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 79: Lori Rogers From Village Welcome to Lasting Discipleship in Malawi TRIP REPORT
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The songs reached us before we saw the faces—women in white dresses who had ridden hours in the back of a truck to greet us at the airport, singing it’s true, they’ve come. That moment set the tone for ten days in Masinja Village, Malawi, where radical hospitality, daily child feeding, and a hunger for Scripture collided into a story we’re still processing. We came to serve with Kelly and Greg and their partner New Mary, co-founders of Divine Mission Ministry, and we left with a deeper conviction: when a village hears the gospel together, transformation doesn’t wait.
We walk through the Foundations training that tells the Bible’s grand narrative in five stories—creation to Messiah—in language that first-time hearers can hold onto and retell. With chiefs baptized the year prior and trust already built, we saw the message spread from leaders to families, men and women, youth and elders. The men launched a Bible study that continues today. Teachers in the preschool embraced prayer and story even as they manage classes of eighty toddlers without aides. Children learned to brush their teeth with a song and waited patiently to eat until every child had a bowl and the community had prayed. Along the way, our carefully crafted VBS plans met reality: many little ones had never held a pencil. We pivoted to simple stories, big smiles, and fish drawn on paper, and watched attention turn into delight.
This conversation digs into questions that matter: Do short trips make a difference? How does a team serve without rushing or imposing? What does it look like when locals take the lead and carry the mission to neighboring villages? We share the moment a village elder said, “You came, you shared, we will go tell other villages,” and the day we were given thirteen chickens—costly gifts that spoke of shared ownership and lasting impact. If your heart beats for missions, unreached peoples, and practical ways to help, you’ll find a path here: go, send, welcome internationals locally, and pray. Subscribe, share this story with a friend, and leave a review to help more people discover how everyday obedience can change a village—and change us.
Visit our website at www.fbcboerne.org for more stories, information, and service times.
Welcome And Introductions
SPEAKER_01Hello, listeners. I am so excited that today we have our very own Lori in the studio with us to share about her trip to the movie.
SPEAKER_00Welcome 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 and 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 me.
SPEAKER_01All right, well, my name is Britney, and I'm so excited to be here with Lori, a dear sister to me, because I actually got to go with her on this trip, and it was amazing. So, Lori, thank you for coming in today. And let's just begin with how are you doing today?
SPEAKER_05I am doing great. And I have finally gotten rested up after my very recent trip to the Middle East, and I'm super excited to be here with you today.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Listeners, Lori has just returned from a trip to the Middle East that she actually shared with me about before we hit record. And so stay tuned for another episode. Because Lori, we're going to want you to come back and share about that trip. But today we are focusing on her trip to Malawi, Africa. So before we jump in, Lori, how many mission trips have you been on? I wasn't going to ask you that question, but I'm like, wow, how many have you been on? Do you know? No. I didn't think you would.
Why Malawi Matters
SPEAKER_01I don't know. A lot. This this gal, um, she is special. She loves the Lord. Um if you if you know her, you love her. And his his goodness just radiates. So, Lori, truly, um, I loved being with you in Malawi, Africa. Y'all, I got I got to room with her. We might have we might have shared a bed. Maybe possibly. There's there's some cool things on mission trips. Um, but let's just begin with Malawi, Africa. So Southeast A Africa. You're I was nearly on the wrong continent there. Yes. Yep. Southeast Africa. It's a very small country, and uh Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is ranked 174 out of 189 on the Human Development Index, but it is not it is not poor. The it wow, the things that came out of that trip there. Um, I just think of, you know, to be poor is to be far from the Lord. And they're not that, are they?
SPEAKER_05Not anymore.
SPEAKER_01Tell us more.
