We Said Yes To Launching A Media Company And Trusting God To Fund It

A lit candle on the dinner table changed our pace and our priorities. From that small ritual, we trace a winding story—middle school friends who became partners, years of itinerant preaching, a crash course in provision, and a series of holy disruptions that led us to build a faith-driven media company. We open up about why conversations around the table can do work sermons can’t, how we chose family over platform when the two collided, and what it takes to follow a clear word through confusing seasons.

You’ll hear the origin of our media mandate—prophetic words about cameras and global reach long before studios or budgets—and how we kept them shelved to serve others first. Then came the turning point: a church fire, a nudge to learn business, and the surprise $100,000 check in the mailbox the very week we were praying for a studio. That provision became Long Path Publishing, a home for two shows: a Christ-centered take on current events and The Family Table, where thoughtful, honest conversations meet everyday life.

We also unpack why we launched Long Path Creator Academy to empower entrepreneurs, pastors, and storytellers to build ethical influence online. Our full $5,000 training is now free, because we believe kingdom creativity shouldn’t be gatekept. If you’ve ever wondered how to turn lived wisdom into sustainable digital products without selling your soul to the algorithm, this is your roadmap. Along the way, we share the joy of Disney-fueled family memories, the grit of transitions that invited misunderstanding, and the steady refrain that carried us: Christ is light. I am light.

Pull up a chair, meet our family, and see how obedience, generosity, and practical strategy can live in the same room. If this story encourages you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and consider partnering monthly to help us host guests, keep training free, and build a media house that feels like home.

Transcript

Launching A Faith-Led Media Company

SPEAKER_05 0:00

We're launching a media company based on the word of the Lord. We're saying yes to empowering entrepreneurs through Long Path Creator Academy.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

The media company, I feel like, is so significant. I feel like you should share even when you were younger and words that you had gotten. Like, this isn't like a where did this come from? This is so out of left field. I feel like for some people who have followed your ministry and stuff like that, like it might seem like you're becoming the host.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Let's go. I like it. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

It might seem like that. Yeah. You know, because you have been pastoring, you have been traveling and preaching. And it's like you've not really talked about other things that we've talked about before.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

We've dreamed about.

Family Table Rituals And Liturgies

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Yes. For. Since this is something that's been spoken over you since before we were even married. And then I'll share a piece that connects it all with what we're doing now is just so significant.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

Well, welcome to the Family Table Podcast. I'm your host, Mark Casto. Guys, it's been over three years since we've done a family table episode, and I feel like it's more relevant today than it even was when the Lord gave it to me in 2022. My life has been changed by the conversations that happen around the family table. And so, in bringing this podcast back, I could think of no other guest to bring on to do the very first one with me in Long Path Studios, right here in Mobile, Alabama. My wife, Destiny Castro. It's hard to say Destiny. I always call you either Des, Destani, something. So it came off a little weird when I said destiny. But I'm really glad that you're here with me on the podcast. And this is something that we do as a family regularly, not record a podcast around the table, but like sit, talk. Like this is something that I can say is a rhythm in our home. Absolutely where we eat dinner together, we sit around the table, we ask everybody what was their highlight of their day. We do a lot of things. But there's something that I want us to do on this podcast that you brought in as like a rhythm into our home, which is we light a candle every time we do dinner and we say, Christ is light. I am light. Oh, you did it better. You didn't do the thing that you normally she normally goes, Christ is light. I am light. Which is teaching our baby, baby girl, Eat in Bliss, how to do this. And so, anyways, before we do it though, I want you to tell people as I get my pizza lighter together, I want you to tell people how you how we came up with this to do it.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

So for me, in my devotional space and in my creator space, I light candles. It's just something that is sacred and holy to me. And um, so I write a book and it's called Habits of the Household, and in it, it talks about how to be intentional with leading your family. And one of those things is creating liturgies, which are habits, rhythms that you do that point to the Lord. And so one of the examples was lighting a candle and saying Christ is light, I am light. And so I thought that is so perfect. Like we already I like candles anyways, it's very authentic to me. Um, and we light candles when we want to make like to elevate our dinners or meals to make it like more special. Um, and so I just brought more intention to that and brought another layer to that. And so now almost every time that we sit down, I think.

SPEAKER_05 3:57

Every time we sit down at our dinner table, we do it.

Why Conversations Around The Table Matter

SPEAKER_01 3:59

And when we host, we still do it. And so we light the candle, and then we say Christ is light, I am light. And with littles, you can do hand gestures. So we with Blissy, uh just teach her the you know, Christ is light, and then I am light. So that's why I raise my voice. Christ is light, I am light. You know, it makes it happy and exciting, and it helps them.

SPEAKER_05 4:20

I'm like Christ is light, I'm light. Are you ready? Yeah, we're gonna do it. Ready? All right. Christ is light.

SPEAKER_07 4:34

I am light.

SPEAKER_05 4:38

All right, so I think it's important before you like dive into topics and talk about things, and we're gonna have all kinds of conversations on this podcast. But I think people really want to know the people on the podcast and why should they care? And and and why would they want to spend time with us around the family table with this podcast? And so I know this is something. Yes, we'll have guests and people come in that inspire us and challenge us and encourage us and convict us, even like I want to host conversations with people that, and these are people that we do life with, and there'll be some people that maybe set at this table, who knows, that uh maybe that's the first time we've ever met, but there's a reason why they set at the table. And I just believe conversations around the table change things, it's changed our lives. Like I can remember um the the family table really became important to us during our years that we lived in South Carolina because when we lived in Cleveland together, which was the beginning of our marriage, the first like what, eight years of our marriage, almost nine years of our marriage was spent in Cleveland, Tennessee. And so there wasn't a lot of family table experiences there because we were so busy. I traveled 42 weekends out of the year. Um, we were constantly on the go doing ministry, and so like family table type stuff then was just like maybe once a month, like thinking about it. No, our family, we always ate together, but it was like we weren't cooking meals and doing that because like we were too busy for all that. We ate out and just made it happen.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

And there weren't as many like intentional conversations, which I feel like over the course of our life we have found that value and we intentionally have conversations that matter.

