Reignite Your Passion for the Lost, with Brandi Yocum

Do you get nervous when it comes to sharing your testimony? Then this episode is for you! Guest Brandi Yocum and the Grounded hosts will give you fresh gratitude for your salvation, a desire to see Christ more clearly, and a deeper passion to share your hope with those who don’t know Jesus.

Episode Notes

• “Is the Gospel for Someone Like Me?” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE_jMwPB7Bk
• “Beholding His Glory” sermon from Dr. Timothy Keller: https://youtu.be/krxcqH522uo
• Give toward Revive Our Hearts’ Fiscal Year End goal: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/donate/unremarkable2023/

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Erin Davis: Do you ever feel afraid to share your salvation story? Maybe it's because you fear ridicule. I certainly have had that fear. I've heard this before. It's because you feel like your testimony isn't much of a story at all. I'm Erin Davis. This is a potentially world-changing edition of Grounded.

Portia Collins: I love it. I’m Portia Collins, and we are here to hand out two things that we think you need. We know that you need hope and perspective. You know, occasionally we need to remind each other that there are people who have no hope and cannot find the right perspective because they actually don't know Jesus.

Erin: I need that reminder. Frequently, as I was saying, it can be hard to share ourselves. I was thinking about how kind of silly and crazy that is because Jesus has done so much for us. We can look at the world around us and know there are many who do not know the hope that's found in Jesus. 

But even as I'm saying that, I want to make a confession. I'm very honest with you my Grounded sisters. The topic of evangelism can make me uncomfortable. 

Portia, can I tell you a story that I don't know that I've ever told publicly? You ready?

Portia: Let’s go, give it to me.

Erin: Okay, I was on a mission trip to Jamaica where we were going door to door sharing the gospel. I was so uncomfortable that I hung back from the group and kind of stayed in the street. And that night our pastor that was with us said, “I love, Erin, how you hung back and prayed and interceded as we were sharing the gospel.” I was not praying. I was not interceding. Oh, I was hiding. I'm embarrassed by that because Jesus has done so much for me. But I think our Grounded sisters will relate. 

So, if the topic of evangelism, the idea of sharing your story, of sharing the gospel with others makes you uncomfortable, let me encourage you: do not click away from this episode or convince yourself I've heard this. Or, I don't have the gift of evangelism. This one isn't for me. Because, Dannah Gresh is going to bless us with a tribute to Pastor Tim Keller, which as I'm sure you know, went home to be with Jesus last week, just a few days ago. 

We think that this tribute is going to stir your heartS to share God's love with a hurting world, something Pastor Keller did so well. In fact, you can prime the pump for that segment. Go ahead and step up to your keyboard. We'd love to hear what Pastor Keller meant to you. How did he inspire or encourage you? 

Portia, you were sharing some thoughts with us right before we went live. What has he meant in your own life? Or if you want to share the evangelism makes you uncomfortable or your thoughts on this topic. You could do that too. Grounded is always a conversation. We really do want to hear from you.

Portia: Yeah, absolutely. I'm in the chat. I'm checking out the answer. So, I can't wait. 

Erin: Oh, good. 

Portia: Some of you share because I've got some stories. I love Pastor Tim Keller. He’s like my most favorite person that I've never met.

Erin: Yes, I bet a lot of people feel that way.

Portia: Yes, yes. Well, we have Brandi Yocum with us today. She is a former beauty queen who faked cancer to raise money. All right, don't let that scare you . . .

Erin: Did you see my eyeballs? 

13:53 - Good News (Robyn McKelvy)

Portia: Right. Don't let that scare you away. Stay tuned because the story has more than a happy ending, which is why it's today's good news. That's coming up in a moment. 

But first, many of you have been asking for an update on our dear friend and sister Robyn McKelvy. Robyn suffered multiple strokes several weeks ago. We got an update from Ray. He sent this to our team and gave us permission to share it with you. Check out that smiling face. 

Erin: There’s our girl. 

Portia: Ray said, “It is great to be home. We've been in the hospital slash rehab for over a month, and we have moved Robyn home. There were lots of tears and fears leaving the rehab center. Pray for our transition home and for continual progress in walking and speaking. Pray for managing Robyn's new schedule, and pray as she deals with a little bit of sadness. Thank you so much for your love and concern.” 

