The Heskews: Cultivating Calling Across Decades Pt. 1

Have you ever wondered how God plants and cultivates a missionary calling? For Albert Heskew, it began at age 7 during Vacation Bible School, though he wouldn't surrender his life to Christ until age 13. For his wife Kirsten, the journey looked completely different—even as she grew up in a Christian home, cross-cultural missions wasn't on her radar until decades later.

This revealing conversation takes us through the winding path that eventually led the Heskews to serve as International Mission Board missionaries in Krakow, Poland for over 15 years. Their story showcases God's patient work in bringing together two people with different perspectives on ministry and missions. Albert's background includes sports, military service with the Navy, and church ministry positions, while Kirsten initially responded with a firm "over my dead body" when overseas missions was first suggested.

The couple shares profound wisdom about the importance of both spouses receiving individual callings before undertaking cross-cultural ministry. Their testimony demonstrates how God often speaks through processes rather than dramatic moments, including a pivotal 30-day prayer challenge that opened Kirsten's heart to missions. Perhaps most powerfully, they reveal how their individual callings have sustained them through challenges abroad, noting, "The Lord never calls you away from something; He only calls you to something."

Whether you're considering cross-cultural ministry yourself or simply want to understand how God works in the lives of ordinary people to accomplish His global purposes, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical insight. Listen now to discover how God might be cultivating seeds of calling in your own life, even when the harvest seems far away.

Transcript

Kyle 0:05

Welcome and thanks for listening to the From Every Nation podcast, the official podcast of the Tom Eliff Center for Missions at Oklahoma Baptist University. I'm Kyle and I'll be your host as we learn to live as those sent out to spread the gospel. All right, everybody, thanks for coming. Today we're excited to record another episode for the From Every Nation podcast. I've got with me some friends from Poland, albert and Kirsten Heskew and so we're going to do an interview with them today and really kind of talk about their time on the field and how the Lord has just taken them from a young age to where they are today over to serving in Poland and how the Lord's just used them to make his name known around the world. So I'll let you all go ahead and introduce yourselves and kind of I mean I already spilled the beans on Poland and kind of I mean I already spilled the beans on Poland, but introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about where you're at and just briefly what you're doing, because we'll dive deep into that here pretty quickly.

Albert 1:13

Sounds good. I'm Albert and my wife Kirsten. We're the Heskies. We do serve in Krakow, poland, and I've been there a little over 15 years and I have the blessing to be able to do sports ministry as well as work with the church plant. We do English ministry.

Kirsten 1:35

So we are IMB missionaries and we've been in the same city, same country, all 15 years in the same city, same country, all 15 years. And we have two kids that were born in America but they left America with us when they were five and three, so they basically grew up on the field, but they are now back in the States for university. Actually, caleb is our junior at OBU and Aaron is our freshman this year at OBU.

Kyle 2:04

That's awesome. So, listeners, we want you to catch as a part of this conversation that we've got Albert and Kirsten are just regular people. The Lord equips the call to go and do work overseas and I think you're going to hear that with our conversation today, and we want to get as many workers in your ears as possible because we believe in the power of testimonies. I know myself. I remember back to when I was young at my church. My church brought in a missionary from Sub-Saharan Africa and I still just have vivid memories of how that weekend, where my church brought in a missionary, just impacted and shaped my worldview of missions and how the Lord reaches people all over the earth. So we want to do that today and we want to help you all see those things as a part of this conversation. So let's dive in and talk first about your early lives. Help us understand where you grew up. What was your family like? Did you all grow up in Christian homes? When did you come to know the Lord? Kind of, walk us through your early years.

Albert 3:32

You want to go first?

Kirsten 3:33

Sure. So I grew up in a Christian home so I was in church every time the doors were open Sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night and I had a good missional background through church programs, which for me at that age was GAs and Actines. But I, like you, kyle, I remember very vivid opportunities of hearing about real-life missionaries that would come back from the field and speak at our church but I never particularly connected with. I was fascinated by the stories and I loved reading about them. I remember my mom actually reading some books with me during my growing up years and I loved the stories, but there was no personal connection for me.

