Unshakable Faith: Paralyzed Rugby Player's Remarkable Purpose Through Tragedy | Alwyn Uys

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Little did I know that that was like a moment of my life where everything changed.

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Life as I knew it changed completely.

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Owen Ace, it's great to have you here on Charisma to be able to share your story of how God has

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using you in a unique way. And I know we've just talked before recording here about some of your

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travels where you are in South Africa right now. That's where you're from and you've traveled to

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the United States and you have some difficulties getting around. We'll talk about that in just a

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moment. But you still do it and you do it for the Lord. So welcome to Charisma.

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Thank you, John. So good to be here.

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Yeah. So Owen, I want to let people know that one of the things that I first found out about you was

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you're basically your second channel, I think, is what I saw at first, where you were kind of

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showing everybody your trip around the United States. That's kind of where I first started

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hearing about you and just seeing that you are in a wheelchair and you're ministering and you're

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going to different places as the Lord's calling you. So let's talk about your ministry and what

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God has called you to. Yeah. So recently, well, actually I come to the U.S. quite often. And

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I think in the past two years, I've been there about five times or six times. So God has

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definitely opened up a door wide open and I'm really enjoying it. I love America. I love

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traveling there and also doing ministry there coming from South Africa. It's a little bit

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different than what we are used to in a good way. But it's awesome to see what God is doing

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in different locations. Same Holy Spirit ministering these people. And yeah, it's just awesome. So

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I'm grateful for every opportunity and every open door that the Lord leads us through.

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Yeah. How would you describe the ministry that God has called you to or the style of ministry

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or the main message? Yeah, the main message I love, you know, when I read the Gospels,

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I'm always reminded of the compassion that Jesus has for his people. And I love seeing the Lord

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move amongst his people in compassion, meaning healing and talking to them through prophetic

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ministry and also, you know, bringing deliverance to them. So when I think of how God uses this

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ministry, I always think of those three pillars is prophetic healing and then also setting the

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captives free. And that's also what I have a huge passion for is not just seeing those things happen

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in ministry, but also training, teaching and equipping people to walking in their complete

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freedom, in their identity, you know, in Christ, who God has called us to be. And at the root of it,

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that is what prophetic ministry is, is calling out that gold within someone and, you know,

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letting them know, how does God see you? How does God see your situation? And what does He say about

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that? Yeah. So I got to ask you, you mentioned healing as a part of your ministry. And I know

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that you are, you're in a wheelchair. And so you have, I'm sure there could be some confusion for

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some people, but first off, how are you dealing with, with that feeling, being in a wheelchair

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while you're preaching healing and you're not seeing yourself being healed yet? Yeah. Just tell

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me about kind of that journey that you've been on with that. Yeah. You know, John, I think it's,

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God works in, in mysterious ways and interesting ways as well. So I see it, it's kind of twofold

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and I'm going to be super transparent with you. After every, like, let's say meeting that we see

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people being healed and we get testimonies back of people being healed. And I've seen some amazing

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things, people with literally having cancer, going back to the doctor and it's completely gone,

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tumors disappearing and you know, these kinds of things happening right in front of us. So

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every time that I get back, I'm excited about it because I see God moving amongst his people.

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But then that question comes and saying, Lord, how can I see this? But I'm still in a wheelchair

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and I can't help, but you know, also Lord, Lord, when is my time? When is it going to be me? When

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am I going to be healed? But why I say that God works in interesting ways is because, because of

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my condition, I have a greater compassion for people that struggle with similar things because

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I have also been through the mill when it gets to, you know, physical health. So I don't know the

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ultimate plan, what the Lord is doing through this. And by that, I mean that I know that he is going

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to heal me, but there's a process involved in it as well. And when I think back of the day that I

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got paralyzed 10 years ago, if I got healed on day one, I don't think I would have had the same

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level of compassion for people with, you know, physical disabilities and people needing healing.

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So God uses certain situations in our life to, let's say, get us in the flow of the calling of

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our lives. So it's been an interesting journey and I'm just being super transparent. But at the same

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time, John, the one thing is the more healings I see, the more my faith grows because I've seen

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too much. I've seen too much to not believe that God can do it. And it's that double edged sword,

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you know, God, when is my time? And Lord, I know that you can do it at the same time.

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Wow. So I like how you describe that where something that could be a handicap and is a

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physical handicap is actually causing you to have some basically a superpower of compassion.

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You know, there's a super grace for compassion for people that you have. And I'm sure that

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as you're ministering, you're seeing just you're seeing through Jesus's eyes a little bit clearer

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than that probably the average person because of what he's called you to go through right now.

