Biblical Hospitality: Loving Your Neighbor Intentionally
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.
Transcript
Welcome to T Time: Spiritual Conversations
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:for, with, and about women.
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:I'm your host, Twanna Henderson, and
as always, I want to remind you to
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:like this broadcast and to definitely
share it with someone that you know.
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:Well, you know, this year we have been
focusing on the topic of building and
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:rebuilding a culture of evangelism.
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:And with that, I am so excited
about our guest for today.
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:Our guest is Carrie, Carrie Pankratz.
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:Carrie and her husband have been
serving in ministry together
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:since they married in 2003.
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:In 2009, they uprooted their
family to plant a church in Utah,
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:where they continue to serve.
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:Carrie runs a blog titled
"Messy Joyful Journey".
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:I've got to get back to that title and
talk about that, where she encourages
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:Christians to love their neighbor well.
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:Through biblical hospitality.
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:She's passionate about opening her
home, sharing meals, and pointing
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:people to Christ in everyday moments.
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:Carrie is also a coach with Alongside
Ministry Wives, which is a ministry
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:dedicated to empowering Ministry Wives
to be dynamic partners in ministry
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:and embracing the opportunities
unique to their God given calling.
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:Carrie, welcome to T Time.
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:Carrie Pankratz: Thank
you so much for having me.
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:Twanna Henderson: It's so good to
have you and so good to meet you.
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:And like I said, I want to first ask you
about that title: Messy Joyful Journey.
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:Where did that come from?
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:Carrie Pankratz: Well, it's funny
because it's been kind of a process,
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:but, I'm in a house full of ADHD people.
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:So it started just with like, ah,
but then just thinking about life and
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:ministry and especially in relationships,
relationships are messy and a lot of
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:beautiful things come from the messy.
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:And so that's kind of where
that title came from, that you
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:know, sometimes life is messy.
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:Relationships are messy.
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:And my house is often
messy, but there's joy.
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:There's joy in all of that.
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:And God uses all of that.
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:Twanna Henderson: And I think, you
know, that's so authentic because a
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:lot of times we don't like to talk
about the messy, but you know, it
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:is what it is, you know, it's life.
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:So, but as I said, you know,
earlier, T Time has been focusing on
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:evangelism this year and we've just
had a wonderful year of just talking
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:about, people, meeting and, and, and
knowing and coming to know Jesus.
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:And I want to talk a little bit about
your story and, how God, led you into
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:this area of biblical hospitality.
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:Carrie Pankratz: Yeah, it's funny
because it started out, I mean,
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:I actually see myself as a little
bit domestically challenged.
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:So even though I love people
and I mean, to the point where I
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:took the strength finders thing
and my top five were all blue.
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:So, and that's like the people
category and I actually cried about
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:it because I'm like, okay, so the only
thing I'm good at is liking people.
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:Like, it really felt like it wasn't like,
it's not like some great leadership thing.
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:Like I, like all the other things
that I thought were better.
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:And then when I look back at my journey
and where God placed me, I now can see.
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:And actually when I did the top 10,
it's actually my top seven are blue.
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:But, but it started way
back really with evangelism.
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:My husband and I served in college
ministry and we wanted to take our
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:students on, actually, we wanted to
take them on an overseas mission trip
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:and we were going to go to Ukraine, but
our church was going through a building
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:campaign and you know my like what we
can't take our kids overseas because
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:we're doing a building campaign and
like I did not have the best attitude
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:and really looking back I can see
it was absolutely part of God's plan
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:because what we did is because
they weren't telling us we couldn't
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:go on a mission trip just you
it's Ukraine is too expensive.
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:Like let's not drain
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:our resources.
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:And so we did it was during
right after Hurricane Katrina.
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:So we did a service trip to do cleanup and
then we wanted to do more of a theological
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:trip, so we actually came out to Utah and
I would say that was the trip that changed
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:our students and us more than anything.
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:Because if there is a, a trip
that will challenge you to know
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:what you believe in, and why?
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:It's that because you're talking to
people who know what they believe
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:and they use scripture to defend it.
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:And so it really transformed like, okay, I
got to know why I believe what I believe.