SPEAKER_05 6:26

In South Carolina, we slowed down and actually had time to do that. So, like one of my favorite things that I did when we when we walked away from everything in 2015 was learning to cook. And so we had a grill, and then like we actually cooked dinners together, and like um I really enjoyed that. And then we would set the table and like we were introducing rhythms into our family in South Carolina. It became really important then. And then while I was there, um, I felt like the conversations that we would have with people that were encountering the gospel during that season, the same time we were, um those conversations were just as vital as the services. Because like we would go to service, then we would come home and eat with somebody or meet the next day during the day, and we would kind of unpack what the Lord did and what the Lord was saying, and then you would hear people's perspectives or even your sharing, and then Holy Spirit would speak something through you that you didn't even realize yourself, and like those conversations are so powerful. And so I think that's an important value for the church. I believe the church is returning to the the apostolic relational blueprint of the book of Acts, which means we're getting back to the family table, which is why this podcast is important. But before we bring in a bunch of guests and talk to a bunch of different people that have changed our lives, I think it's important for people to get to know us.

From Itinerant Ministry To Studio Dreams

SPEAKER_06 7:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:55

And to tell you guys like, we're launching a media company. Like it's really happening.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

This is it.

SPEAKER_05 8:01

We're in our studio. We always talked about this in years gone by. Like one day we would have a studio, we would have offices, we would have a place where our kids could be and and and have fun while we were doing that work. Now we're here recording our first podcast in our studio. Our son Elijah is producing the program. He's running the cameras and doing all the things. Amazing. Eden Bliss is playing in the other room, and just like it's it's we're doing it. And I knew that the Mark Casto program was big. That uh that was supposed to be kind of like the beginning of this media company, and kind of like, where are people gonna go to get a real Christological lens of current events? Because people mostly watch CNN or Fox News or whatever that you know programming is on there. And I feel like everything, even Christian television, I hate to say this, still has its bent towards a political paradigm. And right now, I feel like people need a real Christocentric lens to see everything through and say how are Christians supposed to respond to things like this? But secondly, was to have conversations because the Mark Castle program is me mostly just like monologue, speaking out, talking through issues. This is where we can really have the conversations. And so I had to bring my best friend to do this with me and do the first one. And um babe, we go all the way back to middle school, all the way back, and just a few minutes ago, you're telling me that it may have been like the beginning of middle school.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

I think it was. I really do.

SPEAKER_05 9:43

So I grew up in a little town called Nitro, West Virginia, named after nitroglycerin. So this was a chemical city that it was a city built beside chemical plants that produced nitroglycerin for World War II, um, train tracks and and uh chemical plants. And I grew up on 24th Street, you your grandparents lived on 27th Street, and then my best friend dated your cousin, which then introduced us together. And so, like the first time we met, I don't think it registered, but the second time that we met, I was given the opportunity to go on a double date, my friend and your cousin, and me with you. But I found out you were a grade younger than me. Middle school, you don't date girls that are younger than you. That's not cool. You either date a girl your age or older, right? And that that was the standard back then, okay? That was the conversation. So I denied that opportunity.

SPEAKER_06 10:40

You did.

A Christ-Centered Lens On Current Events

SPEAKER_05 10:41

Then you pulled up with your cousin. I think you did this on purpose. You were like, I'm gonna show him what he missed out on. Uh, probably not. We were in seventh grade.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Well, it just works all things for my good.

SPEAKER_05 10:52

But like you were in the backseat, your cousin gets out, you get out, and when I see you, I was like, Oh, I made a mistake. I was like, that girl is fine. I was like, I messed up. So I literally jump off the porch and run after the vehicle, and you and your grandmother, your grandmother's driving you away, and uh, they didn't stop. I just want you to know right now, they didn't stop the vehicle, and I was left in the middle of the street going.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

I can still see him running in the little side mirror. I was like, what is this guy doing?

SPEAKER_05 11:25

Trying to get your attention.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

And so drive faster.

unknown 11:31

I was just kidding.

Middle School Roots And Reunion

SPEAKER_05 11:33

So, so we like from that time on though, we end up developing this amazing friendship. We always had a blast together. Uh, nothing like romantic. It was just like we just liked having fun and being together. And uh, we'd always summertime is when we would always like reconnect because you were living on one end of the county, I was living on the other. Yeah, I stay with my grandparents more in the summertime, and so like I would see you more then. So we'd always end up at the Nitro pool together, end up watching the Fourth of July fire nitro fireworks together every year, and that was always a thing. Then I moved away to uh East Bank, where my dad was a police officer and in the drug task force, and we moved away and you and I lost touch, and so then fast forward to like right after high school, um, I had just graduated. The call of God was on my life. Um, I didn't really know what that meant. I was still in like legalistic Pentecostalism, so I didn't even know the real gospel yet, but I did know that I wanted to serve Jesus and I did know that he called me into the ministry. Um, but I was in the Charleston Town Center Mall, and I'm walking with a friend of mine. All of a sudden I see this girl pass me and I go, wait a second, I think I know her, and it was you. And I was like, Des I think Des. No, I mean Dezo. Yeah, Dezo. That was it, that was your name back then. I was Mar, dropped the K. She was Dezo. And I was like, I was like, hey, and you turned around and I was like, Oh, thank God it's her. And then you came up to me, we hugged, and then I think it was like two weeks later we ended up like going on our first, we didn't call it a date.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Unofficial.

SPEAKER_05 13:21

Unofficial. Oh man, we got wax on the table, but um, it's all good. And so, anyways, we like it was an unofficial date. We went and watched kicking and screaming, and um we we uh again picked right back up, having a blast or whatever. But then you found out I was I was like helping my dad with the youth. I wouldn't call myself a youth pastor. Um, that would be totally irresponsible in that time. I I was just I could preach and I had a hunger for God and I wanted to see people encounter Jesus. And uh I still really didn't know what all that was like, but I had a passion and I grew up in ministry, so I kind of knew what that looked like. And we were at the rough end on the west side of Charleston, West Virginia. And um, well, before that, we were in St. Albans, and that's where you first connected. And um, anyways, I'd given you like a DVD or something of me preaching. I love this story, and I gave it to you because you found out as a youth pastor, and you're like, Well, I want to like hear you preach or something. And then giving you it wasn't like, hey girl, check out this DVD. It wasn't like that. You had been like, You're a youth pastor now, and I was like, Well, yeah, I'm preaching.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

You kind of get me saved.

