If there really is a God, why do 80% of the people in Indonesia, the 5th biggest country in the world, live without running water or basic human needs? Is this a theological question, or a political question? Today we’re in a perfect spot to find out.

Yanti Turang left her tiny Australian town called Kyneton to visit Indonesia, where her father came from, and was appalled at the sub-standard living conditions that saw members of her own family dying of preventable diseases. Yanti moved to New Orleans where she founded an organization to change all that, called Learn to Live. Learn to Live changes lives in Indonesia, South Africa, Laos, and Kenya.

While Yanti was moving to New Orleans, Joanna Hale McGill’s mother dragged her out of New Orleans to go live in Picayune, Mississippi, where she was subjected to blatant racism. Somehow, Joanna didn’t get mad, she got God. Today Joanna Hale McGill is a rising star in the world of Gospel music – and when you hear her singing you’ll know why. Joanna does her best to answer why God is good to her but letting 80% of Indonesians live in Hell; and you get the sense that if you gave Joanna another 5 minutes and one more song to sing she might turn the whole Inodnesian thing around herself.

God didn’t pick out Marcus DeLarge’s tie, but he could have. Marcus is the sharpest dresser ever to appear on Happy Hour. And possibly the most passionate attorney. Marcus only lasted about 3 months as a prosecutor in the DA’s office before he found his calling as a fighter, defending folks who need him to stand up to the justice system that’s stacked against them. 

Andrew Duhon gets pretty close to finding God during this conversation. He also revisits and reworks an old song that time and experience have improved vastly.

This conversation is a raucous but respectful romp through international politics, racism, slavery, theology, and immigration. A classic Happy Hour.

Photos at Wayfare by Jill Lafleur.