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Bonus: Finding Joy When God's Answer Is No with Kristy Graham of Samaritan's Purse · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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Speaker 2: Good morning, faithful listeners. Hope you're having a wonderful start
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Speaker 2: to your Saturday. What you're about to hear is a
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Speaker 2: special episode of Untangling Prayer by Rachel Wojo, and she
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Speaker 2: is interviewing today Christy Graham of Samaritan's Purse and Untangling
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Speaker 2: Prayer is another podcast associated with Life Audio Like I Am,
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Speaker 2: and they reached out to ask me if I'd be
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Speaker 2: interested in sharing this episode with my faithful listeners. So
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Speaker 2: I took a listen to the episode and I personally
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Speaker 2: really liked it and gave permission for them to include
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Speaker 2: this episode on my feed. But just to clarify, you're
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Speaker 2: not going to hear me on this episode other than
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Speaker 2: this short introduction. One of the reasons I'm promoting this
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Speaker 2: episode on my feed is because I really like Samaritans
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Speaker 2: Purse personally. Before I even started this podcast six years ago,
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Speaker 2: I was doing things with Samaritan's Purse back then, filling
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Speaker 2: shoe boxes and supporting other causes that they do because
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Speaker 2: I I like Samaritans perse and I actually have a
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Speaker 2: friend who is personally benefited by Samaritan's Purse. So in
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Speaker 2: this bonus episode, you're going to be hearing Christy Graham
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Speaker 2: giving just some details about Samaritan's Purse, but also primarily
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Speaker 2: talking about prayer, specifically how to find joy in prayer
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Speaker 2: when God seems to be saying no, or when you
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Speaker 2: know everything in the world seems very rough. For example,
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Speaker 2: she talks about the Ebola virus that is affecting many
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Speaker 2: people right now in Africa, and how the Samaritan's Purse
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Speaker 2: medical team is going out and trying to fight this
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Speaker 2: and just being prayerful through all of that, because that
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Speaker 2: is a very scary experience for people to go into.
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Speaker 2: So if you're feeling particularly down in your prayer life,
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Speaker 2: then this might be a good episode for you to
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Speaker 2: listen to today, and I hope that it encourages you.
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Speaker 2: So with all that being said, faithful listeners, you are
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Speaker 2: listening to an episode of Untangling Prayer by Rachel Wojo
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Speaker 2: interviewing Christy Graham of Samaritan's Purse.
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Speaker 3: Welcome to the End Tangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Woto
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Speaker 3: and each week we unravel lifesnots through prayer. Here you'll
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Speaker 3: find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through
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Speaker 3: life's hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together,
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Speaker 3: one prayer at a time. Christy, it is such an
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Speaker 3: honor to have you on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. Thank
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Speaker 3: you so much for being willing to take the time
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Speaker 3: out of your schedule to do this.
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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward
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Speaker 1: to it well.
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Speaker 3: I appreciate the work that you do with Samaritan's Purse,
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Speaker 3: but I wanted to ask you a more personal question
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Speaker 3: before we dive into the work at Samaritan's Purse. I
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Speaker 3: wondered what your prayer life looked like before you started
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Speaker 3: working with Samaritans Purse, and then if you saw a
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Speaker 3: change as you worked with the organization.
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Speaker 1: That's a really good question, and honestly, I'm thrilled to
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Speaker 1: be on here and I want to thank you. I
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Speaker 1: love your podcast and what you do. But prayer has
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Speaker 1: always been a struggle for me. I compare it to
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Speaker 1: I was an athlete, played soccer. I compare it to
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Speaker 1: reading the Bible is like running to me or lifting
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Speaker 1: you know, something action oriented. You can tangibly take something away,
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Speaker 1: but prayer is more like stretching. And I think I've
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Speaker 1: always struggled with it. Even today, I just as an athlete,
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Speaker 1: I'd rather go for a run than sit and stretch,
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Speaker 1: you know, because I think it prayer requires do you
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Speaker 1: to stop. I mean, you can pray on the go,
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Speaker 1: but I think it's just something that's more internal. You
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Speaker 1: can't see a tangible result, and so it's always been
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Speaker 1: a struggle. So I was a little hesitant to be
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Speaker 1: on here and definitely not an expert. I'm learning every day,
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Speaker 1: but I will say I grew up as an army brat.
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Speaker 1: My dad was in the army, and then I married
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Speaker 1: my husband and we were in the army, so we
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Speaker 1: faced many deployments, combat, and so I think my prayer life, again,
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Speaker 1: the physical is easier for me. You know, if somebody's
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Speaker 1: hurting or if he's in war, it was easier for
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Speaker 1: me to pray, and so Psalm ninety one became one
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Speaker 1: of my prayer anthems. I think when he was deployed,
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Speaker 1: I would be more urgent. I would wake up pray
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Speaker 1: for him. And then when we got out, it's not
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Speaker 1: that things got easier, but you know, the spiritual attacks,
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Speaker 1: they're just unseen. So I think you think you're safe
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Speaker 1: or and so I've actually been convicted the last two
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Speaker 1: years that I think spiritually we are probably in a
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Speaker 1: greater attack. I need to be praying for my husband
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Speaker 1: even more than when he was in Afghanistan in the
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Speaker 1: middle of a battle. It's just different. So I think
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Speaker 1: my prayer life has grown, and I think I've been
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Speaker 1: more convicted in the urgency. And you know, in ministry
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Speaker 1: we have an enemy. He is prowling around me. Know
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Speaker 1: that Ephaesian six tells us that. And so I think
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Speaker 1: being a part of a body that knows we have
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Speaker 1: an enemy, we are going to threatening places. And like
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Speaker 1: I said, the physical is dangerous, like we have some
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Speaker 1: teams in treating a bola right now. We know physically
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Speaker 1: that's dangerous, but we are as an organization, we're more
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Speaker 1: aware of the spiritual danger. You know, Satan does not
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Speaker 1: like us sharing the Gospel, and so Samaritans perse. We
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Speaker 1: start as a body in devotions every morning we read
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Speaker 1: God's Word. But then we pray, and I love it.
