Surrendering to God’s Calling: Diane Brask’s Path from Small-Town Beginnings to Worldwide Missions

What happens when you entrust your life's path to God? In this episode, I sit down with Diane Brask, founder of Global Seed Planters, as she shares her remarkable journey from growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm to becoming a beacon of hope in some of the world’s most isolated and challenging places. Diane opens up about the life-changing moment at a Billy Graham conference that led her to surrender her plans to God, igniting a mission-driven life that transcends borders and limitations.

Together, we explore the transformative power of relational evangelism and the profound impact of simply being present. Diane shares how her unexpected role  evolved into a twenty-year journey connecting with at-risk, unchurched high school students—building trust through authentic relationships and the relational model of Jesus himself.

Our conversation dives into the heart of global ministry, where Diane recounts eye-opening experiences in India and the deep spiritual need she encountered there. She shares the inspiring story of founding Global Seed Planters, a ministry dedicated to sending missionaries to bring love and hope to some of the world’s most unreached regions—places where the message of Jesus is still waiting to be introduced. Diane’s story is a powerful reminder of the courage it takes to serve the unreached and the lasting influence of unwavering faith, hope, and love.

Connect with Diane / Global Seed Planters:
Email - Info@GlobalSeedPlanters.org
Phone - 612.405.0341 (Office)
Website - GlobalSeedPanters.org

Resource mentioned:
International Ministerial Fellowship (IMF)
LegalZoom

Chapters

• 0:16 Finding Purpose Through Surrender
• 11:18 Reaching Lost High School Students
• 23:59 The Seed of Global Evangelism
• 37:09 Faith and Surrender in Service
• 47:32 Encountering Spiritual Realities in India
• 1:00:36 Empowering Women in Ministry
• 1:06:30 Reaching Hostile Nations With Love
• 1:21:12 Inspiring Testimony of Hope and Faith

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm your host, kristen Kurtz, and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching. I help and empower wildhearted and adventurous women of faith feeling caged and stuck, unlock their true purpose and potential, break free from limitations and thrive with confidence, courage and hope. If you're curious to learn more about coaching with me, head to newwingscoachingnet and be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further. Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode. So tune in and let's unlock hope together. Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me. Welcome Diane Brass to the show. I'm so excited to have her here.

Speaker 1: 1:02

I want to give a little bit of the backstory to even how we got connected. I was outside on my deck and I just felt this draw to go to the wilderness. Now, when I say the wilderness, there is a place that I've been going to for probably the last seven, eight years and I usually like to go at least once or twice a year and ended up going back to Wilderness Fellowship. It's a place in Wisconsin and I just kind of was able to squeeze in to a certain date and I got to the office to check in and Randy the founder was in the office and ended up being on a call with Diane and she said something that just like tickled me, like I loved what she said, and I won't say what she said here, but I was like, oh, my goodness, I love her. So after they got off the phone I was like who is that lady? And and he said you know Diane. And he told me a little bit about her and how she was the founder of Global Seed Planters.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Well, if you guys have been listening to the show for a while, you might know a little bit about the story behind Hope Unlocked even coming to be. And one of the reasons that I did start this was because the Lord showed me that this was going to be a seed cast, not a podcast. So anytime I hear seed, my heart kind of takes a little leap. So that's why she's here today. We've been able to get to know each other a little better and we both would agree that we just feel like we're kindred spirits. So, diane, would you be open to sharing more about yourself?

Speaker 2: 2:42

Sure, so my name is Diane Brask and I grew up on a dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin, about an hour and a half from the Twin Cities. Everything about my life is rural and you might say it's small. So I grew up on this small dairy farm. We had about 100 head of cattle. I actually went to a two-room country schoolhouse, my grades one through six, and I had only six people in my class. You would think I'm really old and little house on the prairie or something. But yeah, I had six in my class, grades one through six.

Speaker 2: 3:17

And then I graduated from Grantsburg High School with a class of 69. Then I went to Bethel College, graduated with a degree in social work, came back to this area and did rural youth ministry in four small towns and then from there kind of wild, but for 20 years. I did that from 1980 to 2000. Did that from 1980 to 2000. And in 2001, god did a major shift in my life and led me from a little rural America to rural villages in the ends of the earth. So that's kind of broad strokes, kristen, as to how I got to where I am today.

Speaker 1: 4:00

Yeah Well, I know that there was one point in your life that you just allowed the Lord to just take over, and you had a piece of paper. I would love for you to share that story if you'd be open to it. It really impacted me when you shared that with me the last time we chatted.

Speaker 2: 4:17

You know, kristen, that story the blank piece of paper literally changed my life and I've shared that story many, many times and it's never failed to change people's lives in every setting I'm in. There's something about the Holy Spirit on that experience that's just life changing. So, yeah, I can tell you about it. I was a senior at Bethel College in St Paul now Bethel University, and I went to a missions Bethel College in St Paul, now Bethel University and I went to a missions conference called Urbana At that time and I still think, ongoing still now. It's something that's held every three years with the goal that for once in your college life you'd be able to attend this missions conference. It's several days, it's from right after Christmas till the stroke of midnight on the new year. So I'm in Champaign, illinois, at the Urbana University campus for this wow mega missions conference with college age students. The last night is always like. The home run speaker right Last night was Billy Graham. I will never forget that night or what he said. I don't remember a single other speaker in the whole Urbana conference. But I won't forget Billy.

Speaker 2: 5:43

He didn't do his typical talk. It wasn't your typical evangelistic outreach filling a crusade. He was talking to Christian kids, christian young people, college students. And this is the challenge he gave. He said I imagine that all of you have been challenged many times in your life to set goals for your life, way back when you were in elementary school even. What do you want to do? What do you want to be when you get to high school? Or what goals do you want to set now, as you're young? Write down some steps. How are you going to get there? Maybe when you're a kid, you're admiring, you know the varsity football players and you're thinking, man, when I get to high school, I want to play varsity. Or when I get to high school, I want to be the valedictorian. Or you know, I want to go to this college and I want to have, maybe, this job when I grow up. And so he said you know all your life, different people parents, teachers, coaches, pastors have challenged you, set goals and steps to get there and begin to work on achieving your goals. And he said you know, I know all you guys are Christians, or the vast majority of you are.

Speaker 2: 6:58

So you have probably prayed about all of these goals. No doubt you have asked the Lord to guide you, to bless you, to make these goals come true. He said I'd like you to think of it a little differently. So, just in your mind's eye, turn over this piece of paper that you have that you've imagined all your goals on. Flip it over to a blank piece of paper. Oh, I forgot something, kristen. He said on the front page, when you have all your goals down, what you want is for God to sign his name on the bottom of that piece of paper and make all your goals come true.

