BONUS: Armin in Honduras

[00:00:04] We are back with Armina's study and if you haven't heard parts one and two, you definitely have to start there.

[00:00:12] But he has one more story that we wanted to share with you.

[00:00:16] And we thought this was so fun.

[00:00:18] You were sharing how you feel more comfortable in a lot of spaces where Christians often feel really uncomfortable and probably unsafe.

[00:00:28] Can you share this story from Honduras when you got to share your faith with some gangsters in a prison?

[00:00:35] Yeah, yeah. So, okay, let me give you some context, okay.

[00:00:40] So I don't want people believing I'm some hardcore audacious Christian that trust me,

[00:00:48] I am more faulty than most people listening.

[00:00:52] So, the rampy family which I tell you guys about had this mission trip planned to go to Honduras.

[00:00:59] They asked me to go and I was, you know, my excuses are on point.

[00:01:04] Why am I not gonna go?

[00:01:05] My wife decides to go instantly. And then they went through like the Wolfpack, you know, the whole family

[00:01:10] started out with the dad and the brother who's like one of my dearest friends, then the sister,

[00:01:16] then the other sister, the second one.

[00:01:19] Yeah, and everyone was trying that my wife was trying everything I was like, dude, I'm not going.

[00:01:24] I'm not going. I'm not going. I'm not going. I'm not going like constantly.

[00:01:28] And then they went nuclear. Mama Sue called me.

[00:01:35] So the matriarch calls me.

[00:01:38] And this is literally, I'm not making this. This is like three, maybe four days before the mission trip.

[00:01:47] Oh my gosh. Yeah.

[00:01:49] And she calls me and she says, why aren't you gonna go?

[00:01:54] I just went through my laundry list of excuses.

[00:01:58] And they're all very logical, you know what I'm saying? They're good.

[00:02:03] And she gets done listening, you know, and then she's like, is there anything else? Is there anything else

[00:02:10] that's stopping you from going? I was like, I'm sure there's a hundred other things.

[00:02:14] Mom, this is just not gonna happen. See, and she goes, hmm, fascinating.

[00:02:25] I even know this is appropriate to share. So you guys might have stayed it.

[00:02:29] But she goes, she goes, oh, I mean,

[00:02:35] as I guess, Mama, what? What? Go ahead, tell me what it is,

[00:02:40] and she goes, she's gotta let you're not strap little squirrel.

[00:02:48] And she hung up on me and she hung up on me.

[00:02:55] And I sat there and I was like, what did I happen?

[00:03:03] Because a long story short, I was like, all right, I'm gonna go.

[00:03:07] But trying to go to this thing, I had an expired passport.

[00:03:14] And this is like three, four days before we have to leave. And I was like, yeah, and I was like,

[00:03:20] I'm good, I'm good, it's gonna look. I'll try it. It won't work out, Mama.

[00:03:26] Really? You may have just, yeah. I was like, yeah, I was like, I'm good. So I was like, all right,

[00:03:32] here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go, try to get my passport, but you obviously know it's not

[00:03:37] gonna happen. I'm happy to even pay for the express blah blah blah.

[00:03:43] And she's like, as long as you try. I was like, I'm on.

[00:03:47] And she's not my actual mom. She's like a spiritual mom, you know?

[00:03:50] Sure. And, uh, a side-going, you know, a promise to her, I wouldn't. I gave it a varsity try.

[00:03:59] I got my passport two days later, guys. Two days later. I thought I could

[00:04:05] literally print at that fast, let alone get it to you.

[00:04:09] Yeah, didn't know that was a possibility. It was so far out of the realm of possibility that it

[00:04:16] was comical to me that I was going through. And I was kind of irritated like, I'm wasting all this time

[00:04:22] just to prove to them that you can't get a passport this fast for me to go anyway and I got it.

[00:04:28] And I was like, this can't, this is unbelievable. There's no way I have.

[00:04:34] I am out of all excuses at this point and I commit to going through this thing, right?

