at Strength to Strength goes like this: to advance Jesus' kingdom by assisting the church in earnestly contending for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, through tackling thought-provoking topics, by stimulating candid discussions, and by sharing faith-building testimonies. And so books are one way that we believe that we can advance Jesus' kingdom.

And so selling books helps us fulfill our mission. Also, selling books helps us to, um, cover the cost of Strength to Strength. And so we can make a little profit, and those monies go back into Strength to Strength and help cover our cost here. So thank you for buying books from us. Um, a couple of things that are happening here in December of 2025 is we have 10% off on our Strength to Strength bookstore. Um, also, another new initiative, we collaborated recently with Carlyle Press in putting up a website for them. Uh, and so you can also go to the Carlyle Press website, carlylepress.org. Um, and there's around 160 titles there, I believe, um, that we are buying books from Carlyle Press and reselling them there, um, again, as a way to not only support our mission, but also to, um, help support, uh, financially the cause of Strength to Strength.

So, um, just a little, little heads up there on that site. All right, so back to Pablo Yoder and his book. So his most recent book is titled Soul Food. And this book, um, was not totally completed when Pablo passed away around two years ago. He was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and, and, and in two months, he was gone on into his reward. Uh, and so, um, today we have, um, we'll hear a little more about how this book got finished up. But first of all, we'd like to reminisce, uh, a little bit, um, about Pablo. Um, so Brother Mark Yoder, uh, welcome here. It's good to have you with us. Um, Mark is the next older sibling, uh, above Pablo.

And also, then Brother Dwayne, um, is also from Costa Rica. Um, and he has worked, uh, as a brother-in-law to Mark and to Pablo, uh, and got to know them back in their, in his early twenties, which I think was close to the same age as, as Pablo, uh, at that time as well, as I understand. Um, so I never met Pablo. Um, I got to know him through Strength to Strength. He gave a couple of talks here, um, a couple of years ago, maybe two or three years ago. And the, the talks were the power of enemy love and the stories of enemy love. And, um, and that's how I met him virtually, but never, never in person.

Of course, I got to know him, what felt like years ago, you know, from his story here, Angels Over Wasulala, which many of us have read that book. I think it was almost, almost 18 years old now that book came out, and maybe in some ways kind of put him on the map. Um, and, um, of course, that was in Nicaragua, which, um, y'all would have, you grew up in Costa Rica, and that's where you met him, Dwayne. So anyhow, we want to just do a little bit of reminiscing. Uh, I just couldn't help myself. And when we met here a couple of weeks ago to talk about this, it was just really touching the stories about Pablo.

And so we'd like to kind of share some of those here with, with our listeners. Uh, and so I'm, I'm assuming that between these two brothers, Mark, you would know Pablo the best. Uh, you were his next older sibling. So you would have done a lot of life with, with Pablo.

Um, so tell us a little bit about, about him. Um, what kind of a person was he? Maybe start out in your, your childhood. Uh, did you, you, you moved to Costa Rica when you were, what, it was at 10 years old, Mark? Or was it earlier than that?

How was that? I was 11. Mm-hmm. So moved out of Virginia down into the, the jungles of Costa Rica, which was, uh, kind of pioneering missionary work at that time, as I understand.

So, um, yeah, so tell us a little bit about, about him. What was, what was Pablo like? Was he a timid person? Was he a courageous person? Uh, fill us in, tell us some stories.

Okay. Now, well, Pablo was not timid. Pablo was not timid. I was his older brother. Mm-hmm. And I was always quieter than he was. I'd sort of be like his shadow. But Pablo was always very friendly, very outgoing.

Um, anything he did, he did it with all his heart. Very intense. Um, was a very friendly person and always sort of the center of a group of people together. He was laughing and telling stories and making people laugh.

So from small on, we were very close. And, um, in our childhood in Virginia first, and then all the more so in Costa Rica, was our love for nature. We spent a lot of time outdoors. Pablo's love for nature and mine too.

Um, our, we spent, I think it was good for us that our interest was so much in nature instead of other things. But, um, yeah, we'd spend a lot of time outdoors after school. We'd go out and hike around in the rainforest, uh, down in the swamps, up to our, over our waist in the swamps, looking for whatever we could find. Pablo would notice birds, flowers, insects, anything.

