M to tha izo | CityPost Pod by Hector

City Post. What's up?

We gone. We gone.

As a very special episode of Build Equip Send and I am here

with. Pastor Ricky, what's up,

everybody? And we are in guns or miserom.

Miserom. That's right into the ISO.

That's right brought to the Zombra.

That's right, the four O 3 like the kids taught us.

Go like this it is. Man.

In Mizoram it is Sunday night and we're watching City Post

Church online. Right now we're watching Rachel

kill it. She's doing good.

She looks cute in her suit. What's that word I learned Tun

luk loom, which means very tasty.

I'm learning some some Mizoram, I guess.

That's terrible. Yeah, but that's your lady, bro.

You know she's got a hyper. That's right.

She's doing great. So it's awesome.

Yeah, man, it's, it's cool. It's one of those, it's like

last year I really enjoyed her heart of the house message, man,

I was something I was telling my sister this year is like, man,

I'm kind of bummed but not going to be able to hear it.

But I, I really hope you enjoy it 'cause you know, I, I could

tell how much this means to her and how much you prepared last

year. So I'm I'm excited to to to go

back and watch this for. No, I, I agree.

And I remember like thinking, you know, you plan like months

ahead, especially as you pass your church, you start thinking

like man who who could fill in and this and that.

But then I don't know, it just came online.

I was like, Rach, we got to do hard for the house.

Like it's so important. And I think me personally, I

think it's important for the church to hear from the pastor's

wife, you know, raged us so much that people don't know about

like she's the reason why so many things run smoothly at the

church. She has a heart for people.

And and I was like, man, I think people need to hear from you.

I think it's great that people hear from you.

And she's like, I don't want to do it.

I don't know, like, what do I say?

And I was like, man, the Lord will show you and, and, and God

did so. DJ Khaled.

Yes, So I, I love it, man. I think, you know, she needs to

do a little bit more often to be honest with you, but she don't

want to. But we're going to get her.

We're going to get her up there. So it's important for her to to

share her heart with the house. Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, man. And yeah, allowing herself to be

a vessel for the Holy Spirit to speak.

To. The house, you know, and to

share that heart that the Lord is giving her man.

And yeah, I'm excited to to go back and listen.

To it, yes. I know she's going to crush it.

That's right. Yeah, man, but but speaking the

topic of the Holy Spirit, you know, just to shift gears a

little bit to to the trip to to India, man and.

Bro first time. Man and Holy Spirit been cooking

the whole way, bro yeah yeah, every stop in the travel like

God's hand has been on it through but I think we spent

total in three countries 45 minutes in TSA, which that's.

What I heard of that is you know what I mean.

No, I'm telling you, I, I've done this trip since 2012.

Like I've, I've, I think this might be my 15th time coming to

India. And I'm not saying that as a

flex. I'm just saying it like I've

seen a lot and I'm just amazed at how how smooth everything has

been. Like even when we landed in

Delhi, I looked at the TSA line like immigration and I'm like,

we're in trouble. Like I only see two or three

guys, all these people. I'm like, man, we got to go get

our bags and how we going to get through all this.

And soon as we get in line, somebody calls us and they're

he's like, hey, come this way, man.

We weren't live for like 15 minutes.

I'm telling you, the Lord has been so gracious to us and and

so faithful. Like it's just been ease.

You know the travel part, it's been, it's been awesome.

And and even, you know, something I was telling Michael

earlier, shout out, Michael, you know, recording our first

podcast in front of a live studio audience, you know what

I'm saying? But it's something I was telling

Michael. Like today has probably been the

longest day we've had, you know, on the trip.

And it felt like it went by so fast, bro, you know, with the

shift in like time and us being 11 hours ahead of our normal

sleep schedule, like even through that, like the Holy

Spirit has just been so evident in everything, bro.

Like it went by so quick Today it was action-packed.

I shed a lot of tears. Like I know.

Really was really all 1 today and like the best way possible.

I agree. I and, and that's, that's

something like, I know we, we talk a lot about being present

in these moments 'cause you think about like the, all the

planning that goes into this. And I want you to think about

like our prayer services, like that's, that's for a reason.

And like, I'm not going to raise all this money, leave my babies

to come and like, not be present.

Like I'm like, I'm all in, you know, and I'll sleep when I get

home, You know, I got 16 hours to sleep on a flight.

It felt like I'm praying that like it's knocked out.

But I mean, I think that's the way missions should be.

Like we come with the purpose that God gave us.

We pour our lives out. Like we pour ourselves out.

And I mean, that's why we pray every morning.

That's why we have that that quiet time just to get ready for

the day. And then hopefully, like by the

end of the trip, you are in a fetal position on the floor,

like empty, like you're done. You're like, I'm tapping, you

know, like Lord, like, like I got nothing left.

Which is kind of what we want. But it's it's funny because our

our bodies are tired, but our spirits are full.

That part. Yeah, it's yeah.

And today I'm telling you, like when you talk about shedding

tears, dude, I I was like, bro, why are we doing this?

Before I have to go talk in front of everybody?

I was like, why? Oh, man, I get like choked up

thinking about that time of church today.

It was, it was so wild. You just had to be there.

Yeah, man, shout out Gun Sabra. And yes, Sam.

Yeah, Sam, the team, you know. Worship.

Yeah. And even like the message that

the Lord gave, which was even that was even crazy because that

was I had something different. And as I was talking to Sam,

preparing like, I don't know, just some kind of came.

And so I got that together like last night.

Wow. And and it's just yeah,

everything. I don't know man, It just all

came together today and. Then the way it tied into later

that day too, bro, like man, the Holy Spirit, I'm saying it's

been evident throughout all of this.