SPEAKER_05 14:36

Yeah, yeah. Well, I don't you were saved, I just knew you didn't know God the way that I had encountered him. Yeah, and you were kind of like you weren't you were real unsure about m my hunger for God and what would make me even do this. Yeah, so I gave you this DVD. I was like, just check this out, like this our church, and that's what you did back then. You invited people, that was our evangelistic strategy back then was give people DVDs or CDs and invite them to the church. And so I gave you a DVD, and then didn't you take it back somewhere and watch it? What was it? Well, I don't remember exactly what it was.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Um my grandparents' house, and they were Baptist pastors. They're past they're Baptist pastors, and me and my grandmother and my cousin. We sat down and we watched, we were watching it together, and then he started speaking in tongues, and we were like, What in the world? Oh no, so then we were I went up and we were trying to get it out real quick.

SPEAKER_05 15:44

Y'all were scared that we were speaking in tongues.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

But I'd never heard of it before, I'd never experienced it.

SPEAKER_05 15:50

So yeah, your grandparents were so sweet to me beyond that, though, even though they knew that we were like Pentecostal and spirit-filled and speaking in tongues, they were so much my grandma.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

She was more you were.

Calling, Tongues, And Early Ministry

SPEAKER_05 16:04

It was more you, you're like, oh my God, it's demons talking. So, anyways, you end up coming to youth group, you end up getting connected, you end up really having your own encounter with the Lord and burning for Jesus. I was going through an identity crisis because I was like, I knew you were my wife, but I was so scared. Somebody had made a statement to me in my past that was like, hey, I think I married too young, and I wish I would have experienced more relationships before I married this woman. And I was like, when I knew you're the one, I remember going back to that statement, going, Oh God, like I'm only 18. Like, what in the world? But I had this feeling and I was I can remember that statement. And so I dated like three other girls during that time period, and um, and you just stayed faithful to God. You kept coming to church, even though I was like, please let her go somewhere else. And you literally like locked in, and I watched you like be transformed. I watched you get filled with the Holy Spirit. We you saw some of your first miracles at my dad's church and like really powerful things, anyways. Long story short, um, you and I end up like it end up working out, and we started dating. And um, well, I don't think we ever officially like dated. It was just like we were a thing. Yeah, we were just the thing. And um, and we can talk about some of those stories at another time. Um like because I the waking up at two o'clock in the morning, you're gonna go to Myrtle Beach, and I was like, I gotta, I gotta get to her before she goes to Myrtle. And that's what really started the relationship was that night, because you were like, if Mark don't get together after this Myrtle Beach trip is is done, when I come back, it's over. And I the Holy Spirit woke me up that night and was like, go get your wife. And I drove to where you were, where you're staying, and I laid a kiss on her to let her know, you belong to me, I belong to you, and we're getting serious about this. And uh we did, and that led to us getting engaged in April of 2007, March of 2007, and then two weeks later, T.L. Lowry comes to my dad's church, and the Lord had already told me on a fast, when Dr. Lowry comes to your dad's church, this is before Dr. Lowry, my dad and Dr. Lowry had even connected. I heard the Lord say, T. L. Lowry's coming to your dad's church, and when he does, you're gonna travel with him. Fast forward like a month after that fast, Dr. Lowry calls, comes to my dad's church. That was a crazy connection how that worked out. And when my dad said, You would you like to meet Dr. Lowry? I said, Of course. So I go up to my dad's office, and there he is with his foot up on the desk. He was battling some gout that weekend. So he had his foot propped up to keep it from hurting. And when I walked in the door, his eyes got real big and he said, You're the reason I'm here. And he said, You're gonna travel the world with me. And uh, really special connection. But we were just engaged maybe two weeks, three weeks at that time.

SPEAKER_06 19:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:17

And I was like, Des, this is what the Lord told me. So, like, we're engaged, we're getting married, but I'm going to Cleveland, Tennessee with this man. So that was on Sunday. I was in Cleveland, Tennessee on Tuesday, and I never went back to West Virginia until we got married. And so I started traveling with him that very next weekend. I was on the road with him. And um, we were like, what in the world is going on? You were so excited for me, but I was missing you. And we were like, we're gonna get married in like September, October. And I was like, forget that. We're getting married sooner than that. And we picked July 21st, 2007, got married in Nitro again, West Virginia, and uh we had too big of a wedding. We had too many people in that wedding, but it was beautiful and it was great, and there were a lot of people there supporting us and and uh excited for us, and we literally got married. That was my first time coming back to West Virginia after I left, and then I took you to Tennessee and we never looked back, did we? We just took off on a journey. So I have to ask you, like going back to us getting married and just leaving everything you knew, like what was that like for you?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Um I had so much peace and I knew it was right, so there was grace for it.

SPEAKER_06 20:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

It was exciting um starting being married and then living our life.

SPEAKER_05 20:45

It was wild, wild. Yeah, thankfully, my I went to Cleveland first and then my dad came later and became the ministry director. So I traveled with Dr. Larry, and then I worked in the shipping department doing his books and CDs and DVDs. So I like actually did the artwork on his CDs and DVDs and duplication and mailing things out. Um, I've licked so many envelopes in my two or three years. I probably have some kind of like well, they they say there's some chemicals in that. I probably have some of those where I licked so many envelopes in those early uh years working for Dr. Lowry. But man, I so enjoyed those years. And my parents moved, and we actually, because they got a big enough home, we actually lived in the basement of their house. We had our own walkway in. We thought we were something. We had like our living room and our bedroom, and we had like our own little space and our own little entrance. And my mom and dad were so sweet, they never bothered us and like made us feel like it was just ours. Yes. And uh we did that for about six months.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

No, it was like three months.

SPEAKER_05 21:50

Three months, and then we got our first little town hall.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Yes.

