What's Good For The Soul!

Speaking of hangry, we got something going on at the Truth Network that's going to help the world not be so hangry. Yeah, he's talking about just needing God's Word. He said, please help the Truth Network send Bibles to Africa.

And we know that they need God's Word. We have until the end of the month, just $5 gets a Bible in the hands of a poor, impoverished believer all over the African continent with the help of the Bible League. Just $5.

Just think about that, Robbie. Just $5. So please give. If you can give more than $5, man, we'd love for you to do it. And the number to call is 1-800-YES-WORD. 1-800-YES-WORD. This is Darren Coon with the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we search the ancient paths to find ways that God brings light into a dark world and helps set men free from the struggles that we all face on a day-to-day basis. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network.

Previously on Lantern Rescue. This three-year-old boy was playing on a playground, essentially, and the traffickers enticed him away, and then they wanted to get him across the border, but they didn't want to do the actual physical transportation across the border, because that's when the trafficking charges come in, and it's when they actually physically move the victim. So what they were doing is they had a trafficker on one side of the border and a trafficker on the other, and they were trying to get him to walk across on his own, so that if they were caught, they would look like these trusted adults. Oh, no, we saw this kid alone. We were trying to help him.

We didn't have anything to do with it. Welcome to Lantern Rescue, a ministry program dedicated to bringing light into the darkness of human trafficking. It's time to light the way to freedom. This is Lantern Rescue. We tell the stories, we talk about rescues, and we empower you to do something about it.

William Wilberforce once said, let it not be said I was silent when they needed me. This is Lantern Rescue. So we have like the treat of treats for you today on Lantern Rescue, in that we are live from the fields of Virginia. We won't tell you exactly where, but we've been at just an amazing event, and so not only do we have the Lantern team here live, but we have Lantern kids here and the Lantern wives, and so Tammy, why don't you open us up?

Well, good morning. Thanks for joining us today. I just wanted to let everybody know that last year at this time, the families finally got to meet, of the four founding members, the families got to meet last year, and we had such a great time, and we brought the kids with us, and they had a good time on the four-wheelers and on the side-by-side, and our son on his dirt bike. So it was very exciting to be able to come back again this year, and we added this year, actually we had to stay in two additional houses rather than just the one house, so we had about 24 people with us. Some of the volunteers that work with Lantern Rescue came along, and they brought their husbands and spouses. But one of the most amazing things that I found of just the two days that we were together, everybody has the same purpose, it seemed, in Lantern Rescue, and the same heart for helping people, and it made for all of us just to become a family almost immediately. I mean, the laughs were going around, the jokes were going around with everybody, we had a bonfire on Saturday night, we had everybody just got a chance to get to know each other, and it was like old family just getting back together. And that's always been amazing to me, to see all of us get together, and because we have one similar purpose, we're able to just bond as a family and become that family that's going to be together for a long, long time. That is so awesome.

It really is, and it's a picture of heaven, right? Because that's what it's going to be like when everybody gets back together and gets to tell the stories, and the stories of what God did this year. And so one of the other neat things we really have for you guys is, again, you know, the families. And so we all have, we pick up daughters, and we pick up sisters, and we pick up, so we have Mark's daughter, we'll call her daughter number one, since apparently you are the oldest, but could you kind of give us your perspective on the weekend? It was just really good to be able to come out here and spend time with everybody, because again, these are my dad's teammates and his family, like his teammates and their families that we all get to kind of see and be with, and we've built a relationship with them and their children as well. So it's really great to get back together, especially because again, they live in other areas, and while my dad gets to go be with his teammates in other places, like doing what he does, it's really interesting to be able to come back together and build relationships as a support system at the same time. And I really have enjoyed that, because we're all like-minded, and we all believe and care about the same core values and core things, so it's really great to be around people who feel the same way, believe the same way, and also support their families or family members in the same way. So just in case you're sitting there thinking, wow, these people's families are not like my family. It's very functional.

It's not dysfunctional. Well, I had a chance to talk to daughter number one a little bit, and so she was telling me how she found out that her dad was going on places, and it sounded more like my family. So daughter number one, tell us how you found out your dad was even doing land and rescue. Well, I mean, the first time I found out, I was actually in college, and my mom just sent me a text, hey, your dad's going over to such and such country, and it's going to be dangerous.

