3/7/23 - PowerPod: Making Jesus Visible at Work

Outro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the iWork4Him Power Pod. I'm Michael Miracle producer for iWork4Him, the voice of the faith and work movement. We are on mission to transform the workplace of every Christian into a mission field. Each quick listening power pod is designed with you in mind and jam packed with Kingdom resources to help you connect your faith and work. How will this impact your work? Let's find out right now.

Jim: Many of you, including us, have gone on short-term mission trips. We prep, we fundraise, we pay huge sums of money to go overseas and see our life changed. The problem is that we go and minister to people that we may never see again. We come away changed, but all those left behind at our workplaces, how does our trip away impact them?

They may notice a change in our hearts when we return, but what if we spent that much time preparing our daily mission field at work? I mean, really we're surrounded by people who don't know Jesus. How do we prepare our hearts to treat our daily workplace like [00:01:00] the incredible mission field that it is?

You know, I've been known to say that your workplace, it's your mission field, and in that mission field, you and me, we may be the only Jesus, our coworkers, our employees, may ever meet. That job that you hold and the work that you do and the people that you work with - none of that is by chance. The people that you work with, they need to meet Jesus and you may be their only chance.

So we decided to partner with Mike Henry from Follower of One, and January is the iWork4Him Marketplace Missions trip. Mike Henry, January 2020 is finally here. We've been talking about this for months. We leave on our trip in two weeks. We gotta get started. How do we get prepping for this? What, what's the whole idea? Where'd this whole idea of a marketplace mission trip to our own workplace. Where'd it come from? .

Mike Henry: Thanks, Jim. Years ago I was having a conversation. I was just frustrated at work. I was trying to figure out how to live my faith at work, and my church didn't have a good answer. I had lunch with a pastor and he said, I asked him, I said, how can I help you?

And he said, you know, we really need people to go on this upcoming [00:02:00] Mexico mission trip. Because when people go on a mission trip, that's when they get it. They come back fired up and they're ready to go. And I said, well, I'm driving 30 miles a day to work and I feel like I already get it. How is that not a mission trip?

Jim: Wow. Those are some powerful words. How did he respond?

Mike Henry: Well, I don't even remember. In fact, he and I have since met, that was almost a decade later when I was talking with another friend and telling him that story. And he said, Mike, why don't you just do a virtual mission trip? And as you and Ive spoken before. It's not really a virtual mission trip, but I love the idea of engaging everyone and going on a mission trip to their own workplace.

Jim: Yeah, it's a real mission trip and you guys can join us on that mission trip. iWork4Him.com/events. Get signed up for the mission trip as we leave in two weeks. But you're leaving and you're preparing to go to work in your mission field. It's not a virtual trip. It's a real trip each and every day. So excited about all of this stuff that's going on.

Martha: That's right. So listeners, I just wanna make sure that you know that you're gonna go to [00:03:00] iWork4Him.com/ events to find out the information to link to this actual marketplace missions trip that we're gonna talk about here today.

So, Mike, you set the stage a little bit talking about your struggle with missions trip and what to do. Why is a marketplace missions trip mindset critical for a Jesus follower to have at their work?

Mike Henry: Well, we, we live in this world that acts like it doesn't need God. And so for most of us in our workplaces, God's not part of the everyone else's interactions. It's not part of how decisions are made. The relationship with God is not guiding necessarily the businesses that you're in or the people that you work with and the choices they make.

When we take that mindset with God into our workplace, we find ourselves serving others more and giving away more of ourselves, and we make Jesus visible, but we have to do something to build that mindset because [00:04:00] the world that we're in is hostile to it .

Jim: So how will going on the iWork4Him marketplace mission trip shift that work paradigm, shift that missions field paradigm of the workplace believer?

Mike Henry: Well, we kind, we came up with these kind of five daily activities that we believe help everyone kind of program themselves for this more. We pray. We begin every day with prayer. Starting with, here I am, God put me to work. Then we appreciate people. . It's the second thing we do every day. We know what we believe. The fourth thing is serve others. And the fifth thing is speak for ourselves.

And using these five daily activities and trying to build a habit of using those one a day, taking part in our regular workplace, but letting God drive us, it helps us shift our paradigm a little bit. God transforms our mind the minute we pray and put ourselves on his clock, then the rest of this becomes his job.

Martha: Hmm. [00:05:00] So, do you have a a testimonial for us?

