TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

As we celebrate God’s work through stewards around the world, we pause to reflect on His faithfulness and revisit standout moments from past conversations.

This month, we journey across Europe to share stories from local stewards.

I am your host, Nathan Jones. Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Felix Wiegner – Helping missionaries grow support

NATHAN

This month, we head to Germany to meet with Felix Wiegner. Felix works on the fundraising team at Alliance Mission and is involved in the ministry of inspiring stewardship among both giving partners and the Alliance missionaries in their effort to raise resources for Kingdom work.

Well, Felix, it's wonderful to be with you today. Thanks again for taking the time to join me. It's good. Let's jump in. Tell me about your life, where are you from, where were you born. You've spent a little time around different parts of the world. It's been good getting to know you a bit even already this morning.

FELIX WIEGNER

I'm from Germany. And since my father is a pastor, we moved quite often through different cities in Germany. So, I was raised in the middle part of Germany, lived like 10 years in the northern part of Germany. And now, I'm back here after a few stations in different countries and live with my family, with my beautiful wife, and three children in a really, really small village in the middle part of Germany.

NATHAN

Oh wow, I bet it's beautiful.

FELIX

Yeah, it's in the middle and fields and lots of nature.

NATHAN

Well, this being the Inspiring Stewards podcast, Felix, what role does the principle of stewardship play in your life, and how do you see that playing out?

FELIX

Yeah, the biblical principle of stewardship. This wasn't a topic when I studied theology, which is quite a problem. So, this is, in my opinion, something that moves me right now. Because in Germany, we need, in my opinion, a more focus on stewardship.

In the past, people were just giving out of obedience and trust. And it was not teached or something like that in church. And this changes now because the oldest generation dies and the younger generations, or like 16 and below, were never teached to give.

And I think it only works both ways because you can't right now just teach "you have to give more." You have a generous God and you have to be generous too without being good stewards. But many organizations didn't have to be transparent and didn't have to be showing what stewardship means.

And now when we have to teach about generosity of God and we want to invite people to invest in the Kingdom of God, we have to be a good role model of stewardship: what it means to be transparent and to work with good controlling and everything.

NATHAN

You've got a unique perspective of the missions agency. I would love to hear you respond to this question of how you're seeing God at work, whether it's locally or regionally or even other parts of the globe this time in history.

FELIX

Wow, that's a big question, because God's working in so many mysterious ways. For me, it's a privilege to work at a mission agency because I hear so many wonderful stories, what He does right now. And one thing is really right now important for me because it changes a lot of my view of church.

We have a big history of church history in Germany, like reformation and everything. And now, we see movements across the globe where people gather and share in not church-like environments or gatherings, the journey and the discipleship. And we can learn so much from them. 

They are more agile and flexible. And in my tradition, you're only a church if you have a house, a big temple or something like that. And it's refreshing for me and it's interesting to see how we can adjust as an organization because we understand our work as we want to help the local church worldwide. 

And how can we help a church that is not defined by like a pastor or is not defined by a group of meetings because they meet differently and they meet in different spaces? And this is great to see how the Spirit moves in different regions of the world and challenges us how we can react and help them.

And another thing for me, it's interesting because when I meet partners from the Global South and they challenge me that they're respectful and thankful for what like the church in the Global North did for them. But they challenge us and say, “Ok, what will you give us in the next 30 years?” 

Because everyone knows Europe can't afford to give much more money in the future. And the church is declining. The only congregations that are really rising here in Germany are migrant churches from the diaspora. So, they don't have a lot of income most of the time. 

So, we will have a funding problem for our mission organization in the future. And what can we bring to our partners in the future, maybe in 20 or 30 years? And to be able to discuss with them in partnership to not create more dependencies, but to be open like, "We can give you that, and we need that from you." That is wonderful. And it's for me great to see that this is happening right now and possible right now. 

NATHAN

That's tremendous. Well, Felix, this has been good. Any final thoughts you have for those listening today that you'd like to share and leave us with?

FELIX

I think many, many organizations in the West are struggling with their ideas and concept of fundraising right now. Because the traditional concept of funding their missionaries about going to a personal support team or mission partners is not sustainable anymore.

And I'm really looking forward to good best practices, what's going on. The recent literature published in the last years were not able to give a clear answer. And I want to learn from the Global South and from the majority world how we can bring money to the mission in the future.

Above all, it's great to see that God provides all the time through all history. He's a generous God. And I'm so grateful to be able to speak to people and tell them that we have a wonderful loving God who will care for us.

NATHAN 

Great word. Felix, thank you for your time today.

