And he said the best thing in his case would be to take you to this orphanage where you have safety and refuge for now and when the war is over, I will send your family, if I found them, to come get you and bring you back home. And that never happened, and here I am. You. Joshua,
Joshua Johnson:hello and welcome to the shifting culture podcast in which we have conversations about the culture we create and the impact we can make. We long to see the body of Christ look like Jesus. I'm your host. Joshua Johnson, today, Jackson turkhurst joins me to share his extraordinary journey from the rural simplicity of a Liberian village to the chaos and trauma of war and finally to discovering a profound sense of belonging through faith community and adoption. Jackson recounts the harrowing experience of surviving as a child during Liberia's brutal civil conflict, the transformative power of music and worship in his healing and how God orchestrated a miraculous meeting that led to finding his adoptive family in America through his powerful story, Jackson invites us to confront our past traumas, embrace our identity in Christ and experience true healing and hope and community. So join us, because all our stories matter and our greatest pains can become our most impactful ministries. Here's my conversation with Jackson. Turkhurst, Jackson, welcome to shifting culture. Excited to have you on thanks for joining me. Thank you. It's good to be here, man. I'm excited to dig into your story. Dig into your book. The only way forward is back. Your story is unique to you, but I think we could all relate that God has been with us in different moments of our lives, even when we felt abandoned and alone and scared that God is still present. Take us into your story as a young kids. What was happening? Where were you? How were you growing up?
Jackson TerKeurst:Yeah, so just sharp in the beginning, huh? Well, I would talk to you about my early childhood. So my early childhood started peaceful in the village in Liberia, where I grew up. We were very, very poor, poor farmers, but life was very simple and full of a lot of rhythm for us. So it was very simple. We loved it. My family and I lived in a small village in a small home, small, humble home, and we grew everything we ate. So we were farmers. My brother and I were in charge of the rice farm, so our job was to make sure that the birds don't come and eat the rice. So every day we go to the farm and make sure that, you know, we wash over the rice farm that was life for us. Every day, that was life, you know, just to just villages, just to inform life, and just living simple and poor and whatever. Until one night, all of that turned around. It just Swift, real quick in the black of midnight, around three, 4am one night, we were all just asleep, you know, humble home, and out of nowhere, we hear people screaming, yelling, crying. That was abnormal for us, because we never hear sounds like Daytona village. It's pretty quiet out there at nighttime, and when we heard a sign of chaos, everyone freaked out. Everyone woke up, and I, for once, was scared out of my mind, because I was just a seven year old child and having to experience what it felt like to hear a Grenier launcher or a bomb going off in ak 47 just shooting left and right and watching people die. And that was the beginning of my childhood, and that's when my trauma all started.
Joshua Johnson:I can't imagine, you know, my son is seven years old at the moment, and just to think about seeing all of that through his own eyes, nobody should have to see that no matter how old you are, right? The world is broken. It shouldn't be like that. But to have a seven year old, how do you respond to that as a seven year old, what were what was happening in that moment for you?
