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 84: PT1 Mission Team returning from ME. What Would You Risk To Make Jesus Known
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You can’t legally own a Bible, you can’t safely say names out loud, and you definitely can’t “do missions” the way most of us picture it, yet people are meeting Jesus and choosing to follow Him anyway. We sit down with Chris, Lori, and Heather from FBC to tell the story of a recent Middle East mission trip and the quiet, courageous work happening through trusted local partners.
We trace how Perspectives and the Great Commission reframe purpose, not as a side interest, but as a clear mandate to make Jesus known among unreached people groups. Lori shares what it’s like to help lead foundations training for brand-new believers, many from Muslim or non-religious backgrounds, who have never seen a Bible and still risk everything to learn the full story of Scripture. We talk disciple-making movements, Four Fields training, and why multiplication matters more than visibility.
Heather takes us into refugee camps where thousands live with trauma, displacement, and little hope. Her team runs a children’s program with strict limits on wording and access, using the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, games, crafts, and consistent love to create space for long-term ministry to continue after the team leaves. Chris shares how his team teaches the life of David to encourage new believers, plus firsthand stories of God drawing people through dreams and unexpected protection.
If you’ve ever wondered where you fit in missions, this conversation offers real paths forward, from praying to training to simply showing up. Subscribe for part two, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these stories and join the work.
Visit our website at www.fbcboerne.org for more stories, information, and service times.
Welcome And The Mission Mindset
SPEAKER_06Hello everyone. Welcome to the FBC Sew That Missions Podcast. Today we have a great podcast with three wonderful members of our church who recently went to the Middle East.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to FBC Missions Sew That Podcast. It 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 new.
SPEAKER_06Okay, well, welcome everyone. We are so glad that you're with us today. My name is Brittany, and I have recently helped uh Pastor Chad with this podcast, and it's an honor to be here. My family has been here at FBC for uh just about a year, actually, and boy, we love this place. And I was blessed to meet the three people that I'm here in the studio with today through perspectives. And so today I'm here to welcome Chris and Lori and Heather. And how are y'all today?
SPEAKER_01I'm fantastic.
Meet The Team And Their Calling
SPEAKER_06Awesome. Doing great. Yes, happy here. Doing great. Yay. Well, thank you for your time. We are approaching, oh gosh, Christmas. So excited for Christmas. And I appreciate y'all taking some time to come in and share about your recent trip to the Middle East. Um, I mean, that's just a that's just a really amazing place to go, I would imagine. So I can't wait to hear a little bit about it. So before we we jump in and hear a little bit, give us a little introduction about you, your place here at FBC, maybe how long you've been coming here, just something that you want to share regarding, you know, your your life here at the church and um possibly your heart for missions. Uh well, let's start, Chris. Let's start with you.
SPEAKER_01Sure. Yeah. Uh Chris Campbell here. Um we've been here 15 years now.
SPEAKER_06Fifteen years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it seems like uh yesterday we we moved here from uh Denver, Colorado.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_01And um so uh for me, I'd been on mission trips before, but I'd been kind of on the sidelines for a while. And when I took perspectives back in 2024, it just really um uh impacted me, not just in the thought of going on mission trips, but just so much about uh what Jesus wants us to do and to um to um share his truth with uh those around the world.
SPEAKER_06So Chris, I I will we will get to Lori and Heather, but right off the bat I heard you say you'd been on the sidelines for a little while. What do you what did you mean by that?
SPEAKER_01Well, I I um my first mission trip was to Russia after the Iron Curtain fell, and um then I um had the opportunity to go to Peru on a mission trip and then I went to India uh not not too far away from where Lena is in Vijaywada. So uh but that was uh about 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_06Okay, and then you took perspectives and you decided to get in the game? Yeah. I mean I would say you've gone on four already.
SPEAKER_01Well, yes, um it was more about just the the urgent cry I heard in perspectives uh reaching the unreached.
SPEAKER_06Okay, and since then have you how many mission trips have you been on?
