SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
So that...God's ways may be known on Earth.
"So That" is an FBC Boerne podcast focused on what God is doing around the world with missions and through FBC Missions partners.
SO THAT Missions Podcast | FBC Boerne
Episode 58: Ron & Star Nelson How Ordinary Lives Become Extraordinary Missionaries
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In this vivid and enlightening episode, Ron and Star Nelson share their incredible journeys from the secular workforce to embodying the calling of Christ in global missions. With decades of experience, they illuminate the powerful impact that individual lives can have when they integrate faith into action, guiding listeners through their fascinating story of transformation and purpose.
The conversation delves deep into their motivations, revealing how personal struggles and divine encounters paved the way for their mission to mobilize communities, especially within the African-American context. As they recount various experiences from mission trips to countries like Haiti, Belize, and Kenya, they illustrate the significance of connection and representation in missions.
Listeners will uncover the importance of showcasing diverse role models in mission work while being challenged to consider their own involvement—it’s a poignant reminder that everyone has a part to play in God’s greater narrative. As Ron and Star offer encouragement through their stories, they advocate for the necessity of prayer and preparation, highlighting that even one person can inspire an entire community to join the mission field.
Let the Nelsons’ infectious passion for spreading love and hope encourage you! Dive into this eye-opening episode to understand how your blessings can echo beyond borders and what it truly means to fulfill the Great Commission. Don't miss out—subscribe, leave a review, and share your mission stories with us!
Check out their website here: Sowing Seeds of Joy
Visit our website at www.fbcboerne.org for more stories, information, and service times.
Introduction to FBC Missions Podcast
Speaker 1Hey everybody, it's Pastor Chad with FBC's so that Missions podcast. So glad that you're joining us. Today. We have our guests Ron and Star Nelson. They've been in ministry for a long time and we're having a great time getting to know them. Welcome to FBC Missions so that podcast. This is an encouraging place to hear how God is working in and around us. We know that he blesses His people so that they can bless the world around them. Join us as we discuss how to join God in all that he is doing. Why is God working in our life, church and community? It's so that through us, the world will know that he is needed. Hey everybody, this is Pastor Chad with FBC Missions so that Podcast. We're so glad that you're tuning in to listen. We have some special guests with us today. We have Ron and Star Nelson. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 2We're doing great man.
Speaker 1it's so good to see you guys. You know they were our instructors today. Ron instructed for our Lesson 3 for Pers, for perspectives. But I have known these guys for like 15 years.
Speaker 3Time flies.
Speaker 1We have a little more gray. Of course Ron took his hair off, so I can't tell if he's got any gray hair. And, star, you look like you're 30, so you know.
Speaker 2Well, my body says otherwise.
Speaker 1I, on the other hand, am fatter and grayer Ditto, but my goodness man, how the Lord has been good to us and you guys have been such an amazing part of really mobilization in Texas as a whole, especially among the African-American community, and all the ways that God has used you to engage really for the kingdom to the nations here in this state, and so we just want to get to know you a little bit. So let's just start Tell us a little bit about yourselves. You did a little bit this morning in the podcast In Perspectives, but, yeah, give us a little rundown of who you are, ron.
Speaker 3Well, again, it's a joy to be with you, Chad, Pastor Chad.
Speaker 1Watch out watch out.
Speaker 3Yes, indeed, yes indeed. Well, we're Ron and Star Nelson. We have been married now for 44 years.
Speaker 144 years, yeah man Bro, I turned 45 last year, I'll be 46 this year. You guys don't look old enough to be that old. That's amazing.
Speaker 3Like you said, God is good. We've actually been together for 47 years.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 3Dated for three years prior to marriage. We met at a little campus in Tallahassee, florida, called Florida State.
Speaker 1University. Oh man, this is Seminoles. Yes, yes, yes indeed.
Speaker 3She was a cheerleader and I ran track and so I told someone in the class. I said in the class this morning that I ran her down.
Speaker 1You ran her down and now you guys are here in Texas wearing Baylor colors. Is that on purpose? No, no, no, no. Watch out, watch out, sorry, no, no problem, no problem.