Kirsten 4:21

Although when I met Albert and even going through my college, I think that my I came to the Lord when I was eight through a citywide revival that our church was a part of and I really felt that call strong to recognize that I was a sinner and I needed Jesus as my Savior and I grew in that Christian home. But my faith really took off as a freshman in college. That was that sweet spot where my faith became my own for the first time and I got to know God, not as the God of my family or the God of my Sunday school teacher, who was a huge mentor in my life. But he became my own and so my faith really grew during those years and that's when I really felt called to do ministry. And when I met Albert and our relationship grew our friendship first, but then a relationship. I really connected with the fact that he felt called to do ministry. But I always envisioned that to be within the boundaries of the United States. So that's where my call to over cross-cultural missions didn't come until later.

Kyle 5:35

Yeah, I'm sure that was quite the shock down the road, but we'll get into that, I'm sure.

Albert 5:41

For me growing up, I had three older sisters. My mom was not a believer. My parents were divorced when I was six, so our home wasn't necessarily a Christian home, even though my mom loved God, but she made sure that my sisters and I went to the Baptist church that was close by our house and, like Kirsten was saying, we were there Sunday morning, sunday evening and Wednesdays. So it was an environment that was normal to us, that was natural and it was very comfortable. I came to know the Lord at 13 because of a Sunday school teacher that invested in me and really wanted to make sure that I had that saving grace from Christ, and so his mentorship, his discipleship for me was instrumental in coming to know the Lord, know the Lord and growing up. Like I said, our house wasn't necessarily a Christian home, but it was something that we went to church and did. All the camps and early on, during VBS, that's where I really felt the call to missions. I was seven and we were talking about missionaries in Africa and that just resonated in my heart to know that's what I want to do and just really felt a peace about it. Growing up, though, sports was always huge for me. I played sports and, unfortunately, as I was getting older, it became more and more of a priority in my life and then it became the number one priority in my life and I was able to play junior college baseball, a little semi-pro baseball. But then the Lord closed that window and so I finished my university studies, went into the Navy and while I was stationed in San Diego, the Lord kind of brought that back around, saying okay, you said that you were wanting to do missions. Okay, I want you to move into ministry, and so I accepted the call to full-time ministry, went back to San Antonio, was on staff there and that's where I met Kirsten. We got married. The pastor who, who is an amazing mentor for me, said you know, if you guys are going to do this, because I was doing satellite seminary while in San Antonio and he's like you need to just go Go to Fort Worth at Southwestern, finish up and then serve the Lord like you desire to do, like he desires you to do. So that's what we did.

Sports, Navy Years, and Ministry Redirection

Albert 9:27

We moved up to Fort Worth, did full-time ministry, graduated, looked at a missions conference that was going on after graduation and for me it was just that tug again to say, oh yeah, this is what I really would like to do and the timing just wasn't right. And so we had our son. He was a few months old and the timing wasn't right for both Carson and I and we both had to be called to that aspect of ministry and it wasn't there yet. And so, after serving on staff for a couple of different churches in different locations, we had our daughter Erin, and then moved back to the just, through some circumstances at the church we were serving at, just really felt the need to step away from ministry and that church position as well as the other one they weren't the most positive and there was a small missionary Baptist church that just loved on us and got us healthy again to do ministry and to serve with a joyful heart and in so doing the Lord was preparing that way for us to step into full-time ministry overseas.

Albert 11:06

We didn't know it at that time, but we could go back and look at those markers and say, okay, he was kind of taking things out of our life and putting us in a position to go and went through. We were praying about it and we had some really godly wisdom that another mentor gave us and he just said you know, go through the process, through the application process, and see if this really is where the Lord is calling you. And so we did. We started the process and there were several times that the application wasn't turned in on time and this is the IMB application.

Albert 11:56

Imb, yes, and multiple opportunities for that door to close, but the Lord kept opening it and we kept seeing that, okay, this really is what he's desiring us to do.

Kyle 12:12

Can I pause and rewind a second? Sure, I've got a lot of questions about some of the things you brought up there. So you mentioned you felt a call at 7, but you weren't saved until you were 13. Correct, is that? Okay, that is correct. So when you were 7, what did that call mean to you? What were you thinking?