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Speaker 1: We pray with our You know, whoever you're sitting with
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Speaker 1: at a table, you grab a couple of people. We
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Speaker 1: have prayer cards with our staff that are stationed overseas.
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Speaker 1: We pray for them by name their country, office, and
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Speaker 1: we're able to communicate that with them. So I think
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Speaker 1: I've learned again the intentionality and to take seriously as
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Speaker 1: you know, God's workmanship. You know, the work that we
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Speaker 1: do for him. It's not always greeted, and you know
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Speaker 1: the enemy does not like it. So I think, right,
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Speaker 1: ebbs and flows. But I think I'm learning. You know
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Speaker 1: that physical isn't more dangerous than the spiritual. You know,
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Speaker 1: it's all right, we are to take everything to the Lord.
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Speaker 3: So good.
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Speaker 1: I'm still learning.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, we all are, we all are. And I was
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Speaker 3: thinking about years ago, I think it was maybe twenty fifteen,
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Speaker 3: maybe earlier, when I had the first opportunity to go
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Speaker 3: to the Billy Graham Library. The thing that stood out
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Speaker 3: to me there was every exhibit mentioned prayer in some way,
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Speaker 3: shape or form, like it would talk about the prayer teams,
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Speaker 3: or it would talk about you know, this was the
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Speaker 3: verse that we prayed at this time and over and
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Speaker 3: over again throughout all the exhibits. So I know, this
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Speaker 3: almost generational prayer idea has been a part of an
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Speaker 3: important part of your family's ministry for a very long time.
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Speaker 3: You mentioned that your husband, Edward was in the army
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Speaker 3: for a long time, right, fifteen sixteen years and your
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Speaker 3: family surrendered that area and moved into working at Samaritan's
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Speaker 3: person in North Carolina. That's a big change. And I
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Speaker 3: know there are people listening who say, Wow, that was
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Speaker 3: a big decision. So I wondered if you could share
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Speaker 3: what praying through that decision sort of looked like, because
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Speaker 3: it can be so easy to look back on something
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Speaker 3: and see it a little more clearly than when you're
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Speaker 3: walking through it.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I like to write those things down,
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Speaker 1: you know, because those remembrance stones where God intervenes and
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Speaker 1: speaks to you. But Edward and I both you know,
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Speaker 1: throughout his career in the military, every couple years, you know,
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Speaker 1: you move, you change jobs. Transition is just a part
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Speaker 1: of the army. And so we would always say, okay, Lord,
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Speaker 1: before we commit to this two three year contract, is
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Speaker 1: this where you want us? And so we just constantly
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Speaker 1: were praying, Lord, is this where you want us? Close
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Speaker 1: the doors? Even though we both loved it, we would
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Speaker 1: have stayed in forever if that was God's will. We
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Speaker 1: never wanted to get out. But again, we were always
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Speaker 1: surrendered God in our heart. We were planning our course,
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Speaker 1: but you are directing our steps, was our goal, and
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Speaker 1: it just felt like for many years the Lord was, yes,
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Speaker 1: this is where you're supposed to be. And Edward's dad,
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Speaker 1: you know, had asked for a couple of years for
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Speaker 1: him to come work with the ministry and to help him,
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Speaker 1: and he just said, no, I am called here. This
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Speaker 1: is where I'm supposed to be. And then we entered
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Speaker 1: a season where again another transition was coming and we
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Speaker 1: just started praying and God was really changing and softening
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Speaker 1: our hearts, and it came from out of nowhere. We
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Speaker 1: were very surprised. We were looking forward to the next
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Speaker 1: army job, and very clearly the Lord and I love
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Speaker 1: it to both of us separately, you know, he spoke
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Speaker 1: to us. I think a lot of it like kind
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Speaker 1: of like the Angel coming to Marry and Joseph separately,
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Speaker 1: you know, before they would have Jesus. He really, very
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Speaker 1: clearly spoke to both of us, and it was an
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Speaker 1: answer to prayer, you know, because we did we said,
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Speaker 1: we need it to be very clear, this is a
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Speaker 1: huge change, and ministry especially, you do not want to
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Speaker 1: go into ministry if you're not called so. But it
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Speaker 1: was it was pretty overnight and so We very quickly
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Speaker 1: made that decision, and he got out very fast, which is.
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Speaker 3: Not you know, the norm necessarily.
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Speaker 1: Especially at sixteen years, you know, retires twenty years. That's
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Speaker 1: rarely done at that point. Most people get out ten
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Speaker 1: years or twenty. And so people didn't even know what
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Speaker 1: to do with him in that. But God was with
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Speaker 1: us every step. I mean, it went very quick. In fact,
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Speaker 1: people were very surprised. How did you get out that fast?
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Speaker 1: It's but because God had gone before us and gave
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Speaker 1: us favor and gave us so it was it was
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Speaker 1: a very quick transition, but it wasn't quick to the Lord.
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Speaker 1: And we could see very clearly when we got here
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Speaker 1: as sad it was. It was. It was definitely a
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Speaker 1: laydown of our desires and our plans and our goals
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Speaker 1: for something that He had in us. But he confirmed
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Speaker 1: it with either, you know, whatever came in the world events.