Mike Henry: Yeah. We have a couple of people calling in. The first one is Jonathan Hines. Jonathan's actually the friend that I was speaking to who gave me the idea of doing the virtual mission trip. Jonathan and I have known each other for a few years, and he does marriage counseling. He's also been in sales and he's been a partner with me as we started this and been on a couple of the mission trips.

Jim: Well, welcome Jonathan Hines to iWork4Him. Why did you choose, Jonathan Hines - why did you choose to go on a marketplace mission trip?

Jonathan Hines: Awesome. Great question. So Mike Henry one of my friends, he was starting this, this thing and he asked me to be a part of this workplace mission trip and I was like, okay, you know, I'll check it out. And that's kind of where basically - cuz Mike asked me. The simple thing is just someone asking.

Martha: Well, you know what? And that's such a great point because a lot of times that's all it takes to maybe [00:06:00] change your perspective on something for life. So as you went on the marketplace missions trip, what did you find to be the most challenging about preparing for it?

Jonathan Hines: Another great question. So since I have a, you know, I'm a dad, I'm a husband. . I'm a business owner. Kids, I mean, time preparing for that. I mean, just setting in time just to pray was the hardest part. I mean, like, you know, I normally pray, but setting a special time just for that, I think is the hardest because of all the irons in the fire.

Martha: Mm-hmm. But yet you didn't have to pack a bag, you didn't have to get a passport. You didn't have to raise money. Right? So that actually opened the door for you to be able to, to go.

Jonathan Hines: Exactly. So what I did is I found a little time extra in the morning to pray. And so, I mean, it really wasn't that challenging. I mean the word challenge. I think that there's no challenge. I mean just the praying part, if that makes sense.

Jim: When you decided to go on this marketplace missions trip, what were you looking to see changed in your life and your work? [00:07:00]

Jonathan Hines: Well, you know, I didn't think about it at the time. I was thinking about, well, how can I help other people? I mean, and since, how can I spread the word of, of Jesus?

That's kind of what I was thinking. But it's kind of turned out that it kind of changed me in the way that I see my workplace as a mission. But to see how many people out there don't know Jesus, don't even have faith. I think that was, for me, that changed my life.

Martha: For sure. So what kind of work do you do, just so we kind of have a perspective of what your workplace might be?

Jonathan Hines: Sure. So I actually run a marriage coaching I guess business. So I basically I coach married couples. That's all I do.

Martha: How did going on the missions trip, the marketplace missions trip, impact your view of your workplace, like how you look at it every day?

Jonathan Hines: So, you know, I mean, since I share office with other people around me, and there are other business owners as well, it's kind of different for me. Because you know, when I walk by their door, I can like, okay, I'm gonna pray for them, you know? [00:08:00] And too, people that I thought are Christians, aren't Christians, . And you know, when you assume something, I mean, you kinda, everyone knows what that analogy is.

But I think when you, when you assume someone's a Christian and you don't really know... You know, I had a conversation with a guy that thought he was a Christian, but he wasn't a Christian. He didn't believe in God. And in many ways we started that conversation, that dialogue, we still talk today. It's really cool. I mean, I think God is using the marketplace mission to reach you for Jesus in the workplace.

Jim: So as you started to pray for those people that you're working alongside each and every day and also the interactions with your clients. I mean, you've got clients that you're touching. Customers, you're touching. Vendors, you're touching, You know, they're not coworkers, but they're, they're cohabitants in your office workplace. You've started to see a ministry develop, haven't you? .

Jonathan Hines: Yep. Yes sir. And I think it, what it goes back to, and this is just what I do, it's bigger than me. This ministry, it's, it's bigger than me. Cuz you got the [00:09:00] marriage ministry and you also, you got, you know, the actual Jesus ministry of, you know, the gospel.

Martha: Right. So Jonathan, speak to our listeners just real quickly. I'm encouraging them to participate in the Marketplace missions trip that we have coming up in just a couple of weeks.

Jonathan Hines: So the simplest thing is I've actually tried to talk to people about it and they're like, well, this is kind of confusing, or they don't understand it , but it's real simple. The simplest thing you can do is go to the website and just put your email in. And then get emails. That's the first step. I mean, if I was gonna encourage anybody, but that's so easy, and once you do it, you're gonna love it.