Engagement, Mentorship, And Marriage Move

SPEAKER_05 21:53

And uh right there in Cleveland. Yeah. And man, I'm telling you, like we got tossed into the middle of of ministry right out the gate. But I think we handled that season really beautifully. And Dr. Larry was such a a great man to to begin that journey with. Um he worked me like a dog, but I needed that in that season of my life. Um getting to honor him as a general, the relationship that you got to build with Mildred and we got to take care of them. I mean they were in they were like 78 78 79 when we first started working with them. And so like we would be over at their house and I remember some days I'd be up at 7 a.m at his house and not leave his house till 1 a.m and we would do his book tables at conferences and he would send us out to do things like that. And uh we were just loving life. But it wasn't maybe uh 2010 so three years into that journey I was in the car with Dr. Lowry and I got a phone call and that's when you told me you couldn't handle it anymore because we were living in Cleveland with no family at that point. And so it was just me and you and you call me and you're like babe I'm pregnant. And I was like oh my God. And that's Elijah Zion who is running the program now. Yeah. And um he's 16 years old mom. Isn't that wild? It's wild. So anyways um man, we went to Cleveland we work for Dr. Lowry we end up transitioning from that in 2010 going full time into evangelistic ministry. We were traveling in your little white Chevrolet Cobalt that that little car that your grandparents gave you that car. And every time because we end up having Elijah and then a few months later like 14 months apart Ezekiel comes so every time that we went and did revival meetings or we're traveling in that little car it looked like we were moving because there was just so much packed into the car. And it was usually we would stuff the trunk full of stuff put stuff in the front seat and you sat in the middle with the two car seats on both sides. And do you remember this would have been October 2010 I was like man like how are we going to continue traveling like this we need a vehicle and I kind of got like into like complaining a little bit like Lord we need a bigger vehicle like we're we've got two kids now and like we need like a bigger vehicle I can remember um the Lord telling me this like stop asking me for a vehicle and start and start praying about kingdom things like your ministry and people get encountering the Lord people you know back then it was people getting saved born again filled with the Spirit like just like focus on the focus on my kingdom and all that other stuff like Matthew 633 all the other stuff will be added to you. So I remember telling you like babe I felt like the Lord told me quit praying for the vehicle like he's got us yeah and um fast forward to October so that was two months of that October I get invited to preach a conference at Ron Phillips Church at Abbas House in Chattanooga, Tennessee I'm preaching and sitting on the front row was a man by the name of Rabbi Kurt Landry. You remember this? And Rabbi Landry was on the front row and the Holy Spirit said to him while I was preaching give that young man your vehicle and he was like what like this is my Nissan Armada I love this vehicle it's a great vehicle I they used it to to pick up guests and different things like that. So he called me I didn't know the Lord was dealing with that with him about that he called me the following Monday after that conference and he said Mark I'd like for you to come preach in my church and he said but I'm only going to fly you one way and I was like what why? And he said because you're going to drive back in your new car. And I was like oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

It's such a big deal for us.

Parenting On The Road And Provision

SPEAKER_05 25:50

Oh my God yeah yeah uh getting our a vehicle given to us and like and it wasn't just like a decent vehicle it was a very nice vehicle one of our favorite vehicles we've ever had still and from what what I understand I gave it to my mom years ago and that thing still runs to this day. So that's wild because that's been a long time ago. It's been 15 years ago and um but we were so proud of that vehicle because God gave it to us like we had started this ministry. We're out on our own now and God gave us a vehicle and um I could tell stories of provision like that that we've experienced all these years. But I can say this that like and then we went on and uh helped build the Omega Center International there in Cleveland connected with Perry and Pam Stone there for years and um that was a crazy season of our life and what I was still traveling 42 weekends of the year. Now we have three kids we broke ground on that property I think when and opened it when I was 25. And that was a$23 million facility like it was paid for five months before it ever opened the banks wouldn't even give us a loan because we were a youth ministry youth focused ministry and we didn't know where the money was coming from. And Perry at the time had never seen real donations come in like that. He always had smaller partners that funded what he did. But like we started getting million dollar checks I remember when I held my hand the$3 million check the$2 million check we saw God do so many amazing things. So like but our I look back over our life and like everything was led by the Spirit. Everything from the Lord telling me Dr. Larry's coming to my dad's church and he was going to ask you to travel with me then boom I just leave and then you follow me along in that journey. Then the Lord tells me to pray for Perry's heart to turn towards a generation on a fast then Perry walks into our life and then we build this ministry. And then the Lord says I'm calling you out of this like and it's it's time for you like I never forget like sitting there in a green room in Cleveland and there were two guests that we had invited in and these are like very big international ministers and they're just sharing with each other in front of me like about their family life and like it wasn't good. And um I began to judge those men in my heart and the Lord was like don't judge those men sonat what good is it to like have a ministry that reaches the world and lose your own family.

SPEAKER_06 28:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:39

Especially when the scripture says like your family if you if you can't run your family how can you run the church?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Which is something that even with why you're a traveling I would always remind you like this is great. Like I know that it pleases the Lord but at the end of the day like it's me and the babies like it's our family like you have to be able to love us. You have to be able to lead us and if you can't do that well then to me in my opinion everything else is right doesn't matter exactly it does but it doesn't like because he's trusted you to us first.

