My uncle left Haiti with nothing but faith. Bishop Daniel Phaeton — "Papi Daniel" to everyone who loves him — joins his nephew Ted Phaeton on The Modern Man Podcast for the most personal episode in the show's history. A man who built a life, a marriage of 58 years, and a ministry in America, and who now spends what he has building a free school for impoverished children in El Salvador.
Papi Daniel came to America from Haiti as a young man with an engineering dream and a wife expecting their first child in a Chicago winter — so he joined the Army during the Vietnam era to provide. He was baptized in Belton, Texas by a pastor who is still his pastor today. He pastored for 20 years. In 2020, a blood clot lodged between the chambers of his heart, his lungs 80% blocked, and he gave a surgeon permission to perform a procedure that could save him or kill him — awake. He walked out on the Tuesday after Easter. Everything he says in this episode comes after that.
In this conversation: growing up shaped by necessities vs. a generation shaped by opportunities, being well-to-do in principles when you're not well-to-do in money, why "who you are is what you share," building from reality instead of hope, why life is an equilibrium and not a balance scale (and how to set your margin), obligations vs. priorities for fathers, the handwritten-note challenge (Ted doesn't pass), loving your wife "for you" vs. loving her as Christ loves, learning to be a pedestal, the courage to stop hiding, "I just stopped being stupid," why he's building in El Salvador and not Haiti, and the promise he made about every breath.
Chapters:
00:00 Well-to-Do in Principles
01:36 Welcome — Papi Daniel
02:11 Necessities vs. Opportunities
04:28 Who You Are Is What You Share
07:01 Providing Through Hardship
08:39 Where Faith Began
11:29 Leaving Haiti
13:02 Dreams vs. Reality
15:38 Grandma's Piano Story
18:45 Build on Reality, Not Hope
23:38 Finding Balance in Life
27:36 Obligations vs. Priorities
30:01 The Handwritten Note
32:55 The Army and Christ
34:59 Facing the Enemy
38:21 Hiding From God
40:40 The Courage to Stop Hiding
42:44 Ted Connects the Lessons
45:00 Learning to Love Selflessly
46:35 Learn to Be a Pedestal
48:40 Applying God's Word
52:20 I Just Stopped Being Stupid
53:09 Uncle or Pastor?
57:06 Living for Today vs. Tomorrow
1:01:37 A Vision Bigger Than Me
1:04:12 A Better Future for Haiti
1:06:39 How to Help
1:08:58 Ted Honors His Uncle
1:11:11 The Next Breath
1:14:23 The Hospital and the Promise
1:19:47 Ted's Recap
🤝 Support Papi Daniel's vision: Bethesda Apostolic Center — bethesdahope.org $40/month supports one child: education, daily lunch, and uniform. Classes begin January.
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