Latest / She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ / Reaching Souls With Mischelle Manis
Transcript
- 0:00Hey there. Welcome back to she speaks life.
- 0:04I'm so glad you chose to listen to today's episode.
- 0:06Did you know, you can watch this live along with others over on
- 0:10my YouTube channel. It is Jamie Elizabeth she speaks
- 0:14life and don't forget to hit the Subscribe button so you can get
- 0:18the newly released shows as they come out.
- 0:22And along with that you can hop on Jamie Elizabeth.com if you
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- 0:30You a free gift called God's ID my ID which it talks about all
- 0:35about God's characteristics and how they apply to your life
- 0:38today. Okay.
- 0:40I am thrilled to give you Michelle Manas today friends.
- 0:44This conversation is so rich with God's way of turning
- 0:48something. So tragic to using it for a
- 0:51purpose to glorify him and to help others, Michelle has a
- 0:56Ministry called reaching Souls International her in the team
- 0:59have reached Hundred million salvation decisions and planted
- 1:03over. 50,000 churches in foreign countries, reaching Souls
- 1:08International has partnered with over 2,000 missionaries in 13
- 1:13countries across three continents.
- 1:17Now in this episode Michelle takes us through her painful
- 1:21story of losing her son, but then she shows us how God opened
- 1:26these doors to minister to women across the globe.
- 1:30And And how there is a purpose in the pain of suffering and
- 1:34that's not all for nothing. This story, my friend reminds us
- 1:38that this life is so brief and that ultimately, our purpose
- 1:42here is to bring others to know Jesus as their savior so we can
- 1:46all be together forever and his kingdom, Michelle sits in the
- 1:51special place in my heart as she so beautifully displays Christ,
- 1:56love. And I know you will enjoy this
- 1:58amazing conversation. So here's my guest, Michelle
- 2:02Manas. Well hi Michelle.
- 2:05Welcome to. She speaks life.
- 2:07I am so glad you are here with us today.
- 2:11Hi Jamie, I'm really excited to be here.
- 2:13Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do that.
- 2:17Yeah, I love your ministry that you have this Outreach called
- 2:22reaching Souls International and what it's all about.
- 2:27I can't wait to dive deeper into that but before Before we do, I
- 2:31always love to ask my guess, what is their favorite scripture
- 2:35verse and why? Okay, well I'm going to read it
- 2:39so I don't get it. Yeah.
- 2:41All jumbled up and and as I tell my story, it will become more
- 2:48clear as to why this has sort of become my my favorite scripture,
- 2:52but it's in second Corinthians. Most people are very familiar
- 2:56with the Scripture, its chapter 4 and I start with First six,
- 3:01and it's for God who said let light shine out of Darkness,
- 3:05made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of
- 3:08the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
- 3:12But we have this treasure in Jars of Clay to show that this
- 3:17all surpassing power is from God and not from us.
- 3:21We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed perplexed,
- 3:26but not in despair. Persecuted but not abandoned
- 3:30struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our
- 3:34body the death of Jesus. So that the life of Jesus may
- 3:38also be revealed in our body and I just wow that just sums up our
- 3:44life, you know, we are we this life, we are, you know, pressed
- 3:50and perplexed, and all of those things.
- 3:53In a truth of it is, is that the that the treasure is Is in us.
- 3:58And the more broken we become on the outside, the more the beauty
- 4:03of the treasure inside can come through and and I love that.
- 4:07I love that God uses our Brokenness weakness in the very
- 4:13thing that that was meant to crush us to make us beautiful
- 4:17and more powerful to do what he's called us to do.
- 4:21So great. I know I heard something
- 4:24recently. It's like not by might but the
- 4:26Holy Spirit. We Do those things that God has
- 4:30called us to. And yeah, I just love how that
- 4:34goes along with this verse that you just shared and I love how
- 4:39Associates to your ministry, your Outreach called reaching
- 4:43Souls International. And I just wanted to share a
- 4:47little bit of facts on this. I mean, it's just incredible.
- 4:51You your team your ministry. It's reached 100 million
- 4:56salvation, decisions, and over. Fifty thousand churches have
- 4:59been planted in foreign countries, 13 countries, and
- 5:06across three continents, you have partnered with 2,000
- 5:10missionaries and you're currently working across Africa,
- 5:14Asia and Latin America. I mean this is huge.