And like you're saying, like body's tired, you know, just

because obviously the the shift, bro, but you know, even now

replenished, re energized, like poured out so much literal like

sweat and tears today, you know, but it was so worth it.

And the Holy Spirit has refilled this cup, this vessel, so much.

Yeah, I know. And and so many people are like,

man, why do you go? Why do you go?

Like, why do you do this all the time?

Of course, yes, I feel like God's called us here.

I've always prided. I know it's going to sound.

I, I don't want this to sound arrogant or anything, but I

always wanted to be like, I want our church to do the hard

things, you know, like I was like Lord City post could handle

it. And India is not an easy trip.

It's, it's difficult to get here.

It takes 2 days. You're traveling about 23 hours.

But I was like, Lord, like you're calling us to this.

So if nobody else comes, I'm going to come, you know, like,

and that was that was a conversation.

I mean, that was something I told the Lord and I'm going to

come until he says Ricky no more.

So that's kind of how I I've just approached serving him and

that's how I I'm going to continue to do it.

So. Yeah.

And that that calling to the home in Gonzabra has been so

evident just in observing the relationships I've seen with you

and the kids with your mom, with your dad and the kids with

Estevan and the kids. Like it blows my mind how he

remembers all these kids names and the interactions there.

And like he Lokeith like transforms into Samson through

the day like this. It's just such a dope

experience. He lets his hair down.

I, I, I agree. It's, you know, I tell, I tell

people like when we were in Gujarat, I felt like, I mean, we

were in a really heavily Hindu city.

Like, I mean, it was the, the, the home for the girls was

surrounded. It was in a Muslim community.

And so to be a Christian, there was like just scandalous, you

know, like even when we were teaching the slums and in this

house, Jeevan Anan was like this lighthouse in the middle of this

darkness. But when that shut down in 2019,

just for just a bunch of other reasons, you know, our brother

Uma was like, Hey, I, I really want you guys to go to Skunzabra

whole another situation. But in Mizoram, it's not Hindu,

it's not Muslim. It's it's actually Christian

majority of it, But it's, it's kind of what Paul talks about.

Like I'm called to the Gentiles, but I'm still like focus on the

Israelites and the Jews. And I, I, that's why I told our

groups like we were with the Gentiles and I were with the

Jews. Like highly religious, very

systematic in their programming. But a lot of people don't know

God's word. They don't know Jesus and they

know religion. They know, you know, like

written out prayers. And I'm not saying everybody.

I just there's a group. So I feel like God has us here

because, you know, we we have his word and we're faithful to

it. So we teach these kids when we

encounter people in the community, we lead with

scripture. You know, we throw out scripture

at all times. And so God has us here for a

very specific reason. Absolutely bro, build these kids

up too. So for listeners who may not

know, can you give us a brief rundown of where we are?

Yeah. So Misaram is North East India.

It's in between Miramar and Bangladesh.

When you think of India, you look at the India like on TV.

But this, this place is is way different.

The diets are different, the dialects different.

It's more of like an Asian influence here.

It's not vegetarian. You know, they eat pork rice.

They actually eat very clean. So yeah, just just NE sandwiched

in between Miramar and Bangladesh.

And so the thing with Mizaram is that Miramar has is is what they

call an open border. And because there's an open

border, it's actually kind of the gateway for the drug trade

in South Asia. So a lot of bad things that come

through there. And wherever there's a drug

trade, there's trafficking, there's, there's prostitution,

there's needles, there's. So Mizaram actually has the

highest, I guess, the level of HIV in all of India.

I think it's like 1 every three or one and every five have HIV.

So it whether it's through breastfeeding, unprotected sex,

needles, all that stuff, the HIV rate here is explosive, you

know, So what what Gonzaba does is that they minister to orphans

with HIV. All them kids have AIDS.

It's hard to You can't even tell.

For real. I guess you can't.

And so they take care of them. They make sure they get their

medications. So like, and then I think also

something people don't know is that Gonzaga also has tentacles

out in the community. So they serve about 168 families

that are HIV positive. So they get their medicine.

They they have more education, why you should take your

medicine on time, resources. And then of course, that's kind

of how the spreading of the gospel gets out, you know,

that's how you minister. So it's a very like complex

ministry that God has really just put his thumb on like it's,

it's amazing to see it and to experience it, you know?

That part, that part, man, 'cause it's like experiencing in

so many ways too. Like, oh man, it's crazy.

The the physical like going in bro, like we're on a mountain,

right? Now, yeah, it's in the

mountains, Yeah, like. Were I went yesterday on the

roof of our hotel and like literally standing in a cloud.

So they experienced that. First and foremost, I don't have

words for them and then secondly, like the interactions

with these kids and how much joy they have, bro.

And like you're saying, you know, physically, like you can't

even tell there's anything, you know, that they have any kind of

illness because they're always smiling, they're always playing.

They're always so nice to each other.

Unless like you, you taking attention or a toy or something,

like give them a quick little elbow, like leave them alone.

But even that man, just that's been so mind boggling to

experience. And it's been, it's been so

healing in a way I didn't even know I needed.

Oh yeah. Man, you know, this trip, every,

every time I've gone, God has used this mission trip in my

life and so many ways, you know, like I was reflecting last

night, like even last year, you know, like I was, I say this,

but a lot of people don't know when I came here, we were in the

middle of figuring out our building, you know, like, so

I'm, I'm seeing this and we'll talk about soon this basketball

court being built that we, we pretty much planted that seed

for. And at night, I'm going back to

the room and I'm emailing the TVA, like they want to see our

services and our websites and, and, you know, asking for

information. So not knowing.

And then, like, at the end of the trip, one of the girls I

think is Owie or Owie, I forgot her name, one of the girls is

like, just drops this bomb on me.

And it's like the Lord's. And I told her too, like, this

week I was like, God spoke to me through you last year.