Speaker 3Matter of fact, I taught a class perspective class at Baylor a few years back.
Speaker 1Okay, okay. Well, then you come by that green honestly. We'll let you keep it. Yes indeed.
Speaker 3Yes, indeed, but yes, like I said, we've been married for 44 years. We have two kids and five grandchildren. So to God be the glory, congratulations.
Speaker 1That's amazing.
Speaker 3But we've been doing what we're doing today, and that is mobilizing individuals, working with churches, with the Great Commission, that sort of thing and introducing them as far as exposing and training them to the Great Commission, sending people on short-term mission trips, etc. Prior to that, though, we were involved in secular careers my wife was a postmaster and I was a United States Post Inspector, but I walked away to do what I'm doing today and, like I said, God's good.
Speaker 1Amen, amen. Last year the Perspectives class, you brought some handcuffs and you said hey have anybody seen these? And you put this lady in shackles. You put them on her ankles, that's right.
Speaker 3I remember that.
Speaker 1I give her a hard time Every time. I see her like, hey, I don't see any handcuffs you doing. Okay, you know yeah.
Speaker 3The idea was are you a slave of Christ?
Speaker 1I love it. I love it, Rod. You've got a great way of seeing how God has used so many things. I'm sure he doesn't break them out anytime he wants to make someone nervous.
Speaker 2He's done the. Is these the ones that you used on their feet?
Speaker 1Yeah, the shackles.
Speaker 3Matter of fact, that person, I think they stayed in those shackles the entire class she did.
Speaker 1I think you forgot they were on her until the end. Oh my gosh, she's been on the podcast.
Speaker 3It was Kelly Nelson for those of you listening, her last name was Nelson.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, she actually has been working in a ministry for almost 20 years in Malawi. Really they're seeing some church planting work happening there. Fantastic, she's got a small group going later this year. I'll tell her. You said hi, she'll be. She'll be excited about that, please. So so you've done a lot, you're obviously you talked about being a track.
Speaker 3You know track uh at university of florida state, not university. That's a problem, don't?
Speaker 1make that mistake. Listen, texas, we've got ut. You can see it right here. Yeah and uh, this is an a and m community, so we get all kinds of trouble here too. Okay, but but listen, you know how the Lord has used you. You talked about serving as a police officer in Little Rock and then you became a postmaster inspector. Us Postal Service inspector.
Speaker 3Yeah, I was a police officer in Tallahassee, Florida, and then actually went from there to becoming a United States Postal Inspector.
Speaker 1Okay, tell us what that is Like. I just assume that means you're checking the mail.
Speaker 3Good question, at least.
Speaker 1So the Postmaster here is saying no, that's not checking the mail.
Speaker 2Many people do not know. You don't want to see the inspectors coming.
Speaker 3They don't know that the US mail there are 400 laws on the books governing the United States mail and the United States postal inspectors are the equivalent of the FBI and they, their jurisdiction is the United States mail. But from the standpoint of various crimes, if you have a mail, post office, you know. If you have a mail address, a mail, a post office, you know. If you have a mail address, you can probably connect every crime to the mail and get the United States Postal Inspectors involved. So my specialty when I was trained in Washington DC 16 weeks training I came and they located me in Little Rock, arkansas, and my specialty was robbery, burglary, identity theft, assaults and so for the state of Arkansas, some 700 post offices. When something happened along those lines, I responded to those crimes and worked with the local authorities in terms of working those cases.
Speaker 1I mean that's amazing. I don't think many people know that there's anything like that as a part of the Postal Service. Yeah, they're behind the scenes. Yeah, of course they like to stay behind the scenes you hear of the FBI and the DEA and the CIA and all those big letters, but you don't hear about a law enforcement arm of the Postal Service there are a lot of cases that are FBI cases but they're actually US postal cases.
Speaker 3The Unabomber.
Speaker 1That makes sense.
Speaker 3It was a United States Postal Inspectorate case. A number of cases involving fraud mail crossing state lines, mail fraud.
