October 6, 2025 • 55 mins
A Night of Breakthrough: Testimonies, Worship & Transformation in Gary, Indiana
In this episode, host Omar Calvillo interviews Pastor Daniel Rivera from Restoration House in Gary, Indiana. Pastor Daniel shares the harrowing spiritual battles he faced while trying to tell his testimony, including spiritual attacks, adverse weather and personal obstacles. The podcast also highlights a transformative event where various ministries came together in Gary, Indiana, for a concert that featured worship, Christian hip hop, and impactful testimonies. The event not only brought spiritual healing but also provided financial blessings and community support. Discover the divine connections that made this event possible and how it touched countless lives, turning darkness into light.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
From the city of Chicago, a citymost recently known for its
crime and violence from thispodcast.
We will be sharing stories ofredemption from individuals
raised in the tough streets ofChicago and from around the
country.
Some of them were gang members,drug dealers, incarcerated
victims, and perpetrators ofviolence.
(00:36):
Listen to my guests as theyshare their experiences,
struggles, trauma, but also thestrength, hope, faith, and
perseverance these havedeveloped in them to keep
pushing and moving forward inlife.
Tune in to hear how their liveshave gone, from darkness to
light, and from wrong to strong.
Omar (01:04):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
From Wrong to Strong podcast.
I'm your host.
My name's Omar Calvio.
Uh, tonight we're doing a Zoominterview.
Uh, so my guest tonight joiningus all the way from, uh, Gary,
Indiana, is Pastor DanielRivera.
Uh, he's a, a lead pastor atRestoration House out in Gary.
(01:25):
Uh, they're doing a, a, aamazing work as far as ministry.
I'm gonna let him.
Uh, jump on and tell us exactlywhat, what he does there.
For those of you who might notknow of him, uh, we did a
interview a while back.
It was maybe about a year ago.
Uh, but Pastor Daniel, uh, droveout here and that, that was a
interesting, uh, part of thestory as well when he came out
(01:45):
here.
Um, it was almost like the enemydidn't want him to share his
story.
You know, we were experiencingall type of attacks spiritually.
Even the weather.
A crazy storm.
I remember when he, uh, parkedin, in front of the house,
jumped out of his truck and justto run into my house, got all
soaked.
Oh, matter of fact, I, I, I, Istill owe you a shirt, brother.
(02:06):
I have your shirt here.
But anyways, you know, uh,welcome to the podcast, pastor
Daniel.
Uh,
Daniel (02:10):
Rivera.
Thank you.
Thank you, brother.
I appreciate you having me on.
Omar (02:15):
Man.
But yeah, that, that was aninteresting, uh, uh, story that
day.
You know what, WWI, I, I knowthat wasn't our intention to
start there, but, uh, I, I, Iknow you were very, uh, uh,
hesitant in sharing yourtestimony, and I believe it, it
was a fight that day.
I don't know.
You wanna share your perspectiveon the battle that you
experienced, just, you knowSure.
To get your story out there.
Daniel (02:34):
Sure.
So on that day, uh, it wasactually, it was tough for me
because I knew that this wasthe, gonna be the first time
that I had the privilege ofsharing my testimony o on the
airwaves where anyone andeveryone could see it.
And not that I was ashamed ofthe gospel in any means by any
means.
Uh, however, I had no idea.
(02:55):
To what extent or to who, uh,this would be seen or who, who
could see it?
Uh, because as I had mentionedin the interview, um, I had
shared my testimony many times,but never have I shared it in
front of, uh, the family of the,uh, gentleman that I was
responsible for taking his lifewhen I was 17 years of age.
(03:17):
And so I just wanted to be very,uh, considerate that it may be
their first time hearing it.
I didn't want it to come offlike it was no big deal to me.
I didn't want it to come offlike, uh, I had no remorse or
like, it was just, uh, anotherday.
Uh, it was tough for me toshare, uh, that day.
(03:38):
Um, and yeah, like you said,when I got there, it was, it
started off rough.
Uh, just getting outta myvehicle, making my way to your
door.
I think I had to park just onehouse down.
Uh, from there to your frontdoor, I was soaked.
It was raining real, real hardthat day.
And so you blessed me with a,with a wrong to strong shirt
that day.
It was perfect, not, I would'vebeen just sitting there, uh,
(04:01):
being interviewed in a sopping,uh, sopping wet T-shirt.
But yeah, that's, that's whatmade that day tough was it was
the first time that I was gonnabe sharing this with not, uh,
without knowing who, who might,who might be on the other side
of the lens.
Omar (04:15):
I gotcha.
And, and even, uh, that, that,that's your, that's just, uh,
like what you were experiencing.
Uh, but remember when you gothere, like, I was experiencing
my own stuff, you know?
Uh, not, not to, not to get intodetails, but there was, I was
being pulled in anotherdirection with a, like a family
emergency.
Uh, but it was, it was kind oflike a, a spiritual, uh, uh, uh,
attack as well.
Yeah.
But, uh, yeah, so it started offwith that.
(04:36):
So I remember Pastor Dan came,we, we, we started praying for,
for, for that situation.
And then, uh, man, we decided toget into his testimony.
So, yeah, you know what?
I'm gonna put a link, uh, tohis, uh, testimony to the, the
podcast interview that we did.
I'm gonna put it in, in the shownotes, uh, so you guys could go
back and hear his, uh, histestimony and to what he's doing
(04:57):
now.
Uh, but so eventually, you know,we, we got his story out there.
It went out there, uh, peoplebegan to listen to it.
So I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll letyou share, uh, the, this part of
the story, uh, how, how thepodcast ended up.
Being shared with somebody who'sall the way out, out in, um, is
it Tucson?
I believe so.
Right.
Tucson, Arizona.
(05:19):
Tucson, Arizona.
Yeah.
I had, I, I, I, did you wannashare that part?
Daniel (05:22):
Sure.
So I, I had no idea, right?
Like I said, no, once, once, uh,once you, uh, do something like
a podcast, it can go anywhere.
And, and, uh, little did I knowthere was a good brother by the
name of Jaime was Cazares outin, uh.
Tucson, Arizona, who becameaware of the podcast and
watched, uh, the interview.
(05:44):
I'm not sure if it was becauseyou were, you had, uh, uh, plans
of interviewing him or how thatworked, how he became aware of
it nonetheless, uh, God wasworking in the midst of it.
And on that day, he tuned in andhe saw my interview.
And it just so happened thatJaime is originally from the
same area where I caught, uh, mycase, where I, where I was, uh.
(06:07):
Where, where I, um, got introuble at.
And, and the story was sosimilar to his brother's story
that, uh, he couldn't, he saidhe couldn't help but finish
watching it.
And by the end of the story, hemade a statement to his wife.
He said, I don't know why, but Ifeel like I'm supposed to meet
this guy and, and we're supposedto do some kind of work
together.
(06:27):
And, um, it wasn't long later,he was, he was coming out to,
uh, the Chicagoland area and itwas, uh, to be interviewed.
Um, by yourself.
And, um, he, he decided to stopby just to meet me there at the,
uh, at the restoration house inGary.
And we, we talked for a littlebit and, uh, we just kind of hit
it off.
We clicked.
It was like we knew each other,however we just met.
(06:50):
And, uh, uh, fast forward, Idon't know how long, brother, it
feels like it was almost.
Month, eight months, a yearlater, he was, uh, calling me up
and he was telling me, Hey, I,um, I, I normally, uh, do
ministry out in Fort Wayne,Indiana.
We normally, uh, do a freeconcert, uh, and share the
(07:11):
gospel message out in FortWayne.
But this year that, uh, venuewas not available and he just
asked him, what do you thinkabout us bringing the.
Bringing the concert to Gary,man, without hesitation.
I said, man, absolutely man,come on out.
And I had no idea what thatlooked like.
I was just excited aboutsomebody wanting to do something
in the town that I love, youknow?
I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
(07:33):
And so, uh, for the next fewmonths we, we, we, we, we
talked, we planned, we prayed,uh, um, and man, come August
23rd of this past summer, man,the, the concert went on and,
and you know, you were there andit was just.
An amazing time, man.
And so just to look back and seehow God used, uh, how God used
(07:56):
his testimony to reach someoneway out in Arizona, um, to
eventually come together withthe individual and then, uh, do
an outreach concert ministry,uh, in Gary, Indiana to reach
the loss.
And it was amazing.
Omar (08:14):
Oh, yeah, man.
And, and you know what, uh, uh,when, when, um, I, I believe it
was through Mike, uh.
Petrovic.
Daniel (08:20):
That's correct.
Omar (08:20):
I, I believe, uh, Jaime knows him.
His family.
I believe so somehow He, he, Ibelieve that's how he heard of
the podcast, or You're right.
Started watching
Daniel (08:30):
him.
You're right.
You know Mike Petrovic.
It's interesting.
You good brother, man.
Wow.
What God is doing in that man'slife today.
Uh, but Mike, at that time, uh,way back then, Mike was, uh,
was, was residing at therestoration.
That was the program that I, Ihave the privilege of pastoring
over, uh, helping men transitionfrom.
(08:51):
Uh, incarceration back into, uh,society.
And, and Mike was, was there fora season and it was Mike, um,
Jaime happens to be Mike'sbrother-in-law.
And so, yeah, I forgot aboutthat.
So that was also part of it.
And Mike also did his testimonyhere on.
Strong.
And so, yeah.
God, God had been orchestratingthis in, in multiple ways to
(09:13):
bring it together.
You're right.
I forgot about that.
Omar (09:15):
Amen.
And, and, and, uh, it is crazybecause, uh, when, uh, me and
you, obviously we shared this inour interview, but we met back,
I believe it was in 2008.
We were going to church togetherfor, for a couple years.
Yeah.
You know, I went my way, youknow, uh, you know, when went my
way back to Chicago and, uh, welost contact for a lot of years,
then we, we reconnected.
Yes.
(09:35):
And, and you're like.
You know what, uh, I don't wannashare my story on the podcast,
but I'll connect you withsomebody who I think you should
interview.
That's when I drove out to therestoration house and I
interviewed Mike Petrovic.
Hello, this is Michael Petrovic.
I did a testimony with Wrong andStrong, my brother Omar
Calvillo, uh, Chicago Podcast.
(09:58):
what the Lord has done sincethat testimony, man, I've, I've
gotten married.
I got, I got my own place.
I got a car, man, a certifiedcommunity health worker, peer
specialist, mental health firstaider a non.
Group facilitator.
So my wife and I can facilitatefor people that's struggling in
(10:22):
mental health.
So the Lord just keeps, keepsgrowing and growing and growing
and pushing me further as, aslong as I'm submitting to him.
So, um, man, my heart's in, inreentry and, and, and reaching
out to the prisoners, reachingout to the addicts.
I'm sober coming up on twoyears.
Hallelujah.
(10:43):
So, um, yeah, the Lord's doing alot of work in me.
Since the testimony and uh, um,and I'm just grateful, that's
all I can say is I'm grateful,but, uh, wrong to strong my
brother Omar Calvillo and to allthe brothers and sisters that
have done wrong to strong,that's involved in that man, God
bless you.
I love you man.
(11:04):
All grace.
All grace.
And to, to the Lord JesusChrist.
there and, but then I told you, Hey man, later on I want to
get you, and then eventually wegot yours.
And then, uh, what, what's, uh,what, what, what I, what, what
tripped me out about PastorJaime Cazares is that he said he
was listening to your interviewand he, he couldn't put the
phone down.
And what made me laugh, he saidthat he even took it in the
(11:26):
shower.
He said, he said he was taking ashower with the phone.
He said, man, how you, how youtake a shower with the phone?
There's like, oh man, I got alittle holder there.
And he said, he, when theinterview, he said, got outta
the shower, got dressed.
He came out the bathroom stillwatching and his wife's like,
man, what you doing?
She like, man, it's thisinterview.
There's, there's something aboutit.
Like, I, I just can't put itdown.
(11:46):
And, uh, that was your, yourstory and, um, to me.
Uh, well, one thing that, that Ilove since I started doing this
is just the divine connections.
Like this has been like a, agateway, a a connection maker, I
dunno, however you wanna put it,but it, it is been a blessing.
I've been blessed by it and, uh,and, and the, the blessings, uh,
(12:08):
not just for me, but even like.
For you to connect with'em andjust for the, for the body of
Christ, from everywhere, fromIllinois, Indiana, Arizona.
Just the way God's moving andkind of putting the pieces
together, to me, it, it'samazing and I'm just, uh, I'm
excited to, to be a part ofthat.
Daniel (12:27):
You're absolutely right, brother.
I, you know what, uh, if I had,uh, maybe if I had written this
down, I would've thought aboutall, you're right.
This actually started way backin 2008.
Uh, when I first met you, when Ifirst came out of prison, uh, we
were going to a church in EastChicago, Indiana, and that's
where you and I first, uh, gotconnected and, and, and got to
(12:48):
know one another.
And our wives got to know oneanother and.
Uh, became good friends, andlike you said, life happens and
we, we parted ways for a littlewhile, but, uh, but God, God
knew right?
God knew.
Um, one day he was gonna bringall these pieces together to do
something amazing to, to, tomake music, literally, right?
(13:10):
Yeah, no, you're right aboutthat.
