Pablo: Hi, welcome to Words of This Life podcast. My name is Pablo and here we share real and impactful Christian stories from believers who love the Lord and His word. Through these testimonies, we want to showcase the virtues of the one who's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Virtues at work in everyday people, shaping their character, guiding their actions and shining forth His life into the world. We're so happy you're here with us for this episode and let's get right into it. Welcome to this first episode of Words of This Life. I'm here with my co-host, Ayo. How's it going, bro?

Ayo: Pretty good. How are you?

Pablo: I'm excited. You're excited for this?

Ayo: Yeah, this is our first episode. We're starting a whole new thing. So we just want to kind of introduce ourselves and talk a little bit about what the Words of This Life podcast is and why we're doing it.

Pablo: That's right. Yeah, so we'll give you all a little bit of a background into how we came up with even this title, Words of This Life. We've had a lot of calls with Ayo and with others, the whole team who's putting this whole thing together. And we were reminded that what we want to do is we really want to showcase what Christ's life has done in us and in all the ones that we'll have on this show. And we want to hit it from the angle that in this verse in Acts 5:20, you know, Peter is being persecuted, right? And he's in persecution and he's being questioned and imprisoned. And at one point an angel appears to him and tells Peter, Peter, go and stand in the temple and speak to all the people all the words of this life. And we just, right, Ayo, we just kind of realized that as believers, our testimony is so powerful.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: And our testimony is that Christ has come into us and, you know, and the Acts is Christ living in His believers, right? Propagating, spreading, and the words of this life in a sense is Christ's life, right? Impacting others and shining into others. So I think what we want to do is week by week or in the cadence that we'll release our episodes, we just want to show people that Christ lives in His believers and is shining forth through so many experiences that are so worth sharing. You know, they're just so rich and impactful and real, you know? So, you know, I'm sure we'll share a little bit today of how that, what happened to us personally. And then as the weeks go by, we'll share what the Lord did in others and in many others. Yeah.

Ayo: Yes. So Pablo and I, we both and all the guests that are going to come on have had the privilege to meet the one.

Pablo: Amen.

Ayo: The Christ.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: The Lord Jesus. And really, in this podcast, we just want to showcase His operation in us, His beauty, how He's affecting lives today. And another anchor verse for this podcast is 1 Peter 2:9. I'll just go ahead and read it. 1 Peter 2:9 says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. And we really just want to tell out the virtues of Him, in one sense, who the Lord is and how marvelous He is and how wonderful He is, but also these virtues the Lord has worked into these people and they're being expressed in their everyday life. And we're going to highlight that. We also want to highlight the Lord's operation, bringing us from darkness into His marvelous light. So every guest that we see, every conversation that we have, that's the goal. And, you know, while I was sitting here, I was like, man, we're doing this podcast and I feel really privileged and honored and I feel lucky that I get to do this, talk about this wonderful person, Christ, and have these conversations. Conversations like these are what changed my life. We'll get into that later when we talk about how we got here and who we are. But I just wanted to highlight that.

Pablo: That's really good. You know, to highlight even a little more and set the foundation of this podcast even a little more. I love how these two verses work together. You know, in the one you read, the virtues of the one who's called us out of darkness. And then there's the word tell out, you know, the apostles were telling out virtues that not that they knew doctrinally only, you know, when you tell out the virtues of Christ, at least in my life, when I look back and if there's any virtue of Christ that I've learned or that I know, I've seen that lived out in others. And I think to me it's so real because I've seen it lived out in other people. So I think that telling out or the one who does the telling out is telling out of who they are in a sense, you know? It's not just, here, let me tell you who Christ is, but in your saying who Christ is, you're living that. So to me, that's what's precious about Christian testimony and Christians, you know, when they share their experiences because something has been wrought into them, something has been worked into them that is not just, it's just who they are is what you get, you know? And that the virtues are there, so the telling now comes from their person, you know, who they are, which to me is it's amazing what God does to His believers, you know. Yeah, He really makes them an expression of who He is. Yeah, in their life, you know, and we're gonna have all kinds of people, right. We're gonna have people who maybe, you know, have all kinds of walks of life, jobs, they do different things, maybe some who serve, you know, God in a full-time way, you know, whatever we have. But in all the different people, you'll see a different virtue of Christ lived out. And I'm really excited to talk to these people.

Ayo: Yeah, me too. And I like how you pointed out the variety. You know, we have people that are business owners. We have people that are working in corporate America. We have people that serve full time or currently serving in campus ministry or in some capacity. We have fathers, mothers, single people.

Pablo: That's right.

Ayo: And what you'll see is that the same Lord is Lord of all and He's rich to all.

Pablo: Amen.

Ayo: That's just amazing. And like you said, it's great to hear someone talk about the Lord. But also, what's even greater is seeing someone who's living out the Lord. There's something so attractive about that. And we already know who's going to be on it.

Pablo: That's right.

Ayo: We'll go talk to you. And I'm just excited. So, yeah.

Pablo: Yeah. Just thinking about those guests, you get excited, right?

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: Excited to talk to some of these people. And I like what you mentioned, you know, mothers, fathers and in every stage of life there's something of the virtues of Christ that wants to be expressed. Yeah, yeah, you know, and it's great to talk, you know, sometimes you might be, you know, a college student or you might be a single working person or you might be a mother of two, three and you might come, you know, every stage of life gives you an ordained arrangement that is for you to express Christ in that, you know? And I think it's going to be awesome to hear and learn from others how they, you know, live Christ, how they enjoy Christ, how they just are, yeah, living their Christian life in their situation. I think it'll be an encouragement to everybody listening.

Ayo: Yeah. And just a little bit on this title, just considering it while we're speaking, we're talking about the most famous person in history, Jesus, who was God incarnate.

Pablo: Amen.

Ayo: God became a man. Yeah. That's amazing. And just in that sense, it's just, it's wonderful that God became touchable. You could speak to Him.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: You could laugh with Him. I don't know. I'm just considering that you could cry with Him. Right. And then we know He came to get rid of sin, handle the sin problem that man had, a Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. But John 10:10 says that I came that they may have life and have it abundantly, over and over again. And then if you read John 11:25, Jesus says, I am the life. So if you consider these things, it's like, God came to give us Himself abundantly over and over. And anyway, I'm just, I'm kind of overflowing. Well, that's great. And that's one thing that touched me just while we were right here right now. But, yeah. Yeah.