Jackson TerKeurst:I mean, like any seven year old, would, I mean, you cry, you know, you scream, and you'll freak out. Your panic, obviously. And that's exactly the mode I went into, you know, panic mode, scared, afraid, and then scream from my parents, obviously, scream for my mom and dad, but they were nowhere to be found. Because, I mean, the war has already erupted in the village, and I was the only one in my room, in my room by myself, and I jumped off my bamboo bed straight onto the dirt floor and started to crawl in the hallway because there was bullets flying and I want to stand up and get hit. Luckily, my aunt, who lived in a house with us, saw me crawling, and she came, just grabbed me, threw me on her back. And then we ran straight into the safety of the jungle. I was freaking out, scared, afraid. And then I looked to my left, my neighbor, who was close with growing up, he came to join us on our way to the bush to hide the jungle. And then I looked left to see him, and then I just saw him, his eye just go big, and he just dropped. I didn't have time to stop. I saw him just running, running, and looking back as I run, looking back, and I just can't imagine what's happening. I was so scared, but my body was also very numb. I was so numb to what was happening, to where we jump into this jungle, into this dense jungle with thorns and just cutting out flesh and skins. But we didn't care. I didn't care. You didn't care. It didn't cut to my mind. All I was thinking about was survival. Like, let's go, let's grow in next place. I mean, that was That was intense for seven year experience at three, 4am the morning
Joshua Johnson:in the next, next few days. What? What was happening? Where was your what happened your family and what happened to you after, yeah, running for your life. Well,
Jackson TerKeurst:I mean, obviously, you know, we all went different directions, family, some, some got taken, and some got, you know, I don't want to talk about that part, but me and my aunt were the only ones who made it out. And we, you know, we ran to the jungle, where we look for safety, and we ran way, way, way, way back deep in the jungle, where there was really no life besides animals that live out there. And we were there for a while, for a very long time, and we had to learn how to survive on our own in there, trying to feed ourselves, create shelter and just be quiet to where we don't want to hear making a noise or start a fire, because the rebels are very smart, you know, if they see a smoke for somewhere, they would definitely go in our route to find where that smoke is coming from, and they'll go investigate. And we didn't want to do that. So we just stick to eating anything we can find that was that will not require us to cook a meal. Plus, we didn't have a pots and pans cook a meal in a way, so, but yeah, we were stuck back there for a while. She and I,
Joshua Johnson:that's a that's a tough thing. We'll get into some of your later story. But now, as as we see, you got out of the jungle. I did. You're not there, not anymore. You're you're looking back on those those times. That's right, how did you not get stuck in that place? How did you not stay in the in the trauma and the fear of war and loss and chaos, and if you look back on your life now,
Jackson TerKeurst:well, I mean looking bad my life, my life, I always, you know I was my life was defined by chaos and obviously trauma and war and loss, those were the things that define me back then. So but now I see my identity in Christ, in God. So God, you know, he sees me as his son. Because back then, I didn't know who I was. I didn't know what I was called to be, or I knew was, I was just an orphan kid trying to survive and find family and find love. But God had a bigger plan for my life. God told me that you are my son. I love you, I protect you. I'm here with you, you know. And through that time, I connected with him a lot, and I prayed a lot. You know, my aunt and I prayed a lot during these times. But when I came to America, to overcome this traumas, I had to seek a lot of help, and my parents helped a lot with that, you know, putting me in the right community around other people, great people to be around. And they got me to youth camps, to youth groups, mission trips and working at Chick fil A and serving at a restaurant. So all those states contributed to me overcoming some of this trauma I have dealt with my life.
Joshua Johnson:Yeah, it seems, seems to be identity in Christ and community, the right community, the people around you really, really helps. It does. So did. Where did you start to find your identity in Christ? What happened to you? Where did Jesus come into the picture? To know that you were found in Him and not on
Jackson TerKeurst:your own? What Jesus came in a picture? I mean, way before I was born. But when I was when I was born in a village, we were not aware of Christianity, of God, because we're just villagers. When I have the gospel out there, we just tribal people. But then later on, when I got introduced to, uh, to church and Christian and by my dad, we he and I used to walked about three to four miles on Sundays to go to church and on a dirt road. So that's kind of how I learned about God. And then when I got into the orphanages, I lived in four or five different orphanages. I lived in those orphanages were Christian orphanages, and because of that, I began to learn more about God in the orphanages. You know, went to church. We had devotions every morning. We were taught to be grateful because, you. We could have been one dead, but we are still alive and breathing, you know? And we were taught to approach everything from a gratitude perspective and mindset, right? So this, despite we're in pain, we're hurting so much, things going alive that's against us. But we were taught to be the light in the dark, and through that, I was able to see God shines light through me, and I was able to use my story and testimony in Liberia to minister to other churches, as well being my friends will go to churches and sing, you know, and give our testimony at churches to share, to share our story of people, to encourage them. And through that, I saw God working my life when he says, Son, it's time for you to go America, to go share this story with everybody else. And I would say, Thank You Lord, it's time. It's about time, man,
Joshua Johnson:yeah, we're gonna get into you coming into America. But before I do that, how did you get into an orphanage, and what did that look like? Because you actually went to different orphanages. Where did you and your maybe your aunt split up and you went into an orphanage?