That's, that's, uh, that'samazing when I think about that
Omar (13:15):
man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, uh, uh, so Pastor Jaimelistened to the interview.
Flew out here and we, uh,visited with you, we were able
to do the interview in person.
So that, that, to me, that wasamazing that he, he would, uh,
pay to fly out here just to doall that.
And, uh, not only that, goingback to the reason we, we we're
doing this interview is to talkabout how these divine
(13:36):
connections led to an event.
And I want, I want you to touchon that.
'cause I believe, if I'mmistaken, this might be.
This might have been the firsttime that you did something like
this.
So let, let me ask you, how,how, how, how was that for you
to, to, to organize, to puttogether the, the, this event
especially,'cause you had a lotof pieces from not, not, not,
not just, uh, from like yourarea, like you, you know, like
(13:58):
people coming in from, fromArizona.
'cause uh, pastor Jaime did,didn't come by himself, you
know, so you, if you wanna shareall that.
Daniel (14:04):
Yeah.
Well, let me just give thecredit where the credit is due.
Um, the Holy Spirit, right?
Because yeah, I, I have never, Ihave never been a part of
anything.
This, uh, big for me, this washuge.
Uh, you're right.
There were so many moving parts.
I mean, um, Jaime with, uh, theconnection to the various
artists.
(14:25):
I mean, on that day we had, uh,uh, brother Mike Servin was
there.
Uh, uh, Bobby Bendito was there.
Third day was there, MOG wasthere.
Um, so, so Jaime was connectedto all of them.
So he, he kind of worked onbringing, uh, the, the
musicians, the artists, uh, tothe concert.
So I really have to work onthat.
(14:46):
But, um, uh, under his tutelage,because Jaime, Jaime has.
Done these events before.
He gave me some, uh, somepointers and things to, to, to
think about and some things toplan on.
And between him, but mostimportantly, through
inspiration, man, honestly, Ifeel like every time everywhere
I turned, God was opening adoor, uh, met, I met, uh, I, I
(15:08):
knew, uh, you know, pastorIndio, his brother, uh, David
has a ministry that, that they,um, that they do out of, um,
Seymour, Indiana.
They, they travel, they travelto, to anywhere that, uh, if
there's any catastrophes orthings like that, they, they
come on site with, with a, witha trailer where they can open it
(15:29):
up and it becomes a stage andthey do worship and they feed
the people.
I mean, this, this trailer'sfully equipped, right?
And so through Pastor Indio,because, uh, because of our
relationship with him, um.
I told him what I was workingon.
He's like, well, my brother hasall of this.
And through Pastor Indio, hisbrother came out, brought the
stage, uh, the, the stage, thetrailer opened up to a stage,
(15:52):
brought the food, uh, truck.
So that was taken care of.
Uh, pastor Indio, uh, providedfood, so we were able to feed, I
mean, I don't know how many, howmany tacos came out of that, out
of that food truck, but it wasnonstop.
Everybody ate, everybody gotfood.
It was like the, it was like thetwo fish in the five loaves,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, it waseverybody.
(16:14):
There was food left over.
There was so much food.
Um, um, let's see.
So there was differentministries, a bible way who was
so kind to allow us to usetheir, their, their, uh, their
church for the venue.
Um, man, I'm, I'm, I'm sure I'mgonna miss somebody, but it was
just, just like you saidearlier, divine connections,
just relationships that had beenformed in the body of Christ.
(16:37):
Um, brothers just comingtogether, the body of Christ
coming together, believing thatwe were gonna reach the lost or
the hurting or the broken inGary, Indiana.
Um.
Yeah.
Just for everybody bringing inthe resources God provided them
with and putting them togetherand, and we were able to just,
uh, see God move.
Omar (16:57):
Amen.
Amen.
It, it was, uh, networking in,in the Kingdom, like you
mentioned.
I, when I release this, I'mgonna see how I, I'll attach it,
but I'm gonna attach somepictures and some of the, the
footage we, uh, I, I went outthere to take some video.
I was able to record, as far aslike them singing music.
I, I, to be honest, I, I don'tknow how that's gonna work.
'cause I know like if I, if Iput it like on YouTube or
(17:18):
something, like if it's music,they might try to block it.
So I'm, I'm gonna see, maybe ifI just put a little clip here
and there, you know,'cause I,sometimes when I load music up
there, they'll, they'll get ablock and then you gotta get
like a license.
You gotta have a license to postthe music.
But I'm gonna see if I put the,the clips out there, even if I
just put, put'em.
Just so they could see the, the,the, the artists that were
(17:39):
there.
Uh, but man, they, there, therewas a worship, uh, Christian
rap, uh, hip hop.
Yeah.
You mentioned, the networkingwith Pastor Indio.
Uh, these are connections that,that I knew Pastor Indio all the
way from back then as well.
Probably since like 2006,somewhere around there.
Him and his family, they got abig family, all, all involved in
(17:59):
ministry.
So it, it, it was awesome tosee, uh, the body of Christ, uh,
come together.
Daniel (18:04):
Yeah.
He had, yeah, go ahead.
I was just gonna say, you know,pastor Indio, who now today is a
senior pastor Right.
Come Alive church in Portage,Indiana.
But um, yeah.
Way back when we knew him, hewas the youth pastor at our
church.
Right.
Yeah.
Doing amazing thing with ouryouth today who are grown
adults, priest.
And, and still loving Jesus.
(18:25):
Amen.
Amen.
Omar (18:26):
Amen.
My name is Pastor Indio.
I'm from Kama Life FamilyChurch.
And I, I have an honor comingalong with Water Walkers
Restoration House, MOG out here,man.
Just ministry to the city ofGary.
I'm out here with M-O-S-M-O-S,was able to bring a few trailers
and it just kind of join us tolove on people and love this
community.
Listen, we are believing for thetransformation of Gary, Indiana.
And I am just completely honoredjust to be a part of what, what,
(18:50):
what God is doing here on theearth and what an honor it is to
be able to serve his people andlove his people.
So Danny, we love you.
We are here.
We're gonna partner with you todo what God has called you to
do.
And I believe as we cometogether, the kingdom comes
together, the church comestogether to fulfill God's
purposes here on Earth.
So come on, let the kingdom comeand as we will be done here in
Gary, Indiana, God bless, welove you guys.
Daniel (19:12):
Um, you know, but I, I was just thinking about, you
know, the Bible talks about theparts of the body, right?
And, uh, and how we are to use,uh, our, our uh, our gift with
the measure of faith that wehave.
And just seeing, just seeingthat come to fruition, just
seeing the different people.
I mean, I know that I'mforgetting there was so many
(19:34):
different ministries.
That showed up.
I mean, restoration house, wewere, we were doing parking lot
duty.
We were just picking up trash.
We were just, I mean, just thedifferent moving parts, uh, to,
to see this come together.
I have a feeling that whetheryou do video or steal clips, uh,
people will begin to see howmany people were actually there.
(19:54):
I mean, people gave their livesto the Lord.
Most important, there werepeople who reconciled with our
Lord and Savior.
There were people who, for thefirst time, gave their life.
To Jesus Christ.
Our families were reconciled,ministries were, were united.
I mean, it was, it was just anawesome, uh, an awesome display
of God's kingdom at work.
Omar (20:17):
Amen.
Amen.
It was, and, and, uh, there werealso, um, the, there was the,
the spiritual aspect, like youmentioned, salvations, uh,
people dedicate their lives tothe Lord, but, but also, man,
what, what I love, I know.
Of the, the, the financialblessings that they were giving
as well, man.
Like I know you want to touch onthat, right?
Daniel (20:34):
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
So the, so, so Tucson, Arizonashowed up not only with, with,
uh, with artists, um, musicians,but they also showed up with
their pockets full to give away,man.
So they came and they wereblessing people with money for
their, uh, utilities.
I, I think, I think the, thebiggest winner was I think a
(20:54):
$500.
Gift card to be able to usetowards their utilities.
Uh, they were given out, uh, ahundred dollars gift cards that
I don't, I don't wanna, I don'twanna misstate the truth, but I
know there were, there were somelarge gift cards, a hundred
dollars, I think one was$200.
There were several$50, some$25.
I mean, just gift cards.
(21:15):
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Then maybe this next girlreally, really blessed.
We gotta, Patricia.
Oh, she twice.
(21:41):
We're gonna.
They were, their intention was to come not only
to, so.
Uh, spiritually, as you say, butthey, they came to sow into the
city of Gary, Indiana.
I mean, oh my God, I've never,I've never been a part of
something to see so many peoplecome and just, uh, it it, it
(22:03):
reminds me of the book of Actswhen they just came and laid
everything at the apostles feet,right?
Everybody had everything incommon.
I mean.
That day we had everythingtogether, you know, and we still
do in, you know, in in, in ourrelationships.
However, on that day, it was ondisplay.
On that day, it was for peopleto receive, people utilizing
their own generators and, uh,just all kinds of, uh, of, of
(22:27):
wonderful things.
But yeah, I'm glad you broughtthat up.
There were people who wereblessed financially.
People who went home that dayand were in, they came.
They came because they saw freeconcert free food.
They came and didn't realizethat God would answer prayer
that day for those like, I don'tknow how I'm gonna pay this
bill.
Omar (22:45):
Yeah.
Oh, amen.
And you know what, like, uh, alot of times we, miss that, you
know, like, I know the, the mostimportant is like, like we talk
about here on this podcast allthe times, the spiritual sharing
the gospel with man, some, somepeople they need that financial,
you know, that at that momentwith the struggles and all that,
that makes a difference.
And that's a way of showing loveas well.
Daniel (23:05):
Absolutely.
You know, I've heard it saidlike this, people don't care how
much you know until they knowhow much you care.
Right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it was clear to these people.
They didn't know'em.
These, these artists came fromall over, man.
And they came with their own, ontheir own dime.
And they came in with, with,with, with pockets to give, man.
I mean, who does that?
Right?
God's people.
(23:25):
That's who does that.
Omar (23:26):
Amen.
Exactly, man.
Somebody who's uh, um, who'sbeen touched by God, who knows
what God could do in their livesand they just wanna.
Uh, give of the blessings theyreceive, you know?
Well, one of my prayers hasalways been, God bless me to be
a blessing.
And that's what I've seen ondisplay, uh, with pastor, uh,
Jaime Cazares.
Uh, I know he brought his wife,his children, I believe it was a
(23:48):
couple of his children.
Uh, and then the whole team thathe brought, uh, men of God, uh,
third day, the mouthpiece, Ibelieve is his name.
Daniel (23:55):
And
Omar (23:55):
I think you mentioned, I'm, I'm gonna miss a, a lot of
these names, but there was apeople,
Daniel (24:00):
uh, uh, Mike Ervin.
Yeah, they were, they werethere, man.
It was, uh, it was amazing.
And, and they, and they, andthey did it.
They, they served, uh, um, likeselflessly, selflessly,
selflessly.
Like, like, man, they werethere.
Like they knew the people theywere coming to minister to, but
reality, none of them were fromthere.
Omar (24:19):
Yeah,
Daniel (24:20):
man.
Omar (24:21):
You know, what could, could I ask you this?
Um, um, I know a lot of peoplehave this perception, especially
like with music, especially witha rap.
Like, uh, there, there, there'ssome believers in the body of
Christ that look at it like in anegative way.
Daniel (24:37):
Yeah.
Omar (24:38):
Uh, I don't know if, if previously you've ever
encountered any, uh, Christianhip hop artists or any Christian
rap artists and, uh, maybe what,what was your, um.
Perspective before, and maybenow that you met them, I guess
what did you see?
Because, uh, the reason I, Idon't know why that question
comes to my mind.
'cause, uh, I, I know a lot ofpeople, you know, on social
(25:00):
media, they, they kind of look,oh, you know, these people are,
are just out to, to get on astage.
They just wanna sing.
But from what I've experiencedpersonally, man, like you
mentioned everything we justtalked about, how they fly out
with their own dime.
To just, to, to sow, to sharethe gospel, to give up their
time, to give up their financesand, and man, the, the lyrics
(25:23):
and the songs, I mean, seriouslyenough.
But I, I wanted to get your takeon that.
Daniel (25:28):
You know, you bring up a good point.
'cause the truth be told, Godknows the truth.
No sense for me to tell theotherwise.
I don't typically listen, listento Christian rap.
I, I typically don't, uh,probably for various reasons.
Uh, some suffer for mesometimes.
Is too close to what I rememberbefore Christ.
Right.
But let me, let me, let me go,let me go on record as saying I
(25:52):
was, my opinion has changed,right?
Uh, my opinion has changed thatthese, these artists came.
And they ministered the gospelmessage.
Anybody who was there wasministered to listen.
They didn't only come in musicthat these people broke.
These people, uh, shed theirhearts.
(26:12):
I mean, they, they, they, theypoured their heart, they shared
their testimony.
They talked about what God didin their life as they were
talking about the next song.
They were like, this is where Iwas at when, when God did this.
And, and man, I mean, one ofthem, Bobby Bendito came with
his daughter, told about a.
Powerful testimony ofreconciliation, restoration of
(26:32):
healing, and, and now God isusing what was once broken as a
beautiful tandem, I mean, fatherand daughter, and, and man,
they, you would think they'dbeen doing it for 30 plus years,
man.
It was just, it was, it was.
It was, how should I say,synchronized through the Holy
Spirit.
