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Life Defenders - She Risked Everything to Save His Life · Bott Podcast Network

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I felt led to sing Amazing Grace and I broke down on Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that's saved.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I realize I'm looking at a woman who not only am I spiritually saved, but this woman physically saved me.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: She fought for me.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I am worth it.
• 0:34
  Victor Nieves: Placing a child up for adoption is one of the most loving but difficult things that any parent could possibly do.
• 0:42
  Victor Nieves: And many know that.
• 0:43
  Victor Nieves: Many parents, many children who have found themselves in these circumstances, they know it firsthand.
• 0:48
  Victor Nieves: And it is one of the greatest acts of love in many cases that a parent could do.
• 0:53
  Victor Nieves: And that's felt all throughout society.
• 0:54
  Victor Nieves: And it's something that should be honored and very much so respected.
• 0:58
  Victor Nieves: Welcome to Life Defenders.
• 0:59
  Victor Nieves: I'm Victor Nievis, president of Life Issues Institute.
• 1:02
  Victor Nieves: Today we have the privilege, the honor of being joined by Stephen Holland.
• 1:06
  Victor Nieves: He is an author, a recording artist, a worship leader, vote, motivational speaker with an incredible testimony, an incredible story.
• 1:13
  Victor Nieves: Steventhan, thank you for joining us today.
• 1:15
  Victor Nieves: I'm honored.
• 1:15
  Victor Nieves: Thank you for having me, Victor.
• 1:17
  Victor Nieves: Yes, sir, absolutely.
• 1:18
  Victor Nieves: You know, I think the best place to start, as we often do here on the show, is if you would just share your story with us.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Victor, again, thank you for having me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I just want to give a disclaimer.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I had a stroke seven months ago.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if my voice is, you know, a little different and and I sound, you know, labored, it's real.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fighting, but uh God's not done and I'm not done.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: My story's not done.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just jump in, Victor, you know, and uh and share it.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So at eight years old, I had some friends at school, you know, look at me and say, Man, you're weird and different.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what are you talking about?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I looked at my hand because they said, Well, you're brown.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they said your whole family's white.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I looked at my hand, I'm like, they ain't lying.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm brown.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I came home that day, needless to say, with some questions, and uh I found out at eight years old that I was a foster kid.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's the reason my color's different.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's Ricky, Rod, Renee, and Robin, and not only my color being weird, but my name, Stephen.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so I found out again, all that.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: The reason for that is because I was a foster kid and they adopted me at age two.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, that was a big ordeal.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: But they love me.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, but also at eight years old, that's the time I realized, well, that's the first of my life.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I remember asking God why.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why does my not, you know, not my my color being weird, yes, but why did my birth mom not want me?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Why was I not worth it?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's the question I had.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was a big why in my life.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm thankful again for my family in the middle of that pain and the why question.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we went to I was drugged to church, so I was drug in and drug out of every every church known to me.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I say I had a drug problem growing up, uh, and I'm thankful for that drug problem.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for for that.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: But uh it wasn't long.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: The why question never went away, Victor, but in that moment, that was the truth.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if I'm being real and being honest today, I had a lot of why questions.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: But the biggest why was why was I not wanted?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I I would go through like sports again, was my place of, you know, uh that I found I could run faster and hit harder than most people.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that was you're not gonna call me weird and different anymore.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that answered a lot of the I tried to answer the why questions with just being, you know, better than you.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't till later in life, you know, my wife and I, I was a youth pastor.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: My wife, you know, I met her in college, she was a volleyball player, but we were uh starting a family and we actually had two miscarriages, and uh, we lost an eight-week-old child and we lost a 10-week-old child.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And to be honest, Victor, that messed me up as a dad and as a husband.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: I just remember being, you know, broken and asking God again the same question, why?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Why God?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why why this pain?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Why this brokenness?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And today I can look back and say, I'm thankful for that.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for the brokenness and the pain because that's what caused me to look for my birth mom.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So sitting on the edge of the bed at eight years old, my mom, she gave me a gift that I didn't realize was how powerful it was.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'm 27 at this time, and I get that paperwork out and I start searching for my birth mom because I wanted to answer those why questions.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to save as a dad, I wanted to save my babies, right?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm supposed to provide and care for.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's my job as a man, as a as a husband, as a father, and I couldn't do that.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we lost two.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I got that paperwork out, eight pages, and three days into the search, I found my birth uncle, Steve Holt.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's a magician and been twil well, the people that talk with puppets.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I can't say that word right now, but anyways, you know what I mean.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I jump on a plane probably two months later in Tampa, Florida, and I fly to his home in Spartanburg, and uh he shares with me how I came to be.