The Least of These with Scott Kvandal

[00:00:00] Thank you so much for being here this evening. My name is Kevin Conover and you’re on Educate for Life Radio. We’re broadcasting in Southern California on

[00:00:07] KPraise 12:10 a.m. We’re also on FM106.1 in North County and then of course we’re

[00:00:13] on podcasts all over the internet on platforms like Spotify and uh many

[00:00:18] others. So uh thanks for being here with us. My website’s educateforlife.org. All kinds of

[00:00:24] resources that you can use on there. And I have a fantastic guest as usual uh on

[00:00:30] the the show this evening and that is Scott and Michelle Cavandal and they are

[00:00:36] with Sue Rufusio. Um and just a little bit about them. Scott was saved at the

[00:00:42] age of 46 and um had no ministry background or experience but God has

[00:00:49] been blessing uh him and his wife as they are uh just stepping out in faith

[00:00:54] to reach the least of these recently came out with a book called the least of these and it talks all about surfio and

[00:01:01] what they’re doing in South America and different countries reaching um what the

[00:01:07] Bible says in James uh religion that God our father finds us pure and faultless is serving widows and orphans in their

[00:01:13] distress. And that is exactly what they’re doing. Scott, thank you so much for being on the uh program today. It’s

[00:01:20] my pleasure, Kevin. Yeah, thanks for the indeed. You know, and um I got

[00:01:25] introduced to you through Rick Reman who um the he was doing a mission trip in a

[00:01:32] collaboration with Christian High and Shadow Mountain. And um I was so excited to see what you’re doing. And I um my

[00:01:40] son um at the time was looking into going on different mission trips and um serving the Lord. he had been to Costa

[00:01:46] Rica and um ended up deciding to go to Peru with your with your uh ministry and

[00:01:53] my wife ended up deciding to go too and it was an amazing um experience for them

[00:01:58] getting to serve others but also really in a lot of ways they were ministered to

[00:02:04] and um really blessed and just a life-changing experience. Um give us the

[00:02:09] background. How did you start Sufuja? that I mean that’s really unusual that somebody at 46 would get saved. How did

[00:02:16] you get saved actually first? How did you get saved? Oh yeah, that’s really where it all started. Um I was thankful

[00:02:22] to God. I was raised in a Christian home uh here in San Diego and my mother and

[00:02:28] father loved the Lord and I I feel like I practically lived in the church. But

[00:02:34] um I uh I thought there was something missing in my life. My parents were

[00:02:40] quite poor. My father had a very difficult time finding work. And so I

[00:02:45] decided at an early age in my early teens that I wasn’t going to live a life

[00:02:51] like them. I couldn’t understand. They love the Lord so much, but I couldn’t understand why a God they love so much

[00:02:58] would let them live in this poverty. And so I said, I’m going to live a different life for myself. And so I set off on a

[00:03:05] journey. You know, there’s milestones. I I tell people there’s milestones in our life sometimes that just changes our

[00:03:12] direction. And I’m sure many of you have experienced the same type of thing. And

[00:03:17] one of those for me was maybe a little humorous in hindsight, but it wasn’t at

[00:03:22] the time. I remember my mom when I was like 12, 13 years old, she came home

[00:03:28] with these two new pairs of pants. And that was new for me because I was always wearing someone else’s clothes. And so

[00:03:35] she was very proud to be able to buy these. And they were pants made by Levis’s, but they were sort of beta

[00:03:41] testing them and no one was buying them. So she could practically get them for free. Um because they were fluorescent

[00:03:48] lime green and fluorescent orange. Oh no. So you can imagine kids are brutally

[00:03:55] honest, right? So So kids would make fun of me. They’d call me spaceman. You could see me from a mile away. And so

[00:04:03] that made a distinction in my life. I’m I’m not going to live my life like that. I’m going to make money. I’m going to

[00:04:08] earn my way in an early age. I said, by the time I’m 50 years old, I’m going to

[00:04:13] have enough money to do whatever I want. Buy whatever kind of clothes I want, any kind of car I want, travel the world,

[00:04:20] have a beautiful family, a wife, and hopefully a a couple great children. And

[00:04:26] God provided that. And so I set off on this journey for I was trying to

[00:04:32] convince myself it was for my family, but it was really for me. I had a beautiful wife, two lovely children, and

[00:04:39] I set off in the world in engineering. Uh went to school here in San Diego State, then went to Stanford for

[00:04:45] graduate work and started going off in the world and and was getting a lot of

[00:04:51] respect. No one was making fun of me any longer. And I thought I was living this life that was going to happen. And at

[00:04:57] the age of 46, I had sold the company I was had. And it was the day that I had

[00:05:04] been waiting for because it was sufficient money to to accomplish all those dreams that I had for these all

[00:05:10] these years. And so something happened that day too. I remember it was so far

[00:05:17] back now that it was the days that you didn’t wire money. You had a cashier’s

[00:05:22] check. And I remember them giving me a cashier’s check. And it was a business deal. It was no earnouts, nothing. It

[00:05:28] was just strictly cash on a cashier’s check. And I remember as soon as I got it in my hand, I realized this isn’t it.

[00:05:36] This isn’t going to make me happy. And realizing that I’d wasted all these years of my life. And it’s I felt like

[00:05:45] it was worth it was worse than not even trying to do to achieve that dream. And

[00:05:51] I got u frustrated. I got depressed. I was living a life of sin. Um, because of

[00:05:58] that sin, I got separated from my wife. My two children turned away from me and

[00:06:04] I became divorced and I didn’t feel like life was worth living any

[00:06:10] longer. And then I met this young woman and um she invited me to a to a

[00:06:18] school. I knew what this was. This wasn’t just a school meeting on a weekend. It was it was a church service.

