Year End
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First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. I'm reminded that the Spirit of God is the same everywhere in the world. He works. The culture's different, but the work of the Spirit is the same. You know, people can tell you about things, but until you experience them yourself, I don't know if you learned that lesson or not.

Just two of the voices you'll hear on this year-end edition of First Person. Welcome, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thanks for joining us for this, the last program of 2023, our 13th full year of production for First Person. We appreciate the many radio stations who continue to provide the airtime and, of course, the many listeners who tune in each week. We're found online at firstpersoninterview.com and on social media at facebook.com slash firstpersoninterview.

Please use our free smartphone app to download and listen to programs at your convenience. Look for the app First Person Interview in your app store and begin downloading interviews.

Well, at the end of each year, we like to revisit a couple of highlights from past programs. We're going to listen to parts of two programs from 2023. Later, Dr. Mark Jobe and Ed Cannon join me as we wrapped up our trip to South Korea last June. But first, recorded at their home, here's NASCAR Hall of Famer, driver, and broadcaster Darrell Waltrip and his wife Stevie talking about their life and testimony. He was invited to speak at a Billy Graham event

event leading up to Billy Graham's day to speak to people, to preach. And I said, so what are you going to talk about?

And he said, I don't know. He said, what can I talk about? I said, well, first thing, they don't want to hear about Junior Johnson and all the races that you've won. They want to hear what Jesus has done in your life. And I said, Daryl, I feel like I've been married to two different men with the same name. And that made a difference. That made him...

Think about the before Jesus and the after Jesus. Makes me cry right now just telling you this story. Big turning point, though. Yeah, it was. Big turning point. It was. Well, there were a lot of things. When I was driving for Junior Johnson, there was a guy named Roger that was working in a parts department. Strong, strong Christian. Read the Bible. He knew the Bible inside and out.

So one day, we're getting ready to run Wilkesboro, and we're on, let's say, on a Friday or Saturday, race on Sunday. I go in the parts department for a summit, and Roger says, hey, are you a Christian? And, you know, I said, well, I don't know. Why do you ask? He said, well, you don't act like one. If you're a Christian, you don't really act like one. He said, you know, you need to start to, you really ought to start giving the Lord a little credit for your accomplishments.

Because without the Lord, you would not have been able to do anything that you've been able to do. And so he wasn't preaching to me, but he was lecturing. How did it make you feel at the time? Oh, I felt about two feet tall. I mean, I sunk in my shoes right there because I kind of thought I was a Christian, but I wasn't sure if I was a Christian. I'd never really prayed the prayer, you know, to ask the Lord to come into my heart, forgive me of my sins. I'd never really done that. But anyway...

So Roger, he goes through this whole deal. And so Sunday I win the race, and I think about we're in Wilkesboro. I think about Roger. I said, I'm going to give the Lord a – I got out of the car and said, I want to thank Goodyear, and I want to thank God, and I want to thank all the fans for my win today. Well, when I said I want to thank God, like Monday and Tuesday of that next week,

All these people were saying, I had no idea you were a Christian. Praise the Lord you're a Christian. Thank you for it.

And I thought, wow, just that one little word, you know, one thing I said made a huge difference. And so that kind of got the ball rolling. Gave you boldness. And it woke me up and kind of got my attention. And from then on, you know, I want to thank the Lord every week. I'd say, if I won, I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity to win this race today. Well, a lot of, there were, there were still, you know, and I had to take a lot of, when you're, when you're,

uh on top of the world everything's going your way there were people say you mean you think the lord gives you privileges over everybody else i said no no no no i don't think that at all i just think he blessed me today because because of who i am and what i've done and so

It was funny because for a while I was kind of torn between should I say I'm thankful for this win today or should I let it go? And so it just became a habit. It's interesting to hear about the quiet witness behind the scenes, this guy in the parts department and Stevie. Yeah. And people like that just contributing little by little to,

to your spiritual awakening. Well, they had their hand on me and they wouldn't let go. I was, I'll never forget, we're at Hillsborough High School, Dr. Cortez Cooper. I don't know if you remember Dr. Cooper or not. No, I don't. And we had not gone for the first 10 or 11 years of our marriage. We did not have a church to go to. And then we had dear friends, well, they weren't even dear friends at the time. They became dear friends, but they invited us to go to church with them and

And we started going on Wednesday nights because we were always gone on the weekend. So we started going to a Bible study at this Christ Presbyterian Church at Hillsborough High School decades and decades ago to a Bible study that they had on Wednesday nights.