SPEAKER_01Um I've been on three. Wow in 18 months.
SPEAKER_06Wow.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I love that. All right, Lori, what about you? Well, I have been in Bernie and at FBC since 2009.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03And I serve as the women's um the women's uh uh coordinator, I guess is the title. You love the women. Yeah, yeah, the women's um ministries. And I also serve on the missions evangelism committee in mobilization and communication. And I have been going on mission trips since 2014. That was my very first one, and I also took perspectives when Chris did, and really it focuses your attention on God's plan from the beginning and the need to get um the name of Jesus where it's not.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_03And so um we have really been focused on that here at FBC ever since, just really um looking for those places we can go where the name of Jesus has not been taken before.
SPEAKER_06So you had already started going on mission trips also in 2014. You had already been on a trip, and then now you've done even more, it sounds like, or you've been on a quite a few before.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I went yearly, but since I retired in 2021, I've um been going like three or four times a year. Wow.
SPEAKER_06So you were going yearly before. Why yearly?
SPEAKER_03Because I was working and I could only go in the summer.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. And so you would all like you would always just go during the summer. Yes. But you had already had a heart for that.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Yeah. It started back in 2014, like I said, and my first trip was to Mexico.
SPEAKER_06How did that come about?
SPEAKER_03Um, my daughter. Okay. My daughter was a teenager and she really wanted to go. And I was like, Well, I'm going with you.
SPEAKER_06I love it. Was is that the family trip here at at First Baptist?
SPEAKER_03At the time it was more of a youth trip. Okay. Summertime. Okay. Yeah. The family trip evolved just a couple of years ago.
SPEAKER_06Oh wow. Our family is actually going on the family trip this year. So I'm excited to take my my kiddos there.
SPEAKER_03That'll be an awesome experience for them.
SPEAKER_06Moving. Um, yeah. It you can't not you can't go on a mission trip and not have your heart stirred. That's right. Yeah you come back changed. Oh goodness. And that's a good thing. Yes. Cool. Thanks, Lori. And Heather, what about you?
SPEAKER_02Hi. Um, yeah, we've been in Bernie since 2018. And um I just feel like ever since I was little, I've always viewed the the world like through the lens of disparity, like the haves and the have nots. Like, even when I was little, I just I remember thinking about like going back to school and buying school supplies. Like, I would get so excited because we would get to go shopping to go buy school supplies. But then in the back of my mind, I was always like, well, what about all those kids that can't buy school supplies? Like, what are they gonna do? So that that was just kind of my worldview when I was little. But now that I'm older and uh I still see disparity in the world, but it's not just physical disparity, it's spiritual disparity. So I really um we are my husband and I are empty nesters now, so our girls are in college, and so we have this unique window of time where I really want to be intentional in how I'm spending my time, um, and just really trying to to engage with unreached people groups. So I've been going on mission trips since 2012. Um, I went on two trips this year. Um, and yeah, I just really want to be intentional about um sharing the gospel around the world. Wow.
SPEAKER_06I love the way you uh I just saw a picture of you. I mean, I did I don't know what you look like as a young child, but I saw a picture in my head of you being a young child excited for school and then to have that heart for people who might not have the ability to have school supplies. And you know what is so cool about what you just said is you linked it to the spiritual disparity. And I especially after taking perspectives, I cannot go places um without wondering if that person right in front of me knows the Lord. And it sounds like you, the Lord has been cultivating that within you for a while. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Do you do that when you're out and about too?
SPEAKER_02I do. Um, you know, there's people here in Bernie that I wonder about, but then specifically um there's a lot of refugees here in San Antonio area, and then um yeah, just people of different cultures that come in. I always wonder what is their background, what are their beliefs, what you know, what's their world worldview? And yeah, and how how can I engage in a conversation with them? So absolutely.
