Hello Covenant Dice family, we are coming to you from Provo, Utah today. We, Karen, just had the premiere last night of Sound of Freedom and we're here today doing some follow-up interviews. Really excited to dive a little deeper. You know, on the red carpet, that's a lot of fun, but you can only get so deep. But having some in-depth conversations, particularly about how our listeners, you, can take action. That's a really big thing that we talk about on the Covenant Dice podcast. Absolutely.

00:34
Well, and today we are actually sitting down with Tim Ballard. So Tim, it's so good to see you. It's great to see you guys. Yeah. So we visited with you a couple of times. We want to take a couple of different angles in this one. But first of all, I have to know, last night was the first time your family saw the film. You were anxiously awaiting how it was going to be received. Can you talk a little bit about the reaction from that? Yeah, most of my family, most of my kids hadn't seen the movie at all. And

01:03
It was a big deal to me because they're part of this in ways they don't even understand. What they do understand is I'm not there when they want me there. They understand that. And it breaks my heart. I was raised in a family where my father was at everything. I'm missing almost everything, seems like. I do the best I can, the work I have is outside. It's not like I'm, you know, and Catherine says the same, my wife, you know, you're not making trinkets or something, you're not trying to just like sell something. No, this is what we're supposed to be doing, you know, this is something that we feel is a calling, and my calling wasn't what I wanted it to be, you know, and so my hope was that my kids would watch and realize that their sacrifice was also part of why the kids depicted in that film were rescued and others. So I haven't been able to, I had to get up so early and come here, so I haven't been able to talk to them in depth, but I'm excited to. What's interesting though, was that they all, all of your family received a standing ovation from everybody in that theater. What was that moment like in your heart? Well,

02:17
It was fun and funny at first because it's funny because they were uncomfortable and that makes me laugh. But Catherine said something I think you couldn't hear over the applause and that actually made me really emotional. She said, she said, cheer for them. She said, cheer for those kids like it's their father cheering for the games that he missed. And I don't think you've ever heard it, I heard it. And I was just like.

02:44
my gosh, it was just like beautiful and painful. And sometimes the most beautiful things are also painful, right? Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, last night it was great because your wife actually had a chance to speak and we got to hear a little bit of her heart and how she actually has been so strong through this and how your children were there praying for her and praying over her. And that was just a beautiful moment. Talk to me a little bit about how that made you feel to hear that. I'm sure you've heard it before, but knowing that your children are there supporting your wife in that way and she's there supporting them.

03:14
It's beautiful. It is beautiful and you know the whole journey is a faith journey. We never would dream to do this. We wouldn't have the power, the courage to do it and certainly Catherine wouldn't be able to support me being God as much as I am and still being willing to have nine children, you know, all of them wanted, you know, all of them like planned for, you know, except for the last one.

03:38
He'll take him, but you know the first eight were just like you want to do this okay? And she's willing to take that much on including two kids who are adopted that was hurt is that was her desire So she really is someone who puts all of her Faith in action and and she believes and even feels like she can even expect you know there's a covenant relationship I love that word covenant. There's a covenant relationship in the in the scripture that it's it's revealed, and it's it's I can expect

04:07
I might not like the answer, but I can expect that it's the right answer as long as I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. She lives by that. That's amazing. You know, it's really incredible. The work, you know, because this interview is actually coming out after the movie has been released. And so people are, you know, probably already seen the movie. We've hit that two million. We've done all these great things. People probably want some next steps. And so I thought it would be really good to talk a little bit about your organization.

04:30
and how some people can actually get involved and take action. So I'm the founder of Operation Underground Railroad, obviously, and people can go learn there. I'm also, I'm the CEO of the Nazarene Fund, which we focus on persecuted religious minorities, Christians especially. But I'm actually launching something new that will be out at the movie's premiere time. It's called the Spear Fund, thespearfund.org.

04:53
It includes OUR, it includes the Nazarene Fund, but it includes every other organization. You see, I requested Angel Studios not end the movie like it used to have with, and then they created Operation Underground Railroad. That's not the right message. It might be the right message for the bottom line at OUR or the Nazarene Fund. It's not the right message for children who deserve the best solution. My foundations aren't the best solutions for everything. For many things, I'd say...

