Podcasts about AOG

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2025 18:27

My Story Talk 17 Ministry in Basingstoke 1968-78 Part 2 Welcome to Talk 17 in our series where I'm reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Last time I was talking about the evangelistic missions we organised in Basingstoke, but these tended largely to attract adults, and the children and young people needed to be reached too. So that's our subject for today. Children's Work At first, the only children we were reaching were those who came to our Sunday School, which was held at 10am before the 11am Communion Service. One of those children was Rosie Wilcox (née Wright), who later became Jonathan's Sunday School teacher. Fifty years later, I still exchange Christmas cards every year with Rosie and her husband Paul. However, we soon began to reach other children in what was then a more unusual way. To the best of my knowledge, we were the first AoG church in Britain to organise a pre-school playgroup. I had felt for some time that most church buildings were not being used to their full potential. I talked with Bill Mitchell, the church elder, who himself was a businessman, and he wholeheartedly agreed. The church building was standing empty in the daytime for six days a week. And we were on the edge of a new council estate where most of the houses were occupied by young families. So, we checked out the legal requirements, and discovered that our facilities would accommodate up to 40 children, provided that we had one adult for every eight children present. We obviously needed to invest in the right equipment, and Eileen knew exactly what to get. In fact, with her administrative skills, she was the ideal person to take charge of the whole thing, and before Debbie and Sarah were old enough to go to school, they could be with her while she was at playgroup. We started by opening for three mornings a week, but the demand for places was such that before long we were open for five. And we had adequate workers to take the full complement of forty, so for five mornings a week, as well as supervising and organising the children in their play, they were able to tell them about Jesus. That was, of course, the most important thing, but another welcome benefit was that, from the small charge we made for each child, we were receiving enough income to pay the mortgage on the building! And an unexpected result of running that playgroup was the request I received to exorcise a ‘ghost' from one of the nearby houses! It happened like this. It was 12 o'clock and the playgroup session was ending. I happened to be present having a chat with Bill Mitchell, when one of the mums came in and said, Is one of you the vicar? And although I don't usually go by that title, I said, Yes, I am. She then asked if I could help her because, she said, there was a ghost in her house. Could I get rid of it? To which, knowing that in Christ we have authority over the forces of darkness, I replied, Yes, of course. How much will it cost? she said. Nothing, I replied. Wow! That's good, she said, the spiritualist wanted a fiver. She gave me her address and, that evening, I went with another brother to visit her. We told her that her greatest security would be to let Jesus into her life and led her in a prayer for salvation. Of course, the so-called ‘ghost' was actually a demon, because there is no biblical evidence for the existence of what people call ghosts, but the woman did not know that. She said that it usually appeared at the top of the stairs. So I went up after it and, although I could see nothing unusual, I did feel a distinct drop in temperature. So I commanded the thing, whatever it was, to leave in the name of Jesus. At once the woman, who was standing in the hall with the other brother, suddenly shrieked. There, didn't you see it? It went right past you! So, although I couldn't see it, I chased it down the stairs, opened the front door, and told it to get out and never come back. The following Sunday she was in church to say thank you and told me that it had gone. So running a playgroup certainly put us in contact with the people in ways we did not expect, but in Britain's fastest growing town the playgroup and the Sunday School we ran in our church building were by no means sufficient to spread the good news among the children, and we soon decided to launch a second Sunday School in a school on the Oakridge estate. This was only possible thanks to the commitment of our teachers who, having taught in the morning in Cranbourne Lane, were willing to give up their Sunday afternoon to teach the same lessons to the children in Oakridge. Another children's work was started by Hilda Gibbons, an elderly widow who opened her home every week to some thirty children on the Winklebury estate. And we reached hundreds of children through the holiday clubs we organised. These lasted for a week or so towards the end of the long summer holidays. They were led mainly by Anthea and William Kay assisted by other church workers, SPF students and other Christian teachers all of whom we accommodated throughout their stay. Notable examples were David Littlewood, later to become an AoG pastor, and Phyllis Parrish (née Sowter) who was baptised in the Spirit while she was with us and later became a student at Mattersey and a missionary to Bangaladesh. Youth Work Some of the older children who came to the holiday clubs were also attracted to our Friday night Youth Meeting. This was our main means of reaching young people on a regular basis and, for most of the time we were at Basingstoke, was led by me. Our church was situated right next to Cranbourne Lane Comprehensive School, where Debbie and Sarah became pupils and I became a parent governor. We also attracted young people from other parts of the town where some of our members were teachers. The church minibus, faithfully driven by William Kay, was vitally important for this work, although it wasn't worth much financially. At the time we had no suitable garage for it, so it was parked each night in the road at the back of our house. One night, in the early hours of the morning, we were woken up by the sound of our dog barking and then I realised that someone was banging heavily on our back door. As I went to the window I became quickly aware of another noise – the constant sound of a car horn. It was our minibus, and the neighbour banging on the back door had come to ask us to silence it. I quickly threw on some clothes and hurried outside to see what I could do. To my surprise the driver's door of the minibus was wide open. I wondered why, as I was sure I had locked it the night before. But my first task was to silence the horn, so I quickly disconnected the battery. Now the horn was silent I could go back to bed, hoping that not too many neighbours had been disturbed. Next morning, as I was apologising for the noise in the night, another neighbour told us they had seen what had happened. Two men had broken into our minibus, but the moment they opened the door the horn had suddenly started sounding. This apparently had caused the men to panic, and our neighbour had seen them running away. Their attempt to steal our minibus had been thwarted! Of course, it may be possible to think of a rational explanation for all this, but it's important to mention that the horn on the minibus would not normally sound unless the ignition was switched on, and there was no form of burglar alarm fitted to the minibus. But whether there's a rational explanation or not, as far as I was concerned God had protected our vehicle. He works in natural as well as in supernatural ways, and we will probably never know why that horn sounded just at the right moment – except that God knew that we needed that minibus! In addition to the weekly youth meeting, we also organised at least two week-long missions, one where Warwick Shenton was the evangelist, and another led by Paul and Janice Finn who were the national youth evangelists for Assemblies of God. We were able to get them into several of the secondary schools in the town where they spoke in school assemblies. This way we knew that the vast majority of teenagers in Basingstoke had the opportunity to hear the gospel. But it was at the regular weekly youth meeting and its associated activities that close personal relationships could be formed with the young people. We organised walks in the countryside, barbecues, and games evenings where we had great opportunities to get to know them better – and for them to get to know us better too. And nowhere was this truer than at our annual youth camp. New Forest Pentecostal Youth Camp While we were at Colchester I had organised a youth camp on the island of Mersea and, thanks to Eileen's culinary skills and to the things I had learned as a teenager in the Boys' Brigade, this proved highly successful. So towards the beginning of our time in Basingstoke I made enquiries as to what sites might be available for us to do something similar near us, and I discovered that the Hampshire Education Committee had one near Brockenhurst in the New Forest. It was set in beautiful countryside, was within a short driving distance from the coast, and had the advantage of flush toilets and showers! All the equipment – tents, marquees, tables, benches, cooking utensils etc. – was provided on site, which was managed by a very helpful warden, a Welshman called Eddie Davies. So we decided to give it a go and, as an initial experiment, took a group of about 15 young people for a few days in the school summer holidays. It went so well that we decided to return the following year for a full week and to invite other AoG churches to participate. I put an advert in Redemption Tidings and over the years the numbers increased to some 150 young people each week. Eileen and I planned the weekly menu which, although it was somewhat restricted by the cooking equipment provided at the site, nevertheless comprised three hot meals a day, prepared by teams of dedicated workers. The only exception to this was that when we all went out for the day – to the Isle of Wight, for example – everyone prepared their own sandwich lunch straight after breakfast with the food we provided for them. Much of the food we bought came in large cans obtained from the cash and carry store in Basingstoke and transported down to Brockenhurst in the minibus in advance. The rest we bought on a daily basis from the International store in Brockenhurst who, incidentally, issued vast quantities of Green Shield stamps, which, when you had saved enough of them, you could trade in for a variety of items displayed in the Green Shield catalogue. I seem to remember that Eileen and I got our coffee percolator that way! The daily programme involved breakfast, during which each of the tents was inspected for tidiness and hygiene, followed by a short devotional involving a song, a prayer, and a Bible reading. The daytime was taken up with recreational activities including at least one day trip to either Hengistbury Head or the Isle of Wight, afternoon trips to Milford-on-Sea, or a treasure hunt in the New Forest. As a family we all enjoyed going down to Brockenhurst a week or so in advance to prepare for this, when we would compose a poem giving clues to the route. But the most important part of the camp programme was without question the meeting we held in the marquee each evening. These involved worship, prayer, testimonies, and preaching followed by an appeal. Every year we saw dozens of young people respond, either for salvation or for a renewed commitment to Christ. And many were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues. I still receive testimonies from people, now in their sixties, of how they met with God in those meetings. After each meeting there was a break when we opened our tuck shop for half an hour. This was followed by a time of singing in the marquee, or, once a week, around a camp fire. The only exception to this was the long hot summer of 1976 when we were at camp for three weeks and when everywhere was so dry that it was illegal to light fires anywhere in the New Forest. Those weeks spent at camp during the seventies were wonderful times of blessing for all involved and form some of the happiest memories of my life. But such blessings do not come by accident. They come as the result of prayer, commitment, and teamwork. None of it would have been possible without the dedicated help of Basingstoke church members like Hilda Gibbons, and visiting pastors and their wives who over several years brought their young people to camp and shared in the work and ministry. Of special note among these were Mike and Beryl Godward from Corringham, Brian and Audrey Quar from Crossacres, Manchester, and Colin Blackman from Tonbridge Wells, all of whom became good personal friends. But these were not the only relationships that were formed or developed at camp. We really got to know our own young people much better too. Some of them came down early to help unload cans of food from the minibus and to assist in the erection of the tents, and I learned that forming relationships with young people, letting them know that you love them rather than just preaching at them, was the way to gain their loyalty and respect. This is essential if we want them to follow our example in following Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). One example of this was Linda. She, along with her twin sister, Sue, had become regular attenders at our Friday night youth meeting. On one occasion we were having a sausage-sizzle in the church grounds. Linda was standing next to me looking into the fire when she told me she was thinking of leaving us. So, putting my arm round her shoulder, I said to her, Oh don't leave us Linda. We all love you. We'd really miss you. Linda didn't leave us, and her relationship with Eileen and me deepened when she came to babysit for us from time to time. I recently discovered a letter she had written to Eileen in 1974 in which she said, Entering your home is so different… there's such a lovely atmosphere within it... as soon as I entered the home I felt more confident in myself. Thanks for talking to me, so far since I've spoken to you I've felt up on top of the world… I want to say a big thank you, but I don't think I could ever write or say it the way I feel to a friend like you... Thank you for praying for me. Later, when her leaving college coincided with my becoming principal at Mattersey, Linda became my secretary, only leaving when she married a student from Switzerland, where she now lives. But in 2012 she made a surprise visit to England when she came to our Golden Wedding anniversary. Of course, Linda was an exceptional case, but her story does illustrate the value of making time to develop relationships with children and young people wherever possible.

303 My Story Talk 16 Ministry in Basingstoke 1968-78 Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2025 16:55

My Story Talk 16 Ministry in Basingstoke (1968-78) Part 1 Welcome to Talk 16 in our series where I'm reflecting on God's goodness throughout my life. Today I'm going to begin by telling you how in January 1968 we came to move from Colchester to Basingstoke. During 1967, as part of my SPF travels, I was preaching in Oxford when an old friend from the Elim church asked to see me. He was hoping that an Assemblies of God church might be planted there and wanted to find out if I would be interested in coming to take over its leadership. I told him that I would pray about it but that my initial reaction was that I did not feel any sense of leading in that direction. Some weeks later, I had an unexpected phone call from my friend Michael Collins who, as I have already mentioned, was a fellow student with me at Oxford and part of the original SPF group there. He told me that he had heard from Oxford that I might be thinking of leaving Colchester and that, if that were the case, he wanted to sound out whether I might be interested in coming to Basingstoke. He explained that they were looking for a pastor and would like to invite me to come and preach one Sunday. The church had not had a pastor for three years and numbers had dwindled to only 12 people. Although they were not able to pay me much, the potential was great, as they had a new building on a large piece of land and Basingstoke had a rapidly expanding population. This was an exciting challenge, but numbers at Colchester were now around 80 and I was relatively well paid. Did I really want to take on another small church and take a substantial drop in income? And did we really want to leave behind the many friends we had made at Colchester? So I told him that I did not think it likely that the Lord would move me from Colchester but that if they wanted me to preach for one Sunday I would be happy to do so. As far as moving there permanently was concerned, I determined in my heart that I would only consider it if I received a unanimous invitation from the members of the church. We would also need them to provide housing for us, as the salary they were likely to offer would be far too low for us to be able to get a mortgage. These matters were discussed when I went to preach there, and the financial position was clarified. The church's income was £14 a week. £8 of this was taken up with mortgage repayments on the new church building and, if they needed to provide us with accommodation, the remaining £6 would be taken up with that. So anything they could offer me would be an act of faith on their part – and required not a little faith on my part too! In the circumstances, I thought it highly unlikely that they would be able to meet the criteria I had set, but 100% of the members did vote to invite me, and after a couple of months I heard that they had been able to purchase a house for us. Taking this to be the will of the Lord, we informed the friends at Colchester of our decision, sold our bungalow, and moved to Basingstoke in January 1968. The move to Basingstoke went smoothly and the house the church provided, a typical three-bedroomed semi-detached, had the advantage of central heating, a luxury we had not been used to. With the profit we made on the sale of our bungalow in Colchester, we were able to have new fitted carpets throughout, and to buy furniture for the lounge as well. We also bought a small second-hand car, having left the minibus in Colchester. We were welcomed warmly by the church members, and the building was packed for my Induction Service with people from other churches who had come to show their support. The speaker was Billy Richards, the AoG pastor at Slough, in his capacity as Chairman of the West London District Council. His cousin, Bill Mitchell, who was an elder in the church, was at the piano, and we were inspired by his God-given talent and grateful for his commitment to play at every meeting. Other key people were the deacons, Janet Collins (Church Secretary), John Nicholson (Treasurer), David Moncaster (Sunday School Superintendent), and Michael Collins. Another person who was present at the Induction Service and to become an asset to the church was William Kay, who had written to me asking advice as to how he could serve the Lord after he had graduated from Oxford. As he had come to Christ while he was at university and had had no real experience of life in a local church, I told him that this should be his first priority and made a few suggestions as to where he might go, adding as a PS that I was moving to Basingstoke and that he might like to come and help with the work there. Which he did, and within a few months a young schoolteacher, Anthea Bell, was to join our church and eventually become William's wife and a great asset to the church. At the beginning of our time there, Eileen's primary role, of course, was looking after Debbie and Sarah, who were still under school age, and then Jonathan who was born in October 1970. However, she was soon to find an outlet for her ministry when we started our church pre-school playgroup, but more of that later. Niggling doubts So overall there was much to encourage us during our first few months at Basingstoke, but we were missing Colchester and both Eileen and I were having doubts as to whether we had done the right thing in moving. Part of the reason for this was that when I had given up my teaching job we'd had real confirmation about it through the gifts of the Spirit, but we'd had no such confirmation about moving to Basingstoke. Could we have really missed the will of God on such an important matter? The answer came in a posthumously published article in Redemption Tidings written by Donald Gee. He was talking about how a church should choose a pastor (and, by implication, how a pastor should choose a church). He said that such matters should be determined by sound judgment and sanctified common sense, and not by the operation of spiritual gifts. And this came from the pen of a world-renowned Pentecostal leader and author of Concerning Spiritual Gifts. This was just the reassurance I needed, and I later came to realise that God's will is not difficult. By definition, God wants his will, and if we really want it, he will ensure that we get it! We will prove his good and perfect and acceptable will if our lives are truly consecrated to his service (Romans 12:1-2). Church growth And, of course, one major aspect of God's will is that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). In the years we were there, Basingstoke was the fastest growing town in England and there was a vast harvest field on our doorstep waiting to be reaped. We sought to do this in three main ways – personal evangelism, evangelistic missions, and children's and youth work. Personal evangelism In those days the primary way of seeking to win others for Jesus was to invite people to church where they would hear the gospel. This was something we did every Sunday night in our Gospel Service, even if very often the only people there were already Christians. However, even if today it's easy to criticise this style of evangelism, it did have the advantage of regularly reminding Christians of what the gospel is and the urgency of proclaiming it. But clearly the Gospel Service approach to evangelism would not be enough. Neither would a leaflet inviting people to our meetings, unless of course it contained a clear gospel message. Jesus did not command his disciples to go into all the world and invite people to gospel meetings. He commanded them, and he commands us, to go into all the world and preach. God's people needed to be trained how to do so. While I was at Colchester I had completed a course on personal evangelism produced by Billy Richards and I had found this very helpful. So I decided that in our Wednesday night Bible Studies I would teach the people at Basingstoke the principles I had learned from this. We then embarked on a programme of door-to-door work, conducting a ‘religious opinion survey', and found that most people were willing to share their views with us and for us to share the gospel with them. Admittedly, not many came to church as a result, but at least they had heard the gospel. Evangelistic Missions But our biggest attempt at reaching people with the gospel was in 1970 when we organised a fortnight's evangelistic and healing mission conducted by evangelist Melvin Banks. I invited Melvin for two reasons. First, he was clearly gifted as an evangelist, and I had come to understand that my own gift was predominantly that of a teacher. And secondly, because remarkable results were being reported of hundreds being saved and healed through Melvin's ministry, and I strongly believe that healing is one of the signs that God gives us to confirm the message of the gospel. In preparation for his coming, we spent months training the people for this big event, which was to be held in the Basingstoke Town Hall, not in our church, and got them ready for an intensive follow-up programme of personal visitation to the homes of those who made a decision for Christ. We printed thousands of leaflets which were designed by Melvin and which majored strongly on some of the many miracles he had seen in his ministry. Not surprisingly, on the very first night the Town Hall was packed. Melvin did not preach about healing. He preached salvation. And to my amazement, when he made the gospel appeal, 57 people raised their hand. And then he prayed for the sick. And miracles happened. It was the same every night throughout the fortnight, and by the end over 600 people had signed decision cards. I thought we were experiencing a real revival! But sadly, when our team of trained follow-up workers visited their homes, it became apparent that the vast majority had not really understood what they were doing. They had come to the meetings because they wanted to be healed and that was why they had raised their hands, even though, to be fair to the evangelist, the message he preached was not about healing, but salvation. Out of the 600 who had raised their hands, only 12 people were added to our church. Of course, we thanked God for the 12, and we had the satisfaction of knowing that the others had at least heard the gospel, but the sense of disappointment among our people was palpable. And I came to the conclusion that at least part of the problem was the advertising. People with a longstanding physical ailment will understandably try anything to relieve their suffering, and that's what they have in mind throughout the meeting, even while the evangelist is preaching. They are prepared to do anything he tells them to, so when he tells them to raise their hand, they do, but it's a mistake to assume that that means they are saved. And as I thought more about it I realised that Jesus and the apostles did not advertise their healings. Their healings were the advertising. So, somewhat disillusioned by this style of evangelism, it was six years before I decided to invite another evangelist for a series of meetings. I eventually asked my old pastor, Alfred Webb – who was really an evangelist rather than a pastor – if he would come and do a week's teaching on personal evangelism followed by a week of meetings where he would preach the gospel. And this time I encouraged the people to pray for an outstanding miracle of healing that would take place before the evangelist came. And those prayers were answered in a rather dramatic way the Sunday after Easter. It was the evening service, and I was preaching about Thomas. He was the disciple who had been absent when Jesus, three days after he was crucified, appeared to his disciples on Easter Sunday. When the other disciples told Thomas that Jesus was alive, he simply refused to believe it. It was impossible! But a week later Jesus appeared to him too and showed him the wounds in his hands and feet. I remember saying something to the effect that the same Jesus whom Thomas had been able to see and touch was present with us right now even though we could not see him. After the sermon, as we sang a closing song, a middle-aged woman walked – I should say hobbled – to the front of the church. This was a complete surprise to me as she had never been to our church before and I had not invited people to come forward for prayer, as we sometimes do. Neither had I mentioned healing. So I went to her and asked: Can I help you? She responded by saying: If Jesus is present as you say he is can he heal me now? Immediately I knew that this was the miracle we had been praying for. He can and he does! I said. Be healed in the name of Jesus! And she RAN back down the aisle, instantaneously and completely healed. I found out later that her name was Ruby. She and her husband, John, both became Christians and members of our church. And when we produced the leaflets that would inform people about the visit of Alfred Webb, we told Ruby's story and used it to point out that we all have a greater need than the healing of our bodies. What really matters is the healing of our souls, the forgiveness of our sins, which is available to all who will come to Jesus. While Alfred Webb was with us about 20 people made decisions for Christ and about 12 of them were added to the church – a far higher percentage than the 12 out of 600 people who had signed decisions cards in the Melvin Banks meetings.

E182 || Luis Spinola || A Masterclass in Basics

17Twenty

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 59:21

In this week's episode, we're live from the ABA's Forum on Construction Law 2025 Annual Meeting with special guest Luis Spinola, founder of the Azteca Omega Group a leading construction services organization he has grown over 40 years. Born in Mexico City and trained as an engineer, Mr. Spinola immigrated to the U.S. in 1983 and built AOG's three companies to serve municipal and federal sectors across aviation, education, transportation, and more. A committed advocate for the construction and Hispanic communities in Dallas-Fort Worth, he has held leadership roles with the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association, TEXO, and Parkland Hospital Foundation.Our conversation centered around the basic principles of taking care of people, communicating well, putting family first, and planning for the future. We hope you love this wonderful live episode! We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text message here!|| Connect with Us || Check out all our episodes on all major streaming platforms, and further engagement with the 17Twenty crew on social media at:https://17twenty.buzzsprout.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/17twentyhttps://www.instagram.com/17twentypodcastGrab your copy of the Mountain Mover Manual: How to Live Intentionally, Lead with Purpose, and Achieve Your Greatest Potential, by Kevin CareyOriginally in print:https://amzn.to/441OPeHAnd now available on Audible:https://adbl.co/45YIKB2

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302 My Story Talk 15 Ministry at Colchester 1962-68 Part 3

Prophetic Perspective With Amanda Grace

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2025 13:20

My Story Talk 15 Ministry at Colchester 1962-68 Part 3 Welcome to Talk 15 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Today is the final talk about our ministry in Colchester between 1962 and 1968. These were the first few years of our married life and so far I have shared with you about the birth of our first two children, our housing, employment, holidays and transport. We have talked about the growth of the church and the reasons for it, testified to an outstanding miracle, explained how I got to know more about Assemblies of God, and how God called me to give up my teaching job and go into full-time ministry. Today I'll be sharing first how this led me into a wider ministry, and concluding with two important lessons I felt God was beginning to teach me. A wider ministry – the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship If I had thought initially that God's purpose in leading me into full-time ministry was just so that I could give more time to the local church, I was soon to learn otherwise. It certainly did that, but I soon began to receive invitations to preach in churches at weekend conventions, and, more significantly, to speak in Coleford at a National Day School Teachers' Conference on the relevance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit in day school teaching today. It was there I met members of the AoG Home Missions Council and the National Youth Council who, if I remember correctly, had jointly organised the conference. The invitation came, no doubt, not only because I was a pastor who had until recently been a schoolteacher, but also because of my ministry in praying for people to receive the baptism and my role in the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship. I have already mentioned how, while I was at Oxford, I was asked to share my testimony at the AoG National Youth Rally held in the Birmingham Town Hall and to contribute an article in Redemption Tidings entitled Pentecost in Oxford University. So I was by no means unknown in the wider fellowship, and it was probably not surprising that, when Richard Bolt resigned as Travelling Secretary of the SPF, I should be asked to take over his role of visiting colleges and universities, preaching and praying for students to be filled with the Spirit, which of course would not have been possible if I had remained in school teaching. Universities where I conducted meetings on those early SPF travels included Oxford, Cambridge, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Durham, and Newcastle. Later, after I had left Colchester, I also preached in the University of Louvain (Leuven) in Belgium, and in 1972 in the majority of universities in the state of Illinois. The purpose of all these meetings was to tell people about the baptism in the Spirit, explain why it was biblical, and to pray for them to receive as I laid hands on them at the close of the gathering. Among the many who received were the chaplain of Queen's College, Cambridge, and William Kay a student at Trinity College, Oxford, who had come to Christ at a Billy Graham meeting in London. Valentine Cunningham, a student at Keble College, and the son of an AoG pastor, invited William to a meeting he had organised where I was to preach on the baptism in the Spirit. After he graduated he became a member of my church in Basingstoke, a close friend, a lecturer at Mattersey Hall Bible College, and a university professor who has contributed much to Pentecostal education around the world. Val Cunningham went on to become Professor of English at Oxford and was a great help to me when I wrote Be Filled with the Spirit, a booklet published by the SPF, which proved to be the springboard for my ministry as an author. Other former SPF members who became professors were John Miles and Michael Collins. John, after spending some years as a missionary in Congo became Professor of French at Wheaton, and Michael, after serving as SPF General Secretary, became Professor of Engineering at City University, London. He was succeeded as SPF General Secretary by Andrew Parfitt, who after spending years in school teaching, became an AoG minister, as did Jeff Clarke who received the baptism under my ministry while he was a student at Oxford, and David Littlewood who received while was a student at Essex. It is clear from all this that during the course of my lifetime Pentecostals have moved on from being suspicious of higher education to embracing it and playing an active role within it. This will become even clearer when we consider in a later talk the educational developments in our Bible Colleges. Lessons I learnt at Colchester Of course, I myself had never been to Bible College. And although I had received excellent teaching from my father and from Leslie Moxham, my pastor at Elm Park Baptist, I had received no formal training for ministry, and back then there was no provision in Assemblies of God for supervision from a more experienced minister. So I was very much learning on the job and was conscious of my need for the guidance, help, and the enabling of the Holy Spirit. But my experience at Colchester taught me many lessons. The most significant of these was learning to trust God for our needs after I had relinquished my secular employment, which I have already mentioned. But there were two other areas the importance of which I began to understand more clearly. These were: o the nature of the ministry God had given me o the importance of a balanced theology of healing. The nature of the ministry God had given me In my teens I had been greatly impressed by the ministry of Billy Graham. I had seen thousands of people walk forward in response to his appeals for salvation. Surely this kind of evangelism must be the answer and, when I felt the call to the ministry at the age of 16, I soon began to have dreams of becoming an evangelist. Later, after I was baptised in the Spirit, I came to see the importance of healing in evangelism and, as I have mentioned previously, was greatly influenced by Richard Bolt who was seeing remarkable healings in his evangelistic crusades. And at that time the American Pentecostal evangelist T. L. Osborn had made his books on healing available to students free of charge and I had read them avidly. So I now wanted to be a healing evangelist, a desire which was evident in the two evangelistic and healing missions I conducted at Colchester. And that was why, although I shared with others the responsibility of preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings and midweek Bible Studies, I always did the preaching at the Sunday evening Gospel Service. But when Harold Womersley, veteran missionary of the Congo Evangelisitc Mission visited us on itinerary, he asked me – purely out of interest, I think – about what I was teaching at our Bible Study meetings. And when I told him that, when it was my turn, I just gave whatever word the Lord had put on my heart, he graciously suggested that as the pastor it was my responsibility the feed the flock by regular and systematic teaching of the truths of God's word. This, I think, would have been at about the time that I had given up my school teaching job, and so, taking his words to heart, I set about planning various series of weekly Bible studies, and I discovered that I really enjoyed it and, to my surprise, so did those who came to hear me. It was gradually dawning on me that my primary ministry was not to be evangelism – though I have not been totally unsuccessful in that area – but teaching. Of course, I had no idea then how that teaching gift would eventually be expressed not only in churches, but also as a Bible College principal and as a writer. But that brings me to another closely related lesson I began to learn at Colchester, the importance of a biblically balanced doctrine of healing. The importance of a balanced theology of healing As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, ever since my father told me of the healing of my aunt who had been deaf and dumb from birth, I have always believed that God still works miracles of healing today. I grew up with the belief that everyone could be healed if only they had enough faith and that the lack of miracles today was entirely due to lack of faith. This understanding was confirmed by the teaching of Richard Bolt and the books of T.L.Osborn and was directly related to the doctrine that Jesus died not only for our sins, but for our sicknesses too. We can claim our healing in just the same way as we can claim forgiveness of sins, and all because Jesus died for us. I embraced this teaching wholeheartedly, and that is what I preached. But my experience as a pastor in Colchester didn't always seem to confirm this doctrine. It was great when we saw people healed, but what could I say to those who were not? Did I really have to tell them that the reason they were not healed was lack of faith, or that there must be some unconfessed sin in their life? And whereas this might apply in some cases, it surely was not true of all? I simply could not believe, for example, that when Jack Joliffe was diagnosed with a cancer that first disfigured him and eventually destroyed him, it happened because of lack of faith or some secret sin. I knew him too well. He was a godly man, full of faith, and an elder of our church. It's all too easy for evangelists to preach these doctrines and then move on, while pastors are left with the care of Christians who have not been healed and have been wounded by the teaching that if they are sick it is somehow their fault. But it is not my intention in this talk to repeat what I have already said at length elsewhere. My rejection of this view is comprehensively explained in my Ph.D. thesis, Healing and the Atonement, where I argue that, although there is a sense in which healing may rightly be understood to be in the atonement, it is not true to say that Jesus died for our sicknesses in exactly they same way that he died for our sins. I have also explained this in my book Just a Taste of Heaven – a biblical and balanced approach to God's healing power, which is available from my website www.davidpetts.org. I simply mention it here because it was at Colchester that I began to question what I had previously believed about healing. Of course, we mustn't build our doctrine on our experience, but if our experience doesn't tally with our doctrine it's always good to consider whether we've understood the scriptures correctly. So I was learning important lessons at Colchester which were to stand me in good stead for the next ten years when we would be pastoring the assembly in Basingstoke. Life is a continuing process of learning and sometimes unlearning, and Basingstoke was no exception. Next time I'll begin by telling you how we came to move there.

