June 4, 2025 • 36 mins
In this heartfelt episode, Twanna Henderson sits down with Carrie Pankratz to explore how hospitality can be a powerful form of evangelism—regardless of personality, resources, or life stage. With stories, humor, and biblical insight, Carrie reminds us that while hospitality may be messy, it's a divine invitation to love our neighbor. You don’t need a perfect home—just a willing heart.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Twanna Henderson (00:09):
Welcome to T Time
for, with, and about women.
I'm your host, Twanna Henderson, andas always, I want to remind you to
like this broadcast and to definitelyshare it with someone that you know.
Well, you know, this year we have beenfocusing on the topic of building and
(00:30):
rebuilding a culture of evangelism.
And with that, I am so excitedabout our guest for today.
Our guest is Carrie, Carrie Pankratz.
Carrie and her husband have beenserving in ministry together
since they married in 2003.
In 2009, they uprooted theirfamily to plant a church in Utah,
(00:55):
where they continue to serve.
Carrie runs a blog titled"Messy Joyful Journey".
I've got to get back to that title andtalk about that, where she encourages
Christians to love their neighbor well.
Through biblical hospitality.
She's passionate about opening herhome, sharing meals, and pointing
(01:16):
people to Christ in everyday moments.
Carrie is also a coach with AlongsideMinistry Wives, which is a ministry
dedicated to empowering Ministry Wivesto be dynamic partners in ministry
and embracing the opportunitiesunique to their God given calling.
Carrie, welcome to T Time.
Carrie Pankratz (01:38):
Thank you so much for having me.
Twanna Henderson (01:40):
It's so good to have you and so good to meet you.
And like I said, I want to first ask youabout that title: Messy Joyful Journey.
Where did that come from?
Carrie Pankratz (01:50):
Well, it's funny because it's been kind of a process,
but, I'm in a house full of ADHD people.
So it started just with like, ah,but then just thinking about life and
ministry and especially in relationships,relationships are messy and a lot of
(02:15):
beautiful things come from the messy.
And so that's kind of wherethat title came from, that you
know, sometimes life is messy.
Relationships are messy.
And my house is oftenmessy, but there's joy.
There's joy in all of that.
And God uses all of that.
Twanna Henderson (02:36):
And I think, you know, that's so authentic because a
lot of times we don't like to talkabout the messy, but you know, it
is what it is, you know, it's life.
So, but as I said, you know,earlier, T Time has been focusing on
evangelism this year and we've justhad a wonderful year of just talking
about, people, meeting and, and, andknowing and coming to know Jesus.
(03:01):
And I want to talk a little bit aboutyour story and, how God, led you into
this area of biblical hospitality.
Carrie Pankratz (03:13):
Yeah, it's funny because it started out, I mean,
I actually see myself as a littlebit domestically challenged.
So even though I love peopleand I mean, to the point where I
took the strength finders thingand my top five were all blue.
So, and that's like the peoplecategory and I actually cried about
(03:35):
it because I'm like, okay, so the onlything I'm good at is liking people.
Like, it really felt like it wasn't like,it's not like some great leadership thing.
Like I, like all the other thingsthat I thought were better.
And then when I look back at my journeyand where God placed me, I now can see.
And actually when I did the top 10,it's actually my top seven are blue.
(04:01):
But, but it started wayback really with evangelism.
My husband and I served in collegeministry and we wanted to take our
students on, actually, we wanted totake them on an overseas mission trip
and we were going to go to Ukraine, butour church was going through a building
campaign and you know my like what wecan't take our kids overseas because
(04:26):
we're doing a building campaign andlike I did not have the best attitude
and really looking back I can seeit was absolutely part of God's plan
because what we did is becausethey weren't telling us we couldn't
go on a mission trip just youit's Ukraine is too expensive.
Like let's not drain
our resources.
(04:46):
And so we did it was duringright after Hurricane Katrina.
So we did a service trip to do cleanup andthen we wanted to do more of a theological
trip, so we actually came out to Utah andI would say that was the trip that changed
(05:07):
our students and us more than anything.
Because if there is a, a tripthat will challenge you to know
what you believe in, and why?
It's that because you're talking topeople who know what they believe
and they use scripture to defend it.
And so it really transformed like, okay, Igot to know why I believe what I believe.
(05:30):
Like why is christianity trueand not some other religion when
Jesus says like, I'm the only way.
So let's, let's look at this.
And, and so we would come to Utah and weactually, I mean, our students would come
back without us to just go on trips too,because they loved it so much because
the people here are so easy to talkto and they like to talk about faith.
(05:55):
And, well, some of them, some of themhave been burned and it's, I mean,
there's two opposite extremes here.
But the population is still less than 2percent Christian and where we are, it's
probably around one and, but we wouldcome on these trips and someone would,
like we'd evangelize and they would becomea Christian and then we'd try to get
(06:18):
them plugged into a church and realizethe nearest church was 45 minutes away.
And we're like, okay, like this is,you can't, it's not just tell people
the gospel, it's make disciples and,and yeah, sometimes it's like one
waters, one plants, one waters, andit's a process, but there just weren't
Christians here to do that work.
(06:39):
There weren't enough.
And so
our solution was to move here.
So when I moved here, I quickly realizedthat what we did on mission trips is
not what it's like when you live here.
Like you're not going to belike in people's faces and
it wasn't in people's faces.
It was very respectful.
Twanna Henderson (06:59):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (06:59):
But some of the conversations we have that
would put a wall between youand a person in a relationship,
like it's fine with strangers.
And actually, I think it's importantthat we have people that do come and
say some of the hard things to getthem questioning, but it's hard to
continue a relationship with that.
(07:21):
So moving here, I found that my biggestministry was just being real and, I have
a couple of stories like early on, we,you know, I had toddlers at the time,
and our next door neighbors moved in,like the sweet couple who did not have
(07:41):
kids yet, and they came to our house,and I invited them in, and they had to
step over toys to get to the table tosit down and, you know, have dessert
with us, and but I just opened my door.
And that is not common in this culture.
And I think in a lot of cultures,like if someone doesn't know you're
coming and their house isn't readyfor you, they don't let you in.
(08:03):
And a few years later, when she hadkids, I knocked on her door and she
invited me in with a pile of laundryon the floor and dishes in the sink.
And I'm like, okay, wehave a real friendship.
Like that's where real things can happen.
And so early on, I started to noticethat, but then, and this is funny because
(08:25):
the, the blog posts that you saw, I wrotethat kind of realizing I had invited
a friend over and the first words outof my mouth were like, Oh, I'm sorry.
It's not as good over here as this othercouple who, we got to a place in our
church where it had grown and we had otherpeople that were hosting things and they
had so much more than I did and they werebetter cooks than I was and I started
(08:50):
to get really insecure and which I'mlike, okay, what is going on with me that
I don't feel like I can invitepeople into my home when I had
no problem inviting people into atiny apartment when we had nothing.
