Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / On The Ground with Samaritan's Purse - Keeping Faith through Difficulty

Transcript

On The Ground with Samaritan's Purse - Keeping Faith through Difficulty · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Good morning, friends and faithful listeners, Thank you so much
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: for tuning into the Bible Explained on this lovely Saturday
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: morning for this special podcast episode where you guys might
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: remember about a month back that I shared an episode
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: of on the Ground with Samaritan's Purse on this podcast
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: and with Christy Graham, and I got the opportunity today
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: actually to interview Miss Christie myself, and so I'm excited
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: to have her on the podcast this morning for all
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: of you faithful listeners, and so she is here with us.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: So if you could say a few words, Miss Christy
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: to the audience.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Hello, the Bible explained. I am so excited to be
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: on here, and again I'm honored. I know they're typically
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: tuning in to hear you explain the Bible to really
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: go into it, which we will talk about because that
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: is a part of everything that we do at Smaritan's Purse.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: So I am excited to be a part of this
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: conversation today.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: And I'm excited to have you as part of this conversation.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: So the first question I want to ask, just to
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: really get to know you and also for my audience
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: to get to know you, is what is your relationship
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: with Samaritan's Purse and with the Graham family.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: So who are you?
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: So I don't know For people who don't know about
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Samaritan's Purse, it is a christian An evangelical humanitarian organization
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: that was founded in nineteen seventy by Bob Pierce. But
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: my father in law, Franklin Graham, he took over as
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: president and CEO a couple years later when he Bob
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Pierce had cancer. And so my father in law, Franklin
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: is has been leading this organization for many years, over
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: fifty years. And my husband, Edward, is his son. So
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: when I got married, you know, I knew about Samaritan's Purse.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: My husband at the time was in the military. We
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: were in the army for sixteen years and or he was,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: but I was a part of that, and so we
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: saw and got to visit and see, you know, the
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: ministry throughout the years. But then about eight years ago,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: the Lord called my husband Edward to come work full
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: time with Samaritan's Purse. So we left the military to
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: come serve here and he is the chief operating officer
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: with Smaritan's Purse and I get to work in communications
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: on the podcast called on the Ground, and so again
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: we've been a part of the ministry from Afar for
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: many years, but now we work here full time and
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: I love getting to be a part of this ministry
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Smaritan's Purse.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: That's wonderful. So how has working with Samaritan's Purse shaped
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: your family's life.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: It's shaped it in many ways. You know.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: When we moved here again, I said, we were in
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: the military, and so i'd you know, Lord, how can
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: I be a part of this ministry? How can I
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: support my husband? You know, and he travels a lot,
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: and so the podcast is such a wonderful way for
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: me to get to see what God's doing around the
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: world and kind of get to be a bridge between
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: our prayer warriors and our donors and then the people
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: that are in the field carrying out the work. But
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: it's I didn't expect it to change me personally so much.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: I'm a mom of four, and I think it's even
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: changed my parenting. It's changed everything because when you watch
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: people surrender and say yes to the Lord. You know,
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: we serve in some very difficult and dangerous places, and
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: when you watch people say yes to serving the Lord,
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: it changes my daily life. And I'm sure you see
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: this too. The Bible changes our daily life, you know,
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: when we read what God wrote, you know, thousands of
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: years ago, it is alive and active in living, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: so I get to see, you know, God moving and
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: shaping and working. So it changed me in more ways
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: than I ever thought I would. But the bottom line
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: is I get I get a front row seat of
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: what God's doing around the world, and I get to
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: share it with people.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: So it's it's a joy and a privilege.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and I fully relate with everything that you're
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: saying there about the Gospel changing you. You know, when
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I started the podcast almost seven years ago, at this point,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I really did not think I believe that I understood
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: the Bible fully, and man, how arrogant I was. But
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: speaking of you, you know, sharing all of this with
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: with just your listeners, tell us a little bit about
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: your podcast On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse. I know
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: you use the podcast to share the stories from the
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: front lines of your work to encourage people in their
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: own faith with God. So how is hosting this show
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: changed you?