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Can you tell me some stories of healings that you've seen? You've mentioned, you know, tumors or

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cancers being, you know, verifiably, you know, removed by the by the Holy Spirit. What other

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testimonies can you share? Yeah, so a few come to mind and it's it's different ways, shapes and

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forms that actually took place. And a few notable ones that really stood out to me, there was this

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one lady that had, I think it was a growth on her ovaries, and she was actually unable to have

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children. And they messaged into the ministry a day before she went for a checkup. And we just

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prayed for her over a voice note. Okay, so I literally just recorded something praying for her

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and just said, Hey, wherever you are, just put your hand on your heart. And I just want to pray

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for you. And the next day she went back and the doctor couldn't find the tumors anywhere. So it

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was completely gone. I never saw the woman I've never seen her in my life. It was literally just

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over a voice note. And you know, your faith just goes through the roof when these things happen,

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because someone literally just went out and say, Hey, I'm desperate for healing. I know God can do

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it. And we weren't even there. No one laid hands on her nothing. It was the prayer of faith over a

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phone. There's another instance where someone also messaged in, they emailed us. And this person was

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also in a wheelchair. And they sustained first degree burns, chemical burns on their legs. And

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they were in hospital and these these wounds just weren't healing the infection just isn't going away.

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And they're just not healing. They've been that way for a few months now. And after we prayed for

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them, the healing process started immediately, like literally the next day, the infection count

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went down, the skin started healing. And that healing process took a few months. And they,

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they were so faithful in sending updates constantly sending photos. So I literally saw these wounds

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being healed. And something that stood out to me about that is that oftentimes, and we see this in

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the Gospels as well that when Jesus healed the blind man, some of them weren't immediately healed.

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Sometimes it's a process. And we see that in the ministry as well. We pray for people and healing

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starts from that day, it starts the process. So it I've learned that, you know, even when we pray

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for people have faith that when the person leaves there that that Jesus is doing something, that

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there is a work of the Holy Spirit behind the scenes, even even though I cannot see it, even

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though that person cannot see it or did not feel anything specific, God is still working behind the

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scenes in his, you know, sovereign timing. A last one that that was really, you know, interesting

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for me to see, there was a lady that we went to her house and we were praying for her. She had stage

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for brain cancer. And as we as we prayed for her at her house, and she was just passing through town,

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right. And we were praying for them. We left there, I didn't hear anything, you know, about them,

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again, nothing. A few months afterwards, I had a meeting in a town nearby, where they live. And I

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didn't know the people even live there. Right. And after the meeting, a lady comes up and she just

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introduces herself and comes and says hello, but she comes to me in a way almost like, you know,

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kind of like running to to the front. And I'm like, who is this person? Because she's clearly

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recognizing me. And I'm like, I have no idea who this person is. And, you know, she tells me her

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name. And I'm like, Do I know you like, because you know, when someone talks to you in a way that

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they they talk to you in a way that you know them, and that you should know them, you know,

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and we're having this conversation, I'm like, I'm sorry, but I don't remember you like, where do I

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know you from? And she said, you prayed for me a few months ago, I'm the lady with brain cancer.

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And the healing process started after that day, that she got healed through a few months through

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that process. Once again, the some kind of count just went down in her body, and she started getting

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better. And I didn't even recognize her. She looked completely new, her hair started growing again,

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she gained weight again. When we saw her, she couldn't even walk, she was with a walker. So just

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like this total transformation. And I don't know, like my my mouth was just like hanging open. So

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you never get used to it. Honestly, you never get used to it. God just keeps on moving and

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surprising. And it's it's just awesome to witness. And with that said, when I when I see these kind

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of things, I get excited, you know, because here is someone with cancer being healed and Jesus

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touching them. So it gives me faith for my healing as well, whenever that is in God's timing. So,

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yeah, you mentioned your healing. And the stories that you've just been telling,

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as I love testimonies, because they increase our faith, you know, and faith comes by hearing and

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hearing the word of God. And so later in our conversation, I want to give you the opportunity

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to pray for people that are watching and listening, that they would receive their healing. So just

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kind of that's that's going to be coming later. But can you tell us your story? Because I know

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you had you mentioned 10 years ago, you had this this accident, this incident, that happened to

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has left you paralyzed. What what was your life before that? And tell me about your relationship

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with the Lord through that. Yeah, so john, 10 years ago, I was in a car accident, a motor vehicle

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accident. But before that, I used to be a professional rugby player. Now, rugby in South

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Africa, think of it kind of like NFL, that's how you know, it's serious, it is the culture here in

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South Africa. And that's kind of like what I wanted to do and become is a professional rugby player.