FELIX 

Thank you, Nathan.

 

Sophie Hersberger – Finding steady faith in work, family, and global uncertainty

NATHAN 

Today, we head to Basel, Switzerland, to meet Sophie Hersberger, who founded and serves as principal for Con·Sense, a non-profit fundraising firm. In addition, Sophie serves on two foundation boards focused on increasing stewardship among Swiss non-profit organizations.

Sophie, thanks for your time. Give us a little bit of your background, where you're from, life growing up, that sort of thing.

SOPHIE HERSBERGER

I was born and grew up in Basel, Switzerland, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. And I'm the eldest of four kids.

NATHAN

Well, this being the Inspiring Stewards podcast, Sophie, how does the biblical principle of stewardship play out in your life and work?

SOPHIE

I think for me, in a nutshell, it really is nothing that I own as myself. It's not my time, not my money, not my kids, not my business, my share of the business. Surely everything that I feel like I own is really God's or has God entrusted me with.

For me, it's always been a lot of how I spent my time really. Because that is, I think, as someone who's been a student for quite some time, and now has worked in a startup, money is not in abundance. But time has always been something that is very valuable to me, and that I felt like I could invest into others or God's work.

And so, for a long time, I've tried to give 10% of my time to like God's work ministry. Earlier, it was ministry work, and then it was board seats, things like that, volunteer jobs.

Now with two kids, 10% of my time is hard to cut out, I have to say. Luckily, my finances are a bit better than a couple of years ago, so I can tithe better. But for me, it's really being responsible with my time, with my resources, and being mindful on how I spend it.

And also, time and talent, I guess, as well. Trying to work on what God has given me in strength and talent, I try to use for Him.

NATHAN

Sometimes raising kids, they don't have that stewardship perspective on our role as parents, but you mentioned that. You mentioned that you're stewarding kids. Just share a little bit about how that plays out. You think about raising two kids through a stewardship mindset. How does that play out for you?

SOPHIE

It takes away some of the responsibility, I guess. Because for me, I love them with all my heart. I try to do everything I can for them, but in the end, they belong to God. And He has the last say on how they develop and where they end up and so on. And so, it takes off some of the pressure, I think, for me as a mom.

Because I feel like it's, well, if He's their father, then if God's their father, then He will provide and take care of them. It's not solely up to me and my husband to do that. And also, He has created them as individual beings with their own, I mean, they're small, but still they have their own character and strengths and so on.

And I'm entrusted with them, which is also a great responsibility, but it's their own little beings, and I just try to foster what God has put into them and see. And also, it is my wish for them, and I pray and I hope I can live that as well, that they, at some point, develop their own relationship to God and grow up as believers as well.

So, I think that is a big responsibility in trying to get them to that as well. But as I said, in the other hand, it takes off some of the responsibility, because I think it's God's greatest wish as well that they would know Him. So, He's at work there. It's not solely up to me.

NATHAN

So, you have perspective on lots of organizations through the consulting work and through the boards that you serve on. How are you seeing God at work uniquely in our world today? And it could be local to your area, or maybe even more broadly, regionally or globally.

SOPHIE

Well, through my work, I am lucky enough to, as you said, see many, many people from a variety of organizations doing some kind of work that they think makes the world a better place, and some of them are believers, some of them are not. But I definitely see that a lot of God's work is done through those people who really serve other people with a lot of enthusiasm, and passion, and resources. So, I see God there.

But if I'm honest, I thought about that question for the longest, I think, because my sister lives in Tel Aviv, and she's in the middle of a war right now. And I mean, the whole world is in, I don't know, a turmoil right now. I wish I'd seen more of God by now in the larger events in the world, I think, if I'm being completely honest.

I know He's working. I know He has a plan for the world and is in charge of all of that. But there are moments where I read the news, and I'm very overwhelmed with what's going on. And I wish, I've always, as a kid, when my mom said, “Oh, I hope the Lord comes soon!” I always had to laugh a little bit, because that felt like a very old thing for me to say. But now I realize, yeah, I'm praying that too. I'm hoping He comes soon.

I wish we would see more, I'd be able to see more of Him. I know He's doing it, but sometimes I feel like I lack that perspective a little bit. I see Him in the little things a lot. And I see lots of people doing great things, but it's hard. These are tough times that we live in, I think.

NATHAN

Yeah, sometimes the bigger things, maybe His work is looking different than we expected. It's taking more faith.

SOPHIE

100%! And I'm not an expert on geopolitics or anything. So, I have no idea what's going on or what He's thinking about what's going on. And I know He's in charge, and I trust Him completely in that.

