Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. That they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, let's begin today's episode. I'm Drus East. I'm your host for Truth Talk Live. Fill in for Stu Epperson. Today is Monday, but it's actually Missions Monday.
So today we are going to talk about some opportunities that you might very well have to embark in a missionary kind of adventure.
So we're going to talk about some things going on in El Salvador in Central America. We're going to be talking about the country of Ghana. That our ministry is taking a trip there to in Western Africa. And so we're going to talk about that a little bit and give you some information about that. And then we're also going to talk about Utah.
And so I hope that you take the Great Commission seriously. It's such an important mandate that Christ gave us before He ascended. And so, you know, if we have some time at the end, we'll talk a little bit about Paul's. Missionary work that he did in Greece, and how that our ministry, Utah Partnerships for Christ, is sponsoring a trip next year. And that's going to be September 22nd through October 2nd, the Footsteps of Paul trip, an 11-day tour on the footsteps of Paul in Greece.
So we're going to not waste any more time here, and I'm going to ask Randy to go ahead and play an interview I did with a wonderful couple. Paul and Maria Cardanez. They are missionaries in El Salvador with YWAM. Go ahead, Randy, and play that interview. Welcome to Passion for Christ.
This is Russ, your host, and I'm with my friends Paul and Mary Cardanez. And they are with a ministry that's been going on for a very long time. They have ministry bases all around the world. It's called Youth with a Mission, or maybe you've heard of it referred to as YWAM. And so I'm going to just take a few minutes here.
We'll see how long it goes for Paul and Mary, who are the base leaders, the directors there. And they're just going to share about a 10-day opportunity, a short-term mission that you can be involved in. Or if you wanted to go for a whole year, that's all available too.
So maybe we could have Paul just share a little bit. And then if we need some translation, then Mary, you could just fill in there. But tell us a little bit of how did you come to Christ? How did you come to Christ? And talk real close, very close, like I am to the microphone.
Yeah, go ahead. Bueno, um, senor, ace. 2018, buscando un basilo mi corazón y pues el señor me condujos Argentina to be a school of juicum y thereempe mystery with the señor.
So I became a Christian. I became a Christian 20 years ago. I was feeling really lonely, empty. And I came back to I I went to Argentina and that's where my story started.
Okay, wonderful, wonderful. And so did somebody share the gospel with you at church or was it um at your home, Sucasa or Iglesia? Um how did that happen? With one missioneros of Wikilif that is traditional Biblia at Quechua in Peru.
So I passed a Jesus. Y I invit the program of Jukum in Argentina.
So, uh So I became Christians with uh missionaries from Wycliffe. They were translating Bible into Quechua for Quechua speakers in Peru. I'm from Peru. And they invited me to take a DTS with Waiwam. Oh, that is so great.
You know, I have to just say that's such a blessing. And then in a few minutes, maybe if we have time today, I want to take you upstairs. I'm going to show you a reproduction copy of a Bible that John Wycliffe put together back in 1384. That's when he put together the Bible into English in 1384. And so since Wycliffe, there have been many Bible translators, you know, Tyndale and John Rogers and the Geneva Bible people, and so on it goes, you know.
So that's so exciting. Praise God. And would you want to share, Mary, a little bit about your testimony? Yeah, I have been a Christian since I was born. I was born in the church as a Christian, but there was a time that I felt.
that I didn't know Jesus, like I felt away from Jesus, even though I grew up in the church, right?
So, um Well, I was uh Facing a lot of peer pressure and like the world, and then became came the university, and a lot of things were going on in my mind, so I decided to separate a time for God. And after graduating from university, I went and took the DTS, and it was a really good time for me to uh found again with Jesus and my faith and really Leg. To say that I wanted to serve him and I have been serving since then. Wow, that's wonderful.
So tell our listeners, what does DTS stand for? It's discipleship training school. Discipleship training school. And so it goes for a year, but if somebody is not ready to go for a whole year, you can just go for about 10 days. Yeah.
Right. Right. DTS doesn't go for a whole year, but we have a program that, because sometimes after university, you have spare time or after college. Right, right.
So you don't want to go right away to work or maybe after high school you don't want to go right away to university or college.