SPEAKER_06Um so we were all you all had already taken perspectives and thank you for facilitating it, because I got to take it this year. It totally has changed my life. I I knew the Lord always but loved loved and loved the Lord, but didn't quite see my purpose in life as his purpose for all of us. I, you know, I thought my purpose was and even my identity was my career. I thought that was my purpose. And boy, perspectives just shook that up for me. And I don't know if one of you want to jump in and speak to the Great Commission as a mandate, not just a cool scripture.
SPEAKER_01Well, I just want to put a plug in that we're gonna have uh a new semester coming up. So whoever's listening now, please think about taking perspectives.
Why The Middle East Matters
SPEAKER_06Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. It'll open your eyes for sure. And I don't know if if you're like me and you ever at a place have been at a place in your life or even ha now are like, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I'm not really sure what my purpose is. The Lord has purpose for all of us, and it is to make his name known. That is the Great Commission. That's Matthew 28, verses 19 through 20. It's also in the book of Mark. But that's what he left us here to do is to make his name known. So thank you for each of your part in going forth multiple times. Um, and then like we said, Heather having a heart for everyone, people here. I mean, if we're in a store somewhere, if we're passing someone in a car, like I find myself just wondering if if they know. So it's yeah, that's all of our all of our purpose. So as we talk about this trip that y'all just went on, all three of you were a part of a team who went to the Middle East. And that in itself is just incredible. And I remember um being very blessed to be here to send y'all off the day that you were leaving and watching y'all get on the bus and seeing the excitement in your heart. And now I'm looking at all three of your faces and I see smiles. And so obviously, you experienced some incredible things on the trip. So let's let's dive in and hear just a little bit of maybe how you got to the trip and go ahead and start sharing um a highlight. So let's begin, Lori, with you. Okay. I'd like to hear um this was this was your second time to go. Yes. So I would love for you to kind of give us um how that started for you the first time you went to the Middle East, and then give us a little bit of an overview of this trip, and then we'll either dive into highlights, we'll we'll kind of see where we go from there. But let's just start with why the Middle East and how did you get there last year?
Foundations Training For New Believers
SPEAKER_03So um we have a person here, uh, her name is Lisa, and she came from another church that often went to the Middle East, and they traveled with um an organization that is now called Two Every People, whose mission is to take people to spread the name of Jesus where it is not. And so um she had gone before and she was going on another trip with Two Every People, and she talked to me about what was going to happen on the trip, and the more she talked, the more excited I got. And so three of us last year went on that trip and really experienced amazing transformation in in our lives and those we were working with as well. It was um so impactful that I was ready to jump on again this year. Um, and Sandra, whom you heard already in our podcast, um, was our trip leader from FBC, but it's led by a man named Mike who is the mission's leader in To Every People and has connections all over the Middle East, all over the world, really, but um Middle East, India, any place where Jesus' name is not well known yet. And so um we Sandra led the trip, but Mike and Sandra together decided what we would do on the trip. And there were 14 in all, not all from our church, some from other churches around the country. And um Mike identified three different areas where we could work in three different places in the Middle East. So we all traveled together, but then we split into three teams and we worked with three different um groups of people. So our purpose is really to spread the name of Jesus, and we did that in different ways in different places, which we'll hear from everyone. Yeah. Um my my group, there were three of us, and we went to uh some some uh local partners who um what they do is they train intensely like Jesus, like Paul. They they gather new believers, brand new believers, and these people have come from maybe Muslim background, maybe no background, maybe atheistic background, but they they have come to know Jesus and they are followers, but they've never seen a Bible. It's illegal to have a Bible where they live. So they don't know the story of the Bible, they just know that they trust Jesus and that they believe that Jesus died for their sins. And so um he he gathers up those people and intensely pours into them and he teaches them through something called four fields training, and foundations training is a part of that, and that's what we were doing, the foundations training. So we were working with brand new believers and then some that were not quite sure if they were believers or not, and we were teaching them foundations, which gives them a whole picture of the Bible from beginning to end, and how God, since since the fall of man, since sin entered the world, has been working to redeem mankind and bring him back into that relationship with him.
