The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
WOFOYO INTERVIEWS: Joel Satterfield and Mary Serrandos
This episode features two revealing interviews exploring the intersection of faith and government at the Illinois State Capitol, with each guest offering unique perspectives on how spiritual forces shape our political landscape.
• Capitol Chaplain Joel Satterfield reveals how Abraham Lincoln's assassination led to the current location of the Illinois State Capitol
• The fascinating story of how Mary Todd Lincoln rejected Springfield's plans to build Lincoln's tomb at what is now the Capitol grounds
• Historical connections between the Lincoln family and the Capitol property decades before it became government property
• How government buildings were intentionally designed with spiritual symbolism, including the Capitol's east-west orientation to capture divine light
• Prophetic intercessor Mary Serrandos discusses recent corruption exposures in Illinois politics, including former Speaker Michael Madigan
• The spiritual significance of not just exposing corruption but seeing accountability and justice
• Practical advice for those experiencing prophetic insights about government
• The importance of accountability, balance and trusted counsel when receiving prophetic impressions
• How exposure and cleansing are happening simultaneously in both government and church structures
#wofoyo https://wofoyo.org/
This was a joint venture with Eagles Nest Watch Prophetic Ministry out of Carbondale, IL.
Hey everybody, it's C-Dub. Welcome to another edition of the WoeFoYo podcast. Last week, we did an interview with Carol and Willard McDonald from the Illinois State Capitol. It was a joint venture between Eagles and S-Watch Prophetic Ministry over in Carbondale, as well as us at WoeFoYo. And we have two more interviews for you this week. The first one is going to be Joel Satterfield, who is a chaplain for the Illinois State Capitol, and we interviewed him last year and we will be doing so again, and he's going to be giving a little history lesson and, in addition to the history, you're going to find out that a lot of our government buildings actually were designed by architects to glorify God. And second, we'll be having Mary Sarandos, who's an intercessor prayer warrior, and that will be the second one. So, without any further ado, wofo yo. Once again, we have with us a chaplain of the Illinois Capitol and a chaplain for God, joel Satterfield. Thank you.
Speaker 2:What a great pleasure to have everybody in the Capitol again. I made reference to the group that's here today that sometimes we take for granted this building as just being well. It's where the legislature meets, where the governor shows up and gives a budget address, and so what? Let's? You know I've got life to do and we'll move on. But it's actually much more than that. This building is actually pretty amazing. First of all, there's some details that some people really are not fully aware of. This property, where the Capitol sits, is actually the highest point here in Springfield. So this is the highest ground in Springfield, and what had happened was how the Capitol got to be in. This piece of property is actually pretty unique.
Speaker 2:When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the people of Springfield were just absolutely mortified. They couldn't believe that Lincoln had assassinated. The people of Springfield were just absolutely mortified. They couldn't believe that Lincoln had been murdered and he was so well liked here that they felt that they had to do something to honor him. And they had a sense that he was a national hero of some sort because of his insistency on maintaining the union of our country, regardless of the succession of the southern states and the war that had gone on. He had his hands full for all of that, and now then the war is essentially over and now he's been murdered. So it was hard to make sense of all of it, but nonetheless they couldn't argue with the fact that he was their favorite son. In fact, even how that actually came about is actually pretty unique.
Speaker 2:The fact that Lincoln, after he had run unsuccessfully against Stephen A Douglas as an attorney, he did what he had to do, and that was make some money. And he made money by being an attorney for the railroads. And the railroads were having real difficult time working between the transportation units of the rivers and the riverboats, etc. And in some cases there were conflicts that came up and so the lawsuits were filed. And as an attorney for the railroads, he was in what is now called our old capital pretty regularly, almost on a daily basis. He actually was involved with 200 different cases representing the railroads and of course that's how he developed his wealth. A lot of folks think it was because he was a politician, but that's not the case at all. He became wealthy because of his legal skills, specifically representing railroads.