Albert 12:36

The best way to kind of put that. In terms being in that BBS environment and hearing the stories about the missionaries that were sharing to these people that had no idea of who Christ was, it was like I want to do that, I want that to be something as a career. At seven it was like, oh, that's the kind of job I want. I want to tell people about God, I want them to know who Jesus is. Even though I knew who Jesus was in my head, it hadn't traveled from my brain to my heart yet, and so, at the age of 13, I really understood what it meant to have Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Kyle 13:33

Okay, and so when that happened, did that call to missions just stay kind of buried in the back of your mind, or how did that come up later down the road?

Albert 13:45

It was something that I get. The best way to explain it is the Lord had planted that seed, planted that seed and he had put it in fertile soil and he was allowing it to cultivate, to germinate, and he was watering it and in his timing, that seed started to grow. And during high school and even during early parts of my university studies, I was doing mission trips and loved it, absolutely loved it, and I was like this is so good, and always in the back of my mind thinking, yeah, I want to do this, but my love for sports many times it was overshadowing that and it was like, well, maybe I just do short-term mission trips, you know, a week here, 10 days there. And that's what the Lord was placing on my heart, unbeknownst to me at that time. He was just giving me that taste and saying, okay, I've planted that seed, I'm going to give you an opportunity to get where I needed to be spiritually, to serve him in the right capacity and not only serve him in the right capacity to be the husband that I needed to be, to be the father that I needed to be.

Finding Each Other and Discussing Ministry

Albert 15:24

And it took time, it took what almost 40 years before that really kind of came about to say now it's time, and for Kirsten and I both to be in the right place spiritually to know we were both being called together. I had been called earlier. I had put that aside. I was doing sports, I was teaching, I was doing ministry. And he allowed me to do those things.

Albert 16:06

And when I graduated seminary it was to the point of saying, lord, if you're asking me what I want to do, I want to teach Bible and I want to coach Bible and I want to coach. I couldn't think of anything better. And so he allowed me to have that position teaching seventh grade Bible at a high school and coaching. And him saying you know, that's good, that really is good, that's what you want. I have something better, that's what you want. I have something better, and that is to serve me overseas, teaching the Bible, doing sports and sharing the love with people that don't know me. So it was one of those things that when we hear about the passage that he will give us the desires of our heart, we have to understand that our heart has to be his first, and when our heart is his, our desires are his desires.

Albert 17:06

It's not my selfish desires, and so he gave me the desires of my heart, even in that outside of His will because I was coaching and teaching Bible. But His desires for me and for me wanting His heart, was to do it overseas.

Kyle 17:33

Yeah, that's great. So we're in California for a while and that's where you two met. No, we— no you two met in Texas. Texas, yes, texas. So you were in the Navy for a while. Real quick. What was your job in the Navy?

Albert 17:47

I worked on F-14s.

Kyle 17:49

Okay, very cool.

Albert 17:51

I was stationed where they did Top Gun.

Kyle 17:55

Okay.

Albert 17:58

So, yeah, so it was a great experience. I loved what I did, but I was in an air squadron, part of the Navy and it was a training squadron for the F-14 pilots and whenever they would go out to train on aircraft carriers, we would go out with them. And we had another squadron that was on base with us and I was doing guard duty one night and that squadron was getting ready to deploy out for their four-year rotation out for their four-year rotation. And it was the hardest thing because these guys were coming up and they were leaving their families, leaving their wives, their girlfriends, their children, and the kids would be clinging on them, saying Daddy, please don't go, please don't go. I was at the gate and I would be crying just like I can't take this. This is horrible, and I knew that if I wanted a family, I couldn't stay in the Navy. And so that kind of was the Lord's prompting to say again, I have something different for you, yeah and so. Which is what led? Different for you? Yeah and so.

Kyle 19:18

Which is what led you to Texas Yep.

Albert 19:20

I went back home.

Kyle 19:22

Yeah. So, Kirsten, how did the two of you meet? And I think one thing I'd love to hear about is what were the conversations like between the two of you when it came to saying, okay, we want to do ministry, but more specifically, hey, we think we're leaning to go overseas at some point, because I think that's a really critical conversation for students to have.

Kirsten 19:52

Well, albert was already kind of established in San Antonio Texas area. He had finished his undergrad, did his time in the Navy and then came back to the San Antonio area and was on staff at our church. So I entered the scene, I had done my undergrad and we actually went to the same undergraduate university but never crossed paths.