SPEAKER_05Well, I think they were before Kelly started going there, but um, she had been already to Malawi and Masinja Village specifically, and had already trained um the some of the people, the chiefs, and a few of the people had been trained, not everybody, but when we went, we trained the entire village in the Bible, and we did foundations training and other uh biblical tools that we used, and now the whole village has heard about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01It's incredible. So, listeners, if you have not heard episodes 51 or 74, um, Lori's nodding her head, and I agree. I highly recommend you will be blessed to go back and
How The Trip Came Together
SPEAKER_01just listen um to those episodes where Kelly Nelson um is interviewed. And Kelly, she in along with her African son New Mary, are the co-founders of the Divine Mission Ministry in Misinja Village in Malawi, Africa. So, Lori, this was your first trip to Malawi, my first trip to Malawi. How in the world did you end up in Malawi, Africa?
SPEAKER_05Well, I'll tell you, I didn't know a thing about Malawi Africa until Kelly shared in my growth group. She's a member of my growth group um here at FBC, and she shared about her last mission trip in our growth group and just hearing her passion and the stories that she told about um ministering there. And they are maybe classified as poor, but they are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people, and they have embraced Christ and just um just hearing her tell what she was doing, uh feeding the the children, you know, the orphans and the endangered children, um, just providing food for them and just listening to how she had been pouring into them just made me want to go. So whenever she planned another trip, I was like, sign me up.
SPEAKER_01I love it. And and Kelly had never taken a team before.
SPEAKER_05No, she had gone just her and her husband for a couple of years already. And so they were kind of doing it all on their own with New Mary. And so it was kind of exciting when a bunch of people said, Hey, yeah, we want to go with you. And so she led a team and she was an amazing trip leader.
SPEAKER_01Amazing leader. And and I'll and I will put in a plug that if God has been stirring in your heart this idea, um, Malawi Africa is
First Impressions Of The Village
SPEAKER_01a I how would you describe it, Lori? Like for me, it it was it was life-changing, but but also just um I mean, just something within my soul was stirred on a level that I didn't know was possible. And I just get teary even saying that.
SPEAKER_05I know it is it's just hard to describe until you go, just how welcoming they are. And and yeah, they're poor, but they have a simple life that is so refreshing. And they just embraced us and welcomed us so much, and then we're so eager to learn about the Bible and Christ and so willing to accept and to believe. Yeah, and just um just the way that they uh interacted with us and were happy, happy, happy, happy to see us every single day. Yes, um, just it's and it just inspires you.
SPEAKER_03For sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And taking the Lord and knowledge of Jesus to people who have never heard that is um something that we're focusing on here at FBC. And it was the most amazing experience.
SPEAKER_01I agree. There were two things you just said that I would love for listeners to have the opportunity to understand better. You mentioned welcoming. Will you tell me a little tell us a little bit about that? And then I also want to let everyone know that Lori had texted me some pictures before of the welcoming. And of course, I was there firsthand to experience it, but you will get to see um some of these photos in a publication coming out. I'm not even sure when, but but FBC has some amazing amazing missions um publications. So you will get to take a peek at these. And I don't even know if I told you this, Lori, but we'll have an article about you. But tell us about the welcoming because it was it was outstanding.
SPEAKER_05I I have never experienced anything like it. The whole village prepared the little from the little bitty children all the way up to the chiefs. They prepared a welcome and were sitting there waiting for us when we got there. And they had um native dancing and songs. Every group
The Unforgettable Airport Welcome
SPEAKER_05that existed, the men, the women, the youth, the children, they all had prepared a presentation for us to welcome us. And before we even got there, we're driving in a van. And all these people, women, children, come to meet us a mile away, and they're singing and they're joyful, and they're like, it's true, it's true. They've come, they've come in their native language, and it was just so amazing. And they ran beside our van for a mile, and then we get closer, and the soccer team is waiting for us, and everybody is waiting just to welcome us.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it was so amazing, so special, and like I still hear the chanting in my head, yes, and and and praise the Lord for technology because just to be able to record that and go back and listen to it, it's just the most beautiful singing.
SPEAKER_05It is, and it just reminds us of how God is just wait, just wanting all people and all nation and all languages to be worshiping him at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, and so in Malawi, um, their native language is Chichiwa, and of course we speak English, but there's something about those welcoming songs and chants that we experienced that we did not need to know the language.