Speaker 2: 7:37

So now, flip the paper over. Now you have a blank piece of paper. Nothing's written on it no goals, no steps, no objectives. Write your name on the bottom of the piece of paper and date it. So mine would have been December 31st 1974, diane M Brask.

Speaker 2: 7:58

Now hold that blank piece of paper up to the Lord and say here's my life, lord. To the Lord and say here's my life, lord. It's not mine, it's yours. You created me with your goals and your purposes for my life. The things you intended for my life to achieve. I don't know what they are, but you do. So. Here's my life, lord, unscripted. My name is signed at the bottom and dated.

Speaker 2: 8:26

Now you go ahead and write anything you want on the pages of my life, right, right, kristen. Like if you would have asked me that night if Jesus was Lord of my life, I would have said, absolutely, I've been a Christian since I was seven. But when Billy described it that way, I just thought, man, I've kind of had Jesus along for the ride. I kind of want to make sure that he's sitting in the backseat of my car, but I don't know that I want him on the steering wheel, you know. And so I was very, very touched by the Holy Spirit and very convicted as well, and I said, wow, lord, I've never thought of it like this. This is the first time I've seen that you just want me, that surrender means my name's at the bottom of the page and you go ahead and write anything you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want, on the blank pages of my life. So I said I'm on, let's do this.

Speaker 1: 9:37

Let's do this. I love it.

Speaker 2: 9:38

Let's do this, lord, and I just I talked out loud in my seat I can almost take you to my seat at Urbana and where I was sitting, everybody else emptied the stadium and I sat there by myself as janitors cleaned out the stadium and I just said, lord, I graduate in five months. I was thinking I was going to be a social worker, but if you had something else in mind, you can change it. I just need to know, because I'm out of here in five months. You know, and was I even close? And you know, kristen, that night it might've been the first time I felt like I heard the Lord's voice. He spoke so clearly and it wasn't out loud, but it was like out loud in my head, if I can say it that way. I just knew God was speaking to me and these were not just thoughts in my head. And he said yeah, as a matter of fact, I did have something else in mind. And I literally like I kind of jolted. I looked up and said you're kidding, like what?

Speaker 2: 10:42

And he said I wanted you to work with youth, but not in social work. Because do you really believe that social work? And all those psychologists, bf, skinner and Carl Rogers and Freud and all those guys. Do you think they're the answer to young people's problems? And I said no, lord, I don't, you know that. And he said I am, and I can transform a young person's life in a moment more than any of these people can do with. You know years of counseling. And so I said okay, that sounds fine.

Speaker 2: 11:18

So he said I want you to be a youth pastor, a youth worker, not a, you know, social worker. And I said but, lord, a youth worker, not a social worker? And I said but, lord, I don't have any training in it. I don't even know what a youth pastor is. We don't have them up in my area because all our churches were too small for youth pastors. He said you don't have to worry about that, because I'll teach you. And then I said where are we going to do this? And he said I want you to go back to your hometown, where you graduated. I want you to work with high school students where you grew up. And you know what, kristen, I sat in my seat and bawled. I just cried, not because I was so thrilled. I cried because I couldn't believe that I had to go back to the dead end place where I grew up, and so I tried to get God to change his mind, and you know what he said. Hey, didn't you just sign the blank piece of paper?

Speaker 1: 12:17

Oh, you're caught red handed there.

Speaker 2: 12:19

I was caught right and I said, yeah, I did. And he said then that's what I want you to do, so I did. And he said, then that's what I want you to do, so I did. I went back to the area I'm talking to you from actually.

Speaker 1: 12:31

Love it.

Speaker 2: 12:32

And I spent 20 years, from 1980 to 2000, working with high school students and not with a local church. We were targeting unchurched public high school, raw, real lost kids, yeah, that were drinking a lot of beer and smoking a lot of pot and sleeping around a lot and we were trying to introduce them to this amazing Jesus, wow. And so that's where I learned kind of the nuts and bolts of what ministry is, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:08

Well, what can I ask? Um, just for those who might be, you know, reaching, that, you know that generation currently like, what did that look like for you? To, you know, reach them? And to, uh, like I can't imagine that it was an easy path.

Speaker 2: 13:28

It was definitely not an easy path. I, I like I think it's Charles Dickens that says a line, a famous line it was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. We literally did not know what to do. Keep in mind no training. So this wasn't.

Speaker 2: 13:53

I wasn't a youth ministry major at Bethel. I didn't grow up with youth ministry. We didn't have a youth pastor in our church, so what it looked like was being pretty much scared, spitless. It was a friend of mine and I, in fact, the very first person I led to the Lord outside of high school. She was a classmate in my high school, drinker, smoker, really lost, really lost, and I started praying for her. And when we were 19, I was at Bethel and she was at UW Stout Menominee. And one night she said to me I've been watching you for a long time and I want what you've got. Please come and pick me up after work and talk to me. Please come and pick me up after work and talk to me about what it is to be a Christian. And so we started together. Isn't it interesting that God would bring a classmate and I together and one that had been I'd been, you know, a Christian since I was a kid and Chris was not, and so she had an understanding of lost that I didn't, and she knew how lost people live in the world. We were really a good team, but we were clueless what it looked like. Pretty much.

Speaker 2: 15:18

There were four towns in the area Grantsburg, siren, webster and Frederick. We spent Mondays in Grantsburg, tuesdays in Frederick Wednesday was kind of your designated church night Thursdays in Siren and Fridays in Webster. We hung out whatever the schools were doing volleyball game, basketball game, track meet. We just spent a ton of time with kids. We went to their events. You know Jesus the Bible says the word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's what Jesus did. He hung out. And so we hung out with high school students. We also went every day for lunch at each of the respective schools. We'd just go to the cafeteria and have lunch and hang out.

Speaker 2: 16:08

We had an agreement with the school principal and the school board we would not proselytize, we would not hand out, you know, tracts. We would not be Bible thumpers. We'd be friends. You know, I love the series the Chosen. That just shows Jesus being very real, hanging out with his disciples every day and going from village to village and interacting with real people. That's kind of like what our youth ministry was.

Speaker 2: 16:38

It was a bit like a young life where you just hang with the lost and you do relational evangelism, you look for opportunities to tell young people about Jesus. We also did a lot of events. Some of those again were relational, like we do bike trips up the North Shore from Duluth to Canada. We'd go on Boundary Waters canoe trips, go on camping trips. But we also did a lot of loading up buses or vans going down to the cities for Christian concerts.

Speaker 2: 17:15

But we got to a point where we were believing God to bring the best right to our little area. So we had Nicky Cruz come who was famous for being a convert from New York City, leading a gang, very famous evangelist. He came and did four days of evangelism in our little communities. We even had the local bar advertise the conference on their marquee. Bar advertised the conference on their marquee. Yeah, it was pretty wild. I mean it was because we had also done bar ministry. The bars knew us. We hung out with them, because if you're going to catch fish you got to go where they are.