- 5:19That is a lot of soul saved for Christ and I'm just reading this
- 5:24and just going. Hallelujah.
- 5:27Amen. And so yeah, that's right.
- 5:30Glory to him and yes. So I want to just begin what led
- 5:34you into this ministry. Okay.
- 5:37So when I was 20 years old a long time ago, I got to go on a
- 5:44trip with reaching Souls. It was a new ministry at the
- 5:46time and the idea of Nationals reaching Nationals, that's what
- 5:51we support was intriguing to me. You know, I'd gone to church my
- 5:55whole life and you always hear the missionaries come in and
- 5:57talk about About their mission stories and this was kind of a
- 6:00new thing. And so I got to go in 1990 and
- 6:05we went to in bukenya and my first time out of the country.
- 6:09My first time on a mission trip and I just wow, I was, I culture
- 6:17shock for sure. But but but to see the
- 6:22resilience in people that had So little to see their resilience
- 6:31to see their commitment to Christ to see in their
- 6:35desperation, how much they trusted God on a daily basis.
- 6:41For everything, for every physical need for every
- 6:44emotional need for every spiritual need, how completely
- 6:49immersed in God that they were, and it just blew me away.
- 6:53It was super convicting, it was I just, I just walked away
- 6:59changed. I did, I walked away changed
- 7:01from that experience. I don't know how much I did
- 7:06there. I do know that God worked in me,
- 7:09and I came back a different person.
- 7:11Now, I did go on, and I, it was a long time before I was going
- 7:15to be able to go back, but it captured my heart, especially
- 7:18the women, and I developed a heart for women's ministry.
- 7:23While I was there, I went on to have kids for Amazing, beautiful
- 7:27children and my husband and I few years after he was actually
- 7:33on this trip with me. A few years later, we went to
- 7:35work for reaching Souls International and we became
- 7:40officially a part of the ministry itself.
- 7:43I couldn't do a lot of traveling then when I was able to travel
- 7:47again I got to be a part of the women's conferences that we
- 7:50would hold. And so let me kind of explain
- 7:54what we do. We do this, what I say Nationals
- 7:57we support Nationals, reaching Nationals, we provide financial
- 8:01support for those who have been called to evangelize in their
- 8:06countries so we give them financial support.
- 8:09And so often these are places where education is not available
- 8:16primary education, much less, any type of biblical education.
- 8:21So we provide the vocal training biblical education and Doctrine,
- 8:25and Theology and And so forth for them.
- 8:28And so, we would go in and hold these little leadership
- 8:30development institute's, where we would provide that type of
- 8:34training and then we just provide a support system.
- 8:38We have National leadership in all of these countries that
- 8:42oversee our missionaries there and provide a court system of
- 8:45base for them. And just a place for them to
- 8:48know that they belong that they have more than just the
- 8:52financial support, they have the spiritual support they have,
- 8:55they are One with the other brothers and sisters that are
- 8:58working with them to win their their countries, their Nations
- 9:03for Christ. So that's what I get to do.
- 9:09It sounds perfectly structured. It's amazing.
- 9:14All your bases covered. That's amazing.
- 9:17Very organized. So let's get a little personal.
- 9:21I had read that you had gone through.
- 9:24Trauma of losing. Your son.
- 9:28I had people on here that I've lost their child and I can't
- 9:32think of anything. So Grievous.
- 9:34How did that? Help you in your healing of
- 9:39going through something? So tragic?
- 9:41Yeah, that's that's a, that's a great question, you know?
- 9:46When you you start your life and you have children, obviously,
- 9:50you have expectations of what that's going to look like right.
- 9:53And and and it was a, we had a beautiful For life.
- 9:57And my children got to travel with us and they were involved
- 10:00in the ministry with us. And so I just, I never saw this
- 10:05coming and, you know, my oldest son.
- 10:10When he got into high school, he started to struggle some with
- 10:13depression and we just didn't realize how bad it had gotten.