SPEAKER_05We did not, and even before that, I forgot to tell you when we got to the airport, the women uh who were in a Bible study together all met us at the airport. They've been waiting for hours for us to get there, and they're all dressed in their little white dresses, and they're they're singing and chanting and doing their dances and you know, offering us skirts and um just unbelievable.
SPEAKER_01It was amazing. It was so amazing. And so the drive, help me remember, Lori. The drive from the village to the airport
Radical Hospitality And Simplicity
SPEAKER_01was do you recall how long of a drive it was? I want to say two hours. Yeah. Is that it's close. So when we arrived in Malawi, there we had a team of nine, nine Mazungus. That's what white people are called in Africa. And we it it was just incredible because we walk out of the airport and these women had been waiting for hours and they had driven for hours to meet us.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, in the back of a truck.
SPEAKER_01In the back of a truck, and many of them had never left their village before. Never, never. I mean, ever. And like how many times have I been to the airport or I mean, you know what I mean? And so they had never left their village before. These dresses, we had heard that they had saved and made these dresses themselves.
SPEAKER_05They grew tomatoes so they could sell the tomatoes and make money to make the dresses.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and we our team was able to take them a sewing machine machine, so it never really occurred to me how did they actually make them?
SPEAKER_05I don't know how they made, I think they had someone make them.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so they but they worked hard um to be able to make those dresses all in our honor.
SPEAKER_05All to just welcome us and say we are excited you're here, and they spent the whole week, like I guess rearranged every single schedule, or if they had a schedule, just to one hour after another just sit with us and learn and interact with us. And just we're so, so, so uh engaged, even the youth were so engaged in just listening and taking it all in and learning. And you know, you wouldn't see that if you, you know, went to a a youth conference here, just so many kids and youth that were just fascinated with writing down every single thing we said.
SPEAKER_01You know, my family, we are headed to Dallas this weekend. We have a wedding to go to, and we, you know, we've been scrambling around getting our clothes um for the wedding. And we wanna, you know, we wanna, we wanna look good, we wanna feel good, we wanna celebrate this union. But but when I now think of that preparation that I'm going through now in the context of the people and the women, the beautiful souls in Malawi, you know, it's it's way different driving into San Antonio and going to men's warehouse.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Quite different.
SPEAKER_01Or, you know, running to Walmart and getting the shirts. You know what I mean? Right. That is a totally different process than growing tomatoes.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01To have the money.
SPEAKER_05And not even having water to do it. You have to go to the well, put the water on your head and walk a mile or two and bring it to where you're planting the tomatoes. I mean, it's just it's unbelievable how different our lives are. But just being there for two weeks and enjoying their lack of hurry.
SPEAKER_03Oh, let's go back.
SPEAKER_05Let's go back. I know. Nobody's in a hurry. Nobody has a clock. Nobody knows what time it is. They're
Feeding Children And Daily Care
SPEAKER_05just are happy to to wait and to sit and then enjoy time with you. That is a simpler kind of life that just, you know, really beckons to us.
SPEAKER_01Lori, I asked someone one day in the village how old they were, and they didn't know for sure. For sure.
SPEAKER_05No, they don't know exactly when their birthday was. Oh yeah. Oh no. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01And who cares anyway?
SPEAKER_05Exactly. You just live your life and and be present.
SPEAKER_01And be present. They're so present. And that that just that that welcoming presence was incredible. And that deep connection. And I think about okay, why do we go? I mean, we are so um we are motivated by Matthew 28, 19 through 20, the Great Commission. The last thing that Jesus said, which I've since the prospectives class, now like that's a mandate, that's not a suggestion. Right.
SPEAKER_05Jesus says, go and make disciples of all the people, the nations, the tongues, the tribes, everybody should be worshiping at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And so we go, and they're excited to see us because Kelly and Greg have been coming for two years prior to us and have, I mean, radically changed that village. You mentioned the feeding of the children. So if you haven't heard those previous podcasts, again, go back, episode 51 and 74. Um, but there are about 230, 250 precious, precious times a thousand children that are being fed every day. And they are so, I mean, I'll say it again, precious and thankful and present and patient. I mean, in a very tiny small room. And I mean, we were so honored to be able to feed them, to pass it. Do you remember that?