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And there were six kids.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he was one of six, and he's the only one he says is, you know, kind of normal, depending on who you ask.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: But my mom, my birth mom, was born in the middle of those, you know, six, and she was only functioning as an 11-year-old.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So their parents died in an early age, they were thrown into orphanage.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So she aged out of the system, and this is in the state of Georgia.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: She became a ward of the state and at 18.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh one night, while she was in that in that uh facility, she was raped by five men and got pregnant with me.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm conceived in you know horrific circumstances, rape.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: But she knew her baby had worth and had value.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh she didn't know what I'd become, but she realized, you know, at a at 11, you know, mentally, she didn't know, even though she didn't know what happened to her, they wanted her to abort me.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that was the only choice, right?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: When she started showing and got uh her belly started getting bigger and they realized she was pregnant, they were like, you can't parent, you can't uh choose adoption, right?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they were telling her.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they said, You have to abort, you have to terminate this pregnancy.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: But she ran away from home, ran away from this facility, wound up homeless on the street, living in a box uh behind a grocery store in this little town where the family that had Ricky, Rod, Renee, Robin, they were had a miscarriage and they had their own pain and brokenness, and they were longing for one more baby boy, right?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: So they they had four kids of their own.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: They were foster parenting, but they were longing for a baby, uh, and specifically a boy.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so she gave birth to me, uh, despite all odds.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: She carried me homeless in that uh and she gave birth and she said, uh, this is where my name came from.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: They said, What do you want to name your son?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, Stephen then William Holt or Holt at the my birth name.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that I got my name Stephen.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the only one that we know of in the world uh on dot com dot net and dot dot org, right?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's funny.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: But it's Stephen then William.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So my middle name is William.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And but they put the Stephen then together, so Steventon, I'm the only one.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's funny.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but she named me that in the hospital.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: She said, uh, and seven days later she put me up for adoption or foster care and dropped me off at human services, and this family who had that miscarriage and that brokenness in their life were longing for a baby.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they took me in at seven days old, and I've been there ever since.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you know, that's good enough, you know, to know.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm standing in my uncle's living room, and I find out that that he looks at me.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: It got kind of awkward, you know, I'm not gonna lie.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: He got kind of quiet, and uh, I thought I'd said something wrong.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he looked at me and he said, Do you want to meet your mom?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: She's five hours south of where we stand today.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, It's time.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's time.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we jumped in the car the next morning.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: We drove five hours south.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: I got to meet who I call my hero that day.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I have it on video, it's on YouTube, and you know, I I I share it a lot when I speak, you know, live, but I got to meet her and I felt led to sing Amazing Grace, and I broke down on Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that's saved.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized I'm looking at a woman who not only am I spiritually saved, but this woman physically saved me.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: She fought for me.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I am worth it, you know.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I was able to tell her that day I loved her and thanked her.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we had 11 years with her.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: She's met all three of her granddaughters.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: They call her Gigi, Grandma Glenda, Glinda Sue Holt is her name.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So God's just faithful and he's good.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's a short version.
• 9:21
  Victor Nieves: It is, I tell you what, it's not very often on the show where I'm literally at a loss uh for words.
• 9:27
  Victor Nieves: That is one of the craziest.
• 9:28
  Victor Nieves: Okay, so how is it for her?
• 9:30
  Victor Nieves: I mean, I can only imagine how this whole story, I'm uh, you know, it's it's no uh surprise to me that you travel the country sharing your story with people because it's just amazing.
• 9:39
  Victor Nieves: How is it for her?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, again, we had 11 years with her, and uh so she passed away on Thanksgiving of uh 2020, so COVID year, she choked on a sandwich, which was hard.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm like, come on, God, you're gonna take her out with PB and J after all the stuff she's been through.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're gonna take her out with the sandwich.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: We have to laugh about it, right?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's just tragic, you know.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: But but that 11 years, we were able to love on her, give her the dignity and respect that she deserved.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Her grandchildren, her granddaughters, you know, were able to love on her.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: That we we took coloring books and Barbie dolls, because mentally they were the my kids physically were that age, but mentally for her, she was the same age as they were.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we just loved on her.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna say it, I guess, uh speak on here and say that it's you know, it's easy.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was hard, but um she knew the the video really sums it up, but she knew I was her son.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but in her mind, I was still that baby, you know, that she had, but she knew that she had a son and uh she was excited every time I came to see her and visit her.