Jackson TerKeurst:We split whenever we got to my dad's village in Joe town, rebels came to our to that, to that village as well, and attacked as well. And because of that, I lost a lot of family members as well with the accident, and then my family, my siblings and I would just disperse into the woods. You know, that's how I lost everybody. I went one direction. They went one direction. They went one direction. And after that, we all got dispersed with each other. And based on familiarity, I was able to navigate my way through the woods onto the dirt road where I was able to walk into another town where my uncle lives. So my uncle Jerry lived another town, maybe about it's pretty far. Actually took me a while to get there, but when I got there, he was still there. He was still the house, uh, hiding, obviously. And he just knew that somebody gonna show up. And that's the house we all go to. Our family goes to, sometimes to see other families. But he was there, and I told him what happened, and he was so sad, instructing Give me a hug, because he's been attacked by the wars, where he's been affected also, but he was just trying to hide until it passed over. And then in he and I met now, and I was like, Oh, Uncle Jerry, so good to see you. Man, not hugging him and holding him tight and crying and screaming and miss. And he just hugging me back. And he told me that, hey, man, um, after bad news, I'm gonna have to take you to a children's home or orphanage. And I was like, what is that? Is that? Is that? Is that where everybody is our families, they're hanging out. And he said, No, it's where other kids, like you go and hang out onto the wars over the Go back to your families. I said, Oh, well, I didn't want to, I didn't want to go. I said, No, almost I was, I'm gonna stick with you. I said, No, no, no, I don't want that. No, I don't want that. I'm gonna stay here with you. And he said, no, like, I can't protect you, and I can barely protect myself. And he said, the best thing in his case would be to take you to this orphanage where you have safety and refuge for now and when the war is over. I was sent your family, but found them to come get you and bring you back home. And that never happened. And here I am.
Joshua Johnson:It's rough that you have to get there. It's it's hard, and why, why did you move from like you went to Ford, five different places
Jackson TerKeurst:in the first orphanage I went to, it was attacked by the rebels as well. So it got attacked and live destruction happened. So when that war, when that's cool down, we all load up in a van and head to another city, where we were at for a few weeks, and then another war broke out again, and then we ran to another area. We're there for a while no food. All we had was hot water to drink every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and eating roots or leaves or dead mouse or lasers and anything we can find in the woods we eat it. You know, that was several weeks and several months of doing that. And then when the war seized down, we then came back to the city to another orphanage again, and then that's when I got transferred to another orphanage again. So it was just one thing after another, like it was war or there was no food, there was no food. It was war of sickness. It was all those things combined, and it's and I kept moving around until I ended up in the last orphanage where my life changed forever.
Joshua Johnson:One of the things that you did you You joined an acapella choir as well. You started to sing, yeah, how did, how did music and the choir and singing, how did that help ground you as somebody that actually was was going in lots of different directions, different places, had to run and flee. How did music help? How did the choir help?