And she's like, really just smiling.

But yeah, it's like every time God does something, you know,

and he stretches me, he tests me, he like, but at the end of

the day, there's always like this massive blessing that comes

out of this trip, you know? So it's, yeah, it's, it's

wonderful. For sure, bro, I'm I'm already

experiencing that just in how much deeper my relationship has

grown just in the time here, like our devotions in the

morning, bro, that's something so impactful and sets the tone

for the day off the RIP. And you know, even yesterday to

to be in the scriptures with Mike in our hotel room before.

Like it's just it, it's bearing so much fruit already.

So man, it's just been such a divine experience.

Yeah. No, that's good though.

No man. But I think it's it's just been

a fun, fun time so far with the kids.

And then we also went to the Herman home.

Yeah, that was experience too. Yeah, that was, that was so much

fun, bro. Like the first thing walking

down that little side of a mountain to get to this

basketball court that's literally just in the middle of

the mountain. Like.

Trying to to wrap my mind around that.

And I remember the picture you showed me before when it was

just like the court and they were starting construction on,

you know, like the, the surroundings and the, the

benches and ultimately like a like a restroom locker room or

whatever. And then to see the court this

time and like, what would you say it was called?

I just got a city post court. No, let's talk about the stuff

that's like physically on the court now.

Oh, they're like these, these grip squares.

Yeah, pretty much, yeah. But to see that and then seeing

these kids like Stampede to go play, bro, that was so cool.

Yeah, that was so cool. No, it, it was it was almost

like a vision coming true three years ago.

Because, because honestly, like when this idea hit, we were

walking the campus. That's why I met Brother John.

He was showing me where the kids play.

And then he showed me where they were hooping.

And it was literally this, this stick of wood with a backboard.

Like, it was so sad. And I was like, man, we could do

better. And I was like, why don't we

build a basketball court here? And then I was like, get me.

I was like, just tell me how much Like, get me some.

We'll figure out. We'll figure it out.

And the man just started praying like how, how we're going to

raise this money as a church. And, and, you know, some people

like really gave and, and then it took like 5 months to figure

out how to get this money to them, which is crazy.

Yeah. So it is just incredible to see

it like 3 years later, it's completed.

And then like the seed that we sowed financially, God took it

and put some fertilizer on it and watered it.

And they, they, they ended up getting more funds from other

partners. And now they have a locker room

and bleachers and, you know, an awning and like, it's, it's

lights, lights. That was crazy.

When he turned the lights on, I was like, oh, they flexing on us

now. Yeah, It, it was, I remember the

first time I saw it, I, I couldn't talk.

Like, Uma wanted me to say some words.

And I was like, I, I got nothing.

Like, you're going to have to do it for me.

I can't talk right now. Yeah.

My mind was just blown how big God is.

Like we, we shortchange God so much, you know, and it made me

think even like. How city posts as a church, how

we attain like, like even our building, Cause what a lot of

people don't know is that like we helped a lot of churches and

they're planting like we've given out thousands of dollars

to other churches. Like church starts.

Like I had some friends that reached out to me and they're

like, man, I have this building and we just need help.

I'm like $3000 short and I was like, let me see what we can do,

you know, and I just pray and like, Lord, if this could bless

them. So like those things that you

just trust God with finances and, and at the same time

everybody's like, Nah, you should be saving for a building.

You should, you know, like y'all should be saving up money and

God's like watch me work you know.

The multiplication aspect of it. Yeah, yeah, like it's real.

Like it really is. And yeah, but that court, like

it's, it's incredible. Like you said, see all the kids

playing on it. Yeah, man.

And yeah. And her room got some hoopers,

too. I've been like, pleasantly

surprised by that. They got some shooters, you

know, they got some point guards, yeah.

Man ran a ran a couple little one on ones while.

That was fine. That was fine you.

Know shut up, Mike, Yeah. Mike almost crossed your.

It's all good though. Good, good fun, good sport.

I was having a good time and we played in Sean Claus.

You played in Sean Claus, you know.

The fact that Sox, Yeah, you know.

For real. The real one, yeah.

And then all the kids too, in their Crocs, bro, Crocs is

everywhere. That blew my mind to see that

everywhere. Yeah.

Out here, everybody got Crocs. Everybody got.

But to see them whooping in Crocs, Yeah.

And bro, again, just seeing all of the kids playing, 'cause it's

like the girls are running around doing stuff, there's kids

playing soccer, there's kids on both sides of the court hooping

like it's just organized chaos. That's right.

That's right. That's true.

No, it was it was it was a a blessing to be out there.

And I love just playing basketball with the kids.

And it was pouring rain, man. It was so loud.

It sounded like like people were cheering.

Honestly, yeah, man, it's like they were saying of like how

much has impacted that community.

Yeah, that was something that was really cool to hear.

No, and that's something that we so like there's a passage in

Scripture, Jeremiah 29, seven we talk about all the time and it

is it's to seek the welfare of the city, pray to the Lord on

its behalf. Cause in its welfare, you too

will find welfare. And that word welfare trans

translates the the Hebrew word is, is Shalom, which means seek

the peace, the Shalom of the city.

And and really the definition of Shalom is everything.

It's like seek the the peace, seek the safety, anything that

will benefit the people who that live there.

That's what you want to seek. That's that's what the word

well-being that Shalom means. And then it says like, seek the

well-being of the city to to where I've exiled you to, so

where I've sent you to. And that verse has always been a

a strong scripture in my like it's always guided me, you know,

so whenever we do stuff in Fort Worth, but we did the art core,

you know, it's like seek the welfare of the city.

You know, that's what we do. And it's, it's not because we're

trying to get our name out, but it's, come on.

