Episode 59

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Published on:

7th May 2025

Equipping Women for Ministry

In this powerful episode of T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With and About Women, host Twanna Henderson sits down with Cassie Beyer — ministry director, regional coach, wife, mom, and passionate discipler of women. Cassie opens up about her transformation from a young, overwhelmed mom to a ministry leader who's committed to equipping others to live out the gospel.

From stories of contagious worship to how she builds strong, surrendered leadership teams, Cassie shares practical insight, real-life transparency, and deeply moving testimony that will inspire you to step boldly into your calling. Whether you’re in ministry, exploring faith, or leading in any capacity, this conversation will stir your heart and equip your hands.

Transcript
Twanna Henderson:

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 definitely to

share it with everyone that you know.

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Well, as you are aware, we have been

continuing in our focus on the theme

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of evangelism this year, and I'm really

excited about our guest on today.

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Our guest is Cassie Beyer.

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Cassie has dedicated her life to equipping

others for ministry and for sharing the

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transformative love of Jesus Christ.

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She currently serves as the director

of ministry at Hope Community Church

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in Shawano, Wisconsin, where she

helps guide the church's mission to

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bring hope and freedom through faith.

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With a heart for discipleship and

leadership, Cassie has been part of the

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coaching team for IfGathering for the

past eight years and now serves as a

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regional coach, empowering women to step

boldly into their God given callings.

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In addition to her ministry work, Cassie

is pursuing a degree in biblical studies,

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deepening her understanding of scripture

and its application in today's world.

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She is a devoted wife of 12 years and

mom to three children and she balances

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the fun and challenges of family life of

her passion for helping others experience

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the hope, joy and freedom found only

in Jesus when she's not leading or

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learning, she enjoys downhill skiing.

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Oh, that's interesting.

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Running and car worship jam sessions,

her favorite way to reset and to

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recharge through every season.

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Her mission remains the same to

inquire, inspire, I'm sorry, and

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equip others to know and live out

the gospel, in their everyday lives.

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Cassie, welcome to T Time.

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Cassie Beyer: Thank you.

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It's so good to be on today.

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Twanna Henderson: So good to have you.

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Well, I think it is so cool

that you've really dedicated

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your life to equipping others

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especially the next generation.

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And so I want to kind of start

there because I know you have

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a passion there and that can

sometimes be kind of challenging.

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So talk to us about what that looks

like and what that, you know, what

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that looks like in your context.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, you know,

we're, we're in rural Wisconsin.

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And so we don't have universities by us.

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And so this a passion sometimes of

mine to reach the next generation,

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is sort of a launching place, right?

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So they, they go away to college.

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But the cool thing about our

areas, they often come home.

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And so that really gives an opportunity

as, as young women specifically come back,

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sometimes that means

there's lots of questions.

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Sometimes that means there's even

fear or what did I learn growing up?

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And so it has been a joy to get

to walk through that process.

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You know, specifically with that

college age or, or right out of college,

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coming back and, and in that stage of

trying to make their faith their own.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah, yeah.

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So how did for you, you know, growing

up, you know, in your college years,

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what was that experience like for you?

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Cassie Beyer: Oh, yeah, my

college years were interesting.

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I gave my life to Jesus at 22.

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And so I actually was a young mom.

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I got pregnant at 18 I had my

son at 19 And, made quite the

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mess of, of things, you know, but

luckily, talk about evangelism and

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how living out our faith matters.

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It was really just the way in which

a couple talked about their church

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that ultimately was that launching

point to lead me to the Lord.

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I was like, I've never heard anybody

talk about church as like, enjoyable.

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I want to go.

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I want to see what this is about.

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And so I'm really, I'm really grateful

for that couple and how their love of

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the church is what brought me to Jesus.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah, you know, and it

really speaks to how, you know, in this

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whole, theme of evangelism, how important

it is to really share our stories, to

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share our faith, to share the good news.

