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Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

Behind the Scenes

December 19, 2018

24:59

Behind the Scenes

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Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

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(upbeat music)
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- We welcome you to the beautiful city of Reykjavik
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right here in Iceland.
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My guest is Erik Erikson, and I'm gonna try
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to say the name of the cathedral
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over our shoulders here.
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It is Hallgrimskirkja,
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something close, is that close?
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- Very close, very close, you did a good job.
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- Hallgrimskirkja is the name
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of the cathedral right here.
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We welcome you, wherever you're watching too.
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A beautiful day here in Reykjavik, Iceland.
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The Hotel Leifur Eriksson is right behind.
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That's your sister's hotel.
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- Correct, correct, yeah.
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- We have Leif Erikson the explorer,
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who if you read a Icelandic history book,
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discovered America, right?
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- Yeah, that's right.
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We say that he discovered America before Columbus.
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- Got it. - Maybe some kind of fight.
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- Yeah, some Christopher Columbus,
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but if you're here in Iceland, it's Leif Erikson.
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So, let me just say this, the cathedral behind us
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with the beautiful cross on top,
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this is a modern structure built in the 70's
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here in Iceland, but back about the year 1000,
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what happened here in Iceland?
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- [Paul] So Thor, Odin were the gods
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that the Icelandic people worshiped, the Vikings really.
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- [Erik] Vikings, yeah.
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And the King of Norway, he said,
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They were very afraid, so they came
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together to Parliament,
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- Somehow a kind of a threat to the sons
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of the noble people, that if you don't
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become a Christian nation, we're gonna kill your sons.
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We're talking about the history of Christianity here,
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but at one point, regardless of how it happened,
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Iceland became a Christian nation in the year 1000, roughly.
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- And we have a cross on our flags that mean
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that we are a Christian nation.
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- Okay, so after all the years then,
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Christianity, maybe the flame started to burn low,
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and there was a time when this part of the country
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needed Christian television. - Oh, yeah.
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- And God put that in your heart.
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- That's right, and that make a totally change in Iceland
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when we started '92, and that helped totally change
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in Iceland.
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We are very thankful for how God put TBN in our way
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and make it possible to have a transmitter
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and reaching out to the people.
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Not only to Iceland, but to all Scandinavia.
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- So, a lot of people, Erik, over the years
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have seen you, you haven't changed a day
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since all those years, you looked exactly the same.
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My father has interviewed you many times
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right here in Reykjavik, and the story
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of how we would come here on occasion
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because our airplane needed to be refueled.
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So my dad saw an article in the newspaper
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and he called you, and TBN and the Erikson family
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and the Eriksson clan got connected
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many, many, many years ago.
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Now, the update though is some very exciting,
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brand new, 2018 brand new information, which is what, Erik?
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What has recently happened here in Iceland
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with Omega TV, one of the Trinity family of networks?
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- In Iceland, for the Christianity,
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when we have a few new channels coming to the people
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in Iceland, TBN, Hillsong and Smile A Child,
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that make it because before we have to make a subtitle
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of every English program.
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But Iceland people, they understand English.
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So now it's flowing freely to every house here
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in Reykjavik area.
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- [Paul] The big breakthrough that you mentioned is