Speaker 1Yeah, I imagine anything from trafficking now and smuggling anything and everything goes through the mail. So well, we're thanking God that you're not still doing that, although there are people probably still are, and so you know you've definitely made a major shift in your career and focus. So tell us what predicated that. Why would you go from a, you know, a federal officer? In some respects, you're working towards a federal pension. You've got a wife that's a postmaster, so you guys were both working in this same kind of vein. You could have retired by now.
Speaker 3Could have done quite well as far as retirement is concerned. Yeah, back in the day, yeah, back in the day when I say back in the day, talking about 2006. There, I became an inspector in 1996. And, like I said, I landed in Arkansas. So 11 years as a United States postal inspector.
Speaker 3But during that time I was heavily involved in the church there in Arkansas, doing a variety of things in terms of working in prison, ministry, outreach, married couples ministry. I was just very involved in the church, my wife too, and God was dealing with my heart. He was dealing with my heart from the standpoint of, yeah, I was still growing as a Christian, accepted Christ. I tell people I accept Christ at age 16. I didn't come to know him until I was 30. And that's another story in itself. But as the journey took me, my growth took me from Florida to Arkansas, involved in the church, and he's working on my heart and I'm struggling with this calling, if you will. And I didn't see myself as a preacher or anything like that, deacon, I just didn't see it. Yes, I was involved in the church. Yes, I was obedient to what God would have me to do in terms of ministry and working, and I love ministry, so he was working on my heart.
Speaker 3And one day I'm sitting noonday service, bible study and I'm crying, I'm really crying. The pastor's preaching, he's teaching, and I'm crying. At the end of that he comes up to me and I'm saying, hey, I don't know what's wrong, I can't go back to work, I'm just, I can't move. And he said I know what's going on. And I said no, because I knew he was going to say God is calling you. I said no, not me. And then he looked at me and I looked at him and he said Ron, not every minister is meant to stand in a pulpit on Sunday mornings. And that wasn't the first time, because the first time was really in Florida, prior to coming to Arkansas, where I heard God in my spirit during a time we were training, preparing for a retreat, just posed a question, at least the pastor posed a question you know, where are you with God? Where are you specifically with God? And in my spirit I heard God said who will go for me? And I mumbled under my breath here I am, lord, send me. Where are those?
Speaker 1first, I heard that somewhere. Isaiah, isaiah, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 3But that truly happened in my spirit. I heard that and I said that Fast forward, I'm in Arkansas and I'm sitting there crying and the pastor said those words to me. But fast forward, I'm in Arkansas and I'm sitting there crying and the pastor said those words to me. Not every minister meant to stand in a pulpit on Sunday mornings. And later on, a few days later, he said Ron, I want you to do something, I want you to learn about missions, because our church having the name missionary in this church was not doing missions and he wanted us that church at particular time in Arkansas.
Speaker 1Little.
Meet Ron and Star Nelson: Ministers of Mobilization
Speaker 3Rock, arkansas, to learn about cross-cultural missions. Yes, we were doing local missions real well local outreach. We were feeding the hungry, we were evangelizing door to door. There were times we would take 100 people at a time out on the streets of Little Rock, arkansas, going door to door. We were doing all of that, but we weren't doing global cross-cultural missions. And so he said go learn from the largest white Caucasian church in town who was doing missions, cross-cultural missions. And so we connected with that church. I met with the missions director, rose yeah, her name was Rose and we started learning how to do cross-cultural missions and we would bring it back to our congregation and we would partner with that congregation to go on trips to Haiti. And my wife and I brought her. She came kicking and screaming at one point you go from Post trips to Haiti and my wife and I brought her. She came kicking and screaming at one point.
Speaker 1You go from Postmaster to Haiti. That's two different worlds colliding right there.
Speaker 3But yes, we started as a team, as a husband and wife team, taking teams three times a year to Haiti. I mean, it was close by not a long flight, it was a perfect place to go and we started doing that and every year we would take two or three teams a year to the point where we started going to other places like Kenya or South Africa. Really, first we came to South Africa, but in the interim between all of that, we took a class called Perspective which changed our worldview.
Speaker 1You took it in Arkansas. It was in Little Rock, it was in Arkansas in Little Rock.
Speaker 3Yes, yes, we did, we would coordinate Literally.
