November 10, 2023 • 29 mins
This episode is the testimony of a literal poster child of an evangelical mega church in Arlington TX. From raising money, to saving souls, to being electrocuted in Kenya, to preaching to a football field full of people in Pakistan only to be disturbed by red dots from sniper rifles. Trace Thompson has had an unimaginable past that strangely resembles mine. Buckle up for part one of a nonchalant revisit to a previous life.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Beyond imaginable.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This episode is the testimony of a literal poster child
of an evangelical mega church in Arlington, Texas. From raising
money to saving souls, to being electrocuted in Kenya to
preaching to a football field full of people in Pakistan,
only to be disturbed by red dots.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
From sniper rifles.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Trias Thompson has had an unimaginable past that strangely resembles
my own. Buckle up for a nonchalant revisit to a
previous life. I'm your host, Jimmy Brown, and you're listening
to the unimaginable.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I'm Trace Thompson. I grew up in Arlington, Texas. My
parents met in college at Texas Tech. My mom is
an angel. She has never had a sip of alcohol
in her life. My dad was not an angel. I
don't think, but I don't. He's probably just like a
normal frat guy. But he fell in love with my mom.
I grew up extremely in the church. I think they're
(01:08):
technically Southern Baptist.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It's not.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
It's not the Southern Baptist in the sense that you
can't dance. I was homeschooled until I was in I
don't know. Fifth grade, my mom taught and then the
other you know, the other moms taught. So the kids
would shuffle like I don't know if it was daily
or three times a week, but like we would have
all the kids at my mom's house and then we
(01:31):
would all go to the sawyer's house, and then we
would go to the wine trop's house or whatever, and
all their moms would teach. So I grew up with friends.
It wasn't like and we didn't like make our own clothes.
They were scared of public school because they didn't want
They wanted you to learn creationism. They wanted us to
learn creationism. You know, they felt like the Christian faith
wasn't being taught in the public schools. Creationism is it's
(01:55):
the story of Adam and Eve, and you know, we
didn't come from monkeys. He created humans, and he created
a man, and then he created a woman from the man.
And they don't teach that in school because it's not true.
But it's what they wanted us to learn. They were
all good teachers. We had a curriculum called Rebecca. I
wonder who it's written by, but it's like you had
(02:15):
a full curriculum and you know, you had a Rebecca
math book or Rebecca science book, and you know history
and so on and so forth. I would love to
go back and see what those history books said. And
I guess you can't really like spin math that much.
Math is pretty binary, but the science, I'm sure looking
back at the science books, it's probably hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That experience for me was really good.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I don't think there was very many negatives from being
homeschooled at this time too. Like the Internet was all
coming out and I was on Tumblr and I was like, fuck,
skateboarding is so sick, and I want to like dress
cool and look cool and like New York City is awesome.
So I like, I made friends with this kids, these
kids there that were like skaters, but we had we
(02:58):
had a dress code, so I couldn't really do it.
And I don't know how I met normal kids. I
think my friend Landry, who actually just got married, He
was in public school, but they went to my parents'
church and we hung out a lot, we skated together
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I was like, damn, I.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Want to go to normal school. I was still completely
a Christian, like fully, like we went to church on Sundays.
We went on Wednesdays, you know, we did all the
mission trips locally. Like my dad was a deacon. My
mom was very involved. It was like fully like through
and through Baptiste. So I ended up going to a
public junior high in seventh grade. Hung out with kids
(03:35):
that were like I don't know if a lot of
them are dead now. They're like they odied on heroin
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And so yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
I went to the school called Bailey in seventh grade,
and I decided I liked bowls better. It was another
junior hyeh. Because I started hanging out with these other
kids over there, and I think they had more money
and they were I don't know, I just got along
with them more. So I convinced my mom that I
was getting in too much trouble at Bailey in seventh grade.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I was like yeah, because like I went car hopping
this one time.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Car hopping is whenever, you like, like we were skating
around and we'd check cars for open doors and just
steal shit out of the cars. And I remember my
buddies were doing this and like I was terrified to
do this. I was like, I really don't want to steal.
Like they're like, fuck you. Pussy like poisy. I was like, fine,
I'll go, but I hated it. I didn't never steal anything.
(04:24):
I would just like sit and like I would be
like the lookout, I'll like watch for cops. But I
was so terrified, so I don't know. So I convinced
my mom. I was like, hey, I'm getting in trouble,
like these kids are bad, Like I need to switch schools.
So the superintendent of Arlington Independent School District went to
our church. So my mom went to him and was like,
my son needs to go to a different school. You know,
he's getting in trouble.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Whatever.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
So I got moved to this school, which I kind
of finessed that deal. That was a good deal for me,
and then I ended up staying. I stayed at Bowls
and then went to this school called Martin as a
Public High School, and then ended up graduating from Martin
High School in twenty twelve. Through this whole time, I
was very involved in the church. It's called Fielder Road
about a church. When I was fifteen or fourteen, there
(05:06):
was a mission trip from the church and they were
going to South Africa, and the youth pastor was like
taking interest in me and like he started giving me
attention and was like you should go on one of
these trips, you know, and so I was like, yeah,
that sounds sick. I'm going to do this. And you
have to raise money to go on these trips. So
I was like, okay, I'm going to go raise money.
So I would you write letters? You know, like I
(05:27):
feel like God is calling me to do this thing,
like I want to go save souls. These African children
really need it, like you know whatever. So growing up
in this God as a concept I believed in, but
I was never like gung ho, like like there's a
concept of salvation where you know, like you give your
(05:49):
life up to Christ and you and you live for
Christ's will and like for the Gospel and you're converting
people to Him and like living your life like a
best reflection of Christ that you possibly can. But you're
also taught that you're born a sinner and you're born
fucked up, and like there's this whole shame that goes
into it and sort of like fear monger that you're
you're falling and you need Jesus in order to be
(06:11):
a good person in order to not go to hell.
For eternity et I raise enough money to go to
this trip to South Africa. This was my first time
out of the country. So we go to South Africa
and we're staying in Johannesburg, but we would also go
to the slums. I think it was called, oh Soweto, Yeah,
it's called it's like a real shanty town. But it's massive.
I mean I was fifteen and I remember it being huge.
