Peggy Griffith: 0:05

hello, and welcome back to Next Door Gospel. I'm Peggy Griffith, and today we're sitting down with our friend, Cassie, who joins us from the great state of Montana. In our last episode, Cassie shared her family's life of mission work, and that called them to live and serve in Ukraine for three years. Cassie shared the daring journey that she and her family experienced evacuating Ukraine on the day that the Russian invasion began. So welcome back, Cassie.

cassandraspeck: 0:34

Thanks. It's so good to be back.

Peggy Griffith: 0:35

Hey, last time, your family had just made it into Hungary with your small amount of belongings. You were on the heels of bombs and sirens and you were navigating your way towards Budapest and your car was running on fumes and the Holy Spirit.

cassandraspeck: 0:52

Yes, that's correct.

Peggy Griffith: 0:54

So how long did you stay in Budapest and when did you know it was time to come back to the U. S.?

cassandraspeck: 0:59

Yeah. So on our way out, we didn't really have contact with anyone because cell service was the first thing to go down as Ukraine was being bombed from every direction. And so when we crossed into Hungary, we had so many messages, so many well wishes, so many prayers, and we had The morning the war started before the cell phones went down, we had arranged to stay at a friend's house in Budapest. And so, we had the directions, we made it to their house, and then once we got there, we were like, okay, we're gonna sleep, and then we will deal with this tomorrow. So when we woke up the next day, we checked in with our families, we checked in with friends in Ukraine, and That day our families were like you just need to come home and I don't think we were ready yet. The shock of what we had just gone through, what we had just experienced, what we were seeing on the news. It's like when trauma or crisis hits, you just need as much information as you can get to try and rationalize what you experienced. And so we were there for. Three days. And at the request of churches who were supporting us and also Garrett's parents we made the decision that this war isn't going to be over anytime soon. And so let's go back to the states where we're around family, we'll have support, we'll have access to people who can help us process better than living with this other family in this small one room apartment in a country where we don't speak the language. We don't know how to get gas. We don't know where to go to get groceries. And so, uh, church that we partner with bought us plane tickets home. So we got back to America on March 1st.

Peggy Griffith: 2:52

Wow. What incredible faith during all of that uncertainty. When you came back to the U. S., you got plane tickets home. Where did you land?

cassandraspeck: 3:02

So we landed in Chicago, Illinois. My husband is from Rockford, so just south of the Wisconsin border. And, we stayed with his sister and brother in law. And their three kids. And we were there for three weeks, and then we left to go to Ohio. We were in Ohio for a week where our ministry leaders in Ukraine were. We just needed someone who understood because when we got back, and I'm so grateful that we were so loved and so cared for, but I couldn't hear one more person say, I'm so glad you're back. I'm so glad you're safe because there wasn't the comprehension of the implications of that. Like, yes, absolutely. I am glad that we are safe. I am glad that my kids are safe, but it didn't feel safe because it. Feels like we just abandoned what God had called us to The shame that I felt in leaving this country. When things got hard and it felt like that's when we should have stayed. And one of the beautiful things that came out of our time back in Ukraine, just to jump ahead a little. Was having those hard conversations with friends and them saying, Cassie, you had to go. If you had stayed here with the kids, we wouldn't have been able to do the humanitarian aid. We wouldn't have been able to go to the front lines because we love you and your family. And the kids would have been what we were all worried about. So because you guys left, then we were able to do what God was asking us to do. And after two and a half years of kind of carrying that guilt and that shame, there was such sweet reprieve. And kindness of the Lord of Lord, you knew that's just not the narrative I was telling myself for the last two and a half years. So we did a week of trauma debriefing out in Montana. And then we were back in Illinois for three weeks before we ended up moving to Milwaukee.