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, the podcast On the Ground with Samarines Purse,
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: it literally takes you on the ground. And so because
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: the work of Smirns Purse is so varied, you know,
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: our goal and everything that we do is to share
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: the gospel, to help people that are hurting and introduce
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: them to Jesus. But we do that through many different ways.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: And so the podcast is exciting because I'm sure you
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: know this how it is for you too. With scripture,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: it is it's everything's different. So one day we'll be
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: talking about Children's Heart Project, an amazing project where kids
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: get life saving heart surgery, and then one day we'll
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: be talking about our disaster relief, you know, and so
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: every episode is different, but there's a commonality because we
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: share scripture and we share the gospel in every episode
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: because that is what our work does.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: In the field.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: So it's it's an exciting, ever changing podcast. But the
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: goal was to I think many people get involved with
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: the ministry, maybe through one of the vehicles like Operation
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: Christmas Child. You know, say, for instance, many people that
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: are listening might have heard about that ministry, which you know,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: we send shoe boxes to kids all around the world,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: and so maybe you only know about that part of
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: the ministry, but the podcast, you know, we hope to
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: introduce you to even more and so, and like you said,
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: it's it's like scripture. I mean, you think you know
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: about the ministry, and I think I know about scripture,
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: but the more you dive into it, you realize you
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: don't know. Because God is so big and he does
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or imagine. And so
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: even there's days where I think I know about one
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: of our projects and I realize I don't, you know,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: when I talk to somebody in Kenya carrying it out
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: in the field, I realize.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: That I don't know anything.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: And you know, he shares things about what's happening, and
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: so I learned something.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Every day.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: I'm humbled and overwhelmed, and I just realize I'm just
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: such a small part. You know, that God is the
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: one moving and acting, and so it's just exciting to
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: be a part of it. But I think I'm just
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: learning that I'm a constant learner, you know. And same
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: with scripture. We try to put scripture into every episode
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: as well, because that is, you know, the grass withers
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: stands forever. And that's why all the projects that we do,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: we hand out Bibles, we introduce people to the local church.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: We want them to be discipled and to grow, and
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: so we strug study God's word as well, which again
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: is constantly changing, piercing my heart, convicting me, which I love.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: So I feel like every episode I am overwhelmed by
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: God's love and I'm you know, changed in the process.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: So it's not about me trying to change or do anything.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: It's it's God is constantly changing and teaching me.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I actually I have a friend who personally was very
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: helped by Samaritan's Purse, really with the veterans program that
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: you guys do, and so you do have like a
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: bunch of yeah, and their marriage was like really helped
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: through the veterans program. And so it's amazing how many
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: different things that Samaritans Purse does that I think people
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: don't really know about. So share with us, like some
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: of the things that you would say on like do
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: you do encouragement or would you do more of like
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: a you know, sharing a inspirational story of somebody that
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: might have been helped by Samaritan's Purse.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: We do a little bit of everything.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: You know, our team, our communications team, we come in
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: and we try to plan out what the next episode
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: is going to be. But obviously when we either talk
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: to the people or we God rewrites the story. But yes,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: we try to introduce a project and actually, what you
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: just shared Operation Healer Patriots, that's one of my favorite projects.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: It is a ministry to our two wounded veterans. You know,
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: it is for a couple, so we we reach out
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: to whether it's the wife or the husband that served
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: in the military. We the couple gets to go to
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: Alaska for a week. It's a marriage retreat. And so
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: say say the episodes on Operation Healer Patriots, I get
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: to talk to our couples or I get to go
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: to Alaska, and you know, take people in a life
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: of you know, so it changes the way we do it.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: But sometimes we'll take people in a day in a
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: life of the ministry and I'll literally walk throughout the
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: ministry introduce them to people. Sometimes it's a deep dive
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: with one person, you know, hearing their story or their
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: heart or what they're seeing. Sometimes there's multiple voices. So
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: again the episode and the approach is different in everyone.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: But each episode our goal is to one share the
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: gospel of Jesus Christ and study scripture, but then also
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: to help people learn about different projects and vehicles that
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Samaritan's Purse has. So they're very different. And I think
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: it's neat the Lord. He sometimes writes and carries an
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: episode we had no intention of covering, but it's yeah,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: typically trying to take people to the front lines and
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: introduce them to the work of Smaritan's Purse.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's wonderful.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: So I know that you talk a lot about prayer
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: on your podcast, and in fact, I think it was
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: the episode that I shared of your Guys' podcast that
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: did talk a bit about prayer. So how is prayer
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: are foundational to the ministry?