• 10:52
  Victor Nieves: That's that's incredible.
• 10:53
  Victor Nieves: So how did she get, because you tell her story, how did she get that strength?
• 10:57
  Victor Nieves: As uh, you know, it in this in the situation she's in with all of the stuff that she had been through, they're putting all this pressure on her.
• 11:03
  Victor Nieves: They're saying you need to work this child, and she gets out of there.
• 11:06
  Victor Nieves: I mean, did she leave I guess that's a question.
• 11:08
  Victor Nieves: Did she leave because of this?
• 11:09
  Victor Nieves: That was the thing that made her kind of hit the road and get away.
• 11:12
  Victor Nieves: Well, I so how'd she get the strength for that?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Man, honestly, this sounds cliche, but it's God, you know, I think people in her life, I I don't know this for a fact, but I I think people probably told her that life has value, that it's worth it to go through the stuff she went through.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I would like to think that somebody in her life, or many people in her life pointed her to Jesus, you know, pointed her to God and said, you know, he values this, so we should too.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that that being life, right?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: So she fought for me.
• 11:44
  Victor Nieves: That's incredible.
• 11:45
  Victor Nieves: So when you go and you speak and you share your story with people all around the world, obviously you have a unique story, but there are themes here that are similar.
• 11:52
  Victor Nieves: Do you ever run into other people?
• 11:54
  Victor Nieves: I mean, when you share this testimony, when you share this story, the story of your mother and her strength.
• 11:58
  Victor Nieves: And I mean, this is like the most loving thing I can think of anyone ever having done.
• 12:02
  Victor Nieves: This is incredible what she did.
• 12:04
  Victor Nieves: What's it been like to be able to look into the eyes of other people who no doubt you've come into some who share themes from your story?
• 12:11
  Victor Nieves: Have you seen her example strengthening other people?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard it said that Mama Glinda, my hero, has changed people's lives forever.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, because that's the power of the video, right?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like you get to see not only the actions that she did, but you get to see her face, right?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Put a face to the name.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, even though she's not here, she still matters.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Not only do I have worth and value, but she had worth and value.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, I've done, I probably spoke at probably 200 right to life and PRC banquet or pregnancy resource center banquets and fundraising events and stuff like that.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: But it never ceases to amaze me at uh my table at the end of the event.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it can be a foster kid, it can be adoption, you know, adoptee or adopt uh parents that adopted, you know, that have questions.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've been at a table before, like a round table.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's a very famous quote from a slavery abolitionist, Frederick Douglas.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: He said that he would work with anyone to do good and he would work with no one to do evil.There's been like 10 women from a small group at their church who kind of came with, you know, uh the exception rule, like uh, well, in rape and incest, I could see justifying abortion.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my story changed their mind.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they came in one way and left another.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I just spoke in Roanoke, Virginia, and uh this is fresh on my mind right now, but they're doing a golf tournament for them to raise support.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they're right across from me.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: They had a table set up, and one of the gentlemen out of the three, he came up and he said, I have to be honest.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: I came in here tonight kind of with that exception rule.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I I believe in this organization, but I could see justifying maybe abortion or abortion in cases of rape and incest.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And but after seeing you and hearing your story, I don't believe that anymore.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And my mind's been changed.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, Victor, that's scratching the surface, you know, on what God is doing and does.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm thankful.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just thankful to be to be here and be used by him.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's all for his glory, you know.
• 14:13
  Victor Nieves: So Yeah, and you know, that was my next kind of my next question or or the thing I wanted to talk with you about is you in many ways, you're like Planned Parenthood's arch enemy.
• 14:24
  Victor Nieves: You're you're like you're like everything that they hate, you know, and not to say like that's a good thing.
• 14:28
  Victor Nieves: That's a that's an accomplishment when you meet somebody who is kind of the embodiment of what Planned Parenthood just despises.
• 14:34
  Victor Nieves: Because when people hear your story, as incredible and amazing as it is, I mean, we're like swept off our feet just to hear it.
