S2 Ep3 - Removing the Power Hat

The great thought, I think, in our mission is that no one likes to be second. I don't think that anyone likes to be patronized. Partnership can go horribly wrong and it can go fabulously well. Partnership with our relationship, I have no enough time for that. And it feels very good. It feels really cool to have that power hand. What would it be like if we truly considered every believer as co-equal? But maybe met together, it was just like love it for sight. Carp on a husk, but then like Jonathan and David. I'm Karita Chen and this is Mission Shift, a podcast where we explore the changing face of global missions. Join me and my co-host Josh Irby as we explore this new era of global missions and what part each of us might play. This week we're starting with a story of Medan and Apolly Volvy who were both born in India and now serving the US with Crusity, building partnerships with pastors and ministry leaders across South Asia. My mother tells the story that she already lost two kids, part of us because extreme heat and she had to go to get the water, drinking water, three miles one way and three miles coming back and sometimes it could be 110 degrees we are talking about in northern India or more so. She found that her child was just unconscious and eventually died. Second child she lost because of nobody wanted to treat this child and is surprising to me to hear this story that why someone is a doctor we think a life giver would not touch and my mother says literally a life giver would not want to touch because we consider as untouchable and the doctors are high caste meaning that if doctor touches the untouchables doctor gets sort of infected and so he has to go through the rigorous cleansing system according to in the philosophy and theology. So my mother lost her mother's child and she tells it was my turn and so she took me on her back because as the youngest and she said well anyway I'm gonna I'm gonna do everything possible in my capacity. She walked all the way towards the city entire night and early morning she was just waiting on person ask her and say what you're ready for what you're looking for and she said well I'm just looking for any clinic around here my son is very ill and someone pointed out the clinic run by a missionary and said there is a white lady and she might help you. She went in she waited until the white lady arrived at the clinic early morning so about 7 30 at o'clock and my mother says that first time she was treated as a human being someone welcomed someone call inside come inside and sit someone compassionately treating child my mother said there's never she saw it or never she got any kind of such a welcome and ever treatment from any human being that she'd been around with. I was treated medically but also I was offered a school my mother said that first time somebody asked where do your children and until they go to school my mother said what is school and then story unfolded that because we are an untouchable community and the teachers are higher cast they would not allow untouchable children to be mingled with your children in school system. So none of our family member been to ever to school I am just the youngest one and I think I the very grace of God for me that I would get into school system and sure enough I wasn't very bright student but I learned and today I'm here but the most important thing I want to add here is this that it was not only I was offered the school system or better life I was offered a savior of my soul and I think that changes the course of life everything changes at that point my life my perspective what I'm gonna be next where I'm be heading it was heaven comes down and glory for my soul. Madan was born in the lowest class in India barely escaping death at an early age DePaulie had a very different story growing up in a Christian family from the highest cast. I've been a vocalist I was learning a song that my father was teaching me I perform a lot of times in the church and you know many places even though I didn't know Christ very well but I love to sing I was learning a song which was based on John 15 that Jesus is the wine and you know when he talks about to mean the branches I learned the song it was a beautiful song but my father stopped me in between and he said do you really understand what this song means and I roll my eyes like there he goes again you know talks about salvation and all that as a teenager but it really struck me because I started thinking what kind of branch am I am I the one who is fruitful that he wants to collect I am either one that's dry and it has no life and will be thrown away so here is my destination I have to decide and at that moment God touched my heart and I gave my heart to Jesus it was a beautiful experience and I felt like it was a U-turn for my life for the ambitions and tasks that I had for me God changed it all I started praying I started reading the word and I started like why me you know why me God why did you save me and when I was asking that question one day and praying and reading he spoke to me from John 15 16 he said you have not chosen me I have chosen you and that struck me and I knew that there was a point where I was supposed to give my life to serve him now in our culture and context that's impossible impossible to go as a missionary impossible to be single and and do things that you want to do especially in the Christian world because there are not many Christians so I didn't know what I was doing I shared that with my parents and they were