SPEAKER_05Yes. We passed out their meal, and they were all sitting on the floor in little rows, patiently waiting until every single person had their meal. Preschool. Preschool children. Yes, patient. Three and four-year-olds. Until everybody had their meal and and everyone prayed. Yeah. And after the prayer, then they ate. It was amazing.
SPEAKER_01So they've already seen um what happens when someone comes from afar. The love that Kelly and Greg have paved the way with. And so we were welcomed with open arms. Um, and they were so receptive and willing to hear. So we showed up and you mentioned getting to teach. And and Lori, you were such just such an amazing leader in that. Lori would kick it off every day with the
Foundations Training Explained
SPEAKER_01first lesson. Um, and it's it's something called foundations. You want to tell us briefly about foundations.
SPEAKER_05We did mention it on a previous podcast, but if you'll recap what foundations is, foundations is a tool that we use to train uh new believers on the Bible, and it tells the whole story of the Bible in five stories, and it kind of gives them a picture of how God had a plan from the beginning to redeem mankind through his son, the Messiah. And so it just for people who have never had a Bible, it really helps them to see the whole picture and what God's plan was from the beginning to the end.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and so we were really blessed because Kelly and Greg had gone the year before and baptized 41 tribal chiefs and the um and one of the interpreters. So 42 people total the previous year. And so you could feel you really could feel that there were already people there who loved the Lord, but that but that it was still I d I would say I felt like it was still growing. I don't know what was your feeling.
SPEAKER_05I felt like the the whole village wasn't really on board yet until until they were able to be trained. It was it was a great and amazing beginning. And I think we really spread to the whole village. And I think that now that the village has taken hold, um, and there's many, many believers in the village, I think New Mary and the Divine Mission Ministry is now thinking about how they have been blessed so that they can bless others, and they're thinking about taking it to other villages, which is amazing. Um, and they're thinking about how they can do that with the soccer team and how they can start pouring into people around them, and that's the whole point.
SPEAKER_01It is the whole point. That is why every single one of us are here exactly to make his name known among all nations. So uh the foundations training um was really cool and it was really powerful. And what was so neat is that that training allowed us to help um the the people that live in the village become disciples so that they can teach other people so that they have more of a foundation as a name, right? And so that was that was really cool. But to Lori's point, this year there were nine of us there. And so we were able to make connections with people. And I I I would have to guess, I mean, only the Lord knows, but I would have to guess that that did provide ability for the people of the village to feel more connected with these non-Mazungus because there was different connections
From Chiefs Baptized To Village Movement
SPEAKER_01being made. Is that what you were alluding to a second ago?
SPEAKER_05Yes, I think that different, um, different personalities, of course, you know, um meld with different people. And so that, you know, gave them more people really and more different personalities in which to kind of attach and and dive in. And um all of us love the children, you know, all the children. Brittany, you were that was your thing. You really, really enjoyed the children so so much, and all of us did. Um, but also the women and and we had men on our team, and the men got discipled. Yes, and Craig was able to, you know, pour into them with with a Bible study that is still continuing after we leave, which is the whole point.
SPEAKER_01Incredible. And in fact, for all the listeners, you did the Divine Mission Ministry has a Facebook page. There's actually two ministries named this. You gotta look for the one with the blue emblem with a little bit of gold in it. That is the if you want to go check out this village, it's just yeah, to see what they're doing now.
