#83 The Methods Victor Marx Used to Overcome His Terrifying Childhood | Part 2

Victor Marx is a high risk humanitarian, former U. S. Marine, author, filmmaker, and lays claim to the World's fastest gun disarm. In part two, we get into Marx's humanitarian work with All Things Possible. His missions have taken him all over the world to Iraq, Syria, North Africa and Southeast Asia – mostly in non-permissive and high threat environments. His work focuses on orphans and widows that are victims of war, abuse and crimes against humanity. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://lairdsuperfood.com - USE CODE "SRS" https://bubsnaturals.com/shawn - USE CODE "SHAWN" Victor Marx Links: Website - https://victormarx.com | https://iamvictormarx.com Contact - https://victormarx.com/contact IG - https://www.instagram.com/victormarx X - https://twitter.com/victormarx Please leave us a review on Apple & Spotify Podcasts. Vigilance Elite/Shawn Ryan Links: Website | Patreon | TikTok | Instagram | Download Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake-up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 1:00Shawn Ryan?

  Previously on The Sean Ryan Show.

• 1:03Victor Marx?

  My stepfather used to hold my mom at gunpoint. He'd just sit in a chair and he'd hold a pistol at her.

• 1:11Victor Marx?

  And get her to say things that weren't true. Get her to announce God. All evil. My stepfather was in counterintelligence in the army. I'll never forget the first time someone asked me, after doing the gun disarm, "What motivated you to get that fast?"

• 1:34Victor Marx?

  I'll never forget.

• 1:38Victor Marx?

  I'll never forget my, my brain saying, "One day, one day, I'll be so fast, no one will ever be able to hold a gun to me." Kids who are born in the fire won't be burned by the heat of life. The other thing I would tell adult survivors is, you know, don't lose hope. I've worked with so many men who are just like, I couldn't stop it. The best weapon I've ever used for my soul is forgiveness.

• 2:06Shawn Ryan?

  That is maybe the most powerful thing I've heard in this room.

• 2:14Shawn Ryan?

  All right, Victor, we're back from the break. That was a super heavy segment previous to this. And we kind of ended on talking about forgiveness. One thing that we didn't touch on is how you got yourself out of there as a child.

• 2:33Victor Marx?

  Yeah, it was, uh, well, the night we left, uh, the pedophile stepfather was the night that he came home drunk, which was, you know, there's two types of drunks. There's the happy jovial drunk, and then there's the mean one. And he definitely was a mean one. So he came home drunk, and he's yelling and screaming at my mom. And it was based on the electric bill. That's, that was, that's what he was using that night. And why is the electricity bill so high?

• 3:16Victor Marx?

  And all that, then he, he ended up pulling out his gun and walking around the outside of the house, shooting all of our spotlights out, little corners of the house. Boom, he's shooting them. And, I mean, even me as a kid, you know, of course, we're freaking out, but I'm thinking, why in the world, you can just turn the lights off? How does that even make sense? But when he starts shooting everything and yelling, and he's walking around the house, my mother grabs us and the kids who were there. We ran into the back room and then ran into a closet like we're hiding.

• 3:59Victor Marx?

  And my mother kept the door open to the room to try to throw him off. And, um, but when he came in the house and we're all, you know, and our door's cracked so we can see, and, you know, it was just intense. Gosh, it was intense. And he started saying, where are y'all? Where are you? You better come out. And that was like a horror movie right there. And he got to the door of the room. And, I mean, we were, I mean, we're all, we're all just trying not to make a sound. And we're terrified because all I kept thinking about is him walking into there and just shooting us in the closet.

• 4:46Victor Marx?

  And my mom was worried for that as well. But she, we, she started praying, you know, she started praying to Jesus quietly, you know, like calling out to the Lord. And, I mean, look, I was like nine years old or something. I'm thinking, Jesus, we, the Jesus I know from Sunday School, he's a really nice one. You know, he's breaking bread, handing fish out. He's, he's on the felt board, Jesus, he's going up to heaven. He doesn't really look masculine or capable, just loving.

• 5:27Victor Marx?

  And I'm like, ah, we, we, we need a different type of, we need like a ramble of Jesus right now. I mean, it's like, we need someone who can flex and get something done. And then my mother started praying this, the blood of Jesus covers the door. The blood of Jesus covers the door. And again, I'm thinking, whoa, what's that gonna do? What happened next made me really understand that Jesus was alive. And that his blood, there was something powerful about it. Because with a drunk stepfather at the door to the room, holding the pistol, looking in and seeing the closet door, he, you know, and he's, he's looking at the angle,

• 6:12Victor Marx?

  but he hasn't come in. And he said, come out or I'm coming in. And my mother just prayed, "Jesus, go to the door." Because we, we had no other options there. A lot of times in life, when you have nothing else but Jesus, you go to Him real quick. And my stepfather couldn't enter the room. Something physically restrained him from crossing into an open door, a barrier. And he was, he was so mad, he couldn't get through. And he's growling, he's like, "Ah, ruh." And, and I remember just going, "What? What's happening?"

• 6:56Victor Marx?

  That was like my first. Again, this is the guy that abused me and was crazy and had my mom, you know, with a gun and hurt my sister and raped and all this. And all of a sudden, he can't get in the room? I'm thinking, "What? What is this about?" But I knew Jesus had to be real, because nothing else would stop Him. And He left. He went and lay down. And my mother were waiting, were waiting from the pass out. And, and we didn't want to run down the hall,

• 7:40Victor Marx?

  because his bedroom, their bedroom was right on the other side. So my mother opened this window in the room, and it was small. And she starts pushing us through. And all she said was, "Run, just start running." And these are, this was a nicer area at the time. Nice homes, nice land. And we're just running. We were just running through this dark.

• 8:16Victor Marx?

  Woods area, trying to get to neighbor's house. And I mean, I can remember, there was so much fear. Cause you just, you can imagine him just coming out and running after you like a monster. And then, before my mom could get out, the telephone rings. We had one phone in the house for us as a family, it was in the kitchen, the kind that hung up with the, it's a long cord. And my mother was scared for my sister to come home. Cause she's like, once we leave, we, if, if any of the kids come home, like my sister or brother, he, he might kill them.

• 9:00Victor Marx?

  So, as we're launched out of slow, they're running, the phone rings. She's hoping he's passed out. My mom, tippy toes down the hall into the kitchen, answered the phone. She goes, "Don't come home, don't come home." It's like she just needs to say a few things and run out the door.

• 9:21Victor Marx?

  And she, and that's what she hears. Rita, coming to the room.

• 9:28Victor Marx?

  It was my stepfather. That's how he pulled her out of the room. Cause back in the day, old phones, you could dial a number, hang up, and it would automatically call your phone ring. That's how he pulled her out. So she, she then, she's talking to one of the kids real quick, and then she hears this pretty evil voice. And she had real presence of mind. She said, "Okay, I'll be right there." She goes, "I just need to use the restroom first."

• 10:02Victor Marx?

  And she puts the phone down, doesn't hang it up, puts it down, and runs out the front door.

• 10:10Victor Marx?