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:Like why is christianity true
and not some other religion when
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:Jesus says like, I'm the only way.
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:So let's, let's look at this.
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:And, and so we would come to Utah and we
actually, I mean, our students would come
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:back without us to just go on trips too,
because they loved it so much because
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:the people here are so easy to talk
to and they like to talk about faith.
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:And, well, some of them, some of them
have been burned and it's, I mean,
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:there's two opposite extremes here.
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:But the population is still less than 2
percent Christian and where we are, it's
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:probably around one and, but we would
come on these trips and someone would,
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:like we'd evangelize and they would become
a Christian and then we'd try to get
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:them plugged into a church and realize
the nearest church was 45 minutes away.
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:And we're like, okay, like this is,
you can't, it's not just tell people
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:the gospel, it's make disciples and,
and yeah, sometimes it's like one
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:waters, one plants, one waters, and
it's a process, but there just weren't
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:Christians here to do that work.
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:There weren't enough.
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:And so
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:our solution was to move here.
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:So when I moved here, I quickly realized
that what we did on mission trips is
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:not what it's like when you live here.
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:Like you're not going to be
like in people's faces and
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:it wasn't in people's faces.
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:It was very respectful.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:Carrie Pankratz: But some of
the conversations we have that
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:would put a wall between you
and a person in a relationship,
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:like it's fine with strangers.
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:And actually, I think it's important
that we have people that do come and
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:say some of the hard things to get
them questioning, but it's hard to
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:continue a relationship with that.
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:So moving here, I found that my biggest
ministry was just being real and, I have
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:a couple of stories like early on, we,
you know, I had toddlers at the time,
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:and our next door neighbors moved in,
like the sweet couple who did not have
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:kids yet, and they came to our house,
and I invited them in, and they had to
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:step over toys to get to the table to
sit down and, you know, have dessert
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:with us, and but I just opened my door.
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:And that is not common in this culture.
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:And I think in a lot of cultures,
like if someone doesn't know you're
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:coming and their house isn't ready
for you, they don't let you in.
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:And a few years later, when she had
kids, I knocked on her door and she
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:invited me in with a pile of laundry
on the floor and dishes in the sink.
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:And I'm like, okay, we
have a real friendship.
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:Like that's where real things can happen.
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:And so early on, I started to notice
that, but then, and this is funny because
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:the, the blog posts that you saw, I wrote
that kind of realizing I had invited
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:a friend over and the first words out
of my mouth were like, Oh, I'm sorry.
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:It's not as good over here as this other
couple who, we got to a place in our
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:church where it had grown and we had other
people that were hosting things and they
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:had so much more than I did and they were
better cooks than I was and I started
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:to get really insecure and which I'm
like, okay, what is going on with me that
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:I don't feel like I can invite
people into my home when I had
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:no problem inviting people into a
tiny apartment when we had nothing.
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:And, and we actually have more now.
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:Like I don't, I don't not have
a good place to invite people
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:to, but it was all inside of me.
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:So I wrote a blog post, but then the funny
thing about that is, you know, I was so
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:determined I'm going to invite people in
more, I'm going to have them for meals.
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:And immediately it's like, God's like,
that's great, but now I'm going to teach
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:you what real biblical hospitality is.
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:I found out right after writing that
blog post that I had to have rotator
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:cuff surgery on my dominant shoulder.
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:Twanna Henderson: Oh my goodness.
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:Carrie Pankratz: That for sure
that recovery puts you completely
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:out of commission for six weeks.
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:Twanna Henderson: Oh wow.
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:Carrie Pankratz: You
cannot move your shoulder.
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:And I tried to do things left
handed and it was really humorous.
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:But what that did is it put us in a place
where, our church family had to step in.
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:So I was the recipient of being
cared for by my church community.
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:And that was really hard for me because
I'm the one who wants to do that.
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:No, this is what I'm doing.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:Carrie Pankratz: So I really feel
like God wanted to show me A.
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:That it's hard to accept
from other people and B.
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:That we were blessed by all
kinds of different things.
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:Like one of the people, they
don't feel like they can cook.
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:They ordered us pizza to be delivered.
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:Pizza and salad and dessert.
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:That was my kid's favorite meal.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:Carrie Pankratz: The whole time.
