Growing in Evangelism
In this very special final episode of T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With and About Women, host Twanna Henderson closes out five impactful years of ministry by turning the spotlight to the next generation. Twanna sits down with Delaney Dahl, a high school senior from Prior Lake, Minnesota, who leads her school’s faith club and is passionate about evangelism and discipleship. Delaney shares her story of coming to faith, finding purpose through hard seasons like the pandemic, and stepping out boldly to bring the gospel to her peers and beyond — from leading Bible studies to praying for strangers in the hallway. This heartfelt conversation will inspire you to trust God more deeply, live out your faith courageously, and cheer on the younger generation as they rise to lead.
Transcript
Well, 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
today is a very special day because
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:we are culminating our T Time series.
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:When we started this podcast, a little
over five years ago, and in the middle of
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:a pandemic, we had no idea that five years
later and over 60 episodes later that we
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:would have the opportunity to meet and
to glean from so many incredible people.
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:I started this year with the theme
of building and rebuilding a culture
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:of evangelism, and as we look to the
future, it's gonna be important that we
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:support and cheer on the next generation.
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:So this final episode is with
someone from the next generation
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:and the person of Delaney Dahl.
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:I hope that this episode is a blessing to
you and that it encourages you about what
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:the Lord is doing in the next generation.
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:It's been a pleasure to connect
with you over the past five years.
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:Join me now in this phenomenal
dialogue with Delaney Dahl.
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:Well, welcome to T Time Spiritual
Conversations: For, With and About Women.
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:I'm your host, Twanna Henderson,
and as always, I want to remind
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:you to like this broadcast and to
share it with someone in your life.
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:Well, you know, we have been going
through this year, , focusing on the
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:theme of evangelism and today we
have a very special guest with us.
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:Our guest today is Delaney Dahl.
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:Delaney is a current senior in
high school in Prior Lake Minnesota
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:and will be graduating very soon.
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:She has been involved in leading her
public schools faith club for the past
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:three years, and has unique evangelistic
training and experiences through her
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:internships with Campus Faith Clubs.
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:In the fall of this year, she plans
to attend Taylor University, a
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:Christian liberal arts college to
study sports management and marketing.
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:Delaney, welcome to T Time.
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:Delaney Dahl: Thank you.
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:Thank you so much for having me today.
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:Twanna Handerson: It's good to have you.
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:You are my first teen guest.
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:Delaney Dahl: Love to hear it.
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:Twanna Handerson: So I'm excited about
having this conversation with you
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:today and I think it's gonna be great.
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:So I wanna go ahead and just dive
right on in and I want you to just kind
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:of talk to us about your experience
with becoming a Christ follower.
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:Delaney Dahl: Absolutely.
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:So I grew up in a Christian home and
my father was a pastor at a church
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:in the local area, and I was first,
like, I experienced it firsthand.
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:My parents really just invested
in me and my faith, which
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:was something I really loved.
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:And so in the church that my dad was
a part of, there was a camp that came
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:and with a counselor there, they asked
me if I wanted to accept Jesus as my
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:personal savior for the first time.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And that was the
first time I really felt the Holy
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:Spirit just work within me and
tell me to raise my hand that day.
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:And so I was able to pray with
her and invite the spirit in.
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:And so from there, I've
just been chasing Jesus.
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:And it has been a journey for
sure, but just such a joy.
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:So my dad ended up switching
jobs, which, made my family move.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: Which was kind of
the hardest period of my life
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:because it was a lot of transition
through my teenage years.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:Delaney Dahl: And especially
during, the COVID virus.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: I, didn't have a
lot of friends because we had just
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:moved and that transition was hard.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: But looking back
on that, it's just really cool
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:to see how the Lord developed my
own faith and my reliance on him.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:Delaney Dahl: During that time, to
be able to have that to go back to
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:with, before I was making friends
and before I was able to connect to
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:my community and grow myself, I was
able to grow my faith in him first.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:That's And so,
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:Delaney Dahl: yeah, absolutely.
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:So that was just kind
of how that developed.
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:And so.
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:Now that I have that foundation, I'm able
to just grow other people and just have
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:those opportunities to live out my faith.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah,
that's pretty major.
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:I mean, 'cause think about it when
we're talking about the pandemic.
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:So we're talking about
five years, you know, ago.
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:So how old were you?
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:Like 12, 13, you know?
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:Delaney Dahl: Yeah, exactly.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:So that's pretty young, you
know, when you think about that,
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:I mean, that's pretty major.
