When Your World Gets Bigger

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

Good morning, Awakening.

It's good to be with you this morning.

You can go ahead and have a sleep.

My name is Glenn, if we haven't got the chance to meet yet.

And this morning we have a really special treat for you guys.

Brittany and I are going to be interviewing our very own John and Chadelli Lao.

John and Chadelli just recently got back from a medical missions trip in Kenya.

And they have a really powerful testimony of what God is doing over there and also what he's been doing in their hearts.

And so this morning we wanted them to share with you guys because their testimony beautifully lines up with what we've already been talking about as a church these last couple weeks.

We've been in a series called Eternal.

And we've tried we're trying to pull our eyes off of the pace, rhythm, and things of this world and look to the things of heaven.

And we have, in doing so, our perspective shifts and we're able to live in light of eternity because as Christians, we have a confidence and a faith in tomorrow.

We have a confidence that Jesus is coming back and that there's going to be a new heavens and new earth, and that today is not all we have.

And the sufferings we face do not have the final word.

And so I'm really excited for you to hear Sean and Shelley's testimony this morning.

But before we do, I thought we would just introduce ourselves, just in case you don't know who we are.

My name is Glenn, as I said, and I get to oversee the worship and production ministries here at Awakening.

So that's all the music and all of the lights and tech here.

And I also get to oversee our Protege program alongside Megan, and I'm excited about that, particularly right now, because it starts in just a couple weeks.

Yeah, it's a leadership program.

And this is my wife, Brittany.

Hi everyone.

Like Len said, my name is Brittany.

I'm his wife and mama to our uh four-month-old baby girl who's in the back, Rosie.

And I've been coming to Awakening for a little over 10 years, and I'm so excited.

Um I serve on our kids and our connection teams.

And I'm so excited for this conversation.

It's really close to my heart because I actually have been on missions as well in West Africa as well as El Salvador, and then lived abroad and on mission for two years in Peru after college, and now work in the food justice space for the food bank, um, helping to be on mission here in the Bay Area to address hunger.

So so excited to talk to Sean and Shelly.

And if you guys could just give us a background on yourselves, who you are.

Good morning.

Am I on?

Yes.

Okay.

Good morning, everybody.

Um, it's a pleasure to be here.

My name is Shelly.

Um, I am the wife of Sean, and we have four wonderful children, ages 21 to 27.

Um, for a job, I have the privilege of working with a charter school who serves homeschool families.

Um I serve here the thank you, sir.

We need all those homeschool supporters we can get because the legislation is always trying to cut us off.

Anyway, um, so I um lost my train of thought.

Sorry, serving here.

So um here at the church, I serve on the children's ministry.

Um we love to take trips with these marvelous college people in front of us, and um also the food pantry when I can.

So um you guys have a wonderful church, and we're just happy to be here.

We call it home.

Yay, yeah.

Um, my name's Sean.

I am the husband of Shelly, and we've been married for 31 years now.

Yay.

Um I am very, very honored and um just and all being able to be up here to talk about missions because you know why?

I'm not a missionary.

Okay, I'm not a formal missionary.

I would never think that I would be up here talking about going on missions trips.

Um, and so this is kind of the being able to um be faithful to God and be up here and um maybe give a little account of how that happened and everything else like that.

But I came to um Silicon Valley, we came to Silicon Valley uh 28, 29 years ago, and um with tech, of course, and then um through a lot of prayer and worship and being with God, became a nurse about oh 12, 14 years ago.

Um, and now I am the in nursing at Stanford as a director over there.

So um really happy to be part of this church.

We came here a little bit after COVID and have haven't left since.

So yay.

Thank you guys.

Well, before we get started this morning, I just thought we could pray and ask God to soften our hearts and open them up to what God wants to speak with us through the testimony this morning.

So let's pray.

Father in heaven.

We acknowledge that you have churches all over the world and that we have brothers and sisters in Christ all throughout the world.

