UNSHACKLED! Audio Dramas - 3923 Paul Gautchi

0:00How do you do? It's been said that we live in exciting times when technology and modern medicine are able to prolong lives and supplements give us all our nutritional needs. The subject of our story knows a lot about this. He's a gardener and a master arborist, but his path to get there was filled with dissolutionment, betrayal and self-destruction. In one day, he met the master healer, and that's when his heart, his mind, his very life were unshackled. Hey, Shu, you ever seen so many dead plants? Not where I come from, but you know I'm a weird man. I just add, and all that stuff, those copters of sprains, doesn't help.

1:00That's Agent Orange Paul. It's just doing what it's supposed to do. I don't get why anybody would want to kill everything in a healthy jungle. My mom taught me how to do some gardening. We'd love to have this kind of growth. You wouldn't like it if some NVA soldier was hiding behind it. That's the whole point. Yeah, well... Incoming! Hit the dark! Reclaiming the good news to a troubled world this is unshackled through life stories of real people dramatized and produced in Chicago by Pacific Garden Mission. In these turbulent times, more people than ever are homeless and feel hopeless. Yet since 1877, the mission has been a shelter for those whom the world has trampled. Thanks to financial gifts from friends like you, the old lighthouse provides more help than ever. Food, fresh clothing, a safe bunk, and even some medical and dental care are just the beginning of restoration.

2:00Classes and counseling help each guest realize the need to abandon the world's path and instead follow the one who sticks closer than a brother, which is what this program celebrates. Now for broadcast around the Earth here is episode number 3,923 in the series Unshackled, program that makes you face yourself and think. As a young boy growing up in Los Angeles, I had never heard of Vietnam. I couldn't have found it on a map and would never in my wildest dreams thought I'd go there. My parents taught us two things, Bible verses, and how to grow garden. As my dad was a missionary, with a special ministry to the Jewish people in L.A. Mom? Well, she was handy with gardening tools and they made sure my brother and I learned all we could. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us.

3:04For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. What do you think that means, Paul? It sounds like Jesus took care of that old curse, so we don't have to. That sounds about right, but what does that mean? Curses and stuff. It's not like they're cursing you here on the streets, and it's not like stories on the radio or television. When Adam and Eve's sinned, we came under the curse of sin. It separated us from God. Because of Jesus dying on the cross, we don't have to worry about that curse, do you understand? Yeah, I guess so. It doesn't sound like when we curse. What you shouldn't do. You're right, Paul. When God curses something, he's placing a burden on us as a result of something we did. Like when Adam and Eve sinned, one of the things God did is curse the ground. So even though they were gardeners and farmers, growing plants was going to be difficult for them, because they sinned. That's right.

4:07Our parents gave my brother and me object lessons like that all the time, right out of the Bible. I mean, I'd prayed to accept Jesus when I was five years old, but I had a long hard road ahead of me, trying to learn what that meant. Sweet here, Rich. I'll ask my mom. Hurry up. We gotta get out there before the fish are all gone. Calm yourself, man. The fish aren't going anywhere. Neither are we. Just hurry up. Mom. Yes, Paul. I'm coming. Oh. Hi, Richard. What is it, Paul? Richard, I want to go fishing, but we need some money for worms. Do you have a dollar I can use? Well, actually, I don't have any money right now. I picked up a few things at the five in time this morning. Definitely change. Quarter? I don't, Paul. And we need to be careful until payday. Doing ministry work doesn't allow for a lot of extra things. So I can't go fishing. You have my permission to go fishing, but you're going to have to find your own worms. Come on, Paul. Let's go. Oh, I'm guessing we're not fishing.