Kirsten 20:13

But I relocated to San Antonio to work on my master's degree in physical therapy and so we met at our church. I came and joined the church where he was and I was part of the singles ministry and Albert was in that ministry initially and then he got moved up into being the interim singles minister and I remember pretty distinctly he got a chance to share his testimony with the church family. It was probably in preparation for him coming on staff and I remember distinctly remembering his story of how God had called him into ministry before. But during some of his later college years and time in the Navy he wasn't always walking with the Lord that whole entire time and the enemy really got a hold of him and tried to convince him that he was not worthy of serving the Lord in ministry, that somehow he had lost that privilege, I guess, and so. But the Lord reminded him of it when he was in California and he said remember, I've set you apart to do something specific. And I remember really being drawn to that testimony and it's just as friends.

Kirsten 21:24

I got to hear more about his walk with the Lord and that journey and I was really curious at the time because I was still single. And I was really curious at the time because I was still single, I was struggling with whether or not God had called me to be single because I didn't have anybody in my life and he had just come on staff as a singles minister. So I wanted to pick his brain. I was like do you feel called to be single and if so, how do you? How'd you come to that terms? And so, anyway, we had a chance. Actually, we were kind of set up, I think, by our Sunday school teacher.

Kyle 21:56

Snatched up the singles minister. Okay, okay, why not?

The Journey to Accepting Cross-Cultural Mission

Kirsten 22:00

She, uh, she orchestrated an opportunity for us to get to know each other and and I I'd ask him those hard questions and he was like whoa, I mean, we're like digging deep soon. But through that conversation I got to hear his heart and, funny enough, we actually closed down the restaurant that night and we were still just friends, just sharing our stories with the Lord. But I remember praying for him on my way home to my apartment that night because I had heard his heart and I had seen so much of his character that night, just him talking about the Lord and his desires, and I thought, man God, if his desire is to be married and to be a dad, I just pray that you would bring her to him quickly, because not just because it's the desires of his heart, but I think he would honor you as in that role as a husband and as a father.

Kyle 22:49

I see that character quality in him had no clue at that point that I was actually praying for myself, because I didn't know if that was appropriate, had no clue at that point that I was actually praying for myself Because I didn't know if that was appropriate.

Kirsten 23:00

We have a pretty large age gap between us and I thought can you date the singles minister? You know, is that weird? But our friendship began changing and so when I had heard his testimony about him being called into ministry, that really resonated with me. I could totally see myself being a minister's wife, possibly even a pastor's wife, even though I think that's an incredible calling and not an easy calling necessarily. But that really resonated with me. And so I was completely on board with our after we got married and for him to stop doing seminary part-time and to do it full-time. And so at the end of seminary you know, here we are at this crossroads, we've got to figure out where we're going to go serve. And Albert told me he said, hey, the IMB is coming to do their spiel. You know it's the end of the semester, maybe we should go hear it. And I was like, yeah, sure, we were a new young couple and I wanted to be agreeable and kind of follow his lead. And so I was like, okay, let's go here. And so we did. We went and heard their whole spiel and we got home and you could just feel the excitement in his voice. He's like so what do you think?

Kirsten 24:07

And we were holding our newborn at the time and I looked down at him and I looked at Albert and I was like over my dead body. Well, I'm not. No, no, we are not taking this baby, we're not uprooting and leaving family and no, that's not even an option on the table right now. I mean, that was a nice presentation. And Albert in the wisdom, even as a young husband at that time we hadn't been married more than a couple of years, maybe two and a half years. At that point, he had the wisdom from the Lord to realize that, even though that was on his heart, that I also needed to be called and to specifically to cross-cultural ministry, because it's, you know, being a missionary is what we're all called to.

Kirsten 24:52

It doesn't matter, it just depends on your location. But regardless of your location, we're called to be. It doesn't matter, it just depends on your location. But regardless of your location, we're called to be on mission. But to do that cross-culturally is something very specific, and we were already established as a family before the Lord, and Albert was not a single man making that decision any longer, and so I was really thankful that he chose to honor me and to honor the Lord, to know that the timing had to be right for us to both go at the right time, and I was not there. It took me another two years.

Kyle 25:22

I think that's so important for us to sit and maybe just unpack a little bit, because we have conversation with students all the time.