Pablo: I like that life abundantly and again and again. I feel like in our life, we just see, as we'll share in just a minute, how life reached us again and again, again and again, through different people and through the word for sure. We're going to touch the word a lot in this podcast. But yeah, God just wants to give us who He is as life, you know? So I think that's gonna come out in our testimony, right? So that was the plan for today, to tell you all a little bit about who we are, who Ayo is. So we don't remain a mystery. But yeah, you wanna start?

Ayo: I guess I can start, yeah. So my name is Ayo. Currently, I live in Austin. I'm a consultant. It's always funny talking about what I do, because what is a consultant?

Pablo: Yeah, it's a mystery.

Ayo: Yeah. But I grew up in Houston, actually. I was born in Houston, raised in Houston, from zero to 18, I was there. H-town. Yeah, H-town in a small area called Alief, like in southwest Houston. And I ended up going to Austin for university. And when I got to UT, my life changed. So I kind of want to, eventually we'll get to UT, what happened there. But I grew up in a Christian household. I've been in church for as long as I could remember. I was actually, I grew up in a Nigerian Pentecostal church. So I was aware of God as long as I've been aware as a human being. So one thing that would always stir in me, even as a small little boy, was I felt like I had a sense of eternity. I understood that one day my parents would die. I would die. And I didn't really understand what life was about, what this was all for, who God was and what He wanted. So that stirred in me as early as five. Wow. So when I went to church around seven, I had this teacher in the children's ministry that told me about Jesus. That was wonderful. And we had this little picture Bible, you know, the little picture Bibles that people get. And I saw this little shepherd Jesus, and she was like, Jesus wants to come into your heart. And I remember that day I prayed to receive the Lord after singing, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. So I prayed to receive the Lord that day, and that day I was saved. I still think about that teacher. She actually passed away a few years later after that. It was really untimely. And I don't know, I smile when I think back, because I know that when she goes before the Lord, she can say I ministered Christ to that little boy. And she did. She ministered Christ to me. And I don't know, that might be another thing, but anyone who's in children's ministry, you might feel like you're babysitting, like you're wiping snot and you're helping them go to the bathroom and all they want is the chips at the end. But honestly, you have a chance to minister Christ to these little vessels. And it's important what you do because my first interaction, understanding of Christ came from that teacher. So I knew who the Lord was. I was really confused though. Still, these deep questions had not been answered. So I had this really big gaping hole of existential confusion about purpose. So I tried to fill that. I just had this, there's this philosophy about if you can just be the best at everything that you do, be a multifaceted person, be a multipotentialite, you would probably be happy because you're fulfilled in many domains. That was my perspective. And I also really, really wanted to make my immigrant Nigerian parents proud of me. So that's kind of what guided my life. I was a pretty driven student. And I remember there was a moment when I graduated high school, and I'm kind of skipping over here. I graduated high school and I won, like, senior boy of the year. And I remember I looked at my dad and he was, he was crying. He was so proud of me. And I'd spent so much time, I'm like, my purpose in life is to make my parents happy, make them proud of me. And at 18, it seemed like I'd done that to the point where he's in tears, and my dad loves me. I could do anything. He's like, oh my gosh, you did that. So I was like, okay, I need something bigger than just being successful and making my parents happy. What is this? Like, what is that thing? That's kind of skipping ahead. But I remember as a teenager, I went through a moment of depression because of insecurity, because of changing of schools and losing friends. And it was just really hard. The whole multipotentialite philosophy just wasn't working at that point. And I asked my mom, I was like, Mommy, I don't feel good right now. Is there a verse you could tell me that would make me feel better? And then she was, I was like, I don't know. I feel like I might have depression and I'm always anxious. She was like, yeah, there's a verse. And she told me, you know, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sober mind. And I was like, okay. And I remember praying that verse and something happened. And I was like, what happened? And then I had this question of, what is this spirit that He gave us? I mean, it didn't make sense to me, but that, you were 18? I was 16.

Pablo: Okay.

Ayo: So I'd realized that, you know, the Lord that I prayed to receive when I was seven and I would pray for good things like grades and pray over my food, you know, He can be something of satisfaction to me. I didn't understand that until that moment. And then that led me to just keep seeking Him out. Like, okay, Lord, okay, You satisfy me. Why? What else do You want to do with me? So the next thing I did was I took a baptismal class at my church. And I went to the baptismal class. And, you know, you do a little, they want to just make sure you understand the basic teachings of Christianity. And I remember I didn't really understand much, but I was so curious. I remember I asked my teacher, he was like, yeah, God is triune, there's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I was like, hey, I'm three too, I have my own spirit, a soul and a body. And he was like, I was like, is there a connection between that? And he was like, you know, good question. I don't know.

Pablo: We're just grown up knowing that you were three parts.

Ayo: I saw it then.

Pablo: You saw it in that class?

Ayo: Yeah. Okay. And I was like, okay, is there a connection between these two? And I could tell that my teacher was like, that's a really good question, but I don't really know what to say. The point of this class is to get you baptized, so let's get back to the lesson plan. I was like, okay, yeah, let's get back to lesson plan.

Pablo: Asking the hard questions to the teacher.

Ayo: So, yeah, I got put in that water and I remember coming out, I felt new. Wow. And I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what I was doing, but I was just seeking after the Lord in that way, seeking after Him for answers, for satisfaction, to know Him because I felt that the philosophies of the world were failing me. So I was still thinking about the Lord, confused. But one thing that happened just before I went to college was there's this Nigerian convention near Dallas, Texas, where people within my church network all across North America meet and we're all there. So they have this youth ministry service. So we had this worship set and we were singing songs and then we kind of break into what they call a prophetic session where people start speaking forth the Lord in a foretelling way. And I was like, okay, maybe the Lord will speak, you know? I'm just, I'm here. I wonder who He's going to talk to. So the person was speaking, they were like, there's somebody here that for a long time, this particular sin has had a grip on you. And I was like, okay, I fall into that category, but that can be anybody here. There's no way that the Lord is talking to me. I don't know. What does He have to say to me? And then when that thought came in, the next thing was, this sin started when you were this age, and now you're this age. I was like, okay, that's oddly specific. I was like, okay, is this person talking to me? I was like, no, no, no way. I don't want to be too spiritual right now. And then the person goes, you're about to go to college right now. The Lord is asking you to repent and give your college years to Him. I was like, oh my gosh. This is three strikes, you're out. This has to be me in some sense. And I was like, okay. My heart was beating. I was like nervous. And I was like, Lord, if this is You, just let me know. And I just remember my heart got heavy. And it was like, I felt the Lord was telling me this. I am talking to you. Give me those years. Give me your life. And I felt that. And I just broke down in tears. I went on my knees. It was kind of awkward. My friends were sitting next to me. They were like, okay, this guy is kind of feeling whatever's going on. Let me just step out the way. And there I was on my knees. I didn't have pants on, I had shorts on. And we were on this concrete thing. We were in a big tent. And I'm there with my arms open. I'm like, Lord, I don't understand, but have my life. Just have it. And so fast forward, I get to college and I'm like, okay, let's see what this new chapter is about. And I remember for orientation, my parents dropped me off. I was in my dorm, I put my stuff down and I'm walking out of the dorm. So this is my first experience on the campus by myself. And I'm like, okay, where is my story going to lead? And the first people I met were these two campus ministers. Those are the first people I met.