Jackson TerKeurst:Well, you know, in times of hard. Are times and struggles, you know, you just can sit in that you have to do something, you know, and for us, like I said, we were taught to be grateful and have gratitude mindset. Therefore we we sung a lot of songs. We sing a lot, we dance a lot, we praise a lot. We praise God a lot, because it shifted our mindset. It helps to take our mind up of our current situation and what we're going to what we're experiencing, right? So we use music and fellowship with each other, to sing, to laugh, to joke, to worship, just to pass time. And because of that, music play a vital part of my life growing up, you know? But it was not meant to be my final destination, right? It was a bridge that brought me to America, but I'm gonna find a destination. But music, at the time, was the only remedy that we had for our chaos. Do
Joshua Johnson:you see that even now? How has music carried you through the rest of your life? Does music do something in your soul, in your
Jackson TerKeurst:hearts, absolutely, man, you know honesty. I still, I still up to this day, listen to my acapella music every morning. Every morning I blast in the morning, in out of shower, I'm getting ready, and I play my acapella music. And sometimes I play, what's his name, Brandon lake. I like Brandon lake a lot. Elevation worship, Hillsong, just to name a few, my wife and I play that every morning, even with the kids. So even just on a drive, you know, because we just know that being the presence of God every day and doing these things, it really does shift your mind and it shifts your heart into the right perspective. And
Joshua Johnson:being a part of this choir, you got an opportunity to fly to America, to go and to tour. What was that like, and what says, How did you so take us into this journey of you, this boys choir, landing in DC. What was it like to to actually land in America
Jackson TerKeurst:first time cold. It was so cold. It was so cold my man, oh man, we have some African boys. We're used to the heat in the ocean and the water and in a warm breeze. But we had a dream to come America, and we were aware that America was cold. And our friends used to refer to America as the cold, sorry, Africa, Koi America, the cold. In my country, the cold so. But we had no idea it was that extreme. We just thought was just a little chilly. But then when we got there, it was like beautiful, an airplane looking out. I mean, the city just laid out lights everywhere. I mean, it looks so like a little heavy to us, because in my country where I come from, you've been an airplane, you will not see a light. It's very dark. Yeah, the country is still struggling so and then landing in DC, and it's in the airport that big was so many people of different races, and I mean, different ethnicity and background. Were just overwhelmed by all these amazing people and amazing things. And they got food over here, food over here, food over there. It was like there was food everywhere. Oh, we were overwhelmed. And then we got outside the gates, and we were greeted by something very, very unwelcoming, and that was the American winter cold. You know that that slap was right back into the terminal, and we put everything we had on us and came back out, and we all just joked at each other for the rest of the trip about how crazy that was. And you know, we never knew the American weather and it was this harsh?
Joshua Johnson:How did you end up staying in America? What was that journey in that process like?
Jackson TerKeurst:So how to get to America was this so, as I mentioned earlier, my friends and I, former boys choir and we, because of what we were doing at orphanage, we were actually number one in an orphanage. So everybody wanted to be like us, because we were so good and we're so young and very talented and very energetic. And other guys, when we create a choir just like us, and we travel in the country to other churches, where we perform a lot of other churches and share our testimony other churches as well. So we were almost kind of new in the area for just our heart and the way we want to worship God, despite of our pain, what's going on. And one day, Pastor kofi, he is the one who runs the orphanage. He has great connections with some incredible people in the States and Canada and other countries. He brought some missionaries to see us in the orphanage, and he asked us to perform for this missionaries, you know. And we were thrilled. We were like, Oh my gosh, yes, we'd love to, you know. And we did that. We did our thing, we got on stage, we performed for them with our hearts out. And the next day he came back to us. He was like, You. Boys, you guys did a great job. I'm so proud of you guys. I have another news for you guys. I'm taking y'all to America, and you guys can be ambassadors and missionaries for your brothers and sisters here in the orphanage, right? And your your goal would be to share the struggle our country is dealing with, with our Christian brothers and sisters in America to see if they can help our country, not just for money but prayer and support. And that's when everything changed, and we were so excited about the opportunity to where we said, Heck yeah. And we started practicing and writing more songs and getting more excited. And then next, you know, is like we run an airplane a few months later here to the States. I dreamed my whole life, my whole life. Man, to come to America, not just that, but to be adopted and to have a family and to feel love and to feel belong, and just to know what it feels like to, you know, to have someone your corner. Because I was all by myself. Man, I was always alone and I didn't have no siblings, and having to defend other people to fill in those gaps, and my brothers in the boys choir or my family, those guys were my family. We did life together, and we held each other together, and we laughed a lot, we joked a lot and prayed a lot. So yeah, that's my family for life. That's kind of how I started. That's why I came to America.