Speaker 2We were so excited about the Perspectives class that we would help coordinate the classes around the state we brought at that time it was called we brought them into our church because our church members weren't going to go to perspective.
Speaker 1Sure.
Speaker 2So we brought a day of discovery.
Speaker 3Day of discovery. It's called a day of discovery with Steve Shatrack.
Speaker 2Yes, yeah, I know Steve well, and John and all of them and we brought them in.
Speaker 1John Patton.
Speaker 3Yes, yes that was the first time, steve. That was the first time he ever stepped foot into an African-American church, so we would do all this.
Speaker 2What?
Speaker 12010 or something. No, no, no. Before that this was 2000. Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 2Before they moved from Conway up to Fayetteville. Okay, so that's how close we all were.
Speaker 3This was 2000.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2So Steve got real excited because they've known us all along yeah. So Steve got real excited because they've known us all along. But I want to back up. I know Ron was saying his history and myself, being from Miami, I'm from Miami. I'm used to flavor Cuba. Well, we didn't say Latinos, we said it was the Cubans.
Speaker 1Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2It was Brazilians, puerto Ricans, it was Haitians, it was Germans, it was Brazilians, puerto Ricans, it was Haitians, it was Germans. It was just a flavor, and so I grew up with that. And so here we are, when we moved back, because at that time I had graduated from Florida State and before I became a postmaster, I worked for Internal Revenue Service.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And in my area. First I was in the area of CIA Criminal Investigation Division.
Speaker 3She carried a gun before I did.
Speaker 2Well I was in that. No, my major is criminology. I just find it kind of amusing. My major is criminology, his is not, and he ended up working the federal police.
Speaker 1Sure, sure, but somebody had to do it and they had children. Somebody would stay home with the children. No, of course.
Speaker 2But what took place is the fact that in that we moved, I gave that up, as DeRon was pursuing his athletic pursuits. He was running track and at that time he started running track and representing some of the track clubs in the United States and he was competing, he had made Olympic trials a couple of times, et cetera. But when we left Miami to move back to Tallahassee he became the police officer. That was a very challenging and difficult time.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker 2And so we almost didn't make it as a couple, and I remember what we had. Literally it was some serious time where it got so bad that Ron almost he sat there in front of our home and was spinning the gun and he's getting ready to take it Really going there man. Yeah, I'm opening, he was gonna.
Speaker 1Well, he was considering taking his life, that's how bad it was bad.
Speaker 2It was a dark time in my very bad man and so at that time, um, I I used to call and that's why I pray for police officers. I have a respect for officers and stuff. Um, because of some, I know some of the things that the wives are probably going through yeah and so, um, in that space, I would pray.
Speaker 2I started praying differently At one point. I didn't get to see him, so at one point, when he came home, I would give him all that I could give him and so, but. And so God says you, I need you, you have made your husband your idol. And I says that's not something that I intended to do. And I got upset with myself about doing that, and so I started praying differently. I started saying Lord, use my husband in a mighty way to bless you and your kingdom. God, use my husband in a mighty way that he loves his wife as you love the church.
Speaker 1Lord, help me as his wife to respect him and honor him these are prayers and faith, because at that time you're not seeing any of those things.
Speaker 2None of that was happening, and I even taught our children how to do the same, sorry. So one day we were in the car and our and I would have one child to pray and one would read the scripture, and I was teaching them that because I wanted them to know. Nobody could tell me my children couldn't read, because I knew, if they could read the Bible and interpret it, that they were OK.
Speaker 1They're going to be fine. They're going to be all right.
Speaker 2So one day we were in the road, in the vehicle, and he was with us, which was rare at that time because we were shifting. We was on these different shifts.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And I had given up the Internal Revenue Service position and I went and took the test and I started working at the post office. I was back to square one working these night shifts as well, and so when he was in the car at this particular time he heard the kids pray and I could see the difference in him At that time is when we got engaged more in the church, Because at that time we weren't as active.
Speaker 1You're busy. Life is crazy. We weren't as active in the church. You're young, trying to get permission. Yeah, everything going on.