(06:34):
So everything is made of tan and plastic tape and
whatever all put together. Right, there is no money. They're starving,
you know, they're surviving. They make their own alcohol. It
was gnarly, like they looked fucked up.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
God.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, it was like the craziest images I've ever seen
in my life at that point up like up to
that point in my life, I was fifteen, right, I
was a Christian and believed in God. But I going
there into Soweto, like into those slums out with kids
and like like kids that were like my age or
younger and probably older too, but and then adults.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
But we would go and like sit with churches.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
There and these people were like happier than anyone I
had ever seen in my life. And I was like,
damn this is like this has to be god like.
Like I was at that moment, I was like, oh,
Jesus is real because these people have nothing and they're
happier than anyone I've ever met. And I was I
remember like sitting on this rock and I was like,
this is like I was just like dumbfounded, like my
mind was blown because I had never seen like happiness
(07:31):
like these people had.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So it's like they're the only thing that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And my fifteen year old head was that, oh, like
Jesus is real and He's giving them a reason to
live and they are so happy. And that was like
a pivotal moment in my life. Beyond if you're in
an evangelical church, there's this like infatuation with going to
(07:54):
like third world countries or like the farthest ends of
the earth. The next like really important trip for me
was Kenya and I was I don't know, seventeen sixteen.
At this point, I went alone before everyone else, like
two weeks before everyone else, with all the money. So
I landed there and I was in Nairobi, and then
(08:21):
I flew from Nairobi to.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
God.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
It was like, I don't know, it was in the
middle of nowhere I went. I ended up going to
this town called the Moru. So I landed in this
airport and the power was out from Nairobi, and so
has a sign of my name on it, and it's
like it's just three like big ass African dudes and
they're sitting there with the sign and they don't speak
any English, so they just have a white van and
(08:46):
I just go and get in their van, like having
no idea where I'm going. And we're in the van
and it's like we're in the bush for real, like
there's like nothing out there. So we drive for like
two and a half hours in this van. The power
was out in the airport. I get in this car
with them because they have a sign with my name
on it. They don't speak Enguish.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
I don't know. I don't know who they are. They
probably told me their names.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And we get to this town called the Moor and
where I'm staying at this orphanage where we're building. We're
building another building for the orphanage, and that's what I
had the money for. We're buying supplies, so it was
my job to go early and buy the supplies. So
I get there, they put me in a mud hut.
There's like an orphanage area where all the kids are.
There's like one building and then there's a little kitchen area.
I think those were made of brick. There was mud
(09:27):
huts where I guess the staff stayed. So they put
me in another. They put me in a separate mud hut.
And so I go in. There's a mud hut and
like there's it's like a fucking hammock right with with
a bugnet. It's you know, it's black dark.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I brought.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I would bring my skateboard with me everywhere, so I
like skate around the airports and stuff. It was probably sick,
I don't know, it was like it probably looked cool.
So they put me in the mud hut and I'm
sleeping right and I brought like I don't know, it
was like two cliff bars and fruit snacks or something
like or maybe it was like more aboutever. I brought
some snacks that I hadn't eaten. And the first day
(10:05):
I'm there and like I didn't get anything to eat
that day. I don't think, like whatever, So I was
like whatever, it's fine. They just like whatever. I was
like running around a lot, and you know, we went
into town to try to go find materials to build,
and what I didn't eat that day, so I was like, whatever,
I'm gonna eat these cliff bars and fruit snacks. And
then the next day everyone was eating and they were
(10:26):
eating rice and beans. The adults were eating rice and beans,
and the kids had uglia, so they they so they
gave the kids, I think ugley and some greens, and
then the adults were eating rice and beans. And I
was this is like second day and I hadn't eaten
the first day outside of like cliff bars and fruit snacks,
and they still didn't feed me, or maybe they offered
me like leftover greens or something. I was like, Okay,
(10:48):
these people aren't going to feed me. And I apparently
it was like something to do with like they sort
of put you in your place. By I would not
gonna say they're like starving me, but they weren't feeding me.
They're starving me, So yeah, so I was and I
didn't know what was going on at the time, but
I was hungry and I wasn't eating. In my mud hut,
there was like a separate area where they gave me
(11:08):
like a bucket to wash myself and they gave me
a towel, and so I don't know, it was like
a third day or something. I think I think the
third day they gave me some you mush it with
your fingers. I think it's made of corn. Yeah, it's cornmeal.
It's just cornmeal mush and you and you just mush
it with your fingers and you died it. So I
think they gave me some of that. And I was like, okay,
(11:31):
I'm in a shower at this point, and so they
had that extra like little bathroom thing. It was just
like another little mudroom with a pail and a bucket.
So I get wet and like I washed myself and
they had they had a towel hanging on the wall
and it was on a wire. I didn't bring a
(11:54):
flashlight or anything, and it's a black dark, so I'm terrified.
The first two nights, I'm like, I'm in the middle
of nowhere in Africa, starving, and I don't have any
cell phone service. I don't have a phone, I don't
have any light, and I'm in a mud hut and
there's mosquitoes everywhere. So I'm bathing for the first time
(12:17):
on the third day I'm starving whatever and whatever. I'm frail,
frail child at this point, and they hung a towel
up on a wire. It's an open wire, so I
grab the towel and I'm fucking covered in water and
I get electrocuted and I can't let go of the wire,
(12:38):
and I'm like, damn, they're starving me and they're setting
there booby trapping my mud hut.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's funny because like
I don't know if it's intentional or not, but who
cares at that point, because that's what's happening.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
They're not They didn't they didn't like intentionally electrocute me.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
But I'm like, they could have put it. They could
have put the towel on the ground.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I don't care.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
This is what like that, this sucks, But I was
so happy because Jesus loves me.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Oh yeah, I mean at the end of the day, like,
I mean, you're the chosen one, and like, by God,
Jesus is down outside with angels at the door and
he's got you covered.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So yeah, I don't know. That sucks.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
It was crazy. Being all extrocuted is crazy. It's I
feel like it I don't know if it hurt that bad.
I think it probably hurt pretty bad, but I couldn't
let go. It feels really crazy. The next trip was Pakistan.
