#183 - Relational Evangelism

Andrea Fortenberry and Stacey Morgan talk about how MomCo leaders can share their faith in simple but powerful ways. 

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You can connect with Stacey on Instagram @staceymorgan2000. You can also find our cohosts on Instagram: @andreafortenberry, @ivymamma and @sherri_crandall.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Monco Leader Podcast. We believe that life and leadership are better in community. We're here to equip and encourage you as a leader and mom. We'll talk about real issues and practical tools to help you grow in your leadership, motherhood, and faith. Hi leaders, I'm Andrea Fortenberry, and I'm so excited for this episode. I'm chatting with my friend and coworker, Stacy Morgan. Hi, Stacy. Hello. So glad to chat with you today. If our listeners aren't familiar with you, will you share who you are and what you do here at the Mom Co.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Absolutely. I wear a few different hats. Probably the biggest hat I wear, if we're going to do this big hats with other hats underneath them, is I'm an executive leadership coach for the Mom Co., which is one of the, there are several of us, and we do all the training with the coordinators and assistant coordinators of in-person meetups and just help them have all the skills and encouragement they need to be successful. I am also the membership manager. So that's probably an equally sized hat that I wear. And that is I try to make membership as exciting and fantastic as possible. And we put out the monthly member content, which of course is for everyone who is a Mom Co member, all that comes out every month on them.co. And then I'm also the lead for military groups, any group that is uh, you know, any kind of military installation, as well as just kind of the contact for military-related questions when it comes to membership or um resourcing and things like that. And then I also help with our online meetups, which are if you have not checked out the uh different variety of offerings of online meetups lately. You can go to the group, the online meetup search in the group search there on the mom.co and see we've always got really interesting online meetups. And if you're a mom co member, you can join one or as many as you want. That's part of your member benefits. But online meetups are really kind of a cool and exciting thing, and it's always fun to help those get set up.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, I love it. As you were giving that little description of all that you I'm picturing like Russian nesting dolls, like actually little hats. Like, but wait, there's more. Yes, you're amazing. Thank you for all you do here at the Mom Co. And today we are going to be chatting about relational evangelism, which really are just fancy words that mean sharing our faith, right? Like sharing about Jesus in relationship with others. And for our momco meetups, just a reminder that it's really important that we all understand and remember we are an outreach ministry. And so that means that within our meetups, we want moms to be all across the spectrum of faith, from having mature believers, of course, who, and then also on the other end of the spectrum, we want moms to come in who either have no interest in faith or church or just have never been exposed to it. And that is actually a really good and healthy thing because it shows that Momco is a space where every mom feels welcomed and loved and accepted. And we are not a women's Bible study, we are not a Christian women's support group, we're not a book club. We are just the special ministry that's a blend of relationship and community combined with biblical perspective and that faith framework that allows us to create opportunities for every mom to meet Jesus in new and deeper ways. And we wanted to chat about this topic today because we're in the middle of April and Easter is coming up. So we're all thinking about Easter service, about celebrating, and what better way to celebrate than sharing our faith with other people in our lives? So that's why we're chatting about this today. And we're gonna just dive in. So, Stacy, you have this brilliant analogy that you have talked about before, and I would love for you to expand upon that momco is the front porch of the local church. So, will you unpack that for us?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Absolutely. So, this is a great analogy because a front porch, you know, everybody loves a good front porch, right? I picture a beautiful wraparound porch on a southern house where you just want to, you just want to get up on there and sit in that rocking chair. Sit and drink your sweet tea. Drink exactly your sweet tea and have a great conversation. And that's exactly what we are. An outreach ministry is not the church, right? So, Momco, the front porch is not the church, but you have to be attached to the church, right? So a front porch, if it's not attached to anything, like it's not a front porch anymore. It's I don't I don't know what it is, just like a platform. Yeah, a debt. Um, but you know, and it's not just tied on with like a couple of zip ties, like a front porch is permanently and like really strongly affixed for the church. And that is so important to understand for leaders when you are, you know, doing every aspect of how you organize your time together and and your vision for how you invite people and what do they find