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Thank you very much. All right, welcome to the Rod of Iron podcast, Fundamental Baptist, breaking down discussions, dogma, and daily events. I am your host, Pastor Bruce Mejia, First Works Baptist Church, joined by Brother Heigthav Mason here, and we're doing a special edition of the Rod of Iron. I feel like my headphones are kind of loud. Yeah, mine too. Just really loud. But good to have Brother Heigth with us. It's good to be back. I know we say that a lot, because I record a Rod of Iron podcast probably like two times a year or so, and it's very sporadic. But it's a special episode because we're going to be talking about a couple things. Number one, we're going to be talking about, actually, Belize, the mission's trip that we have going on. And as I make this statement, we actually have two missionaries out there right now who flew out this morning and just got there today, and so they are boots on the ground as of now in San Ignacio, and okay, yeah, the volume's good there. Just make sure you check the chat, Ulysses, in case, you know, people can't hear or something like that. So anyways, we're going to be heading out to Belize next Wednesday, right? And let me see here. So why don't you tell us a little bit about Belize, Heigth, while I check the live real quick. Belize is a country in Central America, right? Correct. That's not South America. No, Central America. Central America. Yeah. Yeah, next to Guatemala. It's actually a very receptive country. And we've been out there, what, three years now? Yeah, we started, the first time we went to Belize was actually in 2019, and it was like a recon trip that we took, and it was with, we went with Brother Milan, who's at Faith Ward right now, and then we went with Brother Eddie Quinones and Brother Robinson Ortiz. And so basically what happened was I wanted to go to do a missions trip with our church, but honestly, I just didn't know where to start. And you know, I wanted to do missions. I wanted to do like a big soul-winning push in a country, but obviously I wanted to pick a country that was receptive and that was English speaking, that way more people can be involved, more people can go. So I was doing some research and I ended up coming across the Dominican Republic. And so originally I had decided that we're going to go to the Dominican Republic, but then I went to Faith for Word, and at Faith for Word, there was a guy who basically said, hey, have you ever thought about going to Belize? And he had gone to Belize, and I think even Pastor Anderson had a layover or something like that in Belize, like he had gone to Belize City. Everything all right? Check the cameras? Did you check the cameras? So he had gone there and it wasn't really receptive when he went to Belize City, but brother, I think, I'm pretty sure it's brother Mike Madison who went, and when he went, and I don't know how many people he took with him, I think it was a small group as well, he said it was really receptive. And so he said, hey, you might want to check it out. It's close, next to Mexico and Guatemala, and so check it out. So I never really, I've never really put a missions trip together like that. I've been on missions trips before, but to actually put one together, it was very much new to me. And so we decided to go, and man, it was like super receptive. We took a bus to San Ignacio, which is about two hours away from the Capitol, and it was really receptive. It was just eye-opening. So then we decided to go again in 2020, but then that's when COVID hit. So we were literally there for one day, right? I remember that. A 24-hour period, it was a horrible trip. I mean, it was fun, but it was just really bad. It was terrible. And we almost didn't get into the country because of COVID, like they almost didn't let us in. Do you remember that? Yes. Like they said, we're the last group of people coming off the plane, they're like, you guys can't come in. And we're like, what? So anyways, but we ended up getting in and we were there for about 24 hours, and then we had to head back, which is, it was just a loss, but it was just crazy. And then we went back again in, man, when did we go back again? 2021? I don't remember. 2022. 2022. And so 2022 was a great trip. That was awesome. Got a lot of people saved. And then that was in November of 2022. And then Ulysses went again, the beginning of this year of 2023 in March to do more soul learning and to collect information, because what we wanted to do was essentially start, not start a church there, but we wanted to have a preaching service because we collected a lot of the converts info. And the cool thing is, is that when we went back, a lot of people recognized us from the previous trips. Then even when brother Ulysses went back in March, people knew him and he was gathering contact info and people were saying they were going to be there at the service. And we're just kind of testing out the waters in case we started church there, if the Lord allows us to. And man, it was good. I mean, it was, and so he got a lot of people saved there. He took a smaller group this time and it wasn't a whole lot of sightseeing. He went in March. When we went in 2022, we did do some sightseeing. You weren't there. I left early or? Oh, no, no. You were there, but you left early. That's right. I forgot about that. Let's, let's not talk about that though. No, I'm just kidding. No, you left on a Wednesday, I think, right? I don't remember. Yeah. You left on Wednesday and we went to the pyramids on a Friday. Friday was like our last day or something like that, or maybe it was Thursday. Thursday we went to the pyramids. Friday, we flew out. Because Belize is like right next to Guatemala. And so you drive two hours in and basically you go to this, I don't know, this national park, which is the Mayan pyramids, takes about five hours to see everything. And it was nice. It was cool. That's a lot of walking. Oh, it's a lot of walking and a lot of hiking. We wish you were there, bro. Yeah, you should have come. You should have came with us. No, that's why I left early. Yeah, I know. I know. I mean, it was hot, but you know what? It's just like all jungle though. So when you climb the highest pyramid there, it's just jungle as far as the eye can see. You don't see any high