So you can spend that time serving others and growing in a relationship with Jesus. And we have called it a year for Jesus. And it only costs $200? No, no, no. That's for 10 days, like short.
Term yes for 10 days for the 10-day yeah for the long for a year is we have two schools we have DTS right and then we have a a break in the middle is a month and then we start the second school that is school of missions right so each school has a theoretical part and a practical part okay yeah the theoretical part is two thousand dollars okay yeah yeah lots of training and stuff your whole life yeah the outreach part the practical will be around 500 up to 200. And people will help support you. I mean, people out there, they have, you talk to like maybe 100 people or 50 people or something, and people will be surprised that people are willing to help give, aren't they? People want to give to their local church and they want to give to somebody who wants to go to a DTS. You've seen it for the last, how many years has this been going on?
50 years or something like that? Almost 20.
Okay, but YWAM has been going on for a long time. Oh, yeah. Yeah. 50 years or something.
So we've seen God supply. God's supply. What's the phrase? If God is, if He wills it, He's in it, or something like that. He's going to provide.
There's a little phrase that rhymes, but helps me remember that because we're in ministry kind of work as well here in Utah.
So are there some Mormons in El Salvador? Are there a few Mormons, do you think? Yeah, actually, the city we are at is the city that has most, oh, the city we are at has the most. Yeah. Really, big population.
Big population.
So we have to lovingly reach them with the gospel, huh? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Great.
Well, when I mentioned $200, is that the cost plus your airfare to get out there, but is it only $200 or so? This includes accommodation and the activities.
Okay. And the food. And food. Lots of great food. Lots of great food.
Mexican kind of food, huh? Better, better, probably. Better. Better. Yes, yes, yes.
Right. Salvadorian, yeah, pupusas. I was going to say, we have a place right down here, you know.
Okay. Oh, really?
Okay. Okay. Well, there's a little restaurant, I think, over here. Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Right. So, well, this is great.
Well, I know that people will just have a blast working with you guys. And so that's just a real blessing.
So if you're looking for an opportunity to do some missions work in Central America, some evangelism, teaching in schools, the homeless, probably like, are there orphanages out there? Maybe a little bit of orphanage or jails, things like that, maybe, right?
Okay. Paul, share with our listeners, like the vision that God's given you about. We'll be right back for the rest of today's testimony. Please know we at Utah Partnerships for Christ have been planting seeds of the gospel in Utah for over 24 years. We welcome any questions you may have and invite you to visit our website to obtain a list of words and definitions that would help you understand how Mormons think and how to be able to better witness to your friends who belong to the Mormon Church.
That website is www.upfc.org. That's upfc.org. We'll be right back. Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God.
That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. All right, we are back here on Truth Talk Live. We're going to continue the interview that I had. With Paul and Mary Cardenez. They are missionaries.
Because today is Missions Monday, and we are talking about missionary opportunities that you can take a part of. And so we're just going to continue the interview now as we hear about these missionaries in El Salvador, Central America with YWAM. Let's continue. Um, Paul? Share with our listeners like the vision that God's given you about this this uh this uh ten day trip.
What what's the vision God's given you for this? Uh nonstruction principal el queos nos adado es Bare. Gente? Saliendo del Salvador as las naciones.
So our main uh dream is to have people uh Co going out from El Salvador to Nations.
Okay. So I don't know if you if you have heard the news, but something has changed in El Salvador. For many years we have worked under the pressure of the gangs. Gangs, okay, yes. We are experimenting a pause that we do not have to train in El Salvador.
Okay. Now we're experiencing a piece that we haven't got in almost 30 years in El Salvador. Des dáce dos años? Isentimo que. Que engin está libertad que estamos vibiendo hoy, no tenemos.
We are having multiplicando work of the work. How cuando is traveling vajo la mano de los vaja? I think it's a good idea.
Okay. So we feel that is uh dur we have like two years now uh that is a Peaceful, and we feel like we need to double our effort to work and spread the gospel in El Salvador because we are not longer under the pressure of the gang's members. Right, praise God for that. That is fantastic.
So, I'm gonna do something kind of crazy right now. I'm gonna just see if we can bring on there's YWAM bases all around the world, okay? And I have a friend in Las Vegas, and he may be busy right now, but if he is, that's okay. But we're gonna see if I can bring him on the line because you gotta meet Haruna, he's from Ghana. Get it?