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Speaker 1: It seemed to be Edward was placed for such a
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Speaker 1: time as this, you know, in the cotorship role, and
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Speaker 1: he was able to use his background and experiences. But
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Speaker 1: it was quiet. And I'll say this to people because
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Speaker 1: I spent about six months pretty depressed in tears. I
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Speaker 1: was very sad. It was a heartbreak and a loss
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Speaker 1: that I'd never experienced, and so I had to go
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Speaker 1: to God and I pray scripture a lot, because sometimes
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Speaker 1: I don't have the words, you know, And I clung
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Speaker 1: to a lot of David's words when he would just
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Speaker 1: I don't like this circumstance, but I trust in you,
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Speaker 1: you know. And God was very sweet. He didn't have
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Speaker 1: to do this, but he would confirm in small ways,
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Speaker 1: this is when you're here for such a time as this,
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Speaker 1: you know, this is a job. Again, God can use anybody.
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Speaker 1: But we felt that Ephaesians two ten, that we are
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Speaker 1: where his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, for work that
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Speaker 1: He had it in advance for us to do. And
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Speaker 1: it was very clear in those early days and it
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Speaker 1: still is that God wanted us here and we could
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Speaker 1: do more for His kingdom than where we were. And
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Speaker 1: again we tell people in the military, we need godly
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Speaker 1: people and leader in the military too, my brother and
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Speaker 1: my cousins. I still have a lot of family that
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Speaker 1: are in and we tell them stay in as long
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Speaker 1: as He wants you there, you know, because the center
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Speaker 1: of the Lord's will, that's where you're the most useful.
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Speaker 1: And so we were just embracing what the Lord had
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Speaker 1: for us, and we still are. But when I do,
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Speaker 1: and I still struggle with it because I still have
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Speaker 1: family in the military, so our paths cross a lot,
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Speaker 1: and I still ache and long for that life. But
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Speaker 1: I have to again go to those remembrance stones, you know,
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Speaker 1: the times where God clearly I can remember and I've
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Speaker 1: written them down. He called me, he said this, you know,
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Speaker 1: so because we forget, we're forgetful, yes, and we have
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Speaker 1: to remember the ways that He's been faithful in the
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Speaker 1: p and that helps launch us for the future. So
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Speaker 1: I guess I like the people.
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Speaker 3: It's a journey, yes, Yes, I like the word that
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Speaker 3: you used, though favor. When God uses other people to
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Speaker 3: kind of show you that path, that's very helpful. And
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Speaker 3: then also that internal peace where you just know that
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Speaker 3: you know and there's no real logical explanation, you just
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Speaker 3: know that God has called you and it's that piece
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Speaker 3: that He brings into your heart as a result. I
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Speaker 3: was listening to the podcast on the Ground with Samaritan's Purse,
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Speaker 3: of which you are the host, and I was listening
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Speaker 3: to the episode praising God through the Storm. I wondered
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Speaker 3: if hosting that show kind of feeds your prayer life
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Speaker 3: a little bit because you're talking to so many people
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Speaker 3: who are in hard spaces.
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Speaker 1: Mm hmmm, Oh, it definitely does. And I love being
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Speaker 1: in the field. You know, going to Mississippi was an honor.
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Speaker 1: I mean, to sit with people, you know, in the
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Speaker 1: midst of their grief, but that are praise the Lord.
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Speaker 1: And one of those pastors they were meeting for their
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Speaker 1: Wednesday night service when the tornado hit and they began
12:06
Speaker 1: praying and singing hymns and praising to the Lord. And
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Speaker 1: you know, they told told us that that we were
12:12
Speaker 1: just praising the Lord and open handed God. If I
12:15
Speaker 1: you know, to live as Christ, to die is gain,
12:17
Speaker 1: you know, if we have more work for us to do.
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Speaker 1: But they just had that confidence and it did. It
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Speaker 1: just encouraged my heart. I mean, because some homeowners we
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Speaker 1: meet don't know Christ, and that is that is why
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Speaker 1: we go, because I can't imagine facing you know, devastation
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Speaker 1: without the Lord. But then we also go to encourage
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Speaker 1: and bolster the church when they're down and because that's
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Speaker 1: when the community needs the light the most. But it does.
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Speaker 1: It encourages me so much. And I think it's hard
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Speaker 1: to share heavy stories, but it's also a joy because
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Speaker 1: and you shared it, I think recently in Exodus. You know,
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Speaker 1: I love that the presence of God goes with us,
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Speaker 1: you know, even if physically our circumstances aren't lifted or
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Speaker 1: the hardship or what we're facing, but His presence is
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Speaker 1: with us. In the presence, there's a psalms. I believe
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Speaker 1: in the presence is the fullness of joy, you know,
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Speaker 1: And that's what we encounter every single time. And we
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Speaker 1: always partner with the local church. A local church hosts us,
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Speaker 1: hosts our teams, and then again we work with them
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Speaker 1: because we know they will be there after our work
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Speaker 1: is done. We will stay as long as our work
13:18
Speaker 1: orders to complete and as long as there's work to
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Speaker 1: be done, but we will eventually leave and the church remains.
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Speaker 1: And so we want people to know that that's where
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Speaker 1: they can come for discipleship and ongoing care. But they
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Speaker 1: see a difference in the way the church handles things,
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Speaker 1: you know, because in the presence is the fullness of joy,
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Speaker 1: and have joy even when the roof's blown off our
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Speaker 1: church or we don't have you know, everything's taken away physically,
13:41
Speaker 1: right we'll see that Christians still have joy and I
13:45
Speaker 1: love again serving with each of our volunteers that come.