when they come and have an experience with you. So, as the front porch of the church, um, it's important to recognize you are not the church and you are not trying to replace the church. And and we want to make sure that when you're talking to your church leadership, which hopefully you are doing regularly to give them updates and talk about what's going on and how you can support what they're doing and how the Momco as the front porch of their church helps them fulfill their mission, which is usually uh incorporate some aspect of reaching into the community to introduce them to Jesus and introduce, you know, invite them into the church and what the church is doing. Um, hopefully you are conveying to them, hey, like we want to help you fulfill your mission. And we are not in competition with the other ministries that the church may already and hopefully already has going on. For example, women's Bible study, awanas, um, you know, uh there may be kind of Christian women's support groups that are, you know, and those are internal, those are happening inside the church, and those are awesome things. And a healthy group recognizes we are not in competition, we're in the we're outside, they're inside, and our goal is to bring people from the outside to the inside. Like, and that there can be this great symbiotic relationship where when a mom who's on the front porch wants more, we invite her inside and we introduce her into that Bible study, that women's group, that the awanas probe, all the amazing things. But recognizing that the front porch is a unique space. And so um, things are gonna look different, right? We don't want to act like we're in church. And so the thing about an outreach ministry is that usually it's offering something that people want or need. And that's kind of the hook, right? That gets people interested in what you're doing. And so I like to remind people like we we don't want, we are again, we are not the church, right? So we don't want to offer Sunday sermons in our groups because if a mom was like, you know what, I need more of my life, sermons, you know, uh, she would show up on Sunday. But our goal is to reach the people who would never otherwise even consider going inside the church. And that includes people who, you know, maybe it's just never been part of their life, didn't grow up in the faith, didn't um, you know, but it also includes people who maybe got burned by the church or had just feel like the church is not relevant to their life anymore, right? So our goal is to create a space, like you said, where everyone is welcome. So again, if you pet picture that front porch, it's like you are welcome here, right? There's no walls, it's open, um, big, wide expanse of stairs that you know, everyone is bring your bags, bring all your baggage, you know, bring it in. And you are welcome. There's a thousand rocking chairs and there are gallons of sweet tea, and you are welcome to sit out here and be with us. And because we are focused on the front porch experience, like we're not gonna judge you. We're gonna, we're gonna welcome you. And what we offer, what the mom co offers as that thing that people need is friendship, right? So it's a universal. Every mom is looking for friends, and we say, if we're doing this right, this is where you can find friends. Come up on the front porch with us. Show up with your baggage, show up in your messy bun, messy hair, all of the stuff with a bazillion kids hanging off of you, right? Snot on your shoulder, right? Like you are welcome here. And we're gonna create such a warm, welcoming environment on this front porch that you want more of this in your life. And for many moms, you know, we find that if we do this well, sometimes this is the first time in their life that they have experienced female friendship that isn't drama and catty and judgmental and you know, all the things that also come with motherhood and that, right? And so we hope that we you feel so awesome on this front porch that when we invite you a few times a year uh to come inside with us, or when I talk about how part of my rhythm of life is regularly going inside and connecting, you know, on a deeper level with the community that you can find inside. That some of the moms who have been hanging out on the front porch with us say, like, you know, honestly, my experience out here has been so awesome. I'm gonna come inside with you just to like out of curiosity to see if there's more awesome people inside. And hopefully in your church, there are, right? And and so that's the goal. Like, are we maintaining that front porch mentality? Because sometimes if you've grown up in the church, the things that feel very comfortable to you, um, you know, so you just do those things because you're like, yeah, you know, that this feels doesn't feel weird to me. But if you ask someone who didn't grow up in the church, like, you're like, why are we all holding hands? What's happening right now? Right? Like, blood of the lamb, what? Like, what are you talking about? Like, so the words we choose and the way we even physically interact with people and um, you know, schedule our time, like it matters to maintain that front porch mentality. But like you said, if we're doing this right, we've got the whole spectrum of people on that front porch with us from mature believers, and those are our leaders and our mentors, and just some of our participants. But we should also have a large amount of our group that, you know, at the one end