[00:06:24] I knew a lot about church, so I thought. And uh I didn’t want to go, but I

[00:06:33] thought, well, if she if if I go, she’s going to believe that I’m a good person. Now, I know I’m not a good person, but I

[00:06:41] could use some business skills and and try to convince her that I’m a good person, so I’m going to go. But

[00:06:48] something happened that day when I walked into the the doors of this multi-purpose room in a little

[00:06:55] elementary school that called Highland Ranch in North County. And uh God spoke

[00:07:01] to me, not in an audible way, but into my heart and said, “Scott, how are you

[00:07:06] doing?” You know, I had learned how to hide things from many people all those

[00:07:11] years, but I knew I couldn’t hide from him. Said, “How are you doing?” Of course he knew I miserable. Yeah. That’s

[00:07:19] so interesting though that that the that what you whether that was audible or an

[00:07:25] impression that what what you heard was how are you doing? And it it sounds like it’s a gentle voice like it’s a caring

[00:07:31] voice. It was it was to me and he said

[00:07:36] you’ve been running for me. Do you want to give your life to me today? And I did that day. Not a word was said. The

[00:07:43] pastor that was teaching that day did not say anything, hadn’t started the church service, and I just turned

[00:07:48] ghostly white. And the woman that I was with um saw that I was just visibly

[00:07:55] white and shaken and said, “What’s wrong?” I said, “I can’t talk to you today. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” And I

[00:08:00] did shared to her what had happened. And that day, I accepted the Lord as my

[00:08:06] savior and started following from that day on. That’s incredible. That’s a miracle. It is a miracle. I mean, you

[00:08:13] think about it, Kevin. Every one of us has gone through maybe not the same experience, but different experiences.

[00:08:19] It’s a miracle that God would choose us and call us unto

[00:08:26] himself. And after all those years, I was running away and uh yet he continued

[00:08:32] to pursue me. It’s amazing. Um, you know, I I hear so

[00:08:38] many stories. Having the this being able to do this program has been a big blessing because I get to talk to so

[00:08:44] many people and hear so many people’s stories. And it’s amazing how many people, like you said, um, different

[00:08:51] experiences, but such a similar story where God just met them where they were

[00:08:56] at, um, and just gently spoke to them and bam, just like that, they they

[00:09:04] turned their life over to God um, with the full rect. God knows where a person is at. He knows where they are and what

[00:09:11] they’re dealing with. And this is the time, this is the time for you to to make the decision to follow me, right?

[00:09:17] And he pursues us, you know? I mean, he’d been pursuing me all those years even though I continue to run away. So,

[00:09:23] yeah, praise God for that. That’s incredible. And and so you’re 46 and

[00:09:29] you’ve decided, I’m going to follow Jesus. So, um, what happened in your

[00:09:34] mind as far as like, okay, um, there’s a lot of different ways you can serve the Lord. I mean, you can serve locally, you

[00:09:40] can serve in the local church, you can serve in uh minister in homeless ministries. There’s so many different

[00:09:46] ways to serve. Um, how did you end up deciding that this is what God was

[00:09:51] calling you to um to to be a missionary? And was that something that happened quickly or was that something that took

[00:09:57] some time? It took a little bit of time. Um that that woman that invited me to

[00:10:03] that church was Michelle who had told me that she was a Christian and I believe

[00:10:08] she was a Christian. We found out later she found out that she really wasn’t and became a Christian a few years later. So

[00:10:14] that’s another whole story. Oh wow. That’s that’s a miracle too. Yeah. Absolutely. So um we started serving the

[00:10:23] church teaching and doing things of that sort. And um I remember a few couple

[00:10:31] years later in actually in 2001 um I remember reading in the bulletin of

[00:10:38] that same church there was a trip to Argentina and I remember reaching over to Michelle and I said Michelle we got

[00:10:43] to we got to go to Argentina and she looked at me strangely and after the church she said Scott if if the Lord’s

[00:10:50] calling you to Argentina please go but I’m not going he’s not calling me to go.

[00:10:55] And so I said, “Well, will you pray about it?” And through circumstances, she did. And about 3 months later, she

[00:11:00] said, “Okay, I’m going.” And so in 2001, like 9 days after 9/11, the first

[00:11:07] flights out of LAX, we were on a plane going to Argentina on a mission trip. My

[00:11:13] first mission trip. I had shared the gospel with one person in at work in my

[00:11:19] life before. Had no idea what we were doing. You went into the deep end really quick. Yeah. So,

[00:11:27] I have a question for you about that, Scott, because you know, um, a lot of people, they’re nervous to go on mission

[00:11:34] trips, and I’m sure you’ve seen this as you’ve, um, have a a ministry that takes

[00:11:39] people on mission trips and and short-term missions and these sorts of things. And Michelle was in a place where she was like, “No, God is not

[00:11:46] calling me to do this.” Um, you know, for the person out there that’s listening and that has never been on a

[00:11:53] mission trip, how do you determine that this is what God is calling me to? How did Michelle change her mind and decide,

[00:12:00] you know, this is something what God is there somebody should be looking for? Um, as far as that’s concerned,

[00:12:07] well, for her it was a real kind of unique, miraculous thing. But I would

[00:12:13] say for people, God will put that on your heart. If you have this desire or

[00:12:20] something, and you may not even know what it is, but a feeling of going, you know, many people have a lot of

[00:12:26] hesitations. They’re maybe they’ve never shared the gospel with someone before. Maybe they don’t feel they’re equipped.