13:47
Speaker 1: And many come with heartache. You know, they're caretaking an
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Speaker 1: aging parent, or they have a child. You know, it's
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Speaker 1: just they come with their heartache, and yet they are
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Speaker 1: so joyful serving these homeowners and they're able to sit
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Speaker 1: with them and their grief, and just that ministry of
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Speaker 1: presence is always I come home, just Lord, I want
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Speaker 1: to do more for you, you know, help me to
14:08
Speaker 1: see needs around me even when there's not a storm.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think it can be so scary for people,
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Speaker 3: so much so that I was thinking about, you know,
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Speaker 3: being deployed to Africa to work in the Ebola training
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Speaker 3: and you have these doctors and nurses that are working
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Speaker 3: on this. So many people want to run away from
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Speaker 3: situations like that. They're doing everything they can to box
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Speaker 3: themselves in separate themselves from places where real danger exists.
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Speaker 3: These diseases are deadly. And so as you look at
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Speaker 3: these situations where Samaritans Purse comes running in when everyone
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Speaker 3: else is running away from it, what do you think
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Speaker 3: that does to the team's prayer life. I just I
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Speaker 3: kind of wish I could be in one of those
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Speaker 3: moments where deploying just to feel God's presence in that moment.
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Speaker 3: I'm sure you can describe it better than I have.
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Speaker 1: It's it's amazing. And again, I love being in the
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Speaker 1: field and I actually got to go. We do a
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Speaker 1: lot of training for infectious disease and a bola, you know,
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Speaker 1: in and out of season, but they did a big
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Speaker 1: training before this team left and getting to be with
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Speaker 1: team members that have been on many experiences that are dangerous,
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Speaker 1: and then we're signing up for this ebola response, which
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Speaker 1: is very scary. I mean it is, you know, not
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Speaker 1: an easy disease. It's very contagious. And they know they
15:30
Speaker 1: are stepping into the fire. And and like you said,
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Speaker 1: that's what we say all the time, Sparns. First, we
15:35
Speaker 1: run into the fire, you know, when everyone's running out,
15:37
Speaker 1: we run in and Edwin, I love it so much.
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Speaker 1: I think that's it's so similar to the military, where
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Speaker 1: you are serving above yourself, you know. But again, it's
15:46
Speaker 1: an eternal service here, which is so different. But I
15:49
Speaker 1: think prayer and scripture are our lifeline. Yeah, we couldn't
15:53
Speaker 1: do it without the encouragement. And yeah, they say, I
15:55
Speaker 1: mean they say, you know, as a team, they pray
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Speaker 1: out loud. I think there is power in a but
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Speaker 1: they also say they're just constantly praying Lord. I don't
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Speaker 1: know what to do, but my eyes are on you,
16:05
Speaker 1: you know, God, I need direction. I mean they put
16:08
Speaker 1: that they're in Yes, we do train our teams and
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Speaker 1: we want to be very knowledgeable and qualified, but there's
16:13
Speaker 1: obviously things that come up that are surprises. You don't
16:16
Speaker 1: know what you're going to expect until you get in
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Speaker 1: the field. So they say that dependency, which again we
16:20
Speaker 1: should live in all the time. And our teams say,
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Speaker 1: you know, it's hard when you come home and you're
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Speaker 1: in an insulated bubble where you have so much security,
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Speaker 1: in the insecure environments, we should always be feeling that way, right,
16:31
Speaker 1: That depictsy on God. But when you're stripped of everything
16:35
Speaker 1: and all you have is the Lord, they again, their
16:38
Speaker 1: faith is just they're some of my favorite people. They
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Speaker 1: have seen God do big things because they've stepped out.
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Speaker 1: You know, it's like Peter stepping out of the boat.
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Speaker 1: You know, he stepped out of the comfort to go
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Speaker 1: meet with Jesus, right, and and he did fall because
16:53
Speaker 1: he got afraid, like you know, we all would, but
16:55
Speaker 1: I love that the winds and the waves are always there.
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Speaker 1: But when he took his eyes off Jeesus, that's when
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Speaker 1: he fell. And I love how Jesus he didn't. He
17:03
Speaker 1: helped him first, and then he rebuked him right. And
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Speaker 1: I think our teams, that's what they learn, is that Jesus,
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Speaker 1: you know, he is with us his presence, and when
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Speaker 1: we doubt or when we have a setback, he is
17:14
Speaker 1: right there with us, you know, to remind us of
17:16
Speaker 1: just that dependence that we need. And again we need
17:19
Speaker 1: it every day.
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Speaker 3: We forget that.
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Speaker 1: But our teams, you know, they just every time I'm
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Speaker 1: with them or get to be seeing in the field,
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Speaker 1: it's just that we should be this dependent reliant on
17:28
Speaker 1: Him every day.
17:29
Speaker 3: I often say it's prayer, it's his presence, and it's
17:33
Speaker 3: his promises. When we have nothing else that we can
17:37
Speaker 3: hold on to, we can hold on to those three things.
17:40
Speaker 3: And those are intangible. They're not something we can hold
17:44
Speaker 3: in our hand, necessarily, not something we can see with
17:47
Speaker 3: our eyes. But when everything is stripped away from us,
17:51
Speaker 3: then we still have those three things. They still remain.
17:55
Speaker 3: So I love that so much. In your work, I'm
17:58
Speaker 3: sure though that you often and see people don't get
18:02
Speaker 3: the answers that they were praying for. And one of
18:04
Speaker 3: the hardest things is when the answer from God to
18:08
Speaker 3: our prayers is a hard stop. No, I didn't give
18:12
Speaker 3: you the answer in my own life, I felt that
18:16
Speaker 3: in the way of my daughter's disease. I had a
18:19
Speaker 3: special needs daughter that I cared for for twenty two
18:22
Speaker 3: years who had a rare metabolic disorder, and that disorder
18:26
Speaker 3: took her life at the age of twenty two. She
18:29
Speaker 3: is whole and happy in heaven. But our healing didn't
18:33
Speaker 3: happen on this earth. The healing that we prayed for
18:36
Speaker 3: happened in heaven. And I know that you have to
18:40
Speaker 3: answer that question sometimes when you're out and about, even
18:44
Speaker 3: when you're talking about the work that Samaritans person does.