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really this week digital television is on the air here
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with brand new channels right here in Reykjavik.
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- [Erik] And I feel it is going to change everything
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here in Iceland.
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We feel that some breakthrough is coming in Iceland.
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- And the reason that this is uniquely different is
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because the digital new TV channels
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that are here now are not required
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to be dubbed into Icelandic.
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They can be free to air in the English language.
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So, brand new Christian TV.
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TBN has been sending programs over all the years,
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but you were having to translate, dub,
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it was very costly. - Yeah, very costly.
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- Very expensive.
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- Slowing the process very much, you know.
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And all the children, from small they understand English.
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And I was very excited this morning when I was watching
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the Smile A Child, I was thinking about my granddaughter
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and grandson, think about the privilege
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they can watch Christian content.
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- And guess what, we have good news for you.
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TBN has just completed our deal with NBC Universal,
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and Veggie Tales now is back in production.
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We're making many, many, I think we've got 30
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new episodes of Veggie Tales coming,
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just like the old original ones, brand new ones,
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brand new, all being done right now.
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Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki is a part
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of the new productions, the same ones
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that made them back in the day.
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So those new episodes will be on the way right here
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in English to Reykjavik and to all of Iceland, really,
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and on satellite then to Scandinavia.
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But this is a unique thing,
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because not before this week have we had
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Christian television in English,
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which everyone understands anyway,
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it's brand new here this week.
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- Yeah, correct, correct.
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And we've had such wonderful things taking place
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in Iceland, and I believe something special,
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revival is taking place out of this.
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Because people are thirsty for something more
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than they have been used to watch.
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Now they have a brand new anointed program every single day.
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- So, Iceland is kind of an interesting place.
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It's always been a beautiful spot.
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It's always been a unique place,
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but it has caught the attention of the world
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through a couple of things.
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You have a volcano covered in ice over here,
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and the name of it?
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- Okay, say it one more time.
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- Okay, and say the name of the cathedral.
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- (laughing) Okay.
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This is an amazing language.
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You had your volcano over here that blew up,
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and the whole world heard about Iceland
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because of your volcano.
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And I'm not sure everyone was excited about that,
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because it stopped the airline traffic
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between kind of going over the North Atlantic there,
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so that was kind of a big deal.
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Then there's this little television network
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in America called HBO.
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And it has this little TV show called Vikings, yeah?
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- Yeah, a little bit, yeah.
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- And then also this other little one
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called Game of Thrones, have you heard of this one?
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- Yeah. - Okay.
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Well, that's probably why all the tourists are here now,
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because Game of Thrones, Star Wars,
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and for some reason, this little part of the world now
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is like a very north 66 degrees north Hollywood.
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Because a lot of production is being done here now.
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So whatever the reason, why the tourists come
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doesn't matter, because now, in English,
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24 hours a day, Christian television.
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Three brand new networks, Omega TV,
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part of the Trinity family of networks.
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(upbeat music)
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Let's talk a little bit about Leif Erikson over here.