  The, the side door of the garage, runs around, ends up finding us. And we end up going a couple of houses down across the street. And it was a, it's, it was a Christian family. And, uh, we felt safe. And, um, they ended up calling the police. And we, we never went back for, you know, uh, like, they got them out. I, um, we ended up moving to a different city.

• 10:42Victor Marx?

  And I, actually, I never went back to that house.

• 10:46Victor Marx?

  Until, gosh, like thirty years later.

• 10:52Victor Marx?

  And when I went back, it was that time I was traveling through. And I went to that house after, uh, actually it was before I met with him. And, and it was like, again, I felt like the Lord said, go to, go to the house you lived in. And then I was, I mean, that was more terrifying to me than meeting with him. Because it was like first encounter and, oh my gosh, not that house. And I didn't, it was weird in my mind, I was just thinking, oh my gosh, this, this gotta be monsters in there or something.

• 11:35Victor Marx?

  I mean, I'm a full grown man thinking, I don't want to go to that house. But I did, I trusted God, obeyed Him, knocked on the door. I remember stepping back, I didn't have a gun or anything. I was like, I don't know what's gonna come out of this house. The door opens, it's an elderly lady, like gray hair, you know, definitely seventies, maybe close to eighty, just, uh, I'm like, whoa, hi. She goes, can I help you?

• 12:12Victor Marx?

  I said, um, yes ma'am, I, I'm not a salesman, uh, cause I was dressed in a suit and I'm like, I said, I'm, I actually worked for a ministry and I said, this is gonna sound odd, but I said, I used to live here.

• 12:31Victor Marx?

  She goes, you did?

• 12:35Victor Marx?

  She goes, who's your dad? And I told her. She goes, my stepfather.

• 12:43Victor Marx?

  She said, I bought this house from him.

• 12:48Victor Marx?

  And now we're just standing there, it's awkward, and she goes, bad things happened here, didn't they, son?

• 12:58Victor Marx?

  Yes ma'am.

• 13:02Victor Marx?

  She said, "When I bought this house."

• 13:06Victor Marx?

  She goes, "You know, the neighbors told me

• 13:11Victor Marx?

  what had happened and the abuse and the evil." She said, "I'm sorry y'all had to go through that." I said, "Ma'am, me too." And, um,

• 13:23Victor Marx?

  she goes, "Would you like to come in?"

• 13:27Victor Marx?

  I was like, "Uh, sure." I walked in the kitchen. She goes, "Wait right here, I wanna show you something." And again, I could just feel my anxiety, just going up like, "How do I get out of this house quick?" She comes back and she said, she's holding something, she goes,

• 13:49Victor Marx?

  "When y'all left, and I know y'all had to escape, I heard the story." She goes, "Y'all didn't take anything, y'all just fled." She goes, "I bought the house, and all y'all stuff was here." And she said, "We gave away most of it to Goodwill and whatnot." She goes, "But I kept, I kept this picture."

• 14:13Victor Marx?

  And she lays it down. "It was a picture of me and my brothers and sisters."

• 14:20Victor Marx?

  Thirty years she's kept the picture.

• 14:24Victor Marx?

  I said, "Why?" She goes, "I pray for y'all all the time."

• 14:34Victor Marx?

  I said, "Ma'am, you never even met us." She goes, "I know, but God had me pray for you. I've been praying for you all these years, I've never stopped." I said, "That's me right there."

• 14:48Victor Marx?

  And I said, I mean, I was, I couldn't believe it. Never met this woman.

• 14:56Victor Marx?

  And here she's been faithfully praying.

• 15:01Victor Marx?

  I said, well, I remember saying something to the back of the, well, I made it. I says, I'm married, family, and I'm in ministry, Christian too. And, and then she's like, I said, I can't thank you enough for praying. Your prayers have, your prayers kept me alive through some really hard, difficult times in my life. And then we're talking and, and I said, you know, we escaped through the back room through a window. We were hiding in a closet. I said, do you, do you mind if I see it? Like, I want to see if, is it really how my mind remembers?

• 15:47Victor Marx?

  She said, sure. So she starts walking down the hall and I can, my body's getting rigid, like, oh.

• 15:56Victor Marx?

  She comes back and she grabs my hand.

• 15:59Victor Marx?

  Tendulkis grabs my hand, she walks me back there. And I walk in, I'm like, yeah, there's a closet. And it was, everything's so much smaller. Cause it's bigger when you're a kid. I'm like, whoa, that is a small closet. And then the window, I was like, wow.

• 16:19Victor Marx?

  That's where we escaped.

• 16:22Victor Marx?

  So it was, I told her, I said, man, God kept you alive.

• 16:30Victor Marx?

  Yeah, I mean, for me to come back and thank you. And actually, when we made the film, the documentary, uh, we went back and interviewed her for it. And she's in it.

• 16:45Victor Marx?

  And I think it was just a couple of years after it was complete and she got to see it. She went to heaven.

• 16:54Victor Marx?

  It's a really special part in the film to see the power of prayer and the faithfulness of people praying for you. When you don't even know it.

• 17:05Victor Marx?

  So, yeah, it was my last time ever. I have no desire to go back. I, yeah, I'll punch that ticket.

• 17:16Shawn Ryan?

  I'll bet.

• 17:19Shawn Ryan?

  You know.

• 17:22Shawn Ryan?

  It sounds like everybody around you in your childhood had some type of generational trauma.

• 17:30Speaker 00

  College football is back. So Hilton called to me, the superstition concierge, to make your fan rituals a reality. Need a room to match your lucky number? We got you. Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey? Oh, that smells lucky. Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition. Even a marching band wake up call at 5:55 and 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay.

• 18:00Speaker 04

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• 18:31Shawn Ryan?

  Your stepfather, I don't know if he had generational trauma or if he was just the way he was, but it sounds like your mother came from a long line of it. It sounds like your father came from a long line of it.

• 18:46Shawn Ryan?

  What? Can we talk about that?

• 18:49Victor Marx?

  Yeah.

• 18:50Shawn Ryan?

  How far back does it go on both sides?

• 18:55Victor Marx?

  You know,

• 18:58Victor Marx?

  it's hard to tell, but I know my mom's mother was divorced or married. I know my mother's dad didn't claim her early on as his own kid. So she's suffered with that, the pain of rejection. Which again, I think rejection is one of the motherloads. Betrayal. When you're betrayed by a family member

• 19:27Victor Marx?

  with incest or them selling you out or allowing stuff to happen.

• 19:36Victor Marx?

  And it does, it... I would say, because there are times I pray for people and they definitely have generational trauma. And here's the great news, it can be stopped. How about your dad's side? Your biological dad? So my biological dad, uh, his mom and dad didn't make it. They were divorced. And he, for a time period, he was put in Saint John Bosco's Home for Boys. That's where he learned how to box and fight.

• 20:15Victor Marx?

  And, um, his dad, my grandfather, was a professional prizefighter. And then a pro boxer, fought in Madison Square Gardens. But he died in a mental hospital because of a head trauma. Uh, he was in the Philippines during the war and he was giving kids food off of his ship. He was a merchant marine. And shore patrol didn't want him doing it because they claimed the kids could be bringing to the Japanese and, and, and he was like, well, I'm not throwing it out. These kids are starving.