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:And I know I mentioned in your bio
about you having trainings through,
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:internships with Campus Faith Clubs.
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:Tell us about what Campus Faith
Clubs is and how it has impacted you.
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:Delaney Dahl: Yeah, absolutely.
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:So Campus Faith Clubs is a local
ministry in the metro area of Minnesota
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:where I live, and they are just a
ministry that focuses on evangelism
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:in public high schools and allows
people to just get experiences with
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:normalizing the faith in school.
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:So they have developed my faith a lot with
allowing opportunities to just grow in my
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:faith and show me what it looks like to
live an evangelistic like life, I guess.
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:So,
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:with campus day clubs, they have a
bunch of clubs in the south metro
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:area, like I mentioned, so in
middle schools and high schools.
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:And so at my high school, I joined my
faith club my freshman year, which was
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:in 2021 right after COVID happened.
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:That was definitely a God thing on where
I was able to see and find community
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:and just other Christian people in a new
school and get connected with them there.
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:And so after my freshman year,
I was able to become a officer
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:and a leader for faith club.
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:And then my junior and senior year, I've
been the head or co head and co-leader.
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:For that club.
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:So that has just been such a joy
to see how I was able to first be a
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:member and how it poured into me, and
now I can kind of pour back into it.
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:Now that I'm a senior.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah, that's,
that, that is absolutely amazing.
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:I mean, you can definitely see how God
has used that organization to both impact
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:you and to provide you with influence.
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:Share some of the, the personal
opportunities that you've
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:had to, to share your faith.
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:Delaney Dahl: Yeah, absolutely.
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:So.
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:I have been able to, like you said, be
able to lead Bible studies at Faith Club.
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:So what we do is we do worship, is
we do devotionals, bible studies,
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:small groups, and so within that
faith club environment, I've been able
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:to just reach out to people there.
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:But there's also been so many
opportunities outside of Faith Club
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:and even outside of school that
I've been able to share my faith.
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:So, one specific example of
that is summer faith clubs.
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:We started a program my sophomore
year, the smer after it, and we're
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:able to gather people from teenagers
all over the area who are just looking
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:to know who Jesus is more and have
that like benefit their life and
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:so they can learn more about that.
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:And so the past few years I've been
leading Bible studies there and being
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:able to pour into students one-on-one
in a small group settings too, to
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:be able to lead them and show them
what it looks like just to live
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:boldly and live freely for Jesus.
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:Twanna Handerson: So what has that
meant to you to be able to do that?
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:Delaney Dahl: Yeah, it means a lot.
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:I have truly found so much joy in
being able to pour into other people
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:and discipleship has been a really
part of like a key part of my faith.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And just being able
to have people that have poured into
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:my life and just like my parents and
mentors and Campus Faith Clubs leaders
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:throughout the years, it's kind of
continued that way of fellowship in a way.
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:So then I can be poured into
by them, and then I can then
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:pour into other people too.
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:And so I've also heard the people
that I've been having bible studies
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:with after school, and in that summer
faith club setting, they have also
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:been able to develop their faith
enough with the Lord that they can
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:then go disciple other people and
new friends and that kind of thing.
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:So it's just really, really cool to see
how that just pattern follows and how the
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:Lord keeps working through so many people.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:What have been some of the challenges
though, in that I'm sure that, I mean,
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:that sounds wonderful, but I'm sure
that there's had to be challenges.
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:I'm sure there's had to be resistance too.
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:Delaney Dahl: Definitely.
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:There's not always people that are
super open to having Bible studies or
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:wanting to learn more about the faith.
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:Even though I'm super passionate
about it, it's not always accepted.
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:And so a challenge can definitely be
being bold in your environment, even
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:when it's not always accepted or you
don't know what the response is gonna be.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so you almost have
to live in a way of knowing that the
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:Lord is gonna prepare their hearts in a
way to just be accepting to it or hear
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:it and maybe even just plant a seed.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:Delaney Dahl: Before , you know
what's gonna happen with their faith
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:and how you're gonna impact them.
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:So I think you have to be able
to just lead and know that the
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:Lord is going to lead your steps.
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:And I think a lot of what I do a lot
before I go into those like one-on-one
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:conversations or small groups.
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:I usually pray for the Lord to lead
and like open those hearts because you
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:never know what they're dealing with.
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:You never know how close they are
to the Lord, and so just be able
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:to have the spirit work in a way
that I can impact them more than
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:I even know or will ever know.