Passover Seder

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2025 54:37

Originally recorded and released April 15, 2025 Passover Seder Join us for this critical and special Passover Seder broadcast! Be part of this meaningful evening of remembrance, reflection, and celebration as we honor God's faithfulness throughout history. AOG: https://buff.ly/FN2q8KE YouTube: https://buff.ly/AbARBd5 Rumble: https://buff.ly/5wU0zpb X: https://buff.ly/pOrqR2R #prophecy #Amandagrace #Christian #Christianity #Jesus #faith #inspirational #Arkofgrace #prophetic #seder #passover #communion #bodyofchrist #passoverseder #history #mealtime #God #JesusisLord #Holyspirit #amen

god passover seder aog

301 My Story Talk 14 Ministry at Colchester 1962-68 Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2025 16:38

My Story Talk 14 Ministry in Colchester 1962-68 Part 2 Welcome to Talk 14 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Last time we began to talk about the years we spent in Colchester and I shared with you how the church grew during our time there and some of the reasons why. I finished by saying that I felt the Lord was showing us that the key to growth was to follow the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit. Miracles happen as he determines and I was certainly not expecting what happened one Saturday evening. I had gone down to the church at about nine in the evening to attend to a window that would not open. As it was still fairly light, I did not at first turn the lights on. After a few minutes, however, I realised that I needed more light, so I switched them on. I mention this apparently trivial fact because, as it happens, the timing was perfect. Within half a minute someone was knocking at the church door. He later told me that he would not have stopped if he had not seen the light come on just as he approached the church . The man was in his thirties, well over six feet tall. He stood in the doorway, with tears in his eyes. I recognised him because, although he did not come to church , his grandmother had attended regularly until she died about six months earlier. I had met Billy at the funeral and had remembered his name. Come in Billy, I said. What's the matter? Then he told me his story. He had gone to work as usual on Friday morning and had worked later than usual doing some overtime. When he arrived home late that evening, he called out to his wife, but Ingrid did not reply. As he could not imagine where she might be, he searched the house looking for her. He found her in the bedroom, on the bed, unconscious, an empty bottle of sleeping tablets beside her. Ingrid was rushed into hospital, but they were by no means confident that they would be able to resuscitate her. On Saturday there was no improvement. She was in a coma . By this time Billy was frantic. He was pacing up and down at home, when suddenly he noticed a photo of his grandmother on the piano. If only she had been still alive! She would have prayed ! So Billy tried to pray , but he just didn't know what to say. So he jumped on his motorbike and headed for our church . As he approached it, he thought that no one was there and was about to drive past when suddenly the lights came on! I said to him: Billy, I'll tell you why you can't pray . The Bible says that God's ear is not deaf so that he cannot hear, but it's the things we've done wrong that have created a barrier between us and God. I asked him if he had ever asked Jesus to be his Saviour and to forgive him for the wrong things he'd done, and he said, No. When I asked him if he would like to, he said, Yes, and together we prayed and asked Jesus to come into his life. Then I prayed for Ingrid and, as I did so, my prayer turned into a command: In the name of Jesus, I rebuke this coma and command her to come out of it! This seemed a strange thing to say, as Ingrid was two miles away in the Essex County Hospital, and even if she had not been in a coma, she would not have been able to hear me at that distance! By then it was half past nine. I told Billy that Ingrid would be all right, and that he could go home – but as soon as he had gone I found myself doubting. What will I say to him if his wife dies? When Billy got home, he thought he would not be able to sleep so he sat down in an armchair. He told us later that at that moment he saw a bright light and felt a sensation of warmth flow through his body from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. The next thing he knew, it was 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. He rushed into hospital to see how his wife was and was told that she had come out of her coma . Please, he said, can you tell me exactly when it was? The nurse consulted the notes and replied: Yes, it was at exactly half past nine last night. Billy was able to take her home that afternoon. She too became a Christian and they both became members of our church . This was by far the greatest miracle we saw while we were at Colchester, but the growth of our church during the time we were there was not primarily due to miracles or our evangelistic and healing missions. It was due, as I have said, to the Lord's strategy in placing me in a school where I could freely teach the children about Jesus, to his giving me at the same time key people to help start a youth meeting, and to the commitment of people who were prepared to exchange their car for a minibus. And as the congregation grew due to the influx of young people, adults were attracted to join us – some from other churches, others who had just moved into the area, and others who were baptised in the Spirit through my ministry in the early days of what came to be known as the Charismatic Renewal. Getting to know Assemblies of God For the first twenty years of my life I attended a Baptist church and had never even heard of Assemblies of God. Church attendance during the three years I was at Oxford involved going to the Elim church in term time and the AoG in Dagenham during vacations. So, when I accepted the pastorate of the AoG church in Colchester, I had had relatively little experience of AoG, and I am grateful that during our years at Colchester I was able to get to know more of its ministers and how the fellowship functioned at a national level. I have already mentioned some of the ministers who came to preach at our annual conventions, but we were also blessed by visits from those who came to us on itinerary to tell us of the work they were doing for the Lord, to inspire our faith, and to encourage our support for their particular area of ministry. These included missionaries like Roy Leeming pioneering a church in Belgium, Colin Blackman representing the Lilian Trasher orphanages in Egypt, Harold Womersley from the Congo Evangelistic Mission, and David Newington from Lifeline to Africa. We also had visits from Michael Jarvis and Keith Monument. Michael was the AoG National Youth Secretary and Keith the Home Missions Secretary. I was impressed by the passion of these men to win people for Jesus and both were eventually to become good friends for many years. I recently had the privilege of paying a tribute at Keith's funeral service. Keith was a few weeks short of his 99th birthday when he died and had travelled over a million miles in Britain during his ministry for Home Missions. But apart from the visits of such wonderful people, I also got to know AoG better by attending its Annual General Conference and the quarterly meetings of the Essex District Council. It was through the DC meetings that I learned that, if I wanted to become recognised as an AoG minister, I must first apply for Probationary Status. This would last for two years and then I could apply for Full Status. So in 1964, having already been the pastor at Colchester for two years, I applied for Probationary Status. I'm so glad that the system has since been radically improved and that those who apply for status must now undergo a period as Ministers-in-Training, but back then my eligibility was assessed simply by two ministers coming to hear me preach, after which the only supervision I received was one of them saying, Go on giving them the good Word of God, brother. After that, I was left to my own devices for two years until in 1966 I was granted Full Status on the basis that my ministry was bearing fruit and was ordained at General Conference held in Clacton in May of that year. And it was during that conference that God clearly spoke to me and told me to give up my teaching job and trust him to provide for our needs. The call to full-time ministry When I felt the Lord calling me to the ministry at the age of 16, I naturally assumed that it would be my full-time occupation. And that was certainly the desire of my heart. But when we had started at Colchester the church was so small that they could not possibly pay me an adequate salary and that was why I was school teaching. And even though, by 1966, the church had grown considerably, the weekly offerings amounted to only £11 a week and I needed at least £18 a week to cover all our expenses. So when, at a Home Missions rally on the opening night of the Assemblies of God conference, pastor Eddie Durham began his sermon by throwing down a motorcycle gauntlet and challenging young men to give their lives full-time to the work of the ministry, I initially reacted by saying to God, That's all very well, Lord. But you know that I would love to be full-time, but that simply is not possible at the moment. But I knew that with God all things are possible, and so I added, But I'm willing to step out in faith if you will only make it clear that now is the time for me to do so. And if I am to hand in my notice to the school, I will need to know by the end of this conference. I said this because my contract required that I hand in my notice by the end of May if I were not going to return to school in September. I went back to the conference meetings night after night – I could not be present during the daytime because I was teaching – and all I can say is that in one way or another the Lord spoke to me in every meeting confirming that I should give up my teaching job and trust him to meet our needs. Of course, I shared all this with Eileen who had not been able to attend the meetings because she was at home looking after the girls, and she readily agreed that I should do whatever I felt the Lord was telling me. We told no one else about this, and when what I felt the Lord was saying was confirmed through spiritual gifts in church the following Sunday morning, I made up my mind that I would ask to see the head master the very next day. But how do you tell a man who professes to be an atheist that God has spoken to you? Well, you just tell him! And actually he was quite understanding. He just asked if I could consider delaying it for another term so that he could find a replacement. I think I told him, out of courtesy, that I would think about it, but in my heart I felt sure that it would not be necessary. And, sure enough, a few days later he came to me and said that quite unexpectedly he had already found a replacement for September. When they heard the news that I was leaving, colleagues at work made comments like, David, you must have great faith. To which I replied, Well, it's not so much a matter of faith as of obedience. I just know it's what I have to do. And that's what I told the church the following Sunday morning. I made it clear that I was not looking to the church to meet our needs, but I was trusting the Lord. Some said that they thought I should have consulted them before making the decision, but I replied by explaining that I had not wanted to be influenced by man, but only by what God himself was saying. Shortly after that, the church held a meeting and discussed what they should do in the circumstances. The outcome was that they decided that they wanted to trust the Lord with me and that from then on they would pay me 75% of whatever came in the offering and they would meet the ongoing needs of the church from the remaining 25%. Of course, Eileen and I were very encouraged by this even though, judging by the level of offerings at the time, what they would give us would fall far short of what we needed. However, almost immediately, the regular offerings doubled as the people rose to the challenge, and by the time we left Colchester I was receiving a more than adequate salary. Admittedly, for the first year our faith was being tested, but God is faithful and throughout that time we never went without a meal, even though sometimes the best we could do was beans on toast! Of course, we were careful with our money. We made sure that all the bills were paid and then spent whatever was left on food! Hadn't Jesus said that we should not be anxious about what we were to eat or drink? Our Father in Heaven would supply our need. And he did, even if for a while we had to cut out luxuries like biscuits and if the girls had to drink water rather than orange squash! And thanks largely to Eileen's positive attitude, they never complained. They grew up to understand that, however hard up we may feel, in this country we enjoy a higher standard of living than 99% of the rest of the world's population. I am so grateful that financial prosperity has never been high on the agenda of any of our children, and God has blessed them for it. But learning from experience that God was able to meet our needs was by no means the only benefit of giving up my teaching job. It opened the door to a much wider ministry.

Episode 188: RSV Management and Prevention

Rio Bravo qWeek

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 15:04

Episode 188: RSV Management and PreventionDr. Sandhu and future Dr. Mohamed summarize the management of RSV and describe how to prevent it with chemoprophylaxis and vaccines. Dr Arreaza adds some comments about RSV vaccines.Written by Abdolhakim Mohamed, MSIV, Ross University School of Medicine. Comments by Ranbir Sandhu, MD, and Hector Arreaza, MD.You are listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California, a UCLA-affiliated program sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. This podcast was created for educational purposes only. Visit your primary care provider for additional medical advice.What is RSV? -The Respiratory syncytial Virus (RSV) is an enveloped, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Orthopneumovirus genus within the Pneumoviridae family. -RSV is a major cause of acute respiratory tract infections, particularly bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in infants and young children, and it also significantly affects older adults and immunocompromised individuals. -RSV infections cause an estimated 58,000–80,000 hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years and 60,000–160,000 hospitalizations among adults older than 65 years each year.-RSV is highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets and direct contact with contaminated surfaces. The virus typically causes seasonal epidemics, peaking in the winter months in temperate climates and during the rainy season in tropical regions. -Virtually all children are infected with RSV by the age of two, and reinfections can occur throughout life, often with milder symptoms.-Per the 2014 Clinical Practice Guideline: The Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Bronchiolitis, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the most common etiology of bronchiolitis is RSV. -About 97% of children are infected with RSV in the first 2 years of life, about 40% will experience lower respiratory tract infection during the initial infection. Other viruses that cause bronchiolitis include human rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, influenza, adenovirus, coronavirus, and parainfluenza viruses.When is RSV season?-Classically, the highest incidence of infection occurs between December and March in North America. Per CDC, there were typical prepandemic RSV season patterns, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted RSV seasonality during 2020–2022. -Before we dive into the seasonality patterns, for context, in order to describe RSV seasonality in the US, data was gathered and analyzed from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results reported to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) during July 2017–February 2023. -Seasonal RSV epidemics were defined as the weeks during which the percentage of PCR test results that were positive for RSV was ≥3%. Per 2017–2020 data, RSV epidemics in the United States typically follow seasonal patterns, that began in October, peaked in December or January, and ended in April. -However, during 2020–21, the typical winter RSV epidemic did not occur. The 2021–22 season began in May, peaked in July, and ended in January. -The 2022–23 season started (June) and peaked (November) later than the 2021–22 season, but earlier than prepandemic seasons. CDC notes that the timing of the 2022–23 season suggests that seasonal patterns are returning toward those observed in prepandemic years, however, warn that clinicians should be aware that off-season RSV circulation might continue.Treatment of RSVSome key points of the 2014 pediatric guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.-AAP strongly do not recommend beta agonists or steroids for viral associated bronchiolitis because of no significant improved outcomes. “Clinicians should not administer albuterol (or salbutamol) to infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).”-Epinephrine is not recommended for infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).-Nebulized hypertonic saline should not be administered to infants with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis in the emergency department (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Moderate Recommendation), but hypertonic saline may be administered when they are hospitalized (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Weak Recommendation [based on randomized controlled trials with inconsistent findings]).-Chest physiotherapy should not be used in infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Moderate Recommendation).-Antibiotics should not be administered in bronchiolitis unless there is a concomitant bacterial infection, or a strong suspicion of one (Evidence Quality: B; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).-Oxygen therapy may not be administered if the oxyhemoglobin saturation exceeds 90% in infants and children with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (Evidence Quality: D; Recommendation Strength: Weak Recommendation [based on low level evidence and reasoning from first principles]).-Clinicians should administer nasogastric or intravenous fluids for infants with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis who cannot maintain hydration orally (Evidence Quality: X; Recommendation Strength: Strong Recommendation).How do we prevent RSV?Infant Immuno-prophylaxis:A clinical trial in 2022 demonstrated that a single injection of nirsevimab (Beyfortus®), administered before the RSV season, protected healthy late-preterm and term infants from RSV-associated lower respiratory tract that required medical treatment. Nirsevimab is a monoclonal antibody to the RSV fusion protein that has an extended half-life.Additionally, on August 3, 2023, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended nirsevimab for all infants younger than 8 months who are born during or entering their first RSV season and for infants and children between 8-19 months who are at increased risk for severe RSV disease and are entering their second RSV season. On the basis of pre-COVID-19 pandemic patterns, nirsevimab could be administered in most of the continental United States from October through the end of March.Maternal Vaccination: The CDC recommends the administration of the RSVPreF vaccine to pregnant women between 32 0/7 and 36 6/7 weeks of gestation. This vaccination aims to reduce the risk of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infection in infants during the first 6 months of life.At this time, if a pregnant woman has already received a maternal RSV vaccine during any previous pregnancy, CDC does not recommend another dose of RSV vaccine during subsequent pregnancies.Older individuals: -Each year in the U.S., it is estimated that between 60,000 and 160,000 older adults are hospitalized and between 6,000 and 10,000 die due to RSV infection-ABRYSVO's approval will help offer older adults protection in the RSV season.-On June 26, 2024, ACIP voted to give these recommendations: all adults older than 75 years and adults between 60–74 years who are at increased risk for severe RSV disease should receive a single dose of RSV vaccine (Abrysvo®).Even without trying, every night you go to bed a little wiser. Thanks for listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast. We want to hear from you, send us an email at RioBravoqWeek@clinicasierravista.org, or visit our website riobravofmrp.org/qweek. See you next week! _____________________References:Hamid S, Winn A, Parikh R, et al. Seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus — United States, 2017–2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:355–361. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7214a1Hammitt LL, Dagan R, Yuan Y, Baca Cots M, Bosheva M, Madhi SA, Muller WJ, Zar HJ, Brooks D, Grenham A, Wählby Hamrén U, Mankad VS, Ren P, Takas T, Abram ME, Leach A, Griffin MP, Villafana T; MELODY Study Group. Nirsevimab for Prevention of RSV in Healthy Late-Preterm and Term Infants. N Engl J Med. 2022 Mar 3;386(9):837-846. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2110275. PMID: 35235726.Ralston SL, Lieberthal AS, Meissner HC, Alverson BK, Baley JE, Gadomski AM, Johnson DW, Light MJ, Maraqa NF, Mendonca EA, Phelan KJ, Zorc JJ, Stanko-Lopp D, Brown MA, Nathanson I, Rosenblum E, Sayles S 3rd, Hernandez-Cancio S; American Academy of Pediatrics. Clinical practice guideline: the diagnosis, management, and prevention of bronchiolitis. Pediatrics. 2014 Nov;134(5):e1474-502. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-2742. Erratum in: Pediatrics. 2015 Oct;136(4):782. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-2862. PMID: 25349312.CDC, per their published article Seasonality of Respiratory Syncytial Virus — United States for 2017–2023, in the United StatesWhat U.S. Obstetricians Need to Know About Respiratory Syncytial Virus.Debessai H, Jones JM, Meaney-Delman D, Rasmussen SA. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2024;143(3):e54-e62. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000005492.Maternal Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccination and Receipt of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Antibody (Nirsevimab) by Infants Aged

300 My Story Talk 13 Ministry at Colchester 1962-68 Part 1

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2025 19:15

My Story Talk 13 Ministry at Colchester (1962-68) Part 1 Our time at Colchester saw the arrival of our first two children, Deborah in 1964 and Sarah, fifteen months later in 1965. Apart from the birth of the girls, the most significant aspects of our time in Colchester were the growth of the church, my ministry beyond the local church, and the lessons the experience taught me. In this talk I'll be dealing mainly with the growth of the church, but first a word about practical things like employment, housing, holidays, and transport. Employment, housing, holidays, and transport Before we were married, Eileen had been working in the Dagenham education office, and on moving to Colchester she found an excellent job in the education office there, which was within walking distance of our new home. She was soon promoted to a highly responsible administrative position which she held until shortly before Debbie was born. As for me, although the church was contributing £5 a week towards the rent of our bungalow, it was essential that, for the time being at least, I find full-time secular employment. For the first year, the nearest RE (Religious Education) teaching post available was in Braintree which necessitated a thirty-mile round trip every day. However, a year later a post became available in Colchester at the Alderman Blaxill Secondary School, a little over a mile from our church and a similar distance from our home. In those days the RE syllabus was based almost entirely on the Bible, so lesson preparation was not difficult, and I became very much aware that teaching 300 children every week was an important part of my ministry. I will say more later about how the Lord remarkably blessed that work, but how in 1966 the Lord called me to give up the teaching job and give myself full-time to the work of the church. The rent for the bungalow we were living in was about £28 a month, which sounds ridiculously low by today's prices, but it didn't seem so then bearing in mind that my monthly salary as a teacher was only £60! However, we soon discovered that some new houses were being built nearer to our church and that as a schoolteacher I could get a 100% mortgage to buy one. The monthly repayments would be just £18, £10 less than we were already paying in rent. The only problem was that the builders required a £20 deposit to secure the plot. Eileen had £20 saved up to buy a hoover, which we desperately needed, and we were wondering what to do, when my mother, not knowing anything about our plans to buy a new property, phoned to say that she was buying a new hoover and asked if we would we like her old one, which was in perfectly good condition. We saw this as a clear sign that the Lord was prompting us to make the move, and we paid the £20 deposit and moved into our new home in August, 1963. My parents also moved in 1963. They had been living in Hornchurch since before I was born, and now I was married they decided to move to a new bungalow in Eastwood, not far from Southend-on-Sea. So when the children came along we were grateful for our holidays to be visits to our parents who were equally pleased to have an opportunity to spend time with their grandchildren. Eileen's parents were still living in Hornchurch, and it was always good to see them, but my parents' home in Eastwood, with its proximity to the sea and the beautiful view of open countryside to the rear of the property was especially inviting. We usually travelled there on a Monday and returned on the Saturday so as not to leave the church unattended on Sundays. But that brings me to the subject of transport. During the course of my ministry, I have owned or had the use of some fifty different vehicles, ranging from my first car, a Ford Prefect, which I bought during my final term at Oxford, to my recently acquired nine-year-old Mercedes E-Class saloon. The Ford Prefect broke down in the cold winter of 1963 when the snow lay on the ground throughout January, February and most of March. I was on my way to school in Braintree when it happened, and I quickly decided that I needed something more reliable. That was when we bought our fourth Lambretta scooter, reliable because it was new, but extremely uncomfortable and at times difficult to control in that freezing weather. So it wasn't long before I was back in a car again. In the summer I borrowed an old Bradbury van from the father of some of the children coming to our meetings. He said we could have it for the day to take them to the seaside. Unfortunately, it broke down on the way home and I was left with about a dozen kids on the roadside. As I was wondering and praying what to do, a man came by in a Humber Hawk and asked if he could help. It was a large car and somehow he bundled all the kids on to the back seat and, with me beside him in the front, kindly drove us all back home. But that gave me an idea. Maybe I should get a Humber and use it for children's work! I looked in the local paper and saw an ad for a Humber Super Snipe, even larger than the Hawk. It was over ten years old, but I had read somewhere that if you're buying a second-hand car it might be wise to get a big one. It might cost a bit more in fuel, but the engine was more likely to be reliable! Which has been my excuse for buying big cars ever since! So I bought it for £80 and discovered that it did 11 to the gallon in town and, if you were lucky, 19 on a run! But it did the job, and I remember on one occasion squeezing eighteen kids into it to get them to Sunday School! It was only a short distance, and I realise now how potentially dangerous that was. But in those days ‘risk assessment' had not been invented and there was no requirement to wear a seatbelt. In fact, there were no seatbelts. Piling people into the back of a van or lorry was quite common, but of course there was far less traffic on the roads back then. And if it did enter our head that something might be risky, we just trusted the Lord to take care of us! But it soon became obvious that we needed something more suited to the task, and I traded in my Humber for a 12-seater minibus. And before long we were running four minibuses to bring people to the meetings as one person after another, following my example, exchanged their car for one. Everything we have belongs to the Lord, and if changing our car for a minibus will lead to more people coming to Christ, we should surely be prepared to do so. The commitment of such people was undoubtedly one of the reasons for the growth of the church while we were there, and that's where we turn to next. The growth of the church The Full Gospel Mission, Straight Road, Lexden, was nothing more than a tin hut with the potential to seat at most eighty people. When Eileen and I arrived, there were only twelve regular attenders, and that included a family of four who emigrated to Australia not long after our arrival, leaving us with a congregation of eight. By the time we left, the church was packed every Sunday with eighty regular attenders, which, in the 1960s was considered rapid growth, and my main purpose in this section is to explore the reasons why. But first, a word about the church programme. Church programme When we arrived in Colchester we inherited what was a typical programme for AoG churches in those days. On Sunday mornings there was the Breaking of Bread service, otherwise known as Communion. There was a Sunday School for the children in the afternoon, and on Sunday evenings there was the Gospel Service where all the hymns and the sermon were designed to bring people to Christ, and after which there would be laying on of hands and prayer for the sick. Midweek on Tuesday evenings there was a Children's Meeting from six to seven followed by a Prayer Meeting at nine, and on Thursday evenings there was Bible Study. There was no meeting for young people until we started one on a Friday, but more of that later. The attendance at these meetings was far from encouraging. In fact, during our first year at Colchester, the Sunday School and Children's Meeting were attended by only a handful of children, and the midweek meetings for adults were hardly better. On Sundays, if we had visitors, numbers might rise to fifteen. I faithfully preached the gospel every Sunday evening, but in that year we saw not one single decision for Christ, largely because most Sundays everyone present was already a Christian. Apart from the weekly programme, there was the church's Annual Convention when a guest speaker would be invited for the weekend and friends from surrounding Pentecostal churches would come for the two meetings held on the Saturday. It was good to see the building full and to hear some of the pioneers of the Pentecostal Movement like Howard and John Carter. But while these occasions were a real encouragement, they hardly made up for the weeks throughout the year when so few were attending. So what made the difference in the remaining years where we saw our numbers multiply significantly? Reasons for growth It is the Lord who builds his church, and in my view, the major reason for the growth of the church was, without a doubt, the fact that he strategically placed me as an RE teacher in a local school where I was free to teach the young people about Jesus. That, combined with the fact that he sent me key people to help me start a Youth Meeting on a Friday night, resulted in dozens of decisions for Christ, many of whom started to come on Sundays. It all started when I received an invitation to preach at the Youth Meeting in the Colchester Elim Church. After the meeting a couple of people in their early twenties asked me if we had a Youth Meeting at our church, and I said that I'd like to start one but that I had no musician. To which they responded by offering to help me. David Fletcher was an able guitarist and John Ward an excellent accordion player. Together with their fiancées, Jean and Sandra, who were good singers, they made a great group for leading worship and were, quite literally, a Godsend. All this, in the providence of God, coincided with my starting teaching in the local school and with a girl called Corinne, one of the children from a family in our church, starting there too. She provided the link between my RE lessons and the local church. I told the children about Jesus, and she told her friends where they could find out more. So we launched our new Youth Meeting by hiring a couple of coaches to provide transport to the church from just outside the school gates. My new friends from Elim provided the music and I preached. In school I had been able to tell them about Jesus, but I couldn't make a gospel appeal in RE lessons! Now, in church, I had complete freedom, and on the very first night, when I made the appeal forty-one children made a decision for Christ. And when a number of them started coming on Sundays, on one occasion eleven of them being baptised in the Holy Spirit, there was a new sense of expectancy among the older members. They were thrilled to see young people in their meetings, and that began to attract people from other churches too, including David and Jean, John and Sandra, who decided to join us because of their work with the youth. Of course, our attempts to reach people with the gospel were not limited to the young people. I produced a quarterly newsletter which we called The Full Gospel Mission VOICE. We distributed thousands of these to the homes in the area, using my minibus on a Saturday morning to transport ten or so young people to deliver them street by street throughout the area. I can think of only one person who came to Christ through that ministry, but at least we knew that people had had an opportunity to read the gospel even if they never came to church. After I had given up my teaching job, I also conducted two evangelistic missions in our church. Each mission lasted from a Saturday through to the following Sunday. We leafleted far and wide, each leaflet containing a message about healing as well as salvation, and, of course, details of the meetings. The meetings were well attended, but mainly by Christians who wanted prayer for healing, and although there were a few decisions for Christ and some healings, I have no memory of anyone being added to our church as a result. And an SPF mission we conducted in Wivenhoe, a village near Colchester next to which the new University of Essex was about to be built, fared little better. It was a great experience for the students who participated, but there were very few local people who attended. Apart, that is, from Ian and Janet Balfour, a couple from a Strict Baptist background, who came to support us, got to know us, were baptised in the Spirit as a result, and decided to move to a house less than five minutes' walk from our church. They had four children all under the age of five, one of whom was Glenn, later to come as a student to Mattersey Hall, and, for a time after my principalship, its principal. The Lord clearly had a purpose in our going to Wivenhoe, even if, at the time, we felt rather disappointed with the results. And Ian and Janet were not the only people added to our church as a result of receiving the baptism in the Spirit. Alan Coe, who was a work colleague of John Ward and had recently become a Christian, came along to our meetings, received the baptism, and joined our church. He proved a very faithful member, and when I was in contact with him recently was still attending regularly. David Littlewood, a former Methodist, later to become an AoG minister and a member of Mattersey's Board of Governors, was also baptised in the Spirit in our church while he was a student at the University of Essex. But the ministry the Lord had given me of praying for people to be filled with the Spirit was not limited to those who would become members of our church. I had the privilege of laying hands on Reginald East, the vicar of West Mersea, and on Mike Eavery, the minister of the local Congregational Church and seeing them both baptised in the Spirit in their homes. So the Lord was blessing us in ways that perhaps we had not expected, and if the results of the evangelistic missions we conducted were rather disappointing, he was showing us that the key to growth was to follow the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit. Miracles happen as he determines, and I was certainly not expecting what happened one Saturday evening. But I'll tell you about that next time.