• 21:00Victor Marx?

  So he directly didn't listen to them. And second or third time they came and they were going to arrest him. And he didn't, he didn't take lightly to that. So when they tried to, he knocked a guy out. Again, he had hands. He was a, so he knocked, he knocked the guy out, then knocked another one out. And then a bunch of them jumped on him with clubs, but they, they beat his head in to where they, they actually had to put a steel plate in his head. And back then.

• 21:42Victor Marx?

  We'd have the technology or the tools, so I think he got a lot of rust. So he ended up being placed after the war

• 21:54Victor Marx?

  in a mental hospital. It's called Louisiana State, Pineville State Hospital. And I looked up the records and ended up talking to one nurse that was there when he was there, because I think he died when he was around 40. But I talked to this elderly lady.

• 22:22Victor Marx?

  And she says, oh, I remember your grandfather, because he was a prizefighter and then he was a boxer. And she says, he was the nicest guy. He was real calm and very caring. She said, he could sure swab a deck. She goes, you know, that was his role. He's mopping. She said, one time, and people still talk about it. He's mopping the hallway and one of the

• 22:52Victor Marx?

  one of the inmates busted loose, a big guy, and started attacking people. And, um, and he was running down the hall, so they start yelling from my grandfather. Watch out, watch out, Mr. Marx. They said, he's mopping. He sees the guy and he pulls the mop to him and he gets as close as he can to the wall, to this guy in the room. And he said, when the guy got running fast, right about here, they said, your grandfather just did a hook punch, boom, and knocked him. And his head hit the ground and he slid on the wet floor. They said, he just kept mopping. Never even thought of it as a thing.

• 23:38Victor Marx?

  They were laughing. They were able to get the dude in a straitjacket and put him in a room. But that's the same hospital my biological dad went to.

• 23:51Victor Marx?

  Your dad went to a mental hospital as well? Same one.

• 23:57Victor Marx?

  When my mother left him,

• 24:01Victor Marx?

  and it was horrible circumstances. And again, I want to honor my mom, so there's things I don't need to say. But my dad, yeah, he got put in the same mental hospital for homicidal tendencies and, you know, a break in reality or something. So, and then what I go through, I literally, you know, I remember going, "Oh, my gosh, is, I mean, is, am I next? Is this like a time chair for our family?" Because you do, you do feel like that. Then you hear these whispers,

• 24:44Victor Marx?

  "Hey, your grandfather, your dad, now you." And there's always abuse and a trauma associated with it. And, you know, I certainly, I remember telling my wife, "Maybe I should just go." I started becoming a little functioning and struggling. So, "Maybe I should just, you shouldn't do power of returning. Just put me in a place. I'm causing you pain and, you know, I just, I can't get a hold of this." And my wife was like, "No way, no way." And she's like, "You need help." And, uh, because we've been separated twice. But my wife's, you know, we said we will never get divorced.

• 25:30Victor Marx?

  Never. And that's the one thing, no matter how bad things got, or I'm losing touch with reality, or struggling, or dissociating, or whatnot. My wife, she's like, "Hey, I'm never going to divorce you. I'm going to stay with you." She goes, "Because I know you love God."

• 25:51Victor Marx?

  I know he has a bigger plan for your life you don't even know of yet, Victor. But you have his favor. She would always say, "You have God's favor, Victor." I'm like, "What good is God's favor when I can't even function? When I'm having flashbacks?" So she stayed. There were a couple times she had to leave and, I mean, one time I loaded her up in the car with the kids. I'm like, "I'm on meds. I don't even know what's going on." I had pulled out a, had a bad neighbor. So I'd pulled out a weapon and I'm just tracking him through his house. I'm thinking, "Man, I could smoke this dude." And she's like, "You know, that's not normal." I'm like, "I know."

• 26:36Victor Marx?

  But again, all these crazy thoughts. Man.

• 26:42Victor Marx?

  I know this. God made us to heal. He made the mind to heal. And the power of God can break any,

• 26:53Victor Marx?

  any type of

• 26:57Victor Marx?

  dysfunctional or even demonic,

• 27:02Victor Marx?

  you know, legacy from your past. He can, I'm convinced of it. I think a person has to be convinced of it. Because the name of our organization is "With God, All Things Are Possible." And it takes faith. It takes belief that the Word of God is truly holy scriptures. And then if you apply it to your brain. And that's been the key thing. And this is what I'm telling people right now. These sacred scriptures has made the difference in my life. One, 2 Timothy 1:7, which I signed on the board.

• 27:46Victor Marx?

  And it's, "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind." I've chanted that like a mantra, tens of thousands of times. Just God's not giving me a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. I have a sound mind. Romans 12, 2. "Don't be conformed to this world any longer, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may be able to prove what is the perfect, good, acceptable will of God." It's scriptures like, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So when people find themselves failing, struggling in a cycle they don't want to be,

• 28:31Victor Marx?

  they have to start to learn who their identity is in Christ and what weapons they can access. First is the power. Another scripture says, "The same power that raised Christ from the dead, raised Christ from the dead, now dwells in me." And do I believe it? Yeah. Did it take me a while for my know to really know? Yeah. And that's what you have to stand on, or else doctors will label you, and you'll never get beyond a label. People will label you, and they'll speak negative thoughts on you. People from your past, it affects you.

• 29:15Victor Marx?

  I mean, this is funny to me, but it's a good point. My fighting weight and adult weight was always 181. I'm 6'1", 181. So I was always thinner, speed, that's what I wanted. And I started working out with a friend. He was on a TV series called American Gladiators. And his name is Darren McBee, but Malibu was his actress's name. He's the blonde guy. And we were working out, and I'll never forget, he goes, "Victor, you can be bigger." I was like, ah, not really. This is me, man. I'm, I'm, I'm forty-five.

• 29:59Victor Marx?

  I'm pretty much. He goes, no, you can change your body structure. You can be stronger. You can be bigger. He goes, uh, I said, well, I don't want to lose my speed. That's my, that's my, that's my thing. He goes, you won't. And then he's like, he keeps speaking this into me. And then he actually like drew a picture or a painting that was kind of awkward. Where it's, yeah, it's me without a shirt doing a flying kick and that kind of spark goes, I'm like, okay, that's kind of odd. He's like, I go, I don't look like this. Darren, he goes, I know, but you can. And he's just, just, you know, you can. I'm like, okay. Well, guess what?

• 30:42Victor Marx?

  I start working out. I get, uh, I changed some approaches to protein. I checked my testosterone level. And then, you know, over probably three, three years, four years, I, you know, I'm, I'm, I get up to two fifteen at eleven percent body fat and I didn't lose my speed. And I'm like, good night. But, but here's the deal. I remember as a kid, a relative saying, oh, he's pathetic. He'll always be scrawny. He'll never do. And that like imprinted in my mind. She wasn't even speaking it to me.

• 31:25Victor Marx?