Building OCI And Counting The Cost

SPEAKER_05 29:18

Yeah and we had a crazy grace during that season like we did like we thought that was normal I guess I don't know and it was just like so when we were together it was a blast. We had a great relationship the entire time like um one of my favorite stories to tell is um on our five year anniversary I was like we got to do something we finally had a little bit of money and like I had been traveling and and like we finally had some money that we could do stuff and I was like we're going to Disney. This is important because y'all need to know we are Disney people I I don't mind saying make fun of us all you want my kids are forever marked by the memories that we've made at Disney and and there's also some creativity and a spirit of excellence that has come into our family because of the of of our kids even seeing things like this. But our five year anniversary I said babe let's do something crazy and you're like what I was like let's go to Disney and we did about the plane tickets yeah um book the trip we went and had an absolute blast and it changed our life forever come home after that trip stand up on a Tuesday night on live stream and I said hey and I was just being funny if there's somebody out there because I didn't think anybody would be watching if there's somebody out there that works for Disney and you want to hook us up with tickets and a discount ha ha ha we loved it and everybody clapped and laughed and whatever. Well the next morning that was on Tuesday night Wednesday morning I get a call or I get an email OJ was was head of hospitality at the Disney Resorts and he was like I got you and so we've gone to Disney so many times but it was because his discounts his tickets him blessing us and giving us the opportunity to make those memories with our babies and so like we are Disney people for sure but like put all that aside so now that you know like how we met you know being led by the spirit the Disney things like and all of this and we'll get to Covington and and all the things at at some point but like what do you feel like um in all this the Lord's like taught you like being led by the Spirit raising a family being a part of a major ministry like what was that like for you because everybody hears my stories they don't hear yours so I want them to hear your stories um I think that I would I would have to go all the way back to when I first was like introduced to the Holy Spirit I mean I think I just learned that through different things like that he is faithful and to always trust Holy Spirit and that's one thing that I always teach my babies and I continually tell them my mom she didn't have the language for Holy Spirit but she would always tell me growing up you always trust your discernment like you trust your gut and like whatever your gut is telling you like you don't ignore it.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

And for me that has helped me through my entire life my entire life and so I think through all that I've trusted Holy Spirit because um I I've always known Jesus you know I've always loved him and always had a great perspective of him so then adding Holy Spirit to it was just even sweeter. It was like the cherry on top and so now it's like I just trust him like I trust the Lord and he's led us perfectly through it all even through hard times like you know I've had we've had to lean this not into our own understanding because a lot of things don't make sense to our natural minds and right feelings and it's like but just trust him and I feel like you know people ask the question if you had to describe the Lord in one word what would it be? And for me it's faithful like he's always been faithful. He's always provided for us he's always cared for us he's always worked everything for our good even in circumstances that we didn't know that he could or would you know it's like how is this gonna become beautiful how's this gonna work for my good how am I gonna be okay on the other side of this and he's like no like just trust me and I feel like in the last five years we've really had to do that a lot but I just believe that even in the midst of that I'm like there's been so much growth and so much beauty there's been so much just sweet kisses from the Lord even in the midst of everything and still to this day just trusting him keeping my eyes I think that's another like new language that the Lord's given me is like keeping my eyes on him. Like okay things feel a little crazy like you don't really know what's going on but it's like okay like I'm gonna stay still I'm gonna stay peaceful and I'm just gonna keep my eyes on him and just believe that he's working things behind the scenes that I can't see that I don't know and it's gonna be better than I could have ever imagined.

SPEAKER_04 34:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

So yeah I think through all that and just through life I think if I had to put it in a one nutshell it's that it's like trust the Lord trust Holy Spirit because he's faithful.

Choosing Family Over Platform

SPEAKER_05 35:09

Because he's faithful yes yeah I mean so I took you from West Virginia on a journey to Tennessee the Lord provided we bought a house when most people our age could never have bought a home yeah like we then had a major mold issue and had to literally replace like a third of our house our first house and we were like Lord how's this going to work and it was going to be like a literally the cost to fix our house was a fourth of our house the fourth of the price of our house. And I was like Lord how are we going to do this and the Lord would just say go to this prayer meeting I go to this prayer meeting while I'm at the prayer meeting somebody calls me hey Mark I've been praying for you and I've got a check for you they wrote me a check for the exact amount that I needed to get the house rebuilt basically a fourth of our house rebuilt or a third of our house for a fourth of the price of our house. Yeah and like he provided for us. Then the Lord's like okay now that you've got two kids all under the age of two now you're gonna walk away from your salary with Dr. Lowry and you're gonna travel and I'm like okay what are we going to do? And the Lord's like I don't want you to put out postcards send out letters don't like we weren't doing Facebook and Instagram back then. Like it was just like it is what it is. And the Lord was like I want you to shut yourself away for 21 days fast and pray and I'm gonna start dropping your name in Pastor Spirits and they're gonna call you and I did that fast for 21 days and back then I did the Dr. Lowry fast which was he told me you're not doing the Daniel diet to fast meant to not eat food. I went 21 days no food just water and I prayed and when I got done with that fast we had an itinerary for the rest of the year and I never ever had to ask somebody to go and travel and preach God would do the same thing drop my name in a pastor spirit they would call me reach out and that's how it's been even to this day like I've never promoted like book me like there's some guys out on social media that do that. And if that's what they feel God's told them to do, no judgment. I'm just saying like that's what Holy Spirit told me was like don't put yourself out there like let me lead you let it be based on assignment those things and so God did amazing things through that evangelistic ministry. Then OCI was so wild but then I came to you in 2015 and was like babe it's time to leave all this and um God started surrounding us with amazing brothers and sisters started putting father's voices in our life from Dutch sheets to um Papa Damon who we're with now and have been with for 10 years. And the Lord started surrounding us with people that loved us for us and not necessarily our ministry. And so like that's when the love joys came into our life and um the Limleys have been in our life for a while but that's when our relationship got even stronger. And so like we literally in 2015 while leading a major ministry are like okay and we didn't leave because no one was coming the ministry was the ministry was thriving in that season with conferences and gatherings and all that but the Lord's like it's time to go like you did what you're supposed to do. Now it's time to move on and uh into the next thing and so like there we were leaving everything we knew in Tennessee thinking we would be there forever forever. Yes we've always I think that's something that people don't get is yes you're led by the Spirit but wherever you're living you live there as if you're gonna be there forever.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

And we did and we did be in Cleveland literally for the rest of our lives.

SPEAKER_05 38:50

Exactly and I remember when the Lord started changing that it was like this is really happening. But when when those type of moments happen would you not agree it's almost like the Lord like now I understand why the burning bush is so significant is because it's almost like God makes it so obvious that you're supposed to make these changes that like you just can't miss it. Like anytime we were supposed to make a major move God made major moves for us.