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And I was playing semi professional rugby at the time. And I had a shoulder injury that hindered me

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from playing. And while my arm was in a sling, so I was actually recovering from an injury. I had a

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car accident on my way to my girlfriend. And just to comment on like my relationship with the Lord,

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so I got saved, I got born again when I was 17. But because I was in this rugby sports culture,

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I was one foot in the world one foot, you know, in the church, I knew Jesus, I believed in the Lord,

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I was born again. But my life didn't have that fruit. I wasn't I wasn't living a life sanctified

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to the Lord. I was still pursuing, you know, these these worldly things and everything that comes with

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it. And when I had my accident, I literally was driving to my girlfriend, and I just took my eyes

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for a second off the road. I just didn't focus where I was going. I was driving about 40 miles

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an hour. So it wasn't even speeding or anything. And lost control of the car had an accident waking

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up next to the side of the road. And I remember the first thought when when a guy found me,

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he touched my shoulder and he's like, just lay still. You hurt your back really bad. And I was

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like, how does he even know that I hurt my back? And I tried to get up. That was my first response.

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So I didn't feel any pain, nothing. And I tried to get up. And I remember, like, my my upper body

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was working. But the moment I told my legs to start moving, there was just like nothing. It was just

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like the message just wasn't going through. And I was like, you know, what is going on? Maybe I'm

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just in shock. So I immediately lay still and I just lay back on my side and then waited for the

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ambulance to come. And little did I know that that was like a moment of my life where everything

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changed, like life as I knew it changed completely from someone that was a semi professional

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sportsman to being paralyzed at the age of 24. It's it's life changing. It's flipped upside down.

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Right. And then I got into rehabilitation. And that's kind of like when when this new life began

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for me. And at the same time, I always say it's it was the worst time of my life, the worst season

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of my life, this uncertainty, this heartbreak, you know, this physical broken body and emotionally

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broken. It was also one of the best times because that was when my my seeking and desire to know God

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more intimately began because I was seeking answers. OK, I was like praying every day. I was like,

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Lord, can you just please just help me here? Just tell me what's going on. Like I need I need you

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right now. And I was crying out to the Lord and I was seeking him. I was going back to church.

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I was reading my Bible again. I was really pursuing the Lord, obviously, to get answers out of this

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and to get healing out of this. But the beauty is when when you chase after the Lord, even in your

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despair, you will find the heart of the father. And that's exactly what I found. My relationship

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grew with the Lord. And that's really when I came back to the Lord. So through this difficulty,

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through this trials, I really drew near to him and I cultivated a relationship with him that I

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don't know if it would have been possible if the accident didn't happen. I wouldn't know. But to be

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honest, this is something that really like shook me, took me by the shoulders and shook me and says,

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Hey, you know, you got to come back, come back in line. God has something else for me. And it was

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it was this spiritual awakening that I really went through. So my body was broken, but my spirit just

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got revived at that moment. And that's also around that time, it took me about a year to get back

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into doing life, just managing life again. At that stage, I was still working. So I wasn't in

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ministry yet. But that's kind of when the ministry also began, I started sharing my testimony, I

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started preaching at schools in South Africa, we can actually go in schools and share the gospel in

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certain schools. I started doing that kind of stuff. And it, it was this transition into what I

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believe truly is what God actually called me to do. I think sport was just a byproduct, it was just

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something I was good at. But I really feel that God actually called me to preach the gospel, to

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share his word. And that that's where my heart is. So it was just this getting back in line with what

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God has really made me for and called me for. And he's using what he definitely did not make this

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happen. I want to make that very clear. But he's definitely using it. Okay, and people are getting

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saved, people are getting healed, and ministry is born out of this. And I believe at the end of the

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day that yes, my time will come and my healing will also come.