[00:12:33] Maybe they don’t think they have financial resources to do it, you know, but I tell people that’s exactly where

[00:12:40] the Lord wants you. He wants you relying on him, you know, in in Corinthians that

[00:12:48] talks about Paul was, you know, who we probably consider the greatest evangelist ever. And he talks and says,

[00:12:56] you know, I didn’t go with you to you with powerful words. I came stumbling and fearful and without wisdom because

[00:13:04] when we rely on him, he does the work, right? I mean, that’s what the beauty of

[00:13:10] the whole thing. What we have to do is say, “Okay, God, I’ll go. I’ll go in

[00:13:16] faith.” And uh so it’s I I just encourage people if they get that

[00:13:22] feeling, you know, um hey, give me a call. I’d love to talk to you about it and and share. So for those of you

[00:13:29] listening, my guest today is Scott Cavando and he is um sufugeio.org. That’s

[00:13:37] surfu gio.org if you would like to get involved in ministry to in South

[00:13:43] America. Um so Scott, let’s pick back up on Argentina. So you’re you’re going off on this first mission trip and uh what

[00:13:50] happened? Well, I went and I saw God working in ways that I had never seen before.

[00:13:58] Now, he works the same throughout the world. So, it isn’t something I was seeing something special. It was that my

[00:14:05] eyes were open to it. I wasn’t being distracted with looking on a phone. I wasn’t doing, you know, all these

[00:14:12] different things. I was focused on being there for one purpose. And I remember we

[00:14:17] went out with uh six people in my group and we went to this little small town called Ombberto in uh northern Argentina

[00:14:25] and they said we’re going door todo and I’d never done anything like

[00:14:31] that before. And I went fearful. But I saw the go Lord meet me

[00:14:38] and use me in ways that gave me the words to say. And we’re never prepared.

[00:14:45] I’d say we’re never prepared. And I think that’s a good thing. When I come to a door like today, when I go door to

[00:14:52] door, I’m still fearful. I don’t know what I’m going to say. I don’t know who’s going to behind

[00:14:57] that door. I don’t know how they’re going to greet me. But we have the joy of having the Lord in us and we’re his

[00:15:03] ambassadors. That’s why we’re here. He’s made us his ambassadors and we’re there

[00:15:09] to share the good news. We’re not going to convince anyone to um you know accept

[00:15:14] the Lord and follow Jesus. He does all the work. Our job is just to share the gospel, the simple gospel of Jesus

[00:15:22] Christ. That’s really encouraging because like you said, we can get so caught up in am

[00:15:28] I going to say the right thing or what if they ask a question that I can’t answer or you know what else could could

[00:15:34] happen and I think sometimes we manufacture you know worst case scenarios in our mind and there’s

[00:15:41] nothing the devil would like more is to is to make us so fearful that we don’t I just read a quote actually to today I

[00:15:47] think the quote was from Billy Graham um he said the devil likes nothing more than a fear fearful Christian and um yet

[00:15:55] if we look at the word of God, we see all kinds of amazing things that God

[00:16:01] does despite very difficult situations. And um so what what did you see exactly?

[00:16:07] You said you you saw God work in some miraculous ways and some pretty amazing ways. You said God does this all over

[00:16:12] the world. Can you give us some examples of what you saw that maybe surprised you or really made you in awe of the way God

[00:16:20] is working when you were on that that trip in Argentina? Yeah. Well, I remember going down. We

[00:16:26] were assigned blocks in this little town. We’d have a translator, a local

[00:16:32] national that was from that area and an American. And we’d go door to door and

[00:16:37] we’re supposed to go systematically house to house. And I saw in the corner

[00:16:42] of my eyes this this family I will always remember. And and I went there.

[00:16:47] They had six kids. They were filthy dirty. I went into their little hut, if

[00:16:53] you will. Well, I wouldn’t even call it a house. It was one bedroom, one room. They slept, ate, did everything there,

[00:17:01] dirt floors, had no food. And um we just started sharing

[00:17:06] with them. And I went every day back to that same place with them and and shared

[00:17:13] the gospel with them and they received the Lord. Two of the older children in

[00:17:18] in the uh in the the mother in the home, there was no father.

[00:17:24] Fast forward a few years later, I went back to that same town and asked how she

[00:17:30] was doing. And the pastor told me that Scott, she was in a bad auto accident,

[00:17:36] was driving late at night on a road, hit head on, and died.

[00:17:42] Okay. So, that’s how the Lord works. You know, I wasn’t supposed to go to that

[00:17:48] house, but the Lord called me to go to that house. I didn’t know what her destiny was other than eventually we

[00:17:55] will all die. But she was headed for hell and through the Lord’s grace and

[00:18:02] mercy, he sent me there just to share the word of God with her and she

[00:18:09] responds. The Holy Spirit calls her unto him, calls him her unto himself and

[00:18:15] she’s saved. And one day I will see her again. I know I will see her and it’ll

[00:18:21] be a joyous day to to meet her again one day. Yes. And that’s for eternity. I

[00:18:26] mean um the Bible says store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do

[00:18:31] not break in and steal. And um there you know there’s like no no better investment than into eternity and just

[00:18:38] ministering to people. And um such a fulfilling thing too that God has called us to do is to serve others. And um you

[00:18:46] know you start to understand where Jesus says it is better to give than to receive and when you see um how God

[00:18:54] works through our um small efforts. Um y so I was going to ask you about that

[00:19:00] too, Scott. Um, it’s interesting because, you know, you went there, but you ended up back there again two years

[00:19:06] later. And I was just curious, you know, um, when my wife went to Peru, um, she

[00:19:11] was astonished at the poverty, just the level of, um, people living in little

[00:19:17] huts, dirt floors, barely anything available. Uh, even clean water was, uh,

[00:19:23] you know, a difficulty, the way they delivered the clean water and so forth. And it was astonishing to her. And some

[00:19:30] people are concerned that you know as a mission missionaries go in and they

[00:19:36] share the gospel but then the people don’t have the the resources they need

[00:19:41] or maybe the physical necessities. Um what does Sue Rufusio do um as far as