And I was just like, okay, that's really random, and I don't understand. And then I came back one summer, and I started learning more of what he actually was doing and had been doing while I was gone at college, and I was like, oh, wow, okay, that's really awesome. I'm really glad I get to be a part of this. It's also kind of nerve-wracking, especially because as the oldest who was gone in college when all of this started, I didn't really have a full understanding or get to see the whole process as soon as it started. I understood that we had grounds, a desire for that in our family starting out. But that was really interesting, and now I was just joking with you about how sometimes my dad just walks over, hugs me, and is like, hey, I'm going to be gone for two weeks. And I'm like, great, where are you going?

So that was exactly what you were talking about. That was pretty funny. So are you daughter number three or daughter number two? Or daughter number four?

Okay. Five, I'm sorry. Daughter number five, tell us again what you got to do. I got to ride with everybody, my sisters. They got to drive, and I was with them. What were you riding on? Side-by-sides.

What is a side-by-side for those of us that are ignorant? It's this really big ATV. It's got like four seats.

I was crammed in the middle of the top in the front of the two seats, just sitting there. And did the people that were driving, were they careful? Yes. So you had fun? Yes. And did you get to meet some new family? Yep. I got 24 more people now, so that adds more. That's so awesome.

That is so awesome. And so we have, actually, this would be Alan, son number six? Child six. Okay. Anyway, so, son three. We'll call you Trey.

No, just kidding. So Trey, tell us about your adventures this weekend. So, I'm not riding on these side-by-sides and four-wheelers like everyone else. I have my own bike that I like to bring down. And, yeah, it's pretty fun being able to go with everybody. I like riding in big groups. It's pretty enjoyable because you just can either go in front of everybody and just fly your own path and wait up at the front, or you can stay in the middle and just watch everybody else do their thing. So, yeah.

So, listeners can't tell. We said we're in the fields of Virginia, but really, we're more like in the mountains, right? Yeah, yeah. And so when you're on these paths, what do you experience? Oh, the paths? So, where we're from, it's also hilly. But here, it's like straight up and then straight down over and over again.

And then there's just, at the bottom of every hill, there's always a pocket of mud that's like super deep. And so have you been driving as careful as daughter number five? Well, maybe not quite that carefully.

Probably not as careful as my mom would approve of. But, yeah, it's pretty fun. I enjoy it down here.

I've been to quite a few places because my parents like to take me on vacations all the time, but by far, this is my favorite place to go. Isn't that wonderful? And, you know, it's been a tough year. Right?

And the families all over the world, really, have been cooped in. And so, you know, what a neat thing that God has given you guys from soul care to rejuvenate from the many adventures that they've been on. But it's interesting that you go on more adventures to recuperate from adventure.

You do that on a motorcycle. So just, you know, so that people can kind of get a grasp. So when you found out what your dad was going to be doing, what was your reaction to that? Well, I wasn't necessarily surprised because he's always been doing stuff like this his whole life.

And I know he's always wanted to do missions work since as long as I can remember. But yeah, when he told me and he started to actually go overseas more often, I was kind of used to it because his prior job involved him having to go away a lot for like a week or two at a time. So I was able to adapt pretty easily.

And yeah, I got pretty used to it pretty fast. So I understand. I understand. Well, when we come back, we're going to hear from the team themselves on what's going on and what's been going on in this amazing event that's been happening here. So stay tuned.

We've got so much more. Lantern Rescue coming your way. Lantern Rescue is a USA based organization that conducts international rescue operations for people suffering from human trafficking. Lantern specializes in sending former US Special Operation law enforcement and intelligence personnel to partner with host nations and assist them in creating specialized units to combat ongoing security problems, such as genocide, terrorism, and human trafficking.

As a nonprofit charity, they offer services free of charge to their host nations. Human trafficking has grown into the second largest criminal activity in the world, reaching an estimated 150 billion dollars in annual activity. Lantern Rescue has developed rapidly to combat trafficking. Lantern operates through a trained international network in order to rescue women and children from sex and labor slavery and facilitates holistic aftercare services.