SPEAKER_05Uh how they're continuing. Yes, that's the cool part. Yes. To know that what you've done has created a legacy. For sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And you know, Lori, I have you ever had anyone say, Well, I think a lot of times when people go on mission trips, they get more out of it than the people who are there. Have you ever heard anyone say that? Yeah, me too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I believe it because I've I've experienced it. We are blessed to be a blessing, and then that comes right back to us.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and that is the that is the other part. Like, I know I know that that trip was profound for me, life-changing, soul-shaking, just ground moving for myself. However, we I mean, you know what the the vision the the the vision I have from the trip, you mentioned it a little bit ago. The very last uh day we were in the village, which man, that was hard to get in. But the whole village was there once again. Yeah, and they brought us gifts. They did. Do you remember what the women said? I heard one of them say, Well, they they said it in front of all of us, but it was so profound to me. She said, You have come. So I mean tops into Chihuahua and through the translator, but what I remember her saying is you have come, you have shared with us, and we will go tell other villages. Do you remember that? Yes, you do.
SPEAKER_05I do.
SPEAKER_01What was your feeling with all of that, or what do you recall from that? What's your what's your memory of that moment?
SPEAKER_05Um, well, we were all standing there and they were singing again, and um they gave us uh chickens.
SPEAKER_01I have we have a picture of that.
SPEAKER_05We have a picture.
SPEAKER_01We have evidence. We're we're getting on a plane in 24 hours.
SPEAKER_05And we have 13 chickens. Yeah. Because it's something I mean for them,
Building Connection Through A Larger Team
SPEAKER_05a chicken is very important. It's worth a lot. So worth a lot. I mean, if you maybe you have five or six chickens and you're giving up one of them to say thank you. Yes. And um it I mean, it was profound. And um, so we got chickens and we got gourds and we got some drinks and just whatever they had to give us. Yeah. Which is like the woman, you know, the poor woman who gave out of her, you know, her alabaster joy. Yes. Um, just it j it just pours into your heart the way people are willing to give up so much, such so much, you know, it was really valuable for them. And so they're singing and we're crying and thinking about, you know, leaving, but they're so, so thankful and they're so attached. They don't want us to go. And um, it just it just showed me God's love. Yes, and how He loves all of us and just runs and chases after us and forgives us and gives us a chance after chance, and just wants us all to be in his family worshiping, you know, and it was um difficult to leave.
SPEAKER_01It was so difficult to leave. Yes, but and we were there for 10 days, right? We were there for 10 days, yeah. In in the village, yeah. We were gone 14 days because it was it was a hard travel. Yes, it was a long way 40 hours, I think, going in, coming. But my goodness, those 10 days they were moving, and so going back to someone who's a little skeptical, like, oh well, the people that go gain more than the people that are there. When we were given 13 chickens, and we know how substantial that is for their livelihood to give away a chicken, and for the I I'll just never forget the woman. I can't I cannot, I don't know that I knew her name, but she said, you know, what you have taught us, we
Discipling Men And Ongoing Studies
SPEAKER_01will go and teach others. And so you know, you just really never know when you go and you you re you definitely receive, but you also don't know what is received.
SPEAKER_05Well, only God knows, and God multiplies. Yeah, He takes our meager little offerings and multiplies it, you know, tenfold and more and just uses it to spread his glory. Um, it is like watching the glory of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Yeah, it is like watching the glory of the Lord. So um that welcoming presence we've talked about. We've also talked a little bit just about, you know, uh what we noticed in the village and teaching of the foundations, and then this idea that it seems like it is definitely making a ripple effect. What else, Lori? Like what else is coming to mind in terms of your memories of that trip? Is there something bubbling up?
SPEAKER_05Um, just so many. It's so hard. I went through the pictures today to send you a few, and I just I wanted to send you 40,000 because they're all so good. They are so good. Yeah, and it's just hard to, you know, pinpoint one thing. Um, our team was amazing and it was kind of like the dream team. It was. Yeah. Everybody really wanted to be there and we're really pouring into everyone. Um, I enjoyed um, well, I have one little memory. Sandra and I decided that we really needed to do vacation Bible school.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. I remember, yes, yes. That night before we were making our signs. Yes, all the things.
SPEAKER_05Yes, all the things. We thought, you know, I've never been on a mission trip that we didn't do vacation Bible school. We've got to do it. So we planned all this stuff, you know. Yeah. Man makes their plans, but God directs their paths.
SPEAKER_01He might have chuckled it up, but he might
Legacy And Facebook Updates
SPEAKER_01have a little laugh.
