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These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Hey, welcome back to Words of Life. Today, Bernie is continuing his conversation with Major Sandra Pawar about how we, as followers of Christ, should be the best neighbors. After we hear from them, we'll be joined by Jelaine Rolliter. She is the Bible Correspondent's program assistant, which means she receives prayer requests from individuals currently incarcerated.
In a few weeks, we'll hear more about the ministry the Salvation Army is a part of when it comes to correctional ministries. But we are so excited to announce that through a new initiative in certain correctional facilities in the Southeast, words of life can now be heard on secure tablets made available to those in prison. To learn more about this initiative, check out the show notes for this episode. Welcome back to Words of Life. I'm Bernie Dake, and I'm joined in the studio again today by Major Sandra Poar.
Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I am sad that this will be our last time together for this series, but I'm glad that we've really been given the opportunity to hear your thoughts on what it means to be neighborly and be a good neighbor. And why it's important for us as Christians to be intentional about building relationships within our community.
So here's a statement. We don't love our neighbors to convert them. We love our neighbors because we are converted. Hmm. What does that mean to you?
Yeah, that's a pretty heavy statement. One of... beauty and hope, I think. And that really speaks to The relationship that we have with Jesus, right? That Jesus changes us, Jesus loves us, Jesus.
Has incredible grace and forgiveness for us. And I think that is the way that we should approach. The people that enter into our spaces and into our lives. And really speaks to not having a gender when we step into relationship with people, that we wanna step into relationship with people with genuine motives, just to get to know them, to hear their stories, to know who they are, where they come from, what they believe. And that it's not just about us trying to put our beliefs onto them.
Um I say that In caution, in the way that, yes, as a Christian, I would love for everybody to know Jesus because he's amazing, and I love him, and I've seen what he's done. in my life and in the life of people that I love. But I don't presume to think that everybody is in that same space. And I think that it makes people projects rather than people that we can be in relationship and friendship with. And I'd rather see them as someone that I can be friends with than as a project to work on.
I would just encourage people to be themselves, to bring themselves to the table. We all have different gifts, we all have different ways that we relate to people. Don't try to be somebody that you're not. You know, there is a place for kind of what we call traditional evangelism methods of going out and maybe doing a I don't know, open air or being on a street corner if that's what the Lord has led you to do. But relationships are really where it's at.
Like when you build um momentum with people and you just share each other's stories and you share life with them. Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. We're going to take a quick ad break and we'll be right back. What does it really mean to love your neighbor, not as a project, but as a person? Mm.
This month, on the Salvation Army's podcast, Words of Life, we'll explore how true evangelism starts with genuine relationships shaped by grace, humility, and compassion. We'll hear from Salvation Army leaders and volunteers as they share how they're engaging with their communities and truly making an impact in the lives of their neighbors. And later this month, we'll be joined by author and missionary Preston Fidler. Yeah. And I think it comes back to We get to do this rather than we have to.
I think if we approach it from this perspective of, Feeling like we have to convert our neighbors. I think we're seeing it backwards. Maybe we got to see it from this place of, man, I have been converted. I am redeemed. God has saved me.
And I get to tell this good news to my neighbors. Listen to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit wordsoflifepodcast.org. A lot of the work that I get to do with our own churches with young adults or teenagers. And I always want to remind them and our listeners that we are uniquely made fearfully and wonderfully. In Christ's image.
And you are good enough, just as you are. And that uniqueness is probably attractive to other people in a way that God designed on purpose. And I think it's okay to embrace that. Amen. Amen.
I think of my two daughters, they're very different personalities, like completely different.
So, my oldest is probably not going to really talk about Jesus a lot to her friends, but she will invite them to church programs and to hang out with her there. And they get to know who she is and how much she loves God. By being in those spaces with you, whereas my youngest is very open and vocal, and with all her friends, you know, she'll get she's even just recently she has a Bible and she's been highlighting it and taking it to school. And then she asked a friend if she wanted to do a Bible study with her. Like that doesn't flow from a place of like, I need to convert all my friends.
She doesn't think like that. She literally is just like, I love Jesus. I love reading his word. Maybe you want to read it with me. You know, and it just flows from who she is.
So I think. No matter what age you are, no matter what stage you are, no matter what. what kind of person you are, like God will use who you are. Yeah. Um Woo!
Okay, with the time that we have left, I want to make sure that we touch on this phrase that I've heard you say: thousand cups of tea. I love a good cup of black tea in the morning, but a thousand cups of tea? Yeah, funny enough, I don't drink tea at all, which is weird for an Australian and someone who's lived in the UK, but my husband does drink tea. But I am excited about a thousand cups of tea because we're going to have a whole day where the territory is going to drink a thousand cups of tea, hopefully. But where that comes from is a book that I started reading when I was pastor and officer at Atlanta International Corps.
um where m the majority of my church members did not speak English. And I was trying to figure out how I could communicate with them or how I could disciple them when they didn't understand. What I was saying. And so I came across this book, A Thousand Cups of Tea by Preston Fiddler. And I just loved it.
One I loved. They're kind of He's very much a missionary, and that's my heart, and the heart of my husband. But one of the the things that I I really just wanted to learn was How does the gospel The shared to people And in cultures where you do not speak the same language. And this book just really helped me to see that: one, I just need to know the gospel for myself. I need to be fluent in what scriptures are saying.
And then I need to again trust the Lord to be able to use different ways to get that word across to people. by connecting to things that are similar for both of us. and by telling stories. Also but he also does talk about like taking lessons, language lessons and just learning some of the basics so that you can share scripture with people.