A Leader's Ups and Downs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 38:08

Jake DeRuyter, a 2015 Air Force Academy graduate, shares a compelling leadership journey marked by unexpected challenges and resilient adaptation. ----more---- SUMMARY Initially aspiring to be a pilot, Jake faced a critical moment when back surgery disqualified him from his dream career, forcing him to quickly choose a new Air Force Specialty Code within just one hour. Despite the uncertainty, he remained calm and strategic, ultimately transitioning to intelligence and then to an ROTC instructor role. His leadership philosophy emerged from these experiences: staying flexible, maintaining a strong network, and focusing on developing others rather than just personal advancement. SHARE THIS EPISODE LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK JAKE'S LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS - Always be willing to adapt and stay resilient when unexpected challenges arise, like Jake did when he couldn't become a pilot and had to quickly choose a new career path. - Build and maintain a strong network of connections, as these relationships can help you navigate career transitions and provide support. - Focus on developing the people around you, not just your own career advancement. A great leader lifts up their team and helps others grow. - Stay proactive in reaching out to people, checking in, and genuinely listening to their stories and experiences. - Be willing to take risks on talented individuals, especially those from similar backgrounds or networks, like how Jake was given an opportunity by fellow graduates. - Maintain a competitive spirit and drive, but channel it into continuous self-improvement and supporting others. - Give back to your community, whether through mentoring, volunteering, or leading local chapters and organizations. - Be prepared to put in consistent daily effort, understanding that success comes from habits and persistent hard work. - Stay open to unexpected opportunities and be willing to pivot when your initial career path doesn't work out. - Prioritize relationships and connections over individual achievements, recognizing that your success is often measured by the people you've helped develop. JAKE'S TOP 5 LEADERSHIP LESSONS Here are the 5 best leadership lessons from Jake DeRuyter's interview: Build Others Up, Not Just Yourself Jake emphasized that true leadership is about developing the people around you. As he said, "Don't just worry about your own career and life" - great leaders are judged by the success of those they mentor and support. Stay Adaptable and Resilient When Jake's pilot career was unexpectedly derailed, he demonstrated the critical leadership skill of staying calm under pressure and quickly pivoting. He chose to focus on what he could control rather than getting stuck on what he couldn't change. Maintain Genuine Connections Jake consistently stressed the importance of reaching out, checking in with people, and truly listening. He makes time to connect with classmates, colleagues, and fellow graduates, understanding that relationships are the foundation of effective leadership. Take Calculated Risks and Support Others Jake's career trajectory shows the importance of being willing to take risks - both for yourself and for others. He was given a chance by fellow graduates and now pays it forward by helping other transitioning military members. Give Back Consistently Leadership isn't just about personal achievement, but about contributing to your community. Jake exemplifies this through his role as chapter president, mentoring cadets, and always being available to help fellow Air Force Academy graduates. EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Leadership Journeys 05:31 Navigating Life's Crossroads 12:01 The Role of Mentorship and Family 17:31 Transitioning from Military to Civilian Life 20:48 Motivation and Personal Drive 22:02 The Daily Grind: A Shift in Focus 24:31 Building Community: Chapter Leadership 27:29 Challenges of Leadership and Engagement 29:00 Giving Back: The Importance of Community 31:12 Leadership Lessons: Daily Practices 32:53 Advice for Aspiring Leaders 34:25 Reflections on Involvement and Connection 36:40 Final Thoughts and Gratitude ABOUT JAKE BIO As a 2015 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Jake spent six years on active duty serving as an Intel Officer and ROTC Instructor. Having left the service, he now am an Account Executive on the Air Force team at IMPRES Technology Solutions providing active duty units with the tech they need to accomplish the mission. - Copy courtesy of Jake DeRuyter and LinkedIn CONNECT WITH JAKE LINKEDIN | ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES - CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER ALL PAST LBL EPISODES | ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS FULL TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS GUEST, JAKE DERUYTER '15 | HOST, LT. COL. (RET.) NAVIERE WALKEWICZ '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:00 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. My guest today is Jake DeRuyter, Class of '15, currently an account executive with Impress Technology and the president of the Central Texas Chapter of the Association of Graduates, quite possibly our youngest graduate to do so. He is second-generation Air Force following his father, a graduate from the Class of '85, and uncle, Class of '87 from our Air Force Academy, the only school that he applied to after high school. We'll talk about those things, Jake's leadership journey and a particular crossroad he arrived at when he had one hour to decide his entire life. Jake, welcome to Long Blue Leadership, and I'd like to dive right in: One hour to decide your entire life. What's that about? Jake DeRuyter 01:22 Yeah, so my second semester, first year, I was dealing with some pretty significant back issues, and didn't realize how just how severe it was. So I'm in the flight dock. It was either the Monday the week before or the week of graduation, and the doctor's like, “Hey, you're gonna need back surgery to remove the bulging disc in your back.” I'm like, “OK, great. I can barely walk, so sign me up. Whatever you can do make me feel better.” And they're like, “Well, you're not gonna be able to keep your pilot slot if you proceed with the surgery.” And I'm not gonna lie and say it was my end all dream to be a pilot, but you go through all four years thinking you're gonna fly, you're pretty fired up for it, we're a week away from graduation, and then it's like, hey, the rug is just pulled. But I had to make a decision right there where it's like, “Hey, I'd rather be able to walk and be pain free than fly.” And so that was a pretty easy decision at that point. And then the next part is, what you alluded to, is where things got a little tricky. So being just a couple days before walking across the stage and saluting the secretary of the Air Force, I'm like, “So what's my job going to be?” I don't even know what else is available in the Air Force. I didn't have to focus on this.” And they're like, “Well, I'm just the flight doc. Go talk to the personnel office over in Vandy, and they'll get you taken care of.” So, I walk — or hobble — on over there, And I'm like, “Hey, Jake DeRuyter, I told the flight doc to give y'all a call, you know, to get me a new job. What's my life look like? What are we doing next?” And she just goes, “Well, there was a big missileer crisis, and we're really desperate for missileers. So, you're gonna be missiles now.” And I'm just, like — my jaw dropped. Naviere Walkewicz Not what you expected to hear. Jake DeRuyter Not what I wanted and like, not to downplay missiles, just not what I wanted to join the Air Force to do, right? That's... I'm just like, standing there in shock. And she's like, “Are you OK?” And I'm like, “I kind of want to jump off my room on top of Vandy, but you know, it's gonna be fine. Do I get some preferences? Do I have any say in this?” Just assigning that to kind of seems aggressive. She goes, “Well, I guess I can take your preferences down.” And I'm just like, “Why didn't you lead with that? That would have been great.” And so she's like, “Well, I need to submit these right now. So, what do you want to do?” I'm like, “Well, what are my options? I don't even know what other AFSC's there are.” So, that becomes a very frantic hour of me calling all my teachers. I was a management major — I highly recommend that. One of the best decisions of my life was going through the management department. And I call my teachers and they're like, “Hey, stick with something business related, like contracting, acquisitions, finance. If you put one of those three down, you're guaranteed to do it.” I'm like, “OK, sweet. Sounds like it sure bets on me. Like, that, sounds easy enough.” but they made you put down five. And, you know, you always hear the horror stories where if you don't put down something, it defaults to the needs of the Air Force, right? So I think I put down like PA, just because I was like, “There's no way they'll pick me for that. There's barely any PA officers.” And I, for the life of me, couldn't tell you what I put in the fifth spot. And so, I walk out of there kind of dejected. I'm like, “Man, my whole life just changed in the span of an hour. No idea what the next— I don't know where I'm gonna be living. I don't know what my job's gonna be like. What in the world's going on?” So, the next day we're all sitting in one of those final briefings, you know, “Hey, here's how you PCS. Here's how you do XYZ.” Right? As the meeting's about to kick off, that same tech sergeant — God, I'd give her a big hug now — she walks up to me with some paperwork and says, “Congratulations, sir.” And I'm looking at her like the person just told me my life was over the day before, so I'm not exactly happy to see this person. And then I look at the paper, and it just says, “Goodfellow Air Force Base.” I had no idea where in the world that was, what job that was or anything. I just knew it wasn't Vandenberg for missileer training. So I just look at her and go, “I'm not missiles?” She's like, “You're not missiles.” I stand up, give her a big old hug. You know, they're trying to start a briefing. They're like, “Sir, please sit down for...” “Sorry, I'm too happy right now.” So yeah, that started me off on my journey to San Angelo, Texas, which I didn't really know what I was getting into there, but, yeah, going intel kind of led me to where I am now in life. And looking back on it now, all the crazy things that happened, it put me where I am now, and so, I'm very thankful for the things and how they all ended up and put me in a position where I can give back to the community now and really serve the Air Force and fellow grads in a much better capacity than I ever could have while on active duty. Naviere Walkewicz 05:30 Well, it's so interesting because, you know, you think about the Air Force Academy as a place where they teach you to be able to make decisions on the fly, or to make the best calculated decision you can at the time.What leadership lessons do you think you called upon in that frantic moment of well, not only can you not be a pilot now because we're going to have this surgery, but now you have to pick an AFSC. What do you think you drew upon to guide you through that in a kind of a leadership manner? Jake DeRuyter 06:02 Yeah, the biggest thing was just staying calm and realizing, OK, whatever happens, happens, I can't change the past. I can only deal with the information given, and push forward. I could sit there and get upset with myself or upset at the world, but that doesn't do anything. It's like, “All right, how do we take action?? How we take that next step to get over this?” Because you want to be in control of your life as much as possible, going forward, right? And choosing your AFSC, arguably, is probably one of the biggest things you could possibly choose in life, next to your spouse and things like that. And that determines, however, what your entire Air Force career is going to be. So yeah, doing that in the hour was definitely very frantic. But, one of the biggest things I really pride myself on, and really want to encourage others is the connections you make throughout your Academy experience, through active duty, in your life — those are the people that are going to help you in those dark times, those tough times. And lean on those people. And the only way you can lean on them is if you prove to them that they can lean on you when they need help, right? As that's one of the things I make a pillar in my life is, when those friends are in a dark time, I want to be the one that, “Hey, I'll be there for you.” That's always one thing I'm passionate about, and what I centered my leadership philosophy around. Naviere Walkewicz 07:15 I love that. I think you just kind of hit on it, right? You have this network, and I imagine your family is part of that — your dad being a graduate. What role did he play in this moment in your life, and how did you navigate that with him? Jake DeRuyter 07:30 Yeah, he was awesome, and he was a big reason why I went to the Academy. He always did a really good job of putting that as an option but not forcing it or not shoving it down my throat. And I was really thankful to him for the life me and my sister had growing up, and all the crazy places we moved to and everything. And I didn't really know what I wanted to do, as you hinted in the preview. I didn't apply anywhere else because I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I grew up. And he was like, “Hey, the Academy was always a great place, and worst case, they tell you what to do.” And he's like, “Hey, if you want a similar life to where you grew up, I attribute everything to that, and that's kind of what led me there.” So yeah, you better believe after calling my teachers to figure out what AFSC I should do, he was my next call to be like, “Hey, I knew you always wanted me to fly, but that's not working anymore. So what do you think?” So, he's been a tremendous help my entire life. I mean, I talk to him at least every week. So, yeah, huge help there. Naviere Walkewicz 08:27 That's amazing. So you went on to be an intel officer, and what was that like? And then how did you decide that it was going to be time to move on to transitioning out of the military. Jake DeRuyter 08:42 Yeah, so intel wasn't exactly a great fit for me, and what I was like trying to do. You know, when you're told your intel, I imagine— I knew nothing. So I'm like, “Oh, I'll be a spy. I'll be James Bond. I'll be the CIA. None of those were remotely true. So, I got stationed in San Antonio, Texas, for my first job, which was great. I love San Antonio. I worked with some amazing people. Our mission was a little funky. We were doing defensive cyber ops as it was kind of standing up. So, doing intel support for a mission that doesn't really know what they're doing is a little difficult at the time. Now, knock on wood, hopefully things have gotten a lot better since I was there, but building the plane as you're flying was our moniker that we would use. And so it was definitely challenging. And then a lot of it just felt like doing homework and giving briefings over and over again. So, you have a lot of hours in the SCIF doing researching on different cyber threats and then going and briefing the commanders. It was a cool job; I learned a ton. But it wasn't very fulfilling for me. I wanted to get out, be more helpful to other people and have more of a direct impact. And so that led me to teaching ROTC at Texas State, which was a great three years, and really kind of re-blued me. I loved that job. Can't recommend it enough for people that are looking to take a break from their career field. But then when they said, “Hey, you got to go back to intel,” that was my big decision, or my the point where I was like, “All right, I don't think an active-duty career is left in the cards for me. I'm gonna take my next step, moving on.” Naviere Walkewicz 10:09 So, you even talked about before you decided to transition out of the Air Force, you had pivoted within your career field and took a temporary job outside of your career field as an ROTC instructor, and you said it re-blued. You talk about that and how did it grow you as a leader? I mean, what did you learn about yourself in that? Jake DeRuyter 10:29 I learned that I really cared about the people more than the operational mission, and so, building up the people, building out the future lieutenants. Like, “Hey, that's how I can better serve the Air Force.” And the whole reason I got the job was because they had to give a waiver for me, because I was technically still a lieutenant, which was not allowed. But I was really upfront with my leadership and my intel job, and they knew I didn't love the career field and I wasn't really a good fit for that world. But they're like, “Hey, Jake's out, great at recruiting. He's good at getting people to go out and do things and help others. He'd be a natural fit there.” So they called all the ROTC leadership to vouch for me to get that job. And then one of the biggest things I took away is that when you go to the Academy, if you're in the Academy, you're in. You have a spot in the Air Force, assuming you pass all your classes, you don't get kicked out for X, Y, Z reasons, and then you'll have a job. ROTC is completely different. You could have 4.0, max your PT scores, be the perfect cadet. And then the Air Force decides, “Hey, we're only taking 40% this year,” which happened my second year in the job and we just had to lose half of our class. So, learning to deal with that rejection when there's nothing that you personally could have done was really challenging. And we had a ton of mentorship sessions with the cadets. “Hey, what are second, tertiary options?” Things like that. Kind of like what I did where it's like, “You're going to be— the doors will get slammed in your face over and over again in life. How do you respond to that, that resiliency and then that flexibility to adapt and overcome?” I mean, those are stuff I'll take with me for the rest of my life. Naviere Walkewicz 12:01 Wow. And so you got to be a mentor in a way for those Air Force ROTC cadets, if they didn't get a slot, and kind of navigating. And then you found yourself in that seat when you decided to transition yourself, right? Jake DeRuyter 12:14 Yeah. So, they were gonna send me to another intel role, and I had just met my wife at the time. We were gonna get married soon. I'm like, “Man, the time to deploy and kind of live the Air Force life isn't my main goal anymore, and so I tried to push out my separation date as long as possible, so I had time to do the job search and really see what else is out there. And I didn't really know what I wanted to be once again. But I was like, “Hey, I love living here in Austin, Texas. I figure I can get something tech related or sales related,” I'm kind of naturally inclined to both of those things. And one of my classmates, Keith Link, he reached out to me because I host a big March Madness pool every year for a ton of grads. And he's like, “Hey, man, just started this role here. I think you'd be a great fit for the company. We're trying to build out our Air Force team. Our boss is a Navy grad. Would you be interested in interviewing us?” And then I was like, “Yeah, man, that sounds great.” You know, I'd still be working with the Air Force in a tech- slash sales-type role. I'm like, “Yeah, this is everything that I wanted. Sounds awesome…” having, once again, no idea I was getting into. But I go through the interview process and I'm trying to sell myself on SkillBridge, trying to get that free internship saying, “Hey, I could be a free worker for y'all for a couple of months here.” I'm trying to sell myself. And at the end of the interview process, John Podolak, '88 Navy grad, I believe. He's like, “Jake, you've had a bunch of people vouch for you. I really believe in the grad network; it doesn't matter which Academy you went to.” He said, “Hey, if you're gonna come and do SkillBridge with us, I want you to know you have a job offer at the end of it.” And he handed me my job offer right there. I think we were four months out, so I was in shock. To this day I can't believe it. He took the risk on me that coming fresh in a completely separate career field, no background besides being able to speak Air Force. And it all goes back to our Long Blue Line. I don't know what Navy calls it, but it's a “Hey, we all have similar backgrounds.” Naviere Walkewicz 14:17 Long Blue Navy Line, maybe? I'm not sure. Jake DeRuyter 14:21 Yeah. He's like, “Hey, I know I could put trust in you because of your background, what you're all about.” and that's something that I really internalized and leading to my role now. It's like, “Hey, we'll give you the benefit of the doubt if you're a fellow grad,” right? Doesn't matter which Academy, you know? In particular, we're gonna favor the Air Force. But yeah, that's like, one thing I just really want to make a pillar of my life. Like I said earlier, it's like, hey, I want to help out fellow grads. Because if it wasn't for Keith and John taking a risk on me out of the blue, I wouldn't be where I am today. Naviere Walkewicz 14:53 It seems like that's been a thread in your life. You know, finding a network and supporting and taking care of people, and then seeing that reciprocated to help continue to fuel what is important to you. Talk a little bit about what that transition was like, though, because it almost sounds too easy. I mean, has it been just rainbows since you kind of took that leap. Jake DeRuyter 15:17 Oh, God, no. Year 1, any career field, especially, you know, a sales driven one, it's a challenge. You don't know what you're doing. You're fish out of water. I was going to a million different Air Force bases, walking on base, trying to meet people, not even knowing what I was doing, let alone convincing other people what we do. And so that was a challenge. I think I went to 19 different bases my first year; I was on a plane every chance I could get, just trying to make a name for myself and say, “Hey, I'm Jake DeRuyter, we can do anything help you. What do you need?” And people were always like, “Well, we don't need anything. Like, we want one specific thing. Can you do this?” And so you really kind of have to find yourself, because the Air Force, especially as an officer, you're leading a team, right? Or you're part of some overarching team. But in this role, when I started, it was me, myself and I. So that was just a huge lifestyle change. It was a little refreshing. That's like, “Hey, I don't have to worry about my cadets or my airmen outside of the job.” And this was a nice refresh. But like everything else, it's like, “Hey, I am the only one providing for my family, to pay the bills,” everything like that. Like, how hard am I going to work? And how am I going to put in the effort to grind day in and day out. Just getting good at any job, you can't just have one great day, just like working out. You can't just have one great day and expect to bench 500 pounds, right? It's the things that you do day in and day out and building up the right habits and having the right communication with people, and then just being relatable. One of the other biggest things: Say you're gonna do something and follow up and do it. We always joke that it's a weird that it's a skill to follow up with people and respond to them in a meaningful time. It shouldn't be, but that's just one of those things where people need help. We want to be the ones that are there. And it's just doing that over and over again. Because, man, that Year 1 was like, “Why did I pick this job? Why did I pick this career choice? I should have gone into consulting. I should have gotten started in literally anything else.” Thank God I stuck with it. It's, again, been one of the greatest decisions I've made, and we have an awesome team, but we've brought in a few other Academy grads with us as well, and it's been a lot of fun since. Naviere Walkewicz 17:31 May I ask why you stuck with it when it and everything against in your core was, “Why did I do this? I could have picked anything else?” Why did you stay? Jake DeRuyter 17:41 I really wanted to prove it to myself and really prove it to Keith and John. You know, they took the risk on me, so I didn't want to let them down. And I think that was the biggest thing, where it's like, “Hey, you guys took the risk on me out of the blue.” And I'm like— you know, Keith and I were classmates, you know, we were never close, right? Like, you know, we barely kept in touch over the years. And it's just like, “Hey, you stuck your name out.” Like, this is the real world, right? In the Air Force, if you want to do the full 20 years you can do 20 years, right? In the real world, it's “Hey, if you're not have a nice day.” You gotta find new employment. And so I was like, “I'm not gonna let you guys down. I'm gonna fight for this.” Being a small company, we're not a big name brand, right? No one knows who we are. So, it's a little bit that underdog mentality, and just like, “Hey, how am I gonna outhustle the next guy? How am I gonna outhustle XYZ company that's a competitor?” And it's just that competitive drive that I've just always had. I'm not playing sports every day anymore, but how do you still stay competitive and still stay active and still have that drive to be the best you can be, and go on and go forth? Naviere Walkewicz 18:52 Well, it sounds like this competitive drive is something you said, it was something you've always had. Can you share a story from when you recall, when, gosh, even something, you know, back in early-Jake days that this is a moment I realized, “I'm a competitive person. I'm driven by this desire to prove myself.” Is there something that pops to mind? Because I can only just imagine if it was already part of your core when you kind of knew this about yourself? Jake DeRuyter 19:18 Oh, yeah, I've got a good one. So, my dad was coaching with the Academy going into my junior year of high school, and his goal was always to get me all three years at one school, which we had at the time, we had never lived anywhere longer than three years in a row. So, that was a tough task. And I just finished up my junior year of playing football, and things were going good, and then he gets a job offer down in Texas, and he comes to me. He's like, “Hey, what do you think? I don't want to move you going into your senior year, but I want to talk to you first before, yeah, I make any decisions.” And I'm like, “Wait, I get the chance to play Texas high school football. Are you kidding me? Let's do this. I get one year for it. That's awesome.” So, yeah, that's the No. 1 story that comes to my mind where it's like, “Hey, I want to take the risk on myself and be competitive and go play the best of the best.” Naviere Walkewicz 20:18 Play with the best of the best. And that does seem to be a theme, right? Air Force Academy, putting yourself out there, jumping in full feet into this new role. You know, what have you learned about yourself? You talked about motivating. It's different when you have people that you have to take care of, and I guess maybe your translation is your family you have to take care of. But how do you motivate yourself when it's a you, yourself and you — you said “me, myself, and I” and I couldn't think of the other way to say it. But when it's just you, what keeps you motivated? Jake DeRuyter 20:52 Yeah, I'm definitely very externally motivated. So it's my team. When you want to talk about the Monday-through-Friday grind, and then my wife and, the overarching family, growing up, family has always been really close and a huge motivator for me. And, you know, I've just always wanted to be able to provide for others and provide for myself, and you never want to have to worry about that next meal, or the job, employment — things like that. And just saying, “Hey, you know, these opportunities you get there — don't take it for granted.” And it's like you've got to fight and earn everything. You're not just going to be handed out anything. And that's just something always back in my mind, where it's like, if I'm not doing it like somebody else is going to, I'm going to lose that opportunity, or someone's going to step in, right? And so it's just one thing where it's just being like the Academy grad, like you don't, we'll move up to the name brand. That's another huge thing I always have in my head. It's like, I want to represent the brand. Well, I'm like, “How do you do that?” Is because, like, we've all met those people. It's like, hey man, like, you know, like, shoot. Like, “I really like you, but like, I don't think you represent us. Well, I never want to be that type of person, right? And so that's one of those things I just really like the kitchen, going day in and day out. Naviere Walkewicz 22:01 So the daily grind… You said, in the first year you think you visited like 19 bases just to try and figure it out. What does the daily grind look like now? Jake DeRuyter 22:10 Completely changed, thankfully, I really only focus on three, which still has me plenty busy, but at least I'm not in all these crazy places, which is nice. Now it's weird because I set my own schedule. No one's ever asking, “Hey, you got to be here at 7:30 and clock out at 4:30.” It's a complete polar oppositie of the Air Force. Like, if I want to go golf every Friday at noon, no one's stopping me from doing that, except for, that'd probably be a detriment to my team and our success, right? And so it's this complete mindset change where it's like, “Hey, I'm going to still put in a full day's work and get everything I can out of the day.” But I'm not sitting down at my desk. So when I'm home, I'm following up with teams making sure everything is good internally at the company, and then a lot of the time I'm on the road. So, I go to Eglin Air Force Base a lot, Hill Air Force Base and Edwards. Those are my three where I'm constantly rotating through. So, if anyone's at those bases, please let me know. Love to reach out to you guys, grab a beer, dinner or anything. You know, it's a lot of lonely nights in the hotel. So, every chance I get to meet up with fellow grads, see what else is going on — I love taking advantage of that opportunity. I've done that numerous times, and that's one of my favorite things and one of my favorite parts of the job. So, I don't know what a standard day looks like for me. That's one thing I love about this job. And kind of why I stuck with it, so I'm never bored. No day is the same. You're always finding a new opportunity, someone new to talk to, some new base, a new program, that there's infinite possibilities. It's such a big Air Force and it gives me a chance to stay involved with our community, give back, and just, hey, if there's another grad out there that's looking to separate and needs a job, any grad — I've offered this plenty of times and stepped through it — any grad that's trying to separate, you have an instant interview at a minimum, with us right away. Please reach out anytime. Naviere Walkewicz 24:03 That's amazing. I think you know you talk about there is no standard, but maybe you actually... the standard is that you hold yourself to a standard so that you're seeking opportunities when they're there, you're prepared, and you're trying to connect with other grads and make ways for them as well, or at least a potential opportunity. Let's talk about that, because I find— you know, you're a 2015 graduate, you're in your career trajectory, and you've made time to become the chapter president for the Central Texas chapter. And, you know, chapter services, that's when you bring grads together. I don't know how you manage that, as well as build a business. Let's talk about that. How did that even happen? Jake DeRuyter 24:43 Yeah, so Mike Lambert started our chapter. He's a '70 grad, one of the coolest, most informative, just unique individuals. He is the greatest guy. Now, I wish I could live half the life that he has when I get to be his age. I reached out to him a couple years ago now saying, “Hey, the baseball team's in town playing UT, we have plans to all go to it, like, what's going on? Because I, this is bad on me... I didn't know that the chapter existed at the time. And he's like, “Oh shoot. I didn't know about it. Yeah, that sounds great. I'll send out a message, let's start rallying people to go as a big group.” I think we got maybe 20 to 30 people. It's a decent showing. And then after he's like, “Hey, I'm looking to pass this on to somebody. Would you be interested in it?” And I'm like, “Yeah, of course. I don't really know what it entails.” And then without me kind of having a say in it, everyone there is like, “Oh, hey, let's all have a vote right now. Raise your hand if you want Jake s the next president,” and Neil Wendt, Harry Keyes, a bunch of other grads were there all raising hands, like, “Hey, here's our new president.” So, yeah, I mean, I definitely wanted it, not like I didn't have a say in it, but yeah, it was nice having that little motivational push from everybody else. And then Neil Wendt, he's been my VP, and almost had a year going just now, so we still got a lot of work to do. We're still building a lot of things, but we're pretty proud of the steps that we've taken to kind of build this community. But yeah, it's definitely tough. You got work and then home life, and then family, and then you're just like, “Oh shoot, I still got to do this.” So, I mean, we all got a million things on a plate, so just like the Academy teaches you, how do you put 25 hours into a 24-hour day? Naviere Walkewicz 26:18 Right? So I found that curious, what you'd mentioned. You said, “I didn't even know we had a chapter,” but you reached out to Mike Lambert. So did you already have a mentor-mentee relationship with him, or how did you know him? Jake DeRuyter 26:29 No, I heard about it a little bit before that, because I kind of, in the back of my head, knew it existed. I just didn't know what all entailed. And it didn't say Austin. It just said to Central Texas. So, I didn't really know what all it meant. And then meeting with him and getting involved with him, and all in the whole group that he's started and been a part of for a long time. Yeah, it's really cool hearing their stories. And we do a monthly lunch every Friday or every first Friday of the month, and we get to hear all the cool war stories and everything. It's honestly one of the things I look forward to most every month is listening in to those guys. There's just so many funny connections all over the place. And, yeah, it's awesome. If anyone's listening in Austin, we'll be doing it again next week, or the first Friday this upcoming month of April. Naviere Walkewicz 27:13 That's wonderful. So talk a little bit about what it's been like being the chapter president. You know, I think when we think about times at the Academy, you're leading a group of your peers, and obviously these peers are various years. But what has that been like, and what have you seen to be challenging so far? Jake DeRuyter 27:29 Yeah, so it's completely different than on active duty, because you have positional power, right? And your airmen, the younger officers, they've got to listen to you, right? The chapter president sounds cool. Like, what authority do I have? Right? Absolutely nothing. It's just more of I'm the one coordinating and leading the charge, right? So you got to be the one to say what you're going to do and actually follow through and do it. And that's tough when you've got a million other competing priorities, and you're always trying to schedule your time and so I've been thankful I've had a great team. There's been times I can't make that monthly lunch and your others fill in. So we've had a pretty good core group there. But trying to find ways to motivate people to participate is extremely difficult unless they have like a direct buy in or impact or return on their investment. I think I saw in our last AOG election, we had like a 22% voting rate. And so we see that at the local chapters too, where it's tough finding people, so I'll go on LinkedIn, just trolling, just looking for anyone that says Air Force Academy grad, outside of any major city in Texas besides Austin. So, trying to get that direct touch. But it definitely takes time and effort and you've got to be willing to show that you're willing to go forth and put it in. Otherwise everyone's gonna be like, “Hey, I'm just getting another spam email. Why would I listen to this?” Naviere Walkewicz 28:43 Right? And I just find it even more just impressive. What compelled you to reach out in the first place and say, “Hey, I'd like to get more involved?” Because you were already doing all these things through your job. So why the additional responsibility? Jake DeRuyter 29:00 I think that's a great question. I think it's just because… You said: I was already doing it, and so I was like, “Hey, this is a natural fit for what I enjoy doing and what I could truly care about.” And as we've mentioned, all those grads in the past have helped me out and made me who I am today. You know from my dad and my teachers, the officers that are ahead of me. It's like, “Hey, how do I give back?” Because I know I wouldn't be standing where I am without our fellow grads and then the whole overarching community. So it's like, “What little can I do to make one person's life that 1% better?” I'll take that chance any day of the week. Naviere Walkewicz 29:33 Well, we talked about some of the challenges you've experienced and your deep desire to give back. So, share a success that you've had since being chapter president, and what's really kind of filled your bucket in this giving back piece. Jake DeRuyter 29:44 Oh, so we did a watch party for the Air Force/Army game; that's pretty standard chapter president stuff like, “Oh, hey, you threw a watch party.” That's not the big thing. But the really cool part was the people that showed up. And I feel horrible. I forget his name right now, but the oldest living graduate, he had his daughter drive him because, “Hey, I'm not going to miss this.” And so I was like, whoa. Like, that was like... Naviere Walkewicz 30:13 I'm going to look that up myself. That's amazing. Jake DeRuyter 30:16 Having that moment like, “Wow, that's really cool.” Where it's like, “Hey, that wouldn't have happened without the work of my team putting this together. And, yeah, putting together watch parties is nothing crazy. But it's still— hearing those stories and meeting those people that were there when this first started. Like, we were joking earlier: They don't even know what Founders Day is because they were there for it. That wasn't really a thing for them. Now it's like our annual celebration, but to them it's just like, “Oh yeah. We just started it.” Like, that's just how... Naviere Walkewicz 30:48 ...on the shoulders of giants, right? Jake DeRuyter Yes. Naviere Walkewicz Jake, it just sounds like you had such an incredible ride so far. And I know you're you know your journey is in the midst of it, and I can't wait to hear how you'll continue to do so as a graduate, as we support you. But right now, I'd like to ask you some specific leadership lessons, the first one really pertaining to you: What do you do every day to be a better leader? Jake DeRuyter 31:12 That reach out. Like, always that checking in. I don't necesarilly schedule it, but if I ever have 20 or 30, minutes, nothing's on my calendar for work, or things are slow, it's like, “Hey, who haven't I talked to in a while?” Whether it's one of my classmates, one of my freshmen, one of the people that served with me… And then I spend a lot of time on the road, so, I'm driving. I always try to reach out and call and reconnect with people that you haven't talked to in X amount of months. Because I always know that I really appreciate when I always hear from people like that. And so that's like one thing I always want to do is like, “Hey, what's going on in life? Where are you at now?” That's what's so cool about the Air Force community as a whole: People are moving, doing cool new jobs all over the place. So, I love getting to hear those stories and truly listening in. The leadership question: Actually listen. Take interest and don't just be waiting to say what you want to say next. Like, actually, like, “Oh, hey, there's some pretty cool stories out there. And people are doing some amazing, unique things.” Shoot, look at Wyatt Hendrickson this weekend. One of the greatest college sports upsets of all time. Naviere Walkewicz 32:19 Of all time — 100%. I think that's a really great way— just even like rallying together and talking about that. I mean, what a great way to… “Hey, I haven't talked to you in a while. Did you see Wyatt? What he did? You know, it's just amazing. Jake DeRuyter 32:32 Yep, exactly. Wyatt, if you're ever in Austin, drinks are on me, man, congrats. Naviere Walkewicz 32:38 That's outstanding. All right, so tell me, then, Jake, what would you share as something that an aspiring leader can do every day? So, that's something you do personally. What might you share with an aspiring leader that they can do today that will reap benefits down the road? Jake DeRuyter 32:53 Yeah, don't just worry about your own career and your own life, because whether you look at officers, coaches— a lot of people can be judged based on the people that they've built up rather than their own career. We see that all the time in coaching, and it's like, if you're truly worried about the development of the guys around you, you're going to build up yourself and your whole team and everybody and so make that the primary goal. Not just, “Hey, how do I get that next job? How do I get that next rank?” Because people are going to spot that as being phony really quick. So, be genuine, and pump up the other ones around you. Because a rising tide lifts all ships. Naviere Walkewicz 33:27 Gosh. And like I said, you're kind of in this rise in your career and in your life. You know, if you were to look back and talk to your younger self, Jake, whether your cadet self or even your child self, is there any advice you would give yourself, knowing what you know today? Jake DeRuyter 33:44 Yeah, the biggest thing is be more involved. I think especially as a cadet and in early officer life, I was just like, “How do I get through the day? What do I do to get through class, or to get through the SCIF life?” Or something like that. “How do I get to the part of life where I'm spending time with my friends, or having fun?” I definitely wish I was much more involved at the Academy and as a young lieutenant, like, I definitely took things for granted back then, and that's probably the biggest thing I changed, is like, “Hey, I definitely had the extra time.” I could have given back more at that time, and maybe I'm trying to make up for a little bit for that now. Naviere Walkewicz 34:19 Well, I think it's never too late to start. And what are you doing now that fills your bucket in that way? Jake DeRuyter 34:25 Oh, yeah, the biggest things, the AOG chapter presidency and helping other grads transition. I can't tell you how many fellow grads I've talked to as they're looking for SkillBridge, trying to figure out what that next step looks like. It doesn't stop. Everyone's hitting their five years coming up. It happens every year, right? So there's always that influx, especially those that aren't flying. It's tough making that jump. You know, it's a scary world out there. And I said, it's just you, yourself and I. Whatever the opposite of that is. It's like, “Hey, I know I didn't feel like I had the resources when I was initially getting out through traditional means of the Air Force.” So I want to be that person that's like, “Hey, I'll offer that olive branch anytime.” So yeah, love to help out wherever I can. Naviere Walkewicz 35:13 Well, those connections are so important, and I think one of the things I really appreciate about you, Jake, is really recognizing that connection. I think you even shared with me a story, and maybe you can share it here, about how you still are in touch with your sponsor family? Jake DeRuyter 35:26 Yeah. I went to high school in the Springs for a little bit, and the best man in my wedding, his family was the one that sponsored me. So, they had sponsored cadets for years, sponsoring the basketball team through the 2000s. Then in high school, he made me a bet. He's like, “Hey, you idiot, if there's any way that you get in, I'll sponsor.” He's like, “I'm done sponsoring cadets, but if you make it in, you'll be my last one.” Naviere Walkewicz And so you were the exception for him. Jake DeRuyter Yeah, I was the exception to the rule. So yeah, we still get together every year to go to the opening round of March Madness. So we just did Lexington, Kentucky, for those games, and then next year we'll be doing Tampa. So yeah, college sports and that competition that you talked about that's a huge center piece of my life, and I center all my travel and my fun around it. So yeah, they've been awesome, and a huge part of why I am or where I am today as well. Naviere Walkewicz 36:11 I love that. Well, we're going to ask for Jake's final thoughts next, but before we do, I'd like to take a moment and thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. The podcast publishes Tuesdays in both video and audio and is available on all your favorite podcast platforms. Be sure to stay in touch. Watch, subscribe and listen to all episodes of Long Blue Leadership at longblueleadership.org. All right, Jake, we're ready to hear your final thoughts. It's been incredible spending time with you today. Jake DeRuyter 36:39 I appreciate it Naviere. Very humbled to be here. You just had Secretary Wilson. I'm sure you've had some astronauts and generals on here, so the fact that you picked me: I was just like, “Man, that really means a lot.” So I just want to say thank you. Yeah, I don't want to repeat myself too much, but yeah, any fellow grads, if you're ever in the Austin area, love to meet up, grab a beer, whatever we can do to help each other out. Just whatever we can do to give back to the Long Blue Line. Naviere Walkewicz 37:03 Well, thank you for never being too busy for our graduates. I think that was one of the things that really stood out to me throughout everything you've shared, is you know, you care about people, and it's really translated to how you care about our fellow graduates, and I can't wait to see all the amazing things you'll continue to do. So thanks for being a leader in our Long Blue Line. Jake DeRuyter 37:22 Yeah, I appreciate that, Naviere. Thank you so much. Naviere Walkewicz 37:25 Well, Jake, one more time, thank you again, and I'm Naviere Walkewicz, thank you for joining us on Long Blue Leadership until next time. KEWORDS Resilience, Adaptability, Mentorship, Network, Long Blue Line, Leadership, Development, Career Transition, Service, Community Support, Grit, Connections, Risk-Taking, Personal Growth, Military to Civilian Transition, Air Force Academy, Leadership Philosophy, Professional Networking, Continuous Learning, Relationship Building, Giving Back The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

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“Returning to the Fear of the Lord”

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2025 64:04

“Returning to the Fear of the Lord” – “Church Awakening Conference” – 1 Samuel 13 – Three excuses 1 The men were scattering. 2 Samuel did not come at the set time. 3 Because Samuel was late, Saul felt compelled to offer the burnt offering. - God wants people who are after his own heart. - We need the presence of God, what does that look like? - What is the definition of Revival? Revival is the overwhelming sense of Gods presence. - God is making his way back into our society. - God uses the broken pieces in our lives to minister to other people.