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Amen. Amen. We believe with you, brother, I believe everybody that's watching

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believes that God is going to heal you. I just want to have people to, if you agree with that

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in the comments, just write Amen. And just believe with us pray for all when his healing to come

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sooner, then that would be that would be great. But, oh, and I know there's a lot of opportunities

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to just be bitter. And I just am amazed that you chose to be you chose to be better rather than

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bitter. And you know, you let your brokenness set you on the right path. And how did you get

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started preaching because it would be, I think it would be really hard, personally to be in that

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situation, and be preaching about healing and be preaching about the gospel would be easier to

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just kind of shell back and not do anything, and just kind of let the system take care of you. But

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you're, you are out there in the forefront, and you are preaching the gospel, you're seeing God

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do amazing things. What what would you say to encourage somebody that feels like God can't use

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me, because I'm too broken? Yeah, john, that's a it's an interesting question. So, I always think

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about this when when I preach on healing specifically, and I love preaching on healing,

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it's one of my favorite topics to preach on, I always think of it this way that there is a sense

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that before I go and deliver a message, and I think that Lord, this is ridiculous, I'm in a wheelchair,

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and I'm preaching that you heal, that you deliver that you set free, but here I am sitting in a you

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know, this kind of like bondage, you know, in a wheelchair. And the Lord just made something very

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clear to me one day that my circumstances is is not, there's not a reflection of the truth

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necessarily, the Word of God is the truth. And whatever we read in the Word of God, whatever God

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is saying in his word, that is the truth, not what the world is saying, not what my circumstances are

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saying. And I had to realize that and I had to accept that that what God is saying is the truth,

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because the Bible tells us that God is not a liar, that if anyone is a liar, it would be man, right?

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So it's kind of that decision to make that what are you going to believe? Am I going to believe

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what my circumstances are preaching, or am I going to believe what the Word of God is saying?

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And that's just a decision that I made, that you know what, whatever I read in this Holy Bible,

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this is the truth, this is the way, and this is what God is saying, not what my circumstances

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are saying, not what my bank account is saying, not what my marital status is saying, not about

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any of that, those kind of things. And I made that decision early on in my journey. And through it

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all, I have seen some amazing things despite my brokenness. You know, I come from a broken family,

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my parents are divorced. And through this injury that happened, I saw my parents being able to

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actually speak to one another again, actually reconcile because of what happened, and you know,

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coming together, spending time in the same room with one another, that never happened in 15 years.

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So if you can see the small miracles, literally the small miracles happening all around us,

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it's a decision that we make. Or am I going to keep on focusing upon my problem and my thing that

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I went through, and start focusing on all the other things that God is actually doing? And

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let me say this, for a long time, I've asked this question, Lord, why is this happening to me? And

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I think everyone asks that question. Where we go through tough times, it's this question, Lord,

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why me? You know, we go into this pity party almost. But after, you know, a decade of being

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in a wheelchair of doing the things that God has used me to do in the sporting world, in ministry,

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or whatever it may be, I realized that maybe I was the perfect person to whom this should have

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happened. And these are things that the enemy never knew, but God knew it. And God knew that he can

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use this, and how I would handle this. Because I asked the Lord a question one day. And I said,

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Lord, how do you how did you know? And obviously, I know how he knew because he made me. But how

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did you know that I would not reject you? That I would not become an atheist after becoming paralyzed,

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and never speak to you again in my life and resent you for the rest of my life? It's a question I

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asked the Lord. And he said something very interesting. He said, all of them because I made

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you, and I know what is inside of you. And I know what what I can do through you. And that just kind

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of like put everything in perspective to me that God is for us. It's a teamwork process. God is on

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your side. And I think oftentimes we play this role of good versus evil, constantly in our life,

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you know that why is God allowing these things? Why is he doing these things? You have to make

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up your mind that God is good, and he's a good father. And there's no, there's no two sides about

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it. Everything is good about the Lord. And the moment that we believe anything else, that's room

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for deception. That's room for the enemy to lie to us. So these are things that it took me a long

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time to come to these realizations and make up my mind about, you know, who God is the heart of the

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father reading the scriptures, believing what God is saying, and living my life according to that,

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and not according to what my circumstances tell me. Amen. Alvin, that's super encouraging. I love

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everything that you just said with that. I mean, that's that's so powerful, just your tenacity. As

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I said, as I introduced you, you're very tenacious person and God knew that you would not leave him.

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He knew that he would actually go in deeper with him through this, through this tragedy. But you

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you've taken that as a, as an opportunity to triumph and in so many ways, and now you're,

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you're on fire for the Lord, brother. I'm so encouraged by that. You know, I want to ask you,

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what is the Lord speaking to you today? What is fresh on your heart that the Lord is revealing

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to you about himself? Well, yeah, it's, it's actually funny, you asked me that because literally

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today I was just like thinking about this. And I think this is going to speak to many people,

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you know, listening just this. And I oftentimes think about it that if, if our lives are in this

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holding pattern, because many people that I speak to, it feels like they are in like this wilderness,

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like they're in this hallway period of Lord, why aren't things moving as fast as I want them to

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move? It feels like I'm stagnating. And I just got this very simple and plain message in my heart

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where the Lord was speaking into it that you haven't missed anything. Like you haven't missed

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an opportunity. There isn't life didn't pass you by and that God still has so many things planned

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for us, for me, for you, for, for every child of God, he has so many things still planned for us.