They're gearing up for operations right now and you can go to lanternrescue.org to see how you can support them financially. We're back to Lantern Rescue where, oh my goodness, we have such an adventure that's been going on this weekend where you get a chance to talk to the team live, but you know, just not only them, but their families and how they've been impacted over the last year. Because the last time we actually got together and talked, husband and wives, they were actually doing the same thing in kind of the same area, but they'd come to the station to do it. We didn't get a chance to talk to all the families then, but we were getting a rare insight into how the kids feel and Mark's daughter, number one, had one more little tidbit I think that would be helpful for the listeners to try to discern a little bit of what the families go through. It's just one question that I get asked often is kind of like, aren't you afraid or how do you deal with that with your dad being gone often or things like that or you know, with everything that goes on. And something that I'm really speaking for all of my siblings in this aspect is one thing that I remember my dad said in a sermon that stuck out to all of us was just you are safest in God's will no matter where you are. So whether you think you're safe here and you think you're in danger elsewhere, you're really just safest in God's will and if you're not in God's will, then that's actually a lot more dangerous. So that is definitely something that has stuck out to all of us and I think gives us all a peace of mind whenever he's gone doing, you know, everything that he does. Wow, that's worth the price of admission right there, you know, certainly something for all of us to live by, but we also now have daughter number three.

And so, you know, you've had a chance to do this now for a second time? Yeah, we did it last year. We rode a lot. What was the difference from your perspective between last year when it was just a smaller group to this big group that you had this time?

It was a lot easier to fit on vehicles. So last year you were squished? No, I wasn't squished last year, but this year I was. I was in the middle.

I'm trying to get the true scoop now. Were the people driving these vehicles careful? Mostly. I think so. You're safe, right? You made it?

Yeah. And so of all the riding around that you guys did, what's your favorite memory of this particular adventure? Probably getting stuck in the mud. I wasn't on that vehicle, but somebody else was.

My sister was. And they had to all get out and then Alan and Reese put sticks under it and sat on it and it lifted it up out of the mud and then my dad had the forler. And he drove for it and KK had to sit on the front of it to make it not flip. And then it moved an inch and it went. I did nothing.

They did it all. But you got to watch it. And it is interesting that the things that everybody else thought was the worst thing that could happen was actually the funnest part of like, wow. I thought it was fun, but I didn't do nothing.

Was there anything you would want? It was fun once they were out of it. Because then it was cool to look back at.

Is there anything that you would want the listeners to know from your perspective as your dad goes out and does what he does? Sometimes I really miss him a lot and I'm like, why does he have to go? And then I went mad at him kind of for going. But then I think, well, what if I was one of those girls? I'd want to be rescued.

So then I'm fine with it. I pray for him a lot. And then I'm out and normally my dad's with me at places and they're like, where's your dad?

I'm like, he's out of the country again. They're like, oh, okay. And I'm like, just pray for him. And then I pray for him all the time. And people are like, okay.

And then I get all my friends to pray for him. That is so cool. And so well said. So thank you. Thank you. So we're going to get the team back in here now. And Mark, you know, tell us your thoughts on how you were setting this up.

Yes, sir. So this is a time that we have a team retreat and we've done this in the past, as is mentioned before, our families. This particular time we kind of did a combination of retreat with some additional people and some may be wondering what 24 people. It's a lot of our families.

Definitely. We have a lot of children, but it's also with key volunteers that are so critical in social media. And then really from the the blessing of the radio show, Robbie, this the volunteers, the people who want to volunteer to do different things from Freedom Host, other things. And so some people that we have met with and identified as someone who we feel like is what we would like to have in our family. And they're their volunteer coordinators and some donor appreciation people. And they're, you know, they're all volunteers to like us. Those and then some others. So, you know, several others. So all of those came together and we actually did a a full kind of disk assessment. If people know what that is, you know, kind of who you are and how you like to work and communicate. We had a life coach, corporate coach come in and do that for us.

You know, he did that generously. And, you know, we had some laughs about who we are. You know, Alan and I and TC are in. We're all kind of in that same area of who we are and how we, you know, would work. And definitely Alan and I are almost in the same area. We're D-type people. So anyway, it's a lot of good time.

A lot of fun. But then also a larger treat for our families. And like Tammy said, being in the show, what's remarkable is that we're not just operationally a group of people. We are a family. And that is because we're behind the calls of Christ. And that is the rescue of these victims.

Right. And I would think, Alan, that you guys have been cooped up. Your families have been all year from Covid at the same time trying to deal with this. I was listening to your daughter, Mark, talk about praying for you a lot and all this and thinking about what that might be like for the families. It's interesting to me how God provides this soul care essentially in this setting for your family. Yeah, it's something our family or my family looks forward to tremendously. As a matter of fact, I think my son told you, you know, he's been many places around the world and this is his favorite place to go. And it's not just for the fun and that, it's for the connection with the people that he knows his dad goes away with.