- 10:19He was a Believer, he trusted in Christ, he just he went through
- 10:24some really hard things and in the In November of 2016, he took
- 10:28his own life and I tell you it absolutely just shook all of our
- 10:34foundation, it shook it. And I tell people, it was like,
- 10:38I felt like somebody just took my world and violently begin
- 10:42shaking it. So that all the pieces just
- 10:45started to fall apart in, I, you know, I remember those those
- 10:52first days of just experienced in a Darkness, I'd never
- 10:57experienced before, and in, without going through all of the
- 11:00detail, I'm sure that you've heard stories about people
- 11:04struggling to get out of bed and struggling to move forward and
- 11:07to move on with life. All of those things were true.
- 11:10I questioned God. I question my faith.
- 11:13I questioned everything that we did with my children.
- 11:16Everything I threw it all at God.
- 11:19And I said, I don't get this. I don't understand.
- 11:23Where's my boy, you know, why is my boy gone?
- 11:26And but being, he's faithful, he's good, he's good, and in the
- 11:33darkest Parts in the darkest moments, he's there.
- 11:37And sometimes we don't even see it until we're looking back,
- 11:40right? Right.
- 11:41But he was I'm here and that was you know, that was almost seven
- 11:48years ago now, and it's hard to believe that almost seven years
- 11:51has passed. But that is another event in my
- 11:55life. Just like, Going to Africa over
- 11:57that very first time, this is another event in my life.
- 12:01That completely changed me, changed me.
- 12:05And this scripture means so much to me because I came to a place
- 12:09in my life where I really felt like I was never going to be
- 12:14able to be used by God. Again, in any place of ministry,
- 12:18who was a high To minister to anyone else I failed.
- 12:23You know, I had this sort of, I felt like Naomi when she said,
- 12:27I'm a cursed woman. You don't want to be with me.
- 12:31You don't want to be anywhere near me, but through all of
- 12:35that, it is amazing. How God used our ministry.
- 12:40And, and the women that I work with, in that are from these
- 12:43very hard. Very dark place is ministered
- 12:47life to me. And I remember my very first
- 12:51trip back to Africa after I lost my son and these women that I
- 12:56was there to teach to pray for to encourage and I broke and
- 13:02they taught me, they encouraged to be, they prayed over me and
- 13:07they helped me to understand what it looked like to truly
- 13:11mourn and be. Okay?
- 13:13And man God, just use them to speak healing and restoration.
- 13:19In into my life when I think about this fact, that Jesus is
- 13:24our treasure and that he takes every single part of our story,
- 13:29no matter where we came from, the decisions we made in the
- 13:32past, the things that we did to other people, the things that
- 13:35were done to us the things that affected our lives, where we are
- 13:39in our life, our past our present, it doesn't matter.
- 13:43God will use it and he will use it to bring that beauty all of
- 13:48those cracks, all of those Stars to him.
- 13:50He is building a masterpiece and that's the truth.
- 13:54He is, and beauty from ashes Beauty out of that pain.
- 13:59It's true and and now that's my message.
- 14:03That is my message to everyone. I see that God wants to use you
- 14:08in his kingdom work. He wants to use your story to
- 14:12shine the light in the darkness to others and now having gone
- 14:17through what I did, I I see things I didn't see before, I
- 14:20see people, I didn't see before I have an empathy that I didn't
- 14:23have before, I understand suffering a little better, I
- 14:28understand. And I see people suffering in
- 14:30others that I didn't see before. So all of that has been
- 14:35something that God has used to, to help others to help others in
- 14:40Ministry and to help other see, see Christ through all of that
- 14:44beautiful. So sweet.
- 14:46Thank you for being vulnerable on here and Airing that, you
- 14:50know, there's that purpose in the pain that are suffering
- 14:53isn't for nothing and it's hard to see it when we're going
- 14:57through it sometimes. But then we can look back in
- 15:00hindsight and be able to see what you're saying the Beauty
- 15:05From the Ashes, and he's so faithful like you were saying.
- 15:11So this Outreach, I love how you shared about the women pouring
- 15:15into you. I mean that just fills my heart
- 15:18up and how how that helped you along your healing Journey.