Pablo: Wow, the Lord arranged that.

Ayo: During my orientation, I walked, opened the doors of the dorm. The stairs were right there. On the stairs, they met me. Wow. And then one of them was like, you know, I just felt drawn to speak to you. I just felt like the Lord wanted me to speak to you.

Pablo: The Lord didn't even give you one day to wander, bro. He didn't give you.

Ayo: Yeah. Yeah. The Lord is faithful in that way. You give Him something.

Pablo: That's right. Yeah. He is.

Ayo: And they said, one of them said, I love your smile. Are you interested in a campus Christian group on campus? I said, yeah, yes I am. I'm so interested in that. So yeah, I went to this thing, this get together with pizza. And I actually met one of the guests that will be on a future episode. I guess I can name drop him. Cool. Yeah, I met Josh. He was a campus minister at a club at UT, and he asked me what my major was.

Pablo: Yeah, Josh is a great guy. I'm excited to have him in the episode.

Ayo: I love Josh. But he asked me what my major was. I said, oh, public health. He's like, yeah, in school I was a bio major. And he was like, have you ever read the back or the front of your biology textbook? I was like, no. He's like, if you read it, you'll see this blurb where the author explains that this book is telling us about life, but it cannot tell you where life came from. I love that. And there's just a big question mark on my forehead like, what? What are you talking about? But that seeking for knowing who God is, and here's this campus minister almost asking me a question that struck my existential crisis. Wow. That. I was like, I need to talk to this guy. And he was like, yeah, we can talk about it sometime. We can do a Bible study someday. And I was like, yeah, sure.

Pablo: Good cliffhanger to leave you with that.

Ayo: And I still remember that first Bible study, he put the Bible out there and he was like, okay, so what do you know? And I told him what I know. And he was like, have you ever considered what God wants? And I had never considered that.

Pablo: Wow.

Ayo: My whole perspective of Christianity was, God wants you to do something, live a certain way, follow these certain rules and give glory to Him by your living. And it was this kind of legalistic in some ways honoring way of living towards God. But Josh was unveiling to me, look at the Bible with God as the main character. And he said that God had an eternal purpose. And we were going through the verses. This is the first time I've ever went to a Bible study where we went from Genesis to Revelation and it connected. The whole Bible was connecting.

Pablo: Have you heard that before? At any point in your life that God had an eternal purpose?

Ayo: No. My perspective of the Christian life was God made us to honor Him and live towards Him and we sinned. He sent His Son to die so that our problem of sin can be taken care of and then we can live towards Him again with a holy life. That's what my perspective was. But I never understood that there was an intention in God creating us outside of us praising Him and honoring Him. Wow. But Josh was explaining to me that God was concerned with man in this loving relationship. And man was made to be filled with God. That threw me for a loop. We went through Genesis 1:26. We spoke about image and dominion. We spoke about Adam and Eve and how that mirrors Christ and the church and how humanity is ultimately supposed to be a bride.

Pablo: Yeah. Wow.

Ayo: To God, to Christ. And, you know, there's so much there.

Pablo: All in one sit down. All that was in one. Wow. Yeah. He was just, what a time.

Ayo: It was, we were there for some hours too. Wow. And that was my freshman year. It was just getting in the word with Josh and seeing that God had an eternal purpose and an intention and a plan from eternity.

Pablo: And you had, I mean, you had a background in Christianity, a good Christian, you know, freshman boy, and you had never heard these things.

Ayo: Yeah, and it was amazing because there's all these verses with mystery, mystery in the Bible, like Ephesians 3, mystery, Colossians 1, mystery, 1 Corinthians 15, mystery, the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. What is that? I was like, mystery, mystery, mystery, this eternal purpose that's from the ages that's been hidden in God, who created all things. And I'm just like, those Bible studies made me see that the Bible is the unveiling of God's heart and the answers to all the existential mystery questions that I had internally. Incredible. Yeah.

Pablo: It's crazy how those verses are. I mean, just thinking about those verses kind of stirs up eternity in your heart, you know? Yeah. And that we find, we connect with those verses in a way that, you know, that hole within us, that emptiness kind of starts connecting. That's amazing. I'm sure that was amazing for you.

Ayo: Yeah, it was. And there's one of our Bible studies, we went through Ecclesiastes 3:11, which we mentioned, we'll talk about later, that eternity is in man's heart. And the only thing that can satisfy that is God, who is the eternal one. All these things that I was using to satisfy myself with success and fame, having people like me, making my parents proud, and being successful, they never satisfied me. They were always short, and that's because that yearning was me calling out to God. Only God could satisfy that. And that really helped me, because I was so confused, you know? But in this way, man was made for God. We all have this attraction to God. We're all seeking out God. And I don't know, that part of my life, it just reminds me of Luke 15. God was sweeping for me. He was searching out to get me, this one sheep. He was just shepherding me back to Himself. And He was satisfying this deep thing that nothing else and no one else could satisfy in me. So yeah, funny enough, I still wanted to see what the world had to offer. I just, even after as amazing as that experience was, I was like, man, I don't know. I need to see what the world had to offer. Because I had gone through some issues in high school where I was lonely, I had trouble with friends, and I just didn't want to have that same problem in college. So I was enjoying these Bible studies, but I had all these friends back from Houston, and I just wanted to have friends, I wanted to have a community. And one of the ways that I was searching for that was joining a student organization, a fraternity. And it got to a point where to pursue that, I had to stop meeting with Josh. That's the point where I even blocked his phone number. It's so bad. It's bad. And I was pursuing this and I remember I joined the fraternity and we have this large show and I'm supposed to feel good. People in the fraternity were like, man, this was, I felt like I was on top of the world when I joined this fraternity. And you have the crowd and they're shouting for you and they're cheering you on. And they think that what you've done is such a great accomplishment. And I just remember after that big celebration, I was in the car and I was like, man, this is meaningless. This is not satisfying me.

