Pastor Plek's Podcast
Pastor Plek's Podcast
Shadows to Light, Part Three
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381: A war zone will test your body, your marriage, and your faith—and sometimes all three at once. Bruno DeCanto sits down with us to unpack a wild, unfiltered journey: anti-trafficking missions on Ukraine’s front lines, a marriage unraveling under pressure, and a stage 3 cancer diagnosis he hid so he could keep rescuing kids. What follows is a raw account of near-ruin, unexpected redemption, and the strange places courage can take you.
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And welcome back to Pastor Plex Podcast. I'm your host, Pastor Plex, along with Bruno DeCanto, knowing that because we don't talk about Bruno. No. No, no, no. This is part three. I know. Part three uh of a crazy story of a missionary to those who were uh to those, I guess, anti-human trafficking missionary. But is that a good way to put that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. So we would label ourselves as an uh abolitionists or anti-human traffickers. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And and specifically, we talked about how it really took a toll on your life. Yeah. Like you you really had to there's many ways that was awesome. Like you got to do some incredible mission, missionary work, you had to share the gospel globally, you got to change lives in a powerful way, you got to rescue people, but then it wrecked your family in many ways. It did. And so um, let's just finish up. You were in Ukraine, and when as a missionary, uh you're you're there kind of doing um what would be the wet best way to describe that work?
SPEAKER_01:Um missionary work. We were just telling people about Jesus in the best way we could, uh whether that was through medical missions, right, um events.
SPEAKER_00:On the front lines, yeah, yeah. Uh or like you know, back a little bit in the rear, just to kind of uh everywhere we were at, yeah. Okay, so you're doing that when and then things broke down with your wife. How did that happen? And then, you know, at what point did you go, hey, we gotta get out of here, or you know, she didn't want to leave, you didn't want to leave. Like at what point do you realize, oh no, things are falling apart and we need to get help?
SPEAKER_01:So I think she realized we were in trouble before we went to Ukraine and I did the classic man thing, and I was like, What are you talking about? Things are so good right now. Okay. And um, but then it was uh it was actually in the middle of uh it was in the middle of one of our missions in order to get the orphanage. Uh I stayed on the Russian side, no, on the Ukrainian side, and uh she moved over to Georgia and she started working from Georgia, and we were working with it separately like this.
SPEAKER_00:And is this where she did an interview at some point? She did, yeah. Where she just told everybody who she was and what she did, and it kind of was like that was after the kids came across.
SPEAKER_01:Um the the Georgian government came in, the president of Georgia was there, all this, and they were like, Hey, we need you on stage, and she just kind of was like, All right, let's do it. Woo-hoo, spotlight. And I was like, Whoa, that's not supposed to happen. Right. Uh, and I was dealing with a lot, and that's that's kind of like when I attached myself to the Legion, which I promised I wouldn't do. Oh.
SPEAKER_00:So you went to go do some real conflict fighting. I had a lot of steam to blow off. Yeah, like I need to go wreck shop on some fools.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that was not the right move. I, you know, sometimes Christians and missionaries, we move before God does. That's kind of what I did there. I started working on my own thing.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. So talk to me about that. Like, talk to me what kind of work you're doing. Like when you say you joined the Legion, is this the French Foreign Legion? No, it's the International Legion. The International, which is the the one obviously we know that one more readily because of movies and stuff, but yeah. The International Legion, where you go to fight alongside other internationals, yeah. Um, you're you're like, hey, put me in coach, I'm ready to go, kill the bad guys. Yeah, yeah, and so who were you which team were you on? Who were you fighting?
SPEAKER_01:I was with Ukraine and we were fighting against Russia. Um, and largely I went there as a missionary. I knew a lot of the guys. Um, I was uh you know so a long time ago, I went to be a corpsman, yeah, and I kept up with my training. I was in combat different times throughout my career, and I was like, well, this is what I'm made to do, it's what I'm good at. And I had received other news before Heather went that I didn't tell her about, and I was just uh it was a really hard time. I was dealing with a lot. Uh and I I had just received news that I was sick, and I was like, they're just saying that.