  She was saying it to someone else, but I heard it. And all of a sudden, that was an imprint into my soul. And, uh, so again, I mean, that's one example, but yeah, I don't have to be an alcoholic. I don't have to be addicted to drugs. I do not have to be a serial, you know, person that gets married again and again, or cheat on my wife. And in order to break that stuff, that generational stuff, you have to decide, do you want to follow God's way? Or do you want to follow your family's way? That, that's so important because, uh, my brother, one of my brothers, when I met Eileen

• 32:08Victor Marx?

  and we got engaged, um, he's like, I'll never forget. He goes, so man, how is she? I said, how is she what? He goes, you know, how is she in bed? I said, "Look, Mike, you, you know, I'm a new Christian. So is she." I said, "Uh, we're trying to do it God's way." And God's way is like, you know, uh, we've had relationships, we've done it the world's way and other things, you know, we're, we're, although, you know, you think you're full grown, but you're, you know, 22, it's like you're a kid. But I said, "We're gonna do it God's way this way." And he's like, "What?" And he says, "Are you telling me you're not gonna have sex with her until after you're married?"

• 32:52Victor Marx?

  I said, "Yeah, that's what I'm telling you. So the Bible says." And I'll never forget, he goes, "Hey, man, all right, little brother, come here." He goes, "I know you in this Jesus thing. Good for you. Good. Everybody needs a little bit of Jesus." And he goes, "You can't marry a woman without, like, testing to see if y'all are sexually compatible." And actually, I mean, Sean, at that moment, I was like, "Oh, maybe he has a point." What if we get married? It's like, "Oh, I don't even, does it even..." And then I was like, "Lord, I'm new to this and I'm trying to follow you." Your Bible says it's fornication or adultery. We're supposed to wait.

• 33:36Victor Marx?

  So he kinda has a point. What if something got... And then, and then my brother's kinda looking at me like, "What you gonna say?" "You know, I'm giving you wisdom, but it was worldly wisdom according to my family's trait, right?" "God gave me the perfect thing." I'll never forget, I look at him, I said, "Brother," 'cause he's a car collector, and he's got some cars. He's got the Eleanor. He's got, I mean, he's, he's got cars. I said, "You like Ferraris, right?" He goes, "Of course." I said, "So if we went right down here to the Ferrari dealership, they let you walk in the showroom floor and you could pick out any car you want, and they'd give it to you."

• 34:20Victor Marx?

  They give you the key and the title. It's your signed over. The only deal is you can't test drive it. You just have to leave with it. I said, would you take it? He goes, yeah, of course. I don't need to test drive it. I'm like, I don't need to test drive. My fiancee either. She's a Ferrari. And I said, I'm gonna do it God's way. I got 35 years married now. Never cheated or been cheated on. And for people who, who don't wait, all I say is, that's one way to do it. But the best way, the best way, especially when you wanna practice and know you won't cheat

• 35:01Victor Marx?

  on your spouses, is a, well, don't, don't cheat before. Wait, so you have self-control. And then, when you're married, for people who've been, you know, at intimacy before they're married, commit to God, ask for forgiveness. Tell your bride, hey, I didn't know better, but I apologize. Had I known better, I would have waited, because you're worth waiting for. Something as simple as that, that's so sincere, can do so much for a relationship. But, yeah, it's, it's renewing your mind in those times you can't follow your family's pattern.

• 35:45Victor Marx?

  And certainly, you don't believe the whispers in your ears of, hey, this is just, hey, you can't. And it's always you. That's when you know there's demonic whispers coming, when it's, they're saying, you can't, you won't. Do you really? That's a third person, that's a different party. That's not your mind on a self-assessment.

• 36:09Shawn Ryan?

  It's an interesting point. You know,

• 36:16Shawn Ryan?

  with everything you've been through as a child and, and, you know, we haven't even gotten into the Marine Corps or the martial arts stuff yet, but, um, I mean, when did you?

• 36:34Shawn Ryan?

  When did God come into your life?

• 36:39Shawn Ryan?

  When did you accept? When did you seek?

• 36:42Victor Marx?

  Yeah. Well, I remember being six years old in a church service. And they gave what's called an altar call where the preacher says, if you want to give your life to Christ, you want to have the assurance of heaven, um, come forward. And I remember thinking this as a six-year-old, well, I don't want to go to hell. He clearly explained what that is. Uh, heaven sounds like the better choice. I'll do that. It was a no-brainer. And I got up and walked down by myself. And the pastor's like, good for you, young man. And, uh, he prayed for me. Uh, and I remember when he prayed for me, I had a very distinct vision.

• 37:25Victor Marx?

  And there was Jesus at the top of a pedestal.

• 37:31Victor Marx?

  And I was walking up the steps to him and he reached out his hand. And I remember the moment he grabbed my hand, I was out of the vision. I mean, it was so clear. And, and this is what I know. That's not the moment I actually committed my life to Christ. It's the moment Christ showed me, I've got you.

• 37:57Victor Marx?

  I've got you until the day you do.

• 38:01Victor Marx?

  And it was actually in my time in the Marines. I did a very short stint, three years. Uh, my commander in chief was Ronald Reagan. And, um, I was a calm guy who then became a shooter. And I shot in Western Division matches. Um, nothing was going on much during that time period. But I remember I had this very distinct feeling in my life. And, and I got heavily involved in martial arts. And, um, you know, as a young man, you just want to test your mettle. Like, do I have what it takes to be a man? How far? So, joined the Marines, doing that.

• 38:49Victor Marx?

  Learning how to fight in a completely different way.

• 38:56Victor Marx?

  And then, of course, chase women. That's, you know, my, my recipe for manhood from my lineage was you gotta drink, fight, and chase skirt. Handle your liquor, never step back from a fight, and chase skirt. And that, that's really what I, that's what a man is, that I had been taught. Here's the problem. I started meeting girls in the Marines who could do the same thing and probably better than me. Just as good as drinking. They could hold their own fighting and they get a lot more women than me. And I'm like, well, that don't make her a man. There's something skewed about this.

• 39:40Victor Marx?

  And then I started feeling this sense of emptiness, like something's not right.

• 39:47Victor Marx?

  I became pretty proficient in martial arts. And I was like, man, I've, I mean, I've checked off all the list, but something's missing.

• 40:00Victor Marx?

  And then I get a letter from my biological dad.

• 40:08Victor Marx?

  And, um,

• 40:11Victor Marx?

  and this was, this was so bizarre because what led up to that is I was out partying on a New Year's Eve night. And I used to hit black clubs, dancing and joking and all this stuff. And my, my, my friends in the Marine Corps, one was a black guy from Louisiana, one was a Mexican from LA, and one was part Native American.

• 40:40Victor Marx?

  And I mean, we, it was just funny, our little bunch, but.

• 40:46Victor Marx?

  I'm out partying and I remember thinking, this is empty. This is futile. And I was driving back to Camp Pendleton from LA. My buddies passed out and I, you know, got a big stereo, got the car. And I'm twisting through the doll and I come across a preacher. And the preacher's name was Greg Laurie. Just an evangelical type preacher. And what he was saying made sense. And he wasn't screaming, he was just kind of talking. What he was saying, it was truth that I need to hear.

• 41:26Victor Marx?