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What do your books say about Leif Erikson?
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- [Erik] He just discovered Iceland.
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And others say as well he discovered America.
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And that's maybe some contradiction
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with what we have heard.
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- The folks in Iceland certainly believe
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what is written, "Leifr Eiricsson, son of Iceland,
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"discoverer of Vinland, the United States of America,
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"to the people of Iceland on the one thousandth anniversary
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of the....
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- [Erik] I think it is the government.
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- In 1930, so in 930 you became a republic.
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- Yeah, that's right.
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(upbeat music)
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- If you just flipped on, we are in Reykjavik, Iceland.
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Erik Erikson has been operating Omega TV here,
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the brand new, brand new news is that this week
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three new 24 hour a day signals,
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four new networks, because of digital television,
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are on the air.
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Thank you to the TBN partners for the finances necessary
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to send this transmitter, the build out, everything.
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What is new here now?
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What is the new equipment, new transmitters?
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- This is a most exciting time with three new channels
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to Iceland, TBN, Hillsong, Smile a Child,
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24 hours every single day.
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That will make such a change for the people in Iceland.
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And we want to say thank you so much
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for supporting what you are doing here in Iceland.
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We are so thankful for TBN, God has been gracious to us
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to send Paul Crouch to Iceland,
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with such a warm heart and nice heart
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to working with Iceland with good news of Jesus Christ.
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- That's so awesome, my daddy just loved it
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when he would find somebody with a 10 watt transmitter.
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- And you called me early in the morning and you asked,
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"Is this TV station?"
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And you asked how big transmitter we were using,
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and I said, "We are using 10 watts transmitter."
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And you said, "Yeah, everything start like this."
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(laughter)
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- The 10 watts went to a hundred and then a hundred
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to a thousand, and now I guess the good news is
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very soon the tower here's gonna have
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some new panels and what, a 5.000 watt tower.
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- [Erik] 5.000, and the only high-powered in Iceland.
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- Only one! - Yeah.
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This will be the only high-powered station in Iceland,
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Christian station reaching the lost in Iceland.
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- For years Omega TV, one of the TBN family of networks,
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was the largest transmitter in this part
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of the entire country and the most powerful.
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Now, four on the air, Omega TV, TBN,
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Hillsong, and then a combination of Juice
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and Smile of A Child.
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Brand new programming, free to air,
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on the air this week right here in Reykjavik.
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Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful day here.
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And what a great announcement, Christians TV's expanding
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right here in Reykjavik, Iceland.
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(upbeat violin music)
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This is a very unique week for Christian television
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here in Iceland, home of the Vikings,
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Game of Thrones, all of that, Star Wars was shot
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over here, a lot of it.
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And a lot of tourists are now coming here.
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Your tourism is increasing so fast
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you don't even really know how to handle it.
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- That's correct, it has been explosion.
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And it's a great blessing for people in Iceland
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as well, you know.
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We have more than two million people coming every year
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to Iceland, it has grown very fast,
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like 15, 20, 30% every year.
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This is, as I told you before,
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it's a total breakthrough for Christianity.
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And now I believe something is taking place.
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- A new breakthrough for right here in Reykjavik,
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the people of Reykjavik, all the tourists,
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and this is, for a day in late fall,