excited for me but I had no idea how this is all going to work out I had no idea whom I going to find a Mary that would like to go as a missionary because it's it's not value any good in our culture it's like you have nothing else to do so you go in some of the because you have no profession no means to earn money or take care of your family even though I didn't have much of an understanding you know I keep praying and I decide I was like I'm not going to marry I think I'm going to be single but I want to sow the Lord somehow anyway to make the story short I made mother my mom was always very compassionate and kind and mother was very far away from his family so she would invite him to our home and that's how slowly I got to know him a little bit in our culture we were not allowed to talk or you know come in and give us somehow we did I don't know how but somehow we did and we found out that there was absolutely nothing common in us absolutely nothing because our backgrounds our language even some of our foods were different everything was so different but there was one thing common in us and that we both wanted to sow the Lord we wanted to be dedicate our life in the mission and that that is divine that is a divine plan of God because it would have been not possible at all God reached both of them individually but also well their stories together I've been witnessed in Christ in schools and and wherever I had opportunity until I went to higher education into the city of Pune in India and I was looking first thing is not the go friend but really a friend of my soul Christ where I can find a fellowship and there I found fellowship called youth for Christ I was just 18 that time and youth for Christ fellowship where I met love of my life the palace here in that culture we were not allowed to look at each other not allowed to express your opinions and thoughts especially with the opposite gender and so many years I just looked at her I wanted to tell her and so I did and she was shocked and she said you can't do this to me you have to go and tell you my parents about this her I went to tell her parents and they said well you can't do this you have to go to talk to you our pastures first so I went to pastor I told him and I really like this girl and I am not a bad guy kind of things in pastures as we told you tell us you have to bring your parents so The link, you know, move out, and finally I went to parents and parents and said, "No, that's in one sentence." It's impossible to align with those who have persecuted us talking about Brahmin for so long. There is no way there is no communications, and there is no reconciliation, and there is no relationship. You are a stupid boy. You, what happened to you? I heard that you become Christian. Secondly, you want to cross the border and go into different direction. Well, cutting the story short, you know, we did get married up to long struggle. And here we are serving the Lord together. We have faith persecution from both the families. We were excommunicated for a long time, and I think, you know, it was not easy. When God has beautiful plans to reach out through us to both the communities, that we stand as an example that God loves us. And in his side, there is no high and low cast. There is no either black and white. Because there is no children gentile. There is no rich and poor. Or there is no Eastern mist. But there is no beautiful creation that has creator is just manifestation of his beauty. There isn't a high and low cast in the body of Christ as Madan points out. But if you are used to having power, adjusting to that is challenging. DePauli shares her experience. It was very difficult for me because I was always raised with pride, being higher and superior. I still struggle with that sometime because, you know, it just doesn't go away, right? What you've been engraved. But the Lord has worked a lot on me. I think the compassion that God created is by God. It's not on your own. It doesn't come from myself. The compassion that God put in my heart is amazing because their compassion turn into love. And especially to love those who are not accepted, who are not loved. And so I know that the way God brought us together from such two different spectrums, to use us in both the ways. Whether it's my side of the family or it's his side of the family. I knew that God has chosen me to do this. And even though it's hard, it's difficult. We have walked dusty roads. We have sat in the dirt, you know. But that didn't bother me because God put that compassion. So when I first time I remember, you know, we were outcasters. So I never saw my father-in-law. Our kids never saw their grandfather. But when we were called, and they wanted me to sit up, sit on the chair, kind of sit separately. They didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what to expect either myself. I only knew that this is my opportunity to show who Christ is. And so I instead of sitting on the chair or sitting higher ground, I sat with them on the floor. I dressed just like them. And I showed them that I'm one of you. You know, I'm not different. But it might sound weird to you because you're like, okay, you're Indian, you're not white or, you know, different culture or different background people. You're the same, but it's still a lot of difference. Because where I come from, my language, I don't speak mother's dialogue. I cannot. He has to translate for me when I talk to my mother-in-law. In this scenario, I had that opportunity to sit with them on the floor and to show them the