Emily Evans (00:03.081)
Okay.
Melissa Lapin (00:12.582)
Hey everybody, welcome back to what has now become part two of Let's Talk with Emily. We got to chatting after we hung up and so I'm like, hey, no, let's record this too. So here comes part two of, now we're just gonna talk about Uganda because she was saying some things that I think are just absolutely beautiful about her heart and...
and just believing the things that God says about us. And so back all the way up, say exactly everything that you just said. But no, okay, so Emily went on a mission trip to Rwanda and Uganda. And so we're gonna start from there. That's all the information you need. So go.
Emily Evans (00:45.872)
Yeah
Emily Evans (00:49.23)
Okay.
Emily Evans (01:04.43)
Okay, so since I was eight years old, I have wanted to go on a missions trip to Africa. And I've always been passionate about missions. And when I got married, our intent was to be missionaries. And so we actually moved two years after we got married. We lived in Canada. We moved to the United States. No he is.
Melissa Lapin (01:29.31)
Ah, you're Canadian? Oh, okay, okay. I was fixing to end the podcast. No, I'm just kidding. I have nothing against Canadians. Ha ha ha.
Emily Evans (01:39.996)
But we moved to America for a missionary training program and I thought, wow, awesome, Lord, this is great. And I had also gone to school for missions, Christian missions, changed my degree so that it didn't say missions on it, so that I could get into a limited access nation, if that were the case, all of that stuff. So...
degree didn't say anything. Well, I have to finish the degree, but you know, learning the head.
Melissa Lapin (02:08.238)
Yeah. Well, but I mean, that's like a real thing, though, because especially nowadays, you can't get visas in some countries. Like you have to when I because I lived in Cameroon for a while with Bethel and.
Emily Evans (02:15.51)
Yep.
Melissa Lapin (02:23.134)
You we actually have to be invited into the country by an organization or people like you can't just visit people you actually have to be invited by like a business or organization and everything on my visa was for personal reasons Tourist visa all of that even though I went as a missionary Because it's just been done poorly for so long plus they charge and well like
know weasel money out of you for everything but yeah you have to be very careful nowadays when you travel to other countries the vocabulary and the language you use for it so that was good call for you to not have that on any paperwork anywhere sorry side note go ahead
Emily Evans (03:11.679)
That's alright. Well when I was signing my visas for Rwanda and Uganda, when they said occupation I said teacher because, you know, I don't want... Right. And yeah, and technically I am a teacher because I home school my kids so I wasn't even lying or anything so...
Melissa Lapin (03:21.086)
Mm-hmm. They don't ask you what you teach. That's what I did. Yeah.
Emily Evans (03:35.198)
So we moved to the States to be part of the missionary training program. That blew up after a year and I was kind of like, okay, Lord, so what now? Like we're here, the United States is boring, I want to go somewhere else. Let's go somewhere else. And he was like, or you could treat anywhere you live as a mission field. And I was like, but that's not as fun.
Melissa Lapin (03:51.101)
Hahaha
Melissa Lapin (03:58.451)
Hmm.
Melissa Lapin (04:02.654)
Right? Yeah.
Emily Evans (04:02.922)
of actually going to a mission field. So I tried to have a different perspective and was still had a huge desire to go to Africa. And things got bad in my marriage and then they got a little bit better and then they got bad again and then they got a little bit better and then there we had two kids and then the last five years they got really bad.
and it didn't divorce if you didn't see the last podcast. So in that time, my husband walked away from the Lord and I thought, okay, well, it's going to be real hard to get to Africa now unless I go on a short-term mission trip because I wanted to go as a full-time missionary. That was the intent when we got married, to go overseas full-time and that's just what we were going to do.
And so I thought, okay, I can go on short-term missions trips and still be married to him and everything like that. And then when things got really, really bad, I was like, okay, what is feasible as a single mom? And I was like, well, not a whole lot. And um, right, that's me! With, you know.
Melissa Lapin (05:23.346)
Says you.