[00:19:47] that’s concerned with like followup when sharing the gospel and what is your vision and goal in that regard? Well, we

[00:19:53] have uh our ultimate goal I should say is we want to make disciples. That’s our

[00:19:59] ultimate goal. That’s what we believe we’re called to do. We’re doing the that through caring for orphans and widows in

[00:20:05] their distress. So, we have a sort of a broad definition of what an orphan and a

[00:20:11] widow is. Uh one that doesn’t have a a husband that’s a godly husband or have a

[00:20:16] a father that’s a biblical father, if you will. So, we have programs. We’re a

[00:20:22] nonprofit organization. Uh we have uh staff and located in each country. So,

[00:20:28] we’re sort of unique. We’re not just going there. We’re going to our team there. Our team is going to be following

[00:20:34] up and we’re connecting our our nonprofit with churches because they

[00:20:39] need to be discipled. How are they going to get discipled? We can share the gospel, but we’re going to leave in a

[00:20:45] week or two weeks and what’s going to happen to them? So we connect them with

[00:20:51] the local church and they start going to that church and then we are meeting with

[00:20:56] the mothers and the children every week through Bible clubs and feeding programs

[00:21:04] and lots of different activities where we’re always sharing the gospel and um

[00:21:10] modeling what it is like to to live a a Christian life to them. So yeah, we

[00:21:16] can’t do it without partnering with churches. The church is the foundation of everything. So we’re just conduits to

[00:21:23] reach the the people. Yeah. Yeah. Um and so Scott, so you were in Argentina, you

[00:21:31] have this first experience. It’s amazing. And um really just shows you

[00:21:36] God working. So when you went home after that, what was going on in your mind, in your heart? What what was God um

[00:21:43] stirring up in you as as you went home? I I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t just

[00:21:49] I I was quickly I was working I’m an engineer so and running engineering

[00:21:55] companies and I would sit in front of my screen going what am I doing here you

[00:22:01] know and I had it’s funny I I just sorry to interrupt here but I have a friend

[00:22:08] it’s really crazy he is went through the exact same thing that you’re going through except he’s he’s back there he

[00:22:14] literally just he’s an engineer and He just was like, “I’m supposed to go serve in missions.” And so he just took his

[00:22:22] family and his kids and he’s he’s in Nicaragua right now. Um he just was like, “This is what God has called me

[00:22:28] to.” And he was making really good money. And I you know, a lot of people were like, “Wait, what? What are you doing?” His work, the people at his work

[00:22:35] were like, “You’re wait a second. What? You’re going where?” And and he just

[00:22:41] left to Nicaragua. And he’s been to other places, too. But um he just had such a pull on his heart and it’s crazy

[00:22:47] how God does that and um that same thing happened to you. That’s incredible. So I I started going I you know started going

[00:22:55] lots of mission trips. So I went with an organization called uh E3 partners and

[00:23:02] which is a church planting ministry working with local churches to help plant new churches. And so I started

[00:23:09] going to lots of different places. I took teams to India, to Cuba, to

[00:23:16] Argentina, to Paraguay, Peru, Colombia. I wanted to see if this I had

[00:23:22] a desire to be in South America, but I wasn’t sure from my background. I wanted

[00:23:28] to make sure it wasn’t me that wanting to do this. This wasn’t an emotional thing, but it was really something God

[00:23:34] calling me to do that. So, I would take teams all over the place until I really

[00:23:40] got confirmed. No, Scott, you’re supposed to be in South America. And uh

[00:23:45] so I would go on. How did you How did that become confirmed? How did that How did that become confirmed for you? You

[00:23:51] begin having peace over it. You know, you go to, you know, I I love Cuba. I

[00:23:56] love traveling. So I love Cuba, loved India in different ways. Um but it was

[00:24:04] just very peaceful. No, you know, and it’s interesting when I was young, very

[00:24:09] young, before I graduated from college, I wanted to be a hydroelectric engineer.

[00:24:15] And I always wanted to go build dams, hydroelectric plants in Brazil. And I

[00:24:20] think, I could be wrong. I think God planted that in my heart years and years and years ago. You know, there was a man

[00:24:27] named Bruce Wilkinson. He had a ministry called Walk Through the Bible. And I

[00:24:32] went to one of his um conferences. one time and he said, you know, if you want

[00:24:37] to know kind of what God’s will is, everyone’s looking what is God’s will, right, for our lives and we need to

[00:24:44] search the Bible for his will. But he said, one of the signs that you can look for is look over your back and see if

[00:24:51] there was stepping stones that led you to where you are. And I think I think

[00:24:57] that’s true. I think if you look back at things, there’s stepping stones God puts there and preparing us to do things.

[00:25:05] Even when we’re not, we don’t even know what we’re doing. Even when I’m running away from God, God gave me the skills to

[00:25:12] be a business leader, to be an engineer that can build things. And so, it was a

[00:25:18] na and to lead teams in the third world countries developing water systems. It

[00:25:23] was a natural for me to be able to go because I had that experience in the secular world to go into a developing

[00:25:31] country and build things. So it became very peaceful for me to do that. It was

[00:25:37] a natural. I didn’t have fear for that. I had fear for going doortodoor, you know, but I didn’t have

[00:25:43] fear for going and building a building in Paraguay, you know, building a children. And that’s that’s the body of

[00:25:49] Christ, right? that God God uh takes all our different skills and puts them together and builds amazing things. Um

[00:25:55] so as as far as your engineering is concerned and your background in engineering um does Surfu uh build

[00:26:02] things for um the people in these different countries? Well, we have

[00:26:08] campuses in Paraguay. We have a a large campus where we have a children’s home

[00:26:13] where we’re rescuing girls from sexual abuse that live on our campus. And we

[00:26:18] have a center of hope for women teaching them skills so they can provide for their family and don’t have to leave the

