A Conversation with Nisan and Cheryl Kistan

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life for those hit hardest by the pandemic, the line between having someone to live. Finding someone to crash the line between living in the poverty line and in the shelter, the line between almost nothing.

Nothing at all disappear overnight, but when you give to the Salvation Army to support those working tirelessly $25 a month to be the difference between Salvation Army USA hey this is Bernie Dake. I know we said that last week was our final episode of our series on missions.

However, we have one more really cool interviewee wanted to surprise you with Salvation Army officers captains Cheryl and Lisa McQuiston joined Maj. Jerry Friday for a roundtable discussion on missions and so much more. I was fortunate enough to meet the Pistons a couple years ago at a wedding in California for my nephew they service Corps officers in Tustin Ranch, which is a beautiful place on this earth and the sun also serves as chair of the national diversity and inclusion and equity commission for the Salvation Army. These two had some powerful insights and shared a bit of their own testimonies with this during their time in our studio. Next week we will be starting a new series, so be sure to check out Salvation Army sound cast.org for more information and let us know what you thought of this series, or how we can pray for your ministries email us@radiouss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 hi my name is Jerry Friday on the major with the Salvation Army in the southern territorial headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We are super excited to have with us today. Captains McQuiston they come to us from California were excited to have you with us today. How are you guys doing well thanks Terry, thanks for having us today so excited to be needing this way will say I was born in South Africa. Cheryl was born in the United Kingdom and we come by Australia as young children we are families migrated to a stranger in the stories been home up until the last four years. I understand that's a very interesting story how your family did Microtel strike. How did that take place will obviously South Africa in the 80s will actually 70s to 80s was experiencing apartheid apartheid ease really people being segregated based on, and ethnicity. And because of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

My family had to flee South Africa because my father was so politically active and speaking up against an apartheid system I regime and you know maybe some of you�.But it South Africa if you speak against the political system. In those days you went to a political prisoner called Robin all in many of your list as may be aware that Robert all Was Way, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life and so I had a fear of being sent to Robin on and at the insistence of his mother, my grandmother, my father made the incredible decision to leave a very closely knit family and travel with these immediate family.

My mother and my younger brother and travel to Australia while I I encountered many people who have who have come to the United States for some of the very reasons and some of the struggles that they've experienced absolutely blown on my neck. I cannot imagine people leaving everything they know and everyone they know.

Simply to have not just a better life, but a safe life for their family and it it always touches my heart so you sure you two get together and what your journey this far, so my parents migrated from Australia. I was only 2 1/2 so I have very few memories of living in Britain but they migrated for greater opportunities for the children so I grew up in, mostly in a town called Wollongong which is a university town and that was where I met Nesson which is interesting. My core office in church late said hi got this guy. He's moving to Wollongong.

Can someone look out for him and say that's was how we met was I invited him to university students, Bible study, and that was when we were 18 years old and we have been together ever understand the series that we're talking about right now is mission and not just the Salvation Army but the church itself. What is our mission look like now and what is it going to look like in the future.

How will we survive as a church and what do you feel we need to do today to be ready for the mission of the church in the future. This is a number of elements to answer your question effectively. One is we need to be aware of what is currently happening in the trend within the church about a research center has just recently produce a document highlighting its research which shows that church attendance church even affiliation is less than 50% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians let alone attend a faith-based mission movement. I think the definition of insanity is continue doing the same thing you've always done absolutely and so I think we as a church need to pick and the type of pivot is now we need to change our approach strategy and I believe that part of that approach means that we need to become more more aware of the people we are engaging with America is a diverse society is no longer a monocultural expression some monocultural ministry can no longer be model of how we do mission.

We need to move from the church of Jerusalem to the church about Antioch. The church of Jerusalem was very much for the Jews. And you know ask when ice talks about when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and to the ends of the I think we have a biblical mandate to reach out beyond what you familiar with what were comfortable with what we feel what we feel as if we understand and talking this new challenge for the church. It's ironic that you say that I remember as a young person in the church constantly talking about the mission field and going to the mission field, and now it appears the mission field is coming to us and I personally feel that we are not taking full advantage of that.

Yes, we need to us to support underdeveloped countries.

Yes, we need to send missionaries and be missionaries, but we also need to be accepting of the mission fields that's coming to our own neighborhoods and our own backyards� It's interesting because the evangelist run out punky he always said that the mission field was the field that was outside your door, unite and so often we focus on people from other cultures. Not knowing Jesus, but the area generations rising up amongst American way.

They don't even know the name of Jesus and say the mission field is those neighborhoods around us.

We could actually be white Anglo Americans who have never had the name of Jesus we getting to a staging in society where it's the second and third generation seen somebody actually attended church will I work with a lot of young adults in my ministry and I shared with them. Recently a survey that I had read that that said young adults don't feel it's their right or their place to share their religious experience or their Christianity with someone else that they just don't believe in evangelism. They have this philosophy to each his own, and they feel as if there infringing on someone else's right if they share the gospel with them and and I asked the young people how they felt about that in they pretty much agreed which scares me to death for the future of the church. If we are not evangelizing. Do you have any words of wisdom that we can share with our young adults with finding the kids with kids the young adults that sharing the length of the passion that had this life-changing life transforming relationship with Jesus the ones that are lukewarm to go out and talk about it because then I'm not sure whether they believe Jesus yet or not. I think there's a lot of people leaving Anacortes as young senior soldiers and probably his middle-aged senior soldiers.

They really haven't really had that solid that continent transformational encounter with Jesus and said they not going to go out and share that Jesus it comes down to talk about a lot because it's going up in the Salvation Army, it's really easy to know everything about God remain the way that we structure the grace the children. I can't say go to Sunday school and you got a genius soldiers you got a Coke at its and then you become a senior soldier write its own knowledge base and I don't know about here in the South, but in Australia for a while and still in the Western territory.

You do you cook it it lessons you get graded on right that's all knowledge base did not eat until I could take. I could tell you everything about God. I could tell you the books of the Bible and memorize them. I kid.

I was really good at memorizing Scripture that it got to a point where I was relating a church was in a fast ministry right and is this guy from Nigeria, a guy called Maj. Friday and I'm sitting there listening to these guys vary from Friday. Friday came and we will hold weight with a host of this conference, the unlimited conference and I'm sitting in the service and this guy is talking about God as if he's like a real person and that he has these interaction in your life, and he was talking about all of these horrible experiences in his life. Yet he was speaking with such joy and I'm sitting there going hang on a minute I'm I'm so unhappy in this guy talking that Jesus in a way that I never ever experience people and I'm sitting there going on 30. Whatever. And I've never met Jesus for myself. I actually came to the realization that I never met Jesus.

And so at that point in time. I remember being the last person to go forward and pray that I had this in Canada chases and everything change from that moment in time to the stories that we need to tell you that Shirley is wrong right this is what young people desperate for you desperate for something I'll take real and the timing of the start old stuff that we as churches continually serve day in day out and we expect to be impactful when a lot of our preachers. A lot of our ministers haven't even come. Jesus they know Jesus you you you but have you been you been baptized into the knowledge and your faith but have you been baptized in the spirit. I think with that tax impact with the early church encountered the power of the spirit of God. That's when the church we've got we got a reshape the way life should ministry most important. We cannot do what we've always done you guys so much for sharing with us today. You've you've certainly inspired me and I know you've inspired our listeners.

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