It was woven well through theHoly Spirit man.
(26:55):
Yeah.
I, I have a differentperspective today of, of, uh,
gospel rap.
Remember all the drugs?
The drugs I never knew was theysay I'm here.
When heart was just cold, likethe winner to all my brothers
(27:17):
and my sisters in the Lord.
Don't stop.
Keep knocking.
He won't open up the door.
Look, he came to him like hesaid he would.
Same God, same service, sametruth.
It all good?
Yeah.
Look, and if you don't know, getto know.
(27:48):
Hey,
i'm more open to it.
I, I guess that's just aproblem.
I wasn't really listeningbefore, but, um, now I'm, I'm,
I'm, man, I'm, I'm just as mucha, a, um, an advocate as anyone
else is today.
Uh, yeah.
The men, the, the music was.
Ministering.
It was very good.
(28:08):
Every one of them.
I mean, I, these, these, listen,they came to share music, but
what I didn't know was, man,they came to bring the, the,
the, how should I say?
They came with intention, man,listen.
One of the artists stoppedtalking about.
Music and just began to call thechildren forward and began to,
(28:29):
uh, uh, uh, just pray over thechildren of the city because he
knew how important it was thatwe, we, we forsake not, or we
forbid not that the childrencome unto the Lord.
He was praying over them andpraying their purpose, uh,
praying their, you know, uh.
:Protection over what God hadpurpose for them.
Parents, adults, stretch yourhand toward these kids.
(28:52):
Don't be too cool.
Come on now.
Father God, in the name ofJesus, we thank you for these
children, father God, and Ispeak your grace.
I speak your mercy.
Father God, I speak your favorover these children.
Father God, I ask you to helpthem become the men and women of
God that you called them to be.
Father God protect their earsand their eyes, father God and
(29:15):
their mouth Father.
Yes.
Let no harm come upon them.
Father, make them into the menand women of God.
You call them to be, place theirfeet as where you have placed
them to be.
We love you and we thank you forthem.
Father God let their minds notbe corrupted by the things of
his world, father God, but theybecome who you call them to be.
(29:38):
And Jesus said, we pray.
Amen.
Make some.
And, and then he was calling forth marriages and I
mean, man, this, this is aconcert.
This man is, is telling themhusbands and wives to grab hands
and he's pronouncing blessingover their marriage.
I mean, they came and ministeredto the City of America.
It was amazing.
Omar (29:59):
Amen.
That's definitely what they allwere, um, ministers of the
gospel, uh, sharing theirtestimony.
And you, know, what I seen onthem, and uh, anointing man.
Yeah.
I know you mentioned Bobby andhis daughter.
Yeah.
Like the, the dual of himrapping and, and her, uh, what
would you say more?
Uh, I don't know, r and b kindof, uh, gospel singing was like
(30:19):
a good tandem and just like the,the anointing like you
mentioned, like on their family
She remembers the, the, thecops, the prison sentences, the
fights.
She was there, but it's onlybecause of his grace that we can
stand here and testify todaythat Jesus truly does say, good.
My Lord is sat.
I don't know how well to thankyou, but I'm want to stop right
(30:41):
here, right now by telling youI'm grateful.
I'm thankful for your person.
I'm so thankful that you heardme.
I'm alive right here, right now.
You said working.
I'm still in awe.
Still in shock.
You, me.
See, that's a price that I cannever pay it off down at the
cost, and all I have to say iswe're so, so grateful, Lord.
(31:25):
Man.
Hey, what's up?
This your boy Bobby Bandito outhere at Gary, Indiana with water
walkers and all the other menand women of God out here for
the Gary Revival for allgenerations.
Uh, I just wanted to send upword for encouragement to
anybody out there right nowwho's watching this to know
that, look, when we cometogether as a body of Christ,
the way that he intended, we canhave an impact no matter the
(31:46):
region, no matter the community,no matter the city, no matter
the region.
I just wanna give someencouragement to say, keep your
head up in the mighty name ofJesus.
God can do.
Anything but fail.
He could do all things but fail.
So in the mighty name of Jesus,I just wanna say, what's up from
Gary, Indiana?
That's.
And everybody there, uh, Mike Seban Yeah.
(32:06):
As well.
You know, like a lot of peopleknow him for break dancing and
screaming, oh, Jesus Christ.
Right?
But, but then when he shares thestory behind that, oh man, of
why he says that.
That's
Daniel (32:17):
right.
Omar (32:18):
If, if you guys haven't heard his testimony, you guys
gotta go and, and, and, andlisten to the reason why he says
that.
But one day I'm in the middle ofthe street doing the noodle.
You ever see that?
People, you ever see'em, thepeople in the middle of the
streets just they can't getahold of their, their motor
skills.
You know what they're doing?
(32:39):
Get off me.
Get off me.
They're fighting demons.
They're fighting something youcan't see.
So when you see them out there,pray for them because what
they're doing is they're showingyou from the inside out.
Man, I need help.
Alright.
Because when I was out there, Iwas like, ah, get off me.
(33:00):
Ah, now demons will tell me ifyou walk like this, everybody
gonna leave you alone.
So I walked like that because Ibelieved the lie.
So one day I'm in the middle ofthe road, on the middle, ah,
stop traffic.
And there comes all them voices,all them demons, all them
(33:21):
devils.
And because their thoughts, itfeels like they're everywhere.
So it's like a jiggly one.
And I scream at the top of mylungs.
JESUS CHRIST! Yeah.
I love you, Lord.
And I asked it back for him.
I love you too, Mike.
And that's how I heard God'svoice with my own voice.
(33:43):
Because I believe if God didn'twant me to ask for him, he
would've stopped me.
And, uh, friend is a powerful testimonies that, that
were shared.
And yeah, like you mentioned theprayer, uh, pausing, taking
time, uh, during the songs toman that you mentioned, praying
for the marriages, praying forthe children, families.
It was, I was definitely blessedto, to be, to be a a, a part of
(34:05):
this.
Daniel (34:06):
Amen.
Amen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For anybody who has never heardof these article, listen, don't
feel bad.
I didn't hear about them priorto some of them I had heard of
Mike serving.
I think that was about it forme.
Um.
But I hadn't heard of theothers.
And man, because of the concert,I decided to do some, do my due
diligence and, and just see whatYouTube had to, you know, had to
(34:28):
show man.
Uh, so you can find all of themon YouTube and, uh, man, I, I, I
encourage anyone to listen towhat God is doing through them.
Come on.
Declare that today over yourlife.
Let's.
(34:58):
I remember late night smoking,drinking all night, wake up in
the morning, feeling insidesomething ain't right.
Had the block in my veins,wasn't feeling no change.
Put the smoke in my lungs untilthe high hit my brain, Lotty
money and the power and begrabbing me.
I get my life of pride.
That's insanity.
Now I'm popping pills everynight just to quiet me.
I think I learn to live everyday with anxiety, and I heard
(35:21):
God say, give it all to me.
I'm the chain breaker son.
I can set you free.
Thank you.
God.
Thank your love.
Keep running after me.
Thank you, God.
In your house.
You're making space for me real.
Talk to chain.
Gone.
Thank you.
Got the weights off.
You remind me that the cross.
First off, real talk to chain.
Gone.
Thank you.
Got the weights off now Youhow,keep your head up.
(35:42):
Time to take off.
Omar (35:43):
Have you got any feedback?
I know you, you, you mentionedall the, the ministries.
I, I met a bunch of differentpastors, uh, from that area.
Uh, did you get any feedbackafterwards?
Uh, from, from this event?
Daniel (35:55):
Yeah, they said, listen, uh, we're all in.
If you wanna do this again,count us in.
We, we will, we'll, we'll showup again.
We'll, we'll serve in anycapacity.
I mean, you know, typically at aconcert, people are just there
listening to the music.
But listen, man, a lot of these,a lot of these, uh, local
ministers,
Praise God for today.
(36:16):
Uh, we are here at the, outdoorconcert.
We're loving that.
God has brought brothers herefrom, from Michigan, from from
Arizona.
We got folks from Illinois andgot Indiana.
We're just thanking God that wecome here.
House the restoration along withBible way and, uh, water
walker's ministry, all comingtogether to just praise God
under, under his heavens.
I only say one roof under, underhis heavens.
(36:36):
Uh, I'm Darius Osa, uh, pastorOsa.
Uh, pastor Rocky de Losa is isthe pastor of our church, my
father, uh, here at two 20 East49th Avenue in Gary, Indiana.
Bible Way Church is come and seeus.
Our services start at 10 o'clockevery Sunday.
You can even find us livestreaming, uh, BWC Ministries
and YouTube.
You can also catch us on aFacebook page, BWC two 20 on
(36:58):
Instagram as well.
Uh, God has just blessed ourministry, not only locally, but
also to be in a space where wecan go out in the and, and, and,
and, and stream and be able to,uh, serve the world, you know,
just from where we are.
So.
Check us out on Tu on Tuesdaysas well.
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM We're onYouTube live streaming as well.
So check us out.
And we just really thank God forwhat he's doing and we thank God
(37:19):
for what he will do.
So we thank God that you'relistening.
We thank God for this and wewe're looking for a God to do
some miraculous things throughthis and many other ministries.
Amen.
some from, from further away, like I said, Seymour,
Indiana.
Were just content with walkingin the crowd and just getting to
know people and making sure thatno, no one was left, uh,
(37:40):
unspoken to everyone was, waswelcomed.
Everyone was ministered to and,and man, they.
They didn't treat it like it wasa, like, it was a vacation
event.
They treated it like anopportunity to share the gospel.
So whether you was listening tothe music or you were being,
you, you were in the line to befed, somebody was gonna be
engaging you just to introducethemself to you and simply just,
(38:02):
uh, ask you what brought youhere and, and what do you, who
do you, what do you know aboutJesus?
And so, man, there were many,many conversations that people
had that they were just blessedbehind and were like, man.
Dan, when you do this again,just let us know, man.
We will be here.
So I'm convinced, man, that thisis, this is a God thing, right?
(38:23):
He, he gets the glory.
The only reason that it workedwas because God was in it,
because God put the piecestogether because God seen fit to
draw the souls and ultimately.
Uh, gets the glory for the soulsthat were saved for the, for the
families that were impacted, forthe ministries that were, uh,
brought together.
(38:43):
Right.
It, it was just, it was great.
But to answer your question.
Everyone said, uh, call me in ifyou wanna do this again.
So we're, we're planning on a2026, uh, uh, return back to
Gary, Indiana.
Uh, maybe we can talk about thaton another, uh, another
interview or something just tokind of, uh, make people aware
of the next one coming up.
(39:04):
But as of right now, we don'thave a date.
We just know by faith we'regonna do it again.
Omar (39:10):
Man.
Amen.
So I got a whole year topractice on my, uh, uh, rap, uh,
skills, man.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I I don't think you wanna seethat man.
But anyways, uh, speaking ofthat, of 2026, man, um, I, I
know they came out here, youknow, um, pastor Jaime, um,
water walkers, umm ministry, Ibelieve water walkers.
(39:31):
Worldwide water workers, waterwar water walkers worldwide.
So, but the question is, whenare we going out there, man?
Because I know we got a pastorCazares Tucson.
I got jc, he's out there inPhoenix.
So I already told, I told mywife, man, I don't know why we
gotta, we gotta go out therenext year.
So what, what's the plan there?
Daniel (39:50):
So, so, uh, so Tucson is getting ready to have their
annual, uh, TRG, uh, concert,um, in Tucson in March.
And so my wife and I talkedabout going out there.
I think you mentioned you maymake, make that trip also, man.
Yeah, it would be awesome to goout there and just to assist.
(40:13):
Them brothers in the same waythey came out to, uh, to reach
souls, uh, to, to, to bless thecommunity out here.
You know, I told them, I said,man, I just wanna, and man,
listen, I'll pass out water.
I mean, that's how blessed I wasjust to, just to work with the
body man, just to see theresults of what God would do,
man, when, when everybody wouldjust, uh, allow everything to
(40:33):
be, um, uh, like I said earlier,um, all in one accord, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, all things.
Having all things in common.
That's what I'm trying to say.
Omar (40:45):
Alright, man.
To man for sure.
So God willing, man will be,will be out there.
And, uh, I don't know why, like,I, I, I know, I know you, you
know, like I just know that Igot, I gotta go out to, to
Arizona, man, so God willing,you know, maybe it might be in
March or somewhere around there,but, uh, if you gimme the dates,
man, I'll throw it on thecalendar and start, uh, uh,
praying about it, you know?
Daniel (41:05):
Praying about it and maybe, maybe telling others.
Maybe they'll make the trip.
Who knows?
Who knows who's listening,right.
Who knows who, who knows where,where someone's listening today,
maybe, maybe right there inArizona.
Like, man, I didn't even know.
Yeah.
Next year, March 20, 26, TRG isis, is called Tucson Revival for
all generations, TRG 2026.
(41:27):
I know that everyone's invited,man.
Come on out there and, and bewith the body of Christ and
just, uh, see what God does man.
Omar (41:36):
Amen.
For, for, for sure.
You know what, this is what Iwas gonna ask.
So, uh, I think in July, uh, youcame out to share your testimony
at a radical timeout, uh,meeting.