And that's from our dearest Ray. Ray and Robyn are truly surrounded with friends who love them dearly. In fact, here's some good news. Many of their loved ones pulled together to help provide Robyn with a new accessible bathroom. People pulled together a fund; I think it was a GoFundMe and check out their before picture of her bathroom. Now let's look at the after picture. I need to go to Ms. Robyn’s house.

Erin: Praise God! That's beautiful.

Portia: I love it. I love it. I love that they are home and they're doing pretty good. And y’all, just keep them lifted up in prayer.

Erin: Yep. Ain’t no people like God's people. I love to see you rallying around the McKelvys. You frequently message us and say, “How's Robyn? What's going on?” We know that she's on your heart and so continue to pray. I text Ray intermittently; Portia has been texting, and we let them know that you're leaving messages for them. 

So, continue to surround them in love and thanks to God's people who installed that beautiful bathroom for them. 

Ray and Robyn, as this topic that we're talking about, they really have set a bar for us and how to care for those who don't know Jesus. Robyn has been on this program frequently talking about how she uses things like cards and meals to reach towards her neighbors who don't know Christ. And so, thank you for being pacesetters for us in that area. We love you. We want to commit to continue to pray for you as you are on this long road of healing.

Portia: Yeah, as a McKelvys come to mind, feel free to drop your thoughts and encouragement in the chat. Oftentimes, Ray and Robyn will come back and look at those and we'll be sure to let them know that you've left messages for them here. Let's just give them all the love you have them all the love

Erin: All the love even though they're certainly in a trial.

Portia: Yes.

Erin: They continue to be our good news as they point us to Jesus, in the midst of that, so thank you so much for that.

Portia: Absolutely.

Erin: We’re going to go ahead get Grounded with God's people. I'm eager to share this story with you. It might make you squirm a bit at the top, and that's okay because we need to be reminded about our lives before Jesus. So, today I want to introduce you to somebody that Dannah messaged me and said we've got to get her on Grounded. She's actually met her in person. They've heard each other's stories, but Dannah and her, bumped into each other. They were just talking about that before we went live. And Dannah said, “This is a guest that can point us to the good news of the gospel.” And that's what we want to talk about in today's episode. So Brandi, welcome to Grounded

18:18 - Grounded with God's People (Brandi Yocum)

Brandi Yocum: Hi there. I'm happy to be here.

Erin: I can't see your face. I'm stillI'm seeing Dannah and Portia. Hello. I’ll have Brandi on eventually. Lord bless the people at our tech booth. 

Brandi, we got you. We're so glad to see you.

Brandi: Yes, happy to be here.

Erin: Dannah says she first heard about you in 2016. Now, I've heard about you more recently, but I've done some digging into your story. And there's a painful part of your story. In fact, when we reached out to you and said, would you be on Grounded? You said I will. But there are parts of my story that are very offensive. Are you sure you want to have me on? So, we thought about that and prayed about that, and we definitely still did. But why was your name a headline throughout your area back those several years ago.

Brandi: So actually, it's kind of interesting to think it wasn't just my name in the headlines in my area that it was worldwide, thinking about coming on your podcast that reaches worldwide. That was an interesting prayer point that God led me through as I prepared for this. But back in 2015, I was on many headlines because I was finally revealed as having faked cancer for about a two years, of lying about that. And the reason why it definitely hit headlines and World News was I was also Miss Pennsylvania, U.S. International at the time, which was interesting twist to this story.

Erin: You faked cancer and you use that faked diagnosis to raise funds and to really reach towards people's sense of charity and goodness. How much money did you raise?

Brandi: It was a little over $34,000 that was raised. 

Erin: Wow. 

Brandi: Interestingly enough, the lie going on was not actually to raise the money. That just was a very unfortunate part of people with kind hearts that God gave them trying to help the situation that they thought I was in. I just didn't know how to stop that part without revealing the truth, and I wasn't ready to do that yet.

Erin: So, what motivated you to fake that cancer diagnosis if it wasn't to raise funds?

Brandi: Honestly, it was my mom and dad. I didn't feel that I had received the love and attention from them that I should have. And at this point, I mean, I was almost 21 years old when I started the lie. I was actually praying with God yesterday about this. He revealed to me that when we want something in life where we're ready put down our life for it. And it was, I'll go full force, just to receive some love and attention and then have it on my terms. I guess.

