Jim Brangenberg: Did you know that when you retire, your calling doesn't retire? Your calling is a lifetime calling, and if you're still around, God's not done with you yet. And that's so important for you to remember. I know you're aware of what you're retired from, but do you have a plan for what you retired to? Do you know what God has planned for your years coming up?

You've tuned into iRetire4Him, the voice and resource of the Retirement Reformation, an organization dedicated to you, the retiree who loves Jesus and wants purpose for all of your days, especially the ones ahead of you.

Bruce Bruinsma joins us today as the founder and the original idea guy of the Retirement Reformation. He's here to encourage and walk with you through retirement, and I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg. Check us out online at Retirementreformation.org. We have three major event offerings that come from the Retirement Reformation: the Recreating Retirement Small Group Study, the Oxygen for Life Weekend Events, and The Retirement Voices Afternoon and evening events.

All three are designed to further the conversation of living out our faith with intentionality in our retirement years. Today we're gonna focus our conversation on the Retirement Voices afternoon and evening events, as well as giving an update on our upcoming trips to Belize and Tanzania. So much to talk about, Bruce. I don't know how you're keeping it all under control. Are you getting excited about these trips? 'cause they're coming up soon.

Bruce Bruinsma: Oh, I sure am. I'm excited about both of 'em. I look forward in the second section of our podcast today to talk about those specifically.

But I will tell you, I am also just as excited, maybe even more so, about the Retirement Voices afternoon or evening event.

Jim Brangenberg: So why? I remember we talked about this, it was late last year, like we're starting to do this new thing kinda like an Oxygen for Life but on a much smaller scale and we're gonna do it in evenings.

And you said, you know what, Jim, the evening thing didn't work out. So why does it end up being a Retirement Voices Afternoon event?

Bruce Bruinsma: One of the reasons is that a lot of people want to come, don't like to drive at night. It's that simple. And they have the opportunity, they've got the freedom of time.

And so doing it, we just did one, let's see, three days ago at a local church here in Colorado Springs at 1:30 in the afternoon. The thing that just excites me about that is that it's an interactive opportunity to learn about the key pieces to the retirement puzzle, and so it's very practical in terms of learning about the key pieces.

So if you're fifty-five and gonna be retiring soon, what a great opportunity to come and to learn about those key pieces. If you're transitioning from the active stage to the mentoring stage of retirement- so you're say seventy-five seventy-eight 80, and you're gonna transition in to be able to see what are the pieces that are ahead for me.

So to have an interactive opportunity to learn about the key pieces to the retirement, to be able to see, as you look forward, where do you fit and how are you going to move forward and to be able to do it in a very simple fashion? If I can just explain what we did just a couple of days ago is that I typically do these in conjunction with another person who has a specific area of interest.

So the one I did a couple of days ago was with Reverend Dr. Bob Bender. And he spoke about in his section of Retirement Voices about what does it mean to grow spiritually as a more advanced aged person? What does that look like? I had the opportunity to talk about those pieces to retirement in a very practical way.

And then we have the opportunity to have a dialogue between ourselves and the audience to be able to answer questions that we didn't touch on. And so it's a,

Jim Brangenberg: Hang on there for a second. So what was the one question that you remember? Somebody asked you from the audience, you're like That was a good question.

Bruce Bruinsma: Yeah. One of the questions was, where can I get some training or some information that will encourage me to be a better mentor? Another question that that came from the audience was when I'm making the decisions that I have to make in the liminal periods, the time that I'm transitioning from career to quote-unquote retirement or from one stage to the other, what are the four or five most important questions that I need to answer in order to be able to take the next step forward? And then to be reminded that so often we know what we're leaving, but we don't know where we're going.

And so to not be surprised that there is a place that God has us to go and that we're not surprised by that and that our reactions are based upon what God's planned for us and the preparation that he's given to us.

Jim Brangenberg: So when you say we know we're leaving, you mean the job we're leaving? Not that we're dying.

