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