Peggy Griffith: 5:01

just listening to that, I'm, I'm fighting back tears of what you carried, the burden you carried on your shoulders for two and a half years. I can't even begin to comprehend how that had to felt because your heart was there, your heart was home and here you are like, okay, I'm home, but yet I'm not home. And there were just a lot of challenges that you faced. And, so you landed in Wauwatosa. And so for our listeners who are making the connection from my previous podcast episode, that's how I met Cassie. So yeah, she and her family started attending the first congregational church of Wauwatosa So tell me a little bit about some of the initial immediate challenges that you faced when you got to the States and landed in the Milwaukee area.

cassandraspeck: 5:56

So in our line of work, the missions, cross cultural, expat, however you communicate, living cross culturally, you have your passport country, which is your home nation, and then you have home. And so, Leaving home and coming back to our passport country when we weren't expecting to was heart wrenching in many ways, and then to end up in a city that I had never been to before, because we had been out of the country for three years, we had no rental history in the United States that would count within a three year time frame. And our landlady in Ukraine only spoke Russian. And so that, that wasn't a valid resource that people would trust. And because we're missionaries, we're low income. And so no one would rent to us. We tried, I think I filled out like 25 to 30 rental applications and no one would rent to us, even with references. And so, my brother and sister in law had gone to university of Wisconsin, PhDs and the house that they had lived in, they were going to put on the market and they graciously offered us to rent it for a year. And so our missions organization in Ukraine also gave us a year to make a decision, whether we're going to come back to Ukraine or whatever that is. And so the timelines lined up, we had June 1st to June 1st to hear and discern from the Lord what our next steps were. So we moved to Wisconsin in complete faith that this was what God had for us. And we didn't really know much else. So we moved at the end of June and Garrett had gotten a message from a friend of a friend that there was a school who had openings for Bible teachers. And so he went and applied and three days later he had an interview and three days after that he was hired. And it's like, okay, like God has opened the door for us. And so we had gone to two or three churches. And I just, I was so exhausted by our life that I was like, I can't go to another church. Like I just need to be outside. So on our fourth Sunday in Wisconsin, we went to Lake Michigan and we just sat and I cried and I wept and I was like, Lord, why? What are we doing here? We don't know anyone in the entire city. Why are we here? And I just felt like the Lord asked me to trust him and invite me into this year of exile and That's exactly what it felt like and so We're driving back and we go through Tosa and we drive by this church and I was like Garrett I think that church said First congregational and congregational church is what our two babies are. Levi and Nora were dedicated in, in Boston during seminary. It's where I fell in love with liturgy and I understood the importance of the people who have come before us. So we drove around the block and we came back and I was like, next Sunday we are going to church here and we never went to another church our whole year we were, first Congo Tosa every Sunday. So just the kindness of the Lord on the same day of speaking this invitation to exile. There was also this invitation. To community and this invitation to belong for however long we would be there. And we felt that way from the first day we walked in. And so it was a really easy place to fall into and to belong and. To just be a part of a community that we could love as much as loved us. And so it was really sweet. And then the year of exile began Garrett got a job at aug prep 10, 10 recommend. Everyone should go there. I, we still talk about it, like we brag to everyone about Augprep and how every school should look like Augprep, like Augprep's biggest fans. Um, and so he started working there and I was at home with our three kids in a city where I didn't know anyone. I get a phone call from a friend from seminary and he goes, Cassie. I have someone you need to meet. She's basically my mom. Here's her number. And I was like, why not? I don't know anybody. So I text her and within days, she is sitting on my front stoop on North 85th street and shows up with toys for my kids and just. The biggest amount of empathy in space for me to be sad that I have ever experienced at that point. Her name is Sharon and she lives in Oak Creek. And to this day, I think she was handpicked by the Lord to walk me through that season of grief. People talk about angels being sent, like, I cannot imagine having come out of that season looking like Jesus without her. And so we met and we talked about books and we went on adventures together and her twin grandsons are the same age as my oldest son, so we just would take the kids places and we go on adventures. That gave me hope that our friendship, that relationship gave me something to look forward to in the midst of the really hard days, because while Garrett was transitioning to life in America and this job he loved at Augprep, inside our house, We were still in Ukraine. I was writing grants. I was sending thank you notes to people around the world. We had people in Iraq and Afghanistan donating to YWAM Ukraine to help build homes. The weight of Ukraine was in our house and I didn't really leave it except to come to church on Sundays but I was also still running our Bible program online because when the war started, we asked our students, saying, you guys, This is a big deal. We can cancel and we can start this up again. And we had two students send back. We have to keep going. We need this. And so we did for a year and a half on Mondays and Thursdays for six months of the year, I showed up and we taught the rest of the books of the Bible to finish the Bible. So in December of 2022, I am in. Tijuana, Mexico with YWAM Kiev leadership. And we're talking about how to build better homes in Ukraine. And I do the very last class of aqueduct we needed to record on ecclesiology, which is the study of the church. And it just felt like the most fitting completion to this vision that God had given us that I would be doing it in Mexico. With my YWAM Kiev leadership team talking about how we still serve Ukraine and it was just the sweetness of the Lord. And all of that continued from my dining room in Tosa. So it was a really exhausting, emotionally heavy year. And then pastor Julie asked me to preach on Mother's Day of 2023. And. I think people were probably expecting Oh, a mom's going to preach. Like, here's this nice, happy, no, no, not me. I preach from Jeremiah 29, which is the invitation to exile. And the invitation at the end of chapter 29, verses like 4 through 8, the ending invitation is to seek the peace of the city. And I felt like that was what I was doing that year in exile. I was seeking the piece of the city for Tosa and Milwaukee and trying to grasp God's heart for cities in America because it was the last place I wanted to be. And I think that's what sustained us that year in Milwaukee was that invitation to be in exile and to do it well.