  And I remember after listening to him, I would get up every morning and listen to him. And it was early morning before sun come up. But I'd go sit in my car because I was in the barracks and I'm like, I don't want anybody to know I'm listening to a preacher. And, uh, and then that radio station and list of other guys teaching the word. And it was the word of God that started renewing my mind, making me go, whoa. Just like you made that post. You said, the more I read, the more I understand. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

• 42:05Victor Marx?

  So during this period of me just like privately, quietly, you know, reading the Bible or listening, trying to figure this out, I get this letter from my real dad. And we'd been estranged forever. And, um, the times I'd seen him, he was just a nut job. I mean, he was a practicing warlock. Then he tried Japanese perfect liberty religion and then Shinto. And he, he was a seeker, but he was a bouncer too. And then he taught karate, judo and jujitsu. And I just thought, man, you, what an odd bird.

• 42:49Victor Marx?

  And I remember visiting with him one time as a teenager and I went to work with him. It was a big country bar and he was like in the movie Roadhouse. The, the cooler, that's who my dad was. So he was older, he was experienced and he would train younger bouncers and. And I'll never forget, I was in there, this was like me trying to, like getting to know my biological dad. Cause you're like, wanna see like, and a group of guys come in this big country club, bar, cowboys. And they walk in the guy, somebody points in our direction, they come over, my dad's sitting on a bar stool.

• 43:31Victor Marx?

  This guy walks up, the leader of the bunch walks up to my dad, he goes, so you the bouncer? He goes, uh, I consider myself a public relations officer, young man, how can I help you? He goes, well, me and my buddies are gonna have a good time, ain't a damn thing you're gonna do about it. And if you think you are, you might as well test this out right now. And I'm standing back going, oh, here we go. And the funniest thing, my dad never got off the bar stool. He just thumped the guy right in his forehead, just pop and it caught the guy off guard. He backs up, he's like stumbling, he tries to catch himself, his foot hits a chair.

• 44:14Victor Marx?

  And then he trips and his head hits the corner of a table and he's knocked completely out. He's on the ground, hats, but he's like, my dad never got off the bar stool and everybody's like, what the heck was that? And my dad said, hey, you ladies, to his friends. Now he says, gentlemen, get your little lady friend out of here. They picked him up and went out. We're driving back, this is like one of my few times ever, I was like, what was that? He goes, it was an accident. He goes, I just was gonna aggravate him. I knew he'd punch me and I'd just bounce him off of, he said, but it worked out really good.

• 44:56Victor Marx?

  I'm like, it sure did. And he's just loaded with stories like that. But here he is, he sends me a letter. In this letter, he says, Dear son. And I was like, ugh. Don't call me son, you got my mom pregnant. And you didn't even claim me as your kid. You said, you know, I was some pimps kid or whatever. And, um, and he goes, I know you, I know I haven't been a good dad. And like, yeah, you're right. And he goes, I, I know I've never been there for you. And then he goes, I know you think I'm crazy.

• 45:40Victor Marx?

  I'm like, given. That's our lineage, crazyville. And he goes, this time I'm crazy. And I still have the letter showing, this time I'm crazy for Jesus Christ.

• 45:56Victor Marx?

  And that didn't excite me. That made me go, oh, great. What's the angle now? Jesus Christ. And he just goes, look, I'm just asking for a chance. And, and then the rest of the letter was pretty compelling. He seemed genuine and sincere. And he goes, would you come visit me? Just when you have leave of absence, come visit me. I want to make some things up to you. So I actually, I got in trouble in the Marine Corps. Having unauthorized weapons in the EQ and lying to the officer in charge of the day.

• 46:36Victor Marx?

  And he got cut from one of my sickles because he stuck his hand somewhere. And had a weapon back there and he pulls it out and he's like, you got nothing? I'm like, how did that get out there? So I get, I get office hours. I get, you know, I got to stand trial for my nonsense. But they let me go visit my dad. And they go, you better come back. I said, I'm not going AWOL for this. I'll just take my lumps when I get back. I visit my dad. Here's this guy, thick neck, huge forearms, tatted up. His nose stays flat. He's had it broke so many times, even had surgery, but it didn't work.

• 47:22Victor Marx?

  He's like, well, hey, I'm glad you're here and son. I said, ah, just let's not do the sun bit right now. Let's just try to be men. He says, no, good, good. And, uh, and then through this time with him, he invited me to go to church, June 22nd, 1986. And he's like, hey, you want to go to church with me? I said, not really. I said, I've had my share of church. He goes, I'm bringing some of the fellows. And the fellows were guys from his stable of fighters. And literally in the eighties, you know, and he had been doing the martial arts systems, punch, kick, throw, choke. Uh, so it was like MMA before

• 48:04Victor Marx?

  was popular. And he goes, well, a few of the guys are going. And I, and they were knuckle draggers. I was like, they're going? He said, yeah. So I'll, well, yeah, I'll go. And I never forget the preacher is talking good stuff. And then the people start worshiping like music. And, and they were, they were raising their hands. They were like all in to God. And I'm in my mind, I'm like, whoa, I thought Christian people, I just didn't think tough men would do this. They're really, they're into it. Like they, they give flying

• 48:46Victor Marx?

  squirrel sack if anybody's watching. They're just worshiping God. And I was like, and then I gotta tell you, I had to do an honest assessment. I was like, well, I ain't a Christian like them. That's weird. And then I felt God's conviction. Just a simple conviction that kind of shown me the sin, the areas of my life I messed up. Yep. No, I never abused a kid, never tortured anybody, never did that. But if you look and compare your life against the 10 commandments, if you break any one of those, that's actually sin. You're

• 49:27Victor Marx?

  missing the mark. Uh, so disobedient to parents, liar, adulterer, fornicator, um, putting anything above God. And that was the one that got me. That was the one that really got me. I was like, I know God, you're not the most important thing to me. And then I felt conviction. I was like, wow.

• 49:50Victor Marx?

  That's him. And then he showed me the cross is why the cross is for you. Your forgiveness, anything you've done, anything you could do, that's why Jesus died on the cross. It is for you. And that's when I just, I surrendered my life to the Lord. And I, I was not a crier. That, that didn't, that mechanism didn't work for ever. And I started, I call them man tears, you know, I was like, I was like, oh my gosh. And I remember sitting in church, grabbing a Bible, pulling it up close to me.

• 50:31Victor Marx?

  Cause I didn't want to, I felt so embarrassed. I was like, I don't want anybody to see me crying. And my tears, my tears were hitting the pages and crinkling them. And when the guy said, hey, if you need to get your business right with God, come forward. And I did, I actually literally just kind of ran forward, kneeled down. And man, I could feel God's love, like feel it. And I never felt his love. And I could feel the conviction of my sin. It was happening at the same time. And I was like, ah, this shouldn't be happening. What do I need to do? What do I need to do for repentance for my wrong?

• 51:11Victor Marx?

  And I was like, God's saying nothing. Jesus did it all. You just have to accept it.

• 51:18Shawn Ryan?

  Was there ever a point in your life where you wondered where, where he was or why he allowed all that to happen to you as a kid?

• 51:32Victor Marx?