rise buildings anywhere near anything. And so did you just text me? No, that was brother Morrie reporting from Belize. Oh, okay. Speaking of the missionaries, oh, he says it's 607, right? Oh, so what? Oh, they already got a person saved. Amen. He says right now it's 607. They're only an hour ahead. Does he know how to tell time? Does he know how to tell time? I don't know. Can we really confide in the fact that Morrie... I know he knows how to win people to Christ, but can he tell time? It might be. Oh, yeah. They're only an hour ahead. Oh, there we go. He can tell time. No, I'm just kidding. Hour ahead? I thought there were two hours ahead. I thought they were three hours ahead. I thought there were four. Well, you know what? Time change is coming up. So will that affect it? I don't know. Do they have time change out there? I don't know. Anyways, so when we went in November of 2022, we hit up the schools and you and I went soloing together in the neighborhoods and we got a lot of people saved there. Oh, yeah, like in the town square? Yeah, it was like a town square. Yeah, I see somebody saved. You walk like 15 feet the other way, there's somebody standing there and they will also wanna hear the gospel, so... They're very like... It's very slow paced over there. Yeah. So they're just not in a rush to go anywhere. Even if they have to go to work, they're not in a rush to get to work and Morrie says yes, I know how to tell time. So we got a couple of people saved there, but then we went to the school, the Catholic school and we just got a bunch of Catholic teenagers saved and it was just like literally fish jumping into the boat because the only thing we were lacking is the laborers. Correct. And it was really sad to see when you're preaching to say a group of kids and then you see a group of kids walking by, you're like, oh man, I wish somebody would be there just to talk to them and you can't... There's just so many laborers out there, you need more. Belize was one of those trips where I literally felt tired after the hour of preaching because you're almost preaching nonstop. So you talk to one person and let's say you spend 10 to 15 minutes or so on the gospel, they get saved and then... So you pretty much get at least two to three salvations an hour, which pretty much that's average what you should get in a receptive area, but man, just nonstop though. And it's just like talking and talking and talking. And I think you had mentioned this, that as much of a blessing as it was to have so many receptive people there, there was like a danger in becoming like mechanical in your gospel. Like autopilot, right? Yeah, you just put it on autopilot because you're just like, I don't know, like you're tired or you're just not thinking or you're just not having... Like there's no feeling to it, right? You're just trying to get the gospel out there. But then you have to kind of like stop yourself, right? Tell me about that. You slow down a little bit. Yeah. So after you've been preaching, I don't know, for like a few hours already, or you've gone through the gospel presentation a few times, I kind of felt myself like, man, I'm talking, but am I really engaged? You kind of get disengaged, like you realize, oh man, hold on, my mouth is moving, but I got to get back into this conversation. There's somebody standing in front of me, and I had heard this from Pastor Anderson, when you preach the gospel to someone, you're kind of speaking to their spirit. So you kind of have to re-engage into that, as opposed to just like, hey, let me... It's really hard to explain. Yeah, I think it's just a matter of when you're talking to someone, you should obviously recognize them as a soul, and it's an interaction that you're having with them, not just you trying to get this point across. And so when you become mechanical in your gospel presentation, there's a danger in overlooking the response of the recipient, right? Like you're not looking for facial expressions if they're interested, if they're disinterested, if they're paying attention, you're just kind of mechanical, so you're just trying to get over. There's a danger with new soul winners, because new soul winners, sometimes they're into just memorizing all of the steps and all of the illustrations and the verses, and so when they finally get a chance to preach the gospel to someone, they just kind of want to regurgitate everything, but they miss actually reading the person, interacting with their soul, and seeing if that person's actually interested. And so that's definitely a danger for a new Christian, but I feel like it is a danger for a seasoned Christian who's preaching the gospel back to back to back to back. And I definitely found myself doing that in Belize, where I had to kind of check myself and just kind of like pause, swallow. I think what we did after a while was after every half an hour, 45 minutes or so, we would just take like a five-minute break, grab some water, or kind of have a chat together. Yeah. Kind of regroup. Yeah. And I think that worked okay, just as long as you catch yourself and you realize, hey, you know what, I'm actually out here soul winning, let me just get back into the Spirit, and if you have to take a little break, take a little break, there's no shortage of people over there. Yeah. I think it was really encouraging, too, that when we went, let's say, using the Catholic school as an example, that when we were preaching, does it look choppy? Is the live stream choppy or what? On both, on Rumble or Instagram? Well, we have to have the bitrate down because of Instagram, so it would have been too much for, to do both. I just, I don't know if it's my phone or if it's just, that's how it is. I don't know if people in the comments section can help us out. It looks a little choppy. Does it? Yeah. But if the bitrate's down, that would make it not choppy, right? Isn't that how it works? In either case, I mean, you people can still hear it. I mean, Jose, it's like, no, it looks killer. Looks killer. Maybe it's my phone. I can't really tell. I can't even see the chat on here, so can you see the chat on Rumble, Ulysses? No, I can't. That's a negative. Well, you know, we want to keep track of the chat there. I'm on Instagram. Well, let me go on Instagram and you go on Rumble and you check out Rumble. Oh, what I was