Speaker 2And so when that took place, and then he decided you know what, I can't take it any longer with the police department, and he left and he walked. No, what happened? The pastor, dr RB Holmes Jr, heard about the prayer that he had done at midday. This is amazing, these midday prayers. No, this was that night, this was a Wednesday night where I shared my heart to the deacons.
Speaker 3The pastor was out of town and I was struggling with staying on the force my mother had passed at age 49 and.
Speaker 3I just had a hard time staying on the street and just wanted to do something different. Tried to get a promotion within the department. They didn't see that I was a DARE officer. For those who remember what DARE is Drug Abuse, resistance Education I was a DARE officer for several years. They wanted to rotate DARE officers so they wanted to take me and put me somewhere else To be a DARE officer. I came off of what is called a midnight shift.
Speaker 2That was good for our marriage.
Speaker 3From 4 am to 6 am in the morning, I would be on four.
Speaker 2yeah, that was the time we call it the power squad, right, our squad, yes, and so they wanted to put me back there and that devastated me.
Speaker 3Went to the church, elders prayed over me, pastor heard about that prayer and then that's when he asked me this was in Florida. He said why don't you leave the department and become on staff with me? I had no ministerial background or whatever. I accepted the position.
Speaker 2This was before becoming a federal agent and that was that one-year break that he actually served at the church.
Speaker 3He went my appetite with ministry.
Speaker 2And that's when he went.
Speaker 3He went to.
Speaker 2Jacksonville and he heard in his spirit when the Lord says who will go for me?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And so when we ended up in Arkansas and I saw his transformation, I saw the transition and God was working on me and he had to remind me say, isn't this what you would pray for?
Speaker 2all right, I don't remember when you were he said weren't you praying that I use him in a mighty way? Because there have been some times I said wait a minute, we're back to not hardly seeing each other. He said no, I got this. This is what you pray for, for me to use him in a mighty way. And every time we got he says but I don't want him to be restricted in how I use him. And so every time we god has used us to serve and help the churches now we've learned these steps.
Speaker 2There's been stepping stones in our journey the good, the bad, the ugly sure in the indifference, but you see how, how God has allowed us to share with people in different places. So here we are, and our first trip is to Haiti, and I'm from Miami and God used, and that's what got me connected because I didn't see, even though I was praying for him. I didn't pray that God used me in a mighty way. I was praying that God used him.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, wait a second. Where did me going to Haiti become part of this deal? And I did.
Speaker 2I would have these conversations I'd say look, god, you called him.
Speaker 1Why am I taking these ladies?
Speaker 2on a mission trip, you know. But God said to me he said you know what he said because you have a place in this too. And I learned that when we went to Haiti one of those years and we took our children and here it were that, because I remember in Miami people say so why do they dress the way they dress? Why do they live in these colorful houses? Why do they do this? They're coming to take our jobs. I mean, you heard all those types of things.
Speaker 1Some of the things you even hear now. Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2Which that was not the case.
Speaker 1Yeah, when.
Speaker 2I went to Haiti. God says you know what everybody's trying to make it Everybody's don't know. People don't need to be labeled People. The only thing they need. They're searching for their identity, whatever it may be. But they have a purpose as well, and here they are. We're there with our children and the Haitian women and this one particular guy. He says I noticed you came to Haiti one time. He said, okay, you were looking at us, we were looking at you. He says you came the second time. We go hmm, maybe there's something about this. Then we came back the third time. Now he's now in a place that he feels comfortable, yeah, so he turns around and he takes his skin.
Speaker 2He starts rubbing his hand and starts rubbing his skin.
Speaker 2My skin yeah, your skin. And he takes his hand and he starts rubbing our daughter's skin and he says you know? He says all these people have been talking to me about Jesus. He said that's okay. He said but why should I accept this Jesus who looked like them, who tried to keep me enslaved? We came and helped you guys out of slavery. He's given me history. And he says but guess what he said? Just because of who you are. He said you know what I'll entertain well, because, yeah, because you look like me, I'll entertain.