Uh, which is, uh, a house, uh,national Ministries, uh, pastor
Manny Mill out in uh, Whedon,uh, Illinois.
Uh, so you came out there,shared your testimony.
Then we, we went out to eat, wewent to Portillo's, and, uh, we
(41:58):
were talking and I was sharingwith you how I had turned the
podcast into an LLC, so this wasin June, early June.
I, I did an LLC and me and youwere talking and going back to
Divine Connections, and we weresitting at Portillo's talking,
and I, and I think I brought up,I think I told you how
initially, initially I wanted todo a, a non-for-profit.
(42:21):
Uh, through the podcast, uh,through what I'm doing here,
through the content and justthe, um, the vision that I have
for this.
I don't wanna share too much,you know, I don't want people to
take my ideas, but, uh, uh,turn, turning what I'm doing,
uh, into, into a, into aministry.
So, yes, I, you, I guess I'llthrow it over to you.
You remember the conversation.
Daniel (42:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just remember you, you, youdiscussing with me saying this
is something that you desire todo.
And I just shared with you myexperience of how, uh, LLCs were
formed and, and, and how, uh, itmay sound, uh, difficult or, and
or, or a huge mountain decline.
But in reality, there are peoplelike accountants, people like
(43:02):
lawyers in place who, who makethe, make the process smooth,
you know?
And, um.
I just remember telling you the,the, the, the different ways
that I went about it in mypersonal life and also with the
ministry and yeah.
Praise the Lord.
God has, uh, turned, uh, wrongto strong into an LLC now.
Praise the Lord.
Omar (43:22):
A, a a a a non-for-profit.
Daniel (43:24):
A non-for-profit.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
Omar (43:25):
Yeah.
'cause remember, uh, uh, uh,when we were talking, it was a
LLC at that time.
Oh.
So I, I was telling my son I hada business for about a month and
a half.
Yes.
After our conversation.
Now's a five.
Daniel (43:41):
That's right.
Yep.
Now it's a 5 0 3.
Praise the Lord.
So, are people becoming more andmore aware that this is a five
three?
Omar (43:50):
Actually, this might be one of the first times that,
that I'm sharing it.
Daniel (43:55):
Okay.
Omar (43:55):
Because, uh, I know I, I talked with JC actually on my
last podcast that I releasedwith JC Almanza.
Uh, he, he shared, he, he wastrying to turn, uh, uh, wrong
too strong, which is his brand.
That, that he established, thathe created.
So we're, we're like anextension.
So this podcast is an extensionof him.
Uh, so he was trying to turnwrong too strong into a
(44:17):
non-for-profit out, out, out inArizona, he said for years.
And it just like, it was justlike hurdle after hurdle.
And he, he just got, uh, um, hisIRS paperwork for
not-for-profit.
Oh.
About a month before I did,which, which is crazy.
So it was almost like in God'stiming.
So he, he's doing a, a, um, a,um, a lot of ministry out there
(44:43):
in the prisons, men's prisons,uh, juvenile facilities, uh,
women's prisons.
Uh, just started, uh, workingfor Arizona State, uh,
university.
Uh, got a job doing, doingthings there.
So, man, he's really, uh, busyout there.
So he, he's got his nonprofitgoing, uh, he wants to do
something like, like what you'redoing, like a, a restoration
house.
(45:03):
Uh, kind of like a, like ahalfway house.
Matter of fact, right across thestreet, not literally, but
close, uh, right outside of aprison, uh, there was like a old
hotel that they want to turninto, like a, like a house, like
housing.
Oh, what was it?
Transitional housing, I guess.
Yeah.
Daniel (45:20):
Word.
Right.
People are in transition.
That's right, man.
I'll tell you what I would, Iwould share every bit of
experience, every bit ofunderstanding, wisdom God has
shared with me, with him,because guess what?
Somebody else shared it with me,bro.
It's all Gods.
Right?
And Manson.
He would be, uh, creating aplace, man.
For, for, for men.
(45:40):
Are you talking about men onlyor, yeah.
Yeah.
For, for, for this one?
Yes.
Yeah, man.
So another place for men to berestored.
Listen, there, there are, thereare lots of different, uh, um,
ministries out there for, foryouth and praise the Lord.
We need them.
And there are lots of ministriesout there for women.
And praise the Lord, we needthem, but not as many out there
for men.
And so, man, I'm, I'm, I'mrooting for'em.
(46:02):
I praise the Lord.
Uh, anything I can do to help.
Please connect us when, maybewhen we go out in March.
Yes.
Maybe when we take a stop thereand share with him.
I'd love to meet him.
Praise, uh, God.
And, and, and just shareanything He, he, any questions
he might have.
Share what I know.
Omar (46:18):
Amen.
Amen.
I know for, for sure.
So God willing that that'll be aconnection we make.
Uh, but yeah man, I, I'm excitedabout this.
Uh, so, uh, I just wanna thankyou for that conversation,'cause
you basically, after we leftPortillo's the next day, I
reached out to my accountant.
And he told me, yeah, man, I'm,I've done it before.
Matter of fact, uh, he hadworked with a, with a, uh,
pastor that, that I know helpedhim, like with his nonprofit.
(46:42):
So it was like a good, uh, whatwould you say?
Co connection.
Another divine connection youcould say.
Daniel (46:48):
Yeah.
Omar (46:49):
And uh, man, yeah, sure enough, that was back in July.
So earlier this month I got myletter.
So, so now the plan isstructure.
Getting the team together, the,the board together, getting the
rules, regulations, and allthat.
Uh, so, so my goal is in 2026 tolike, I guess it will be the
official launch Yeah.
(47:10):
To what we're gonna be doingthrough the content, uh, getting
the videos.
My goal is to get these podcastinterviews into the prisons,
Daniel (47:18):
yeah, just another, another avenue, right?
Another avenue to share thegospel.
Another give God glory to, tobuild relationships with people,
right?
To uh, to minister to thebroken, right.
For people to be able to hearstories that sound like their
own.
Kind of like how, uh, Hy issaying, man, that story sounds
like my brother and.
(47:38):
Eventually allowing God to bringus together in the same way,
man, this could be used to reachpeople that otherwise wouldn't
be reached.
Right.
And so, man, praise the Lord.
That sounds, sounds exciting,bro.
It sounds exciting.
It sounds inspiring.
Right?
I can imagine that.
Um, those who be, I mean, wouldthese be from, this wouldn't be
from people in there, right?
(48:00):
This would be two people inthere.
Omar (48:02):
Yes, exactly.
So, uh, based on the interviewsthat I've done.
Like to, to get it into the onesthat are in prison.
Daniel (48:09):
Yeah.
Omar (48:09):
Yeah.
Daniel (48:10):
Wow.
What man, man, what can God dowith that?
Omar (48:13):
Man?
Daniel (48:14):
That's, that's awesome, bro.
Omar (48:16):
I, I, I, I know I was talking to a pastor, uh, of
Rocky, I interviewed him.
Uh, he grew up out here as wellin Chicago.
Crazy story, you know, gangleader, he's out in Texas now.
Uh, but he, he, when I wastalking to him or like sharing
what, what I plan on doing, he'slike, man, you know what?
The, the one thing when I was inprison that helped me was the
Bible and then readingtestimonies.
Daniel (48:39):
Yeah.
Omar (48:40):
Like, like reading books of people that been through what
I've been through, as he said,man, the Bible and Testimon.
So, uh, the, I guess that's theshort of what, of the ministry
that I envision is the Bible andtestimonies.
'cause every testimony is gonnapoint to the God of the Bible,
you know, and, uh, it's gonna belaced, uh, with scripture.
Uh, the testimonies are gonna bescripture that ties in maybe to
(49:02):
that part of the story, but eeverything's gonna be the Bible
and testimony.
Uh, revelation 1211, if I'm notmistaken, right.
They, they overcame him by, uh,and speaking of the enemy,
speaking of the evil one, theyovercame him by the blood of the
lamb and by the word of theirtestimony.
Daniel (49:19):
That's right, man.
That's right.
Amen.
May God use that in so manyways.
Ways that you don't even know mybrother.
I know from my own experiencewhen I was incarcerated, I
needed to hear testimony.
I needed to know.
In fact, the man who led me toChrist, he was also interviewed
on Ronald Strong Kojack.
(49:41):
Co.
Jack Fuller?
Yes.
Ko Jack Fuller.
Uh, you know, hearing histestimony, hearing his
testimonies as God was, as Godwas raising him up in
penitentiary to share histestimony of, of conversion.
But just, uh, man in that, likeyou said, not only, uh, the
(50:01):
Bible, but hearing testimoniesabout the God of the Bible and
what he did in the life of.
People, how, man, how much Godcan do with that.
I'm a living example.
Yeah.
Omar (50:13):
Amen.
Look at that.
A confirmation why we need to bedoing what we're doing, man.
So I'm, I'm, I'm excited forthat next chapter.
And uh, today is what, Septemberthe 30th, right?
Yeah, yeah.
September 30th.
In two days, man.
On October 2nd is gonna make.
Three year anniversary that Istarted this podcast.
Daniel (50:33):
Glory to God.
Omar (50:34):
Yeah.
Yeah, man.
So three years and I feel like,man, we're just getting started,
man.
This is just like, uh, thefoundation and I'm excited for
what, what we're gonna do.
Uh, I, I got a good, uh, uh, ateam of brothers out here.
I got Cisco, got Arturo.
Man, I, I got my pastor Juan,uh, my wife, man.
She's, I honestly, my, my wifeis my, well, we're one, you
(50:57):
know, so, uh, I gotta includeher in the team.
You know, that, that's the, thefirst team right there.
I, I, I call her my second HolySpirit now.
For real.
Before I do anything now, man,I, I go to her.
For her, uh, perspective, uh, topray together.
Yeah, she's definitely like abig blessing in my life, you
know?
Daniel (51:16):
Amen.
Amen.
And a prayer warrior.
I, Ooh.
Oh, oh boy.
Your wife can pray, man.
Omar (51:22):
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm, I'm grateful and I'mthankful and I, I believe
that's, uh, a big reason whyI've continued to.
To grow and just continue to, tostand, man, obviously it's God
gotta give uh, glory and creditto to God.
Right under God, or I'll saywith my wife, my biggest
blessing, honestly.
Daniel (51:40):
Our wives.
You right about that.
My brother.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
The ones who help clean up theclean up the mess, right?
The ones who say, wait a second,wait A, don't put that on.
Don't put that on.
Put this on.
Don't
Omar (51:54):
say
Daniel (51:55):
that.
Don't say that.
Say this.
Yeah.
Omar (51:58):
That's, that's happened more than, more than like, man,
she, she'll hear me saysomething, eh, I, I wouldn't say
it that way.
Or, you know, like.
But anyways, yeah.
So I'm, I'm excited man.
I'm excited for, uh, um, whatGod's doing.
Just the connections and, uh, Ijust wanna thank you for being
out here, uh, a pastor.
Um, is there anything that wehaven't touched on, maybe
(52:19):
something that, that you wannashare before we get ready to
sign off?
Daniel (52:23):
No, I just, I guess it, uh, like last time I know that
somebody might be watching and,hey, listen, we were talking
about what God did on August23rd, but man, he's the same God
here today on September 30th,2025.
Man, the same God who will reachdown right into your
circumstances.
Save your life and, and changeyour life.
(52:44):
Uh, unlike you ever believed itcould be.
Your circumstances may look thesame, but with God in a man you
win.
And so I would just encourageyou not to just look at this for
an event that took place onAugust 23rd, but look at this
as, uh, us talking about the Godwho saves the God who delivers
the God who sets free throughHis son Jesus Christ.
(53:06):
That would be what I would wannasay, my brother.
Omar (53:08):
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
That's his name, man.
He, he, he can and he will doit, you know?
Yeah.
Amen.
Amen.
You know what, a quick shout outto you, pastor Dan.
I know you were reluctant to dothis.
You're like, man, I don't know.
I'm nervous.
I just want you to know.
You did a great job, man.
I think just, I think you werejust playing a hard to get, man,
Daniel (53:34):
dude, you make it easy, brother.
You make it easy.
So thank you much.
I appreciate you, my brother.
Omar (53:39):
No, no.
For, for sure.
That's one thing.
Before I do any interview,always pray.
I always pray be before we startwith, with every guest, whether
it's in person, whether, whetherit's via zoom.
I always pray and, uh, there's,there's a third person in the
interview at all times, andthat's the Holy Spirit.
That, that, that's part of myprayer every time as a, I say
God, as I begin to pray for myguests and myself in the
(54:01):
conversation, uh, I invite thethird person into here and the
person of the Holy Spirit, and Iask the Holy Spirit to bring to
remembrance any story.
Anything that needs to beshared, that's gonna bring
healing to the, uh, to theguests speaking and might be,
uh, bring healing, hope andencouragement to those that are
gonna be, uh, watching andlistening to the, to the
(54:24):
interview.
So it's definitely got God,everything that I do and invite
him and without him.
This, this will just be two guysright here just talking, you
know.
But we know that we're, when wetalk, we're talking about the
God who saved us.
Who delivered us, who healed us,who still sanctifying us working
in us, and just doing what onlyhe, he he could do in us and
(54:47):
through us, you know?
So yeah.
Amen.
Yes, sir.
Amen.
All right, thanks.
Uh, uh, thank, uh, thank you foryour time, pastor Daniel.