Speaker 2:But at nighttime he would come back to the old Capitol because the building itself was kind of very like a community center. The people here in Springfield were not particularly wealthy and during the wintertime they would come into the old Capitol and they'd just hang out there until it was time to go to bed, because the building was heated, especially during the wintertime. And when it got to be bedtime they would go home snug up underneath the covers and therefore they could reduce the amount of heating costs that they had. So it was a very practical arrangement. But of course Lincoln knew all of that and he would go back to the old Capitol what we now call the old capital and just sit around and talk to people, tell stories, joke with them, learn about them, and so he knew them all by name, by first name. They knew him by first name, abraham. So this was not something altogether new.
Speaker 2:But when he was murdered they really felt like this was a personal injury to them, because his murder had taken away their friend. So they decided that they would build a memorial for him. And then the question then came up as soon as quickly as they started talking about a memorial, they said well, why don't we build, why don't we have that? The body's going to be buried somewhere, why don't we just make it a tomb and memorial for him? And of course they immediately started making plans, and of course they were doing this without consulting Mary Todd. But they figured well, they'd get it all put together and then they would present it to her and certainly she would be quite willing to take advantage of their gratitude and the fundraising they'd have to do and it would be something good for her husband. So with that they just kept on charging and they decided that this property, because of its high elevation, would be the appropriate place for a memorial and a tomb.
Speaker 2:So they approached the family that owned this property. The name of the family was called the Mather family and the Mather family was in decline. In other words, the number of people that were in their family had started to get older in their life, in their family had started to get older, and there were no new children coming along to pass the property to and so to have the land come into something useful. It kind of appealed to them. And so when they approached them about buying the land to build a memorial and tomb for Lincoln, the Mather family agreed. They said that's fine, that's great. So immediately they started then doing whatever they had to do, and that was to create a receiving vault, because they realized that they didn't have time to design and construct a building, a memorial and a tomb. Design and construct a building, a memorial and a tomb. But they only had about enough time to receive, get a temporary receiving vault for the body when they got here, when they got into Springfield, because they just assumed that he'd be buried here.
Speaker 2:Well, at about that time Mary Todd hears about their plans and absolutely puts the kibosh on it. She says there's absolutely no way that he's going to want him buried on this piece of property. And she was strongly adamant and I mean strongly, in capital letters, bold red letters underlined. And of course they were a little kind of perplexed by that and understanding, well, why would she be so concerned with that? And so they kept at it and they continued to build the receiving vault. They excavated, hired a bricklayer to come in and line the tomb with bricks so that the coffin wouldn't deteriorate until it could be moved and put in its final resting spot. In the meantime they're still negotiating with Mary Todd.
Speaker 2:Well, she says no, I'm not going to have him buried there. And her first thing was she was going to have him buried in Chicago, and then that kind of fell through. And at the same time, frankly, I think she actually started with actually having Lincoln buried in Washington's crypt, which is in the basement of the US Capitol. That was her first choice, and when that was not allowed, then she decided, well, I'll bury him in Chicago. And then the question is, where in Chicago? And that became a little more complex than she was hoping for. So the bottom line is is that she then decided well, I'll have him buried in this new cemetery here in Washington DC, called.
Speaker 2:The property had been confiscated from Robert E Lee and Robert E Lee's family had owned the property and after the war they confiscated it from him, and that's where Arlington National Cemetery was started. And she figured I'll just have him buried in Arlington. And in the meantime the people of Springfield had not given up, and so they had decided they would go personally to Washington and meet with Mary Todd to try to determine exactly what had happened and why and why she was so objectionable to this property. When they got there, by the way, there was over 200 of them. Up until about nine, 10 months ago I thought it was probably, you know 10 or 15, maybe 30 people, you know, but to get a contingent of 200 people organized to go to Washington DC is a pretty massive effort just in itself.