Pakistan I was seventeen, so I must have been sixteen
(13:42):
in Kenya. Pakistan, I was seventeen. Pakistan's crazy. I've no
one should have ever let me go to Pakistan. I
should not have gone to pack like you like, Okay,
you can't go to Pakistan as an American without there's
like specific visas that you have to get. So we
we like lied and said we had a it was
a work visa or something. I don't remember the exact
visas that you can legally go for, but anyways, we
(14:05):
lied and said that we were going on whatever legal
visa that it was, and they approved it.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Whatever, I was on the hor it's near it's it's
the eastern border of Pakistan. By the time we get there,
they already have posters of me, and like the two
other preachers, paste it all over Pakistan, which is a
bad look because there's Taliban and they don't like white
(14:31):
people and they don't like Christians.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It was me.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
It was at this point it looked like justin bieber
like me with like tight pants on it. Like it
was like it was probably like my high school pictures
or something.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Okay, So they had these posters up of me.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
It was like me and it was probably my high
school photo like and then I think there was two
other preachers. One was like my age and then one
was the guy that I was working for. So it's
a terrible look to have posters up if you're a
white Christian in Pakistan trying to convert Muslims, because that's
(15:07):
extremely illegal. There's extremist groups in Pakistan that don't want
Christians to come and try to convert their people because
they have no like white people have no business doing that.
It's also like a death sentence in some families to convert,
so you're if you're going there and you're converting people,
then you could be killing people actively, you're basically killing people.
(15:29):
I'm on a poster across Lahore, a big city in Pakistan,
saying that I'm coming to preach the Christian gospel, which
is I like, I don't know why my parents let
me go there or why the church would ever go there,
but it's for the glory of God. And I'm at
this point, I'm like invincible in my head, like I'm
(15:51):
chosen by God. I survived all this shit. Like there's
like if I die in Pakistan, so be it. I'm
going to heaven, Like I've done my work and I'm
going to keep doing it. There's no way that I'm
going to be scared of this rip. So I go
there and we're staying in this We're saying this hotel
it was like a nice hotel and the whore and
(16:12):
it was sick because there was kids there that would
skip school. There was a shisha lounge in the hotel,
so during the day we couldn't really leave because it
was dangerous. So they would transport us around in a
van with like dark windows, and we would go to
we would like go to spots that we were preaching
or go to like local churches that we were going to,
and a lot of them were like, I guess what's
(16:33):
called the country.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
In my head, it was the country, like it was
outside of the city and it was beautiful. Pakistan's beautiful,
like they the architecture there is beautiful, but it was
like farmers and more rural people. Right the kids there
would skip school and come to smoke shisha and they
were cool. They were like the politics like we would.
They were like my age at that point, and we
were talking about politics and talking about like the world
(16:55):
and talking about religion, and it was sick because I
was like, damn, these kids are just like me. They're
skipping school and they're going to smoke shisha and like,
you know, there it was like really good conversations, like
really formative conversations for me in my worldview at that point, right,
I think we were talking about religion and just like
race and like me being white and being there, and
(17:15):
what it's like to grow up in America and what
their experience was like growing up in Pakistan and the
Internet and like all like how all the how the
internet plays into just sharing information and you know, being
free to talk to other people in the world, and
how that was influencing their culture, like things like Tumblr
and stuff like that, Like it's very influential and it
gives you insight into what's happening all over the world. Right,
(17:38):
So it was cool to like I related with these
kids like heavily, and those were some of the coolest
conversations that I've had going overseas at all, like during
that whole experience, like it was cool. Like I was like, damn,
I made friends here and they're just like me.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
And did they did those kids know that they're those
posters up?
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Oh? I don't know if they I don't know if
they've seen the posters. They knew why I was there.
I told them while I was there, So that was cool.
We say that hot tell it. But then so we
couldn't go out during the day because it was dangerous,
but we would go. So we would leave in vans
and they would take us to a site that we
were going to maybe preach or whatever work with the church, right,
And they took me to this spot and it was rural,
(18:19):
and I was I was like telling my testimony. A
testimony is how you came to christ. It's like what
like like how the Gospel changed your life and what
it means to you and why people should follow the
Gospel and convert to Christianity.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So that's what we would do.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
We would go and share testimony and then maybe give
a message like some some scripture and like you know,
some biblical message about why you should be a Christian.
And in the front roll there is this girl, this
beautiful girl who was probably my age, and I had
this bracelet, and I gave her this bracelet. In that culture,
(18:52):
it's like not a trivial act. So I gave her
this bracelet and I talked to her. I don't need
even know if she really spooked English, but we were
whatever communicating. And well, actually, as I was leaving, it
was dark. We had guides that were taking us around
to make sure we were going on safe routes and
(19:13):
that we weren't going into dangerous areas. And you know,
they would tell us which alley's to walk down and
which alley's not to walk down and get us to
the car safely.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Well, these guards, folks that.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Were on the inside, yeah, they I don't know if
they were undercover Christians, but they had a job to
protect us, so that they were doing their job. I'm
guessing they must have been Christians, because otherwise, I don't know,
they probably would have.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Killed us or something, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like So I was walking out of this place, this
place where I gave the girl a bracelet, and we
were walking down this alley and I started seeing people
on roofs and there's red dots like across. It was
an alleyway and there's like, I don't know whatever the
construction is. It looked like clay. The walls were clay,
but there's like red dots around the alleyway. And now like, damn,
(20:02):
I'm about to get smoked, Like I'm about to get
my headbone off of the shotgun. So we start so
the guard the guards they're like, it's fine, like they
no one was panicking.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I was like, Okay, I'm not gonna panic. So whatever.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I make it out of the alleyway. I didn't get smoked.
We get into the van. At that point, I didn't
really process that. I was just like, oh, that's crazy.
And then we get in like we make it back
to the hotel. We make it back to the hotel,
and the next day, the guy that I travel with
is like, hey, the father of the girl you gave
the bracelet to is offering cows for marriage. So he
(20:35):
was he was trying. He was trying to get me
to marry his daughter. And I felt terrible because I
didn't like, obviously that wasn't like like he was offering
dowry and I wasn't that wasn't a proposal by me.
I was just like, oh, this girl is cute and
cool and nice.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Whatever.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
I'm going to give her my bracelet because that's the
thing that she hasn't had. But and I was just
like a seventeen year old kid, like flirting, right, But
that was it was not it was not that.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
It was not a simple act. And I was like, oh.
I felt terrible.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
And they came up to you the next day and
he was like, do you want to marry this girl?
I was like I don't think I do?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know, like it was like.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
How many? How many?
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I'm twelve cows and town and I'll take the girl.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
You're like, let me go see them caddle.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
I call my granddad faced on. My Grandad's like some
good cows, Like what.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Do you think you think? Hold her head? I want
to go across to ship those things.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So whatever, And they gave me the option. They were like,
do you want to marry this girl? And I was
like do I like maybe? And I was like she
come back to America with me, it'd probably be hard
for her. Whatever.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
So he didn't get married, and I felt so bad.
I took a lot of photos of all these trips.