SPEAKER_00:When you say you really what kind of sick? Uh I that I had found out that I had cancer. What kind of cancer? Stomach cancer. Like tell, like, you know, for those who are not familiar with what stuff how does that work? And like, is it like a hole in your stomach, a lesion, or what is that?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so you you have these little nodes and tumors and stuff, and depending on how many tumors you have, it's serious. And I had six of them, which put me into uh uh level three so like stage three cancer, like a stage three C cancer.
SPEAKER_00:So tell me about like your how that affected your body, how that affected your heart, where you're at spiritually, and all that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so um it affected my body in weird ways. Like I knew something was wrong, that's why I went to get tested uh because I had just a lot of blood in places it shouldn't be. Right. Um couldn't eat right, just nerves. I was really tired. I was angry, but I figured it was just you know, mission. Right. Um spiritually, when I so after I heard it all, it was really hard, but I decided not to tell anybody uh because I didn't want to ruin the mission. Right. You know, uh I was really not questioning God, but I was really angry because I was like, man, I'm all alone. I can't tell anybody because I don't want to have to go home. We're in the middle of this operation, you know, the guys need me, my friends are out there fighting. I don't I don't want to be the guy to get sent home and make everybody stop. And that kind of blinded me to a lot of things too.
SPEAKER_00:So how did it progress? It was like, hey, I saw some blood work, or like, how'd you even like how do you find out you have cancer?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so um I had blood in my stool and it was just getting worse and worse. I'm like, what is going on here? Uh and then once I got sick eating and it and I threw up and there's a little bit of blood in that. I'm like, what in the world? Uh so I went to the doctors and I got uh uh like a colonoscopy, and they were like, something's wrong. And then I got an MRI and they're like, something's very wrong. Uh and they were like, it looks like you have stomach cancer. Is this you is this in Ukraine? This is in Ukraine, yeah. Uh well, okay, so some of it was in Poland, because all right, I got a colonoscopy in in Ukraine, in uh in a city called Chernobyl. It's just it's not far, it's a really nice city. They have really good doctors, it's where they send a lot of the Legion fighters.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Um, and that's also where I got to go to the hospitals and preach to the guys. Everybody knew me there because I was like always, hey, you want some food? You want to let me tell you about Jesus? Let's read Bible stories. And then next thing I know, I found myself in the bed, like, you got cancer. I was like, oh man. Um but I kept it to myself and just uh I was like, all right, let me just keep going. Wow. Yeah, and then uh and then things started falling apart between my wife and I. Uh I received a letter where she was like, Does she know you have cancer?
SPEAKER_00:No, you didn't tell your own wife you had cancer? I didn't want to stop the mission. I was like, let's go. Okay, so a relationship breakdown. So tell me where part, what part of your relationship, like the breakdown of relationship there where you won't tell your wife that you have cancer because you won't you want to bring her down?
SPEAKER_01:I didn't want us to have to leave and let down the kids, uh, because we were in the middle of saving a group of kids.
SPEAKER_00:Uh one of them was an American who was in the middle of You're like, if I leave now with this cancer, then it's gonna prevent us saving the lives of these people.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, in my head, and I still feel this way, if I would have left, and if if I would have told Heather, chances are we would have left. And in my head, I'm like, at that point, those kids don't get found because people aren't willing to do the things that we're willing to do to find these people. And uh, so I just didn't say nothing, and we ran it and ran it and ran it, and things got worse and worse. We started arguing and fighting, and I was resentful.
SPEAKER_00:Um I've got cancer, and like if you drop that, you win the argument.
SPEAKER_01:Is that yeah, and that's a jerk move, actually. Did you do that? No, I didn't know. Oh, okay, good way to go. Wow. She didn't find out until we came back here in the US.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. Yeah. And so you're like bleeding out, you know, pooping blood, throwing up blood, and she has no idea. She had an idea, she knew, and she was like, What's going on?
SPEAKER_01:I was like, It's just stress. You know, she definitely knew about the blood thing.
SPEAKER_00:Oh gosh. Okay. So, so how do you decide to come back?