Erin: Wow. That's an extreme example, with extreme actions. But I think you are speaking to the heart of everybody that doesn't know Christ. I came to Christ at 15. I remember, the ache feeling as big as the Grand Canyon for someone to love me, except me acknowledge that I had value. 

So, I think if we're honest, we could all realize that we're capable of such things. 

I did read a lot of the news stories. You went so far as to have family members drive you to the hospital for supposed treatments. Then you'd go to another part of the hospital and this was a labyrinth, but eventually that house of cards came crashing down. What were the consequences in your life of that scam being exposed?

Brandi: I mean, vast is, as you can imagine, many friendships were broken. The immediate consequences was it all happened in one day for me. I got a call from the Rockview police barracks. They said my name was up in an investigation, could I come down for questioning? I called my dad afterwards. 

Erin: Can you describe that moment? What happened? In your mind, your heart, your body? As you hear those words?

Brandi: I didn't realize that investigation was on me. I honestly thought that it was on maybe a different family member of mine. And so, it just was weird. 

I called my dad and he said, “The investigation was on you, Brandi. Somebody thought that you're faking. And so, they have to investigate that.”

That point was when my world just kind of zeroed into one point. It was like, “Okay, Brandi, you have two choices here. What are you going to do?” I went to the police barracks later that afternoon.

Erin: Wow. 

Brandi: And so, the immediate consequence was going to Center County Correctional Facility.

On the way there, having to stop at the magistrate's office where the media was already there, pushing cameras, I think one of the hardest consequences was in jail, you get your one phone call when you first get there, and I called my dad again. He was bawling on the other side of the phone. That was probably the hardest consequence that I had walked through in the entire process.

Erin: Yeah, I can imagine. Okay, that is heavy. You're right, that's uncomfortable. I can see why the word offensive was used because certainly it can be described as that. But I want to get to the good stuff. I want to get to the pivot. Because in the midst of that storm, you met Jesus. Tell us about that.

Brandi: Yeah, so I had always had an awareness of Jesus growing up. I actually wanted so badly to be the perfect little Christian girl. I was a model citizen for a long time. But, you know, without the relationship with Jesus, that stuff usually falls apart at some point. 

And so, when I got to the jail, it was such a dark time for about the first ten-ish days, where it did feel like God had abandoned me or left. I just didn't quite understand why, because I had heard His voice six months prior saying, “Tell the truth, Brandi.”

I was not ready to then. And so I just wasn't sure why, when the truth came out, I felt so alone. The enemy rushed into that place to say, “You prayed the prayer and you get to go to heaven and you know, you're saved and all that. But you really think that you're going to heaven now?” All that shame just coming in and the taunting. 

But it was about 10 days and . . . I actually have it here with me. Somebody, I still don't know who, sent me this Bible. I just say it's my God Bible.

Erin: In the mail?

Brandi: Yeah, yeah. 

Erin: Wow.

Brandi: That's the only way that you can receive any books, magazines, correspondence is through the mail system. I received that one night at mail call. I took it back up to my cell, and I wasn't even reading in a Scripture. I was in the back of it. There's like this help section of like: how to read the Bible in a year, something like that. And just in a moment, the whole cell filled with this amber color, and a peace, and it just felt like it was a hug that filled the room. I very much didn't hear God audibly this time, but in my soul had heard Him say, “We're going to do this together now. I love you.” 

And nothing else mattered in that moment. It was like, “You're the one that's here during this time. And we're going to do this. You're not leaving me alone. You care enough to be in jail with me, the God of the universe cares for me in this cell and is with me right now.” And as we walk it, it meant a lot to me.

Erin: So beautiful Brandi. And Grounded sisters, as you're listening, I hope the Spirit takes you right back to your moment. Maybe you weren't in a cell. But that moment where everything seemed dark, you felt lost, and the Lord met you there and transformed you. I'm so grateful for Brandi’s honesty to help us remember that before, because the after can be so profound. 

I love that somebody sent you a Bible in the mail Brandi. Was there anybody who came and shared Christ with you face to face during that season?