Speaker 2I'll look, I'll consider you prior to that, he wouldn't do it he wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1I mean, it makes sense. I you know we could spend. There's so many rabbit trails I you guys have. There's so many great things I'm hearing, as I just hear, about your journey, but it is one of the things that I think is odd in the world today is where they see Christianity as a Western Christianity. They think that it's white, like it's European or North American Anglo, and they don't even know that historically we got it from the Middle.
Speaker 1East, you know, and Italy and Southern Europe and up into Northern Europe and on. But you know now, you already know this like the greatest mission force today is from the global south.
Speaker 1It's from Latin America, it's from Africa, it's from South Asia. You know whether it's South Koreans that are the largest mission-sending nations on the planet, and so it's amazing how God continues to make his name known through the nations, and we have a role to play. The Lord is still using Americans and Europeans, and now one of the things I want to talk to you about is African Americans. God is raising up a mission for us from within our African American community, and I think, in a large part because of some of your work the last 20, 30 years, is God's using you as a mobilizer within that community. Tell me a little bit about that. I want to unpack perspectives more, but we're going to run out of time before we get too far. So tell me about how the Lord gave you a passion. You said that the pastor sent you to an Anglo church to learn about missions. How did that impact your church?
Speaker 3In a great way. He started sending out teams there. Like I said, we would go three, maybe four times a year to Haiti. We started going to South Africa, later we started going to Kenya. Haiti we started going to South Africa, later we started going to Kenya. This particular pastor, bless his heart, he saw the need, he saw the fact that there was a void in the fact that when we go on these trips, they hardly ever saw, with all these other teams, youth teams and so forth, coming through the airport. You may, if you're blessed, if they were blessed, to have one African American on the team.
Speaker 1I imagine the testimony to an African to see an African-American student or adult come has to be like something completely what are you doing here? The way it would minister to their heart and soul would be very different. So that's just. You look like us. What are you doing here? Let me fast forward.
Speaker 3We took a team of 26 African-Americans from North Texas, a church in North Texas. We took that team to Belize, which speaks English. Okay, sure, all right, we took that team to Belize which speaks English. Okay, all right. We worked on several projects there. Then that Sunday that we were there, we told a pastor local pastor that a team was coming from the US to their church. All right, we get to the church. We walked in the church. The church got completely solid. Everybody was looking around. They were so surprised because they were expecting an all-Anglican white team from Canada or somewhere to walk through their door.
Speaker 1I can't even imagine what was going on in their minds. They couldn't hold it.
Speaker 3Service went on for a little while but in the middle of that service the oldest and the eldest elder stood up and stopped, literally stopped church, and said pastor, I gotta say the breaks. I gotta say this. He turned to us and said you gotta come back because our youth need to see what we're seeing right now. They don't see it. Our youth are going crazy. They don't. They don't believe in themselves. He just gave a whole litany of things and problems, but he said what will encourage them is to see people like you come back speaking about christ, because you look like us, you know, and we've gotten that not only in Belize, we've gotten that in Kenya. A pastor, a youth pastor in Kenya, said tell your African brothers and sisters, you don't have to bring a thing, just bring themselves because we know your story, that you bring hope and encouragement and we want you to share that amongst our people.
Speaker 3Tell them to come. You've heard it in mississippi, mending hall, mississippi, we've heard it. So, over the course of our years we've had the pleasure and the privilege to to speak in churches, not only here in texas, but in florida, in, in alabama, in mississippi, in Arkansas, challenging pastors in their churches to get on board. Has it always been easy? No, because some of the pastors are still saying I've had pastors say missions. I'm talking about African American pastors and I'm not knocking my African American brothers and sisters in terms of the pastors. I understand, but they said you know missions is important, but we just have to find a place for it. Okay, they. They said you know missions is important, but we just have to find a place for it. Ok, they've said you know we got enough to do right here. And I get that. I get that.
Speaker 1Listen, I hear I've been doing this as a missions pastor in Anglo churches for 20 years. Those same things come up all the time. You talk to pastor like, yeah, we know it's a big deal, that's why we give a little money to the cooperative program. You know, like that's it, and you say, well, don't you have a personal? Well, our responsibility is local. There's needs here and we're never going to get past those needs and they don't you mentioned it today in the class.