love. And that changed everything. It did. I connected with them in a different level. And still I do, whenever in the further ministry to when we are there, I loved giving them hug. I love sitting with them. And there's just a joy I can see on their face that comes from the Lord. And I think that's humbleness that God wants us to bring. When we are partnering with each other because without that, there won't be any compassion, without compassion, there won't be any love. There's so much we can learn from DePauli's personal experience as we think about partnering across power differences. A majority of people have this hat that they wear that's called power. This power hat. It doesn't matter what ministry you are in, it doesn't matter which country you are in, what part of the world you are in. They have that power hat. And they think when they leave their room or leave their house, they put that hat on and they look at everyone differently. And you know why I say that? Because I experienced that myself. I had that power hat in my life. It feels really cool to have that power hat, to being superior over everybody. But in the ministry and where we are serving the lot together, we are called together. That power hat only pushes people off. I think Western countries have done great job in bringing the gospel. Today we have gospel in India, it's because of the Western missionaries. And we are grateful for that. We are thankful that they took risk and they came because they had the compassion and love for people. They left their home, they comfort zone and they came. And we are thankful because of their first the gospel has now reached the two nations. But the time has changed. And what's starting that I see even in the church today or even here with us even. And we have to lose a power struggle because Westerners brought the mission, brought the gospel. They don't want to let it go. Madan has experienced his power struggle personally. We have clearly heard unspoken Mrs. Singh. I'm talking about my Western friends. I'm talking about my colleagues through whom I'm working with. I'm talking with the organization that I'm a big part of it. They have sent to us and spoken in the meantime. We want your presence and your faces but not voices. We want your presence but we will never share our power. And so that breaks us and says, why is that? Someone asked me what it looks like. I say I want to be a player. I want to participate with you guys. I do have the spirit of God within me just like as you do. Global mission is depend on the spirit of God and the move of the church is the penance spirit of God. And so it is. He is within me as well. And he is talking. He is speaking. He is crying out within me and allow me to say something. But it has not been given opportunity. That's what we just want to your faces and not voices. Robert Morris and he was a pioneer missionary in 1800. And then he mentions. He was a mystery to continue speaking in China for 27 years. For about a dozen converts. He ministered for 27 years. So he wrote actually he himself wrote. He said, the great thought I think in our mission is that no one likes to be second. There is that power again. I think if we really want to understand missions in other cultures, we have to learn to be second. And that's what the humility part is. Because of power, we can't be humble. We love the power hat. We have to take that hat off and we have to sit down in the dirt. We have to be second. What a powerful story of God at work and people's lives. And as someone who's gotten the know, my done to Pauli personally, it's not just a story. It is their life. It is who they are. Yes. Yeah. And it's so fun to see that now that I know the background of their story and to see the impact that they're making on people's lives. Like God's stories are just incredible. This is just one small example. I mean, that's small. It's actually a huge example. What a great story for the topic that we're on last episode. We talked about the complexity of power and how it shows up in all these different ways. And maybe we can be tempted to make it simpler than it is. But here we have the story of two people from the same country. Because of the country they grew up in because of the caste system. There are so many power dynamics to play. And that's one of the things I really like about their story is it emphasizes to me at least that this is not just about going from one country to another or from one culture to another culture. It can happen within the same place, the same country within the same culture. And so how easy is it for us to not understand and then dig deeper into how these complexities play out as we think about and talk about power. In the same way that there is a caste system in India that affected Madonna Diwali and their relationship and put their family and with each other, there seems to also be in a way a caste system in missions as well. Hmm. Yeah. That's an interesting thought, Josh. Can you share a little bit more about what you're thinking? Well, that would make sense of this sloped world. That would make sense of the power differences, the way that money shows up, the way that ideas show up, the way that we end up in giver, receiver, patron, client, host, guest type relationships and get stuck that way. It's kind of like what Madonna was saying earlier. He's saying, I feel involved. I feel like you want me around. And first off, thank you, Madonna, for being so honest with us, but you feel like you help me around. You want my face, but do you want my voice? You