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:And it's not like she
had to make something.
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:And then the friend who made the pretzel
dogs and made extra to put in our freezer
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:so that my kind of, my kid who kind of
gets anxiety around new foods, knew that
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:there were pretzel dogs in the freezer if
he didn't like what was, what was coming.
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:And, And so there were just so many
things during that, that I'm like,
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:okay, Lord, now I see different.
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:And then I was ready.
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:So I'm getting, I go to the doctor, I
get my permission to get out of my sling.
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:And that day we got a phone call
that we had been approved to foster.
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:So someone in my family, one of
my loved ones had been through
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:an extremely difficult time.
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:The loss of a spouse and he was
just in a position where he could
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:not care for his children anymore.
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:The care that they needed at that point.
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:And so it was one of those eyeopening
things where I'm like, this is,
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:this is biblical hospitality.
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:And that's so we, we got the two, so I
had teenagers at the time, and so we got
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:a three year old and a seven year old.
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:Twanna Henderson: Oh, wow.
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:Carrie Pankratz: And we had to,
you know, it was, it was through
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:the system, so everything has to be
a certain way in your home, so my
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:kids had to sacrifice their rooms,
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:and
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:it was, it was a lot for our whole family.
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:But what it did is we got to love
these kids in a stable environment.
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:We got to show them the Lord.
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:My husband's a pastor and the
little, the seven year old would
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:sit front and center and he would
listen to everything my husband said.
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:And on the way home,
he'd be talking about it.
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:And I mean, it was just.
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:It was hard, but it was also just
so eye opening that he had never
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:experienced that in his life before.
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:And, I got the blessing of having
a little girl cause I have boys.
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:So that was amazing.
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:And then also being able to love
on that family member and show them
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:that like, I'm not judging you in
this, because I know that my heart.
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:I mean, we were raised very
similarly and my, I could be in
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:the same sort of circumstances.
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:Like you don't know what
could lead you to that.
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:So it wasn't a judgment.
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:It was an honest, like,
what can I do to help?
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:And the only answer I had was Jesus.
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:And so I was able to, that's what I,
that's what we were able to share in that.
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:And for me, that was so eye opening
because when I was thinking about
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:biblical hospitality, I was thinking,
well, I'm going to invite people
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:over for dinner, which it's, it's,
it is that it's not less than that.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:Carrie Pankratz: It's also because
this was a person in a very hard time
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:that was somebody that I deeply love.
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:It helped me to see, okay, all these other
people struggling, they're image bearers.
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:And they are just like this
person that's struggling.
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:I know his heart.
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:I know that, it's not like he
set out to make bad choices.
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:It's, there were very hard things and
how can we love people better in that?
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:And it totally changed my view
of even just like remembering to
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:see everyone as an image bearer.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:And I think that's what
we're called to do.
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:And I think it is hard, it is hard to
do that because we, you know, I mean,
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:what you all did is so commendable
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:and even though it was family members,
it's still hard to be able to do that
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:because for various reasons that we feel
like we're not, we just we're not the
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:right ones or whatever the case may be.
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:And I want to just give a little context
of what you were, you were talking about
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:the blog and some of those listening,
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:The blog that, Carrie had about
hospitality, biblical hospitality,
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:and that's when I reached out to
her and say, hey, you did this blog.
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:You know, I would love for you to come
on T Time and really talk about that and
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:talk about, just how, we can reach people
through those different kinds of, avenues.
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:I know you mentioned about, you know,
it's more than just coming around
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:food, but a food is a huge thing
because we all love to eat, of course,
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:but I love how you talk about how everyday
meals and gatherings really become
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:opportunities for a gospel conversation.
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:Carrie Pankratz: Yeah, 100%.
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:Well, it's funny because when I
was thinking about the people that
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:we've seen impacted, when I look
back, I was first impacted by that.
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:When I think about being a 12 year old
and my friend's mom, who would welcome
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:me in when we had, you know, I have some,
some fun family dynamics growing up.
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:And my friend's mom, I know my friend's
mom gave me a safe place and she was
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:a Christian and she would drive me to
church and she would make me a baked
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:potato and all those things that just seem
like she was just living out her faith.