Speaker 3Like they don't know Jerusalem.
Speaker 1Judea, Samaria it's all happening at the same time, and they do know our history.
Speaker 3African-americans have a rich history as far as missions is concerned.
Speaker 1Hey, you mentioned it today. Tell me about george little, just give me. You mentioned lord liam. See, I can't even get the name right george liam we're talking about 1781.
Speaker 3yeah, yeah, george liam was the first African-American to step foot off these shores and journey to Jamaica, planting over 400 churches. That was 10 years before William Carey, who is probably a lot of respect, who is probably known, or is known, as the father of missions yeah, modern missions yeah modern mission when you mention it, in the majority majority community.
Understanding the Call to Missions
Speaker 3But we have a deep, rich history george, allow, betsy, stockton, and their list goes on and on and on and on of countless african americans who have a passion for missions. But you're talking about being told they couldn't do it because of colonialism and all that. Don't really want to get into that. But there are things that have happened in our history that has caused us to look internal, domestically, versus overseas, and we get that. But today it's changing.
Speaker 2We got people we know.
Speaker 3We have been training individuals and they are going forth, got a young lady right now she started her own ministry, but she stays in touch with us and she's taking teams over to Uganda, ghana, ghana, ghana. We've taken Alaska. She's gone.
Speaker 2Yeah, she's going to go to. We send her over to not help to get to Nigeria. She went to Belize.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2So and then we got another young lady. We've trained her, we've taken her to brazil, help her to get a team together. She took a team to japan and now she's take. We've taken her to south africa. Now she's leading team to south africa, to zandabar, malawi, uh, liberia, uh, around the coastal peace and joining our team of sewing seas of joy, south africa. I mean, there are people that we know we have another young lady. We trained her so much and then she went and she stayed in China for three years, matter of fact, made her husband in China.
Speaker 1That's incredible, so you see it happening, it's happening.
Speaker 2I forgot about her.
Speaker 1Morocco and she went and taught.
Speaker 2No, she taught math in Morocco.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2So much so that they built such a relationship with her. They allow her children to come some of their children to come back and work with her here in the United.
Speaker 1States. Oh, that's incredible.
Speaker 2That's incredible I mean, you see it?
Speaker 3It could be more. Yes, of course it's happening. It's happening. Is it happening overnight? No, it's a slow process. Yeah, and I'd say it's the same Sowing seeds of joy. I process. Yeah, and I'd say it's the same Sowing seeds of joy. I love it, I love it.
Speaker 1So there's just a few things as we finish up, like Perspectives had a major impact and shifted how you guys mobilized your community for the nations. I know you ended up working with Dr Tony Evans for a season and you guys are really based out of Dallas now. God has used you. I guess we've been working together for 15 years.
Speaker 1I've heard you teaching in different perspectives, classes in different areas around the state, and it really has been a pleasure to watch how you have one done this together. So it's funny how you talked about praying that you could ride in a car together and now you guys get to travel and speak and teach.
Speaker 3And.
Speaker 1Ron teaches one lesson and Star teaches another lesson, and you guys get to travel. Your ministry is called Sewing. Seeds of Joy is that the website?
Speaker 2Sewingseedsofjoyorg, s-o-w-i-n-g, s-e-e-d-s-o-f, j-o-y sawingseasofjoyorg.
Speaker 3The song's 126.
Speaker 2Yes, and I told Ron, I says that song when you think about it. We've been sawing and we've been tears as we go and now we're reaping the sheaves. You know so, god, people will see that. You know God is doing a great thing.
Speaker 1Listen, I know that there's got to be difficulty at different times, a lot of different areas, but when I've seen you, you're some of the most joyful people I know and every year we get to invite Ron to come back and Star will hopefully get you to come do one of our lessons in the future as well. We're just so grateful for how God is using you. We're praying for our African American brothers and sisters that God would just pour and pull and grab their hearts for the nations we pray for our own nation it's a crazy, crazy world.
Speaker 1Like everyone knows the volatility of every day, you turn on the news and see the next crisis and you wonder where we're landing on this. Well, I can tell you, god is working in the middle of all of it. He is drawing the nations to himself.