want my presence, but do you actually want me to bring power into this situation? Man, that's hard to hear. It's hard to sit in and think about that. But as I said, I'm grateful for them to have the courage to say that to us. Yeah. We need to hear that. That's what we're here for. It helps our awareness. And if we don't hear it, if we're not aware, then we can't figure out how to, as DePaulie says, remove the power hat and actually be together in this mission. Right. So building off of that, what really struck me was just picturing DePaulie sitting in the dirt. The amount of humility that that must have taken and I can imagine there was tension and struggle within her to figure out what that would look like and what that would be communicating, both maybe to her, her own family, but also to Madonna's family. I think what I have so much respect for is not only that she did that, but that she had the awareness and the forethought to think about doing that. And I think that's what oftentimes maybe we're not even aware of so that we can come to some kind of conclusion that maybe somewhat resembles what DePaulie ended up doing. Right. I don't know about you, but I feel like that is very much what I would be guilty of. It's just not even being aware, first of all, to then be able to make that kind of a demonstration of humility as Paulie did. Right. And all the things that they're mentioning that she had to do in her relationship with her new family, but also what we do in missions. There are all these active things. Right. So removing of the power hat, they're getting off the chair and sitting in the dirt, the learning and acting as one who is second. All of those things we have to learn to do in the mission context if we're going to be able to have good partnerships in the midst of power differences. And I really appreciate you saying that because we've talked a lot about awareness and being aware, it is an action, but it's actually a little bit more passive, right? And so once we're aware, then what we really need to do is then take the action. So I'm glad you brought that up. When we spoke with Barry Ripple, he talked about three key elements that are at play here. One is power and one is a close cousin, control. And the third one is trust. According to how he addresses those three and the end of notes to power and control and the path to trust. When it comes to power, there has to be humility. Some would say the opposite would be love. I could go with that argument as well, but control, I was thinking that's where faith needs to come in. I am not in control. But then trust, to me, trust is only built through relationship. Humility counteracts power. Faith counteracts the need for control. And trust is built in the context of relationship. He is one more thing to say about the activity that helps that happen. Which really involves a lot of listening. And what is God saying to all of us collectively, how are we discerning His direction? And that all takes time and effort. I just don't know if organizationally we maybe want to take that time. It's slow. It gets bogged down. It's messy. It doesn't look good on your annual report. I mean, I speak in kind of tongue and cheek. I think Barry's quote here really accentuates things we heard in Madan De Polly's story. De Polly talking about the humility it took to cross culture and to go. Into a part of her own society she'd never been to sit in the dirt, to lower herself, to wear different clothing to be in a place where she has to speak a different language or at least be translated. There's so much humility it's needed for that. And then for both of them, the faith it takes to be able to move forward into an environment where you don't have control. It's just a really powerful picture of what Barry is saying here. Absolutely. And I can imagine that the faces of the people when she first did that, like what maybe even if it wasn't in their face, like what they were thinking. And to me that is what I envision is kind of like all the walls or any kind of barrier that they may have had that kept them from wanting to feel like they could trust her or to want to that she would listen to them or vice versa. Just started to come down piece by piece by piece. And I think in the end, we'll hear her story some more and we know her now. We can really see that that has taken place. Like the ability for her to listen to them and for them to listen to her has now taken place because of that initial really challenging step I'm sure that she took. And I can see how these three first words apply in the mission's context have come into a new context I'm trying to partner with someone and I don't trust them. Yeah. Maybe I don't trust them because of some cultural reason or because I just think I can do it better. And so I don't trust them. So what am I going to do? I'm going to try to control the situation. I might ask a question, but I'm really not listening to their answer. I'm just setting it up for the answer. I'm going to give because that's really the answer we're going to go with. And so I can control the situation, which means in order to keep control, I need to exert my power and pull the strings or hold the per strings or whatever it is. And I see that happening in mission so often. And dare I say, I do it. Right. And I was just going to say, I don't know about you, but for me, nine out of 10 times, maybe even 10 out of 10 times, I don't even realize that I'm doing that. And it gets in us that because we don't want to let go of control, that just happens. And I