God, we thank you that you care so deeply for us, God, and you care so deeply for so many different communities.

God, as we hear the testimony from Shelley and Sean this morning, I ask that you stir in us a new fire.

God, would you encourage us?

Would you convict us?

Would you help us to listen to your spirit this morning?

In your son's name we pray these things.

Amen.

So Shelley and Sean.

Sean, you said you're not a missionary.

I mean, I I'm a Christian, but I I'm not saying I'm not you guys know what I mean, right?

Official formal missions trips isn't something in my wheelhouse.

How's that?

Yeah, so tell us how how did you end up going on this medical missions trip then?

Okay, um, so when you go on a vacation, you guys, what do you want to do when you go on a vacation?

You w you want to relax, right?

Do you want to do what you do at work?

That's the last thing you want to do, right?

I mean, the last thing you want to do is for someone to say, you know, I'm normally in operations, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna make sure that this product is gonna be run perfectly or something on vacation.

So the last thing I ever wanted to do is was was to actually be doing doing what I do at at uh work.

And so when we planned, when I planned our 30th year anniversary, I was like, hey, let's go to Tahiti.

We haven't been there since our honeymoon.

And it's gonna be the coolest thing ever.

It's gonna be a high-end uh you know, cruise, we're gonna go to all the different islands, and it's gonna be uh we're gonna go see waterfalls, you know, um, and it's just gonna be a trip of a lifetime.

And so I I spent a lot of time planning it.

This is still this is like uh six or seven months before our anniversary actually took place.

I went so far actually to almost book everything um and to um already apply for the vacations and everything, and I'm like, you know what, I probably should tell Shelly um about this.

And because when I did, I said, Hey Shelly, this is what we're gonna do for our 30th anniversary.

And what did she say?

I said, Well, we've already been to Tahiti.

Let's go someplace else.

There's this is a big, big world.

Let's go someplace else.

I said, you know, Africa's been on our bucket list for a while.

Let's go to Africa.

And I said, What?

So um I made all these plans and and I really wanted, I'm like, well, no, we really want to go to Tahiti, right?

And she said, no.

So when you're married for 30 years and your wife says, no, we don't want to do that, sometimes she means no of maybe it's not a good idea, but sometimes she actually means no, we're not doing that.

And unfortunately, I think it was that um statement.

So I said, okay, fine, I'll figure it out, I'll figure out safari in Kenya.

So what do you what do we do as men when we don't want to do something, right?

Um and I still have seven months before we're supposed to go anywhere.

I procrastinate.

But unfortunately, to my end, actually I should say fortunately now, but one of my nurses, um, she came to me and she's Kenyan.

She said, Hey Sean, you know, we go on this, um, we go on this this um medical missions trip every couple years, and we're going this year.

Do you want to come?

And I'm like, coincidence?

So I'm like, okay, God, we'll hear we'll listen.

I I mean I just want to sit and sip of my tie and have hang out and have fun, but I'll listen.

So I go to her and she says, hey, you know, we're doing this, and oh, by the way, it's this week and this week.

And I'm like, those are the two weeks I had already asked for off, right?

Of the entire year.

And I'm like, coincidence?

Okay, God, I'm starting to hear something.

Um, and and then she also said, and by the way, you know, you teach this certain medical procedure.

Um, there are two hospitals that we're gonna go visit, and they could really use your help to go and and minister them and actually provide education training.

Oh, and by the way, we're gonna need ultrasounds, we're gonna need um all the equipment and supplies.

And I'm like, Do you know what kind of work that is to be able to generate all that to all on all the other people that help donate and and and help us do that?

That's work.

I want to go and have fun.

So, anyway, the last thing that was kind of the coincidence or providence um was my son found out, Jack, he found out that we were going to this medical missions trip, and he said, Dad, you do know that I am trying to get into medical school, right?

I'm like, Yeah, of course I do.

And he's like, Well, you know, this could make or break me actually getting in if you let me come.