Hey. Hello. Haruna, this is Russ. Hey. Hey, Doing great.
Hey, do you have just one minute to say hello to some YWAM-based directors in El Salvador? They're sitting right in my office right here. Oh, great. Yes.
So this is Paul and Mary Cardeness.
So this is Haruna from Ghana, but he's in Las Vegas.
Okay, good. Hi. Hi, Haruna. Nice to meet you. Hi, Haruna.
Nice to meet you. Hey, FaceTime, we're gonna do FaceTime right now. There he is, right there. Hi. All right.
We're doing FaceTime.
So out there, everybody in Radio Land, you can't see us right now, but hey, Haruna, great to see you. All right. Haruna has brought teams from his base to Utah, and I thought maybe, who knows, maybe the Lord will use this moment to where people from YWAM at Las Vegas could travel out to El Salvador, right? Is that possible? to connect with them so You finish, and then I can connect with them.
Okay, Haruna is a great guy, and these are great people right here.
So, hey, I just called you off the cuff like this, but thank you so much for answering. And we're trying to go to Ghana. You can pray for us. We're trying to go to Ghana and reach the people there for Christ because there's lots of Mormons in Ghana.
So, a lot of unsaved people everywhere, right?
So, Haruna is blessing us a lot with some good contacts and everything.
So, this is just how the body of Christ works, right? Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, thank you, Haruna.
I'll connect you with these guys, okay? You're welcome. Yes, yes, I would love to connect with them. Thank you. Thanks, Saruna.
Talk to you soon. Yeah. Bye-bye.
Okay. All right. Well, that was fun. That was fun. How God just does that sometimes.
Could have gone to voicemail, you know? That's okay. We would have said hi to him there. Yeah. Well, I think that's about it right now.
Unless there's anything else you'd like to say. Is there a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a Oh, oh, your trip, yes, yes. And then get contact information. Real quick, contact information. If they want to get in touch with you, what's the best way to do it?
Okay, we got the website. Is ywamconnections.org.
Okay, ywamconnections.org.
Okay, and that'll take you right to El Salvador, to where you guys are. We are in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Santa Ana, Santa Ana.
Okay, excellent. And so we're great.
Well, go to that website, and you can find out all you need to know about the ministry in El Salvador and the short-term mission trip and the DTS. And Regina, you and Eric both did this before. Why don't you get real close to the microphone? Just swing that over there, and you can just share as the Lord leads you about the whole thing. Hi, I'm Regina and this is my husband.
Hello, this is Eric. And and how did the Lord lead you guys to the to the to the uh short term trip or the DTS? Yeah, so it started with um my forti birthday being last year and then planning a trip and then We're, I'm into Bitcoin, and there was something called Bitcoin halving that happens every four years. And they were having that party in El Salvador.
So we started planning this trip to El Salvador. And then we have some friends that are YWAM people from Hawaii that live here in Ogden.
So we started talking to Diego about it, if there was any YWAM things or he knew a way that we could make this kind of have some more bigger purpose for the trip, maybe some kind of mission. And that's how he put us in touch with Paul and Mary at their YWAM base because it was through his father that there was a connection. And so then we got in touch with Paul and Mary over WhatsApp and we were planning. We packed some extra things for the trip, some games, some little care packages for the homeless. And we kind of planned a special project where there was a family that had to make some repairs to their house before the rainy season.
So we made some plans for that. And then it was just really a special part of our vacation. We brought our four kids, so it was our family of six, and we all stayed together on the YWAM base where we were sharing meals and worshiping and then going out into the community to help, where there was a Really, a UNICEF building that kind of stood out in the middle of a very poor area. They had recently painted murals on the walls to cover up the gang graffiti. And that's where we were able to work with children and play games with the elderly.
They had a a street friends program which was working with homeless people.
So We were able to do that and help give out food and talk to people. And it was funny because a lot of those people were from California, and that's where we're from. And some of them spoke English better than Spanish because they'd been deported.
So we were able to talk about living in California. And so it was just not a conversation I was expecting to have with people in El Salvador, much less on that night. But so that was really interesting getting to meet.