It's because that's what, you know, the that's what the gospel

looks like. And a lot of people like, Nah,

man, you should be focused on sharing the gospel on like the

church. I'm like, this is the church.

This is what the church does. Sorry.

Right. Yeah.

So. And yeah, I'll go back a little

bit, you know, speaking about the church and, you know, our

core beliefs and build equips and then you sharing that at the

home in Gonzabra, bro, in like our city Post takeover, you

know, City Post Sunday. Like we brought a little bit of

home to the home, which is was cool to experience.

And I'm glad I was sitting in the back with the camera

brother. Oh, bawling my eyes off of that

worship, bro. I just hearing how like

relentless these kids are, how relentless and unashamed these

kids are and how much they sing with their whole being to praise

God, bro. Like I get chills right now just

thinking about it man. And that's something I always

experience like and, and something that God showed me.

It's like, Can you imagine it? Listen, it was just a dude on

the guitar and A and a basic amp.

Can you imagine what it's like if everybody stops caring about

all the minute stuff and just focuses on I want, I want to

tell God how great he is. You know what, like what I'm

going to say is going to sound real bad.

Like what if it was? Who cares about all these

things? Like the sound is off and I

don't sound good. My in here is hurt.

Like what if like we all just showed up and said we just want

to get after it, you know, like we just want to sing our hearts

out. We want to worship him for who

he is. Like if everybody showed up with

that heart, it would shift things.

And what I saw today was a bunch of kids just singing with their

hearts, man. Didn't care how it sounded.

Environment like it. It was just beautiful.

It was awesome, man. Yeah.

And it was so loud. Bro, that that was that was

something that was like the presence of the Holy Spirit was

deafening. Like these kids didn't care

about their pitch. They didn't care about, you

know, the notes they were hitting.

They didn't care about the person whose ear they were

screaming in next to them. Like they were praising God with

everything from the oldest ones being like 18 down to the little

ones being like 4. Or three series, like they took

it serious, man, you know, and I just, there's a little bit of me

that has has shifted, man. Like, I'll be honest, I this

year in, in my, you know, I like we talked about in the past,

like the two things I wanted to focus on was my prayer and my

preaching. Like those are the two things I,

I, I want to spend more time. But I'm also starting to realize

this whole idea of worship, like what if city pose had this

attitude of worship that was not about stuff and it was more

about like his presence and excitement of like showing up

and giving our best and like getting after it.

Not not like a routine, you know.

So that's one thing I'm honest, I'm praying through.

I was like, I would love for our church to be more, I'm not going

to say energetic. I'm not going to, I guess just

more, more ready. I don't care.

You don't have to sound, you don't have to.

You don't have to run around. That's not what it's about.

It's it's a heart posture. Yeah, just the pure heart of

worship. Yeah, yeah.

It's a heart posture. That's it.

So, man, and then I, I had like kind of a little bit of a

flashback today, back when, you know, I was growing up and my

mom was pulling little Ratchet Hector to church.

Yeah. For the morning service.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then like going and getting

some food and coming back from the evening service.

I feel like we kind of got that today at the home that's in

Sobrook and then in the Herman home.

And it was like there were two pretty different dynamics as far

as like how City post does church in Gonzaba and bringing

that and sharing that with the kids to how the Herman home runs

theirs man. But it's similar thing is like

US walking into that room and granted these kids are in there

30 minutes before the the teachers coming in there.

And they're singing. Bro by.

Themselves, yeah. Playing instruments, plugging up

the mic, going and like. They're just even the.

Little like girls and kids like dancing in circles in the Holy

Spirit, but man like this, experiencing that, Yeah.

Like that again, that heart posture of worship.

Yeah. And take it serious.

Bro, And that's, that's the probably the most humbling thing

the Holy Spirit has taught me. Like the most humble lesson the

Holy Spirit has taught me through this is these kids by

standards of where we come from, have nothing of like tangible

physical of what this world, you know, deems as success or value

or anything like that. You know what I mean?

Like they don't have things that we do, but they got this heart

of worship for God. They have this reverence for the

Lord and how they speak to him and how they speak to each other

and how they pray. Bro, like that's just mind.

Boggling. It's it's a reverence for

holiness. Like it, man, I don't see that

respect, to be honest with you. Like, people just show up, they

run in. I made it, grabbed my coffee.

Let's do this service thing. Like, man, like coming in and,

and spending time and like greeting each other and being in

prayer. And just, it's, it's just kind

of like setting a tone and not just always be rushing into

stuff, you know? And but yeah, I caught that.

I was like, they're in there singing, right?

Like 30 minutes before the service starts, they're singing,

you know? And then, like when all the

adults came in it, it was like, alright, everybody quite down.

We're about to hear the word, you know?

And dude busted out Romans 12. Oh, it's so crazy.

Yeah. Can't nobody tell me my God

ain't real? Bro Yeah, yeah.

It's, it's like, so for you guys that don't know, so we're in

this place and this guy, he's a he's actually a pastor, you

know, he he's actually going to seminary and they're a

Presbyterian Church. And he does a scripture reading.

It's Romans 12/1, 2:00 and 3:00. And then I heard that verse and

I'm like, wait a second. So that's the passage my dad

received the Lord with. So he said.

So my dad always quotes that verse like everywhere.

So when I heard it, I was like, oh man, this is nuts, man.

Alright, so Fast forward brah, we're sitting in this hotel

room. It is like. 10 PM. 10:00 PM.

Michael's like I I say that. And I was like, hey, that's the

same verse Rach just read. I say what?

Oh man, it's just been. Yeah.

The Holy Spirit spitting bro on different sides of the planet in

two different time zones and now in three like different

circumstances. It was the the guy that brought

the scripture reading, then your dad, like when he was speaking

to the kids, sharing his, his testimony of that aspect to, you

know, now hours later, bro. And it's like, alright, Holy

Spirit on one. Like in the best way though.