think that's where this has really hit me in a new way of having to sit there and really embrace the fact that this does happen. I do this. And we probably all have at some point or another. And so everyone to reverse this curse in a way. It brings up relationship. And we all know that relationships take time, takes a lot of listening, much more listening than talking. And he brings up this almost comical example of how it doesn't look good on an annual report, which strikes pretty hard because I'm in the process of repairing an annual report right now. And you know, what is it that we want to include in our annual report? Change lives, numbers of people doing our thing or starting our thing, return on investment. And hey, I went and I listened. Usually doesn't make it in the cut. Yeah, that is very true. It was fun for us to get to talk with Steve Addison again this season, who is considered by many an expert in the field of multiplying movements. And we asked him, how do you show up and be mindful and intentional in not coming with power, even though you are the expert? I've got to be in awe of the God who's already at work. You say, I'm not bringing something, adding something. I'm not bringing something that's already there. And so my first job is to sit with these guys. And the less I say, the wonderful thing is the more godly they think I am and what? You give away power just by listening. So here's Steve showing up in a country in Africa or in Asia. He's not thinking of myself as the expert, thinking of God as the expert and the one who's at work. And that's my starting place that I'm looking for what God is doing. And second of all, I'm using listening, my silence, my listening to them as a way to give away power. I just love that idea. Yeah. Honestly, I think that that's why listening is so difficult for many of you. of us. And I say, us because I'm including myself because we just want to offer answers or we're just so quick to want to respond. And having to sit and listen is difficult, but that's exactly what we need to do. And how many of our power struggles in our personal life, whether with our kids or our spouses or our coworkers is just because we don't listen. 100%. I was just going to say that, but you beat me to it. So thanks. And if we would show up and say, tell me what you really feel about this or tell me what you really think about that. How much that would undercut or preempt that power struggle. Yeah. In fact, just the other day, that's what my son said to me. He was like, can you just listen to what I'm saying first before you, you know, and I was like, out, you know, but that's exactly the kind of example we're talking about. I hate it when my kids are more emotionally mature than I am. Yes. Greg Lillistran echoes the same idea. I think, you know, and at least in recent missions history, and I speak as an American, so one of them, we as Americans can be presumptive and kind of take up the leadership space, take up the planning plan space, think of ourselves as the strategic thinkers, how is this supposed to work? And I think it starts with showing up and just doing a lot of listening, a lot of learning. So I talk about relationship first, but it's also what is God put on there? What are they seeing in their nation? What are their burdens? There's so much to be learned. And I think if you, if you follow the trail of that, then you're coming up with a game plan with greater credibility. It's just that I, I mean, it's an art control. You and this nation raised money for it. We're really speaking with that one voice of what they see as essential in terms of the ministry development and trade. So again, you see this idea of faith, which we heard in Steve, and here's reflected with Greg, this idea that faith that God is at work in the country, faith that their ideas from within the country, they're even better than I, our ideas, faith that God is putting things on people's hearts that we can learn about, we can listen to as we get to know them. Really, really powerful and challenging. Yeah. And if you already have that faith in the way you're thinking, then it's going to create questions within you that you're going to want to ask and be more excited about hearing their answers from. And that is ultimately a posture of humility. And if we show up and do relationship first, instead of activity first, then that builds the trust that makes the activity more of a shared activity rather than a one that's driven by one side of controller power. Mm-hmm. Now, we also asked Elvis, fellow Tay from Romania, who's often on the receiving side, what makes a good partner? And basically, it's someone who's willing to listen, or he uses the word learn. Well, there are usually people that are curious and willing to learn. And that's something that, you know, for us, we should be able to discern because I've had people that were not willing to change anything, even as I told them, this is what we need and this is something we don't need. They didn't change any day. So being able to discern if they're those kind of people that are basically a full cup, that's not receiving anything else, then they're not your right people. And many times, there were situations where their experience was amazing. Professional experience, amazing, but they could not adjust to the culture and our reality. I don't know what the profile is. I think it's a character issue more than anything else. It's a pride issue. Speaking to you guys from US, many times your experience does not translate. When we're talking about