Speaker 2: 17:58

We got people praying a lot. At one point we had every student in every high school being prayed for every day. We contacted Nashville, tennessee, and asked them when they drove in between Chicago and Minneapolis if they'd have one night stop over in a little rural town and they do it for free, because we didn't have money but we had lost kids and we couldn't fill, you know, the target center but we could fill our high school gym and so a lot of young people that came to the Lord came to the Lord over special events that we did too, and I was here doing that from 1980, when I graduated from Bethel until 2000.

Speaker 1: 18:46

Incredible, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 18:48

It was a long haul.

Speaker 1: 18:49

During that 20 years could you share? Is there kind of a top of mind testimony that you'd be open to sharing with the listeners about, maybe, somebody that you were able to reach that maybe seemed just so unreachable but you kept on pursuing?

Speaker 2: 19:07

Well, I might talk to you about the first three. The first story that pops into my mind, not the roughest kids, but I was going to Bethel and I took a month off. I wanted to work with an organization up here and so I worked with. It was a youth organization that I ended up becoming the next director of. But we went to a school one day for lunch and I stood in the doorway of the cafeteria glancing over you know, this small town cafeteria, and I saw three high school girls doing what high school girls normally do flirting with the football team. You know was very clear that they were making a move on him, and so I said to the guy I was with who are those three girls right there? And he told me their names. And I said well, who are those three girls right there? And he told me their names. And I said, well, I only have this fall I think it was the fall of my junior year of Bethel, quote unquote. I said I can't reach a whole town or a whole school, but I want those three right there. So he told me their names and I said I am going to pray for those girls, that they will become Christians every day and I'm going to go after them. So I literally pursued them. Hey, you guys want to come out to the farm and go horseback riding? Hey, let's go down to the cities to this concert, want to go see a movie? I was just looking for every opportunity that I could to be with all three of them, or each of them you know, individually, and so I'm not kidding Kristen. Every single day, morning, noon and night, pretty much, I would pray that those girls would get saved, and you know what? Every single one Over the course of a year. It wasn't all just that fall, but they all gave their lives to Jesus.

Speaker 2: 21:11

Now let me fast forward. One of them, the first one to get saved daughters and is the grandma of one, two, three, four and another one on the way. I see her when we can, every Thursday night. I led her to the Lord in the fall of 78. And it is now 2024. And I have.

Speaker 2: 21:48

If all I did in my entire life was lead her to the Lord, my life would be worth it, because not only is she saved, she married a Christian, she's raising five adult christian daughters, um. Four of them are married. Just the youngest is not. She's a senior at bethel um and now they're raising christian families. You know what? I'm just watching, this unbelievable multiplication um short on another one. I see her every year. She doesn't live as close to me, but every single Christmas she sends me a check for 250 dollars and says I will be forever grateful for you leading me to Jesus. Oh, my goodness, and that is 1978. But I'm just saying, if I was to say anything to a listening audience would be this who do you know that is lost and what commitment have you made to pray for them? Because I firmly believe, kristen, that for almost everyone in the world who saved somebody was praying for them by name, because part of our partnership with God is seeking and saving the lost with God is seeking and saving the lost.

Speaker 1: 23:29

Thank you for sharing this testimony. I mean the fact that you are still connected, like every Thursday, every year, like the impact you made, that seed, like what we have, that deep connection with the seed, right Right, sometimes, you know people might be I was actually at a women's group last night talking about evangelism and you know some people have a fear of, you know, sharing the gospel or sharing Jesus with others, for fear of rejection. But you know, even one of your examples was your friend that initially got into the, you know, mission field with you. In essence, she was just watching you. You didn't have to go like barreling down her door. You know what I mean. Like some people need that, like me, I needed somebody to like barrel down my door almost at one point, almost at one point. But one of the two words that I like to share with people is just be available, like go, search after the one.

Speaker 2: 24:30

Exactly and don't make it into. You know, look again. We talk about the chosen right. Look again at Jesus. You can't see him using a track. You can't see him doing using a formula A, b, abcd, one, two, three, four. You know, four steps to peace with God, or whatever. I grew up with. That it was. Jesus was relational evangelism, one, and he was also a seed planter all the time, and his seeds were stories. And the book of Mark it says Jesus always told stories. In fact, he never did anything without telling a story. What led people to the kingdom, to the father, was Jesus' masterful ways of telling stories and embedding questions, because he was always sending you a away to think, to think about hey, did you see the way he looked at that guy today when he asked him that question? Or wasn't that story amazing about the farmer who went out to plant some seeds? You know, that's really the story of my life. I'm a farmer who's planting seeds all over the world and I started right at home.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Yeah, amen. Well, I love for you like that was. So, if we look at this, the page right. So you've got that first page where you fully surrendered. This next page was, you know, the 20 years. I know that there was something that happened to move into another chapter, to usher you into going global, which is incredible. Could you tell us a little bit what that looked like? Even Like how did that shift happen?

Speaker 2: 26:12

It's another seed story really, but it was also, you know, I think, all of us. I have an advantage I'm not sure how old you are, kristen, but I'm 67 now, so I have these rear view mirrors on the side of my head where I can look back and see my whole life, you know. And so now it's a lot easier than looking ahead through the windshield and just seeing wide open spaces, right. So when I look back on the 90s, my last 10 years, I can see that God was stirring in my heart about the nations, but I was so locked into where I was and the youth ministry that I was doing. I kind of like feel like I put the earmuffs on once in a while and went la, la, la, la, la la la because I liked what I was doing, because I liked what I was doing, but God was like during that 10 years. In the 90s I had an opportunity to speak to Dr Ralph Winter. That was considered the world's greatest missiologist.

Speaker 2: 27:33

Oh and in there somewhere. I took a perspectives missions course too, anyway. So that stirring was all happening in those 10 years, like something's going on where God's making it clear like there's a lot more out there happening in those 10 years, like something's going on where God's making it clear like there's a lot more out there than just your little rural county Right. But what sealed the deal was standing at the graveside of my dad on December 4th 2000. Cold, bitter, bitter day and a really sad day. Because if you're a farmer's daughter I'm not saying all farmer's daughters have this relationship, but I'm telling you what.

Speaker 2: 28:17

I spent more time with my dad than any daughter. I know because I worked with him, because we did chores together at six o'clock in the morning, because, you know, in the summertime I always had me three meals with my dad breakfast, lunch and supper. We called it breakfast, dinner and supper but. But we also had forenoon coffee and afternoon goodies and bedtime snacks. I just was with my dad a lot. We talked so much. For me to stand at his graveside was like to cut off half of my body. So I'm pretty choked up and I can't believe this day is really here and just grieving reflective time as we're doing the committal service and about to lower his casket into the ground, and I felt a hand on my right shoulder and so I turned to see which one of my family was comforting me and nobody was touching me. And then the same kind of thing as Urbana. And the same kind of thing as Urbana, and I hear this voice. So, honey, this is the last page of the last chapter of a really hard, long book. But mark this day, diane, except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. It remains only a single seed. But when it dies and is buried, it grows up to produce many seeds and a great harvest. That's what I'm going to do through your life. On the day your dad's being buried, all that's been planted in you, it's going to grow up and your life is going to produce a mighty harvest as you bury the seed of your dad today.