SPEAKER_05We had all these wonderful plans about teaching the stories of Jesus and prepared, and we spent a night cutting things out and getting ready, and we just didn't know that we were gonna have these itty biddies.
SPEAKER_03Itty biddies.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we were thinking school age, but their school is a preschool and it starts at 18 months. Yeah. So we had like 80, 18 months to two-year-olds, and 60, like two and three-year-olds, and 50, three and four-year-olds, and they had never held a pencil before in their life. They didn't even know what they were. They had never drawn or written on a piece, never had a piece of paper before in their life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So we're having them draw little fish.
SPEAKER_01And so, like, let me okay, so for our listeners, like, let me just paint a really quick picture for you. You've got a concrete building, yep, and it is concrete floors, which in itself is a very nice Yes, it is a big upgrade from being on the ground. Right. So three classrooms.
SPEAKER_05Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um, it is winter in Malawi when we were there, but that means 80 is the high. So, I mean, it's not cool.
SPEAKER_05It's not cold, no.
SPEAKER_01It's not hot, but it's not cool. Um, there are windows in the classrooms, but like no fan. And it was literally a room with concrete floors and concrete walls. And we did buy whiteboards while we were there, and the men mounted them on the wall. So they were so excited about their whiteboards. But yeah, no pencils, no paper. Um, just but but these children, like they're just in there learning and they're craving the word. And their teachers, Simon, Rosemary, and Manis, are just
Do Short-Term Trips Really Help
SPEAKER_01the most beautiful souls in there pouring into these children. Yes, they don't have teachers' aids. I used to be a teacher.
SPEAKER_05No, no, there's 80, 18-month-old to two-year-olds in a classroom. One teacher.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Okay, so we prepare, we're ready to go do VBS, and surprise.
SPEAKER_05So we take our little paper and we take our little pencils, and they're all sharpened, and we're so excited about teaching, and there we are with her. So I'm trying to draw a little fish as I'm telling the story, and they're all listening, little bitties, and they're trying to translator, translator, translating and giving attention at two-month-old. It was hilarious. Yeah. So we, I mean, they had never heard stories of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05They had never, you know, drawn or written anything, never had a crayon. So it was an experience that they had never had. And and Kelly just said, Whatever you can teach them, yeah, that is so much more than they know right now. Yes. And so they listened and they tried to draw, and we talked about how Jesus told them to throw the net over. Yes. And then they pulled up all these fish and how God's going to provide for them. Yeah. And it's a lesson that they had never heard. So even though they're tiny, they learned. Yes. And they took it all in. And I believe that God is going to grow that faith in their minds.
SPEAKER_01I do too. And the children of Malawi taught me. So I'm a mom of three, and and those children just taught me about the beauty and being present.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_01And stopping and playing with the simple things. And just being present.
SPEAKER_05Eliminate the hurry.
SPEAKER_01Eliminate the hurry. Look in their eyes. Do the hand claps. Do the chicken dance.
SPEAKER_05Do the chicken dance 20,000 times.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And you know, draw the fish, do the things. And and it's just about being faithful. Being faithful to be there with a fellow human being who was made in God's image, looking right back out of you at you with sparkling eyes and lots of congestion, because bless their hearts. So many of them were sick while we were there. But it just was incredible. So and Laura, you did a great job of adapting quickly. I mean, I remember seeing you and um Sandra scurrying in there and Sherry
Gifts, Gratitude, And Thirteen Chickens
SPEAKER_01was running back and forth going, We're gonna have to change it. We're gonna have to change it. But do something different. Yeah, and that is that it's the dream the dream team. God just let our gift shine and we we pivoted when we needed to pivot. Right. Um, and it just it just worked out.
SPEAKER_05And that's what you do on mission trips. You just you plan, yeah, and then God directs your path and he provides. And you just do the next thing that God puts in front of you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and that that was loving children.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05Oh, and you should have seen Brittany teaching them how to brush their teeth.