Speaker 2:So they got to Washington and met with her and she reiterated all of her concerns, but it really came down to the very simple function that she knew where this building was and she knew that Monroe Street, which is the street that runs just to the north of our Capitol building, is in fact a major thoroughfare through Springfield, and a lot of traffic is on Monroe. Now, right now, during the construction of the reconstruction and renovation of this building, they've got some of the lanes blocked off, which gives you some pause on how that could be. But nonetheless, when they get the construction done and the lanes open back up, there will still be a lot of traffic on the north side of this building. And so she thought that there was way too much traffic and she wanted Lincoln to be buried in a more serene, more quiet place, more contemplative and to people who kind of give him the reverence that she thought he deserved. So when they referenced that, well, he didn't have to be buried here, but they were looking for him to be buried in Springfield. So they negotiated and the compromise was that he could be buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Now that satisfied her only because she and Lincoln had been at the opening of the Oak Ridge Cemetery and they were both very not just pleased, but they were both admired the fact that that cemetery has a bit of a rolling hills to it. It's kind of like a park-like setting, very quiet off the beaten path to a degree, and they thought that that was a really very beautiful place for a cemetery. So that was the agreed upon location. So the day of the funeral, in the meantime, on a slow-moving train from Washington DC, lincoln comes here to Springfield. After several open casket viewings of his body the last one was here at the old Capitol where he had practiced law and the day of the funeral, people of Springfield still thought that he was going to be buried here on this property, and so they gathered up at what they knew that the receiving vault had been built, and to their surprise the funeral procession went north instead of coming west from downtown in the old Capitol, and it went to Oak Ridge Cemetery. But nonetheless those people who were here were disappointed by not seeing the funeral procession, but nonetheless he was still now here in Springfield.
Speaker 2:Now the bigger question is why would Abraham Lincoln's wife be? How would she know about this property and how did she come to that condition? How did she know that Monroe Street was a major thoroughfare? But it turns out that Mary Todd's sister was married to Ninian Wirt Edwards. He was the son of Ninian Edwards, our first territorial governor, edward's. He was the son of Ninian Edwards, our first territorial governor and first I'm sorry third sequential governor for the state, and his son had kind of followed in his father's footsteps in government service and he had built a home here in Springfield and it was right across the street from the Mather family. In fact, from where we're sitting here, there's a building just to the south of us currently called the Howlett Building. When it was constructed it was referred to as a Centennial Building and to build that building they had to destroy Ninnian Ward Edwards' home. It's set here on the northwest corner of that property and that was right across the street from the home of the mathers. So, quite frankly, abraham lincoln probably walked over and through this property multiple times when he was courting mary todd because when she would be, when mary todd would come to springfield, she would live with her sister. In fact, the courting got to the point where Lincoln and Mary Todd were married in that house oh wow, which is about a half a block from where we're sitting here today. And then what's more is that when she got into her older age and her health started to fail, she came back and lived with her sister and Mary Todd died in that house. So she was extremely familiar with this piece of property because at that time the Mathers still had ownership to it. So the point here is that Springfield now owned a piece of property nine plus 9.2 acres with no plans for it, because they couldn't go against her wishes and build a memorial here after they had already agreed that he could be buried in Oak Ridge. So not too many maybe.
Speaker 2:A year or two went past and the state of Illinois started feeling the pinch of space on our old capital and they started making noise about needing to build a new capital. And so Springfield goes oh, oh, oh, we've got a piece of property for you. And it turned out that they worked out a deal, so the city sold this property to our county, sangamon County. They worked out a deal, so the city sold this property to our county, Sangamon County, and then from there Sangamon County did a contract with the state and the state bought this property from the county and the county then rented. They bought the old capital and then rented the capital to the state while the construction was going on until that building was done. So now it was now but no longer. The city was no longer involved, it was just the county and state function, and so the building got constructed here. So that's really, if it had not been for Lingen's assassination, we probably wouldn't be sitting on this property today. Wow.
Speaker 1:Now I heard you say something about and it kind of sparked my interest, because I do a bunch of useless reading but you were talking about how this was situated that the architect wanted the dome wanted the sun to be the, wanted it to be the highest place. So the dome was lit up, that's correct, by God's blessings, that's correct At the beginning of every day, and it was the last thing, that's right. So it was situated due east and west. It reminds me that somehow we've lost this knowledge. But or it isn't advertised very much or it isn't advertised very much.