Joshua Johnson:You have this, your family with the boys choir. You're here, you're you're in America, and you find your your adoptive family as well in America on that tour. How did that happen? How in the world is this connection made where you're ended up eventually being adopted into this family.
Jackson TerKeurst:Well, it's a very wise story. It's a wild one. So my sister, right now, one of my sisters, she was a girl scout, and one of the countries that had a study she had a study was Liberia, and she chose to study my country, Liberia? Well, we knew she picked Liberia all the countries in the world, right? She picked like she picked Liberia, and then came to find out the Liberian acapella boys choir was right next door to her house doing a concert at a local church. We're doing local church. And then her my mom and my other sisters, they all went there to hear us perform. And during, during that time, that's when our visas were expiring, actually, it was time for us to head back to Liberia. But then there was also war going on in Liberia as well. So we couldn't go back to Liberia, because if you step on an airport, we could have been dead and gone easy as that so, so our manager, he was so gracious, and he got on stage and, you know, shared an update with the congregation. Was happening in our case and gospel, God did his thing. And from that experience, from that night, my life changed forever, and that's how I met my mom and my sisters and all of us. And my life changed, and I am adopted now, you know, and I have a home now, and I am grateful, grateful, grateful for that moment and the blessing that I get to be a part of the family, and that God did hear me answer my prayer to bring me my mom, Lisa. So I'm grateful. Yes,
Joshua Johnson:you know, in your book, you wrote a little bit as you saw Lisa that night you you ran up and called her mom, yes, before, before you knew her, before I knew it, what was so what was happening in that moment for you, and then what is what was happening for her, as you've talked to your mom now about that moment, what was happening between both of you calling her mom when you haven't met before?
Jackson TerKeurst:Yeah. I mean, it was just a God thing, man. I just, I just saw her. You know how you see somebody, you see something. It just makes sense. It makes sense. Like it just, it just clicks. And then when I turn out, first of all, we were playing in the pews with her, the girls, or daughters who were hanging out, hanging out, playing around. And then I had no idea that was the mom, first of all. And then I just looked up, and then the lady came walking out, just like it, just like it feels so glorious, like, you know, like, like an angel, like glorious and I just, it's the world. The words just came out of my mouth. He said, Mom, it just like happened, you know, and just God just knew that I was a divine, divine calling. That's divine moment. And he orchestrated that. She didn't know me, I didn't know her, but he put that, he put it in my heart and in her heart as well to receive that. You know, she'll lay hesitant about it, but they eventually, God spoke to her, right and then she and she listened and she obeyed, which is, she's really good at doing things like that.
Joshua Johnson:So as you know, like you just said, your mom's really good at listening to God and obeying. Saying, yes. How? Is that translated into your own life? How is that type of mentality of hearing from God, of obeying, of saying, yes, what does that? What does that look like in your life? How is that transferred to you?
Jackson TerKeurst:Yeah, it transferred as like she's a great role model, you know, and she leads by example, and she's a great godly mother who wants her kids to walk in faith and know and know God and be obedient to him, and she displayed that every day in our household he still does today, right? So her doing that had led me to even do things on my own to allow my heart to be opened, right? My heart to be open to God, to say yes to to him, using me however he see pleases to him. So I'm just an instrument to him, and this story is giving me. It's not my story, it's his story, and he just chose me to be the one to deliver this message, right? So, and that's my mom there. She's in she obeyed God, and she said yes to him, and he used her in a special way and blessed her in a special way. And he is using me in the same way as well, because I'm opening my heart and saying yes, use me. I'm here. Just use me. And my mom taught me how to do that, and it was great.