But it's, I wonder if, I mean, eventually we'll look back and we'll be like, “Oh, yeah, God has been at work all this time!” And I'm sure I trust that this is going to happen, but I wish I would see a little more of Him right now.

But I see Him a lot at work in my personal life with my family and my friends and kids and of course, my business as well. 

NATHAN

That's a fair assessment of what's going on in the world. And regardless, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Right?

SOPHIE

Yes! [laughing] Absolutely.

NATHAN

Well, as we as we wrap up, Sophie, this has been really good to hear your story and hear how you're seeing God working through that, and the impact that you're having in so many organizations. Any final thoughts you would have for us as we wrap up?

SOPHIE

I don't have anything smart to say here. I think for me, when I thought about the questions that we've just covered, and when you asked me to be part of this podcast, I was like, as I said before, I don't think I'm a very interesting person to listen to. I don't have that much to say.

But then I realize there are probably lots of people like me out there who just try to do things steadily and faithfully that they're entrusted with. And I feel like it doesn't always have to be very exciting or glamorous or super interesting from the outside. But God can use you and do a lot of that with, if you're willing to give your time and talents to Him. And I'm praying that He does that with me, and I hope with many others as well.

NATHAN

That’s great! Thanks so much, Sophie.

SOPHIE

Thank you, Nathan.

 

Miguel Castillo- Coaching church planters and exercising careful stewardship

NATHAN

On today's episode, we have the opportunity to speak with Miguel Castillo from Spain, who is coaching and developing church planters.

Well, Miguel, thank you for the time this morning. I've been looking forward to our conversation. Let's jump in. Give us a little bit of your background, where you're from, your life growing up, that sort of thing.

MIGUEL

Thank you for the invitation. I was born in Monterrey, Mexico. This was a while back. I'm part of a family of five siblings. By the way, Monterrey is a pretty big urban center in the north of Mexico, with a huge value for industry, entrepreneurial work, and education center. Basically, the big values in the city are hard work and money.

NATHAN

Well, this is the Inspiring Stewards podcast, Miguel. Give us some insight into how the biblical principle of stewardship plays a role in your life.

MIGUEL

Absolutely. It piqued my interest to go a little deeper. I looked up the definition of stewardship, and it was very confirming on what I have believed and my convictions about stewardship. It reads like this, “It's the responsible management and care of something entrusted to one's care.”

And it's interesting. I asked my wife, “Hey, when you think of me in the realm of generosity, what do you see? What's the first word that comes to your mind?” She said, “Trust. I see that you trust in His providence. You trust in His goodness. You trust in His provision.”

And looking back, I think I was taught, Nathan, at my house growing up, the very principle of being careful, being a good manager, a good administrator of those things that God gives us, coupled with what some mentors have put into my life as well across the years.

There is a passage that has really impacted me. One of my professors at seminary shared with us 1 Corinthians 4:7, I believe it is, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? “

So, it has just brought the conviction from a very early age that everything we have: my own soul, my own body, my own everything else that outflows from there. My faith, my decisions, we are to take care of them, and then just take it all the way to your material possessions and your investments and your assets.

So, from a very early age, I have been very conscientious and aware of taking care of these things, taking care of these gifts that have been entrusted to me. And the way this happens is basically, I think, just being responsible on a day-to-day basis, bringing accountability into my life from my wife, in this case. Most recent case in my life, from friends, from trusted colleagues, teammates in ministry.

And I would say also, sustainability has probably been another aspect that most recently has played a role. I've been involved more and more growing into fundraising. Our ministry has been a faith-based ministry for 22 years, plus another five. So, it's 27 years, where I have been basically raising funds for our ministry.

So, I think over the years I have been very impressed just by, you know, going back to the very basics in Genesis and the creation mandate and God saying, "Okay, the first human beings, this is creation. Go manage it. Go administer it. Go steward it."

So, that is very close to my heart, being careful with everything that has been entrusted to me, and from there, just make the wisest decisions, so we can trust God for the best outcomes.

NATHAN

You are in a unique position to see God working in individuals' lives across countries, across the region. I'd love to hear you answer the question: how are you seeing God at work uniquely in our world today? You can answer it more locally or regionally, globally, whatever the Lord puts on your heart.

MIGUEL

I'd like to go a little bit more in detail – and I think it ties to the local side – a little bit more in detail from a stewardship standpoint or lenses.

Something really cool that has happened is about eight years ago, a missionary here in Spain was retiring. And til that day, I had been a very jealous and zealous person when it came to my donors and my partner base.