[00:04:40] And um, and it was on this trip that my wife and we were struggling to get pregnant at the time

[00:04:50] and we had just had miscarried twins and she was in like the worst place of her life after

[00:04:55] you miscarried twins and you know, like it was just like getting a abortion culture,

[00:05:02] you know, like you kind of feel wow. I don't know isolated when you're trying desperately to

[00:05:08] have a baby and not able to. And one of the reasons we're going to have a baby is she has this thing

[00:05:15] called PCOS, cystic, cystic fibrosis. Something something like um, so she has these cysts on her

[00:05:24] roots and as they were in the at the airport about to go to Honduras because she took off three days

[00:05:32] before I did, she had a golf ball size cyst that rubbed her in her own. Oh my gosh. And she was

[00:05:39] in an agonizing pain on the plane like on the verge of lacking out sweating, you know, and she didn't

[00:05:48] want to make a scene because you didn't know what's going to happen. So she goes to a third world

[00:05:53] and has to go to a third world hospital to figure all this stuff out. And I promise I'll make sense

[00:05:59] of all this, right? Just just keep one word. This is just just bring me back to miracles. Okay.

[00:06:06] Like if I start going to fibring me back to miracles but so she has this cyst rupture

[00:06:13] and so I was like this is already going bad and then I show up and then I was and I was just there

[00:06:19] so like they knew I was there. I'm not there to preach, I'm not there to pray, I'm not there.

[00:06:26] I'm I'm just there because I was being a good son, you know? Yeah. And I wasn't trying to do anything

[00:06:33] and these guys decide to go to San Pedro Lucia, Lucia I think it is and at that time it was the

[00:06:42] second most violent place in the world. While we have any more going on in the Middle East

[00:06:48] and this place was considered more dangerous just to get in your group as going there at the next

[00:06:52] day. Of course it's the rampies, okay. They don't play like they will walk into a flaming building

[00:07:01] and pray and come out you know. And unbeknownst to me I was just excited I wanted to see what this like

[00:07:11] violent, crazy, terrifying place looks like an aggrop, slums of agas, but I was like I got this

[00:07:19] bringing. And you know like just to give you an example I had my arm hanging out the window and

[00:07:25] our driver who was an aide of it in a hundred years like freaked out, started yelling at me,

[00:07:30] I had no clue what he was saying because there's in Spanish and the translators like he's telling

[00:07:36] you you have to take your arm and bring it inside and roll up your window immediately and I was like

[00:07:43] okay and I rolled the window up I was like I was that so intense and he's like well you have a

[00:07:49] ring on and in this city as you're driving by because you're not going that fast they will chop

[00:07:55] off your arm just to take off your ring and walk away. Wow yeah it was a good reason to freak out thank

[00:08:02] you. Okay got it. So just yeah so like given perspective I thought it was inflated and then

[00:08:08] like you get there and you're like yes not inflated. It's the real thing. And then so we end up going

[00:08:14] to this church that's led by this guy who's a former Latin king out of California who was

[00:08:22] in prison for a double homicide was released 15 years later came to Honduras because he was

[00:08:32] out of he got saved and he was just radical right and so he came and he planted this church

[00:08:40] in the most violent city or second most violent city in the world where he was and so we go there

[00:08:46] and I was like oh man this is exciting I want to meet this dude these are my people I'm not a murder

[00:08:50] that's not what I was like the love no violent crimes but like it was just it was just like

[00:08:59] all right this is a place that it's impossible for them to judge me like come on and so I went

[00:09:04] there and I was super excited just to meet these people and they start describing it to me and

[00:09:09] they're like yeah pretty much every single person in this church is their all murders

[00:09:17] pretty like literally 100% of them have killed people more than one and this is where they live

[00:09:25] and prisons were overcrowded so they led a bunch of them out and this guy's somehow been

[00:09:31] able to reach them but you're talking to a very very violent homicide group of people

[00:09:38] a lot of which haven't heard about Jesus and I was like hang on second hang on