And, and we actually have more now.
Like I don't, I don't not havea good place to invite people
to, but it was all inside of me.
(09:12):
So I wrote a blog post, but then the funnything about that is, you know, I was so
determined I'm going to invite people inmore, I'm going to have them for meals.
And immediately it's like, God's like,that's great, but now I'm going to teach
you what real biblical hospitality is.
I found out right after writing thatblog post that I had to have rotator
(09:34):
cuff surgery on my dominant shoulder.
Twanna Henderson (09:38):
Oh my goodness.
Carrie Pankratz (09:40):
That for sure that recovery puts you completely
out of commission for six weeks.
Twanna Henderson (09:44):
Oh wow.
Carrie Pankratz (09:44):
You cannot move your shoulder.
And I tried to do things lefthanded and it was really humorous.
But what that did is it put us in a placewhere, our church family had to step in.
So I was the recipient of beingcared for by my church community.
And that was really hard for me becauseI'm the one who wants to do that.
(10:08):
No, this is what I'm doing.
Twanna Henderson (10:09):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (10:11):
So I really feel like God wanted to show me A.
That it's hard to acceptfrom other people and B.
That we were blessed by allkinds of different things.
Like one of the people, theydon't feel like they can cook.
They ordered us pizza to be delivered.
Pizza and salad and dessert.
That was my kid's favorite meal.
Twanna Henderson (10:33):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (10:34):
The whole time.
And it's not like shehad to make something.
And then the friend who made the pretzeldogs and made extra to put in our freezer
so that my kind of, my kid who kind ofgets anxiety around new foods, knew that
there were pretzel dogs in the freezer ifhe didn't like what was, what was coming.
(10:54):
And, And so there were just so manythings during that, that I'm like,
okay, Lord, now I see different.
And then I was ready.
So I'm getting, I go to the doctor, Iget my permission to get out of my sling.
And that day we got a phone callthat we had been approved to foster.
(11:17):
So someone in my family, one ofmy loved ones had been through
an extremely difficult time.
The loss of a spouse and he wasjust in a position where he could
not care for his children anymore.
The care that they needed at that point.
And so it was one of those eyeopeningthings where I'm like, this is,
(11:41):
this is biblical hospitality.
And that's so we, we got the two, so Ihad teenagers at the time, and so we got
a three year old and a seven year old.
Twanna Henderson (11:54):
Oh, wow.
Carrie Pankratz (11:55):
And we had to, you know, it was, it was through
the system, so everything has to bea certain way in your home, so my
kids had to sacrifice their rooms,
and
it was, it was a lot for our whole family.
But what it did is we got to lovethese kids in a stable environment.
(12:16):
We got to show them the Lord.
My husband's a pastor and thelittle, the seven year old would
sit front and center and he wouldlisten to everything my husband said.
And on the way home,he'd be talking about it.
And I mean, it was just.
It was hard, but it was also justso eye opening that he had never
experienced that in his life before.
(12:37):
And, I got the blessing of havinga little girl cause I have boys.
So that was amazing.
And then also being able to loveon that family member and show them
that like, I'm not judging you inthis, because I know that my heart.
(12:57):
I mean, we were raised verysimilarly and my, I could be in
the same sort of circumstances.
Like you don't know whatcould lead you to that.
So it wasn't a judgment.
It was an honest, like,what can I do to help?
And the only answer I had was Jesus.
(13:18):
And so I was able to, that's what I,that's what we were able to share in that.
And for me, that was so eye openingbecause when I was thinking about
biblical hospitality, I was thinking,well, I'm going to invite people
over for dinner, which it's, it's,it is that it's not less than that.
Twanna Henderson (13:37):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (13:38):
It's also because this was a person in a very hard time
that was somebody that I deeply love.
It helped me to see, okay, all these otherpeople struggling, they're image bearers.
And they are just like thisperson that's struggling.
I know his heart.
I know that, it's not like heset out to make bad choices.
(14:02):
It's, there were very hard things andhow can we love people better in that?
And it totally changed my viewof even just like remembering to
see everyone as an image bearer.
Twanna Henderson (14:16):
Yeah.
And I think that's whatwe're called to do.
And I think it is hard, it is hard todo that because we, you know, I mean,
what you all did is so commendable
and even though it was family members,it's still hard to be able to do that
because for various reasons that we feellike we're not, we just we're not the
right ones or whatever the case may be.
(14:38):
And I want to just give a little contextof what you were, you were talking about
the blog and some of those listening,
The blog that, Carrie had abouthospitality, biblical hospitality,
and that's when I reached out toher and say, hey, you did this blog.
You know, I would love for you to comeon T Time and really talk about that and
(14:58):
talk about, just how, we can reach peoplethrough those different kinds of, avenues.
I know you mentioned about, you know,it's more than just coming around
food, but a food is a huge thingbecause we all love to eat, of course,
but I love how you talk about how everydaymeals and gatherings really become
(15:21):
opportunities for a gospel conversation.
Carrie Pankratz (15:25):
Yeah, 100%.
Well, it's funny because when Iwas thinking about the people that
we've seen impacted, when I lookback, I was first impacted by that.
When I think about being a 12 year oldand my friend's mom, who would welcome
me in when we had, you know, I have some,some fun family dynamics growing up.
(15:48):
And my friend's mom, I know my friend'smom gave me a safe place and she was
a Christian and she would drive me tochurch and she would make me a baked
potato and all those things that just seemlike she was just living out her faith.
And that's the thing is Ihonestly believe that this is just
(16:09):
living out your Christian faith.
And, I think about in Utah, one of thethings was just, you know, inviting
a tired mom neighbor in that I saw,and I said, you want to come have a
cup of coffee, which is funny becausepeople here don't drink coffee.
And she was, that's a partof the predominant religion,
(16:33):
they're not allowed, but, this neighborhad, she was no longer practicing,
but she'd never had coffee before.
So.
she came over and I made her a cup ofcoffee and we just started talking.
And at first, you know, it'sjust, you're talking about little,
just kind of surface things.
And then, you know, she came overthe next day for a cup of coffee.
(16:54):
And then we got to a point whereI was able to share kind of some
of the struggles that I had had.
And for us, it was a little easierto talk about faith because we
moved to Utah to plant a church.
So it's super easy, but in that,It's more talking about how the
Lord has transformed my heart andhow I see the world differently
(17:18):
and how I love people differently.
And then that brought her to a placewhere she felt safe to share kind of
her faith journey and where she was at.
And it's not like we sat down and I'mlike, tell me about what you believe
about God, which sometimes can happen.
Like sometimes those things areappropriate, but, I found that most
(17:41):
of the time it is just honestlygetting to know people and being real.
Like, I don't present myself as aperfect Christian because I'm not.
But my heart is to, to walkrightly before the Lord, you know,
to, I want to love people well.
(18:02):
And when I think about Anotherneighbor who, and it's funny
because that phase I had young kids.