Pablo: And, you know, vanity of vanities.

Ayo: Yeah, all is vanity. This pursuit of fame, success, notoriety, that fraternity, even an identity, that fraternity, it was a one package deal for all those things. So in a small sense, not in a grand scale, but in a small sense, it was offering me all of that. And I, in a sense, I got all of that and it was still empty. And I just had all this guilt and I was like, man, Lord, what is going on? This is so vain. And inwardly He told me, I am the reality. Come back to me. And I went back to the Christian fellowship. I went back to Josh and the Lord, through the brothers, through the fellowship, He welcomed me back in. I was that prodigal son that He brought back into the house. And even before that, coming back, there was a time when I was on the campus and it was really hard, doing all these extracurriculars and going for this club, I actually bumped into Josh at the bus stop. Wow. And he was like, hey bro.

Pablo: Big campus to bump into so much. Yeah.

Ayo: He was like, I was like, how did you find me? I've been avoiding you. And he was like, hey bro, man, I miss you. What are you, how are you doing? I miss you. And I remember when I saw Josh, I just felt so much guilt about ignoring him and even ignoring the Lord. But he said, I miss you. And I later found out that he had been, once he saw me that day, he had been going back to the bus to see if he could catch me one more time.

Pablo: Bro, that's like the father looking out for the son to come back.

Ayo: Yeah, it was like through God, through this person. God replicated His heart for me in this person. And he was seeking to find me. That moment still touches me. Anyway.

Pablo: That's God's love. This is reaching you through a member in His body. Yeah.

Ayo: And I was, anyway, I was welcomed back into the club and I still had this heavy guilt, really heavy, heavy guilt. And I didn't really tell anybody about it, but it was there. And there's another guy who we're going to speak to later.

Pablo: Oh yeah.

Ayo: Ty. He later came, he had come from Boston and he was joining the team in Austin. And he told me about the preciousness of the blood of Christ and how it's effective. And it's absolute. And I remember that day, he told me, Ayo, the blood is absolute to wash away all the guilt and all the pain and all the shame. And I'll never forget that moment because I don't know if I could have kept going if I didn't.

Pablo: Okay, amen.

Ayo: I don't know if I could keep going without that meeting. Yeah, and yeah, I love those two guys. They're like my lecture and lab. I would say your lecture and lab.

Pablo: Yeah, I'll go to the lecture.

Ayo: Josh, I'll go through the Bible with Josh and Ty, we would go through experiencing Christ, enjoying Christ. There's so many things that they taught me and they were just administering Christ to me.

Pablo: Amen, bro.

Ayo: And that changed my life.

Pablo: Amen. My brother. Yeah. You know, I'm sure when you think of them in hindsight, you just see God's love, you know, reaching you. And it's amazing what God does to arrange for His love to reach us through another vessel that He's created, you know, and we tend to sometimes admire people and remember people. He didn't even shout out some people here, but it's really God reaching. It's amazing. Yeah. How God operates.

Ayo: For a long time I always was kind of jealous of the people in the gospels because Jesus was there. You could talk to Him, touch Him, eat with Him. But even now, and even then in that time, Jesus was limited by time and space. You could only be where He was, but now He's the Spirit and He's available. And He's always just one turn away. And He's living in the believers. And for a long time, I just wanted to hug Jesus. I wish I would have that opportunity. And I got to have something like that with those brothers. God in Christ in another man came to me. And it was wonderful. And I've been living my life enjoying the Lord in that way. And that's kinda how I got here. I'm sorry that I'm crying.

Pablo: No. It's almost gonna get you a tissue here.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: Wow.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: Praise the Lord, bro. Really, I think that's what we do as we look back in our history with the Lord. We just, we brought the tears because, right, who are we that the Lord would do so much to reach us and to embrace us in His love. I like that what you shared about that time with Ty. I think every believer needs a landmark, memorable time of appreciating the Lord's blood. And you can always come back to that, you know? I have one too, where I always come back to a certain moment where I got some light on the blood, you know, and it's forever emboldened, I'm emboldened for the rest of my life. And I'm sure you are, right? We need that because we're not perfect, you know? We're not straight paths. We're just up and down. But that word, I'm sure it still supplies you till today, right?

Ayo: It does, it does. The blood is absolute, it's effective and it's there, you know? There's a verse that I love, blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life.

Pablo: Yeah, blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life.

Ayo: That's right. And that's, you know, that's what the blood is there for. It takes care of our sins between us and God so that we can enjoy Him. And I just, I don't know. I remember being somewhat suicidal, depressed with this issue of, what is everything for? This heavy existential crisis. And with the unveiling of the scripture, I just see that God is after getting to man and filling man with Himself. And that's the answer to the problem of meaning and purpose and what you were made for. You were made to be filled with and loved by God. So yeah. Wow. Yeah, that was a lot, but that's awesome.

Pablo: Wow. Yeah. I mean, just repeating some of the things you said. Yeah. You mentioned John 10:10. I mean, anyways, I just feel like for your testimony, what the Lord does to us and the way He brings us about and guides us is marked by these moments where we almost, they're memorable. You know, in the Bible sometimes when people got called by God and there was a big appearing like Abraham, he would build an altar, not a tent, excuse me, and we have these altar moments in our lives that we just, you know, and we always come back to them and they're big consecration moments where we just, it's sweet to look back and be encouraged again, and I feel like we can always go back to those. I'm encouraged by listening to this, brother. Yeah, I feel like it's amazing what the Lord does to reach us. Did you mention you were married? You did, right? You met your wife in college, right?

Ayo: Yeah, my lovely wife, Tami. I don't deserve her, honestly. She was my companion. She was the person I would share what I was learning in the club. There's kind of this situation where the people I grew up with, there was a student fellowship. And they're all Nigerian there. And this was once again, I was like, I don't want to be different than them. Why am I, yeah, I'm the one that's not with them. And I'm like, why am I always kind of being isolated? There's always a question of, okay, Ayo, what are you learning in those Bible studies? Sometimes I walk by, there's this cafeteria place that we would, me and Josh and Ty.

Pablo: And they would see you with me.