[00:26:24] country and leave their children behind. Uh we have a school in

[00:26:29] Argentina. Uh a Christian school, the only Christian school within 120 kilometers of the location we’re at. Um

[00:26:38] and in Peru we have 14 children’s care centers. I think your wife saw three or

[00:26:44] four of them. So when she’s there, that’s incredible. What an incredible ministry. Um, how long have you been how

[00:26:51] how long have you been doing this? God put in my heart. Uh, so I started leading mission trips, lots of mission

[00:26:58] trips. And till uh 2007, I was on a a trip from Florida, a business trip from

[00:27:04] Florida to San Diego. And I’ve been praying for three years. God, what do you want me to do? I know you’ve created

[00:27:12] me in a unique way like you create everybody in unique ways. Why did you create me this way? What is it that you

[00:27:19] want to do? I will do whatever you want. And I was a fairly new Christian. So I thought he’d answer me the first week. I

[00:27:25] really did. Why wouldn’t he answer? I’m thinking in like a human thinks. Why wouldn’t he answer me? Well, the quick

[00:27:32] cut to the chase. I wasn’t prepared. That’s why he didn’t answer me. But I prayed for a month. I prayed for six

[00:27:38] months. I prayed for three years. At the end of that three years, I was on a flight from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego

[00:27:46] and I got on an I’d flown so much I got bumped up to first class and they’ll normally give you a little drink of

[00:27:53] water first and a napkin and I started writing as fast as I could on this napkin. It was just flowing. I filled up

[00:27:59] both sides. I asked the flight attendant, “Can I have another napkin?” I filled that up with writing. As soon

[00:28:04] as we hit 10,000 ft, I pulled the computer down. I started typing as fast as I could. It was just flowing out of

[00:28:11] me and it was all and when I got home, I woke up Michelle, my wife, and uh all I

[00:28:18] had to do is go to my office here um where I am right now and hit the button and print out ministry plans for five

[00:28:24] different ministry plans. One of them was Surfu. And so it became, I won’t say

[00:28:30] easy, it was very it was challenging, but I knew what I wanted what he wanted me to do. It was very clear. He gave me

[00:28:37] the name, the place, the location, what we’re to do. It was amazing. So, I was I

[00:28:44] was so joyful at that point cuz I just needed to start putting teams to p

[00:28:49] people together to accomplish this what the Lord had written on these napkins and written on the computer and for me

[00:28:56] to do. That’s amazing. Um and and not not everybody can do that either, too. I

[00:29:02] mean like you said your background in managing teams as an engineer and these sorts of things sure comes into play

[00:29:07] because um taking people from the states over into a place that’s radically different uh culturally different and

[00:29:15] then managing all the different personalities and you know the anxiety that comes with being in a new country

[00:29:22] and the different foods and not having all the facilities and just things being so different. I mean that’s a huge

[00:29:28] undertaking. Um, as you were, you know, living that out, um, were there a lot of

[00:29:34] times where you felt like, whoa, what have I gotten myself into, or was this something where God really, um, just

[00:29:42] held your hand through the whole process? Well, he showed me initially, well, on this piece of paper, I thought

[00:29:48] it was for our family to do. We have two young children and they’re grown now, but at the time they were young, and I

[00:29:54] thought it was for the four of us to do. And so I think the Lord didn’t show me

[00:30:00] totally everything because I would have been too fearful at that point to probably would have been frozen in my in

[00:30:06] not taking the step. But step by step, he showed me more and more. Country by

[00:30:11] country, he introduced me to them. And so it it was really very systematically

[00:30:17] in and going forward. And the Lord provided. And so I had no idea. I knew

[00:30:23] it was to be called Surufu, which means his refuge, not my refuge, not someone

[00:30:28] else’s, but God’s refuge. I knew what it was to be and how it was modeled after

[00:30:33] James 1:27, caring for orphans and widows. But, um, I didn’t know all the

[00:30:39] details at the time. I certainly didn’t know it was on building a a Christian school in Argentina at that point. Um,

[00:30:46] so he continued to reveal and is continuing to reveal uh to us today. So

[00:30:53] we’re just following Christ. We’re we’re literally following him in every step

[00:30:58] and he’s leading the way for us. And that’s the way things get done. That’s the way the Lord guides. Um sometimes we

[00:31:05] want to know way down the road what is going to happen and God is like, “Nope, you’re going to have to trust me.” And

[00:31:12] that’s our that’s our desire, right? We want to know everything. We want to control everything, but quickly you’ll

[00:31:18] re we realize we’re not in control. He’s in control. And it’s so much more peaceful. Yes. When you can rest in

[00:31:25] that, when you can finally let go and and and be comfortable with the fact that you don’t know and then continue to

[00:31:32] to make steps uh forward. That’s a powerful lesson. And it’s more exciting

[00:31:38] that way, right, Kevin? Because when you don’t know and you say, “Wow, God, that’s great.” You know, it’s true.

[00:31:44] That’s true. Um, so, so as you’re

[00:31:49] developing the ministry now, you just recently came out with a book called The Least of These. And, um, it tell us a

[00:31:57] little bit about the book. Um, for those of you listening, sufu, the G is silent, I believe, right?

[00:32:02] Rafuio. I have to Yeah. Surfu. Yeah. Yeah. Surfu.org. Um, if you want to get more

[00:32:08] information, if you want to pick up up a copy of the book, um, and it’s on Amazon

[00:32:13] also, I believe. Um, yes. So, tell us a little bit about this book that you you

[00:32:18] wrote and and this is very recent. Why did you decide to write this book? Well, I didn’t want to. I’ll say that to begin

[00:32:24] with. Um, it really wasn’t my desire. I’m not a gifted writer. Um, but God had

[00:32:32] showed me all these stories from the beginning of from he called me onto himself to this path of building Surfu.