[00:09:44] you just said you're going to talk about you you just you mean that generally right and she's

[00:09:53] honest who's like no no you that's definitely not happening I'm not talking I'm not

[00:10:03] preachy I don't even got messages ready the ride remember yeah yeah anyway long story short

[00:10:09] me and her argued and we compromised so I did exactly what she wanted nothing I wanted

[00:10:15] and I get up there and she's like to share your stories share your these are your people

[00:10:19] they've gone through what you've gone through share your story and I was like

[00:10:24] do at least I give me time to prep something coherent right so we go through this whole thing

[00:10:29] and I preach this thing and I was done and she's like doing all their calls I do I do not do

[00:10:34] all their calls I'm not I'm not trying to do that she's like doing all their call

[00:10:41] I said I do an awkward awkward call it was not for no to all call

[00:10:47] and like nobody raised their hand and I was like I get them out you know and she's like

[00:10:54] army stay up there and do it again I did it again and like three people raised their hand

[00:11:04] and then she got kind of irritated with me she goes from mean to what like you mean it

[00:11:10] would like it saves your life and I was like wow well well it's like I'm so I get up there

[00:11:17] and I did a variation of the alter called that I had that brought me to Jesus you know how many

[00:11:24] times are you gonna find yourself at the bottom like but it was my variation of it and like I almost

[00:11:29] said it yearly you know like it wasn't grace filled and love filled it was just like how often are

[00:11:37] going to be the cause of your greatest agonies because you refuse to figure out if there's a

[00:11:45] god out there that might just might love you when you can stop being a coward and at least try

[00:11:50] right like it was one of them like understand the context of the climate right right

[00:11:56] and you know and I'm calling them cowards about faith like of all the potentially dumb things

[00:12:04] that you could say and do like that was and I'm not kidding there was like 238 people

[00:12:11] that now I'm the grosser hands but just go down wow okay and then let me expedite this story

[00:12:20] or pick this up so everyone stands up and I'm just in shock and you know and like when I have

[00:12:27] those divine moments I don't know why I shake I start to like shake it's the weirdest thing

[00:12:35] like anything else could happen to when the awkward but I shake and I started shaking because

[00:12:40] I was like oh this is such an intensely and then like they're like get them up here we're gonna

[00:12:46] pray for every single one of them nobody's even until we pray for him you know and I was like

[00:12:52] come pray and I'm just getting people up here to pray and you know I've heard all these

[00:13:00] miracle stories from the Bible from people traveling doing missions and cancers being healed

[00:13:07] and I was like dude I haven't seen an in-grown hair come out you know like I have a hang-worn

[00:13:21] stalker marina yeah that was the first time I witnessed miracles I watched the guy his eyes were so

[00:13:29] clouded and I'm sorry I'm not trying to pick my theology on anyone like I understand there's certain

[00:13:34] points of theology that people are like not and I'm not sure story yeah and um and remember this guy

[00:13:41] he had cataract soul badness I mean literally look like someone took a cloud and put it in his eye

[00:13:46] and it was just crusty you couldn't see and we started praying for him and also he's like I see

[00:13:54] Jesus and we're like oh you know that's great you see you see Jesus like you're seeing a manifestation

[00:14:01] of Jesus or something like that maybe that's what you're sharing say it kept saying no no no I see

[00:14:06] I see Jesus and I was like I do like I don't what does that mean and then the transit we finally

[00:14:14] got a transit to come over and try to tell us what you say and he was able to read the word

[00:14:21] Jesus that was written on the way like 50 feet away and I was like oh and then so like now

[00:14:28] like oh we start freaking out so like we start finding things and we're like you know this is

[00:14:34] my kids drying but like we were like holding up my ex-yence what's this say what did this say

[00:14:39] you know we're just trying to get him to like read stuff and he's like easily admit the

[00:14:44] reading and we're like oh my gosh this he's actually healed this I've been and then we had

[00:14:50] it at the same time right and then there's this little short hunter-induced like one leg was like