Kyle 25:29

When we have students come in and they're in high school or they're in college, calling is just on their mind we talk about all the time and we talk specifically with our mission-minded students about how important unity of mind in ministry is and missions and how they need to be very they need to seek the Lord well in who they choose to date and who they choose to marry, because we want them to walk well in God's call on their life.

Kyle 26:06

So to hear I mean you were talking before we started recording but you said and I really loved it you talked about how you two were established as a family under God and both needed a call. You know our director says all the time that that call is so important when you're an overseas worker because on those really hard days when life's just not going well for you overseas or there's a family tragedy back home, or you know it's just not going well for you overseas or there's a family tragedy back home, or you know it's just the holidays and you miss your family, that call is what really keeps you unified and focused on the field, but to not have that as a couple, I can only imagine the tension that that would cause, and so, um, actually.

Kirsten 26:58

I don't think it created a lot of tension just because of. I can imagine it was hard for Albert to hear that. You know that voice of rejection basically saying, no, that's not something that's on the discussion table. But he was so wise and humble at that point to recognize he has an amazing gift of faith too. I think that has been given to him by the Lord and he just trusted the Lord that there would be a right time. He trusted my walk with the Lord and I remember as we talked about it, we talked about the exact same thing and I thought, yes, we are one as a married couple before Christ, but we still have our individual walk with the Lord and it's not a small endeavor, especially to take small children, even cross-culturally. But I knew that there would be days that, like you said, would be hard to live cross-culturally and I didn't need to be convinced that Albert had been called. I needed to be convinced that Albert had been called. I need to be convinced that I had been called and that I think that has made all the difference for me.

Kirsten 28:03

As we've lived these 15 years overseas, there have been a lot of days where one or both of us, but at different times are like I can't this is too hard get me on a plane to somebody who speaks English. But very rarely is that the same day for each of us, and so that's been something that we've been able to go back to, that calling to say, to remind each other what did we hear last from God? What we both heard last from God was to go to Krakow, poland. Has he removed that calling from us? And until he does, we need to be obedient to that.

Albert 28:37

And you know, kyle, the one thing that again just some really amazingly godly advice that was shared with us is that the Lord never calls you out or away from something, he only calls you to something. Out or away from something, he only calls you to something. And so when we feel, oh, it's too hard, I want to leave or.

Albert 29:09

I can't do this. We're only operating in our flesh and not in the spirit that he's given us, and we will continue to serve where, as Kirsten said, he last gave us our directions to. And until he gives us new directions to something else, we know we need to be where we're at, and I think that's when times are really tough to remember what has the Lord called me to or us to, because until he changes that to something else, we need to be obedient and diligent in that call.

Kyle 29:53

That's really good. So you also said one other thing in there that I think is really good, where you talked about how deep you went in your conversations quickly with one another, about where you're at, what you're called to, and I think that's really important for students. And I was reading a part of a book not too long ago and the author was talking about how, when, when you're dating somebody, it's really important to take as long as you need to get to know what you need to know about the person, but do it as quickly as possible and thinking through, because that that helps protect both parties in the relationship from hurt. If you know early, hey, our callings aren't matching, but I like this relationship enough that I'm going to keep walking in it. But if you have those conversations early and often and deeply, it really helps figure out okay, do we mesh? Do our callings that the Lord has for our life, do those mesh?

When God Opens Doors: The Call to Poland

Kyle 31:02

I think that was really good and exactly what you were saying about those early conversations that you all were having with one another, that's really good. So when it came time to going overseas, you went to that meeting with the IMB and said, oh, that's not for me. But two years after that, what started to change that you said OK, yes, now's the time.

Kirsten 31:30

Well, when he graduated seminary and we were trying to figure out where to serve, albert went with 100% full force and we served on staff at several churches in different capacities, which gave us great experience in ministry and missions. But it was about two years later. We were in a transition time and had stepped away from one church position. We were really searching where the Lord wanted us to serve next and it was a really dry season spiritually because we were searching desperately and God was closing doors left and right and we would get way down into the interview process, almost to the point that at one point he actually had a start date with the ministry and then something happened and it would close the door and we were so discouraged yeah, with the ministry. And then something happened and it would close the door and we were so discouraged and I remember even hearing Albert praying during that season how just desperation of Lord, I'll pick up trash if that's your will for me. We just we want to hear from you, we want to be in the center of your will and whatever that is, even if that doesn't look like what we envision. And the Lord had temporarily placed us in a position where Albert had just some temporary work at the time and about that time our church was hosting a missions, a women's conference that I attended, and there wasn't anything to do with missions regarding that at that conference at all. But at the end of the conference, the speaker challenged every one of us to consider what the Lord was dealing with us about specifically, individually and, in order to deal with that issue, bring that before the Lord. And to remind us.