• 14:40
  Victor Nieves: We should also keep in mind, you know, in the back of our head, as Planned Parenthood hears your story, they are seething.
• 14:47
  Victor Nieves: As they hear your story, as they hear your mother's story, they think, man, this guy, this mother, these two, this is the textbook, this is why we need to have an abortion.
• 14:56
  Victor Nieves: They will pull out all of the stops.
• 14:58
  Victor Nieves: How has the abortion side of town, how have they responded to you?
• 15:02
  Victor Nieves: When you go and you share your story, your mother's story, are you getting flack for this?
• 15:06
  Victor Nieves: Are you getting pushback because they cannot stand?
• 15:09
  Victor Nieves: I know it.
• 15:10
  Victor Nieves: I I don't have to ask them.
• 15:12
  Victor Nieves: I know for a fact they cannot stand that you are going and traveling the country and sharing this story.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Victor, I a lot of places that I've had the opportunity to share and there's, you know, for forming, like there's a lot, a lot of love in the room, but I'll put the big uh B U T in there, like just, you know, it's I'll have people well.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: They'll be like, I'm thankful you're here, but a woman should still have a right to choose, right?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: They'll say stuff like that.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, and then I'll have to look at myself and be like, I'm worth it though.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say I'm the poster child, you know, for uh, and I own that.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people say I shouldn't be here, and my and they'll still tell me today it hurts.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like they'll say, well, Mama Glenda should still should have had a right to terminate you, to kill you.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I don't agree with that.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, got God has a plan and a purpose, you know, for everything, even just because of the way I was conceived doesn't define me, doesn't define my worth and my value.
• 16:12
  Victor Nieves: What a nasty thing to say to somebody.
• 16:14
  Victor Nieves: I mean, they're standing there and they're looking you in the eye and they're saying, well, you know, it still should have been worth killing you.
• 16:19
  Victor Nieves: What they're subtly saying, and you pointed this out, is that there's something wrong with you.
• 16:22
  Victor Nieves: And obviously there is nothing wrong with you.
• 16:24
  Victor Nieves: You're a human being deserving of the right to life, no different than anybody else.
• 16:28
  Victor Nieves: Oftentimes I find this a bit ironic, Stephen, that there are there are those on the pro-abortion side who try to couch their argument in false compassion, right?
• 16:36
  Victor Nieves: They they say, oh, well, you know, the compassionate thing to do is to, you know, have her be able to kill her child.
• 16:43
  Victor Nieves: Well, there's nothing compassionate about looking you in the eye and saying, well, you should be dead.
• 16:48
  Victor Nieves: So somebody should have been able to kill you.
• 16:50
  Victor Nieves: And also, do they ever address this?
• 16:51
  Victor Nieves: I'm curious.
• 16:52
  Victor Nieves: Is there some sort of a timer?
• 16:54
  Victor Nieves: Is there some sort of a clock on this?
• 16:56
  Victor Nieves: Because they're saying the way you came into this world was so bad it justifies killing you.
• 17:00
  Victor Nieves: Did that expire at some point in time, or are they saying still to this day?
• 17:04
  Victor Nieves: Well, what's the distinction here?
• 17:05
  Victor Nieves: Because you're the same guy today as you were when you were when you were fertilized when you were very first came into existence.
• 17:12
  Victor Nieves: So what's the breaking point?
• 17:14
  Victor Nieves: Have they ever acknowledged that you're the same guy now as you were back then?
• 17:18
  Victor Nieves: Are they saying they should be able to kill you today?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's no, there's no timer.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: There, there's no end time.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I I've even shared my story, you know, like gone through all of it in in line in a rental car, you know, place with uh actually he's a soldier, and uh he heard my story and we we hugged at the end, and I'm I'm thankful for that.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: But we agreed to disagree.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like he he he's like, I'm thankful you're here, but your mom still should have had a right.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just hard, man.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to hear that that stuff, you know, because again, that's saying I'm not worth it, but I am.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it just there's no time frame.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's they come back and say, Well, your mom still should have had a right to Terminichi.
• 18:00
  Victor Nieves: I I mean it it's just absolutely ridiculous.
• 18:03
  Victor Nieves: What are some of your favorite stories?