of the spectrum, you know, may be of other faiths or may say, if you ask them directly, I am not interested in, like, don't talk to me about God. I'm not interested in faith. I don't think it's interesting to me. Um, and that's a good thing because that means that you have created that warm and welcoming space there when and they're finding friendships there. And our goal is that no matter where you are in that spectrum, by the end of the year, we bring you one step closer to the end of the spectrum where you have a you know a deeper relationship with this guy named Jesus. And for some people, that one step is going to be just getting on the porch. And that's a really important, I think, thing for leaders to understand. Like for some people, just pulling into the parking lot and getting out of their car. Like, that's a big deal. And that's why we talk a lot about like, do you have a sign on the door that says this is the door you go in? Because for some people, like the idea of I got to figure out what door to go in. And if you go to a big church, there's like 500 doors, they're all like labeled A, B, C, F, West, West Wing or Third Parking Like, you're like, forget it. They will just peel right out of there because there's high anxiety for some people about going into um what they would call a religious space, right? So we got to lower those barriers. And so again, on the front porch, there's no walls, right? You're lucky if you get a guardrail. Just like we want to make it as open and as easy, low barrier to entry as possible. So that includes good signage, you know, welcoming people, anything you can do to say, like, you are welcome here. And there's no, you are not a project, you are someone that we're gonna love. That we're not gonna trick you and like, you know, you get on the porch, then we try to drag you inside the church, right? Like you literally can hang out here as long as you want, and we will our friendship and our love and care for you will not change. But if we're loving and caring for them like Jesus did, it's it is enticing, right? It is um, it's something that they will want more of because they will experience a friendship and a hope and a love, the likes of which they have probably not experienced um ever before. And they will want more and they and but it has to be their choice, right? They we want them to come with us of their free will into that, you know. Um, and it there's not a goal. Our goal as leaders is not to, you know, have conversions and have these altar calls and stuff. Our goal is to love on moms the way Jesus did, and then like get out of the Holy Spirit's way. And that's gonna happen on the front porch. And when they say, and when so when that mom says, Well, why can't we have more, you know, like why can't we do a Bible study together? Like, why can't like why can't we do something? It's like because that's happening inside, right? Like, and we're not like down on Bible studies, we're very pro-bible study, but like that's inside, right? So absolutely, you want more on the off weeks, please go inside, join the Bible study. Like, I'll be there with you, you know. But what we're doing out here is different because the Hindu mom is not interested in the Bible study, right? Right. And if we start making it something it's not, if we start putting these walls up on the front porch and trying to make it a sunroom, like um, that's we have lost sight of our outreach mission and mentality. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah. Well, and what I love about that front porch analogy is when I can think of times where I have been on the front porch, yes, I'm engaged with the people who are on the porch with me, but I'm noticing people driving down the street or walking by pushing a stroller. And I just feel like that gives us more of that encouragement to have those open eyes of like who else is walking by that we could invite to come and be part of what is going on here. So I just I think it's yeah, just such a brilliant reminder and just so applicable of what the mentality we can put on as leaders of looking for those on the outside of the porch to come in and hang out. And like you said, eventually maybe we can invite you in, not pressure you in or drag you kicking and screaming, but it's an invitation, it's the first step to that.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Well, awesome. Thanks for that, Stacy. So I'm gonna chat through here now. Just another reminder that we want to share with you leaders is that at Mom Co, we share our faith through stories, not through sermons. And Stacey, you already mentioned that because again, when we bring people in and we start using language that's uncomfortable to them, or it just feels like we've trapped them there for an hour and they're just captive and they're like, this is uncomfortable. How do I get out of this? And we're just talking at them from the stage and not relating to them around the table, that can feel really icky. So at Mom Co, we shared through just being really real with each other about life and about motherhood. And it's actually really special today. My meetup had our tea and testimony, which is something that a lot of our groups do in the spring, just as a way to talk about Jesus, to kind of wrap up our year. And we did ours a little earlier this year. We did it today. And it was just so special to hear about how many moms are lonely in early motherhood, how we all have struggles. But when we are around a