Emily Evans (05:29.334)
the biggest god in the world. So February 24th of 2023 is when my divorce was final and then in March I had a friend reach out to me and say, hey I had a dream that you were on a missions trip, do you have any interest in missions? And I was like, funny you should say that. I have had passion for missions my entire life, pretty much. And so they were like, okay well why don't you...
Melissa Lapin (05:31.524)
Right?
Emily Evans (05:57.506)
Why don't you reach out to whoever your friend was that, because I had told them that I had been invited to go to Africa two years ago, but I wasn't able to go then. And so I called that friend and I said, hey, are you still doing crusades in Africa? And she said, yeah.
And she's like, I'm doing one in May, I'm doing one in August, which one do you want to come on? And I said, well, I can't do May, but I could maybe do August. And she said, OK, pray about it and see what the Lord says. And the Lord gave me a green light, gave her a green light. And so we started planning the trip. And the Lord is just fantastic. And but in that time, I was really struggling personally in my life.
dealing with stuff from the divorce, dealing with, you know, who am I now, even though I knew my identity in Christ, it was still a shift of like, okay, yes, I know this. My heart and my head have to come into alignment. And there was a struggle there. And there was a process and everything.
Melissa Lapin (07:02.54)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Lapin (07:06.102)
Yeah, for sure. And that's the thing people do think that...
When gods, they get mad at God because...
It's like, I don't know we have this dumb presumption that it's supposed to be easy, you know that like well, no I mean, it's your forever got crapped on you know, so now you have to process that There's your personal feelings of the rejection and all of that. Then there's the okay now. What about the kids? Okay, then now there's you know the income and your whole life changes absolutely 100 percent changes and
Emily Evans (07:23.795)
I love you.
Emily Evans (07:30.446)
right.
Emily Evans (07:33.867)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (07:49.024)
So even though having the words from God, the prophetic words and the personal words telling you who you are and that kind of thing, you're like, okay, God, but my heart still hurts. This is still a shitty situation. It's like, ugh. And walking that out, and I think people do themselves a disservice.
Emily Evans (08:05.238)
Oh yeah.
Melissa Lapin (08:19.27)
by two things, giving up on themselves, giving up too quickly and not understanding the process, holding God hostage to still all the unanswered questions and dreams and all of that. And then thirdly, not having a good community. Because community will hold you accountable, oh, but didn't God say that you were a warrior?
Emily Evans (08:40.558)
we are.
Emily Evans (08:47.97)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (08:48.77)
You know, because I remember there were times that you came on, um, S okay. And our small groups and you're just like, here it is guys. You know, we prayed for you and, and you know, held your arms up while you couldn't. And cause it's hard. That's that's, it's just a crappy situation. I hate divorce so bad. I hate it. I hate it so bad. It's so devastating for so many people on so many levels, you know,
Emily Evans (09:05.746)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (09:09.218)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (09:14.538)
Yeah. And not just for the two people who got divorced, but for the extended family. And people don't talk about that. They don't talk about the grandparents who now don't get to see their grandkids only half the time for only half of the holidays and things like that, which is something that my mom has been struggling with. She's like, I'm angry because now I don't get to see my grandkids. You know.
Melissa Lapin (09:19.138)
Absolutely.
Melissa Lapin (09:26.499)
Right. Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (09:32.987)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (09:41.598)
on certain holidays and stuff like that each year. And she only gets to see them half of the time that she normally would have. And so, and I didn't even think about that. I was like, yeah, man, it affects everybody. It's not just the two people who were married. It literally affects the whole family. And people just are so willy nilly about it most of the time like, oh well, everybody will be fine. No, they actually won't.
Melissa Lapin (09:44.57)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (09:59.278)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (10:10.066)
Mm-hmm. It's hard. It's a process. So, well, let's pick it back up there because I derailed your story, sorry. So picking it back up. So you were not quite a hot mess, but you were still trying to figure out how to function as a single homeschooling mom with little to no income and wanting to go to Africa. Ha ha ha.
Emily Evans (10:12.266)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (10:18.219)
It's okay.