During this time. I should find I hit my hard
drive because it's so terrible for me to look at
it just brings up a bunch of bad memories. Anyways,
we didn't get married, so that was scary walking down
the alleyway and there was like beams shining because I
could have got smoked and I thought it might so
(22:14):
whatever the like. We were there for two weeks or so,
and then the next like big event that happened there
we were we were preaching to It was a whole
soccer field, like a filled up. It wasn't I don't
want to say it's a stadium, but it was. It
was like the size of football field. And it was
me preaching. So we were on stage and it was miked.
There was two or three backup generators, and we were
(22:34):
talking this is like what the posters were advertising. So
I was there preaching like I had built a message,
like I had like all like all this written notes.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It was a proper sermon. I was preaching.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
And they were like so, and there was snipers or
there was whatever, like they're actually fucking snipers, sore. There's
snipers on the roof, like around the soccer field. There's
a few of them, and we're told that they're there
for our protection, and there's guns everywhere there and like whatever,
Like I'm not scared of guns. I grew up with
guns and grew up hunting and stuff, so it was
like a relatively normal thing for me. Then it was
(23:08):
like what I also, I truly was not scared to die,
Like I really believed that I was doing God's work
and that if I didn't.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And so these snipers were These snipers were there because
there was posters up and they knew you were there,
and they were like, we're gonna take this guy.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I don't know, Well, we were told they were there
to protect us in case anything went down, you know,
so so.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You didn't know whether it was unclear to you what, like.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Why I trusted that they were there, I wasn't. I
truly wasn't scared. I was like, I don't know like that.
It sounds crazy, but I just believed that we were protected,
like you're told you're protected by God and whatever happens happens, right,
And like I knew if I died at that point,
I was going to heaven and I was doing what
I was called to do.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So I didn't I really didn't care.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I've had a background similar to yours, where I believe
that Jesus was always there, always my back, no matter
what situation I got myself into, and that actually probably
led me into a lot more opportunistic situations and I've
ever been in because there was no fear, but you know,
because I really believe that I was covered.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
I think a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Of you know, a lot of reasons why people don't
get into more opportunities is because they procrastinate, or they
have fear about what the outcome would be, or they
just think about it too much, and by the time
they thought about it too much, the opportunity may have
already gone. And it's interesting to me to hear about
your experience with that because you're literally walking down an
(24:33):
alleyway where there's red dots flashing in front of you
and all around you, and you're actually unclear about whether
they're protecting you or whether they're going to kill you.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
But at the same time.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Most people were not.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
I don't think those people were supposed to protect me
because we didn't. We were not told there was any
security there.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But it's like that was It is funny. It is
really funny. I mean funny is not the right word,
but it's wild to think that you're in that situation,
you know, Oh.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And at the time I was like, fuck yeah, this
is sick, Like, man, this is sick, dude, Like if
I die, I don't care, and this is crazy, Like whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Quick question, No, why why is your every time you
come across a situation where it's dicey or risky, You're
always like, man, this is sick.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
I don't know. I think you've got to risk it
all to win big.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
You're like, but where that come from? Like that is that?
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Like how did you end up feeling like like if
you had to say, like why why do you think
that way?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I don't know. I feel like this is like such
a like this is.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Just how my that's a loadly questioned, but I'm just
saying like like it's like it's it's there's not many
people that think that like that. I think I think
like that, but I'm like, you know, like it's like
you're like you're like.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Whatever, fuck it.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
There's like lizers and there's people guns, and I'm in
the country my posters on the one thing, and You're like,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It's just know that's life. That's that's like, that's that's
full on life.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
That's like you're you're like in there, you're like fully
experiencing it, you know. Like yeah, like that intensity is
like truly where I thrive and that's what may be
a good fighter. I think, like I thrive on like intensity.
Like I don't know, like I feel so alive in
those situations, right, did Right? I don't really want to
be in those situations anymore. Well, I don't know, maybe
(26:19):
I do.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I don't know. This sounds fun. Yeah, the end of
the story is crazy. So I'm preaching.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
So we're in the soccer field, Like the main event
of what the posters were advertising is a big It's
like a whole event, Like there's a.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I don't know, I like it.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
What how many how many people does a football field fit?
Sitting cross legged? They were all like squished in. I
have no idea A lot thousands of people there. I'm
on a stage preaching. There's three backup generators. There's snipers
on the roof, like multiple probably a five ish, and
I'm told they're there for my security, which I believe
(26:54):
I had already preached and I don't know what time
it was, but it was evening.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
It was dark.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
The power shuts off, which should have never happened because
they had multiple backup generators. So it's it's dark outside
that there's not like street lights. There's not a lot
of street lights there where we were, there weren't, so
you know, the power goes out. The power should not
have gone out. There was backup generators to make sure
everything was good. So the power goes out and the
security is like, oh shit, like something is wrong, right,
(27:20):
So they go up to us and they're like, if
anyone comes on stage, protect yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And we're in chairs on stage. So I'm sitting there.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
At this point I am scared, Like I hadn't been
scared this whole trip until this point, because I'm like, oh,
this is like something is really happening here.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Like the power goes out, it's not supposed to.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
The snipers can't see so if they are actually there
to protect me, they're not going to smoke anyone for
me because they probably can't see them if they could, like.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I don't know why they would, like I'm a white boy.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
So so I'm sitting there waiting for someone to come
up on stage and try to whatever shoot or stab me,
like waiting to like donkey kick someone. Nothing happens, and
then shots start popping off, and the shots start popping
off and I don't hear them.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I don't think they shot necessarily at me. But I
started running in the car.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
How did you not? How do you not hear them?