SPEAKER_01:Like eventually you're like, hey, so uh at this point, Heather and I had separated in Ukraine. Uh, we were in the house together, but we weren't together. You know, we we uh she came back from Georgia, we were um there was oof, it was bad. There was just no communication. Um, and she was like, Hey, you have to go, you're going crazy. And I said, I can't leave the family here. Um so we worked out a deal to where when she said you're going crazy, what'd she mean? Oh so I would go and I would work the front lines for a while, and then I'd come home and it just wasn't doing well at night. Um dreams, dreams, just anger, noises, smells, and just anger. The sirens were always going off. Uh just a lot of weird, and I wasn't doing well, and she was acting weird, and she was also really buddy buddy with this uh US Marine who was working over there, too. Was he a Legion guy too? He was, yeah, yep. And um, so uh he wasn't a Christian, he was just a fighter, and uh he ended up being like her special bodyguard and her emotional confidant, if you will. Uh and they had like an emotional affair going on right there in front of me. And actually, the time we went to leave was I was so all right. Was he a married dude or a single dude? Single. Oh okay, single. Um, we had this moment where I invited him out to the east, and I was like, hey man, how about you and I run out east real quick? We're gonna we're gonna do some stuff. And Heather was like, Are you going out east with you cut that out? And uh are you going out east? And he was like, Yeah, we're gonna run this. And she's like, Don't do it. He's crazy, he's gonna hurt you. And I was I was gonna shoot the dude. I was like, I was like, You're gonna we're gonna pull a David. Pull a Uriah back, yeah. Call him Uriah. I'm so glad that didn't happen.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, all right. So that's how dark you were. You were in a dark, dark spot. Yeah, I was very upset at the world. And so she knew that. She's like, You're gonna you're gonna kill him.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, she was like, You're gonna get this guy. And I was like, Hello, do you see what's going on right now? This is wrong. Um so um we uh we ended up working out a deal that was I'll come back and get help, and uh she would stay out of Ukraine with the girls. Uh so she went to we went to Greece because Greece isn't that far and it's a beautiful place and it's restful and all that. Went to Greece, did a cool couple cool things. I came home and I went to the veteran center out in uh North South Carolina, uh, and I got what do you call that? When they put you in uh the home committed, and you know, I got that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, like you can't leave.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Uh and I was there for about two, three months.
SPEAKER_00:So you you're kind of all the rage, all the anger, all the it's just it's just flowing, even in Greece.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, when you're in Greece, was it chill or it was fairly chill. I don't remember a lot of it actually. Um, I I'll admit it, I don't remember a lot of our mission work that we do. Um it's a blessing and a curse. We can we can stop doing a lot of stuff, we can remember the ideas, but I don't remember a lot of it because it's pretty heavy stuff. Yeah, man. Um I do remember we did some cool stuff. We did like the walk where Jesus walked, you know, and got to walk where Paul was at, and um oh, feel like crying. But um and then I came home and I didn't want to, and they were like, Man, you're going crazy. And I was like, Well, if I can't trust these guys, then who can I trust? Because uh we have that team from that group I told you about, uh, and they came to get me and they were like, Hey, you really need to get yourself checked in here.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, what'd you what happened at this, like, I don't want to call it asylum, but like a place where you get committed?
SPEAKER_01:Um, so it's uh it's called the it's a it's a veteran center and it's largely just a bunch of combat veterans. Um and it was really awesome. Uh a lot of them are Christians, and they won't walked us through, walked me through just sitting down, meditating, all the stuff that I like to make fun of. They were like sit and do this, and it was really good. Um, did some EMDR. Yeah. Uh tell people who don't know what EMDR is. EMDR is this eye movement stuff that helps you unlock trauma so you can redo it, and then you can read your trauma and reorder it better so that way you can file it away with different emotions, so that way when you go through it next time, you're not experiencing the crazy, you don't get the heightened sentences, sentences, but you're able to experience it like a normal person rather than going.
SPEAKER_00:Were you able to kind of bring Jesus even into that? Like they did actually, yeah. That's how I've seen EMDR best use. It's like, hey, I want you as you go back to experiences, I want you to see Jesus right there with you, loving you through this process.
SPEAKER_01:100%. Yeah. So um, so the group that our our back end group is a Christian mission organization of veterans. Um, and because of that, when they were there, they were there saying, Hey, he's a Christian, we want all this stuff centered around Christ, and that's what it was.