• 18:04
  Victor Nieves: Um, as you've gone around and you've talked with other people, no doubt you have, you know, all this experience traveling the country.
• 18:10
  Victor Nieves: You've had to have run into some people that have maybe your story inspired them to share their story.
• 18:15
  Victor Nieves: What are your favorites?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I've mentioned a few of them.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh just I know that I my story still matters.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have to be faithful to share it because I've seen the fruits of it.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And some fruits I haven't seen.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I realize that.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you can plant seeds, right?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when I go and speak, and again, I I see some of that.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, like that table of 10 women that walked away from that uh event, like just saying, Man, you've changed my life forever.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've changed my mind.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: They hugged me, they cried, you know, just I'm thankful for that.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: But probably the one that sticks out actually wasn't a speaking engagement.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: I worked for a pregnancy center doing absence education for three years.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went into 33 schools, talked to like 13,000 students, you know, seventh grade through seniors.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And normally I wouldn't be in the PRC in the pregnancy resource center, but I was that summer, and uh, long story short, a Hispanic young woman had walked in, and uh her parents were trying to force her to have an abortion, but she actually heard me share my story.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I did share my story, but it wasn't planned.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was at a student event that she happened to attend, and that that was a couple weeks before.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: So she saw me and realized I'm the same guy like that that shared my story.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: So she chose life that day.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then later that baby was placed for adoption, her son.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that baby, I was leading worship at a church, and they placed that baby in my arms and told me the story, you know, behind it.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I got to see hold that baby.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then I was at a student event leading worship and shared my story, and this young lady came up crying.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't recognize her at first, but she was able to share her story with me, and I'm it made sense.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same girl.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: She was adopted by a family in the church, and she just wanted to know how will my son ever know that I loved him, you know.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I was able to, because of my story, I understand it more than anybody.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're one of the strongest women on the planet, is what I told her.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, your son, you chose life and you loved him the best way you knew how, and sacrificially gave him away to a family that couldn't have one or have a child.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, so I cried, she cried, we hugged, and I think that one really sticks out to me, man.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Just to know how faithful God is.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: He just he just wants us to show up.
• 20:47
  Victor Nieves: Well, and you think, Stephen than as you go back, you know, to the beginning of your story and and your mother's story, really, and if you trace it all out just from her one story, from her courage, from her faithfulness and running off, and and my goodness, I mean, I just keep going back to that.
• 21:04
  Victor Nieves: But from there, the chain of events that has happened, the lives, I mean, if you charted this out on a piece of paper, you you need more than one piece of paper.
• 21:12
  Victor Nieves: You need a lot.
• 21:13
  Victor Nieves: You need the whole stack.
• 21:14
  Victor Nieves: Because one of these points, every single one of them branches off.
• 21:18
  Victor Nieves: One person makes a decision that changes somebody else's mind, that changes somebody else's heart, all the way down this cascading effect, and it all started with your mom.
• 21:26
  Victor Nieves: And so when people hear these stories and they hear the story of a woman who, as you described it, has the strength in that moment to do the most loving thing that they can in that moment, it might seem like it's just one thing.
• 21:38
  Victor Nieves: It might seem because we always do this.
• 21:40
  Victor Nieves: Everybody does this.
• 21:40
  Victor Nieves: We, in our own heads, we limit our actual influence.
• 21:44
  Victor Nieves: We think it's not that big of a deal.
• 21:45
  Victor Nieves: Yeah, I did the right thing, but you know, and we don't see the way that God does.
• 21:49
  Victor Nieves: We don't see the chain of events that we just began, but you will never know.
• 21:54
  Victor Nieves: I mean, you've seen some of the fruits of sharing your story and your mother's story, but you'll never know.
• 21:59
  Victor Nieves: I mean, it's It's just not possible for us to know the cascading domino because now it restarts with that young woman that you were just talking to, because now her child has their own story that will continue down this path of changing people's hearts and minds.
• 22:12
  Victor Nieves: What is your advice to people who want to share their story, but maybe they've never done it before?
• 22:17
  Victor Nieves: They might even hear yours and they think, man, his story and his mother's story are just so incredible.
• 22:22
  Victor Nieves: You know, maybe we think my story's not that cool or my testimony's not that cool, and maybe they don't want to share it.
• 22:28
  Victor Nieves: What's your word to people to get them to share what God has done in their life, to share?