Brandi: So, something that I loved about Center County Correctional Facility, I'll be honest, I loved jail. I loved every bit of walking through that part. At Center County, pre-COVID. There, it felt like you could honestly go to church at any day of the week. There were pastors that came in on Sundays, on a rotating basis. There were folks that came in on Fridays, and like Thursday evenings, so I was getting fed the Word by many folks, and they're always going to take the opportunity to offer the chance to accept Jesus—share the gospel and accept Jesus into your life. 

And so, I can't say like anybody one on one shared it with me. I will say my first church service that I got to go to at Center County was with Jonathan Weibel. He deconstructed my faith in a way that God could rebuild it with a relationship with me. And so, Jonathan's sermon was on the things that God can't do . . . and that blew my mind.

Erin: I know that sermon well. I've heard Jonathan deliver that sermon. You could tell us the three points. It’s so good; this is the gospel. 

Brandi: It broke me apart in such good ways—just the things that God can't do or else He would cease to be God. And the main point being they’re my two main points because I had experienced being lied to. The whole premise of lying was not receiving the love that I needed. And two of the things that God can't do are lie and not love. God is love. So, if He doesn't love, He ceases to be God. 

That still is just something that fills my heart to the fullest. I'm so thankful for Jonathan's sermon that day.

Erin: If that name rings a bell, Jonathan has been on Grounded before during COVID. He also was Dannah’s pastor for many years. I've heard that message, “Three Things God Can't Do.” He can't lie, can't not love, and He can't let you into heaven without Jesus. And so that's the gospel, which is that He loves you fiercely. Everything He said is true. Everything in that Bible you're holding up Brandi is true. But you need Jesus to experience that love.

Beautiful testimony, Brandi, where are you today? I know you're not perfect and you're gonna probably acknowledge that, but how has God transformed your life?

Brandi: Yes, definitely not perfect. Many times I'm walking through the day, and I'm just like, I should have done that differently or things like that. But I've been home for, we actually just celebrated six years on April 3 this year. 

And since then, I've been working for Calvary Church in the State College area. I've been able to work with Penn State students mentoring them. And yeah, working one on one with them and going onto campus and evangelizing. You know, if you really are worried about evangelizing, go to a college campus and just wait to be judged.

But it is so amazing when you do run into a student who's ready and wants to hear. Just keep praying for that. 

And then, I've recently transitioned into our outreach team. I'm our community impact assistant. I'm running a home repair program with the county partnership and doing all sorts of fun stuff, evangelism based through this. 

So, anything from making baskets and taking them to our low-income housing families, or we have cool parties coming up or Easter egg hunt, those types of things. It's the outreach team. 

And then I also get to be our wedding coordinator at Calvary. So, I get to help people get married all summer long, usually, which is amazing. 

Erin: You're a newlywed. You've only been married, what did you tell us, a month?

Brandi: Yeah, just a little over, maybe month-and-a-half now? 

Erin: Yeah I love it. I love it. I love mess in the message. I love the redemption that the Lord continues to bring in your life. I love that you now have a heart for the lost because you know that feeling of being lost. I’m so, so, so grateful for your story, Brandi, thanks for being on Grounded. You oozed Jesus, just like I hoped you would.

Brandi: Thank you. And if I may, just thinking about having a new name and being married for folks who are worried about sharing your testimony. I was introduced as Brandi Yocum. So that's a whole other family name now attached to this story. I didn't even ask them if they're okay, you know, that now the Yocum name was attached to this story. But how amazing Christ is just to keep including people in His work and spreading that.

Erin: Amen.

Brandi: And so, don't be worried. He wants to share the story that He's worked on us.

Erin: Amen. What a beautiful place to land this interview. I'm so thankful for your redemption story. I'm so thankful for your encouragement to tell our stories, even though all of them are uncomfortable at points and can be offensive. So, thank you so much. Portia, I'm going to turn it over to you.

Portia: Thank you, Erin Davis. So, look, I'm reading the comments here. And y'all know, I love the comment section. One that I want to point out really quickly. Rashanna says, “We may not lie about cancer, but we all can say we are capable of doing drastic things to please our flesh.” 

Yes, yes, that is exactly how I feel, I shared in the comments. Abortion is something that I would not have ever thought would have been a part of my story. But when you don't know Jesus, you are capable of anything. 

And so, you may not know a beauty queen who swindled people out of their money with an elaborate cancer hoax. But you do know women, or maybe you were a woman who didn't know Jesus. We know women who do anything to try to find their identity. Somewhere else that was the case with me, trying to find my identity somewhere else other than Jesus. 