Speaker 1:But I remember reading that in the old European cathedrals that the architects of those were able to design it so that Christmas was always on a certain date. However, easter was a movable date due to the lunar calendar which affected the Jewish Passover, yes, sir. But they were able to build their cathedrals in certain ones, especially over in France, that would light up a certain part of the cathedral by the light of the moon and that let them know before all the other highfalutin calendars and stuff. It's starting. That's right.
Speaker 2:Here we go yeah, so the celestial powers would be, uh, really have still full authority. And the architect, who was french. He created a building to look like a governmental building in europe. He did. He used some of the very things that you are referencing here and, and the idea was having a really tall dome.
Speaker 2:There's reasons for that, but he also made sure it was actually lined up exactly due east on the street that's in front of us called Capitol Avenue, because Springfield is already designated as a street, as a boulevard and therefore as an overly wide street. There could never be a building built in the middle of that area and then conflict with the rising sun each morning. So it was a very purposeful function and it's something that a lot of people don't actually think about, it's not a part of their normal life, etc. But it actually, when you start putting it into spiritual terms, it allows the light of God coming in the building first, and the light is always considered to be wisdom, knowledge, discernment, etc. So therefore, this building potentially allows those that are in the building to be the beneficiaries of those kinds of functions of light.
Speaker 1:I was reading a production and I know you have to go and speak here, but it's the same principle. You can actually find that I believe back either in Exodus or Leviticus, the way the tabernacle and the tribes were set up. It was so that when the sun rose it came through those curtains and it was the first thing to hit it. That's exactly correct.
Speaker 2:So it goes back folks. Well, kind of the interesting little side note here that Mary Todd had considered Arlington National Cemetery because she didn't want to use this piece of property and her concern was solitude and quietness et cetera. Had she only known that Arlington National Cemetery is now the most visited cemetery in the United States. So it was exactly opposite of what she was hoping for. But the interesting part of it is is the second most visited cemetery in the United States is Oak Ridge Cemetery, because of Lincoln's tomb. Yep, so she only got half of her wish, but we also got a state capital out of it as well. Amen.
Speaker 1:Joel, thank you so much. It is a pleasure to see you again, not a problem. God bless and keep serving Jesus.
Speaker 2:I will do it. Be blessed you do.
Speaker 1:Well, folks, that was our history lesson with Joel Satterfield, and now we're going to get into some nuts and bolts and talk about prayer and intercession with Mary Sarandos. All right, everybody, welcome to another edition of the WoeFoYo podcast. Doing a joint venture over in Springfield, illinois, at the state capitol, with Eagle's Nest Watch Prophetic Ministries out of Carbondale, illinois, we once again have with us prophetic intercessor, spiritual warrior, mary Sarandos. We talked last year and you kind of let us know how you got involved with intercession, and that's the main way the Lord's been using you. You were able to give a prophetic word about what he was intending for this state earlier. So, rather than reintroduce and all that, why don't you just share what the Lord has on your heart?
Speaker 3:Well, we're in such extreme times, you know, I'm saying on a global basis and all that's going on nationally and statewide, and so it's kind of in times that we're not used to being in, but yet these things have to kind of collide for us to be able to see a breakthrough, to come out of this on the other side and see the truth and the righteousness and the justice prevail, and so I think we are at that point of seeing some tangible results. We did see Michael Madigan was sentenced a couple weeks ago, I believe, to seven and a half years in prison and over a $2 million fine, and I think you know, that being said, that that's kind of the beginning of the dam breaking and the crack in the dam.
Speaker 1:I remember being in history class and you had to. Even in high school you had to take Constitution. You had to take Illinois Constitution the year after that and I remember at the time and this would have been 1990, 91 my history teacher, guy named Eddie Weston, says governor's come and go. We said the most powerful guy in the state at the time was Michael Madigan. And to see accountability, come, no matter what party, just if you've been corrupt. It needs to be brought to light.
Speaker 3:Amen. And that's what's been so hard is to actually shine the light in a way that you could actually see some results happen and justice take place. Happen and justice take place. And it's not an easy thing for people to be asked to testify or blow a whistle, so to speak, or any of those things you know, because they're threatened. You know it's intimidating to do that, but I think now it's gotten to such a point that we can't continue to go if we do not see accountability and justice rendered. And we're getting there. The good news is we are getting there and I'm just believing that god will bring a finishing anointing and do the work that needs to get done amen.