And so in the early phase, those werethe people that I would invite in.
And so I remember one of myfriends, saying like, nobody
talks about how hard it is.
Everyone talks about what a blessing it isto have kids and it is, but I'm exhausted.
(18:25):
And so I just said, Hey, let'sgo get hot chocolate because
she doesn't drink coffee.
So I picked her up.
We went, we got hot chocolate and we justsat and talked and like, those are where
the, the real relationshipshappen, but that's also where you
get to talk about truth and thegospel is what cuts to the heart.
(18:50):
It's not my words or mygreat way of saying anything.
It's when they see the gospel and reallyunderstand it, it cuts to the heart.
So it's not my job tomake them do that, but,
it is to share the truth.
And a lot of that just comes from what'sgoing on in my own life and my own heart.
(19:12):
And so we've seen people cometo faith here through that,
but it takes a long time.
Twanna Henderson (19:17):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (19:18):
And like I said before, like, it's not just you
share the gospel and you're done.
We're called to make disciples andthat happens in living everyday life.
Twanna Henderson (19:28):
Yeah, it happens over time.
And I can see some people really being,kind of intimidated or feeling Intimidated
or unqualified to, to really evangelizethat way, or just feel like I don't
have the gift of hospitality, you know,what, what advice would you, would you
give someone who, who feels like that?
(19:50):
Who's listening to this?
Carrie Pankratz (19:52):
Yeah, well, I think we're all called to love our neighbor, whether
we have the gift of hospitality or not.
Like, I think we are all called to that.
And, I would say.
Use, use what you do have.
I mean, I, one of my favorite times isI sat, well, there were two, okay, one,
(20:13):
I sat with a woman and we drank ice water.
That was all I had to offer at the moment.
And actually it was all she could havebecause she was, had a procedure coming up
and instead of canceling, like let's drinkwater and like have a glass of water.
It is not about what you do.
It is about the relationship.
And
Twanna Henderson (20:33):
Now
Carrie Pankratz (20:33):
let me, let me, let me say
Twanna Henderson (20:34):
this, Carrie.
Now, remember you'reblue, you're seven blue.
Carrie Pankratz (20:37):
I am blue.
I know.
I totally understand.
Twanna Henderson (20:39):
So what about other people who are not blue?
Carrie Pankratz (20:43):
No, I get it.
I totally get it.
Well, and the thing is, obviously I'mgoing to do this more than other people,
but everyone can say to a neighborand when you're taking your trash cans
out, like, Hey, how are you doing?
Like if you're out on your porchand someone walks by just saying
(21:03):
hello, can start a conversation.
It doesn't have to be a big ordeal.
It doesn't even have to be a long time.
It could be little small hellos.
I mean, we are in a culture thatdrives into our garage, closes
the garage, and that's it.
And I think we are desperatefor true community.
(21:26):
That's what we were created for.
Whether you are people or you're not,it is in us that we need community and
it doesn't even have to be in your home.
I mean, I had So I was having aBible study with someone kind of
doing a discipleship thing at coffee,and a guy walks up and saw that
we were doing that and, and asked,like, what are you guys doing?
(21:50):
And here's where I say, like, youdon't have to know everything.
You don't have to, you don't have tobe great even at knowing apologetics.
All we did is, He asked, like,what are you guys studying?
And, and I said, Oh, whatdo you think about this?
Like, what, do you havea faith background?
(22:10):
That's all I asked.
So this, this man, he, he pretty muchhad kind of created his own religion.
Like he started talking about whathe believed and, but instead of
saying that's ridiculous, all I said.
Pretty much over and over.
Wow, that's an interesting idea.
I've never actually evenheard of that before.
(22:32):
How did you come to that conclusion?
And then he would kind of go off somethingelse and then he'd have something else.
I said, huh, that's so interesting.
What made you think that and and itwasn't attacking it wasn't anything
and by the end of the conversation Hepretty much said, you know, I think
I actually just kind of thought ofit on my own and created it myself.
(22:56):
And I said, oh so it's like your ownreligion and he thought about he's
like, yeah But then at the end of thatconversation He gave me a hug And he
said, it was so nice talking to you.
And that for me and that I'vekind of brought into my home with
my neighbors because it wasn'ta contentious conversation.
(23:20):
I was just asking him, Oh,what makes you think that?
Why do you believe that?
He was the only one who did the talking,and in the end, we did get to share,
I said, would you like to hear whatwe're studying and why we believe this,
and I did get a chance to share withhim, but it was just such a beautiful
(23:40):
time of, I was honestly finding out
about who he is and and that bringsyou to a place where like I can see the
things that are important to this guyand why he's hurting and if this was
a neighbor that gives me something totalk about Later, and I actually care
about this person like it's not and soThe the conversation part it doesn't
(24:04):
have to happen depending on who you are.
It doesn't actually haveto happen in your house.
You can have someone on the front porch.
It doesn't have to be.
And on my blog, what Istarted doing is easy.
Like if you want to throw somethingtogether, grab some cream cheese,
throw some caramel and some toffee bitswith apples, greatest dessert ever.
Like I have a lot of easy things.
(24:25):
If you feel like that's because fooddoes, it gives us something in common.
I absolutely love, I love using food andI'm actually not that good of a cook.
I had to, I had to find ideas.
I remember being in my twenties andone of my friends literally made me
a cookbook of easy recipes I coulddo because I felt so inadequate.
(24:47):
And here's the thing.
I'm peopley and I do think I have thegift of hospitality, but it doesn't mean
I'm a good cook or I'm a good that I, myhouse always is decorated beautifully.
It means that I welcome, it's naturalfor me to welcome the stranger.
And if it's not natural for youto welcome the stranger, that
(25:09):
doesn't mean you're off the hook.
That just means you have to be more,
Twanna Henderson (25:14):
You gotta work hard at it.
Carrie Pankratz (25:16):
You gotta work hard at how you welcome the stranger.
And I want to help with that.
I want to help you think through away that you can't like, if you don't
have the money for it, you can makea pot of soup very cheaply, or like
I said, offer someone some water.
It's about the relationshipand the connection and,
Twanna Henderson (25:37):
And I think it does require being intentional because we do
live in a culture where people do kindof, you know, they roll out their trash
can and they kind of wave their hand orwhatever, or they, and they keep going.
I mean, we just, you know, we have people,you know, a lot of times we don't know our
neighbors or all these different things.
And so, and then people aresort of like suspicious, like.
(25:59):
Why are you talking to me almost?
And so I think really kind of beingintentional about making those
connections, because, you know, the keything you said was, you know, whether
we have that gift of hospitality or not.
We are called to love our neighbor.
And I think that's the thing thatwe really have to think about.
(26:22):
I want to talk about, you know, when youdo have people in just the boundaries,
because with, you know, when you'rebalancing that with, serving guests and
maintaining healthy boundaries with yourfamily or just with your home, you know, I
hope they don't open that drawer or go inthat closet or whatever the case may be.