And with that we're gonna getready to, uh, to sign off.
Uh, um, Matthew four 16 reads,the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light, andupon those who sat in the region
(55:08):
and shadow of death, light hasdawned.
Alongside my guest, pastorDaniel Rivera.
I'm your host Omar Calvillo, andwe are wrong too strong.
From the city of Chicago, a citymost recently known for its
crime and violence from thispodcast.
We will be sharing stories ofredemption from individuals
raised in the tough streets ofChicago and from around the
country.
Some of them were gang members,drug dealers, incarcerated
victims, and perpetrators ofviolence.
(00:36):
Listen to my guests as theyshare their experiences,
struggles, trauma, but also thestrength, hope, faith, and
perseverance these havedeveloped in them to keep
pushing and moving forward inlife.
Tune in to hear how their liveshave gone, from darkness to
light, and from wrong to strong.
Omar (01:04):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
From Wrong to Strong podcast.
I'm your host.
My name's Omar Calvio.
Uh, tonight we're doing a Zoominterview.
Uh, so my guest tonight joiningus all the way from, uh, Gary,
Indiana, is Pastor DanielRivera.
Uh, he's a, a lead pastor atRestoration House out in Gary.
(01:25):
Uh, they're doing a, a, aamazing work as far as ministry.
I'm gonna let him.
Uh, jump on and tell us exactlywhat, what he does there.
For those of you who might notknow of him, uh, we did a
interview a while back.
It was maybe about a year ago.
Uh, but Pastor Daniel, uh, droveout here and that, that was a
interesting, uh, part of thestory as well when he came out
(01:45):
here.
Um, it was almost like the enemydidn't want him to share his
story.
You know, we were experiencingall type of attacks spiritually.
Even the weather.
A crazy storm.
I remember when he, uh, parkedin, in front of the house,
jumped out of his truck and justto run into my house, got all
soaked.
Oh, matter of fact, I, I, I, Istill owe you a shirt, brother.
(02:06):
I have your shirt here.
But anyways, you know, uh,welcome to the podcast, pastor
Daniel.
Uh,
Daniel (02:10):
Rivera.
Thank you.
Thank you, brother.
I appreciate you having me on.
Omar (02:15):
Man.
But yeah, that, that was aninteresting, uh, uh, story that
day.
You know what, WWI, I, I knowthat wasn't our intention to
start there, but, uh, I, I, Iknow you were very, uh, uh,
hesitant in sharing yourtestimony, and I believe it, it
was a fight that day.
I don't know.
You wanna share your perspectiveon the battle that you
experienced, just, you knowSure.
To get your story out there.
Daniel (02:34):
Sure.
So on that day, uh, it wasactually, it was tough for me
because I knew that this wasthe, gonna be the first time
that I had the privilege ofsharing my testimony o on the
airwaves where anyone andeveryone could see it.
And not that I was ashamed ofthe gospel in any means by any
means.
Uh, however, I had no idea.
(02:55):
To what extent or to who, uh,this would be seen or who, who
could see it?
Uh, because as I had mentionedin the interview, um, I had
shared my testimony many times,but never have I shared it in
front of, uh, the family of the,uh, gentleman that I was
responsible for taking his lifewhen I was 17 years of age.
(03:17):
And so I just wanted to be very,uh, considerate that it may be
their first time hearing it.
I didn't want it to come offlike it was no big deal to me.
I didn't want it to come offlike, uh, I had no remorse or
like, it was just, uh, anotherday.
Uh, it was tough for me toshare, uh, that day.
(03:38):
Um, and yeah, like you said,when I got there, it was, it
started off rough.
Uh, just getting outta myvehicle, making my way to your
door.
I think I had to park just onehouse down.
Uh, from there to your frontdoor, I was soaked.
It was raining real, real hardthat day.
And so you blessed me with a,with a wrong to strong shirt
that day.
It was perfect, not, I would'vebeen just sitting there, uh,
(04:01):
being interviewed in a sopping,uh, sopping wet T-shirt.
But yeah, that's, that's whatmade that day tough was it was
the first time that I was gonnabe sharing this with not, uh,
without knowing who, who might,who might be on the other side
of the lens.
Omar (04:15):
I gotcha.
And, and even, uh, that, that,that's your, that's just, uh,
like what you were experiencing.
Uh, but remember when you gothere, like, I was experiencing
my own stuff, you know?
Uh, not, not to, not to get intodetails, but there was, I was
being pulled in anotherdirection with a, like a family
emergency.
Uh, but it was, it was kind oflike a, a spiritual, uh, uh, uh,
attack as well.
Yeah.
But, uh, yeah, so it started offwith that.
(04:36):
So I remember Pastor Dan came,we, we, we started praying for,
for, for that situation.
And then, uh, man, we decided toget into his testimony.
So, yeah, you know what?
I'm gonna put a link, uh, tohis, uh, testimony to the, the
podcast interview that we did.
I'm gonna put it in, in the shownotes, uh, so you guys could go
back and hear his, uh, histestimony and to what he's doing
(04:57):
now.
Uh, but so eventually, you know,we, we got his story out there.
It went out there, uh, peoplebegan to listen to it.
So I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll letyou share, uh, the, this part of
the story, uh, how, how thepodcast ended up.
Being shared with somebody who'sall the way out, out in, um, is
it Tucson?
I believe so.
Right.
Tucson, Arizona.
(05:19):
Tucson, Arizona.
Yeah.
I had, I, I, I, did you wannashare that part?
Daniel (05:22):
Sure.
So I, I had no idea, right?
Like I said, no, once, once, uh,once you, uh, do something like
a podcast, it can go anywhere.
And, and, uh, little did I knowthere was a good brother by the
name of Jaime was Cazares outin, uh.
Tucson, Arizona, who becameaware of the podcast and
watched, uh, the interview.
(05:44):
I'm not sure if it was becauseyou were, you had, uh, uh, plans
of interviewing him or how thatworked, how he became aware of
it nonetheless, uh, God wasworking in the midst of it.
And on that day, he tuned in andhe saw my interview.
And it just so happened thatJaime is originally from the
same area where I caught, uh, mycase, where I, where I was, uh.
(06:07):
Where, where I, um, got introuble at.
And, and the story was sosimilar to his brother's story
that, uh, he couldn't, he saidhe couldn't help but finish
watching it.
And by the end of the story, hemade a statement to his wife.
He said, I don't know why, but Ifeel like I'm supposed to meet
this guy and, and we're supposedto do some kind of work
together.
(06:27):
And, um, it wasn't long later,he was, he was coming out to,
uh, the Chicagoland area and itwas, uh, to be interviewed.
Um, by yourself.
And, um, he, he decided to stopby just to meet me there at the,
uh, at the restoration house inGary.
And we, we talked for a littlebit and, uh, we just kind of hit
it off.
We clicked.
It was like we knew each other,however we just met.
(06:50):
And, uh, uh, fast forward, Idon't know how long, brother, it
feels like it was almost.
Month, eight months, a yearlater, he was, uh, calling me up
and he was telling me, Hey, I,um, I, I normally, uh, do
ministry out in Fort Wayne,Indiana.
We normally, uh, do a freeconcert, uh, and share the
(07:11):
gospel message out in FortWayne.
But this year that, uh, venuewas not available and he just
asked him, what do you thinkabout us bringing the.
Bringing the concert to Gary,man, without hesitation.
I said, man, absolutely man,come on out.
And I had no idea what thatlooked like.
I was just excited aboutsomebody wanting to do something
in the town that I love, youknow?
I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
(07:33):
And so, uh, for the next fewmonths we, we, we, we, we
talked, we planned, we prayed,uh, um, and man, come August
23rd of this past summer, man,the, the concert went on and,
and you know, you were there andit was just.
An amazing time, man.
And so just to look back and seehow God used, uh, how God used
(07:56):
his testimony to reach someoneway out in Arizona, um, to
eventually come together withthe individual and then, uh, do
an outreach concert ministry,uh, in Gary, Indiana to reach
the loss.
And it was amazing.
Omar (08:14):
Oh, yeah, man.
And, and you know what, uh, uh,when, when, um, I, I believe it
was through Mike, uh.
Petrovic.
Daniel (08:20):
That's correct.
Omar (08:20):
I, I believe, uh, Jaime knows him.
His family.
I believe so somehow He, he, Ibelieve that's how he heard of
the podcast, or You're right.
Started watching
Daniel (08:30):
him.
You're right.
You know Mike Petrovic.
It's interesting.
You good brother, man.
Wow.
What God is doing in that man'slife today.
Uh, but Mike, at that time, uh,way back then, Mike was, uh,
was, was residing at therestoration.
That was the program that I, Ihave the privilege of pastoring
over, uh, helping men transitionfrom.
(08:51):
Uh, incarceration back into, uh,society.
And, and Mike was, was there fora season and it was Mike, um,
Jaime happens to be Mike'sbrother-in-law.
And so, yeah, I forgot aboutthat.
So that was also part of it.
And Mike also did his testimonyhere on.
Strong.
And so, yeah.
God, God had been orchestratingthis in, in multiple ways to
(09:13):
bring it together.
You're right.
I forgot about that.
Omar (09:15):
Amen.
And, and, and, uh, it is crazybecause, uh, when, uh, me and
you, obviously we shared this inour interview, but we met back,
I believe it was in 2008.
We were going to church togetherfor, for a couple years.
Yeah.
You know, I went my way, youknow, uh, you know, when went my
way back to Chicago and, uh, welost contact for a lot of years,
then we, we reconnected.
Yes.
(09:35):
And, and you're like.
You know what, uh, I don't wannashare my story on the podcast,
but I'll connect you withsomebody who I think you should
interview.
That's when I drove out to therestoration house and I
interviewed Mike Petrovic.
Hello, this is Michael Petrovic.
I did a testimony with Wrong andStrong, my brother Omar
Calvillo, uh, Chicago Podcast.
(09:58):
what the Lord has done sincethat testimony, man, I've, I've
gotten married.
I got, I got my own place.
I got a car, man, a certifiedcommunity health worker, peer
specialist, mental health firstaider a non.
Group facilitator.
So my wife and I can facilitatefor people that's struggling in
(10:22):
mental health.
So the Lord just keeps, keepsgrowing and growing and growing
and pushing me further as, aslong as I'm submitting to him.
So, um, man, my heart's in, inreentry and, and, and reaching
out to the prisoners, reachingout to the addicts.
I'm sober coming up on twoyears.
Hallelujah.
(10:43):
So, um, yeah, the Lord's doing alot of work in me.
Since the testimony and uh, um,and I'm just grateful, that's
all I can say is I'm grateful,but, uh, wrong to strong my
brother Omar Calvillo and to allthe brothers and sisters that
have done wrong to strong,that's involved in that man, God
bless you.
I love you man.
(11:04):
All grace.
All grace.
And to, to the Lord JesusChrist.
there and, but then I told you, Hey man, later on I want to
get you, and then eventually wegot yours.
And then, uh, what, what's, uh,what, what, what I, what, what
tripped me out about PastorJaime Cazares is that he said he
was listening to your interviewand he, he couldn't put the
phone down.
And what made me laugh, he saidthat he even took it in the
(11:26):
shower.
He said, he said he was taking ashower with the phone.
He said, man, how you, how youtake a shower with the phone?
There's like, oh man, I got alittle holder there.
And he said, he, when theinterview, he said, got outta
the shower, got dressed.
He came out the bathroom stillwatching and his wife's like,
man, what you doing?
She like, man, it's thisinterview.
There's, there's something aboutit.
Like, I, I just can't put itdown.
(11:46):
And, uh, that was your, yourstory and, um, to me.
Uh, well, one thing that, that Ilove since I started doing this
is just the divine connections.
Like this has been like a, agateway, a a connection maker, I
dunno, however you wanna put it,but it, it is been a blessing.
I've been blessed by it and, uh,and, and the, the blessings, uh,
(12:08):
not just for me, but even like.
For you to connect with'em andjust for the, for the body of
Christ, from everywhere, fromIllinois, Indiana, Arizona.
Just the way God's moving andkind of putting the pieces
together, to me, it, it'samazing and I'm just, uh, I'm
excited to, to be a part ofthat.
Daniel (12:27):
You're absolutely right, brother.
I, you know what, uh, if I had,uh, maybe if I had written this
down, I would've thought aboutall, you're right.
This actually started way backin 2008.
Uh, when I first met you, when Ifirst came out of prison, uh, we
were going to a church in EastChicago, Indiana, and that's
where you and I first, uh, gotconnected and, and, and got to
(12:48):
know one another.
And our wives got to know oneanother and.
Uh, became good friends, andlike you said, life happens and
we, we parted ways for a littlewhile, but, uh, but God, God
knew right?
God knew.
Um, one day he was gonna bringall these pieces together to do
something amazing to, to, tomake music, literally, right?
(13:10):
Yeah, no, you're right aboutthat.
That's, that's, uh, that'samazing when I think about that
Omar (13:15):
man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, uh, uh, so Pastor Jaimelistened to the interview.
Flew out here and we, uh,visited with you, we were able
to do the interview in person.
So that, that, to me, that wasamazing that he, he would, uh,
pay to fly out here just to doall that.
And, uh, not only that, goingback to the reason we, we we're
doing this interview is to talkabout how these divine
(13:36):
connections led to an event.