299 My Story Talk 12 Brasenose College Oxford Part 3

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 18:14

My Story Talk 12 Brasenose College Oxford 1959-62 (Part 3) Welcome to Talk 12 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. This is now the third talk about the years I spent at Oxford. So far we have talked about life at Oxford, its academic programme, and my spiritual experience while I was there. Today I'm going to share with you my developing relationship with Eileen, our decision to get married shortly after I graduated, and how the Lord led us straight into pastoral ministry rather than going to Bible college first. Keeping in touch Throughout the two years after Eileen and I met, we had seen each other almost every day. Clearly, this could not continue while I was at Oxford, but we kept in touch as much as was then humanly possible. Of course, in those days there were no mobile phones. In fact, access to landlines was not easy, and anyway, it was extremely expensive. So Eileen and I kept in touch with each other by writing letters four or five times a week. We also managed to see each other every two weeks. As I have mentioned already, the terms at Oxford were only 8 weeks long, so by going home for the weekend after four weeks, and by Eileen travelling up to see me for the weekend after weeks two and six, we were able to see each other on a fortnightly basis. This was very clear evidence of Eileen's commitment to me as the journey on our Lambretta scooter through the busy traffic of central London was by no means easy. Obviously, we made the most of those precious weekends. On Saturdays we would often explore the surrounding countryside on our scooter or even travel further afield visiting pretty Cotswold villages like Bibury and Bourton on the Water. Or in the summer we loved getting into one of the punts moored by Magaden Bridge and heading up the Cherwell where we picnicked on the home-made sausage rolls and egg and bacon pie that Eileen had brought with her from home. On Sundays, of course, we went to church together before Eileen made the 60-mile journey back home to be ready for work on Monday. Of course, during the college vacations (which totalled half the year), the situation was completely different. I was able to see Eileen every day again. During the week, this was in the evenings as Eileen was at work during the daytime. And I was too, at least during the weeks that the schools had their holidays. As the Oxford terms were far shorter than the school terms I was able to earn some extra money by teaching in a local secondary school, which was to prove valuable for my future ministry as I was gaining experience in teaching children of a different age group from those I had taught in the years before I went to Oxford. But apart from working hours, Eileen and I saw each other every evening and every weekend. Sundays were taken up with church twice in the day, and midweek we regularly attended the Tuesday night prayer meeting, the Thursday night Bible study, and the Friday night youth meeting. We were desperate to learn more about our Pentecostal experience and the way the Pentecostal churches did things. In fact, whatever we were doing, our relationship with each other was from the start intimately connected with our relationship with the Lord and his will for our lives, even when we went on holiday. As I have already mentioned, our first holiday together was at a Christian Endeavour Holiday Home in Devon in 1959 just before I went up to Oxford. The following year we decided to explore the Lake District together. We travelled the three-hundred-mile journey on our scooter, stopping overnight in Aintree with one of Eileen's aunts, before finally arriving at a CE Home in Kents Bank near Grange-over-Sands. We had each visited the area before, but never together, and that fortnight was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy fellowship with other Christians as well as marvelling at the beauty of God's creation as we made daily trips into different parts of the Lakes. In 1961 we decided to go further afield and to spend four weeks touring France and northern Spain. So we exchanged our 125cc Lambretta for a new 175 which we trusted would cope well with the distances we would be travelling laden with two tents and all the paraphernalia required for camping. However, the moment we set off we both had some misgivings as the weight of luggage at the rear of the scooter made it harder to handle the machine safely, but undaunted we proceeded with caution and arrived safely at Southend airport where we had booked a flight on a cargo plane to northern France. Our first night in France was spent in a cow field with the kind permission of the farmer. We were both experienced campers, Eileen with the Girl Guides and I with the Boys' Brigade, but we had never before been woken by the sound of cows champing round our tent pegs and we quickly agreed to depart as soon as possible, particularly as there were no ‘facilities' available! We determined that after that we would make sure to check into proper camping sites. We travelled down the western side of France, stopping first at Paris for the weekend, camping in the Bois de Boulogne and visiting the thousand-strong Assemblies of God Church in the Rue du Sentier led by pastor André Nicole. Little did I know it then, but that was to be the first of many visits to French assemblies later in my ministry and sparked my interest in what the Holy Spirit was doing in European countries. In Angouleme we discovered that our GB plate had fallen off and, knowing that we were legally required to display one, we visited a garage there and asked if they knew where we could get a replacement. It was then that I realised how inadequate my A Level French course had been. Although we had studied numerous French authors, it was of little practical use to us now as no one had told us how to say the alphabet in French! Finally, by writing the letters down I managed to let them know what I wanted and learnt that in French GB is pronounced Jay-Bay. They told us that they could make us one, but it would take a couple of days. As a result, we had to travel further each day than originally planned which meant that we were both rather saddle-sore at the end of each day. We crossed the Spanish border between Biarritz and San Sebastian and immediately discovered that what we were doing was culturally unacceptable. Eileen was getting hoots and wolf-whistles from passing motorists because she was wearing trousers and not riding side-saddle! Of course, this would have been extremely dangerous bearing in mind the distances we were travelling each day and, at the risk of causing offense, we decided that we had no option but to carry on as we were. Extremely tired when we reached Burgos we decided to spend the night in a hotel and enjoy the luxury of proper beds. We did the same in Madrid for two or three nights before heading for Barcelona by way of Zaragoza. But before we reached Barcelona our scooter broke down on a mountain road and reluctantly I had to leave Eileen by the roadside with the scooter while I hitched a lift in a Citroen deux-chevaux into a village called Jorba to get help. It took two days to get the scooter fixed and by the time we eventually reached our campsite at Rosas, on the Mediterranean just north of Barcelona, it was already dark. A day or so later we arrived in Perpignan in southern France, intending to travel on up the eastern side of France on our way back home. But the scooter broke down again, and after two days camping at the back of an Esso station, we were compelled to return to England by train, leaving our scooter to be brought home courtesy of the RAC. Fortunately, it was still under warranty and was repaired by Lambretta after it finally arrived back in England some six weeks later. That holiday was the last we were to have together before we were married the following year and, in some ways, was a preparation for it. Like the holiday, married life is wonderful, but not without its unexpected events, delays, and difficulties. We were learning to face problems together, to be patient with each other, and to trust in the Lord to bring us through. Perhaps that's why I tend to advise young couples, wherever possible, to go on holiday together before deciding to get married. But that brings me to how I decided to propose to Eileen. Engagement and Marriage It was during my first term at Oxford. We had been ‘going out' together for two years, seeing each other almost every day. But we had never talked about marriage. I think that must have been because I was very conscious of how serious marriage is. Divorce in those days was far less common than it is today and for me, as a Christian, it would not have entered my head. I knew that marriage would be for life. What's more, I knew God had called me to serve him, and choosing the right partner was vitally important. So I was reluctant to commit myself. But just before I went to Oxford my father had a word with me. You'd better make your mind up about that girl, David. It would not be fair to keep her waiting for three years while you're at Oxford, if your intentions are not serious. Of course, I knew he was right. I had to make up my mind. The problem was, I didn't want to give her up, but I didn't want to marry her if she wasn't the right one for me. Finally I did what I should have done much sooner. I decided to pray about it. I got down on my knees in my bedroom at Oxford and told the Lord my dilemma. I told him that I would gladly marry Eileen if she was God's choice for me, but if not, I would give her up. And as soon as I said that prayer I received an overwhelming peace and an assurance that Eileen was the girl I was to marry. So, the next time I was home from Oxford, after a long and passionate kiss, I said to her, You will marry me, won't you, darling? Yes, those were my exact words! To which she replied, Oh yes! Of course I will. So we decided to get engaged the following summer after my first year at Oxford, knowing that the earliest we could expect to marry would be after I had graduated. After gaining her father's consent, we organised a wonderful garden party to celebrate our engagement on 2nd July, 1960, and eventually were married by Pastor Alfred Webb at Bethel Full Gospel Church, Vicarage Road, Dagenham, on 28th July, 1962. And the specially invited organist for the occasion was none other than Laurie N. Dixon, LRAM, the friend through whom I had first heard about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Our move to Colchester After our honeymoon in Cornwall, we moved directly into our first home, a bungalow in Colchester, where I had accepted the invitation to take over the pastorate of the small AoG church there. Colchester will be the subject of our next talk, but first I need to explain why we did not consider ministry in a Baptist church and why I did not go to Bible College as originally planned. With regard to the Baptists, the explanation is simple. Once we had been baptised in the Spirit, neither of us had attended our Baptist churches apart from perhaps an occasional visit. This was largely because the minister of Hornchurch Baptist was not sympathetic to a Pentecostal understanding of scripture, and the new minister of Elm Park Baptist had stated that the Pentecostals' exegesis of Acts was entirely unwarranted. Against this, my parents had told me that Leslie Moxham, our former Baptist minister at Elm Park, had noticed such a difference in me since I was baptised in the Spirit that he had said, If the baptism in the Spirit can make that much difference to David, I want it too. Leslie was later baptised in the Spirit and eventually became an AoG minister working with my friend Colin Blackman in the Tunbridge Wells assembly. And although, as we were to discover later some Baptists were beginning to get involved in the Charismatic Renewal, it was evident to us that our future lay with the Pentecostals rather than with the Baptists. But why didn't I go the Bible College before taking on a church? The answer is that I tried to. Early in 1962 I applied to London Bible College. There was a section on the application form where you were required to give an account of your experience of Christ. So I mentioned not only how I had become a Christian, but also how Jesus had baptised me in the Holy Spirit. My interview lasted about an hour, most of which was taken up with what I believed about speaking in tongues. Was it for today? And if it was, was it for everyone? As a result, I received a letter a few days later saying that they felt I would do better to apply to a Pentecostal bible college! Interestingly, their rejection of my application is mentioned in Ian Randall's history of LBC, Educating Evangelicals. The AoG Bible College was then at Kenley in Surrey. Its principal was Donald Gee. I had had a brief conversation with him after a meeting at the East Ham Easter Convention, and he had promised to send me the application form. But this never arrived. I also heard it rumoured that the lady teaching English at Kenley, on hearing that an Oxford graduate might be coming, had, presumably jokingly, commented that he'll be probably teaching me! This, together with the fact that some of my Pentecostal friends were telling me that I didn't need to go to Bible college, because I had got it – whatever that meant! – caused me to wonder if that was the direction I should be heading. So I said to the Lord, If you really don't want me to go to Bible College, let someone offer me the pastorate of a Pentecostal church. And within a week, I had my answer. I received a letter from the Colchester assembly asking if I would be their pastor. There was a bungalow available for rent for six and a half guineas a week (£6.51) towards which they were prepared to contribute £5.00. Apart from that, they could offer nothing, and it was understood that I would need to seek full time secular employment. But that's something for next time.

“Do Not Forget the Lord - Part 2”

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2025 52:43

“Do Not Forget the Lord- Part 2” – “Our Nation Needs to Be Under God!” – Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. * To do great things, the Spirit of the Lord needs to come upon us. * If we want to do things, we need his power. - Samuel's Farewell Address * 1 Samuel 12:14-15 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God--good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. - When Israel served the Lord and followed the word of God they became stronger. * 1 Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you

298 My Story Talk 11 Brasenose College Oxford Part 2

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2025 18:37

My Story Talk 11 Brasenose College, Oxford (1959-1962) Part 2 Welcome to Talk 11 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Last time I finished by sharing with you how God powerfully spoke to me after a Philosophy tutorial through a verse in Psalm 119. Today I'll be talking in more detail about my spiritual experience at Oxford, which, looking back on it, was to be far more significant for my future life and ministry than the academic programme I was following. The most important thing a young Christian can do when going up to university is to make sure right from the start that they find, and have regular fellowship with, other Christians. There are two main ways of doing this, either by joining the Christian Union or by attending a local church – or preferably both, which is what I did. Christian Union and Local Church The CU at Brasenose was part of the OICCU – Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. Each college CU would have its own weekly meeting for prayer and Bible study, but there was also a regular Saturday night Bible Study held at the Northgate Hall, situated close to the Oxford Union building. This was well attended by Christians from across the whole university, and I became a regular attender at both these gatherings. I appreciated the opportunity to meet Christians from different denominational backgrounds, and, bearing in mind my experience of the Anglican chaplain at Brentwood School, was particularly pleased to discover that some Anglicans actually did profess the believe the Bible! However, much as I enjoyed fellowship with these good people, having been only recently baptised in the Spirit, and having begun to appreciate Pentecostal worship, I was very aware that something very important was lacking in their meetings – the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, things are very different today, but in those days the Charismatic Renewal had not yet begun and most Anglicans, who in my experience tended to view other denominations as somewhat inferior, were highly suspicious of, if not totally unaware of, the rapidly growing worldwide Pentecostal Movement. And, of course, I was eager to enlighten them! But first a word about the local Pentecostal church. At the time, the only Pentecostal church in Oxford was the Elim Church situated on the Botley Road just beyond Oxford Railway Station. I was keen to attend there because, however valuable membership of a Christian union may be, there really is no substitute for the life and fellowship of a local church. So throughout my time at Oxford I regularly attended on Sundays both the morning and evening services, which meant incidentally that I missed both lunch and dinner in college because the mealtimes clashed with the times of the services. More importantly, on my very first Sunday in Oxford, it was there that I met three other students who were from Pentecostal churches, which led to our meeting regularly for prayer and to the formation of the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship. Students' Pentecostal Fellowship The students I met after church that first Sunday morning in Oxford were, Michael Collins who came from Dorchester AoG and was in his second year at St. Peter's Hall reading Engineering, and Gladys Bland and John Miles who, like me, were in their first year. Gladys was from East Ham AoG and was doing postgraduate work in English Literature at Somerville College, and John was from Gloucester AoG and was reading English at Regents Park College. We were all delighted to meet each other because up to then there had been relatively few Pentecostals attending university. We soon became firm friends and agreed to meet regularly together for fellowship and prayer, particularly for spiritual gifts and for Christian students from a different denominational background to be baptised in the Spirit. Michael had a friend called Philip who was already Spirit filled, and he joined our prayer group too. I will never forget the day, early in our first year, when there was a prophecy in one of those meetings that people of all denominations, including professors and university lecturers, would be baptised in the Spirit. As I've already mentioned, the Charismatic Renewal had not yet begun or, if it had, we had not heard of it, and to be honest, I really wondered if that could possibly happen. But it did, and in our own small way we were to be a part of it. What we didn't know then was that similar groups were forming in other universities. There were students from a Pentecostal background at Cambridge and London Universities too, and once we heard about this we naturally wanted to get in touch with them. And a key person to help us do that was Richard Bolt. Richard had been an Anglican ordinand but after he was baptised in the Spirit in an AoG church in Durham his course at Clifton Theological College was terminated because he was laying hands on other students and praying for them to speak in tongues. Shortly after this he was welcomed by AoG and became an Assemblies of God minister based in a small assembly in Colchester. However, as the Lord was using him in healing and in leading others into the baptism in the Spirit, Richard's ministry extended well beyond Colchester as he took time to travel to universities and colleges to encourage Pentecostal students and to pray for others who wanted to be filled with the Spirit. He was certainly a great encouragement to me and my family. My mother was baptised in the Spirit under his ministry. But before I knew anything about how the Lord was using Richard, the thought had already crossed my mind that we ought to form, at least in Oxford, a university society for Pentecostal students. The Baptists had what was known as The John Bunyan Society which met every Sunday afternoon in Regents Park College where John Miles was a student. He and I attended this quite often and I mentioned to him that I thought it might be good to have something similar for Pentecostals. As a result of this, John wrote to Aaron Linford, the editor of Redemption Tidings, the AoG weekly magazine, and asked for advice. And it was at this point that Richard Bolt told us about the Pentecostal students at Cambridge and London. All this led to a gathering in London early in 1961 when the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship (SPF) was formed. Richard Bolt was recognised as its Travelling Secretary and Donald Underwood, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, as General Secretary. We organised annual weekend house-parties where students were exposed to the ministry of Pentecostal leaders, and evangelistic missions where students would sing, testify, and preach during the summer vacations. We also published a magazine known as The Pentecostal and developed a postal library service where students could borrow books by Pentecostal authors. At Oxford our group grew in numbers during our second year, partly due to an influx of students from Culham College led by Andrew Parfitt, the son of the AoG pastor at Maidstone, but also because our prayers were being answered and students from other denominations were getting baptised in the Spirit. But that leads me to how I personally started to be used in leading others into the baptism. Leading others into the baptism It all began a few weeks after I had started at Oxford when, after one of those Saturday night Bible Studies in the Northgate Hall, I was looking at a book on the bookstall which was about a revival that had broken out somewhere in Africa. Chris, one of my Anglican friends from Brasenose, saw what I was looking at and asked me if I had any personal experience of revival. So I began to tell him about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a result, Chris started to seek the baptism and came along to the Elim church where the pastor laid hands on him and prayed for him. But nothing happened and after a few weeks Chris came to me and said, I want you to pray for me. I'm coming to your room tomorrow and I want you to lay hands on me and pray for me. I was frankly unsure how to respond to this. I was very new to all this myself and I did not know if I had the authority to lay hands on him. I didn't know if such things were the responsibility of pastors, and I wasn't a pastor. But Chris was very insistent and so I agreed. The next day was Saturday and there were no lectures or tutorials for me to attend, so I decided to spend the night in prayer. This was something I had never done before, and have not done very often since, but I realised the seriousness of what Chris had asked me to do and I wanted to get it right. When Chris came the next day, we chatted for a bit, and then he said, Well, are you going to pray for me or not? I think he may have sensed that I was putting it off because, despite my night of prayer, I was nervous about it. He knelt down in front of me, and I plucked up courage and, quietly speaking in tongues, gently placed my hands on his shoulders. But nothing seemed to happen, and I didn't know what to do, when I remembered that in the Authorised Version (which most of us were still using in those days) Acts 19:6 says that it was when Paul had laid his hands upon the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. In other words, the Spirit came on them after Paul laid his hands on them. And I found myself prophesying over Chris that he would receive, and that he would receive that very day. At which, Chris got up, said thank you, and left me. And I was left wondering if I had done the right thing. I had my answer at eight the following morning. I was still asleep, having had no sleep the previous night, when I was woken by something digging me in my ribs. It was Chris with his umbrella. What was he doing here? Oh, it's you Chris. What on earth are you doing here? And then it occurred to me that he might have come to tell me what had happened, so I added, You haven't received the baptism, have you? To which he responded as he continued to dig me in the ribs, O ye of little faith! He had, of course, received, and he told me how it had happened. After he had left me he had returned to his room and had been reading a book by, or about, the famous missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. The book emphasised that in addition to faith we need courage in our Christian lives, and Chris realised that that was just what he needed. He looked up from the book intending to say, Yes, Lord. Give me courage. But instead of doing so, he found himself speaking in tongues! Little did I know it then, but Chris was to be the first among hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have begun to speak in tongues through the ministry the Lord has given me. But that's closely related to the subject of spiritual gifts and how I began to exercise them. Beginning to exercise spiritual gifts Shortly after I was baptised in the Spirit I visited the bookshop at the AoG National Offices at 51 Newington Causeway, London. I bought every book they had on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. As a young Baptist I had received little teaching about the Spirit and none whatsoever on spiritual gifts. And I was eager to learn. I devoured books like Harold Horton's The Gifts of the Spirit and Donald Gee's Concerning Spiritual Gifts, and I learnt that the baptism in the Spirit is not an end in itself, but a gateway to supernatural gifts like tongues, interpretation, prophecy, and healing. And I was longing to receive and be used in whatever gifts the Lord might have for me. As it happened, I didn't have long to wait. I was still in my first year at Oxford when I was confronted with a situation at the church I was attending. The Elim church in Oxford was a well-attended lively church where the gifts of the Spirit were regularly in operation. On a Sunday morning there were often prophecies, tongues and interpretation. Some of my Christian friends from Brasenose came along to experience Pentecostal worship and so far I had not been embarrassed in any way by what went on in the meetings. However, one Sunday morning, when fortunately none of my friends was present, somebody spoke in tongues but there was no interpretation. No explanation was given for this and, although I was still new to these things, I knew that the Bible was very clear that speaking in tongues in church should be interpreted. I probably should have asked the pastor about this, but he was a busy man and I did not know him very well. Consequently I kept quiet about the matter, but was still concerned that everything was not quite as it should be. Shortly after that, when Richard Bolt was visiting, I told him about this and asked him what I should do. He said, The answer is very simple David. You interpret. To which I replied, But I don't have the gift. He then said, Then ask for it. But, bearing in mind that 1 Corinthians 12:11 tells us that these gifts are given as the Holy Spirit determines, I asked, But I know God wants me to have it? His answer to this was along the following lines. The very fact that I was concerned about it might well indicate that God wanted me to have it. And, anyway, we know from God's word that it is his will that tongues in church should be interpreted. So I would be in God's will if I went ahead and interpreted it. I should pray about it and next time it happened I should ask God for the interpretation and then speak out in faith. Our heavenly Father gives good gifts to his children when they ask him. Although I still had questions, I decided to do what he said and over the next few weeks kept asking the Lord about the matter. Then, one Sunday morning it happened. Someone spoke in tongues and I waited, hoping that someone else would interpret it. But when no one did, I asked the Lord to give me the right words to say and immediately a few words came into my mind which I began to speak out in faith. I say in faith, but I have to confess that my faith was mingled with doubt. I was half expecting the pastor to intervene and say that this was not the right interpretation! But to my intense relief he said nothing, and after the meeting people came and thanked me for my interpretation. So from time to time, I continued to interpret tongues, but still with the occasional doubt if what I said could really be the interpretation. And later in the series I will tell you how God wonderfully confirmed the genuineness of my gift when I interpreted a tongue that was identified as a language spoken in Africa. God certainly did some wonderful things while I was at Oxford, and I realise now that I was already exercising a ministry while I was there. I was leading our SPF prayer group, teaching others about spiritual gifts, as well as preaching in churches from time to time. It seems that others were recognising this before I did, and I was soon asked to share my testimony at the AoG National Youth Rally held in the Birmingham Town Hall and to contribute an article in Redemption Tidings entitled Pentecost in Oxford University. The Lord was clearly preparing the way for my future ministry. Next time, I'll tell you about my developing relationship with Eileen which led to our marriage immediately after I graduated and how I ultimately decided not to go to Bible College as originally planned, but to accept the pastorate of the Assemblies of God Church in Colchester.