saying is that it was encouraging that when we were preaching at the Catholic school, obviously the teenagers there are just really receptive and they're very just kind and they're really cool. But I remember like I would win someone to Christ and then they would walk away and I turn around and all of our soul winners. We're talking to somebody, like all of them, like across the street, on the corners, like right next to me. I mean, they're everywhere and sometimes they would have a group of two, three people, maybe one person. And just to see the brightness in the face of the soul winners after they're done, they're just like, they got saved. Like, man, this place is really receptive. You know? So that was pretty cool. And initially when we went to that Catholic school, we were trying to get into the Catholic school, but they wouldn't let us go in. And I remember like they had like a gatekeeper or something. Do you remember that guy? Security or something like that? Something like that. And he like rebuked us. I don't remember that. He reproved us, not rebuked. He reproved us because he didn't want us to like be in there talking to the kids. But then afterwards he came and he apologized. Really? Yeah. He was just like, I'm really sorry about that, but you guys can preach out here, you know? And we went to the Catholic school because, you know, obviously it's a school full of kids and they have some sort of religious background and they're really receptive. So we went there a couple of times and I think we've pretty much exhausted that source though. Because when they went back, it wasn't as receptive. Geo, Geo saying about how they got ridiculed or something like they made fun of them or something like that. And then, which I heard there was rumors that people were being persecuted when we went out there, but I just never experienced any of that. Yeah. I heard about brother Benjamin, but yeah, brother Benjamin got punched in the chest, but he said that it hurt apart from that. I haven't heard of anybody. He said it wasn't that bad. Yeah. Given a hard time. Hold on. Let me, let me message people here on Instagram. Is it choppy on here? Are you reading Jose's comment on Rumble or Instagram? Instagram. Oh, I see. Okay, cool. Anyways. Yeah. So, but then we went to a seven day, were you there when we went to the seven day Adventist school? Yeah. We went to the principal's office. We went to the principal's office and man, they were so suspicious of us. Yeah. They did not like us being there at all. And you know, they wanted to see our tracks. They wanted to see what we're preaching and pretty much we wasted our time there because they just, just like, yeah, I don't know if we can do this. Hold on a second. Geo says it is, it's a, yeah, it is a bit choppy. You think we can fix that Ulysses? Can you, can you take care of that? This is the first time we went live on Instagram and Rumble at the same time. So it's funny, like those guys, the principal and the vice principal, they didn't even have the guts to be like, no, you can't preach here. Like they had to skirt around the issue and try to be all nice about it. Can you imagine if like a false prophet comes and like wants to preach to our children like a false gospel, but tell them to get the hell out of here. But they don't even have like the guts, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Cause he wasn't, he wasn't really, and obviously we're not false prophets, but no, no. Cause that, you know, that, that could have been, that could have been misconstrued, you know? I'm just kidding. But I'm saying like, he wasn't aggressive. He was just kind of like, he wanted us to just back out of the, out of the conversation or whatever. As opposed to if like somebody came to us, trying to preach to us something different than what we believe. That's different than our doctrine. We would have just told them to take a hike. Pun intended. Yeah. But, but Ulysses went back in March to that seven day Adventist school and they ended up getting people saved there. So the, the, the method or the tactic strategy that we have to use when we go to the schools is because originally we wanted to go into the schools and just preach to the multitudes, which I think would have been great, but they just don't let us do that. So it has to be like one-on-one. So as they're coming out, we're just catching the fish and they're pretty receptive there. So from what I've seen, we've, we've covered a lot of San Ignacio, which is inland of Belize. And as far as the neighborhoods are concerned, but we, we really focused on the schools because why not focus on the areas where the fish are biting type of a thing. But this time around, we're actually going to be in San Ignacio and also Santa Elena, which is right next to it. But we're, we're going to be focusing our efforts on a nearby city called San Jose and San Jose has a school there too. And in fact, brother Maury is going to be going there tomorrow. So he's heading to San Jose tomorrow to kind of go soloing in the neighborhoods and see how it goes there. And I think he's going to be doing that on Saturday and Sunday. And then Monday, he's going to go back and go to the school and just see how it goes at the school, like just preaching the gospel there. So he's, he's doing the bulk of the work as far as like the beginning of the week. And then once we get there, we're going to split the groups a little bit. Santa Elena, San Ignacio, and San Jose. So this is actually going to be like one of our last trips to Belize for a very long time, you know, because we just need to take a break from it. We've gone there a lot, but I think it's going to be good. And quite frankly, you know, we've only covered, I mean, we went to San Ignacio, we've done a lot of, we did a lot of work there, but we haven't really covered a whole lot of Belize. Brother Glenn and his group did cover a lot in the north, in Orange Walk. But he said it wasn't as receptive there. I mean, they got people saved, but it wasn't as receptive as San Ignacio is. But then we have to, there's also the south, the southern Belize, which, you know, I don't know too much about, but maybe in the coming years, we'll send people over there to see how it goes. But you know, I credit the receptiveness of those in Belize to their emphasis on the Bible.