And I'm like, Jack, this is our 30th year wedding anniversary.

3-0.

You want to come to our third?

And he's like, Yeah.

So we're like, okay, God, I just want to hang out, and I want to hang, you know, sit my ties and and with little palm trees on my drink, and it's not gonna work.

But anyway, so um that's kind of how we went.

And and the last thing I'd say is, how did we choose to go to Kenya?

I didn't choose.

My wife and God kind of went in cahoots and they figured it out for me, and um, that's kind of how we decided to go.

So that's so good.

I love that.

I love you know how you highlighted so many of us when we go on trips or vacations, that one time during the year we want to maybe do something for ourselves, but God and Shelly decided.

Um, and you said yes, you did say yes, um, to do something different.

I've been married for 30 years, remember?

Good advice.

But you did something really impactful um with your time, and so I would love for you both just to um share with us really what you did there.

I know you mentioned some really cool medical procedures, um, but just take us into your time, what you did on this trip.

Okay, well, the first thing I want to say is if you guys are planning a really cool, relaxing vacation, please don't feel like this is judgment at all.

This is just something that we went through, right?

Um, and it's something that I feel like God really has blessed us.

So, you know, some of the experiences, just some from an overview of what we saw.

Um, the really cool thing where God and His providence were able to do the first week of our two-week trip, we went to on a safari, and it was the most amazing trip that you'd ever been uh on, ever.

Literally, it's um we saw all the different animals, we actually had our own guide, we had our own van.

We could bring as much equipment and whatever we wanted to do, we had um and and go anywhere we wanted to go, um, and at a small fraction of what it would have cost us if we did it ourselves.

And how we did it was my my nurse was a Kenyan, and so we booked everything locally.

So it was the coolest thing ever, what we were able to experience.

So that was part of God's providence in the sense of it's funny how he makes more from less, right?

And he just continues to give us everything that we ask for, even when we're saying, hey, you know, I want to anyway.

So he did that.

He did that, he gave us that trip.

Um, and it was it was amazing, right?

Yeah.

Okay.

So the next thing was um when we went over to the hospitals and through a lot of different um, very, very um, I don't know, very generous um supporters and um people who helped donating equipment materials, uh, we're able to train up two different teams of hospitals, doctors and nurses, and ultrasound guided IV insertion, uh, provide them the ultrasounds and and everything they needed in order to be successful.

Uh, and we um it's it was really cool because they're able to be satellites for the area where they were training other hospitals in their own regions as well.

So this is something that we really felt God was able to work through us um to be able to provide that level and that service.

Um, because has anyone ever been in the hospital and been poked by an IV?

It's not fun, right?

So this is something that we we do.

We use ultrasound now to guide the the catheter itself and be able to do that.

Um you know, the next thing that we're able to see and experience was Jack, my son.

So he didn't go on safari with us.

Yay.

Um he uh he actually spent the entire two weeks in the medical mission side.

And so the things that he was able to see and being able to see him grow, um, I would actually say that the one of the proudest moments I've seen in him wasn't necessarily uh this really cool event where he was able to uh help a um collapsed comatose um uh expecting mother in her third trimester who collapsed um uh take care of her, stabilize her, and get her to the hospital and advocate for her.

It was it was really, really cool.

But the proudest moment for him that I've seen is seeing his faith grow in in the two weeks that he'd been there, um, where he had a firm foundation in in God for the first time ever.

And so that was really the uh something that really touched my heart and how God works, continues to work, um, through you know, something that we thought I just wanted to have my tie, and they're like, no, I want something else, I want something better, and this is really, really cool.

So um, and then finally the last part was was around um being able to be part of the ethos and part of being being living with the families.

Um, and where they we they cooked for us, they um we we stayed together, we got to see how locals lived, which is the coolest thing ever.

Um, and um part of revivals, part of baptisms, um house, you know, we went house to house and and ministered, and it was it was actually really cool.