A Leader's Exceptional Spirit

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2025 28:44

In this episode of Long Blue Leadership, Christian Evans shares his journey from a jovial cadet to a dedicated leader focused on uplifting others. SUMMARY Christian reflects on transformative experiences during his time at the Air Force Academy, the importance of mentorship, and the impact of community engagement. Christian discusses navigating career transitions, the power of giving back, and the significance of leading with love. He emphasizes resilience, personal growth, and the need to engage the next generation of leaders. SHARE THIS EPISODE LINKEDIN | FACEBOOK TAKEAWAYS Christian emphasizes the importance of humor in leadership. Transformative experiences can lead to personal growth and leadership development. Mentorship plays a crucial role in guiding younger generations. Navigating career transitions requires building a supportive network. Giving back to the community enhances personal fulfillment. Engaging the next generation is vital for sustaining leadership values. Resilience is key to overcoming failures and learning from them. Leading with love fosters a supportive environment. Personal growth is a continuous journey influenced by experiences. Finding avenues to contribute to the community is essential for leadership. EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Leadership Journeys 02:56 Transformative Experiences in Cadet Life 06:10 The Impact of Mentorship and Community 08:52 Navigating Career Transitions 11:49 The Power of Giving Back 14:50 Engaging the Next Generation 17:55 Lessons in Resilience and Growth 21:00 Leading with Love 23:55 Reflections on Personal Growth 26:59 Conclusion and Future Aspirations ABOUT CHRISTIAN EVANS BIO Christian Evans is a Business Development Executive at Olsson where he leads sales and growth efforts in Texas and Colorado. Christian previously worked as Managing Partner of Greenwood Capital lower middle market PE firm, Wealth Advisor at Morgan Stanley, Capital Markets Sales Manager at Highland Capital Management. Prior to joining Highland, he worked as an associate on the Banking, Investing, and Lending team at Goldman Sachs. Christian started his professional career in the United States Air Force as a space operations officer at Cape Cod AFS, MA and an acquisitions program manager at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, CA. Christian is an active leader in the Dallas community sitting on the Visiting Nurses Association of Texas Board of Directors on the finance and development committees and on the Friends Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy on the Development committee. Christian is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and The Real Estate Council. Christian is a 2008 Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where he majored in Management. As a Cadet, he competed on the Fighting Falcon football team, served as President of the Tuskegee Airmen Club, and became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Incorporated. He completed his MBA at the SMU Cox School of Business in 2017. Christian is married to Dr. Candace Evans and they enjoy their time with their son, Cash. - Copy courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN LINKEDIN | ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATES ALL PAST LBL EPISODES | ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS FULL TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest: CHRISTIAN EVANS '08 | Host: Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:00 Welcome to Long Blue Leadership, the podcast where we share insights on leadership through the lives and experiences of Air Force Academy graduates. I'm Naviere Walkewicz, Class of '99. For Christian Evans, USAFA Class of 2008, the journey was arduous, and even now, though he's dedicated himself to a life of lifting others up, he still thinks of himself as a work in progress, becoming the model for grace, giving back and leadership that he is today. Christian, thanks for being here today. Christian Evans 00:28 Thank you so much for having me. Truly honored and flattered to be here. Naviere Walkewicz 00:34 What were you like growing up? — I guess maybe is the first question. Christian Evans 00:38 I've always been a jovial person. I've always had a sense of humor, and I've always kind of been a strategic thinker, if that makes sense. So, while I was somewhat the life of the party to a certain extent, or someone on the team that would galvanize the teammates, it was mostly through humor or engaging outside of anything serious, because everything's so serious, right? Naviere Walkewicz Right. Christian Evans So, growing up and even at the Academy, I always kind of used humor as a way to put myself out there, so to speak, right? To kind of get people's moods to calm down. Yeah, I just always was more focused on what I was doing, and never focused on “I should be leading in this space,” outside of just knowing if you do well in school, get good grades… All right, that's leadership by doing. “I'm in NHS, I'm in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I'm doing all these service things. And even though I'm not the president or vice president, I'm still active, serving a greater purpose.” So, yeah, growing up, I was a good kid, liked to have fun, maybe a little crass at times. Naviere Walkewicz 02:05 Your sophomore year, you know, your three-degree, you kind of had this decision point. What was it that helped you make that decision? Was there an incident? Was there a moment? Was it just a path you were on? Christian Evans 02:20 There was definitely an incident. At the end of our sophomore year, we did not have the season that we wanted as a football team, so the night of the game, after the game, I was still underaged, and I drank alcohol and the Academy found out about it. And so, I had to go through that rehabilitation process, which wasn't fun. I think it was six months where you're restricted to the base. At that point, that's when I said, “OK, this isn't a civilian school. You've kind of got to button it up here if you want to stay and actually get something out of it.” So that next year, I made a point during summer school, and even that summer as a cadre for basic, to just really apply myself and try to see, “All right, if I actually apply myself and lead and maybe not make everything a joke, will you see real outcomes?” And I think that's where my first experience of really being able to affect younger cadets and/or younger grads and their experience with the Academy. Because as a basic cadet cadre, I really went out of my way to try to look out for our basics in a way that typically doesn't happen during basic training. And it is what it is, right? Basic training is not summer camp, so it's got to be tough, it's got to be hard. But I definitely — and I think if you ask my basics — I definitely went into the situation with the idea of making it hard, but fair, but also making it enjoyable and something that's worth remembering. And so experiencing that as a cadet and really seeing, “OK, yeah, you're pretty good at this thing, you can motivate people, and you can make them feel good about themselves, and you could help them when they need it, and not make it hard for them to get where they need to go, kind of thing, and really enable them.” That was a great experience for me, and kind of carried into the next year. I got on group staff; I learned that the more that you lean in, there are actual outcomes that come out of it, and you're able to have a positive impact on other people, which, to me, gives me — that's where I get energy, and I feel good about myself. Outside of how I feel about myself is how I can help other people to accomplish whatever it is they kind of want to do. Naviere Walkewicz 05:04 Wow, it sounds like you took an incident that happened to you all the way back in basic and you found a way to turn it around, to make sure that another basic didn't have to go through what you did. And you probably didn't even realize it at the time when you're going through that self-discovery as a leader and applying yourself, but can you think of a story of where that came into play? Like when you were a cadre for a basic, was there ever a time where you were able to make a difference for a basic that you weren't able to have made for you? Christian Evans 05:34 Absolutely. One of the things I did — and this is an easy one — was when there was someone that needed meal replacements for whatever reason, or was still hungry at the end of the day, I would help get food and sustenance to them, whether they played sports or not. Obviously doing it for the football guys so that they could maintain weight for when the season starts. But when other non-football people mentioned that they were still hungry, the food was making them upset, things like that. Yeah, I would get them what they needed, right? And I think for that, they felt like somebody cared. I will say, as a cadre, I think the best thing I could have done was just make it a memorable experience through the experiences, right? Like I said, I'm into humor. I like to have fun, and to me, basic training as a cadre was like being a stand-up comedian with the built-in audience, you know? So, I would do bits with the kids, not kids, but they were kids. I would do bits, you know? I would have fun, but within that, it would always be kind of a bigger picture. Naviere Walkewicz 06:49 Well, I think that's fantastic sharing a bit of your personality, and I think that's also part of leadership, because when we think about what how people lead, it's usually from what they learn from others. So, being able to see that you can be human, and you can use humor, and you can still affect a mission, and especially — maybe people bring in their best self, because they didn't feel that they had to be so fearful, right? I don't know, maybe you touched them in that way. Christian Evans 07:17 I hope so. Because there was still a lot of fear, I imagine, left in the basic squadron. Naviere Walkewicz 07:24 Yes. Well, it led me to something you we talked about because you said you had indifference even your senior years. But there was a theme through that as well. You talked about being able to help others, so maybe talk through what you've learned about yourself as a leader in this space of helping others. Has there been a moment in your career now, whether through in the military, or when you transitioned out, where you saw that coming into play more? Christian Evans 07:49 It's something that I feel is evergreen, for me, is I'm always kind of thinking about, “How can I have an impact on the community around me?” Most recently, since transitioning from active duty into the private sector, I learned a lot. I didn't know much about the industry I was going into that being finance, I was blessed with an opportunity to do an internship with Goldman Sachs during my transition period, while I was still active duty. This was before they had the program they have now, the skill bridge program. I went into a very complex situation with very little information, and going through that process, I was able to reach out to a lot of people to help fill the gap. No. 1, most of the people that I found myself talking to and that had built networks within Goldman and other financial institutions were Navy and overwhelmingly Army grads. So, at that point, and I like that it says Long Blue Leadership, because the Long Blue Line is what we were all sold on coming here, whether you played sports or not, Just about anybody you asked that have made the transition from active duty into a new industry or career that requires a little bit of advocacy and understanding, and people doing some recruiting and all those things — how much it means to have somebody that you could call and learn things that you just don't know. My transition, learning the industry, learning the different steps that you need to take to get to different parts of the industry — I started just documenting resources, built out my network so the people that had helped me and kind of poured into me and mentored me, tried to stay in touch. That is something that I'm pretty good at, is just meeting people and turning a casual introduction into some type of meaningful relationship. And so, when I got a few years in and did my MBA, and kind of went through my process, I put together a one-pager, two-pager, and shared it with the number of younger grads at the time that I kind of adopted as mentees. They were just young grads, or young cadets, in some cases, that had an ambition and that wanted to do something that they didn't really know much about. Being able to give them that information to fill the void earlier in the process — maybe they've got a few years left in the Air Force. OK, they could start preparing themselves through certain things, getting involved in certain organizations. I thought if I could get this information to them earlier, well they could start preparing more for making that transition. And so, after doing that, and over the years, they made it their own thing, and now they have matriculated to some of the top business schools, law schools in America. And so, for me, that showed me the power of “when you learn, teach; when you get, give,” right? I heard that quote a number of years ago. That kind of was something that, after doing that and seeing the outcome, and especially now when I look back, that started maybe, let's say, eight years ago. Well now guys are starting their own funds, and they're working at multiple investment banks and consulting companies, and to me, that was more rewarding than even the accomplishments I had made in my transition. So, I feel very blessed to have been able to do that. But, you know, I definitely, over the time, have made it a mission of mine to ensure that I'm pulling the younger grads in the direction that they want to go, and doing it a little bit earlier in the cycle so that they could get better prepared. Naviere Walkewicz 12:25 This is really fascinating. What makes you care in this way? Christian Evans 12:29 At my first base was my first real interaction with the AOG and actual alumni. I got to meet real grads. One in particular was a gentleman, Al Fullerton. I think he was a 1963 grad, and he was medically discharged before he was able to serve. However, he was a grad, and he stayed connected to the organization. And my buddy, Evan Dadoski, who — he would get us to those AOG meetings, and when I and when I had those experiences and when I had the experience with Al, and he would give his time to me, Evan, Brian Campbell, Adam Hood, like go have lunch with us. Got to meet with Flash Wiley while I was up there, you know, Nate Dial went and got his master's while he was up there. And we would go have coffee and get to talk to him and interact with him. And I said, “Man, there is some richness to this,” but those were just really individual connection points. It wasn't like a critical mass, but it did pique my interest in saying, “Oh, there is a richness in a younger grad getting to know a more seasoned grad, or the intergenerational interactions that a lot of times we don't get for whatever reason.” Naviere Walkewicz 13:57 So, you started seeing and feeling the effects of the Long Blue Line? Christian Evans 14:01 Yeah, absolutely. It was really just the thought of trying to maximize the talent that God gave me, and in doing that, you can't be indifferent and be a great leader. You can't be indifferent and be the best that you can be. Naviere Walkewicz 14:19 Certainly, doesn't hurt to be kind of engaging with the vision for where our association's going and to your point, what does your impact look like within there? Christian Evans Sure. Naviere Walkewicz So, what has that look like, and how has that shaped you as a leader? Do you feel like those are one in the same, like you bring your leadership to it in the way that you are, or has it changed you this kind of service as a leader? Christian Evans 14:43 Yeah, if anything, I learned that if you do have a passion for how things should be, if you lean in, you galvanize the troops, so to speak, and/or try to find leadership opportunities within the multiple organizations that interact and do things for a cadet. And for grads, find those because it's been very beneficial to me as I have come onto the board and seeing, OK, something like the next generation. Naviere Walkewicz 15:12 So, can you talk a little bit more about this Next Gen group? Christian Evans 15:16 Yeah, absolutely. There are certain periods as graduates, where we have big decisions to make, and as an association, the more that we're engaged and helping you to solve for those decision problems, so to speak, the more you'll feel the value was served to you to engage. So, that kind of spurred a conversation with Nate Dial. And, you know, we always kind of have strategy sessions here and there about all kinds of stuff. But in this situation, it was, “Hey, how can we kind of solve for this young alumni or emerging leader alumni engagement?” Because the numbers speak for themselves — it's extremely low. If all grads are engaging at 10%, if you graduated after '95 it's less than 10%. So, Next Gen kind of was born out of that. And so, we started thinking about, “We've still got a lot of people engaged from our previous classes.” And so, I thought if we created some type of working group to start thinking about what can we do to provide this value proposition to that demographic of graduates that are historically disengaged? And engagement is not money, right? It's just showing up to alumni events or coming back to the Academy at any point or whatever, going to a game when the Academy is playing close to you, things of that nature. So that's where we got to the Next Gen. group. Naviere Walkewicz 16:54 I mean, I think a theme that's been woven through this with you has been, in your journey as a leader, really leaning in. You know, it seems like when you've had these moments of decisions, of applying yourself, you have these continuous wins that seem to have continued to fuel that desire to make further impact and others. Would you say that's accurate? Christian Evans 17:20 Absolutely. You know, wins have a way of building on themselves, and losses due too. So, incremental big win, small wins — I'm just trying to win. So yeah, to me… and even in the face of a loss, you're still winning, because it's an opportunity to learn, right? I'm sure it's a common theme, but it's true. We all have experienced failure. Nobody wants to talk about it, but everybody experiences it some way. How do you deal with that failure? We talk about resiliency at the Academy, you know? We talk about integrity a lot. We talk about service, we talk about excellence, but we don't talk about failure necessarily, because we're Academy grads. We don't fail, right? We don't fail. But it's true: Even in failure, you're it's an opportunity to win, and the more wins you kind of put together. They cascade, and they grow into great things. And that's kind of where I see, at least my growth and development has been through just a cascading of small, big, intermediate and honestly, putting myself out, taking myself out of my comfort zone, see where the chips fall. Naviere Walkewicz 18:44 Well, we'd like to hear what your leadership lessons and takeaways are, because there have been really a lot of moments in here that I think everyone has been able to kind of see themselves in, right? You've had moments where you've had to kind of pick yourself up, even when you weren't sure what that looked like, and you did. What, what might you leave with our folks? Christian Evans 19:04 You know, we go through a lot of leadership training, so it's like a leadership podcast to teach me what I've been training for, for it feels like our whole adult life could seem redundant sometimes. So, I'm not going to give anybody a nugget that they might not have heard before, but something that I've tried to do that maybe, when I think about leadership, has helped me to approach it in a different way, is to always think about leading with love to a certain extent. I don't mean that to be mushy, I mean that to be sincere. Always go into a situation thinking about the person you're dealing with, as opposed to yourself. Little things like I said, we've got a lot of technical and structured education about what leadership is, but how do you actually execute and effectively live it? So for me, it's a very selfless kind of approach. But I always say, “Lead with love,” and that's what I'll continue to do, right? But I don't have any groundbreaking nuggets. I don't think about leadership all the time. It's just in me, right? I think it's in all — most — of us, they made sure of that. But sincerely, leading with love, because there are other obvious nuances and principles to leadership, but to me, that's the one that gets lost the most in translation, sometimes. Naviere Walkewicz 20:40 Can you share a moment when you led with love and it was maybe a moment where you wouldn't have expected that's the way that you could actually solve something? Christian Evans 20:53 I wouldn't say I have a specific instance. It's just who I am. So, I don't really have an instance. I think every time that I get the opportunity to be in a leadership situation that's at work, in my day job, that leadership looks a little different than leadership in an AOG board capacity, or leadership in other board service that I do around the town of Dallas, or really leadership within your own peer groups, right? It's just a part of who I am. So I don't necessarily have a specific situation. It's just most of the situations where I found myself having an opportunity to actively lead other people, I try to make sure that I'm implementing that, and I think most people that have gotten to work with me would attest to it. Naviere Walkewicz 21:57 Well, I can validate that certainly. Just in our interactions together, I think I've seen you lead with love, and it's because you put the human aspect in. How can I help you? — is really how it translates across, and I think that's very powerful. It's maybe not something that people think about, but it's probably highly effective. But even more so, it's incredibly, probably fulfilling. Christian Evans 22:19 Yeah, I would say one thing I learned is, I don't need much help. I'm gonna go figure it out. But there's a lot of people that don't have that same personality type, and so I think that's important when they don't, is that you can be somewhat of a force multiplier for them, using Air Force speak. Naviere Walkewicz 22:39 I think it's wonderful what you're leading and you're passionate about, and it, again, dovetails from, I think, all of your experiences, of always wanting to make something better than what you had had to go through or experienced in life. Christian Evans 22:50 You had told me to repeat this, but I had said if you would have asked just about anybody that knew me as a cadet and young officer, if Chris Evans — because I didn't become Christian until I came as a civilian, and everybody's Chris — but yeah, Chris Evans is on the AOG board. They'd say, “No way, no way.” So, I think the Academy, we've all had our experience with maybe getting broken down, whether it's basic training, whether it's your first year, academics. I would say, it started for me during basic training. Growing up and coming into the Academy, I thought of myself as a pretty good kid. You know, I focused on school first, athletics second, and I had a lot of success in those two spaces. I was blessed to be recruited to the Academy to play football. However, I did have a little intellectual curiosity about what the place was all about. Coming on my recruiting visit, seeing the training going on, it definitely piqued my interest. But when I got here and went through the Prep School first, I actually somewhat enjoyed that experience. Basic training at the prep school was hard, but it definitely tests your mettle. And after maybe that first few weeks and thinking that I might quit, having a few conversations with people back home, definitely made the decision that I came here for a reason I was going to see it through. That was challenging next year, during basic training, matriculating into our first — or four-degree year, and I had a very catastrophic event happened with my family where my grandfather was tragically murdered by my uncle — I mean, to be transparent. When we were preparing for this, you mentioned, “Oh, you've gone through some traumas,” and I never really thought about it as a trauma, but it definitely was one. And I would say, through the healing process, I connected with a very great chaplain we had here who took a lot of time to help me heal. However, he could only do so much because I had a lot of work to do for myself. I was blessed to be able to travel and play as a freshman and so in that, between going through what I went through in basic training and then the culture of the football team of somewhat really focusing inward, it definitely helped to lead to a general indifference about maximizing my time at the Academy and focusing on things that may not have been as value add to the bigger picture of being here, if that makes sense. So, from a leadership perspective, in my sophomore year, I had to make a serious decision, like, “If I'm going to stay here, well, what am I here for? Am I going to maximize my time, or am I going to keep goofing off and trying to live like I'm at a civilian school kind of thing?” And so, I did make a conscious effort then to kind of lock in, but still, a young athlete that had a lot of distractions around them, there was still a lot of room to grow. And as I went through my cadet time, I would say, definitely found the beginning of my pride in this institution. Nothing like graduating and have the president call your name, right? That was probably one of the cooler experiences. I would say that was the genesis of my indifference towards the bigger picture of what the Academy represents. But in that, I did come to a few moments where I realized that “Hey, you're really wasting your time here if you're going to continue behaving and really thinking about the Academy from a selfish lens.” That just goes to show it's OK to grow up. The Terrazzo-gap doesn't still have to exist. We could all kind of give back to our organization in ways that we're comfortable with, but you just got to find the avenues to do it. Naviere Walkewicz 27:27 Well, when I think of the Next Gen community, what excites me is I think about the two cadets that I have at the Academy, and it's the Next Gen community that's going to be their mentors when they graduate. So, when you think about that, it really puts it in perspective. Christian Evans 27:41 They'll also be their commanders too. Naviere Walkewicz 27:43 That's right. Well, Christian, it's been a pleasure having you on Long Blue Leadership. Thank you so much for being here today. Christian Evans 27:49 Thank you again for having me and thank you to the whole team that makes this podcast happen. I know there's a lot of work that goes into it. Thank you for having me. Naviere Walkewicz 28:01 Thank you for joining us for this edition of Long Blue Leadership. The podcast drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on all your favorite podcast apps. Send your comments and guest ideas to us at social media@usafa.org, and listen to past episodes@longblueleadership.org KEYWORDS Leadership, mentorship, personal growth, Air Force Academy, community impact, resilience, humor in leadership, self-discovery, transition to civilian life, alumni engagement. The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

america god director texas president power business spirit man lessons giving personal space navigating colorado management foundation leader development army investing class impact resilience reflections academy mba navy fellowship engaging conclusion air force basic mentorship col pe managing partners banking copy nhs goldman sachs graduate next gen transformative lending chris evans goldman exceptional morgan stanley united states air force highland ret air force academy cadet olsson wealth advisors christian athletes united states air force academy prep school urban land institute brian campbell business development executive texas board transformative experiences aog terrazzo fighting falcon real estate council adam hood smu cox school christian evans missile systems center

“Do Not Forget the Lord”

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2025 70:02

“Do Not Forget the Lord” – “Promised Land was on the West side of the Johan.” – 1 Samuel 11:1-15 – Saul defeats the Ammonites * The 2 tribes were separated geographically. * Don't make treaties with the enemy. * Don't join in with those who do not have the same biblical view as you. * God wants us to be together. - 1 Samuel 11:6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger. - Confirm Your Calling and Election * 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. * Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

“The Father Heart of God”

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2025 48:40

“The Father Heart of God” – “God has something planned for you!” - 1 Samuel 8:19-22 The Lord Grants Israel's Request * The bible is God's personal reference. * God does not change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. * God's was are always best. - 1 Samuel 9 Saul Chosen to Be King * 1 Samuel 9:6 But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take." - Everything happens for a reason, “NO”, there is a reason everything happens. - * God determines our steps but he does not determine how we will respond. * God askes us, how are you going to respond. * Be faithful where you are serving! God has something planned for you.

“Making America Good Again”

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2025 60:28

“Making America Good Again” – “Israel Demands a King” - Samuel's Warning Against Kings - 1 Samuel 8:9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." - Three Things 1. God is still with those children that are not right with God right now. * God will use your life to speak to your children. * You are not responsible for their choices. 2. The world is going to hate us just like they hated Jesus. 3. Political problems were rooted in their spiritual problem. * 1 Samuel 8:7-8 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

“Redeeming the Past”

Know the Truth with Todd D McDonald

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 16, 2025 53:57

“Redeeming the Past” – “Forgiveness vs. Redemption” – 1 Samuel 7 – Samuel Judges Israel * 1 Samuel 7:14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to her, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. - You can get buried by the things in your life. * Romans 4:7-8 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." * Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. - What man needs is not the discharge of all conflict but to stand up and address it. * Don't stop praying. * Don't take a vacation, keep trusting God. * Allows the truth of God to transform our minds. * • You can't afford to surrender. God is redeeming us for His purpose. -Don't stop seeking Him, He will redeem our lives. * Ephesians 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,

Soul-winners Part 2.mp3

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 22:04

This sermon is a followup message to the previous sermon, "Soul-winners." Todd will continue to look at the priority of being a witness and sharing our faith in Christ.

jesus christ soul witnesses cog aog soul winners

“What It Says”

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2025 43:50

“What It Says” – “James 1:22 Hearing and Doing the Word” – James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. * Jesus in or life changes who we are. * Matthew 5:15-16 Salt and Light - What we hear is what we should do and it equals the testimony we have with those around us. * Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 1 Be quick to listen 2. Be careful of what we say 3. Slow to become angry * Wisdom can be the category under which these thing fall. - Proverbs 8 The Blessing of wisdom * Proverbs 8:1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

"Walking in the Fear of the Lord"

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2025 48:27

"Walking in the-Fear of the Lord" – “We need to honor God” – 1 Samuel 5:1-5 The Philistines and the Ark. - 1 Samuel 5:3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. * We can become so committed to believing something that no matter what is in front of us, we will not believe it. * We need to seek God first, not the things of God. - Hebrews 3:12-13 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (13) But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. - 1 Samuel 6:10-12 The Ark Returned to Israel - 1 Samuel 6:12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. - Our ultimate purpose must be to let God get what He needs to from us.

“The Darkness Precedes the Dawn”

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2025 59:14

“The Darkness Precedes the Dawn” – “Darkness Can Not Prevent the Dawn" – The Philistines Capture the Ark * Man's idea, not God's * They wanted the Ark of God not God himself. - 1 Samuel 4:3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies." - The Death of Eli - 1 Samuel 4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years. - Deuteronomy 32:28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. * Having a relationship with God is the only way you can win. - Judgment and redemption Isaiah 59:14-19 - God is still there: He looked and saw no one to intervene. * Isaiah 59:14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

“Time is Up, Eli”

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2025 60:41

“Time is Up, Eli” – “The Lord Calls Samuel” – How do you know we are in God's plan? - How do you know you are hearing from God? - 1 Samuel 3:7-8 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. - God will always have a servant. How does God speak to us? - Some of the ways: * Through dreams and visions. * Through confirming prophecy. * Taking time with the Lord and listen. * In times of prayer. * Through the reading of the word. - God is moved by those who humble themselves before Him. - God expects you to be an adult.

112 - Menopause

The Body of Evidence

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 51:12

A new year and a new beginning. Special guest co-host Pedro Mendes joins Dr. Chris Labos to answer a viewer question about menopause. Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you! http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/ https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com. Assistant researcher: Aigul Zaripova, MD Editor: Robyn Flynn Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos Chris' book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause- cancer Obviously, I'm not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information. References: Geographic variability of menopausal symptoms 1) Nappi RE et al. Global cross-sectional survey of women with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: prevalence and quality of life burden. Menopause. 2021 May 24;28(8):875-882. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001793. 2) Nappi RE, et al. Prevalence and quality-of-life burden of vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: A European cross-sectional survey. Maturitas. 2023 Jan;167:66-74. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2022.09.006. What's the normal duration of symptoms 3) Avis NE, et al. Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms over the menopause transition. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Apr;175(4):531-9. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8063. The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies Rossouw JE et al. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results From the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002 Jul 17;288(3):321-33. doi: 10.1001/jama.288.3.321. Anderson GL et al. Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy: the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004 Apr 14;291(14):1701-12. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.14.1701. Decline in HRT after WHI studies Sprague BL, Trentham-Dietz A, Cronin KA. A sustained decline in postmenopausal hormone use: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2010. Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Sep;120(3):595-603. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e318265df42. Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study Schierbeck LL metal. Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial. BMJ. 2012 Oct 9;345:e6409. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e6409. Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) Harman SM, et al. Arterial imaging outcomes and cardiovascular risk factors in recently menopausal women: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2014 Aug 19;161(4):249-60. doi: 10.7326/M14-0353. Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) Hodis HN et al. Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol. N Engl J Med. 2016 Mar 31;374(13):1221-31. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1505241. Stopping hormonal therapy Berman RS et al. Risk factors associated with women's compliance with estrogen replacement therapy. J Womens Health. 1997 Apr;6(2):219-26. doi: 10.1089/jwh.1997.6.219. Grady D, Sawaya GF. Discontinuation of postmenopausal hormone therapy. Am J Med. 2005 Dec 19;118 Suppl 12B:163-5. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.09.051. Tapering vs. abrupt stop or hormonal therapy Haimov-Kochman R et al. Gradual discontinuation of hormone therapy does not prevent the reappearance of climacteric symptoms: a randomized prospective study. Menopause. 2006 May-Jun;13(3):370-6. doi: 10.1097/01.gme.0000186663.36211.c0. PMID: 16735933.

“Raising a Consequential Generation”

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2025 50:02

“Raising a Consequential Generation” – “Game On!” – Eli's Worthless Sons 1 Samuel 2:12 Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD. - We need to have: Intentional Parenting, Involvement Parenting, and Intuitive Parenting * You are not responsible for your adult children's choices. * It is our responsibility, not God's, to do the right thing. * It is our responsibility, when we see wrongs being done, to step up and confront them. - Judgment and Redemption – Isaiah 59:14-19 The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. * Isaiah 59:14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

“Look at What the Lord Has Done”

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2025 45:56

“Look at What the Lord Has Done” – “1 Samuel Chapter 2 Hannah's Prayer” – The greatest vindication you can have against your enemies is to see God do powerful things in your life. - Psalms 119:67-68 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. - Samuel Given to the Lord - 1 Samuel 1:22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, "After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always." - Nazirite - A nazirite is an Israelite who voluntarily takes a vow to abstain from wine, haircuts and contact with corpses for a specified period. Learn about the laws, sacrifices and offerings of the nazirite vow, and the biblical figures of Samson and Samuel who were nazirites. - Hannah's Prayer - 1 Samuel 2:1 Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. - The Lord Upholds My Life Psalms 54:6-7 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

"Super Abundantly More!”

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2024 54:43

"Super Abundantly More!” – “This is not a Prosperity Message!” – God wants to give us so much more than gain. Invest in the Kingdom of God where you live. - 1 Samuel 1:1-21 The Birth of Samuel, the Hannah story. * With God, all things are possible. Mark 10:27 * Hannah stood up in her faith. - Faith is a Spiritual Gift 1Corinthians 12:1-11 * 1 Corinthians 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, - The Serenity Prayer - God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; …

“In the Fullness of Time…God”

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2024 55:37

“In the Fullness of Time…God” – “God Sent Forth His Son" - Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. * We will all be responsible before God for the choices we made. - Luke 1:5-6 Birth of John the Baptist Foretold. What does this teach us? * God determines when or through whom He will move. * Still following God even though they did not have children. * Bitterness towards God is without merit. * Keep trusting God even if it does not make sense. - He wants to help us. We are twice His, when He made us and when He bought us.

“The Drone of Bethlehem”

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2024 45:33

“The Drone of Bethlehem” – “Prepare your minds for action” – Jesus is worthy of our worship * Matthew 2:1-3 ..."Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."... - Herod calls/inquires of the experts * Matthew 2:4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. - A living Sacrifice Romans 12:1-2 When god says it is going to be done, it will be done. - If we seek first his Kingdom * If we will seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him. * Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“Overcoming the News”

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2024 59:28

“Overcoming the News” – “A God Reset of Our Mind” – Fix your hope on what Christ has promised me and that never can be taken away from me. 1. Prepare your mind for action. 2. Be self-controlled 3. Our hope is in Christ Jesus. - God's Everlasting Love * Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? * Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Called to Be Holy 1 Peter 1:13-19 * 1 Peter 1:14 Obedient Children * 1 Peter 1:15 Be Holy * 1 Peter 1:18-19 Purchased with the blood of Christ - 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. - Luke 1:13 Do not be afraid * God has a time that will fully come for your desire. Wait, it will be wonderful.

“This is How We Overcome the World – Prt3”

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2024 50:32

“This is How We Overcome the World – Prt3” – “Let's Talk About Some Stuff” – Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 We need hope 2 We need the ability to overcome - Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.- Overcoming the World - 1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

“The Cost of Discipleship Bonhoeffer - Part 2”

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2024 50:03

“The Cost of Discipleship Bonhoeffer - Part 2” – “What Following Christ Looks Like” – The Conference at Fano * Actions must follow what one believe, or else one could not claim to believe it. * The last words of his speech: “What are we waiting for? The time is late.” - What does “Deny Yourself” Mean? * Hebrews 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. * Philippians 3:7-8 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ - What does it mean to live boldly? * It means being unashamed to speak of Christ, to show His love, and to stand for justice, even when it comes at a personal cost.

“Living Our Faith in Our Word – Part 1”

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2024 54:10

“Living Our Faith in Our Word – Part 1” – “What Bonhoeffer's Life Illustrates” - May 1934 – “The Barmen Declaration” 1.UNITE THE LUTHERAN & REFORMED CHURCHES 2.TAKE A STAND - “CONFESSIONS OF FAITH” And STAND AGAINST THE REICH CHURCH THE “CONFESSING CHURCH” – 6,000 OF 18,000 - Faith without Action is dead * James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? …In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. - The Call to Justice * Isaiah 1:17 NIV84 “…learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” - Bonhoeffer's Life Illustrates That: * FAITH CANNOT EXIST IN A VACUUM. * THE CHURCH MUST BE THE VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS AND … * TRUE FAITH IS ALWAYS ACCOMPANIED BY ACTION

“Mercy Triumphs over Judgment”

god spirit prayer holy spirit overcoming revelation sin revival repentance supernatural pentecost evangelism spiritual gifts pentecostal deer park mercy triumphs over judgment aog assemblies of god christian center

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2024 51:32

“Mercy Triumphs over Judgment” – “God expresses mercy even though we don't deserve it.” – James 2 – Favoritism Forbidden, The Sin of Partiality - God is hearing the prayers of his people. There is reason to have hope. - * We need to seek God with all our heart. * We do not need to walk in fear. * We are here for a purpose, we need to be salt and light. - God wants us to follow Him regardless of what is going on around us. - God hear you, He will never turn away.