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm I heard the shots pop off. I didn't hear
a bullet land around me. I didn't hear a ricochet
like I didn't. I didn't feel.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So you felt me like pops in the background but nothing.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
No, it wasn't in the background. They were there, but
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
But you were so But why were you so?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
You're waiting for a bullet to land in order for
it to y Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
What well?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
No, So I start when I hear when I hear
shots start popping off, I start running because at that
point I'm like, oh, we're getting.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Like we were getting shot at right.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
I didn't get shot, and I didn't hear a bullet
land next to my foot or hit my chair. But
I'm oh, like, this is like people are shooting and
they're not shooting at each other, you know what I mean. So,
like we're so I'm running, I go hop a fence,
run back to the van. That's it's not far. It's
probably like, I don't know, thirty yards or something over
a fence. I run back to the vand we all
make it back to the van. We get in, they
(28:59):
train what is back to the hotel. But well, the
sermon ended. There was no more preaching and then but
like during this time, like we were converting all these people,
and people definitely died because of the words that I said.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Unimaginable
Beyond imaginable.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This episode is the testimony of a literal poster child
of an evangelical mega church in Arlington, Texas. From raising
money to saving souls, to being electrocuted in Kenya to
preaching to a football field full of people in Pakistan,
only to be disturbed by red dots.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
From sniper rifles.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Trias Thompson has had an unimaginable past that strangely resembles
my own. Buckle up for a nonchalant revisit to a
previous life. I'm your host, Jimmy Brown, and you're listening
to the unimaginable.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I'm Trace Thompson. I grew up in Arlington, Texas. My
parents met in college at Texas Tech. My mom is
an angel. She has never had a sip of alcohol
in her life. My dad was not an angel. I
don't think, but I don't. He's probably just like a
normal frat guy. But he fell in love with my mom.
I grew up extremely in the church. I think they're
(01:08):
technically Southern Baptist.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It's not.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
It's not the Southern Baptist in the sense that you
can't dance. I was homeschooled until I was in I
don't know. Fifth grade, my mom taught and then the
other you know, the other moms taught. So the kids
would shuffle like I don't know if it was daily
or three times a week, but like we would have
all the kids at my mom's house and then we
(01:31):
would all go to the sawyer's house, and then we
would go to the wine trop's house or whatever, and
all their moms would teach. So I grew up with friends.
It wasn't like and we didn't like make our own clothes.
They were scared of public school because they didn't want
They wanted you to learn creationism. They wanted us to
learn creationism. You know, they felt like the Christian faith
wasn't being taught in the public schools. Creationism is it's
(01:55):
the story of Adam and Eve, and you know, we
didn't come from monkeys. He created humans, and he created
a man, and then he created a woman from the man.
And they don't teach that in school because it's not true.
But it's what they wanted us to learn. They were
all good teachers. We had a curriculum called Rebecca. I
wonder who it's written by, but it's like you had
(02:15):
a full curriculum and you know, you had a Rebecca
math book or Rebecca science book, and you know history
and so on and so forth. I would love to
go back and see what those history books said. And
I guess you can't really like spin math that much.
Math is pretty binary, but the science, I'm sure looking
back at the science books, it's probably hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That experience for me was really good.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I don't think there was very many negatives from being
homeschooled at this time too. Like the Internet was all
coming out and I was on Tumblr and I was like, fuck,
skateboarding is so sick, and I want to like dress
cool and look cool and like New York City is awesome.
So I like, I made friends with this kids, these
kids there that were like skaters, but we had we
(02:58):
had a dress code, so I couldn't really do it.
And I don't know how I met normal kids. I
think my friend Landry, who actually just got married, He
was in public school, but they went to my parents'
church and we hung out a lot, we skated together
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I was like, damn, I.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Want to go to normal school. I was still completely
a Christian, like fully, like we went to church on Sundays.
We went on Wednesdays, you know, we did all the
mission trips locally. Like my dad was a deacon. My
mom was very involved. It was like fully like through
and through Baptiste. So I ended up going to a
public junior high in seventh grade. Hung out with kids
(03:35):
that were like I don't know if a lot of
them are dead now. They're like they odied on heroin
and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
And so yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
I went to the school called Bailey in seventh grade,
and I decided I liked bowls better. It was another
junior hyeh. Because I started hanging out with these other
kids over there, and I think they had more money
and they were I don't know, I just got along
with them more. So I convinced my mom that I
was getting in too much trouble at Bailey in seventh grade.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I was like yeah, because like I went car hopping
this one time.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Car hopping is whenever, you like, like we were skating
around and we'd check cars for open doors and just
steal shit out of the cars. And I remember my
buddies were doing this and like I was terrified to
do this. I was like, I really don't want to steal.
Like they're like, fuck you. Pussy like poisy. I was like, fine,
I'll go, but I hated it. I didn't never steal anything.
(04:24):
I would just like sit and like I would be
like the lookout, I'll like watch for cops. But I
was so terrified, so I don't know. So I convinced
my mom. I was like, hey, I'm getting in trouble,
like these kids are bad, Like I need to switch schools.
So the superintendent of Arlington Independent School District went to
our church. So my mom went to him and was like,
my son needs to go to a different school. You know,
he's getting in trouble.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Whatever.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
So I got moved to this school, which I kind
of finessed that deal. That was a good deal for me,
and then I ended up staying. I stayed at Bowls
and then went to this school called Martin as a
Public High School, and then ended up graduating from Martin
High School in twenty twelve. Through this whole time, I
was very involved in the church. It's called Fielder Road
about a church. When I was fifteen or fourteen, there
(05:06):
was a mission trip from the church and they were
going to South Africa, and the youth pastor was like
taking interest in me and like he started giving me
attention and was like you should go on one of
these trips, you know, and so I was like, yeah,
that sounds sick. I'm going to do this. And you
have to raise money to go on these trips. So
I was like, okay, I'm going to go raise money.
So I would you write letters? You know, like I
(05:27):
feel like God is calling me to do this thing,
like I want to go save souls. These African children
really need it, like you know whatever. So growing up
in this God as a concept I believed in, but
I was never like gung ho, like like there's a
concept of salvation where you know, like you give your
(05:49):
life up to Christ and you and you live for
Christ's will and like for the Gospel and you're converting
people to Him and like living your life like a
best reflection of Christ that you possibly can. But you're
also taught that you're born a sinner and you're born
fucked up, and like there's this whole shame that goes
into it and sort of like fear monger that you're
you're falling and you need Jesus in order to be
(06:11):
a good person in order to not go to hell.
For eternity et I raise enough money to go to
this trip to South Africa. This was my first time
out of the country. So we go to South Africa
and we're staying in Johannesburg, but we would also go
to the slums. I think it was called, oh Soweto, Yeah,
it's called it's like a real shanty town. But it's massive.
I mean I was fifteen and I remember it being huge.
(06:34):
So everything is made of tan and plastic tape and
whatever all put together. Right, there is no money. They're starving,
you know, they're surviving. They make their own alcohol. It
was gnarly, like they looked fucked up.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
God.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, it was like the craziest images I've ever seen
in my life at that point up like up to
that point in my life, I was fifteen, right, I
was a Christian and believed in God. But I going
there into Soweto, like into those slums out with kids
and like like kids that were like my age or
younger and probably older too, but and then adults.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
But we would go and like sit with churches.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
There and these people were like happier than anyone I
had ever seen in my life. And I was like,
damn this is like this has to be god like.