  And that, Sean, is probably one of the most important questions you could ask me because it was such a pivotal point. After I came to faith that day, years later, it was with a counselor who simply asked me this, Victor, where was God? Where was the Lord?

• 51:55Victor Marx?

  And you were getting abused. And I said, hey, you should just shut up. He goes, well, why is that offensive? I said, look, God, God always knows what's right. And he's probably helping us. He goes, but why wasn't he there for you? And I remember it's, I had the same intensity and feeling of that movie Good Will Hunting. When Robin Williams is talking to the guy about his abuse. And he goes, it's not your fault.

• 52:24Victor Marx?

  I was like, don't mess with me. He goes, it's, you know, it wasn't your fault. And he kept saying, don't, don't F and mess with me. Don't. Because what victims do,

• 52:39Victor Marx?

  especially when you're younger, you build these,

• 52:43Victor Marx?

  you, you build these messages in your mind to justify how and why. And, and it's false. Cause it's never your fault. And it's, and the guilt and the shame is never yours. It's the perpetrators. And it was then that I was challenged to just ask the Lord, where was he?

• 53:11Victor Marx?

  Took me two years to do it.

• 53:15Victor Marx?

  Because I had developed

• 53:19Victor Marx?

  false hope.

• 53:22Victor Marx?

  And some people are going to understand this. It's not a real hope. It's a false hope. And I'd rather it be false than ask the question and realize he wasn't there. Then my hope is, it's gone. Took me two years. When I was in a place where I was ready to ask him. It was just me. And, and I said, Lord,

• 53:49Victor Marx?

  I need to know, where were you? Because all of my little, well, you were helping kids in Africa. You're helping kids who really needed help. I didn't really need, you know? I was done with that. I was just like, I just didn't understand where, where were you? What happened next was one of the most pivotal moments in my spiritual life of learning truth, replacing years of lies with the truth of where Jesus was.

• 54:23Victor Marx?

  And when I asked him that, all of a sudden, I was transported right back to my stepfather's room. And it was a particular instance where he was beating me with his belt. And I could see it, Sean. I could see the room. I could see the carpet, bathroom windows, closet, the bed. And then I see myself laying on the bed. Because my stepfather would make you get out of your pants and in your underwear, those little white, he'd make you lay and stretch your arms out through your body. Then he'd take his belt out, wrap it a couple of times, and then he would start to beat you.

• 55:07Victor Marx?

  And I see all this, and I can feel the anxiety. I'm seeing it, and I'm like, oh, gosh. He has his beer in one hand, his belt in the other. I'm like, Lord, where? I guess you just weren't there. And all of a sudden, I literally see the Lord Jesus appear. And he's right, he's right there next to my stepfather. And then, I mean, instantly, I started thinking, touch his heart, kill him. Make him die. Because I don't want to get beat.

• 55:49Victor Marx?

  If that would have happened in my vision, it would have been fake. Because he never died like that. And then my next feeling was, oh, my gosh. Are you just going to watch him beat me? How impotent of a God is that? How sick. You're just going to stand there and watch this man beat the hell out of me again? And then what happened next? It changed everything.

• 56:25Victor Marx?

  He stepped in between me and my stepfather.

• 56:30Victor Marx?

  And he faced me.

• 56:34Victor Marx?

  And then he kneeled down. And he put his body over mine. Right before I got hit.

• 56:43Victor Marx?

  And he took every beating.

• 56:48Victor Marx?

  Far and with me. He took it far and with me. So that I could survive. And there's a scripture that says, "The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you."

• 57:04Victor Marx?

  And he proved it. That's why I survived. And I thought.

• 57:11Victor Marx?

  That's a Savior.

• 57:15Victor Marx?

  I can follow and trust.

• 57:19Victor Marx?

  Cause his love is action.

• 57:22Victor Marx?

  And never again did I doubt he wasn't there for me.

• 57:26Victor Marx?

  And, and I'll tell you, it always breaks God's heart when somebody's being abused in any way.

• 57:34Victor Marx?

  But what I learned is, it's, God doesn't cause that to happen. He gives the person a free will. To do good or bad. And when this person does evil. It's, he just allows the person a free will. And then in that redemptive, unbelievable, loving way, he enters that pain.

• 57:57Victor Marx?

  And he understands the suffering. And it breaks his heart. But he enters it with us, every kid.

• 58:13Victor Marx?

  That's truth, my friend.

• 58:17Victor Marx?

  That's the truth that sets us free.

• 58:20Victor Marx?

  He really does love us.

• 58:29Shawn Ryan?

  I'm speechless right now. I don't know what to ask.

• 58:35Victor Marx?

  It's... That is one of my most personal, private, spiritual moments that no one could ever change my mind on. It changed my life. And it was all based on that one question. And you asked it. It's the right question. Where was he? He was right there with me. And he's with everyone. Doesn't matter who they are, whether they follow him or not. Because it's humanity. And that's what the battle is.

• 59:18Victor Marx?

  The battle is good and evil against the human.

• 59:27Shawn Ryan?

  Victor, let's take a break. When we come back, I want to dig into what got you into saving children. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. But what I would like to talk about, the journey that led you into the nonprofit and all the stuff that you're doing within it right now.

• 59:48Victor Marx?

  Would love to.

• 59:49Shawn Ryan?

  Perfect. Thank you for listening to the Sean Ryan Show. If you haven't already, please take a minute, head over to iTunes and leave the Sean Ryan Show a review. We read every review that comes through and we really appreciate the support. Thank you. Let's get back to the show. All right, Victor. We're back from the break. We're getting ready to dig into your nonprofit.

• 1:00:22Victor Marx?

  Yep.

• 1:00:25Shawn Ryan?

  But first, you've mentioned your wife a couple of times.

• 1:00:28Victor Marx?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:00:28Shawn Ryan?

  How long have you guys been married?

• 1:00:30Victor Marx?

  Thirty-five years.

• 1:00:31Shawn Ryan?

  Thirty-five years?

• 1:00:32Victor Marx?

  Yeah, this year.

• 1:00:34Shawn Ryan?

  Congratulations.

• 1:00:34Victor Marx?

  Thank you. Best accomplishment ever.

• 1:00:37Shawn Ryan?

  That is amazing. So you and your wife founded this together, correct?

• 1:00:43Victor Marx?

  Yeah, we did.

• 1:00:45Shawn Ryan?

  What is the key? What's the recipe for a successful marriage?

• 1:00:53Victor Marx?

  One, marry the right person. Two, learn to forgive a lot. And three, be intentional in growing your love. And I think a lot of, I think a lot, I mean, in essence, our human nature, we're all selfish. And marriage proves that. And then children help accentuate that. You know? And, and I, I just think if, if people invest and are intentional

• 1:01:38Victor Marx?

  in their marriage and learning to work beyond what they feel, and I'll tell you a little secret. I've never said this. Here's a little secret that I do over the years. When I just am not standing my wife, I'm like, ugh, she aggravates me. I make myself think about what's true and good and what I love about her. And I, it's a mental discipline to go, okay, yeah. Ugh, right now, ugh. But what do I love about her? What? Not, not her current s- s- s- that, but right. What I'd love, what?

• 1:02:22Victor Marx?