18:48
Speaker 3: So I wondered if you could say, maybe share with
18:52
Speaker 3: us how you keep praying in confidence even when God
18:56
Speaker 3: doesn't answer the prayer the way you wanted him to.
18:59
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that, and I'm sorry for your loss.
19:02
Speaker 1: I think I heard you. Her name's Taylor, correct. Thank
19:05
Speaker 1: you for sharing and for loving her. Yeah, I think
19:08
Speaker 1: that's one of the hardest parts, right, And I'll come
19:11
Speaker 1: back to even being in the military. I had one
19:13
Speaker 1: of my best friends. Her husband was killed. He did
19:16
Speaker 1: the same job as my husband. They were in different battalions,
19:19
Speaker 1: but Sam mcjact job company commanders. She prayed for him.
19:22
Speaker 1: I prayed for mine. Mine stepped on a bunch of
19:24
Speaker 1: land mines and it had a lot of things where
19:26
Speaker 1: he could have, you know, passed away and the Lord
19:28
Speaker 1: saved him, you know. And she even wrestles with that,
19:31
Speaker 1: Why did God answer your prayer? So why did he
19:34
Speaker 1: not answer mine? And it's just a person. It's hard
19:37
Speaker 1: and it's heavy, and there's a tension we'll always live
19:39
Speaker 1: with here. Right could be great, But I think what
19:42
Speaker 1: I come back to and our staff. I love Jesus's
19:45
Speaker 1: prayer in the garden guestsemone when he is sweating blood
19:49
Speaker 1: and says, Lord, if there's any other way, please take
19:53
Speaker 1: this cup, you know, but not my will yours be done?
19:56
Speaker 1: And we talk about this a lot, our staff, a
19:57
Speaker 1: lot of them talk about this, you know. It's that
20:00
Speaker 1: we can be honest, we can be vulnerable, we can
20:02
Speaker 1: ask big things and give the Lord, you know, tell
20:05
Speaker 1: them what's on our heart. But at the end of
20:07
Speaker 1: the day, we land with not my will yours be done.
20:09
Speaker 1: Your ways are not our ways. And it's hard to say.
20:12
Speaker 1: And yes, we have had in fact with this ebola.
20:16
Speaker 1: We had two American doctors that got ebola and went
20:19
Speaker 1: and got treatment and have survived. And then we lost
20:22
Speaker 1: two of our DRC you know, national staff to ebola,
20:25
Speaker 1: and it's just it's grieving where we're praying and begging
20:28
Speaker 1: God for both of them, to all of them to
20:30
Speaker 1: be healed. And why I don't know, but it's that
20:34
Speaker 1: not my will yours be done. And so that is
20:36
Speaker 1: why our teams can continue in another prayer as the
20:40
Speaker 1: Shadrack Meshack Invidigo. You know when they went into the
20:42
Speaker 1: fiery furnace. You think of how they said, I know
20:45
Speaker 1: my God can save us. Even if not, we're going
20:48
Speaker 1: to go into that fire, we will not bow. And
20:50
Speaker 1: that is again I think that's why I love your podcast,
20:53
Speaker 1: because I think when we hear others testify to God
20:57
Speaker 1: the goodness of God in the hard times. I mean again,
21:00
Speaker 1: when you say praise the Lord, he is good, he
21:03
Speaker 1: is faithful, it I think it means more. You know,
21:06
Speaker 1: knowing your prayers weren't answered in the way you wanted
21:09
Speaker 1: them and again some of our staff, some of my
21:11
Speaker 1: favorite people are the ones that live in countries where
21:13
Speaker 1: they're persecuted. I'm thinking of right now a pastor that
21:16
Speaker 1: in the Middle East, and he said, suffering is the
21:19
Speaker 1: vitamin of the church. And you know, he says all
21:21
Speaker 1: the time the churches I work with, and he was
21:24
Speaker 1: very instrumental in rebuilding and training pastors in Sudan that
21:28
Speaker 1: churches were bombed, and he was very big on to
21:32
Speaker 1: live as Christ. To die is gain. You know, the
21:34
Speaker 1: ones that go before us, we are going to honor
21:36
Speaker 1: them by training more pastors. And again he just says,
21:39
Speaker 1: we don't pray for protection. You will never hear a
21:41
Speaker 1: persecuted church praying for protection. They will pray for boldness.
21:45
Speaker 1: They will pray that their faith won't fail. And I'll
21:47
Speaker 1: actually read Paul. I love Ephesian six, as I said,
21:50
Speaker 1: the armor of God is so important. I pray over
21:52
Speaker 1: that often. But he goes on later and says, pray
21:54
Speaker 1: also for me that the message may be given to
21:57
Speaker 1: me when I open my mouth, to make known with
21:59
Speaker 1: boldness the mystery of the Gospel. And for this I'm
22:02
Speaker 1: an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold
22:04
Speaker 1: enough to speak about as I should. And I think
22:07
Speaker 1: I see time and time again where staff that haven't
22:11
Speaker 1: gotten the prayers they wanted, things are still hard. We
22:14
Speaker 1: have a team member on our team who has a
22:16
Speaker 1: disease that is debilitating and he's always in pain, and
22:19
Speaker 1: that thorn in his flesh has not been removed, but
22:23
Speaker 1: he has such a boldness for the Gospel and Lord,
22:26
Speaker 1: as long as there's breath in my lungs, even if
22:27
Speaker 1: it hurts to move, I'm going to move for you.
