Today's Issues continues on AFR with Steve Paisley Jordal

Tim Wildmon Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association. Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm, Tim Wildmon with Ed Battagliano. And now Steve Paisley Jordal joins us. How you doing, brother Steve?

Steve Jordahl I am well.

Tim Wildmon Donning. Donning. I said donning. The, paisley shirt.

Steve Jordahl Donning the paisley. Got the paisley. Got it.

Ed Vitagliano My favorite one of yours.

Steve Jordahl Thank you.

Tim Wildmon I'm glad.

Ed Vitagliano I like that. That, color combination.

Steve Jordahl Thank you. It's golden, silver and gold and black. So it's like Raiders and saints.

Ed Vitagliano New Orleans Saints.

Steve Jordahl Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah, I like it.

Tim Wildmon So, Steve. What. Give us a good word, man. What's happening in your world?

Steve Jordahl In my world?

Tim Wildmon Yeah, your world, Steve.

Steve Jordahl I'm a short timer here. I'm here for today and tomorrow, and then I'm off for a week, or so.

Ed Vitagliano Going on vacation.

Steve Jordahl Going on vacation cruise. Yeah. Mentioned this. On Friday, Heather and I are going to Alaska.

Ed Vitagliano well, you just missed the. The big Trump Putin meeting.

Steve Jordahl I know. Well, no, I. And I mentioned this yesterday or Friday. I said if we could have just told him to hold off a week.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Steve Jordahl I would have covered it, and then y' all would have had to pay for it.

Koku Loco That's right.

Tim Wildmon You don't want all that politics anyway. You're going to see nature.

Steve Jordahl That's right. We're gonna go see icebergs and orcas.

Tim Wildmon That sounds like a country song.

Steve Jordahl It does, doesn't it?

Ed Vitagliano Icebergs and orcas.

Tim Wildmon Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be orcas. I don't know. Maybe that's a reach. I think that's a reach, Ed.

Ed Vitagliano That's a reach.

Koku and Yvette Loco are from Togo, West Africa

Tim Wildmon Okay, so we have a couple of guests in studio. Today's guest in studio day.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And, of course, Buddy Smith was with us last half hour, and he. He, came to us all the way from down the hall. our next two guests came all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.

Ed Vitagliano Right.

Tim Wildmon And, so we have in studio with us Koku and Yvette Loco. And, I wanted to welcome. Welcome you.

Koku Loco thank you.

Tim Wildmon Koku and Yvette.

Yvette Loco Yes, sir. Yvette.

Tim Wildmon Thank you. Now, Steve grew up. You spend a lot of your youth in Madagascar, right?

Steve Jordahl I did a formative part of my youth, but on the.

Tim Wildmon On the mission field.

Steve Jordahl On the mission field is in Madagascar, which is a French colony. And Togo from where, local, Coco and Yvette are from, is also French speaking. So we're going to be speaking French.

Tim Wildmon Okay, now this is good. I mean no disrespect, Koku. This sounds funny to say.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon You're Coco Loco.

Koku Loco I am, yeah.

Tim Wildmon Real one from Togo?

Koku Loco Yes, sir.

Tim Wildmon Right?

Koku Loco Yes. Real one for Jesus.

Tim Wildmon So, Koku. So I don't want people to think I'm making this up. Coco Loco and his wife Yvette, they are in the United States visiting with the, folks who support their ministry. Their ministry is based out of,

Koku Loco what a mission.

Tim Wildmon The. The country again?

Koku Loco Yes. Togo, West Africa.

Tim Wildmon If you look at the map of Africa, Togo is in West Africa, a sliver. A small country, geographically.

Koku Loco By Ghana.

Tim Wildmon By Ghana.

Koku Loco Ghana. Yeah.

Tim Wildmon But you speak French.

Koku Loco Yeah. Yes, sir.

Tim Wildmon Why is that?

Koku Loco Well, it's probably by God's providence they came and chopped the land.