So that you don't use it as an excuse. To not share. And he, this author is very, very inspiring, and he doesn't give up. He doesn't let anything become a barrier to him. He just.
Is like, okay, God, like, I'm just going to give this to you. Help me to be able to share the word of God with the people that I'm with. And how he does that is by sharing tea with people. Tea, cups of tea is pretty universal. And again, it comes back to the fact that you're building relationships with people, that you're sharing cups of tea, cups of coffee.
Maybe in my case, it's a can of Diet Coke, you know, but you're using organic things that you would do in your everyday life. to build relationship with people. and to find commonality And to Allow the Holy Spirit to direct conversations. And um and speak through those conversations. Yeah.
That's kind of the gist of it. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's great. Sandra, I'm so grateful that you would share your heart with us and encourage us to be. Even better neighbors.
And if that means that someone comes into a right relationship with Jesus Christ, then to him alone be the glory. Amen. One. Be sure to come back next week where we actually get to interview the author of this book that has inspired Major Sandra. And we pray that as you consider what it means to be more neighborly or have a cup of tea with someone.
that she would do it with that very thought. that God can use us just as we are. We pray that you're enjoying and being blessed by this conversation. Uh We're going to take one more ad break and we'll be right back. What does it really mean to love your neighbor, not as a project, but as a person?
This month, on the Salvation Armies podcast, Words of Life, we'll explore how true evangelism starts with genuine relationships shaped by grace, humility, and compassion. We'll hear from Salvation Army leaders and volunteers as they share how they're engaging with their communities and truly making an impact in the lives of their neighbors. And later this month, we'll be joined by author and missionary Preston Fidler. Um And I think it comes back to We get to do this rather than we have to. I think if we approach it from this perspective of, Feeling like we have to convert our neighbors.
I think we're seeing it backwards. And we got to see it from this place of, man, I have been converted. I am redeemed. God has saved me. And I get to tell this good news to my neighbors.
Listen to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit wordsoflifepodcast.org. Well, I am now joined by Jelaine Rolliter. She's an employee with the Salvation Army. Jelaine, welcome. Thank you.
Introduce yourself to our listeners. What is your current role with the Salvation Army? What do you do here? I'm the Bible correspondents program assistant and I've been here for sixteen years. I basically manage the program sending out Bibles and Bible courses to inmates across the Southern Territory.
We send about 500,000 pocket calendars out to the chaplains, and I get a lot of letters and Responses from the chaplains and from the inmates who are requesting services and resources from us. And then we're able to help just connect them to locally. Exactly. Absolutely. That's amazing.
So we've been in a series focused on community engagement, and we're talking about how we, as Christ followers, should be the best neighbors. But even just beyond our literal neighbors, you know, as we think about this, what is a community of people that we think are often overlooked? I really believe the inmates are. There's a lot of judgment. There's such a stigma with people who are incarcerated after they're released.
The sentence may be completed, but not all society wants to forgive them. Through your work, we get to receive actual prayer requests from people that are currently incarcerated. Could you just share a couple of these prayer requests so we can just kind of get an idea of how we should be praying for them? Sure, I'd be glad to. One of the lines from our Bible courses is: What are your thoughts about God?
When I was reading through that, there was a lot of uh prayer and and praise together. Nicole, who wrote, God is the center of my life. I still struggle sometimes, and fall. but I look to God to lift me up. Abigail I love him honestly.
I didn't find him until getting locked up. But even behind bars, I've never been so happy and so at peace within my life. and the man that gave his son up to save my soul. Yeah. Amber, uh God is the only one who has never left me, even in my sin.
No one has loved me like he does. You have saved me time and time again, even when I didn't deserve it. Lord, you saved me you forgave me for killing someone. You're too good, Lord, and I don't deserve you or the blood of your Son. There's uh Tamaka.
I love him so much. This year is my new me. Tell the good news. because he has been so good to me. one last one for Crystal.
He is my father and my friend. if he can forgive me of my past. then I should be able to do the same thing. It's just hard to forgive myself. Thank you for sharing these.
Something that we're in the process of working on within Words of Life specifically is now being able to offer this podcast through the Edovo app. And so, not every prison night, I imagine, but many prisons, especially throughout the Southeast, now have access to these secured tablets. And through that tablet, they can actually hear this show. It would be an incredible God miracle if one of these people that we just read their prayer request is actually listening to this right now, which blows my mind. And I just want all of you to know that we are lifting you up in prayer.
I can't imagine what you've been through. God knows, and he has never left you. Jelaine, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for what you do for the kingdom, and it's been a pleasure. Thank you.
The Salvation Army's mission, doing the most good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit SalvationArmyUSA.org to offer your support. You can subscribe to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit SalvationArmysoundcast.org. Join us next time for the Salvation Army's Words of Life.
These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life. We want to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the show. Visit lifeaudio.com where you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network.
They have shows about prayer, Bible studying, parenting, and more. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for working everything out for my good. Help me trust in your perfect plan.
Amen. Father, thank you. for loving and caring for me. with Christian prayer meditation. You can pray along to prayers based on specific topics.
Go to lifeeaudio.com or search your favorite podcast app for Christian Prayer Meditation. You can also download the Abide app for biblical meditations. at abide.com. I'm Mark Vinette, host of the Historical Jesus Podcast, which presents the new series, Miracles, focusing on biblical miracles from the Old and New Testament. Join me on the Historical Jesus podcast as I explore the interesting, compelling, intriguing, and wonderful miracle stories of the Bible and the many great miraculous events inspired by the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