05:20
proudly say yes, but not for everything. And so we're building a coalition of the Spear Fund, leaders of many, many organizations that represent the entire world, where we can say, look, let's be honest about this. Let's not have scarcity mentality, but let's have abundance mentality. Let's stop fighting and recognize what does the kid want? And so we can get donations and then decide which organization will best do the job in this corner of the world or that corner of the world so the kids are always getting the best. And so I'm very excited to announce that. You can go to thespearfund.org.

05:49
and learn more about what we're doing and who we're partnering with. And I think it's the most innovative solution to fighting this that we've ever seen. That's awesome. Does this organization also bring together groups that actually help the children recover from trauma throughout their life? Absolutely. That's beautiful. So, SPIR funds like tip of the SPIR, but there's an acronym involved, which is spirituality and peace is what we're trying to deliver. Education, EA, action, intervention, and then redemption. That is the redeeming, the restoration, the healing, the aftercare. That's beautiful.

06:19
When we think about this movie and how this was crowdfunded, over $5 million raised through Angel Studios crowdfunding, we look at the grassroots level. And I'd like to talk a little bit about the call to action because some people might have seen the film like, what can I do as an individual person? I mean, you quit your government job, right? You testified before Congress, got a little bit of ground gained.

06:45
but there's a lot at a government level that really needs to change still. So as an individual person, how can I and those who are listening step forward and begin to move the needle on all of these things? Well, first we hope the film is one of those things that people can't forget about at last, at least a few days. And so during that window, we wanna provide all these solutions and people can now jump right into those. Like right now, like pre-movie or during movie, it's buy tickets, buy tickets, but eventually it's...

07:15
where do you land? And we're building those landing pads right now. And the Spear Fund, OUR, Nazarene Fund, and all the other partners, we want to get it out there. We want everyone to choose their weapon of choice. And so the kids have the best chance of rescue and deliverance. So if you want to leave a message with our listeners, knowing what you know about Covenant Eyes, our battle against pornography, really trying to stop the demand that leads to the human trafficking, what would you say to them?

07:42
I'd say that the battle of human trafficking is way beyond what you're going to watch in the film. It's not just about kids being taken in some faraway land. In fact, the bigger fight is at home right now. The culture wars, kids being sexualized. I am now worried that I might be out of a job not because we eradicated this, but because the laws are being corroded. The laws that protect children are being eliminated.

08:11
through this horrific ideology and it really does begin with sexualization because the kids get, you gotta get them, they want them sexualized, right? and that's all pornography. That's the demand. That creates the demand. That creates the sex addiction. Once someone's sex addicted, you know what happens next. They can't stop. It's a drug. A gateway drug is the adult porn and then eventually the next level, the crack cocaine heroin stuff, is the child stuff. And now here we are trying to catch up.

08:41
So it starts there, it starts. So thank you for your work in that area. That is the place to begin to end the demand. Absolutely. And as a mom, I think about exposure to pornography is as early as seven, eight, and nine because of technology and devices. And wow, we do have a lot of work to do out there as a culture, but we have to take a stand, right? And what's sad is not just the technology, but now it's schools. I mean, they're providing children things. I can't even believe what I'm seeing.

09:08
I literally might have been able to arrest people for providing the material to children back in the early 2000s. The same material that's being provided by now teachers to children, liberating, calling it whatever, but in fact it's enslaving.

09:22
It's enslaving these little brains. Third graders can't deal with this. Adults can't deal with it. It messes with their brains. What does it do to a third graders brain? Like it's still crystallizing and now you throw sex into it and now when they're 13 and told you can consent now to do anything, what are they going to consent to do now? They've already been programmed, conditioned, groomed.

09:44
to be sex objects. It's devastating what's happening. So I'll be turning my attention now that my face is prohibited. My face is out there. I can't ever do operations again. But I certainly can fight this fight. Tim, we're so grateful for your time today. We're so grateful for everything that you're doing. Karen, it is a bit of an uphill battle, but the things that we're talking about are some simple steps that people can take, right? So the movie is probably still going to be in theaters. Yes. So you can still go support it.

10:09
and then checking out the Spear Fund. Those are practical things that you, our listeners, can do. Absolutely, and stay in the fight with Covenant Eyes as well, because like Tim was saying, we have to stop the demand. So Tim, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.