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so Samaritans Perse our international headquarters is here in Boone,
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: North Carolina, but we have offices all throughout the country.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: But then we also have country offices all around the world.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Sometimes when we respond to a disaster, we find that
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: there is long term work needing to be done, so
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: we'll set up a country office and so all of
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: our offices, with our staff, they all start their day
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: in scripture and in prayer. And here here in Boone,
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: you know, we start our day. We have somebody that
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: shares a devotion and then leads in prayer corporately. But
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: then we break up into small groups at our table,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: and we literally have prayer cards on our you know,
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: everybody grabs one in the morning and it.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Has our.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Field, our staff that are serving all over the world.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: So we pray for them by name because we know
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: it is so important. We do not do this work alone.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: It's like Ephesian six. You know, we know that we
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: have an enemy and we have to put on the
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: full armor of God, and so we pray over our
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: staff by name, our country offices, whatever card you have.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: And I love that because every single person at s
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Maarsbors wherever you will serve, whatever you do, we start
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: at the same and it's that dependence on the Lord.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: It is not about us. And actually just shared a
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: scripture the other day, and I've seen this in my
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: recent interviews. It is every leader here at sparsbverse or
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: person carrying it out, our confidence is in the Lord.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I just want to read tewod Corinthians three four through six.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: It says, such is the confidence we have through Christ
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: before God. It is not that we are It's not
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: that we are Christ. Okay, sorry, I'm let me pull
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: us closer. Such as the confidence we have through Christ
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: before God. It is not that we are competent in
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: adequacy is from God. He has made us competent to
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: be ministers of the New Cup, and I think we
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: take that very seriously. We realize that we are not competent,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: we are not in charge. We are every single person
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: here is so relying on the Lord, and so prayer
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: is foundational. And even Bob Pierce, who founded this, you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: he wanted to say yes to things that he couldn't
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: do in his own strength. And that's what we call
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: the God Room principle. You know, we say yes to
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: projects and responses and tragedies that we as an organization
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: could not carry out without the Lord. And so it's
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: it's incredible we find time and time again where we
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: say we can't respond to that, we can't do this,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: it's not possible, and then the Lord makes away. And
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: it is because we're so relying on prayer, and so
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: we've seen time and time again we're the Lord answer prayers.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: So I asked that often on my you know, when
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: I have people on you know, how have' you seen
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: the Lord answer prayer lately? And it's just incredible. You know,
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: sometimes it's so small. It's something like a doctor serving
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: at a hospital in remote you know, remote place that
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: needs a sharpie marker and somebody happens to visit and say,
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: here's a marker. You know, something so small, but then
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: there's also something so big that again God goes before
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: and he answers prayers that I love it that we
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: have an intercessor working on our behalf. So that was
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: a ramblely long answer, but I think we just learned
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: time and time again the dependence and the need to
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: stay relyant on the Lord.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that that's absolutely great. And so
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: speaking of some of the things that you've seen at
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Samaritan's Purse, I know that you've been in the field
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: with some families who lost everything after Hurricane Helene, and
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: you are also in Venezuela right after two earthquakes completely
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: devastated that region. So what was it like being on
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: the ground there after the disaster or can you share
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: any stories of those times?