  And I just start thinking about all the good things. All the good things. And guess what? It changes your mind. And, and then, you know, it's, it's easy to forgive when, when you know you've been forgiven too.

• 1:02:40Shawn Ryan?

  Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing that. There's a lot of, there's a lot of broken homes out there. And I think there's more divorce than successful marriages at this point in time. And so, you know, that's, that's important advice.

• 1:02:55Victor Marx?

  Well, and we, we have an online course. People can go to victormarx.com/marriage. It's an online course that thousands of people go through, and it helps. It's literally like just sitting down with me and my wife in our living room. And we, we share ups and downs and struggles, but we share nuggets and insights that people can apply instantly.

• 1:03:19Shawn Ryan?

  I'll bet you got a lot more people coming to check that out here soon. But let's move into the All Things Possible Foundation.

• 1:03:28Victor Marx?

  Yep.

• 1:03:29Shawn Ryan?

  Let's just start at the beginning. What was the... I mean, it sounds like you guys do a lot of things.

• 1:03:35Victor Marx?

  Yep.

• 1:03:36Shawn Ryan?

  I don't... Is the marriage stuff through the foundation as well?

• 1:03:39Victor Marx?

  It is, but we didn't start doing that till later.

• 1:03:42Shawn Ryan?

  So let's talk about the... Just the birth of the concept, the idea. How did that come about?

• 1:03:50Victor Marx?

  Well, it was... I'll tell you, Sean.

• 1:03:56Victor Marx?

  Because it's actually interesting and funny and unexpected.

• 1:04:01Victor Marx?

  I got invited to speak. You know, our background was martial arts and fitness. We lived in Hawaii for years, raised our kids there.

• 1:04:11Victor Marx?

  And at one point had the largest facility martial arts school.

• 1:04:17Victor Marx?

  I mean, it was interesting. Vitor Balfour, his first fight outside of Brazil was in Hawaii and he came to our training center. Him and his instructor before he passed away and his mom. And he trained and worked out. But it's... We got to a place to where we felt called to ministry.

• 1:04:42Victor Marx?

  I tried being a pastor and it didn't work out.

• 1:04:48Victor Marx?

  I was an assistant pastor, tried to be a senior pastor, but where, I mean, when I realized, oh gosh, is...

• 1:04:53Shawn Ryan?

  Why didn't it work out? You seem like the perfect fit. You come from a line of trauma.

• 1:05:00Victor Marx?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:00Shawn Ryan?

  You've overcome so much.

• 1:05:02Victor Marx?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:02Shawn Ryan?

  I think a lot more people could relate to a man like you than the squeaky clean pastor who's...

• 1:05:15Shawn Ryan?

  Who's never had a challenge in his life, you know what I mean? There's, this is, I'm just gonna be honest. That's something that really drove me away from God, Christianity, Jesus, whatever you wanna call it, is the, the picture, the picture perfect snapshot Christian. You know, extremely judgmental.

• 1:05:37Victor Marx?

  Yep.

• 1:05:38Shawn Ryan?

  Most of them haven't been through any sort of trauma. Never deployed overseas, no childhood trauma, like everything. I think a lot of them have just been handed everything.

• 1:05:50Victor Marx?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:51Shawn Ryan?

  And, and then they become super judgmental and they judge everybody who's going through some type of a hardship because they don't deal with it the way that, that they think that that person should be dealing with.

• 1:06:05Victor Marx?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:06Shawn Ryan?

  You know, and it's, I find it to be extremely hypocritical.

• 1:06:13Shawn Ryan?

  Zero self-reflection. It's all about them. It's not even about, it's not even about Christ. It's not even about God. It's what makes me look good in front of my people in church. And, um, and that drove me away for a long time and it kept me away. Even when I would start to, you know, there have been times where I would start to, to, to want to, you know, find faith and then I would go, that's what I saw and then walk right back out the door. You know?

• 1:06:45Victor Marx?

  Well, I, I think Western Christianity, uh, many years ago, got off course and it became, um, it became a machine and it, it, it lost the heart of real ministry. And, and that's to help people, not to become, I mean, literally pastors are just like anybody else.

• 1:07:11Victor Marx?

  And especially when you start building and growing, it became a business and enterprise. And they judged their, their outcomes were flawed based on, well, how many people do I have? How much money are we bringing in? That's, that's where they're, I, I think they got off course. It's like, so are you not successful? If you have 40 people and it's a country church? Or if you're faithfully ministering to a hundred? And you go visit people who are in the hospital? You marry people, you're bearing people? That's, I mean, standardly, that's how been, that's Christianity has been.

• 1:07:53Victor Marx?

  But we got into this, I think, Western mindset where, well, this is what it looks like. And then everybody's looking at other pastors and other churches. And my wife and I went to, she was at a pastors conference event. I mean, this was like, gosh, 25, 30 years ago, 30 years ago. And, and she, I never forget, she came home disgusted. I was like, babe, what's going on? She goes, honey, I went to this thing and it's supposed to be older Christian pastors, wives ministering to younger. And she goes, they had a coding system by what color name badge you wore? If you were a senior pastor's wife or an assistant?

• 1:08:37Victor Marx?

  And they, it was clickish. They actually treated women different. And she goes, she was like, are you kidding me? Like, now this, so the reason why, you know, and maybe I'm a better fit now. But back then, um, uh, back then, a defining moment was, I was on staff at a church. It was a Calvary Chapel, uh, which are popular churches. And some pastors are amazing. I mean, I got a friend and, you know, uh, You know, who care, here in Tennessee, amazing. They're doing it the right way, right?

• 1:09:22Victor Marx?

  And then I've got, uh, he's in Chattanooga. And then I've got other guys I know, I'm like, dude, you should be out of the ministry. This is a vocation. And you're using this whole platform and it's about you. So, so why I stepped back many, many years ago from that forward facing church type atmospheres? They wanted me to counsel somebody. And, um, and I wasn't even married yet, didn't have counseling training. And they're like, wow, you just, you know, so I'd try to counsel a few people. And then I, I got a phone call and there was a guy that came in.

• 1:10:06Victor Marx?

  His, his older daughter was in my little youth group. And he came in and goes, man, I just got in an argument with my wife. And he says, I blew it, Victor, I messed up. I said, like what? He goes, I cheated on her. I'm like, oh, that's a, that's a big one. That's one of the big ones right there. He goes, could you please just help me get back with her? He says, I'm repentive and I'll never do it again. I'm like, I'll talk to her, you know, but that's, that's a heavy order right there. Cause it's biblical. If someone commits adultery, you have a biblical precedent to divorce them. So I talked to her and she's like, well, you know, he's doing drugs. And, uh, I said, what's up to you?

• 1:10:50Victor Marx?

  So she opted to forgive him and be reconciled. So she let him back in. A few months later, he did it again. And, um, he came in and he was like, oh my gosh, please. And it took a little longer. I was like, do you wanna, so you know?

• 1:11:13Victor Marx?