Emily Evans (10:28.906)
Right, right. And it's fine to say I was a hot mess. I was a hot mess. Let's, yeah, we'll just be real with it. And I was. Because, and there was a bit of being angry with God too because of all of the unanswered things. But I did get to the point where I was like, you know what? Even though I don't want to, I will deal with the unanswered stuff because I know you're going to be with me. But it was really, really hard just because...
Melissa Lapin (10:41.562)
Oh sure.
Emily Evans (10:57.826)
there was infidelity and he's currently living with the person that he left me for. And so the unfairness and the injustice was so in my face and still is and everything. And so the forgiveness that I had to work through and continue to have to work through, which is part of what I talked about in Africa and it was, yeah. God will use the things that you need work on.
Melissa Lapin (11:28.378)
Can't run from it, you know, like David talks about if I go to the highest heights, you're there. If I go to the lowest depths, you're there. God, if I go to Africa, oh wait, you're there too. Ha ha ha.
Emily Evans (11:29.55)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (11:37.838)
Yeah, right. Right. So I was just having that conversation with him July before I left in August, and I was just like, Lord, why? Why now? I've wanted to go for 30 years. Why did you choose now to have me go when there's so many other times where I had so much more to offer people? And he goes, that's why.
because you thought you had something to offer and right now I can actually work through you and get what I want accomplished." And I was like, wow, that is true. Right. So I was still, I mean, I was struggling a lot even up.
Melissa Lapin (12:14.416)
It's God, it's like you know me or something. Ha ha ha.
Emily Evans (12:25.106)
even when we were leaving and everything. Because I was like, my friend asked me if I would share my testimony and share a little bit on forgiveness and things like that and I'm like, sure. What good is that going to do? I mean, forgiveness obviously is a good thing, but my testimony, I'm like, I don't have the cool story of like, and God restored us and we're living happily in a wonderful marriage now. Like, no. My marriage ended.
Melissa Lapin (12:38.961)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (12:53.386)
And that's how it is. And so, but when we landed in, we landed in Kigali, Rwanda.
Melissa Lapin (13:03.006)
Back up though, the story of paying for it, like getting the money for it, that's part of the testimony too.
Emily Evans (13:08.075)
Yes.
Emily Evans (13:12.414)
It is, yeah. So I fundraised and lots of people donated and paid for the whole trip. And so even though I'm a single mom with very little income, I home school my kids, like I was still able to go on this fantastic trip that God put together.
Melissa Lapin (13:33.466)
Well, it came in like very, very short amount of time, like a week or 10 days or something.
Emily Evans (13:38.794)
Yeah, it was, I think it was two weeks, but yeah.
Melissa Lapin (13:41.318)
weeks but yeah it was like three or four thousand dollars like a significant amount of money he's just like here Emily go on this trip that's pretty awesome so you get there
Emily Evans (13:45.418)
Right.
Emily Evans (13:51.758)
Great, absolutely.
Emily Evans (13:56.414)
I get there and I stepped off the plane and I almost started crying because I was like, you did it Lord. I am here in the world's eyes in the worst, like, in the time when I shouldn't have ever been there because I didn't have any money, I'm a single mom, I, like, just by the world's eyes there should have been no way for me to get there. And
And that was all the more powerful that I stepped off that plane in Kigali, Rwanda, and I was there. And so then we spent a week in Rwanda and then a week in Uganda.
I shared my testimony in Rwanda and shared about forgiveness and stuff like that. People said that it was really powerful and I was just kind of like, okay, thanks, that's fantastic. And so then we went to Uganda and kind of the same thing where people were like, you know, that's really powerful. One of the times, one of the last times that I shared my testimony, afterwards we had prayer ministry and we're going around and praying for people and everything.
Emily Evans (15:05.848)
husband left me a few weeks ago and I was like, okay, yep, I'll pray for you. So then the next person I went to, she had, I forget what, but another person was like, yeah, my husband left and I'm like, okay, here we go again.
Melissa Lapin (15:10.241)
I came all this way just for you!