- 15:23So why do you feel like women are so crucial for the mission
- 15:30to reach for the lost? Well, primarily because we all
- 15:36are, we are all a part of the body and we all have a part to
- 15:40play. And in that in the body of
- 15:43Christ, a role, I should say, and God's clear about that in
- 15:47scripture. If women aren't Doing what
- 15:49they've been called to do, were missing pieces of the body of
- 15:54Christ, crucial pieces, but I also believe that just the way
- 15:58we were made. Women are uniquely designed,
- 16:02their neat uniquely designed by God to do things that that men
- 16:07can't do or weren't designed to do and men as well.
- 16:10They were designed in that way, right?
- 16:14And we work together, we work together to accomplish things
- 16:18for his glory for his purpose and I think that nurturing part
- 16:22of women is very important in Ministry.
- 16:26I think we do see things just naturally maybe that that others
- 16:31don't. But I also I think that that
- 16:34women in general are among those who are vulnerable in society
- 16:40and when you take even even here in the United States, we know
- 16:45that that women have gone through things because they're
- 16:47women, they've had to Deal with things that maybe men haven't
- 16:50had to deal with. And if you take that and then
- 16:53you go into these countries where you have compromised,
- 16:57compromised, economies, corrupt systems.
- 17:01Those women are even more vulnerable.
- 17:05And, and I think, because of that, because of their
- 17:09experiences, again, all of those things are used to equip them
- 17:14for the ministry that God has for them.
- 17:16And I see all over the world. These women reaching out to
- 17:22those that others, miss the ones on The Fringe, the ones on the
- 17:25outside, the most vulnerable of society, they're going right to
- 17:31those those individuals. And then there are just some,
- 17:35there is some Ministry that just men can't do and especially in
- 17:39the, the area of sex trafficking and, and women who have been
- 17:44victims of abuse or violence, they don't, they don't trust him
- 17:48in there. Go to men.
- 17:51Those are certainly areas where women are crucial crucial in
- 17:56Ministry. And if I can, I'd like to share
- 17:59a story about about a situation when I was in Kenya.
- 18:04Just last year, we had a Women's Conference there and I have 20
- 18:10of the most beautiful women missionaries there that I get to
- 18:15work with. And one of our missionaries
- 18:17Lillian, we were having this conference and We were after the
- 18:21conference, we went out and we were evangelizing in the street.
- 18:25On the, we were on the east coast of Kenya.
- 18:28Very poor can has been through a drought for the past two years
- 18:32and so people are even in a more desperate desperate setting.
- 18:36But there were some bars situated throughout this little
- 18:41area and we were kind of told by the men, you may want to avoid
- 18:44those bars. Don't go in there and a lot of
- 18:48drunk people and That sort of thing, but Lillian, whip
- 18:53straight for the bar and I was partnered with her and so we
- 18:58what not to do if she's exactly right.
- 19:01That's exactly right. And, of course, that in itself,
- 19:06you know, when you see these women walking into this far,
- 19:09that in itself, draws, attention right?
- 19:12But, but she went straight for these very young girls that were
- 19:17being trafficked in this particular bar, Are and she
- 19:21asked permission to speak to them.
- 19:24The bar owner who happened to be a woman herself.
- 19:26Gave her permission to do so although was a little resistant
- 19:32and in the very beginning, of course, you're hearing the jeers
- 19:35and you're hearing the mocking in the people trying to
- 19:37interrupt and laugh. And, you know, all of those
- 19:40things anything to try and hinder, the message that she has
- 19:45to share from going forward, but she stayed the course and
- 19:50quietly spoke to these young women, even among all the
- 19:53distractions. And before you knew it within
- 19:55minutes, these these girls were just enthralled by what she was
- 19:59saying. And you could see that she was
- 20:02speaking directly to their heart and and resonating with them.
- 20:07And we left that bar that day, with two of them giving their
- 20:10lives to Jesus Christ and walking away and walking into
- 20:14the arms of a church that would then take them in and care for
- 20:18them. That's what women are doing.
- 20:20That's what they're doing all across the world in That the
- 20:24places that you and I can't see the dark Corners, right?
- 20:29Where people are hurting and they're in pain.
- 20:32These women are going in and they are light.
- 20:36They are literally the light. It's just amazing thing to watch
- 20:40and I can't believe that I get to see it.
- 20:44It's beautiful to see women and even ourselves when we get out
- 20:49of our comfort zone or, you know, this is really stretching
- 20:54us. Out, it's just a beautiful thing
- 20:56to see how Mighty God is, and how his power is greater than
- 21:02the evilness that's in this world.