Tim Wildmon So, is this Post World War II or post World War I? You bet. That, those countries came into existence.

Yvette Loco World War II, but before World War I or, between. We were under, Germany.

Koku Loco German.

Yvette Loco Oh, German.

Tim Wildmon German. Then after world war.

Koku Loco After World War II, well, they have a conference they call the Conference of Yalta.

Tim Wildmon Yes.

Koku Loco And United States decided to hand Africa over to the British and the French.

Tim Wildmon Is this what we call colonization?

Koku Loco Yeah.

Yvette Loco Yes, sir.

Tim Wildmon And that's not too popular in Africa, is it?

Koku Loco It's not. We wish united, States came. But it was. I don't know.

Tim Wildmon So, yeah. Anyway, anyway, so that's your homeland. And you. You. You have a. You bet. Tell us about your ministry there in your homeland. And then. Steve, jump in after that. Go ahead.

Yvette Loco Okay. we went back to Togo in 2000 to set up, our ministry. We have, four churches and we have a radio station going on now. And, we have, We just opened up a, hospital In Nautilus, February 2024. So, we do evangelization preaching. And, we have kids that we do VBS with. And in our Sunday school we have kids from birth till teenager. and we have youth and women ministry. And, on the radio we have women ministry. And, at the radio too, we have like a youth, young, girl or young ladies ministry that we help them with to be. Just. To be pure, to be, virgin till they get married.

We have one church in one of the villages where we are going now

Ed Vitagliano Amen.

Yvette Loco And, we have young, men that, we talk to on the radio. And men too. They have their show on the radio. And in the churches we have the same 10 groups that we help with. And, pretty soon, well, we have one church in one of the village that we gonna we are going now. We send chaplain there. That is, maybe in the future, in the next future, we'll have a church there for that village. Yeah.

How did you come to know Christ? That is a good question

Tim Wildmon So how did you come to know Christ?

Koku Loco Well, that is a good question. we were, we were French colony, but ratim m. I never seen French missionary in my Life. So in 1997, a friend has invited me to come along with him to attend an evangelist meeting conducted by an American missionary.

Tim Wildmon Where was this?

Koku Loco His, name? Is he what, what year it was? 19, 79, 40 something years ago.

Tim Wildmon How old are you? Because you're my age, I think I'm 62. What are you?

Koku Loco Oh, you have my, my little brother.

Tim Wildmon Oh, you're older than that?

Koku Loco Yeah, I'm 64.

Tim Wildmon Okay, well, not too much.

Koku Loco Okay.

Ed Vitagliano We don't ask ladies how old they are.

Koku Loco Yeah, she's 29.

Tim Wildmon So we are not going to ask you how old you are. You don't worry about that. Okay.

Koku Loco So I didn't want to go because this friend, his mom was called Madame Voodoo.

Tim Wildmon Madam Voodoo, Yeah.

Koku Loco Born into an idol gal. So she told Simon and myself, the day I'll catch you near the church building, you dead. That kind of lady. So I didn't want to go with, Simone. He went in the space of two hours. My friend came back crazy. I was studying for an exam and he prompt the gate open. I got saved. I got saved. I said what I got. And he wanted me to get saved on the spot. I said, simon, if you really got saved, you know the person you need to talk to. Go and tell, Madame Vodou. Well, three weeks later, I called Simon because I saw a total change. And I said, take me to your missionary. In French high school, we taught us philosophy. So I prepared to go and question that missionary, the late David Field. His name is David. And Elwanda, Field, ABW missionary. And I got there Wednesday evening prayer meeting. He pull out his Bible, started reading from Ecclesiastes. Probably he knew I was coming. I don't know. Young man, rejoice in your youth. He was reading in English, translating in French for a while. I stopped. I said, is that thing in the Bible telling me to rejoice? I didn't know the end was coming. The end was. But no doubt that for all those things, God will bring you to judgment. And that got right into my heart. And that night I gave my life to Christ. American m Missionaries. Never seen a French missionary in my life.