[00:32:41] And Michelle, my wife said, “Scott, you got to get these stories in your head and get them on paper because people

[00:32:49] need to remember this.” you know, sort of like uh with um the Israelites, you

[00:32:56] know, and they’re continually and continually today telling the stories so they don’t forget the stories. And

[00:33:02] sometimes we forget the stories that God did. And it’s great to pick up those

[00:33:07] stories sometimes and read them and go, “Wow, I remember that. Yes, he did do that.” And when the evil one starts

[00:33:13] telling us lies like, “No, that didn’t really happen.” You can go and say, “No, it did. This is what happened. It’s

[00:33:20] documented. Here it is. So Michelle had started asking me three years ago, Scott, write the book. Please write the

[00:33:27] book. And I’m getting older. I’m 75 years old now. Um and I stopped secular

[00:33:33] work the beginning of last year. And so um I had the time to do it. I would uh

[00:33:41] go down to South America quite a bit with my pastor from my church and he teaches pastors down there now. U for

[00:33:47] the last four years he’s been doing that. So, um, I would tell him each time I go, “John,” his name’s John Ror, and

[00:33:54] I’d say, “John, I really don’t. Michelle wants me to write this book. I really don’t want to write this book.” And he says, “Why don’t you do a podcast?” And

[00:34:00] I could never do what you could do, Kevin. I could never be the one asking those questions. So, I go, “I don’t want to do a podcast.” He goes, “Well, why

[00:34:08] don’t we do this? You do outlines for your stories, and I’ll sit down with you and ask probing questions for you. We’ll

[00:34:13] sit down every week and go through them.” And I said, “Okay.” So, we put everything on tape after weeks and

[00:34:21] weeks, hours and hours and hours and hours. I had 50 stories or so that I wanted to document. Wow.

[00:34:29] It’s a lot of short They’re very short stories, just tidbits, you know, and showing a biblical basis for that those

[00:34:36] stories of what’s behind those stories as well. And so um it came to be we had

[00:34:42] someone that helped on our staff that helped take those stories that were transcripts and putting them into

[00:34:48] language. I did some did editing and within 6 months I had a friend that uh

[00:34:54] publishes helps publish books. His name’s Hyatt Moore. He’s a gifted artist. So probably many of you have

[00:35:00] seen his work. He’s quite he’s prolific a painter. Does a lot of ministries. He

[00:35:07] he was a interesting guy. He was the first graphic artist for Surfer magazine. So years and years and years

[00:35:13] ago, he went on to became president of White Cliff Bible International. Oh my goodness. I saw some of his work up in

[00:35:20] Biola when I were taking her daughter to to visit the school up there and saw his work of all these people groups, these

[00:35:27] nations that he would paint. He started painting after he left White Cliff and they were phenomenal. So I met him. I’ve

[00:35:36] taken him to South America, to Israel, and some places um where he’s done paintings for us and he’s just amazing

[00:35:43] guy. So I asked him, “Will you illustrate this and help me publish this book?” Which he did. So just getting the

[00:35:49] book and looking at his art is and his illustrations is is good enough. But uh

[00:35:55] so he helped and with six months we had a book that we published. So And what is

[00:36:01] your Scott? What is your hope for that book as far as you know the person that buys it? What what is your hope that

[00:36:08] they get out of that or maybe the people they buy it for get out of it? What are what are you hoping there?

[00:36:14] Well, there’s two two things I’ll say. First, for the unbeliever, last week I

[00:36:20] was in Peru. I had taken a a family down to do sort of a vision trip and the son

[00:36:28] was high school age just trying to decide what to do and

[00:36:33] um I think the book was written for him or for like him because at the end of

[00:36:39] that when I was leaving he was leaving at night he started texting me and said you know I’m running from God I’m angry

[00:36:44] at God I’m you know just all these provocative things that he’s making these statements and so we started

[00:36:50] texting back and forth and um God had gifted him in some amazing ways and

[00:36:55] being able to to sing and play music with children and he just lit up when he went into these children’s care centers

[00:37:02] and and became a different person. So we had a lot to communicate but I said you

[00:37:08] know I said read the book read my testimony in the back of the book is the gospel in simple terms. So that’s one

[00:37:16] for someone that is a non-believer to read what God has done in lives and then to see the gospel

[00:37:23] explained and be able to have the biblical references. So that’s one thing. The second thing is for to

[00:37:30] demonstrate the providence and the sovereignty of God. I mean, it’s just so

[00:37:35] amazing. I tell these stories and read these stories in the book and I go, I

[00:37:41] can’t believe that happened. And God allowed I can’t God allowed me to

[00:37:46] participate in that. And so, you know, God is sovereign. He is in control. We

[00:37:53] want to be in control. And in spite of ourselves, you know, I in one of the I think the first chapters of the book is

[00:37:58] called But God. It’s my favorite two words in the Bible. you know, in spite of ourselves and who we are and what

[00:38:05] we’ve done in our history, it’s but God, he’s the one that changed

[00:38:11] everything. He’s the one that does everything. And it’s just, you know, I I

[00:38:17] thought originally that was going to be the the title of the book, but God, but um you know, I had a couple people tell

[00:38:24] me, Scott, you can’t put that as a title of a book. So, so I used a Matthew reference in terms

[00:38:31] of the least of these for the book. Well, that sounds incredibly encouraging. And it’s true. You know, um

[00:38:39] the Bible is a book full of stories of God working in people’s lives, of God’s sovereignty, of people being in very

[00:38:45] difficult situations and um God working through those uh circumstances which you

[00:38:53] only understand really in hindsight often um why would this happen or what is God doing? And yet, like you said,

[00:39:00] it’s happening all over the world. And here you’ve shared a put together a bunch of these stories that God has done