SPEAKER_00:What a cool ministry. Wow. All right, so you still have cancer at that point. Oh, yeah. You're like cancer, cancer, cancer, poop and blood, crazy thoughts of like anger and rage and all that. You go to this place, things get better in in your head. Do you slow down? How does how does your brain unwind?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I don't know. It just did. I just uh I just was like slowly normal. Um, but I wasn't normal and didn't realize that really. I thought I was normal.
SPEAKER_00:And so your wife was like, You are such a crazy person, I don't want to be around you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she did that, and then well, so she came home and we went to this really amazing camp called Life Action in Northern Michigan. Yeah, it's a Christian camp. Um, and it was there that they counseled her to she, they were like, He's kind of crazy, you guys should probably separate. And that's when we started separating, and then after that, she found in in my opinion, she went through counselors that were less than Christian, and they all counseled divorce. Um, and so I was like, I'm trying, I'm trying, and it just didn't matter. And then uh we moved here to Texas, and that's where we ended up divorcing, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_00:All right. So, how is that just like with your kids? And like they've been you have you guys have such an intense relationship because the intensity of where you'd been together, I mean, it wasn't like you know, you you'd been in Central America, South America, in Europe, uh, Africa, all over the globe, running and gunning, uh, in high traumatic experiences. There's a lot of bonding that goes through trauma bonding, but then there's also like resentment and buildup and like the anger that they were overcoming. Like, how did how did you process that with them? And like, how do they take the divorce?
SPEAKER_01:So, my older two took the divorce pretty well. My oldest took it very well. She was like, Oh, well, this sucks a lot. Um, and we paid for counselor for her too. Uh, she was like, It sucks, but I get it, you know, um, it happens to everybody, and uh now she currently does the same work that we were doing. Uh her and her husband do. Um my second oldest is autistic. Well, she's got Asbergers, she's high functioning, extreme, you wouldn't know it. Is she like a genius? She's pretty smart at some things. Um, but with her, it was like it took her a little bit. She got very dark for a little bit, uh, very dark. Um, and she also, so she got uh counselor and they went in through EMDR with her. Uh, we put her in a whole bunch of summer camps and slowly we got her out of the dark, and it was it was rough for her. Uh, my youngest is pretty mad at me still, and then she's not, and she is, and she isn't. But you know, I I I like to read David, the life of David, over and over and over and over and over again. Uh, because sometimes I feel like it's he's the one who I really understand. I I screwed up and I made some decisions and other people made some decisions, and I know I love Jesus, and it's just you gotta you gotta live life loving Christ and understand that we do things that we gotta we gotta live through sometimes, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, um yeah, and it's not been easy, you know. Well, you know this because we know each other. Um it wrecked my world, man. It took me a long time, but we you know, the men's group has always been there. It's been a big deal for me, these guys, and uh, you know, trying to learn to work out, then uh trying to beat cancer and trying to figure out how to be a single man, and do I belong in ministry and am I better? And uh I still want to, you know, all of this stuff, and all at that same time still working with my back-end group, still going and getting EMDR, still trying to become a better man, still trying to be the guy who's healthy and walk and be like, hey, and not put on a mask, but actually actually be like, this is just me. Yeah. And uh I don't know how, but just my girls are a lot better. My youngest is still angry. Uh, my ex-wife and I, we talk, we're still friends. Um, and how is that possible to be friends with your ex-wife? I don't know. Well, it's I'm I I'm not even gonna say secretly. I would I would love it if we could get back together. Yeah, I still love her. Well, of course. Um it's tricky because it's someone I have feelings for, but I also understand that it would never work. I would it would be great, but really, aside from Christ doing something amazing, which we all know God can do all things, right? Um it would definitely have to be a God thing.
SPEAKER_00:Why is that?
SPEAKER_01:You know, we were we were very codependent. Um, and even afterwards, we've just grown to be different people. Heather herself has undergone quite a transformation. Um, she's not the same person I married. Um, she came back and she had issues of her own, and she she kind of never was able to leave the field behind. Uh she changed her name. She started doing she her her gait is the same gate that she has when we're on when we're at missions. When you say gait, like the way she walks? The way she walks, uh the way she talks, the way she analyzed. Um She's on mission right now. She's yeah, she kind of never came home in a way.