Momco table, we know and understand that we're not alone in those things. And each of the moms shared about how really coming to Momco was an answer to their prayer to find friends, but also along the way, God gave them just such hope through their anxiety, through loss, through walking through infertility. And it was just really beautiful to hear how Momco has been a part of their lives and their stories. And it was really powerful to hear them tell it from the stage, but also each of us as Mom Co leaders can share our story through just everyday moments that we have from one another. It doesn't have to be a formal tea and testimony situation. It can just be through the conversations that we have, where we are sharing how our faith impacts our daily, everyday life of laundry, of carpooling kids, of tantrums and teenagers, like all those things. How does our faith impact us? How do we have hope when life is hard? How can we encourage one another when we're struggling? Right. Just how does how does God change these situations for us? And it is just really powerful when we share and are vulnerable because it encourages the moms around the table to do the same as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Yeah, I'll say the hard part about this is that our in order to be able to talk about how my faith is affecting these daily small moments, my faith has to actually be impacting my life in these small moments. And so the challenge in this is that um it's not about how eloquent you are. People think like, oh, well, in order to do it, I gotta like take public speaking lessons and like, but the reality is most people don't want to hear like about the prayer I did with my dad when I was five, you know, because that feels like forever ago, and that's not relevant to what I'm doing today. But they do want to hear, like you said, they want to hear about like I'm in conflict with a friend and my faith changes how I'm acting through things. I want it, I want this way. I really want to be this way, but oh okay, Jesus is encouraging me to act this way, and so I'm gonna do that. And it's like that's it, what's but what's so awesome about it is it's freeing because I don't have to be, I can admit I'm you know, like I'm it's it's a challenge. It's like there's a tension that and that's that's what's interesting to people. The tension between what I want to do, what my my human sinful nature wants to do, and what my faith and my relationship with Jesus is instead like you know, ruffing down with that. That's interesting. Tell me about how you acted different in that traffic jam, you know, or like you said, when your kids are making you insane, or in your financial decisions. Now that's that's fascinating to the mom who says, I'm not interested in God because I don't think it's relevant to my life. Why is a book that's thousands of years old in any way relevant to me? And you can be like, I get it, you know. Um, but like, so yeah, but here's how my faith and the belief that this book is true and about the guy that's written them in it about, you know, this how it's real to me, how it's translating to my marriage. Now that is uh that is interesting to everyone because it's relevant to today. But it that it does, in fact, require at my age, that my relationship with Jesus changes how I fight with my husband, changes how I interact with other people, changes my perspective on life and all those kind of things. That's uh that's the tricky part. But that's an us problem, that's not an evangelism problem, right? And that's that's a key thing, is like that that is not the other person's issue. Um, that's my own, like that's a growth issue. But this is where, as a leader, these are the kind of things, like this is how God uses leadership to to refine you and make you more like him by being like, okay, if you're gonna talk about me, what have we been doing together lately? You know, and um and if the answer is like crickets, crickets, you know, then that's like that great. Now that's where you need to start focusing your effort in your own life and your own faith and your own journey, right? So um that's the trick. But it also frees you up that you don't have to sit down and write this 45-minute long, you know, well, I was born and rainy day, you know, your whole life story. That's right. It can literally be three sentences about a fight you had last night over who's emptying the dishwater. Like that's how simple it can be, but that's how like easy and and relevant it can be. Um we just have to like think about how is my faith, in fact, actually impacting my life.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Right. Okay. And then I think about maybe sharing it more in like snack size little bites versus this again, feast like hour-long, let me tell you my life story. Because first of all, as moms, it's really hard to have an hour-long conversation if your children are around. But then also like that can feel overwhelming. But as you are going through your year with the moms around your table or the moms on your lead team, like share a little bit more, a little bit more, go a little deeper. And again, through that vulnerability, we just learn so much about each other that helps us understand one another. But then also for those moms who don't have a relationship with Jesus, it shows them how Jesus is real and relevant in our everyday motherhood or you know, ordinary lives. And it's just that's how really the gospel spread. If we look back in the book of Acts, like the early church, the disciples were so excited to tell what they had seen and heard. And so it can be the same for us, just sharing about what God has done in our lives, what he is doing now, and then even what we hope he will do, right? Like because life is real and we all have different struggles and things. And so we can also share our story of faith, saying, you know what, I'm in this hard season right now, and I don't know how I'm gonna come out of it, but I know that God is walking alongside me, right? Like that's super short, three little sentences that if we share that with another mom, it could. Totally change her story.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