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:And that's the thing is I
honestly believe that this is just
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:living out your Christian faith.
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:And, I think about in Utah, one of the
things was just, you know, inviting
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:a tired mom neighbor in that I saw,
and I said, you want to come have a
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:cup of coffee, which is funny because
people here don't drink coffee.
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:And she was, that's a part
of the predominant religion,
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:they're not allowed, but, this neighbor
had, she was no longer practicing,
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:but she'd never had coffee before.
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:So.
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:she came over and I made her a cup of
coffee and we just started talking.
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:And at first, you know, it's
just, you're talking about little,
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:just kind of surface things.
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:And then, you know, she came over
the next day for a cup of coffee.
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:And then we got to a point where
I was able to share kind of some
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:of the struggles that I had had.
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:And for us, it was a little easier
to talk about faith because we
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:moved to Utah to plant a church.
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:So it's super easy, but in that,
It's more talking about how the
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:Lord has transformed my heart and
how I see the world differently
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:and how I love people differently.
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:And then that brought her to a place
where she felt safe to share kind of
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:her faith journey and where she was at.
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:And it's not like we sat down and I'm
like, tell me about what you believe
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:about God, which sometimes can happen.
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:Like sometimes those things are
appropriate, but, I found that most
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:of the time it is just honestly
getting to know people and being real.
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:Like, I don't present myself as a
perfect Christian because I'm not.
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:But my heart is to, to walk
rightly before the Lord, you know,
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:to, I want to love people well.
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:And when I think about Another
neighbor who, and it's funny
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:because that phase I had young kids.
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:And so in the early phase, those were
the people that I would invite in.
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:And so I remember one of my
friends, saying like, nobody
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:talks about how hard it is.
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:Everyone talks about what a blessing it is
to have kids and it is, but I'm exhausted.
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:And so I just said, Hey, let's
go get hot chocolate because
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:she doesn't drink coffee.
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:So I picked her up.
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:We went, we got hot chocolate and we just
sat and talked and like, those are where
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:the, the real relationships
happen, but that's also where you
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:get to talk about truth and the
gospel is what cuts to the heart.
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:It's not my words or my
great way of saying anything.
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:It's when they see the gospel and really
understand it, it cuts to the heart.
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:So it's not my job to
make them do that, but,
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:it is to share the truth.
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:And a lot of that just comes from what's
going on in my own life and my own heart.
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:And so we've seen people come
to faith here through that,
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:but it takes a long time.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah.
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:Carrie Pankratz: And like I said
before, like, it's not just you
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:share the gospel and you're done.
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:We're called to make disciples and
that happens in living everyday life.
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:Twanna Henderson: Yeah,
it happens over time.
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:And I can see some people really being,
kind of intimidated or feeling Intimidated
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:or unqualified to, to really evangelize
that way, or just feel like I don't
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:have the gift of hospitality, you know,
what, what advice would you, would you
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:give someone who, who feels like that?
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:Who's listening to this?
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:Carrie Pankratz: Yeah, well, I think we're
all called to love our neighbor, whether
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:we have the gift of hospitality or not.
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:Like, I think we are all called to that.
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:And, I would say.
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:Use, use what you do have.
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:I mean, I, one of my favorite times is
I sat, well, there were two, okay, one,
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:I sat with a woman and we drank ice water.
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:That was all I had to offer at the moment.
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:And actually it was all she could have
because she was, had a procedure coming up
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:and instead of canceling, like let's drink
water and like have a glass of water.
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:It is not about what you do.
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:It is about the relationship.
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:And
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:Twanna Henderson: Now
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:Carrie Pankratz: let
me, let me, let me say
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:Twanna Henderson: this, Carrie.
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:Now, remember you're
blue, you're seven blue.
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:Carrie Pankratz: I am blue.
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:I know.
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:I totally understand.
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:Twanna Henderson: So what about
other people who are not blue?
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:Carrie Pankratz: No, I get it.
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:I totally get it.
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:Well, and the thing is, obviously I'm
going to do this more than other people,
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:but everyone can say to a neighbor
and when you're taking your trash cans
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:out, like, Hey, how are you doing?