And I want, I want you to touchon that.
'cause I believe, if I'mmistaken, this might be.
This might have been the firsttime that you did something like
this.
So let, let me ask you, how,how, how, how was that for you
to, to, to organize, to puttogether the, the, this event
especially,'cause you had a lotof pieces from not, not, not,
not just, uh, from like yourarea, like you, you know, like
(13:58):
people coming in from, fromArizona.
'cause uh, pastor Jaime did,didn't come by himself, you
know, so you, if you wanna shareall that.
Daniel (14:04):
Yeah.
Well, let me just give thecredit where the credit is due.
Um, the Holy Spirit, right?
Because yeah, I, I have never, Ihave never been a part of
anything.
This, uh, big for me, this washuge.
Uh, you're right.
There were so many moving parts.
I mean, um, Jaime with, uh, theconnection to the various
artists.
(14:25):
I mean, on that day we had, uh,uh, brother Mike Servin was
there.
Uh, uh, Bobby Bendito was there.
Third day was there, MOG wasthere.
Um, so, so Jaime was connectedto all of them.
So he, he kind of worked onbringing, uh, the, the
musicians, the artists, uh, tothe concert.
So I really have to work onthat.
(14:46):
But, um, uh, under his tutelage,because Jaime, Jaime has.
Done these events before.
He gave me some, uh, somepointers and things to, to, to
think about and some things toplan on.
And between him, but mostimportantly, through
inspiration, man, honestly, Ifeel like every time everywhere
I turned, God was opening adoor, uh, met, I met, uh, I, I
(15:08):
knew, uh, you know, pastorIndio, his brother, uh, David
has a ministry that, that they,um, that they do out of, um,
Seymour, Indiana.
They, they travel, they travelto, to anywhere that, uh, if
there's any catastrophes orthings like that, they, they
come on site with, with a, witha trailer where they can open it
(15:29):
up and it becomes a stage andthey do worship and they feed
the people.
I mean, this, this trailer'sfully equipped, right?
And so through Pastor Indio,because, uh, because of our
relationship with him, um.
I told him what I was workingon.
He's like, well, my brother hasall of this.
And through Pastor Indio, hisbrother came out, brought the
stage, uh, the, the stage, thetrailer opened up to a stage,
(15:52):
brought the food, uh, truck.
So that was taken care of.
Uh, pastor Indio, uh, providedfood, so we were able to feed, I
mean, I don't know how many, howmany tacos came out of that, out
of that food truck, but it wasnonstop.
Everybody ate, everybody gotfood.
It was like the, it was like thetwo fish in the five loaves,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, it waseverybody.
(16:14):
There was food left over.
There was so much food.
Um, um, let's see.
So there was differentministries, a bible way who was
so kind to allow us to usetheir, their, their, uh, their
church for the venue.
Um, man, I'm, I'm, I'm sure I'mgonna miss somebody, but it was
just, just like you saidearlier, divine connections,
just relationships that had beenformed in the body of Christ.
(16:37):
Um, brothers just comingtogether, the body of Christ
coming together, believing thatwe were gonna reach the lost or
the hurting or the broken inGary, Indiana.
Um.
Yeah.
Just for everybody bringing inthe resources God provided them
with and putting them togetherand, and we were able to just,
uh, see God move.
Omar (16:57):
Amen.
Amen.
It, it was, uh, networking in,in the Kingdom, like you
mentioned.
I, when I release this, I'mgonna see how I, I'll attach it,
but I'm gonna attach somepictures and some of the, the
footage we, uh, I, I went outthere to take some video.
I was able to record, as far aslike them singing music.
I, I, to be honest, I, I don'tknow how that's gonna work.
'cause I know like if I, if Iput it like on YouTube or
(17:18):
something, like if it's music,they might try to block it.
So I'm, I'm gonna see, maybe ifI just put a little clip here
and there, you know,'cause I,sometimes when I load music up
there, they'll, they'll get ablock and then you gotta get
like a license.
You gotta have a license to postthe music.
But I'm gonna see if I put the,the clips out there, even if I
just put, put'em.
Just so they could see the, the,the, the artists that were
(17:39):
there.
Uh, but man, they, there, therewas a worship, uh, Christian
rap, uh, hip hop.
Yeah.
You mentioned, the networkingwith Pastor Indio.
Uh, these are connections that,that I knew Pastor Indio all the
way from back then as well.
Probably since like 2006,somewhere around there.
Him and his family, they got abig family, all, all involved in
(17:59):
ministry.
So it, it, it was awesome tosee, uh, the body of Christ, uh,
come together.
Daniel (18:04):
Yeah.
He had, yeah, go ahead.
I was just gonna say, you know,pastor Indio, who now today is a
senior pastor Right.
Come Alive church in Portage,Indiana.
But um, yeah.
Way back when we knew him, hewas the youth pastor at our
church.
Right.
Yeah.
Doing amazing thing with ouryouth today who are grown
adults, priest.
And, and still loving Jesus.
(18:25):
Amen.
Amen.
Omar (18:26):
Amen.
My name is Pastor Indio.
I'm from Kama Life FamilyChurch.
And I, I have an honor comingalong with Water Walkers
Restoration House, MOG out here,man.
Just ministry to the city ofGary.
I'm out here with M-O-S-M-O-S,was able to bring a few trailers
and it just kind of join us tolove on people and love this
community.
Listen, we are believing for thetransformation of Gary, Indiana.
And I am just completely honoredjust to be a part of what, what,
(18:50):
what God is doing here on theearth and what an honor it is to
be able to serve his people andlove his people.
So Danny, we love you.
We are here.
We're gonna partner with you todo what God has called you to
do.
And I believe as we cometogether, the kingdom comes
together, the church comestogether to fulfill God's
purposes here on Earth.
So come on, let the kingdom comeand as we will be done here in
Gary, Indiana, God bless, welove you guys.
Daniel (19:12):
Um, you know, but I, I was just thinking about, you
know, the Bible talks about theparts of the body, right?
And, uh, and how we are to use,uh, our, our uh, our gift with
the measure of faith that wehave.
And just seeing, just seeingthat come to fruition, just
seeing the different people.
I mean, I know that I'mforgetting there was so many
(19:34):
different ministries.
That showed up.
I mean, restoration house, wewere, we were doing parking lot
duty.
We were just picking up trash.
We were just, I mean, just thedifferent moving parts, uh, to,
to see this come together.
I have a feeling that whetheryou do video or steal clips, uh,
people will begin to see howmany people were actually there.
(19:54):
I mean, people gave their livesto the Lord.
Most important, there werepeople who reconciled with our
Lord and Savior.
There were people who, for thefirst time, gave their life.
To Jesus Christ.
Our families were reconciled,ministries were, were united.
I mean, it was, it was just anawesome, uh, an awesome display
of God's kingdom at work.
Omar (20:17):
Amen.
Amen.
It was, and, and, uh, there werealso, um, the, there was the,
the spiritual aspect, like youmentioned, salvations, uh,
people dedicate their lives tothe Lord, but, but also, man,
what, what I love, I know.
Of the, the, the financialblessings that they were giving
as well, man.
Like I know you want to touch onthat, right?
Daniel (20:34):
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
So the, so, so Tucson, Arizonashowed up not only with, with,
uh, with artists, um, musicians,but they also showed up with
their pockets full to give away,man.
So they came and they wereblessing people with money for
their, uh, utilities.
I, I think, I think the, thebiggest winner was I think a
(20:54):
$500.
Gift card to be able to usetowards their utilities.
Uh, they were given out, uh, ahundred dollars gift cards that
I don't, I don't wanna, I don'twanna misstate the truth, but I
know there were, there were somelarge gift cards, a hundred
dollars, I think one was$200.
There were several$50, some$25.
I mean, just gift cards.
(21:15):
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Then maybe this next girlreally, really blessed.
We gotta, Patricia.
Oh, she twice.
(21:41):
We're gonna.
They were, their intention was to come not only
to, so.
Uh, spiritually, as you say, butthey, they came to sow into the
city of Gary, Indiana.
I mean, oh my God, I've never,I've never been a part of
something to see so many peoplecome and just, uh, it it, it
(22:03):
reminds me of the book of Actswhen they just came and laid
everything at the apostles feet,right?
Everybody had everything incommon.
I mean.
That day we had everythingtogether, you know, and we still
do in, you know, in in, in ourrelationships.
However, on that day, it was ondisplay.
On that day, it was for peopleto receive, people utilizing
their own generators and, uh,just all kinds of, uh, of, of
(22:27):
wonderful things.
But yeah, I'm glad you broughtthat up.
There were people who wereblessed financially.
People who went home that dayand were in, they came.
They came because they saw freeconcert free food.
They came and didn't realizethat God would answer prayer
that day for those like, I don'tknow how I'm gonna pay this
bill.
Omar (22:45):
Yeah.
Oh, amen.
And you know what, like, uh, alot of times we, miss that, you
know, like, I know the, the mostimportant is like, like we talk
about here on this podcast allthe times, the spiritual sharing
the gospel with man, some, somepeople they need that financial,
you know, that at that momentwith the struggles and all that,
that makes a difference.
And that's a way of showing loveas well.
Daniel (23:05):
Absolutely.
You know, I've heard it saidlike this, people don't care how
much you know until they knowhow much you care.
Right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it was clear to these people.
They didn't know'em.
These, these artists came fromall over, man.
And they came with their own, ontheir own dime.
And they came in with, with,with, with pockets to give, man.
I mean, who does that?
Right?
God's people.
(23:25):
That's who does that.
Omar (23:26):
Amen.
Exactly, man.
Somebody who's uh, um, who'sbeen touched by God, who knows
what God could do in their livesand they just wanna.
Uh, give of the blessings theyreceive, you know?
Well, one of my prayers hasalways been, God bless me to be
a blessing.
And that's what I've seen ondisplay, uh, with pastor, uh,
Jaime Cazares.
Uh, I know he brought his wife,his children, I believe it was a
(23:48):
couple of his children.
Uh, and then the whole team thathe brought, uh, men of God, uh,
third day, the mouthpiece, Ibelieve is his name.
Daniel (23:55):
And
Omar (23:55):
I think you mentioned, I'm, I'm gonna miss a, a lot of
these names, but there was apeople,
Daniel (24:00):
uh, uh, Mike Ervin.
Yeah, they were, they werethere, man.
It was, uh, it was amazing.
And, and they, and they, andthey did it.
They, they served, uh, um, likeselflessly, selflessly,
selflessly.
Like, like, man, they werethere.
Like they knew the people theywere coming to minister to, but
reality, none of them were fromthere.
Omar (24:19):
Yeah,
Daniel (24:20):
man.
Omar (24:21):
You know, what could, could I ask you this?
Um, um, I know a lot of peoplehave this perception, especially
like with music, especially witha rap.
Like, uh, there, there, there'ssome believers in the body of
Christ that look at it like in anegative way.
Daniel (24:37):
Yeah.
Omar (24:38):
Uh, I don't know if, if previously you've ever
encountered any, uh, Christianhip hop artists or any Christian
rap artists and, uh, maybe what,what was your, um.
Perspective before, and maybenow that you met them, I guess
what did you see?
Because, uh, the reason I, Idon't know why that question
comes to my mind.
'cause, uh, I, I know a lot ofpeople, you know, on social
(25:00):
media, they, they kind of look,oh, you know, these people are,
are just out to, to get on astage.
They just wanna sing.
But from what I've experiencedpersonally, man, like you
mentioned everything we justtalked about, how they fly out
with their own dime.
To just, to, to sow, to sharethe gospel, to give up their
time, to give up their financesand, and man, the, the lyrics
(25:23):
and the songs, I mean, seriouslyenough.
But I, I wanted to get your takeon that.
Daniel (25:28):
You know, you bring up a good point.
'cause the truth be told, Godknows the truth.
No sense for me to tell theotherwise.
I don't typically listen, listento Christian rap.
I, I typically don't, uh,probably for various reasons.
Uh, some suffer for mesometimes.
Is too close to what I rememberbefore Christ.
Right.
But let me, let me, let me go,let me go on record as saying I
(25:52):
was, my opinion has changed,right?
Uh, my opinion has changed thatthese, these artists came.
And they ministered the gospelmessage.
Anybody who was there wasministered to listen.
They didn't only come in musicthat these people broke.
These people, uh, shed theirhearts.
(26:12):
I mean, they, they, they, theypoured their heart, they shared
their testimony.
They talked about what God didin their life as they were
talking about the next song.
They were like, this is where Iwas at when, when God did this.
And, and man, I mean, one ofthem, Bobby Bendito came with
his daughter, told about a.
Powerful testimony ofreconciliation, restoration of
(26:32):
healing, and, and now God isusing what was once broken as a
beautiful tandem, I mean, fatherand daughter, and, and man,
they, you would think they'dbeen doing it for 30 plus years,
man.
It was just, it was, it was.
It was, how should I say,synchronized through the Holy
Spirit.
It was woven well through theHoly Spirit man.
(26:55):
Yeah.
I, I have a differentperspective today of, of, uh,
gospel rap.
Remember all the drugs?
The drugs I never knew was theysay I'm here.
When heart was just cold, likethe winner to all my brothers
(27:17):
and my sisters in the Lord.
Don't stop.