- 21:05So you firsthand get to see this spiritual battle and we all know
- 21:11the victory is his, so love that, all right.
- 21:15So anything else you want to share about women serving in the
- 21:20mission field? And really what impact have you
- 21:23seen in the The mission field since launching the woman
- 21:28National missionaries. So that's kind of another thing.
- 21:32You know, for many years, we were primarily supporting
- 21:36pastures which in these other countries were, it was men and
- 21:41so we really only began supporting women.
- 21:45We've had them coming to conferences for years.
- 21:47So they've been part of that that the leadership institute's,
- 21:50and things like that going out with us and doing the
- 21:53evangelism. But as far as supporting women,
- 21:56we just started that last March. It's just been a little over a
- 21:59year. That was a fulfillment of a
- 22:02vision that I had a long time ago.
- 22:04Which again it's just man, God is so good and he is so awesome
- 22:08that he allows us he didn't have to but he allows us to be a part
- 22:12of that. And so from the time we started,
- 22:17you know, just with our women, just with those, we have 101
- 22:22102. Now we Now have a missionary a
- 22:25woman missionary in Vietnam, we have 102 women on the field as
- 22:29part of those two thousand that we support in five different
- 22:34countries. So Cuba Mexico, Kenya, Zambia
- 22:38and now Vietnam and in our goal is to keep increasing that
- 22:43number of women missionaries that are being supported in the
- 22:45other countries that were in since that time since March of
- 22:49last year just with those women missionaries, we've seen over
- 22:53100. Thousand people come to Christ
- 22:56through those women alone. That's not including the other
- 22:58missionaries, just through those women alone, hundreds of church
- 23:02plants, discipleship is happening.
- 23:06We now have two women leaders in Kenya we've.
- 23:11So we've now started our women leadership program in these
- 23:13other countries. And so those women are over
- 23:17seeing other women and working with them and it's just amazing.
- 23:21It's amazing. And I, and I think that this Is
- 23:24going to have such an impact generationally to.
- 23:27We know that these women are also mothers and their
- 23:30grandmothers. And so I get video all the time
- 23:35from our women missionaries and taking their children, right?
- 23:39Alongside them if they're going out and they're doing this
- 23:42evangelism. So they're they're discipling
- 23:45their children along the way and teaching their children, how to
- 23:49share Christ with the world. So it's a pretty cool thing to
- 23:53see. Oh yeah, there's Thing like that
- 23:55seeing the example like it's right there in front of you.
- 24:00Yes. There you can't put a price on
- 24:02that. That's impactful for your kids
- 24:04to see that and I want to know because I've recently had a
- 24:10heart for Japan because I recently found out there's like
- 24:14less than 1% that are Christians there and I heard it's like a
- 24:22hard barrier. ER to get them to just wrap
- 24:26their minds around that there is one God, you know, because they
- 24:31tend to worship several gods. And there's all kinds of things
- 24:35they're going, sure and the family traditions and how you're
- 24:38exiled, if you start believing in Jesus and it's very harsh.
- 24:44Have you guys gone out there to Japan specifically yet we have
- 24:49not. We have nice not an area we've
- 24:51entered into so I don't know a lot.
- 24:54I will tell you this though we have a man that has traveled
- 24:57with us for years to do these leadership development.
- 25:00Institute's will take teams of people in, to do the teaching
- 25:03and help with the evangelism training and he spent 30 years
- 25:07as a missionary in Japan and he saw one person come to Christ.
- 25:10So you're right, it is very, it's a very, it's very hard
- 25:15ground there. So who knows?
- 25:18Maybe maybe God will open the doors for us to go.
- 25:20There is some point. Yeah, I loved it.
- 25:24See that, I know I even bought a book.
- 25:26I wonder if he wrote a book and wonder if it's him that I've
- 25:29been reading because he goes into the whole description as to
- 25:33why it's so hard for the Japanese culture to convert into
- 25:38Christianity. And and he was there for a lot
- 25:41of years. Evangelizing.
- 25:43So I don't know might be the same guy, but so cool.
- 25:47Okay, so what are your hopes for the women?
- 25:50As they take on these responsibilities of reaching the
- 25:53world? For Christ, My Hope for them.