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And a lot of times we think that's kind of

hard to do, but just like you said, as a

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young girl, just having them to share with

you and it being so impactful for you,

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and to be able to know, hey, this is not

the church that I, you know, knew about,

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or this is not what I thought church was,

but this is something totally different.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, yeah, it was great.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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Now I know you serve as director

of ministry for your church.

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so you probably encounter a lot

of different people, doing that.

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What is it about serving in the local

church that, that you really enjoy.

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What are one of the favorite things

about serving in the local church?

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, I mean my

favorite thing is equipping

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the Saints for the work, right?

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I love what I get to do and and I love

working myself out of a job in that

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man when I get to see other women's

gifts coming alive because they've

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been giving an opportunity to serve

whether that is making an incredible

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coffee drink in the cafe or, you know,

trying out teaching gifts up front.

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It's just really cool to watch other

women use their gifts for the glory

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of God and see a path forward of

like, wow, no matter what my gift

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mix is, the Lord wants to use me.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah, I

think that is so wonderful.

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And yeah, just to be able to see

other people and other women,

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particularly to blossom, you know,

able to come alive and to really how

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the Lord is working in their lives.

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are there any stories that about

women that you've seen that,

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that that blossoming, you know,

occurring that stand out to you?

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Cassie Beyer: I mean, you know, one

of my favorites is probably, you

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know, my friend, Jenny, we weren't

close friends when I met her, but

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she, she came from a different church

background and, and she came in with

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curiosity, and, and she loved God, But

she was kind of confused by the Old

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Testament, of like, wait, he seems mean.

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I don't get it.

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And, to get to walk with her through

scripture and to see the Lord's kindness,

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in the context of the Old Testament

and how that's filled over and, and to

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see her now, I mean, she, she's leading

our women's, scripture study ministry

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that, you know, we have anywhere from

40 to 100 women showing up, to worship

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and dig into scripture on their own.

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That, that stuff's my favorite, you

know, to get to see people who've

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maybe loved God in some way really

cross that line into surrendering

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their entire lives to serving Him.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah, now I

don't want to skip from, you know,

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you being this, this person, this

teenager who has this story from

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this couple to the staff person.

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Tell me something about the in between

because there had to be some things

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that got you from there to here.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I mean, there's a lot, but you

know, the, the short end of it is,

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you know, in the midst of being a

young mom, I turned to drinking.

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And so I now have, celebrated

14 years of sobriety.

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You know, and quitting and surrendering

my own life to Jesus is certainly

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the thing that changed everything.

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And so I started coming to this church

that was fun, that I had heard about.

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And, you know, really started

slowly getting involved.

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I was a domestic violence and sexual

assault counselor at the time.

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And actually, I was on a walk with a

friend, and our church was a little

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bit smaller then, and I had said to my

friend, you know, if I could do anything,

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I would love to be the church secretary.

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And, and no lie, the next week it was

in the church bulletin that they were

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looking to hire the church, you know, I

think they called it office manager then.

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And so, you know, by the grace of God,

You know, I applied, I got it and, and

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grateful for the leadership around me

that, early on just gave me opportunity

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to study, gave me opportunity to, try

different things and ultimately just

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affirms leadership giftings that they saw

in me, to really help try and be a leader

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of leaders here within our local context.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah,

that's an amazing story.

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I'm sure there have been people, other

people in your life as well along

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that journey who've been impactful.

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Can you share about anybody else who has

just sort of, you know, been instrumental

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in that, that journey for you?

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, I mean, I'm so

grateful for, you know, my, Pastor, the

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pastor, he's, he just recently moved

on from here, but Pastor John, the

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one who hired me, really, him and the,

the other pastors here, just being a

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woman in a rural context, there weren't

other women in full time ministry.

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And so for them to, answer my

questions and for them to be patient

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with me as a young person at that

point in ministry was a gift.