SPEAKER_00:So what about your kids? Are they in homeschool? Yeah, we call it world schooling. World schooling. Nice. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, that's wild. I I mean, like, I can't imagine your kids going from a combat zone to like, I'm just gonna go to regular public school here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, so a lot of their school is very specialized. Um, so my oldest daughter, her schooling was she wanted to be a high-risk missionary, so she is. My other, she's in sailing and photography. They all are into psychology, they all speak a few different languages, they're all into MMA. Um, but they figure out what their passions were when they were young, and we just the whole time throughout all of this, we were like, this is your passion. Let's encourage it, let's grow it, let's grow it. So their whole life has kind of been a vocational school. Um, so they're doing they're actually doing really well, all things considered. I it's interesting with all the hardship and everything, the girls are probably more adjusted than a lot of the people that I meet. Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, they understand pain, function, trauma. Uh, and if they've gone through some good counseling, they're not just sitting like huddled in a corner, you know, holding their knees. True. Okay, so so you're not dead. No, I'm very much not dead. So, how is that possible when you have stage three cancer to not be like because how long ago did you find out you had stage three cancer? Uh 2022. So, like, we're that's like four years ago.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was supposed to not be around past November. Right. Yeah, yeah. So like you're supposed to be dead. You're not dead. Why? Uh counseling in Jesus and peptides. Uh largely uh I I accredit most of it to Jesus. Well, you know, when I say most of it, I've everything's Jesus. But uh I will, you know, so I was they were like, Do you want chemo and radiation and do the whole cancer thing? And I was like, not really, but let's think about it. They put me in this group, it was a support group, and they were like, All right, you go to the support group before you get all of this, so that way you know what's going on and you'll feel comfortable. And everyone there was like, Don't do it. I was like, Oh. So uh I I was looking online, and you know, there's all these things like uh ivermectin and uh BPC, and I I found a doctor who was into peptides and I started What are peptides? Peptides are amino acid chains, so it's a protein amino acid chain of a strand of less than 50. Okay. Uh so people don't know it. Like what's a normal amino chain? Yeah, so I uh they're a lot, they're they're very like when you say 50. What does that mean? It's it's it's uber small. Yeah. But uh so so people some people don't know peptides, but everyone kind of does. And the best example that is insulin. Right. Insulin is a peptide. Got it. Um like so people who have diabetes or even the GLP ones.
SPEAKER_00:GLP1s, so Ozempic manjaro, yeah, that's some glutide for ziptide, those are peptides as well. Okay. And so then you were like, but you I mean, how'd you research this? You're like, I know Ozempic for cancer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. I was like looking, I I remember I was like, alternatives to radiation. And they were like peptide therapy. I'm like, what does that mean? I don't like soda, you know, and uh uh and then I got a hold of this guy in uh Arkansas because in Arkansas they don't have a ton of laws and you can do whatever you want. Yeah. Um, and he got me into peptides and I wasn't able to I wasn't able to pay for them all. Uh and I just was able to trace down where they made them all the way back, back, back, and I kind of got connected with the Uh-huh. Manufacturers and started ordering my own peptides.
SPEAKER_00:Like manufacture in what country?
SPEAKER_01:Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore. Oh wow. Yeah. And then uh so it sounds scary, but you know, you get them over here, you get a you get a vial and you send it to these testing companies. It's a blind vial, and they test it and they send it back to you, being like, ah, this is what's in there at this purity. So it's it's legit because you know the stuff that we were getting was 99.6 or more, and I think pharmaceuticals gotta be a b above 99.2. Um, but slowly I started taking peptides.
SPEAKER_00:Like what when you when okay, so again, people who don't know. So do you inject yourself? Do you take a pill? Do you what do you do? Uh these are injections. Okay, so you jam it into your stomach, like where you're where the cancer was?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. So there are a lot of types of them. Uh the ones that I was doing, they were uh some of them were literally like an inch-long needle into my stomach.
SPEAKER_00:Can you feel it? I know this sounds weird. Can you does it go into an actual cancer thing? Like like are the cancers cancer cells, cancer lesions or cancer, whatever. You see them?