And he did something that just completely broke all my paradigms. He introduced me to his portfolio. He introduced me and opened up his entire portfolio, to call it in one way, of partners and donors, and says, “Miguel, I'm retiring. I'm going to introduce you to all these people, to these churches, to these folks.”

And brother, that blew completely my entire paradigm that I had been working and operating on. So, I can tell you, and I say it with humility, but also with joy. I have been doing the same with others. I can tell you of a handful, but not to limit it. It's a dynamic, and it's a realm of God's economy.

So, basically, I'm helping other church planters connect them to donors, to partners, to people that have a heart for ministry, but have also a lot of resources. And they are able to come and connect and say, “Lord, this is your kingdom. This is your church. Lead it.” So, seeing that in my local reality with church planters in Spain has been a thrill for me.

Now, in a more global, I can tell you, I’m very excited about what I am seeing God doing Europe. Europe, for many years, has been called "the cemetery of missionaries." It's been a dry place, while a lot of other continents are thriving when it comes to the gospel.

And just to hear there is a document recently published in the UK of this phenomenon that's going on called, “The Quiet Revival,” where Gen Z by the hundreds and hundreds of hundreds are coming to Christ and coming back to church.

To see in Spain that, not one influencer or a couple of influencers, but a good number, like dozens of influencers, are coming to Christ. And you know what happens when an influencer comes to anything: everybody is going to find out their story and what happened, and their experience. So, they are being able to share Christ in a viral way in Spain. That has never happened in my 22 years in Spain.

And then, just to finalize a third example: a young couple in the middle of the war that is going on in Russia and Ukraine. I can tell you of a couple of dozen families, young families that have said, “Yes, I want to stick my foot in the ground to start a new faith community.”

So, we are seeing dozens of churches planted in the last three or four years. It is out of the 18 countries in Europe that I was telling you earlier, it is the nation that is growing the most when it comes to church plants.

So, seeing that gives me a lot of courage. So, I see a sense of urgency. And I wouldn't be surprised – and I'm not a prophet at all, I'm more of a shepherd and a pastor and a coach – but I wouldn't be surprised that we see the Lord's coming in our age, because of everything that's going on in the world and the sense of urgency that I am sensing in Europe.

NATHAN

One follow-up question on that: As churches are planting today, what, if anything, needs to be done the same or different than maybe churches planted 20, 30, 40 years ago?

MIGUEL

I would say we need to come back – which is not different – it's just going back to basics. But I think we need to go back to the universal priesthood of all believers.

And I think there's a big responsibility on leaders on really embracing that and saying, “How can we just equip, empower, and release every single believer?”

I don't think we're there. I think there's pockets. We call it the "missional movement." We call it the "underground church," in some spaces and some places of the earth today. But if every leader in the face of the globe would really have that awareness and that conviction, that revelation, to start really equipping, empowering, and releasing every believer, just to be a missionary to our culture, to our neighborhood, to our circles, to our schools, to our marketplaces, I think that can make a major difference in the church, in the way we plant churches because everybody can see themselves as a church planter in their little local reality.

NATHAN

Miguel, any final thought or final word you'd leave us with today?

MIGUEL

I would say I have a passion for health. And when I say health, I say spiritual health, because we see so many shipwrecks in ministry – well, in life and ministry. And a lot of it, I'm realizing, it has to do with spiritual health, emotional health, mental health, and physical health.

So, I would encourage everyone that is listening, just like the parable of the virgins. There were five virgins that were not ready, but there were five virgins that were ready. And I would say to be prepared.

All ten virgins had lamps. Five had the lamps full of oil, and five were empty in their oil. So, the five virgins were open and prepared and ready, and five virgins were not open, were not prepared, or were not ready. In one word, we were healthy.

So, what are three aspects that can keep you healthy? Be in the Word of God daily. Live full of the Holy Spirit. And keep your lamps shining. Keep sowing abundantly who Jesus is in all your contexts.

May God bless you.

 

Fiona Lambert – Inviting individuals to partner with God in His kingdom

NATHAN JONES

Once again, we will hear the question “What’s in your hand?” If you haven’t yet considered that with regard to your stewardship of what God is entrusted to you, now may just be the time. Today, I’m joined by Fiona Lambert who is coming to us from the UK and serves on Tearfund’s Fundraising Insight and Innovation team.

Fiona, thank you again for taking the time to join me. I’m looking forward to hearing more of your story and how God has been a part of that throughout your life. Catch us up. Who are you? Where are you from? Tell us about your life growing up.  