Ayo: They would see me there and there would be a Bible there. And they'd be like, okay, what do you guys talk about? You know? And it was always, hmm, there was always they felt that I was kind of strange in that way. Why not be in what we're familiar with? You know, this Nigerian Christian club. But Tami was also a part of that club.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: But she was actually somebody I could talk to. And around our junior year, I actually started sharing with her what I was talking about with Josh and Ty. And we would read the Bible together, and we would pray together. And that was so enjoyable. I still remember those moments. Eventually, we started dating. And eventually, we got married. But when I think of Tami and my wife, I'm glad to know her. Yeah. Be married to her. She's just such a beautiful person, but also in the Lord, she is my, she's who I go on with.

Pablo: Amen.

Ayo: Who I share it with. She's who I pray with and I'm lucky to have her.

Pablo: That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe she'll be a guest one day. I'm kidding. Yeah.

Ayo: Yeah. I think I'm kind of, like a wife edition? Yeah. I'm trying to episode. I'm trying to get her, the other half of Ayo? Yeah.

Pablo: That's awesome. Well. Is that good? You want anything else you want to say?

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: No problem.

Ayo: You know, at the end of college, I still remember I was like, Tami and I both, we were just kind of, you know, the purpose of our life is Christ, Christ in the church. That's why we live. Together, we had the strength to say that. And we would go on together in that way. And that was, you know, I'm 25. I was three years ago, and we're still living according to that, Christ in the church. Wherever we live, wherever we move, whatever we do, if we can't enjoy Christ in the church, then it's an issue. That's why we live. That's why we exist. And I'm glad to even have the chance to open our home and have high schoolers over.

Pablo: That's awesome.

Ayo: We minister Christ to them. I'm just lucky to have her as my wife, but also my companion in the Lord.

Pablo: That's awesome. Yeah. Wow. It's great. Got to go to your house. I still haven't been to your house.

Ayo: Yeah, it goes all the time. Yeah. I think we'll take a trip there.

Pablo: Great.

Ayo: But now I want to turn the question over to who is Pablo.

Pablo: Okay. All right, man. I don't know if I'll cry.

Ayo: Nah, I don't think you might.

Pablo: You're, we talked a little bit. I enjoyed, I really enjoyed you opening up your heart, brother. It's so sweet. The Lord is really so much part of who He's mingled with us, you know, so much part of who we are. It's sweet to see what He's done in us. Okay. Yeah. Just to go back to that verse, you know, the words of this life, you know, our lives, you know, in that verse, this life is Peter's life. You know, you mentioned the Lord is life to us. And that's how everything begins for us. God coming into us as life at some point. Right. And then that life in us has a beginning. And then it grows. And then it just, at one point, it's hard to tell, right? Is it Ayo? Is it the Lord? Is it the Lord? Is it Ayo? It's just the Lord and Ayo, you know? And that's our testimony is the Lord just growing in us. So my life with the Lord, well okay, we know we had our meal together when I first got to Austin. I told you a little bit about my background. I think I'll do that again. My background is I was born not in the US, I was born in Bolivia. And my mother was a seeking believer of the Lord, a very, very seeking believer. Grew up Catholic. I'm the youngest of six. There's a big age gap between me and the five. I told you I had this huge age gap of about 14 years. I came late. I came when my mom was almost, she was 48 when she had me. And which is, yeah, that's wild. But yeah, she's in her eighties now. But it's just a big part of my testimony for sure, our parents are. But part of what I guess, I think it's important to share this, is that my father was an atheist. He was an outspoken atheist who did not believe in God and was very outspoken even against God. In Bolivia, he was involved in, he traveled to Cuba and Russia. He was very socialist. He was for the cause. He was for the people. He was a very good man, you know? Good, bro. It's part of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you know? He was a good man, you know? Anyways, but he wasn't a believer. He didn't have God. And my mom met him already a believer. She was a believer already. And she realized, you know, you can't be unequally yoked, but she realized this is such a good man. He's going to believe at some point, you know, it's just a matter of time. So she thought, and anyways, so just fast forward to, okay, a little bit closer to when I come into the picture. My mom is 47, 48 and my dad, my mom is visiting my three sisters who are out of the country for college. And my dad is back in Bolivia. He's doing a road trip and he gets into a nearly fatal car accident. He's just driving this kind of, you know, I've heard he used to really like drive fast.

Ayo: My dad was always, I do too.

Pablo: Oh Lord. But yeah, my mom always reminds me those genes are in you. You like to drive fast as we are, we are sons of our father. So he was driving and it was this road that has kind of these up and down hills, you know, and he's going up, trying to pass this car in front of him. And from the bottom of the hill is coming a big 18-wheeler, a truck, you know. And anyways, he can't make it back to the other lane, and he hits the chassis or the front of the truck and just. He has some passengers in the back. He has two in the back and one next to him. But it hits just the side of the front of the car where he's driving, you know, the driver's side. And it's a terrible accident. And he loses a third of his brain mass, you know? Yeah, and at that moment, my mom is visiting my sisters. And on that trip of visiting my sisters she finds out she's pregnant. Or she begins to, I think she, I don't know, anyways, she begins to have the thought, I think I'm pregnant. She was pregnant. And my sisters are like, what? You're crazy. You're almost 50. And anyways, she anyways comes back, I think maybe knowing to the news that her husband has, you know, is in this state, you know, in this situation. So it's quite a, yeah, two different news there, quite different. And she goes through a period of really hard years, taking care of my father and being pregnant with me. And she has this clear moment, transaction with the Lord, where she realized that she's anyway, she's just before the Lord praying. And I think there's some repentance in her still, I think, anyways, that, you know, because of, anyways, I don't want to get too much, I don't want to speak for her, but I've heard her testimony a lot. And but she senses from the Lord, from the word, right? In 2 Samuel or, you know, in David's experience where he has his big failure with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, right? And he repents, you know, Psalm 51, amazing psalm out of David's repentance that we have. And David's repentance mingled or married with God's forgiveness actually produces something, right? So when we repent and God forgives us, there's something there. And God's promise was that, you know, he would give him a son. It was Solomon, right? So Solomon is kind of the fruit of even that horrible sin, you know? So in my mother's testimony, she feels that there was a, maybe you would call it a mistake or a sin, you know, unequally marrying someone, unequally yoked. But the Lord says, out of this, there's going to be something. Anyways, we're nobodies. I'm not trying to say my birth is by any means anything special, but she senses from the Lord that, you know, you'll have a son in your later years and you know, you're forgiven, just be at peace, be at peace and go on. Anyways, so I grew up without a father, so I'm born. My father is in a vegetative state for some time. But my mother, what's amazing is she had this just intention and she was just determined, this determination that because a lot of doctors were telling her, just let him die. This is so bad. He's lost so much of his brain and it is going to be really hard for him to come back all the way, you know, to be functioning normal. But she was so convicted and had this determination. He can't die an unbeliever. He has to believe, he has to believe. So she did everything she could, flew him to different places, right? To get the best care. And eventually, you know, he recovered. It was never the same, right? So when I, you know, I never got to know my dad as a, you know, just know the father after the accident. But anyways, God is in all of this for sure. So I, okay, so here's why I tell this story. I grew up with a mother who was very busy caring for that, caring for her business, her work. And I was raised by many, bro. I was raised by the body of Christ. Anyways, I don't know how to say it.

