First Person with Wayne Shepherd

First Person: Ben and Melody Pahlow

Husband and wife, Ben and Melody, explain the powerful call of God on their lives to return to Africa and help churches and communities with the issues of health care, education, housing, and micro enterprise. Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company: FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting Company P.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

Duration:: 23m
Broadcast on:: 09 Jun 2011
Audio Format:: other

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020
Albert Lea, MN 56007

Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

We are just dreaming and even smelling Africa. When I actually am in the village and I'm with the people and when we really get to the people that we're serving, it's like a light bulb goes on. It's where I was meant to be. Welcome to First Person, a weekly conversation with people who've been called of God into His service. I'm Wayne Shepard, and coming up, you'll meet a husband and wife who have no doubt in their minds whatsoever that God has called their family to start a ministry in Africa. You'll hear about Africa Family Rescue today. However, before I introduce our guest to you, please make a note to visit our website for more information about today's guests, or to check out the lineup of future guests who will be joining us in the weeks ahead. We're found online at firstpersoninterview.com. Each week, the website is updated with additional information and interviews, including an audio archive of all past programs which you can listen to at your convenience. That's found at firstpersoninterview.com. Where you're going to meet Ben and Melody Paolo today, a young couple called of God to leave a comfortable American lifestyle to help families in Africa. They have started Africa Family Rescue. I first met them a few years ago in a program called Open Line as they were making their first trip to Africa, but this time as we sat down, I asked them to tell me again how this dream got started. Wow, let's see. We started this ministry in 2003. We were married in 1989, so... We had already had our four kids at that time, and I was doing some homeschooling with them and met an African refugee in a library. He was from Rwanda, and I really had this pull towards him, and what he was telling me, I didn't know anything about what had gone on there. This was after the genocide in Rwanda. Yes, correct. This was 2003. Right, so yes, it was, and we really just had a real heart for this particular individual, and eventually what ended up happening was he moved in with us. We started speaking, he already had known like three languages at that time. We taught him English, and as we were learning a little bit of his language and he was learning English, we found out really what was going on overseas, and I felt so ignorant of what was happening in Africa at the time, and there's so many countries that are on the verge of a civil war or experiencing civil war, so that particular story that he was telling me of the genocide really touched my heart. So your hearts were drawn to Rwanda at that time, now African in general, and we'll talk more about specifically what steps are next for you, but take it from there, Ben. So you've got this young man living with you? Well, he was about our age, and the ironic thing is his name was Providence, and the funny part that Melody left out was when she met him at the library, this strange man asked for a ride home, and my wife with our four children put him in the van and drove him home. So I come home from work that day and found out that she drove a strange man home, and I demanded to take me to the doorway where he was dropped off, because I wanted to meet this person. And the long story short is he came over for dinner that night and moved in with us for about three years, lived in our basement, and the result of that was what? Well, he actually was telling us a lot about some of the struggles that were still going on in his country, and so as a family, we just decided, you know what, let's do something to help some of the people that are struggling over there. We were just thinking, you know, I'm sure certainly we can help a couple of families get together with our small group at church and do something. Your idea was to maybe give money or do something like that. Yeah, something small. Well, what ended up happening was he contacted his uncle that was working in some villages there, and he sent us 220 photos and bios of families that they were literally dying of starvation and dying from AIDS, and we were way out of our league at that point. We were so nervous. We had only asked for 10 families, and of course, three months later in Christmas Eve, we got a package with 220 photographs. So what do you do with that? Well, what every normal person would probably do is call world relief and all of the big guns, and that's what we did. We didn't know what to do. And, you know, of course, they were willing to help on smaller levels, but it just wasn't feeling what they needed. So we asked Providence, Providence, what can we do? And he said, you know what? Let me think about this a little bit. He molded over and he came up with an idea of how to get families from extreme poverty, families making less than $3 a month to a place of self-sufficiency in approximately three years. So it wasn't just handing them money or clothing or food. Right. It started, it kind of progressed into kind of an idea of what an African believed Africans needed to kind of come from a place of poverty to self-sufficiency. Yeah, one thing I love about what God is doing with us is he is making sure that we don't push the