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:It's just really cool.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:That is really great.
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:What are, what about your faith habits?
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:What are your faith habits
and how have they changed as
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:you've gone through high school?
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:Delaney Dahl: Yes.
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:It's definitely been a
journey through high school.
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:Like I was saying, like at the
end of my middle school years,
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:I was really struggling with
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:community and finding people around
me that I'd be able to be pour into,
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:but that would also pour back into me.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so I've been able to
just find my quiet time with the Lord to
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:be able to be filled up in that way before
I go be filled up with other people.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: But I've also
learned that it looks different
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:in different seasons of life.
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:I think I'm definitely a perfectionistic
person, and so if I don't read my Bible
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:every single day or don't go to church
every single week, I can feel guilty about
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:that or maybe just struggle with that.
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:And so I've been able to learn what it
looks like to have grace for myself.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And know that like the main
spiritual disciplines that I work on is,
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:being in the word, praying with the
Lord and praying for other people.
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:That fellowship aspect, like I
mentioned, and then also witnessing
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:of witnessing what it looks like to
live like Jesus on a daily basis.
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:So those like four spiritual disciplines
that I learned like through Campus
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:Faith Clubs and that they've been
developing in me have just really
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:impacted my personal faith and how I
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:just seek the Lord on a daily basis
because if I seek him first, then
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:he's also gonna be in my life, in the
mundane, in the big and the small.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah, that is so true.
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:Everybody needs to kind
of get that, you know?
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:Delaney Dahl: Exactly.
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:Twanna Handerson: For
adults who don't get that.
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:So that is so important.
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:We just kind of recognize that he's
with us every day, and that we bring
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:Delaney Dahl: absolutely
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:Twanna Handerson: into our situation
and into our lives and in our, to our
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:decisions and every aspect of who we are.
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:Delaney Dahl: Mm-hmm.
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:Twanna Handerson: What about
evangelistic outreaches?
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:Have you had any unique
opportunities in that area?
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:Delaney Dahl: Definitely I've had
multiple, so Campus Faith Clubs
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:works with another ministry in the
area called Breakthrough Ministries.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And they're
located in downtown Minneapolis.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And they have
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:like a very unique location where they're
in a lower income area and where there's
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:a lot of like homelessness in the area.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so I've been able to
volunteer and help with the construction
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:of their building and help them like
influence the people around them.
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:But then we've also gone out on the
streets and just small groups and
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:praying for people who may be struggling
in their life or may not have know
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:where their next meal is coming from.
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:And so just helping them know that
the Lord is their sustainer and their
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:provider and knowing that he is above
everything else despite our situations.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so also that opportunity
is cool for me to see as a more privileged
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:student who has things, knows where my
food is coming from for the next meal.
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:And so it helps humble myself as
well and just know that the Lord,
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:see how good the Lord has been and
just blessed me in my life too.
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:And another opportunity is a Campus
Faith Clubs event that we do each year.
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:There is a fields of faith in the fall
and a flood the field in the spring.
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:And so what that looks like is in a
high school football field, we all
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:gather on the field and there's worship.
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:It's basically a huge
evangelistic outreach night.
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:And so the Lord put this event on my heart
to happen at my school as a freshman.
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:I vividly remember the
Lord speaking to me.
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:I was just walking through the hallway.
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:And the Lord's like, Hey, I
really want this to happen.
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:And as a freshman I
didn't really understand.
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:I wasn't really as
connected as I am right now.
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:And so it's just been cool to be able
to see like how the Lord has worked in
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:my life to be able to build this up.
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:And now looking forward, in a
few months from now, we have this
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:happening at our football stadium
and just having this event to look
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:forward to, to be able to know that
I'm able to speak at it and share my
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:testimony and share how the Lord has
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:just been working in me.
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:And so to know that that outreach is
gonna be a revival in my school, but
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:also just in the surrounding community
at the schools that I'm not involved in.
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:To be able to just reach those
hearts and reach those people to
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:get them connected with Jesus.
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:Twanna Handerson: That
is absolutely amazing.
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:I think that is absolutely amazing.
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:Delaney Dahl: Thank you.
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:Twanna Handerson: I know that, you know,
as you prepare to go off to college and
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:study sports management and marketing, how
do you see all of that playing into how
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:you continue to, to walk out your faith
and, and be an ambassador for Christ?
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:Delaney Dahl: Absolutely.