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:Like if you're out on your porch
and someone walks by just saying
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:hello, can start a conversation.
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:It doesn't have to be a big ordeal.
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:It doesn't even have to be a long time.
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:It could be little small hellos.
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:I mean, we are in a culture that
drives into our garage, closes
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:the garage, and that's it.
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:And I think we are desperate
for true community.
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:That's what we were created for.
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:Whether you are people or you're not,
it is in us that we need community and
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:it doesn't even have to be in your home.
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:I mean, I had So I was having a
Bible study with someone kind of
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:doing a discipleship thing at coffee,
and a guy walks up and saw that
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:we were doing that and, and asked,
like, what are you guys doing?
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:And here's where I say, like, you
don't have to know everything.
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:You don't have to, you don't have to
be great even at knowing apologetics.
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:All we did is, He asked, like,
what are you guys studying?
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:And, and I said, Oh, what
do you think about this?
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:Like, what, do you have
a faith background?
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:That's all I asked.
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:So this, this man, he, he pretty much
had kind of created his own religion.
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:Like he started talking about what
he believed and, but instead of
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:saying that's ridiculous, all I said.
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:Pretty much over and over.
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:Wow, that's an interesting idea.
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:I've never actually even
heard of that before.
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:How did you come to that conclusion?
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:And then he would kind of go off something
else and then he'd have something else.
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:I said, huh, that's so interesting.
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:What made you think that and and it
wasn't attacking it wasn't anything
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:and by the end of the conversation He
pretty much said, you know, I think
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:I actually just kind of thought of
it on my own and created it myself.
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:And I said, oh so it's like your own
religion and he thought about he's
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:like, yeah But then at the end of that
conversation He gave me a hug And he
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:said, it was so nice talking to you.
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:And that for me and that I've
kind of brought into my home with
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:my neighbors because it wasn't
a contentious conversation.
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:I was just asking him, Oh,
what makes you think that?
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:Why do you believe that?
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:He was the only one who did the talking,
and in the end, we did get to share,
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:I said, would you like to hear what
we're studying and why we believe this,
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:and I did get a chance to share with
him, but it was just such a beautiful
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:time of, I was honestly finding out
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:about who he is and and that brings
you to a place where like I can see the
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:things that are important to this guy
and why he's hurting and if this was
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:a neighbor that gives me something to
talk about Later, and I actually care
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:about this person like it's not and so
The the conversation part it doesn't
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:have to happen depending on who you are.
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:It doesn't actually have
to happen in your house.
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:You can have someone on the front porch.
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:It doesn't have to be.
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:And on my blog, what I
started doing is easy.
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:Like if you want to throw something
together, grab some cream cheese,
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:throw some caramel and some toffee bits
with apples, greatest dessert ever.
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:Like I have a lot of easy things.
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:If you feel like that's because food
does, it gives us something in common.
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:I absolutely love, I love using food and
I'm actually not that good of a cook.
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:I had to, I had to find ideas.
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:I remember being in my twenties and
one of my friends literally made me
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:a cookbook of easy recipes I could
do because I felt so inadequate.
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:And here's the thing.
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:I'm peopley and I do think I have the
gift of hospitality, but it doesn't mean
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:I'm a good cook or I'm a good that I, my
house always is decorated beautifully.
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:It means that I welcome, it's natural
for me to welcome the stranger.
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:And if it's not natural for you
to welcome the stranger, that
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:doesn't mean you're off the hook.
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:That just means you have to be more,
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:Twanna Henderson: You
gotta work hard at it.
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:Carrie Pankratz: You gotta work hard
at how you welcome the stranger.
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:And I want to help with that.
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:I want to help you think through a
way that you can't like, if you don't
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:have the money for it, you can make
a pot of soup very cheaply, or like
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:I said, offer someone some water.
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:It's about the relationship
and the connection and,
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:Twanna Henderson: And I think it does
require being intentional because we do
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:live in a culture where people do kind
of, you know, they roll out their trash
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:can and they kind of wave their hand or
whatever, or they, and they keep going.
401
:I mean, we just, you know, we have people,
you know, a lot of times we don't know our
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:neighbors or all these different things.
