TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

Our next guest, Claudia Blanco, has a bio that starts like this: registered pharmacist, trained in marketing, design thinking, education, e-learning, Christian leadership, and executive coaching. Isn't it fascinating how God weaves together the varied experiences of our lives for works of service in His kingdom in ways only He could plan?

Claudia lives in El Salvador and currently serves as the Central America representative for Haggai International. I know you'll be encouraged as she shares about what a life of stewardship can entail when we shift from a posture of doing for Christ to one of being with Christ.

I'm Nathan Jones and I want to thank you once again for joining me on this episode 21 of the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Claudia, thank you again for your time in joining me. Let us begin. Give us a bit of your background, where you grew up, kind of your family of origin.

CLAUDIA BLANCO

It’s great to be here. Thank you very much for the invitation.

Well, to begin with, I was born and lived my whole life in El Salvador, Central America. Some years ago, it was called the murder capital of the world, which is impactful. And it has been an interesting context I have grown up.

So, I met Jesus Christ at the age of 14 and I think that's one of the advantages of living in countries in Latin America and Central America. You come to know Jesus Christ at a very young age because of the many limitations that we live in.

When I was born, for instance, there was a war against Honduras. Then, I was a teenager and we had a war in our own country, and then we had gangs. So, our whole life has been challenged, you know, by many situations. So, these things push us to look for a solution, you know, a Messiah. And praise God that I came to know Jesus Christ at a very young age.

One of the most curious things that happened to me, now that I look backwards, is that at that very young age, the Lord touched me in a very deep, in a very unique way. He transformed me. I can tell you, from day one to the next day, I was a very different person.

And I was inspired by so many men and women of God that came to our church. You know, our church was a missionary church. So, I felt that calling in those days. So, I was inspired by them.

And at the age of 15, I was an intercessor praying for the world. You know, I was curious and I was praying for the church behind the iron wall. So, I was very committed at that age, and I feel that the Holy Spirit has been leading me this way.

NATHAN

Wow! What were the conditions in your home that led to that? Was that the strong faith of your parents? You mentioned what was happening in the country that caused a lot of people to question, “What's the answer? What’s the solution?” But what was happening then in your home? Were your parents an influence or others?

CLAUDIA

Well, my parents were not Christians. One of my friends from school, she was a Christian, and she invited me to church and everything changed.

NATHAN

Oh, that's beautiful. You know, your life was impacted, obviously, by that decision and by that place. Where did that send you on your life trajectory at that point?

CLAUDIA

Everything in my conversion was very deep, I would say. For instance, at the age of 16, I thought I was going to be a missionary. But the Holy Spirit led me to the marketplace. I mean, in time, I came to realize that I am a missionary in the marketplace.

NATHAN

That’s great. So, walk us through that journey from that point up to today, how He led you into the marketplace. I love that perspective that people that don’t have to be in “full-time ministry” to be in ministry and be ministering to people. So, walk us through that journey of how you got from there to today.

CLAUDIA

Well, it was kind of dramatic to a certain point. Of course, I was pursuing success in my career, in my life, you know. There was a time where you want to... you want to own the world. And then, because of several circumstances that was kind of a long story, but I came to a situation of depression, very deep depression, because I didn't reach one of my goals and I've been an achiever all my life. 

But then, I realized because the circumstances was very, very strong, I came to realize that I didn't have a purpose. I was a Christian, of course. It was 28, I was a Christian. I knew the Lord. I loved Him. I was committed, but there was something missing. And then I started to look for my purpose, you know, in God. And this is how everything began. That's my journey towards stewardship as well.

NATHAN

Great. So, what does the Lord have you doing today professionally?

CLAUDIA

Well, right now, I am in what people call “full-time ministry,” but I consider myself in a marketplace ministry. But I'm in full-time ministry. I work for Haggai International.

NATHAN

Tell us about that.

CLAUDIA

Well, this is something so amazing because I'm using everything that the Lord has given me. You know, my skills, my talents, my time, my resources. I'm using my career. I'm using my connections. And of course, every spiritual skill and endowment of the Holy Spirit, I am using it in order to bring people to commit themselves to become evangelists and trainers of evangelism.

NATHAN

That's wonderful. What is your specific role with Haggai?

CLAUDIA

Yes, I am the representative for Central America and I'm recruiting people. It’s kind of related to stewardship because I'm calling them to give their life to share the gospel wherever they are and wherever they go.