5:08Come on, second. I'm thinking about what? Where are we going to get worms? If you were a worm, where would you be on a hot day like this? In a store waiting for someone to buy me. No. You wouldn't. You'd be somewhere cool and moist. What? What do you mean? Over here. Come on. I can't wait to see what you're come up with. Help me move this rock. You want me to move that rock? It's got a weigh of 1,000 pounds. I bet it doesn't weigh a hundred pounds, and trust me, you can like this. Come on. This better be good. We're doing it. There you go, Rich. Worms. Tons of them. More than we need for fishing. Grab some. I'll get a tin from the house. How on earth did you think of that? I guess God told me. Hey, I'll be right back. I truly believe God did tell me that the worms would be hiding under that rock. And the idea that there are things at work in nature in places we can't see was something

6:14that would serve me later in life. After high school, I was drafted into the army and ended up at Fort Old near Monterey, California. While I was there, I made a friend. This is where you put the magazine in. You need to keep a clean urtle, jam up at the worst time. Man, shoot. You really have a grip on the whole gun thing. We're soldiers now, Paul. This is our thing. You don't sound too happy to be a soldier. Are you? I love this country. I'm happy to serve it. Even if they send us to Vietnam? Even if they send us to Vietnam. I don't know why we're fighting over there. Those people never did anything to me. There's got to be a good reason. Our government wouldn't send us to war without a good reason. You really believe that, man? Well, yeah. I do believe it. Yeah. We'll see. We did get deployed to Vietnam, and before long, I was a hardened soldier. It was also becoming more cynical. The longer I was in the country, the less I understood why we were there.

7:14Still, I had chup, who'd been with me since basic. Keep your eyes open, brother. Sergeant says there's movement on the tree line. First Italian place claimed more along the whole line. We've seen a movement. I think this jungle heat is getting to me. It's not the side of California. None of this is my California. In fact, what? I see something right over there. Say the word. I'll light them up. I'm not sure. It's definitely something moving. Do it! God, I'm mercy. Nice job. I think you saved the whole unit, Paul. My time in Vietnam was a series of skirmishes and broken promises. The longer I was there, the more my trust in our government eroded. And one day, we were out on patrol. We'd got reports that the North Vietnamese Army was in our zone.

8:16Hey, shoot, you've ever seen so many dead plants? Not where I come from. Vietnam is weird, man. How'd you that? And all that stuff, those copters of sprains, doesn't help. That's Agent Orange, Paul. That's just doing what it's supposed to do. I don't get why anybody would want to kill everything in a healthy jungle. My mom taught me how to do some gardening. We'd love to have this kind of growth. You wouldn't like it if some NVA soldier was hiding behind it. That's the whole point. Yeah. Well. And cut her! Hit the dart! Shoot! Get up, man! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot was gone, killed by NVA artillery. We chased the enemy back into the jungle, but it was too late as far as I was concerned. All right. Here we go. One, two, three! Ah! Thanks, Private. Hey. Are you okay? I just put my best friend's body on your helicopter. You think I'm okay? Seriously, man?

9:16I'm sorry about that soldier. But every man in the unit can tell the same story. Yeah. Well, I'm not okay with it. In a moment we'll hear the rest of Paul's story. But first, I want to share a bit about how our supporting ministry has an impact all over the world. Unshackled is spreading the good news through powerful stories about real people. Our success is a result of God's blessing and the involvement of supporters like you. When you contribute to Unshackled, it has a direct impact. Your support allows us to hire quality writers, talented actors, a skilled production team, and a devoted staff. Through your support, we are able to share Unshackled worldwide. So, in order to continue the work of spreading the gospel and allowing us to offer this program for free, won't you consider making a donation to Unshackled? All you need to do is visit our website at Unshackled.org and click on the Donate button.

10:20Or you can always write a check to Unshackled and mail it to 1458 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60607. I started walking away from God in the jungles of Vietnam. I didn't believe he or the government cared a wit about me. For long, I was on a plane home, demobbed from the army and living in my parents' house again. He'd think that Godly home would be the best place for me. It wasn't. In fact, between Saigon and Los Angeles, I'd picked up a new habit. Paul, dinner's ready. You know what he's doing? He's smoking pot in his room. I know. I've talked to him about it. He just says we don't know what it was like for him over there. Maybe not. But if he's going to be living in our house, he's got to abide by our rules. What's your cooking? Smells good.