Speaker 2: 30:26

Then he says I mean, there's times at that time where I thought am I just imagining all of this stuff, because it sounds so clear in my head I'm not making this up. Then he says so get ready, diane, because you are going to fly, fly, fly, fly. I'm going to send you all over the United States. You're going to be speaking in places and in churches that you've never heard of. And I'm standing there, kristen, thinking, yeah, right, Just how is this going to happen?

Speaker 2: 30:59

Nobody knows me, lord, I'm just a farm girl here in Nowheresville, wisconsin. I'm not ordained, I'm not licensed, I've just had this podunk little ministry. And now you're telling me I'm going to be flying all over the United States, I don't have any money. You're telling me I'm going to be flying all over the United States, I don't have any money. Yeah, like how is this going to happen? Right, and he said that's not your responsibility, that's mine.

Speaker 2: 31:23

But then it's not just that, diane. You've been, you have been having stirrings in your heart about the world and you, you, I'm going to send you, I'm going to open up the doors and send you to little rural villages all over the world that have never heard my name and have never seen a white person in the history of their villages. And now I'm really like blown away, like how is that going to happen? I don't even know an unreached people group. I don't, I haven't been to remote little world. He just said, again, that's not your responsibility. It's kind of like back to the blank piece of paper, right, kristen? You just signed your name and it's all unwritten for you, but I'll take care of writing it out Right.

Speaker 2: 32:12

One month later, and at this time when I'm standing at my dad's gravesite, I think I had less than a hundred bucks to my name. I don't have a savings account, I don't have anything, and within a month I have a ticket for a trip around the world with a friend of mine and we're out all over. Kingdom Come and we start at. India has the most unreached people groups of any country in the world and we're with the lowest caste, what's considered the scum of the earth. They're lower than rats. I spend one month going from little rural village to little rural village. Never heard of Jesus, never seen a white person, and I get to be the first one to tell them there's a God named Jesus who loves you.

Speaker 1: 33:02

Okay, can I back it up for a second? Yeah, you can. This friend that came along so you have a hundred dollars in your pocket. You don't have savings. All of a sudden you have a ticket to to fly around the world. Tell us, tell us the how behind that. Like, who is this?

Speaker 2: 33:20

friend. Okay. So my friend, the friend is wow this story. Yeah, you ask good questions. The friend is Missy. She's a physical therapist who's just graduated from Pennsylvania. Her first job was in a town called Rice Lake, wisconsin. I got to know her because she was attending a church in Spooner, wisconsin, called Cornerstone. They were sending their youth group on a trip to Trinidad and Missy hadn't worked with youth. So they knew me and said hey, would you be willing to go with Missy on this mission trip and help her out in Trinidad? That's how we got to meet each other, got to know each other.

Speaker 2: 34:10

On the flight home she's asking me more about well, what are you doing? Blah, blah, blah. And I told her and she said do you have any trips planned? And I said not right now, but actually I would someday like to take a trip around the world to kind of remote rural villages in difficult nations. And she said, really. He said you know, I think I'd like to do that one with you. And so that's how that started. And then, when God spoke to me at the funeral, then I got a hold of her and I said you know what? I think we should go this next year early. Why don't we do like 10 weeks and go like India, hong Kong, china, philippines, see where else we might squeeze in?

Speaker 2: 34:59

To be perfectly honest with you, kristen, I don't remember exactly where that money all came from. I know that there was some gifts of sympathy that just came like, wow, you know, let's send some money to the family. But I had enough and back then it wasn't that much and I also lived with the people I was with. So I wasn't staying in hotels, you know, it was go and live in. I lived in some mud huts in bush villages. It was pretty simple living. So it was basically the airfare. And I want to say I'm guessing at this that our total airfare might've been in the 7,000, 7,500-ish range, something like that. All I know is there was enough money provided to go for 10 weeks and not go in debt. Incredible, I mean.

Speaker 2: 35:54

You know this is the thing I've seen, kristen is I have lived, I've been living like this since 1980. So 44 years. I've solely lived by faith. I've lived on donations, only my whole career, what people donate. I've never had a normal job with a normal salary, with benefits or anything since the blank piece of paper I've just said God, whatever you want to write on that blank piece of paper, I'll go. Wherever you want me to go, I'll stay as long as you want me to stay, I'll do anything you want me to do, you just have to pay for it. And you need to pay for it in advance, because you said, oh, no man, anything except a debt of love. So I have lived my whole life trusting that where God guides, he'll provide, and if he doesn't, then I didn't hear right or the timing's wrong. I think. In my whole life there's only two times I haven't gone where I thought God wanted me to go, and both times was South Africa and both times it was I didn't have any money come in. So, and you know, I can sit here at 67 years old and say my Redeemer is faithful and true. I can write books on the faithfulness of God in my life.

Speaker 2: 37:24

Little things, big things. The world, I mean. I've been to about 50 nations now somewhere between 40 and 50 nations. About 50 nations, now somewhere between 40 and 50 nations, many of them several times. I've been to China several times. I've been to the Philippines several times. I've been to Uganda several times, and I'm talking like a dozen. Each God has faithfully covered everything. But I saw the same thing in the youth ministry. I took kids to Mexico, youth group kids to Mexico, and some of these kids they didn't come from Christian homes and they hadn't gone to any churches because they'd been recently saved. So they said we don't have any way to raise money, we can't talk to our church or our aunt and uncle or whoever. And I said don't worry about it, we're going to just pray. I said you know, it's God's the one who said go into all the world.

Speaker 1: 38:31

So if he wants you to go, it's his job to pay for it. So you just plan like you're going and we're just going to pray and see what God does. I never had to leave a kid behind because of not enough money Never once. I can just imagine how many hearts you are just infusing With hope right now.

Speaker 2: 38:41

I sure hope so, kristen, because I just want to encourage Everyone that's listening, like Carrie Underwood sings Jesus, take the wheel Right, like whoever is listening to this. Surrender your life fully. It doesn't mean like you just give a part of your life to the Lord, just enough, so you have your fire insurance policy to keep you out of hell and into heaven. That's not the Christian life. Just surrender 100% and just say, lord, my life is yours, and then just watch what he does and listen for the still small voice that will keep guiding your next steps.

