I'm sitting with a hit man, a serious basketball slam-dunker, and a guy who recently ran a hundred miles.
They all love Jesus. I don't even know where to start. I just know that not too long ago, right across the street from where we're sitting, it's in a restaurant here.
We're in Biscuitville, which is a breakfast concept, North Carolina. Doug Elks, you brought a message to one or 200 men in there at the New Canes Society. Tell us what you saw. I was in the front row, so I couldn't see what you saw.
What did you saw? What was God doing through your message? Tell me what's on your heart right now after ministering to those guys. Man, I'm just truly grateful, one, for the opportunity to be there and speaking into the lives of so many incredible men. One of the first things I said when I got up there was just how special it is to see men come together and invest in spending time seeking first God's kingdom, but also just surrounding themselves with other men. My big thing was I wanted to talk about what God had done in my life, but I wanted people's faith to be increased by testimony and people to come to Christ. People just have a deeper relationship with Jesus. I got to share a lot about my personal testimony and what God had done in my life, but also in the lives of my family members and close friends. I'm just encouraged. I look around the room and I see guys that feel like their peers are deeply connected to it. Again, it's all God and it's all His grace.
We don't earn it, but we get it. I want people to make sure they download the podcast where we did your whole story, which is just powerful and what God's doing through you. I also want people to know they can have you come speak. You can share the gospel anywhere, whether it's a few people or a big crowd like an FCA or something like that. Amen. I would love to. Absolutely.
Yeah. A lot of people code through our website, aimmissions.com. There's a form of booking inquiry where you can reach out and contact our ministry, but I would love to. Right now, that's the biggest thing that's deeply impressed on my heart is I want people to hear the gospel preach and have an opportunity to receive Christ in faith and then live their lives in Him once they receive the free gift of salvation. Now, the guy that introduced me to you, Baller Nation, aka John Perry, his daddy is one of the people that brought New Canes Society to Winston over 15 years ago, maybe longer. And so then because of my relationship with his dad mentoring me, I started mentoring him and he introduced me to you and a bunch of other people.
And we're going to bring the hit man in a second. But what was it like for you, Baller Nation, to see him speak and just to see all these men and God move in something your family's had a part of? Yeah, it's just so amazing to hear Doug speak at something that started New Canes. I started in my house with about 10 guys. My mom used to bring bagels and she's she's has a huge gift of hospitality.
So she would do the whole spread of breakfast. And then eventually we got so big, we went to a guy and said, Hey, we need we need more space at your can we use your restaurant? And he said yes. And so now we've brought in speakers all over the world, including Doug Elks, who's just incredible. And he's he's got an incredible following and can reach millions of people through the internet, which is amazing. And also through speaking opportunities through his aim it ministry and it's just incredible to see what God is doing in his life and his ministry that's just getting started and is going to reach millions for Christ.
It's just so encouraging to see that. Yeah, and how he's played basketball, you know, intercollegiate Lee in America all over the world with crossfire and he's competed is because he's setting up for a big, big race right now in the Middle East is going to be unbelievable, big gospel opportunity. And we had another superstar walk in this morning, we had no idea.
Miguel, the hitman Viera now he's the hitman because he was the quarterbacks worst nightmare when he played on that line at Kentucky. Miguel, you're going to be speaking to our group and a lot of folks have heard you speak with family ministries. What a blessing David Parsons kind of brought us together and David has been disciple me for almost as long as I've been alive. And you know, if you had since you've been in ministry, what was it like for you to hear Doug another athlete talk about how that idol of hoops or football or sports couldn't quite complete you couldn't do anything for you, and how Jesus changed his life?
Yeah, I think about the word enthusiasm comes from two Greek words and in Theos, which means inspired by God, and enthusiasm is contagious. So when you're when you're living out your faith, and you're talking about how God's working your life, and you're before men that are that are older than you, and then you get to infuse energy and excitement and just talk about like, here's here's this faith that that could be used to share the gospel with people and literally change lives like so there's nothing everybody's searching for meaning and purpose. And I think that this this younger generation, they're just they're hungry, and they're thirsty, and they know, they know that something's missing. So as Doug goes to these places and speaks, he's he's with an audience that is has been the ready to receive message.
And they're looking for something different and what a blessing it is. You're out there trying to share the gospel through family ministries to feeding a bunch of kids going to children's homes all over tell it give everyone a little snapshot of your ministry what you do and what drives your engine. Yeah, so we do is we connect churches, businesses, volunteers, the pockets of lostness to areas in their community that are unreached.