Kirsten 33:09

She had this little gimmick where she told us to put our watch on our opposite arm for 30 days to make a 30 dayday commitment to pray and talk with the Lord about whatever he needed to deal with you on. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were so desperately trying to figure out where we were going to be serving, and the Lord had reminded me about my resistance to consider cross-cultural ministry and I thought that's what I've got to pray about. I have to deal with the Lord with this missions calling. And so I did. I switched my watch to the other hand. I came home and I even told Albert this is what I'm doing and he didn't even jump up and down. He was really. He said I'll pray along with you.

Albert 33:49

Inside I was. Yeah, he was pretty excited.

Kirsten 33:52

And I can't actually tell you that God spoke clearly and distinctly in those 30 days, but I think he opened up my heart to be teachable and that's where we got the wisdom and advice. We didn't even know. I said, okay, if we're open to considering this, where do we start? And we heard from a mentor that said why don't you start the process with the IMB and let God speak in the process, speak through the process? And that was completely our testimony. The process, as you know, to go with the IMB is not a short process, and so there were many opportunities, many times during that process that doors should have closed on us, missed deadlines by outside of our control or different circumstances came up, and every time the Lord reopened those doors and allowed us to take the next step in the process and that's how we got to the mission field. And it was.

Kirsten 34:45

But there was a very distinct moment when we were at an IMB conference hearing about the need across the world and trying to decide were we putting our name on the dotted line?

Kirsten 34:54

Did God call us to go, and has God called us to go now?

Kirsten 34:59

And the day that we had to make that decision, the Lord was so gracious to me and giving me a specific story on a blog that he used to connect with my heart and speak to me.

Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

Kirsten 35:14

And we had heard the whole weekend about the need across the globe and it was compelling. It was very compelling and I remember the last morning of that conference we woke up and Albert said well, you know, how are you, how are you feeling, what are you thinking? Same question he'd given me two years before and just with tears streaming down my face, I was like we have to go. It is our time, our season for our family. I knew we had heard all the statistics that our kids were at the perfect age to be able to absorb a new country, culture and language, and we saw the need placed before us. And the Lord had graciously given me a connection with a specific story about a young Polish girl who had come to Christ, come to faith, and I got to walk through her story all the way through baptism and it grabbed me and that was the moment that I knew it was time for us to go.

Kyle 36:10

That's powerful. So how old were your kids?

Albert 36:15

They were three and five when we got to the field.

Kyle 36:18

What is that sweet spot for kids? I've heard before 11.

Kirsten 36:25

Yeah, I think it was what they told us at the time was up to eight years old was the perfect opportunity for them to transition and to follow the parent's lead as far as not absorbing all of the extra stress and the anxiety, but also language learning is really key with the developmental, the development of the ear. So they, they picked it up differently. So Albert and I learned Polish as well, but we learned it differently from our kids just because of their developmental stage.

Kyle 36:58

Yeah, that's fair. That's pretty cool, so let's. Unless there's something that you're dying to talk about pre-Poland, let's shift and transition to talk about Poland and your time there. So I think is there anything you're dying to share?

Albert 37:20

No, I think that the aspect of the Lord just preparing our hearts, the timing of it, preparing the way to get to Poland, I think we've covered it pretty good.

Kyle 37:37

So we'll pick up our conversation next time and we'll jump straight into your time in Poland and talk about your life and ministry there, and we're thankful for your time today and we're looking forward to posting our next episode. So thanks for the conversation today and, listeners, we'll jump back in here pretty quickly with the second part of Albert and Kirsten's interview here. Thanks for listening to this episode. The Tom Ellef Center for Missions exists to equip the next generation of missionaries at Oklahoma Baptist University. Regardless of your major, you can come to OBU, get a world-class Christian education and get equipped to take the gospel. Thank you our description and come visit us at WU.