Keep knocking.
He won't open up the door.
Look, he came to him like hesaid he would.
Same God, same service, sametruth.
It all good?
Yeah.
Look, and if you don't know, getto know.
(27:48):
Hey,
i'm more open to it.
I, I guess that's just aproblem.
I wasn't really listeningbefore, but, um, now I'm, I'm,
I'm, man, I'm, I'm just as mucha, a, um, an advocate as anyone
else is today.
Uh, yeah.
The men, the, the music was.
Ministering.
It was very good.
(28:08):
Every one of them.
I mean, I, these, these, listen,they came to share music, but
what I didn't know was, man,they came to bring the, the,
the, how should I say?
They came with intention, man,listen.
One of the artists stoppedtalking about.
Music and just began to call thechildren forward and began to,
(28:29):
uh, uh, uh, just pray over thechildren of the city because he
knew how important it was thatwe, we, we forsake not, or we
forbid not that the childrencome unto the Lord.
He was praying over them andpraying their purpose, uh,
praying their, you know, uh.
:Protection over what God hadpurpose for them.
Parents, adults, stretch yourhand toward these kids.
(28:52):
Don't be too cool.
Come on now.
Father God, in the name ofJesus, we thank you for these
children, father God, and Ispeak your grace.
I speak your mercy.
Father God, I speak your favorover these children.
Father God, I ask you to helpthem become the men and women of
God that you called them to be.
Father God protect their earsand their eyes, father God and
(29:15):
their mouth Father.
Yes.
Let no harm come upon them.
Father, make them into the menand women of God.
You call them to be, place theirfeet as where you have placed
them to be.
We love you and we thank you forthem.
Father God let their minds notbe corrupted by the things of
his world, father God, but theybecome who you call them to be.
(29:38):
And Jesus said, we pray.
Amen.
Make some.
And, and then he was calling forth marriages and I
mean, man, this, this is aconcert.
This man is, is telling themhusbands and wives to grab hands
and he's pronouncing blessingover their marriage.
I mean, they came and ministeredto the City of America.
It was amazing.
Omar (29:59):
Amen.
That's definitely what they allwere, um, ministers of the
gospel, uh, sharing theirtestimony.
And you, know, what I seen onthem, and uh, anointing man.
Yeah.
I know you mentioned Bobby andhis daughter.
Yeah.
Like the, the dual of himrapping and, and her, uh, what
would you say more?
Uh, I don't know, r and b kindof, uh, gospel singing was like
(30:19):
a good tandem and just like the,the anointing like you
mentioned, like on their family
She remembers the, the, thecops, the prison sentences, the
fights.
She was there, but it's onlybecause of his grace that we can
stand here and testify todaythat Jesus truly does say, good.
My Lord is sat.
I don't know how well to thankyou, but I'm want to stop right
(30:41):
here, right now by telling youI'm grateful.
I'm thankful for your person.
I'm so thankful that you heardme.
I'm alive right here, right now.
You said working.
I'm still in awe.
Still in shock.
You, me.
See, that's a price that I cannever pay it off down at the
cost, and all I have to say iswe're so, so grateful, Lord.
(31:25):
Man.
Hey, what's up?
This your boy Bobby Bandito outhere at Gary, Indiana with water
walkers and all the other menand women of God out here for
the Gary Revival for allgenerations.
Uh, I just wanted to send upword for encouragement to
anybody out there right nowwho's watching this to know
that, look, when we cometogether as a body of Christ,
the way that he intended, we canhave an impact no matter the
(31:46):
region, no matter the community,no matter the city, no matter
the region.
I just wanna give someencouragement to say, keep your
head up in the mighty name ofJesus.
God can do.
Anything but fail.
He could do all things but fail.
So in the mighty name of Jesus,I just wanna say, what's up from
Gary, Indiana?
That's.
And everybody there, uh, Mike Seban Yeah.
(32:06):
As well.
You know, like a lot of peopleknow him for break dancing and
screaming, oh, Jesus Christ.
Right?
But, but then when he shares thestory behind that, oh man, of
why he says that.
That's
Daniel (32:17):
right.
Omar (32:18):
If, if you guys haven't heard his testimony, you guys
gotta go and, and, and, andlisten to the reason why he says
that.
But one day I'm in the middle ofthe street doing the noodle.
You ever see that?
People, you ever see'em, thepeople in the middle of the
streets just they can't getahold of their, their motor
skills.
You know what they're doing?
(32:39):
Get off me.
Get off me.
They're fighting demons.
They're fighting something youcan't see.
So when you see them out there,pray for them because what
they're doing is they're showingyou from the inside out.
Man, I need help.
Alright.
Because when I was out there, Iwas like, ah, get off me.
(33:00):
Ah, now demons will tell me ifyou walk like this, everybody
gonna leave you alone.
So I walked like that because Ibelieved the lie.
So one day I'm in the middle ofthe road, on the middle, ah,
stop traffic.
And there comes all them voices,all them demons, all them
(33:21):
devils.
And because their thoughts, itfeels like they're everywhere.
So it's like a jiggly one.
And I scream at the top of mylungs.
JESUS CHRIST! Yeah.
I love you, Lord.
And I asked it back for him.
I love you too, Mike.
And that's how I heard God'svoice with my own voice.
(33:43):
Because I believe if God didn'twant me to ask for him, he
would've stopped me.
And, uh, friend is a powerful testimonies that, that
were shared.
And yeah, like you mentioned theprayer, uh, pausing, taking
time, uh, during the songs toman that you mentioned, praying
for the marriages, praying forthe children, families.
It was, I was definitely blessedto, to be, to be a a, a part of
(34:05):
this.
Daniel (34:06):
Amen.
Amen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For anybody who has never heardof these article, listen, don't
feel bad.
I didn't hear about them priorto some of them I had heard of
Mike serving.
I think that was about it forme.
Um.
But I hadn't heard of theothers.
And man, because of the concert,I decided to do some, do my due
diligence and, and just see whatYouTube had to, you know, had to
(34:28):
show man.
Uh, so you can find all of themon YouTube and, uh, man, I, I, I
encourage anyone to listen towhat God is doing through them.
Come on.
Declare that today over yourlife.
Let's.
(34:58):
I remember late night smoking,drinking all night, wake up in
the morning, feeling insidesomething ain't right.
Had the block in my veins,wasn't feeling no change.
Put the smoke in my lungs untilthe high hit my brain, Lotty
money and the power and begrabbing me.
I get my life of pride.
That's insanity.
Now I'm popping pills everynight just to quiet me.
I think I learn to live everyday with anxiety, and I heard
(35:21):
God say, give it all to me.
I'm the chain breaker son.
I can set you free.
Thank you.
God.
Thank your love.
Keep running after me.
Thank you, God.
In your house.
You're making space for me real.
Talk to chain.
Gone.
Thank you.
Got the weights off.
You remind me that the cross.
First off, real talk to chain.
Gone.
Thank you.
Got the weights off now Youhow,keep your head up.
(35:42):
Time to take off.
Omar (35:43):
Have you got any feedback?
I know you, you, you mentionedall the, the ministries.
I, I met a bunch of differentpastors, uh, from that area.
Uh, did you get any feedbackafterwards?
Uh, from, from this event?
Daniel (35:55):
Yeah, they said, listen, uh, we're all in.
If you wanna do this again,count us in.
We, we will, we'll, we'll showup again.
We'll, we'll serve in anycapacity.
I mean, you know, typically at aconcert, people are just there
listening to the music.
But listen, man, a lot of these,a lot of these, uh, local
ministers,
Praise God for today.
(36:16):
Uh, we are here at the, outdoorconcert.
We're loving that.
God has brought brothers herefrom, from Michigan, from from
Arizona.
We got folks from Illinois andgot Indiana.
We're just thanking God that wecome here.
House the restoration along withBible way and, uh, water
walker's ministry, all comingtogether to just praise God
under, under his heavens.
I only say one roof under, underhis heavens.
(36:36):
Uh, I'm Darius Osa, uh, pastorOsa.
Uh, pastor Rocky de Losa is isthe pastor of our church, my
father, uh, here at two 20 East49th Avenue in Gary, Indiana.
Bible Way Church is come and seeus.
Our services start at 10 o'clockevery Sunday.
You can even find us livestreaming, uh, BWC Ministries
and YouTube.
You can also catch us on aFacebook page, BWC two 20 on
(36:58):
Instagram as well.
Uh, God has just blessed ourministry, not only locally, but
also to be in a space where wecan go out in the and, and, and,
and, and stream and be able to,uh, serve the world, you know,
just from where we are.
So.
Check us out on Tu on Tuesdaysas well.
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM We're onYouTube live streaming as well.
So check us out.
And we just really thank God forwhat he's doing and we thank God
(37:19):
for what he will do.
So we thank God that you'relistening.
We thank God for this and wewe're looking for a God to do
some miraculous things throughthis and many other ministries.
Amen.
some from, from further away, like I said, Seymour,
Indiana.
Were just content with walkingin the crowd and just getting to
know people and making sure thatno, no one was left, uh,
(37:40):
unspoken to everyone was, waswelcomed.
Everyone was ministered to and,and man, they.
They didn't treat it like it wasa, like, it was a vacation
event.
They treated it like anopportunity to share the gospel.
So whether you was listening tothe music or you were being,
you, you were in the line to befed, somebody was gonna be
engaging you just to introducethemself to you and simply just,
(38:02):
uh, ask you what brought youhere and, and what do you, who
do you, what do you know aboutJesus?
And so, man, there were many,many conversations that people
had that they were just blessedbehind and were like, man.
Dan, when you do this again,just let us know, man.
We will be here.
So I'm convinced, man, that thisis, this is a God thing, right?
(38:23):
He, he gets the glory.
The only reason that it workedwas because God was in it,
because God put the piecestogether because God seen fit to
draw the souls and ultimately.
Uh, gets the glory for the soulsthat were saved for the, for the
families that were impacted, forthe ministries that were, uh,
brought together.
(38:43):
Right.
It, it was just, it was great.
But to answer your question.
Everyone said, uh, call me in ifyou wanna do this again.
So we're, we're planning on a2026, uh, uh, return back to
Gary, Indiana.
Uh, maybe we can talk about thaton another, uh, another
interview or something just tokind of, uh, make people aware
of the next one coming up.
(39:04):
But as of right now, we don'thave a date.
We just know by faith we'regonna do it again.
Omar (39:10):
Man.
Amen.
So I got a whole year topractice on my, uh, uh, rap, uh,
skills, man.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
I I don't think you wanna seethat man.
But anyways, uh, speaking ofthat, of 2026, man, um, I, I
know they came out here, youknow, um, pastor Jaime, um,
water walkers, umm ministry, Ibelieve water walkers.
(39:31):
Worldwide water workers, waterwar water walkers worldwide.
So, but the question is, whenare we going out there, man?
Because I know we got a pastorCazares Tucson.
I got jc, he's out there inPhoenix.
So I already told, I told mywife, man, I don't know why we
gotta, we gotta go out therenext year.
So what, what's the plan there?
Daniel (39:50):
So, so, uh, so Tucson is getting ready to have their
annual, uh, TRG, uh, concert,um, in Tucson in March.
And so my wife and I talkedabout going out there.
I think you mentioned you maymake, make that trip also, man.
Yeah, it would be awesome to goout there and just to assist.
(40:13):
Them brothers in the same waythey came out to, uh, to reach
souls, uh, to, to, to bless thecommunity out here.
You know, I told them, I said,man, I just wanna, and man,
listen, I'll pass out water.
I mean, that's how blessed I wasjust to, just to work with the
body man, just to see theresults of what God would do,
man, when, when everybody wouldjust, uh, allow everything to
(40:33):
be, um, uh, like I said earlier,um, all in one accord, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, all things.
Having all things in common.
That's what I'm trying to say.
Omar (40:45):
Alright, man.
To man for sure.
So God willing, man will be,will be out there.
And, uh, I don't know why, like,I, I, I know, I know you, you
know, like I just know that Igot, I gotta go out to, to
Arizona, man, so God willing,you know, maybe it might be in
March or somewhere around there,but, uh, if you gimme the dates,
man, I'll throw it on thecalendar and start, uh, uh,
praying about it, you know?
Daniel (41:05):
Praying about it and maybe, maybe telling others.
Maybe they'll make the trip.
Who knows?
Who knows who's listening,right.
Who knows who, who knows where,where someone's listening today,
maybe, maybe right there inArizona.
Like, man, I didn't even know.
Yeah.
Next year, March 20, 26, TRG isis, is called Tucson Revival for
all generations, TRG 2026.
(41:27):
I know that everyone's invited,man.
Come on out there and, and bewith the body of Christ and
just, uh, see what God does man.
Omar (41:36):
Amen.
For, for, for sure.
You know what, this is what Iwas gonna ask.
So, uh, I think in July, uh, youcame out to share your testimony
at a radical timeout, uh,meeting.
Uh, which is, uh, a house, uh,national Ministries, uh, pastor
Manny Mill out in uh, Whedon,uh, Illinois.
Uh, so you came out there,shared your testimony.
Then we, we went out to eat, wewent to Portillo's, and, uh, we
(41:58):
were talking and I was sharingwith you how I had turned the
podcast into an LLC, so this wasin June, early June.