Emily Evans (15:25.986)
and i was trying really hard not to cry and stuff like that because i'm like you know i'm the one praying for these people i'm the person here that's trying to hold everything together and everything and they couldn't speak english the two ladies that i had prayed for so that was a little bit easier to not cry because i wasn't i was hearing it through a translator so but then the third lady she spoke english and she goes
my husband left me because I was a Christian, I have five kids, and he's not giving me any support or anything, and I was just like, nope, can't hold it together, sorry! Because part of my story is that my husband did leave because I believe in God. And so that hit very, very close to home, and so I prayed for her, and I think I shared my testimony.
Melissa Lapin (16:00.019)
Mmm.
Hehehehe
Emily Evans (16:19.054)
Remember maybe that was the last time I shared my testimony, but after the evening service, one of the pastors came to me and he said, you know, your testimony is so powerful. We would love it if you would do some videos and send them back to us so we can take them to the churches and share them with people because you have such hope through all of this and such strength that people need to see that because people here don't have that.
they give up after their husband leaves or their husband dies or they abandon their kids because of it or whatever it is. And I just was like, wow. And so I'm going to do some videos and it's going to go to Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. And so four different countries.
Melissa Lapin (16:47.506)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (17:09.126)
Very cool.
Emily Evans (17:16.05)
I didn't think that me going there was going to have a big impact. The Lord just, he knows what he's doing. He used the most painful, horrific thing in my life, partnered with my biggest dream in life and just made an explosion of his glory come out of it.
Melissa Lapin (17:41.768)
Hmm
Emily Evans (17:42.626)
And it was just, I almost called my ex-husband and was like, guess what just happened? God used you being an idiot for his glory. And, and so it's just...
Melissa Lapin (17:47.71)
Hahaha
Melissa Lapin (17:54.71)
Right? Yup.
Well, that's just the beauty he'll redeem anything and I know you said in the last episode that we recorded that um You know you got prophetic words about your marriage being restored Who says it won't be You know I'm saying it we have to keep in mind That I mean sometimes people miss it, you know, cuz they want the best for us and stuff like that
But who knows? Maybe your ex will hear these podcasts. And if he does, hey, don't be an asshole because Emily's awesome. You need to marry her again. There you go. I said it. But he's on his own journey. You know, and it's not pretty right now. And his journey is hurting you. But
Because we have such a faithful God, there's redemption in your journey right now. There's blessing and favor in your journey right now. And I think a lot of that has to do because you haven't hardened your heart toward God. You know, you're just like, okay, God, this is it, now what? I'm gonna give you my yes, so here it is. And you've allowed...
Emily Evans (19:02.882)
Great. Yeah.
Emily Evans (19:23.223)
right.
Melissa Lapin (19:27.654)
You haven't hardened your heart, even though you did say you got angry. I would be pissed at God too if something happened like that. I mean, it doesn't matter. It's like, okay, God, I understand. And no, I'm not. It is what it is. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna close my heart to God. And I think that's cool. And the reason that you got to go to Africa was because you're like, okay, God, I can't partner with this guy, but I'll partner with you.
Emily Evans (19:42.094)
Great.
Emily Evans (19:55.542)
right.
Melissa Lapin (19:56.734)
And, you know, God didn't break up your marriage, your husband did. You know, we blame too much things on God. And the devil both, actually. But.
Emily Evans (20:01.326)
Exactly.
Emily Evans (20:06.25)
Right. Exactly. And it's free will. It was his free will. And that's one of the things that people have told me when I've been trying to figure out these prophetic words is that, you know, people have free will and when prophetic words are given and they involve more than one person, you have to partner with that prophetic word for it to come to pass. And even though I partnered with it, that doesn't mean he partnered with it. And so...
Melissa Lapin (20:23.475)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Emily Evans (20:36.842)
I had to get to the point where...
So I was like in this chaos, like Lord are you going to restore it? Are you going to restore it in the future? Like what is going to happen? And I kind of had to get to the point where I was like you know what, here's where we are. Right now, it's not restored. And I'm going to move forward in this place until you tell me otherwise. Because I'm not going to live my entire life hoping that someday he's going to get his act together and it's going to be restored. Now do I believe that the Lord can do that? Absolutely. Do I want that?