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's really hard, and like I said, we
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: have so many different vehicles, so many different ways that
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: we serve. Sometimes it's like you said, through our US
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: disaster relief, we helped with Hurricane Helene. We're helping currently
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: in many different parts throughout the country. I got to
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: see a community that had been rocked by a tornado,
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: and then, as you said, I got to go to
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: Venezuela and see a earthquake that just devastated And so
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: the disaster is different, but the I think it's the
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: reality that we live in a fall and broken world, right,
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: and so we meet people in the ditches of life
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: and again the ditch and the disaster, it's different, but
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: there's heartbreak and devastation and hopelessness. And I love that
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: we Samarn's purs We always work with the local church,
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: whether it's domestic or international, we work with the local church,
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: and so Venezuela, for instance, we have so many church
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: partners that we've been working with for years. We have
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: a country office in Columbia, but we have been working
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: in Venezuela doing feeding programs, different things for many years.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: And so when.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: The earthquake hit, we called our trick partners right away
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: and they were able to help us and figure out
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: exactly where the needs were the biggest, and so our
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: team got in. We had an emergency field hospital set
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: up within forty eight hours and we were able to
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: start serving patients. And then we had water points and
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: so many different things that we were doing through the
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: local church. And I'll share one story because I think
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: it highlights the need for everybody. Again, whatever they're coming for,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: we all have a need, right, we all have a
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: spiritual need.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: We are separated from God.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: And I was at a water point and this one
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: lady came to get water, and she actually had been
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: there before. So when she greeted one of our staff members,
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: it looked like they were old family friends. But they
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: had prayed together a couple days before, and she said,
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: I came first for the water, but I keep coming
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: back for the prayer and encouragement. And her husband had
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: died in the earthquake and she'd lost everything, you know,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: her home, everything. And so when you're at that point
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: of hopelessness here, you know, when here on Earth your circumstances,
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: you don't have any hope, and you're introduced to Jesus,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: your hope becomes an anchor, firm and secure, and it's
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: just incredible to see people that have literally lost everything
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: find hope in Jesus, some for the first time, or
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: some maybe they've known about him, but this tragedy brought
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: them back. And so I just love again getting to
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: watch people in some of their hardest days. It's it's
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: humbling and overwhelming that they let you in and they
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: let you, you know, carry that burden. And then again
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: I love watching our local church because they will be
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: their long term and so we get to introduce them
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: to our church partners and some many start coming to
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: church and they start, you know, their lives are really
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: changed by a bad, you know, a hard, bad situation.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: But God uses it for good and for his purposes
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: and his glory. And so that's just one story. But yeah,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: I am humbled and overwhelmed every time I get to
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: go into the field and meet people and our paths
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: may have never crossed, you know, and until this disaster hit,
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: and then we become brothers and sisters in Christ and
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: have a bond far greater than this earth could could give.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: So I'm curious a little bit about the Ebola epidemic.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: You recently covered a training where some doctors and nurses
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: were preparing to deploy to Africa to fight Ebola. I
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: can only imagine the prayer and faith that it takes
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: to deploy to in a Bola outbreak, right when everybody else,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I'm sure is trying to get away from it. So
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: what stood out to you the most about this?
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, our teams. We have two ABLA hospitals up in
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: the Democratic Republic of Congo where a huge outbreak is
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: going on, and and Ebola is a horrific, horrible disease,
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: but it is it is preventable, you know, with the
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: proper teaching and sour Our hospitals do two things. You know,
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: they educate and train people how to prevent diseases like this,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: but then they're also fighting and training it. And I
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: am always overwhelmed by our teams that go into I mean, no,
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: no disaster that we respond to is is easy, but
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: Ebola is definitely.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Very scary.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: And I got to go a couple We do this
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: all throughout the year. We prepare in advance, but knowing
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: that this was coming and we were going to send
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: a team, we had another training event and I got
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: to go to it. I got to put on the PPE,
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: which is the protective you know, equipment, and they run
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: you through scenarios to prepare you. And I'll be honest,
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: I'm very clastrophobic. So even putting on that suit, I
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: was I could not think clearly. I couldn't even run
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: through the practice. So I just kept thinking, how do
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: these doctors and how do these we have water sanitation
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: and hygiene teams that help clean and prepare the rooms
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: for the patients. How do you do an act? How
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: do you work, you know, under these difficult situations? And
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: that's again why we train and prepare so that when
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: you're faced with the difficult, you know, situation. But I
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: talked with many of our team members who are preparing
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: to go, and you know, many of them are dads, moms,
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: you know, sisters, daughters. I mean, they have family, they
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: have people to take care of, they have a job,
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: they have people that rely on them, and yet they're saying, yes,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: Lord send me. And one doctor in particular, she's been
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: on many of our responses and she just said she
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: has gifts. The Lord has given her gifts and abilities,
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: you know, why would she not use them? And I
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: thought of that parable of the man with the you
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: know that was given the talents, you know, and there
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: was the one that buried it, you know, buried the talent,
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: and you know, and at the end, you know, he said,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: you've what you wicked and you know, Servant, you you
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: wasted what I gave you. And she just said, why
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: would I not give what the Lord gave to me?