Western culture on these people, but when we hire people over there, we hire Indigenous staff, and we really listen to what they think would work in their countries. All right, we'll move the story ahead because you actually packed up the kids at one point and went to Rwanda. We have been there several times, probably eight or nine times with our children. But how do you support yourself in doing that? We literally have a base of people that just love and support us and care about us and they come from a local church, they come from our family members, and we love you all. I know you're listening. Wayne, there's actually a couple people that are still sponsoring us on a monthly basis that heard our show with you in 2006. Right, there's lots of great missionary sending agencies out there. Why not go that direction? We really just felt a burden for these particular families that we had come across, and we just felt like God was saying, "These are your families." And so we kind of, with the plan that this man had developed thought, you know what, and maybe this was ignorant at the time, but we just thought, "You know what, God, if you're calling us to do this, we're open and willing to go where you want us to go." We took him at his word, whatever that little mustard seed of faith was, and we moved, and that's what he wanted us to do. There's a little more detail to that story, Wayne. So, we decided, after having trouble raising funds for these families, we decided to, the God was asking us to sell our wedding rings and put that money towards the airplane tickets for our first trip to Rwanda. And once we did that within about two weeks, the final money came in, except for $200. And my wife said to me, "On the day we were supposed to leave," she said, "See, God is not wanting us to go to Africa." Would you believe a woman came to our door who didn't know we were going to Africa with an envelope with $200 cash in it, and she said, "God told me to bring this to you, and I don't know why." And I laughed all night at my wife. As I was cringing, knowing that God was calling us to Africa. And that was Valentine's Day 2003. Don't you hate it when he says, "I told you so like that." I know, I know. It's only once in 22 years though. Yeah, don't tell them any other time. Alright, so you took that first trip and you've taken other trips since then, what have you learned from actually being there? We have learned that we are actually a much more international family than we expected. I'm a type of person that really thought I like my own space and want my own little suburban cut-out life. But as we went over there, we found that they're so wealthy in relationships. They're very poor financially, but they're wealthy in relationships. So we kind of feel pulled and drawn there, even relationally, because we feel this connection that's developed over time. And you can't put a price tag on it. We love our families over there. How about your kids? Do they love the experience? Love it! Really? What are their ages? Well, now we have a 19-year-old. We have an 18-year-old. We have a 16-year-old, well almost 16, and then we have a 13-year-old. Our 19-year-olds in college and our son just got accepted to the Air Force, our 18-year-olds. So both of those two are going to stay home this time. It's a big adjustment for us. I feel like we're empty nesting. That's going to be hard, isn't it? Yes, it is. And we're like three continents away, so that's a big. God is really calling me out specifically to trust him and that. So our younger two are going to be coming with us this time. But you learned those lessons as a family about relationships, and it drew you closer together? Absolutely. Yes, and I believe this new trip that we're going to be taking to Uganda is going to draw the four of us as almost like a unique family unit. Michael, who is almost 16, he wakes up in the morning and says, "Dad, I dreamt that I could smell the ground in Africa." He was so excited. And our daughter Hope has just been incredibly excited and recently figured out that she was going to be missing her best friend. And it was going to be a long trip, and she got very discouraged. And we had to walk through that as a family and comfort her and encourage her and just watch God move on each individual heart. We're having this conversation just as you're preparing to leave, and by the time listeners hear this, you will most likely be in Uganda, you said? Yes. Yeah, we have the tickets are purchased. We're flying on June 10th and arriving in Tebirport June 12th. So the primary lesson learned was that you valued relationships more from having the experience of actually living in Africa for several months at a time. Yes, I think the thing that God's taught us the most through our experience in Africa is that while we do have so much wealth here in the States, we do. We are very lonely and we are very segregated. And our family, even in our individual families and homes, everyone's spreading out and going this way in that, and that's not a bad thing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but what I am saying is when I go to Africa and when we experience the kind of connection... It gives you a completely new perspective, and it's a wonderful thing to have that experience outside of our own. The conversation with Ben and Melody Paolo will continue on this week's edition of First Person. Stay tuned. When you join us next time, you'll learn how God has used pain and abuse in West Stafford's life to minister to children worldwide. And so with clenched teeth in the same rage I had, I determined to forgive them, and I said to them, you people, I know that you're not sorry. I know you never will apologize, so I choose to