I say I'm not a missionary, so this was all new to me, being able to be part of this experience, and so how God was kind of been shaping in my life and and our lives, I should say.

Uh, and it was just a really cool experience.

That's so awesome.

Shelley, could you just uh maybe paint a picture for us of a couple moments or people that really stuck out for for you from this experience?

Sure.

So I will say that um we did say yes to God, but there was a lot for me, there was a lot of anxiety in that yes.

There were so many unknowns in Africa.

I am a teacher and I like to plan and have my notes.

And um, Africa, I didn't know what age group I would be teaching.

I didn't know, I got no direction from um either of the directors of schools.

I didn't even know the names of the schools, so they weren't able, I asked about, you know, speaking to the staff, what their needs were, there were no help with that either.

Um, so I really went in and I'm not a public speaker.

Um, I get really nervous, and my wheelhouse is four to eight year olds.

Um, so when I was speaking to high school students with a picture book, um, because I didn't know their language abilities, I didn't know how much English they understood or could speak.

Um, it was nerve-wracking.

I was scared to death.

Um, I had a ton of you pray for me, so thank you.

Um But um what what I did there is um the first day I went to I had a room of about 80 high school kids that were crammed into those old-fashioned desks that you lift up at the top.

Um they had their journals and stuff in there, and uh the director of the school came into the classroom and introduced me, and then he handed me a brand new box of chalk.

I had chalk and I had a blackboard behind me.

I had nothing else.

I got thank goodness, right?

Um so that's kind of where you know, where we were at with um the resources there, right?

I I had to totally depend on him because um I never knew what was gonna happen next.

Um so the next place that we went to um the school actually was not um, they they were too busy to do something or to have us come in and teach a lesson or anything else.

So we took the opportunity to view um, there was a dormitory for physically disabled students um that were there.

So we got to tour that and um as we walked the grounds, we went inside one of the dormitories, and the first thing that hit us was the smell of urine.

The floors were covered with urine.

Okay, and their their mattresses were thread were thin, right?

And so we got in, you know, our hearts broken, left, got out quickly because it was pretty smelly, um, continued to walk the grounds.

We encountered two boy two young boys, they were the only two that were on the grounds, and one was in a wheelchair, the other one was physically disabled as well, and they were helping put each other's socks on.

Um, because and there were no other adults around.

Evidently the adults had taken the other children to some kind of event off the grounds.

So um then, and I said to our leader, I said, How many times is Kenya just gonna break my heart?

I I I'm like, I don't know if I can handle this anymore.

This is rough.

Um, so we went across the street.

Um, we ended up speaking to a school of about a hundred kids.

They were much more my wheelhouse.

They were, you know, kindergarten to about sixth grade, and they sat in the dirt and listened to my story.

It was about Max Lucato, um, and it was a story about um it was a story about uh our importance as individuals.

So I don't know if you've ever read it, you guys, it's a great story.

Um and so it doesn't matter, the crux of the story is it doesn't matter what you do, what you look like, um, or your talents, right?

We are made in the image of God, and each one of us are special.

And the praises and the stickers and the jibes that we get from each other, they don't have value.

Our value is in God, right?

And that's our identity.

So um from there we moved to a a village um and had um a three-day revival.

Um, we built a wooden platform in the middle of this little, I don't know, like 20 by 20, I don't know.

Dirt field.

Dirt field, yeah.

Anyway.

Um, and then everybody drug their chairs, those plastic chairs that we leave out in the rain in our backyard that sometimes break.

They dragged those chairs out so they had a seat.

So in Africa, it's super important.

There's a couple things.

So you always shake your hand, you always shake hands, you always smile, and you always tell them your name.

And you drag your chair everywhere.

Because if you don't drag your chair everywhere, you're sitting in the dirt.

So it's their way of showing their importance and their value.

It's it's being seen, it's being recognized, and it's having a seat at the table.

So um, and one of my moments um during this revival, the first day I read my book, and there was an 11-year-old boy who sat there who's just mesmerized.