Tim Wildmon And here we are today, some, whatever.

Koku Loco It is, 40, 50 something.

Tim Wildmon Years later. And Christ changed your life so radically that you went into the pastorate and full time ministry and you guys were talking to Koku and Yvette Loco. L O K O. And they are from I got it brother. I got it to help me. Got it. Togo West Africa. And if you want to learn more now you, on your card that you have here with me, it says Global Impact Ministries in Montgomery, Alabama. Now what's your affiliation with them?

Koku Loco Well, we are under the umbrella, as national. We have to go under an umbrella of U.S. mission base. So that is how we do because anybody who want to support us, they can send the support directly to Togo. They have to go through Global Impact.

Tim Wildmon Ministries in Montgomery, Alabama.

Koku Loco Yes sir.

Ed Vitagliano Nobody, nobody's sending money to anyone in Africa simply because we all get emails. Remember the Nigerian prince, right? Everyone got these emails. If you will send me this, my kind of money, I can give you all this. So I like the idea that they, there's a US based missions group that people can check out and feel confident in saving money to your ministry.

Koku Loco Please don't, don't send it.

You asked how does God get his message to the ends of the earth

Steve Jordahl Coco, you, you gave us some devotions this morning. You led our devotions and you brought us to the book of Acts, the first chapter.

Koku Loco Yes sir.

Steve Jordahl And you brought us to the verse where God or Jesus says it's not for you to know the time or the seasons, that my father is fixed by his own hands. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come m upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of earth. And that's when I found out that you and I share a passion for radio.

Koku Loco Yes sir.

Steve Jordahl I grew up just in love with radio. I don't know why it, I just was. My heroes were disc jockeys and radio personalities and talk show host and everything. But you asked how does God get his message to the ends of the earth? And the answer is through radio. And you have a radio ministry in Togo?

Koku Loco Yes sir.

Steve Jordahl Tell me about that.

Koku Loco Well, in 2000 or 19, 98 when I graduated from New Orleans Baptist Seminary, we wanted to go home because my heart was for Africa. So finally this pastor has part. We went and I listened to some radio. When I was living in 1988, I came here in 1988. There was no such thing as Christian radio. So by the time you get back, we have few Christian radio. And I listen. I was sick to my stomach.

Tim Wildmon False teaching, false Teaching.

Koku Loco Yeah. False teaching.

Tim Wildmon Somebody here in the US or back home?

Steve Jordahl In.

Tim Wildmon In.

Koku Loco I'm m. I'm in Togo.

Tim Wildmon In Togo. Okay. Yeah, I got you.

Koku Loco False teaching.

Tim Wildmon Okay, gotcha.

Koku Loco you know, get rich. Yeah. So even and I, we had wishful thought. If God can give us a radio. So we came back. I talked to my pastor. He was at North Oxford.

Tim Wildmon North Oxford, Yeah. I'm helping interpret for you. I seem like I'm repeating everything you say, so. Only trying to help our American audience.

Koku Loco Okay. Okay.

Tim Wildmon Just trying to be helpful.

Koku Loco Thank you.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Koku Loco You're welcome. So not as for Baptist church.

Tim Wildmon Yes.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Orthodox Baptist church.

Koku Loco Yeah. So I talked to him. I said my heart was burning for radio. And he said, well, I don't know anything about radio, but I have a man in my church. He talked with the man, the late, Bill Collier, and he said, well, I think he was a retired colonel in the army. He said, I don't know anything about radio, but, I have a radio station not far from us. I'm going to call. And he made a call. He made a call to your dad. My dad, yes.

Tim Wildmon This would been. What year was this?

Koku Loco Two, thousand. 2001.

Tim Wildmon So you're affiliated. You know, there's some people at North Oxford Baptist Church in Oxford, Mississippi, which is an hour away from here.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon You started talking to them about radio. The gentleman there says, I don't know anything about radio, but I'll call somebody who does because I know. So he calls Don Wildmon in Tupelo, speaks to him, and that's. And then what happened next?