I don't know. Anyway, but redeemed, yes. Right. Because I did love who God intended him to be. And I told him, this is who God intended you to be. You're not choosing to be that person. He's who I love. And I told him that numerous times and he knows, he knows that's true because he would never have a response to it. But I had to get to the point where...
Melissa Lapin (21:13.53)
You could take the redeemed him and fall in love with him again. Yeah.
Emily Evans (21:41.318)
I had to quiet the confusion because I was always battling, well, do I not ever date because it could be redeemed? And I felt like the Lord was just like, this is where we are right now. And until I tell you something different, you go on journeys with me and just let me deal with Him.
Emily Evans (22:09.13)
But it's hard because my kids are prophetic too, and one time my youngest was like, Well, you know, Jesus told me that daddy's gonna come home. We just need to wait. And I was like, don't, don't go there. Please, just, I-
Melissa Lapin (22:09.438)
cool.
Damn.
Melissa Lapin (22:22.618)
Ha ha
Melissa Lapin (22:27.282)
No, let him prophesy.
Emily Evans (22:29.618)
I did, I didn't say anything, but I was just like, I don't want to jump on that hamster wheel again.
Melissa Lapin (22:32.6)
Okay.
You don't have to you can shelf it you can just like you know what God I hand this man to you and I'm not doing it right now Yeah, but so in the back to back to the missions trip So
What were you able to share with those women? I mean, the encouragement out of your heart, what did the Lord give you for them?
Emily Evans (23:06.526)
Mostly that to draw near to the Lord in those hard times. Don't give up on Him. Don't think that He's going to be like your husband that left or died or whatever the circumstance may be. But to draw on Him and ask Him what the next step is. Because He'll show you, He'll tell you what it is if you're willing to sit and listen and give your yes to Him.
Melissa Lapin (23:20.089)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (23:31.635)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (23:36.334)
I'm not saying that I've done that all the time. It's a work in progress. But at the times that I have, he will say, this is what I want you to do, or this is the next step, or I'll let you know in a little bit something. He likes to talk to us. It's not, when we give him the opportunity, he will speak. It may not always be in the way that we expect or that we're looking for or things like that, but he will speak to us.
Melissa Lapin (23:40.332)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (24:05.674)
So that was mainly what I shared with them.
Melissa Lapin (24:09.13)
Yeah, that's good. It's hard too because...
There's no other country in the world like the United States. You know, I mean, like I've been all over Europe. I've been to Cameroon, I've been to Uganda, flew through Kenya, but I've never been anywhere in South America. Cancun, but that doesn't really count because that's so touristy. It might as well be America, you know, and
trying to, and I think too that's where their prophetic comes in, it's like okay God, what do you want to say? Because we get so often, I'm not even going to get off on that tangent, but um so shifting gears again a little bit um no go ahead yep
Emily Evans (24:58.734)
I have one more thing that I forgot to share. So another thing that I shared with them is forgiveness and how important forgiveness is. And, and even the very day that I spoke on forgiveness, I called my kids that night and something happened with my ex and I was just like, oh, and I told my friend, I was like, I spoke on forgiveness today. Like I literally spoke on this today. And I'm so mad.
Melissa Lapin (25:05.178)
Yeah, yeah.
Melissa Lapin (25:19.866)
Of course it did.
Melissa Lapin (25:25.084)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (25:27.458)
And so it's, it's God uses the things that we need to work on as well to help other people, even when we're in the process. Like you don't have to have, none of us have arrived. You don't have to have arrived for him to equip you to do something that he wants you to do.
Melissa Lapin (25:34.631)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (25:37.881)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (25:46.966)
Well, and see that's beautiful right there too and that'll preach because people think they have to have a certain level of education a certain level of knowledge a certain level of Experience or the answers or whatever? But you know what? The things that have meant most to me
are being able to partner with someone that's like, you know what, I am going through that too. Like right here, right now, let's do it together. Let's lock arms and let's commit to each other.
that we're going to do the best we can together and accountability and we're doing it. Not that, you know, I might be one step ahead of the person, but I'm, you know, I still got one foot in the sandbox and they just jumped in the sandbox, you know? And I think that's something that the church really sucks at when it comes to community.