Speaker 1:You know, probably about three years ago. You know, I've been praying Lord, expose, exactly, shine the light of truth. And the thing is he shifted my prayer Okay To Lord not only shine your light of truth and expose, but let there also be accountability and justice. But let there also be accountability and justice, because I think there's a verse I believe it's over in the Psalms where it says but Lord, how long. And that could be one of the more frustrating things, especially if the Lord is showing you something in the Spirit. It later gets confirmed that you weren't nuts and that what you heard was right. But it can be very, very demeaning. It can be very disheartening when, oh, it's exposed, but we don't care.
Speaker 3:Nothing gets done. I know that Psalm. I'm not sure, but it seems like it might be Psalm 11. And David says how long, O Lord, how long For our enemies have the upper hand? How long and you hear the depth of his longing, in the depths of his heart. How long can you withhold justice? Because if you don't see justice, then what is the point?
Speaker 1:That's the same cry that you hear from the martyrs underneath the altar in the book of Revelation Lord, how long, how long, until we're avenged? So there's something. Yes, we yearn and thirst for righteousness, but righteousness and justice are the foundation of this throne.
Speaker 3:Both of it.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:You have to have both of it and I think we're seeing that not just in our state, but I think it's happening on such a broader scale right now because of the exposure of other things leading to the exposure of these things. That's been going on in illinois.
Speaker 1:That went on unchecked yes and whether it was a republican or a democrat oh yeah, we've sent up our share of both parties how many governors have been in prison? At least three yeah yeah, I can't remember the guy's name before thompson, but we have lagojevich and we also had George Ryan. So those were the three.
Speaker 3:That's it. Yeah, that's probably correct. So, michael Madigan, I mean we all know he was the kingpin right, he was the speaker over 40 years. You know just that deep, deep rooted entrenchment and so I am more hopeful this year than I was last year. I'm seeing more, I believe, justice coming, like you've talked about, and we just need to see it through to the end and not let them try to do some quickie, you know.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, it needs to be thorough. Yeah, that's a good word. Uh, one of the things that I think you you said earlier that is profound and just really touches on it. I think we're seeing a lot of this exposure happening not just in the state, it's happening nationwide, but you also see it happening globally with. I remember there was a guy named was otres tandy, was a mentor of mine for about oh, five years from high school to college, and I really looked up to the guy, but he had been 30 years as an army bandmaster and had traveled the world.
Speaker 1:And he goes. Let me tell you something young man and he had been on every continent except Antarctica and he goes. Every time we say we're sending foreign aid, about 10% of that is going to what it's supposed to. The rest is what we call black ops. But really what that means is we're propping up one regime so they'll do business with us and as soon as they don't, we got two other guys that we can fund a coup to do that and you see that getting exposed. Find out that this guy that my parents were should he be listening to this guy? With all his worldly knowledge, he goes. Come to find out. He was vindicated. Everything he said about that was true. So we are seeing that at a global scale.
Speaker 3:And that's just recently.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:Very recently that we have seen how the deep state whatever you want to call them, they're the ones that's really running the show. It's the global agenda they're running yeah, More than even our nation. It's the whole global plan they want to see enacted.
Speaker 1:The thing that gets me is somebody. I know you're a prophetic intercessor. That means you see things. It means sometimes you feel like I don't want to use this word in a biblical sense, but like in a mental sense but it's almost like a curse in a way, that you're the one that sees why everybody, so to see, is to be misunderstood, especially if you speak out. So, knowing that and seeing that, what, what would you recommend to those that? What would you recommend to those, especially people that are feeling called to pray? They might be seeing some stuff. How would you advise they pray in these days and times?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I think it's wise to have a covering, okay, to have like a Verlinda you have someone like yourself that you can trust and that you can share with and run some of that by someone that you care and trust about and then just kind of grow from there and I think then just trust Holy Spirit. If he says it's time to say it, then feel released to say it. But I'm very cautious of people, you know, that says thus saith the Lord, sort of a thing I'm more like. Well, I feel like Holy Spirit is, is showing me this, yeah and this.