403
:And so, and then people are
sort of like suspicious, like.
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:Why are you talking to me almost?
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:And so I think really kind of being
intentional about making those
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:connections, because, you know, the key
thing you said was, you know, whether
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:we have that gift of hospitality or not.
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:We are called to love our neighbor.
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:And I think that's the thing that
we really have to think about.
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:I want to talk about, you know, when you
do have people in just the boundaries,
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:because with, you know, when you're
balancing that with, serving guests and
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:maintaining healthy boundaries with your
family or just with your home, you know, I
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:hope they don't open that drawer or go in
that closet or whatever the case may be.
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:But how do you, how do you, how do you
balance that, that boundaries part?
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:Carrie Pankratz: Yeah.
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:And a lot of that is
communication within my family.
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:Like what my family is going
to be comfortable with is
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:going to be totally different.
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:My husband is also very extroverted
and it is, he's actually, which this
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:is interesting, is I actually think
I'm an introvert who loves people.
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:Because I, I'm, it's, it's kind of
a weird thing because I realized I
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:actually do need to decompress after
being around people, but I love people.
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:Where my husband is an extrovert, he
could have people all the time around.
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:And it's, it is funny that this
is just in the past few years, I
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:always thought I was an extrovert.
426
:Now I'm right in the middle.
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:Yeah.
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:So I don't require a ton, but I do
sometimes get on people overload where I'm
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:like, I need a little bit of alone time.
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:So my husband would actually invite
people into our home constantly too.
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:So we have to communicate and in different
seasons, it looks very different.
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:This year I am, I was a teacher this year.
433
:I'm not teaching to help
one of my kids in school.
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:This year I have a lot more freedom.
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:When I was teaching, there was a
period where I didn't even feel
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:like I could, unless it was summer.
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:I didn't feel like I could invite
people in because I had nothing left.
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:So being, I still would, but it wasn't a
twice a week, every week sort of thing.
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:It was a once a month, we're going
to be intentional about this.
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:And, so I have a friend who is very
She has an amazing gift of hospitality.
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:Her husband is an extreme introvert.
442
:And
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:so she isn't the one that's like,
Oh yeah, come over to our house.
444
:Like if she invites a neighbor over,
she's got to talk to her husband first,
445
:like, Hey, will this be good for you?
446
:And if it's a phase where, Hey, it's
not, she'll take them to coffee or
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:she'll go to, she'll go and bring dinner
over to their house or bring a treat
448
:over to their house to talk to them.
449
:Like you, you really do need to
protect the boundaries of your family.
450
:And, and even when we were fostering.
451
:I am more careful about people I'm
allowing into my home in that situation.
452
:We had a small group that supported
us that was there every week,
453
:but we didn't, you have to be.
454
:You have to be intentional, but
also aware of what your, what
455
:the rest of your family needs.
456
:So I'm not saying everyone has
to have an open door every minute
457
:of your life, because that's
not, that's not healthy too.
458
:Now, sometimes God does bring
opportunities that you're not
459
:ready for, like we experienced.
460
:Twanna Henderson: Yeah, yeah.
461
:Carrie Pankratz: But, so you kind
of, prayer is a huge thing too.
462
:I should have said that a long time ago.
463
:Bring, this isn't something
that Carrie is doing on her own.
464
:This is God opening doors.
465
:I mean, if I'm on a walk and a new
neighbor walks by, I'm going to say hello.
466
:And if God opens that
door to start something.
467
:And it is really funny the way God
will do that too, because I had had a
468
:conversation with a friend that, you
know, the, the way our world is right
469
:now, the conversation was on homosexuality
and I walked down the street, there
470
:was a neighbor I had never met.
471
:And, walked outside and I meet
this new, gay couple that moved in.
472
:Well, for me, that's an opportunity
to get to know my neighbor.
473
:And in Utah, I mean, the
culture here, it is hard.
474
:For people who, and I, I don't know if
it's that way in the South, too, but in
475
:California, it was where I'm from, it
was a lot, a lot, everything was a lot
476
:different, where here, there is a very,
you know, the main world view, and then
477
:there are a whole bunch of outsiders,
and interestingly, Christians are
478
:kind of in the outsider category, too.