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But also they pulled a chair up for

me at that table And, and I know that

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that's not every woman's experience

in ministry, and so, I am so grateful,

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that I, I, you know, I've never had to

ask, I've never asked for opportunity.

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The Lord has just been kind and

surrounded me with really godly men,

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and now that our staff has grown,

I'm so grateful that there are,

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godly women too, surrounding me too.

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That we get to do a lot

of ministry together.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah,

that's, that's really awesome.

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That's a blessing.

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I know part of your role is to also, to

lead and run a women's, annual event.

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What has that been like and have you

seen God move through it, with women?

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, I mean,

I, I have loved hosting.

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We've hosted IF GATHERING for many

years and, you know, it's really

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morphed into a lot of our own stuff too.

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But, my favorite thing has really

been forming that leadership team

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and watching them use their gift mix.

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That has been incredible, but, but one

thing specifically this last year that

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happened was, we got a testimony from

a woman who came, a younger woman,

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who said, you know, I came because I

wanted to feel this feeling that other

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people have talked about, this like

spiritual high of like feeling Jesus.

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And she said, you know,

that never happened.

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But she said, I watched all of you

worship God and something in me changed.

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It wasn't that she had a feeling.

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It wasn't that someone

said the right thing.

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It wasn't that the

worship music was perfect.

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She watched people worship and

pray and the Lord just used that

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to minister to her in such a way.

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And now she's here and she's serving and

she loves the Lord and her husband's here.

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She just joined.

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We're launching a women's leadership

cohort that she's jumping into.

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And so, getting to see those sorts of,

you know, both leaders getting to, to live

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out their gift mix, but then how that's

impacting people who are brand new to

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their faith or brand new to all of this.

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man, getting to do a conference like that,

it just, it really opens those doors to

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get to be a part of what God's doing.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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And how amazing that the

worship was contagious.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah.

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Twanna Henderson: It

was contagious worship.

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I mean, her seeing the worship was the

thing that really spoke to her and,

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you know, just really opened her eyes

to a different level of experience.

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That's, that's, that's amazing.

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And I know if putting something together,

cause you keep talking about leaders

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and, and developing leaders, how, how,

how did you go about building, just

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a leadership team, for, for this, or

how would anybody go about doing that?

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Yeah.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, I mean my first

go around I just grabbed a bunch of

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people and that didn't necessarily

Yeah, that didn't necessarily work

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out the best because sometimes

that's just you know, it's just hard

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But it was actually your teaching

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I had heard a while ago man.

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It was years ago.

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Twanna Henderson: Oh,

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Where you had mentioned these leadership

qualifications you look for, which was,

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you know, just observations, right?

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We're not trying to be super

legalistic, but do we observe these

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qualities and people around us?

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And it was, you know, do they

attend worship regularly?

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Do they serve faithfully,

do they give generously?

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And then do they just kind of help out?

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Like, you know, when they

see a need, do they jump in?

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And so.

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I started forming my team using

those qualifications and honestly,

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some of these people weren't

even my friends at the time.

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I'm just like, you check the boxes, so

I'm just going to trust that your, your

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life is surrendered to the Lord and that

you're going to make a great teammate.

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And I don't even know what your gifts are.

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And, and the Lord has just blessed

that and surrounded me with such an

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incredible group of women who, you know,

are just surrendered and they're easy

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to work with and it's just been a game

changer and so much so that our church

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has really adapted those same principles

when it comes to when we're looking

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for key leaders within the church,

like, you know, are these qualities

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just an observable part of their life?

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And I think they just demonstrate

that surrender heart, soul, mind,

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you know, time finances, all of it

is just surrendered to the Lord.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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And unless others know anybody who's

listening, you know, cause sometimes

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you think, you know, Oh, I'm not

a leader, but you are a leader.

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And I think you have

to just recognize that.

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If you do have a surrendered heart and

you're, you're willing to just step in

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there and to be, to be led and to be

coached and all those different things

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that you can become that leader that God,

you know, may really be calling you to.