Speaker 1: 39:40

You know I love. You know, as you were listening for his, you know you might have just been, you know, sitting in that auditorium even questioning like is this you Lord? Is this, am I hearing this right? And I don't know about you, but especially over my last seven years, especially since I've been more prone to let him take the wheel, I still have areas that I'm like we're still working on this and I don't know if it's like that for everybody, but anyways. So I'm still a work in progress myself over here. You know I'm really a big proponent now to you know I love what you're saying, how Billy Graham was really questioning. You know a lot of kids that maybe are in school and they're really pushing you to do this thing. But he's like no, I have a plan for you and it's actually better than that plan. And I think a lot of people, including myself, kind of got wrapped up into that plan, kind of started going on the trajectory of what the world would want you to do, and it's hard to come out of that sometimes.

Speaker 2: 40:43

It really is. I think it's been taught all wrong. It's twisted. There's a lot of books out there for Christians, adults and young people on you know, like dare to dream and planning how, how you're going to serve God.

Speaker 2: 41:02

Notice, in the Bible no one had a plan of how they were going to serve God. He's always the initiator. Look at Moses Right, it's not that Moses. Oh, I got a plan. Look at Moses right, it's not that Moses. Oh, I got a plan. I'm going to bring my people out of Egypt.

Speaker 2: 41:15

No, he encounters a burning bush and it's all. God, I got a plan. It's not Moses has a plan. It's not Gideon has a plan. You know, it's not. Esther has a plan. No, in every case I'm bringing up, it's God initiates contact and relationship with somebody who's pretty ordinary, by the way, and then he tells them what his plan is and then they get a choice Are they going to follow it or not. But I can't think of any case in the Bible where someone comes to God and says, hey, I'm ready now and look how wonderful I am and I'm prepared and I'm gifted and I'm talented and I'm just here to sign up. You know, to do this for you. We always have these ideas and God is just saying I'm waiting and looking for the humble one, the ordinary one, the simple one that will be so quick to give me all the glory because they'll know it's not all about them.

Speaker 1: 42:26

Exactly Amen. You know, moses is one of my favorites. I was actually just talking about him last night Because I think a lot of people and I don't know if you experienced this when you were first heading out or if you've always felt like you've had a really strong voice that doesn't have any hindrances on it but a lot of women that I talk to, I find that they, you know, maybe are more challenged to speak or speak up or kind of take a stand who knows, there's something that kind of has tried to cut off their voice Right.

Speaker 2: 42:59

Right, right.

Speaker 1: 43:00

I was talking about this last night, and even part of my own story as well, with my own voice. But with Moses, I love like he. He may have had a speech impediment, right, Like that's what we understand. God knew that and he chose him anyways.

Speaker 2: 43:20

Right. I think it's a pattern of God, don't you think Kristen, like, look who he chose for his disciples. Did he go to the highly educated ones? No, he went to the rednecks up in Galilee that talked funny, and even in Acts it says they were unschooled, ordinary men. So he didn't pick big shots, he didn't pick people that were incredibly gifted, he chose ordinary people. A lot of these guys were smelly fishermen. They didn't have some big job, you know, and I think that whenever we think that we can't serve God, because, because, fill in the blank, that's exactly who God is looking for.

Speaker 2: 44:03

You know, I think, for me, if there was any secret to all of this, why I will want to hear and follow. Now, it's because, when I was 16 years old, I was having my devotions one night and I came across the woman who snuck in the back door of the Pharisees party, simon's party, and went and knelt down behind Jesus at his feet and broke open a jar of perfume and wiped his feet with her hair and her tears and made a big scene. I mean, this was like a PDA off the charts, right? I'm 16 when I'm reading this. We're not supposed to be slobbering over each other in the halls of our public high school. We're supposed to have a grip, right. No PDAs in the hall. Now I'm reading this for my devotions and going my gosh. This woman is way over the top. I mean, get a room, you know. And yet Jesus ends up honoring her in the story and really coming down on the religious person.

Speaker 2: 45:12

And the story jumped out at me and I said to the Lord I was just alone in my bedroom and I said to the Lord I am the Pharisee, I'm the religious person. I've gone to church, lord, all my life. I know all the Bible stories. Yet here is this woman who's of ill repute, who has a foul reputation she probably is known as sleeping around, you know and I said here she is carrying on with Jesus and it's her that Jesus acknowledges.

Speaker 2: 45:50

And I said I've never known anybody, lord, that's ever done a PDA for you. I've never known anyone who is willing to make a scene because they love you so much. And here's this woman. She probably doesn't really even know you, but she's heard enough about you to know that you really love people and she's just hoping that you'll love her too. And I said I want to find out what it looks like to be head over heels in love with you, not just have a head full of knowledge and be full of religion. I want to know what it looks like to be in love with you, and that's where this journey of the stories and stuff really happened too, because once I fell in love with Jesus and have worked to maintain that now for 51 years, I'm telling you what Kristen. I'll go anywhere, I'll go to the ends of the earth for him, because he loves me and I love him.

Speaker 1: 47:07

Oh, my God, I want to touch on. I feel like we need to go back to your first trip. Is that okay? Yep, what happened there? What happened to you on that first trip? Because I'm imagining something fired up in you to ignite the next chapter.

Speaker 2: 47:29

Probably the next whole part of my life. So I am in village after village after village. I probably go to 50, 60 different villages that month. I see suffering and poverty on a level I have never seen in any form or comprehended in my wildest imaginations. I don't see a bathroom for a month. I don't see electricity. I hardly ate a thing. I mean the food was next to non-existent. It was. I suffered on a level I have never suffered on any mission trip since with my friend. Thank god I wasn't alone, but it wasn't that kind of suffering I saw that impacted me the most. It was the spiritual suffering because nobody heard of jesus.

Speaker 2: 48:32

Now it's a people group of 10 million 10 million that almost all live in rural villages, remote. I'm not talking about you have a map to get to these or a GPS. I'm talking that if you weren't one of them and knew where that village was, there was no way you were going to get there. Most people never got beyond five to 10 miles from where they were born because there was no mode of transportation other than your feet. So you were born in a hell hole and you died in a hell hole and you never heard of Jesus and you went straight to hell Like this, was shaking on a level that I can never describe. I was shook to the. My friend and I would lay in bed at night, in our mud hut or wherever we are, and talk till we couldn't stay awake any longer about what we witnessed that day. And I am just like you know. You know, missy, I've been told since I was in high school that Jesus could come back anytime. That's not the Bible I'm reading. I said Jesus made it very clear. This gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all nations, ethnos, ethnicities, and then the end will come. Nations, ethnos, ethnicities, and then the end will come, and this people group is not one of them. And then you go to the last book in the Bible and it's clear what the finish line will look like. And there will be people around the throne from every nation, tribe and tongue, every language, every dialect will be present in heaven. And we're not close to that yet.