“Always Pray & Don't Give Up”

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2024 78:08

“Always Pray & Don't Give Up” – “Pray for former President Donald Trump” – Daniel's Prayer for His People * Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, - If My People Pray * 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - Jonathan Kahn – Prophetic Word to former President Donald Trump * Former President Donald Trump prayed for at National Faith Advisory Board's National Faith Summit in Powder Springs, GA

The Honorable Dr. Ravi I. Chaudhary '93 - Leading Through Great Power Competition

Frankly Speaking About Family Medicine

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2024 49:17

Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy Installations and Environment, is a leader who has taught his team to, "Eat no for breakfast." He lives by a value he learned from his mother at an early age: "If you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself." SUMMARY In this edition of Long Blue Leadership, Dr. Chaudhary discusses his role in modernizing and reoptimizing Air Force installations to withstand kinetic, cyber, economic, and extreme weather threats. He emphasizes the importance of ruggedizing installations for the Great Power Competition. Dr. Chaudhary shares his background, including his upbringing in Minneapolis and his parents' immigrant journey, and highlights the values instilled in him. He also discusses his work on the implementation of microgrids and microreactors to enhance energy resilience at critical installations like Eielson Air Force Base. 5 QUOTES "If you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself." - This quote from Dr. Chaudhary's mother reflects the importance of dedication and doing one's job well. "We eat no for breakfast." - This quote highlights Dr. Chaudhary's team's determination to not accept limitations and push boundaries. "Love what you do. Love our nation." - Dr. Chaudhary emphasizes the importance of passion and patriotism in leadership. "America is not about what goes on entirely in Washington. It's about neighbors. It's about what you do for your neighbors." - This quote reflects Dr. Chaudhary's belief in the power of community and service. "Get out of the way and let them in." - Dr. Chaudhary's advice on enabling the next generation of leaders to excel. SHARE THIS EPISODE LINKEDIN | TWITTER | FACEBOOK CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Ravi Chaudhary and His Role 03:07 The Importance of Air Force Installations 06:08 Dr. Chaudhary's Early Life and Family Background 09:03 Lessons from Family: Service and Community 11:52 Reflections on the Air Force Academy Experience 14:54 Leadership Lessons from Cadet Days 18:01 The Role of Innovation in the Air Force 20:48 Strategic Imperatives for Future Operations 23:59 Optimism for the Future of the Air Force Academy 25:07 A Lifelong Dream: Becoming a Pilot 27:31 Launching Innovations: The GPS Program 28:36 Inspiring the Next Generation of Pilots 30:14 Adapting to Modern Challenges in Aviation 32:40 Navigating Change: The Evolution of Standards 34:57 Learning from Failure: A Personal Journey 35:42 The Role of the Assistant Secretary 38:55 Preparing for Great Power Competition 41:09 Innovative Energy Solutions for the Future 44:58 Leadership Lessons and Final Thoughts 5 KEYS TO LEADERSHIP Embrace failures as opportunities for growth. Dr. Chaudhary shared how his failures, like failing a check ride, ultimately helped him grow as a leader. Keep moving forward, even in the face of adversity. Dr. Chaudhary emphasized the importance of keeping your "legs moving" and not giving up when faced with challenges. Leverage the bonds formed with your team. Dr. Chaudhary highlighted how the bonds he formed with his classmates at the Academy carried over into his missions, demonstrating the power of camaraderie. Empower and enable the next generation. Dr. Chaudhary expressed optimism about the capabilities of the current cadets and emphasized the need to get out of their way and let them excel. Maintain a service-oriented, patriotic mindset. Dr. Chaudhary's passion for serving his country and community was evident throughout the interview, underscoring the importance of this mindset in effective leadership. ABOUT DR. CHAUDHARY '93 BIO Dr. Ravi I. Chaudhary is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment, Department of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Chaudhary is responsible for the formulation, review and execution of plans, policies, programs, and budgets to meet Air Force energy, installations, environment, safety, and occupational health objectives. Dr. Chaudhary most recently served as the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy. Prior to this role, he served as the Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, at the Federal Aviation Administration. He provided technical leadership and oversight for the commercial space industry, to include research and development activities to support Department of Transportation and White House National Space Council initiatives. Prior to this role, he served as Executive Director, Regions and Center Operations, at the FAA. In this role, he was responsible for leadership, integration and execution of aviation operations in nine regions nationwide. Dr. Chaudhary served as second in command to the Deputy Assistant Administrator and was responsible for providing Department of Transportation and FAA-wide services in the areas of operations, safety, policy, congressional outreach and emergency readiness for the National Aerospace System. Dr. Chaudhary commissioned in the Air Force in 1993 upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy. He completed 21 years of service in a variety of command, flying, engineering and senior staff assignments in the Air Force. As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of the Personnel Recovery Center, Multi-National Corps, Iraq. As a flight test engineer, he was responsible for flight certification of military avionics and hardware for Air Force modernization programs supporting flight safety and mishap prevention. Earlier in his career, he supported space launch operations for the Global Positioning System and led third stage and flight safety activities to ensure full-operational capability of the first GPS constellation. As a systems engineer, he supported NASA's International Space Station protection activities to ensure the safety of NASA Astronauts. Dr. Chaudhary is a DoD Level III Acquisition Officer and has published numerous articles in future strategy, aircraft design, business transformation and space operations. - Bio Copy Credit to AF.MIL CONNECT WITH DR. CHAUDHARY LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates! FULL TRANSCRIPT OUR SPEAKERS Guest, The Honorable Dr. Ravi I. Chaudhary '93 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:00 My guest today is the assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy installations and environment, the Honorable Dr. Ravi Chaudhary USAFA, Class of '93. Against the backdrop of Great Power Competition, Dr. Chaudhry leads the modernization and reoptimization of the Air Force to ruggedize our installations across the globe against what he describes as kinetic threats, as well as non-kinetic cyber, economic and extreme weather threats. He has served as acting deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for energy; the director of advanced programs and innovation, Office of Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration; and he has led in the commercial space industry research and development in the support of the Department of Transportation and the White House, National Space Council. We'll talk with Dr. Chaudhry about his life before, during and after the Academy. We'll discuss his role, modernizing and re-optimizing initiatives and strategies for the Air Force. We'll touch on leading through new and changing threats and making decisions with climate in mind, and we'll discuss Dr. Chaudhary's work with the secretary of the Air Force and leadership at the base, command and warfighter levels. Finally, we'll ask Dr. Chaudhary to share advice for developing and advanced leaders. Dr. Chaudhary, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad to have you. Dr. Chaudhary 01:18 Navier, thank you so much. Thank you for that way too kind of an introduction, and I only have one regret. On this weekend, did you have to mention that I was in the Navy for a little while? You just about blew me away. I know you've got some white clear liquid here. I'm just about ready to find out what the clear liquid is. Naviere Walkewicz Cheers. Dr. Chaudhary 01:40 Off we go, and we'll let our audience speculate, and depending on how it goes, we'll critique ourselves. Just an honor to be here, and congrats to you on your career of service in the Air Force. Naviere Walkewicz Thank you so much. This is truly a pleasure. And I think what we love about Long Blue Leadership is it's really about our listeners getting to know you. And we have so many different listeners that are really excited. So let's start with the hat. I've noticed we've got a hat on right here. “Air Force Installations: Best in the World.” Let's talk about it. Dr. Chaudhary Yeah, let's talk about that. Because we do have the best installations in the world. Our installations are power projection platforms. Every Air Force installation has a mission that begins and terminates with it. If you go all the way back in our history, Gen. Hap Arnold had this to say about our installations: “Air bases are the determining factor in air operations.” Think about that. Think about why we need to make sure that our installations are ready to go, and why we invest in them as an Air Force. It's because you can't get the jets out of town unless they have a good runway that works, unless they are hardened and ready to absorb the types of blows that have come to us in the past. And I'm telling you right now that we've got to be ready for this future, in a decade of consequence in Great Power Competition. We've got to focus on ruggedizing and ensuring that our installations are as survivable as they ever have been. Naviere Walkewicz Absolutely. Well, I can say that that is certainly true, having been at bases where we've seen some challenges, it does halt and sometimes stop operations. So yeah, you're right. Yeah. So it's incredible the work you're doing, and we're going to talk about that today. But before we get there, can we rewind the clock a little bit? Dr. Chaudhary Please don't rewind it too far, but I have a feeling you will. Naviere Walkewicz Just a little bit. Just enough to kind of get to know who Ravi was as a young boy. What were you like growing up? Tell us about your family and where you grew up. Dr. Chaudhary That's cool. So, I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I grew up there all my life. My parents came from India in 1960s and they always dreamed to do the unusual, it was the American Dream that brought them to this country. And they had kids, you know, and growing up as a South Asian American, you know, people in community would be like, “Hey, you know, why are you going to join the military? Why are you going to, you know, once you just be a doctor or engineer or lawyer or something like that?” Kind of fit the stereotype. But I always thought about it this way: If my parents would give up everything they wanted in their life, their language, their culture, everything to pursue their dreams, wouldn't they want that for their children as well? And so off I went to the Air Force Academy, and the values that my parents instilled in me rang true just about every single day. In fact, when I grow up, my mom would always tell me this. She'd say, “You know, if you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself.” Naviere Walkewicz That sounds very familiar to me. Dr. Chaudhary And she would say, in the Sanskrit word for that — and my faith tradition is Hinduism — the Sanskrit word for that is “dharm.” If you follow your dharm, everything will take care of itself. And lo and behold, I'm getting choked up a little bit, because when I showed up and opened that Contrails and saw that quote, I knew that Mom and Dad had prepared me, had prepared me for the challenges that would come, not just the Academy, but everything from 9/11 to deploying to Iraq to raising a family and making sure they have everything they need to prosper. So, all that brought me to an institution that honestly brought out the flavor and gave me in the same opportunity that this country gave my father. So, it's just been a pinch-me career, and it's just an honor to be here with you today and with the entire AOG team talking about this. Naviere Walkewicz 05:36 That's amazing. I mean, I, thinking about what you just said, that your parents came and they pursued a dream. What was that like in your household? What did that look like? Dr. Chaudhary 05:45 Here's what it looked like. My dad — he actually came to this country with about $165, $80 of which went to his tuition. He was at University of Missouri, and then he eventually went to University of Minnesota. The rest he used to get a house and fill the fridge. And so, when he was looking for an opportunity to serve, he wanted to be in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and serve as a fed and so he didn't get that chance. So, what he did, he literally drove, put me and my brother and my mom in a car and drove to Washington. When he drove to Washington, he dropped us off at the Lincoln Memorial and walked up the stairs of the Capitol. Two senators from Minnesota, one was walking out, Sen. Walter Mondale. He said hello to him. He didn't know him from Adam. And then he went to the office of Hubert Humphrey and he sat down with him, and he told his story to Hubert Humphrey and Hubert Humphrey said, “This is what America is all about.” And he was kind enough to give my dad a shot in Minneapolis. And he spent his entire career, 25 years, as a federal inspector in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Naviere Walkewicz My goodness. Dr. Chaudhary It's an incredible story. But you know what? It all came together about a year and a half ago when I was confirmed and during my swearing, and it was honored to have Sec. Kendall swear me in, but to have my dad walk up the front steps of the Pentagon with my mom and I. We go up the stairs, and I said, “Dad, would you turn around for a second?” And he turned around. I said, “You know, you can see the Lincoln Memorial and you can see the Capitol.” And I said, “Look what you've done in one generation.” That is the embodiment of the American dream. And as he was kind of — I'm getting choked up — he wiped the tears from his eyes. He realized that that that what this country has given to us is something that we've got to always think about giving back and giving back, and that's really what my career has always been about, giving back to the country that has given my family everything. Naviere Walkewicz 07:59 That is amazing. Wow. I mean, I'm almost without words, because I can see what your dad has instilled in you, made possible, but instilled in you as a servant leader as well. I'm just… that's pretty impressive. So, tell me about your mom, because it sounds like she also instilled some pretty incredible traits in you and some beliefs in how to treat people. What did that look like in, her leadership in your life? Dr. Chaudhary 08:26 What can I say about my mom? She's a pillar of the community back in Minneapolis. She runs a nonprofit called Seva. In Hindi, seva means service, to serve, serve your fellow citizens, serve your nation. And again, I told you about her, her enduring quote, “If you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself.” So, in that nonprofit, she is actually bringing cultural-specific services, health services, to the Asian American community. One thing she did during Covid was incredible. She pulled together a meal team, and she served somewhere around 20,000 seniors. And it wasn't just Asian Americans, anybody in the Minneapolis community that was struggling, that couldn't get food, that was having a tough time. And then, as you know, after the George Floyd tragedy occurred, the town, the city went through a tough time, and there was an area right around one of the police stations where the riots were going on and everybody was fleeing when. When the community was fleeing, she was mobilizing her team to go in. They were going in and they were rescuing people from shelters to get them to a safe place. And two days later, she brought a team into the community that was still smoldering and set up meal stations to just give people sandwiches, bread, whatever — to just make everybody feel good and move forward, and that's what America is about. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the times and differences, but we realize that America is more than just Washington. America is about neighbors and neighbors caring for each other. So, where did I learn that? I learned that from my mom, but the Air Force Academy brought it out, and I applied that every single day, whether it was a mission launching GPSs, doing engineering — tough engineering problems, or flying missions into the CENTCOM AOR, where we had to bring crews to bear to execute incredible missions. And so, reflecting on that — boy, you're really tearing me up today… Naviere Walkewicz No, not at all… Dr. Chaudhary …because you're bringing this all out of my heart, and it's just an honor to be here and humbling to tell the story. But I know that there are thousands and thousands of grads out there that have just as inspiring stories, and that's why I love to come to AOG. That's why I like to spend time with our cadets today, which was just as incredible. I went down to Jacks Valley and got to see the assault course as well. Luckily, I didn't have too many flashbacks. Naviere Walkewicz I was going to say, did you have your rubber ducky with you? Dr. Chaudhary Yeah, I did not. They didn't push me through it, but the demo was incredible. And I know our secretary was equally impressed with the cadets and the caliber of students that are here, the caliber of our cadets, and how I'm so optimistic for the future of our Air Force and Space Force. Naviere Walkewicz 11:33 Absolutely. And I can share, based off of what you shared about your mom and dad, there's no reason why you're [not] able to take on a job that almost seems impossible with the scope and breadth of what you're responsible for. So, I can't wait to get into that as well. Can we go to when you're at the Academy? I want to know more about you as a cadet, because as interesting as you are as an adult, what were you like as a cadet? Dr. Chaudhary 11:54 There's a lot that I really shouldn't disclose. Okay, so we've got to be really, really careful. So, me and my classmates, we have this thing called “mutually assured destruction.” You know stories about me, I know stories about you. Just leave it there. But let me tell you, the Academy was just the honor of a lifetime. But you know what — going through it with your classmates is something. I was just having lunch with our cadets today. I was a grad of Delta Tau Deuce, and to spend time with them and tell them stories, and hear about their stories, about what Deuce is like these days, was absolutely just, I was just blown away with it. But yep, I was primarily in Deuce. I had the just pleasure of beaing a squadron commander and having peers that really care for each other, peers that I keep in touch with. To this very day, I have them up on text. Naviere Walkewicz Oh, wow. Dr. Chaudhary And we share with each other. We have challenges. We go through it together, but I will tell you one story about why your cadet story matters, and you don't realize it until the balloon goes up. When I graduated from pilot training, I graduated essentially the day after 9/11 and I was actually in the planning room when 9/11 happened, and within a few weeks — I did my check ride that day — within a few weeks, I was at Charleston Air Force Base, and my squadron commander had me look out the window and said, “We don't have time to mission qual you. We don't have enough pilots. We're going to marry you up with a crew to go down range.” And you know what he did? He married me up with two people, one who was my classmate from the Class of 1993, Naviere Walkewicz Really? Dr. Chaudhary Two was a member of my squadron from Deuce, and he was a new aircraft commander. We had an experienced first pilot, and I didn't know nothing from nothing. I was a brand-new co-pilot. And so, getting ready for that, for those missions, a new environment for me, required something that our squadron commander knew that if I put three Academy graduates together, the bond that they've had in their years was going to carry them through toughest conditions, in unknown conditions. And sure enough, we clicked and did well. But to anybody who's a current cadet and listening in and wondering, “Hey, is this bonding — is what's going on now, the time that we have together here in the Academy going to amount to anything?” I'm here to tell you, it does and through my own life experiences, and quite honestly, in a number of missions, we fly working it together as a team. The bonds we create as cadets carry over for decades. Naviere Walkewicz 14:54 So maybe you can share some of those bonding moments at the Academy. You said you were a squadron commander. What were some of the lessons you learned from a leadership aspect, in leading your peers, but also while still trying to bond with them? Dr. Chaudhary 15:08 Yeah, when you look back, sometimes you're separated by age and rank, right? You got age and you got rank and your peer groups kind of set you that way. At the Academy, it's completely different because your peers, as a senior, you're all peers and colleagues, and to take on a leadership role is what I would say is the toughest challenge of all. To lead a team of peers and colleagues can be challenging. And there's challenges that really kind of come with everything like that, but to me, you can't do it without collaboration, without consulting folks and being inclusive in how you give people a voice. Now the jury is out — I'm not going to judge whether I was successful or not. Probably not, you know? But I will say we did one thing: It was gonna be we were gonna be the athletic squadron of the year. We were a beast. In fact, we decided that we were gonna go for one thing: We were the athletic squadron. And so, we did. Naviere Walkewicz That's impressive! Dr. Chaudhary We kicked some serious buttt. So, back in the day, you do what was called a sweep. So, if you swept all your sports and intramurals that day, you would, the next day, you would get Mitch's Mountains. And so, the lore of Mitch's Mountains was incredible. And today, interestingly enough, we had what I would call Mitch's Mountain version 2.0 — probably half the calories and twice the caffeine. I don't know what it is. But I actually whipped out a picture of an old Mitch's Mountain. And I show them, they're like, it was really funny, because to see the look in their eyes and to see an original Mitch's Mountain, it was like, oh, you know they looked at and they're like, “That's what a Mitch's…” And they're like, “There's an Oreo cookie on top!” I'm like, for us, “Ok, this is a nice 2.0” and everything, like you gotta go back to… Naviere Walkewicz 17:05 So, how many of those did you get? If you were actually the athletic squadron, you must have swept multiple days. Dr. Chaudhary 17:12 You see the love handles on me right now? That was the one challenge. Because, you know, [you‘ve] got to stay in shape. But we kicked some serious butt; we would sweep all the time. I was actually on the water polo team… Naviere Walkewicz 17:25 …we share that. I did not enjoy it. It sounds like you might. Dr. Chaudhary 17:30 I don't know. So, I'm a decent swimmer. I'm pretty good. Grew up in Minnesota, tons of lakes. I could say I'm a decent swimmer, but I can tell you I am not a water polo player. So, what they used me for in water polo… Naviere Walkewicz Were you the buouy? Dr. Chaudhary I was the anti-buoy, because whoever was the good player, they'd say, “Go and put your arms over that one and get them underwater,” so that our fellow water polo teammate could go in and score. And so, probably one of my most beloved plaques in my life is my water polo plaque because we were Wing champs. Naviere Walkewicz Oh, my goodness! Dr. Chaudhary We ran the tables and were Wing champs, and that plaque still sits on my desk. It's one of my most beloved things. You know, my wife, she's getting ready to toss it. I'm like, “No, no, not that!” Naviere Walkewicz Not the water polo plaque! Dr. Chaudhary She's like, “Oh, what about this graduation plaque from the Academy?” You can get rid of that, but don't get rid of my water polo plaque. That is beloved. So anyways, I was asking cadets today, “What's Deuce like?” I'm like, “So are you guys a training squadron?” Naviere Walkewicz What are they like? Dr. Chaudhary They're like, “We're the standards squadron.” And I'm like, “Wow, that's impressive.” I'm like, “What about Mach One? Are they the training?” So, they're like, “Mach One. Nah, not really.” They're like, “We're No. 1 in SAMIs. We're No. 1 is…? I'm like, “Oh, wow, they still have SAMIs and stuff like that.” Have fun. Yeah, that was a haze for me. Triple threats were always a haze, yes, so I never liked that, because well… Naviere Walkewicz 18:49 Maybe the Deuce team does now. Dr. Chaudhary 18:53 Mach One, they loved it. I've got friends from Mach One. They're gonna kill me, but yeah, they love it. They're all into it. Cleaning their rooms and Deuce would be on the corner going, “Would Mach One please go to bed?” So anyway, sorry. But yeah, it was an interesting time, you know, talking with some of our cadets. Naviere Walkewicz 19:26 I love these stories. So, were you this happy as a cadet? Dr. Chaudhary 19:31 No, I was not a happy cadet. I was a surviving kid. I was trying to get through the next day. And honestly, to me, it was always a wonder to be there, and I was always grateful for being there to serve. I was in a tough major, aero major, and honestly, it didn't come right away to me. And so I was not one of those sterling cadets that just rocks the house and everything. I was on the Comm List for a good portion of the time, but the academics took some time for me. I spent a lot of time in the aero lab. And, you know, the cool thing is, … I did projects and drag reduction, and we we tested these winglets on the tips of wings, and we did flow visualization. I had this professor. His name was Tom Yechout, and I was talking to some aero majors today. They're like, “You know, Tom Yechout?” And I'm like… Naviere Walkewicz He's still there. Dr. Chaudhary “He teaches controls here” I go, “Well, he taught me flight controls as well.” But he supervised me, and one time, I think, maybe at the last reunion, he brought me to the cabinet, and he opened up the cabinet and he showed me the hardware that we used for our project. Naviere Walkewicz 20:39 From your class? Dr. Chaudhary 20:43 Yeah. Naviere Walkewicz That's amazing! Dr. Chaudhary And here's why I'm telling you that: When in my interview with Sec. Kendall, he sat me down and he was talking about, “Hey, in your in your team, we're doing some drag reduction activities.” And he's like, “What do you know about blended wing body aircraft?” And it turns out, not only had I done some research on that, I had done a project at Staff College and to me, you know, my message to cadets out there who are working on a project who are wondering, “Hey, is this going to amount to anything? Does this matter?” I'm here to tell you that it does, because the type of work that goes on at this Academy is literally out of this world. We got folks who are working with SpaceX. I went down and that we're actually doing a project called the blended wing aircraft, which is like a big flying manta ray. It's going to reduce fuel consumption by roughly 30% to reduce fuel for fuel consumption across our Air Force and extend our range. Naviere Walkewicz How are we going to do that? Dr. Chaudhary Well, we're going to build a prototype in 2027. One of my sections is operational energy, and we have a team dedicated to reducing drag on aircraft, finding efficiencies. Why is this important? Well, it's because in Great Power Competition, we know that our adversaries are going to come after our logistics and fuel — our resources. And as a logistician, you know that. Our adversaries are targeting our installations, they're going to target our fuel resources. So, what's the best thing we can do? We can be as efficient as we can with our fuel and flying C-17s, is one thing you get to know real quick that if you land at an austere location, you're going to drain that fuel bladder almost instantly. And what does that mean? That means less sorties. That's less fire missions if you're flying Apache's out of there. That means less fuel for generators if you lose power. That means less ability to get your CAPs in the air, and we've got to embody that as a department and be ready for what that challenge holds for us. So getting efficient with our field, to me, isn't something that we're going to do because we're nice. We're going to do it because it's going to be an imperative. It's going to be a strategic imperative, and we've got to be ready for that. And so, we've been working hard at those things. The blended wing body aircraft is a long-term thing that it's been out there for a long time, but we've got to proof it. And so, it's really cool… Naviere Walkewicz It's almost full-circle for you. Dr. Chaudhary Yeah, it's incredible. And we just were at this, at the plant for Jet Zero. We did a visit there to spend some time with them and look at look at their production facility. And what do I see when I walk in the conference room? Five cadets sitting on the end of the table, learning, taking notes, interacting with the top systems engineers. And interestingly enough, one of those cadets had come and visited me and spent the summer — actually, three of them. She was part of a team of three that came and visited my organization and worked on the impacts of strategic temperature changes and how it will affect payloads for tanker aircraft. And so, they did this research, presented me this paper, and now here I am seeing them at industry being on the leading edge. And to me — let me tell you that filled me with so much optimism and excitement for the future, and most importantly, what we're producing here at the Air Force Academy, a top-notch engineering school that is regarded across the industry. So, a little turn to academics there, but big shout out to what we're doing across our academic programs. I just think we're on the right track, and we need to keep up the momentum. Naviere Walkewicz 24:30 No, that's huge. I was actually going to ask you, how are you leveraging some of our cadets in some of the things you're doing? But it sounds like they're already doing it. Dr. Chaudhary 24:40 Check! Done. They're rocking the house. Just, just leading the way. It's awesome. Naviere Walkewicz 24:43 That's amazing. Yeah. So, let's talk about — and I'm really curious — so, after you graduate the Academy, did you know you always wanted to be a pilot, by the way? Did you know you wanted to fly? Dr. Chaudhary 24:50 I can't remember a day where I wasn't drawing airplanes. And you're asking me about when I was younger. You know, “What kind of kid were you?” I was a kid who was drawing airplanes. OK, I was the kid with the airplane books. I was a kid who was checking out every single airplane book and library and learning about them and trying to understand them and wanting to know more. And so naturally, it was just — I can't think of a day where I didn't want to be an aerospace engineer, be a pilot. And you know, sometimes the ebb and flow of demand for the Air Force —there was a time of reduction in pilots for the for the Academy, and I didn't get that opportunity then and it was a bummer. But you know, if you do your full duty, the rest will take care of itself. And so, I landed at Los Angeles Air Force Base where we launched this program. I got to launch rocket programs. And you may have heard of this particular payload: It's called GPS. Naviere Walkewicz 25:44 I might have heard of that one, yes… Dr. Chaudhary 25:47 …and it was the first time we were doing it. And we're young lieutenants, and we're at Los Angeles Air Force Base, and I was getting the responsibility for third-stage engines and ordnance systems and some of the avionics, and my boss said, “We don't have time. We're launching rockets every single month. I need you to go out to this corporation called Thiokol, and I want you to buy that rocket.” And by the way, he said it in a way that was like, “Don't screw this up,” right? Naviere Walkewicz The undertone was there. Dr. Chaudhary Yeah, we've had that don't-screw-it-up moment. And so that was one of them. And so, the one thing that I remember is that our Academy demands a lot, and it demands a lot for a reason. Because leaders will be demanding a lot of brand new officers. Now the jury's out as to how well I did, but we had three we had three successful missions, and we delivered full operational capabilities for our department. And to me, I look back on that. I, believe it or not, still keep in touch with the captain who welcomed me, who brought me on the team and, in 2018, I got the incredible opportunity to let the last Delta II rocket go. And I brought my wife and my daughter with me, and that kind of brought the whole band back together. And it was cool to have kind of the old space cowboys and in the room again going, “Well, let's, let's let this rocket go for one last time.” Naviere Walkewicz That is really cool. Dr. Chaudhary And the best part of it was, after that rocket went and you felt the rumble — the rumble of a rocket, there's nothing like it in the world. When you feel the rumble go into your stomach — I leaned over my daughter. I go, “What do you think?” She said, “I am doing that.” Naviere Walkewicz 27:34 I was just going to ask you, did it bleed over into your daughter? Dr. Chaudhary 27:38 Now, she's a cadet at Georgia Tech. She just finished field training, and of course, like every good Academy graduate should do, buck the system. So, she bucked the system with her dad and said, “I'm gonna do ROTC and go to Georgia Tech. So, good luck this weekend against Navy. I'll kind of vote for you, but just want to let you know the Academy is a lot easier than Georgia Tech.” So, she and I jaw back and forth, but watching her grow has been really cool. And I got a chance to take her up and fly and get her ready for her career. She wants to be a pilot. And let me tell you, we got nothing on this next generation. They are ready for technology. They are ready for the leading edge, and we've just got to enable them. Honestly, we've got to get the hell out of the way and let them in. There's one situation, we had new avionics on the aircraft. I won't bore you with the details, but it allows you to deconflict from traffic. It's a GPS-based instrument, and I was kind of flying with her one time a few years ago, and I said, “All right, well, this is what is so, you know that little piece, you know 2,000 below you, positive means 2,000 above you. It's closing it…” She's like, “Dad, Dad, Dad, stop, stop!” Naviere Walkewicz 28:58 She knew… Dr. Chaudhary 29:00 She knew how to interact with that technology, and honestly, I didn't. I was learning how to interact with that technology. So, we've got to really make sure that we're blazing a path for our next generation, but at the same time, make sure that that we're not getting in their way. And I think sometimes we do that as grads. We're like, “I was like this when I was there…” You know? I was at Mitchell Hall today, and I saw the 0-96 up there and it's memorialized. And I walked by that thing… Naviere Walkewicz 29:32 Did you scan the QR code to fill one out? Dr. Chaudhary 29:33 Yeah, I did not do the QR code. I was like, that's too much for me. But when you look at it, you know, I thought, I'm like, that's probably where that thing ought to be right now. It's a great remembrance of why it's important, why standards are important, and then the example of how it paid off in combat conditions and saved a life was pretty important. But I'll be honest with you, we find other ways today with this next generation. I can remember flying one mission and we lost SATCOMMS with a particular field, and we were roughly maybe six hours out for Iraq in the combat zone, and we didn't know the status of the field. And one of the things you need to do is make sure the field's not under attack. So, before we did that, we're like, “Hey, how do we get our 30-minute… You know, it just wasn't happening. But you know what we're doing. We had brevity codes. And all along the line, all the C-17s that were lined up miles after miles going all the way back to Azerbaijan at 30,000 feet. We're all on. We're communicating. … We're using brevity code, so, we're not giving anything away. We're using our brevity code, and we're saying this is the status of the field. And we're relaying, we're literally relaying a half world away. That's a testament to our pilot corps, testament to duty. And so it's really in the spirit of that 0-96 there that we've adopted. So, when people say, “Oh, that tradition is going to ruin us, you know, we're going to lose standards.” I could tell you that, even though we got rid of that thing, that we're still an effective force. And I think we have to understand that a little more and as we kind of move through a period of change at USAFA — I was talking to our cadets about, “Hey, what do you think about the changes?” and, “Yeah, well, restrictions, but I understand on the importance.” I'm going to hearken back to 1991 or so, when the first Gulf War kicked off, and we were cadets when that thing kicked off, and almost instantly we moved into BDUs. We started wearing those every day. We started creating the warfighter mindset. We sealed off to make sure that we had good security. We canceled a lot of passes, and you know what we did? We moved from a fourth-class system to a four-class system. Sound familiar? Sound familiar? That was after the war kicked off. Think about that. After the war kicked off. Our superintendent is trying to do it before the war kicks off, to make sure that we're ready, ready to fight the fight and get into it. So, I have a lot of respect for our superintendent and taking this step. I do agree that we've got to get execution right. Sometimes you get some growing pains with those things, but I think we've got to step back in the grad community and digest a little bit and get behind some of the changes that have been going on. And I was talking to some cadets last night, I go, “What do you think of this?” And they're like, “We understand it. It hurts a little bit.” Because the expectations … the environment that we're in has now changed. And you know, honestly, I'll shoot straight from the hip and say that sometimes it feels like the goal post is being moved on you, because you meet one standard, and then they move again. Yeah, you know, things get tough, but we're a resilient institution, and when you get down to the brass tacks of who we are as grads, the core of what we do and execute our mission will never go away. And we've just got to blaze a path for our next generation to be successful. Naviere Walkewicz 33:24 Absolutely. Well, speaking of blaze a path — and I think some of our listeners want to hear sometimes, you know they have times when they fail at things in leadership. How do you grow from that? Can you share a time when you experience failure and what it looked like, to help inspire them through that. Dr. Chaudhary 33:42 Yep. Well, worst day of my life was when I failed a check-ride. I failed a simulator check-ride in the C-17. And it hurt. It hurt bad. I had aspirations in my career. I was like, “What's this gonna mean for me?” But you know some really smart folks, and that's when you turn to people who you really go to for advice, and it's like, you know, “Ravi, there are those who have and those who will.” So honestly, I just needed a smack in the head. They're like, “Get over it, man. You know, whatever you failed check-ride. Go out there, clean that thing up and those ups and downs in a flying career occur.” I'm being 100% honest with you, my failures are stacked up right next to my successes. And so, I think, to me, the failures were the things that helped me grow, grow through things and sometimes you think, “OK, well, that failure was unfair. I got, you know, I got a raw deal out of that.” Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but you keep moving forward. Keep taking one step after another. Now I'm not a football guy. I love football. Watch about I never played football, but I do know what running back coaches say. I think, I'm not sure, they say, “Above all, always keep your legs moving. Don't ever up when you're running. Keep your legs moving.” And so, to me, I've always taken that advice. I've given that advice to other people too, especially when they come to me with challenges. Naviere Walkewicz 35:09 That's great advice. So maybe we can talk about your role now a little bit. And so, can you actually explain what you do? It might actually be shorter to say what you don't do, because when I look at the description, it's quite a bit. We have listeners that are parents and that maybe don't have a lot of military background and really understand. So, I think it's wonderful to share with the full community. Dr. Chaudhary 35:31 Yeah, let me talk about the position. So, the job is one of those long titles. It's the assistant secretary for energy, installations and the environment. First thing first. I'm not a military member. I am a presidential appointee, so my job is as an appointee, a Senate-confirmed appointee. That means that you go through a hearing like you see in TV, and you get voted on, right? You get the vote. I was lucky enough to have after a period of being held, I had a bipartisan vote. And so that was pretty neat to have that. But my role specifically is to ensure that our installations are ready for the fight, for the future fight, and for current conditions. Things that I lose sleep over: Right now we're in a decade of consequence that our secretary and chief regularly say that decade of consequence includes great power competition in which China and Russia seek to shape the world order in ways that that work to their advantage, in autocratic manner, and so we've got to be ready for that, and that includes establishing an important deterrence. So, my job is to make sure installations are strong and present an approach of deterrence, and when deterrence failed, be ready to win. So, what does that mean for us? That means ensuring that our installations have power capabilities, that have strong runways, that have strong hangars, strong facilities, and included in which — families live on installations as well — to ensure we have top-notch housing. So, you'll see me reaching across all those areas, but importantly enough, making sure that those installations have the right power is critical. Our adversaries have declared their intent and have the capacity to go after our critical infrastructure, and that's the one thing that keeps me up at night: making sure that we have critical redundancies and opportunities to if somebody comes after our infrastructure tries to cut our power, we have redundant capabilities, that our control systems are cyber hardened. And you mentioned earlier, both kinetic and cyber threats. So roughly in the past two decades, as China has modernized our CENTCOM theater has really shaped an environment in which CONUS installations are under threat a little bit, but not entirely. We could be relatively confident that Grand Forks would be generally safe from ISIS from a major attack. In Great Power Competition, all of that goes out the window. Our adversaries, to include Russia and China, know how to go after critical infrastructure. They know how to employ cyber capabilities, and that's why we've got to make sure that we are pursuing cyber hardened energy control systems that protect you from those threats, and the ability to island from the local grid when we need to. So, here's one thing we're doing. I'm on a march over the next five years to bring 20 or so micro grids across our most critical installations. A micro grid — it's kind of like a power bar. You plug it in the wall and you can plug in renewable energy, you plug in wind, geo, you know, all kinds of things into that — solar — to build critical redundancies. So ultimately, building those redundancies allows you to harden your capabilities at the installation and micro-reactors give you the ability to manage and distribute power where you need it. Now we can also put in battery storage. So, battery storage allows you to — when the balloon goes up, boom, put in a firewall with the local community and get the jets out of town. Keep your employed in-place mission moving and build critical redundancies. Then once the jets are out of town, plug back in and share that power with a local community, because we know that our adversaries are going to be driving civil disruption to affect the efficiency of our installations as well, too. So that dynamic is really complex. Naviere Walkewicz Wow, and the time is compressed. Dr. Chaudhary And the time is compressed, so we won't have time to react as quickly. So, we've got to prepare for an all-new environment in our installations. And it goes right back to the Hap Arnold quote. We've got to make sure that they're ready to ensure our operations are effective. And I was recently at Eielson Air Force Base, and what we're doing at Eielson is really novel. We're going to put in a small, modular micro-reactor, a small baby nuclear reactor. Naviere Walkewicz Is there a small version of that? Dr. Chaudhary Yeah, there is a small version, but it hadn't been developed yet, and we decided that we're going to push on with this new capability and bring it to Eielson Air Force Base. The key is to now — back in the day, we used to do something, proof it military-wise, and then see if it's viable in the in the commercial market, right? Not anymore. We're going to do it all concurrently. So, we're going to pursue a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license. We've been engaging the local community. They love it, including tribal nations, who know that power advantages are going to be important for sharing in the community. And so that will be the first micronuclear reactor in any installation. We're looking to award in the spring or sooner, and then get this thing up and running in 2027. Why is this important at Eielson? And you're like, “Whoa, it's way up in Alaska.” Eielson is a critical entry point for the INDOPACOM theater. Naviere Walkewicz I was gonna say, where it's located… Dr. Chaudhary It's where the one of the highest concentrations of our 5th-gen fighter force is at. It's where we do air defense, and it's where our mobility forces will be moving from Fort Wainwright all the way down range. So that's a critical node, and there's a few more of those that we've got to really, really stay focused on. So, energy and, by the way, a happy Energy Action Month as well. This month is Energy Action Month where we're looking at how we can improve power consumption across our Air Force and be more efficient. And bringing these micro-grids online is going to be a crucial, crucial aspect of that. Naviere Walkewicz 42:07 Well, something I've learned about you is that you're not afraid to push the envelope, push the speed, but do it, like you said, concurrently and to find some solutions. And I don't know that there's anyone else that could do it just like are you're doing it. Dr. Chaudhary 42:19 It's not me, it's my team. I have an incredible team of folks that refuse to accept anything [less] than excellence in our department. In fact, we have a saying in our organization that, “We eat no for breakfast.” So, I dare you to tell us no and that we can't do something. One of our coolest announcements recently that we were told “no” to for roughly three years, was a new apartment complex at Edwards Air Force Base. So, some folks may not know this, but Edwards Air Force Space is very isolated, and it's located in the desert, and so it takes roughly 45 minutes to get to the base once you get through the gate. And so, isolation of our military members, especially our junior enlisted, has been around for roughly four decades or more. And when we said, “Hey, let's do a venture-backed business model that allows us to bring state of the art departments not in MILCOM timeline like right now, timeline…” And so, we just announced an all-new venture commercial apartment complex that we just broke ground on, and we're going to start building, hopefully done by 2026 and these are timelines that allow us to move the Air Force forward aggressively. Another thing that we're doing is, I just announced a $1.1 billion investment in our dormitories and CDCs. As you know, quality of life is so critical. Back to this: If we're going to be, say that we're the number, have the number one installations in the world, we've got to live up to it, and that means our families need that too, as well. So, you've heard a lot about the GAO reports, everything from mold to decrepit housing. We're going to fix that, we're going to get ahead of it, and we're going to stay ahead of it. And so that's why our secretary, in our most recent president's budget, announced this. All we need is a budget now, yeah, and so, so our secretary is pressing hard for that, and we know that once that budget is approved, we can get working on these things and start changing quality of life and start upping our game in our installations. Naviere Walkewicz 44:23 Well, I'm gonna take one of those leadership nuggets as “just eat no for breakfast,” but we're gonna learn more about your final takeaway lessons. Before we do that with you. Dr Chaudhary, I wanna thank you for listening to Long Blue Leadership. The podcast publishes Tuesdays in both video and audio, and it's available on all your favorite podcast platforms, watch or listen to all episodes of Long Blue Leadership at longblueleadership.org. Dr Chaudhary, this has been incredible. If you might leave our listeners with one thing, what would you like to share with them when it comes to leadership, or maybe just some lessons or anything about you that you'd like to share? Dr. Chaudhary 44:57 Love what you do. Love our nation. I love my country because it's given me and my family everything. And I want everybody to believe that, you know, sometimes we get in these periods where we feel divided right across the spectrum, and it doesn't matter what your affiliation is, sometimes you just feel that. But I want folks to remember that America is not about what goes on entirely in Washington. It's about neighbors. It's about what you do for your neighbors. And to me, that's our biggest strength as a nation. You know, many years ago, our forefathers felt that the values of equality, fair treatment and self-determination would be enough to topple an empire, and it is. We should believe that too, and I want everybody to know that. So, it's an honor to be here. But before I go, I want to say thank you for just an intriguing hour. It's an honor to be here, and I want to give you my personal challenge coin… Naviere Walkewicz Oh my goodness… Dr. Chaudhary …and say thank you so much. It embodies a lot of what we do, military family housing, airfields, of course our beautiful 5th-gen fighter aircraft and our wind power and capabilities as a symbol of what we've got to do for installation school. Naviere Walkewicz 46:16 That is an honor, sir. Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh my goodness, thank you. Dr. Chaudhary 46:20 It was a great hour, and just a pleasure to spend time with… Naviere Walkewicz 46:26 It was my pleasure. There's so much I wanted ask you and I know we're limited on time … Is there anything we can do for you? Dr. Chaudhary 46:36 Just keep doing what you do. Keep making sure that our grads out there have a voice, have a say, and can contribute to all this institution has to offer our nation. And so, you're doing it, and I can't thank you enough for it. Naviere Walkewicz 46:49 Thank you very much. KEYWORDS Air Force, Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, leadership, installations, energy, community service, innovation, military, great power competition, sustainability, Air Force Academy, leadership, aviation, innovation, energy solutions, GPS, pilot training, military standards, personal growth, resilience MORE FROM DR. CHAUDHARY ON THE FOR THE ZOOMIES PODCAST with C1C ANDREW CORMIER '25 The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