SPEAKER_01:I can't. Well, you can feel them. Oh, okay. Um, but that's no, you just put it in your stomach, it hurts. Sometimes there's like the little pop, and you're like, oh, I screwed up.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, like you pop a pop, like pop in a zit or something, like you pop a cancer thing.
SPEAKER_01:I no, you don't pop a cancer, you just something hits, and it's like, oh golly, that's bad. Um but uh then uh there's that, you know, and then you take one of them was an intermuscular, but most of them are sub Q. Um just to mean just under the skin. Just under the skin. But for the for the deep cancer stuff, uh, we were trying to harden the outside of those of those nodes, and uh them had to go pretty deep.
SPEAKER_00:So like a long needle, yeah, right in your stomach, into the stomach, and you're putting it on yourself, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It was like grab a stick, bite down, mmm, mmm, and cry for a little bit and then be like, all right, I'm better.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so like you go into this, like I don't know if this will work, but I'm just gonna jab myself with needles.
SPEAKER_01:What did I have to lose? Yeah, honestly, like the news is that hey, I came home from a war zone, yeah, it was good, but my men were still there, still calling me, still asking for help. I had some horrible phone calls where they're like, hey, what do we do? What do we do? This trench collapsed, and my wife doesn't want to be my wife. I've only got a couple, like a year and a half to live. My kids don't know I have cancer. No one knows I have cancer. I'm all alone. And the guys at the men's group didn't know I had cancer. I lived in a tent in the woods, and uh, and I'm sitting here jabbing myself with a needle, and I was like, all right, Lord, you got this. Let's either do or die, I guess. So you're a wild man. I thanks. I like that about me, actually. Like, but um no, it worked though. That's the crazy thing.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so talk so yeah, so you have cancer, stage three, you start jabbing yourself with these long needles, and then you get the inject yourself with peptides. So what happened to the cancer?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so uh I mean how do you know it worked? Over the so we were getting tests, uh, we were getting blood tests, we're getting MRIs, I'm getting biopsies, um, getting all of that done. Uh, and I've gone from a C3 to a non-detectable, uh it's detectable, but it's almost non-detectable too. So, like almost not there. On the 28th, I have a surgery to cut out the last node. Wow. So that's what next week. Yeah, I've got a small surgery to get rid of the last stomach cancer thing.
SPEAKER_00:But the other five, you had five that just went away.
SPEAKER_01:They just dissolved and disappeared. Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Like cure for cancer type stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so in between that, I ended up starting a peptide company. Uh because it worked.
SPEAKER_00:Did you tell us what the peptide company is, or is that yeah, yeah, uh it's RPM.
SPEAKER_01:RPM. Yeah. RPM Research Peptide Minutes. Research peptide marketplace. Okay.com. Yeah. Not for human use. Uh but um, yeah, yeah, and it worked. It it it worked, and here I am.
SPEAKER_00:And uh I mean, this isn't like FDA proof stuff. You're just like, I don't want to die.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's not. Actually, it says right on there that it's all research chemicals, all of it's for research chemicals. It comes with a vial that says do not use for humans. And I was like, yes, perfect. This is the exact thing I want to shove in my stomach. Um so no, but it it did work. And uh I I mean, I've just recently found out, and I have um it looks like I have uh prostate cancer.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01:I know, so we'll figure that out. But when you're so hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_00:Wait, this is wild. So you've been dealing with stomach cancer, you have 18 months to live, you start injecting yourself with these crazy needles into the cancer areas, it the nodes start to go away, you're cutting out the last cancer node, and it's like you want to go ring the bell for cancer free, and then oh, just kidding, you have Yeah, my PSA levels were sky prostate cancer.
SPEAKER_01:Well, there's thinking is we're gonna find out for sure tomorrow at one Is that like a colonoscopy? Um getting another uh what do they call it? A biopsy.
SPEAKER_00:So they're gonna go in to cut out your well, they're just gonna test something. But hold on. When do you get your cancer cut out? Next week.
SPEAKER_01:And then you So this week I'm gonna check something else out, and then if everything works out, I'll be like, hey, by the way, can we also while you're in there? Yeah, hey, can we do two birds with one stone here? Oh in case you guys don't know it, I would like to laugh. Like the Lord has always been good.