Speaker 2: 50:19

Kristen, and I'm seeing it in India and I am just going. Lord, I would cry with Jesus sometimes. I just say, lord, I'm so sad for you. You came over 2,000 years ago and you laid it all down, and the last four words, you said, were ends of the earth. And then you ascended. And here we are, 2000 years later, and we haven't made it to the ends of the earth yet, because I'm standing here. So that was the real game changer, boy, india. India was stark and harsh. And you know, the other thing I saw in India Kristen was just how I don't know what the word is how hopeless Hinduism is. I asked, I visited a Hindu temple and I said to the Hindu priest in the temple just how many gods do you have anyway? And he said 300 million 300 million 300 million.

Speaker 2: 51:27

And I said to him wow, that's a lot of gods. Do you know them all? And he goes yes, ma'am, every single one. And I said, no, that's impossible, sir. We have about 300 and I think 25 million in our country at that time and I said that would be like me knowing every single person in the United States. And I said you know what? I just have one God. His name is Jesus. He's amazing. He's my friend. We talk, we share dreams. I know him and he knows me. I wouldn't trade my one Jesus for all 300 million of your gods. Then we, you know, we talked for about I don't know 15, 20 minutes and I asked him if he could tell me the name of the God. That is nice. Do you guys have a nice God? Because I've never seen so many miserable people. I've never seen so many miserable people. I said, you know, everywhere I go, I see miserable, miserable Hindus and I think what they really want to know is who's the God that's kind? Who's the God that's?

Speaker 1: 52:43

nice because they can't find him. And what did he say? He was speechless, literally speechless, speechless. He had nothing to say.

Speaker 2: 52:53

He confronted the very life that he's always lived and hasn't known anything beyond that and I was in his temple so I'm looking at scores of idols and I pointed it's like alcoves on the outside wall, it's kind of like your bay window right. And so I say to him see that lady that's and I was nice, I wasn't being only like confrontational in my tone or anything, but I see that lady that's praying over there to that idol. I said the idol is intricately carved, I mean all the the parts are there but it has eyes carved in its marble head but those eyes can't see her. It has ears I can see that, but those ears are not listening. And it has a mouth, but it's not speaking. And I said you know my Jesus, he's alive. He's not a painting or a carving or an idol. He has eyes that see and ears that hear and a mouth that speaks and he knows me and he knows you. Yeah, it was a. Really. I bet the guy never, ever forgot our conversation.

Speaker 1: 54:07

I can only imagine. And again, you planted a seed right.

Speaker 2: 54:10

Exactly exactly. But that whole trip Kristen planted so many seeds that I never got away from. And so I just said to the Lord on that trip you know he just set up the whole thing. That's what God does to me often he sets up an experience because I'm an experiential learner. He sends me someplace in the world that he has every day planned out. Then he has it all set up to get after my heart, because he knows if he gets my heart I'll do anything Right. And so that trip got me like Lord for the rest of my life. I just want you to send me one way or another to rural villages that need to know you, and he's done just that. I was born in a rural village area. I served for 20 years rural towns in Northwest Wisconsin and then he sent me all over the world 40, 50 different countries. Again rural villages off the beaten path where nobody else wants to go.

Speaker 1: 55:15

Seriously, it's so wild, isn't it? He's so wild. God is so just amazing and wild.

Speaker 2: 55:24

He's wild, he's wild. It's like that quote, I can't remember it, um, right now it's one of those as a aslon, um so is. Is he nice? Um, no, no, not necessarily nice, but he's good. He's good and he's wild, he's wild. That's one of the I'm. I'm wired for adventure. It's one of the things I like most about God and me, because he knows I like wild and so he's been really good at dishing it out this is definitely one of our common stitchings of being wild, like I always say.

Speaker 1: 56:02

I'm like wild and free and I'm, like he calls me, a woman of wonder. I'm just always wondering about you know what's out there, and I haven't traveled the world like you have, but maybe someday that will change. I mean, I have in some ways. I guess this seed cast is going around the world and I've met people from around the world. But again, we all have different paths, right? We have different ways. He's calling us to reach the nations. You know paths, right, we have different ways. He's calling us to reach the nations and it could be sometimes for me I think, well, my conversation I have with somebody at the grocery store could be a conversation that then they have with somebody in china who knows, like you. Just exactly.

Speaker 2: 56:40

it's all a path of obedience. We never know, and wild can mean different things. I mean for me, okay, it's a wild thing that we met. It's a wild thing we're on this podcast together and I'm not in another country. I'm sitting by a wood stove with the fire warming me in a very comfortable home, but this is a wild conversation and it never would have happened without a wild God deciding hey, I'm going to connect these two.

Speaker 1: 57:07

Yeah, and for him to send me to. When I see wilderness, I see wild first, I see this into the wild and into the wilderness and because of that, drawing out, we connected and it's so fun, I love it.

Speaker 2: 57:24

You know, the wilderness is theme verse. I love this. It's from Hosea. I will take you into the wilderness and speak tenderly to you there. I will restore your vineyards and make your valley kind of like a valley of pain, into a door of hope. Like this is our God. He wants to take us into the wilderness, into wild places. But in those wild places, when we're away from all of our screens and all of our schedules, we hear that still small voice that restores broken places and sets before us a door of hope restores broken places and sets before us a door of hope.

Speaker 1: 58:11

Yes, that's absolutely so great, especially when it comes to even this podcast, hope Unlocked it is For me. I have to be drawn away to a secluded place on my own, and what better place than to go to wilderness? I've told I don't even know how many people I've told about it. I mean probably hundreds.

Speaker 2: 58:36

It's a good advertisement. So anyone listening if you need a place where you yearn to get alone, shut down your schedule, get off all of the technology and just go someplace where you can hear God, go to the wildernesship near Frederick, wisconsin. They have 11 gorgeous prayer cabins tucked away in the woods where you can go, spend a few days and just unplug. So many people have had a personal encounter with God that's healed and changed and shifted their lives because they got quiet and they got in a quiet place where they could hear his still small voice. So I think both Kristen and I would say go to the Wilderness Fellowship, look it up, wildernessfellowshiporg and come up near me. I'm a neighbor to the Wilderness Fellowship. Look it up, wildernessfellowshiporg and come up near me. I'm a neighbor to the Wilderness Fellowship, so maybe we can go out for coffee then too. But yeah, anyway it's something else.

Speaker 1: 59:39

Well, let's talk a little bit about global seed partners planters, not partners. Global seed planters. So obviously you know you're ushered into, you know going outside of your rural area to the nations, right? So how did global seed planters get established? Like, what did that process look like? Because I know people that are listening, that maybe want to start a ministry and they're just like I don't even know what to do, right?

Speaker 2: 1:00:08

Can we take a pause on that question, and I'll answer it after going to the bathroom.

Speaker 1: 1:00:12

Oh, for sure, I'm going to pause the stream here. Okay, all right, we are back. We just took a little commercial break and Dan would love for you to share a little bit more about how global seed planters got started and and what it's looked like for you to share a little bit more about how Global Seed Planters got started and what it's looked like for you. Sure, you've been on mission.