Ayo: You're a child of the church.

Pablo: First time, first family, first experience is a family lived next to us. There was a family that just lived next to us. My mom is busy working and they have four kids. Their youngest was my best friend growing up. Dear believers. I just have memories of that mother. Just, it's okay.

Ayo: It's okay. You sure? Yeah. Yeah, you should just have it on hand. I wish I had it on hand.

Pablo: Yeah, man. Yeah. The Lord is amazing, you know.

Ayo: Okay, it's okay. You're okay.

Pablo: You're gonna have to cut this out. No, I'm probably gonna keep. Okay. Okay. God operates through man, you know? He always operates through man, a fallen man, but it's so wonderful when He does. God expressed in man is the most wonderful thing. It is the great mystery, right, of godliness. And I've seen God expressed in so many people, you know? Man. So anyways, that's the first experience, it's family. And the mom and the dad were such parents to me. Oh boy, this is not how I planned this to go.

Ayo: We're here. It's okay. Okay.

Pablo: So, yeah, you know, the Lord in His mercy and His arrangement just arranged everything in our lives. You know, we can't question Him in any way, in any way, you know, He's just God. And He has the best for us, even when we don't think it is the best, you know? So that family was great, they were parents to me. The kids were wonderful. They were just great kids, better than me, loving the Lord, always in the meetings of the church. And I grew up under their care a little bit. And that was one. And then later on in life, you know, okay, so that's grade school. Sixth grade, I had a lot of companions. So, you know, my mom was always good about inviting a lot of young people from the church to the house. And I grew up with a lot of, because, you know, my siblings are 14 years older. So I can't really relate, you know, either they're out of the house, they're working, they're in school, but the Lord provided again in the church, so many companions. And then in sixth grade, my mom gets this feeling to go to Anaheim, California. She just heard about this one-year program where she could, you know, devote her time to be in the word and be with other believers kind of in a serious way, pursue it. It's this one-year program in Anaheim. And she's like, I'm gonna take my youngest with me. You know, I'm 12, 13. I had no choice. I had to go. I didn't really want to, but yeah, I had to go. You know, I had friends at that point, had a good situation there and I went really reluctantly and not really happy. And we went to Anaheim and I went to a Christian school and my mom, so that year was just one whole year there. My mom was able to be there the whole year because she kind of, she just worked back at home. Remember, she has a business, she's a business owner, but she, we're there. And then we go back after that year. I had a great experience. I met some dear people that I know till today in that school. And we were in Anaheim meeting with believers there. And then after that year, we go back for a little bit. And then she gets this, again, feeling from the Lord. I think it would be best for Pablo to be in Anaheim or to be back in America, you know, school-wise, you know, humanly for, you know, just for his future. But also I think spiritually, she had this sense that in Bolivia would be a little tough for me to pursue spiritually. The less believers in our community, less care for younger believers, you know, so she felt like there was some more opportunity there in America humanly and spiritually speaking. So we go back again and this is the period where my mom was working, even she would only go for a few months and then go back to Bolivia so she would fly back and forth a lot and I every time she would fly back I would stay with different families. Yeah, kind of foster parents, just parents of other people that went to that school or people in the church that we would know. And that, that's another great, I mean, if you asked me at the moment, it was really tough. I was 12, 13, 14, all my teenage formative years with these families and I would go into different families and live with them. But in hindsight, I just look back and you know, there's this verse in Luke and in the gospels where the Lord says, you know, if you, when you leave things for me, you'll get a hundred times more, a hundred times more fathers, mothers, fields, houses, and things. And, you know, looking back, I'm like, Lord, you know, in the lack of a maybe physical father, I've had so many fathers, you know, so many mothers, so many brothers and sisters. And it was really, you know, it really shaped me, man. It really shaped me. And it really, so today, a lot of them I keep up with, I see, I call, I, you know, it was just God's arrangement for me. And it made me love God's family, made me love God's people. And it made me love God in man, bro. You know, God wasn't just this thing up in the air. God was very real to me because He was expressed through His church, through His people, you know? And that's what we're talking about here, right? The virtues of the one expressed in the people that He has. So, okay. So then high school ends with these families. And then I stay in California for college and in college is a little different. I go out and I live with some brothers in a house. But then again, same kind of theme. Patterns and I mean, that's all our life. I would just like you mentioned, you know, you have patterns and you have companions and it's good to always have someone older and someone younger and someone your age, you know, I feel like that's so healthy, you know, someone to look up to, someone you can be with and someone to care for. And I feel like I had that in college, you know? And of course, and all, I haven't really mentioned a lot of specific moments where, you know, me and the Lord had some real transactions through the word, through singing, you know. Singing is amazing, bro. You enjoy singing, Ayo?

Ayo: Yeah, I do.

Pablo: I love singing, bro. I've had so many. He's singing in the shower. He's singing in the car, he's singing in the shower, he's singing in traffic. Yeah. It's just singing is an awesome way to touch this life.

Ayo: And singing to the Lord is.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: Yeah. Anyway.