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“Not Tonight”—The Impact of Female Sexual Dysfunction on Women's Well-Being - Frankly Speaking Ep 404

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 16:17

Credits: 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ CME/CE Information and Claim Credit: https://www.pri-med.com/online-education/podcast/frankly-speaking-cme-405 Overview: It's estimated that between 40%-60% of women report some degree of sexual dysfunction, which can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life and personal relationships. Even though most clinicians understand the importance and relevance of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), they may not be aware of its prevalence, effective treatments, or how best to inquire about it. Join us as we discuss this condition, its impact on women, and evidence on effective treatments. Episode resource links: Cristine Homsi Jorge, Kari Bø, Camila Chiazuto Catai, Luiz Gustavo Oliveira Brito, Patricia Driusso, Merete Kolberg Tennfjord. Pelvic floor muscle training as treatment for female sexual dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Volume 231, Issue 1, 2024,Pages 51-66.e1,ISSN 0002-9378, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2024.01.001.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002937824000061) Davis, SR. Sexual dysfunction in women. New England Journal of Medicine. V 391. N 8; P 736-745. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp2313307 Johnson, Isabella MS; Thurman, Andrea Ries MD; Cornell, Katherine A. BS; Hatheway, Jessica MBA; Dart, Clint MS; Brainard, C. Paige MD; Friend, David R. PhD; Goldstein, Andrew MD. Preliminary Efficacy of Topical Sildenafil Cream for the Treatment of Female Sexual Arousal Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstetrics & Gynecology ():10.1097/AOG.0000000000005648, June 18, 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005648 Kamrul-Hasan, A.B.M, Hannan, M A A, Muhammad S, M, Aalpona, Fatema, T Z, Nagendra, L., Selim, S, Dutta, D, D. Role of flibanserin in managing hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine 103(25):p e38592, June 21, 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038592 Yao H, Zhang X, Sun F, Tang G, Wu J, Zhou Z. The efficacy of intravaginal electrical stimulation (IVES) in treating female with urinary incontinence symptom from meta-analysis of nine randomized controlled trials. Front Neurol. 2022;13:933679. Published 2022 Sep 13. doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.933679 Huang H, Ding G, Li M, Deng Y, Cheng Y, Jin H.(2023) Menopause and stress urinary incontinence: The risk factors of stress urinary incontinence in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 49(10): 2509–2518. https://doi.org/10.1111/jog.15742 Tunn, R., Baessler, K., Knüpfer, S., & Hampel, C. (2023). Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Women. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 120(5), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0406 Guest: Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, Jill M. Terrien, PhD, ANP-BC Music Credit: Matthew Bugos Thoughts? Suggestions? Email us at FranklySpeaking@pri-med.com

“Not Tonight”—The Impact of Female Sexual Dysfunction on Women's Well-Being - Frankly Speaking Ep 404

Pri-Med Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 16:17

288. Dr. Jim Simon

You Are Not Broken

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 55:26

Dr. Jim Simon discusses the importance of hormones in sexual health and the intersectionality of ISSWSH and NAMS. He emphasizes the need for all healthcare providers to be comfortable talking about sex and hormones. Dr. Simon also talks about his paper on menopausal hormone therapy and the misconceptions surrounding hormone therapy and breast cancer. He highlights the importance of individualized risk assessment and informed decision-making. The conversation also covers the future of hormones, the role of lifestyle factors in healthy aging, and the development of new drugs for hot flashes, including Fezolinetant and a new one coming on the market in one year. In this conversation, Dr. James Simon and Dr. Kelly Casperson discuss various topics related to women's health, including the challenges of getting a female dosed testosterone approved by the FDA, of treating sexual dysfunction, the underutilization of certain medications, and the importance of advocating for better access to care. They also touch on the off-label use of medications and the need for comprehensive education on hormones and sex medicine. Additionally, they explore the role of hormones in sleep issues and the impact of anxiety on menopausal women. Takeaways Healthcare providers should be comfortable discussing sex and hormones with their patients. Individualized risk assessment is crucial when considering hormone therapy. Lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, play a significant role in healthy aging. New drugs for hot flashes offer more options for women who cannot or should not use hormones. Advocacy is crucial in improving access to care for women's sexual health issues. Certain medications for sexual dysfunction are underutilized and may be more cost-effective options. Off-label use of medications can be beneficial and should be considered when appropriate. Comprehensive education on hormones and sex medicine is needed for healthcare professionals. Sleep issues in menopausal women should be addressed beyond hot flashes and night sweats. Anxiety is a common concern for menopausal women and should be treated alongside other symptoms. Dr. Jim Simon was previously on YANB episode #111 – go back and check it out! Dr. James A. Simon is a D.C.-based physician providing patient-focused care for women across the reproductive life cycle, from adolescence to childbirth, and through the menopause transition. His unique approach to care encourages women to be a part of their own wellness, disease prevention, treatment and recovery; and through his renowned clinical research efforts, he offers one-of-a-kind opportunities for patients to experience the latest innovations in women's health. Levy B, Simon JA. A Contemporary View of Menopausal Hormone Therapy. Obstet Gynecol. 2024 Jul 1;144(1):12-23. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005553. Epub 2024 Mar 14. PMID: 38484309. See Full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide, including Boxed Warning for severe low blood pressure and fainting in certain settings at addyi.com/pi Thanks to our sponsor Sprout Pharmaceuticals. To find out if Addyi is right for you, go to addyi.com/notbroken and use code NOTBROKEN for a $10 telemedicine appointment. Thanks to our sponsor Midi Women's Health. Designed by midlife experts, delivered by experienced clinicians, covered by insurance. Midi is the first virtual care clinic made exclusively for women 40+. Evidence-based treatments. Personalized midlife care. https://www.joinmidi.com Order my book "You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over You Sex Life" Listen to my Tedx Talk: Why we need adult sex ed Take my Adult Sex Ed Master Class: Join my membership to get these episodes ASAP, a private facebook group to discuss and my private accountability group for your health, hormones and life support! www.kellycaspersonmd.com/membership Interested in my sexual health and hormone clinic? Starts January 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"This is How We Overcome the World – Prt1"

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2024 50:12

“This is How We Overcome the World – Prt1” – “Daniel and the Lions' Den – Daniel 6:1-24” – We are not a Cruise Ship, we are a Battleship. - Theme Verse(s) * 1 John 5:3-4 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (4) for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. * 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. - Daniel 6:1-9 * “Could find no Corruption in him – Trustworthy & Competent” - How did Daniel Respond? Daniel 6:10-11 * “Giving thanks, Praying, Asking God for help” * Their only choice left – Make something about his faith in God illegal.- God Received Glory - But first his servants needed to face the lions' den, the fiery furnace, etc.

"Hope For Hard Times" Part7

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 56:52

"Hope For Hard Times" Part7 - "Recap of the Series” – Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. - Theme Verse: Romans 15:13 NIV84 - “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” * Their “Names” – Pointed to the God who never fails!!! * What Naomi did not realize. * David and Goliath * Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego * Esther and Mordecai * Some Key Truths * We will not be discourage.

“Calling for Esther's and Mordecai's”

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2024 30:09

“Calling for Esther's and Mordecai's” – “We need to petition God to Come!” - God is always able to make a way. Put our trust in God. Keep our eyes on Jesus! - Blot out the Memory * Exodus 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." * Deuteronomy 25:19 When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget! - In the end, God will prevail for His purpose will endure. He has called us to step-up and pray. - We desperately need a move of God. * Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

“Election Sermon – 2024”

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2024 51:41

“Election Sermon – 2024” – “Understand the Times and the Scriptures” – We are stewards of a unique treasure: The right to vote, speak up and stand for righteousness. * Everybody has a faith that guides what they decide to do. * Faith comes first then everything else follows. - Dr. David C. Gibbs, President of the Christian Law Association - “Long before the general population understood the threat to American liberty, some colonial ministers saw what was coming and boldly spoke out about it from their pulpits” - Important Voting Principles 1.VOTING is the “Mina” entrusted to us 2.JESUS IS NOT ON THE BALLOT 3.YOUR VOTE IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK 4.VOTING IS THE MINIMAL DUTY 5.REMEMBER – Legally/Constitutionally the Political Power Is In The People – YOU! 6.COMMIT TO GROW IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT [Eph. 6:10] * God Declared To the Prophet Ezekiel [33:7] “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.”

“Hope For Hard Hot Times” Part6

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2024 46:13

“Hope For Hard “Hot” Times” Part6 – “Daniel 3 - Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace” – Daniel 3:17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. - But if He does not…” * Job 13:15 …yet will I hope in him… * Act 4:19-20 …Judge * For yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God… *Acts 20:22-24 ...I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the... - "Remember" * Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,… * 1Peter 4:12-14 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering... * Proverbs 28:5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.