I, I did an LLC and me and youwere talking and going back to
Divine Connections, and we weresitting at Portillo's talking,
and I, and I think I brought up,I think I told you how
initially, initially I wanted todo a, a non-for-profit.
(42:21):
Uh, through the podcast, uh,through what I'm doing here,
through the content and justthe, um, the vision that I have
for this.
I don't wanna share too much,you know, I don't want people to
take my ideas, but, uh, uh,turn, turning what I'm doing,
uh, into, into a, into aministry.
So, yes, I, you, I guess I'llthrow it over to you.
You remember the conversation.
Daniel (42:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just remember you, you, youdiscussing with me saying this
is something that you desire todo.
And I just shared with you myexperience of how, uh, LLCs were
formed and, and, and how, uh, itmay sound, uh, difficult or, and
or, or a huge mountain decline.
But in reality, there are peoplelike accountants, people like
(43:02):
lawyers in place who, who makethe, make the process smooth,
you know?
And, um.
I just remember telling you the,the, the, the different ways
that I went about it in mypersonal life and also with the
ministry and yeah.
Praise the Lord.
God has, uh, turned, uh, wrongto strong into an LLC now.
Praise the Lord.
Omar (43:22):
A, a a a a non-for-profit.
Daniel (43:24):
A non-for-profit.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
Omar (43:25):
Yeah.
'cause remember, uh, uh, uh,when we were talking, it was a
LLC at that time.
Oh.
So I, I was telling my son I hada business for about a month and
a half.
Yes.
After our conversation.
Now's a five.
Daniel (43:41):
That's right.
Yep.
Now it's a 5 0 3.
Praise the Lord.
So, are people becoming more andmore aware that this is a five
three?
Omar (43:50):
Actually, this might be one of the first times that,
that I'm sharing it.
Daniel (43:55):
Okay.
Omar (43:55):
Because, uh, I know I, I talked with JC actually on my
last podcast that I releasedwith JC Almanza.
Uh, he, he shared, he, he wastrying to turn, uh, uh, wrong
too strong, which is his brand.
That, that he established, thathe created.
So we're, we're like anextension.
So this podcast is an extensionof him.
Uh, so he was trying to turnwrong too strong into a
(44:17):
non-for-profit out, out, out inArizona, he said for years.
And it just like, it was justlike hurdle after hurdle.
And he, he just got, uh, um, hisIRS paperwork for
not-for-profit.
Oh.
About a month before I did,which, which is crazy.
So it was almost like in God'stiming.
So he, he's doing a, a, um, a,um, a lot of ministry out there
(44:43):
in the prisons, men's prisons,uh, juvenile facilities, uh,
women's prisons.
Uh, just started, uh, workingfor Arizona State, uh,
university.
Uh, got a job doing, doingthings there.
So, man, he's really, uh, busyout there.
So he, he's got his nonprofitgoing, uh, he wants to do
something like, like what you'redoing, like a, a restoration
house.
(45:03):
Uh, kind of like a, like ahalfway house.
Matter of fact, right across thestreet, not literally, but
close, uh, right outside of aprison, uh, there was like a old
hotel that they want to turninto, like a, like a house, like
housing.
Oh, what was it?
Transitional housing, I guess.
Yeah.
Daniel (45:20):
Word.
Right.
People are in transition.
That's right, man.
I'll tell you what I would, Iwould share every bit of
experience, every bit ofunderstanding, wisdom God has
shared with me, with him,because guess what?
Somebody else shared it with me,bro.
It's all Gods.
Right?
And Manson.
He would be, uh, creating aplace, man.
For, for, for men.
(45:40):
Are you talking about men onlyor, yeah.
Yeah.
For, for, for this one?
Yes.
Yeah, man.
So another place for men to berestored.
Listen, there, there are, thereare lots of different, uh, um,
ministries out there for, foryouth and praise the Lord.
We need them.
And there are lots of ministriesout there for women.
And praise the Lord, we needthem, but not as many out there
for men.
And so, man, I'm, I'm, I'mrooting for'em.
(46:02):
I praise the Lord.
Uh, anything I can do to help.
Please connect us when, maybewhen we go out in March.
Yes.
Maybe when we take a stop thereand share with him.
I'd love to meet him.
Praise, uh, God.
And, and, and just shareanything He, he, any questions
he might have.
Share what I know.
Omar (46:18):
Amen.
Amen.
I know for, for sure.
So God willing that that'll be aconnection we make.
Uh, but yeah man, I, I'm excitedabout this.
Uh, so, uh, I just wanna thankyou for that conversation,'cause
you basically, after we leftPortillo's the next day, I
reached out to my accountant.
And he told me, yeah, man, I'm,I've done it before.
Matter of fact, uh, he hadworked with a, with a, uh,
pastor that, that I know helpedhim, like with his nonprofit.
(46:42):
So it was like a good, uh, whatwould you say?
Co connection.
Another divine connection youcould say.
Daniel (46:48):
Yeah.
Omar (46:49):
And uh, man, yeah, sure enough, that was back in July.
So earlier this month I got myletter.
So, so now the plan isstructure.
Getting the team together, the,the board together, getting the
rules, regulations, and allthat.
Uh, so, so my goal is in 2026 tolike, I guess it will be the
official launch Yeah.
(47:10):
To what we're gonna be doingthrough the content, uh, getting
the videos.
My goal is to get these podcastinterviews into the prisons,
Daniel (47:18):
yeah, just another, another avenue, right?
Another avenue to share thegospel.
Another give God glory to, tobuild relationships with people,
right?
To uh, to minister to thebroken, right.
For people to be able to hearstories that sound like their
own.
Kind of like how, uh, Hy issaying, man, that story sounds
like my brother and.
(47:38):
Eventually allowing God to bringus together in the same way,
man, this could be used to reachpeople that otherwise wouldn't
be reached.
Right.
And so, man, praise the Lord.
That sounds, sounds exciting,bro.
It sounds exciting.
It sounds inspiring.
Right?
I can imagine that.
Um, those who be, I mean, wouldthese be from, this wouldn't be
from people in there, right?
(48:00):
This would be two people inthere.
Omar (48:02):
Yes, exactly.
So, uh, based on the interviewsthat I've done.
Like to, to get it into the onesthat are in prison.
Daniel (48:09):
Yeah.
Omar (48:09):
Yeah.
Daniel (48:10):
Wow.
What man, man, what can God dowith that?
Omar (48:13):
Man?
Daniel (48:14):
That's, that's awesome, bro.
Omar (48:16):
I, I, I, I know I was talking to a pastor, uh, of
Rocky, I interviewed him.
Uh, he grew up out here as wellin Chicago.
Crazy story, you know, gangleader, he's out in Texas now.
Uh, but he, he, when I wastalking to him or like sharing
what, what I plan on doing, he'slike, man, you know what?
The, the one thing when I was inprison that helped me was the
Bible and then readingtestimonies.
Daniel (48:39):
Yeah.
Omar (48:40):
Like, like reading books of people that been through what
I've been through, as he said,man, the Bible and Testimon.
So, uh, the, I guess that's theshort of what, of the ministry
that I envision is the Bible andtestimonies.
'cause every testimony is gonnapoint to the God of the Bible,
you know, and, uh, it's gonna belaced, uh, with scripture.
Uh, the testimonies are gonna bescripture that ties in maybe to
(49:02):
that part of the story, but eeverything's gonna be the Bible
and testimony.
Uh, revelation 1211, if I'm notmistaken, right.
They, they overcame him by, uh,and speaking of the enemy,
speaking of the evil one, theyovercame him by the blood of the
lamb and by the word of theirtestimony.
Daniel (49:19):
That's right, man.
That's right.
Amen.
May God use that in so manyways.
Ways that you don't even know mybrother.
I know from my own experiencewhen I was incarcerated, I
needed to hear testimony.
I needed to know.
In fact, the man who led me toChrist, he was also interviewed
on Ronald Strong Kojack.
(49:41):
Co.
Jack Fuller?
Yes.
Ko Jack Fuller.
Uh, you know, hearing histestimony, hearing his
testimonies as God was, as Godwas raising him up in
penitentiary to share histestimony of, of conversion.
But just, uh, man in that, likeyou said, not only, uh, the
(50:01):
Bible, but hearing testimoniesabout the God of the Bible and
what he did in the life of.
People, how, man, how much Godcan do with that.
I'm a living example.
Yeah.
Omar (50:13):
Amen.
Look at that.
A confirmation why we need to bedoing what we're doing, man.
So I'm, I'm, I'm excited forthat next chapter.
And uh, today is what, Septemberthe 30th, right?
Yeah, yeah.
September 30th.
In two days, man.
On October 2nd is gonna make.
Three year anniversary that Istarted this podcast.
Daniel (50:33):
Glory to God.
Omar (50:34):
Yeah.
Yeah, man.
So three years and I feel like,man, we're just getting started,
man.
This is just like, uh, thefoundation and I'm excited for
what, what we're gonna do.
Uh, I, I got a good, uh, uh, ateam of brothers out here.
I got Cisco, got Arturo.
Man, I, I got my pastor Juan,uh, my wife, man.
She's, I honestly, my, my wifeis my, well, we're one, you
(50:57):
know, so, uh, I gotta includeher in the team.
You know, that, that's the, thefirst team right there.
I, I, I call her my second HolySpirit now.
For real.
Before I do anything now, man,I, I go to her.
For her, uh, perspective, uh, topray together.
Yeah, she's definitely like abig blessing in my life, you
know?
Daniel (51:16):
Amen.
Amen.
And a prayer warrior.
I, Ooh.
Oh, oh boy.
Your wife can pray, man.
Omar (51:22):
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm, I'm grateful and I'mthankful and I, I believe
that's, uh, a big reason whyI've continued to.
To grow and just continue to, tostand, man, obviously it's God
gotta give uh, glory and creditto to God.
Right under God, or I'll saywith my wife, my biggest
blessing, honestly.
Daniel (51:40):
Our wives.
You right about that.
My brother.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
The ones who help clean up theclean up the mess, right?
The ones who say, wait a second,wait A, don't put that on.
Don't put that on.
Put this on.
Don't
Omar (51:54):
say
Daniel (51:55):
that.
Don't say that.
Say this.
Yeah.
Omar (51:58):
That's, that's happened more than, more than like, man,
she, she'll hear me saysomething, eh, I, I wouldn't say
it that way.
Or, you know, like.
But anyways, yeah.
So I'm, I'm excited man.
I'm excited for, uh, um, whatGod's doing.
Just the connections and, uh, Ijust wanna thank you for being
out here, uh, a pastor.
Um, is there anything that wehaven't touched on, maybe
(52:19):
something that, that you wannashare before we get ready to
sign off?
Daniel (52:23):
No, I just, I guess it, uh, like last time I know that
somebody might be watching and,hey, listen, we were talking
about what God did on August23rd, but man, he's the same God
here today on September 30th,2025.
Man, the same God who will reachdown right into your
circumstances.
Save your life and, and changeyour life.
(52:44):
Uh, unlike you ever believed itcould be.
Your circumstances may look thesame, but with God in a man you
win.
And so I would just encourageyou not to just look at this for
an event that took place onAugust 23rd, but look at this
as, uh, us talking about the Godwho saves the God who delivers
the God who sets free throughHis son Jesus Christ.
(53:06):
That would be what I would wannasay, my brother.
Omar (53:08):
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
That's his name, man.
He, he, he can and he will doit, you know?
Yeah.
Amen.
Amen.
You know what, a quick shout outto you, pastor Dan.
I know you were reluctant to dothis.
You're like, man, I don't know.
I'm nervous.
I just want you to know.
You did a great job, man.
I think just, I think you werejust playing a hard to get, man,
Daniel (53:34):
dude, you make it easy, brother.
You make it easy.
So thank you much.
I appreciate you, my brother.
Omar (53:39):
No, no.
For, for sure.
That's one thing.
Before I do any interview,always pray.
I always pray be before we startwith, with every guest, whether
it's in person, whether, whetherit's via zoom.
I always pray and, uh, there's,there's a third person in the
interview at all times, andthat's the Holy Spirit.
That, that, that's part of myprayer every time as a, I say
God, as I begin to pray for myguests and myself in the
(54:01):
conversation, uh, I invite thethird person into here and the
person of the Holy Spirit, and Iask the Holy Spirit to bring to
remembrance any story.
Anything that needs to beshared, that's gonna bring
healing to the, uh, to theguests speaking and might be,
uh, bring healing, hope andencouragement to those that are
gonna be, uh, watching andlistening to the, to the
(54:24):
interview.
So it's definitely got God,everything that I do and invite
him and without him.
This, this will just be two guysright here just talking, you
know.
But we know that we're, when wetalk, we're talking about the
God who saved us.
Who delivered us, who healed us,who still sanctifying us working
in us, and just doing what onlyhe, he he could do in us and
(54:47):
through us, you know?
So yeah.
Amen.
Yes, sir.
Amen.
All right, thanks.
Uh, uh, thank, uh, thank you foryour time, pastor Daniel.
And with that we're gonna getready to, uh, to sign off.
Uh, um, Matthew four 16 reads,the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light, andupon those who sat in the region
(55:08):
and shadow of death, light hasdawned.
Alongside my guest, pastorDaniel Rivera.
I'm your host Omar Calvillo, andwe are wrong too strong.
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