Jim: Hey, go out to the website, iWork4Him.com/events. Get signed up for the iWork4Him Marketplace missions trip. It's an amazing thing coming up here this month. Hey, thanks Jonathan, for sharing everything on your heart. Mike, do you have any more testimonials for us?

Mike Henry: So I have one other person that's joined us, that's Jessica Fletcher. Jessica works for the suburb that we're in, and she's my [00:10:00] daughter, but she's been involved in several of the mission trips and she's listened to me complaining about this for a number of years, so she has an interesting perspective on it as well.

Jim: Well, Jessica Fletcher, welcome to iWork4Him. Why did you choose to go on a marketplace mission trip?

Jessica Fletcher: Well, so I'm 35 and I was leading a Bible study at the time and one of the things that we talk about in my age group is where our biggest challenge with being a Christian lies, and that's in the workplace.

Most people my age with families and even without families, struggle with being able to talk about their faith at work or even display Christ at work. So that's why the Mission trip was so important for me.

Martha: So tell us about the preparing to go on the marketplace missions trip. What did you find to be the most challenging about the, you know, preparing to go?

Jessica Fletcher: It's changing your mindset. We don't think about work as a mission field in general. Like most people [00:11:00] get up every day and they go to work cuz it's just what they do. To have a purpose when you go to work and to go to work with the idea that I'm not gaining anything from this today. Today I'm serving, I'm serving others, and I'm serving God.

Getting your mind kind of wrapped around that and out of your normal and, and living every moment with intent is a challenge. And so that's the hardest part for preparation for me, is getting my mind kind of wrapped around, okay, this next week it's very important that I'm intent with every moment of every day that I'm at work.

Jim: So Jessica, what were you hoping to see changed in your life by going on a marketplace mission trip?

Jessica Fletcher: The attitude in my workplace, it's overall kind of negative and so I was hoping that God would be able to use me to kind of change that sort of outlook. The attitude of kind of instill some [00:12:00] positivity in such a dark place.

Jim: So what kind of work do you do? Don't throw the company under the bus, but what kind of work do you do?

Jessica Fletcher: I work in 9 1 1, I work emergency services.

Jim: Wow. So there's no pressure there. No intensity there at all. Wow.

Jessica Fletcher: Right? And we get, you know, in our job, we deal with all the time is people who need help and they're dealing with really bad stuff in their life. And it's hard not to let that impact you as a person. And so negativity is kind of rampant in our industry. And so, Why the mission trip was so important for me is I was hoping to be able to bring just sort of a light into our dark room.

Jim: You said right before the break that you work in a 911 call center. Wow. Where there's like pressure all the time and you really wanted to make an impact on attitudes because, I mean... just explain what is it like to work in a 911 call center? I mean, you've got people calling. They're in trouble all the time. How do you even have time to have conversations with your colleagues?

Jessica Fletcher: In between [00:13:00] calls, you get really good at pausing and holding onto a thought for long periods of time. I am a night shift supervisor, so we actually have some downtime. And one of the most important things that this mission trip has helped me realize is that it's so invaluable to be a part of your people's lives, to actually carve out time to go to your employees or the people you work with and say, Hey, how are you doing? Like on a personal level.

I know that we don't, in our industry, push talking about our personal lives because we're constantly dealing with the negativity that's coming into the department. So to talk about your own, it's kind of like, pouring salt in an open wound. Well, it's very important that for their mental wellbeing, their health and their happiness, that we are taking time to say, Hey, are you okay?

Even if it is job related. You took a really rough call yesterday. Are you doing all right? Or, Hey, how's your home life? In our industry, our home lives suffer quite a bit. And so it's really, really important. And this [00:14:00] missions trip helps me stay focused on that, that these people need my time, to be there and be prepared for them whenever they need it, just to be an ear or even cry with them, or laugh with them, or joke or do something that is about them and not about the job.

Jim: And I gotta ask you this question. You went on this trip, okay? You've changed, you've shifted your paradigm. How has it impacted your workplace? 10 seconds.

Jessica Fletcher: Okay, so it's actually helped create more positivity, more camaraderie amongst the people that I work with.

Jim: You've been listening to iWork4Him with your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers. Our workplace. It's our mission field, but ultimately iWork4Him!

Outro: Thank you for listening to the iWork4Him Power pod with your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. Want more? Hear the full broadcast at iWork4Him.com. Stay connected and receive power packed content when you sign up for our blog at iWork4Him.com or follow us on social media @ iWork4Him.

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