Like I was at that moment, I was like, oh,
Jesus is real because these people have nothing and they're
happier than anyone I've ever met. And I was I
remember like sitting on this rock and I was like,
this is like I was just like dumbfounded, like my
mind was blown because I had never seen like happiness
(07:31):
like these people had.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So it's like they're the only thing that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And my fifteen year old head was that, oh, like
Jesus is real and He's giving them a reason to
live and they are so happy. And that was like
a pivotal moment in my life. Beyond if you're in
an evangelical church, there's this like infatuation with going to
(07:54):
like third world countries or like the farthest ends of
the earth. The next like really important trip for me
was Kenya and I was I don't know, seventeen sixteen.
At this point, I went alone before everyone else, like
two weeks before everyone else, with all the money. So
I landed there and I was in Nairobi, and then
(08:21):
I flew from Nairobi to.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
God.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
It was like, I don't know, it was in the
middle of nowhere I went. I ended up going to
this town called the Moru. So I landed in this
airport and the power was out from Nairobi, and so
has a sign of my name on it, and it's
like it's just three like big ass African dudes and
they're sitting there with the sign and they don't speak
any English, so they just have a white van and
(08:46):
I just go and get in their van, like having
no idea where I'm going. And we're in the van
and it's like we're in the bush for real, like
there's like nothing out there. So we drive for like
two and a half hours in this van. The power
was out in the airport. I get in this car
with them because they have a sign with my name
on it. They don't speak Enguish.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
I don't know. I don't know who they are. They
probably told me their names.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
And we get to this town called the Moor and
where I'm staying at this orphanage where we're building. We're
building another building for the orphanage, and that's what I
had the money for. We're buying supplies, so it was
my job to go early and buy the supplies. So
I get there, they put me in a mud hut.
There's like an orphanage area where all the kids are.
There's like one building and then there's a little kitchen area.
I think those were made of brick. There was mud
(09:27):
huts where I guess the staff stayed. So they put
me in another. They put me in a separate mud hut.
And so I go in. There's a mud hut and
like there's it's like a fucking hammock right with with
a bugnet. It's you know, it's black dark.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I brought.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
I would bring my skateboard with me everywhere, so I
like skate around the airports and stuff. It was probably sick,
I don't know, it was like it probably looked cool.
So they put me in the mud hut and I'm
sleeping right and I brought like I don't know, it
was like two cliff bars and fruit snacks or something
like or maybe it was like more aboutever. I brought
some snacks that I hadn't eaten. And the first day
(10:05):
I'm there and like I didn't get anything to eat
that day. I don't think, like whatever, So I was
like whatever, it's fine. They just like whatever. I was
like running around a lot, and you know, we went
into town to try to go find materials to build,
and what I didn't eat that day, so I was like, whatever,
I'm gonna eat these cliff bars and fruit snacks. And
then the next day everyone was eating and they were
(10:26):
eating rice and beans. The adults were eating rice and beans,
and the kids had uglia, so they they so they
gave the kids, I think ugley and some greens, and
then the adults were eating rice and beans. And I
was this is like second day and I hadn't eaten
the first day outside of like cliff bars and fruit snacks,
and they still didn't feed me, or maybe they offered
me like leftover greens or something. I was like, Okay,
(10:48):
these people aren't going to feed me. And I apparently
it was like something to do with like they sort
of put you in your place. By I would not
gonna say they're like starving me, but they weren't feeding me.
They're starving me, So yeah, so I was and I
didn't know what was going on at the time, but
I was hungry and I wasn't eating. In my mud hut,
there was like a separate area where they gave me
(11:08):
like a bucket to wash myself and they gave me
a towel, and so I don't know, it was like
a third day or something. I think I think the
third day they gave me some you mush it with
your fingers. I think it's made of corn. Yeah, it's cornmeal.
It's just cornmeal mush and you and you just mush
it with your fingers and you died it. So I
think they gave me some of that. And I was like, okay,
(11:31):
I'm in a shower at this point, and so they
had that extra like little bathroom thing. It was just
like another little mudroom with a pail and a bucket.
So I get wet and like I washed myself and
they had they had a towel hanging on the wall
and it was on a wire. I didn't bring a
(11:54):
flashlight or anything, and it's a black dark, so I'm terrified.
The first two nights, I'm like, I'm in the middle
of nowhere in Africa, starving, and I don't have any
cell phone service. I don't have a phone, I don't
have any light, and I'm in a mud hut and
there's mosquitoes everywhere. So I'm bathing for the first time
(12:17):
on the third day I'm starving whatever and whatever. I'm frail,
frail child at this point, and they hung a towel
up on a wire. It's an open wire, so I
grab the towel and I'm fucking covered in water and
I get electrocuted and I can't let go of the wire,
(12:38):
and I'm like, damn, they're starving me and they're setting
there booby trapping my mud hut.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's funny because like
I don't know if it's intentional or not, but who
cares at that point, because that's what's happening.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
They're not They didn't they didn't like intentionally electrocute me.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
But I'm like, they could have put it. They could
have put the towel on the ground.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I don't care.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
This is what like that, this sucks, But I was
so happy because Jesus loves me.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Oh yeah, I mean at the end of the day, like,
I mean, you're the chosen one, and like, by God,
Jesus is down outside with angels at the door and
he's got you covered.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So yeah, I don't know. That sucks.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
It was crazy. Being all extrocuted is crazy. It's I
feel like it I don't know if it hurt that bad.
I think it probably hurt pretty bad, but I couldn't
let go. It feels really crazy. The next trip was Pakistan.
Pakistan I was seventeen, so I must have been sixteen
(13:42):
in Kenya. Pakistan, I was seventeen. Pakistan's crazy. I've no
one should have ever let me go to Pakistan. I
should not have gone to pack like you like, Okay,
you can't go to Pakistan as an American without there's
like specific visas that you have to get. So we
we like lied and said we had a it was
a work visa or something. I don't remember the exact
visas that you can legally go for, but anyways, we
(14:05):
lied and said that we were going on whatever legal
visa that it was, and they approved it.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Whatever, I was on the hor it's near it's it's
the eastern border of Pakistan. By the time we get there,
they already have posters of me, and like the two
other preachers, paste it all over Pakistan, which is a
bad look because there's Taliban and they don't like white
(14:31):
people and they don't like Christians.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It was me.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
It was at this point it looked like justin bieber
like me with like tight pants on it. Like it
was like it was probably like my high school pictures
or something.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Okay, So they had these posters up of me.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
It was like me and it was probably my high
school photo like and then I think there was two
other preachers. One was like my age and then one
was the guy that I was working for. So it's
a terrible look to have posters up if you're a
white Christian in Pakistan trying to convert Muslims, because that's
(15:07):
extremely illegal. There's extremist groups in Pakistan that don't want
Christians to come and try to convert their people because
they have no like white people have no business doing that.