FIONA LAMBERT

Thank you so much, Nathan. I appreciate the chance to come and share and to just delve a little bit into what God’s been doing. But just to share who am I. I’m Fiona and I’m from the UK. I live in the UK. That’s where I’ve been born and raised.

This is the Inspiring Stewards podcast, Fiona. So, as you think about the concept of stewardship, how is that informing your life today? You've already begun to talk about some of that but expand on that a bit.

FIONA

Yes, I think my time at Tearfund and while I’ve been working there, the thing that I've really seen from a stewardship perspective: I've had the chance to talk to both those that are giving, so those that are in this opportunity and space to give to our work, and those that would be effectively benefiting as a result of that.

And I think the thing that I have loved seeing and have appreciated is those stories where you see that God is working in someone's life and heart. You might be talking to a couple who have a family and they're married. They're deciding what they're doing next and where they're putting their money and how they considering their children's future and should they be renovating their kitchen or something.You know, all those kinds of everyday questions that they're wrestling with. 

Alongside them and knowing that they've had this prompt from God, that this is not just their money, that this has a bigger purpose. And what's that going to look like, and how they're delving in, and praying in, and feeling challenged and pushing. And that's a really privileged space to be able to get a little bit of a window into those conversations when people share that and how there's some precious moments right when you meet those individuals. They have a real knowledge and note of prompting from God that they're supposed to be giving to something and something quite specific.  

And then, when you can see the work or you're aware of the work on the other side that says, “Actually, I know where this should be going!” You can match that up together. You see God's joining dots up together in one space. There is someone who has the opportunity to give and there is someone who has the opportunity to receive in different ways.

And so, that's always been just such a joy to be able to see as part of what I've been doing. Then, the result:  when you've been able to say what's been happening as a result of someone's giving. But also when you see churches and communities transformed, you're not just talking about one life as a result of that, but hundreds of lives in that community, and when you multiply that up.

NATHAN

That's excellent. You have a global perspective, Fiona. You’re seeing God at work locally as well as around the world. How would you describe to us what you're seeing if the question is: how are you seeing God at work around the world today?

FIONA

Well, from my perspective, I think we can often see God working in the big and the grand. You know, the big movements, the person on the stage, the preacher. That's what we can often see from a Christian context in the churches that we might attend or are used to.

I think what I have loved seeing is the local small church effectively being able to take more ownership and grow and express and be who they are. So that diversity of what the church is, I think, is something that you've seen and see growing where you're seeing new believers, people coming to faith, people expressing in different ways.

I think that picture in Revelation when we get to heaven, when we think about nations from every tribe and tongue coming and worshiping before our God and you see glimpses of that. And it's not necessarily in the big church. It's in some of those little churches that you get glimpses of that. And so, I think that's moving really fast, in terms of growth and space, and that's really exciting. You don't often hear those stories and that really excites me.

NATHAN

I love it. I love hearing that perspective. So, as we're wrapping up, Fiona, what are any final thoughts you have for those listening in today?

FIONA

I was thinking a little bit about this because stewardship is something that can be such a personal thing, right? You know how we use not just our finances. Often, we refer to our finances and we think about how we spend our money. And often, we go right down to where we give our money, to which church, to our own church, other churches, church planting, to maybe it's poverty issues, maybe it's disaster response.

We often go straight to them when we think about stewardship sometimes. I think that so much more we could be thinking about and, you know, should be challenged to – you know, how do we not just use our finances, but how do we make decisions? How do we steward the gifts that God has given us? What do we give our time to? How do we spend our time? And so, not just with our gifts, but you know, we think about our day and where we give our focus and our priority to in our lives.

Stewardship is just so much wider than I think we give credit for. When we think about what God has created and what He's given us, He's created this whole world and He's given that to us. How do we steward this and the resources that we have? And then, I think alongside that the idea of: we don't want to miss out on those opportunities that God gives us to contribute to His kingdom. I think often we can feel like, “Oh, we don't have enough. Do we have enough to give? Do we have enough of a gifting? Is that job something I can do or is that out of reach?”

God uses the most unexpected people to do incredible things. And it never gets easier for us to give our time or money away. As we get older, that only usually gets a bit harder. So, don't lose that moment and that opportunity to do something now.

That verse in Ephesians I think that says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.” I think that's Ephesians 3:20.

I just love that. That actually, we bring what we have, and God can use it to do much more and to take that challenge not to hold back, but to step into what God would have for you.

NATHAN

That’s beautiful. Fiona, thank you for your time today and being with us.

FIONA

Thank you so much for having me.