11:20A few of your favorites. Corn on the cob. Pepper salad. Zucchini from the garden. Sounds healthy. It sure does. Why don't you say grace? I'll pass, if you don't mind. Aren't you thankful? For food? Yeah. I don't feel like I owe God anything. Are you thankful for that dope? You smoke? God made that too. Who? It's not so bad, Daddy O. You want to try some? I do not. Too bad. You don't know what you're missing. Oh, Paul. Hey, Gouchy. What's going on? You're looking to score some pot, man. You got anything to sell me? I got bad news and good news. Bad news. I just sold my last nickel. And the good news? I got some acid tabs if you want to try it. LSD? Yeah, man, I'll try it. Along with a new drug habit, I also started dabbling in eastern religions. The more I expanded my mind, the more it appealed to me.

12:22And it was a huge part of the culture at that time too. But there were other things happening that I was only beginning to realize. Excuse me. Do I know you? What? My name's Paul. I think I remember you, you're a friend of my brothers? I think. Who is your brother? Daniel. Daniel Gouchy? He's my brother. Yeah, I know, Dan. He's a good guy. I'm Carol. Yeah. You seem like a nice person too. Nice? I guess I'll sell for nice. Are you all right, Paul? I'm having some problems. Remembering stuff. You recognize me? It's really weird. I can remember new stuff, but like growing up, I don't remember any of it. You don't remember any of it? Like I said, it's really weird. I couldn't tell you my mom's birthday, but I can remember all the Bible verses I learned as a kid. Bible verses are good. Yeah. Me and God are on the outs. Are you a believer? Yeah, Paul. I'm a Christian. Wow.

13:22The view, I guess. What I told Carol was true. I couldn't have told you any of what my mom taught me about gardening, but I had perfect recall of all the Bible verses. All the Bible verses they taught us. I even tried to forget them. I mean, I made an effort to forget them, but I couldn't. Which sure didn't impress the new crowd I was hanging with. This is what life is supposed to be, can't. Love and peace, baby. Love and peace. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called Children of God. Where did that come from? We're all children of God, Paul. Jesus said that. It was his sermon on the Mount. Oh, here we go. Jesus, what do you got to bring him up, man? We were all cool until you mentioned Jesus. It's just a guy in an old book. Then what'd you bring him up, man? I'm trying to enjoy my mellow when you bring up Jesus and God. Child, man. All that anger is going to eat you up. Stop quoting Bible verses at us and maybe we'll stop getting angry.

14:26Jesus isn't where it's at, man. It had never occurred to me that my pagan friends were always unhappy. They talked about love, but then hated anybody mentioning God. I did some soul searching and came to an important conclusion. Okay, Paul. What did you want to talk to us about? I've been doing a lot of thinking. What about? Since I got back from Vietnam, I've been walking away from God. I think I need to change that. I think you know your mom and I are really happy to hear that. We never stopped praying for you. But is it possible for me to get right with God? Is he going to take me back? Of course he is, Paul. Remember the story of the prodigal son that Jesus told? Yeah. Remember, the father was watching for his son. He was waiting for him to come back. And then what did he do? He threw a big party. You bet he did. If you come to him sincerely, God will welcome you back with open arms.

15:30And so will we. What God did next in my life is nothing short of a miracle. I knew it was the acid that was taking my memories away from me. But I also knew I couldn't quit it on my own. I prayed, Lord, I can't get free of LSD without your help. Please deliver me. And he did deliver me immediately. Just like that. And using those Bible verses, I'd memorized as a kid. My memory started coming back. Next, I had to take care of my pot problem. That was going to be tougher. I really loved the way it made me feel. I prayed again and I told God how much I liked smoking it. I said, if you want me to quit, I'm really going to need your help. Then, in a week moment, as scored some pot, took it home and smoked it.