It's also like a death sentence in some families to convert,
so you're if you're going there and you're converting people,
then you could be killing people actively, you're basically killing people.
(15:29):
I'm on a poster across Lahore, a big city in Pakistan,
saying that I'm coming to preach the Christian gospel, which
is I like, I don't know why my parents let
me go there or why the church would ever go there,
but it's for the glory of God. And I'm at
this point, I'm like invincible in my head, like I'm
(15:51):
chosen by God. I survived all this shit. Like there's
like if I die in Pakistan, so be it. I'm
going to heaven, Like I've done my work and I'm
going to keep doing it. There's no way that I'm
going to be scared of this rip. So I go
there and we're staying in this We're saying this hotel
it was like a nice hotel and the whore and
(16:12):
it was sick because there was kids there that would
skip school. There was a shisha lounge in the hotel,
so during the day we couldn't really leave because it
was dangerous. So they would transport us around in a
van with like dark windows, and we would go to
we would like go to spots that we were preaching
or go to like local churches that we were going to,
and a lot of them were like, I guess what's
(16:33):
called the country.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
In my head, it was the country, like it was
outside of the city and it was beautiful. Pakistan's beautiful,
like they the architecture there is beautiful, but it was
like farmers and more rural people. Right the kids there
would skip school and come to smoke shisha and they
were cool. They were like the politics like we would.
They were like my age at that point, and we
were talking about politics and talking about like the world
(16:55):
and talking about religion, and it was sick because I
was like, damn, these kids are just like me. They're
skipping school and they're going to smoke shisha and like,
you know, there it was like really good conversations, like
really formative conversations for me in my worldview at that point, right,
I think we were talking about religion and just like
race and like me being white and being there, and
(17:15):
what it's like to grow up in America and what
their experience was like growing up in Pakistan and the
Internet and like all like how all the how the
internet plays into just sharing information and you know, being
free to talk to other people in the world, and
how that was influencing their culture, like things like Tumblr
and stuff like that, Like it's very influential and it
gives you insight into what's happening all over the world. Right,
(17:38):
So it was cool to like I related with these
kids like heavily, and those were some of the coolest
conversations that I've had going overseas at all, like during
that whole experience, like it was cool. Like I was like, damn,
I made friends here and they're just like me.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
And did they did those kids know that they're those
posters up?
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Oh? I don't know if they I don't know if
they've seen the posters. They knew why I was there.
I told them while I was there, So that was cool.
We say that hot tell it. But then so we
couldn't go out during the day because it was dangerous,
but we would go. So we would leave in vans
and they would take us to a site that we
were going to maybe preach or whatever work with the church, right,
And they took me to this spot and it was rural,
(18:19):
and I was I was like telling my testimony. A
testimony is how you came to christ. It's like what
like like how the Gospel changed your life and what
it means to you and why people should follow the
Gospel and convert to Christianity.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So that's what we would do.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
We would go and share testimony and then maybe give
a message like some some scripture and like you know,
some biblical message about why you should be a Christian.
And in the front roll there is this girl, this
beautiful girl who was probably my age, and I had
this bracelet, and I gave her this bracelet. In that culture,
(18:52):
it's like not a trivial act. So I gave her
this bracelet and I talked to her. I don't need
even know if she really spooked English, but we were
whatever communicating. And well, actually, as I was leaving, it
was dark. We had guides that were taking us around
to make sure we were going on safe routes and
(19:13):
that we weren't going into dangerous areas. And you know,
they would tell us which alley's to walk down and
which alley's not to walk down and get us to
the car safely.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Well, these guards, folks that.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Were on the inside, yeah, they I don't know if
they were undercover Christians, but they had a job to
protect us, so that they were doing their job. I'm
guessing they must have been Christians, because otherwise, I don't know,
they probably would have.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Killed us or something, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like So I was walking out of this place, this
place where I gave the girl a bracelet, and we
were walking down this alley and I started seeing people
on roofs and there's red dots like across. It was
an alleyway and there's like, I don't know whatever the
construction is. It looked like clay. The walls were clay,
but there's like red dots around the alleyway. And now like, damn,
(20:02):
I'm about to get smoked, Like I'm about to get
my headbone off of the shotgun. So we start so
the guard the guards they're like, it's fine, like they
no one was panicking.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I was like, Okay, I'm not gonna panic. So whatever.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I make it out of the alleyway. I didn't get smoked.
We get into the van. At that point, I didn't
really process that. I was just like, oh, that's crazy.
And then we get in like we make it back
to the hotel. We make it back to the hotel,
and the next day, the guy that I travel with
is like, hey, the father of the girl you gave
the bracelet to is offering cows for marriage. So he
(20:35):
was he was trying. He was trying to get me
to marry his daughter. And I felt terrible because I
didn't like, obviously that wasn't like like he was offering
dowry and I wasn't that wasn't a proposal by me.
I was just like, oh, this girl is cute and
cool and nice.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Whatever.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
I'm going to give her my bracelet because that's the
thing that she hasn't had. But and I was just
like a seventeen year old kid, like flirting, right, But
that was it was not it was not that.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
It was not a simple act. And I was like, oh.
I felt terrible.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
And they came up to you the next day and
he was like, do you want to marry this girl?
I was like I don't think I do?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know, like it was like.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
How many? How many?
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I'm twelve cows and town and I'll take the girl.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
You're like, let me go see them caddle.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
I call my granddad faced on. My Grandad's like some
good cows, Like what.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Do you think you think? Hold her head? I want
to go across to ship those things.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So whatever, And they gave me the option. They were like,
do you want to marry this girl? And I was
like do I like maybe? And I was like she
come back to America with me, it'd probably be hard
for her. Whatever.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
So he didn't get married, and I felt so bad.
I took a lot of photos of all these trips.