SPEAKER_06Wow, thank you for sharing that. So, listeners, you heard Lori mention that there is the pre-oh goodness, the podcast just before this one, we heard from Sandra and we heard about the trip as well. So I totally encourage you to listen to that. Um and I wanted to lean in, Lori, because you mentioned with this local um, I can't remember exactly what you heard. Yes, thank you. You mentioned local partner. Can you tell listeners what you meant by local partner?
SPEAKER_03Okay, that is someone in the field um from the the country that we're traveling to or a nearby country who is a Christian and who is working um in evangelism and church planting and making disciples and and planting new churches.
SPEAKER_06And that in itself is amazing. Like, you know, he's in a country or a location of the world where the gospel is majorly underrepresented. And yet he is there and he is sharing the word, and you know, it's like wow, to just that we would even have contact with him, we would know him. I mean, to me, that is just the Lord's goodness of how he connects people. And and and what a what an incredible thing that connections were made such that we gained access. You came in contact with another person here at the church who had methods and ways of going, and now you one year three of you went, and now there's 14 of you going to see this local partner in the Middle East. Like just pausing on that.
SPEAKER_03I know. It's it's no small thing, it's not an accident. No. It is a like Mike says, it is a million decisions that have been made that brought us to this point where we're in the same room together. And most of these people that we work with, we're not saying their names because it's dangerous for them.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and I I don't remember if it was when Sandra was in the studio, but she was even mentioning, and and you three here represent the three different work projects, if you will, that were done while y'all were there. And and Sandra was saying, you know, part of that is because we uh you you guys stand out over there, right? And she said we don't need a big group of us walking around because it would be obvious what we're doing. And then you're giving away your local partners. Yes. Right. Is there anything else just I mean, just behind the the gravity of that that you want to share?
SPEAKER_03It's just um to me, we're so comfortable here, yeah, and we don't have to worry about being persecuted. No, but these people are coming to Christ and they could lose their family and their liberty and even their lives. Yeah. But God is using all of this, and the name of Jesus is spreading across the Middle East in underground churches, in house churches, in car churches, and it is just like wildfire going going into places where people have never known Jesus before. Amen. But God is at work.
SPEAKER_06Okay, and so you said he is intensely training, and then you're naming off car churches. I'm it I mean, I would only imagine that when someone does get the word and they know that Jesus is their savior, they can't help but is that Exactly Okay, tell us more about that intense training and then we'll shift in here.
SPEAKER_03Well, he brings in um it's a couple, it's on just a he, but it's a couple, and they bring in new believers and they spend a week intently training them on four fields and foundations and giving them the whole big story because they've never read the Bible before. And so foundations gives them a a picture of how the Bible is one big story of God in his heart for the nations and the people. Okay. And so he intensely trains them and then teaches them, he gives them the tools, they guess say he, they give them the tools to um go back to their homes and train other people. Wow. And so he's not just making disciples, he's training church planters so that they can create their own churches and so that they don't, you know, that's that the Bible says that too. Do not um neglect meeting with the community. Like you're created for community, and so he's teaching them how to plant churches and how to multiply disciples. Wow.
SPEAKER_06And I would imagine, like, how in the world would someone in the Middle East sign up to go to this? You know what I mean? Like how that even happens. Yeah, it's amazing how the little little streams I'm guessing there's not like QR codes and you scan it in a room and you get to sign up to go to this conference.
SPEAKER_03Not like just no, I mean just knowing where to go is you have to the underground. Be the underground.
SPEAKER_06That's incredible. Uh I just thank the Lord for the people who are willing to, you know, keep spreading the word, even though it could cost them their very life. That's right. That's incredible. Okay, so we heard how this this started here with FBC, and we heard a little bit of what Lori was able to go and do. So you were leaning in and helping with that, those trainings, yes, encouraging, equipping even more. Did you get to participate in training the new believers then yourself? They there was a new group there. It wasn't just for the local partners.