Peggy Griffith: 13:58

I remember that sermon and I shared it with other people. So for the listeners who are listening, I will. Look that up because there's a link to it on our website. I will look that up and I'll put that in the footnotes. If anybody wants to listen to the message that you gave that day, because it was, it was heart wrenching. I felt your pain. and the agony that you went through, I know how blessed we as a church were to have you and your family with us, you know, all the while, though, that's really not where you wanted to be. Your heart was somewhere else, but yet you're trying to find your footing and you're trying to get your head wrapped around this and why I'm here

cassandraspeck: 14:38

Where better to go than to the house of the Lord. Like where else? Where else was I going to go?

Peggy Griffith: 14:44

Yeah,

cassandraspeck: 14:44

That was it. And that sermon came off the heels of Tesha doing a grief seminar on Holy Saturday of Easter that year. And I walk in, and I am by far the youngest person in the room. Most people are there as a response to a diagnosis or to a loss of a spouse. And I felt like a fool walking in and saying, here's my grief of my dreams were crushed and I fled a war. Like it just felt so insignificant, but Jesus met me in such powerful ways on that Saturday that I still refer back to it. And she started that grief time with lighting a candle. And she said, no matter how we feel, no matter what happens, like this is the Lord's presence. We can always remember. I now keep a white candle on my kitchen table year round, and we light it before every meal. And my kids know that when the light, the white candle is lit, that we are acknowledging that Jesus is with us in the midst of whatever is happening because of how tangibly The Lord met me that day. It gave me perspective looking back, but it also gave me the hope I needed to keep moving forward as a family in missions. That day profoundly changed me and profoundly invited me into a deeper knowing and a deeper experience of who Jesus is, and that he's not far off, he's not still on the cross, he's not just at the right hand of the Father, but he is with me at my kitchen table. He was with me at my kitchen table on North 85th street. He is here and it is real and he is real. And no matter the cost. My life is worth it because he gave his for mine. That's the gospel.