Emily Evans (26:41.804)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (26:57.862)
and healing and forgiveness is, if it was just in church in general, off the bat, if you're not part of the five-fold ministry, you can't do XYZ, or if you didn't go to seminary, you can't do XY, you know? And it's like, it's so limiting, it's not at all biblical, you know? And it has cut the church off at the knees.
Emily Evans (27:19.336)
Right.
Melissa Lapin (27:27.178)
and disempowered tens of thousands of believers because now we have this whole church that doesn't feel qualified to do anything. And that's why everybody in the last three years since the pandemic have like deconstructed their faith because they're like, well, I didn't go to cemetery so here I sit and I can't do anything, you know? And it's like, what's it all for? If I can't do this and I can't do that,
Emily Evans (27:37.782)
Right?
Emily Evans (27:52.91)
Great.
Melissa Lapin (27:57.132)
I bother, you know, but being able to go, you know what? I am on that same journey right now. Let's walk together and we'll figure it out as we go along. You know, and go.
Emily Evans (27:58.318)
All right.
Emily Evans (28:06.904)
All right.
right or even the words of like well you're a woman so you can't preach or you can't like seriously before I left it was two days before I left somebody texted me and was like please stop rebelling against the Lord you're a woman and you shouldn't be speaking and I was like the team of six women that went to Rwanda and Uganda
Melissa Lapin (28:16.518)
Bro.
Melissa Lapin (28:27.225)
Oh!
Emily Evans (28:36.022)
the Lord used to lead 6,300 people to the Lord and over 100 healings. And I almost texted them after that and said, if six women weren't allowed to speak, there would be 6,300 less people, at least until God used somebody else. Because He'll get it done.
Melissa Lapin (28:42.779)
Come on take that devil
Melissa Lapin (29:00.835)
Right? Oh my gosh.
Emily Evans (29:02.938)
he'll get it done. If you say no, he'll get it done with somebody else. I mean, his plan's not going to change. His plan will get accomplished. And he wants to use every single one of us, but some of us are saying no.
Melissa Lapin (29:04.492)
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Melissa Lapin (29:17.262)
Yeah, because of religious reasons. You know, that stupid crap. I mean, read your Bible and do some research, people. When Paul said that women should sit down and not be heard, it's not what he was talking about. Ha ha ha.
Emily Evans (29:19.628)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (29:32.814)
Well, and you were talking about the woman at the well. She was one of the greatest evangelists in...yeah! And led thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people to the Lord.
Melissa Lapin (29:38.566)
She was the first.
Melissa Lapin (29:46.954)
And she wasn't Jewish, she was Samaritan. I mean, the story blows my mind every time I think about it and I get all jacked up so I can't start preaching on it because it'll be crazy. But everything about that story is anti-religious.
Emily Evans (29:48.994)
Yep.
Melissa Lapin (30:06.854)
Theology, you know, but it's pure gospel It's hang out with Jesus. Let him tell you about yourself Believe what he says about you and then go tell other people that hey this guy he knows you That's the gospel You know, oh I get so crazy about it
Emily Evans (30:22.582)
Right. Yeah.
That was one of the things that I preached on when I was in Africa, the woman at the well.
Melissa Lapin (30:33.722)
That's cool. That's very cool. So I'm sure that you are still unpacking and processing, because I know like my time that I've spent, because when I went on my missions trips, I did four, three missions trips to Cameroon, and then I lived there and did an internship for four months.
And that was 12 years ago and I am still unpacking things. There is something that happens on quite the regular basis that goes, oh, you know, and I'll have this moment with God, like I'll hear a song or somebody will say something and I'll have a flashback of having a conversation on the street with somebody or in the market or getting fish or whatever.
So, not that you've reached the end of any of it, but what are some heart things that he said to you? You know, what are some things, being as vulnerable, you know, like I said, being as vulnerable and transparent as you want, you don't have to share if it's too much. But you know, what are some of the things that he told your heart while you were there?