And so, we are going to right now, take a minute to listen to this clip. We're going to get some practical ideas about sharing the gospel from Russell Moore. This is a past Revive Our Hearts conference about what that kind of lostness looks and feels like. Check this clip out, and then I'm gonna be right back with a challenge for you. So don't move.

36:02 - Russell Moore video

Russel Moore: And here we are, in a culture where even when people are not inhabited in this way by the unclean, people are more connected than ever before and yet isolated, yet alone.

Man says, “I don't have a name. I am Legion.” The man doesn't know who he is anymore, because he is just a collection of unclean spirits. You do not have to be a demonized man in a graveyard to be that lost. All you have to do is to just see yourself in terms of all of your roles, all of the things that you do, all of your jobs, or all of your children, or all of your relationships, or all of your ministries are all your responsibilities, and to be lost in such a place that you don't even know what it is like. You are numb to the reality of hearing the voice of Jesus calling you personally by name. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? This is what has happened to this man. And this is what has happened to endless people all around us right now. And what many of them are asking is, “Is the gospel for someone like me?”

Portia: Yes, yes. Let's get practical. Think of a woman you know who is lost. Probably someone who is a good mom, good coworker, good friend, but she is trying to find her identity in those things. It will not work. Want to ask you to drop the initials of that woman in the chat. Because we want to keep them in mind as we listen to Dannah.

38:21 - Grounded in God's Word + Tim Keller Tribute (with Dannah)

Dannah: Open your Bible if it's nearby. It's time to get grounded in God's Word. I'm going to take you into the first chapter of John 17. 

Today, I gotta tell you, this isn't what I had originally planned to share with you. I wrote something last week about how we can share the gospel. But then my heart was broken over the weekend. 

So, I want to share what's on my heart. I stayed up late last night preparing something quite different. 

On Friday, May 19, 2023, a great man of God transcended the bonds of this earth. Pastor Tim Keller, an apologist in the class of C. S. Lewis lost a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, or did he? You know, he wasn't expected to last more than a few months, I think. And then there's this. 

Some of his last words were, “There is no downside to me leaving, not in the slightest.” 

At some point after that, he was alone with his wife of 47 years, Kathy. She reached down, kissed him on the forehead, and then he took his last breath. 

The media, faith-based and secular alike, is ablaze with headlines of honor. What a blessing for Christian names in the name of Jesus to be in place of honor in our secular media. My personal favorite headline was this: Theological Lion of His Time Dies at 72. Theological Lion. Yep, seems about right. 

In all my life I've not seen so many believers weeping over the loss of one of our Christian leaders. There were lots of tissues in my church service on Sunday when he was mentioned, each of us deeply touched in a personal way by his life and teaching. 

As for me, I took trail rides with Pastor Keller . . . lots of them. Oh, not literally. I would decompress from life on my horse while Tim Keller discipled me with my AirPods tuned into one of his messages on his Gospel and Life podcast. 

Over the weekend I thought through several messages in my mind that are just so precious to me, that anchored me in truth in some of the most difficult times in my life. That reacquainted me with the gospel when I got spiritual amnesia, these are messages that I've listened to over and over again. I could probably quote his main points to you. 

Each time I listened to one of those messages, I was gleaning, growing, gaining understanding about Jesus. 

Maybe you know what I'm talking about. 

Maybe you have some favorite Tim Keller messages to you too. It kind of seems that maybe we all believed our connection to him was special. I know I did. Tim's final message to us was simple but very profound. 

On Wednesday, Michael Keller, one of his three sons, shared his father's recent prayer, just days before he died. I read it out loud to my husband on Friday night. Tim Keller prayed, “I'm thankful for all the people who have prayed for me over the years.” I was one of them. I bet you were too. 

And then he went on to pray, “I'm thankful for my family that loves me. I'm thankful for the time God has given me. But I'm ready to see Jesus. I can't wait to see Jesus. Send me home.”

Yesterday, I took a trail ride. I listened to Pastor Tim teach me again. It just so happened in God's great providence, that I too chose a message that had a whole lot to do with seeing Jesus. Something Tim Keller is doing right now. Can you imagine? 