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:So Taylor is a Christian college,
like you mentioned, and so I had like,
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:I definitely wanted ministry or the
Lord to be part of what I go into.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so having that
Christian education for what I go
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:into was really important to me.
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:And so I'm excited to be able to be
surrounded by a community again to
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:just develop my faith and develop
what it looks like to be a young
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:adult on fire for Jesus, and even
in the sports marketing realm.
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:Like I don't really know what
I'm gonna do with that yet, but
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:the Lord does and that's okay.
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:So just trusting in his plan to know that
he is going to develop me like he has
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:through my high school years and just
looking at his past faithfulness there to
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:be able to know, to look into my future
and know that he's also gonna provide
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:there and develop me, and develop me
with the people that are already there.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: To just speak into me and be
able to help me figure out what's next for
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:me and what the great Lord has in store.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah, I, see
that and I, I'm excited for you.
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:And
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:Delaney Dahl: thank you.
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:Yes.
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:Twanna Handerson: Unfold all of that.
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:, how would you encourage others who are
struggling to be bold in their faith to
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:start living for Jesus more externally?
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:Delaney Dahl: Absolutely.
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:That's a great question.
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:So I feel like we have to start with
our own personal faith in order to
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:go out and be bold about it, because
if we're not connecting with the
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:Lord on a personal basis, we're not
gonna know how he's talking with us
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:or how he's leading us, or where he's
leading us and what he has in store.
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:And so we have to be able to have
that foundation of those disciplines
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:of like I was talking about earlier,
with the word and the prayer and the
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:fellowship, witnessing all those things.
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:And there's gonna be somes
that are more natural.
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:In different seasons of life.
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:So maybe you're reading your Bible
more than you're praying, or maybe
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:you're praying more often than you're
going out and witnessing the people,
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:and so you don't have to be perfect
at all those at the same time.
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:But I think just figuring out what the
Lord is wanting you to work on in this
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:season of life and how he wants to be
speaking to you and bringing conviction
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:into your life and how you're gonna
move forward in your faith and just
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:continue, that is how you can be bold.
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:And so another key aspect of what I had
to learn over my high school years I've
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:to be able to be more bold, is just not
caring what other people think of you as
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:a teenager, that's super hard and you're
constantly surrounded by people that
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:are looking at you, or maybe they're not
looking at you as much as you think, but.
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:I think it's just important to know that
the Lord has created me and his image for
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:such a divine purpose, and that is also
so true of whoever's listening right now.
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:And so I just wanna encourage you to
know that the Lord has such great plans
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:in store for you and you're creating
as image and so you don't have to
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:worry about what someone may say on the
other side of a conversation or what
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:might be scary of like bringing up your
faith like he is in that with you and
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:he's able to go before you and even
if you ask someone to pray for or like
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:if you're going to pray for someone
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:and they say like, no, not right now.
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:Something I've learned is
a no is not a rejection.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: But only a redirection.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: To someone new,
another place that you can plant a
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:seed or just bring the Lord into,
because you never know how that
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:interaction could impact them later on.
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:And so I think learning that
rejection is not always a bad thing,
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:but it's just how the Lord works
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:to just open and close different doors
has just been a key aspect of learning.
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:That it's okay to be bold even
if there is rejection there.
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:And so also going into like evangelism
and being bold in your faith, you also
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:have to have a personal relationship with
the Lord where you can listen to him,
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:because I think that's something I've been
working on recently too, is being able to
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:pray to the Lord and ask him for
things and know he's going to respond.
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:I think I do know he's gonna respond
well, he obviously will, but being
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:able to listen to what he's actually
gonna say instead of deciding what he's
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:gonna say before he answers in a way.
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:And so listening to how he is at work
in your life and how he is at work
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:in other lives and people around you
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:I think that can just bring so much joy
to see how he's actually impacting you
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:and impacting so many people around you.
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:So I think if I could share a personal
story of this too, there was a time
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:where we had an assignment through
Campus Faith Clubs, through an internship
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:I was a part of, and we were gonna
go pray for people in our school.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: I think this
was my sophomore year and I
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:hadn't really done this before.
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:I hadn't gone out and prayed
over a stranger I didn't
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:know, which was super scary.
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:It's definitely hard to do at the
beginning when you don't have a lot
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:of experience and so I was definitely
had a lot of anxiety around it and I
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:could see, I was in the hallway before
the school started, before class.
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:There was someone across the hall.