Yes, it's, it's, it's so, and you know what, even to go

deeper, like as I was last week, man, there's a podcast by Doctor

Egg Mason where they talk about Romans 12/1.

Like it was they, they did a whole pod on Romans 12.

So you guys that don't know, it says this, it says, therefore, I

urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer

your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to

God. This is your true act and proper

worship. Who's talked about that?

Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is,

His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Yeah, you see, there it is. Say keep talking about it.

So the like real worship really comes like you want to really

like please the Lord. Yeah, it's, it's just you off.

You're living sacrifices, you know, it starts with your life,

you know, So we can't expect God to show up if our lives aren't

looking pleasing to the Lord, you know?

So it's, it's like, yeah, we want to see God.

We want to see God, but we're living different and that's not

how it works. So yeah.

Man, it's holy half stepping. If I had to, I've had to put it,

you know, and that's convicting to me.

No it. Is you know me too.

Yeah. But man, let's just let's just

be real. Let's let's shift gears a little

bit. Yeah.

How important is that? How important is that,

considering the news we got this morning of the bombs going on?

Oh yeah, You know just what's going on with our world right

now, Like. Right.

No, it is. It's a little weird.

It's a little scary. You know, I was having a

conversation with, it was somebody from our congregation

and, and, and you know that they, that this person was

telling me about how she's having issues with the political

feel of, of our country and you know, just talking politics and

all this stuff. And really my response is this

is the whole like political nature is in the past, we've

had, if you read scripture, there's been kings that have

been placed for Israel that were terrible, that were awful.

It killed a lot of people, did a lot of dumb stuff, brought

idols. And really my response is God is

sovereign. God moves people, God puts

people in places, you know, people move by the hand of God.

Like none of this is taking God by surprise.

So there's a purpose in it. I also think, I mean, there

could be, this could be a judgment, you know, like for a

nation that has, has created idols about things and have

turned away from his word. But you know, watching the news,

I'll be honest, man, it's a scary, it's a scary time.

It's a scary situation. But in all honesty, if you read

God's word, like, I'm not surprised like at all, like

Ezekiel 33, like there's all these things and these are Jesus

even talks about it. There's going to be signs of of

my coming, you know. So knowing all that's happening

in the world, I think our focus should be tighter on on him, you

know, so not really so much freaking out, but like running

to the cross, running to God, taking worship more seriously,

taking church more seriously. Like, like you said, like

showing up, like saying Lord, like my body is like my life is

a sacrifice to you. Whatever is going to happen is

going to happen, but I'm going to be on your side when it

happens. So, yeah.

But I think that these are times where instead of getting

political and instead of like all the conspiracy stuff, we

really need to come to him and start praying for repentance for

our brothers and sisters to come to know Jesus.

And honestly should drive you right?

Like, you should set a fire in you and be like, man, you know

what? Like, time's getting close.

We don't know what's going to happen, right?

Yeah, man, that yeah, you know, for me, like hearing that and

what the the Holy Spirit, you know just what God unveiled

throughout the day is like bro, that worship or worship the way

we worship the way our life is, worship the way like we build

equipped and send like the way we live the business of the

Kingdom. And yeah bro, like it's just.

Yeah, and even to my I, I like you almost feel as a pastor like

I have time. I ain't got time for all this.

Like, like there's so much happening in the world.

You know, it's like, like, man, I, I got to go get it, you know,

like we, we got to keep going. I got to preach more.

I got to teach more, I got to share the gospel more.

I know people are like, no, you got to rest.

And I was like, man, I'll rest if I'm tired, I'm going to rest,

you know, like, but it's just like, I don't know, like there's

like, there's, there's this holy like hurry up.

You know, that's the best way I could put it.

Like there's this holy hurry up. Like, I got to get out.

I got to preach as much as I can, get the word out, as much

as I can, disciple as much as we can because of stuff like this,

you know? Yeah.

So good bro. Yeah, and I'll be honest, like

even coming to Miseram, I'll be like, there's been times when

I'm like, man, I is this it? Like, is this the last time?

Is this, you know, do I do I use my time doing something else and

and when I see stuff like that, it's like no.

We just get started for. Like, dude, this is just a few

days out of the year that we get to come and do this.

And yeah, I was like, I wish I could come back three more times

next year, you know, but I can't.

So I'm going to make the most out of the time that we have

now. Yeah.

And it's cool to see the seeds being planted.

Yeah, man. Yesterday I was having a

conversation with Sarah. At the Sarah and.

Zabra and I'm be real she hit me with a question I wasn't ready

for she was like what's your aim in life I was like Dang like

that's like that's the conversation started you're. 15,

yeah. Right.

You know what I mean? Yeah, I'll just be real.

The first thing that came to mind is like, where I want to

serve the Lord the way Pastor Ricky does.

You know what I mean? Like, like I really want to, to,

to finally be obedient to this column that God's put on my

life, you know, And then for her at 1516 being like, I asked her

the same thing. What's your aim in life, bro?

She wants to be a missionary, you know, like, if that doesn't

bear fruit of what city? Post has been doing here right,

you know. What I mean, and that's just

things on Zabra, that's not the 168 other homes that they go and

reach in their community that are out in the mountains and

like really in the trenches, you know what I mean?

Or the home in Herman, you know, and like what they're doing and

you know, God is obviously calling us there more, you know,

so like just what that is going to, what seeds are going to be

planted there and who those kids are going to.

Go and reach exactly. You know, like, yeah, man,

that's just that. Just like turns me up.

No, like, think about this, like, OK, we spend 4 1/2 days

with these kids and, and we're just all the songs we sing, the

worship, you know, we're learning about the life of Peter

and I already talked to my mom. I was like, listen, I, I think

next year our our sessions for the kids, same thing that we're

learning at the church, we're going to do like the gospel.