Bruce Bruinsma: No. That's right. Okay. Either the job that we're leaving or the past period. So for example you're fifty-seven. I'm eighty-three. Okay. My life is different at eighty-three than it was at seventy-three or sixty-three or fifty-three. So when those differences start to show up, not to be surprised and then just react and make really dumb decisions, but to be able to bring God's wisdom into, okay, now what's next? And so when we are, when we know where we're going, it's so much more fun than it is if we are surprised about what shows up.

Jim Brangenberg: So these Retirement Voices events, this afternoon event, or it could be held in an evening, yeah? This could be held anywhere. It could be held in a community center, right? Could you hold it in somebody's big house too, if you wanted to? But you could also hold it in a church, right?

Bruce Bruinsma: Doesn't have to be. Now it's often it's a way for a church to begin to step into understanding how, in fact, the church can engage with the growing part of their congregation.

That's an additional benefit of doing one of these in a church, but it can be done in a community center, can be done in a big house. Any place where people can gather, we can talk about this. As a matter of fact, we have a group, Jim, called Retirement Reset which if you go on Facebook and you go on groups, you will find one called Retirement reset that is a closed group for the retirement reformation, where those who find this to be a community that they'd like to be a part of can join. And we videoed the the Retirement Voices event that we did a couple of days ago. We'll finish editing that here in the next, few days.

And we will put that up on the retirement reset Facebook page so that someone says what is that really? They can actually go see one and see what the experience is.

Jim Brangenberg: When people were walking out and saying thanks for the afternoon, what was the biggest, most common takeaway that people kept mentioning to you as they walked out and said, thank you?

Bruce Bruinsma: There were two words that I introduced them to. One is liminal and the other one is senescence. And those were new vocabulary pieces for them. Both of them critical to understand. Let me just talk about liminal for a second, because that was probably the thing they were talking about.

A liminal time in our lives is the point in time, the timeframe when we know where we've been, but we don't know where we're going and we're making decisions about where we're going. That's called a liminal period. And for so many of us, it's a time if we aren't prepared for it, we're afraid, we're confused, we're anxious, all these emotional things, most of them negative are there.

But when in fact we know that it's coming and we know what some of the things we need to understand that in fact we can make decisions so that as we go through these liminal periods we can do it better. Let me just give you an example is that probably the first liminal period that most couples go through is when they hit at the empty nester stage.

And now they're just sitting there looking at each other going what are we gonna do now? And so they know that they've raised their family. The family has now progressed to that next stage, and now the family is the two of them. And that's a liminal period in deciding how you're going to move forward is absolutely critical.

So that's an example of a practical piece to the retirement puzzle. And that was what most people were talking about is I never knew that I did. I never thought about that. That's right. And you could hear them beginning to dialogue with themselves, with their wives or their husbands about, okay. I guess we need to really have some good conversations about this.

Jim Brangenberg: It must have been exciting to see people, the lights go off in people's heads like, ah, oh boy, because it's gotta be like fireworks going off literally for them.

Bruce Bruinsma: Absolutely. So rewarding. Absolutely. There were a number of couples there that are, that have been in retirement, maybe oh 3, 4, one of five years. And they've never been able to find their new equilibrium. They've never been able to find it for either in their marriage, their relationship how they're even interacting with their kids, what it is that they're doing, and they've just been unsettled, I guess is a really good word. And so to be able to find a pathway to find that settlement in God's purpose is one of the benefits.

Now the other thing about this, it's about a seventy-five minute event. Okay? So it's not too long, so it's no big deal. You need two chairs up front for the two folks that are gonna share, you need two microphones, okay? You probably need some pie and some ice cream.

Jim Brangenberg: Absolutely gotta have pie. I don't know about the ice cream, but pie for sure.

Bruce Bruinsma: Absolutely. And that's about it. And so it doesn't take any bandwidth to prepare for it. It doesn't take any much bandwidth for it to take place, but the impact is huge.