bureaucracy in Romania, you have no idea what it can be, or some of you might, but it's so different. When we're talking about corruption, it can be big. It can be different. Some of the realities and challenges of people with their teams, perception of authority, leadership, experiences, it can be so different. So yeah, those are the desires in the people we're bringing in the partnerships we're building that they're willing to learn, ask questions, don't assume, really understand, okay, what might be some differences that I need to be aware of. So I don't know about you, Josh, but that example or picture that Elva shared about basically a full cup really stood out to me. I don't know about you, but how did that make you feel? Well, you know what I mean, think about how much work we do to fill our cup. A lot of work. I'm going to go out and get experience. I'm going to get training. I'm going to read books. I'm going to go to seminary. I'm my theological questions all answered. All this work years and years, decades of work to fill my cup up. So I can show up and be a full cup to get, learn anything that's not a good partner in that. Now, there's nothing against all those things that I just mentioned. I think all of them are important experience, training, theology, education, all those things are important, but may our cup never be so full that we can't receive. Right. And I love how Frankie was with this and saying, like, when we fill our cup so full like that, he said, I don't know what the profile is, but he actually does. He calls it out. It's pride. Here's being kind. Yeah, pride, which is the opposite of humility. And so the act of listening, the act of showing up and recognizing that our cup is not full, the act of as he says, asking questions, not assuming, seeking to understand, those are all kind of prerequisites to partnering well in our context here, taking off the power hat. [Music] Humanity really opens up the way, you know, it grants understanding. And those who are not even willing to consider or want to enter in partnership, when they see the posture of you, when they see the demeanor of you, when you see that you are, you know, not one of those kind of things that can push away others, including, you know, personal agendas or pride or arrogance, or hatred, gelatin, all those things are there. But when this is something is the different this is, yeah, I want to enter interview in partnership. It looks like this is a relationship. So impossible, culturally, our marriage. It happened only because I think, of course, one of the favorite, the favorite of God, but then I think we have to take the posture of humility. I think we all power one other way. Without power, we cannot move forward. We know this, we know we need power. But the right use of power is what to be here from the political perspective. You know, am I using this power for my personal gain? Am I using this power to cause somebody else? You know, am I using this power for my selfish reason? Is it my power? I'm just showing up so that I can be served by others, create fear among others, respect that I should be getting from others. And in all those things, personal selfish reasons that we use this power, I think that is what is hurting. Christ has power. And we read that in Philippians 2, he laid it down everything. No wonder this enemy counts and say, you have power, don't you? And say, yes, and then you are fasting, don't you? He's a yes, I'm fasting. Are you not hungry? He's a yes, I am hungry 40 days. And so you have power. Use it this power. Where is the scene I'm asking to commit? Use your power to turn this tone into prayer and eat yourself. And instead, man shall not eat by prayer alone. I'm not going to use this power for my selfish gain. Man shall not live by prayer alone. I need God. Andi McCullough also points us to how Jesus deals with the power hat. Yeah, so I think Jesus in John 13, the foot washing story, this is exactly what he's teaching. I think the, you know, the kind of, he takes off his garments, he clothes himself like a slave, and then he washes feet. And that's both, he's demonstrating his journey in terms of taking off his heavenly garments, coming into the world as a servant to people, coming to serve people, and then coming to wash feet in the atonement. But he also then says to his disciples, and I've given you an example, so you should follow it. I think there's an undressing that we need to do, a taking off of some things. A, a, a, a, divestment of certain ways of thinking, ways of seeing the world, certain attitudes, certain recourse to resources. I think there is a divestment that needs to happen. And then I think there's an entering and you know you have to address before you can read, or you have to empty something before you can fill it. Jesus removed his power hat. Jesus who had the power to create and has the power to sustain the universe. Jesus who could have come with 10,000 angels in all of his power and glory. Chose to let go of his hat to grab a towel and watch his disciples feet. Chose to come down in such a way that led him not to a throne and a seat of honor but to across. And he says here to disciples, if I am your Lord and master, do this, then so should you. And that has everything to do with how we live today and do God's mission and work together and relate to each other. Absolutely. And I think that's what makes me sit and think on multiple occasions all the time. It's like, why is it then that the person who had the most power was able to give up his power. But yet it