Peggy Griffith: 16:37

I was getting ready to say, can I just drop the mic right now, because that's what next door gospel is all about. And you just completely embodied it. And, listening so intently to what you've been saying, and my brain is going, you know, this is the first week, in the season of lent And we are talking about, Jesus being driven into the wilderness. And I always like to think that that time spent in the wilderness, Jesus was coming to terms with who and whose he was preparing, planting seeds, whatever, however you want to, to say it, but I'm listening to your story and I'm just making all these parallels in my mind and, my goosebumps are just really going, but you just embodied what that is about.

cassandraspeck: 17:31

There's been a lot happening even in the news with Ukraine and I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago and he's like, you know, I went on this midnight walk and I just listened to the book of Job as we're talking and I'm just listening to him talking about Job, I said, you know, Daniel, I think the invitation to suffering well is if our response isn't gratitude, then we're not taking advantage of the suffering we're being offered. And he was like, that's really profound. And I said, it is, I'm going to write that down. And I've been thinking about it for weeks of if our response to suffering isn't gratitude, we're not suffering correctly. In, we celebrate Lent at our house and my kids color a road to the cross every year and, I've just been thinking about that and sitting with that and meditating on Jesus gratitude on his road to suffering and his invitation to community and to neighbor and to teach truth no matter the cost and I think those are all proper responses. I think those are all proper definitions of gratitude in that invitation to suffering.

Peggy Griffith: 18:47

folks if y'all aren't crying right now. Um, wow. I just have not heard this discussed in a more beautiful way Cassie. Thank you. I mean, that takes a lot to share what you've gone through, and I, I thank you so much for that. Wow. And you were called back to Montana.

cassandraspeck: 19:14

We were.

Peggy Griffith: 19:16

Yeah!

cassandraspeck: 19:18

So when we left Montana in 2016, I kid you not, I rolled the windows down and I looked out in Eastern Montana, which is like rolling hills. And in July it's probably burning. And I was like, I will never, never live West of the Mississippi again. My mouth. is shaped perfectly to fit my foot into it. And so I make the decision to we are a family in missions and I am a list person so I have all of these huge poster boards on our kitchen cabinets. And I'm writing out our family mission statement. I'm writing out the geographical locations we've been invited to come and, our family values. And so I pray about our mission statement first and felt like the Lord say, yes, you are still a family in missions. You are still a family called to bring hope and restoration to all people through the teaching of God's word. And I said, okay, good. And I felt like he said, now that you have a family, now that we have these three beautiful children, I want you to do family values. Okay. So I go to Levi and Nora, who are five and three at this point. And I say, what are words that you hear mommy and daddy say a lot? What are the ways we want people to see Jesus in our home? And the two words that they said were hospitality and kindness. And I said, you're exactly right. Those are things that we say. Those are things that we value. And then. Because being Bible teachers, having the training that we do, it is imperative to us that we're not just ending Bible poverty, but Bible illiteracy. And so our third family value is truth. So we are a family who is called to bring hope and restoration to all people through the teachings of God's word. And when people encounter our family, the way they should be encountering the kingdom of God is through hospitality, kindness, and truth. So we got that nailed down. And then comes, where are we going to go? Because Garrett could have stayed in Milwaukee working at Augprep for the rest of his life. And I would have Oh, we melted into a puddle because I'm a nation's girl, I want to be overseas. So we had like nine or 10 locations and Garrett's like, I don't want to go cross culturally again. And I was like, Belfast, Northern Ireland's on this list and they speak English. And he was like, I don't want to be that far from home. And so we cross everything off. It leaves us with nowhere. So I messaged a couple of my friends and I was like, Hey, we're praying about where is God asking us to go? I would love for you to pray. And my dear, dear friend, Hannah who is chosen family. I cannot imagine the last 15 years of my life without this woman of God in it. And she sends me a text and she goes, Cassie, I know you like a challenge. So hear me out. And I was like, Oh no. She goes. As I was praying, I felt like the Lord say, He still has things for you in Montana. And I didn't even respond because I knew she was right. Like, you know when you have, just that gut, the spirit, the conviction,

Peggy Griffith: 22:29

nudge.

cassandraspeck: 22:30

The nudge, the knowing, I was like, no, we're going back to Montana. Like I knew it. So this is the end of December. So I applied, we applied that week. Within a month, we knew we were moving back to Montana. And so Garrett let the school know, like, Hey, my contract is up June 9th. I'm not going to renew my teaching contract. And June 10th, he went back to Aug prep, like begrudgingly turning in everything because we also were hoping to send our kids there. And then we packed up a U Haul and cleaned out the house that we were living in Tosa. And. we moved back to Montana July 2nd, 2023, exactly seven years to the date that we left. Never ever expecting to be back. And

Peggy Griffith: 23:19

nothing biblical about that now, is

cassandraspeck: 23:21

Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Seven years to the day we moved back. With three kids.