[00:39:06] in your own life that you you’ve been able to watch uh take place, which is really exciting. I say he’s weaving a

[00:39:12] tapestry and we get to see a thread every once in a while, right? So there’s

[00:39:17] things going on if we’re following Christ and following Jesus today. There’s things that he’s doing and we

[00:39:23] are just it’s over our head. We don’t even know what’s going on. one day we will when we have perfect knowledge and

[00:39:29] when we’re in with him in his presence in heaven. But it’s just amazing that

[00:39:35] he’s orchestrating things and we get frustrated at times because we’re not patient. We we think why aren’t you

[00:39:40] doing this? Why aren’t you acting? And he’s got it all in control and it’s his perfect timing. And if it would have

[00:39:46] been done earlier, it wouldn’t have it wouldn’t have been successful. And so we just got to trust in him on everything.

[00:39:52] And this book is building on patience and trusting in him because he’s the one

[00:39:58] in control and sovereign over all things. Amen. Well, um so if somebody listening

[00:40:05] is wants to be involved with Surufu and what what is happening? Um what are the

[00:40:11] options? What are the opportunities that are available for them to get involved? Well, there’s so many. Um, one is you

[00:40:19] can go on a mission trip like your your wife and son did. You know, we go at

[00:40:25] least once every year to each of our campuses in each of our countries, Argentina, Peru, and Paraguay. Uh, this

[00:40:33] year we’ve got mission trips. They’re on our website. Praise God. They’re completely

[00:40:38] full already, but if there’s a a group or a church that wants to go, we have

[00:40:43] them going as well. Separate trips. But we have one trip that anyone can go on.

[00:40:50] Um if if you have a strong interest, sometimes I’ll take people on vision trips like I did last week just to show

[00:40:57] them if if they really have a heart, you think, for the ministry, a heart for God and a heart for reaching the lost and a

[00:41:04] heart for reaching the brokenhearted. Um and volunteer. We have lots of volunteer

[00:41:12] uh opportunities. Um, my wife Michelle is always looking for people, especially

[00:41:18] Spanish- speakaking people that can translate things. So, we speak enough Spanish to get by. when when um when I

[00:41:27] uh at the beginning when I I became saved I uh through a circumstance I I

[00:41:33] kind of quit my job for three months and went I thought my whole family was going

[00:41:39] to live in a dorms in the it’s called Palavita Word of Life Bible Institute in Argentina and I lived in the dorms with

[00:41:45] kids as a 50year-old you know trying to learn Spanish

[00:41:52] so I I can get I can get Hi, you know, but um we aren’t the best

[00:41:58] Spanish speakers and we’re not good Spanish writers. So, we we’re always looking for people that can help

[00:42:04] translate all the reports that we have. Um we we’re always doing lots of

[00:42:09] volunteer type activities. So, we need help and putting things together. Um,

[00:42:15] and just people that have a heart. We’d love to listen to what the Lord’s put on your heart because we don’t have

[00:42:22] everything all figured out. This is something the Lord started organically within our family and and I don’t know

[00:42:29] where it’s going to go. People ask me, “What’s the next steps?” I said, “I really don’t know.” You know, it’s the

[00:42:36] Lord knows and he’s going to show me, you know, in his due time, in his perfect time. So yeah, you know, the

[00:42:44] best way is just give us a call and we’d love to talk to you, love to have coffee

[00:42:49] with you and share or a Zoom meeting with you if you’re remote um and just

[00:42:55] talk. So we had uh actually uh one from

[00:43:00] Christ Lutheran Church uh that went on our mission trip with us and one of the ministries we did was um we have a happy

[00:43:08] steps program we call it where we’re giving shoes and socks to children

[00:43:13] because they don’t have those there. And so it touched the heart of one of the

[00:43:20] mission trip campaigners from that church and came back and he’s a teacher at the school at Christ Lutheran school

[00:43:28] and they started a program and they raised enough money to I forget how many

[00:43:33] 75 100 pairs of shoes that um were able to make and buy down in Peru and share

[00:43:41] with these kids. So these kids, especially up in the mountains where it’s high and cold, they have to walk

[00:43:47] miles and miles just to get to a school or to get to a church. So, uh, it’s a

[00:43:52] huge blessing. So, who would have thought someone like that would do that? But I wouldn’t have, but you know, I put

[00:43:59] it on his heart and he called up and said, “Can we talk about this?” And go, “Absolutely, we can talk about it.” One

[00:44:05] other thing that we do is sometimes we have food packing events and so we’ll

[00:44:10] pack meals. We’ve we pack meals that are good for three years. They’re dehydrated

[00:44:15] vegetables, vitamins, rice, lentils, and put them in things a whole family can do it. And we put them on a shipping

[00:44:23] container. 274,000 meals on a shipping container and we ship them to Peru and to

[00:44:29] Paraguay. Um, and give them out for people. There’s, you know, like you said, your wife saw this extreme

[00:44:36] poverty. They don’t know where their next meal is going to come, but they know they can’t plan for tomorrow

[00:44:41] because every day their work, whatever they’re doing, that’s going to be enough to buy them a piece of bread or

[00:44:47] something for their meals. But we can help them with these meals and the family can come together at these

[00:44:52] packing events and pack 50,000 meals, 100,000 meals in a couple hours. We ship

[00:44:58] them down in South America, distribute them. A lot of people want to come and see. Let’s let me I’d like to serve that

[00:45:04] food and help serve that food. And it’s a great door opener to sharing the gospel. So everything we do is aligned

[00:45:10] with sharing the gospel that will ultimately be in terms of making disciples.