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:And Lord was like, Hey, go pray for them.
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:And I think that's in that place if
you don't develop your faith, you
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:have to be able to hear of like who
the Lord wants to highlight to you.
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:Twanna Handerson: Mm-hmm.
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:Delaney Dahl: And so that person was
definitely highlighted to me and I went
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:over to them and is like, Hey, is there
something I could pray for you for?
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:Super random question to them.
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:They're not expecting it.
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:It's a random like Monday
morning, but that's okay.
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:And they were like, Hey,
like, I don't think so.
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:I was like, Hey, is it okay
if I pray for you anyway?
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:And they were like, oh, sure, absolutely.
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:So then I just said like a
small short, general prayer.
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:And was just able to bring the Lord
in that conversation, and I haven't
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:really talked to that person since then.
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:I've seen them in the
hallways and everything.
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:I still kind of pray for them on my own
to see if that seed will be watered.
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:And after it was planted.
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:But just the joy that I wanna share.
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:The thing I wanna share is the joy
that I felt after that happened.
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:Yes, that seed was planted, but a seed
was also planted in my faith because
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:I was able to feel what it looks
like to be obedient to the Lord and
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:just actually see where he's leading
you and like answering like those.
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:How he's leading.
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:And so being able to pray to him,
but then also obeying for what he
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:answers with is two separate things.
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:Because we can be listening and we can
be hearers of the word, but we also be
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:doers of the word like it says in James.
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:And so being a doer of the word
requires boldness and requires a lot
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:of obedience, but it's so worth it
because then I just walked through the
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:hall on my way to first hour class and
I'm like, oh my goodness, Lord, thank
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:you so much for leading me to that.
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:And I was just, songs came up
within me like I was just full
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:of joy, full of happiness.
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:And I think that is just what happens when
we experience what the Lord's plans are
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:that he has for us because we are able to
just see how he is at work in our lives.
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:Twanna Handerson: Yeah, I
I think that is so true.
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:And that can be kind of
scary even for anybody.
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:I mean, you know
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:Delaney Dahl: Exactly
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:Twanna Handerson: when you're praying
for people that you don't know because
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:you never know how they're gonna react.
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:But when we are, like you said, when
we're obedient to God, he just, you know,
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:strengthens us to be able to do it and
to just trust him in the midst of it.
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:Delaney, there are listeners
of this podcast who have been
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:fearful of sharing their faith.
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:Some feel like they are ill-equipped.
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:I think that you've
really encouraged them.
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:Can you just take a moment as we prepare
to close, and this has been really, really
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:good, but to just pray for our listeners
that, that they will trust the Lord when
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:put in situations to share their faith
and that he will give them boldness.
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:Delaney Dahl: Oh, for sure.
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:Absolutely.
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:I would love to.
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:Thank you.
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:Lord, I just want to pray over all the
listeners right now that may be in a place
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:that want to grow their faith, wanna grow
their boldness in you, and just what it
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:looks like to have a strengthened faith.
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:I pray that you would
just work through them.
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:I pray that you would just provide
peace where there may be anxiety.
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:I pray that you would just help your
voice be more evident in their life
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:and just how you're working in them.
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:I just pray that you remind them of
your past faithfulness of where you
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:have provided for them in the past and
just how good you have been to them in
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:their lives, even when it's hard to see.
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:And so I just pray that that would fuel
us into how we can then pour into other
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:people and pour into what it looks
like to be doers of the word instead of
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:simply hearers because that's how you're
gonna transform others' lives around
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:us after you've already transformed us.
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:So, Lord, I just thank you for
the person on the other side of
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:this that is listening to this.
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:I just pray that you would bless them.
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:I pray that you would be with them
and just pray that you would go
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:before them and what you have in store
for them, and help them know that
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:you have plans for plans to prosper
and just a great future for them.
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:In Jesus name, amen.
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:Twanna Handerson: Amen.
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:Amen.
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:Delaney, thank you so
much for joining us today.
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:This has been really great.
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:I mean, you're just a remarkable
young woman and so I'm just excited
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:about what the Lord is going
to continue to do in your life.
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:I'll have to have you back again.
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:Delaney Dahl: Absolutely.
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:I would love to.
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:It was such a joy to be on here today.
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:Thank you so much.
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:Twanna Handerson: Absolutely.
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:Well, to all of our listeners,
thank you for joining us.
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:I'm Twanna Henderson,
and until the next time.
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:Be blessed of the Lord.