(26:43):
But how do you, how do you, how do youbalance that, that boundaries part?
Carrie Pankratz (26:48):
Yeah.
And a lot of that iscommunication within my family.
Like what my family is goingto be comfortable with is
going to be totally different.
My husband is also very extrovertedand it is, he's actually, which this
is interesting, is I actually thinkI'm an introvert who loves people.
Because I, I'm, it's, it's kind ofa weird thing because I realized I
(27:12):
actually do need to decompress afterbeing around people, but I love people.
Where my husband is an extrovert, hecould have people all the time around.
And it's, it is funny that thisis just in the past few years, I
always thought I was an extrovert.
Now I'm right in the middle.
Yeah.
So I don't require a ton, but I dosometimes get on people overload where I'm
(27:37):
like, I need a little bit of alone time.
So my husband would actually invitepeople into our home constantly too.
So we have to communicate and in differentseasons, it looks very different.
This year I am, I was a teacher this year.
I'm not teaching to helpone of my kids in school.
This year I have a lot more freedom.
(27:58):
When I was teaching, there was aperiod where I didn't even feel
like I could, unless it was summer.
I didn't feel like I could invitepeople in because I had nothing left.
So being, I still would, but it wasn't atwice a week, every week sort of thing.
It was a once a month, we're goingto be intentional about this.
(28:22):
And, so I have a friend who is veryShe has an amazing gift of hospitality.
Her husband is an extreme introvert.
And
so she isn't the one that's like,Oh yeah, come over to our house.
Like if she invites a neighbor over,she's got to talk to her husband first,
like, Hey, will this be good for you?
(28:45):
And if it's a phase where, Hey, it'snot, she'll take them to coffee or
she'll go to, she'll go and bring dinnerover to their house or bring a treat
over to their house to talk to them.
Like you, you really do need toprotect the boundaries of your family.
And, and even when we were fostering.
(29:05):
I am more careful about people I'mallowing into my home in that situation.
We had a small group that supportedus that was there every week,
but we didn't, you have to be.
You have to be intentional, butalso aware of what your, what
the rest of your family needs.
(29:26):
So I'm not saying everyone hasto have an open door every minute
of your life, because that'snot, that's not healthy too.
Now, sometimes God does bringopportunities that you're not
ready for, like we experienced.
Twanna Henderson (29:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (29:43):
But, so you kind of, prayer is a huge thing too.
I should have said that a long time ago.
Bring, this isn't somethingthat Carrie is doing on her own.
This is God opening doors.
I mean, if I'm on a walk and a newneighbor walks by, I'm going to say hello.
(30:04):
And if God opens thatdoor to start something.
And it is really funny the way Godwill do that too, because I had had a
conversation with a friend that, youknow, the, the way our world is right
now, the conversation was on homosexualityand I walked down the street, there
(30:26):
was a neighbor I had never met.
And, walked outside and I meetthis new, gay couple that moved in.
Well, for me, that's an opportunityto get to know my neighbor.
And in Utah, I mean, theculture here, it is hard.
For people who, and I, I don't know ifit's that way in the South, too, but in
(30:49):
California, it was where I'm from, itwas a lot, a lot, everything was a lot
different, where here, there is a very,you know, the main world view, and then
there are a whole bunch of outsiders,and interestingly, Christians are
kind of in the outsider category, too.
So, it, it gives a greatopportunity to get to know
(31:11):
someone who is different from me.
But that's the thing, like, we areall different and we're coming at
things differently, but we are all,again, we are all image bearers
and our heart needs the same thing.
And we have things in commonand our culture right now, I
think, is so much us versus them.
(31:32):
And yes, we have an enemy, but itis not my neighbor three doors down.
Twanna Henderson (31:36):
Oh, wow.
That's good.
That's good.
Let's know.
Let's let that sink in.
Yes.
Yeah.
I've got an enemy, but it'snot my neighbor three door.
Yeah.
That's good.
And what I really, what I reallylike from this, this is so good.
Like we could go on and on and on and on.
It's going back to you sayingthat we're all called to love.
Carrie Pankratz (31:59):
Yes.
Twanna Henderson (32:00):
I mean, that's, that's, that's the crust of this.
I mean, that's, that's it.
I mean, that's the challenge.
That's, that's, that's it.
I know we, as we've got to close andI hate to close, because the time
like just flew by, but there are thosewho are listening, to this podcast,
who, who never really thought aboutevangelizing through biblical hospitality.
(32:26):
I mean, it's just, you know, and that'swhy I wanted to have you on here, you
know, because this has really opened theireyes and I've learned some things too,
because, I still got to love my neighbor.
Carrie Pankratz (32:38):
Well, it's not always easy.
Twanna Henderson (32:41):
No, it's not.
And I've got great neighbors.
I really do.
Can you pray for us that we would beopen to, to the Holy Spirit's prompting
about how and when to host others andthat we would trust him in the process?
Carrie Pankratz (33:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Twanna Henderson (33:04):
Thank you.
Carrie Pankratz (33:06):
Father.
We are so grateful that you are the onewho already won the battle for us, Lord.
We are thankful that you loved usenough to send your son for us.
And Father, when we look aroundus at this hurting world, you did
(33:27):
that for those people too, Lord.
And there is a brokenness in this world.
And I pray for those believers out therewho Just don't feel equipped or don't
know where to start or Lord just honestlydon't know how to do what you ask.
How do we love our neighbor?
(33:47):
And I pray Lord that you would just beworking on our hearts, open our eyes
to see the need to see the need aroundus and help us to see our neighbors as
image bearers that you love desperately.
I pray that you would openopportunities as we turn to you, you
(34:08):
open up opportunities for us to trulysee our neighbors, to get to know
them, to see what their, what theirhurts are, what their desires are,
Lord, and to speak truth into that.
And the way that we do that is just bysharing who you are and what you did for
us, because you did that for them too.
(34:29):
I pray that you would, give us wisdom, allof us wisdom, in how to do this and when
to open our door, who to invite, but alsogive us courage to do the hard things.
and to know that it's messy,just because it's messy doesn't
(34:50):
mean you aren't working.
And sometimes through thosehard things, through conflict
is where we draw closer to you.
And also we can draw closer to thosepeople once we resolve that conflict.
So Lord, it's not going to be perfect.
It's going to be messy.
And I pray that you would walk throughus, that you would that your spirit
(35:12):
would direct us and that you wouldfirst help us to seek you Lord and to
grow deeper in our relationship withyou so that you can pour out through
us and love our neighbors and we trustyou in this Lord in Jesus name, amen..
Twanna Henderson (35:29):
Amen.
Well, Carrie, thank you so much forjoining us and for sharing your gift
of, being able to reach others.
I mean, it really is a gift.
and I, I'm just, I'm excited abouthow the Lord continues to use you.
And I'm looking forward to coming toUtah to have some coffee or something.