Speaker 3He's in the midst.
Speaker 1It is not uncommon for me to go to a country like India and find a Nigerian brother that's there ministering and a Korean, south Korean family that's there ministering, and you find. Go to New York and find an African American brother that's been ministering among the Vietnamese. It's like it takes a whole church to reach the whole world and it takes all the parts of that church to do so.
Speaker 1And so, guys, we're so thankful. We cannot do this alone. It cannot be one church, it cannot be one ethnic group, it cannot be even one nation. We cannot do it alone. We need each other and the Lord. His body, is so much bigger than what we get to see day in and day out, and when I hang out with you, guys, it expands my heart and mind even more.
Speaker 3So, thank you for taking some time mind even more.
Speaker 1So thank you for taking some time. Hey, I always want to end on asking how can we pray for you guys If people are listening and they want to pray? How would you encourage them to pray for sowing seeds of joy?
Speaker 2Ooh, volunteers that love the Lord above man, that's huge. I would say just, we always need financial.
Speaker 1So what else is?
Speaker 2new, but God is the provider, so he keeps doing that, but for us to continue just to persevere and to seek his wisdom, because we don't want just any kind of wisdom, but God's wisdom. And so just keep praying for us as husband and wife and for our family. The warfare is real.
Speaker 1Yeah, spiritual warfare Spiritual warfare is no joke.
Speaker 2But we will be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, so that we don't lose focus and lose sight of what he would have us to do.
Speaker 1Amen.
Speaker 2Amen.
Speaker 1Hey, ron, you said in our class this morning that the kingdom of God is moving and that he's growing. He's calling us to himself, but he's also moving against evil. Right Like his light pushes back the darkness, and that's a major part of that lesson three. You know that the kingdom is coming and has come and is still to come.
Speaker 3It has come and is to come, and there's that overlap and we're right there in the middle.
Speaker 1Right in the middle and you see it. You see the tension, you see the spiritual warfare of two kingdoms literally at odds with each other.
Speaker 3And if we're not careful we're going to be caught in the noise. You're fighting in the middle of it and understand that God is always working behind the scenes. You mentioned Dr Tony Evans and I love to quote him when he says this If all that you see is what you see, you haven't seen all that you can see. And God is doing something In this cosmic warfare. God is working, he's moving and the devil is defeated. He is defeated and evil. You may see it, but understand God is sovereign, he's in control.
Speaker 1Amen, our fight is not against flesh and blood. It's not your political, it's not our leaders, it's not the government, what it can and can't do. It's not even the enemies across the sea that we are afraid of or want to fight. It's not. Our battle is spiritual, it's trusting that God is with us, that he's speaking to us, that he's not abandoned us, and it's having that hope we talked about, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope, that hope.
Speaker 3And so, whew, man, you get me all fired up now we're about to finish, we're about to get this started, but if anyone should pray this, I pray it every day. God, whatever you're doing, please don't do it without me, and I want to be a part of it. Amen.
Speaker 1Amen Amen.
Speaker 3And that's a choice.
Speaker 1You guys are amazing. We could talk like this all day long, but you have another class to do in a few hours Three classes in 24 hours. I'm loving it.
Speaker 1We're putting you through your paces here in the hill country. Hey guys, thank you so much and for those listeners, those of you that tuned in, I hope that you've enjoyed this. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. We have the website there in the show notes sowingseedsofjoyorg. If you'd like to get to know Ron and Star better, lots of ways that you can connect with them. They're in Texas, they're not too far away, and I'm sure they're back and forth through this area from time to time. So, hey, thank you so much.
Speaker 1And just remember why we do this. It's not so that you can have a great half hour on the podcast. It's because God has called us for a purpose. It's so that through you, through us, he can make his name known for the word of God among the nations. So be a blessing wherever you go. God bless, have a wonderful day. We are so thankful that you joined our podcast today. We would love to hear any feedback you may have for us. Remember Psalm 67 says May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us, so that your ways may be known on earth and your salvation among all nations. Don't forget why the Lord blesses us. It's so that we can be a blessing to those around us. Until next time, god bless.