seems to be so difficult for us to do that. Yeah, I think Jesus had a clear idea that he says for the joy set before him and during the cross that there is life after the power hat. Yeah. That there is another power at work and that the cross, this thing that seems so full of shame and humiliation and brokenness and weakness was actually the path to he's going to be lifted up. All things will be as a footstool to his feet because there's no other power at work. Yeah. And I have no doubt he knew this because he's God and Jesus and all that, you know, but in so doing what he has allowed to happen is that in giving up that power at that time and going to the cross, look what has come from that. There's so much far greater than we could ever imagine. Again, he knew the far greater than any human who was listening to him speak at that time could have ever imagined that would take place that would happen. And that's the beauty of it. And for me, but that's what I want to remember. I want to remember that if I am giving up whatever little power that I think that I have that in so doing, I'm allowing myself to be able to see more of God at work of what he's going to do, not through me, but through others and us working together. The greatest temptation of all is the temptation to think that power is an apt means to proclaim the gospel. And I think we fall into that ditch frequently. It's so tempting to hold on to our power hat because we want to see the gospel proclaimed. But as Barry points out, power is not an apt means to proclaim the gospel. Jesus chose not to use his power. We are challenged to follow him. And to be honest, in a world where I often feel powerless, I would much rather be connected to the source of his power than to my own. We've heard from Melon McCalk go from the Czech Republic before. Let's end with the story of how God used his parents when they were in a position of complete powerlessness. My parents, through the communist time, they had no money. And my father worked like a director, a pretty big state company in the socialist time and came to him, the communist, and they said, "May, we can see that you are very good man. You have big potential. We have for a good career. You should move to Prague, to capital city, and you will be like a counselor of a prime minister or something like that. You know that because they saw his potential. But they said, "We know that you are something like Christian or what is it that you are active somewhere." And they said, "But you have to decide. You will have good career or you can stay the Christian or what's what is it, you know." And this was in 17th century and he decided to follow Jesus and they fired him and he started from absolutely zero in the history. But in the same time, start movement, spiritual movement because my parents had a house and they opened the house for young people, young generation. And when you see to Republic now, a lot of leaders in my age and maybe older, they are disciples of my parents. And they grow in their house, no complicate strategy, no money, only house. But when I asked my mom, few years back, "Hey, can you count a little bit like the people, how many people went through your house or how many people you decided that she said? I never counting. That's a little bit funny because in the Christian organization, we counting everything, you know. But after 40 years, you know, she said, "Okay, I will do that." And next day she called me and she cried, I said, "Bam, what's happened?" And she said, "I count the numbers, you know." And I asked people and she said, "That must be more than 1000 people who came to Jesus through the disciples' what's in our house because the people start new churches, new ministries, you know. And after 40 years, you counted that this is more than 1000 people, you know, without money, no budget. I think that money, so something like support of the spiritual movement, you know. And but because the Holy Spirit, sometimes we have no money, but the spiritual movement is run, you know. And it's going. In a world often divided, DePauline reminds us of the importance of sitting in the dirt, of removing our power hat. It's a compelling metaphor for humility, for truly connecting with others across the caste systems that often separate us. But make no mistake, this is not an easy path. It demands the hard work of listening, of showing up, of building genuine relationships, and of effective communication. It's a dance, a partnership, a way of being that challenges us to our core. What happens if we embrace this way of being? If we commit to partnership, there is something beautiful waiting for us on the other side. It's a way that echoes the life and teachings of Jesus, who showed us the path of humility, of watching others take the seat of honor. In embracing this path, we embark on a journey that aligns with the higher purpose, a mission greater than ourselves. And here's the magic. When we surrender to this way, when we truly partner with others in the spirit of humility and service, God has a way of surprising us with the results. Thanks for listening. Mission Shift is brought to you by Crew City Global, hosted by Carita Chen and Josh Irby, produced and edited by Jeff Johnson. Music and mixing by Scott Crawl. Stay connected with us at crewcrueliu.org/missionshift. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like and review this podcast wherever you listen. We would appreciate it if you were to share it with others who may be interested in coming on this journey with us. [BLANK_AUDIO]