And we both just loved the pastor, Cortez Cooper. We'd never heard the word preached like him. It was just a phenomenal spiritual time in both of our lives. And he was a guy's guy.

I mean, Dr. Cooper, he knew more about me than I knew about myself. Isn't that interesting? So those Wednesday night prayer meetings turned into a turning point. And that's how we met Michael Card, too. He came one morning, and this young man comes out with his guitar and starts singing this song. And Daryl and I are sitting there. We had never heard any kind of music, spiritual music, like Michael Card music.

And we are looking at each other like, oh my gosh, this is so incredibly beautiful. And he's saying about Simeon, well, we didn't know who Simeon was. So we're on the way to Talladega, and we get to the Holiday Inn where we stayed, and I'm running around trying to find a Bible and asking people,

Who's Simeon? I've got to find out who this guy is because Michael Card's singing about him. And so the Lord just used him in a mighty way in both of our lives. I could sit here all day long and listen to you guys tell stories. And I was so moved a few years ago when you were invited to Washington, D.C.,

And spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. Yeah. You were in front of world leaders. Yeah. One of the largest platforms ever given to anybody. Yeah. And there you are faithfully telling people they needed Jesus. Yeah. Well, my friend, the governor from South Carolina, had been the governor of South Carolina, called me and asked me would I like to go to the prayer breakfast.

And I said, well, I've never really been. I said, what would I do? And he said, we want you to be the keynote speaker. I said, oh, no, no, no, no. You got the wrong guy. I can't. I'm not qualified. I don't think I could do that. But anyway, he said, no, we've group got together, and we all decided we want you to be the keynote speaker. So just think about it and then call me back and let me know. So I thought, I can't do that.

I mean, you're right. The Dalai Lama was there. Right. He sat right in front of me. And the president of the United States. And the president sat right beside the president of the United States. So it's a big deal, you know. But anyway, for three months, I'd write a speech or I'd write things down. I'd tell her. She said, no good. That ain't going to fly. No, no, no, no. How's that? No, that ain't going to go. Finally, after three months of...

process of elimination. I came up with a speech, a presentation, and she liked it. And so on Tuesday morning here at the house, every Tuesday morning we have a Bible study.

About 100 men come every Tuesday morning to the house here for a Bible study. So it was on a Tuesday morning, and I said, I'm going to try it out on them. And if these guys are a bunch of older guys, if they like it, I'll feel pretty good about it. So I went down and I did the presentation like I was going to do at the prayer breakfast. They loved it. They said, if you can do that,

I think you'll be okay. That's quite a focus group you had there. Oh, it was. No kidding. Yeah, yeah. But anyway, so, and I got to, we got to Washington, and I, you know, I get a little uptight when I have to talk for a crowd of people. I just had a, there was just a piece about it that I never had before, and I was prepared. I knew what I wanted to say. Now, knowing what you want to say and saying it is,

Two totally different things, as you well know. But anyway, they came and got us that morning, and I slept good the night before. They came and got us that morning. We walked down and met the president and the first lady, passed the Dalai Lama in the hallway, and then we went up on stage. And it just all felt normal. It felt like I was at a driver's meeting or something like that. And so I got up, and a friend of ours –

who passed away recently, Stan Hardcastle, he's there. He'd come from Franklin to hear the speech. And he was at a table with these people and he said, now listen,

And Stan, you don't know Stan, but Stan said, now listen, when he gets up there, I want y'all to say boogity, boogity, boogity. Let's go racing, boys. And so they introduced me. And as soon as they introduced me, he has his table saying boogity, boogity, boogity. And they don't even know what they're saying. They just said, of course, that's what he. But anyway, so that broke the ice. It put you at ease? I was at ease.

And I just went right through it. Daryl and Stevie Waltrip, a first-person highlight from 2023. Coming up, we take you to South Korea.

Hi, I'm Ed Cannon. And as you know, situations around the world are changing quickly. Stay current with FEBC's ministry and get a deeper understanding of people who need to find hope. Hear how you can feel the pulse of God's Spirit moving through the hearts of believers dedicated to reaching the lost. Be sure you join me for the podcast until all have heard. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.

Search for Until All Have Heard on your favorite podcast platform or hear it online at febc.org.