Speaker 2: 1:00:36

Okay. So I told you that story about my dad dying. So that was December 4, 2000, when we buried him. And so in 2001, in January was when I had my first trip to really tough places in the world, and the first place was India, rural villages in India. So I come back from that trip having spent 10 weeks in rough places of Asia and I just really felt like this was Jesus, I mean the Holy Spirit spoke at my dad's graveside and I needed to be obedient to that call. So I went actually to an organization in the Twin Cities out in Minnetonka area called International Ministerial Fellowship IMS. It's not the International Monetary Fund, keep in mind, it's International Ministerial Fellowship. So I went and talked with them about my life, my 20 years in youth ministry, what I sensed God was calling me to do now. God was calling me to do now and if they would be willing to be my covering, my 501c3, the one, the place where people would send their money if they wanted to donate or partner with me, they became my. They were better than McDonald's, they were my happy meal deal, let me just say were my happy meal deal, let me just say. They went to the mailbox and got my donations, they receded my donors, they wrote my newsletter. They basically said you have to go through, you know, a licensing process where you're interviewed and your references are checked and you're calling. You have to fill out a lot of paper, you have to fill out some questions related to your theology and your theological positions and support them scripturally, write your testimony, have several references, and then they became the place that covered me. I don't know where I'd be without them. They were awesome. So from 2001 to 2014, they were like the Christian organized. This is what they do they serve servants. So they were my official ministry covering In 2014,.

Speaker 2: 1:03:07

They said to me Diane, you've gotten too big for us. Like, your ministry takes a lot of work from our staff team because of what you're doing. We think it's time for you to incorporate and start your own legally recognized Christian mission organization. They call them 501c3s. So I believe it was April of 2014,. I became incorporated. And then is when you have to have a name. So my whole. From 2000 till now, I've been doing the same thing, but I didn't have my own name. But in 2014, when I incorporated, I became Global Seed Planters and so I've just continued the focus that I had then. But now I've had to carry all the weight of being official, hiring your own staff team, you know, putting on your big girl pants, raising all of your own funds, you know all that stuff. So I've had to be. I had to do adulting in 2014.

Speaker 1: 1:04:22

So you started to be an adult when you're 57?

Speaker 2: 1:04:26

Yeah. Yeah, I mean start when I say adulting. That's when I became inked, but keep in mind, I've been doing full-time ministry since I graduated from Bethel.

Speaker 1: 1:04:37

It's so incredible, and obviously I'm kidding around with you, but you know, one of the things, I and I don't know if you would agree with this but the fact that you, you know, basically became your own, you know, obviously in partnership with the Lord, at 57. To me it's a reminder to others, like it's never too late either, right, right, and I'm imagining that you probably didn't go get trained on how to do it, how to get it all you know figured out. You had some help, right.

Speaker 2: 1:05:12

Right, I had a lot of help and so there's nothing you know. You don't have to figure it out all yourself, because the body of Christ is a pretty big family and there, for women especially, I mean ministry still is largely a man's world. I've gone through a lot of hell being a woman in a man's world that's a whole other podcast but it has not been an easy journey being a woman in what is predominantly a man's world. But I'm following the greatest man ever, and so one time I asked Jesus about all the hell I was going through and he said listen, diane, I'm a gentleman, and gentlemen always open doors for ladies. Isn't that the best line? I mean, whenever things get a little tough, if there's a door in front of me that slams shut, I never try to open it, because Jesus already told me whatever door I'm supposed to go through, he'll open it for me, because that's what gentlemen do.

Speaker 1: 1:06:16

That visual, that when you said that I was like, oh my gosh, I think in pictures. So when you said that the story just like opened up my eyes to something for myself. So thank you.

Speaker 2: 1:06:28

Right so, but I think then it's a matter of to pursuing. You know, when we know that God's called us into something, I knew that I needed to get under a 501 C, three or B one. Um, I learned a lot being under IMF. Um, if anybody, there's again a referral. If you need one, there's just nobody like them. I shouldn't say nobody. There are a few, but they're few and far between. This ministry believes in women in ministry as well as men in ministry. They have been tremendous door openers for me. They can teach you a lot, help you get incorporated, you know whatever become a part of them. I was going to be down in the cities for a luncheon with them today and then see you, but that changed. But anyway, I love them.

Speaker 1: 1:07:18

Well, I'll add their information in the show notes so that that would be a resource that somebody could look into if they have something on the road. So thank you for that. Well, I wanted to kind of wrap up and, you know, like you said, maybe I'll have you back on again. We can share some more stories about your journey and all that's to come, and I would love for you to share just even in these last 10 years. You know global seed planters. What would you want to share? What would you want to share?

Speaker 2: 1:07:47

We have become more and more laser focused. A month ago, how I described us changed. I was studying a map of a radical Muslim country, and as I was studying this map and praying about where do we go next, Lord? What should we focus on, he drew me to some regions of the map. One region of this map was an area called the Last Frontier. Another thing I noticed in the map was there was a river that was running down through the middle of the country and, with real small print, the river was named Swat Swat, Swat, S-W-A-T. And God spoke to me in a way that I had never heard him describe us before. I've always been global seed planters, right. But he said Diane, global seed planners is not just a mission organization. You are my SWAT team. You use specific weapons and tactics and you're on a critical mission to go to specific locations for a specific purpose to bring me to the ends of the earth. You're a SWAT team focused on the last frontiers. And I sat there and went wow, Lord, that's exactly who we are.

Speaker 1: 1:09:24

It is. There's your mission statement.

Speaker 2: 1:09:39

And he said that has never been clearer, diane, it's your mission. Statement ended to say yeah, the Lord has called us to the hard places, the hostile places, the places of great persecution. I say thumb. We're called to thumb. It's an acronym for P is for tribal, h is for Hindu, u is for unreligious think communist, m is for Muslim and B is for Buddhist.

Speaker 2: 1:10:11

So we're going into these hostile, restricted, persecuted nations and we're having strategic ways to bring the good news of Jesus to these rural places in these hostile nations. And so here's one, and I end with this we targeted a radical Muslim nation this last two years. It's been a slow process. We believe in indigenous missionaries, not the great white hope. So we identified a couple in this country that were locals from the country and we sent them to a hostile Muslim area of their own nation. We started a small business with them. We supported them monthly, we bought a motorcycle for them so they could move freely around this restricted rural village area where everyone was radical Muslims, where there was not a single believer ever known, no churches, no missionaries, no pastors off the grid.