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: And so again used to ask about power of prayer.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Prayer becomes so important, just like in that situation. I mean,
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: all of our doctors that are treating around the world,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, you're always coming across sickness and things, but
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: for some reason, you know, ebola, something like that, you
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: take it more serious, right, and so you put on
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: your protective equipment. I mean, you have a partner that
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: checks you to make sure you've sealed everything up properly
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: and you're you're adequately prepared to face such a deadly disease.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: And it made me think of Ephesian six, and it
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: made me think of the enemy that we have. And
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: I talked about that earlier. But we sometimes as Christians,
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: we don't take it serious, right, We don't take the
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: reality seriously until we're faced with something really hard. And
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: our doctors, you know, they just said, prayer it becomes
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: a lifeline, you know, when you're in these situations. And
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: so the one doctor said, you know, Psalm twenty three
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: becomes you know, something that they read and recite often.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: You know, the Lord is my shepherd. Though I walk
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: through the valley in the shadow of death, I will
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: fear no evil. You're rod in your staff. They comfort me.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: And so God's equipment, his you know, his power becomes
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: so important in our life. And then she also said
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: one Psalm one thirty nine to five, you hem me
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: in behind him before me, you know, you go, the
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: Lord goes before me. And she just said, I I've
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: learned obedience and saying yes to the Lord is far
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: more important than my preferences and my desires, are my
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: wants and my safety even, you know. And again God's
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: word comes alive when we step out in faith. We
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: think of Paul who said, to live is Christ, to
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: die is gain.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: Again, our teams I just see so much. Not that
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: they're more spiritual or more a better Christian, but I
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: think when we say yes to the Lord to whatever
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: He's called us to do, so this can encourage anybody
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: God's calling you to do something. You know, ask a stranger,
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: how they're doing, or how you can pray for them,
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: or you know, whatever it is. We might think it's small.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: That's a step of obedience. And when you say yes
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: to the small things, I think he equips you for
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: the big things. And so that's what I see, you know,
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: time and time again with our team members. They're not better,
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: you know, stronger again the scripture I read earlier, their
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: adequacy comes from the Lord and their competence, and so
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: they're not different than us. They're just they've learned to
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: rely on the Lord in a way that many of
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: us don't have the opportunity. So I was a Rambley, long,
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: long answer, but I am just overwhelmed by our teams
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: that are saying yes to serve in such a dangerous
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: place right now. And it is a horrible disease. And
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: I think when people get ebola, you have to be
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: separated from people, you know, And so our hospitals we
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: want that touch, we want that you know, and so
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: are they put on the protective equipment and they care compassionately.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: For their patients.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: And I think that is again models what Jesus did
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: you know, He came to people and he touched them
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: and he wanted them to know that they were loved.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: And that's what we do. We share the gospel of
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: Jesus Christ and we love them with compassion. And so
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: I'm overwhelmed by our teams that are serving in really
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: hard places right now, and it's an honor and joy
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: to get to talk to them before they go or
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: during while they're there.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: And I love that you mentioned obedience because that's something
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: that we've been hitting quite a bit on the podcast,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: because we just went through the Book of James, and
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: you know, faith and obedience they really do go hand
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: in hand in a lot of ways, and so I
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: love that you mentioned that. But to close out this interview,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: you mentioned that your podcast on the Ground with Samaritan's
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Purse is very rooted in scripture, right so I've heard
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: you share what God has been teaching you personally, So
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: I'd love to ask what is God teaching you right now?