Carrie Pankratz (35:49):
Yes, anytime!
Twanna Henderson (35:53):
Well, thank you again to all of our listeners.
I'm Twanna Henderson.
Be blessed of the Lord.
Welcome to T Time
for, with, and about women.
I'm your host, Twanna Henderson, andas always, I want to remind you to
like this broadcast and to definitelyshare it with someone that you know.
Well, you know, this year we have beenfocusing on the topic of building and
(00:30):
rebuilding a culture of evangelism.
And with that, I am so excitedabout our guest for today.
Our guest is Carrie, Carrie Pankratz.
Carrie and her husband have beenserving in ministry together
since they married in 2003.
In 2009, they uprooted theirfamily to plant a church in Utah,
(00:55):
where they continue to serve.
Carrie runs a blog titled"Messy Joyful Journey".
I've got to get back to that title andtalk about that, where she encourages
Christians to love their neighbor well.
Through biblical hospitality.
She's passionate about opening herhome, sharing meals, and pointing
(01:16):
people to Christ in everyday moments.
Carrie is also a coach with AlongsideMinistry Wives, which is a ministry
dedicated to empowering Ministry Wivesto be dynamic partners in ministry
and embracing the opportunitiesunique to their God given calling.
Carrie, welcome to T Time.
Carrie Pankratz (01:38):
Thank you so much for having me.
Twanna Henderson (01:40):
It's so good to have you and so good to meet you.
And like I said, I want to first ask youabout that title: Messy Joyful Journey.
Where did that come from?
Carrie Pankratz (01:50):
Well, it's funny because it's been kind of a process,
but, I'm in a house full of ADHD people.
So it started just with like, ah,but then just thinking about life and
ministry and especially in relationships,relationships are messy and a lot of
(02:15):
beautiful things come from the messy.
And so that's kind of wherethat title came from, that you
know, sometimes life is messy.
Relationships are messy.
And my house is oftenmessy, but there's joy.
There's joy in all of that.
And God uses all of that.
Twanna Henderson (02:36):
And I think, you know, that's so authentic because a
lot of times we don't like to talkabout the messy, but you know, it
is what it is, you know, it's life.
So, but as I said, you know,earlier, T Time has been focusing on
evangelism this year and we've justhad a wonderful year of just talking
about, people, meeting and, and, andknowing and coming to know Jesus.
(03:01):
And I want to talk a little bit aboutyour story and, how God, led you into
this area of biblical hospitality.
Carrie Pankratz (03:13):
Yeah, it's funny because it started out, I mean,
I actually see myself as a littlebit domestically challenged.
So even though I love peopleand I mean, to the point where I
took the strength finders thingand my top five were all blue.
So, and that's like the peoplecategory and I actually cried about
(03:35):
it because I'm like, okay, so the onlything I'm good at is liking people.
Like, it really felt like it wasn't like,it's not like some great leadership thing.
Like I, like all the other thingsthat I thought were better.
And then when I look back at my journeyand where God placed me, I now can see.
And actually when I did the top 10,it's actually my top seven are blue.
(04:01):
But, but it started wayback really with evangelism.
My husband and I served in collegeministry and we wanted to take our
students on, actually, we wanted totake them on an overseas mission trip
and we were going to go to Ukraine, butour church was going through a building
campaign and you know my like what wecan't take our kids overseas because
(04:26):
we're doing a building campaign andlike I did not have the best attitude
and really looking back I can seeit was absolutely part of God's plan
because what we did is becausethey weren't telling us we couldn't
go on a mission trip just youit's Ukraine is too expensive.
Like let's not drain
our resources.
(04:46):
And so we did it was duringright after Hurricane Katrina.
So we did a service trip to do cleanup andthen we wanted to do more of a theological
trip, so we actually came out to Utah andI would say that was the trip that changed
(05:07):
our students and us more than anything.
Because if there is a, a tripthat will challenge you to know
what you believe in, and why?
It's that because you're talking topeople who know what they believe
and they use scripture to defend it.
And so it really transformed like, okay, Igot to know why I believe what I believe.
(05:30):
Like why is christianity trueand not some other religion when
Jesus says like, I'm the only way.
So let's, let's look at this.
And, and so we would come to Utah and weactually, I mean, our students would come
back without us to just go on trips too,because they loved it so much because
the people here are so easy to talkto and they like to talk about faith.
(05:55):
And, well, some of them, some of themhave been burned and it's, I mean,
there's two opposite extremes here.
But the population is still less than 2percent Christian and where we are, it's
probably around one and, but we wouldcome on these trips and someone would,
like we'd evangelize and they would becomea Christian and then we'd try to get
(06:18):
them plugged into a church and realizethe nearest church was 45 minutes away.
And we're like, okay, like this is,you can't, it's not just tell people
the gospel, it's make disciples and,and yeah, sometimes it's like one
waters, one plants, one waters, andit's a process, but there just weren't
Christians here to do that work.
(06:39):
There weren't enough.
And so
our solution was to move here.
So when I moved here, I quickly realizedthat what we did on mission trips is
not what it's like when you live here.
Like you're not going to belike in people's faces and
it wasn't in people's faces.
It was very respectful.
Twanna Henderson (06:59):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (06:59):
But some of the conversations we have that
would put a wall between youand a person in a relationship,
like it's fine with strangers.
And actually, I think it's importantthat we have people that do come and
say some of the hard things to getthem questioning, but it's hard to
continue a relationship with that.
(07:21):
So moving here, I found that my biggestministry was just being real and, I have
a couple of stories like early on, we,you know, I had toddlers at the time,
and our next door neighbors moved in,like the sweet couple who did not have
(07:41):
kids yet, and they came to our house,and I invited them in, and they had to
step over toys to get to the table tosit down and, you know, have dessert
with us, and but I just opened my door.
And that is not common in this culture.
And I think in a lot of cultures,like if someone doesn't know you're
coming and their house isn't readyfor you, they don't let you in.
(08:03):
And a few years later, when she hadkids, I knocked on her door and she
invited me in with a pile of laundryon the floor and dishes in the sink.
And I'm like, okay, wehave a real friendship.
Like that's where real things can happen.
And so early on, I started to noticethat, but then, and this is funny because
(08:25):
the, the blog posts that you saw, I wrotethat kind of realizing I had invited
a friend over and the first words outof my mouth were like, Oh, I'm sorry.
It's not as good over here as this othercouple who, we got to a place in our
church where it had grown and we had otherpeople that were hosting things and they
had so much more than I did and they werebetter cooks than I was and I started
(08:50):
to get really insecure and which I'mlike, okay, what is going on with me that
I don't feel like I can invitepeople into my home when I had
no problem inviting people into atiny apartment when we had nothing.
And, and we actually have more now.
Like I don't, I don't not havea good place to invite people
to, but it was all inside of me.
(09:12):
So I wrote a blog post, but then the funnything about that is, you know, I was so
determined I'm going to invite people inmore, I'm going to have them for meals.