Disney Memories And Joyful Excellence

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Like it was never hard because I mean we love the city. We love the people the people like I mean that's hard because it's like I genuinely have this deep love for these people like if I had to choose like that's not what I would have wanted to do. But you always have to trust Holy Spirit even when it doesn't make sense and that's what we've even been teaching our babies like when Holy Spirit gives an instruction like we do it no questions asked like even at even at the cost of being misunderstood.

SPEAKER_05 39:52

Yeah you know and like that was our first time really learning that lesson 2015 when we left like up until 2015 like our first eight nine years of ministry everybody's like oh here's these young people and they love God and they're doing this college ministry over here and he's traveling and preaching and like they've got this amazing family. They're doing awesome things. And then you leave what everybody's used to and you leave what everybody else calls success and all of a sudden then you enter into a season where you're answering this call that's really obscure you know you're supposed to make the move because God made it obvious. Obviously but you don't really know what you're saying yes to yet and then transition always sucks. It just does in many ways because we as human beings don't handle transition well. Like it's just not fun. Even when the Lord's leading and guiding and directing like people don't deal with change. Just like if you want to know how bad we are with this like think about the times you've gone to church and somebody doesn't know that's where you sit and they sit in your place and you go like people are like that's my seat. Sure like it's something as little as that like we struggle with change.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Okay.

Destiny’s Voice On Trust And Faithfulness

SPEAKER_05 41:13

So when you do massive change then people like and so we had to walk through a season where we were misunderstood and accused and they're trying to do this and and and being accused of every I mean in that season people were hearing that I had cheated on you and people like crazy stuff. Like anytime somebody goes through transition it's got to be something terrible. Sure. And it's like in our life those transitions always happen based on the word of the Lord. Yes every time every time even even when we went through Covington like Covington that was another place. We thought we'd be there our whole life like we're gonna plant this church this church is going to be raised up it's going to bless the city of Covington and they're gonna bury us here like this is it. And then Holy Spirit like the church fire we lose our salary get kicked out of this house we go through um the church fire a year later and you're just like what in the world is going on and we were trying to make the shift meeting with leaders telling them what we felt and at the end of the day it just didn't work. Like I don't know how else to say it. It just didn't work for whatever reason. And so we were praying like Lord something's got to give here something's got to be different something so then somebody asked to meet with us they give us the word of the Lord and they said we see a question mark over the city. Yeah you remember this encounter like here's a question mark if you're gonna stay or go. And these are the parameters of how you're gonna know if you're to stay these are the parameters how you're supposed to know if you're supposed to go and you're gonna know by this time. So fast forward things don't get better they they just keep trending in a negative direction. Then Papa Damon calls and was like hey I see some things happen in the spirit realm. Some things are about to get shaken up they did and you're just sitting there going here's the second obvious thing and then we go to Bobby and Jesse's and this little girl she's not a little girl she's a grown woman this woman says to us gives us the confirmation from the first word of the prophet and was like it's time to to change and transition. So the confirmation comes and we knew it was time like we didn't shut down Covington because uh we were frustrated we didn't shut down Covington because we just threw up our hands like when we closed the doors on that it was based on the word of the Lord and we could give stories and stories but doesn't matter um because there's obviously still people there that we love and people that that um that even misunderstood that season that we still love. And um so I would never want to say anything or do anything Hurt anybody in that, but to just say, like, we have been a people our entire marriage who've just been led by the Spirit. And when we make decisions, it's based on the word of the Lord, not our emotions, not our um strategy. It's like the Lord just makes it so obvious. So I think if there's anything that we can say, like you said, I could sum up in one word, faithful. He's always been faithful to lead us, faithful to guide us, faithful to transition us. Even when people don't understand and when people have to create reasons in their mind for why this happens, at the end of the day, we are willing to be misunderstood, to be obedient to the word of the Lord. And I have to say to you, like, thank you for uh rolling with me through that. Because like I could not say yes to these things without you saying yes to these things. Because at the end of the day, like you could shut down the ministry, but this this is this is us. This is me and you. And like you're you and my babies are the priority. So like at any point in time when the Lord's given these whispers, you could have said no. Like this is crazy. We're not doing it. But you've always trusted, you've always said yes, and even times we've both had to work through like leaning not onto our own understanding, for sure. And um, but we've said yes over and over again, and now here we are immobile, saying yes again, and not like the stars haven't fully aligned for us here, like not everything's been perfect. Yeah, our house still hasn't sold in Covington. Like, you can go down the line of like these things, but like we're going, we're launching a media company based on the word of the Lord. Yeah, we're saying yes to empowering entrepreneurs through Long Path Creator Academy.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

I would say even that word just to take a second, like the media company, I feel like it's so significant. I feel like you should share even when you were younger and words that you had gotten. Like, this isn't like a where did this come from? This is so out of left field. I feel like for some people who have followed your ministry and stuff like that, like it might seem like you're becoming the host.

SPEAKER_02 46:19

Let's go. I like it. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 46:22

It might seem like that, yeah, you know, because you have been pastoring, you have been traveling and preaching. And it's like you've not really talked about other things that I mean we have talked about for dreamed about. Yes, yeah. For since this is something that's been spoken over you since before we were even married. And then I'll share a piece that connects it all while what we're doing now is just so significant.