Koku Loco Well, your dad said, well, come on over. And, he came. He gave a, transmitter. 250 watt transmitter to microphone.

Tim Wildmon You came over here?

Koku Loco No, I didn't. They came.

Tim Wildmon What happened? You bet.

Yvette Loco the man that was, retired. He passed.

A man came to Tupelo looking for help with a Christian radio station

Now, that was the man that.

Tim Wildmon He came to Tupelo. He met with my dad and said, I know this couple looking to put a Christian radio station on in Africa. Can you help? My dad said, yes, we can help. And donated a transmitter to you, right?

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon How do we. How did we get it there? Just shipped it on a boat.

Koku Loco They ship it? Yeah, they ship it. And we got it. one antenna. I remember one.

Tim Wildmon Do you know what to do with it? Yeah. Obviously knew it.

Koku Loco No, I. Well, I was glad it got there, but I found some people and put it on there and December 2001. 2002, we wait for midnight. We were having the midnight week and wow, we launch it.

Ed Vitagliano I love your enthusiasm. I love. That's awesome.

Koku and Yvette Loco Loko founded American Family Radio

Tim Wildmon Talking to Koku and Yvette Loco Loko.

Ed Vitagliano They are from Togo, West Africa.

Tim Wildmon That good it.

Ed Vitagliano I'm following the conversation.

Tim Wildmon Yes. Yes. And, they have a ministry. They're reaching thousands of Africans, and they are affiliated here in the US With Global Impact Ministries, which is, out of Montgomery, Alabama. We're talking about the story of how they got the radio station on the air, and that was because of, working with my dad, and who founded this ministry and who founded American Family Radio. It was my dad that God put the vision in his heart and in his mind to found a radio network, which now is 180 radio stations. Roughly 170. 180 radio stations all over the US and, also we have radio in Togo. Yes.

Koku Loco And I know your dad before I know you.

Tim Wildmon Yes, you did.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Yes, you did. Are you disappointed now?

Koku Loco I'm disappointed he's gone, but he.

Tim Wildmon Disappointed he's gone.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Okay. But we have a good relationship.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon All right. So, Steve, next question.

Christian Koku's microphone keeps cutting in and out on live radio

Steve Jordahl Well, I just, speaking of, your dad passing, I just wanted to extend my condolences to you, Brother Koku. I understand that you found out this morning that you lost your brother.

Koku Loco Yeah, midnight, they called me. that is, the chief or the head of our family. M. Our parents. They're gone. So he's the oldest that is left for the family, and he's gone.

Steve Jordahl I'm so sorry.

Koku Loco Is Christian.

Steve Jordahl so does that bring.

Koku Loco No.

Steve Jordahl Some new, responsibilities to you?

Koku Loco Yeah, it does a. Ah, little bit.

Tim Wildmon Scary, but is his microphone cutting in and out mean that is affecting the listening audience? Brent or not. I'm sorry I'm having to ask this live on the radio, but his microphone keeps cutting in and out on my earpieces. Yours?

Koku Loco Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano no, I wouldn't.

Tim Wildmon Just my earpiece. Maybe it's me.

Koku Loco Is that, is that good now?

Steve Jordahl Yes.

What's the most popular local food there in your country?

Tim Wildmon I gotta ask you vet something here. what's, What's the most popular local, food there in your country? If I come to. If I come to, Togo, West Africa, Zed says, and I visit you. Which my brother Coco wants us to do. and I'd love to do that sometime, but what are you gonna. What are you going to make for us here?

Yvette Loco Well, if it's a, Togolese food like I did for brother Kevan and brother Josh, I'll make, two of our engineers.

Tim Wildmon You're talking about who came to your homeland last year.

Yvette Loco Yes. I'll make fufu with, chicken or beef Sauce Fufu. Fufu. It's made out of yam.

Tim Wildmon Yam.

Ed Vitagliano Yam.

Tim Wildmon We sweet potatoes.