Peggy Griffith: 23:30

That is Somehow, that is so perfect.

cassandraspeck: 23:34

It's the Lord.

Peggy Griffith: 23:35

It is so perfect. Ah, well, I understand that your journey took you recently back to Ukraine this year. Tell me more about that experience and maybe how you saw things differently this time.

cassandraspeck: 23:47

Yeah. last year we staffed a nine month Bible school called the School of Biblical Studies. So, as that's going, we are recognizing that this particular group of students is called missionally. they are Predominantly 19 to 23 year olds. Keep in mind. We're like these are missionaries. We have to get them overseas. So we started working with a program called Titus Project. Titus Project takes the School of Biblical Studies graduates and teaches them how to take the inductive method and teach it cross culturally. So in the fall we had we had 16 participants from all over and we sent five teams to places to close nations. Then we sent a team to Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Dominican Republic. So we sent five teams, 16 Bible teachers where they're teaching six to 12 hours a week so we were not going to ask our team and our staff to do something we weren't willing to do. So in April of last year, we knew we were moving into that outreach portion. And I said, Garrett, I think the Lord's asking us to go back to Ukraine full well, expecting him to be like, not a chance. And he said, yeah, I'm good with that. And I was like, really? I thought I was going to have to fight for this. So we had time to prepare our families. And then we travel 41 hours to Ukraine with our seven year old, our five year old, and our three year old. We fly to Krakow, Poland. We take a train to the border of Ukraine. We switch trains at the border of Ukraine and train into the village we were staying in. for the next two months and There is beauty beyond comprehension of what our time in Ukraine was like. We were working with pastors and lay leaders in churches that we have been training for five years and getting to see their churches flourish and see them as pastors and communicators of the gospel flourishing. We happen to be there at the same time as our YWAM Kiev staff retreat and also the YWAM Ukraine national. retreat. So I got to see every single friend. I got to come alongside and encourage nearly every single YWAM missionary in the country of Ukraine, and the Lord brought them to us. And so It was just the sweetest time. It was so good to be back. And I think also those harder conversations I was talking about previously were had, but also just to remind our friends, like, Hey, we see you no matter what the news says, no matter what you're reading online, like you are not forgotten. And that they needed to be reminded of hope. And on multiple occasions, I had friends say, you know, people come back, they'll come stay for a few weeks. It's typically the husband. Sometimes the wives come, but no one bring their kids. They said, you bringing your kids is reminding us that our kids will come home, that this war won't always go on and people will come back. And that was just so humbling. Like what felt like a huge risk. We are still alive and he did bring us back. But I don't ever want people to think that we are somehow superior because we went into a war zone with our family. I need people to know that I was terrified. And on those first two weeks of air raid sirens every day that I cried myself to sleep and I panic texted friends, the air raid sirens are going off again. Can you please pray?

Peggy Griffith: 27:12

You weren't throwing caution to the wind in doing this, and saying, Oh, I'm going to be somehow protect magically protected. That's not how this works.

cassandraspeck: 27:21

it's not.