Speaker 3:You know, I put it that way because if I don't want to say something that's not the word of the lord, I'm not in that um seat of a prophet, yeah, that that level. But I can. I can, you know, do some prophetic intercession and and some prophetic um words sometimes to people. But that's, I usually will see something like a picture in my mind. I'll see something and then I'll kind of, you know, ask the Lord to confirm some things. But it's really good to have somebody that you can trust, that can help you with that kind of give you some insight so you don't get in a ditch with it.
Speaker 1:it is so easy to do. That's one of the things the lord worked. He was showing me we did like a series, probably about three or four different, because we keep them about 45 minutes for you know, whenever we have an episode and then do some shorter ones on on fridays. But the lord showing you know he's called us to balance and he uses us to keep each other balanced. You know, and you know you were talking about trust, which is so important, and accountability, because we know in part and we prophesy in part, and that accountability to one another, especially if that trust has been developed.
Speaker 1:You know, I found out that it's good to balance those ideas because you kind of own H-O-N-E, not O-W-N Pardon the accent, but you hone what that word's supposed to be. You hone what that word's supposed to be Because usually I always relate this that the guy that I do my podcast with his first name's Daryl. There's also another guy who's a pastor of a church in Anna named Daryl, and in the early 2000s it was interesting that whatever the Lord was sharing with one of us, he was sharing the exact same thing, but you get a different part of it within a week or two, and so the Lord was showing me this, and as you talk, you find out that you're not the only one, but as you share, you get a more complete picture and it helps you to pray more effectively.
Speaker 3:I think that's exactly what I'm trying to say. I appreciate that and there's safety'm trying to say I appreciate that and there's safety in that, yes, and there's accountability in that, and you have a confirmation. Well, you say well, that's just about what I think the Lord was saying. So I think you stay in the right track that way and I think God, you know we're talking about exposure. God's exposing the church.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And it needs to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Another thing that God has to clean up is a lot of the things that have gotten. It's either they get off track or they get a name for themselves, or they get a ministry name or a platform or something name or a platform or something, and then they kind of lose their true sense of why, why they did this in the first place, and then it gets to be more of a business model or it can be mamum well, it's the way that that, that we've said it on our program is, and I remember there were some high-profile cases and everybody's wanting to point fingers because, oh, this could split that church.
Speaker 1:And we're going hold on, because if you're not careful and a guy stepped away from a big-time ministry but I'm going, here's the issue, though If we're not careful, no matter how anointed that ministry is, they can eat you up and chew you up and spit you out. And that's what was getting ready to happen if the guy hadn't stepped away. And it doesn't mean he was perfect, it doesn't mean he did everything 100%, but we need to have some compassion on people that you know. If they notice that that's getting ready to happen and they say it's more important for me to stay true to God than serve the organization, you know that needs to be respected, because it does take a toll.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it does. It's not an easy situation to be in. Yeah, I'm sure you know.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah and I'm speaking as one is that could have been me way back in the day, and the Lord sent me out to the wilderness. No, no, it's like that. But you know, you mentioned the government having a deep state. There are some churches that have their own deep state too, and guess what? That's going to get exposed.
Speaker 3:And it's not getting exposed to destroy, but it's getting exposed to prune and to make us effective that's a good way to say it yeah, and, and there's value to that absolutely a great value and I think a lot of it's character building, I think a lot of the things that we, you know, what you encounter with different ones, it's kind of a character builder.
Speaker 3:It is and we hope to god we pass all those tests. You know that our character stands true and strong and firm, and you know we mess up. Oh yeah, you know we've messed up, I've messed up, but you know I'm always hoping that somebody will be that person that say hey, you know, I want you to think about this and just think about it and see what, see if you need a little adjustment.
Speaker 1:Every day.
Speaker 3:A little adjustment here and there.
Speaker 1:Mary, thank you so much. It was a pleasure to have you on the program Likewise.
Speaker 3:Thank you All right.
Speaker 1:God bless.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 1:Well, that was two different interviews with two people who are being used by God in very different ways. We'll see you next time.