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And so, you know, for anybody who's

listening, who's wondering, you know,

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am I, am I that person, you know, can

I be, cultivate those things in myself?

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You can.

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because if you're once you're willing,

the Lord will, will do the rest.

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He really will.

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And we just have to be, surrender

to him as you say, and be obedient

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to what God really wants us.

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You know, I really love how you, have

given other women the opportunity to,

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to, to teach and to, to lead and, and,

and to really cheer them on, because

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that's so important to be able to, to

cheer them on and to feel cheered on.

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How has God grown Cassie through that?

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah, yeah.

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It was, it's funny.

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Sometimes we delegate too much.

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And you know, it was really this

last year we knew might be our

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last sort of conference in the

way in which we've known it.

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And I really felt like the

Lord was like asking me to be

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the one to speak that year.

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I had delegated that out every

other year to somebody else.

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And, man, I just felt so sure.

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I wanted such a clear

presentation of the gospel.

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And, You know, in that, it was paired

with this other conviction, you know,

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being on staff, being on stage some weeks.

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I really felt like the Lord said,

that's, that's great, Cassie.

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But you had better be sharing

Jesus in your real life then too.

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Not, not just with a microphone from a

stage and, man, that was humbling and

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convicting and honestly led me to, to

the one of my favorite, discipleship

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groups, you know, I just went out on a

limb and messaged some people that, you

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know, one had attended our conference

but never really come to church and,

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and, another was a softball mom that was

a friend of my daughter's and I'm like,

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I'm just, and one was somebody who hadn't

really been coming to the church anymore

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but thought I'd reach out cause they

were just busy and everyone said yes.

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And it was such a joy to get to walk

through, really the gospel from day one.

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we did the, I love Blackaby's

"Experiencing God" study.

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And so we did the condensed

version of that one.

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And to get to see these girls

say yes to Jesus, and then these

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little faith steps of like praying

out loud, which can be so scary.

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And just a couple months ago, Danielle,

my friend, had an opportunity to

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pray out loud in front of our whole

women's ministry, which she was

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terrified, but it was so cool to

see how God had grown her from that

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initial Bible study to now where she's.

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But she's doing it, praying

for a whole group of women.

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It was, it was beautiful.

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And so I'm just grateful for

how the Lord, keeps me humble.

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I try, I try to pray that prayer a lot.

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but sometimes I regret it.

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So he, he answers it always.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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What would you say to someone who,

you know, who is working in an

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area of ministry and really wants

to, to be impactful to others,

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who really wants to know how to

influence others for, for the Lord.

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What would you say to them?

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Cassie Beyer: I mean, I think I'm

just constantly reminded that I have

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to be right with the Lord first.

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The, the second, the second

I'm not, I'm in trouble.

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not trouble like discipline,

but trouble like I'm, I'm just

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going through the motions.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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Cassie Beyer: Because I, I think

influence comes from the Lord.

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It does.

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I mean, we can't, we can't buy it.

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You know, you can have any title you

want, but the reality is, whether

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or not people see us favorably,

is really dependent on God.

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I just got to teach, about

Daniel at, at our Women's.

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Night, just a few days ago.

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And then, and that's his life, right?

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It was, I can't interpret

these dreams, but the Lord can.

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And I think we just have

to stick with that posture.

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And to like, recognize

it's always for the one.

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I remember my first Bible study.

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I was so excited.

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I had like 25 women show up and I felt

real cool and really like, Oh my gosh,

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people like me and they want to learn

about Jesus and I'll take one or two now

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any day.

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I just, I just, to be up close and real

life and hard conversations, that's

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for me in this season of ministry,

like that's, that's where it's at.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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How has your own testimony

allowed you to be able to reach

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other women and to impact them?

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah.

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I mean, I just, I believe so much

in vulnerability and transparency.

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You know, and so whether that's my, being

a young mom, whether that was a history

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of, of drinking, you know, whether that

was living with my boyfriend, before we

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got married and the church correcting

that and walking through some of that

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in a really positive healing way.