Peggy Griffith: 27:22

And, God knew what you needed. And I think, especially with the burden that you've carried for two and a half years, this was a full circle moment that you really needed.

cassandraspeck: 27:34

Yeah, it was beautiful. And I think even for my kids, it was really important. Logan was born there. He is Ukrainian by birth. He has an American passport, but we had to apply for his citizenship. He is Ukrainian by birth. We moved there when Nora was 10 weeks old. We moved there a few weeks before Levi turned two. It was the only world they knew. And so one of our first Saturdays fall in Ukraine is stunning. And we walked into the town square to get coffee and to get some street food. And there's a traditional folk Ukrainian band playing in the town square that's raising money for the front lines. And when I tell you I watched my daughter come alive before my eyes, she has this hot pink coat. And I am so grateful, I had the foresight to take a video. But I hear the music and I take my phone out and I take this video of Nora. And she, it was like watching like someone actually be raised to life. She is dancing and she is singing. And ever since coming back, even though she was so young, like She never really came back, like the fullness of who she is, and she is funny, and she is feisty, and she is full of life. But that has really been hindered. She's had a bit of social anxiety. Just, you know when you know your kid isn't being their full self. And that day, on the square, I'm like, oh my goodness, she's back. Like,

Peggy Griffith: 29:01

let it loose.

cassandraspeck: 29:03

And, and even to the point that when we got back to Montana two months later, she was saying hello to people, she was calling people by name, and one of the guys was like, I didn't even know she knew my name, and I said, I didn't know she knew your name. So that carried over, and it was like Jesus met her in a way too, and so if we have time, there's this really powerful story I'd love to share.

Peggy Griffith: 29:25

Absolutely.

cassandraspeck: 29:26

Um, we're sitting, we're six weeks into our eight week outreach and we're sitting in this worship time. And, the instructions were that we're praying and worshiping and interceding in Ukrainian. And the instructions were. This is an invitation to reflect on who you've seen God be this last month. And so people are writing on the board in English and Russian and Ukrainian, all these things. So I go up and I write up Exodus 14, 14, which is a verse I will never not come back to. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to remain silent and it, I clung to that while we were in Ukraine. I've actually clung to that for the entire time I've been in missions. But I get back to where I'm sitting and Nora goes, what did you write? And so I told her and she goes, well, can I write something? And I was like, yeah, of course. Nor is five, like a young five. She doesn't read. She can write, but she, you're like telling her everything. And we get up to the whiteboard. And I said, the question is, who have you seen Jesus be this last month? And It took me months after getting back to not weep when I shared this story. But my five year old daughter looks me dead in the eye and says that Jesus loves me and I'm safe. And I cried for the next three hours because if we had not been obedient to that invitation to the Lord, would my five year old know that Jesus loves her and that he is keeping her safe? And. Recognizing in that moment that Jesus meets us where we are. Whether we're five in a war torn country, or we're thirty eight, wondering if we can even hear God speak at all, He loves us so much that He's going to meet us exactly where we are, and that's what she needed. And every time I tell that story, God's like, You may be 38, but you're still that five year old girl, and I love you, and you're safe. And it just, I think I will never forget that moment between her and I and the Lord for the rest of my life of again, this other just small, impactful, but life changing moment where Jesus met us where we were, and I got to do it with my five year old daughter.

Peggy Griffith: 31:42

What a healing journey amidst everything that went on. I know, I think while you were there, another attack took place and that was very, yeah, that was so very scary. And, among all of that, your family healed in such a way that you're able to move forward. And I'm sensing a confidence. In you, a new confidence that, that is just remarkable. And what does the future look like for your family?

cassandraspeck: 32:14

Yeah, that's a great question.