Emily Evans (31:51.571)
Um...
just that even when all the odds are against me, if he says that he's going to use me, he's going to use me regardless. And it doesn't matter whether my dad thinks I can do it, it doesn't matter whether my ex-husband thinks I can do it, it doesn't matter who thinks I can do it, if the Lord told me to do it and he's behind me, I'm going to do it. And all of his power and all of the power of heaven is going with me.
Melissa Lapin (32:04.015)
That's good.
Emily Evans (32:23.682)
And so just knowing that and having that confidence was like, okay, all right. I have to look at it through that perspective of like, it doesn't matter. I mean, yeah, it's not cool to have people being like, well, you can't do this. You're not going to do a good job with this. But when you have the perspective like I'm partnering with the Lord, what are you going to do about it?
Melissa Lapin (32:44.634)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (32:54.042)
When he shows up and just blows stuff out of the water, it's like, wow, that's amazing. And so one of the nights, I couldn't get to sleep because of the time change, and I was just hearing the song, You Said, Ask for the Nations, and I'll give them to you.
and it just kept playing over so I finally just turned it on my phone and I was like, Lord, I've wanted to influence the nations for my entire life and so just please let me make an effect on somebody and so I just felt like he said, you know, it's not just gonna be somebody it's gonna affect, it literally will affect the nations and so when they asked me to do the videos like
Melissa Lapin (33:44.293)
Hmm.
Emily Evans (33:49.366)
that's something that I can do from here, still be a missionary, still go back over there and everything, but I would have never thought of that, of being a missionary in that capacity. And I also want to do some discipleship ones, teaching people about their identity and things like that, which I haven't talked to the pastors about, but I don't think they're going to say no. But...
Melissa Lapin (34:11.922)
Mm-hmm.
Emily Evans (34:13.978)
But it's just cool when God confirms, like, this is who you are, walk in it. And so when I got back, I was struggling a lot more than what I thought I was going to, because I thought, you know, I'll get back, this is wonderful, God answered a dream of my life and everything, and I got back and I struggled. I was like...
Melissa Lapin (34:39.407)
Back to reality.
Emily Evans (34:42.282)
Yeah, because reality and reality didn't, weren't coming together. And I was getting so frustrated with people because I'm like, I was at a Bible study and the people were talking about like ordering groceries and I'm like, oh my gosh, if the people that I was just with had groceries, like, ahhhhhhhhh!
Melissa Lapin (34:49.572)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (35:05.961)
Yup.
Emily Evans (35:08.062)
And then they said, are there any prayer requests? I'm like, what do you mean are there prayer requests? Of course there's prayer requests.
Melissa Lapin (35:14.491)
Yeah, it's culture shock, man. You have to, when you come back from an impoverished nation, like most of Africa, and even me, when I was in Cameroon, I was in a college town. I was in Boya, which used to be the old capital. The capital now is Yaounde.
and it's the old government buildings and you know there's the universities there and I had an apartment that had running water sometime, it had electricity sometimes but I wasn't like in a mud hut like everybody. But people are like, you're going to go live in Africa? I'm like yeah, aren't you afraid of the lions? And I'm like, aye, there aren't lions all over Africa. I'm going to a city, I will be okay. We have taxis.
Emily Evans (36:01.006)
Hahaha
Melissa Lapin (36:07.652)
the things but I totally lost my thought.
Yeah, I totally lost my train of thought. And there was a point to what I was saying. Uh, um, yeah.
Emily Evans (36:21.875)
talking about impoverished nations.
Melissa Lapin (36:29.606)
Oh, yeah, just the culture shock coming back and decompressing. You know, it's like when you have to carry jugs of water a mile. I mean, like I live like they live. I there was no serving the white man, you know. But when you come back here and you think, my God, how shallow are we?
Emily Evans (36:56.363)
Right?
Melissa Lapin (36:57.446)
How shallow are we? And you can tell the people who've never been on a mission strip. You can tell the people who've never been where there isn't Starbucks access, you know? They get pissed off because there's no Wi-Fi or cell service, you know? And they let the water run. Oh my God, that triggers me faster than anything because, you know, we would go days without water.