- 25:56So so many things. But, but primarily, you know, II
- 26:02know that, you know, one of the things I talked about with him
- 26:05all the time is in that chapter right before this one, Paul is
- 26:09talking to the church and he's going through some ridicule and
- 26:14some rumors and he's kind of labeled, there's been some
- 26:18argument in the church and he's coming before the church to
- 26:20basically say, do I really need the affirmation of men Do I need
- 26:25that? My affirmation is you.
- 26:28You are my information. It's not anything written on
- 26:32paper with ink. But Christ has written his name
- 26:35on your heart, right? You are my affirmation and it's
- 26:40a turtle that's an eternal affirmation.
- 26:42And when I speak with these women, and I see how they're
- 26:47treated in their culture and by society as a whole, My Hope and
- 26:52my prayer for them is that they would find And they're true
- 26:57affirmation in Christ and that they would find just an
- 27:02overwhelming fulfillment in his presence and in doing the work
- 27:06that he's laid before them and that that would continue to
- 27:10overflow as they're filled with that.
- 27:12They're filled with him that that would overflow into
- 27:17everyone. They come in contact with and
- 27:19house for for those of us that are supporting them and a part
- 27:23of the support system, Mm, that we would just continue to humbly
- 27:27learn from them and from the courage that they have and their
- 27:31desire to just walk through all of the obstacles that are placed
- 27:35in front of them and and do what Jesus has called them to do.
- 27:40Beautiful, are you love to end us with a take away?
- 27:44Something that our listener can ponder on?
- 27:47Or take action in? How can they get involved?
- 27:52Maybe they're hearing this episode.
- 27:54And they're like, sign me up. I'd love to get involved with
- 27:58thoughts here. Absolutely, let me first, start
- 28:01by saying that wherever you are, wherever you are and whatever
- 28:05you're doing wherever you are in life, God has a purpose for you
- 28:09and if you are here on this Earth, then you're here to serve
- 28:13him and I would encourage you to seek Him.
- 28:16The scripture says that we're supposed to seek wisdom, like
- 28:18it's a treasure and I encourage you to seek Him.
- 28:21Ask him, find out where you should be ministering.
- 28:24Find out who your people are those that that Jesus wants you
- 28:29to, you know, be sharing your light with its.
- 28:31Secondly if you just want some encouragement, go seek, go check
- 28:34out our website, it's reaching Souls dot-org.
- 28:37We have stories from our national missionaries there that
- 28:40I think will encourage you. I think that they'll put a smile
- 28:43on your face for the day and encourage you.
- 28:46If you're going through some difficult things, I think it
- 28:49will. So go there and check out those
- 28:51stories. And then if you would like some
- 28:53information from us, There's a place there that you can fill
- 28:56out click on and put your name in there and we can send you
- 29:01whatever information it is. That you request from us, we
- 29:04would love for you to come alongside us and to get
- 29:06involved. Whether that's going with us at
- 29:08some point, or just praying for us or whatever we would love
- 29:12that. So, yeah, we'd love for you to
- 29:13contact us through reaching, Souls dot-org.
- 29:16Michelle. Thank you so much for coming on
- 29:18here and sharing this amazing Outreach and your heart with us.
- 29:24It is beautiful in every way. Well, thank you Jay.
- 29:26I appreciate so much the opportunity.
- 29:29I'll tell the story anytime I get that opportunity.
- 29:33So thank you very, very much for what you're doing and Q glorify
- 29:37him. Amen.
- 29:39Thank you so much for listening today and I trust that God has
- 29:43encouraged you through this story.
- 29:45Did you know this podcast is on YouTube, hop on there and
- 29:49subscribe and you can see a live recording of each episode and
- 29:54for more information on this ministry and to access free
- 29:58downloads, please visit my website at Jamie Elizabeth.com
- 30:03that's ja yme Elisabeth.com and let's connect Beyond this
- 30:08podcast by To my Instagram handle.
- 30:11Jamie Elizabeth she speaks life or Facebook until next time my
- 30:15friend. I hope God reveals himself
- 30:17through your own life story. To my Instagram handle.
- 30:11Jamie Elizabeth she speaks life or Facebook until next time my
- 30:15friend. I hope God reveals himself
- 30:17through your own life story.