SPEAKER_00:Like, I mean, this is like Job level craziness.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, maybe. I feel like he had it worse somehow.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, maybe, but uh like this is intense. Like, I don't know very many people who beat cancer in one section to be like, hey, guess what? You have prostate cancer now.
SPEAKER_01:I think it's more common than we realize. Okay, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so there you go. So you got prostate cancer, and so is there a different peptide that you use for prostate cancer versus cancer?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, there are. Um, so I've prostomax actually. Of course it'll sound like prostate. Um, but there there are the PNC 27. There's there are um, you know, NAD, it stops the NNMT. We have no idea what you just said. Yeah, 4544s. No, um, there are a lot of things that you could take that stop cancer growth. Um, and I just have to restart that protocol to see what's going on. But we're in a pause right now to figure out what they're gonna see tomorrow, and that'll let me know what to do from there. Wow, yeah. Until then, uh the Lord is good, and even after the Lord will be good, and Lord willing, I'll be running with everybody in the tough mudder, and we'll just have a good time.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. All right, so tell me about how you know you came here, you started coming to this men's group. First, how'd how'd you get to the men's group? Um my buddy White Eagle.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we worked at the same place, and he was he's my boss. Yeah, and he was like, Hey, I play the guitar for this men's group. And I'm like, sweet, because I was alone. Yeah, and uh, I had just came back from Ukraine. I think I was back from Ukraine for about five months total when I started coming here. Yeah, yeah. Um, and I was like, I'm alone, I need friends, and I started going to the men's group. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, and then they were there. I mean, they the this men's group is very special. Yeah, we we help each other out, we call each other, we're really involved in one another's lives. Um, the breakfast is off the hook. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you should know that that Bruno makes uh the breakfast every week, and we need to do a better job at uh it's awesome. Getting other people to step in. All right, anyway, so so the the men's group, how how did the men's group like, and and this is I think this is important because I feel like people, men maybe like don't know how to be vulnerable at a place without being um pathetic. I would agree with that. And so how how are you learning that? Like, how is how have you been like a man, vulnerable, strong, yet you can cry in front of dudes and be like, like how how has Jesus worked on you in that?
SPEAKER_01:I read a lot about Christ for sure. Um, but I try to model myself also after David. David was a man after God's own heart. He wasn't perfect, he definitely made some mistakes. But everything he did when he was like, you read the Psalms and he's like, Lord, everything's against me. Have you forgotten me? It says he danced after his after he lost his son, right? And then three days came by and it was like you're like you just lost your son. He's dancing in the glory of the Lord. Be like, yeah, but the Lord is good, we have so many promises. So what I what I really uh think men need to do, and and and I've been really lucky to know a lot of counselors, and I, you know, a lot of all this stuff is um it's not it's not weakness to open up, it's not weakness to cry, but at the same time, we have to also understand that we're called to be these mighty oak trees, yeah. And we can't be oak trees by ourselves, right? If we isolate ourselves, then we're just gonna get blown over, right? Like being with other men, and I mean men men, yeah, creates a man. If you're someone, if you're a guy who's alone, you're you're pretty weak. We you know, you get picked off. If you're a guy who's always around women, you're gonna act like a woman. If you're a guy who's around manly men and men who you say, this is the kind of group that I want to be around, you're gonna act right. It's good. And and of course, these are biblical men that are in this group. You know, uh, we have this group was like if I was a younger guy, I would want to be like some of these men. You know, one of them's like a blacksmith, which is cool. One of them was in the core, that's awesome. Yeah, uh, they're just really good guys, MMA fighters, yeah, uh Texas State Wrestlers. Yeah, it's wild.
SPEAKER_00:It's it's okay. So yeah, okay. That's that's incredible. All right, so that you're seeing just this the transformation, you're seeing the joy. Um, now, like what's the next thing for you?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so my heart I've got several things. Um, I hope to get married someday again. Um, but my heart, my big call is just I was created for I was created to save people. Um Christ made me that way. That's my call. Yeah. Um so that's my goal. Is get back out to the field in some way. I want to get back to the field. I wanna I wanna be back out there and whether it's logistics or whether it's on the field or whether it's doing I don't know what or where, but I want to be back at it. Um, it's what I'm good at, it's what I know, you know. It's I thrive and I do really well normally in that situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um yeah, so that's my goal, but we'll see what the Lord has too, you know. Maybe I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:So, you know, let there's a lot of young men, or just not yet, but men, men and women probably, who feel like a sense of I want to experience adventure, I want to do something for Jesus. Like, is anti-trafficking a good spot for that? Like, or is that like you need to be called? Like that's a calling.
