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Actor; Has appeared in over 60 films, including Usual Suspects, Biodome, Posse
Featured on TV shows such as Fear Factor, Celebrity Mole
Host, Livin It, 30-minute evangelistic extreme sports film (Palau Fest Productions, 2004)
Married to Kennya; 2 daughters
Youngest of 4 acting brothers (Alec, Daniel, and Billy)
CBN.com – Scott Ross [reporting]: Stephen Baldwin had some pretty big shoes to fill following in the steps of brothers Alec, Daniel and Billy Baldwin, but he’s done it his way. And his way makes for an entertaining interview.
Ross: Did you buy into the lifestyle too?
Stephen Baldwin: Oh yeah. Of course, you can’t be 21, 22, 23 living in New York City, Alec Baldwin’s little brother, making a couple 100,000 a year, and not get sucked into the fast lane.
Ross [reporting]: It took a woman on a bus to slow this fast-moving guy down -- at least a little bit.
Baldwin: One day, I saw this chick. She was an absolute delight. We have been together ever since that day.
Ross [reporting]: Stephen and Kenya settled into married life, and soon they were expecting their first child. Kenya explained to Stephen that it’s customary in Brazil to hire a nanny when a baby is on the way. Since Kenya is Brazilian, that’s the way it played out.
Baldwin: So, we hired this lady from Brazil named Augusta, and the whole first week she’s working for us she’s singing in Portuguese, which she only spoke that language with my wife. She’s singing about Jesus, and my wife comes to me in a few days and asks me, “Do you hear what she’s singing about? She’s singing about Jesus.” My wife, after a few more days, approaches her. “I noticed your singing, and I’m wondering why every song is about Jesus?” Augusta had this very interesting reaction. She burst out laughing. My wife said, “What’s so funny?” She said, “Quite frankly, I think it’s a little bit funny that you think I’m here to clean your house.”
Ross: Isn’t this why you hired her?
Baldwin: She goes on to tell my wife that, before she had accepted the job, she prayed with her pastor and some church members in Brazil. She was told through a prophetic word that, if she went to live with the Baldwins, then one day Kenya and Stephen would come to faith in Jesus Christ and be involved in ministry.
Ross: She told all this to your wife?
Baldwin: I haven’t told this part of the story a lot. She had a dream and saw me, saw my wife and saw my first daughter Aliya.
Ross: Now, how did you guys handle hearing this little bit of information?
Baldwin: Didn’t faze me for a second.
Ross: Why didn’t it faze you? Did you have any spiritual background at all?
Baldwin: Sure. Raised Roman Catholic up until 11 or 12, didn’t stick. Went out into the world and did my own thing. But you have to understand at the time, I was functioning in Hollywood. All kinds of different things, perspectives, lifestyles, perceptions, [and] to me this was just okay. This is the new kooky housekeeper. OK, what’s next? What do we do now? How about a reality show?
Ross [reporting]: Reality show? Life at the Baldwins’ was better than that! Kenya was the first to dive into the Bible. She spent many hours with Augusta talking about Jesus. One night, Kenya went with Augusta to a Brazilian church in New York City.
Baldwin: She says, “Honey, sit down. I’ve got to talk to you. I’ve accepted Jesus Christ tonight as my Lord and Savior. I’ve been baptized in water. I need you to know that, from now on, what I need to do each day to the best of my ability is to become the most obedient servant to Jesus Christ that I can. Now, I need that to be clear, and I need you to understand. I don’t know what you’re going to do, but that’s what I’m going to do.” Then I watched her go through this radically beautiful metamorphosis. It was amazing.
Ross: Did she start jamming Jesus down your throat?
Baldwin: No. No. Not at all. She went into a prayer and Bible study regiment unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Up in the morning, on her knees face on the ground for an hour, without flinching, up off her knees into the bed with the Bible at least 30 to 45 minutes, every morning, every night, for one year.
Ross [reporting]: While Kenya was seeking God and learning more about Him, Stephen was beginning to ask questions, especially after September 11th.
Baldwin: September 11th kind of freaked me out. I said, “Hey, what’s this all about? My wife’s a Jesus freak. Maybe it’s time I begin thinking about this faith thing.” Pursued it, became born again, accepted the Lord, baptized in water.
Ross: You?
Baldwin: Within one month after 9/11.
Ross: [It] affected you that way and her prayers?
Baldwin: All of it, all of it, but here’s the thing… After all that, she’s come to faith, and I’ve come to faith. I don’t realize that this has completed the first half of the prophecy. I don’t even thing about that. I’m too busy running around doing my thing.
Ross [reporting]: Skateboarding was his thing. So, Stephen got involved with these extreme athletes and started sharing the gospel to young people across the country. “Livin’ It” was born. But, call it a ministry? Stephen didn’t think so.
Baldwin: Praise the Lord, but do me a favor, don’t ever say Stephen Baldwin and ministry in the same sentence. I make movies, and in Hollywood, that’s career suicide.
Ross [reporting]: That’s what he thought then, but a chance acquaintance was there to correct Stephen’s thinking.
Baldwin: I’ll never forget this. He said, “You better think about what’s going on, because if you go down this road, then what is going on is you are involved in a ministry.” I’ll never forget that moment. What just came out of that guy’s mouth -- and he was relatively a stranger in my life -- completes the second half of a prophecy.
Ross [reporting]: The best script writer in Hollywood couldn’t have written a story as masterful as the one God wrote for Stephen Baldwin. As for Stephen, the youngest of the Baldwin brood, is keeping everyone on their toes.
Baldwin: Stephen Baldwin believes that now we’re in a particular time in the world’s history where it is time that people stand up for Jesus. That people get more aggressive and radical how they communicate with our culture about Jesus. My point is simply this: I believe I have a calling. Do you know what that calling is? To stand up in a new and hard core, radical way for the Lord. In the process, if I insult a couple of people, if I offend a couple of people, and if I got to shake it up a little bit, as long as it is led by the Holy Spirit, amen.
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