22:30
Speaker 1: And I just love that prayer that Paul had pray
22:33
Speaker 1: that I would be bold for the Gospel every time
22:35
Speaker 1: I open my mouth. So there's a long answer, but
22:37
Speaker 1: I think I just learn time and time again. We
22:40
Speaker 1: do pray, we do give God our concerns, but again,
22:43
Speaker 1: it's not going to change the circumstances. It's going to
22:46
Speaker 1: change our hearts. It's going to change our relationship with him.
22:49
Speaker 1: And again, I love that presence with the Lord. The
22:53
Speaker 1: joy is the presence of the Lord, not the answer,
22:56
Speaker 1: you know, prayer being answered.
22:58
Speaker 3: Yes, God is interesting in so much more than answering
23:02
Speaker 3: our prayers. He wants to be the answer to our prayers.
23:07
Speaker 3: He wants to be our answer, and that relationship is
23:11
Speaker 3: above all. Think to give one word to what you're saying,
23:15
Speaker 3: it's the word surrender, and so many of us struggle
23:18
Speaker 3: with that. I like to be in control. I'll be
23:21
Speaker 3: the first to admit, and I've just over the years
23:25
Speaker 3: learned that God is in control. And when I trust
23:29
Speaker 3: Him and his ways that I can't comprehend, then I
23:33
Speaker 3: have the peace, I have the joy, I have the
23:36
Speaker 3: fruits of living with His spirit because I am surrendered
23:41
Speaker 3: fully and holy to what He wants. So love everything
23:46
Speaker 3: that you shared there. I have to share this with
23:49
Speaker 3: you because I would be remiss, I think if I
23:52
Speaker 3: didn't before we attack this last question. Or maybe maybe
23:56
Speaker 3: attack is not the right word, but I probably wouldn't
24:01
Speaker 3: be sitting here in front of you today if it
24:04
Speaker 3: were not for your legacy that has come before you.
24:09
Speaker 3: And I know you sort of married into this legacy,
24:11
Speaker 3: if you will, this gospel legacy. But my father in
24:15
Speaker 3: law and his brother were in this early sixties, parents
24:21
Speaker 3: that had come across to America for a new life,
24:24
Speaker 3: and they were struggling with addictions alcohol. They both played
24:31
Speaker 3: music in the bars, and one night my uncle came
24:36
Speaker 3: to the Lord and said, I need something. This is
24:40
Speaker 3: not the life that I know that you have for me.
24:42
Speaker 3: There's something wrong. And he turned on the radio, heard
24:46
Speaker 3: a salvation message preached by Billy Graham, and came to
24:49
Speaker 3: know Jesus as his savior. Then he was so changed
24:54
Speaker 3: and so thrilled with the Gospel that he told his brother,
24:58
Speaker 3: my father in law, who then became to know Christ
25:02
Speaker 3: as his savior, who then went home, poured all his
25:05
Speaker 3: alcohol down the drain, and his wife, my mother in law,
25:10
Speaker 3: could hardly believe what she was seeing because she had
25:13
Speaker 3: these strongholds that had been in her life for generations.
25:17
Speaker 3: Both my father in law and my uncle went to
25:21
Speaker 3: seminary and both served the Lord as evangelists and pastors
25:27
Speaker 3: for over fifty years each. My father in law just
25:30
Speaker 3: went to heaven two years ago, but my uncle by
25:34
Speaker 3: marriage is still serving the Lord in ministry. And I
25:39
Speaker 3: just think maybe sometimes you don't get to hear like
25:42
Speaker 3: the longevity of the impact. I'm sure you hear about
25:46
Speaker 3: people who came to know Christ under those ministries, but
25:50
Speaker 3: this is generational in that my husband probably wouldn't even
25:55
Speaker 3: be in church today if it were not for the
25:58
Speaker 3: salvation of his parents. It's in the sixties listening to
26:02
Speaker 3: those Billy Graham radio shows, and I just had to
26:06
Speaker 3: share that with you while I have you on here today.
26:09
Speaker 3: It really isn't related to prayer other than I believe
26:13
Speaker 3: that it was the answer to someone's prayer, probably my
26:16
Speaker 3: uncle initially. And so as we look at this last
26:20
Speaker 3: question for the listener listening right now, who says I'm
26:25
Speaker 3: praying for something that hasn't been answered, there's this diagnosis,
26:29
Speaker 3: a loss, a very long way, a job transition. What
26:33
Speaker 3: would you want that person to know? Because you've stood
26:37
Speaker 3: in a lot of hard places, and I feel like
26:40
Speaker 3: you probably have something that you could share that would
26:44
Speaker 3: be helpful for that person.
26:46
Speaker 1: First of all, yeah, I'm sorry again. I said it's
26:49
Speaker 1: hard when Paul talked about it too. Please take this
26:52
Speaker 1: thorn from me, God take it. You know he begged
26:55
Speaker 1: the Lord and he didn't. But then he said, I
26:58
Speaker 1: boast in my weaknesses because in my weakness your power
27:01
Speaker 1: is manifested. I love that that in First Corinthians, I
27:06
Speaker 1: believe twelve and I think, so that's what I want
27:08
Speaker 1: to say. The assignment you've been given in hardship, that's
27:11
Speaker 1: a tough assignment, right, I'd rather have the assignment of
27:14
Speaker 1: I'm an evangelist and I get to go share the
27:15
Speaker 1: gospel or I get to be you know, a missionary doctor.
27:19
Speaker 1: God give me that assignment. But I think for you listening,
27:22
Speaker 1: you know, that's struggling. That's the assignment you've been given,
27:25
Speaker 1: and it's really hard. It's a hard one. So first
27:27
Speaker 1: of all, you can't do it alone. You need the
27:29
Speaker 1: presence of the Lord. You need his scripture. And I love,
27:32
Speaker 1: I love God's word because there's so many people that
27:35
Speaker 1: had that same issue. David Hebakuk. I mean, I'm just
27:38
Speaker 1: thinking of so many that God though this, this, this,
27:42
Speaker 1: Yet I will praise you. You know, you think of
27:44
Speaker 1: just the darkness that many faced that went before us.