So it was very, very, very, very good memories of my time with him as a child. Um, and a very outgoing, very courageous, um, very risky. He would take risk-taker. He would take lots of risks, more than some. I would sort of pull him back some.

But, uh, we did a lot of work. Well, we enjoyed a lot of fun. And he, uh, he enjoyed the adrenal. I'm suspicious that there was an older brother that maybe was not too far behind him at times, maybe ahead of him.

We had a lot of fun together. Yes, we did. But he was, he was always very intense. Whatever he did, he did with all his heart. Mm-hmm. And so, um, we did things together, like hiking, and, uh, he was, he was very courageous, exploring caves. Crawling way back in where we were. We'd feel the mountain push on both sides of us, crawling on our stomachs into caves. And you're making me claustrophobic already. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

We did some, some things. Now I look back and sort of foolish. And he did some of that alone. Sometimes he'd go by himself. But, um, ride the rapids and the rivers together, not with a boat, just swim them.

And, uh, that type of thing. He was always jumping off of high points, trees down into the river. But, um, always, and we got that from our father. Okay. I think with love for nature. Okay. Noticing things, noticing nature, noticing small things. Paul would always be noticing. Pablo would notice small things. Mm-hmm. That was always the.

And that comes out of, and that comes out of his books. I mean, we'll touch on that later. Um, you know, Angels Over Wasulala, uh, we have a book of that was printed by CLP. I think it's almost 18 years old too. It's an older book, uh, with pictures of nature. And we had it up on the bookshelf, and recently I got it down when I started thinking about this interview, and our children were just pouring through it. You know, it's, um, yeah.

And then, of course, I was, and I was on, I was on his WhatsApp. I connected with him on WhatsApp back when he spoke for us here on Strength to Strength. And then I would see his WhatsApp statuses, and he was always taking pictures of nature. And I just loved, loved seeing that. So quite a, quite a different world from what I, what I'm used to. Yeah. And through our father's influence, as children, we would often think of that as far as, um, relating it to the Creator. Even though Pablo, well, we both did, but Pablo especially had a time of his adolescence when he was rebellious, took the wrong, wrong road. Yeah. And he was also very intense and that type of thing.

Mm-hmm. Um, but then again, when he was converted, the change was incredible. He was a very outgoing, very, and when he was living in sin, he'd do it with all his heart. Mm-hmm. He was courageous and leaned out in things. Mm-hmm. But then when he was converted, things changed. And, uh, then his focus was on the Lord, and his creation was always worship the Creator.

And, uh, so that was a beautiful, beautiful experience to see him, see the change in him. Uh, he was very outgoing, very, um, you know what he was thinking. It would all come out, you know, some of us, I'd be more quiet and keep my feelings inside, but he would let him know, let everything would come out. He, um, and even when he was converted for a while, before he was converted, I was converted first. And, um, during the time, but before when after I was converted, before he was, I, um, I didn't speak to him much. I didn't talk to him. I didn't preach to him. In other words, I just tried to be his friend.

Mm-hmm. And he knew, of course, what, um, and so, but when he was converted, the change was drastic. Mm-hmm. Even though he still for a while, he had his carnal nature he had to deal with. He was sort of stormy.

Sometimes a little conflicting. Sometimes I thought, well, this is worse than before he was a Christian. Because, but, uh, it was beautiful to see, um, before he was a Christian, I'd sort of put up with him, you know, tolerate him after, after he's converted then. But it was interesting to see it took some time till the Holy Spirit was able to get a control of his, his temperament, his, his temper and his, uh, some of his carnality. Uh, so it didn't all happen. The conversion was genuine. And right after that, Pablo was a different man. But he still, what I'm saying is he had to deal with his carnal nature. And it took a little time, but it was beautiful to see how he submitted to the Holy Spirit and became a spirit-love, filled man.

Mm-hmm. A man filled with the Spirit, um, that brought his temper and his, some of his weaknesses out. Uh, the Holy Spirit took over that, and he was a different man. But he was always courageous, always taking risks. Well, I say always, often taking risks. Mm-hmm. But you know, as I later, he was a very, you know, like taking risks. And then God, I think, chose him, said, Pablo, you're the man to go to Wasulala. Okay. Not many people could have stood up to what he did.