SPEAKER_03No, it was a brand new group that he had that they had brought in, and we did the foundations part of it. So we had four days of intense training, and like every morning we did the actual training. So neat.
SPEAKER_06So you gave the local partners a chance to see you doing it, see a different perspective for leading it, and then also to just have someone there with them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and they just to have someone come across the world, yes, just to pour into them.
SPEAKER_06The magnitude of that is huge. I know a lot of times people say, Well, why don't you just talk to people here? But it just has a profound impact when someone who looks like us, Americans, show up, it just it shows so much that we would cross an ocean.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and they all told us that that's cool. Just to have people come and pour and just love on them and encourage them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And uh just the more that that you can do that, you know, that the the couple can do that, but to have extra people there doing that as well. And it was really good for us because we got to see how he trains. Yeah. And it's you learned so much. Yeah, you learn so much.
Refugee Camp Kids And Presence
SPEAKER_06It's making me think of my years when I was a teacher and I would get to go observe other classrooms, you know. That's really neat. Thank you for sharing. So, Heather, um, would love to hear what your your team, um, the the group that you were with. I'd love to hear what y'all broke out and went and and did. And yeah, just tell us a little bit about your experience.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so there were five of us on our team, and we got to go to um the refugee camps there and um work with the kids. So the whole um purpose, uh, the whole goal was for us to partner with the the local partners there and um and just do work in the camps um specifically with the kids to allow that work to continue. They have some programs established for men and women for adults, but not for children. So um they invited us to come and just um do some work with the kids so so that when we leave, um hopefully they get the green light to go back in. Um so we um we kind of did like kind of BBS style. Um we had permission to share the Jesus the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, and then we had some activities surrounding that story, um, like relay games and crafts and um a bracelet with beads and coloring sheets and things like that. Um so we were able to interact with probably over 400 kids. Um there we were able to go to four different camps across three days, um, but there's thousands of people in these camps, and um we had to just take a select few of kids. Like there wasn't any way that we could minister to all of them. Um so that in itself was a little bit heartbreaking, but um but yeah, so just knowing that we were we were able to be with an unreached people group um was an incredible opportunity. Um where and an unreached people group is a group of people that um there's less than 5% Christian and less than 2% evangelicals. So just means that I was gonna ask that if if there are believers there, there's not enough um in that people group to continue to propose. Held the gospel forward on their own.
SPEAKER_06That is awesome. So, and also I want to remind listeners that if you haven't heard, I interviewed Faith from our church. We all know Faith. And she is a she is a younger believer in our church, but is already doing mighty things for the kingdom. And she shared, y'all were on the same team, and she shared the joy of being with the children. And she shared with us how we you guys were like in everything y'all did, there were definitely limitations and and rules. Um so that just rules to kind of safeguard what you were there to do. And so she shared, like you could not use Jesus' name. Um, you had to just be careful. And that's so important. It's so important that when we show up, we don't just come in and kind of bulldoze everything. We want to be really respectful um and understanding of the culture that they live in so that you can make those connections.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and that was very important that we were careful in what we could say, what we couldn't say, um, just to allow the work to continue because we were really just there to kind of open the door for them, not to like fully preach the gospel or anything, but just to allow that that work to continue. So that that was a difficult space to work in for sure. Um, just knowing our hearts and that that we we want them to know Jesus, but it's really hard to say that that Jesus is the Son of Man, Son of God, and He came to to offer salvation. Like we we couldn't say that. So so how how do we do that? How do we communicate that um without using specific words? Um so we try to focus on the attribute of God that He is love, um, that God sees them and knows them and loves them. Um and that um that God provides everything, everything that we need. So through the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, um, you know, we see that the multiplication of food and um just basic needs were met there, but you know, we kind of infer that spiritual needs can be met as well through through God.