• 22:33
  Victor Nieves: And just for one, just to be vocal about defending the life of the unboard.
• 22:37
  Victor Nieves: What should people do?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, defend life.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do it.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, share.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's a simple, but I I'm gonna take it back to scripture, Victor.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Revelations 12, 11 says we overcome by the blood of the lamb.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's first Jesus.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then second, it says the power or the word of our testimony, our stories.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: So our stories matter, like to God, yes, but to others, and they help others overcome.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: So for myself, that's where I started.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, God has given me a story and I can't be silent.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Sir Edmund Burke says the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I choose to do something.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So my sword is my story, right?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, Planned Parenthood doesn't like the fact that I'm out here sharing my story, you know, and saying that, you know what, I'm worth it.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Life is worth it.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: So fight for it, you know.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have a story to share, share it.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be on platforms like me.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like share it in your small group, share it, you know, one-on-one, share it in your at your church, you know.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and if God blesses you with the platform, you know, to travel the country and speak and at events and stuff, be that keynote, be that speaker.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: But it it starts with one, like just being vulnerable, I guess, and courageous enough to speak.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: So just do it.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just do it.
• 23:59
  Victor Nieves: I love it.
• 23:59
  Victor Nieves: I couldn't possibly agree more.
• 24:01
  Victor Nieves: You know, obviously you're involved in your church.
• 24:03
  Victor Nieves: You've been, you know, sharing it in many churches.
• 24:05
  Victor Nieves: What's your message specifically to congregants, but also to pastors when it comes to defending life in the womb?
• 24:12
  Victor Nieves: We've seen, unfortunately, not in all cases, but in many cases, there are pastors who are very afraid, very timid to touch on these hard topics, to touch on abortion, despite the fact that scripture is fairly clear.
• 24:23
  Victor Nieves: There is there is a lack in the American church.
• 24:27
  Victor Nieves: What would you like to see the church do more of?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm gonna come from love because that's where I come from, you know.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I I think we've made life a political issue.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, you know, if you disagree with that, we can agree to disagree, but we should fight for it.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I think churches, pastors need to be more vocal in that.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you lose congregants over uh choosing life, so what?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm sorry to say that, but not sorry to say that.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you lose some money because, you know, that that's really what it comes down to.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Over choosing life, I would still choose life and make a stand.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't be afraid to make a stand for this issue.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't agree more.
• 25:09
  Victor Nieves: What is, I always like to ask this is one of my final questions to every guest.
• 25:13
  Victor Nieves: What is your prescription?
• 25:15
  Victor Nieves: We look around the world, um, such, I mean, this is the the shedding of innocent blood.
• 25:19
  Victor Nieves: To go back to scripture.
• 25:20
  Victor Nieves: Scripture says that God hates the shedding of innocent blood.
• 25:23
  Victor Nieves: We need to stop it.
• 25:24
  Victor Nieves: What what is your prescription for us as a country?
• 25:27
  Victor Nieves: How do we end the scourge of abortion?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think, you know, choosing life is a heart thing.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, abortion is sin in my in my eyes.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I think the way we combat sin is we change the heart.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the way we change the heart, you know, honestly, it well, it's God, but it's our what I said, Revelation is 12, we overcome through Jesus, yes, but also sharing our stories.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to encourage again, I'll bring it back to that, Victor, is you know, share the stories, man.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Stories change hearts and change minds and change people.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: So just be faithful to share.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't uh that children's song, don't hide your light under a bushel, right?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like let your light shine, man.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Shine in the darkness, and that I think we pierce the darkness through our stories.
• 26:13
  Victor Nieves: Well, and Stephen, that is exactly what you have been doing uh for so long.
• 26:17
  Victor Nieves: I commend you so much.
• 26:18
  Victor Nieves: Uh, you and your entire family.
• 26:20
  Victor Nieves: What a blessing.
• 26:20
  Victor Nieves: What a wonderful story.
• 26:22
  Victor Nieves: I appreciate you traveling the country, sharing it with people.
• 26:25
  Victor Nieves: Like I said, you will never know this side of uh of heaven.
• 26:28
  Victor Nieves: You'll never know the full extent of every life that you have changed by sharing your story, your mother's story.
• 26:34
  Victor Nieves: What an inspiration to us.
• 26:36
  Victor Nieves: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 26:37
  Victor Nieves: Thank you, Victor.