That's right. And just like you said, those original apostles, they weren't like, hey, um, so 18 years ago, I was walking down this road. You know, they're like, no, here's what happened to me yesterday. Like this person told me this, and I learned this, and I changed my life, and it impacted me like this today. Like they literally just talked about, like you said, the you know, the verse, what I saw and what I heard. Like, that's how simple it is. And that it's not was not a one and done. It's a little bit like like it's like with any important conversation, right? Like, uh, I wish, you know, I could do a one and done birds and the bees conversation with my kids. But that's not the reality, you know. Like, uh, I wish my husband and I could one and done every disagreement we ever have, but no, it's gonna be it's gonna be a years in the making conversation, right? Like, and it's the same we're talking about a faith. Any big thing in our life where you are, I mean, because it's not, it's not a just a singular decision, right? It's a it's a a relationship you're creating, it's a lifestyle of becoming a fall a Jesus follower. So when we talk about our faith, it's important to remember my goal is not to say something that just makes your head explode and then like, oh my gosh, the heavens open up and a dove descends and you are changing everything you've done. Like, no, it this is the goal is to open a door to further conversations. And if you talk authentically and vulnerably about your life, you just became very interesting to someone who God is working on, right? Like you have to just trust that God is working on the moms in your group, they got stuff going on. And if you just share your life and your faith in those little, like you said, snack size things that the goal is not to blow their flipping socks off. The goal is to just share a moment of your day. You just became the most interesting person that they want to talk to. And then later, when they're dealing with something similar, they're gonna be like, you know, I you know, I really should next time I see, you know, Andrea, be like, hey, you know, I was thinking, like, can you tell me more about that? Like, it's a long game, right? And know that um you will probably not see the end, right? But your goal is to live a life of a Jesus follower, which if we're doing it right, reflects uh, you know, as much as we can of his character um in in how we interact with people. And that is attractive and interesting, and it will start uh opening doors to further conversations.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I love that. Well, that leads us into this next area that we're gonna talk about is how do we create at Momco those easy invitations into more through this relational evangelism concept?

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yes. Well, every time we talk about anything relating to Momco, whether it's how do you get people to social events, how do you get people to show up on time to your meetups or just show up at all? Or how do we um invite people in those times when we want to invite them from the front porch into the church? How do we do that? Personal invitations are key. And the it takes work. And the default is well, we'll send out a reminder email. And I tell people, listen, this is not a dental appointment that you are reminding people about. Like, you know, do I show up at my dentist on time? I mean, yeah, but do I have a personal relationship with the hygienist? No, you know, like that's not that feels very transactional, and that's not what we're going for. The heart of the Monco is relationships. So um, you've got to pair both information. Yes, don't forget our meeting is tomorrow. But it's the personal invitation is always, always the key. And um, whether that is whether that's inviting somebody to an Easter service, like it's great to give everybody a flyer in your group. Um, hey, here are the service times for Easter, and of course, have your uh the service times for all the the churches where you attend, where your group actually, you know, meets should be at the top. But listen, we're not in competition. And and so include, you know, the Catholic services down the street and the Methodist services down the street. Like, you know, the goal is to give people the information, but it's the pairing with the personal invitation that is the key. And I have the perfect story. It's it's so perfect, people are you're gonna think I made this up. But when I was um when I was a coordinator, we had a mom show up, beginning of the year, and you know, classic mom, just worn out, absolutely worn out. She's like been hit by a bus, you know, kids hanging all over, young. And I put her on a table with my my varsity, my best um table leader, who