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness. Oh, yes. I wish I could think of the T'Chio words. The words we created a little song, and Precious Simon helped me to sing the song to teach him how to brush their teeth because so many people donated for that trip. Yes. We had nine team members. We had we each had one bag for our our personal items, and then we each had a humanitarian bag, and we were able to take many things to bless the village, like toothbrushes, soap, um, some medical supplies, um, even the materials to build the stove pipe in a suitcase. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that was amazing.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Yeah. It was so good. So as we wrap it up, Lori, I just um I just I just thank you for your servant heart. And I I just am amazed to be at FBC, a church that really does I would just say um truly embrace the Great Commission. And it's such an honor to be here. And I just I love seeing like what he's done in your life, how you've gone on many mission trips, and yet however many you've been on, you are lit up smiling about a trip that happened months ago.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but it was wonderful. Yeah, and God is, I mean, FBC has been wonderful to support missions for years. We have a we have a long history, yeah. But now we're focusing on taking Jesus where his name has never been heard. And I think that's um it's important.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And we we all learned about that in perspective. So if you haven't taken perspectives, we're offering it again in January. Thursday nights? Yes, Thursday nights right here at FBC. It again, that is that's what got me to Malawi. Yeah, that's a quote, taught a lot of us God's real God's heart for the nations and how we need to complete the task. We need to complete the task. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and we all can play a part, and we all can store up our treasures in heaven by playing a part, however that may look.
SPEAKER_05Right. Everybody's got a part, and it may not be that you're gonna go to a foreign country, but you might be praying, you might be sending, you might be providing funds, you might be providing like a lot of people did for our trip. A lot of people provided crayons and markers and all the things that we took um for the children, and just um, you know, whatever your part is, God's calling you.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Another one is welcoming. You might you might welcome internationals
Ripple Effect To Other Villages
SPEAKER_01here locally. Exactly. So many opportunities to make his name known. And and listeners, we all really, we truly do have a part. So as you listen to this, um, I'm gonna bounce it back to you in a minute, Lori, to see if there's anything else you want to add to this. But as you listen to this, listeners, you might be thinking, well, I don't know if I could, I don't know if I could go to Malawi, I don't know if I could do whatever. You don't know what you could do, but the Lord does. And he has a plan for you. And he gave you you specific skills and passions, but all of our purpose is the same. And how he how he provides you opportunities to make his name known among all nations is is really between you and the Lord. What would you say about that, Lori?
SPEAKER_05I totally agree with that. And you know, sometimes it's your uh little group that's right around you. Yeah, maybe God has you uh just uh speaking to people in your neighborhood. Yeah, maybe you need to, you know, it's your family. Maybe your mission field is right here in Bernie, or maybe it's in San Antonio, yeah. But God has a plan and He gave you certain gifts, and we all need to use those gifts.
SPEAKER_01And I think the thing about it is it's the most fulfilling and joyful it's hard to say it was work, but it is the most joyful and fulfilling work I've I've ever done.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it was wonderful. So join us next time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Lori, um, for those of you that don't know Lori, she is very involved at the women's ministry here at First Baptist, and you know, you can approach her, you can ask her questions, um, and just you know get a feel. So if the Lord stirs that in your heart, we definitely want to walk alongside you. We definitely want to share and encourage and answer your questions because we don't want you to miss out on what the Lord has for you.
SPEAKER_05For you, yes, for each of us.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So, listeners, thank you so very much. I do highly recommend that you go back um and learn
VBS Plans Meet Preschool Reality
SPEAKER_01a little bit more about the work in Malawi, um, episodes 51 and 74, and FBC's part in that. Um, there's so much going on in that amazing village, and so you can learn more, or you can even, you know, reach out to someone here at the church and find out more. And Lori, thank you for coming in today. Thank you for sharing your stories, thank you for sharing your time, and thank you for sharing your heart with God's people.
SPEAKER_05Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Until next time, we hope that you are blessed and uh we hope that this has stirred your heart.
SPEAKER_00We 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. Make his face shine. So then always be known for your celebration among all this. Don't forget one of the Lord blesses us.