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this is beautiful weather.
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My hands are a little bit numb.
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Let's go over to the Leifur Eriksson Hotel
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and get a cappuccino.
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(upbeat violin music)
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This is probably one of the most unique
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look angles for a satellite dish that I've ever seen.
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This angle, if you take the earth,
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and we're way up at 66 degrees north,
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so this satellite is looking almost into the ground.
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I mean, it looks like it's almost looking into the ground,
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which shows where we are in the world.
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We're in Iceland, brand new digital transmitters inside.
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Let's take a look.
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(upbeat violin music)
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Feel like home?
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Server, digital.
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So it's one satellite taking John Hagee's show
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to all over America, another satellite takes it
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over the Atlantic, it's in Spain,
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then Spain turns it around, goes up to Hapsburg.
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When Hapsburg comes down, we're catching that signal
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here in Iceland, so this signal has traveled
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hundreds of thousands of miles to get here
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in a matter of seconds I'm sure.
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(upbeat music)
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When you take the whole world and look
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at North America and South America,
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Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia,
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and then you look at the entire world,
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you have to go very, we're right here,
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little tiny Iceland, and so many tourists now
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are coming and really invading Iceland up here.
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66 degrees north in latitude.
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It's like being basically in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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So it's a very, very beautiful island,
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and really interesting because it's
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where the European and the North American
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tectonic plates meet and Iceland was formed
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out of two tectonic plates that were coming up,
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and it's very volcanic.
00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:39.040
This is Iceland, which one is the one
00:17:39.040 --> 00:17:42.110
that made the eruption?
00:17:42.110 --> 00:17:46.170
- [Erik] Eyjafjallajokull.
00:17:47.130 --> 00:17:48.270
- This is your facility, and we're now in Reykjavik.
00:17:48.270 --> 00:17:51.280
- Right there, yeah.
00:17:51.280 --> 00:17:53.050
- The beautiful island of Iceland.
00:17:53.050 --> 00:17:56.100
What time this is-- - 2002.
00:17:56.100 --> 00:17:59.100
- 2002.
00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:00.070
- When TBN first came to Scandinavia.
00:18:01.110 --> 00:18:02.180
- God's not gonna forget the Scandinavian area
00:18:02.180 --> 00:18:05.290
of this world, he loves them too.
00:18:05.290 --> 00:18:07.210
And he died for them too.
00:18:07.210 --> 00:18:09.130
And we're gonna have gospel Christian television
00:18:09.130 --> 00:18:12.060
up there also, I know it in my spirit.
00:18:12.060 --> 00:18:14.210
Honey, how many times have I said,
00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:16.260
"The day is coming we're gonna build
00:18:16.260 --> 00:18:18.070
"Christian TV stations on Soviet Russian soil.
00:18:18.070 --> 00:18:21.190
"I know it in the spirit."
00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:23.100
And now I see the first crack in the door.
00:18:23.100 --> 00:18:26.110
Oh, hallelujah, I'm gonna run around the building here
00:18:26.110 --> 00:18:30.060
in a minute, I'm getting so excited.
00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:32.080
Because I see the fulfillment of the prophecies
00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:35.080
that the Lord has given to us years ago, years ago.
00:18:35.080 --> 00:18:39.150
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:42.250
in all the world.
00:18:42.250 --> 00:18:44.170
- Wow, your hair was darker then.
00:18:44.170 --> 00:18:47.140
- [Erik] Yeah, that's correct.
00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:49.270
- It's a little lighter now, so's mine.
00:18:49.270 --> 00:18:53.150
So this is your call center?
00:18:53.150 --> 00:18:56.200
- Yeah. - You have phones available
00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:57.290
for people that are calling in.
00:18:57.290 --> 00:18:59.220
- Yeah. - Beautiful.
00:18:59.220 --> 00:19:02.230
So, now we're in Reykjavik.
00:19:02.230 --> 00:19:04.210
This is your TV studio facility.
00:19:04.210 --> 00:19:07.040
What other kind of programs do you want to insert
00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:12.250
into the TBN/Omega feed?
00:19:12.250 --> 00:19:17.010
And that would be in the language of--
00:19:17.010 --> 00:19:19.120
- Icelandic. - Icelandic.
00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:20.200
- Yeah, that's right.
00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:22.030
Yeah, we have a different program,
00:19:22.030 --> 00:19:23.250
different program, testimony program,
00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:27.170
and mostly people with a testimony.
00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:31.110
- So, testimonies of people that have come off drugs
00:19:31.110 --> 00:19:35.090
is a major thing that you want to put on the air.
00:19:35.090 --> 00:19:38.100
Testimonies work beautifully here in Iceland.
00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:42.040
- I grew up in a small town in Central California.
00:19:43.270 --> 00:19:46.120
I knew about God, I knew about Jesus,
00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:49.030
but I never really had that intimate relationship with him.
00:19:49.030 --> 00:19:52.230
Made a couple of bad decisions, which led me
00:19:52.230 --> 00:19:54.220
to trying methamphetamines for the very first time.
00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:59.180