was just, you know, her love language was love, love, love, love, big hugs, you know. I loved it. And she, I was like, look, you know, she needs extra love. She's like, I'm on it. And she loved on this mom all first semester. And, you know, in the beginning, she hardly said a word. She was, you know, just it was just a victory to get her there. But we just continued to love on her. And that table leader's loved on her, loved on her, loved on her. And we really started to see her come out of her shell by the midpoint of the year where we get to the second semester and it's time for Easter. And we, of course, gave out a little half sheet with all the service times. And then this table leader said to everyone at her table in person, so she could see their face, you know, again, like this is where text and email it fails you, right? Because you you want to see the sincerity when someone invites you to something and to say, like, I really like I hope you will join me, you, not you, like universal, um, but like you personally. And so she at the table said, Hey guys, like if you'll notice, you know, we're on top of the sheet here, like 9 a.m., there's a service. I I will be attending that with my family. And if you've never been to an Easter service and you'd like to check it out, I'd be happy to um, you know, like come with me. I'll even meet you in the parking lot so you don't have to worry about walking in by yourself, which I love that she added that because again, we're gonna lower that barrier to entry. We're not gonna assume everybody knows uh what door to go in. And oh my gosh, there might be two greeters at the door, which again, to uh to those of us who grew up in the church, we're like, that's just friendly to people who didn't. You're like, why are there guards? Are those bouncers? Are they checking? Are they, you know, checking to make sure I got my church card? Right. So um, anyway, at the at the end of the meeting, this mom says to her table leader, you know, actually, um, I would love to go with you to to church, my kids and I. My husband's not interested, but I'd love to join. And she said, But the only problem is um I don't have a hat. And this lovely table leader said, I'm sorry, what are you talking about? She said, Well, when you go to Easter services, don't you need to have a big hat? And she was like, Oh, so and I love this story because you have to remember if you've never been to church, if you have no context, if no one has ever invited you into that, that building and what happens in there is a mystery. And the only thing that you know is what you see on television, which is in movies. And she clearly watched a lot of like Steel Magnolia. Steel magnolia. I don't know what, right? But she assumed that you gotta wear a big pastel hat for Easter, because that's what it is in every movie. And so this lovely table leader was like, Okay, like, you know, you do not need a hat. And um, and then she's like, Oh, that's a relief. She said, But I also don't have a Bible, like I've never owned one. And this table, because she got she also thought that those people at the door probably like check your Bible, you gotta show your Bible, whip out the Bible. So that's a King James, you know, what version is that? No message allowed here, right? Like um, so where she's like, Okay, well, no problem. I I'll have a Bible for you. At you know, and she was like, Great. And so she gave her, she brought that Bible, they met in the parking lot, they went to Easter service. The first time ever this woman had ever been to an Easter service, I think that's probably a service of any kind, and the first time she ever held a Bible in her hand, which is, you know, this is like the you know, 21st century. You know, if you think, oh, everybody has sex, but it's not true. Why would you buy one if you don't attend church? If that's not interesting to you, right? Well, you know, make a long story short, that personal invitation changed everything. She went to that Easter service, she starts going with her kids on a regular basis. I mean, again, you're gonna think I made this up with it with it, because listen, this is the ideal situation. Not everybody's gonna follow this ideal path. But they start attending regularly. The dad starts attending by the next year, the whole family's baptized, and that family, you know, is is now like that is part of their life. They are Jesus followers, and you back it up and it starts with the table leader passing out the quarter sheet of paper and then saying, I'll meet you in the parking lot at 8:45 so we can walk in together for the nine o'clock service. Like it's those little things just saying, This is part of my rhythm, and I'm gonna invite you into that with me. And someone's saying yes. And that's how simple it is. She wasn't like, and then we'll go inside and we're gonna get you baptized. Like, no, okay, right. We're just I'm just gonna meet you in the parking lot. Like, and I love that because it's like you do your bit, right? Like she she her job was to meet this woman in the parking lot, and then someone else is gonna pick up that baton and and share that the pastor is gonna share deeply about the Easter message, and someone else is gonna pick up the baton and talk about what that means to her kids, and someone else is gonna actually probably introduce the concept of the sinner's prayer to them and all those things. Like, and it wasn't the table leader, but she started it and it was because it was