Joshua Johnson:As you've moving cultures. You're getting used to school in America, you're getting used to family in America, church, it's a totally different world than it were. You were what was really difficult as you are, somebody moving cross culturally into a totally different culture when you first started, what was really hard? How did the people around you make it harder for you than it actually needed to be. The people who were
Jackson TerKeurst:around us growing up, they didn't make life too hard for us. They were actually really on board to help us, you know. And those people really understood our situation and where we came from, and like I said, my mom, my parents, did a really good job by surrounding us with incredible people, going to youth group, going to church and mission trips and other things like that. But some of the challenges I faced when I first got here was the language barrier was a huge thing, you know, because in my country, we speak colloqua. It's called colloquia. So it's a broken English. Someone said Jamaicans and I would talk was, it's English was broken English. So and me trying to deviate from speaking broken English to a more civilized English, or, you know, standard English, it was difficult. And certain words were very hard for me to pronounce or say. Household items. We didn't have all these things, like, it's a pantry, has a closet. Here's this, here's that surprise, a pan, you know. Here's utensils. I don't say what is a utensil? What does that mean, you know? So just little things like that. The food was very different. Like I said, my brother and I struggle a lot with the American food. So we, oftentimes our mom will take her to grocery store, and we will get our own things. We get chicken and rice and bring it back, and it will make our own rice and chicken. And sometimes we put chicken feet in the house,
Unknown:and then those tell that my parents would be like boys. Why you eating chicken feet, you know? And we're just loud because we love chicken feet. It's good, you know?
Jackson TerKeurst:There was no meat on it. No, there's me somewhere on there, you know. So this is some of the things we dealt with and but I also learned about, like, one of the challenges, like I heard about that are really serious to me was that in American schools that like there are bullies in school, bullies, you know. And automatically, for me, coming from a traumatic background, I jump straight to protective mode, right? And I would say, I'm not gonna let no one mess with me. I've been through a lot already. It's when I mess with me. I'm going to take them out, you know. So my brother and I made a pat at each other that we're going to work out every day after school. So he and I worked out every day for 30 minutes or hour every day at the house, and ran about one to two miles, sometimes just to keep just to keep healthy, that and strong, that no one messed with us in school, you know. But it turns out, when we got to school, it was not as bad as we expected. No, it was a good school. But we also faced another challenge, where people would make fun of us because we were so dark, you know, because Africa is hot, you know, I was, I mean, I'm a little lighter. I feel, I feel like I'm light skinned now, you know, but I was like, I was like, midnight, man, I was at 12am you know, dark so, and these guys would make fun of me, and I will make joke. Be like, man, you so black. Man, you so African. He's an accent. I bet you feel weird having clothes, huh? I bet you feel weird having days, huh? You know, and all this thing made me feel very insecure and inferior. Year, you know, and I got really, really mad, and because of that, I kind of isolated myself a little bit. But I didn't want to get in a fight with somebody, because I'm not a physical person, you know. I've seen a lot physical things in my life in Liberia or the killings and the brutality, and I did not want to bring that over with me this way. So I just kind of stepped back and told myself that, you know what, it's okay if they say that, because they do not understand where I come from. They don't understand my culture. They don't know what's happening. So I always just let them have the lab, because at the end of the day, I'm the one with the culture. They're not the one with the culture.