  Some, some women, they're, they're messed up with dysfunction too, and they allow stuff to happen and. Generational trauma. Generational trauma. And, um, so she let him back in. It was a few months later, I get a phone call from her. She says, Victor, Victor, I need your help. So what's going on? She goes, you know, my husband, um, cheated again, but he's high on, um, I think he was smoking crack. And she goes, he just freaked out when I confronted him about it. And he hit our daughter, their toddler.

• 1:11:56Victor Marx?

  He, he punched her into a wall, full on just wow. And he goes, and she says, you know, busted the wall. She said, what do I do? I said, call an ambulance and call the police right away. She goes, okay, I'm just telling you in case he comes to church. I'm like, that idiot wouldn't come to church at this point. Guess who comes walking in? This dude comes walking in. This was a defining moment of why I wasn't church material at the time. He sees me and then he keeps walking. He's going to find another pastor. I do an intercept and said, hey, man, what's going on? He goes, oh, you know, things aren't great. And I said, well, why don't you come back to my office?

• 1:12:40Victor Marx?

  So we walked and I had, there were many pastors offices. I was at the end because it was a big church. And when we walked in my office, I put him behind my desk and I sat at the door and said, tell me what's going on. Oh, man, it's just, you know, uh, I'm like, and I said, I know I got a call from your wife. Cause you did. I said, yeah. Yeah, you really have messed up, haven't you? And he was definitely tweaking. He was just, and I said, she said you hit your daughter, your toddler and bounced her off a wall? He goes, I don't know what happened, man. I just lost my mind. And then he goes, and he's like fake crying, oh my gosh.

• 1:13:24Victor Marx?

  He goes, he goes, I don't, and he said these words. He goes, I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I should get hit.

• 1:13:34Victor Marx?

  I thought, I don't have a lot of skill sets. I'm fresh out the Marine Corps. But I'm comfortable in conflict. That's what I'm thinking. So I go, yeah, I think you should. So I got up, went over there. He said, he's like, what are you doing? I said, you just asked for it. You're gonna get it. Swap him, put him on the ground, start pounding this dude. And he's screaming, I mean, he is screaming. The door flies open and it's the, you know, number two pastors. And he's like, what are you doing? Stop. I'm like, he, it's okay. He said he should be hit. So it's like legal. And he hit his toddler. And the guy's like, Victor, please come out.

• 1:14:19Victor Marx?

  Come out and the guy's like, call the police. And the guy's like, you can't hit people when they come in. I go, he just needs his butt whooped. And then the police need to come arrest him. So he's, he's a complete punk. And it was pretty soon after that, I was asked to find a different approach to ministry outside of the church walls. I said, okay. And I said, I get it. And, and then, then, you know, God led us on a whole journey where our ministry became us teaching and reaching out to the public through martial arts, big schools. And people were coming to faith and we would, we had devotions after every class.

• 1:15:03Victor Marx?

  And it'd be 60 people. And we're having devotion, we're praying, having every class. And people started calling me their weekday pastor. They go, you've really become like how we apply this stuff because y'all just talk normal. And I'm like, well, we're just, just trying to walk in our lane or run in it. But then when it came time, a defining moment that said, I think we're gonna start this ministry. I, I was, my gosh, I was 40?

• 1:15:39Victor Marx?

  And down the road, uh, business and life. Um, yeah, I was just before forty. And it ended up being, I was asked to go to a youth prison and share my testimony. And, um, I, I had worked for Dr. Dobson and somebody had heard me share a little bit. And they're like, would you come to this youth prison? I was like, I'm, why do I need to go? They said, your story could really help them. So I prayed about it. I said, yeah. And I said, who's gonna be there? They said, it's seventy five kids locked up. It's a, it's a full, high security facility.

• 1:16:22Victor Marx?

  Guards and all kinds of like, oh, man. I started getting a little nervous. I'm like, I don't, I don't know what to say. And he goes, well, why don't you do a little martial arts demonstration? You, I go, I, I can do that. So we go, they bring these kids in this gym. They're all sitting there looking at me and they really are going, what in the world are you gonna talk to us about? And so I decided to do a little demonstration with a pair of nunchucks. And have a guy hold pencils in his hands and one in his mouth. And I was nursing a shoulder injury, so I probably shouldn't have done it. But I knocked the pencils out of his hand when I went for his mouth. I missed and I split his chin open.

• 1:17:06Victor Marx?

  And this is what's crazy is all those kids were looking at me like this, you know? And when I hit that guy and split him, he starts bleeding. They're all like this.

• 1:17:19Victor Marx?

  This guy playing around, this, this preacher, he, is he a preacher or who, what is? And then I had their attention because they were like, this is weird and he's violent. But they could relate to it. And then I do a hit where I can hit a person, you know, eight points of contact in a little over a second. And, and of course the gun is on. I had all their attention and I shared my story. Fifty six of the seventy five gave their life to Christ that day.

• 1:17:54Victor Marx?

  And it was so odd, and I couldn't believe it. So many responded. I told them, sit down. I could ask again, do you understand this? Coming to faith in Christ, you get forgiven, but you're surrendering and you're being intentional about following him. If that's you, stand up. Fifty, I think it was 56, stood up. I was just like, the warden comes over to him and he goes, I've been praying that someone would be able to touch these kids. He says, it's you. And I remember being stunned. And there was somebody to follow up weekly with these kids. So they were growing their faith. That's who had invited me in. But I ended up going home and going researching, how many youth prisons are there in the

• 1:18:39Victor Marx?

  U.S.? I didn't even know. And it just, oh my gosh, it was unbelievable. And back then, on any given night, there was 175 to 200,000 kids were locked up or under some type of, you know, legal thing. And I'm like, who's reaching them? And I looked and I was like, whoa, nobody's reaching them. Very tiny percent. Because to the Western church, they're the misfits. There's no benefit to trying to win them for Christ outside of maybe crime reduction. But they can't do anything for the church. They're a hard group. And I said,

• 1:19:20Victor Marx?

  well, that's perfect. Because I like going after those who others won't. And that's when I told my wife, I think, I think we're supposed to reach these kids. She's like, then let's do it. And we did. And it was, we're celebrating 20 years this year.

• 1:19:40Shawn Ryan?

  Man.

• 1:19:40Victor Marx?

  That's how it started.

• 1:19:42Shawn Ryan?

  That's awesome.

• 1:19:43Victor Marx?

  But it grew.

• 1:19:44Shawn Ryan?

  Yeah, it did.

• 1:19:45Victor Marx?

  Oh my gosh, it grew.

• 1:19:46Shawn Ryan?

  I mean, you guys are saving kids all over the world now.

• 1:19:52Shawn Ryan?

  Next on the Sean Ryan Show.

• 1:19:56Shawn Ryan?

  How did it come from being a ministry for kids in prison to going overseas in Iraq, Syria, wherever you go?

• 1:20:08Victor Marx?

  Over 100 missions complete with trauma care, help over 45,000 women and children.

• 1:20:14Shawn Ryan?

  Wow.

• 1:20:15Victor Marx?

  Yeah. And right into ISIS confinement camps.

• 1:20:23Victor Marx?

  What kind of stuff is happening with these kids? Everything from they're hiding with their parents and their parents are murdered. To, um, they've been abducted by ISIS.

• 1:20:37Victor Marx?

  Bad things happen.