Sure. And, and we're going to talk about that as I understand it was, there was kind of a, a really special calling. I think Brother Dwayne's going to talk about that. But, but go ahead, tell us about some of the details there in Nicaragua.

Um, well, I don't need to go. And that would be, that would be wonderful. And I think that that's where many of us would, would, would know, you know, know Pablo from, um, and, and how, and, and, and what all was risky about that. And also, you know, uh, and another beautiful thing that Pablo example that Pablo has left us with, he's one of those cloud of witnesses, um, is this understanding or this example of enemy love or non-resistance or ideal resistance, how we're going to call that, uh, and maybe talk a little bit about that, um, there.

Yeah, well, I wasn't necessarily going to talk about that, but what I'm saying is his character, his, um, courageous risk-taking. God could, you took him and used it and, um, stretched him, stretched him to about his limits, drive him to his knees, follow it off and go to his knees. But God used that, that characteristic about him in a very beautiful way. Mm-hmm. But back to his youth, um, Mm-hmm. After he was converted, one thing we did is there's a lot of singing.

We did that even before he was converted. We'd milk cows and, uh, I would sing soprano, he would sing tenor, my brother Phil would sing bass, three of us be out there milking cows together. And he always loved to sing. And after he was converted, we'd sing, sing, we'd drive together. Uh, we had a, in our house, we had two showers side by side. And we'd often with cold water, you know. So it goes well with cold shower.

And, uh, but anyway, when I, whenever I'd start up a song, he'd write in, jump in with tenor. And, uh, that was just a part of our life. Uh, we'd sing and he would sing. We could be driving somewhere outside or wherever in the shower, uh, start singing and he would jump in with his tenor. He was always a singer, uh, and a praise, to praise the Lord. He was a genuine worshiper of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mm-hmm. So, yeah, I don't know what, uh, more you want about his childhood, but he was, we had a, I had a wonderful childhood with him. And even as we got older, uh, we would still love to get away and do things together. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you talked about, oh, okay, so get away and do things together. Was that around nature often?

Yes. Okay. If we could, if we'd like it at a, at a ministers, some Latin American ministers meeting or after a Bible institute in Costa Rica, if we could, hey, Pablo, he said, hey, Mark, and we'd sneak off sometimes early in the morning, try to be back by the time it started to do, but take off and go outside and, and see what we could see. Yeah, we did that different times. It was, and Pablo was, we had this thing, I don't know when it started, that I could say, Pablo, and I don't know where, he could be anywhere he was, he knew who was saying that. And he would respond with Gordo. He called me Gordo.

I won't tell you what that means. But anyway, yeah, it means that I'm a little overweight, I guess. Um, but anyway, but yeah, we did a lot of that. Even later, whenever we could, we'd run off and get off in the woods. Yeah. Uh-huh.

That's neat. So I'm a father, um, of boys that sound kind of like Pablo in some ways. Um, and just for a moment, let's reflect on, or on, on your, on your father's life, who is no longer living, as I understand. I think you said he passed away, was it a year or two before Pablo passed away? Is that right?

Eight months, I think. Six months. Okay. Okay. Six months, maybe six months.

And so was Sanford there in the Costa Rican church? Yes. Okay. Yes, he was there. Yes.

And Pablo was there at when dad passed. He was there with us, the whole family. But, um, and had no idea how soon he was going at that time. Mm-hmm. Oh, Sanford would have been a, one of the pioneers that, that began the work here in Costa Rica in 1968. Sure.

Interesting. And I think Sanford, I'm sorry, when Pablo passed away, was he like 64 years old? I think my notes say here, and that puts you at 65 or 66 or something like that, Mark. Um, okay. So yeah, so back to your father, Sanford, uh, what are some things that stood out to you, uh, or as you reflect on how he raised you children? Is there a negative truth or an, uh, for us as fathers who are raising young men? What are some things you talked about how Sanford, your father loved nature, planted that in you?

Um, but yeah, is there, was there any other traits about him that impacted you as young men?

Yeah, that would have been one. The, um, the love of the outdoors and love of nature and worshiping the Creator. Dad was always, all his life, very outgoing and evangelizing. Okay. Uh, he would invite people in, in the home during the seventies when there's a lot of hippies. Mm-hmm. In Costa Rica, they'd come to our house. They found out that they'd get a free meal in the field, free bed.

