Isaiah Saldivar, known as a part of a group called the Demon Slayers, has spoken in over 500 churches, at conferences and other events. He travels and preaches a message of revival and repentance.
Through his podcasts and social media, his ministry reaches 6 to 8 million people each week, and he has over 750,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. Not many would doubt he is doing his part to spread the gospel of Christ in this chaotic world.
But even Saldivar says he has become impressed by a young man named David Mapalo, a Gen Zer who has become an overnight social media phenomenon because he is unabashedly sharing the Good News of Christ anywhere, anytime.
Mapalo doesn’t care if people mock him. He doesn’t take it personally if they do not accept what he is trying to give them: a pathway to heaven. What he is most passionate about, however, is for people to hear about Jesus and to give them an opportunity to escape the eternity of hell.
“I just love how God is raising these young guys up,” Saldivar says in a recent YouTube video. “They’re bold, and they don’t care. They are preaching this unfiltered, unadulterated gospel. I see a lot of comments saying he’s inconveniencing people and making people uncomfortable.
“Everywhere you go, it seems like, people are talking about sexual sin and this crazy alphabet community agenda,” he adds. “There is a lot of sexual innuendo, and Christians are OK with that. But they are saying that this kid is inconvenient? We are so soft. Hell is inconvenient. I’m just confused by the Christians that allow or are OK with darkness preaching at us. But then a guy like this comes along and he’s really on fire for God, and you guys have a problem with it.”
Mapalo not only shares the gospel but has also been known to deliver a demon or two from others and to prophesy. He grew up in the church as a pastor’s kid who knew about Christ his whole life but says he didn’t really start following Jesus until 2019 at the age of 16. He has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and more than 180,000 YouTube subscribers to his channel.
Even more impressive than his social media credentials, however, is his boldness for Jesus. He preaches on the streets. He preaches at gay pride festivals. He also has shared the gospel on an airplane while people were deplaning.
Mapalo has been kicked out of school previously for preaching. He’s been expelled from shopping malls for sharing Christ. He’s even been videoed doing his thing at Target.
After a recent trip, one of his videos shows him talking to people as they were getting off the plane. He didn’t hold anything back in telling the passengers where they stood.
“You’re not going to find Him (Jesus) in Muhammad. You’re not going to find Him in Charles Darwin atheism,” Mapalo says on one of his videos. “You are not going to find Him in Hinduism. … He wants you guys in heaven, and He wants a relationship with you.
“A lot of you guys may be blowing this off, but I pray that this seed gets planted in you and that you guys repent,” he continues. “Turn, because if you continue to live in your sin and you die in your sin, you are going to stand in front of a perfect, holy and just God, and He’s going to say, ‘Depart from Me; I never knew you.’ Today is the day of salvation. You can’t just say that you’re a good person and expect to make it to heaven.”
In one of his YouTube videos, Mapalo is seen talking to a young man with an evil eye crystal hanging around his neck. Not only did he challenge the young man to take the crystal off, but also to remove from his pocket and toss away something Mapalo deemed demonic that was hanging on the man’s keychain.
He then began deliverance ministry to the man, knowing there were demonic entities inside him.
“You need to take this off and throw it away in the name of Jesus,” Mapalo said. “Come out in the name of Jesus,” he commanded the demons. By the end of the video, the man said he felt freedom and was open to what Mapalo was saying to him.
Even Saldivar, a veteran deliverance minister, says he’s been convicted by Mapalo’s boldness to preach the gospel.
“I want that,” Saldivar says. “Yes, you have to be careful about throwing rocks, and you don’t want to be a barking dog. But be challenged by this young man. Let our religious mindset be challenged. A lot of people do not fear the Lord, but the wages of sin is death. Mapalo has certainly challenged me to raise my game.”
If Saldivar, who is firmly entrenched in his ministry and his reputation as a minister of God’s Word, is willing to take a cue from a younger preacher like Mapalo, will you put aside your fear and not let anything stand in your way of telling people of Christ?
“This is a perfect time to preach the gospel,” Mapalo says. … “Jesus wants you to be with Him for eternity. He wants you to love Him with His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, His faithfulness. Religion is going to hell. If you think you’re going to heaven because you are a good person and you’re going to church, think again. Jesus says it’s a narrow way we must walk.”
For more about David Mapalo, check out his YouTube channel, simply titled “Mapalo.” {eoa}
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
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