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: So many things I think.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: You know that verse I just read about adequacy and competency.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: That's what I keep coming back to because I think
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: I'm a mom of for kids. Our oldest just went
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: to college, and I keep coming back to Jesus the
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: way that he rested and he took time, you know,
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: to rest and to reset, and that's something I'm learning.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: And when I do that, I find that's where the
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: surrender comes and the obedience.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And when you.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: Say obedience, I guess I'll just say that we sometimes
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: just get going and doing and serving. And you know, again,
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: I'm a mama for I just get my day starts
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: filling and when I'm running on autopilot and I'm not
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: stopping and resting. And that's why I love your podcast.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: We have to reach That's word every day, you know,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: we have to. It is alive and active, and when
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: we read it, it changes us, it convicts us, it
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: opens our eyes. And so I think I'm just learning
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: that I have to take that rest. It's not a
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: it's not an option. I can't do what I do
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: and do it well without resting and relying on the Lord.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: And so I'm just learning that the more I take
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: on his yoke, you know, it's I think that verse
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: in Matthew, the myyoak is easy, my burden is light,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: you know. I think that is what he's teaching me,
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: is to try to do less, you know, try to
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: off ramp some of my things. And allow the Lord
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: to work through me and it is so much better.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: So it's a long, long answer, but I think it's
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: just something that i'm The longer I walk with the Lord,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: the more I realize I can't do everything and my
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: capacity isn't always high. I need the Lord. So that's
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: what I'm learning right now is just dependence. And that's
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: why I love your podcast, and I love the reminder
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: to study God's word and.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Be reminded that we h thank you do it all.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you for that. I'm going to leave my
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: audience with just a psalm, just a short bit of it,
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: and it just kind of reminds me of a little
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: bit of what you talked about today. And this is
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Psalm ninety one, one of my favorite psalms, which says
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: verses one and two, whoever dwells in the shelter of
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: the most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. And
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: the reason I love this psalm so much is because
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: it talks about all of the some of the stuff
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: that you were talking about, you know, the darkness that
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: we experience in our lives. But God helps us through
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: these things when we trust in Him and we make
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: him our fortress. And so is there any closing things
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: that you would like to say, Christy to end out
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: this interview.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: No, I love that passage. When my husband's the military.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: That's actually the Psalm ninety one was my lifeline, you know,
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: when I physically was so worried about him.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I would just say, he you are, he is in
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the shadow.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: Of your wings, and that just gives me such So No,
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: I am really grateful for this conversation. I'm grateful for
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: this opportunity, and I guess I would just say to
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: people that, yeah, study God's word and ask God each day,
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: you know, how can I serve you? How can I
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: pour this out? I love that you encourage people to
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: read God's word, but it's we read it to give
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: it away, right, and we want to share it with others,
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: And you have no idea even just sharing like that
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: scripture with somebody. It is a balm and you know
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: it encourages so we have such a gift that we
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: can give to others.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: So that's what I would say.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you Christy so much for coming on this
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: special episode, and I just appreciate you and I want
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: all of the faithful listeners listening to check out on
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: the ground with Samaritans perse and maybe get involved with
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: some of the things that they do, because I know
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: that you have a lot of volunteer opportunities.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Is that correct? We do.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we could not do what we do without our
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: volunteers around the world, So yeah, you can. Samaritanspurse dot
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: Org is a great place to start to find out
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: how and where you can get involved. There's probably something
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: going on within you know, all over the country for
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: you to help.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Get involved with.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know that the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: are coming up as well, which is a wonderful thing
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: that my husband and I do every single year.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: It's like our date night, oh neat. Yeah, we go
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: and buy.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: The stuff for the shoeboxes and so yeah, that's that's
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: always a really special time. So thank you Christy so
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: much for coming on this podcast.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: I really appreciate you, jan thanks for having me, Thanks
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: for all that you do.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Absolutely and thank you to Christy. I appreciate it a lot.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Faith listeners. I hope you enjoyed this special Saturday episode,
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: but until Monday, hope you all have a fantastic, wonderful weekend.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: I will see you guys then at the normal scheduled
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: episode six am or whenever you choose to wake up
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: and listen to continue discussing the Book of Esther, Happy listening,
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Happy weekend, and God bless. I just want to take
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: a second to thank the team at Life Audio for
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: their partnership with me on the Bible Explain podcast. In fact,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: if you go to lifeudio dot com you'll find dozens
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've got
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.