During this time. I should find I hit my hard
drive because it's so terrible for me to look at
it just brings up a bunch of bad memories. Anyways,
we didn't get married, so that was scary walking down
the alleyway and there was like beams shining because I
could have got smoked and I thought it might so
(22:14):
whatever the like. We were there for two weeks or so,
and then the next like big event that happened there
we were we were preaching to It was a whole
soccer field, like a filled up. It wasn't I don't
want to say it's a stadium, but it was. It
was like the size of football field. And it was
me preaching. So we were on stage and it was miked.
There was two or three backup generators, and we were
(22:34):
talking this is like what the posters were advertising. So
I was there preaching like I had built a message,
like I had like all like all this written notes.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It was a proper sermon. I was preaching.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
And they were like so, and there was snipers or
there was whatever, like they're actually fucking snipers, sore. There's
snipers on the roof, like around the soccer field. There's
a few of them, and we're told that they're there
for our protection, and there's guns everywhere there and like whatever,
Like I'm not scared of guns. I grew up with
guns and grew up hunting and stuff, so it was
like a relatively normal thing for me. Then it was
(23:08):
like what I also, I truly was not scared to die,
Like I really believed that I was doing God's work
and that if I didn't.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And so these snipers were These snipers were there because
there was posters up and they knew you were there,
and they were like, we're gonna take this guy.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I don't know, Well, we were told they were there
to protect us in case anything went down, you know,
so so.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You didn't know whether it was unclear to you what, like.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Why I trusted that they were there, I wasn't. I
truly wasn't scared. I was like, I don't know like that.
It sounds crazy, but I just believed that we were protected,
like you're told you're protected by God and whatever happens happens, right,
And like I knew if I died at that point,
I was going to heaven and I was doing what
I was called to do.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So I didn't I really didn't care.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I've had a background similar to yours, where I believe
that Jesus was always there, always my back, no matter
what situation I got myself into, and that actually probably
led me into a lot more opportunistic situations and I've
ever been in because there was no fear, but you know,
because I really believe that I was covered.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
I think a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Of you know, a lot of reasons why people don't
get into more opportunities is because they procrastinate, or they
have fear about what the outcome would be, or they
just think about it too much, and by the time
they thought about it too much, the opportunity may have
already gone. And it's interesting to me to hear about
your experience with that because you're literally walking down an
(24:33):
alleyway where there's red dots flashing in front of you
and all around you, and you're actually unclear about whether
they're protecting you or whether they're going to kill you.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
But at the same time.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Most people were not.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
I don't think those people were supposed to protect me
because we didn't. We were not told there was any
security there.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
But it's like that was It is funny. It is
really funny. I mean funny is not the right word,
but it's wild to think that you're in that situation,
you know, Oh.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And at the time I was like, fuck yeah, this
is sick, Like, man, this is sick, dude, Like if
I die, I don't care, and this is crazy, Like whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Quick question, No, why why is your every time you
come across a situation where it's dicey or risky, You're
always like, man, this is sick.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
I don't know. I think you've got to risk it
all to win big.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
You're like, but where that come from? Like that is that?
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Like how did you end up feeling like like if
you had to say, like why why do you think
that way?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I don't know. I feel like this is like such
a like this is.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Just how my that's a loadly questioned, but I'm just
saying like like it's like it's it's there's not many
people that think that like that. I think I think
like that, but I'm like, you know, like it's like
you're like you're like.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Whatever, fuck it.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
There's like lizers and there's people guns, and I'm in
the country my posters on the one thing, and You're like,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It's just know that's life. That's that's like, that's that's
full on life.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
That's like you're you're like in there, you're like fully
experiencing it, you know. Like yeah, like that intensity is
like truly where I thrive and that's what may be
a good fighter. I think, like I thrive on like intensity.
Like I don't know, like I feel so alive in
those situations, right, did Right? I don't really want to
be in those situations anymore. Well, I don't know, maybe
(26:19):
I do.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
I don't know. This sounds fun. Yeah, the end of
the story is crazy. So I'm preaching.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
So we're in the soccer field, Like the main event
of what the posters were advertising is a big It's
like a whole event, Like there's a.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I don't know, I like it.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
What how many how many people does a football field fit?
Sitting cross legged? They were all like squished in. I
have no idea A lot thousands of people there. I'm
on a stage preaching. There's three backup generators. There's snipers
on the roof, like multiple probably a five ish, and
I'm told they're there for my security, which I believe
(26:54):
I had already preached and I don't know what time
it was, but it was evening.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
It was dark.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
The power shuts off, which should have never happened because
they had multiple backup generators. So it's it's dark outside
that there's not like street lights. There's not a lot
of street lights there where we were, there weren't, so
you know, the power goes out. The power should not
have gone out. There was backup generators to make sure
everything was good. So the power goes out and the
security is like, oh shit, like something is wrong, right,
(27:20):
So they go up to us and they're like, if
anyone comes on stage, protect yourself.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And we're in chairs on stage. So I'm sitting there.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
At this point I am scared, Like I hadn't been
scared this whole trip until this point, because I'm like, oh,
this is like something is really happening here.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Like the power goes out, it's not supposed to.
Speaker 4 (27:36):
The snipers can't see so if they are actually there
to protect me, they're not going to smoke anyone for
me because they probably can't see them if they could, like.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I don't know why they would, like I'm a white boy.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
So so I'm sitting there waiting for someone to come
up on stage and try to whatever shoot or stab me,
like waiting to like donkey kick someone. Nothing happens, and
then shots start popping off, and the shots start popping
off and I don't hear them.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I don't think they shot necessarily at me. But I
started running in the car.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
How did you not? How do you not hear them?
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm I heard the shots pop off. I didn't hear
a bullet land around me. I didn't hear a ricochet
like I didn't. I didn't feel.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So you felt me like pops in the background but nothing.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
No, it wasn't in the background. They were there, but
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
But you were so But why were you so?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
You're waiting for a bullet to land in order for
it to y Yeah?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
What well?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
No, So I start when I hear when I hear
shots start popping off, I start running because at that
point I'm like, oh, we're getting.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Like we were getting shot at right.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
I didn't get shot, and I didn't hear a bullet
land next to my foot or hit my chair. But
I'm oh, like, this is like people are shooting and
they're not shooting at each other, you know what I mean. So,
like we're so I'm running, I go hop a fence,
run back to the van. That's it's not far. It's
probably like, I don't know, thirty yards or something over
a fence. I run back to the vand we all
make it back to the van. We get in, they
(28:59):
train what is back to the hotel. But well, the
sermon ended. There was no more preaching and then but
like during this time, like we were converting all these people,
and people definitely died because of the words that I said.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Unimaginable
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