Jim Brangenberg: We invite you to check out this idea, The Retirement Voices Afternoon. We'd love to hold one in a community center or a church near you. Check it out online retirementreformation.org Forward slash Retirement Voices.

We'll be right back with a conversation with Steve and JJ Harling talking about Compel Global. And then our final segment, an update on our upcoming trips. Time's running out for you to get signed up for our trips to Belize and the Serengeti of Tanzania.

You're listening to iRetire4Him. We'll be right back.

 

 

Jim Brangenberg: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. As we do in every middle segment of every iRetire4Him podcast, always bring on special guests. Bruce, who do you have for us today?

Bruce Bruinsma: We've got a father and son duo today. And we welcome them back: Steve and Josiah, otherwise known as JJ, which is, so I'll go with that one, Harling. And the two of them, God is using them in just really fascinating and interesting ways. One of the ways that they're using them is to partner with us on our Belize trip. And so I'm gonna ask JJ if you would kinda lead off and talk about, what's going on in Belize? And how does Compel Global fit into something in Belize?

JJ Harling: Yeah, it's a great question. Thanks for bringing it up, Bruce. So thanks for the opportunity to be with you guys today. As you mentioned, our organization is called Compel Global. And we really exist to help people find where they fit in the mission of God throughout the world.

Just like y'all at Retirement Reformation, we have such a passion for the generation of retirees. You have more wisdom, expertise, capacity, flexibility than any other demographic in the church. So we're all about unleashing this demographic to really connect with what God is doing in the world.

And Bruce, you came to us and said, guys, give us some good opportunities. Some good placement opportunities to send people.

Steve Harling: Hey, what happened along with this deal originally is one of our passions as Compel is not only helping people find their place in terms of bringing their expertise, their skills, their energy, and their passion, but we also had people coming to us saying, Hey, how can we get involved?

We can't go personally, but we'd like to, we'd like to give in one way or another. And all of that kind of created in our minds. What if we had a bunch of people around the world that are doing amazing work for God that probably nobody in America is even gonna find out about? Because these are indigenous national leaders.

And so anyway, we have several of these around the world and one of them just happens to be in Belize. Now I just got back from Belize a couple days ago.

JJ Harling: I have a feeling he's about to take over my opportunity.

Steve Harling: Yeah. To answer your question, Bruce, I'm not gonna take over the whole opportunity.

Bruce Bruinsma: We're gonna hear from the feet on the ground.

Steve Harling: So lemme tell you, it's pretty warm down there, pretty warm, pretty humid down there. But our partner down there is an amazing guy. He's came out of a tough background. If you know anything about Belize City, it's a pretty tough place.

And he came out of a background where his family had been involved in gangs and drugs and murder, frankly, some very hard things. And Adrian just wound up being shuttled from home to home. Finally wound up being raised when he was five or 6, 7, 8 years old by a witch. And during that time he started reading the spell books and he told the witch, Hey, I'm reading these things.

Here's some good things, here's some bad things. You shouldn't do those things. And along with that, he started reading the Bible. One thing led to another and Adrian wound up giving his life to Jesus. And his passion now is how do I help the people of my country really find Christ? And so he became a church planter and he was, he literally planted a church with gang members.

Bloods, Crips, M-Fifteen, amazing stuff. And then he began to realize that poverty was holding people back. In fact, a lot of people got dragged into gangs because they were dirt poor, didn't have options, employment, et cetera. So that led him to this idea of what would it look like to start a farm with a feeding program for the kids in local schools?

And so he did that and this past year he was nominated in the country out of twenty-five thousand farmers, he was voted in as farmer of the year by the government. And his mission is how do we use agriculture to address some of the bigger issues in the country? And do that from the platform being a follower of Jesus. Anyway, that'll give you a little bit of a background.

Jim Brangenberg: So Josiah, your dad just painted the bleakest picture at all of Belize and we're trying, we're actually trying to invite our Retirement Reformation folks to come alongside us. Why don't you tell us about the trip and tell people that they're not gonna be partnering with MS-Fifteen, the Crips or the Bloods on this trip.