And immediately it's like, God's like,that's great, but now I'm going to teach
you what real biblical hospitality is.
I found out right after writing thatblog post that I had to have rotator
(09:34):
cuff surgery on my dominant shoulder.
Twanna Henderson (09:38):
Oh my goodness.
Carrie Pankratz (09:40):
That for sure that recovery puts you completely
out of commission for six weeks.
Twanna Henderson (09:44):
Oh wow.
Carrie Pankratz (09:44):
You cannot move your shoulder.
And I tried to do things lefthanded and it was really humorous.
But what that did is it put us in a placewhere, our church family had to step in.
So I was the recipient of beingcared for by my church community.
And that was really hard for me becauseI'm the one who wants to do that.
(10:08):
No, this is what I'm doing.
Twanna Henderson (10:09):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (10:11):
So I really feel like God wanted to show me A.
That it's hard to acceptfrom other people and B.
That we were blessed by allkinds of different things.
Like one of the people, theydon't feel like they can cook.
They ordered us pizza to be delivered.
Pizza and salad and dessert.
That was my kid's favorite meal.
Twanna Henderson (10:33):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (10:34):
The whole time.
And it's not like shehad to make something.
And then the friend who made the pretzeldogs and made extra to put in our freezer
so that my kind of, my kid who kind ofgets anxiety around new foods, knew that
there were pretzel dogs in the freezer ifhe didn't like what was, what was coming.
(10:54):
And, And so there were just so manythings during that, that I'm like,
okay, Lord, now I see different.
And then I was ready.
So I'm getting, I go to the doctor, Iget my permission to get out of my sling.
And that day we got a phone callthat we had been approved to foster.
(11:17):
So someone in my family, one ofmy loved ones had been through
an extremely difficult time.
The loss of a spouse and he wasjust in a position where he could
not care for his children anymore.
The care that they needed at that point.
And so it was one of those eyeopeningthings where I'm like, this is,
(11:41):
this is biblical hospitality.
And that's so we, we got the two, so Ihad teenagers at the time, and so we got
a three year old and a seven year old.
Twanna Henderson (11:54):
Oh, wow.
Carrie Pankratz (11:55):
And we had to, you know, it was, it was through
the system, so everything has to bea certain way in your home, so my
kids had to sacrifice their rooms,
and
it was, it was a lot for our whole family.
But what it did is we got to lovethese kids in a stable environment.
(12:16):
We got to show them the Lord.
My husband's a pastor and thelittle, the seven year old would
sit front and center and he wouldlisten to everything my husband said.
And on the way home,he'd be talking about it.
And I mean, it was just.
It was hard, but it was also justso eye opening that he had never
experienced that in his life before.
(12:37):
And, I got the blessing of havinga little girl cause I have boys.
So that was amazing.
And then also being able to loveon that family member and show them
that like, I'm not judging you inthis, because I know that my heart.
(12:57):
I mean, we were raised verysimilarly and my, I could be in
the same sort of circumstances.
Like you don't know whatcould lead you to that.
So it wasn't a judgment.
It was an honest, like,what can I do to help?
And the only answer I had was Jesus.
(13:18):
And so I was able to, that's what I,that's what we were able to share in that.
And for me, that was so eye openingbecause when I was thinking about
biblical hospitality, I was thinking,well, I'm going to invite people
over for dinner, which it's, it's,it is that it's not less than that.
Twanna Henderson (13:37):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (13:38):
It's also because this was a person in a very hard time
that was somebody that I deeply love.
It helped me to see, okay, all these otherpeople struggling, they're image bearers.
And they are just like thisperson that's struggling.
I know his heart.
I know that, it's not like heset out to make bad choices.
(14:02):
It's, there were very hard things andhow can we love people better in that?
And it totally changed my viewof even just like remembering to
see everyone as an image bearer.
Twanna Henderson (14:16):
Yeah.
And I think that's whatwe're called to do.
And I think it is hard, it is hard todo that because we, you know, I mean,
what you all did is so commendable
and even though it was family members,it's still hard to be able to do that
because for various reasons that we feellike we're not, we just we're not the
right ones or whatever the case may be.
(14:38):
And I want to just give a little contextof what you were, you were talking about
the blog and some of those listening,
The blog that, Carrie had abouthospitality, biblical hospitality,
and that's when I reached out toher and say, hey, you did this blog.
You know, I would love for you to comeon T Time and really talk about that and
(14:58):
talk about, just how, we can reach peoplethrough those different kinds of, avenues.
I know you mentioned about, you know,it's more than just coming around
food, but a food is a huge thingbecause we all love to eat, of course,
but I love how you talk about how everydaymeals and gatherings really become
(15:21):
opportunities for a gospel conversation.
Carrie Pankratz (15:25):
Yeah, 100%.
Well, it's funny because when Iwas thinking about the people that
we've seen impacted, when I lookback, I was first impacted by that.
When I think about being a 12 year oldand my friend's mom, who would welcome
me in when we had, you know, I have some,some fun family dynamics growing up.
(15:48):
And my friend's mom, I know my friend'smom gave me a safe place and she was
a Christian and she would drive me tochurch and she would make me a baked
potato and all those things that just seemlike she was just living out her faith.
And that's the thing is Ihonestly believe that this is just
(16:09):
living out your Christian faith.
And, I think about in Utah, one of thethings was just, you know, inviting
a tired mom neighbor in that I saw,and I said, you want to come have a
cup of coffee, which is funny becausepeople here don't drink coffee.
And she was, that's a partof the predominant religion,
(16:33):
they're not allowed, but, this neighborhad, she was no longer practicing,
but she'd never had coffee before.
So.
she came over and I made her a cup ofcoffee and we just started talking.
And at first, you know, it'sjust, you're talking about little,
just kind of surface things.
And then, you know, she came overthe next day for a cup of coffee.
(16:54):
And then we got to a point whereI was able to share kind of some
of the struggles that I had had.
And for us, it was a little easierto talk about faith because we
moved to Utah to plant a church.
So it's super easy, but in that,It's more talking about how the
Lord has transformed my heart andhow I see the world differently
(17:18):
and how I love people differently.
And then that brought her to a placewhere she felt safe to share kind of
her faith journey and where she was at.
And it's not like we sat down and I'mlike, tell me about what you believe
about God, which sometimes can happen.
Like sometimes those things areappropriate, but, I found that most
(17:41):
of the time it is just honestlygetting to know people and being real.
Like, I don't present myself as aperfect Christian because I'm not.
But my heart is to, to walkrightly before the Lord, you know,
to, I want to love people well.
(18:02):
And when I think about Anotherneighbor who, and it's funny
because that phase I had young kids.
And so in the early phase, those werethe people that I would invite in.
And so I remember one of myfriends, saying like, nobody
talks about how hard it is.
Everyone talks about what a blessing it isto have kids and it is, but I'm exhausted.