And dad would always welcome them in our home. But they wouldn't be there without dad witnessing to them. And I would, during that time, I was not a believer yet. Okay. The latter part I would have been, but not the first part. But I always sat back and I admired my father. Mm-hmm. And, um, so that also carried on into Pablo's life. Because that was Pablo's passion after he was converted, his witnessing and sharing with people.

And a very friendly way to do it. You know, his, his, his friendly outgoing mannerism, he'd make people feel at home. And so easily just start talking about God. Mm-hmm. But dad was like that. Dad was like that too. So, uh, Mm-hmm. I think, uh, I think I've heard dad said he thinks Pablo is the one who's most like him. Okay.

Maybe the more similar between dad and Pablo. Yeah. Interesting. Dad was also very outgoing. Yes.

Wonderful.

But this thing about nature, I, this, you talk about fathers and we're all different. Some of us don't like nature as much as others maybe. But, uh, I've noticed that children all respond. First of all, they respond when you talk to them about God, the wonders of God, sing about God. Children as a whole respond to that. The same way with love and nature. Talk about details of bugs and flowers and nature and stars. And children respond to that. Yeah. It's an interesting subject. And so I, I encourage fathers, take a little time, look at the flowers, look at the, look at the things around you.

Because it does something. And it's shared. Mm-hmm. When it's shared with a, with a focus on the Creator. I have a little three-year-old that just, that sees nature and she'll come running, "Dad, come, come, come." And look at the sunrise, look at, look at the sun, sunset, or look at the moon. Here, give me your phone. I'll take a picture.

Yeah. That's, that's really touching. Mm-hmm.

Very well. And then, um, so we're maybe jumping up to his twenties. So he got converted there. Was it late teens at some point?

Oh, that's a good question. I think he would have been 17. That wasn't late to something like that. I'm not even exactly sure now how old he was. Okay. Sure. Yeah. Um, and then in his, in his young, in his younger twenties, you talked about how he was, you know, he, well, obviously he, yeah, he, he burned candle, his candle both ends. Like he had a lot of energy, um, very outgoing. It was about ministry and he did a lot of corresponding with lamp and light connections. Um, just was a, a really beautiful example of, of, of reaching out. Um, that was, that's, that's interesting.

Uh, and so maybe we'll, we'll, we'll kind of, I want to get to Nicaragua for a little bit. It's like we just need to talk about some of the things that happened there with angels over Wasulala. But maybe Dwayne, maybe you can tell us a little bit here, um, about his call or the call that happened to go to Nicaragua. So I think probably the kind, maybe give us the context of that time, um, which is probably, was that 40 years ago, uh, maybe in that range.

Um, and maybe how you all looked at Costa Rica and, and, and the, and the call there. I, I understood that 30, 30 years, I guess it'd be 95. Okay. Okay. Um, so tell us a little bit about that, Brother Dwayne and, and, and yeah.

Okay. Well, I, I am excited to talk about this project here. Uh, I got into Pablo's life. He got into mine when I was about 23 years old. And, uh, we instantly hit it off too. I'm not quite sure why. We're very different. I'm more like Mark.

We're very, very different. But, uh, I just remember those, uh, those soul talks that we had and encouragement that he was to me. Uh, his enthusiasm, uh, his love for nature, a bunch of that, uh, rubbed off on me. Um, and, uh, and he had this, uh, idea that, uh, that one of his sisters would make a good wife and that he, he had something to do with that as well.

Okay. And he was right. He was right. I just, uh, I'm glad that he had the courage to, to, to push me on a little bit there. All right. Neat. So the, um, the book, uh, Angels Over Rosalia, gives just a little bit of introduction to that. But there was a time in the early nineties, between 90 and 95, I suppose it was probably 93 and 94, there was a good bit of interest in reaching out to, uh, look for church plants in Nicaragua.

The situation there at that time was very volatile. It was not, not friendly. Hmm. And, uh, it looked like a real, uh, ripe field. And so there were a number of trips made up there and investigation. Uh, I think there was one or two evangelistic, uh, services held and, and kind of looking for a place where something might be, um, a good place to start a, a church.