There were three, you know, they were all ages.

There were two-year-olds to probably 12-year-olds, and the two and three year olds and four year olds were just running around like crazy.

But he was mesmerized.

He'd actually kind of shish them and say, Stop, I can't hear.

Leave me alone.

Um, and he was mesmerized.

So at the end of our session, I went up, I shook his hand, smiled, told him my name.

He wouldn't let go of my hand.

He just wouldn't.

So I kind of kept my eye on him because he was someone who was um he was kind of ostracized from everyone else.

He was physically disabled.

He didn't have a lot of friends, he kind of stuck to the adults.

So I kept my eye on him.

So fast forward three days, we went to the very last day, we had a baptism.

And we got a baptismal pool from the jail.

Um, and halfway through um the water truck or the water broke, the pool broke, so there was water all over in this dirt field.

So we had to bring a water truck.

They brought a water truck to fill up this baptismal pool.

So there were adults being baptized in like six inches of water.

I don't know how they did it.

Like somehow they they're like gumby, they can just bend backwards or something.

I don't know.

But they were being baptized in six inches of water till the water truck was able to bring enough water.

And that little boy got baptized.

And so I went up and gave him a hug and just, you know, was so thrilled that he that he had made this decision.

He walked a little straighter, you know, had a little more confidence.

Um, and then the other story I'm gonna share is we always during during our lessons, we would have at the end a question and answer period.

I would always give the kids prizes.

Well, we ran out of prizes, and Sean suggested that we get bubbles.

Well, guess what?

They'd never seen bubbles, they had no idea what bubbles were for.

So we handed them these little containers of bubbles, and they're like, do we drink it?

You know, they had no idea.

Do we drink it?

Is it lotion?

Is it food?

I don't know what it is.

So we opened, we opened up the bubble, the bubbles, and blue, and it was magic.

Absolute magic.

They were mesmerized.

They ran around for the next 20 minutes during the sermon, um, popping bubbles, running after each other, giggling.

I they just thought it was absolutely incredible.

A little bottle of bubbles that costs like 10 cents.

So to me, that was like, wow, Lord.

A little bottle of bubbles.

We have so much.

And yet this little bottle of bubbles just changed their day, you know, brought so much joy.

So, you know, they were joyful anyway.

That's a thing.

They have nothing.

They're lacking so many resources, yet this, you know, they're joyful, they have each other, they depend on each other for food, for companionship, for friendship, they have all of that.

Um, and so it it for me is like, wow, I have so much, and yet where's my joy?

You know?

Wow, thank you guys.

Those stories are so powerful, and it's so cool to see how God moves through what you're saying of just like reading a book, not sure what you're not even sure what it's gonna be like.

So you just bring what you have, and what God does with that is so powerful.

Um, could you tell us a little bit about how your perspective has shifted after this trip and and those experiences, what what they've done in your heart to change the way that you see yourself and your life today?

So I asked my son about this one because um, you know, we're trying to reach young adults here, and and our conversations and our testimonies that we're providing focused as our church is focused.

Uh, and I wanted his perspective in terms of how would he share it?

And he said, you know, the biggest thing for me in the trip that I saw was ask them this.

Okay, guys, take away your job.

You no longer have a job.

Take away your car.

And you know what?

Those roads that we drive on, let's make them bumpy and let's take away the asphalt.

Um, let's let's move forward on that.

Let's take away your um your iPads and your laptops.

Oh, and Wi-Fi is not free.

There's none.

Uh in fact, let's take away your cell phone and let's take away your cellular coverage.

Um, and I'm not done.

I'm not done.

Let's take away your toilet.

Right?

And let's take away all the hot water that we use for showers.

Um, wait, let's not stop there.

Let's actually take away all your clean water for drinking.

Where you have to sometimes travel up to two hours every single day just to get drinking water for your family.