16:34What happened next was nothing, nothing at all. There was no up, no down, not even the munchies. The pot did absolutely nothing for me at all. So, I figured spending money on it was impractical and I quit. God did what I could never have done myself. Carol? Hey, Carol! Hi, Paul, right? Yeah, Dan's brother. After last time I saw you, I can't believe you remember me. You look different. I'm doing better than I was last time I saw you. And yeah, I'm remembering things better. That's good. I'm happy for you. Have you enough to go on a date with me? Um, are you and God still on the out? No, not anymore. In that case, sure. Carol and I went on that date. To say we didn't hit it off would be a huge understatement.

17:36I probably said the wrong things and we just did not connect. We went our separate ways. In my case, to a Bible college in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I'd made a vow to God that I was going to give him my life, so I could know Jesus completely. Focusing on his word was a great way to do that. Unfortunately, I fell out of touch with Carol. It wasn't until the next summer when I was a counselor at Camp Forest Springs in Wisconsin that I heard from her. Dear Paul, my life is so full of Jesus. But I can't help thinking about you and wondering why he put you in my life. Dear Carol, I feel the same way except that I'm not wondering I know why God put you in my life. That's how it started.

18:37When I came back to LA, we reconnected and it went much better. We married in 1974 and before we knew it, we had three kids. I was making good money as an arborist, so we invested in five acres of land in Washington State. Neither Carol nor I knew how important that land was going to become. And maybe we could get them a swing set for Christmas. I mean, we'd have to blow. Who was that all about? Are you okay, Paul? Uh, I just tripped over my own feet. You've been doing that a lot lately. Is something wrong? I don't know. I've been working hard, maybe. I'm just tired. I've been thinking this environment here in LA, it's pretty bad. All the smog and smoke. Could that be causing you problems? Even if it's not what's causing weakness in my legs, it's not healthy. I've been hearing about this stuff, agent orange, that they sprayed and be it non. Lots of veterans are having problems. Do you think you were exposed to it? Only almost every day for 18 months.

19:38Oh, Paul. Carol and the kids and I prayed about it, and we decided to move away from Los Angeles to our land in Washington. I worried about up and moving my job, but three verses in Proverbs helped me. Proverbs 22-29 says, See as though a man diligent in his business. He shall stand before kings. He shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs 18-16 says, A man's gift makeeth room for him and bringeth him before great men. And Proverbs 12-27 says, The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is precious. These verses gave me the hope I needed to make this change, but they also made it clear that I had some work to do. We got the house built, another whole story in itself,

20:41but we soon received some devastating news. Okay, I can see it wasn't good news. Tell me quickly. The well diggers drilled over 200 feet before they found water. They found water. That's good. It's only producing a half gallon per hour. That's not enough for us to live on much less far in the land. No, Carol. What are we going to do? I did the only thing I could. I went outside and talked to God. As I walked through the woods, pouring my heart out to God, he pointed something out to me. It had been a dry August, and yet all the trees were healthy and strong. And this is the same area where they drilled 231 feet and found barely a trickle of water. How could that be? I got down on my knees, and I started digging through the twigs and fur needles, and wouldn't you know? I found moist soil, moisture,

21:41water in an area that hadn't had much rain in weeks. Carol, you're not going to believe this. What's come over you? Half an hour ago, you were moping because we had no water. Is there, Carol? We just need to know where to look for it. Okay, tell me. Remember how I told you about finding worms under a rock when I was a kid? Yeah, I remember. I just realized something else. You see, the earth has a skin. A skin? Yeah, a skin. Just like you and me. Just like the animals have fur, it's got a covering, holding in all the water. I was out in the woods, and I dug some of that skin away, and I found the water under it. There was water? There was moisture, enough moisture to feed the trees and bushes. That's terrific, but how do we get that moisture to feed our orchard? There's no moisture in the soil once you get out of the shade. We have to put the skin over that soil, so that whatever moisture it does get, you know, rain or dew, it'll hold it in the soil and feed whatever we plant. Cool, huh? Hold on. What do we make that skin out of?