27:48
Speaker 1: So seeing the goodness of God in your hardship and
27:51
Speaker 1: looking in fact, there was a pow in World War two,
27:54
Speaker 1: you know that said in every circumstance, you know, I
27:57
Speaker 1: would try to praise the Lord for three things, you know,
27:59
Speaker 1: and you think ten Boon was very similar and Betsy.
28:01
Speaker 1: You know they would praise God for the fleas or
28:05
Speaker 1: you know they would praise But in every hard thing
28:08
Speaker 1: there are things you can praise. And again you have
28:10
Speaker 1: sometimes you have to look really hard, and I do.
28:12
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people with way heavier loads
28:15
Speaker 1: than me, and so when I feel like things are hard,
28:18
Speaker 1: I look to them. But there's always things to praise
28:20
Speaker 1: the Lord. And sometimes and I love what you said
28:22
Speaker 1: earlier about the prayer presence and promises. Sometimes it's the
28:25
Speaker 1: promises of God in the past, you know. And I
28:28
Speaker 1: think of Psalm one thirty six. God is faithful and
28:30
Speaker 1: that that saw him alone lists out, you know, all
28:33
Speaker 1: the things that the Israelites got to see God do.
28:36
Speaker 1: But then reach out to someone else. I would say,
28:38
Speaker 1: you know, find fellowship and community, because Satan wants you
28:41
Speaker 1: to isolate. He wants you to think I'm the only
28:44
Speaker 1: one struggling with this. And I think Johnny Rick Santata said,
28:47
Speaker 1: if you're depressed or you're struggling, go serve somebody else.
28:50
Speaker 1: And if Johnny Erksintata can say that and she can
28:53
Speaker 1: get outside of herself, then I can. And I've actually
28:56
Speaker 1: been in the hospital. My mother in law has been
28:58
Speaker 1: in the hospital this week, and so I've been sitting
29:00
Speaker 1: in there a lot this week, and she is so amazing.
29:02
Speaker 1: People will come to see her and pray with her
29:05
Speaker 1: and she will pray for them. You know, she's one
29:07
Speaker 1: of those that she's in pain in her hospital bed
29:10
Speaker 1: and people are coming. And somebody came the other day
29:12
Speaker 1: and she said, just let me stop right now. She
29:14
Speaker 1: was sharing what's been going on, and she said, let
29:16
Speaker 1: me pray for you. And I think that's what I see.
29:19
Speaker 1: But you know a lot of my family members is
29:21
Speaker 1: they praise the Lord and pray for others. You know,
29:23
Speaker 1: when you're absorbed with yourself, it makes it worse. But
29:26
Speaker 1: when you look outside and we are also Galatian, says Carrie,
29:30
Speaker 1: one another's burdens. You're not meant to do it alone.
29:32
Speaker 1: And that's why I love Samaran's purse. You know, we
29:34
Speaker 1: want to come alongside people in their struggle. We get
29:38
Speaker 1: to go to people in the ditches of life because
29:40
Speaker 1: they're not meant to stay there alone. You know, I
29:42
Speaker 1: just love again. I want to bring up if people listen,
29:45
Speaker 1: if you don't know the good Samaritan, that's what Smaron's
29:46
Speaker 1: purse is based off. This levite and a priest passed him.
29:50
Speaker 1: Religious godly people passed by this man, and again it
29:53
Speaker 1: would have caused them harm, would have caused them danger,
29:56
Speaker 1: you know, it was a risk to take on this man,
29:58
Speaker 1: but the Samaritan he went. But I love the action
30:01
Speaker 1: that he takes. But first he had compassion. So I
30:03
Speaker 1: think just for somebody struggling, if you're lost your compassion
30:06
Speaker 1: or you've hardened your heart, look for someone with compassion.
30:09
Speaker 1: And sometimes sometimes we do have to get out of
30:11
Speaker 1: the ditch or go find somebody. But pray that God,
30:15
Speaker 1: will you bring someone to encourage me. Will you encourage
30:17
Speaker 1: me through your word? Will you bring somebody? And then
30:20
Speaker 1: I would say, to serve somebody. It's when we serve
30:23
Speaker 1: others the load lightens again. Circumstances might not change, but
30:27
Speaker 1: your perspective does. And I know for me, even just
30:30
Speaker 1: being in the hospital, I thought things were hard and
30:31
Speaker 1: heavy in my life and I thought, man, I'm really
30:33
Speaker 1: doing okay. You see others with needs, and so I
30:36
Speaker 1: think those are three things. Just don't isolate, reach out
30:40
Speaker 1: and maybe find somebody that's united. Because I know you
30:42
Speaker 1: probably know this. The people that understand you the best
30:45
Speaker 1: are the ones that have been through it. You know,
30:47
Speaker 1: as a caretaker, I'm sure you needed fellowship from other caretakers.
30:51
Speaker 1: You know, no one understands and that's what we see
30:53
Speaker 1: a lot in the field. Is the Lord puts our
30:55
Speaker 1: volunteers with people that have similar and again it never this,
30:59
Speaker 1: no circums chances of the same. Pain is pain, right,
31:01
Speaker 1: you know you can't compare pain, but to hear somebody, Yeah,
31:05
Speaker 1: I know how hard and heavy that is. You know,
31:07
Speaker 1: it's just you feel seen. And again, God, above all
31:11
Speaker 1: of the people, he understands. I come back to all
31:14
Speaker 1: the time that we don't serve a high priest that
31:16
Speaker 1: doesn't understand. He says that in Hebrews, Jesus understands your pain.