And as soon as I tried it, it got a hold of me.
00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:02.290
From the very first hit I was addicted.
00:20:02.290 --> 00:20:04.280
I would go out and I would either steal from my family,
00:20:06.110 --> 00:20:08.290
steal from friends or neighbors.
00:20:08.290 --> 00:20:10.220
That's where meth would take you and it would lead you
00:20:12.060 --> 00:20:14.150
down that road to where there's nothing you care about
00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:17.030
more than being high.
00:20:17.030 --> 00:20:18.200
I even spent 19 months in prison for possession
00:20:20.150 --> 00:20:22.270
of controlled substances.
00:20:22.270 --> 00:20:24.200
And when I got out, I wasn't using meth,
00:20:26.210 --> 00:20:29.100
but I'd still smoke weed here and there, I'd drink.
00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:32.100
I didn't know what to do, didn't know where to go.
00:20:32.100 --> 00:20:34.270
So my neighbor Ray comes up to me one day
00:20:34.270 --> 00:20:37.120
and he says, "Travis, I know what you're doing.
00:20:37.120 --> 00:20:39.030
"God knows what you're doing, don't approve of it.
00:20:39.030 --> 00:20:41.240
"But he loves you, and I want you to watch TBN with me."
00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:46.010
So the first day we watched it together,
00:20:46.010 --> 00:20:47.150
and I think it was Joseph Prince that was on.
00:20:47.150 --> 00:20:49.160
- To hear the message of forgiveness of sins.
00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.130
- [Travis] Sometimes I'd stay up all night long,
00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:54.000
two or three days at a time, but I kept watching TBN,
00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:56.250
I kept watching the different pastors
00:20:56.250 --> 00:20:58.120
and listening to what they'd say.
00:20:58.120 --> 00:20:59.270
- And take you into the fullness of your destiny.
00:20:59.270 --> 00:21:02.290
- I remember one morning I was really feeling heartbroken
00:21:02.290 --> 00:21:06.090
and sorry for the things I was doing.
00:21:06.090 --> 00:21:09.070
I was just really sad.
00:21:09.070 --> 00:21:11.020
And that's the moment I actually fell to the floor
00:21:11.020 --> 00:21:13.090
in my trailer and I actually cried out to God.
00:21:13.090 --> 00:21:16.130
I was longing, I was reaching for something.
00:21:16.130 --> 00:21:19.060
Anything, just a touch from him, just a word,
00:21:19.060 --> 00:21:21.120
just anything, and I was laying there
00:21:21.120 --> 00:21:23.170
and I was crying, I was crying out to the Lord,
00:21:23.170 --> 00:21:25.070
"Please forgive me, please forgive me."
00:21:25.070 --> 00:21:27.220
And I just kept saying that over again,
00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:29.290
over and over again, "Please forgive me."
00:21:29.290 --> 00:21:32.010
And as I laid there crying, it felt this sense
00:21:32.010 --> 00:21:34.160
of warmth come over me, and it was like this weight,
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.130
this burden, this darkness was lifted.
00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:41.260
And I felt this hope and I felt the joy,
00:21:41.260 --> 00:21:45.090
and I no longer wanted to smoke meth,
00:21:45.090 --> 00:21:46.280
I no longer wanted to do the things that I was doing.
00:21:46.280 --> 00:21:49.280
I couldn't stop what I was doing,
00:21:49.280 --> 00:21:52.030
but inside I didn't want to do it anymore.
00:21:52.030 --> 00:21:54.120
I was evicted from where I was living,
00:21:58.010 --> 00:21:59.280
so I was homeless for about a week
00:22:01.050 --> 00:22:02.290
and I was living in the back of my truck.
00:22:02.290 --> 00:22:05.010
I called my cousin Shawn and his wife, and they let me in.
00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:09.250
They said under one condition, I needed to get help.
00:22:09.250 --> 00:22:13.130
So they told me about this place called Restoration Ranch
00:22:13.130 --> 00:22:15.120
down near San Diego, California.
00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:17.150
And coming to the ranch I felt accepted,
00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.060
I was welcomed, I felt loved, I felt safe, secure.
00:22:22.060 --> 00:22:26.210
You can really feel the presence of God here.
00:22:26.210 --> 00:22:28.270
Staying here at the ranch as I did for close to a year
00:22:30.100 --> 00:22:33.240
really helped my walk and my life
00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:35.210
and really learning how to trust God.
00:22:35.210 --> 00:22:38.050
Something I learned while I was here was
00:22:39.190 --> 00:22:41.030
really how to become a man of integrity,
00:22:41.030 --> 00:22:43.100
how to be a Christian man.
00:22:43.100 --> 00:22:45.030
I had the opportunity recently to go
00:22:47.090 --> 00:22:49.000
on the TBN Hillsong United tour
00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:51.010
to experience and be baptized in the River Jordan.
00:22:52.100 --> 00:22:56.190
When I was baptized and went under the water,
00:22:56.190 --> 00:22:58.100
I went down as Travis, I came back up as a new man,
00:22:58.100 --> 00:23:02.110
somebody who's on fire for Christ,
00:23:02.110 --> 00:23:03.280
somebody who doesn't just want to live a saved life
00:23:03.280 --> 00:23:06.180
but live a called life.
00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:08.040
I really don't know where I would be today without TBN.
00:23:08.040 --> 00:23:11.110
If it wasn't for the pastors on there
00:23:11.110 --> 00:23:13.090
and it being on 24 hours a day,
00:23:13.090 --> 00:23:15.080
especially for someone like me, I'd probably be lost.
00:23:15.080 --> 00:23:18.080
When I stand at the cross now, I feel accepted.
00:23:20.090 --> 00:23:23.190
I feel joy and thankfulness.
00:23:24.260 --> 00:23:28.170
I don't feel ashamed, I don't feel guilty.
00:23:28.170 --> 00:23:32.190
I feel at one with God because of what he's done for me.
00:23:32.190 --> 00:23:37.190
And the pain and the hurt and the sorrow
00:23:39.040 --> 00:23:41.270
that he went through for somebody like me,
00:23:41.270 --> 00:23:44.240
you can't help but feel joy and thankfulness.
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:47.120
The amazing thing is, I was once hopeless,
00:23:49.070 --> 00:23:51.230
and now I'm hopeful, and Christ just turned me
00:23:51.230 --> 00:23:54.050
from a nobody to a somebody.
00:23:54.050 --> 00:23:57.000
I am now a child of God.
00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:58.130
(upbeat violin music)
00:24:02.050 --> 00:24:05.100
- It's now late afternoon, and we're kind of
00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:24.180
in the busy part of the downtown of Reykjavik.
00:24:24.180 --> 00:24:29.180
And the wind has stopped, the sun has warmed,
00:24:30.290 --> 00:24:34.170
and for us to come on this day with no wind, no rain,
00:24:36.010 --> 00:24:40.090
it was meant to be.
00:24:41.130 --> 00:24:42.190
Thank you.
00:24:44.150 --> 00:24:45.100
Erik Erikson, we're right here, brand new channels,
00:24:46.290 --> 00:24:50.090
right here in Reykjavik, Iceland.
00:24:50.090 --> 00:24:53.040
(upbeat music)
00:24:53.040 --> 00:24:55.220

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Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

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Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

Matt Crouch hosts Guest Erik Erikson from Reykjavik, Iceland

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