Pablo: Yeah. Singing to the Lord is amazing for sure. That's how we enjoy. It's a good way to enjoy the Lord. So yeah, my life was kind of marked by a lot of these, yeah, we have these moments where we just really touch the Lord, you know, we really have a fresh new touch of Him, you know? Of course we touch Him every day, but there's these moments where there's a little more. So I had that probably every few years in my life. And in college, you know, again, I wanted to, all my siblings are involved. A lot of my siblings are involved in my family's business and I'm the youngest, I'm a little bit separated by age, and I'm like, should I do that? But something in me, I think always, even since I was 13 and 12, I just remember this experience. I was 12, I was with my mother. It was when my mother was in that program that I went to this meeting and then I had this sense, Lord, when I grow up, I just, I want to serve You. Anyways, it wasn't in those words, but it was, I had this sense, Lord, I think I just want to serve You, you know, in a specific way, you know, in a specific way, I want to just give my life to You. So I think when I graduated college, I consider maybe working for my family or going back to Bolivia and definitely could have been involved in the family business. But I had this sense. I want to serve God, you know, with my full time in whatever way I can, you know? And I went to this two-year program, which is a school in Anaheim, in Bible truth and service, emphasizing a lot that the Bible is life, you know, this matter that, you know, we're not here to do things, but we're just here to enjoy Christ as life, you know, and Christ as life is what we need. And I went and I had a great time. And when I was graduating, before I was graduating, I heard that there was this additional year in Boston if you wanted to, if you were maybe a little bit interested in further pursuit of long-term service to God, you know, to be involved in some sort of service. And I had growing up also because of a couple trips to Europe some feeling to go east. It's kind of interesting. That's just God's direction. I don't know. I just had this feeling. I had been in California from 12 to at that point 22 or something, 23 and I had this feeling. I think, yeah, I want to go east. I just, that was all I could say. God said one day to me, go east. Anyways, it's kind of very personal, but yeah. I just, you know, we need to go everywhere, right? The word needs to be spoken everywhere. But for me, the calling was to go east anyways. So Boston seemed like a great opportunity to take, to go east and be involved in more, give another year to be in the word. And it was amazing. I went and it was a little different than those first two years because that year we were less kind of classes, you know what I mean? It was more just depth, just doing very little bit of the word, but in depth, you know, diving in depth into the word. And I, yeah, it was amazing. Really got in depth into the books of Romans, Ephesians. Yeah. And then I stayed in Boston. I didn't think I would. I'm there, bro. I've been there eight years. I've been involved in campus ministry. I served the Lord there in Boston. I met my wife there a few years later. We're both living there now. And we're both like you, bro. It's the best to open our home. We love opening our home to young believers, to all kinds of believers. And it just, it's a blessing, you know, to know. You know, I feel like if you only receive, it's just, you can't make it. You gotta always be involved in fellowship with the younger ones. And anyway, it's a blessing. So, okay. I guess, do you have any questions for me? I think that's all I have, bro. Yeah.

Ayo: Yeah. I mean, so you are serving full time in campus ministry?

Pablo: Yes, I am.

Ayo: How many years?

Pablo: I think I'm finishing my eighth year. Yeah.

Ayo: Dang, you're about to hit the decade club.

Pablo: Yeah, man. I guess so, yeah.

Ayo: Can you, I just want to ask a little bit. Speak about that. Speak about some highlights. Sure. Even some low lights. Sure.

Pablo: Yeah. We're going to have some guests who did this, right? Some of the guys are going to come on or either in campus ministry or were in campus ministry. It's amazing. I mean, not just campus, any kind of ministry where you're speaking for the Lord to people, you're bringing the Lord to people. It's just, I feel bad to say, it's the best job, bro. Anyways, you know, it's just amazing to be able to do that. But we all can and no matter what we do, you know, we all can speak for the Lord. But yeah, you know, my service has been a lot with college students, mainly with college students. And yeah, what's awesome is you meet people from all walks of life and backgrounds. I've met people from everywhere. The campus I serve at is so diverse, it's very, very diverse. And it's just so, it's like you're kind of bringing the Lord to them, but you know, you're getting shepherded too, you know, that verse, he who waters will be watered first. You know, I've been watered by so many people throughout the years that I've served. I know some of the ones are serving now that, you know, came through the cycle of college serving with us. I'm sure some highlights might come out in some more episodes ahead as we go on. But yeah, it's great to be also one thing I really enjoy is being with others. You know, you should never serve alone. I mean, I know some people in some places can't daily meet with, you know, I know there's one brother or a few brothers who where they are, they're kind of the only one or the only two. But being with others is such a salvation. I've been serving with this other brother for a year. I mean, I serve with a lot, a big team, but more in day-to-day things with this other brother. And it's just amazing to be matched with someone else. You know, you get tempered, you get balanced. You know, it's just, we get saved when we are matched with someone else. So, yeah.

Ayo: I hear that a lot from people that serve. It's the Lord's principle, the disciples two by two.

Pablo: That's right. You know, that's right.

Ayo: And then even after that, you know, you had Paul and Silas.

Pablo: That's right.

Ayo: And yes, being built up with another, it's just, yeah.

Pablo: He says, sometimes his brother, I said, when you see him, you see me, you know, we're so one and those we just, anyways, we're just, we really feel like, yeah, it's none of ours. It's just the Lord. And it's awesome. Yeah. To be with others in the Christian life and service. Yeah. We need it. We need to be in coordination.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: I love your testimony, bro.

Pablo: Bro. Seriously.

Ayo: I was just kind of reminded, you know, being good is not good enough. Yeah. Being a good person is not good enough.

Pablo: Right.

Ayo: Like even when the Lord spoke to Nicodemus, John 3, you know, Nicodemus was a really moral, outstanding person.

Pablo: Right.

Ayo: You know, teacher of Israel. Yeah. Even he addressed Jesus with respect. He met Him in a private way and wanted to just. That's right. You know, John 3, you're like, this is a good man. It's a good guy. Yeah, absolutely. But Jesus tells him, you must be born again.

Pablo: Yeah. Yeah.

Ayo: You know, like get baptized.

Pablo: Yeah.

Ayo: Agree that you should be put to death. Wow. And then raised with newness of life.

Pablo: Amen.

Ayo: So I don't know, like we were talking, good is on the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yeah, that is not the tree of life. That's right. And that's what the Lord is. That's what God has always wanted us to be on the line of life. I enjoyed that.

Pablo: Yeah, I'm glad you're bringing that up. I hope that does the theme of our podcast in a way? You know, we're just in this line of life. You know, it's easy to veer off sometimes, you know, cuz good can be so kind of. You know, sometimes good is a substitute that is so close to life. But when you taste and you've tasted life, you realize it's different, you know, to be guided by life rather than by right or wrong or good and bad. So I think we'll do our best every episode to bring our listeners to life, you know, because life is hard as it is. But when you have a taste for life, anyways, I'm not gonna oversimplify it. That doesn't get easier. But there's something about, yeah, just being led by the Lord as life, you know? Anyways, I'm glad you're bringing that up in John 3 about Nicodemus. We need to be in life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Ayo: And I also love, you are a testament to the body. You are, like you said, those passages in Luke, I remember I read that I was like, hundreds of homes, hundreds of houses. Is that real? I've never really seen that. So when you told me your testimony earlier and I was like, man, this guy was raised by the church. The Lord is really the Father to those who are without a father. He really fills the gap and affection that we might need. Even I felt that. And, you know, even in Thessalonians, Paul was like, we are exhorting fathers and nursing mothers and the body can be, in one sense, really spiritually supply you, but practically can raise you. And I love that about your testimony because it just shows that the Lord is real and He cares about us and He does it through His body.