And so, um, the, um, those that were in charge and Wesard moved on were, were interested in finding someone that would be interested in going. They interviewed a number of people. Um, and when it came down to it, they felt like Pablo was probably the one that would be most, um, suitable to, to go and most willing to go. And, uh, I remember at the time that I, I felt like I, I, I'm not, I don't, didn't feel like I was the person to go, although they had interviewed me as well.

And, uh, and so, uh, when that was brought to his congregation in Pital, a small congregation that he was in charge of a number of years, uh, it was decided that the church was okay with it. They weren't anxious about it at all.

But, uh, it was decided that they would, they would put up a lot to decide whether he, God wants him to go or, or whether he wants him to stay. And, um, so this is an excerpt from, from the Angels Over Rosalia. He said, this was in the, at the evening of the ordination, the, the lot. Mm-hmm. And, uh, he said, that's my book, I thought, as I stared at the nearest of two identical Bibles on the table to my right. I know it is my book. I told you, Lord, that I'll choose the book closest to me, if that's the one you want me to choose.

Oh, what a wonderful peace, beautiful peace I feel now. Thank you about, thank you. Thank you, Lord. And of course, that was the book. Uh, he chose that one. And so, uh, there was a good bit of transitions to be made. Uh, that was when, uh, when I was asked to move from another congregation where I had been ordained as a deacon for a number of years to come and, and, uh, replace Pablo in his small congregation.

And, uh, that, that was a, that was a real challenge. Uh, I was asked to, to fill some really large shoes. Uh, and a kind of a, a introvert, uh, stepping into the shoes of an extrovert is a, is a, is quite a challenge.

But it was, uh, it was a real growing experience, uh, that was in 1995. Uh, we had a lot of, of, uh, difficult experiences that same year. We lost a baby. And, uh, so it just seemed like God was taking us through the, through the fire for a while. And it was hard for the congregation to adjust to me. And of course, that kind of made it hard for me to adjust to them as well. But it wasn't unusual to hear them say, well, Pablo used to do it this way.

Well, that's not the way Pablo did it. Uh, Pablo was here, it was this way. And I early decided that I'm not going to try to be Pablo. I can't be Pablo. So, uh, that eventually kind of, uh, worked out, but it was a challenge. And so they, they moved to Nicaragua and, and, and the, uh, along with another, another couple.

Um, but the first years were just really, really difficult. Uh, felt like they were in another world for us. Our only contact was by, uh, ham radio. Wow. And, uh, we'd get the messages of, uh, uh, we've got, we've got, uh, robbers here tonight, uh, pray for us. And then we wouldn't hear anything for quite a while. We wouldn't know what happened until after, after it was over with. Hmm. And of course, a lot of that is in Angels Over Rosalia. A lot of, if someone hasn't read that book, uh, that would give you a good insight into what, what that was it. Uh huh. And today, the 2025 marks 30 years since that, that work began.

Okay. And, uh, in spite of all the grief and hardship and turmoil and trouble and tears, today there are around eight churches in Nicaragua. Wow.

Just in 30 years.

That's amazing.

Hmm.

So in, in Nicaragua, uh, what was, what caused, like, how is that, you know, I, I think of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, same, same. But what, what made that, um, so different there and why the experience in some of the robberies that they did and, um, yeah, what, what, what caused that?

Well, they had just been through a war and so they were still just, there's so much unrest and there were still so many factions. Hmm. And, uh, the, a lot of the, the impetus for these robbers was, I think people saw them as, as an opportunity to, to get money and to get things. Um, but there was just so much unrest and very little, uh, policing or, or, uh, and they were way back in. So it was that, that made it all the more difficult. It was just, uh, uh, uh, there was tremendous turmoil during Nicaragua and Nicaragua and Costa Rica are very, very different. Mm-hmm. Um, you can just go across the border and see the difference immediately.

Not so much today, but back then it really was that way. Sure. Yeah. Well. There was guerrilla warfare for a long time too. And so there were two sides and it got in the middle and. Mm-hmm. How many? I want to say, Mark. Sure. Go ahead, Mark. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I was just going to say a quick history lesson is. Okay. Costa Rica at the, back in the colonization, the whole of Central America was in one country and the capital was Guatemala. And in Guatemala and Costa Rica is the farthest south, farthest removed. So they were, they didn't find out about independence from Spain until a month later when someone brought the news on a mule.