Here's another first-person highlight from 2023. Last June, Ed Kennan of the Far East Broadcasting Company invited Dr. Mark Jobe of the Moody Bible Institute and me to accompany him to South Korea to attend the 50-year celebration of Dr. Billy Graham's landmark crusade. Towards the end of our time, we sat down to talk about the experience. Here's Mark. First, I'm in South Korea, and actually for the listeners, we're in Korea right now as we're doing this interview. Yes.

And it has been a great experience. I had always wanted to come to Korea, in part because what I've read of what God has done in this country. And when you come here, it's amazing to think that after World War II, there was very, very few Christians in this nation. And now...

The church is exploding. Some of the largest churches in the world are here. There's a fervency. There's morning prayer meetings. There's a missionary zeal here. And it's truly been a work of God in this country.

Yeah, it's not my first time here at all, Mark. But to be honest, every time I come, I feel more and more encouraged at the depth of the belief and the commitment of the churches to making disciples of Jesus Christ in this Korean nation.

There's no way that we can describe over the radio, Wayne, what we've seen in these categories. I was telling Mark just a few minutes ago, we didn't get the opportunity on this trip to do it, but many times I've attended early morning prayer meetings in churches where there'll be 5,000 people at 4.30 in the morning.

before they go to work at the day. And if nothing else, that level of discipline to make that commitment to commit your day to prayer every day is just such a symbol of how important their faith is to the Korean church. Every time I travel like this, I go home fired up because I learn so much. I'm inspired by what I see Christians around the world doing

And it encourages me and it makes me want to work harder at what I do, Mark. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, being in the stadium a couple days ago with 60,000 people celebrating the 50th year anniversary of the Billy Graham crusade, Franklin Graham preached there. And one of my highlights was to see a 10,000 member choir there.

And it was a powerful thing to hear that choir singing and to be in that stadium. I leaned over to Ed's wife and I said, the next time I see a choir like this or hear a choir like this, I'll be in heaven. That's right. It sounded so good. And then, obviously, to hear Franklin Graham's message with an altar call at the end, which was important. And about over 6,000 people came to Christ. Yeah.

It was a powerful experience. Yeah, I guess we should explain, Wayne, that that event that Mark is talking about, the 50th anniversary of a crusade that Billy Graham did here in Seoul, Korea in 1973...

where Billy Kim, the FEBC chairman now, was his translator. And the stories they tell about the number of people and the level of Christian revival that came across Korea after that event, more and more and more stories. So it's our prayer that not only those 60,000 people in the stadium, but the other 30,000 that didn't get in because there wasn't any seats left,

And the 250,000 who were listening on the radio and watching on television, it's our prayer that this would make a similar difference and that that commitment to Korea would come. You both had the opportunity to preach in Korean churches while we were here. We were here over a weekend, which included a Sunday, of course. And Ed, I was with you as you preached, and Mark preached a couple of times as well. Talk about the experience. What was that like? Well, let's just be clear. Ed preached three times.

I preach twice. Okay, all right. It wasn't a competition? I didn't realize that. No. It was a perseverance event where preaching three times in one day is really a challenge. I have a much deeper appreciation now for pastors who do that sort of thing regularly. Mark, I told Ed that I was...

present for each of his messages, I could give the message now. Maybe not as well. Not as well. No, not nearly as well. I felt bad for Ed, too, because when he was preaching, it was about probably four o'clock in the morning our time. So it was, but you know, it was a great experience. And the translator that we had, he was very dynamic and

And I always worry about the translator because sometimes you lose, but this guy kept right in step. And I felt I had an opportunity to pray for multiple people after the messages that God had touched. And so I'm reminded that the Spirit of God is the same everywhere in the world. He works. The culture's different.

The language is different, but the work of the Spirit is the same, and the power of the Word is the same, no matter where you go in the world. Yeah. At a couple of times, as we drove around to various meetings, we would comment about the neatness and orderliness of the community, and these cities are beautiful. We were in Busan, and I didn't realize what a

a large city it is. It's the second largest city in South Korea. And it was just neat as a pin. There's absolutely no litter. People's yards are immaculate. People's cars are immaculate. There is no homeless population here that's evident to anyone. At least it wasn't evident on the street to us. And I certainly believe that that speaks to just...

the level of discipline in their lives not just on their Christian faith but of course everyone here lives that way. It is a different feeling being in Korea than being anywhere in the United States and I really love it. I think I've had the Korean barbecue five times since I've been here. Yes, I can attest it was exactly five times. Yeah, and it's delicious and we love it but I'm maybe looking forward to some spaghetti or something like that.