(18:25):
And so I just said, Hey, let'sgo get hot chocolate because
she doesn't drink coffee.
So I picked her up.
We went, we got hot chocolate and we justsat and talked and like, those are where
the, the real relationshipshappen, but that's also where you
get to talk about truth and thegospel is what cuts to the heart.
(18:50):
It's not my words or mygreat way of saying anything.
It's when they see the gospel and reallyunderstand it, it cuts to the heart.
So it's not my job tomake them do that, but,
it is to share the truth.
And a lot of that just comes from what'sgoing on in my own life and my own heart.
(19:12):
And so we've seen people cometo faith here through that,
but it takes a long time.
Twanna Henderson (19:17):
Yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (19:18):
And like I said before, like, it's not just you
share the gospel and you're done.
We're called to make disciples andthat happens in living everyday life.
Twanna Henderson (19:28):
Yeah, it happens over time.
And I can see some people really being,kind of intimidated or feeling Intimidated
or unqualified to, to really evangelizethat way, or just feel like I don't
have the gift of hospitality, you know,what, what advice would you, would you
give someone who, who feels like that?
(19:50):
Who's listening to this?
Carrie Pankratz (19:52):
Yeah, well, I think we're all called to love our neighbor, whether
we have the gift of hospitality or not.
Like, I think we are all called to that.
And, I would say.
Use, use what you do have.
I mean, I, one of my favorite times isI sat, well, there were two, okay, one,
(20:13):
I sat with a woman and we drank ice water.
That was all I had to offer at the moment.
And actually it was all she could havebecause she was, had a procedure coming up
and instead of canceling, like let's drinkwater and like have a glass of water.
It is not about what you do.
It is about the relationship.
And
Twanna Henderson (20:33):
Now
Carrie Pankratz (20:33):
let me, let me, let me say
Twanna Henderson (20:34):
this, Carrie.
Now, remember you'reblue, you're seven blue.
Carrie Pankratz (20:37):
I am blue.
I know.
I totally understand.
Twanna Henderson (20:39):
So what about other people who are not blue?
Carrie Pankratz (20:43):
No, I get it.
I totally get it.
Well, and the thing is, obviously I'mgoing to do this more than other people,
but everyone can say to a neighborand when you're taking your trash cans
out, like, Hey, how are you doing?
Like if you're out on your porchand someone walks by just saying
(21:03):
hello, can start a conversation.
It doesn't have to be a big ordeal.
It doesn't even have to be a long time.
It could be little small hellos.
I mean, we are in a culture thatdrives into our garage, closes
the garage, and that's it.
And I think we are desperatefor true community.
(21:26):
That's what we were created for.
Whether you are people or you're not,it is in us that we need community and
it doesn't even have to be in your home.
I mean, I had So I was having aBible study with someone kind of
doing a discipleship thing at coffee,and a guy walks up and saw that
we were doing that and, and asked,like, what are you guys doing?
(21:50):
And here's where I say, like, youdon't have to know everything.
You don't have to, you don't have tobe great even at knowing apologetics.
All we did is, He asked, like,what are you guys studying?
And, and I said, Oh, whatdo you think about this?
Like, what, do you havea faith background?
(22:10):
That's all I asked.
So this, this man, he, he pretty muchhad kind of created his own religion.
Like he started talking about whathe believed and, but instead of
saying that's ridiculous, all I said.
Pretty much over and over.
Wow, that's an interesting idea.
I've never actually evenheard of that before.
(22:32):
How did you come to that conclusion?
And then he would kind of go off somethingelse and then he'd have something else.
I said, huh, that's so interesting.
What made you think that and and itwasn't attacking it wasn't anything
and by the end of the conversation Hepretty much said, you know, I think
I actually just kind of thought ofit on my own and created it myself.
(22:56):
And I said, oh so it's like your ownreligion and he thought about he's
like, yeah But then at the end of thatconversation He gave me a hug And he
said, it was so nice talking to you.
And that for me and that I'vekind of brought into my home with
my neighbors because it wasn'ta contentious conversation.
(23:20):
I was just asking him, Oh,what makes you think that?
Why do you believe that?
He was the only one who did the talking,and in the end, we did get to share,
I said, would you like to hear whatwe're studying and why we believe this,
and I did get a chance to share withhim, but it was just such a beautiful
(23:40):
time of, I was honestly finding out
about who he is and and that bringsyou to a place where like I can see the
things that are important to this guyand why he's hurting and if this was
a neighbor that gives me something totalk about Later, and I actually care
about this person like it's not and soThe the conversation part it doesn't
(24:04):
have to happen depending on who you are.
It doesn't actually haveto happen in your house.
You can have someone on the front porch.
It doesn't have to be.
And on my blog, what Istarted doing is easy.
Like if you want to throw somethingtogether, grab some cream cheese,
throw some caramel and some toffee bitswith apples, greatest dessert ever.
Like I have a lot of easy things.
(24:25):
If you feel like that's because fooddoes, it gives us something in common.
I absolutely love, I love using food andI'm actually not that good of a cook.
I had to, I had to find ideas.
I remember being in my twenties andone of my friends literally made me
a cookbook of easy recipes I coulddo because I felt so inadequate.
(24:47):
And here's the thing.
I'm peopley and I do think I have thegift of hospitality, but it doesn't mean
I'm a good cook or I'm a good that I, myhouse always is decorated beautifully.
It means that I welcome, it's naturalfor me to welcome the stranger.
And if it's not natural for youto welcome the stranger, that
(25:09):
doesn't mean you're off the hook.
That just means you have to be more,
Twanna Henderson (25:14):
You gotta work hard at it.
Carrie Pankratz (25:16):
You gotta work hard at how you welcome the stranger.
And I want to help with that.
I want to help you think through away that you can't like, if you don't
have the money for it, you can makea pot of soup very cheaply, or like
I said, offer someone some water.
It's about the relationshipand the connection and,
Twanna Henderson (25:37):
And I think it does require being intentional because we do
live in a culture where people do kindof, you know, they roll out their trash
can and they kind of wave their hand orwhatever, or they, and they keep going.
I mean, we just, you know, we have people,you know, a lot of times we don't know our
neighbors or all these different things.
And so, and then people aresort of like suspicious, like.
(25:59):
Why are you talking to me almost?
And so I think really kind of beingintentional about making those
connections, because, you know, the keything you said was, you know, whether
we have that gift of hospitality or not.
We are called to love our neighbor.
And I think that's the thing thatwe really have to think about.
(26:22):
I want to talk about, you know, when youdo have people in just the boundaries,
because with, you know, when you'rebalancing that with, serving guests and
maintaining healthy boundaries with yourfamily or just with your home, you know, I
hope they don't open that drawer or go inthat closet or whatever the case may be.
(26:43):
But how do you, how do you, how do youbalance that, that boundaries part?
Carrie Pankratz (26:48):
Yeah.
And a lot of that iscommunication within my family.