forgive you. The president of Compassion International joins us next week here on First Person. Let's continue talking with Ben and Melody Paolo about their planned trip to Africa. I asked Melody to compare what they know now to where they started. Well, really, when we first started, we were very ignorant of what was kind of in the world and knowing how to handle an international ministry. We've never gone to school for missions, as you said, or joined an organization. We are the organization, which is kind of funny. But every step, we just keep trusting the Lord. And some of the things that we learned early on was just knowing the differences between our culture and the African culture and learning how to kind of navigate through that. Okay, what was it like the first time? I mean, it had to be funny at times, right? I know you're well enough to know that you would not pass that one up. Man, I'd love to share one of our famous stories when our first trip to Rwanda, we had to deal with a lot of government and bureaucracy and red tape during the first four or five days. By the end of the fifth day, we couldn't reach our children. The electricity kept going off in our hotel. The computers were down. Melody was missing her four babies, and she told me flat out, "Give me the airline ticket right now." The kids weren't with you at that point. Not the first one. Okay. And she disappeared. I've had enough, huh? Yeah, and I found her later that night in the hotel room. She had taken a taxi and just gone out to pray and then talked to the Lord. Yeah, I did. But I ate ice cream while I was praying. That was the other thing. Comfort, I was sure. Yes, and I was able to find another missionary woman in the area who would come and talk to her as I stepped outside of the room. And she just really comforted Melody, and what did she say to you? She was working with some AIDS children, and she just really related to the fact that when you are facing the cultural shock, there is so much to take in. There's so much poverty that sometimes you just feel so overwhelmed, and sometimes you need some time to just kind of pray and think through it and ask God for strength, and it really just was an incredible moment for me. I was able to connect with somebody who really understood what I was going through. Hold on, the timing here, Wayne, was incredible because the next day was a four-hour trip into the bush, into the village, and that's where Melody's heart was completely changed by the Lord. Yeah, when I actually am in the village, and I'm with the people, and when we really get to the people that we're serving, it's like a light bulb goes on. It's where I was meant to be. It's where God really meant for me to be. I become the person I think that God wanted me to be. So you've had these multiple experiences and these trips lasting what, three or four months at a time? Yes. And you've learned each time something new and something to apply. All right, now what has God called you to do? We have the pleasure of starting this ministry through our local church, and so we had an opportunity to really understand the dynamics from this end, the America side, and then also building the ministry over there. But when we came back this last time, Ben was able to work with Iwanah for a couple of years and had a really amazing experience seeing the impact that Iwanah has on this broad scale. And it opened our eyes to understanding that there are churches in America that really want to make a global impact. And so we really see our ministry as kind of moving in a new direction of broadening, and we're hoping to partner with Iwanah and work with them through the churches that they have. So what does it look like for the local church if they want to partner and help in some way? What would they actually be doing, Ben? Well, the local American church would be taking on a village and as a project, starting with the church as the center, the local African church, and the American church can help build that church physically, build a structure, and also maybe sponsor the pastor's salary, that type of thing. And then surrounding that church, selecting 50 to 100 families for sponsorship, a three-year sponsorship plan, whole families. The church and the local elders will select those families. And then outside, if you could picture a target, the next ring is community projects where we build a school, and a clinic, and possibly two or three water wells in that exact area. And so it just provides many different levels of connection. Family to family, church to church, pastor to pastor. The American church would provide training for the pastors and those types of things. So are you just blindly selecting these villages in Uganda, or are you working with someone to say, "Here's where the greatest need is"? Well, that's part of this trip, Wayne. We're going over there to discover some of the churches that are actually going to meet the criteria and have the rural areas that are in need. But this is not a handout, this is not a handout. So what will you be giving them? What will give them some self-sufficiency? Well, the cool thing is about this program, the way that it all works, is that when families come through our program, they're given money, they're given direction, they're given the ability to make their own businesses. The whole hope and goal for this particular program is for them to not be given a handout. But it's really to get them to a place where they can provide for themselves. The only thing that we ask of these families is that they come through the program at three years and mentor another family that's coming through. They have to give back, which is a great, great thing. Right, and it's not hard for