She was saying that. Yeah, I was like, we, we got to,

we got to get to the heart of this because, and think about it

like, yes, these kids have HIV, but because of Gonzabra, they're

learning, they're getting educated on their medication,

they're taking it when it's supposed to be taken.

They're going to live long, productive and healthy lives.

So they're going to they're going to live and then these

kids are going to be blasted out and you don't know where they're

going. And, and to, to think like maybe

one of the lessons on Peter or one of the messages that we gave

them change their hearts for Jesus and they're going to take

that story and they're going to like, Hey, this like weird

Hispanic church came and hung out with us.

They look like us, not Asian though.

And they like, and they taught me about like following Jesus.

And I want to share this story with you as well.

I mean, we, we say the same thing.

Like when we were at the Jeevan Anan home for girls, we had this

group of like 20 something girls and, and you know, like I had

hard lives, but they don't want to be nurses and teachers and,

and they, they had the opportunity to have that was

like what we taught them, what we poured into them.

Same thing blasted out, you know, country that's 80% Hindu,

you know, 1.2% Christian. It's, it's like, that's my hope.

Like, it's like we don't know the fruit of the stuff that

we're we're sowing. Yeah.

So it's, it's like we're just sending out, man, little

missionaries all over the world. Samuel, like Sam, I've known

this dude since 2021, got married.

You know, he's about to leave. He's gone on a three-year

training mission like with Salvation Army.

And then they told him, like they might put him in an

orphanage. They might send them as a

missionary, who knows? But wherever he goes, City post

is going to support him. I told him I was like, as soon

as you get wherever you send, send me the link.

Like we're going to fund you. We're going to support you.

I'll bring you to the states if I have to, like get your visa,

bring you and your wife like, but that's the that's the kind

of like those are men of God. And I was like, how can we be a

part of the calling that God put on their life 'cause that's what

we do. That's like, that's our

heartbeat. You know, that that excites me.

I get yeah, that that's what brings me joy.

So it's so dope to see you to. Like I love I.

Remember hearing stories. From right.

Yeah, people on their. Trips.

Yeah, yeah. But to experience it in person,

I literally don't have words but.

Yeah. That's why I was running around

with this camera, like, bro, I'll show you all it is.

Yeah, yeah. 'Cause I tell you, you're not

going to believe me, right? I know I try to tell people all

the time. I was like when I try to explain

this trip. So there's, there's always two

types of people that come on this trip.

I'm just going to be 100% real. There's people that come because

they want to travel. They see it as sexy.

I get to go to India, you know, get to go on a flight and they

just want to travel the world and take, you know, selfies and

Instagram pictures and, and I'll be honest, we've had that in the

past and I'm cool with it because I think God could use

any situation to, to teach them. But man, there's people that are

really like curious of like, man, I want to see what this is

like, what is it? What's God doing, you know, and

I think that's great. I think that's healthy.

And I always tell people like, at least try it, you know, go on

missions. If it's not for you, it's not

for you. I'm cool with that, you know,

So, but God, just if you get in his work, you will, like I said

this morning, you will always be satisfied, you know?

Yeah, absolutely. I always tell people like, and

y'all are going to experience this when you get home.

There's about 15% in you that says if I ever get on a plane

again, I better get like never. Like I was like, I need some

time or like, like people ask you like you going back, like

ask me in three months, you know, like because that travel

is rough. But for me, like I always get

this itch, like I'll get home. You get back to life.

I always experience, this isn't me talking.

I always experience like a little bit of depression because

it's like you're in this crazy and run, like go, go, go, go,

go. And then you got to go back to

work. So it's like, what?

What? But you're just like, man, that

was so awesome. Like that was such a good time.

And then but then you start thinking like, man, I don't know

if I can leave again. And then later on, it's like,

all right, I can't wait to see these kids.

Then it's like, hey, when are those dates coming out?

Hey, when can we start fundraising?

Hey, when can we, you know, like it just it just builds its

anticipation. So this is just being honest

like every year that hits me so. That's real bro.

Yeah, it's being honest, Yeah. What a so back to like my

favorite segment. You know what I mean?

My pastor got bars, you know, Ginshabra edition.

You you had a little bit of a tongue twister.

Today I did and the. Serving bro and I.

Tried to do a little play on words.

Yeah, if you want to break that down for for those who who

haven't seen the video that's about to come out.

From that's right now so pretty much I the sermon today was on

Mark chapter 6. It's when Jesus feeds the 5000

Mark 6 · chapter mention

and, and really what I wanted to do was I, I wanted to look at

that story, to look at the character of Christ.

You know, like he's our role model, he's who we look to and,

and you just kind of see who Jesus is in the way that he

serves people, the way that he handles his disciples and the

way the miracle that he gives right And one of those ways.

So yes, Jesus is compassionate and loving because he he didn't

turn people away, but also he's a great teacher.

And what Jesus is calling us to do is that he wants us to teach

the things that he taught his disciples to do, so that way

they could teach the things that he taught them.

Bring that back. Brother, So for us, it's like if

Jesus is our great teacher, you know, he's, he's going to teach

us things, but then he calls us to teach those things that he

taught us that came from his word.

So it's not just storytelling. It's just like God's word, you

know? Yeah, I kind of did that just to

have fun with Sam. That makes sense when he

translates. Because he's translating.

Because I'm going to give a tongue twist.

And I was standing in the back fighting like every impulsive

thought to scream out bars. Didn't know how that would

translate, you know what I mean? I didn't know how Sam was.

Going to be able to translate that one.

He's like, oh, what's going on? And.

Doesn't, Yeah, man, but that was dope.

Bro, no, I just did that to mess with them.