 (laughter)

Jim Brangenberg: It's Josiah's turn now Steve. That's right.

JJ Harling: No. So we thought what an incredible opportunity to really combine tourism. People love going to Belize. It's a beautiful place, beautiful location. Is there a way to do tourism with a conscience? Yep. And a spiritual burden for the lostness in this country and that really, I think Belize is uniquely set up for that. So yes, while parts of Belize are disastrous, and that happens to be where Adrian is from, Adrian is also a tour guide. He's done a lot of international tourism. Bringing tourist groups coming down from the US visiting the ruins down there, visiting some of the snorkeling sites and really beautiful locations within Belize.

So it presents a great opportunity for the intersection of those two things. We wanna do tourism, but we wanna do it with a conscience and a spiritual burden at the same time. Adrian's feeding program has gotten into local schools, public schools even, where he's taken on feeding public school kids.

And as a result, they've opened their doors to be able to do spiritual conversations, even spiritual presentations within public schools. Can you imagine doing that in the US? What a different reality it is down there. So he has the green light to come into public schools, provide lunch, and then to give a Bible story, to do some kids programming and really begin to disciple these children in the Gospel and they're gonna be the next generation of world changers in Belize.

Jim Brangenberg: A lot of people don't know where Belize is. I was just looking it up on a map. Many of us have on cruises have been to Cozumel or Cancun or to other great locations up in the Yucatan Peninsula, and on the Yucatan peninsula just at the base of it is where Belize is, right near Guatemala and Honduras. And so this, it's a spectacular area. Bruce, when you decided to partner with Compel Global to go on this trip to Belize, why did you choose them?

Steve Harling: It's a great question. He's asking himself that question right now. Great question.

Bruce Bruinsma: Yeah I was wondering that. Now the answer is twofold. First of all, I really appreciate these two guys, and I just enjoy their presence and the opportunity to be able to share what God's doing in our lives. So it's a relationship.

Secondly the opportunity to go to such a beautiful place, it's not that far away. And to be able to do that is such a unique opportunity for those who are searching for what's next. And so here's an opportunity to experience some "what's next?" An opportunity to dialogue with these two guys and with myself and the rest of the team, and to be able to come together in community and to be able to say, what does it look like to make a difference?

What does it actually, not to talk about it, but what does it actually look like? And so to be able to get our hands deeply involved in the lives of people who need us there. So that was, that just all made sense to me. And I love the ministry of Compel Global, so we're so pleased to have them as a partner because they appreciate that those of us, the forty-eight million of us that are in this age group.

And while JJ's gonna get there sometime Steve and I are definitely there and to be able to see what in fact God can do through us and with us.

Jim Brangenberg: Bruce, you're really introducing our audience personally when you go to Belize to an opportunity for not just a week of ministry or ministry involvement, but a lifetime. People can actually, you're introducing them to a ministry and an area of ministries that they could get involved in, even when they're back in the States.

Bruce Bruinsma: And one of the things that I love about it is because Compel Global has identified people like the folks in Belize, but in different parts of the world. So in fact, I think we have an opportunity for some additional trips. But we also, if someone says, I really feel called to a particular geography in the world, that there is an opportunity not only to be there in person where they can go and help, but also to be able to provide stewardship support.

So there's just a whole myriad of things that all come together in this Belize trip. And I'm really excited about going there. Interestingly enough, I've never been to Belize. Been to 108 countries, and I've never been to Belize. When I look at the map, I go, I need to go there.

Jim Brangenberg: I feel called to the Caribbean right now as we're recording this today.

 (laughter)

Jim Brangenberg: Our Belize trip, April the 14th through the 20th.

Go on to Retirementreformation.org forward slash compelled to find out all the details. I hate to - I'm hesitant to do this, but Steve, you got any final words you want to add to this?

 (laughter)

JJ Harling: Hesitance, you know is accurate.