I want to read to you some of Tim's message that I heard just yesterday. He said, 

“In 1 John 3:2, we're told that when we see Jesus will become like Him because we will see Him as He is. When with our eyes, the eyes of our body, we actually see the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ, we will want the same glory and beauty. We will want Him so much that it will utterly transform us on the spot. We will become perfect and will become glorious. Everything wrong with us will go away.”

What an amazing thought. I'd sure like everything wrong with me to go away. How about you?

In a book Tim published in 2020 on death, he wrote this, 

If Jesus died so you don't have to pay for anything in your past, and He has risen to be your living Savior, then what can death do to you? 

See, that's the promise we have in the gospel. And the promise we get to share with every single person on this earth, whether they've faked cancer or lied to their parents, whether they've murdered someone or slandered someone, whether they've raped someone, as horrible as that is, or they've given their body away to someone they're not married to; the promise we get is that every single one of us, when we receive Jesus, when we accept Jesus, when we invite Him to be the Lord of our life, that for every single one of us all the wrong things will go away, through Him.

I want to read John 17:24, to you. It records a prayer Jesus prayed just days before his death. Listen closely. It says, 

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Let me quote from Tim Keller again as he referenced these verses in that message that I listened to yesterday. He said, 

Jesus is the ultimate goal of the Christian life. It is to see His glory, because when you see His glory, you'll want it. 

But he refers to the book here. “That can actually happen to some degree now. It's not the vision of your body; it’s the sight of your faith. It's seeing Him by faith. It's happening now. It's happening now in me.” This is Tim Keller saying this. I think it's happening to you. 

We're talking about Jesus. We're imagining Him dying for us. We're imagining Him being courageous for us. Are you feeling moved by that in any way? That's what will change you. And so, it is. 

Today, Tim Keller doesn't have to imagine. He sees Jesus. His battle with cancer isn't the only fight that's over, so is his battle with sin. He's been made holy in the presence of Jesus. But he spent his life looking for Him. He spent his life inviting us to see Him so that we can experience just a glimmer of that change. Just a glimmer of that great inheritance we have of looking at Jesus and having all the things that are wrong with us made right in a second. 

We can know some of that now; you can know some of that now. My heart burns to experience that in a new way today. And my heart burns in a new way to tell others so they can experience it. To my friend, look for Jesus. See Him not with your physical eyes but with the eyes of faith, and invite others to do the same. 

Portia: Dannah, you know one thing that I often think about is the most unloving thing that we could ever do is not share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. If we truly love people, like we say we do, then we'll tell them about Jesus over and over and over. Thank you so much for sharing. 

Dannah: My pleasure. 

Portia: That message that Dannah was referencing from Tim Keller will rev up your heart to share the love of Christ. It's titled “Beholding His Glory.” And you can find it, we're gonna drop a link to it on YouTube. 

I also want to remind you that May marks our fiscal year-end as a ministry. We count on people like you to partner with us in ministry, sharing the gospel with women around the world. And that's exactly what we do. And so, if this episode has made you excited to share Jesus with others, then please consider giving to our year-end need. When you do, we'll send you (Un)remarkable Volume One and Two, the stories of everyday women just like you and me who made a difference for Jesus. So, I want you to check that out. You can go to our website for more information, we'll drop a link in the chat.

Dannah: Well, Erin and Portia, I don't think we can end today without maybe taking just a few seconds, 30 seconds, to remember who was it that shared Jesus with you for the first time? Do you remember, Erin?

Erin: I'm loving reading some of our comments. Many of you, Judy and Margarita and Roshanda are sharing your stories of coming to Christ. I love that. 

You know, my mama always told me about Jesus from a little girl and always prayed for me to know Jesus and modeled a love for Jesus. But a mama's relationship with Jesus isn't enough for her child. Eventually it had to become true for me. 

We visited a new church, a church that Dannah and I ended up attending together for several years. And the youth pastor on that first Sunday came up to my sister and I and said, “We’re leaving tomorrow for CIY, which stands for Christ in Youth. Would you want to come?” I had no idea what CIY was. I didn't know that I was going to get to be away from my parents for a week and experience of the new. So, the next day, my sister and I got on a bus we'd never seen before with a group of kids we'd never met before and drove to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, your neck of the woods, Dannah.

Dannah: Yeah. 