And we show them what that looks like, whether it's an apartment complex, whether it's an addiction recovery group, whether it's the homeless that are in your community, whether it's a fire department, and connect them to serving and then give them the keys to that location. We look at ourselves as like a fractional evangelism pastor, like like we want to partner with them and make their lives easier into reaching an area and showing them what it looks like and then just give it to them and go to the next place. Because in North America, there's 57% North America lives in multi housing, apartment complexes, townhomes, mobile home parks, 95% lost and unchurched 95%. And then when you think about kids that are between the ages of I think it's a foreign 14 80% of those kids out of 40 million do not go to church, do not go to church. So there's just a tremendous amount of youth, the future of America, that isn't getting discipled, that isn't isn't hearing God's Word that doesn't know because it's lost in what one generation. And we want to break that generational chain. So we'll meet with at risk youth and we'll we'll share the gospel with them and we'll pour into them and and we'll have recurring visits and spend time with them and and break that chain to continents on on the planet that are dying spiritually are which ones you mentioned this earlier?
Yeah, yeah. So North America and Europe are the two continents in the world that are declining in Christianity and the number of lost people is north of 280 million. This is just a statistic that recently came out. So the local that the mission field is is is internationally, but it's also our backyard. And so we're trying to normalize something that's not normal. And that's that's local missions. We just want people to always think missionally where they live, work and play.
Yeah. And Doug, you hear those statistics, you get up and pour your heart out, you share the gospel. What is it that drives you to share the gospel and what's your challenge to others to like wake up like less than 5% of born again Christians have shared the gospel with someone this year or will and yet we have the we have the answer we have the cure to to everything the answer we have Jesus Christ. You know, I love talking to younger people about this.
And I think you know, there's a couple things to unpack. But the number one thing as I said, if you want more fire, if you want more desire, if you want more just hunger for God, and just for more people to know him, then why don't you pray for that one? I think we should bring God into it. But why don't we pray? Why don't we ask God to come into those areas of our life? If maybe we don't have a lot of boldness, or if we don't have a lot of hunger to see people come to Christ, why don't we ask supernaturally that God would come into our lives and give us a greater boldness to witness a greater heart for the loss? Why don't we pray that our heart will become more like God's heart where he would leave the 99 for the one where he goes, and the word says that I want none to perish, but all to come to repentance.
We have a responsibility as believers to share the gospel. And I just I just want people to pray about it. I want people to ask God because I don't think that's a prayer that God will miss. I think he I think he likes to answer that prayer for people, his people, his children to go out into the world and to fulfill the Great Commission, what he's called us to what he's commanded us to do. And so that's how that's how to go about it.
I love it in a little restaurant place in North Carolina. Imagine if everyone listen to my voice right now, including me talking said Lord, give me the opportunity to share the good news with one person before my head hits the bill tonight go to sleep and as I go to sleep, I'll be praying for them to come to Christ. What a prayer. That's the passion I know of Doug Elks with aim missions, john Perry with baller nation using basketball to share the gospel. Miguel the hitman Viera with family ministries real quick, your website, Doug, and then I'll get Miguel to close us out with his information.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. It's aim missions.com ai m missions.com is our ministry website. And real quick, your website, how people get in touch with you learn more about you hear the word more.
Yep, they can go to family ministries america.com. And we're all over social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on some cloud platform have over 200 devotionals online, people can listen to and at some point coming to the truth network is I'm gonna get you guys on the radio one way or another with a regular feature because you guys fire every time I see you fire me up. I like to share that with all of our listeners. And that's what most of the ministries you hear on this outlet truth network, a fr all I mean, we have hundreds of stations that are brave enough to carry this program right now. So hello to all of our friends all over Mississippi, all over California, listening at 4am.
In Bakersfield, California, where I was not too long ago, let me tell you something. We're going to bring you some great stuff. And we're going to continue to continue to support the ministries you hear on these stations. And we're going to continue to pray that we have godly people like you know, Doug and Miguel and john to create programming to challenge us because the Great Commission, the king is returning. And when Doug Elks walks into a big auditorium and preaches a lot of times he has a shirt. And what does that shirt say on it? Jesus is king.
How about that ballerination? That's awesome. Jesus is king.
What about you, Miguel? That's that's that sums it up right there. He's he's, he is the king of kings and Lord Lords. And the king is coming back. Let's be ready and let's take a bunch of people with us.