Peggy Griffith: 32:16

Ah,

cassandraspeck: 32:16

Um, when we were in Ukraine, one of our dearest friends, Yulia, has become the base leader. She's one of the co directors at our campus in Kyiv. And I was sitting with her and I was just lamenting like, Julia, this is how I feel. This is how I felt. And she goes, Cassie, years ago, YWAM Kiev got a word that Kiev would be a missionary sending base. And that's how we look at this. It may not feel that way, but we sent you back to America because they need Jesus too. And I was like, Oh, that kindness blows me away of, okay. So that felt releasing of. I can still love Ukraine and it's not betraying Ukraine to train young Americans to go cross culturally. And one of the initial invitations I felt when we made the decision to come back to Montana of this is going to cost you, but if I ask you to stay and you say yes means more people going, will you still say yes? It's like, yeah, Lord, absolutely. And that's exactly what we're seeing. We are seeing a multiplication of young 20 somethings being trained and sent to the nations to teach the gospel. And it is powerful when young people grasp who Jesus is and can't do anything with it except go tell other people. And so that is our future. Our future is Raising tiny disciples in our home and teaching them to go love their neighbor across the street and to go love their neighbor across national lines. Uh, the way I currently seeing that play out is we've recently moved to the YWAM base. Our kids have never lived around other kids who speak English. And so here there are about 27 kids that live in this neighborhood and last Saturday, 17 of them were in my driveway because my seven year old put on a community bike race. And so I watch him set up all the cones and everything. And then I watched my five year old and another little girl across the street go to every single door of the 27 houses in this neighborhood inviting. Every house who has kids out to come play. I'm in the kitchen doing dishes. I'm looking out the front window and I see Nora dragging a five pound bag of carrots. And I'm like, Nora, what are you doing? And she's like, well, people are here. Like, I have to give them snacks. And I was like, well, family values hospitality. Like, thank you for doing it. Sent her outside with a five pound bag of carrots. And then I go into the garage later and realize our 36 cans of Costco seltzer water that were there were gone. Are also all gone because she has fed and watered every kid in the neighborhood. And I'm like, if that's not the gospel, then I don't know what is. And also I need to be more strategic with how I buy snacks this summer because my kids are going to feed everyone. So that's what we're doing.

Peggy Griffith: 35:06

is the best story I have heard in such a long time.

cassandraspeck: 35:10

Oh, they cracked me up.

Peggy Griffith: 35:12

I can see her. I can see her doing that

cassandraspeck: 35:15

feeding the neighborhood mom because that's what we do. Yeah. Oh yeah. No,

Peggy Griffith: 35:20

and, and it, and it's a matter of fact too. Like what, why do you even need to ask me what I'm doing?

cassandraspeck: 35:26

I was the foolish person for asking the question because obviously this is what we're doing. So

Peggy Griffith: 35:31

Oh, that's amazing.

cassandraspeck: 35:34

That's what we're doing. We are about to start another training in April. We're sending a team to Phuket in Thailand to work with churches in the south because churches in southern Thailand need support. They need help and we can do that. So we're sending a team of three teachers and then in the fall we will run again. As it stands, we are looking to have between 25 and 30 new Bible teachers being trained, and it looks as if we will be sending Bible teachers to every continent except Antarctica this fall.

Peggy Griffith: 36:07

That is powerful.

cassandraspeck: 36:08

It's amazing. I, I am so blown away and by what the Lord is doing. Yeah.

Peggy Griffith: 36:13

And the world needs to hear this good news that it's happening and it's happening now. And that is just such a beautiful testimony of God's provision through your and your family's experience. God truly made a way for you. And I hope that for people who are listening to this podcast, your story encourages everyone me and you, me included to trust, just trust God, regardless of what is happening. God's presence is working for your good, even when it's hard to see in the midst. Um, that is just. Amazing. And may God continue to make that way for you and your family and everything that you do.

cassandraspeck: 37:02

Amen.

Peggy Griffith: 37:03

Amen.

cassandraspeck: 37:04

Yeah. Thanks Peggy.

Peggy Griffith: 37:06

for our listeners, I am putting a link, to the YWAM and Titus Project website in the show notes. I'm going to also put a link to Cassie's sermon that she delivered at First Church Tosa, a couple of years ago, in case anybody wants to, listen to that, but also to learn more about the work that Cassie and her family Does, and if you feel called to donate, there will be a link to do that as well. So thank you everyone so much for listening today. Click that subscribe button so you can continue to listen to incredible stories of Providence and resilience like this. And if you or someone you know would like to share a story on the show, please send me an email at nextdoorgospel at gmail. com. And until then. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. Amen.