SPEAKER_06Um so yeah, I think it's very fitting that, you know, because we can sit here and think, well, they can't share Jesus' name, or there's other things they can't do. But it's fitting that y'all had the story of beating the 5,000 because God can do a lot with a little. And maybe y'all couldn't do as much as you wanted to do, but you never know what I mean, it's not like y'all did little, but it might have felt like little compared to say FBC here at our church doing or not FBC, VBS here at our church versus VBS where you were, and yet we don't know how that'll multiply.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. Um I will say that um the ministry of presence of us just being there was was incredible. Um, you know, I d we don't know for sure if the story resonated with them. We don't know for sure if they'll remember what what they did, what what we told them. Um, but just the fact that that we were there with them. Um and I I have a story I want to share about a young girl, but maybe maybe we'll get to that later, but unless you want me to say it now.
SPEAKER_06Well, I wanted to hit on one more thing. I mean, if you're listening to this podcast and you're just like, gosh, I don't know if the Lord would, you know, call me to do this or want me to do this. Like I I don't even know. Number one, reach out and talk to someone here at the church, any of these three amazing people or just someone at the church, or or please do sign up for perspectives like Chris said. But what's so cool, Heather, we heard you say at the start of this podcast, you've always had a heart for the have nots. And you were in a place, I mean, the Lord used that. He's been using that and preparing you for that. Your this, I mean, I'm like looking at this your whole life. And for you to go on this trip and be in a place where there's a lot of have not. To be in a refugee camp, there's a lot of have nots. And so the I'm just anything that's I just that's so cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, camp life there is very difficult. Um it's it just it's just dry. Like they live in a desert and it like their physical surroundings are just dry, you know, they're just surviving. Um and it's it's spiritually dry as well. Um, it's it's just a a dark, hard place to live in for them. Um filled they have a history of trauma, you know, just with the persecution persecution from ISIS like 10, 15 years ago. Um, they can't go back to where they came from because there isn't anything there. Their family isn't there, there's no um infrastructure there, there's no job for them. So there's no hope. It's it's very hopeless. Um, so yeah, just for us to come in with the light of Christ um just to love on them. Um, you know, we just we just pray that they they felt the love of God while we were there. We will circle. I know they did.
SPEAKER_03I know they did. One of our partners told me, and I always think of this, um, you have Jesus in your heart and you brought him to this place, this dark place. There's you can't discount the importance of just being here.
SPEAKER_01The kingdom of God is near.
SPEAKER_06Yes. Well, and and his light shining through us.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes. You have brought him to this dark place, and you know what doesn't even matter if you ever open your mouth, you've brought Jesus here and you're praying. Yeah, and the prayers are what are so important.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, because once he's our Lord and Savior, he is in us, and we shine his light, maybe sometimes better than others, but we do.
SPEAKER_03And we take him wherever we go. Yes, yeah, and I know those kids felt the love of God.
Discipleship Lessons From David
SPEAKER_06I love that. Yeah. So yeah, we will circle back because Heather um sent a beautiful picture that I know will highlight, we'll get a highlight from each of you before we wrap it up. But okay, so we had Lori's the team that Lori was on, you were strengthening local partners in helping them to continue to be equipped and encouraged to share the word. Um and the purpose there was really followers who become disciples who become church planners. So that is awesome. And then Heather, your team was going to refugee camps and really pouring into the children. Um and what a cool population to pull into to pour into. Because I mean, my children teach me a lot. Um, and they will leave Sunday school here and teach me what they've learned, but they just also show so much that childlike faith that's so, so cool and inspiring. And so then, Chris, tell us about your team and what what you guys are up to in the Middle East.
SPEAKER_01Sure, sure. Yeah. Let me just uh say first of all that um the reason I'm on this trip was because um uh last year when Lori and and the other ladies went on the trip, I um I was so impacted by just what they were doing. And we had heard in perspective last year from our instructors of of what God is doing in the Middle East, and it is truly amazing. It just um it just it just uh I tell you what, it just um impacted me and in uh a very deep, deep part of my soul.