them, it's part of their culture. They really help each other. So are you setting up encouraging them to set up micro-businesses? How does that work? That's the key word right there, Wayne. Every family will have a micro-business that they will start, that something that they're passionate about. It's generally agricultural products. Sometimes it can be honeybee hives. I told you earlier about a woman who had two beehives when we found her and she had 88 beehives by the end of the third year. That was called the monopoly. Yes, she had the honey monopoly. She had the honey monopoly. It's called success. Absolutely. That's right. So these small businesses then, obviously at some point, become self-sustaining and supports not only the family that started it, but perhaps other families as well. Absolutely. Yes, that's right. So this model of them then turning around and helping someone else, have you been able to employ that in any of your other trips? Have you seen it work? We have. We've actually had, there's been something called an association that they even start mentoring before the end of the three years. We've had families that we've chosen that really are standout families that are huge pillars of the community in success. And what they do is they sit in the association and they say, "Here's what I've done to make this work." And they actually start training these families from the get-go. It's really amazing. Another awesome aspect of this is we teach each family to give their first fruits, not only to the Lord and the local church, but the first born animal that they have is given to a family who's not sponsored. Okay. So we're teaching them not that we really have to because they're such a giving people, but to not just to hold on to things and cling to them, but to give away right away. And it just transforms entire communities. And the economy grows and markets are flooded and it's just a phenomenal, incredible experience. So you don't have any trouble getting families to cooperate and go by their role, so to speak. You know what? There's always one or two. And it's just like with our kids sometimes. Yeah, you have to deal with it. But the thing that's really neat about, again, I go back to African community, how it's different. They love and know each other. It's a small community. And what they do is when they see a family slipping, they work together to get that family back on their feet. And so we really love working within Africa is just so close to our hearts. We just feel a connection to them personally because we see it kind of as we view the church as God designed it to be around those that are broken and hurting and lifting them up. So it's great. So what do you think the spiritual harvest for all this is going to be like? You know, what's awesome about this incredible opportunity God has given us is I believe in evangelism. Evangelism without a sludge hammer. When you love people and they ask you, why are you doing this? That's when God has an opportunity when he's awakened to their hearts to the love of Christ. And we can turn and say, it's because Christ loves you so much. In fact, I have an incredible story of an entire family in Rwanda that we have worked with. They were of the Muslim faith. And the father by the time he was done with his sponsorship asked how can I be saved and went down to the river, baptized his whole family. And just because he was so amazed at the love that this type of ministry from, you know, just the love of Christ. Any regrets taking the steps that you've taken so far and the steps that are ahead for you? Not a single regret. I would never, I can't imagine knowing that God put families on our hearts and to have walked away would have been devastating. I can't imagine what we would have missed out on. Had we not taken the, I mean, literally we didn't know anybody or what we were doing or how we were going to get there. And if we filled out our wills, thinking that we were going to pass the first time we left for Africa. So we really have taken a huge step of faith and trusting God. You know, Wayne, some people look forward to a trip to Hawaii or Jamaica. Right now our family is in such anticipation. It feels more exciting than a trip to Hawaii. We are counting the days. The children are checking them off the calendar. We are just dreaming and even smelling Africa. And if all goes as planned, Ben and Melody should have arrived at their African destination by now and I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers for them as they hit the ground running and serve as catalysts for the gospel to be proclaimed. The purpose of Africa Family Rescue is to restore hope and dignity to individuals, churches and whole communities through providing basic medicine, education and micro-business enterprises all in the name of Christ. To learn more about Africa Family Rescue, which is a non-governmental organization they've set up to assist the church, visit our website FirstPersonInterview.com. And if you feel led to support them in this ministry, you'll find donation information there as well when you follow the links at FirstPersonInterview.com. First Person is a weekly program highlighting the stories of people who follow God's call into serving Him. We have an audio archive of all the people we've spoken to and you'll find that on the website as well as a calendar of future guests. So check us out online at FirstPersonInterview.com and look for us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Next week, our guest will be West Stafford, the President of Compassion International and an advocate for children. Now with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us next time for First Person. ♪♪♪ [ Silence ]