SPEAKER_01:I would say it's a calling, but also it's not, it's not, it's not as fast-paced as what we made it sound to be. You know, when you start in anti-trafficking, a lot of it is just sitting there and reading and putting up bumper stickers and calling, and you know, um, it's it's a long unless you get really lucky really quick, you you it's a long time before you start working with law enforcement and all of this stuff.
SPEAKER_00:But if someone let's say, like, hey, you want to get back out there and someone say and someone said, Hey, Bruno, train me. Oh man, in a heartbeat. Yeah, so you're looking for a few good men. I really am. I would you're looking for some warriors who are ready to go, take on the darkness and push it back, and um through any, you know, through you know, a stronger show of force, rescue those that are trapped in trafficking.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I would love, you know, actually something that was on my heart not long ago was uh safe houses, starting up safe houses for girls and children, and and nowadays young men too. Uh, you know, a lot of people don't know with the growing uh homosexual acceptance in the West, young men are now being sex trafficked just as bad. Like it's crazy. I think I told you about when we were in Boys Town, um, it was not cool. Uh, but yeah, it's just uh safe houses is a uh to answer your one question like and let where the okay, sorry, we'll get this go ahead. If there are people who are like, hey, I really want to be like in the uh, you know, um take Christianity seriously, seriously. There are opportunities for you to grow yourself and stretch yourself right here in the United States. If you stand up and if you're bold in your faith, then you will see that it's kind of it's scary in an exciting way, right? You don't have to go abroad, you just have to be intentional.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. All right, that's awesome. Um what about uh speak to those who don't know Jesus and but appreciate what you're doing, but they're like it just seems like a lost cause. Why why go risk your life for those who can't pay you back, who can't do any of that? Like how, like, why?
SPEAKER_01:So my first thought is uh Jesus left the 99 to go and get the one and I want to do that. Uh the other is you know, the prodigal son. He didn't enjoy himself when he was out there. Um Jesus left everything for someone like me. Yeah, and I am not a good person. Yeah. Uh Jesus, I mean, I'm a better person now. But um there's so much more, there's a promise to be had. Um, there's heaven. It says there's a place where there are no more tears, no more sorrows. Yeah, and I have that promise. It's the same way, it's the same thing that the Elliot said. So there was a missionary in Peru who uh was flying this little yellow plane, and there were these people that no one had seen, and he was gonna make first contact. And they and he went down to meet these guys, and they're like, take your guns, and he's like, No, let's not take the guns. They're like, What if they kill you? And he said, Well, I know Jesus, they don't. I know where I'm going. Right. And what if what if we could save one more? Like, wow, that's I know where I'm going.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like the Jim Elliott, Elizabeth Elliott, that's uh through gates of splendor is that book, which is awesome. Like, I love that book, and I love that mentality uh of like your benefit at my expense because what Jesus has done for me.
SPEAKER_01:That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_00:It's powerful.
SPEAKER_01:It says, While we were yet his enemies, that he died for us. That's crazy because I was definitely not a friend of God, and he gave his everything for me, for you, for George Schmo. He gave his everything. Yeah. And but you there's not much, there's nothing better you could do than to do that.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. All right, Bruno, we love having you on. We're gonna find out what the next adventure is, especially as you tack take on another cancer. We'll have to bring you back for another round um for prostate cancer freedom. Um, and we're all hoping and praying that things work out with the X. We just need uh God to do a miracle. Hey, thanks so much, everyone, for watching. Send your questions in to 737-231 0605. We'd love to hear from you. We talk faith, culture, everything in between. And we've been talking to Bruno DeCanto. We'll see you next time as you push back the darkness. Oh, wait, you have one more thing. Peace. We're happy. Let's see.