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You didn't miss anything. There is no opportunity that you missed. And I believe that God is going

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to bring these things to fulfillment, the promises that he gave you. And even if I think of my healing,

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I'm like, Lord, was there a moment that I might've missed it, that I should have had more faith,

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that I should have gotten up out of my wheelchair or gone to a certain conference or a meeting or

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a healing service or anything. And I just rest in that, that I didn't miss anything. I am perfectly

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where God wants me. If I keep on seeking him, like Matthew 6 33 says, keep on seeking him and his

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righteousness and, and placing God and the kingdom before everything else, you did not miss anything.

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All other things are going to fall in place. So that was just something that I had on my heart.

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Cause I feel that so many people are in this waiting period and they're getting tired of the

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waiting, kind of feeling like, you know, should I do something? Should I start moving? Because us as

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humans, we just want to keep busy. We want to do something constantly. We want to keep on moving.

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And I think waiting on God is a lost art that so many of us struggle with. We just want to do,

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do, do, you know, I got to make the hand of God move. Um, you know, and I think that the waiting

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on the Lord is, is such a, a lost craft and I lost art in, in, in our faith.

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Yeah. You know, I'm going to ask you right now, if you would just pray for those that have been

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watching and listening that, um, they might be in that situation and that season that you've just

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spoken about, and I just want to release you to minister and however the Lord leads you,

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whether it be healing or just any type of ministry, but just speak to that person that is

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watching this right now. And we believe that God is going to move.

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Yes. So I actually just want to pray that, you know, for anyone that if you are,

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are feeling like that, if you are feeling in that, that stagnation, that wilderness,

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that you have been in this, this place for many years, that I want to pray for you that

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God will first of all, give you peace, give you comfort. And that in this wilderness time,

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that you will grow closer to the Lord, that you will grow in intimacy to him. And something that

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I just feel on my heart that the moment that God takes you out of that wilderness, if you look at

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Jesus's ministry, the moment he came out of the wilderness, the ministry got launched. It took

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off and we can never go back into that place. We can never go back into the wilderness or you don't

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want to go back in there so that you may embrace the season that you are in. And that's the

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reason that Jesus came out of the wilderness. And he was able to come out of the wilderness

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and embrace this time and use this time wisely to grow closer to the Lord, to get equipped

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in the wilderness. And I'm reminded of Luke four, I believe it's Luke four, 14 that said Jesus came

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out of the wilderness with the power of the Holy spirit, that when you come out of this holding

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with a fresh vision, that you will emerge in the power of the Holy spirit and fulfill everything

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that God has for you. So Lord, we just pray for every single person that feels like they have

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missed opportunities, that they are in this wilderness period and it's just not coming to an

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end. So Lord, I pray that you come and give them comfort, speak to their hearts. Father, I pray

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that you will draw near to them closer than what they have ever felt to you. Father, I pray that

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they will become your best friend in this time and that this will be a season that they will

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remember for the rest of their life, that it will be a time that they will remember that this was

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the closest that they have ever been to you and that they will stay there Lord and that they will

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do life with you, not go ahead of you and not trail behind you, but do life with you. And Lord,

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I also pray for every single person that needs physical healing in their body right now. Lord,

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you know their needs, you know exactly what is wrong in their body and what needs to be touched.

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So Holy spirit, I pray that you will come upon them, that you will minister to them and that you

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will fill their body with the resurrection power of Christ. Just as you have raised him out of the

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grave on the third day, I pray that you will fill their bodies right now and bring healing in their

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bodies, touch every single fiber of their bodies. And Lord, we pray this in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

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Amen. Amen. Amen. Alvin, I just want to thank you so much for ministering to our audience and

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everybody that is watching right now, you agree with that prayer and you're holding onto that

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for yourself and you're believing for yourself. Put amen in the comments and we will, we want to

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agree with you. We want to agree with you and let us know how God has moved in your life and how

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you've seen that healing unfold. Because as you said earlier in this interview, you know, that

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some of those healings, they take time, there's a progression, but there was tremendous results

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as you keep having faith and you don't give up. Alvin, thank you so much for spending time with

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us here today on Charisma and it's a pleasure to be able to get to talk to you.

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Thank you, John. So I appreciate it.