Steve Harling: Your life matters, and you've got a lot to give to the Kingdom of Heaven. Every one of us do, and this is an opportunity to open your eyes, see what God's doing, and figure out how you can join him in the mission of Jesus.

Jim Brangenberg: Josiah, if people wanna check out Compel Global, where do they go?

JJ Harling: Yeah, I go to Compelglobal.org and on there we've got all sorts of great content, but you'll be able to check out the six different indigenous led projects that we currently represent.

We're always adding new ones to the mix but our commitment truly is anywhere you want to go, anywhere you feel like God has put a burden in your heart to have an impact, we wanna accompany.

Jim Brangenberg: Check 'em out online.

Bruce Bruinsma: Thanks guys. We appreciate you.

Jim Brangenberg: Yeah, absolutely. Great to have Josiah and Steve Harling on here from CompelGlobal.org. We'll be right back with more on iRetire4Him.

 

 

Jim Brangenberg: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. What a great conversation, Bruce, with JJ and Steve about the trip to Belize and about Compel Global. So exciting. I'm super glad.

Just remind people on our website go out to retirementreformation.org forward slash compelled to get all the information you need to get signed up to come with us to Belize April 14th through the 20th. Time is running out. We need to get you signed up.

Bruce, I thought because we spent the middle segment really talking about Belize. Maybe we'd take this segment and really talk about what's going on in Tanzania when you guys are there, because you got a lot of really exciting stuff coming up on that Safari trip.

When you think about it, what are you most excited about that Safari trip to the Serengeti of Tanzania?

Bruce Bruinsma: First of all, Judy and I experienced the amazing blessing of seeing how God has created an environment that is so different from ours with the animals and the nature and so on. But I tell you what, let me just go through the agenda of what's gonna happen on a daily basis there. Okay. We're gonna get up and we're gonna meet together for breakfast around seven-thirty.

Jim Brangenberg: Hang on now. So how many hours difference is it between let's say the East Coast and Africa, where you're going in Tanzania?

Bruce Bruinsma: I think it's about 10, 11 hours. Okay, so half a day. Yeah. So half a day. So we're gonna get up around seven-thirty, meet for breakfast and greet the day. Then we're gonna come together and Reverend Bob Bender is going to be coming with us, and he's going to have a time of spiritual growth and information, a time for us to come together in a spiritual sense.

Next you'll get stuck with me talking about retirement reformation issues. So to be able to bring to your attention here are the things in retirement that in fact you're going to be facing. Let's talk about what that looks like and to be able to do that in community. We'll have some amazing conversations there.

And do it with the backdrop of the Serengeti behind you. Oh, yeah. The lodge is where we'll be and the backdrops that will be there. Matter of fact, in one of the lodges that we'll be in, one of the things I was interested to learn is that there are eight different sizes of essentially deer, and the smallest of them is about, oh, maybe a foot and a half long, maybe two feet long at the longest with short little legs.

And I'm looking at the, those guys and I'm going, how in the world could they survive in the area of lions and leopards and so on and so forth? And as we were sitting, having breakfast overlooking this beautiful area and four of these rascals came flying across the front of the lodge.

Just flying, if you can imagine what that would be. Like it was a war. I said, oh my goodness. Judy, look. She said, oh! I said, that's the answer to how they survived, man. Nobody could catch those rascals. It was just, to see the smallest thing and then to see how God has prepared them for their context, and for their environment.

Just amazing. But at any rate, so then after we finish that conversation, we'll have a time with our key guide. Then give us insights into what it is we're going to see that day. Whether it's the open plains of the Serengeti with the huge herds and things that are happening in a macro kind of a way, as well as in the micro settings that will be where we'll be able to be 20 feet from a lion, in the middle of a herd of elephants.

To be able to see to be able to stop in the middle of the road and look at a bush and to see a little bird that is just absolutely gorgeous, that's about, three inches long. I remember when we stopped and was looking at one of those birds, and I said to our guide, I said, so here in this part of the Serengeti, how many unique species of birds are there?