But but that's true. It's like Jesus is a great

teacher and he's doing it so that way.

I mean, he says it in first John 26.

He says it in the Great Commission, you know, teaching

them everything I taught you, you know, like, so we we have a

role and it's to teach everyone the same stuff that Jesus taught

us that is taught in the Bible, you know, and it's like, yeah.

So it's, it's Jesus is passionate, compassionate and

loving. He's an amazing teacher.

He's our great teacher. He's the greatest teacher ever

lived. And he's inviting us to do the

work of his Kingdom. He doesn't need us, but he's

inviting us to to join in on that.

And then at the end we see that everybody that experienced

Christ that day left satisfied, not just physically, but

spiritually as well. Yeah.

And I just saw that. And I was like, that's our call,

man, to live with compassion and love, to teach people what

Christ taught us, to join him in his Kingdom work.

Because if we do that, then we will truly be satisfied.

Yeah. Yeah, to to that sentiment of

being involved in his Kingdom work.

Bro I've had probably like 3 moments on this trip where it's

like hit me like we're sitting tonight at the hermit home

eating this fire Indian slash Mexican fish Taco lot I put

together. Bro just chopping.

Like. Like just laughing and I look

out the window and like, bro, there's a mountain right there.

Like it hit me that I'm 4000 feet above sea level literally

in the in a. Cloud.

Bro right pooping in a cloud ain't nobody.

Pooping in the cloud, son. C Plus church, First church.

Yeah, pooping the clouds. But like that moment, it's like,

God, you really brought me, you know, and I looked it up the

other day, 3483 miles away from my home.

That's crazy. Like this kid from, yeah, the

South side of Fort Worth that, yeah, you know, didn't like even

compute that this was possible. And for whatever reason, you

showed up in undeniable ways for me to get.

Here. Yes, to be a part of this, to

point these kids to you and it's just like, bro, what?

Yeah. Like mind boggling.

It is, I tell people it's always worth it.

Like and something even like just to see God's hand.

I mean, we started fundraising so late.

I'm serious. Like y'all don't understand.

Fundraising usually begins in January.

Like I always tell people like use Christmas like hey, give me

a gift but also donate to my trip.

Like I do that every year and I always use like a bonus I get

for where like I there's things in my my in my life now that I

plan for like I I save up all year now like 20 here, 10 here,

you know, for missions. But to see God provide the way

that he did in such a short time.

Like y'all don't understand like the expenses like how everything

went up like this economy, bro, like there there were things

that went up even for me like, you know, like my cost 'cause I

was like don't no like I'll take care of it.

And I was like, Lord, how we gonna do this?

But to see how God provided. But I also think, and I know we

talked about this and this could be a different but the, the

spiritual battles, the the warfare that happened was

insane. It really was I I I've never out

of all the years I've done this, this has been the hardest year

to get here. It really has like the days

leading up to coming to Gonzabra have been so difficult, man.

And I was like, Lord, you're going to do something.

And and every morning that's my prayer is Lord, keep us from the

evil 1 because I know going home, it's waiting for us

because we had this amazing experience.

So just praying like, Lord, just let don't let it don't just help

us to keep battling it, you know, But yeah, man, just seeing

the provisions of God and and how the church got behind it,

you know, like it's just been beautiful.

Yeah, bro. I'm going to say that for.

Yeah, that's a different yeah. Bro like that's that's so much.

There, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, but a but a closing thought, more of a question.

Yeah. What's been something that God's

shown you on this trip so far? Man, that's a, that's a good

one. Oh man, I think there's been a

few. I think for me, the biggest

thing that God has highlighted is this whole subject of

worship. And it's not just because of

what we experienced today, but this has been kind of like

boiling in my soul the last few months.

And I just think, man, we have a we, we need to change the way we

see worship. I think it's, it's too, and I'm

not, I'm trying not to talk out of my emotions, but I've just,

I've, I've witnessed a change and it's gone from Christ

centered to people centered. Everything is what I sound like,

what I look like. I'm even me as a pastor, like

there's some things that I see that that are my fault, you

know, like where I'm like, no, we got to sound this way and and

it has to be this way. And because of, you know, this

is like, but it, it's not, it's not because it's for the Lord.

There's a vanity there. That's like, because it's city

post church and I need to change like my heart and the way I see

it because like what I've experienced on this trip, like

Romans 12, Holy Spirit blowing up the room with a dude on a

guitar. You know what I'm saying?

That doesn't have an amazing voice, but man, it was just

singing to the Lord. Like there's got to be a shift

in the culture. That's something that the God's

been like just cooking in me, you know, like, and, and I'm

even like I'm at a place where like I'm desperate to have it,

you know, like I'm desperate to see it.

I don't care about all the hooping and the yelling and I

don't care about all what it sounds like.

Like I it's just like a heart posture, you know?

Yeah. So that's, that's me.

Like that's just yeah, that's yeah.

That's a heavy one. How you, how you feeling

processing that? Like what's going through your?

Head man, honestly, I just I'm just asking the Lord like what

that looks like. But also as a pastor, it's not,

you don't come and say this is the way should be.

No, that's not how this works. It's like, how do I disciple

people, you know, like lead by example, you know, And then of

course, prayer. Yeah.

Like it's, it's, yeah. Just praying for the Lord to to

change hearts and attitudes and and viewpoints, you know?

Yeah. So that's, honestly, that's kind

of what I'm I'm seeing. I feel like the Lord is using

these kids. Yeah, to to show me that.

Is it real bro? Yeah, how about you?

Lord. I know there's many, but what's

1? I know like there's there's and

the reason why I, like I said, 'cause we're going to have a

testimony Sunday in a few weeks. I I don't want to spill all the

beans, you know, like y'all got to show for that.