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Like it just feels like the Lord

has done so much in my life that,

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I'd hope I could be that, be that

bridge for somebody who maybe doesn't

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feel like they fit the church.

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The church girl, sort of mantra,

through that transparency.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah, I think that is

so huge to the transparency part because,

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you know, there are people listening to

this podcast and they were thinking, gosh,

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you know, I've got this past or whatever.

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And we all have a past, you know, and

they're saying, you know, here's this

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woman who, you know, she has a past,

she has a testimony, but now here she is

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the, you know, on staff as the, you know,

director of, of, of ministry at a church.

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And I think that the Lord, I heard

a pastor say that the Lord brings

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blessings out of brokenness, and I

think when we allow him to do that,

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he, he's able to, to, to use us, you

know, even greater cause we, you know,

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we were stripped down to everything.

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that's, that's, that's not useful.

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And then he takes it and shapes it

and makes it what he wants it to be.

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And so I think definitely sharing our

story and sharing, what the Lord has done.

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It's so important.

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It's so important.

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and so impactful.

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you know, I think the Lord has

certainly gifted you to be an equipper.

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And I believe an encourager as

well to other women and, and, and

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really, you know, really, trying

to, to, to, connect in a way,

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that may be different from others.

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There are those who are

listening today, especially

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women who need to be encouraged.

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To, to live out the gospel

in their everyday lives.

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You know, before we close, I want to just

ask you to just pray for them as well

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as for all of our listeners that that we

will step into our God given callings,

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in order to impact the world for Christ.

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Cassie Beyer: Yeah.

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Yeah, I'd love to.

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Twanna Henderson: Yeah.

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Cassie Beyer: Father, we, goodness,

we are so grateful for, the plan

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that you have for all of us.

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God, that you, man, before we were

born, you predetermined our days, our

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location, our families, our ministry.

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And so God, would we lean into that?

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Would we, be so grateful for the

opportunities that you put in front of us?

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And would we dream?

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Would we dream about the

opportunities maybe that you have

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for, for everyone in their future?

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And Lord, for those, for those women who

are questioning, God, what is my calling?

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What is it you want me to do?

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Lord, would you help them rest?

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That their first job is to love

you, God, to love you with their

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heart and their mind and their soul

and to put you first and everything

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else really, really will be added.

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God, it truly will be added and so God, I

pray that there's a, there's a surrender.

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There's a surrender of what maybe they

thought life would look like, what

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they thought ministry would look like.

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And there, there's a holy submission, God

to you and your will and your plan and God

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for the women who are tired, God, I pray

that you would encourage their spirit.

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God, would you, give them

rest if they need rest?

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But God, man, sometimes when you

show up with your glory, that

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is, that is the rest we need.

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We need to see you move.

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We need to see a miracle.

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We need to see something change.

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We want to see how, how you are

moving in and through each one of us.

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God, we're so grateful that we get

to be a part of your plan, to reach

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the world with the hope of Jesus.

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And it's in his name I pray, Amen.

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Twanna Henderson: Amen.

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Cassie, it's been great chatting with

you and I'm really excited about what

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the Lord, is going to continue to do in

your life as you serve and guide others.

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I believe there's still some

greater things in store for you.

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Cassie Beyer: Thank you.

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It's been great.

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Twanna Henderson: Yes.

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So to all of our listeners,

I'm Twanna Henderson.

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Until next time, be blessed of the Lord.

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About the Podcast

T Time: Spiritual conversations For, With and About Women.
T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With and About Women a new podcast featuring Dr. Twanna Henderson, with special guest appearances in every episode. You will hear true inspirational stories from other women and about other women. Each episode will feel like you are sitting in on a very special gathering with some of your most life-giving friends over a cup of tea. Whether you are a working professional, serving in ministry, a stay-at-home mom or an empty nester, this podcast is for you.