Some of those new people. Awesome. Awesome. So wonderful to hear. And Regina, what would you like to add to that?
Well, I was scared at first heading out in all honesty and Had to really rely on God's peace there. But, you know, I have to say, it was probably one of the most special. moments our family had together. Um, it was extremely safe. And I Yeah, I'll never forget the experience going there with our kids, especially.
We have kids from what a great idea, huh? Oh, they loved it. They want a trip like this. What about Wyatt? Do you want to say something, Wyatt?
Okay, you don't have to, but say, did you say yes or no? Did you have a great trip on this thing to El Salvador? Yes or no? Yeah, it was pretty fun. Pretty fun.
See, so that's pretty good for a young man to say that. I mean, he didn't say it was lame. He didn't say it was like, oh, no, I'd never do that. No way. Get me out of here.
He's sitting here and he's enjoying it, right? And Wyatt loves to play soccer, so he was able to play soccer with other children there. And they did soccer. That's a good sport to play over there, I bet. They didn't have a proper soccer ball, so that was a simple gift.
Able to just buy a soccer ball so they could play with that.
So. Coming up August 22nd through the 29th, our ministry, Utah Partnerships for Christ. came across a gentleman named Fred. And Fred, he he called me up and he said, Russ, I have a burden to go to Ghana. And he wanted to come to Utah to learn about the culture of where Mormon people live and how to share the gospel with Mormons.
And he wanted to take that information, take that experience, and go to Ghana in West Africa. And so, little by little, things started percolating and happening. And one thing after another, and all of a sudden, you know, where God guides, He provides. And so He has been raising funds. And he's on his way to going to Ghana.
And what we're going to do is we're going to have, Lord willing, we're going to have between August 22nd and August 29th, we're going to have a a man with us who's going to be taking video of this whole experience. We're going to be he's going to be going to churches And a, I believe, a YWAM base. And we're going to minister to the Christians there to understand. how that the Mormon teaching is Is completely different from true Christianity. And we're going to lovingly do this.
We're going to do it with kindness, but we're going to kind of go as like an Operation Galatians. in a sense. We're going to go and we're going to try to equip and protect and we're going to educate and inspire and encourage the Christians there to share the love of Christ With their Mormon friends, with the Mormon missionaries that are there in Ghana in the capital city of Accra. Over the years, there have been a couple people, like in the last interview, a gentleman named Haruna. And and he has brought teams up to Utah He's from Ghana, and he has a heart for Ghana.
So he's been helping us us with some connections. Maybe you would like to join Fred. They're going to be flying out of the East Coast. And this is again, this is August 22nd to the 29th. Maybe you'd like to go to our website, UPFC.
That's the acronym for Utah Partnerships for Christ. And that's where you can, even if you wanted to make a donation or if you wanted to find out how you could go on this trip, that would be the place to go.
So we would love to hear from you in light of that. And so this trip is going to involve a lot of training, workshops, and seminar kinds of events. With the churches there in the Accra area. And so that's going to take place. And then as well as that, then we're going to have a day where we just Prayerfully seek out opportunities to talk to Mormons that are near the temple, the Mormon temple, maybe the missionaries that are in the area.
We believe the Lord's going to open up that door. But over the years, as I was saying, the Lord has brought Haruna across my path. And then also a man named Nicholas Levy that goes way back, and he was living in Ghana. He came over to Utah to do some ministry with us here to reach the Mormons for Christ. And then since then he moved to England and he's working as a pastor over there in England in the London area.
And so we've just kept up over the years. And so between the connections between Haruna and Nicholas Leby, it looks like things are starting to happen. And we have some people that are willing to host us. and to have uh these these meetings, these training sessions, these seminars, uh workshops, and where we can really learn how to share the gospel effectively with our friends who are Mormon. And and so the Mormon Church is growing in Ghana.
And so we want to help the Christ the Christians there. Befriend the Mormons. We want them to sense the true love that that the Christians should have for one another. Before we sign off for today, please know that all of us here at Utah Partnerships for Christ appreciate your prayers and support. We are also available to do Zoom call workshops or personal coaching on reaching Mormons for Christ.
Contact us today at upfc.org. That's upfc.org. Thanks so much for joining us on another edition of Passion for Christ.