Like what my family is goingto be comfortable with is
going to be totally different.
My husband is also very extrovertedand it is, he's actually, which this
is interesting, is I actually thinkI'm an introvert who loves people.
Because I, I'm, it's, it's kind ofa weird thing because I realized I
(27:12):
actually do need to decompress afterbeing around people, but I love people.
Where my husband is an extrovert, hecould have people all the time around.
And it's, it is funny that thisis just in the past few years, I
always thought I was an extrovert.
Now I'm right in the middle.
Yeah.
So I don't require a ton, but I dosometimes get on people overload where I'm
(27:37):
like, I need a little bit of alone time.
So my husband would actually invitepeople into our home constantly too.
So we have to communicate and in differentseasons, it looks very different.
This year I am, I was a teacher this year.
I'm not teaching to helpone of my kids in school.
This year I have a lot more freedom.
(27:58):
When I was teaching, there was aperiod where I didn't even feel
like I could, unless it was summer.
I didn't feel like I could invitepeople in because I had nothing left.
So being, I still would, but it wasn't atwice a week, every week sort of thing.
It was a once a month, we're goingto be intentional about this.
(28:22):
And, so I have a friend who is veryShe has an amazing gift of hospitality.
Her husband is an extreme introvert.
And
so she isn't the one that's like,Oh yeah, come over to our house.
Like if she invites a neighbor over,she's got to talk to her husband first,
like, Hey, will this be good for you?
(28:45):
And if it's a phase where, Hey, it'snot, she'll take them to coffee or
she'll go to, she'll go and bring dinnerover to their house or bring a treat
over to their house to talk to them.
Like you, you really do need toprotect the boundaries of your family.
And, and even when we were fostering.
(29:05):
I am more careful about people I'mallowing into my home in that situation.
We had a small group that supportedus that was there every week,
but we didn't, you have to be.
You have to be intentional, butalso aware of what your, what
the rest of your family needs.
(29:26):
So I'm not saying everyone hasto have an open door every minute
of your life, because that'snot, that's not healthy too.
Now, sometimes God does bringopportunities that you're not
ready for, like we experienced.
Twanna Henderson (29:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Carrie Pankratz (29:43):
But, so you kind of, prayer is a huge thing too.
I should have said that a long time ago.
Bring, this isn't somethingthat Carrie is doing on her own.
This is God opening doors.
I mean, if I'm on a walk and a newneighbor walks by, I'm going to say hello.
(30:04):
And if God opens thatdoor to start something.
And it is really funny the way Godwill do that too, because I had had a
conversation with a friend that, youknow, the, the way our world is right
now, the conversation was on homosexualityand I walked down the street, there
(30:26):
was a neighbor I had never met.
And, walked outside and I meetthis new, gay couple that moved in.
Well, for me, that's an opportunityto get to know my neighbor.
And in Utah, I mean, theculture here, it is hard.
For people who, and I, I don't know ifit's that way in the South, too, but in
(30:49):
California, it was where I'm from, itwas a lot, a lot, everything was a lot
different, where here, there is a very,you know, the main world view, and then
there are a whole bunch of outsiders,and interestingly, Christians are
kind of in the outsider category, too.
So, it, it gives a greatopportunity to get to know
(31:11):
someone who is different from me.
But that's the thing, like, we areall different and we're coming at
things differently, but we are all,again, we are all image bearers
and our heart needs the same thing.
And we have things in commonand our culture right now, I
think, is so much us versus them.
(31:32):
And yes, we have an enemy, but itis not my neighbor three doors down.
Twanna Henderson (31:36):
Oh, wow.
That's good.
That's good.
Let's know.
Let's let that sink in.
Yes.
Yeah.
I've got an enemy, but it'snot my neighbor three door.
Yeah.
That's good.
And what I really, what I reallylike from this, this is so good.
Like we could go on and on and on and on.
It's going back to you sayingthat we're all called to love.
Carrie Pankratz (31:59):
Yes.
Twanna Henderson (32:00):
I mean, that's, that's, that's the crust of this.
I mean, that's, that's it.
I mean, that's the challenge.
That's, that's, that's it.
I know we, as we've got to close andI hate to close, because the time
like just flew by, but there are thosewho are listening, to this podcast,
who, who never really thought aboutevangelizing through biblical hospitality.
(32:26):
I mean, it's just, you know, and that'swhy I wanted to have you on here, you
know, because this has really opened theireyes and I've learned some things too,
because, I still got to love my neighbor.
Carrie Pankratz (32:38):
Well, it's not always easy.
Twanna Henderson (32:41):
No, it's not.
And I've got great neighbors.
I really do.
Can you pray for us that we would beopen to, to the Holy Spirit's prompting
about how and when to host others andthat we would trust him in the process?
Carrie Pankratz (33:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Twanna Henderson (33:04):
Thank you.
Carrie Pankratz (33:06):
Father.
We are so grateful that you are the onewho already won the battle for us, Lord.
We are thankful that you loved usenough to send your son for us.
And Father, when we look aroundus at this hurting world, you did
(33:27):
that for those people too, Lord.
And there is a brokenness in this world.
And I pray for those believers out therewho Just don't feel equipped or don't
know where to start or Lord just honestlydon't know how to do what you ask.
How do we love our neighbor?
(33:47):
And I pray Lord that you would just beworking on our hearts, open our eyes
to see the need to see the need aroundus and help us to see our neighbors as
image bearers that you love desperately.
I pray that you would openopportunities as we turn to you, you
(34:08):
open up opportunities for us to trulysee our neighbors, to get to know
them, to see what their, what theirhurts are, what their desires are,
Lord, and to speak truth into that.
And the way that we do that is just bysharing who you are and what you did for
us, because you did that for them too.
(34:29):
I pray that you would, give us wisdom, allof us wisdom, in how to do this and when
to open our door, who to invite, but alsogive us courage to do the hard things.
and to know that it's messy,just because it's messy doesn't
(34:50):
mean you aren't working.
And sometimes through thosehard things, through conflict
is where we draw closer to you.
And also we can draw closer to thosepeople once we resolve that conflict.
So Lord, it's not going to be perfect.
It's going to be messy.
And I pray that you would walk throughus, that you would that your spirit
(35:12):
would direct us and that you wouldfirst help us to seek you Lord and to
grow deeper in our relationship withyou so that you can pour out through
us and love our neighbors and we trustyou in this Lord in Jesus name, amen..
Twanna Henderson (35:29):
Amen.
Well, Carrie, thank you so much forjoining us and for sharing your gift
of, being able to reach others.
I mean, it really is a gift.
and I, I'm just, I'm excited abouthow the Lord continues to use you.
And I'm looking forward to coming toUtah to have some coffee or something.
Carrie Pankratz (35:49):
Yes, anytime!
Twanna Henderson (35:53):
Well, thank you again to all of our listeners.
I'm Twanna Henderson.
Be blessed of the Lord.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.