Right. Yeah, I'll, I'll keep it brief

and kind of vague for that in mind.

That's not good. But essentially, like I feel

like God smacked me upside the heads.

Like you get it now, mental. And you see why I've been

calling you here for five years. You see, like what?

What? You've been missing.

Yeah, bro, that's a great way to put it.

Yeah, that's a great way to put it.

Because the the level of intimacy.

Yeah. With the Lord and to see and to

like you know I've said it you know a few times at church and I

said it tonight to the the adults at the the Herman home

but to to physically be the hands feet and voice of Jesus to

these kids, bro and like really standing on with the scripture

saying really like submitting to our leadership.

You know what that looks like bro?

It's just like, I don't know why I resisted it so long.

I don't know why I was afraid of it for so long.

I don't know why I like, I just didn't want it.

Yeah. You know, yeah.

And yeah, man, it's like, I don't know, I got a kick in the

butt. Smack it out of the head.

Like Holy Spirit's like, like. See.

You know, so that's that's that's how I answer that.

What I what I think is cool is, you know, some I see kind of

what you're saying is like how how God takes, how how God takes

like your don't, don't, don't, don't hear me wrong, OK, Just

I'm just trying to like get my words right.

But it's almost like how God takes our coward spirit and

makes it a champion spirit. So like the things that we're

worried about and scared for now he's like, watch this now.

You're going to be a champion for it.

So you're going to be my mouthpiece.

You're going to like tell, you're going to tell about like

the glorious things I've done, the, the, the amazing things

that you saw me do. So when people ask, it's all

going to point to me, you know, like it's amazing how God does

that. You know, it's, it's, it's

awesome. Yeah.

We're all fine back tears right now.

Like it's, it's really, and, and I'm even thinking something I

like that these trips do is how do I take this back to the

church to, to love my people and serve the church?

Like, how do we keep this thing going?

And like, like we're doing Avvs at the end of the month, You

know what I mean? Like there's so many things like

our our small groups come in and.

So it's like, how do we transfer?

Like it doesn't stay in Mizoram. It comes with us and, and it's

how do we implement this in our homes?

You know, like I'm even thinking, but when I get home,

I'm coming home, like I'm coming home to like a lot like work.

Like I, like, I, I've been seeing the emails and I've been

ignoring them. I'm not doing it.

And then just not worried, but like, you know, you're thinking

about the church back at home Sunday, Sunday sermon, like my,

my. And then I'm preaching Sunday

night, Monday morning and Tuesday morning at a camp.

What? Yeah.

So it's at at convencion. Oh, so in, in Cedar Hill.

So it's like all these things where I'm like, Lord, I, I just,

I just need you to give me a word, you know, like, I need you

to give me a word and I need you to help me, like, convey out of

your word. And like, how do I, how do I

bring Miss ROM to these people, you know?

Yeah. So there's a lot coming.

That's exciting though, bro, Like yeah, I know we we got out

of that suffer well series and like something that still just

sticks to me is the refining aspect, bro.

Like and like you're saying what your focus has been on this

year's like your prayer and your preaching.

Now I remember beginning of the year something it just hit me

bro and I was just being real with you.

Like, bro, like this sermon was a different level, you know,

like the prayer life, it's been a different level and it's been

evident in our first Wednesday services and now like our kids

ministry, which man, think about how we finished 2024 going into

2025 with that Christmas service.

Like this has just been preparation and refining that

next level for the kids ministry.

Yeah, man, that's true. Man.

'Cause you get, you see, Yeah, this is like, this is like

training, like, like, like next level training.

Yeah, yeah. I just want to encourage you

with that man. 'Cause that's great.

'Cause it's, I know, like you just said, and you got a lot

coming at. You yeah, it's a lot coming, but

it's a lot of good things. Absolutely.

Absolutely. And that's something like

something I've noticed too is, you know, like went through, I

went through a hard season in December.

I'm not going to lie, like it, it was difficult.

A lot of self doubt, a lot of things that I thought were my

fault, even to the point where I'm like, I don't know if I'm

the guy for this. But when the smoke settled and

just spending time and like just getting into wisdom, like people

like wise. I have you know, I've been

blessed with other pastors that point in my life and I'm like,

Nah, I ain't doing nothing wrong, man.

Like when you lead out of what God's called you to, it's either

going to attract or detract. It's like a magnet and the

people that don't see that they're going to bounce, you

know, and like children, they're going to throw tantrums.

They're going to blame you for ABC and D and I'm like, all

right, bye. You know, like, like, honestly,

that's, that's just, but like those hard times like really

refined me and it, it, it really like toughened me up a little

bit like for gospel ministry. Because now I'm at a point where

when I, when I hear some grumblings and stuff, I'm like,

alright, bye. You know, don't faze me one bit

because it's like, I mean, unless it I'm at fault, but I

just feel like if I am, I'll be the first one to admit it, you

know, because it's scary. Pride will destroy you.

So I'm always the first one to mid fall.

But like, you got to understand that God has called us to this.

Like it's very specific, you know?

So I'm not going like I, I can't get away from it.

Yeah. And there ain't for you, ain't

for you. And that's OK.

And literally, that's OK, It's fine.

You know, it's OK. Yeah, yeah.

Hard feelings. It's all good, you know, So

that's kind of where I'm at with it.

That's awesome, bro. Yeah, that's all I got bro.

Yeah, man, it's just been an awesome time and we cannot wait

to share with the church. Man, we can't wait to get home.

Well, I can't wait a little bit. But, you know, excited.

Yeah. You know, of course you're gonna

see your babies and stuff and you know, it's, it's alright,

but excited to share. There you go, excited to go to

church on Sunday, see everybody and hug everybody and tell them

about the great things God has done.

Psalms 126 Three. I see post we lay all we out.

Peace.