And we've been inspired by the leadership we've seen from the top on down. We've had such great servant leadership by those who have served us while we're here, from our drivers all the way up to Dr. Billy Kim. Talk about the leadership that you've seen, Mark, and the passion they have to reach people for Christ. You know what struck me is that there has been gospel penetration even to the high levels of government leaders

And I met several government officials, workers, the head of all of the police, 20,000 police here in Korea, all of them who seem to have a...

at least a God consciousness and a willingness to participate in Christian activity, which tells me that the gospel has penetrated every level of society. Yeah, I mean, the introduction at the 50th anniversary celebration we had on what looked to me to be about a 100-foot big wall,

LCD television was the president of South Korea he gave a very gracious invitation to everyone who came to the event and it appeared in his language Mark that he was really a Christ follower his language was crystal clear he obviously referred to the gospel several times

And, yeah, it's such an encouragement to see that, as you said, at the highest levels of government, and we know many of the parliamentarians here in Korea that serve the government are very, very dedicated Christians. And I think it shows in the respect that people in the community have for them.

Christians in general. Let me mention that we are speaking from a very large hotel in one of the large cities. Nearby is one of the 13 radio stations by FEBC, operated by FEBC in this country. And there is a steering committee meeting going on right now. When I say steering committee, I think of, you know, a dozen people. There's 1,100 people in the room upstairs. And we snuck out because they're speaking Korean and we wouldn't understand it anyway. But

It was something to be a part of that meeting for part of the day today and to see these are people who are supporters and actually guiding the ministry, 1,100 of them to operate 13 radio stations. You know, I'm impressed by the evangelistic fervor

that exists in the Korean church. Ministries like FEBC that are broadcasting really all around the country here. But I love the fact, by the way, that there is a station dedicated almost primarily to broadcasting the gospel into North Korea, which is a closed country.

People can't get in there. Ed, mention that. I love that. Sure. FEBC had been broadcasting into North Korea on shortwave radio for almost 50 years. And knowing the absence of the gospel that exists in North Korea, it's been a primary focus of FEBC for quite a time to get a stronger signal and put on more hours of the day than we could do on shortwave radio.

So FBC Korea staff built a 200,000 watt AM station, which was a monumental task in and of itself, getting the permission from the international communications groups and making sure our signal doesn't interfere with airplane traffic. And that signal now has been going into North Korea for about three years. We know for sure it's very strong because we can measure it on the opposite side of North Korea up into China.

and Russia. So we know that the signal is strong. We know that people have radios because we hear from refugees that come out of the country, and we know it's difficult for them to listen to the radio. But the evidence of people hearing the gospel on these powerful radio stations and the difference it's making in a country that's absolutely oppressing Christianity in a way that's unimaginable to Americans is an enormous difference.

We could talk a lot more about what we've learned this week, and I really appreciate both of you and the attitude that I've seen you...

you know, just pray for this country as we've gone along. And I just appreciate that. Thanks, Ed, for the invitation. No, I'm so glad to have both of you here. I think Mark and I share a common passion for the gospel and working together in partnership is clearly the instructions that Christ gave us. I want you to be unified, one. And while Mark is serving as the president of the Moody Bible Institute...

I'm serving as the president of FEBC International, and together we can reach far more people and have a far deeper and more lasting impact for the world. And that's our goal, right, Mark? Absolutely. Beautiful partnership that God has created. And you know, at the heart of both Moody and FEBC is the desire that every person on earth would be touched and transformed by the gospel of Jesus.

every tribe and tongue and nation. It was indeed a highlight of the year for First Person to have the opportunity to travel with Mark Jobe and Ed Cannon to Seoul and to experience Korean hospitality. It was a short, but as you heard, meaningful trip for all of us. Again, thanks for listening this year to First Person. As the Lord leads, we'll continue to provide you with interviews in 2024 that point people to the work of God and the lives of those who serve Him.

In the meantime, please know that all of our interviews from the past 13 years are available to listen to anytime online at FirstPersonInterview.com. And a big thank you to the Far East Broadcasting Company for the support which helps bring you these weekly programs. Please visit febc.org to learn more about this great ministry. Now with thanks to my friend and producer Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Happy New Year from First Person.