And it's sitting back during this experience down here. You know, it actually helped me realize the need for that connection, not only with just the teammates, but the families of the teammates. We had, like Mark mentioned, the girls come in and their spouses. So their spouses are like, what in the world are they into? And then they come and meet us. And they're like, oh, OK, I'm a little more comfortable now with these guys are good Christian guys and their hearts in the right place. So it helped foster that bond or the buy into the family. And they all felt welcome. And we are, for the most part, welcoming. But we've said in the past, it's a very close family. So we're not extremely open, but when we open up, we are 100 percent open to them. But that was one of the unique things about this retreat. And it allows us to show the true family that we are to those coming into it. And we look for that and the operators we bring on. So the girls do their part and they have their lane to be in. And we have our lane, but when we all come together like this, our lanes kind of overlap and we get to be real with each other and find each other's heart out. So it's kind of cool.

Yeah, beautiful. Really, you know how God has blessed not only more team. But more opportunities that I'm aware of in countries overseas, in places that nobody's been able to go to, to help. That God's opened up doors of rescue throughout the last year when the rest of the world was getting tighter and more closed. Have you noticed?

This is just totally counter what the rest of the world was doing. You know, his team was growing, his church was growing, and Landon was getting more opportunities to go into more places. Not being able to have less opportunities to go less places.

Yes, not a lack of opportunity at all, Robbie. You know, we're recently in a part of the world we'll probably never will ever talk about and can't fully talk about all that God allowed us to do there. And all that's in play right now, but it's a huge effort for the Kingdom of Christ that we're honored to be part of. But then something I can talk about, also in the last two weeks I was in a country and met with the DNI of that country and presidential staff.

While another teammate, TC, was in Ethiopia doing an assessment and also doing training for girls there, self-defense kind of thing. So we're all moving different parts and different places and we're glad that God keeps us busy. That's kind of who we are. We're the type of people who want to keep moving. Being a big fan of profiling personalities and working together as a team, because clearly the way God put together his church, you've got to have a backbone and you've got to have feet and you've got to have hands and you've got to have a head. And all those things come together and just by nature of what you guys do, there's this term in Hebrew called a zadik, which is somebody who is after righteousness. You guys are trying to make a very bad situation right. And so it would naturally bring some very strong personalities.

And I'm interested on the buffering, you know, what God's brought. Yeah, you would love to have seen the chart. It was pretty extreme in most areas, but the cool thing about it is the passion that each one of the people have in their own perspective. We had some people that are like really analytical and they're way over top, but they need to be.

And just like us, we're way over the top on the tactical or the violent side of it, if need be. But it's really funny when you see us all come together, we can laugh at each other in the way we are and we get along and it connects. And so I know moving forward, we're spread thin sometimes and we have a lot of people that want to become a part of this. But this helped me and I'm sure all of us understand what we're looking for in those people that want to be a part of this team.

You know, we're going to move forward with more operators down the road here relatively soon. But, you know, we've all been on different teams, various teams throughout our lives. But the unique thing about this team is what the glue is of this team, you know, that God is at the center of it. And we don't do this for money or accolades or it's just to do the will that the Lord has set before us.

And that's a unique thing about this. You mean there's money involved? I don't even get to eat all the time.

We'll go long hours without eating and finally it's out and it says, fellas, we eat or I eat somebody. So we have to figure the plan out. Yeah, I get that completely. But as I think back to, you know, I guess your fourth daughter, the way that she said I pray for my dad a lot. And so I was thinking that all of you that are listening right now, right, that you're all part of this family too.

You know, you guys have been listening now for a year and a half. I mean, we've been doing this for a while and some of you are, you know, part of the family. And like family, you know, we get a chance to pray a lot.

And some people may be prompted to join the team and those kind of things. But what would you share, Mark, currently would be something where you'd have them funnel those prayers? What would be something that's on your heart that we need to be praying for? I hate to ask to pray for so much sometimes. When people ask, I don't know if our lives are simple enough that when somebody says, what's the one thing we can pray for? Our lives are so complicated and with so many lanes of effort in so many parts of the world that, you know, it's a lot of things.

But I'm going to try to narrow it down. OK, one is pray for the existing work, the safety of our intelligence team and those who are intercepting. Then second is pray for our new work.

We have proposals and agreements coming into place in parts of the world that are very volatile. Something that I could never have foreseen is completely God's favor to put that in play for us. And so pray that those those continue to gain favor so that we can begin full operations even in those areas. So pray for that. I would appreciate that. Wow, what an honor really to have been in on this for the time that we have and a chance to meet these families that are all part of the team and part of what God's doing here at Land and Rescue. So thank you all for listening today. Thank you, Robby. Thanks, Rob.