Yvette Loco No, no, yam. Yeah, yam like cassava. but it's a little bit different. Different from cassava. Yam. And we pound it.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Yvette Loco And then, it's like, it's a little bit sticky, but, it's white. And then we, we do white sauce, with the meat with seasoning and then we pour it over, ah, the fufu and we eat with our hands. But for you, we can give you a spoon.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Yvette Loco That you can.

Ed Vitagliano So that. But that would be considered a, ah, African food. Okay.

Yvette Loco Yeah. Togolese food. But I can make.

Tim Wildmon You got chicken or beef.

Yvette Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And then you've got spices.

Yvette Loco Onion, cloves, garlic, ginger.

Tim Wildmon Okay. So really a lot of flavors.

Yvette Loco Yes, yes, yes. And I can make you some American.

Tim Wildmon Well, if some American food.

Yvette Loco Foods too.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah, I, I do have. Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Koku Loco No, I want, if you want some witness, you just go to North Os, call a few people there. The doctors they say coming because she can make real good.

Tim Wildmon I drive over and I have some of that. Right.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano I was going to say, you also have a hospital. Yes. and I like that. I like when Christians will preach the gospel, but then also reach out to help with the needs of the people. Because that's, that's a, that's a draw to the people and it shows in the love of God.

Koku Loco Yeah, that is true. The different between United States hospital or radio and what we have in Togo is that America radio, don't get me wrong, is nothing. Okay. Radio, television.

Ed Vitagliano Oh, doesn't mean anything to the people.

Koku Loco No, not necessarily.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Koku Loco But in Africa is just a tool to reach people.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Koku Loco and you can use radio reach Muslims. You cannot get to their house, but they can listen to some program like good nutrition, good health to nutrition.

Ed Vitagliano Okay.

Koku Loco But in that program, it's not just nutrition. The Bible is hidden somewhere.

Koku Loco Okay, you can read Vodu people because you cannot knock at their door with Bible. But somehow they get tuned into the radio. I don't know what guided them to.

Ed Vitagliano Well, they have their, they have their defenses down.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano If you, if you knock on their door, they go, no, but I.

Koku Loco Willing to listen to radio.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Koku Loco The same thing is for the hospital here. Hospital is hospital Togo. Somebody get sick, come to the hospital. Even the president, he start listening.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Roman Catholicism in Togo combines Catholicism with animism

Steve Jordahl What is the majority religion in Togo?

Koku Loco His animism.

Koku Loco But sorry, the Roman Catholicism is a syncretistic religion. This mean you can go to church? It's different from the Catholicism you have here. You can go to church and come back and do voodoo.

Steve Jordahl Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And do voodoo.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Steve Jordahl It was the same in Madagascar.

Ed Vitagliano They, combine Catholicism with animism. Is the worship of little spirits, you.

Koku Loco Know, idol, like you see in the Old Testament, you know, that would be.

Tim Wildmon Forbidden in the US by the Catholics here. Yeah.

Koku Loco Is different. People don't know that, but in Togo they do. I remember Paul John II came to Togo. I was doing something already before I came.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Koku Loco Telling them that when they came, he went and worshiped voodoo with voodoo people in the forest.

Steve Jordahl John Paul II did.

Koku Loco Yeah.

Tim Wildmon All right, well, we're out of time. that. That's yam. And you pound it and then you.

Yvette Loco And then the white sauce beef or ch. Dependent of the.

Tim Wildmon Break that down for me so I can.

Koku Loco So why not you come when you come.

Yvette Loco I will make it for you.

Tim Wildmon I don't know.

Ed Vitagliano He's a. That was good. You tried to get him to commit on the air.

Tim Wildmon All right. thanks to Koku and Yvette. Thank you, Steve. My pleasure, Ed. Appreciate your contributions. And Fred Jackson earlier. And who else was on? Buddy Smith and Brent Creeley, our producer. We thank him. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody. Have a great day.

Koku Loco Keep.

Tim Wildmon Keep listening to afr.