SPEAKER_06Well, Chris, can you tell us what God is doing in the Middle East? Like what did impact your soul?
SPEAKER_01Well, um, so if you look across the world at what um the movements of God around the world, this is one of the fastest growing places on earth. Um I mean just yesterday I'm I heard a story of twenty people coming to Christ in a matter of days. I mean, it's just and this is just one story of uh that's happening by the hundreds, by the thousands.
SPEAKER_03And also the the diaspora, how God's taking them to other parts of the world.
SPEAKER_01The diaspora, and there's people right here in San Antonio who um can you will you define diaspora for our listeners? Well, I'll try. Um I'll try to say it's the um the breakup of families and countries where people are being um expelled from their land, and so other countries are offering to take them in as refugees. And so these people have no other place to go, so they go wherever they there's an open door.
SPEAKER_06To me, it's like uh God's great mix-up, you know. It's like people we m sometimes it is. I mean, it's it's tragic when people lose their home or they're they're expelled or moved out of a place, but like these amazing children, Heather, I'm looking at you, they are diaspora people, they're displaced, and yet that allowed an encounter. So Okay, sorry. I was like, Oh, Chris, that was profound. Like, okay, tell us about the Middle East.
SPEAKER_01So your heart was stirred, going, I gotta go. So um, so Mike asked me to go, and then um Lisa and Lori asked me to go, and so I just felt the Lord was saying, you know, Chris, you need to go. So I jumped on board and uh I'm so glad I did.
SPEAKER_06I just um I wanna I want to share something really quick, Chris. I'm sorry to cut you off, but this the this is it's like the Lord has been speaking me this to me the whole time we've been talking, and I I opened an email this morning and I actually read um that there's a a group that I've that I I follow and it they're asking the Lord to send seventy four thousand four hundred and sixty workers into the harvest field um because it says, Did you know the Joshua Project estimates that 74,460 new missionaries are needed to reach the unreached? So I hear what you're saying, and I'm like, let's all pray for 74,460 new missionaries to reach the unreached because that's I mean, I don't know. I was like, okay, I'm gonna just pause on that because that's what you're speaking to, and I've heard y'all say things about that, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna open this up and just well, that's my prayer.
SPEAKER_01I pray daily for multitudes that God would send multitudes into the harvest so that multitudes will come to know Christ. Yes, that his name would be made known.
SPEAKER_06That is our purpose.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So our team was uh it was four men, and we were sent to minister to young men who are brand new believers, and they um they have some training, but really not not that much. So we actually compiled um a two-day set of classes for um for them around the life of David. So we wanted to teach them what it means to um uh to live a life for Christ and to see a man who did that and see all the the ups that he had, all the downs that he had. I mean, he he David did great things, but also he went through some very severe tragedies, and so we um we just spent two days walking uh with them through the life of David.
SPEAKER_06That is so cool. And what what do you feel like the outcome was, or what were some of the things that resonated with?
SPEAKER_01I know they were they were so blessed. We um uh so when we went in, we thought they were gonna be kind of quiet and reserved, but it was just the opposite. It was like the Lord just uh gave them the freedom to speak, and so we so sprinkled through the curriculum, we had places where we would ask questions just to get them to talk, and I mean they just took it and ran with it. They told us amazing stories of um how God has worked in their lives, miracles that they have experienced. Um like uh, for example, real quickly, one story this uh man woke up and the Lord told him he was still a Muslim, but the Lord told him he needed to go to a church.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_01And uh so he said, I think I need to go to church. So he found a church and he went to this church, and while he was away, something very catastrophic happened um where he was sleeping, and uh had he been there, he would have perished. Oh my goodness. Um but um he was uh his life was saved.
SPEAKER_03We've heard a number of stories about how God is moving and how they're having dreams and seeing the man in white and dreaming of Jesus, and these are Muslims, but uh God and Jesus are appearing to them and calling them to himself in dreams.