Um when when I think of this and how this changes my perspective on actually being part of it, seeing it, and going from house to house uh over and over again, is that every everything that we have, and when I mean I say we, I don't mean Shelly and I, I mean this entire room right now, is more than everything that they have.

And to have that perspective of God will make something of what we have into what he needs for others to do his will for his glory.

Right.

So good.

And and the the idea around that is not not to make you guys feel guilty.

Trust me, I'm not a guilt person, but it's to enable you and let you know you do have power, right?

And you do have a way in order to make a difference.

And by the way, I just wanted to go and have a Mai Thai and sit around.

But God will make us um experience so much more if we just say yes and if we actually um move forward with him and and not not ignore his his cries.

So good.

And we'd just love to hear you kind of already you know mentioned it, especially encouraging our church.

I know I'm so encouraged by your stories of just like if you could give uh an encouragement, maybe Shelley, too, of um how to live, something to you know apply of how they can um apply this message to their own lives um in the way that they live and go about their daily life.

Um I would say that when God asks you say yes, I think you know, Sean didn't want to go because he wanted his Mai Tai.

I wanted to go, but I was scared to death.

So I had we had to keep saying yes, yes, Lord, you're here.

Yes, Lord, you will provide, right?

Just leaning on that um constantly.

And sometimes I think we think that you know we have to go to Africa, right?

That's a long trip, it's a long flight, right?

It's a lot of money.

But in Africa, the Kenyans, they taught me so much about joy and about being seen and being heard and being recognized, right?

So the handshake, the smile, the name were so important to them, right?

And we all have the ability to do that.

You can do that with people at the grocery store, you can do that with your people at work, your people at school, right?

So being having your eyes and ears and minds and hearts open to opportunities and divine appointments, who is God putting in your life, who's around you, and who can you connect with?

Because when we connect, um, we give those people value and we can share the love of God.

Just to add on to that, and and by the way, in this in a very similar light, um can you go to the next slide, actually?

This was something on the wall that we saw in one of the hospitals.

And it says um uh it is the will, not the strength.

So um this is kind of what we're talking about, is that just saying yes, choosing yes, the will.

We continue to say that God has these powerful, amazing, miraculous lives that He wants us to live, but we continue to live in comfort and continue to um when He asks us to do things, and I'm not saying we need to take over everything, but there are times when we really feel called.

My one request is just say yes, right?

God will figure it out.

It's not the strength, you guys, it's the will.

So um that's that's just my comment.

Oh, and my kind of my my change is um my son did get into medical school, so yay.

Um so he's he's he's starting and he gets his white coat ceremony next week uh at UC San Diego, and so we're very excited and and pleased with that.

But my only the reason why I say that, yes, I am flexing, but um God has so much more in our lives if we say yes.

It may not be what we want, it may not be how we want it, but it will be good and it will be better than what we planned for ourselves.

Yeah.

So that's the last thing.

Wow.

Amazing and so encouraging.

Can we just give Shelly and Sean a round of applause and thank them?

I know we've been so encouraged, and just I love that.

If you don't remember anything else from today, just say yes.

Say yes to God.

And um, yeah, love what you were saying.

If he can figure it out, figure it out.

And he can do so much more, um, although I'm sure to heed it would have been amazing.

Um, the life change that you had.

Everything um that you learned and how your son's life was impacted in so many lives it sounds like around you.

So thank you.

Awesome.

Well, let's to close today, let's just pray and ask God to give us the courage and strength to say yes to him, Father in heaven.

That is what we ask for.

We ask for courage.

We ask for strength, God, to say yes.

And we praise you that when we say yes, it's not by our our might that you accomplish things, but it is through the power of your spirit.

So thank you, God, for using us broken vessels.

Would you stir in us a conviction to say yes to you this week?

And would you present opportunities or your spirit so loud that we just can't say no?

We say, okay, fine, fine, Sean.

Say yes.

God, we love you, we serve you.

We pray all these things in your son's name.

Amen.

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