Emily Evans (37:02.596)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (37:08.718)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (37:20.994)
You know two and three and four days sometimes without water So you literally had to bottle water and like sponge bath and wash all the private parts and You know and then people are just like And i'm like turn off the water It's the little things it's just crazy
Emily Evans (37:27.128)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (37:41.966)
But even in that, God was really good because one of the days that I was really having a hard time, I was like, Lord, I just need someone who's been to Africa that I can talk to. And I was driving to church and I knew that my pastor had been on a missions trip to Africa. And I thought, I'll just go up and talk to him after the service. Well, during the service, he goes, well, on my missions trip to Africa, blah, yeah.
Melissa Lapin (37:51.86)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (38:08.074)
Ah, come on, God. See how God, God love how God does that. He just knows. That's really cool.
Emily Evans (38:12.706)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (38:15.915)
Yeah.
Melissa Lapin (38:23.594)
I don't know. Do you got anything else you want to share about the trip? Or we can kind of land the plane? Are you going back? OK.
Emily Evans (38:30.922)
it's just i would just oh yeah i'm going back i don't know when but i do plan on going back and i would like to go back once a year we'll see what the lord has but i've made really good uh... friends with a lot of the pastors and so i really want to do the video series and stuff like that and i don't know what that looks like
Melissa Lapin (38:45.307)
Yep.
Melissa Lapin (38:59.902)
Do you have the resources for that yet?
Emily Evans (39:02.493)
Uh, no.
Melissa Lapin (39:03.802)
Okay. Put it out there. Put it out there and ask. Do you know Nathan Baller? Nathan Buller? From S-Okay? Yeah, reach out to him. I feel that. Yeah, reach out to him and ask him. Because he does podcast editing and things like that. He might have access to, he might be able to help you out.
Emily Evans (39:05.698)
So.
Emily Evans (39:13.87)
for me, okay? Yeah. Okay.
Emily Evans (39:30.222)
Okay.
Melissa Lapin (39:30.682)
with some things or point you in the right direction at least. And if you're, does your church record their videos? Their, yeah, reach out to your audio, the AV crew, the head of that, if you know them and just say, look, this is the opportunity I have, do I have options?
Emily Evans (39:34.158)
Okay.
Emily Evans (39:43.987)
Okay.
Emily Evans (39:52.366)
Okay, alright, yeah, I'll do that.
Melissa Lapin (39:54.542)
Yeah, those are two resources that I feel the Lord saying, check in on. And if it's about money, again, put it out there and ask, ask SKOK family, we'll all help you.
Emily Evans (40:00.788)
Okay.
Emily Evans (40:09.486)
Thank you.
Melissa Lapin (40:10.746)
Yeah, for sure. This has been good. I think I think this is a good place to land. Unless you have anything else you want to share you feel the Lord might want you to put out there.
Emily Evans (40:27.758)
I would just encourage people that if you have a dream that has not been fulfilled yet, don't give up on it. Because like mine, it could be a 30 plus year thing and God's not saying no, He's just saying my time.
Melissa Lapin (40:45.326)
Not yet. Yeah, yeah. That's a good word. We get so impatient, especially in this country, that we just want it bigger, better, faster now. So.
Thank you, Emily. It was good to sit here for another hour I'm like wait, let's record it so Again, thank you guys for listening if this is your first time or you came back to listen to the rest of Emily's story Thanks for returning Like us love us give us some feedback share us on the social medias and any of the platforms
Emily Evans (41:00.355)
Yeah.
Hahaha
Melissa Lapin (41:29.097)
us so that we can just
Let people's stories be known because our stories are just, they have verbal effect and we never know how our story is going to affect other people. And I can't wait for people in Uganda to hear this after you tell them. So I will have listeners in Uganda. I've already got some in South Africa and Namibia and yeah, I think that's all right now in Africa. So I would love to have some Kenyan in Uganda.
and listeners once you get famous and popular or we'll make you famous. Okay she was on my show when so anyway um thanks a lot for being here and we will chat with everybody on another day. Yeah.
Emily Evans (42:07.426)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (42:12.678)
Yeah.
Emily Evans (42:25.39)
Thank you for having me.