2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 - Leading with Empathy

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2024 50:08

A conversation with 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23, the first active duty military member to be crowned Miss America 2024, about her background, leadership experiences, transition to Harvard Kennedy School, and key lessons on empathetic leadership and following one's passions. SUMMARY Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh, the first active-duty military member and Miss America 2024, discussed her journey and leadership experiences. She highlighted her foundation for pancreatic cancer research, her academic achievements, and her role as a mentor at the Air Force Academy. Marsh emphasized the importance of empathetic leadership, mental health support, and balancing personal and professional life. She shared her transition from aspiring to be an astronaut to focusing on public policy and her current studies at Harvard Kennedy School. Marsh underscored the significance of passion, support from family and mentors, and the impact of diverse perspectives on leadership. OUR FAVORITE QUOTES "Don't ask your people to do something that you are not willing to do yourself." - Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh "Your life is too short to live it for someone else or to do things that you are not passionate about." - Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh "I knew that if I put 100% into something I'm passionate about, the outcome and the impact that I'm gonna have is going to be far greater than forcing myself into this idea of who other people want me to be." - Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh "Leaning on people, whether it is your partner or a loved one, that is how you're going to succeed in life." - Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh "Being an empathetic leader, being a leader who goes by example. So don't ask your people to do something that you are not willing to do yourself." - 2nd Lieutenant Madison Marsh SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM CHAPTERS 00:00: Empathetic Leadership: The Foundation of Success 02:43: Journey to the Air Force Academy: A Personal Story 11:33: Overcoming Tragedy: The Power of Support 16:18: Leadership Lessons from the Academy 28:31: Navigating Career Changes: Finding Passion 45:02: Key Takeaways: Empathy and Passion in Leadership TAKEWAYS Embrace empathetic leadership - Truly understanding and supporting your team members, even when they are struggling, is crucial for effective leadership. Lead by example - As a leader, you should be willing to do anything you ask of your team and not ask them to do something you wouldn't do yourself. Follow your passions - Pursuing work and activities you are truly passionate about will lead to greater fulfillment and impact than forcing yourself into a path for others. Build a strong support network - Relying on partners, mentors, and loved ones can provide the encouragement and guidance needed to overcome challenges. Prioritize self-care - Taking time for your own mental, physical, and emotional well-being is essential to being an effective leader and avoiding burnout. ABOUT MADISON Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh, crowned Miss America 2024, poses in a Colorado Air National Guard hanger on Buckley Space Force Base on August 7, 2024. Marsh embodies service in and out of uniform, proving that you can achieve your dreams and goals while serving in the United States Air Force. Image Credit: Ms. Miram Thurber, Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh, USAFA class of '23, and Miss America 2024 is the first active-duty member of the military to hold the title. She is also the first such title holder in 50 years for Colorado. She attained her private pilot license at the age of 16. She is a highly accomplished humanitarian, scholar and service member. After the loss of her mother in 2018 to pancreatic cancer, she established a foundation to raise funds for research to fight the disease. When she became a cadet, she excelled in her physics and astronomy studies, winning a Truman scholarship and is now pursuing her master's in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. CONNECT WITH MADISON Instagram: @‌missamerica | @‌madiisabellaa ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates! FULL TRANSCRIPT OUR SPEAKERS Guest, 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 | Host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:22 My guest today is Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh, USAFA Class of 23 and newly crowned Miss America. This is a first for an active-duty member of the military and one for the Colorado history books in that she is the first such title holder in 50 years for the Academy's home state. But there is much, much more to Lieutenant Marsh, including her attaining a private pilot's license at the age of 16. She is a highly accomplished humanitarian, scholar and service member. After the very difficult loss of her mother in 2018 to pancreatic cancer, she established a foundation to raise funds for research and to fight the disease. When she became a cadet, she excelled in physics and astronomy, earning a Truman Scholarship, and is now pursuing her Master's in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. We'll talk with Lieutenant Marsh about her most meaningful and impactful experiences at the Academy in research, athletics, leadership and character development. We'll discuss her speaker role at this year's National Character and Leadership Symposium, and ask how her new role as a national speaker and influencer informs her mission and message. And finally, we'll have the lieutenant share a few takeaways on leadership and character development with you, our listeners. Lieutenant Marsh, welcome to Long Blue Leadership. We're so glad to have you. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 Thank you so much for having me. Naviere Walkewicz Absolutely. And before we dive in, as we normally do, we'd love to know how things have been going since you've been crowned. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 01:51 It has been very, very busy. I've been really lucky that the Air Force decided to keep me on active duty this year, because not only am I getting to serve in a uniform like this, but I'm also getting to serve in that crown and sash. And so, there's so many different experiences that I've gotten to have, whether it's a mixture of days that I'm going and promoting the military, or days that I'm doing a very different type of service. So I never know what I'm gonna' get every day that I wake up on the job. So it's been pretty cool. Naviere Walkewicz 02:16 That is awesome. Can you share something that's really stuck out to you as just really memorable? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 02:21 So far, one of my favorite trips that we went on was Normandy for the D-Day anniversary, and I loved it because I had actually gone there last year, right after I commissioned with my fiancé, that was one of the first things we saw as officers. And now getting to go back with a year under my belt with a very different experience, I got to really see that history for like firsthand again. And I just think every time that I look at those headstones, it reminds me of what it means to put on our uniform, what our flag really means to me. And now being able to have that firsthand experience and sharing that with students across the nation, because I want people to understand what it means to serve every day, to hopefully invite people to come and join us and get excited about what service is. Naviere Walkewicz 03:06 Oh, that's incredible. And, I mean, I think just to reiterate your commitment to service, and then to be able to see how you carry that message through history, I think is really powerful. Oh, that's amazing. I imagine that it's been a whirlwind, and you're looking forward to much more as well. Yes, does it feel like it's flown by? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 03:21 Yes, I feel, I think I have, like, four and a half months left. And I mean, every day I wake up and it's like three weeks later apparently. Naviere Walkewicz 03:31 Well, I'm sure that to you it feels like it's flying by, but to everyone else it's a moment in time that they can really connect with you. So, your message is so powerful. We're glad that you're representing. Well, we'd love to dive into our podcast so our listeners can get to know you a little bit more and really experience leadership through your journey. So, we like to start by going into childhood. Okay, do you mind sharing a little bit about what you were like as young girl? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 03:55 Oh, let's see. I'd always loved science. Okay, so that was the big thing. I had wanted to be a paleontologist, a volcanologist. I wanted to be a scientist that lived with gorillas and studied them in the forest, which was… Naviere Walkewicz 04:08 Was that inspired by a movie, or just… 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 04:10 I don't know where that even started from. I think I was like, that sounds cool. My parents were like, What is she talking about then? And then, kind of going more into junior high, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and because I went on submarine biology camp, that was what sparked my interest in space, so that I had a very big shift that brought me to wanting to be an astronaut, which is ultimately why I ended up at the Academy. So, there was all these little things of interest throughout science my whole life that now made me put on the uniform. Naviere Walkewicz 04:42 So Wow, very long, weird journey to get there. Well, I'm sure it was an adventure for you and your family. Yes, are you an only child? Or do you have siblings? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 04:47 I'm one of five. So, we are a mixed family. I have three older half siblings and older brother Nick, older brother Chris, older sister Sarah. Then there's me and my younger sister, Heidi. So, big family. Naviere Walkewicz 04:59 Yes, and they're all adventurous like you? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 05:01 I would say so. I think we're all very different, like my older brothers, they were the huge athletes in our high school. I was not as much of an athlete in high school like I still loved fitness and gym, but I was the band geek. I was the one that was on Quiz Bowl and Science Bowl. My brothers did not. They didn't have the same interest in high school but now they're loving, like, they work in the tech industry. My older sister works in the tech industry. So, I'd say all of my siblings, now that we're in our adulthood, are very focused on, like, all STEM careers. So, it's been cool. Naviere Walkewicz 05:36 That is amazing. And I love that you mentioned, you know, being a band geek. And I think a lot of people wonder, “Can I, what does that look like down the road?” And just to embrace, I think, our passion? So, what did you play? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 05:46 So, I played clarinet and contrabass clarinet. So that's like the big six foot tall… Naviere Walkewicz 05:52 Oh my goodness. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 05:52 I was this tiny little kid in the ninth grade. Whenever I got to play contrabass, they have to put you on this really tall chair. And so, there's very hilarious videos of me that my family basically uses this blackmail of me playing that journey. I was so proud of it when I brought it home, my parents were like, oh, it's six feet tall. When I brought it home, they were like, “Why was Madison picked for this? She's gonna' be playing this in the house all day.” And it's this really deep, extremely loud noise. And they're like, “Okay, we thought we could deal with the clarinet, but this is, this is next level.” Naviere Walkewicz 06:27 Well, I guess you know the good thing about that, it wasn't a drum set, right? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 06:30 That's true. There's grateful for that. Absolutely. Naviere Walkewicz 06:34 Wow, so you all got involved in STEM. Do you have military members in your family as well that you knew? That's when you said astronaut and Air Force Academy that helped guide that for you or no? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 06:43 So my grandfather had served, but I had never met him. He passed away, I believe, either whenever I was like a newborn, or maybe a couple years prior, so that, I guess, didn't really influence my decision in the military. The biggest part of it was when I went to space camp in junior high, and I met a bunch of astronauts there. And so, after hearing story after story from them, and getting to go and do really cool experiments, like at space camp, you're building rockets, you're pretending to be an astronaut, like we did a mission to Mars where I got to be a botanist. And so, all of that really influenced my decision on how do I become an astronaut? And so, the story I kept hearing was all of them, for the most part, that I'd met were in the military. They were test pilots, they were fighter pilots. So, I started to figure out, how can I go down that path? Discovered the Air Force Academy and knew that was going to be one of the best places to getting a pilot slot, and even though I am not going down that astronaut path anymore because of those initial dreams and those aspirations that has opened up so many doors now for the rest of my career. So, it's been cool to see how it's evolved over time as I've grown up. Naviere Walkewicz 07:46 Oh, that's amazing. And I think it's part of what you've learned in your journey is there's a bit of, like, flexibility and kind of, you know, learning along the way. So, it sounds like you did some of that even as a young girl. Okay, so how did you get into the Academy? You applied? Was it just kind of the typical application process? Did you talk to a lot of other cadets? I'm just curious what that looked like for you. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 08:08 I think I don't know if I spoke to a ton of cadets at the beginning. I remember I used to watch on YouTube, like while I was getting ready for bed, I would watch videos of like the jump team, or different anything from the Academy. And I was like, that is where I need to be. And we have a cool thing at our school where they have an entire military day. It's like on a Saturday. So, they bring every branch. They have people that represent active duty, reserve, guard, all of the academies, enlisted officer, anything that you could think of. They have them set up all in our hallway. And I knew at that point that I wanted to go to the Academy. And so, what I did is I basically printed out all of my essays that I knew that people had had to submit in the past for the Academy. I did resumes. I came with my GPA, everything, and I walked right up to my congressman, and I handed it to him, and I said, I went to him, and I said, “I want to go to the Air Force Academy, and I want to be your nominee.” And I'm sure he was like, “Who's this?” So, I was very firm early on, and so we were able to start an incredible relationship with one another. And so, because I did that, I think that was maybe my junior year, early on in my junior year, when it came time my senior year, he fought for me all of the time to get my application in front of people, because I was his principal nominee, and we had a very, very special moment. So, he called me on October 31, and told me that I had gotten early acceptance to the Academy, and so I got to tell my mom, and the next morning, she passed away. So having an experience like that is… that's why the Academy and Congressman Womack are so special to me, because that was my dream for years, and my mom got to know before she passed away. And it's just everything happens at the right timing, and you never know until afterwards. And so now I get to be here. Now I get to wear the uniform, and even though she hasn't gotten to see it, she got to know about it. And just because of those first instances where I marched up to him and I said, like, “I want to be here.” I got to have experiences like that. And now I get to have wonderful experiences of now serving post Academy life. Naviere Walkewicz 10:16 I think what you just shared was so powerful in multiple ways. I think the first way is, you know, really being clear and what you wanted to do and to not, you know, take a step back and accept anything, unless you walked right up to him and said, This is what I want to do. You establish yourself, I think, and then to have, I think, that moment where he did fight for you and before your mom passed, having that, I mean, I can't even… Just share thank you for sharing that with me. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 10:45 He is also a huge part of all the scholarships and applications I've ever done. Anytime that I've ever needed someone to write me a recommendation letter. Congressman Womack has been one of the first people to do it. And I remember when I got the Truman Scholarship. I had asked them, like, what do I need to do for the because I was going to go and compete for the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship the next year. And I was like, what were the strongest parts and what were the weakest parts of my application? And they said one of my strongest parts of my application, literally, was the letter that he wrote. They said that, like, you never get to see what they write, because they have to submit it to a portal. You're not allowed to look. And they were like, what he put in there, put everything like, pushed it far, far past the line. And I'll never know what he said, but I'm extremely grateful for him always believing in me. He actually had a really cool moment after I won Miss America this past year, he went on the floor of Congress and, like, read out all this stuff about what we had done together, being from his home district and growing up there, so it's been really cool to see how our relationship has evolved over time, because he has always supported he's such a big military promoter, and just getting to have that relationship and also use him as a mentor when times were tough at the Academy, being able to call him up and being like, I'm struggling. I know you helped me get in here, but I'm struggling right now. And he was always there to have an open mind to kind of guide me through, to make sure that I made it out at the end of the day. Naviere Walkewicz 12:12 Wow. I think having those champions in life not only help us get through things, but help shape us that we will be champions for others in the future. Do you see that something that kind of was ingrained in you from that experience? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 12:22 Yes, I think, I mean, we were kind of talking about this earlier, about how I reflect on all of my experiences and look at the fact that I would have accomplished nothing without the people that had helped me, and I now want to be that person, even if it's only a little fraction in someone else's life to help them, because they recognize you don't go anywhere alone, you don't accomplish anything alone. And there have been countless mentors, teachers, family members, loved ones, that had poured into me, and now it's my turn to give that back to them. Naviere Walkewicz 12:51 Amazing. So, you got into the Academy, it was a beautiful thing for you and your family, and while you were there, that's when you formed the foundation. Is that what I'm understanding from a timing perspective? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 13:03 So, I started the foundation my senior year of high school. So, my mom had passed away, and it was something that my family started literally two weeks afterwards, because watching my mom go through everything, I had recognized that we need to give something positive back to people. And a big part of just pancreatic cancer, is that educational aspect of making sure families around the nation know the signs, the warning, the warning signs, the symptoms. Because that was something that we had no clue with my mom. She was 41 years old when she was diagnosed and passed away. It was a very, very quick turnaround, and so we started it then, then I went off to the Academy. So that's something that I have fun doing on the side and learning a lot of leadership through that as well, because now we've expanded, and I lead about 20 volunteers from across the nation, and it is something that I have not done before, especially like virtually, since we have people all over. So that has been a very big learning lesson this past year, and now I'm getting to use all the cool stuff from the Academy to figure out how to lead people in and out of uniform, because that's something that has been a huge part of my life at the academy, was making sure we serve outside of this, because we have so much time. And I think at the Academy, you often feel like your life only exists inside of the black gates, but there's so much that you can do for people outside of that before you even put on the uniform every day. Naviere Walkewicz 14:22 I think that's really powerful in sharing that because, you know, I think about your family, and first, I just want to thank you for sharing that difficult time. Because, you know, listeners, we have all different experiences in life, and you know, we all experience, at times, some kind of tragedy. And I think sharing how you found a way you and your family to work through that, and, like you said, kind of provide a perspective for others. You know, maybe if I could just touch on that, and we can, we can move forward while you're at the cadet, when you're a cadet. But can you just touch on, you know, how might you suggest someone find a way to get through some tragedy, maybe through a lens of leadership? Or if they're helping others that are experiencing tragedy. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 15:03 I think there were two really big parts for me. One of them was knowing when to ask for help. That is something that I talk about in academics, and that is something that I also talk about in personal life, because I wouldn't have been able to make it through the Academy had I not received help. So, one of the things that I did whenever I went through basic like I tried to quit on the first day because I was really struggling with obviously, the Academy is difficult and grieving at the same time. So, one of the things that I did to ensure that I would stay was I started seeing a therapist up on the hill. I saw chaplains all the time. I continued that through most of my freshman year, well into covid when I got sent home in 2020 because I knew that there was no way I could be able to lead in the classroom, in uniform, be there for my friends if I couldn't help myself first. So that is the first big step. It is takes a lot of courage and strength to receive help, and I think that is something, a stigma,that we're all having to overcome and change the narrative surrounding the conversation of mental health, you are strong if you get help, and everyone around you is here to help you, and I think as a friend, also being inviting, being conscious of the types of conversations about when other people that you don't know are having to receive help. Because there were definitely times that people had said about me like, “Oh, Madison's just trying to get out of training,” or, you know, you hear things like that. And so I knew that when I became a sophomore, that whoever I was leading, the one freshman that I was going to be in charge of, I could always be a safe space for them and ensuring that anytime, if they needed to go see chaplain, no questions asked, I would be there to walk them to and from the chaplain, whatever anybody needed, because I understand that that sort of help can be life-saving, and we have to be able to invite those sorts of conversations in and allow people to receive the help that they need. And I think that kind of follows throughout the entire culture of your squadron or Air Force wide, and it starts with one person, one leader, being inviting and accepting of those that need help. Naviere Walkewicz 17:02 That's so powerful, and I'm so glad that you shared that, because I do think sometimes people might think asking for help is weak, or if I just hide it, then no one knows. But I think you're right. Courage is asking for help and receiving it, and that one person like you said you champion someone else, they will do that. So, you just created this train effect of, you know, support, and I think that's really powerful. So, while you're a cadet, you know, you had amazing experiences, I'm sure. Let's talk about what leadership roles you had as a cadet, aside from being, I think, what do they call them now? So, when you are a three-degree and you have a four-degree, you're called like a coach. Okay, so could you talk about that role a little bit? So that's fairly newer… 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 17:45 Yes, it's pretty interesting. So, you go from being a freshman, which is very much so learning how to follow others, into you are assigned a freshman as soon as you hit your sophomore year. So, you'll have a cadet that has just come out of basic, and they're assigned to you, and that might be, I mean, that's many different things, like you're doing the obvious things like feedback with them, that's required. But it goes beyond that, if you make it so, because everything is a leadership opportunity Academy, if you pour into it so that could be, you know, meetings with them to check up, like, “Hey, how's school going?” Or if they're falling behind in school, like, “Let's create a plan to ensure that you pass your classes,” or, “Let's create a plan to ensure that you are going above and beyond and excelling in these areas.” You have those sorts of conversations with them, and I believe you are their protector against the upperclassmen, because obviously the freshmen, like the upperclassmen, duties are to be hard on them so that they become a better person at the end of their year. But as a sophomore, I had always taken as this is my person to protect and lead, because you're the closest first line supervisor to them. So that's how I took the position of if they needed help, if they had gotten in trouble, having those conversations with them to get them back on track, or maybe they're having some difficulty working with some upperclassmen to try to talk that through with them, to make sure our squadron was still meshing with one another. So that is the intention of the role. And you can go as little as just feedback with them, or you can do a lot. And then you also switch at the second semester, so you'll have a new freshman to lead on the back half of the year. Okay, it depends on the squadrons. Sometimes they strategically place you together, like, let's say a freshman said during basic, “I really struggle with academics,” and they knew that academics was my strong suit. We might get linked together so that they have someone that is guiding them, because they know they're going to struggle with that as soon as the school year starts. So, linking up people's weaknesses to their strengths is a big part of it. Naviere Walkewicz 19:44 That makes sense. I'm glad you shared that, because I think, you know, not all of us are familiar with that, that kind of program now, and I think the term coach is really appropriate. You know, that actually makes sense, and it helps, actually, I think, inform how you can really, like you said, and embrace that role. And what I think is also a theme with you, Lieutenant Marsh, is, you know, you don't do anything just to do it. And you know you do it because you put your whole self into it. And so, while you're a cadet, maybe talk about what were some of the other things that you experienced from a leadership perspective, from peer leadership, because you know, you had the opportunity to help those you said, as you know, four-degree under you. But what about peers and up? Did you see any leadership you experienced in those realms? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 20:29 Gosh, there are so many leadership stories that I could touch on. I think one that really stands out in my mind was General Clark, who was our superintendent my time at the Academy. And I remember my sophomore year was covid gear, so we had right before recognition, or the night of recognition. My freshman year, we got sent home. I didn't return until the Fall semester. For my sophomore year, that semester was very tough because we were basically locked down. You couldn't leave. You couldn't really go see your family, and that sort of, you know, being contained in those black gates actually, literally, this time was very hard. And I remember there was a time period for at least five weeks when we were kind of stuck in your dorm, and it sucked, to say the least, but the thing that General Clark did was he was not going to ask us to do something as a leader that he was not willing to do himself. So instead of staying home with his family or going out, he came on base almost every night. He was bringing us food from Chick Fil A, Crumbl Cookie, anything that you could think of. He was doing all the cadet things like the, oh my gosh, what's it called when you pour the water? Naviere Walkewicz 21:38 Oh my gosh, the carrier land, carrier landing, carrier landings, with cadets. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 21:45 That was fantastic. I mean, awesome. And then there was a night, I believe, that he set up a cot in a spare room and stayed over with the cadets. And it's leadership like that that had shown me, don't ask your people to do something that you are not willing to do. There's going to be times that are extremely tough, and I'm excited to be in an opportunity where I get to lead more people after this year's Miss America, and after I finish up my degree is it situations like that where you can make such an impact and show that as a leader, you are not better than the people that you are leading. You are right there, going with it, alongside them. And General Clark showed that to us from day one, and he is a leader I'm always going to remember and look up to and that was just one of the many stories that he showed that to us. Naviere Walkewicz 22:25 And it sounds like that, leading by example is something that you also carry with you in your style and how you want to be seen as a leader. Yes, yes. I think that's wonderful. Let's talk a little bit about you know, you said that you've always enjoyed academics and stem so at the Academy, I understand there's an Academic Success Center. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because that's not something I'm as familiar with. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 22:48 So, under the Academic Success Center, there are, I believe, two portions of it. So, there's the Quantitative Reasoning Center and the Public Speaking Lab. And I used those all the time, sometimes daily for all four years at the Academy. So, the Quantitative Reasoning Center, they also have a writing lab underneath that, which I also used. So, they will help you with anything from uh, calc one problems to maybe engineering, or maybe you need help writing an essay, or you're not understanding your English class, or you need to help, like prep for public speaking, whatever it might be. So, I went down there all the time because my biggest thing is asking for help early and often. These are free resources that they provide. Naviere Walkewicz 23:32 Does every cadet from E.I., from extra instruction? Or is it part of is extra instruction with your… it's kind of the same? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 23:37 Okay, so E.I. is with your instructor. Specifically, this is like a place down underneath the comms tower, where it's an entire wing, where people just sit there all day, and you go online and you make an appointment with them for 30 minutes, and they will be assigned to you to go through your essay with you. Or, “I really cannot get this problem on my assignment. Can you help me with it?” So, if your teacher isn't available, you can go there. It is incredible, because if you are falling behind, there's no reason you can't go to the Academic Success Center, because they have people that stay, I think, until like, eight o'clock at night. And they start, I want to, I mean, I it depends on the people, but I know that some of them started like earlier in the school day, like you could go at noon. So, let's say you have an off period, and you're an IC so you can't go after school. You could go during the day if you have time, or even later that night. So, there's so many opportunities to receive help, and I knew that if I was gonna' go be a Truman Scholar or try to go to grad school, I needed to go 110% in all of my classes, and I couldn't do by myself. I'm not some genius guru who just understood everything. That was not how I was as a student, I did well because I got help from people that knew a lot more than me, and I tried to learn from them, and especially in English classes and history, writing is not my most favorite thing. Yeah, so I had people that did love writing that helped me, and then I think the public speaking lab is also one that is an underutilized resource for cadets. I hear a lot of people that go and use the QRC, but never the Public Speaking Lab. So I used the PSL for anything from pageant prep, whether they were watching my talent or we were going through 100 different political questions and they were grilling me on them, or I'm preparing for a scholarship interview, and how are they going to grill me on my entire life, or my stances on particular things, or my plans, anything that you could think of. They're there for a speech for your class or a presentation for a class. If you struggle with being in front of an audience, they are there to help you, and it's free. And I can tell you right now, I cannot think of many other colleges that have resources like we do, and I remember my dad telling me as a freshman, when I had told him about the Academic Success Center, he was like, “You better be going there every single day, because I can guarantee your older siblings did not have that type of opportunity,” because we have such a small environment compared to some of these big schools across the US. You get really close with your teachers, and you have the opportunity to get really close to all the people at the Academic Success Center. And that is how you go far at the Academy, and you do well. So every Cadet needs to visit there, at least at one point, because I know everyone is not strong in every area. Naviere Walkewicz 26:21 Well, guess what I'm going to be telling my sons about, if you haven't, and it's for all classes. All classes, excellent. And I can assure all of our listeners, as you can also hear and see yourself, that the PSL, the public speaking lab, has been phenomenal for you. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 26:37 I love it because I think public speaking is such an important part of being an officer, being able to get up and be in a crowd briefing to very important people, those skills that you learn as a cadet are going to carry with you for the rest of your career. So, start on them early and often, so you're not freaked out the first time you're on active duty and someone very important walks in the room and you're having to talk to them. Naviere Walkewicz 26:59 Exactly, exactly the low threat. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 27:00 Get over with the low threat stuff. Now, in the safe spaces, we always talk about safe spaces. Naviere Walkewicz 27:02 I love that. So, let's talk about life after the Academy. Well before we go there, when you were getting your career drops and all of that, what was, what were you hoping for? We shifted from astronauts, so where did, where did you go? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 27:19 So, I actually ended up being awarded pilot as my AFSE. But one of the things that I had kind of recognized my senior year was that I was not passionate about going the astronaut route anymore, which meant I didn't want to go to grad school for physics, and I really wanted to focus more on policy and pancreatic cancer, which is why I ended up at the Harvard Kennedy School. So, I made the decision over this last year to not go to pilot training anymore, because I've recognized this entire job as Miss America, there are so many opportunities and jobs in the Air Force to do your job well. And I knew that I was not 100% passionate about the pilot career path anymore, but I could be 100% passionate about something else in the Air Force, which is going to make me do so much better at that job for the people around me. So, I'm changing my job now, and I'm very excited about it. My fiancé is still going to UPT right now, and I love getting to support him and watching that, and now moving into this new phase of my life where I'm going to get to experience another job in the Air Force. Naviere Walkewicz 28:19 So, we have listeners that, you know, find themselves in a path, and they feel, “I might, be stuck here.” Now, talk a little bit about making that decision, and how can you encourage others? I think the key word you used is, “I can do more because I'm passionate about something,” but maybe talk our listeners through how you felt this was the right decision, and at that time. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 28:41 I did not come to it overnight, that is for sure. I think it took me probably two and a half years to really, finally be comfortable with it. And I think a thing that I struggled with was fear of people judging me because I was stepping away from this big dream of becoming an astronaut, which I can tell everyone right now, nobody cared whenever I stopped doing that, and that was something I was so fearful of. I thought everyone was going to be like, “Oh, she's not doing this big thing anymore. She's not going to do anything.” And that is not what happened when I started. I remember being in scholarship interviews, and one of the things that I'd received in feedback was it sounds like you're just being robotic, talking about this plan to becoming an astronaut, but when I hear you talk about pancreatic cancer, you light up, and those are the best points in your interview. And so, then that made me think. I was like, “Oh, okay, that's kind of odd that they say that I probably should think about that more,” because I thought I was really passionate about this, and my fiancé had kind of sat me down and was like, “We should, like, discuss this. Like, if you're really having second thoughts about it, because you shouldn't be forcing yourself into a career path to make other people happy.” And I remember my dad had called me after this conversation that kind of started, and he was like, “Listen, just because you told your mom you wanted to go astronaut doesn't mean that you need to do it to, like, fulfill the thing that you told her you were going to do.” He's like, “Your mom and everyone else does not care what career you end up in. All they care about is that you're doing something that makes you happy.” And through the loss of my mom, I had recognized every life is very short. Do not waste it on things you don't care about. Do not waste it on things you're not passionate about, because you're not going to do good at them. Like that's just not that's just not how you work. That's not how I work. I know that if I put 100% into something I'm passionate about, the outcome and the impact that I'm gonna' have is going to be far greater than forcing myself into this idea of who other people want me to be, and that's why I ultimately made that change. And there were a lot of tears at first. There was a lot of second guessing, and I don't think it was really until this January, after I had started, I started interviewing a lot of people on different career paths, like I had spoken to a lot of pilots and asking them what their life was like. And it wasn't until I had interviewed them and also people that are in this profession that I thought I could be really passionate about. That's what really put it over the edge. And I felt very comfortable then with my decision of I am okay, walking away from this old dream because it's no longer my current one, and that's okay. Everyone grows up, everything changes, and that's life, and accept that. And I think because I went 110% on this astronaut path, it opened up the doors to do anything else afterwards. Just because I went down this path for eight years does not mean that I was stuck in it. Since I had worked so hard, I had opened up every single opportunity, like going to Harvard, that has now changed the trajectory of my career and my life. Naviere Walkewicz 31:38 So, Lieutenant Marsh, I have to just say, even sitting here in the room, I'm inspired. I know our listeners are feeling this as well. Talk about how going to Harvard, Kennedy School. What is your vision for how this will impact and where it will take your foundation, or what does this look like to you after? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 31:56 I think a really cool thing about the fact that the Academy will send you right to grad school afterwards, is because you have so many opportunities to learn from people that are not military and a very different leadership orientation than we might have ever experienced at USAFA or in just the general Air Force. And that's been really cool. I mean, going to Harvard, we are a very small minority of military members that are there, and I'm getting to meet people from all across the globe. Over 60% of our program are international students, really, which is fascinating. Yeah, I'm getting to learn so much about their countries, their government, which I think is extremely applicable to the way that we work in the Air Force, because we are going to be having to work with a lot of these countries, and now I'm getting a deeper understanding of their perspective, their perspective on leadership, so I think that'll be really cool to see how it's going to impact my Air Force career. But my favorite part of it is the fact that it's allowed me to be really flexible, and what I focus on in public policy, my biggest thing has been pancreatic cancer. So how can I take my experience with the loss of my mom and my understanding of medicine and science now put into policy to ensure patients are receiving the best care so they are not going through what my mom went through? And another cool experience that this reminds me of is how I was talking about astronaut to now pancreatic cancer, because I went down physics instead of having to do a conventional physics project my senior year, because I went so hard in that major I was then able to do an artificial intelligence research on pancreatic cancer, wow, and apply like medical scans X-rays to the way that we detect pancreatic cancer in patients. So, it's little things like that that have opened up doors, and now I've gotten to take that research from the Academy, put that into what I'm studying at Harvard. So just so many different ways that you can apply, reapply and change across your life. So that's I'll be excited to see where I get to use it, I think, way down the road, whether I'm in the Air Force or not being able to serve my community with that degree in the leadership that I'm getting to learn there. Naviere Walkewicz 34:04 I can't wait to see what you have, I mean, just in the short amount of time, the impact and drive that you have. I mean, it's kind of it blows us away. So, it's really impressive. I wanted to go back to something you mentioned about the different perspectives from the other you know, cultures and countries, especially on leadership. Was there anything particular that you took away or that surprised you, or that kind of resonated with you from some of the people you've met? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 34:29 Gosh, there are just so many times, I think one of the things that I love doing was just, I love picking people's brains. Yes, so we had, like, a house about 30 minutes away from Harvard, and what I would do, or try to do, at least once a month, is we'd have everyone bring their food from their country, and we'd have a huge spread, and everyone would just sit down and talk about their lives. And there was this one girl named Paulina that I was good friends with, and she was from Israel, and so getting to hear her perspective, because they have a very different way of military service, because it is, I think it's required for them after they turn 18. And her perspective on why that is important to their country, and comparing it now to how the US is most like, is volunteer based, and the differences in that. And so, I think that was really cool to hear from her, because it's very different than what we do here. And I mean, there are just so many students. One of them, he was a student that had lived in China almost his whole life. I think he left when he was 14 or 16 for school or work, ended up living in Canada for a long time, and now was back in the US and hearing his entire family's take on covid or military operations or their actual thoughts on America was very different, because it is not what you get to hear every day in mainstream media, because it's someone that actually lived there. So, it was every moment that you get to have there is very fascinating if you're asking the right questions and talking to the right people… Naviere Walkewicz 35:57 Especially if you're open to listening. I have to ask, what did you bring for your food dish? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 36:01 I made a, what was it, green chili chicken soup. Naviere Walkewicz 36:08 Of that sounds yummy. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 36:09 Yes. I like a little spicy soup. But it was nice. I was very full that night. I think I have a whole spread of like a table that was 10 feet long, just covered in everyone. Naviere Walkewicz 36:19 Oh, my goodness. Well, I'm a foodie myself, so I can appreciate that, and I would have probably partaken a little bit of everything too. So, we'd like to know, what do you your time is so busy? What do you do to what I would call like, manage your health, your balance in life? What does that look like for you? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 36:36 I was really terrible at it my freshman year at the Academy, and so I had to learn very fast to make sure I was on the right track. So, freshman year, I was struggling with grief. Obviously, the Academy is very busy, and I gave zero time back to myself ever. It was, I would get up at 6am and I was studying until midnight, and that's what I did every day. I never took Saturdays or Sundays off. I'd just go, go, go. And I think that took a very big toll on my mental health, my social life. And it wasn't until my fiancé Walker was like, “You are going to leave this place and throw up your hat and you're going to have no memories outside of your textbooks.” And I was like, “That is a terrifying thought, because you're totally right. You're 100% right. I have not poured into any of the other outside opportunities.”, and so I started doing very small things, like reading 10 pages of a book every night. That is what I forced myself to start doing sophomore year that slowly grew into, and not a textbook, not a textbook, a fun book that slowly started growing into going to the gym, making sure I have a full Saturday off to be with my friends and family, and so now that I'm having this very busy schedule, I do the same thing. I carry this very large planner around in my bag that goes down to 30 minutes, and I'm planning out every single part of my day. So, if I need to plan when I'm calling my family that goes on there, if I'm planning times to go to the gym that's on there, reading a book, anything that you could think of. That is how I stay replenished mentally. Because I know if I can't be giving that time back to myself, I can't go out and meet people and travel all the time, because everyone has their limits, and I've really had to figure out where mine are over the past couple of years and be very strict with myself to ensure that I don't pass them. Naviere Walkewicz 38:20 I love that because you can't pour from an empty cup. What's the most recent fun thing you've read? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 38:28 Okay, it's this book called Quitting a Life Strategy, and it is about basically the entire social dynamic on why we look down upon people that quit things, and why that is wrong, and it just meant a lot to me after changing career paths and recognizing that quitting is not a bad word, it's not a negative word. It is a redirection in your life, and it applies to relationships, friendships, jobs, volunteer opportunities, whatever it might be. And it was all of these anecdotes about people that had hated their job and had decided to make a change and are now doing something drastically different and are exponentially more happy, and it just made me feel very certain about the path that I was on, and also more empathetic to people outside of never judging people because they're leaving a certain situation of thinking, the only person that really knows what they're going through is them. And at the end of the day, someone else's life and their decisions don't impact you, so support them. There's no reason to be negative revolving around someone else's life or your own. Just allow people to live life, do their own things. And that is exactly what that book exemplified for me. Naviere Walkewicz 39:40 I love that. In fact, you make me want to read that. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 39:43 It's great title again, Quitting a Life Strategy. Naviere Walkewicz 39:46 I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, so Lieutenant Marsh, one of the things that our listeners love to know, and you obviously have many talents, because you have competed in in them as well for Miss America, but what's something hidden? Or maybe something special about you that you'd be willing to share with some of our listeners? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 40:07 Oh geez. I don't know if I have, like, a hidden talent, per se. Okay, I will, okay, this is funny. Going back to the band thing earlier, okay, every time I'm home on holiday, I break out my clarinet and I try to relearn the music and play, and it really irritates my entire family, because I'm not good anymore. I'm not good anymore at all, and they're all like someone take that away from her right now. And this last time I tried playing flute for a little bit, I did not catch on to it as easily as clarinet, and I was home for Christmas, or maybe it was some other time with my fiancé and me, and he had the flu, and I had the clarinet, we were walking around the house playing it together, and they were like, “We have to deal with two of them now, instead of just one.” Naviere Walkewicz 40:48 I love so, that's fantastic. Thank you for sharing this. And I think what's so great, some of the things that you've shared throughout this, well, one, they've been golden. I mean, just amazing leadership lessons. But I think one of the things that has been really special is you talk about your fiancé and that support you've had with him. Maybe just share with our listeners the importance of having kind of a partner or a support network. What did that what does that look like for you? You seem like you lean on him. Does he lean on you? Or is it able to be shared? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 41:18 Yes, he is. I mean, I would not be able to do this year's Miss America, or really anything without his support, because if you can imagine, I'm traveling all the time, he's going through UPT and is extremely busy. And it's because of our dedication to each other that we're able to come back at the end of each day, calling each other, making life plans, being honest about how we're feeling. And I think that honesty and the ability to lean on each other makes it so much easier to get through everything. And I remember like I talked about earlier my freshman year, I tried to leave multiple times. I tried to leave on the first day basic, my dad told me, “You can quit, but you can't come home to our house.” So I stayed. I wanted to leave after basic, and I decided to stick it out my freshman year. And it wasn't until that Spring semester freshman year, where I had found people like walker or Dr. Anderson or different professors and mentors that I had had that made me want to stay and like I said earlier, you don't go anywhere alone, or at least, you don't go far by yourself. And so, leaning on people, whether it is your partner or a loved one, that is how you're going to succeed in life, and I've had to learn heavily on how can I be there for these people when I'm at 100% because there are definitely days when I'm at home, maybe I'm not traveling as much for Miss America in the Air Force. And Walker had just the worst, most difficult, long week, like he's having this week, lots of tests, lots of Sims, and I get to be there for him, to support him at the end of it. And it's that give and take and understanding that, above all else, we are number one to each other, and that's something that we talk about it a lot, especially when it comes to career planning. For me, our number one is ensuring that we get to be together. Everything else is secondary, because I know I can't go 100% in my job if I don't have my partner there with me, and he feels the same, and so trying to plan life out in a way that always puts us as the priority no matter what. So, he's been very special. And I think you can also get that outside of a partnership, whether that is someone that is your mentor or a family member or a friend, right? Naviere Walkewicz 43:20 I think that was a key kind of takeaway that you shared there about first making sure you know what your priorities are, and then staying true to them. So, Lieutenant Marsh, there's two more things we have in this one, and I'll give you a little precursor: I'm going to ask you if there's anything that we didn't talk about there. I didn't ask you that you want to make sure that our listeners have a chance to hear and then the second thing is, we're gonna' have kind of those, those few key takeaways that you really want them to kind of indulge in from your perspective. So maybe with the first one, is there anything I didn't ask you that you wanted to chat about today? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 43:54 I feel like this is gonna' go into the leadership piece of it. And I just think it is so important to be an empathetic leader, kind of tying back into the mental health I had heard a story once about someone who had someone underneath them that they were leading, and they kept saying that, “Oh, this person's getting in trouble. They're not showing up to meetings. They just don't care. They are just a bad Airman.” When their supervisor had actually sat down and spoken to them, they had actually admitted that they were struggling a lot with depression and needed help, and it takes one person to sit down and have that very like quick conversation of just asking how people are every day and being genuine about it that could change someone's life, and ensuring that you know there are probably going to be people that you're going to lead, that are going to mess up, but be there for them, lead them, be empathetic and make sure that your people are okay. That is your duty as a leader, and that is something from that story I had learned, and now I have to take through the rest of my career to be cognizant of what my people are going through. Maybe they're struggling something with their family. Maybe they're struggling. With something personally, maybe like me, they need help figuring out their rest of their life and their career, and it's just things like that where you can make such an impact on people if you make the time to have those conversations with them, and that is being an empathetic leader, above all else, can really help your people go far, because if you're not focusing on them, they're not going to feel attached to the work that you all do together. But if you can be unified and stick up for one another, you can do so, so much more. Naviere Walkewicz 45:29 Oh man, it's always about the people, right? It's always and I think what you said was really key, and that was asking the question, versus either, you know, just kind of going in and directing, but being really open to listen so well. So now, Lieutenant Marsh, because I know everyone is hanging on to hear what you might leave them with, what really is, what guides you in leadership, and what are the few things that you'd like our listeners to kind of take away? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 46:15 I would say, going back to earlier, being an empathetic leader, being a leader who goes by example. So don't ask your people to do something that you are not willing to do yourself. And I think those are the two biggest things that I look for. And I've gained at the Academy and now post Academy life, because I'm always looking for things in leadership that I want to take away and things that I don't. And those are the two biggest things that I want to carry in my little toolbox for the rest of my career. And another important personal piece, whether it applies to your job, personal life, family life, whatever it might be, is always doing something that you love. Your life is too short to live it for someone else or to do things that you are not passionate about. If you are passionate, you're going to go so much further and you're going to be happy. That is the only thing that you can really take away from life, is the happiness that one you provided yourself and you can give to other people, and you can only do that if you're doing work that is worthwhile to you. So keeping that in mind, no matter the strife that you might go through or potential changes that you're going to go through in your career and your life, is holding that near and dear to your heart. Naviere Walkewicz 47:21 So, this has been an absolute pleasure to just spend this time with you. Lieutenant Marsh, I have to ask, as a graduate and the graduate community, you know, I've enjoyed listening to your story, what can we do to continue to support you? 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 47:34 I think the biggest thing that all AOG can do and long blue line is really just being there for the cadets, because it is conversations like this, opportunities to talk on a podcast like this that maybe cadets can listen to, or being mentors for them. That's what helps them get through it, and that's how we create great leaders, is by pouring back into our community where we came from. I know we talked about that earlier off camera. That's the biggest thing for me, looking at the people that gave back to me, and now that I'm a grad, just loving to be a part of this, to give back to the people that are now coming up and are going to be following behind us. Naviere Walkewicz 48:07 Thank you for being such an outstanding I think, leader, influencer, and we can't wait to share in this journey with you. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh '23 Thank you. Naviere Walkewicz Thanks for your time. KEYWORDS People, cadet, Academy, leadership, pancreatic cancer, freshman, Academic Success Center, astronaut, family, sharing, empathy, empathetic, experience, lieutenant, cool, listeners, Marsh, passionate, learn The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation

Ep. 63 RVUs in Gynecologic Surgery: Equity and Reform with Dr. Louise King and Christopher Robertson

BackTable OBGYN

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2024 55:29

Women's health has a history of being underfunded in the United States, leading many women to receive suboptimal care. In this episode of the BackTable OBGYN podcast, hosts Dr. Mark Hoffman and Dr. Amy Park engage in a detailed discussion with Dr. Louise P. King, a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon, and Christopher Robertson, a law professor at Boston University, regarding the inequitable reimbursement structures that persist within the field of OBGYN. --- SYNPOSIS The guests emphasize the systemic discrepancies between gynecologic and other surgical disciplines. The conversation delves into the origins of these disparities, the complexities of revising current codes and creating new codes, and potential legislative and legal remedies to address gender-based inequities. The guests also stress the importance of patient care outcomes and the role of proper reimbursement in enhancing healthcare delivery. --- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction 06:28 - Background on RVUs and Disparities in OBGYN 12:39 - Gender Disparities in Medical Billing 18:00 - Efforts to Address Inequities 31:22 - RUC Structure and Surgical Specialties 32:42 - Billing and Reimbursement Inequities 35:15 - Diagnosis Related Groups 36:42 - Turnover Times and Gender Disparities 40:21 - Advocacy and Legislative Solutions 48:23 - Legal Approaches for Change 52:44 - Conclusion --- RESOURCES Watson KL, King LP. Double Discrimination, the Pay Gap in Gynecologic Surgery, and Its Association With Quality of Care. Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Apr 1;137(4):657-661. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004309. PMID: 33706362. Robertson, Christopher T. and Kupke, Annabel and King, Louise P., Structural Sex Discrimination: Why Gynecology Patients Suffer Avoidable Injuries and What the Law Can Do About It (May 9, 2024). Emory Law Journal, Forthcoming, Boston Univ. School of Law Research Paper Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4800783 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4800783

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