Erin: And a pastor shared the gospel. I did not fully understand what I was doing. I did not fully understand the weight of my sin. I couldn't have articulated the gospel back in that moment. But the Holy Spirit grabbed me, and I know that I did have a choice. But in the moment, it felt like I did not have a choice. I was out of my seat racing down that aisle in a blink. I'll never forget it best moment in my life, except until the moment I meet Jesus. That'll be the ultimate, but that was the beginning of that journey toward Him.

Dannah: Portia, what about you?

Portia: So much like Erin I grew up learning about Jesus. My mama, grandma took me to church all the time. But I honestly think that it was through a Tim Keller's book, Prodigal God, that I actually heard for real the gospel and believed and received it. 

I remember, it changed my life. Like it changed my turn my world upside-down, and it made me have this insatiable desire. I didn't want to just hear his words, I wanted to go back and read in the Bible. I guess, it spurred me to want to go to the Word. 

Dannah: Yeah.

Erin: Amen. I'd love to hear your story about before. I'm thinking about this episode. It could be dropping a Bible in the mail. 

Dannah: Yes. 

Erin: It could be giving somebody a book that is theologically rich. It could be inviting somebody to a conference or a camp like I was or just inviting somebody to church. All of these things, they matter. God can use all of them to woo somebody's heart to Him in a way that changes their eternity. That's really what we want to stir your hearts to today. Ladies, keep finding ways to share the gospel.

Dannah if I remember right, you were a little girl. I know you remember, take us back to that moment for you. 

Dannah: I was itty bitty. I wasn't quite five years old. And I don't have a lot of memories from that young. But I remember very vividly sitting in the backyard of my home. My mother had just recently come to know Christ in a really dramatic way and was so on fire for Jesus. 

And so, she started having five-day clubs in her backyard. She wasn't the teacher, but she was hosting them. I remember really clearly sitting on the front step of my porch, the crack in the sidewalk. I feel like I can still smell the two pine trees on either side of me. And there's a little tiny American flag stuck in the ground in the grass right in front of me. I remember the voice of the teacher, I don't remember the teacher. She's like the Charlie Brown teacher, wah, wah wah, like I don't think she's there. But I do remember knowing I have sinned. There are things that are wrong with me. Jesus died to fix that. I want Jesus. That's all. That's all I knew and understood at that time, like you said Erin, we don't know it all and understand it all at the beginning. We are not theologians. When we come to Jesus, we are needy sinners. 

Erin: I’m still a needy sinner, by the way. 

Dannah: That's true. But you just say, “Jesus, please forgive me for my sins, and come into my life and change me.” 

Erin: Right. 

Dannah: You know, I truly believe that Brandi had an encounter with God in that prison cell. That was the beginning of her surrender. She may have come to understand it more thoroughly through those pastors that were visiting on Sundays and those other people that were coming, and she needed that understanding. But we all start with kind of a blank slate, and Jesus changes everything when we start to see Him

Erin: And we just turn towards Him a little bit, and He rushes towards us. So, I hope maybe prior to this episode you hadn't thought much about the last time, or you convinced yourself evangelism wasn't your gift. Now, some are more gifted, but the Great Commission is for all of us. 

Dannah: That's right. You just have to give yourself permission to do it in the gifting that Jesus has given to you. 

Erin: Right.

Dannah: If it's hospitality, share the gospel with hospitality. If it's teaching, share the gospel of teaching. It’s like what is the verse that says Paul watered, Apollos . . .? There’s seed planting, there's somebody on the water, so we all have to play our part in each story. Someone sent that Bible to that sweet girl in a jail cell. And then those other people came and filled in the gaps. And through that, through the Church, Brandi was led to Jesus Christ.

Erin: So, we dropped those initials in the chat. I hope you did have women you know that don't know Christ. And my encouragement would be like, what step can you take today in your gifting of course, but know that it really does matter. And the Lord's I hope you soften our hearts for those who need to respond to the gospel today. 

Dannah: Amen.

Portia: Amen. Definitely my prayer too, Erin. 

Well, next Monday is Memorial Day, but Grounded will still be streaming. We're here guys. Our guest Elizabeth Mitchell is going to help us consider how to remember as we’re moving forward with hope. 

Erin: Speaking of hope, let's wake up next week with heaps of it on Grounded.

Portia: Grounded audio is powered by Skype. Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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