Joshua Johnson:Was there anybody outside of your family, brothers that would reach out to you that you made friends, that you didn't have to be defensive, put up a barrier, you didn't have to feel inferior, but you could actually connect. Did anybody actually then, then reach across and connect with you at a deeper level? Oh,
Jackson TerKeurst:yes, I connected with amazing people at from church, my youth group from Chick fil A, my own family friends and I met two incredible friends at my school, Kevin and Tim. The book of my two friends I made in school when I first came to America, and the book took me in. I played basketball with them at school and hung out with them at a YMCA after school and play ball and work out. So those my two American friends I made. You know two guys, and they are incredible people. I'm still friends with them up to this day, my best friends, man. So they took me in as their own and asked the little brother and we did life, we worked out, we did sports and we hung out, watch movies, and came to my house, I went to the house and jump in the pool, and we just did life growing up, and they helped give me some kind of security and help change my perspective about what I was experiencing for other people who were not very welcoming, right? So, and I'm grateful to these two guys for opening that path for me to be able to open up myself to people in America because I was very scared, and to open up to Americans because I didn't know them. I didn't know people. I know how to accept me or respond to me, you know, and this guy's made it very easy for me to transition. So
Joshua Johnson:if you could talk to people right now that either know people that have been adopted from other countries, churches that and communities that would come around people that have been adopted. What would you want people to know about people in your situation coming from another country being adopted into America? What What kind of posture should we take with people that are being adopted. How do we How should they interact? What are things that they may not know, that they should know?
Jackson TerKeurst:I would say someone from my situation, you know, they have lot of trauma, and they'll allow loss in a lifetime. So I would say the best thing to do for someone like me would be to get them involved in a community where they can find support and celebrate their culture in the home or at the church. So the way they don't feel like they're being Americanized or they're being changed or something, they are not, you know, and also, I would say, doing a lot of activities for them. So this way they are exposed to have more exposure, because we are not used to American Activities. They're so different from what we used to having, you know, and we want to learn. We want to grow. We are so excited, and we need somebody to teach us something. Teach me. Please teach me something. Teach me the American stuff, the good stuff about America. Teach me that. Get me involved with some great friends I can connect with and build good community with these people that can help me to overcome this trauma, and that's one way I overcame I'm still overcoming my trauma, by having community, by having conversations, and my parents checking in on me, my pastor checking up on me, and just be involved in being a community where you're Always communication with them, talking to them, asking questions. Ask a lot of questions about them. How you doing? Ask life, how you adjusting. Is anything I can help you with? Do you miss your family? You know, just be more personable. Ask those questions because you know they want to be able to express those things as well. But if you don't ask, they'll never know. You never know
Joshua Johnson:in your relationship with your wife, is there anything that you realize that man, I need to deal with my past. I haven't dealt with my past enough. I need to actually go a little deeper with Jesus so that we can can heal some parts of me in the past that I actually am maybe exhibiting some unhealthy things within my marriage or in other relationships in your life. How did you start to to go into the past to deal with things so that relationships now in your life, you could still stay rooted in Christ and you could have strong health. Relationships.
Jackson TerKeurst:Yeah, so my wife, Amanda, she's a very, very strong Christian woman, and she has a very strong, strong faith, so she has helped in a light in that area, and we both have grown together. But when I first got to here and in my relations with Amanda, some things I struggled with. It just was communication, a lot of, a lot of communication because, uh, I mean, it's two different cultures, you know, she's American, I'm African, so obviously it's going to be very difficult for her to understand where I'm coming from with certain things. And likewise, I, you know, it's hard to understand as well. So in the beginning of our relationship, the the communication was very off, because I would say something else and mean it like how we would say in Africa, right? And then she'll take it other way, and I be a no, it's not like that. And she'd be like, but that's how I'm taking it, you know, you know, after a while, I realized that, you know what? Yeah, you know, maybe I can change my communication style a little bit better, you know, and try to try to speak in a way where I'm not speaking out of anger or frustration, because I have so much anger