[00:14:57] six inches longer than the other leg was just a shrub a little guy just dragging his foot all the way

[00:15:05] like it was just grudging and it was like painful for him to get there and I think it was Bob

[00:15:14] pops I call him pops mom pops um he was just and he was praying for him and and like I couldn't

[00:15:21] help but like look at that dude because it was just one of those guys where you look at you're like

[00:15:26] all right if the miracle happens for that dude like there's that is the most undeniable

[00:15:34] and and I heard pops it was like and his prayer was like he was like it was just like his holding

[00:15:41] his legs and it was like he was praying and doing these things where he was like praying for his

[00:15:47] leg to grow up I was like come on dude like you make you make it something more simplistic

[00:15:53] and this dude literally got like his leg and he started running around the audit

[00:16:01] or he was jumping and seeing it and like and I just sat there and I was like I can't no one's going

[00:16:09] to believe me I can't believe this this is literally happening okay and okay and I'll shut up after this

[00:16:16] and remember what I said about my wife right yes so we can't get pregnant cystic fibrosis

[00:16:23] cyst just burst we get back from this Honduras trip I'm on cloud nine I can't believe what I just

[00:16:30] experienced I was already like all about Jesus but like once you experience miracles I don't know

[00:16:36] how to explain it but yeah yeah it's like a flame throw or just one throw yeah like oh my gosh

[00:16:44] you can fed you in your soul walking around the floor as if you didn't know you know and um we get back

[00:16:52] and my wife obviously has to go see the doctor because she had a ruckus sister and the doctor tells

[00:17:00] her that hey you guys should probably take a break from trying to get pregnant so you're not like

[00:17:08] you know it's just kind of hope deferred it's not worth it it's clinically and medically impossible

[00:17:13] for you guys to get pregnant at this point two weeks later I always like I think I'm pregnant

[00:17:20] like a bit two weeks later two weeks later two weeks later that was like but there's no way

[00:17:26] the doctor literally told us like it would be good to take like a three month break you know it's

[00:17:30] clinically impossible she's like no I really feel pregnant yeah I was like nah it takes pregnancy test

[00:17:37] comes back positive and I was like no it's just you know it's like a Plitsy bull effect or something

[00:17:42] and she's like a baby a line there nothing it's a little it's let's not get crazy you know

[00:17:49] and she goes and sees her doctor and gets a pregnancy test through her blood

[00:17:55] and the doctor comes back and says I don't know how this is possible because it shouldn't be

[00:18:01] but you are pregnant yeah wow and my wife broke down I you know and that

[00:18:09] long story short that was our first kid we went full term and that's my nine year old today

[00:18:16] so like this this hundredth trip everything in me everything in me

[00:18:24] fought it I wanted nothing to do with this yeah but I have never experienced

[00:18:35] or witnessed or miracles in my life then going on that trip and sometimes when people are

[00:18:44] inviting you into something spiritual I would just say you can bank on it being uncomfortable

[00:18:54] you can bank on you not wanting to be a part of it you can bank on having a million excuses

[00:19:03] but there's a possibility it might be one of the most significant moments of your entire

[00:19:09] faith journey and it might be worth it I get to experience that miracle every day

[00:19:15] because I wake up and I see my nine year old who's not supposed to exist you know

[00:19:21] there's a guy walking around who's like girl out six inches and she's jumping

[00:19:26] walk there's a guy who's reading who couldn't see and there's all these like

[00:19:32] a church full of martyrs

[00:19:35] like man none of this stuff is meant for comfort but we live in America like our our idol is

[00:19:41] comfort you take our comfort away you better believe we put that second amendment to use real quick

[00:19:46] you know I'm saying yeah like this is we we do not want to give up comfort but I promise you

[00:19:52] the faith journey and your faith walk the last place you're gonna find breakthroughs and comfort

[00:19:58] it's not a word you stepped into a church full of martyrs and you said 238 people except

[00:20:06] of the Lord and you notice I can't remember that's something that you don't forget