Provision Stories And Fasting For Guidance

SPEAKER_05 46:56

Well, I mean, it really starts as a kid. My dad had a television ministry when I was a kid, and so I grew up going into studios and watching him doing open and closes, and television's so different now, media is so different now, but still that marked me as a young man. Like for sure, my dad had like a secular media company that would come in and like film because there wasn't like Christian media uh at that time, not on a local level. And so, like, I grew up watching my dad do opens and closes and shine through ministries. It's like he used that verse, he's like, Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven, like that kind of like voice. Yeah, shine through ministries with Pastor Greg Casto. Anyways, I grew up, my dad did television ministry. Um, my dad was one of the first people to like put Bishop Jakes on television, like because he grew they were in the same city pastoring. Yeah, but like I grew up in that, and then when I was about 17, just graduated from high school, and really was like just burning for God. Um, I went to an all-night prayer meeting. Uh, I think uh like I was in the back of the church, and this prophetess lady walks in, and there's no way she could have seen me. I was literally in the back of the church, 2 a.m. at an all-night prayer meeting, underneath a pew. And she goes, Somebody's back there at the very back, and the Lord wants you to stand up. I've got a word for you. And I stand up and I'm like, oh my God, like I don't know a lot of people here, maybe like two people that I knew in that prayer meeting. And um, so she says to me, She said, I just see you like on camera and you're on televisions all over the world. I see you on screens all over the world, I see satellites, I see cameras. And she's like, your voice is gonna touch the world through media, like through cameras, through through this. And so she gave me that word, and I was just kind of like, back then, it was like, I don't know how that ever happens, but praise God, because like we're in this little church in Charleston. How's that ever gonna happen? Yeah. Well, weeks later, there's a guy by the name of Elder Carter who was a prophet as well. He comes into my dad's church, he gives me the exact same word about media and cameras and all that kind of stuff. And so, like, I've kind of hid those things and tucked those things away in my heart because I I can say before the Lord, I've never made ministry about me. Like, I made ministry about the call that the Lord put put on my life to do it. Um, and my ministry was serving Dr. Lowry in the beginning. Then as I traveled as an evangelist, I wasn't concerned about building Marc Casto ministries. Like I was really concerned for the local church pastor and going in and going, I want to serve their vision. And when I walk away from this church, I want to confirm what that pastor's been saying. I want to bless what that church is doing. I want them to leave like invigorated with the vision God had placed in them. So it wasn't like I'm gonna go in there and just preach my word and make everybody a fan and a partner. I never pitched my partners, I never pitched product, I never did any of that. It was just like we had people that partnered with us, but I'm saying, like, I didn't have partner cards and try to create, like, I literally really loved those pastors and wanted to serve them. And then move on from that. I mean, like, I served Perry at OCI, did that. Like that was his, he I always made sure he was the person. Like, I never tried to make that about me. And then um, and then when we went to South Carolina, I I learned what it was to gospel and to be a son and all that. So I just always just stuffed the personal ministry stuff, um, and just was like, uh, whatever, whenever it comes, however it'll be. And um, but seven days before the church fire in in Covington, I was walking in our backyard and the Lord said, I want to talk to you about business and media. And I was like, the church is doing great. We're growing. Why would like I didn't know what was happening? And 45 minutes of just back and forth, me trying to pray and couldn't seem to get anywhere in prayer. And the Lord would be like, I want to talk to you about business and media. So then the church fire fire happened seven days later. And then after kind of like things settled down, the Lord was like, So you want to talk about business and media? And that was the first time that like the door opened to go, it's time to start really thinking about this media thing and this business thing. And so um here we are, like we're we've only been in this journey a little over two years. I've primarily built the business first.

SPEAKER_06 51:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:51

And the business was to help people do the very thing I'm doing.

SPEAKER_06 51:55

Yeah.

Leaving Success To Follow The Word

SPEAKER_05 51:55

You know, I've had some success, like we've had have a lot of followers on Instagram. We've made quite a bit of money in the digital product business and really did well. And there's been ups and downs with that business. Okay, but but like we've built this business that brought us to this point. And then it's like, okay, um, you're helping people do that, but I still want to talk to you about the media piece. So we move here to mobile, we get here, and I feel like the Lord's like, well, we need about$100,000 to get started. Like me and the Lord are praying about this. And so my original thing was, I'm gonna go on social media, I'm gonna put that we need$100,000 and like, let's believe God for a hundred people to give us a thousand dollars or whatever. I post it and feel so dumb. I'm like, this is not right. And I felt like Holy Spirit said, take the post down. That's not how we're doing this. And so, that being said, nobody's heard this publicly, but we're gonna announce it together because people need to know this is where we're headed. So in October, we're like, the business just like stopped producing like it normally did. And I was like, what is happening? And the Lord's like, son, I really want to do something with this media thing, and like, don't post about it, don't do anything, just set with me on it. We are leaving the next day to go to California, and I felt like Holy Spirit said, You need to go check the mailbox. And I'm like, check the mailbox, like there's just bills in there, I'm sure. And uh, because nobody sends checks anymore, right? Like people that give to you, they send it through. Destiny has no clue. She's she's never looked at our bank account in 18 years, but um, but like most people give online and they give through you know, bank transfer, whatever, but not like snail mail anymore. But I felt Holy Spirit say you better go check the mail. And so I go check the mail, and there's nothing there. And I'm like, What is this? And so I walk back inside and see, it's like, Dad, I already got the mail, and I was like, Okay. And so I'm going through bill, bill, bill, and there's this random envelope in there, and I'm like, this is some kind of nonprofit thing trying to get a donation from me. So I almost toss it. And I felt like Holy Spirit said, You better pay attention.

SPEAKER_06 54:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:10

And so, like, I opened the letter, I'm reading it, and it's like, this is an organization, blah, blah, blah. We do this, this, and this. And we did a full report on the shepherd's tent, and we saw uh everything cleared, and here's a check for$100,000. That was in October. Just like, and I remember looking at you because we like maybe we can talk about the other thing another time, but like we just made a major investment into the business that didn't go the way that we thought it would. And I was just kind of like, what are we gonna do? And it was in that moment that the Lord brought that hundred thousand dollar check, and we just look at each other like we're building a media company. So for those of you that didn't know that story, like everything that this studio now is, it's not 100% finished, but like the reason why we're able to do the Mark Casto program, do this podcast today, is we now have an office, three offices, two, two studio spaces, your office, bathroom, kitchenette, storage. We bought the cameras that we need, lights that we've needed, the TVs, that just the stuff that we've needed. And like, we're doing it. We're we're doing it. And so, like, we're starting it with the Mark Castro program, the family table, yeah, and then the rest of the time, I'm training other people how to build their social medias, how to build their digital products.

SPEAKER_01 55:39

Um and that's a long path.

SPEAKER_05 55:41

That's long path creator academy. See, she's turned into the host now. Now she's back to me. Um but this is not like it's called Long Path Publishing, is the company, but it's not publishing in the traditional sense. Like what I really felt from the Lord was I want you to put the power of like media back into the hands of my people. So it's like people are influencing people.

SPEAKER_01 56:06

Yes, every person is an influencer, 100%.