[00:45:16] Yeah, that is absolutely wonderful. I we um helped with the food packing. That was a lot of fun. And and um my my wife

[00:45:24] and my son, they got to be involved with giving the kids the shoes and um helping

[00:45:29] with that. And that was a huge blessing. And um you know if you’re listening uh

[00:45:34] it’s so important that as parents with our children we’re modeling um Christ’s

[00:45:40] love and we’re taking opportunities. I talk to my students every year and I ask

[00:45:45] them, you know, what has been some of the big influences in your life, in your walk with Christ, and um it’s just

[00:45:52] constantly bringing up I had an opportunity to go serve the Lord on a mission trip um and our school has gone

[00:45:58] uh with with um Surfu also. And so that’s just so important that we take

[00:46:05] the opportunity to um serve and and show kids, you know, the world outside of um

[00:46:11] our American culture um where there is so much and be give the opportunity to

[00:46:17] see that not everybody has um all the blessings we have. And that’s a just a powerful

[00:46:23] um such a key point, Kevin. I you said it so well. Uh, I was just talking to my

[00:46:29] wife this afternoon and she’s been invited to do a a tea with young women in an in a a wana program at a church

[00:46:36] and and what she’s going to talk to them about is like, you know, how many of you

[00:46:42] when you go home, you turn the faucet, there’s water coming out of the faucet. How many you know have had a meal, you

[00:46:50] know, you’re going to get a meal tonight or or have had three meals today. you know, just simple things that we take

[00:46:56] for granted, but that’s the minority of children around the world have that. And

[00:47:02] just to teach that and model that to our parents because um why she was asked the

[00:47:08] church was saying so many of the young children coming up are feeling entitled today. You know, worried about, you

[00:47:14] know, what’s my new cell phone going to look like instead of what are the basics of the Lord and where do those basics

[00:47:21] come from? Who provides those? The Lord provides all those and we need to be more grateful. We need to model it to

[00:47:27] our to our children. Yeah, 100%. It’s just so critical. Um, well, Scott, we’re

[00:47:34] almost out of time here, but um, I just want to thank you so much for listening

[00:47:39] to God’s call when he called you and deciding to take that step of faith uh,

[00:47:45] despite the, you know, kind of stepping into the unknown in a sense, but um, trusting God and uh, he’s continuing to

[00:47:52] work and do amazing things. And for those of you listening, if you would like to get involved, Surfu, that’s s

[00:48:00] ufu gio.org. And there’s so many opportunities to be involved. And um the

[00:48:07] book is would just be such an encouragement. I highly recommend you pick it up and um just read those

[00:48:12] stories because they’re inspiring, they’re motivating, and they help you realize what’s important and what’s

[00:48:19] ultimately going to not only make a difference in the lives of the people around you, the people that you get to

[00:48:25] serve, but um it’s a makes your life you serve and you end up having this

[00:48:31] incredible um just sense of fulfillment and like, wow, I’m doing something that this is

[00:48:37] what God has called us to do. So, um, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I really appreciate

[00:48:44] the invite, Kevin. Yeah. And I’ll just echo feel free to reach out on our

[00:48:50] website and, uh, give us a call and love to speak to you. Thank you. Thank you so

[00:48:56] much again, uh, Scott and, um, and Michelle, too. Thank you so much, um, for your ministry and everything you’re

[00:49:02] doing. We’ll continue to pray for you. And, um, again, my website is educateforlife.org.

[00:49:08] You can check that out. Also, there’s lots of resources there to strengthen your faith and help your children grow

[00:49:13] up um confident in their in the truth of the Bible. So, uh God bless you guys.

[00:49:18] God bless you, Scott. And um we will see you probably not too far in the future

[00:49:23] hopefully, God willing. God willing. Okay. Thanks. Okay. Take care, Scott. Good night. When you need tires or

[00:49:30] service, count on Conover Tires, Wheels, and Service in Oceanside for a full range of affordable options in all the

[00:49:36] brands you trust. See their great customer reviews and special offers online. Hours Tuesday through Friday

[00:49:42] 7:30 to 5:30 and Saturdays 7:30 to 5. Call Dan and his team at

[00:49:49] 760-439-1631. Conover tires, wheels, and service. 2405 Oceanside Boulevard in

[00:49:54] Oceanside, 760-439-1631. How can you live in San

[00:49:59] Diego and miss out on enjoying the water? Fast Lane Kayaking sells popular Hobiecat kayaks that you pedal, not

[00:50:06] paddle. That means your hands are left free for fishing and fun. Just throw these on your roof rack. They’re light

[00:50:13] and they’re easy to use and maintain. Just rinse them off. Try one free on a demo ride. For 36 years, Ron and Debbie

[00:50:20] Lane have served San Diego with fun, familyfriendly water sports of all kinds. Learn more.

[00:50:27] Fastlaneailing.com. 619-222766. Educate for Life helps you

[00:50:32] build your life on the rock. LG Equipment helps builders build on good soil. Luke Gibson’s team at LG Equipment

[00:50:39] is your local source for grading, demolition, hauling, and more. Learn about their bulk water services from

[00:50:44] trucks to tankers to towers at rentwatertowwer.com. Get your questions

[00:50:49] answered. Call LG Equipment at 619-988924. Learn more at

[00:50:56] lgequipment.com. 619-988924. Hi, this is Jason Hall, president of

[00:51:03] Team Home Loans, a branch of Synergy One Lending. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Kevin Conover, for

[00:51:08] the profound impact he’s had on mine and my wife’s spiritual life, as well as being an incredible teacher while our

[00:51:14] kids were his students. His knowledge and passion have taught us all how important it is to be defenders of our

[00:51:19] faith. It’s our honor and privilege to support Kevin and his show. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you will

[00:51:25] continue to learn to be defenders of your faith through Kevin’s radio show and through his educate for life

[00:51:30] teachings. Thank you, Kevin, from the Hall family and team home loans.