SPEAKER_06In dreams. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01So so while these countries may want Jesus out of there, Jesus is not gonna be thwarted from from that. He's gonna he's gonna do what he needs to do.
Key Takeaways And Next Steps
SPEAKER_06He'll show up in in dreams. Right. That is incredible. Okay. So we are at our 33-minute mark right now, and what I would love to do is I would love to end here for now, and let's pick up with the part two, and we're gonna hear a little bit more about your personal highlights and just a little bit more around what about what y'all were saying about how it is, how the word, how the gospel is moving over in the Middle East. So is there anything else y'all would just want to say about your your unique experience with your team as we talked about your team's purpose while you were there? But as we wrap it up, is there anything to conclude what you've already said?
SPEAKER_03I just think that um one thing that the whole team, even even all the different parts, yeah, um our focus was really to see God moving in the lives of brand new believers or people that were not yet believers, and that's what we saw. That is so and it was so impactful.
SPEAKER_06Well, and it really is um that I mean, going back to all of our purpose, I mean, that is all of our purpose, and and all three of you stepped out in a big way to go and and and go help to continue this exciting thing that is going on in the Middle East. And I think, you know, I I started on this a minute ago with you, Heather. For anyone listening and just curious, like how could how could I be a part of this? How could I make a difference and making God's name known? My goodness, there are so many opportunities and like Heather, hearing how you've always had a heart for the have nots, and God used that for you on this trip. And I'm thinking of the logistics of sending 14 people to the Middle East. And I'm thinking back to the podcast with Sandra and how her careers had her managing logistics and sorting things out, and she helped to make sure you all were where you needed to be. She she handed all those details, is that correct? And there you are. And then, Chris, like hearing you say, you know, there you are with with these men, and they're encouraged and ready to come be a part of what y'all are sharing. And immediately there weren't really walls, and y'all were able to just dive in. And you did that also, Lori, in terms of the teaching y'all were able to do. How long were y'all with the men for you, Chris? And then Lori, how long were y'all with the local partners? How many days?
SPEAKER_01We were in this one place for two days. Two days. And then we moved to another another location.
SPEAKER_06Wow, for two days. Wow. And so here you are, you've never completely just getting to meet these people, but you're able to connect, have it sound like very rich conversation and learning, and it was probably very dynamic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I just want to say what Heather was talking about. You know, when we go and um we go in the power of the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and he, you know, we say things, we communicate, we try to give out information, but it's really the Holy Spirit underlying that's that's doing the work and and making an impact on people.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I mean he does, and and everything we've been doing in our life, you know, equips us, moves us forward, and then we just show up with the yes, and he does what he does. I mean, he uses your heart as a child buying school supplies to then take you to the Middle East and have a heart for people who don't have and to connect with people. What did you do in your previous life, Chris, um, before retiring?
SPEAKER_01Um well, I was in I was in the software industry.
SPEAKER_06Okay. That's I mean, I was actually seeing if there was a connection there and probably not. But but you have, I mean, just having that heart for people and showing up. That's so cool. Well, as we wrap up just this part one, I really do hope, listeners, that that you are encouraged and perhaps curious about what your part could be. And I would just invite you to consider, you know, what are some things in your life that stir your heart? Um, because those are the unique things that God will use to call us into his work. It's that it's oftentimes, oddly enough, it oftentimes is the pain in our life, um, which he uses for purpose for his kingdom. But but oftentimes it also is just things that we're passionate about. And so as you've listened to this, I mean, I just think it's incredible what y'all were able to do and the logistics behind it and go into the Middle East, but there's a part for all of us. Each and every one of us have a part to play in God's kingdom and making his name known. So as we wrap up this part one, I want to say thank you for coming. And if perhaps questions have been stirred, um I invite you to listen to more come again, but also maybe go ahead and come talk to someone here at the church. So thank you for listening. And as we wrap it up today, I just pray that you and your family are blessed and that you know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00We are so thankful that you joined our podcast today.