22:42The woods have moss and fur needles, twigs, all that stuff. We should be able to find the best combination. Are you sure about this? I'm sure the Lord pointed me to the solution, just like he helped me find worms. I started with manure and straw. I was okay, but eventually the Lord showed me wood chips are the best covering. Pretty soon, our orchards and gardens were producing food like you couldn't believe. The methods that God directed us to were amazing, and they didn't go unnoticed. An arborist turned far more as Swim Washington has developed a method of agronomy that is blowing the minds of people who visit his garden. Paul Gougey is growing produce that is bigger, tastier, and healthier than what you could find in your local supermarkets. He is here with us today. Mr. Gougey, what is your method? It's not my method. It's God's method. He has created an ecosystem that works perfectly.

23:42We're the ones that have messed it up. How so? We tell the soil so much that we destroy its ability to hold the moisture. Look at the dust balls of the 1930s. In large part, those were caused by generations of turning the soil and killing the nutrients. I'm just giving the land an organic cover to hold all that in. And what are the results you find? Well, try this. That's the biggest apple I have ever seen. Give it a taste. That is amazing. That's God. Since those early days in Washington, we have become a point of interest for people from all walks of life. We gave tours of the garden and the orchards and people saw firsthand how using God's methods are superior to anything the mind of human beings can come up with. Agent Orange, LSD, genetically modified food, pharmaceuticals, and fake fertilizers are samples of what man comes up with and they're destructive.

24:45But God's ways are so much better and so much more satisfying. Because of the effects of Agent Orange, I can't give tours of my garden anymore. But if you go online, you'll see videos about what we've done. Just don't miss the fact that all we've accomplished is because God showed us a better way. I tried to satisfy myself with many things. Eastern religions, drugs, none of them satisfy. When you are obedient to God, He satisfies everything. He meets all your needs. Paul has been featured in magazines, books, documentaries, and more interviews than we can count. His healing, his longevity, and his methods of gardening are all the end results of his obedience to God, a path he began as a child. Even though he wandered off God's path, he recognized his need for God and found his way back.

25:48Where are you on that spiritual path, listening friend? Is Jesus someone that you know or someone that you want to learn more about? If so, or if you need help making the crucial decision to follow Him, we encourage you to call 1-888-NEED-HIM, or visit chataboutJesus.com. Pacific Garden Mission desires to meet the holistic needs of each individual. If you are homeless and need help getting back on your feet, you're welcome to come to Pacific Garden Mission, 1458 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60607. Or give us a call at 312-492-941-0. For unshackled related items, our email address is unshackled at pgm.org. Visit our website to learn more about this ministry, unshackled.org.

26:50Did you know unshackled is now offering new programming? That's right. We wanted to create even more quality Christian content for you, our listener. So we're now producing an exciting new children show called The Clue Crew. This is a family-friendly adventure series where there's always a biblical lesson to be learned and a mystery to be solved. We're also bringing to life powerful gospel truths in a new series called History's Greatest Sermons. This program will feature the very words of Billy Sunday, Charles Spurgeon, Dwight L. Moody, and many more all traumatized and delivered by our very own unshackled actors. And then there's our daily devotions. In these four-minute episodes, we hear a true story of transformation with supporting scripture and an application point to help us dive deeper in our biblical understanding. If you'd like to hear any of these new programs in your area, we encourage you to reach out to your station manager and ask them if they can bring you,

27:50The Clue Crew, History's Greatest Sermons, and Unshackled's Daily Devotionals. This is program number 3,923. Heard in the true story of Paul Gouchy were Michael Walner, Cara O'Brien, Susette Mayobry, David Zarbock, Ben Zarbock, Frank Mendelocino, and David Pyrchinsky. Original music, Don Badorff, Sound Effects, Ben Zarbock, Audio Engineer, David Pyrchinsky, Script, Darby Kern. Unshackled is produced by Pacific Garden Mission to show through true stories that if your life is empty, it can be filled to overflowing. Please write today or reach out to us on social media. Connecting with you means a great deal to us. You can find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube at UnshackledPGM. So, until next time, unless our Lord returns before then,

28:50I'm Timothy Gregory reminding you that the doors to Pacific Garden Mission are open night and day. Thanks for listening, and may God...