31:21
Speaker 1: He has walked this earth and says he wept when
31:23
Speaker 1: Lazarus died, even though he knew he would heal him.
31:26
Speaker 1: So I also want you to know you are seen
31:28
Speaker 1: by a loving God, and so reach out to him.
31:32
Speaker 1: His presence is powerful.
31:34
Speaker 3: I love that so much, and amen to everything you
31:38
Speaker 3: said so very important. I think about the proverb whoever
31:42
Speaker 3: refreshes others will himself be refreshed, and that is the
31:47
Speaker 3: way it works. I agree one hundred percent. There was
31:50
Speaker 3: a lady years and years ago who shared with me
31:54
Speaker 3: her story. She had throat cancer, and she said to me,
31:58
Speaker 3: I was lying in my home feeling sorry for myself
32:02
Speaker 3: and begging God to take the pain away. And she said,
32:06
Speaker 3: I really can't explain this other than just to tell
32:09
Speaker 3: you what happened. The Holy Spirit said to me, pray
32:13
Speaker 3: for others, and she said, I started to argue with
32:15
Speaker 3: God my prayer, like, really, I'm in this pain and
32:18
Speaker 3: you want me to pray for others. And she just
32:21
Speaker 3: kept feeling that over and over again, pray for others.
32:24
Speaker 3: So she started praying for her family, praying for her community,
32:29
Speaker 3: praying for her church. And she said that within about
32:32
Speaker 3: twenty minutes, she realized, I'm not in pain anymore. And
32:36
Speaker 3: she truly believes that God took away her pain when
32:40
Speaker 3: she began to put her eyes on the needs of others,
32:44
Speaker 3: even in that terrible cancer pain that she was in.
32:48
Speaker 3: And I have always held on to her story because
32:52
Speaker 3: I truly believe what you said is true that we
32:55
Speaker 3: when we can pause long enough to take our eyes
32:59
Speaker 3: off of ourselves and put them on others, then the
33:03
Speaker 3: Lord just opens up a new wave of his mercy
33:06
Speaker 3: and grace that we didn't even know existed. Thank you
33:09
Speaker 3: so much for all that you have shared today. I'm
33:13
Speaker 3: honored again that you took the time to be here.
33:16
Speaker 3: I'm so grateful. Is there anything you would like to
33:19
Speaker 3: leave our listeners with today.
33:21
Speaker 1: I really appreciate this conversation that's been encouraging to me,
33:24
Speaker 1: and I'm just again grateful for this podcast and that
33:27
Speaker 1: you remind us, you know, to fix our eyes on Jesus,
33:30
Speaker 1: you know, the author and perfect of our faith, and
33:32
Speaker 1: turn to him.
33:33
Speaker 3: Yes, would you close us out in prayer?
33:35
Speaker 1: Christy? Sure? Definitely, Lord Jesus, I thank you God. I
33:39
Speaker 1: thank you for your son, Jesus. I thank you that
33:43
Speaker 1: you know in this world we will have trouble, but
33:46
Speaker 1: we can take heart that Jesus has overcome the world.
33:49
Speaker 1: And so all the things that we talked about today,
33:51
Speaker 1: I do pray for those that are struggling, that those
33:53
Speaker 1: that are heartbroken, that those that are aching, that are
33:56
Speaker 1: in pain. God, I pray that your presence would be
33:59
Speaker 1: with them, that you would meet them in their pain,
34:01
Speaker 1: and God, that they would be able to testify and
34:04
Speaker 1: tell others about the way you met them. And Lord, again,
34:07
Speaker 1: I think of that verse you give us a piece
34:10
Speaker 1: that passes all understanding. Yes, I pray for that over
34:14
Speaker 1: everyone that's struggling and hurting right now. I thank you
34:17
Speaker 1: for this podcast. I thank you for the reminder that
34:21
Speaker 1: as we face difficulties and we untangle them with prayer, Lord,
34:25
Speaker 1: you are our lifeline. You are the one that we
34:28
Speaker 1: want to turn to. And so Lord, I do pray
34:30
Speaker 1: for everyone listening that you would meet them right now
34:33
Speaker 1: and that they would again glorify you. I just love
34:36
Speaker 1: that prayer. And John seventeen were Jesus. He prays that
34:40
Speaker 1: he would be glorified so that he could glorify his father.
34:44
Speaker 1: And if Jesus praised, that we should be praying that.
34:46
Speaker 1: So Lord, I pray that you would glorify us so
34:49
Speaker 1: that we can glorify you, not for our success or favor,
34:53
Speaker 1: but that we would be able to testify of your goodness.
34:56
Speaker 1: And Lord, I just again I pray that you would
34:58
Speaker 1: help us to be bold witnesses, that we would encourage others,
35:02
Speaker 1: that we would be a light in this dark world.
35:05
Speaker 1: And God, if anyone's listening that doesn't know you, I
35:07
Speaker 1: pray Father that they would seek you and they would
35:10
Speaker 1: find you. We thank you again for all that you've
35:12
Speaker 1: given us. I thank you for your word. I thank
35:14
Speaker 1: you for that you sanctify us with your truth. And
35:17
Speaker 1: I pray that we would go boldly with that today
35:19
Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen.
35:22
Speaker 3: Amen, Thank you so much for listening to the Untangling
35:24
Speaker 3: Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo and remember God sees you
35:29
Speaker 3: and knows your need. Thanks for joining me on the
35:34
Speaker 3: Untangling Prayer Podcast. If this episode resonated with you, share
35:39
Speaker 3: it with someone who could use a little hope, and
35:42
Speaker 3: be sure to subscribe for more. Until next time, keep seeking,
35:47
Speaker 3: keep trusting, and keep praying.