Okay. Costa Rica did not have the wealthy, very wealthy. It was sort of, it had more of a middle class ever since the beginning. Whereas Nicaragua, as same as some of the other countries, there were more rich people and then the poor people. That happened in Costa Rica too, but maybe not quite as much. So there's a difference in, over the years, as Costa Rica does not have near as much of the conflict because of that. Guerrilla warfare. Costa Rica hardly had any guerrilla warfare, whereas the other countries had. That's just a quick brief, you know. But there was, yeah, very stormy, very, uh, but they need Christ and the Lord has done a wonder there.

Hmm. Amazing. And that's where he, that's where he was till, till he passed away, right? He and his wife, Yuni and others. Uh huh. The first, the first time I tried to travel to Nicaragua, went up for a week of meetings and I was at the border and I said, we're going back to, I'm going to Wasulala, told someone there. That's where my brother says, Wasulala? He says, that's one of the best places in Nicaragua. Is he by, you know, why are you going there? Uh huh.

The Lord knew that's the place that needed him. Amazing. And so, um, how many times was he robbed? Does anybody know that?

I have no idea. Okay. Okay. I thought there was like a number I heard one time, but. No, he kept a record of it. I'm sure Jacinto would probably know, but I don't. Yeah, I've heard he kept, he kind of counted them. Yeah. Okay. And that, and that was his, when you say Jacinto, that was his son, is that right? Yes. Okay. Sure.

Sure. Yeah. Well, and for our listeners here who maybe don't, haven't read any of Pablo Yuter's books, um, yeah, that's Angel Over Rosalia. I'm not sure if we actually sell that on our store. Maybe we will now. Um, but you could for sure find it, you know, at CLP Christian, um, Christian Light Publications or probably Christian Aid Ministries as well, or CAM Books is called, and other places online. You could find that book. Um, definitely worth it, worthwhile read. And then to hear some of his stories, him sharing in person or, you know, recorded, uh, you could go to our website, as I mentioned earlier. Um, he shared twice, um, on, on the power of enemy love and some stories that happened.

Um, he even had a neat little, um, uh, skit or something like that in, in his story, uh, of, of a scary, of a scary robber coming in, which I think it was his grandson or something like that. So it was really, really fun. Um, so very interesting. Okay. Well, maybe, um, you know, we could spend a lot of time with that, but we probably should keep moving along here. Uh, Mark, could you tell us a little bit, you know, um, about, um, uh, Pablo and how he actually, obviously he wrote a lot. And so as I, I would love to write.

I have never written a book. Um, but, uh, I find it difficult to, I, I have a hard time imagining how an extrovert, somebody who loves interacting with lots of people, um, could find time to write. Like how did Pablo Yuter write books is my question. So do you have any secret, um, insider, uh, insider information for us on how Pablo Yuter wrote books?

I don't know. I don't think I have any secret information necessarily, but I know ever since he was a young boy, he'd write. I'd sleep in the same bedroom with him. And I forget at what age he started writing diaries.

I had to go to bed and go to sleep and he'd sit up and be writing in his diary. It was his way of expressing his. He was sort of a stormy person and he would express his frustrations and his things he loved. He, he wrote, wrote, wrote, wrote, wrote. That was his life.

Um, I can't tell you when that started. And then later when he, he'd go on a trip, he had this way of writing. He could make you laugh. And he'd go to the, I remember the first time he went to Calvary Bible School. He traveled up and came to Calvary Bible School. And then he'd write these big letters. I mean, six, seven pages. I forget how many. Just on and on telling his adventures. Like when he first went into some of these modern airports, which are back then, were not like they are now. Yeah. They were very different than Costa Rica. And he'd make a fool out of himself, figuring out how to make these things work, how to get water out of the faucets and all those things, you know.

And he would write in a way that would just sit there and just laugh and laugh at, you know. It was a natural writer. His way of talking was that way. And, but he did that naturally as a writer. Mm-hmm. But later the Lord used that. He was very expressive. And the people that worked with him know he needed editors to, to, to sort of bring things together because he had a tremendous imagination and he could take a story and write it and make it, make it interesting. And, uh, and, uh, and, uh, one, one credit to his wife. When he got married, he quit writing diaries.

Uh, he wrote up to then, but when he had his wife, then he didn't, he didn't need the diaries anymore. He just wrote the diaries. But he would still do write when he'd go places. He would write about his trips and things. Uh huh.