SPEAKER_05 56:10

Influencing somebody if you have an Instagram account, you have a personal brand.

SPEAKER_01 56:13

Even in life.

Covington Trials, Fire, And Transition

SPEAKER_05 56:14

If you have a Facebook, you have a personal brand. Like you're an influencer. And so I want to show people how to actually do that. And there are people out there that have revelation, like a message that is from God, a story that is beautiful, yes, but they don't know how to to put it all together into social media. They don't know how to put together in a digital product. And most people are having to continue to trade hours for dollars, work jobs they don't love at a place they don't want to be at, away from people that they that they love. And it's like, there is a different way to make money now.

SPEAKER_06 56:49

For sure.

SPEAKER_05 56:50

There, there is a way that kingdom people can now take their story, take their God-given wisdom, put it on social, put it through a digital product, and make real income to provide for their families. And like, we're forerunning in that. Like, there are people that have done it before. I'm not saying we're the only ones. I'm saying, but we are forerunning for the people who know us to go, there's a better way to make money. There's a better way to do this. So fast forward, we make this investment into our business, it doesn't go well. I'm like, what in the world do we do? And that's when the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, Mark, you always know how to get out of these situations and it's sew your way out of it. Like when you don't know what to do financially, when it doesn't make financial sense, what do you do? Sew yourself out of it. And so I took the program that I had worked so I mean, you know, I put hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars into training myself to do this. And I put together a$5,000 program and the Holy Spirit said, give it away for free. And so I took all that I've been working on for two years and now it's free for people. And then if people want to go to the next level, like for group coaching or one-on-one coaching, they can, you know, pay for those things. But the the knowledge it takes to make money this way and to build your social media and monetize, like all that's free now for people. So if you're watching and you want to do this, you feel called to do what even what we're doing. We're not only building this media company, we're taking you along the ride, showing you how to build your media company. That's really what we're doing. And um, and so, like, yeah, here we are, another faith step, another big transition. And the Holy Spirit is making it so obvious, and he's providing for us, and he's shifting us in perfectly to where we're supposed to be. And but I would not want to do this without you.

SPEAKER_01 58:46

Sweet.

SPEAKER_05 58:47

Thank you, I mean, like, we're going on as you realize like we will have been married this July 19 years. So it's 19 years coming this July. And um man, like the transitions that the Holy Spirit has asked of us, I just don't believe you can do that by yourself. And um, so I say today that I am what I am by the grace of God, and that grace has showed up in you for me, and you have loved me well, you've loved our babies well, you have loved the people that God has put in front of us very well. I've watched it, I've seen it, and um I just gotta ask you, will you keep going with me and take this journey into this publishing company? And I know you will, I'm being silly, but um I wanted to do this family table podcast with you first, and who knows, maybe you'll have a show. You just never know. I mean goals you just talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 59:56

You do that's an i lots of beautiful ideas.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:00

You've got a coloring book. Like I next time we we jump on the podcast, that's what we'll talk about. Uh, is your coloring book? But for now, for those of that just are like, wow, like um your wife's amazing, if you haven't figured that out now. I'm not sure how long we've been going, but um, you can see she's been amazing. And um, but you have a coloring book. What else? You you have you actually have two coloring books. One is on Delight, the other one was a Christmas one.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:29

Delight coloring book for girls, and that is available on Amazon.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:33

Yep. We'll put a link in the show notes.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

And then um I have a PDF version of the Delight Coloring Book for Girls and a Christmas coloring book on a website that I have on pay hip.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:50

Yeah, but you have that on your your social media, like a link, I'm sure. Right? Do you?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:56

I think so.

Obedience Amid Misunderstanding

SPEAKER_05 1:00:57

Well, if not, we're gonna do it, we're gonna get it up there. But I really appreciate you spending time with me. And we're gonna leave this podcast and spend more time together. Yeah, we are and um, but I really do appreciate you taking this journey with me. And we've built a beautiful life. We've impacted a lot of people, we've loved a lot of people, but we've got a lot more people to impact and a lot more people to love and help. And um, we're gonna do it together. Yeah. All right, guys. Thank you so much for joining us for this first family table conversation in Long Pass Studios. Hope you guys um I'll just say this to you. Um, we're taking a big step of faith, giving away our$5,000 program for free. That's literally what sustained us from the church fire to this present moment has been my business. Now we're stepping out in faith and we're praying for the business to continue to provide, but also we are believing that God's going to raise up people who are gonna become monthly partners to support what we're doing through Longpath Publishing. Guys, I'm traveling some and preaching now. Um, we're doing the Mark Casto program, we're doing the Family Table podcast, and I'm training people, entrepreneurs, every week in that Long Path Creator Academy. So finance is coming through that, but we really do believe that God is going to speak to some of you that are watching this to partner with us. I don't care if it's a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, ten thousand dollars a month, but when you partner with us monthly, the joy that it gives to us that you would believe in us, that that's that's huge. But secondly, when you sign up as a monthly partner, that helps us plan how to steward that money for the month to come so that we can continue to do things. Because guys, we're eventually gonna start flying people in for these podcasts, bringing in special guests, bringing in guests that may we may have to pay money to get them here. We're also gonna be doing things in the studio live with guests, and we want to be able to host them well, take care of them, put them in hotel rooms, and build a real deal publishing company. Like, I hope you know this is not just a little podcast that we're trying to do. Like, we really are trying to build uh, by the help of Holy Spirit, a media company that really honors the gospel we believe we've inherited, to honor the relationships God has given us, and most of all, to impact the world for the kingdom of God through these studios. So we're gonna need partners, we're gonna need people working in the business and building in the business, and we're gonna need partners to help support this work. So really appreciate you guys watching this. Thank you for joining me and my wife today. And uh, she's gonna be a regular guest on the podcast. She's not really a guest. I'm gonna just call you my co-host. He can be my co-host. Let's go. So we're doing this. We love you guys. God bless you. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button. That way, every time we do a video, you'll be the first to know it. And all the links for anything that we've talked about in this will be in the show notes below. God bless you guys. Blissy. Hey, are you recording live? Okay, come here. Come again.