He says, oh, about 1500. I said, okay, I got it. Then as we drive along the mountainside and we look down and we see a village, a series of huts together, and I said, what kind of a village is that? Oh, that's a Maasai village. Now when you see Maasai, those are the long, tall guys with the spears and the shields and the red outfits.

They are the shepherds of the Serengeti. And we're going to stop and spend some time at a Masai village and be able to see the little school, the school that they have and the environment. Matter of fact, it was interesting. The guide that we had in that village was the fourth son of the chief.

And so a little different culture, but to be able to see where they are and what they are doing on another point in time. We'll pull up and we'll stop at a school, see what's at that school. The school is between about the fifth grade and the ninth grade. It's like middle school and we'll be able to interact with them.

And as a matter of fact, I was talking to our guide the other day and I said, when we go to the school, should we be thinking about bringing some things together? And he says, yeah, you probably should. And I said, would you put together a list of things? And I'll share it with the people that are going, that they can throw into one part of their suitcase, some things that we can bring and be God's hands and feet to them.

So the opportunity to reflect together as a group to be individualized in a range Rover with just one other couple and a Christian guide and to be able to experience the wide open spaces of the Serengeti. Matter of fact, if you go to our website and go to retirementreformation.org forward slash safari, you will see the itinerary that we have there, and you can see exactly what should be happening on a day-to-day basis.

Jim Brangenberg: So I like the, I was reading here, picnic lunches, so they gonna kill your game right in front of you and then bake it up and have a picnic lunch? .

Bruce Bruinsma: No, we will bring from the lodge. Matter of fact some really outstanding lunches, but the settings where we will be eating the lunches are what's so fascinating. There's one of the places where we sat and it was on an outcropping of rocks and you could find a place to sit and spread your food out and eat that. And while you're doing that, you're watching an amazing panorama of God's creativity,

Jim Brangenberg: Bruce, some people are considering right now. They're listening, they're going, maybe we should really do this. Maybe this is our chance in a lifetime to do. It's only $3,500 a person. It's from May 10th to the 21st in Tanzania on the, in the Serengeti. It's gonna be incredible. It, it's not a safari where you're shooting things. It's a safari where you're photo shooting things. We should make sure we bring that up. Bruce. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, isn't it?

Bruce Bruinsma: It really is. And an opportunity to not just go to Africa, not just to go see the amazing sites that there are to see, but to be able to do it in community and to have conversations that in fact are going to be life-changing, not just memories, but conversations that will open new doors, new visions, new opportunities to what's next in your life for maybe the next 20 or 30 years.

So it's bringing those two things together and doing it in community, which is so much richer and has so much greater value than just going to see. But it's going to see and experience.

Jim Brangenberg: So these two trips, what you're saying, are gonna kick off the rest of your life.

Bruce Bruinsma: Absolutely they will.

You will mark them as a major point of transition in your thinking and in your understanding of what God has planned for you in the next X number of years before we go to be with Him.

Jim Brangenberg: Retirementreformation.org forward slash Safari or slash compelled for the Belize trip.

The Safari again, May 10th through 21st, and the trip to Belize April 14th through the 20th. We would love to have you join us. So exciting all the stuff going on, Bruce. I'm so grateful that you have decided to just spend that time investing in people individually. You're talking, you guys are gonna get one-on-one time with Bruce and Judy for multiple days.

What a privilege and an honor that would be. I can speak to that personally. Bruce, thanks for bringing these trips to all of our audience and for making it open for people from across the country.

Bruce Bruinsma: I just appreciate the opportunity to share the opportunity and we just pray that many of you will say, let's think about this more carefully and let's get on board because I'll look forward to spending that time with each one of you and what it is that I can learn from you.

Jim Brangenberg: You've been listening to iRetire4Him, the voice and resource of the Retirement Reformation with your host, Jim Brangenberg, of course, retirement Reformation's founder, Bruce Bruinsma. We're Christ Followers journeying from retirement to Reformation so ultimately we can say iRetire4Him!