Yeah. But in his youth, he had these, I don't know how many diaries he had, notebooks, his old notebooks with his diaries. And we'd sometimes disagree with him. Some of his stories, we couldn't argue with him because he'd go back to his diary and say, here it is. Okay. But anyway, the writing thing was just a natural part of him. He could just write and write in a way that would be interesting, catch your attention.

You know, it would make you, uh, I wasn't as much as he was. Mm-hmm. One of the things you mentioned in our last, as we kind of connected earlier about this, this talk here, uh, is that, yeah, he was quite, um, he was quite a dynamic speaker, especially, um, and, uh, but then as you, as you said, as he got older, you saw him potentially guarding some of that. Um, so as to, I think you mentioned allow the Holy Spirit to work. Uh, do you mind talking about that at all?

Yes. No, gladly. Uh, I noticed that different times. You know, I didn't hear him preach as often as we were. He was in Nicaragua and I was in Costa Rica and we'd have our circles and we would sometimes in ministers' meetings or we'd meet or somewhere I'd, he's off somewhere for meetings. I'd go, and I'd go. But in his latter years, there were different times I sat under his preaching, uh, and especially as he started out and, uh, was developing the message, I could tell that he, I think he was intentional. He was not using his dynamics that he could have.

He would read scripture and develop his, he was an organized, you know, he'd organize his things well. And I, I thought in knowing him as a brother that he was intentionally not using his personal personality dynamics. But I knew, and you could tell by listening to him, there was anointing. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. He didn't need the dynamic.

And then the Lord would use it. Uh, yeah, there were different times that I sat back and I, I had to admire him for that. Mm-hmm. But I think he intentionally did not try to be dynamic and just teach the word of God and let the Lord do the work. Mm-hmm. And the Lord.

This is a little side note, um, to help you maybe understand a little bit Pablo Yuter and, and, and how, what kind of a brother he was. And I understood that at his funeral, he asked the minister, which was, is it, was it his co-pastor there, um, to talk about his weaknesses at his, um, I found that very, very interesting.

Hmm. Yeah. If you spend much time with Pablo, you'd soon find out he was very honest. Sometimes almost you'd think too much. He'd be very honest, very humble and met, made his mistakes. Uh, and open up and talk about his own struggles. That was typical of Pablo. Mm-hmm.

Well, in our weakness, God can be strong. Amen. And, um, and he was a, a, a testimony of that. Well, is there anything else you want to say about Brother Pablo, uh, before we touch briefly on his book here, Soul Food?

Well, I'm not sure if I have much to say. He was my brother. I miss him. Mm-hmm. And yet I don't wish him back. Mm-hmm. When he found out he had cancer, I wrote him a letter and I said, Pablo, you lived your life full. Mm-hmm. Gave it all you got.

And now it's the Lord's calling you home. Um, but he had a full life. He didn't waste it. He spent his life full. He made his mistakes. He was outgoing. He had his critics. He made mistakes, but he was a man that. Mm-hmm.

Went, but like you said, burned the candle at both ends. He was, uh, and I was glad to have known him, but I don't wish him back. He had a full life and a tremendous blessing to have known him. And the example he left for the rest of us.

Um, I told him also after he had his cancer, I said, Pablo, you've taught us how to live, especially in this aspect of non-resistance and suffering. And I said, now you can show us how to die. Uh, as, as believers. Wow.

And he did that there for the church in Nicaragua. He did that too. Hmm.

Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing, Brother Mark. Um, what about you, Brother Dwayne? I know we want to share, I'll have you share a little bit about, you know, this, the book, Soul Food, and kind of a little story behind that. Um, so you can kind of share whatever you'd like to about Brother Pablo and then segue into that.

Yeah. It's, it's hard to know what to say. Uh, my mind does go back to the, the time when he passed from this life. Uh. Hmm.

A number of us from the family were able to be there the night, night before he passed away. When we got there, he was not, not very conscious at all. Mm-hmm. But he did recognize when we got there and, and, uh, I can just still hear him. He, he had a nickname for me and, uh, and he said it.