built in me from the past, so much anger and so much fear, so much, I mean, everything built up. And if someone makes me mad, I'll go off of them. You know, I just get angry real quick. I had that, and she knew about it. So after a while, you know, it affected sharing our relationship a lot. And one day, we just decided that, hey, the best thing to do is like, God, want us to be together, but we have to take steps and and I want us to be together. So we, what we did was we went to counseling, went to therapy, right? And therapy help us a lot with that, and just being surrounded by my family and her family and very close friends and having this conversation and lots of private time prayers together has helped us a lot to deepen our relationship, my relationship with God, to where she and I have better communications Now so and I love that. I'm so happy that I was able to heal from that and listen to all this advice in the encouragement from families and friends throughout the years that has helped me to be where I'm at, that I can be a great father, a great leader to my wife and our kids. What
Joshua Johnson:does it look like then, I think that's that's fantastic, as you're, you're walking through those, those things, in that process. I mean, it's, I think we all, we all have to grow and learn in that. It doesn't matter who you are. This is what we have to do. But as you now, you know are running, you're doing business, or an entrepreneur, things. How do you integrate faith Jesus within business. What does that look like within the community? In your
Jackson TerKeurst:business? Well, I mean, it starts with me as a person. You know, it's where my heart is and my standards and my foundation is within Christ. So therefore, anything I do in regards to business or work, and I see it from the perspective of serving other people, not trying to say, Hey, I'm going to do this for you, but I'm here to serve right? So from that perspective and that mindset, I'll go about it to where I want to help other people. I want to serve other people. And because of that, it has shifted my mindset, my heart, to where I'm actually doing this thing out of honesty, out of love, out of care, because I truly care, you know, and I truly want to help these people, not because I want a quick check or book The money is not. Money is not. Money is everywhere, but it's all about how you serve other people. Because Jesus came to serve, right? He was a servant leader, and that's who I want to be. I want to be a servant leader. I want to lead and serve other people. And that's going to have I've like, you know, taking that perspective in my business and in my life all around Yeah,
Joshua Johnson:Jackson, if you could talk to your readers, the people that would read your book, the only way forward is back. What's What do you hope your readers would get from this? What do you hope that this book is going to do?
Jackson TerKeurst:Well? I really hope that in this book, that each person will remember that God gave us all stories, not just to carry, but to share, right and if my story, if my testimony, can help anybody to keep moving forward, to embrace their own journey of whatever it is they're going through, then I know for a fact that I'm doing what God has called me to do, right? So my encouragement to you is that embrace the journey, embrace what's happening to you, embrace the the in season, the in betweens, embrace that seek out God. Get on your knees and pray and be humble, be vulnerable. Seek community, seek people. Don't do this by yourself. It's not going to happen by yourself. Be vulnerable with people about what you're going through, and be honest and open, and God will work through your life miraculously.
Joshua Johnson:Jackson, a couple of questions I have for you. One, if you go back to your 21 year old self, what advice would
Jackson TerKeurst:you give? I. Ah, my two more year. What advice I would tell myself, Oh, man, oh, wow. I don't even know. I would just say, keep pushing, man, you know, keep pushing. Keep pushing. Don't stop there are a lot of people, you know, counting on you, so just keep being a, you know, the person you've been alone and, yeah, I'd be nice to people. Little nicer. 21 year, I was into, I was into nice. You know, I was, I was into nice. I was too focused on myself and I didn't care. But now guys changed my life, so I'm good. So
Joshua Johnson:how can people go get the only way forward is back, and is there anywhere else you'd like to point people to?
Jackson TerKeurst:Yes, so it's on Amazon, just tap in Jackson turkhurst, or the only way of four is back on Amazon, books, a million Barnes and Nobles. You can even find me on social media, on Instagram at Jackson Turks. You find me on there. I would love to connect with you on there. Well,
Joshua Johnson:Jackson, thank you for your story. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for helping us know that, hey, we all have stories, and we don't just have to carry them. That's right. We get to share them, to let people know that God is is with us. He is for us. We could be rooted, find our identity in Christ, and we could heal from our our trauma and our pain, and we could move forward in Christ with community and in relationships and so Jackson was great. It's fantastic conversation. Really enjoyed it. So thank you so much. Thank
Jackson TerKeurst:you, Josh. Good to meet you, man. Thank you for your time. Sir. Appreciate you. You