NATHAN

So, let's unpack that a bit, this being the Inspiring Stewards podcast. Tell us more about that perspective. You even mentioned it in your own life, how you recognize everything in your life, your resource, your influence, et cetera as something to be stewarded. So, how has this concept of stewardship affected your life and how is that influencing others through you?

CLAUDIA

One of the first things is that as Christians, sometimes we think we are doing things for God and we feel good, and that's great. But the point here is that we should be someone. We should focus on our being and then in our doing.

So what am I saying here is that the focus of Christianity is for us to give our own lives, connected to Jesus Christ. It's not enough to give Him part of my time, to give Him some of my decisions, to give Him some of my resources.

The point here is that we should come to a point where we give Him everything, all that we are. And I think that's the journey because we are not ready at the beginning. This is a journey and I don't think we ever reach it to the end until we are going to be with Jesus. But this is a great journey, the journey of stewardship.

NATHAN

I want to dive into that a bit: the difference between doing and being. In your life, where did you start to see a distinction there?

CLAUDIA

Oh, well for instance, in my career, let's call it in ministry that I am an evangelist. We tend to think that we share the gospel. It's like something we do. But the truth is that we are the gospel. We are the fifth gospel. We are the connection of people with the Lord. You know, we are kind of a door, if you may say.

So, it's not something on the outside. It's not something that I control. It's something who I am that attracts people towards the Lord in my life.

NATHAN

Which is a powerful connection to the concept of stewardship as you've laid it out to say, if I recognize all of who I am is something to be stewarded, then really it does draw us into that awareness of the being. So, as you have explored this concept of stewardship, how are you seeing from a kingdom perspective God moving whether it's locally or globally? You certainly have a lot of visibility in both of those ways. 

CLAUDIA

That's an interesting question. Because in the founder of Haggai International, this is something we learned. He said that every country has the resources that they need to take the gospel to every corner of the country.

And it is a pity to see that we have an incredible opportunity to evangelize, but there are no resources because people have not learned. They are Christians, but they have not learned to be stewards. 

The Lord has given us everything in order to advance the kingdom. And again, this is not about doing or giving a little bit. This is about who I am and how I see myself in the kingdom.

NATHAN

That's wonderful. So, take El Salvador as an example. How are you seeing, as people realize this and are responding to it, the idea of stewardship and giving of themselves wholly and completely? How are you seeing – Just share with us what's happening there. What are you observing? Any stories that would kind of illustrate that?

CLAUDIA

Last week, a group of Christians who are in churches and they have a calling for evangelism. I mean, these people, they don't have many, many resources. They are not exactly wealthy people, but they just have a heart of compassion.

Here in El Salvador, there’s so much poverty and so much need that sharing the gospel is, may I say, kind of easy. You just share with compassion and show mercy to people and tell them that this is Jesus who sent you to give them a dish of food. And the problem is that we don't have many resources to do that. Otherwise, I think my country would be different. 

But, this Saturday, people were sharing stories. I mean, not necessarily sending 1,000 dishes or anything like that, but people who just, you know, get together with their neighbors, 4 or 5 people, and prepare 20 dishes and go to the street and share the gospel.

I mean, this is people who doesn't have much, but they are real stewards. They are committed with the Lord to share the gospel. And they give even with very few or little resources. The thing here is commitment.

NATHAN

That’s wonderful, Claudia So much to consider and think about how these ideas apply to our lives. So, as we're coming to the end here, what are some final thoughts or encouragement you would have for those listening today?

CLAUDIA

Well, I was thinking about that. You know that in our countries, some pastors are talking about "re-evangelize the Christian church." That's an interesting concept. But then I thought, well, many Christians stay at the door of salvation but never move into the depth of knowing Jesus Christ. 

And my thought is that they never move into this journey of stewardship. To me, stewardship, moving into stewardship is like a conversion or second conversion, if you want to call it that way. So, if we think about re-evangelizing Christian church in Central America, I would say no, we better teach them to be stewards. This is what we are needing, yes.

NATHAN

That's beautiful. It reminds me of Martin Luther's the three conversions of the head, the heart, and the purse or the wallet. So, Claudia, thank you so much for your time. This has been tremendous.

CLAUDIA

Thank you very much for the invitation. And I pray that the Lord may touch the lives of many Christians so we can expand the kingdom of God in our nations.