Um, the next morning when he was, was passing, it was a, a difficult time, but it was also a joyous time to, to see him be relieved of pain and, and suffering. And Mark, I'm correct, right? That there were two, uh, drunks that were there at the time or soon after. And, uh, friends of his, his passing had a tremendous influence and, and impact in the community there. The, the funeral was extremely, extremely large. Hmm. Just about everybody knew him in Rosalia.

And so, uh,

I believe, um, God had just used him powerfully in, in, uh, those, those many years there. And we miss him. Definitely do. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, it was touching to see all the people that came to the funeral and especially some of the drunks and outcasts and to see them come. Well, they came to the house when he was still lying on the bed and just cried. Said, Pablo, Pablo, Pablo.

Uh, he was loved. He was loved by them. It was, it was a, it was a very touching experience that, that, that evening we got there, like Dwayne says, Jacinto, his son told us, he doesn't think he's going to recognize us. He's really low. I said, let me try something. I said within myself, and I walked in, I said, Pablo, like I always did, just like that, as he popped up, he says, did you came?

He said, said in Spanish, you came. And, um, then we had a special time and he was really struggling. His body, he was tough. His body was tough. Didn't want to give up. And he was laying in bed. Phil and I sat beside him. That was the night before he died. He was really struggling. And I said, Pablo, then I put my hands on him and I said, I was going to quote the Psalm 23. I said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Then my mind went blank. I couldn't remember the rest of it except for, yea, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me.

Hmm. And then I knew I had heard Senior do this before when he had Guillain-Barré. He'd say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. So I just said, Pablo, he is with you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. I had my hands on him and I felt him relax under my hands. And as I, then I prayed for him and relaxed and went to sleep. Mm-hmm. In your precious moments and my brother. Mm-hmm. Uh, the Lord was with him.

He was longing to go, but his body was fighting. His body didn't want to give up. But it was a special moment. It really was.

You know, thank you. That's a very, very precious to get a window into that. Thank you for sharing that. It's very touching.

So final, but yet just the beginning. Just the beginning. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, maybe for a moment, we can just talk a little bit about Soul Food. Um, so Dwayne, I think you did a little bit of research on that and, and how, um, that all came about. Um, Pablo was somebody who loved, loved God's word. And I think on the front of the, on the front of the book, we, the, the, his Bible is there and it's all marked up. Um, and yeah, somebody who loved, loved God's word.

And that's, and, and that's, that's what this book is, a devotional that kind of goes through the books of the Bible, um, highlighting different aspects of, you know, he was writing, had weaving his stories into it. Uh, but yeah, Dwayne, tell us a little bit about this book, if you would.

Okay. I reached out to Jacinto because I wasn't familiar with the book until just recently. And I guess it's just recently been released as well. Yeah. This, this year. I understand. By, by Christian Light. Mm-hmm. Right. By Christian Light. Um, so Jacinto told me that, uh, Soul Food was a book that Dad brainstormed years ago.

And, uh, yeah, the idea of getting a, a whole year devotional book together. Mm-hmm. Um, he, he was a very inspirational, uh, man that could, on the spur of the moment, uh, come up with, with an inspiration. And so his writing reflected a lot of that. Um, Jacinto said that he, he, uh, he thinks it, it came partly from a, uh, he would begin his Waslala Life letters. I don't know if you're familiar with those, um, with a, a bit of a devotional in the beginning, usually a scripture verse and then an anecdote or, or some kind of relational, uh, uh, experience or something that, that would relate to that, to that verse. And Jacinto had mentioned, well, you could make, you could make a book out of those.

And, uh, and so he, he, he feels like that was a lot of the impetus for, for, for this, this book eventually. Um, he said he, he thinks it was written in 2021. And so I don't know where it was lying in, in the meantime, but. Okay. Uh, and just for information, he said he, he only wrote one book after that one, which he never did finish. And, uh, but it is finished now. Jacinto went ahead and, and tried to, to, to finish that. And I think it's with the publishers at, at this point. Okay.

Um, do you, do you have a title for that book? I don't have a title, but it's a, it's about a, a man, uh, in, uh, Pennsylvania, Elmer Peachy. Uh, his story. Uh, I don't have the title. Okay.

Uh, he, Jacinto said he, he and his wife are going through that book and, uh, just really enjoying it. Um, uh, this is the first time they've gone, they're going through it. And of course, they had heard him talk about this project, but this was the first glimpse of, of them actually seeing the book.