Speaker 2: 1:11:17

We started trying to build a relationship with this small tribal people group that were embedded in many little villages, we began to try to build relationships with a person of peace we were hoping for. Would somebody say, hey, you're foreign to our village, come on in and have a cup of tea, where we could just see a little crack in the door, you know. Then we began to build that friendship with our couple and gradually the ice began to thaw, you might say, in their hearts and there began to be discussions about Islam versus Christianity or Jesus and Allah. We began to see some curiosity being aroused among them, being aroused among them. So we sewed in some audio solar players with stories of God and stories from the Bible in this people group. And then last Christmas we decided you know, jesus is not just tell he's show and tell. He's like kindergarten Show then tell.

Speaker 2: 1:12:24

And so I said to a strategic partner I have hey, we need to bring food relief into the most vulnerable among them. But let's not choose, let's go to the village chief and the elders and let them pick who are the most needy among them. So they selected about 50 widows, elderly, handicapped, blind, just the most vulnerable people in their people group. So we brought in about 2,500 pounds of food, about 50 pounds per household. And you know what happened, kristen Whoosh. The doors of their hearts were immediately unlocked and flew open. Why? Because they said we've been Muslims all our life and we have prayed faithfully to Allah, we never miss going to the mosque. We have been good, good Muslims and we've never seen Allah do anything for us Muslims and we've never seen Allah do anything for us. Then these people come talking about a different God named Esau, and he loves us and he's heard our prayers and he's been kind and he's brought us food.

Speaker 2: 1:13:44

By May, we had the first two believers in the history of the world among this people group. But that's not all. When it got to seven, I was like crying for joy Because, wow, lord, when I get to heaven there's going to be people around the throne from this tribe. Then fast forward to this. Last month, while I was doing the running around raising funds for the ministry, there was a guy from London who's Pakistani and he went over there to do some boots on the ground you know field report to see how things really truly are going and to have eyes on it, and he comes back with a report last week. Uh, we thought there was just a small handful of believers. That's not true.

Speaker 2: 1:14:41

Since may, this people group has seen 1090 give their life to jesus 1090 radical muslims in a radical muslim nation surrender their lives to jesus, largely because of the food relief, because they encountered a God who is nice and good and kind and they're kind of like the woman at Jesus' feet. All they wanted to do was follow him, diane.

Speaker 1: 1:15:20

I'm having a lot of fun, kristen. I'm telling you, oh my goodness, and it's just starting.

Speaker 2: 1:15:27

I mean, it's just the beginning there, right and right, I'm right, I mean, I'm already god, I'm talking to the lord. I don't want to make my own plans, but I'm going. Wow, lord, this is fun, and if there's any other place up there we're supposed to be going, you just let us know yeah, yeah, but I'm, and I'm sure he will.

Speaker 2: 1:15:46

You know what we figured out too. This is the wild card. This cost us $10,000. Wow, this is all we spent to reach this completely lost people group and bring them the greatest story ever told $10,000 for 1,090 believers already. Like that, roi is off the charts. Yeah Well, it costs. It costs between eight and 10,000 to support a Western missionary a month. We're hiring indigenous missionaries in their own countries. This couple costs, processed, 300. We are fully supporting them for 300 a month. Oh, my goodness, it's just. God is so smart.

Speaker 1: 1:16:40

Unbelievable.

Speaker 2: 1:16:42

It doesn't. We look at Jesus' life. It doesn't take millions to reach life. Jesus just showed us the most simple way. He wasn't born in a time with airplanes and cars and everything. He was born in a time where you had two feet. And look at this here. He said. Jesus changed the world and all he did was walk in the smallest country in the world amen, oh, oh, thank you for that testimony.

Speaker 1: 1:17:11

I truly believe, um. I want to kind of segue into how people can support you and global seed partners, because I do believe that um, you're a an amazing SWAT team. That um is is doing amazing things in partnership with the Lord. You know, one of the things that prompted me to do this seed cast was that every time I do this, it's for the one. Now, there might be more than one person listening to this today, but I want you to just imagine that one, usually a woman, listening. What would you like to say to her and would you be open to praying over her today?

Speaker 2: 1:17:53

Sure. So if you're the one woman out there, don't for a moment think well, this is Diane's story, but it never could be part of mine, for whatever reasons. You know the statement that used to be it takes a village to raise a kid. Well, it takes a village of women to reach the world, and we all do our part. We're not all called to do the same thing.

Speaker 2: 1:18:22

Maybe, there's a woman out there listening, you're in a nursing home, you might even be on hospice, I don't know. But you know what you can change the world through prayer, like if you just pray for me, pray for Diane Brask and Global Seed Planners. Do you know the power of your prayer as you partner with God? Maybe you could be an advocate or an ambassador for us and you could say man, I heard this amazing podcast, I need to share this with somebody you know and you send a link to them and say you got to check this out. So the way you change the world is you're an ambassador, you could be a businesswoman, you could be a highly successful woman.

Speaker 2: 1:19:06

As I shared a little bit at the end, it takes money also to reach the world. We're praying this year for $1 million to come in by year end. I really want to see global seed planners be a million a year, minimum mission organization focused. You know when SWAT teams go out, they never lack for supplies Never. A SWAT team has all the money, the resources, the equipment. The intelligenceSP SWAT team can't go there because we don't have any money. Man, if you have millions that you don't know what to do with, I just might make a suggestion that you contact me. I'll be able to help you, and so yeah, globalseedplantersorg you can give right online globalseedplantersorg you can give right online globalseedplantersorg you can give to greatest need.

Speaker 2: 1:20:21

You can also contact our office number. I don't have that in front of me right now, but Kristen has it. She can give you some of that information at the end too. But I sure hope this isn't just me talking to dead air. Uh, I hope that there are those of you out there listening that have been deeply moved, and you've heard more than my voice. You've heard the voice of the lord and you have responded with here. I am lord, use me too, and so, um, I'm hoping to hear from you.

Speaker 1: 1:20:50

Thank you, Diane. I will add all of the information to get a hold of Diane and Global Seed Partners website in the show.

Speaker 2: 1:20:58

Planters global seed planters.

Speaker 1: 1:21:00

Why do I?

Speaker 2: 1:21:00

keep saying partners. You know everybody wants to do that. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:21:05

Huh, anyways, it's Global Seed Planters, thank you, so I will add that information to don't know. Huh, anyways, it's global seed planters, thank you. So I will add that information to the show notes. And I hope you guys have all been just deeply blessed by Diane's testimony, what she's doing. I know I was the first time I talked to her. We definitely are kindred spirits and I'm so thankful for your brave voice that is setting others free in more ways than one. So I'm going to close out the podcast today with the anchoring verse over hope, unlocked. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that, by the power of the Holy spirit, you may abound in hope, and that's Romans 15, 13. So thank you again, diane. I would love to have you back on and we'll talk soon. I'll be back with another episode next week.

Speaker 2: 1:21:51

Thank you so much, Kristen. It was really a privilege to be with you.

Speaker 1: 1:21:54

Yes, thank you, diane. Bye-bye you.