479
:So, it, it gives a great
opportunity to get to know
480
:someone who is different from me.
481
:But that's the thing, like, we are
all different and we're coming at
482
:things differently, but we are all,
again, we are all image bearers
483
:and our heart needs the same thing.
484
:And we have things in common
and our culture right now, I
485
:think, is so much us versus them.
486
:And yes, we have an enemy, but it
is not my neighbor three doors down.
487
:Twanna Henderson: Oh, wow.
488
:That's good.
489
:That's good.
490
:Let's know.
491
:Let's let that sink in.
492
:Yes.
493
:Yeah.
494
:I've got an enemy, but it's
not my neighbor three door.
495
:Yeah.
496
:That's good.
497
:And what I really, what I really
like from this, this is so good.
498
:Like we could go on and on and on and on.
499
:It's going back to you saying
that we're all called to love.
500
:Carrie Pankratz: Yes.
501
:Twanna Henderson: I mean, that's,
that's, that's the crust of this.
502
:I mean, that's, that's it.
503
:I mean, that's the challenge.
504
:That's, that's, that's it.
505
:I know we, as we've got to close and
I hate to close, because the time
506
:like just flew by, but there are those
who are listening, to this podcast,
507
:who, who never really thought about
evangelizing through biblical hospitality.
508
:I mean, it's just, you know, and that's
why I wanted to have you on here, you
509
:know, because this has really opened their
eyes and I've learned some things too,
510
:because, I still got to love my neighbor.
511
:Carrie Pankratz: Well,
it's not always easy.
512
:Twanna Henderson: No, it's not.
513
:And I've got great neighbors.
514
:I really do.
515
:Can you pray for us that we would be
open to, to the Holy Spirit's prompting
516
:about how and when to host others and
that we would trust him in the process?
517
:Carrie Pankratz: Yeah, absolutely.
518
:Twanna Henderson: Thank you.
519
:Carrie Pankratz: Father.
520
:We are so grateful that you are the one
who already won the battle for us, Lord.
521
:We are thankful that you loved us
enough to send your son for us.
522
:And Father, when we look around
us at this hurting world, you did
523
:that for those people too, Lord.
524
:And there is a brokenness in this world.
525
:And I pray for those believers out there
who Just don't feel equipped or don't
526
:know where to start or Lord just honestly
don't know how to do what you ask.
527
:How do we love our neighbor?
528
:And I pray Lord that you would just be
working on our hearts, open our eyes
529
:to see the need to see the need around
us and help us to see our neighbors as
530
:image bearers that you love desperately.
531
:I pray that you would open
opportunities as we turn to you, you
532
:open up opportunities for us to truly
see our neighbors, to get to know
533
:them, to see what their, what their
hurts are, what their desires are,
534
:Lord, and to speak truth into that.
535
:And the way that we do that is just by
sharing who you are and what you did for
536
:us, because you did that for them too.
537
:I pray that you would, give us wisdom, all
of us wisdom, in how to do this and when
538
:to open our door, who to invite, but also
give us courage to do the hard things.
539
:and to know that it's messy,
just because it's messy doesn't
540
:mean you aren't working.
541
:And sometimes through those
hard things, through conflict
542
:is where we draw closer to you.
543
:And also we can draw closer to those
people once we resolve that conflict.
544
:So Lord, it's not going to be perfect.
545
:It's going to be messy.
546
:And I pray that you would walk through
us, that you would that your spirit
547
:would direct us and that you would
first help us to seek you Lord and to
548
:grow deeper in our relationship with
you so that you can pour out through
549
:us and love our neighbors and we trust
you in this Lord in Jesus name, amen..
550
:Twanna Henderson: Amen.
551
:Well, Carrie, thank you so much for
joining us and for sharing your gift
552
:of, being able to reach others.
553
:I mean, it really is a gift.
554
:and I, I'm just, I'm excited about
how the Lord continues to use you.
555
:And I'm looking forward to coming to
Utah to have some coffee or something.
556
:Carrie Pankratz: Yes, anytime!
557
:Twanna Henderson: Well, thank you
again to all of our listeners.
558
:I'm Twanna Henderson.
559
:Be blessed of the Lord.
