We’re coming to you from the Patriot Academy National Leadership Congress in Constitution City, Texas, where more than a hundred young adults are debating bills on the floor in a full legislative simulation. It’s constitutional education with real-world pressure, real speeches, real motions, and the kind of civic leadership training most people never get until they’re already in office, if they ever get it at all.

We sit down with Patriot Academy alum Thomas Umstattd to talk about something deeper than procedures: mindset. He argues it’s time to trade retreatism for an attitude of victory and to recover the belief that we can actually take ground in culture and public life. From there, we zoom out into storytelling and influence, including how books shape leaders over decades, then into a fascinating thread on Elon Musk, Benjamin Franklin, and why radical accountability beats committee-driven systems. That leads to the hard question underneath modern bureaucracy: if nobody can be held responsible, can anything be fixed?

Later, we talk with West Virginia delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez, who came to Patriot Academy as a teenager, ran for office at 19, and became the youngest member of his state legislature. He shares what helped him hold his ground, why community and mentorship matter, and what he wants the next generation to carry with them. We also preview two timely topics brought to the students: when to compromise without becoming compromised, and how to think clearly about AI without panic or blind trust.

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A neighboring property can look like “just real estate” until it becomes a direct challenge to your mission. We open Good News Friday with a major update from Patriot Academy’s campus in Constitution City, Texas and then pivot into the kind of story you can’t ignore: a high-stakes effort to stop a dangerous group from buying the 47 acres right next door, including 40 newly built cottages, and what it takes to secure a contract before an auction changes everything.

We also zoom out to the bigger why. We talk about the Patriot Institute and why we see it as the most important work happening on the campus: training young adults with a biblical worldview, moral philosophy, apologetics, leadership, communication, debate, and real-world skills that translate into business, education, ministry, the arts, law enforcement, and public service. We even touch Washington, DC, where training and encouraging principled congressional staffers matters because “staff is policy” and the right people in the right rooms can steady leadership and protect communities.

Then we get practical with the deadline. We share how cottage sponsorships helped pull the property from auction, why 24 cottages are already sponsored, and why 16 still need sponsors before the August 31 close. If you care about Christian civic leadership, constitutional education, religious liberty, and local culture battles that shape the future, you’ll feel the urgency and the hope in this conversation.

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Washington, DC doesn’t just run on policy, it runs on pressure, influence, and competing spiritual visions. We sit down with Jaco Booyens, a longtime abolitionist fighting human trafficking, to hear what happened when he felt called to move his family into the city, open an office, and launch a new church right in the middle of it all. The “yes” sounded clear, but the fallout was immediate: eviction after eviction, open hostility, and the kind of resistance that makes most people quietly back away.

Tim Barton pushes into the question many of us ask when life gets hard: if God is leading, why is there so much opposition? Jaco's answer is direct and challenging. He argues that calling often comes with attack, and that courage isn’t bravado, it’s sonship, daily obedience, and a life anchored in God’s presence. We also get practical about what “daily encounters with God” look like beyond church attendance, including repentance, Scripture, listening, and a healthier view of deliverance as freedom from strongholds and fear.

Then it gets surprisingly actionable: not everyone connects with God the same way. Jaco shares how movement, solitude, nature, and joy can become consistent pathways to hearing God, and he invites listeners to discover their own connection style. We also point you to anti-trafficking resources at helpjbm.org, plus a closing challenge that lands with weight: invite God into your trauma, talk to Him honestly, and let healing start where you’ve felt stuck.

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