Pablo: Yeah. That's right.

Ayo: So.

Pablo: Amen. Awesome. Great. Great start, bro. I feel like this is going to be awesome. Yeah. Got a little bit of who we are to our listeners. And now, yeah, we'll bring you awesome testimonies. Better than these. No, there's no competition. All our testimonies are great. You know that? I learned that recently, never sell your testimony short. Christ spoken out of anyone that's been experienced is amazing.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: It's life-giving.

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: This is Christ. It's not us.

Ayo: Yeah, so we're all just praise the Lord. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. All these testimonies are like, hey look, that's right, look at what the Lord has done. Look at the treasure and it's like, oh this one, this one's, what are the three C's? You know, you bought your wife, carat, color.

Pablo: Oh my goodness, carat, color, cut and what was the last one? Carat, color, cut and oh boy, clarity. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, man. We got something. We got some help.

Ayo: And I feel like that's just, you know, part of our testimony is just, look. Yeah. Look at this.

Pablo: Look at the treasure. Yeah.

Ayo: I think we can end with a series of rapid fire questions.

Pablo: Oh, you got some? Yeah. All right. Oh, great. Okay.

Ayo: This one might take some time to think about. So I'll ask this and this one, and then we'll go.

Pablo: But I got to go quick, right? The whole point of this is whatever comes to my head. Okay. Okay. Quick. Oh, you want me to think about it?

Ayo: Yeah. Oh, this, I'll give you a softball. Sure. Okay. Who is your, we call them characters, they're real people, but who's your favorite character in the Bible and why? Paul. Okay. Why?

Pablo: Because it's my name. I'm kidding. No, it's not why, but that, I don't, people don't know that my name is Paul in Spanish. I don't, people don't know that. Did you know that?

Ayo: I thought it was Paolo.

Pablo: No, Pablo is Paul in Spanish.

Ayo: Oh, anyways.

Pablo: No, but to me, I mean, 14 epistles in the New Testament. I mean, I enjoy Romans. I mean, some of his epistles are my favorite to read. Anyways.

Ayo: I would say Peter. Peter. Okay. I just, and that's recent. I was just reading Peter's epistles and you can tell, with Peter, you can tell that Christ is increasing in him from the gospels, even in Acts to his epistles. The divine revelation that he expounds in those epistles, it's comprehensive, it's deep. And it's like, I'm like, dang, Peter, anyway.

Pablo: Probably the most relatable and encouraging for all of us failures, yeah.

Ayo: Yeah, and he's our representative. He failed, he failed often. That's right. Even one thing that touched me was he recommended the people that read his epistle to read Paul's letters. Yeah, that's right. And even having that situation where Peter at one point thought, you know, I'm the best of the disciples. I will never leave here. And then he fails. And then he's in Jerusalem and Paul opposes him to his face because he's conceding to the Judaizers. That's right. Which was a problem for him for a while, this legalistic view. And here he is writing that we're all living stones, that we need to pursue this spiritual milk of the word. And he's even recommending Paul's letters, the person that opposed him to his face. You can just tell that the Lord has worked in him. And he even, anyway, I'm yapping at this point. He even foretold his eventual persecution. That's right. And you know, the Lord spoke to him about that just before at the end of John. So I love Peter. He's so relatable. All right. Next question. Favorite book of the Bible and why?

Pablo: Right now, Romans.

Ayo: Okay.

Pablo: Why is just the progression. I love the progression in Romans. Yeah. The lowest of sinners, love for condemnation to the whole world to glorious churches expressing God. Romans 16, I love it. I love that book.

Ayo: I love Romans too. But since you said I have to pick another. I love Acts. Acts is like a comic book. It's crazy. It's ridiculous. And I just thought.

Pablo: Last time you were reading the Bible sometimes, I laughed.

Ayo: It's like, you know, one brother told me, it's not just Acts of the apostles, it's Acts of Christ in the apostles. Oh, right. Amen. And that's so evident. Peter was walking and they were like, here's the handkerchief, bless it and heal this person. And oh, this person is dying. Revive them. It's like, this is what the Lord was like when He was on the earth. And here's Peter. It's being replicated. Yeah. Same with Paul. So it shows the enlargement of Christ, the duplication of Christ in His believers. Yes. I love Acts for that. Acts is great. Okay. This is the one that needs some thought. Advice you would give to your younger self. Whoa.

Pablo: Yeah, that is.

Ayo: In a sentence. Should I go first?

Pablo: You go first. Yeah, I mean, bro. Go. You got something?

Ayo: I think I would tell my younger self it's okay to be different.

Pablo: Oh, wow. Okay.

Ayo: Yeah. It's okay to be different. It's okay to pursue the Lord. It's okay to be that person. Wow. Yeah, I had a problem with trying to fit in. Okay. Yeah, we are a peculiar people. Yes, it's okay to be different.

Pablo: In that way I'd say learn to listen. Okay, let's not fight back into your head. That's why my head anyways.

Ayo: Yeah, yeah. Is there a reason why?

Pablo: I think maybe I'm a little bit of a yapper, bro.

Ayo: Oh, okay.

Pablo: I talk too much, you know? So I need to learn to listen, you know?

Ayo: Yeah.

Pablo: I wish I would have started younger and learned to listen.

Ayo: Okay. I don't know if we. Is that enough?

Pablo: Yeah, those are great. Yeah, I mean, we should do this with our guests, too. Yeah, yeah. And then just have a good. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.

Ayo: That's great. I'm looking forward to this whole thing.

Pablo: Yes. Great start, bro.

Ayo: Amen.

Pablo: Amen. Thank you for joining us today. Don't forget to hit that like button, subscribe and leave us a comment below. We love chatting with you guys.

Ayo: We've got so much more content and powerful testimonies coming your way. So follow us on our socials and until next time, stay safe. Keep speaking the words of this life.