personal. You, I will meet you in the parking lot, and that's what we got to do, right? Like, and and that and matters for of course, uh the the big holidays, Easter, Christmas, all those things, but it matters for hey, I I want to I I'm literally looking forward to seeing your face at our meetup on Tuesday. Like, you know, hey, show up early and let's chat about the thing we were talking about last week. Um, you know, the goal is to provide friendship, right? That's when moms are coming. They're looking for friendship. And uh the way you create friendships is through time and intentionality. You know, you don't send group texts to your friends, you know, and think you're gonna have individual relationships, right? Like you need to personalize that and be sincere. It's not about checking a box, it's about um, you know, that this is why the the role of the table leader is so key because um that's that's the rule we talked about this in cohorts a few months ago, that a bet the best job description of the table leader would be relationship pursuer. Like that's their job. That's it. I don't care how you do it, over, under, around, behind, like, you know, but you're gonna chase these women down. You are going to pursue them in friendship. And for many of them, it'll be the first time they've ever felt that. And it feels amazing and it can be for many of them life changing. And sometimes it's what introduces them to a relationship with Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Yeah. I feel like we hear so many stories of someone invited me to Mom Co and it changed my life or it saved my life. I hear that quite often too. And I think sometimes we overthink it, right? Like we feel this pressure of I want to share my faith with people or I want to invite people to Momco, but it feels so awkward. Like, how do I do it? And it can be just so simple of come to my mom's group with me, you know, like that first invitation. Or then when someone's there, hey, I'm going to this women's event at the church next week. Do you want to come sit with me? Right. Do you want to come with me to Easter service? Like we overcomplicate it, but really just remembering to invite someone to what we're already doing in our normal rhythm, in our faith story, you know, how we integrate faith in our life. Like we don't have to put the pressure on ourselves for the results, which is why I think we hold ourselves back sometimes. We're like, what if they say no? What if they reject me? Right. It's not really a rejection of us. Sometimes people are busy, or sometimes something else is going on that's not us, it's them. And so we just want to be faithful to do our part. And like you said, trust that God's gonna use other people to do the rest. Like, let's just do our one step of being in relationship with each other and sharing and inviting. And then the pressure is off. God will do what he's gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

That's right. And it's not about manufacturing things that like our churchy or we're gonna talk about faith, like, and then like kind of like invite them into that one thing. It's like, no, we're just inviting them into our life. And if we are living the life of Jesus followers, then uh not just in the conversations about our decisions, but we're gonna participate in activities and and interact with other people that are also kind of reflecting what it looks like to live the life of a Jesus follower and just invite them to tag along. Again, they can always say no, right? And they can always be busy or whatever they want to tell you. But like we're just sharing our life. And again, that the what the reason it's hard is because you have to reflect. If I were to invite you to the events that I participate in, you know, like, is there any aspect of this that would reflect my relationship with Jesus? And so listen, that can be sitting on the sidelines at a baseball game, but maybe it's why why aren't you screaming at the umpire? Right, right, right. Like, why are you so friendly to that mom that no one else likes? You know, like, well, because and and to say, like, well, you know, here's what I wish I could do. But um, you know, uh my my relationship with Jesus compels me to do otherwise, and um, and that's that's really, really powerful. So, like you said, don't overcomplicate it. Just invite people to to be a part of your life. I mean, I I I love the groups that like have walking groups and um and just basic book clubs and all kinds of things that are just like things you'd be doing anyway, but just in like invite them in. Don't you know, don't create these little closed circles. Always be you never know, but you you know, with those one that one little invitation, it really can change people's lives forever.

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Absolutely. Well, that's awesome. Thanks, Stacey. This has been a fun conversation and we hope an encouragement to you leaders. So just a reminder as we close, again, sharing our faith can sometimes seem scary or intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. And we hope that you'll take what we chatted about today and put it into practice and share through stories, invite someone into what you're already doing, and just see what God will do from there. Leaders, we know your time is valuable. We're proud of you for investing in yourself by listening in today. We know that when you invest in money, you change the world. We believe in you and we're doing it.